Northern Bank Direct Money Market Review – 2.26% APY Guaranteed Through June 2019

Update: As of 6/20/18, the rate is now down to 1.50% APY. I hope everyone who was interested got the 2.26% APY rate, you definitely had time and they did give roughly a 24-hour notice. Here comes another new "Direct" bank leapfrogging the … [Read the rest]

How To Build A 4-Week Treasury Bill Ladder: A Visual Guide

For my magic trick today, I will be resurrecting a post from over 11 years ago! That's the last time it there was any significant interest for an individual to buy Treasury Bills instead of using a top-yielding bank account. As of 6/18/18, a … [Read the rest]

Age-Sensitive Safe Withdrawal Rate Strategy? Age Divided By 20

Should a person who retires at age 70 withdraw the same amount of money from their portfolio as someone who is age 40? You're talking about a retirement period that is likely twice as long as the other. In an article titled The “Feel Free” … [Read the rest]

My Money Blog Portfolio Income – June 2018

When it comes to making your portfolio last a lifetime, you may be surprised at how long that might be. According to this Vanguard longevity tool, for a couple both age 40 today, there is a 50% chance that one will live to 88. That's 48 … [Read the rest]

Country Time Lemonade Will Pay Legal Fees For Unlicensed Lemonade Stands

Are you thinking of helping your kid setting up a lemonade stand this summer? Apparently, some young entrepreneurs are getting shut down due to a lack of small business permits. In a very savvy PR move, Country Time Lemonade has offered to … [Read the rest]

Free Happy Socks with $100 Amazon Gift Card

I'm a sucker for free. Amazon currently has a limited edition run of $100 Gift Card Boxes with Happy Socks. Pay $100 and get a $100 gift card, a nice gift box, and a pair of Happy Socks inside. You could make it an extra nice gift for someone … [Read the rest]

Sprint Kickstart Promo: Ongoing Unlimited Plan for $25/Month

Sprint just rolled out a Unlimited Kickstart promotion, which is unlimited talk/text/data for $25 per month, per line. No annual contracts. You can bring over your own compatible phone, or buy one from them. (Ex. Pre-Owned iPhone 7 at $12 a … [Read the rest]

Airbnb vs. Hotels Price Comparison Chart

Mary Meeker is a partner at famous venture capitalist firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Many people follow her annual presentation about internet trends, and you can view the entire 294 slide deck here. It's a lot of information, but … [Read the rest]

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free (Book Notes)

After finishing the book How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free by Ernie Zelinski, I am surprised at how unique it is. After all these years, this may be the first book I've read that directly explores the non-financial aspects of retirement. There … [Read the rest]

British Airways Fuel Surcharge Settlement: 12,500 Avios Minimum Claim

If you recently received an e-mail from "Fuel Surcharge Class Action", don't delete it. If you redeemed British Airways frequent flyer miles for an award ticket and paid a fuel surcharge between November 2006 and April 2013, check your spam … [Read the rest]

Stock Market Game: Buy & Hold vs. Market Timing

Here's an interactive "game" at Engaging-Data.com where you can test out your stock market timing skills based on actual historical returns. You'll be given a randomly-selected 3-year period of the S&P 500 from 1950-2018. You start out fully … [Read the rest]

Best Interest Rates on Cash – June 2018

Here is my monthly roundup of the best safe rates available, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to get an idea of how much additional interest you'd earn if you are moving money between … [Read the rest]