The state of Illinois narrowly avoided having their S&P credit rating dropped to "Junk" status, but their current rating is already the lowest ever for any state. Their pension promises now total over $200 billion, but they are a bit short... $120 … [Read the rest]
Updated. Amazon Prime Day is now over, but some offers are still available. I've removed the ones that I notice are expired. Hopefully you picked up some credits and savings to offset that membership fee. Many deals still require Prime. New … [Read the rest]
If you wanted to shave $1,000 a year off your housing expenses, you'd have to move or at least refinance a mortgage. That takes a pile of paperwork and lots of time. Meanwhile, with a few clicks on a website and a SIM swap, many people on a major … [Read the rest]
If you're wondering why Amazon is pushing Prime membership so hard, check out this chart from Recode: Within the next year or two, there will be more Amazon Prime members than cable TV subscribers. There is already roughly the same number of … [Read the rest]
Nearly 30% of covered workers are now enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). This means a lot more people are also eligible to contribute to a Health Savings Account (HSA). HSAs have the unique feature of triple-tax-free savings when … [Read the rest]
Here's another neat (and free!) portfolio analysis tool - PortfolioVisualizer.com. You can upload a custom asset allocation and get all sorts of backtest data and Monte Carlo simulation results from it. If you register for an account, it will … [Read the rest]
Interest rates are slowly waking up from their multi-year slumber, so I am paying a bit more attention to the various changes each month. Don't let a megabank pay you 0.01% APY or less for your idle cash. Here is my monthly roundup of the best … [Read the rest]
A financial topic that nearly everyone has an opinion on is car ownership. Do you buy new and drive it into the ground? Do you buy slightly used after the early depreciation hit? Do you buy a cheaper 10-year-old car, drive it for a while, sell … [Read the rest]
The growing appreciation of behavioral psychology in investing is basically us admitting that we aren't perfectly rational. When you make people automatically opt-in to 401(k) plans and make their contributions increase automatically, they save … [Read the rest]
I enjoyed reading this NYT article When the Gospel of Minimalism Collides With Daily Life. The "Minimalist Mom" was profiled who vowed to not buy their kids anything for an entire year (2013). How does she live now? These days, she warned, … [Read the rest]
If you haven't gotten a dose of Jack Bogle wisdom recently, check out this full Business Insider interview transcript and this 16-minute CNN video interview. There is a lot of ground covered between them. Here are my selected notes: S&P 500 … [Read the rest]
The Hyatt Credit Card is changing their sign-up bonus on 6/29/17. For now, you can get two free night awards after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months from account opening. The free nights are valid for a standard room at any Hyatt hotel … [Read the rest]
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