Boost Mobile Annual Plans $8.33/mo for 1 GB, $25/mo for 35 GB “Unlimited” Data (AT&T MVNO)

Boost Mobile now uses the T-Mobile and AT&T 4G/5G networks after the T-Mobile/Sprint merger completed. Now owned by Dish Network, they have rolled out some aggressively-priced annual plans that are cheaper than the ones from Mint Mobile (which I … [Read the rest]

Best Interest Rates on Cash – May 2022 Update

Here's my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash as of May 2022, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. We all need some safe assets for cash reserves or as a bond substitute, and there are often lesser-known opportunities … [Read the rest]

Warren Buffett’s Activision Merger Arbitrage “Bank/Credit Card Bonus” Deal

While listening to the 2022 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting Q&A session (full video and transcript at CNBC), I was amused to hear that Warren Buffett announced that he bought shares of Activision Blizzard stock as part of a "workout". The … [Read the rest]

Vanguard ETF & Mutual Fund Expense Ratio Drops (Updated May 2022)

Updated May 2022. Vanguard regularly announces expense ratio cuts to their mutual funds and ETFs. This post serves to keep track of these updates, as Vanguard usually removes the press releases after a certain amount of time. Most changes will … [Read the rest]

103 Bits of “Advice I Wish I Had Known” by Kevin Kelly

via GIPHY Kevin Kelly of Cool Tools and many other endeavors is now 70 years old and has 103 more bits of "Advice I Wish I Had Known" for 2022. Very high density of insightful wisdom per sentence, so I like to read a little bit each day and … [Read the rest]

Billionaire Crypto CEO Explains DeFi Farming… Sounds Exactly Like a Ponzi Scheme

Sam Bankman-Fried (nicknamed "SBF") used the "sell shovels during the Gold Rush" model on cryptocurrency and has made billions as the CEO of FTX, a crypto derivatives exchange. He has a background in quantitative trading and performed a now-famous … [Read the rest]

Savings I Bonds May 2022 Inflation Update: 9.62% Interest Rate!

May 2022 rate confirmed at 9.62%. Official press release. The variable inflation-indexed rate for I bonds bought from May 1, 2022 through October 31, 2022 will indeed be 9.62% as predicted. Every single I bond will earn this rate eventually for 6 … [Read the rest]

Cash Rates Early Update: 5-Year CDs at 3% APY, 5-Year MYGA Rates at 3.65%

I'm going to wait a bit on my full May interest rate update, as I expect more rate changes early this week. Even the rates quoted below may become outdated quickly, but I wanted to point out certain rates at multi-year highs and also near the … [Read the rest]

Vanguard’s Special Tax-Efficient ETF and Mutual Fund Combo

This is a bit of an "inside baseball" topic appealing only to serious DIY investors, but I found this FT article about Vanguard's unique tax-efficient fund structure quite interesting. Apparently, Vanguard has both a patent and special SEC … [Read the rest]

Mastercard Free ID Theft Protection and Credit Monitoring

Update April 2022: Just a quick update that this has been a useful, additional free identity theft protection service. Today, I electronically signed some "power of attorney"-type papers through Docusign and they had me answer some identity … [Read the rest]

I Savings Bonds: Nearly 10% Yield + 10X More Popular!

Nothing like a 10% yield with no principal risk to attract more attention to a quiet little investment option. The WSJ has a new article What Are I Bonds? Everything You Need to Know to Earn Nearly 10% Interest as a follow-up to The Safe Investment … [Read the rest]

Vanguard Customer Service Complaints

Vanguard is based right outside of Philadelphia, so the Philadelphia Inquirer often provides helpful insights on the company. Their new article Vanguard clients take to social media over customer service mishaps (possible paywall?) provides a good … [Read the rest]