While it seems that Robinhood and Gamestop are officially the new gambling version of a multiplayer online video game (CNBC, BI, Bloomberg), this story reminded me of this past Matt Levine article which is my favorite detailed-yet-understandable … [Read the rest]
How Robinhood Really Makes Money, and Why It No Longer Matters
Posted on January 26, 2021 // 11 Comments
Money and Happiness: Happiness Keeps Increasing Past $75,000 a Year
Posted on January 25, 2021 // 4 Comments
Did you know there was an iPhone app called Track Your Happiness? The app basically does what the name suggests: A few times a day, you’ll get a notification and be asked some questions about your experience at that moment. The idea is that by … [Read the rest]
How Fintech Bank Apps like Chime Make Money: Debit Card and ATM Fees
Posted on January 24, 2021 // 5 Comments
An uncomfortable fact of personal finance is that you don't necessarily "pay for what you get". When a bank offers "Free Checking", it means "we won't charge you a monthly fee but we'll get our money from overdraft charges, ATM fees, and more". … [Read the rest]
Coursera: Free Courses 2021 New Year Promotion
Posted on January 18, 2021 // 2 Comments
Online education site Coursera is offering a Learn a New Skill for Free in 2021 promotion with selected courses free until January 31, 2021. Here are a couple that are related to finance: Financial Planning for Young Adults (50,000+ already … [Read the rest]
Alliant CU Ultimate Opportunity Savings Review – $100 Bonus
Posted on January 14, 2021 // 8 Comments
Alliant Credit Union, one of the top 10 largest US credit unions by assets, has teamed up with Suze Orman to promote their new Ultimate Opportunity Savings account. The interest rate of 0.55% APY and structure appears to be the same as their … [Read the rest]
Stimulus 2nd Round, Unemployment, FSA Changes, PPP Loans 2nd Draw
Posted on January 13, 2021 // 5 Comments
I know I'm a bit late on this, but after reading several media articles, here again is my curated collection of highlights and perhaps overlooked items that might be worthy of additional research. Second round of Economic Impact Payments. Many … [Read the rest]
Big List of Free Consumer Data Reports (2/2): See Your Confidential Rental History, Insurance, Retail, & Employment Data
Posted on January 11, 2021 // 12 Comments
Updated for 2021. Here is the second part of my big list of free consumer reports from over 50 different reporting agencies. The first part included your credit, banking, and subprime lending-related information. This part includes your housing, … [Read the rest]
Best Interest Rates on Cash – January 2021
Posted on January 6, 2021 // 2 Comments
Here's my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash for January 2021, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. I track these rates because I keep 12 months of expenses as a cash cushion and there are many lesser-known … [Read the rest]
What If You Invested $10,000 Every Year For the Last 10 Years? 2021 Edition
Posted on January 5, 2021 // 10 Comments
Instead of focusing only on what happened in 2020, how about stepping back and taking the longer view? How would a slow-and-steady investor have done over the last decade? Most successful savers invest money each year over a long period of time, … [Read the rest]
Free National Emerald Club Executive Elite Upgrade (Extended Through 2023)
Posted on January 4, 2021 // 49 Comments
Back again for 2021, possibly good through 2023! Emerald Club is the loyalty program for National Car Rental that includes a unique "Emerald Aisle" where you can walk up and pick any car in that aisle based on your tier. The base Emerald tier … [Read the rest]
Major Asset Class Returns, 2020 Year-End Review
Posted on January 3, 2021 // 3 Comments
In terms of your retirement accounts, 2020 was definitely a year where it helped to simply ignore the constant market news and hold onto the assets that you believe have long-term promise. It was also a good year to own the entire haystack. Here … [Read the rest]
Happy Holidays from My Money Blog!
Posted on December 24, 2020 // 9 Comments
Wishing you a safe and joyous holiday season. I hope that your resilience, hard work, and optimism pays off even more in the new year. We made some ornaments and characters out of salt dough today... I call this piece "Tired Snowdaddy and his … [Read the rest]
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