I have historically been a proponent of buying the “dip.” That is, purchasing stock more often when the market is distressed. I found that some methods of buying the dip provide better returns than the more commonly recommended strategy of, “dollar cost averaging.” However, lump sum investing typically beats both strategies.
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Though numbers don’t lie, people do and if you don’t know how to do basic financial analysis, it’s difficult to make informed financial decisions. In this post I will scrutinize a real proposal for solar power that was given to my mom, to show how marketers pump up the perceived value of their products. I’ll also demonstrate an interesting method to net over $23,000, by switching to solar power..
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I’ve come to terms with the fact that U.S. schools probably won’t be teaching my kids, or your kids, about personal finance. They don’t teach them how to stick up for themselves, how to think critically, or a slew of other important stuff either. With my background, I think I can do a decent job teaching some of that, however, since some parents don’t, or can’t, fill the gap, many kids become disadvantaged in ways that have a life-long, negative impact.
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Being “bad” with money is not usually the result of stupidity, negligence or even bad luck. More often, being bad with money is simply the consequence of having personality traits that are better suited for other things. Studies like this one have demonstrated that some people seem to be born with an affinity for saving money and investing, while others lean towards instant gratification, even over a potentially bigger reward down the road.
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In late 2021, consumer prices rose 6.2% in the United States, compared to the previous twelve months, marking the highest inflation rate in over 30 years. Let’s take a closer look at how that figure breaks down.
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The consequences for not paying your taxes have varied pretty wildly over the last several decades in the United States. Tax evaders were once literally be incarcerated for fairly low level tax delinquencies, but on the other end of the spectrum, hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt are sometimes just wiped clean if they’re not collected within a 10 year statute of limitations.
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There are some expenses we just can’t avoid, like taxes, health care and funeral costs. Sure you can maximize your tax savings and try to avoid overpaying for health insurance, but generally we must live, and die, with these costs. However, you can control most of your other big-impact expenses and with a little foresight, you can use these budget and investment adjustments to supercharge your net worth.
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There’s a lot of talk, mostly in online personal finance forums, about the benefits of being completely debt-free. Not just somewhat debt-free, 100% debt-free, as in only buying cars with cash-on-hand, not using credit cards and avoiding mortgages. Though I can understand the attraction to being totally debt-free and even once wrote about why you should never borrow or lend money, being completely debt-free is a money mistake that you cannot afford to make.
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One of the best things you can do to build future wealth is to develop multiple income streams now. Mostly, ones that require more time than money to create. Most profitable passive income sources demand a lot of your time, however, starting just one revenue stream today could prove highly profitable down the road. I started Valuist without much of a plan or even a consistent publication schedule. But after writing for a while, opportunities to make money
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Paying off a 30 year home mortgage must feel incredibly liberating. Decades of effort have finally paid off leaving you with a huge increase in cash-flow and sense of accomplishment. And that’s certainly true, especially if you don’t take another loan, but that doesn’t mean you should be paying off your house faster than the amortization schedule.
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It’s definitely best to have exposure to both asset classes in some form, but if I had to choose one, I would go with stocks (mutual funds). To me, there’s nothing better than an investment you can buy quickly, pay little-to-nothing to hold and sell at the exact moment you choose. The fact that you can buy confidently during market crashes, bide your time and reap the rewards, usually within a few years, is also highly attractive to me.
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The major problem with this proposal is that we’re no longer talking about the mega-wealthy here, this hurts middle class investors who don’t make the majority of their earnings from investments but want access to private equity. The vast majority of Regulation D (private equity, rather than public stock) offerings are made to accredited investors. Further, these investments are typically not highly liquid…
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There is a lot of misinformation out there about sustainable living and “going green.” Many of the efforts that people take to mitigate their environmental impact, though noble in sentiment, are actually fueling the overuse of energy and waste of resources. There may be hope though; there are steps we can take to reduce waste and because sustainable living is actually highly cost-effective, we can hopefully pad our pockets while accomplishing something worthwhile.
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In my position as a tax compliance specialist in an investment firm, I actually spend a lot of time thinking about the tax implications of investments. So, I wanted to share some of the insights I’ve gleaned over the years and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of some of the most tax efficient investments.
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5 Money Myths You Should Stop Believing – The tenets of personal finance are simple enough to grasp: earn money, save money, track spending and invest wisely, but things can also get really complicated. That’s because “personal finance” encompasses literally hundreds of interrelated topics, each requiring significant study to even discuss intelligently. The topic of Tax itself is so complex that practitioners have to specialize in subsections of the tax code.
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You have a lot of options to get your stuff from one place to another and from what we found, there is no perfect option. Doing everything yourself is a monumental task but having someone else handle things can become expensive quickly. In the end, we opted for a hybrid moving model, wherein we handled some tasks ourselves and hired out others. A lot of what you will decide will depend on how fast you want to move and what you are personally willing or capable of accomplishing alone.
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The best real estate teams are comprised of an experienced buyer’s agent, an organized lender or mortgage broker and you, the motivated buyer. This power-triad sets the table for the quickest and easiest real estate acquisitions. In a seller’s market, if your real estate agent can’t get ahold of the lender, you will lose properties to faster buyers.
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Attaining a high income, however you interpret that, can seem very important. Your level of compensation is often a direct reflection of your education, hard work and experience – though
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Buying houses is stressful even at the best of times, but in a super competitive real estate market, just finding a house, any house, to buy can feel overwhelming. The first time we tried to buy a house in the competitive Denver metro area we ended up building one instead.
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if car insurance protects your car, home insurance covers your house and health insurance is for your medical expenses, what does private mortgage insurance (PMI) insure you against? Nothing, actually.
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In this article I will explore some of the most impactful budget adjustments and, using a some of Financial Samurai figures, examine the best ways to save money even in an expensive city like San Francisco
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The best businesses have always prioritized their customers above all else. But over the last few decades, as the improvement of the internet has allowed a lot of the competition
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For the adventurous, one of the best ways to attain F.I.R.E, is to retire abroad, at least part time. Depending on where you prefer to reside, a significant change in expenses can translate to a much higher standard of living than you might otherwise be able to afford.
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Most people don’t make well-informed decisions; they mean to, but they don’t. In general, people are much more likely to make decisions based on speculation, their feelings or a hunch, than to base decisions on hard data. Even well-meaning people who set out to be informed, can get bogged down by the sheer preponderance of information (and misinformation) they have to wade through.
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There are numerous, readily apparent benefits to working from home: the ability to design your ideal work environment, avoiding a long commute and the increased freedom, just to name a
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There are typically two schools of thought when it comes to the prospect of owning a rental property: It’s either a no-brainer, or inherently a nightmare. It’s not surprising that
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Although the mastery of something is one of the most difficult, and consequentially one of the most rewarding pursuits, there is good news: mastery is also largely overrated. Adhering to some simple principles and developing discipline prove far more valuable.
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The idea that typical American home owner should pay down mortgage debt rapidly is nothing new. The sentiment certainly makes sense at face value; by eliminating your mortgage payment you free up a huge chunk of cash. You also no longer have to pay the bank interest, which must feel incredibly liberating. However, there are also significant problems with strategies that prioritize rapidly paying down your mortgage, namely “opportunity loss,” which complicate the issue.
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How to access retirement funds early, without being penalized. Investing for your retirement can actually be pretty easy to get right. However, the rules governing retirement accounts are often anything but straightforward. In my previous role at the investment firm I work for, I assisted hundreds of alternative asset investors working with “self-directed” IRA accounts. These investors are typically savvier than the average 401k holder, even they are often unclear about the rules determining contributions, and perhaps more importantly, how they can access funds early and without being penalized.
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Most casual investors aren’t aware that they could own real estate in an IRA, HSA and even some 401Ks. Not just the ability to access real estate through REITS, IRAs can actually hold tangible rental real estate. Though typically riskier (and demanding more time and expertise) than a broadly diversified mutual fund portfolio, owning rental properties, private equity, or even a business within your retirement accounts is a secret that…
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At Valuist we often put broad financial topics under the microscope to provide in-depth analysis and, hopefully, determine their inherent value. But sometimes the most impactful articles are the ones that provide easy-to-digest tips on a range of pertinent topics. So, for this post, I am going to summarize some of the most important money lessons that I have learned and covered for Valuist.
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Dividend investment strategies are too often touted as, ‘easy passive income.’ These strategies have been around forever but have become extremely popular on social media, among beginner investors. The appeal
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There are numerous ways to calculate how much money you’ll need to save to retire comfortably but perhaps the easiest method, is to first determine how much you plan to
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There are some pushy door-to-door sales people in my neighborhood. Let me start by stating that if I’m not seeking out a service, then I’m not interested. Door-to-door sales guys
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Valuist readers are likely aware that I advocate for a broadly diversified portfolio of low-cost ETFs and mutual funds, especially for core retirement investing. Over time, it becomes increasingly difficult
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Before I bought a house, I wrote an article for Valuist covering the, “True Cost of Buying a Home.” Though that article is still relevant (and a great read too,
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When I say, “Valuist” investments, I’m not referring to value investing specifically (though I am a big fan). I’m talking about earning the best risk-adjusted returns from the stock market
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One of the most popular early posts by Valuist is, 15 Money Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make. But over the last few years I’ve made (and hopefully, learned to
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A colleague at the investment firm that I work for sometimes pokes fun at the Valuist philosophy. He probably thinks I am a penny-pincher. However, the truth is that I’ve been spending a lot of money lately.
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There are many great ways to manage your personal finances but as your income increases, tracking income and spending becomes increasingly complicated. Thus, the Valuist Best Free Budgeting and Net Worth Tracking Spreadsheet was born. I get so much value out of this tool that I wanted to provide it, for free, to all new subscribers
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Working from home is often touted as the ultimate goal for office workers. I didn’t realize how difficult the transition would be, or how unprepared I was to work from home. Here are the 5 most important lessons I gleaned working from home.
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Only one option makes sense for the long-term, well diversified investor: to buy. If you’re like me, invested mostly in index funds that track the entire US or world markets, all you need to build wealth is time.
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In the vast world of personal finance bloggery (it’s my neologism, so sue me) there’s no shortage of so-called “money hacks.” They’re called “hacks” to appear sophisticated and perhaps radical,
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Harvard Extension School is the mostly online way to gain access to the illustrious Harvard brand. We all know that the cost of college is becoming untenable and the chances
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