Happy New Year! As the markets have closed for the last time in 2017, it's time for a year-end review. While I do rebalance my portfolio quarterly, I only dig into performance numbers once a year. That's a big change from a decade ago, when I … [Read the rest]
The new tax bill that takes effect in 2018 raises the standard deduction and caps certain itemized deductions. Therefore, if you will itemize your deduction in 2017, you may want to grab whatever you can this year to get the full value of those … [Read the rest]
Here is a year-end update on my investment portfolio holdings for 2017. This is my last-minute checkup in case I need to rebalance to make another other tax-related moves. This includes tax-deferred 401k/403b/IRAs and taxable brokerage holdings, … [Read the rest]
Starting in 2018, qualified educational expenses for 529 plans will include up to $10,000 a year in tuition and expenses for primary and secondary school expenses (public, private, or religious). Previously, you could only use it towards qualified … [Read the rest]
Amongst the many things to consider at years-end is a contribution to a 529 college savings account. (I just made my contribution for kid #3.) In addition to the federal tax-free growth towards qualified college expenses, more than 30 out of 50 … [Read the rest]
Look for Amazon to offer up lots of discounted gift cards and/or bonus stuff with gift cards for procrastinators, most guaranteed to arrive by Christmas. Click, click, done. Some of these deals are good enough for self-gifting. Up to 20% … [Read the rest]
Thinking about moving your cash to a different bank account with a higher interest rate? It's been a while, but the short-term rates on online savings accounts are going up. Don't get paid nothing by your megabank. Use this handy calculator to … [Read the rest]
Gyft just sent me an e-mail that you can get $5 off a $50 Lowe's gift card with promo code holiDIY, good for existing customers. Offer ends 12/25/17 at 11:59pm ET or while supplies last. The terms say that the promo code can be redeemed 5 times … [Read the rest]
Bad news seems to come at us from all angles, but sometimes we need to step back and point out the good news. Here is a chart of how the the worldwide level of hunger, poverty, illiteracy, child poverty, and pollution has fallen over the last 25 … [Read the rest]
The Vanguard Blog has an article Is price everything for ETFs? that reminds us that while low costs may be the most important factor in ETF selection, it is not the only factor. When there are multiple ETFs covering similar asset classes, the DIY … [Read the rest]
Before I share more about my real-estate crowdfunding experiments, I wanted to take a quick step back in order to provide better context. Just as ETFs and mutual funds are separated into stocks and bonds, real estate can be separated into two … [Read the rest]
There appears to be a trend of everyone is getting their "stocks are highly-valued" calls on record in so that when the next drawdown occurs, they'll have their "I told you so" ready to go. I should probably do that too. Example: Goldman Warns … [Read the rest]
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