Autumn. My parents are thinking of taking a special tour to watch the leaves fall in New England. You can even pay someone to ship you a bundle of leaves for 20 bucks. I recently came across a piece of inspirational art with the following quote … [Read the rest]
On Planting Trees and Enjoying The Leaves
Ally Bank Savings Account Review
Update. I've done a significant amount of my banking with Ally for years (checking, savings, and multiple CDs), but the "gateway drug" for me and probably most people will be their Ally Online Savings Account. You can use this savings account as a … [Read the rest]
Jet.com: Dropping Membership Fee, Will Volume Pricing Be Low Enough?
Update October 2015. CEO Marc Lore just announced that Jet is dropping its membership fee for everyone. They've only been live for a few months, so most customers are still on a free trial anyway. This was surprising for many because Jet was … [Read the rest]
Simple Portfolio Rebalancing: Year-End vs. Random Day
I'm catching up on some reading. James Picerno of The Capital Spectator did some backtesting of simple portfolio rebalancing where once a year you go back to your target asset allocation. Does it matter if you rebalance at the end of every year, … [Read the rest]
Best Interest Rates for Savings Accounts and CDs – Updated October 2015
Rates checked as of October 3rd, 2015. Our family keeps a year's worth of expenses (not income) put aside in cash reserves; it provides financial insurance with the side benefits of lower stress and less concern about stock market gyrations. In my … [Read the rest]
Manage Your Cell Data? Disable Wi-Fi Assist in iOS 9
I usually don't upgrade my iPhone to the latest OS right away, as you know there is going to be 9.0.1 and 9.0.2 and so on in the upcoming weeks. But since the Discover Apple Pay promo required it, I upgraded immediately this time. One of the new … [Read the rest]
Case-Shiller Home Prices Index, Adjusted For Inflation 2015
Here's an update on residential real estate prices via the July 2015 update of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. Included is this chart of their 20-City Composite Home Price Index, which tracks the value of residential real estate in 20 … [Read the rest]
Finametrica Risk Tolerance Assessment Review + Discounts
Spend any time researching investments, you'll eventually run across the concept of "risk tolerance". If you don't hold an investment through both the ups and downs, then you won't enjoy its average returns, either. So how can you predict your … [Read the rest]
Chase Ink Plus Business Card Review: 60,000 Rewards Points Bonus
One of Chase's small biz credit cards is called the Ink Plus® Business Card. It turns out to be very similar to the Chase Ink Bold Business card, but with the important difference that the Ink Plus is a credit card where you can carry a balance and … [Read the rest]
Raise.me: Build Your Own College Scholarship with Small Achievements
Here's some news for anyone who's in high school and applying to college. By way of this CNN Money article, a new startup called Raise.me lets you automatically earn small "micro-scholarships" from many different participating colleges … [Read the rest]
Tennessee Offers Free 2-Year College Tuition for All High School Graduates
Update 2015. The Tennessee Promise program has welcomed 15,000 students in their first year of offering free community college tuition. The number of students attending community college full-time straight from high school grew 14%. This … [Read the rest]
Citi Thank You Points Now Transfer to Virgin America + Limited-Time 25% Bonus
Citi has gradually been improving the flexibility of their ThankYou (TY) Points rewards program. In the last couple years, they have added several internationally-based airline partners on a 1:1 basis including Cathay Pacific, EVA Air, Etihad, … [Read the rest]