It has been a year since we paid off our mortgage early. I already discussed our reasons for doing so in that post, so I won't repeat them here. I also wrote a really long post on every single facet I could think of in the Pay Off Mortgage Early … [Read the rest]
The mortgage interest tax deduction primarily helps the wealthy buy bigger houses rather than increase homeownership rates, according to a new study quoted by this WSJ article. The study found that such tax benefits have help increase the size of … [Read the rest]
Failure. Or as Megan McArdle puts it - "deep, soul-crushing periods of misery following stupid mistakes that kept me awake until the small hours of the morning in a fog of anxiety and regret." Yup, I've been there. I was afraid that the new … [Read the rest]
It's not just how much you save, it's when you save that matters. The best time to start is now. This is the power of compounding returns, which this single chart will help you visualize: Susan (grey) invests $5,000 per year from age 25 … [Read the rest]
American Airlines has a new AAdvantage Passport Challenge where you can earn free bonus miles for various small activities: Play trivia and other games to earn up to 700 miles Share and complete social actions to earn up to 350 miles Take … [Read the rest]
LearnVest is (yet another) online financial advisor, but they are more focused on money management and life planning than nitpicking asset allocation details. Founder Alexis Von Tobel's book Financially Fearless is on my (long) reading list, and … [Read the rest]
Weekly business newspaper Barron's just released their 2014 annual broker survey rankings. Here's a snippet about their criteria (emphasis mine): Our evaluation criteria focus on the needs of wealthy, active traders. We looked at eight categories … [Read the rest]
There is a lot of policy talk about increasing financial literacy in order to improve people's decision-making. The Conversable Economist blog discusses a paper that digs into this subject, called "The Economic Importance of Financial Literacy" … [Read the rest]
The idea that as people earn more, they tend to spend more as well has been termed lifestyle inflation. Derek Thompson in this Atlantic article illustrates this concept using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A family led by a high-school … [Read the rest]
Update: Get over $100 in additional free ride credit from competing car services here! Uber is a service that allows you to summon a ride via a private car or taxi using just your smartphone. All payment including tip is put on your credit card … [Read the rest]
Kapitall is basically a brokerage with a user interface like a video game. Their motto is "Drag, Drop, Trade. It's that simple." I don't think the idea of equating stock trading with a game is a good lesson for long-term investors, so I'm not a … [Read the rest]
Costco and Procter & Gamble have a mail-in rebate promotion for a $33 Costco Cash Card if you spend more than $100 pre-tax on any P&G products in March. Must purchase by 3/31/14 and postmark the rebate form by 5/1/14. You can apply for two … [Read the rest]
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