Welcome - Retire Before Dad

June 10, 2021

I used to work for a small IT company and reported directly to the owner. After seven+ years of regular lunches, I started encouraging him to sell the company. When times were good, we could grow the business. But my boss wasn’t willing to make long-term growth investments. So revenue was only reliable to the...

Opposite directions towards right and wrong

Are Municipal Bond ETFs Right for Your Portfolio?

Investing, Personal Finance, Tax Advantaged

Are Municipal Bond ETFs Right for Your Portfolio?

May 6, 2021

Over the past 12 months, I’ve added a few municipal bond ETFs (exchange-traded funds) to my taxable investment portfolio. I’ve done this to diversify my dividend income and reduce taxes in non-retirement accounts. These investments are easy to buy, have low volatility and risk, and provide monthly dividend income. I use the monthly tax-exempt income...

Don’t Follow the Money to an Unremarkable Career

Career, Investing

Don’t Follow the Money to an Unremarkable Career

April 15, 2021

I fell into my career at age 23. A childhood friend worked for a nearby information technology (IT) consulting company in a hiring frenzy. It was 1998. Dot-coms were booming. Y2K loomed. The U.S. government had a revenue surplus, and we lived in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C. Experienced talent was scarce, opening...

Great grey owl, Strix nebulosa, hidden of tree trunk in the winter forest, portrait with yellow eyes

10 Wise Investments for a Cash Windfall

Investing, Personal Finance, Real Estate, Stocks, Tax Advantaged

10 Wise Investments for a Cash Windfall

March 18, 2021

The U.S. government is borrowing $1.9 trillion to provide pandemic relief and stimulate the economy. A big chunk of that will be direct payments to Americans. I won’t get into the details of who gets what; you can find that here. Long story short, many Americans will get more than a thousand dollars deposited to...

A Healthy Obsession with Money

Career, Investing, Personal Finance

A Healthy Obsession with Money

March 4, 2021

I’m obsessed with money. I think about earning, saving, and growing money most of the day. I’ve written about money for more than seven years. Saying someone is obsessed with money might conjure to mind words like greed, fame, power, influence, and opulence. Picture a celebrity flashing fancy clothes and jewelry on Instagram and their...

Craft a Better Life Than Your Parents

Family, Personal Finance

Craft a Better Life Than Your Parents

February 18, 2021

In a recent article published at CNN.com, author Tami Luhby writes that only half of Millennials earn more than their parents did at age 30 — an all-time low (see chart in the article). That means the other half may be worse off than the previous generation. This reminded me of an article I wrote...

Don’t Let an Oppressive Mortgage Prolong Your Career

Career, Personal Finance, Real Estate

Don’t Let an Oppressive Mortgage Prolong Your Career

January 28, 2021

A former manager was into office gift-giving. Most of the team was over 50. As a joke, she gave everyone a pocket guide to texting acronyms. The “older folks” were still learning about terms like LOL, TL;DR, LMFAO, OMG, and WTF. This was around 2014 before we had our third child. Flipping through the pages,...

Sure Dividend Review: Is it Worth the Cost?

Investing, Reviews, Stocks

Sure Dividend Review: Is it Worth the Cost?

January 14, 2021

This Sure Dividend review was updated on 01/18/2021. Sure Dividend is an investing blog and paid newsletter service that focuses on dividend and income investing. When the Sure Dividend blog started in 2014, it built a significant audience by providing in-depth analyses of stocks on the Dividend Aristocrats list. The Aristocrats are stocks in the...

Build Income Streams. Explore the Unusual.

It’s Only Worth What Someone Else Will Pay

It’s Only Worth What Someone Else Will Pay

Are Municipal Bond ETFs Right for Your Portfolio?

Are Municipal Bond ETFs Right for Your Portfolio?

Don’t Follow the Money to an Unremarkable Career

Don’t Follow the Money to an Unremarkable Career

10 Wise Investments for a Cash Windfall

10 Wise Investments for a Cash Windfall

A Healthy Obsession with Money

A Healthy Obsession with Money

Craft a Better Life Than Your Parents

Craft a Better Life Than Your Parents

Don’t Let an Oppressive Mortgage Prolong Your Career

Don’t Let an Oppressive Mortgage Prolong Your Career

Sure Dividend Review: Is it Worth the Cost?

Sure Dividend Review: Is it Worth the Cost?

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