11 Financial Goals to Set Any Time of the Year
Did the start of a new decade get you thinking about what financial goals to set this year? According to a motivational flyer in my office, 71% of Americans make resolutions, but only 8% succeed. Put me in that 8%. This year, I’d like to lose about 15 pounds. I also ate a lot of […]
The 5 Best Investments in 2020 for Long-Term Growth
As New Year’s resolutions are fresh on your mind, there’s no better time than now to initiate and strengthen wealth-building strategies. To help inspire you, I’ve created a list of best investments for 2020. This article is about where you can direct your money and time this year so that ten and twenty years from […]
Is it Smart to Use a Home Equity Loan to Invest?
Utilizing a home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC) is surprisingly less popular these days despite record levels of homeowner equity (see chart). Mortgage interest rates are still hovering near all-time low levels after a few rate decreases from the Federal Reserve. The big banks are eager to lend money, but they’ve raised their […]
I’m a 24-Year-Old YouTuber with 500,000 Followers — Here are 4 Reasons Why Young Investors are Struggling
I’m excited to present a guest post this week from a prolific YouTuber named Ryan Scribner. Ryan talks about investing and personal finance on his YouTube channel, where he’s amassed a following of nearly 500,000 subscribers. He also runs the blog Investing Simple where he shares reviews and investing tips for beginner investors. When he […]
How to Build Lifetime Income Without Annuities
Have you heard advertisements about creating lifetime income for a secure retirement? I’m always skeptical about annuities because they are so confusing, even for those of us that pay attention. Turns out, the term “lifetime income” is a marketing phrase meant to demystify annuities by highlighting their main benefit. Unfortunately, a new marketing campaign doesn’t […]
Traveling to 45 Countries Taught Me These 8 Things About Money
A week after graduating from college, I flew to London and spent the summer riding trains and sleeping in hostels around Europe. Two things became clear that summer. I had no interest in more formal education, and I wanted to travel a lot more. The fastest way to travel again was to find a decent-paying […]
6 Things I Love About Debt
Debt is the boogie man of personal finance. It doesn’t get much love from most bloggers, probably because most people do stupid things with debt instead of smart things. High-interest credit card debt is foolish. Payday loans are ludicrous. But a mortgage is a solid financial tool if you’re prepared to buy a home and […]
M1 Finance Review 2020: A Top Broker for Long-Term Investors
This M1 Finance review was last updated on 01/02/2020. We recently witnessed significant disruption in the online brokerage industry — a waterfall of competitive positioning and change. It all started with Interactive Brokers, one of the smaller players in the space. They created a commission-free trading platform, virtually eliminating trading fees. Soon after, Charles Schwab […]
Free Book Giveaway! Choose FI – Your Blueprint to Financial Independence
Some friends of mine published a new book this month. It’s called . And I’m giving away five paperback copies. Previous book giveaways for Chad and Tanja were hugely popular, so I’m excited to do another for the Choose FI book. The contest is a little different this time. I’m using an ice breaker game […]
Estate Plan or Vasectomy — What’s Worse?
One of my biggest failures as a parent and personal finance aficionado was waiting seven years after our first child was born to finish our estate plan. It seems that doing an estate plan is more prone to procrastination than most other grown-up checklist items, even vasectomies. (Be sure to answer the two survey questions […]
The Definition of Financial Success is Not So Obvious
The Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge attraction recently opened at both Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, and Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL. Despite the long-awaited openings, Disney stock analysts were disappointed to see overall theme park attendance down 3% in the fiscal third quarter. Visitors to the planet Batuu meet face-to-face with the Millennium Falcon and […]
Can I Retire at 55? – Three Retirement Calculators Shed Light
A retirement goal is meaningless without a plan to get there. As I get closer to my retirement age goal, I’m as interested in detailed projections as I am saving and investing strategies. All to ensure I can retire at 55. Spreadsheets are fantastic tools to model financials and make pretty charts. I use custom […]
How to Invest in Dividend Stocks in 2020 – A Comprehensive Guide
Read on to learn more why M1 Finance is my favorite online broker for getting started with dividend investing. I started learning how to invest in dividend stocks in 1995 when my uncle gifted me one share of Chevron stock for my 20th birthday. Since then, I’ve built a portfolio of 50+ stocks in my […]
Masterworks Review 2020: Marilyn Monroe in Your Investment Portfolio?
This Masterworks review was updated on 01/02/2020. Part of what I love about being a money blogger is learning about innovative startups and investment platforms. Last year, I came across one that was particularly interesting and mentioned it in a post about alternative investment ideas. Today I’m digging deeper into Masterworks, an investment platform that […]