Crises come around every so often — personal crises, family crises, national crises, political crises, market crises, and global. The events are often predictable, but their timing is not. Scientists predicted a virus such as COVID-19 could infect humans and cause severe health and economic consequences. But no one knew the specific date, where it…
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Single-Income Lifestyle, Multiple-Income Life
I spent 2008 getting to know my future spouse. In the late summer, we had a pragmatic discussion about how each of us wanted our futures to look. There was a lot of overlap, which was a relief at that point in our relationship. The future Mrs. RBD earned a Master’s degree and had a…
Invest in Your Best Vision for Our Future
Over the winter, I had a large maple tree cut down in my backyard to make room for a shed. The cleanup required several multi-hour sessions of chopping and stacking firewood. Podcasts helped to pass the time. I’ve listened to the Rule Breaker Investing podcast for a few years, but not as often since the…
7 Smart Money Habits To Build Long-Term Wealth
Smart money habits will help you reach your financial goals, with patience. Most of us aren’t looking for extravagant wealth. We want sustainable and long-lasting wealth that provides financial security for our families and enough money to fund our desired lifestyle. That kind of wealth is more attainable than most people think. But there are…
It’s Only Worth What Someone Else Will Pay
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…
Are Municipal Bond ETFs Right for Your Portfolio?
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
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…
10 Wise Investments for a Cash Windfall
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
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…
Sure Dividend Review: Is it Worth the Cost?
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…
10 Ways to Improve Your Finances in 2021
Happy New Year! The turning of the new year brings two things to mind for a lot of us: Whoa, I spent too much money last month/year How can I improve my finances this year? I’m not a big fan of new years resolutions (most don’t stick). But I believe in habitual change — deciding…
How I Quit My Career at 39 with Out-of-State Rental Properties
The following is a guest post by Eric Hughes, who writes the blog Rental Income Advisors. Eric left his corporate job by creating passive income with out-of-state rental properties. He owns 18 properties that produce nearly $70,000 per year. Eric explains how rental properties can be a shorter path to financial independence than a traditional…
Growth Stocks vs. Dividend Stocks
What’s the best choice between growth stocks vs. dividend stocks? The answer depends on which strategy helps you to best achieve you investment objectives. One of the biggest financial mistakes I ever made was selling a stock. In 2006, I bought 40 shares of Apple (AAPL) for about $58 a share. I called myself a…
8 Alternative Investment Ideas for Asset Diversification
Consider these alternative investment ideas to diversify your assets. Diversification is said to be the only free lunch in the investment world. If your stock portfolio is heavily weighted toward one company, you can reduce your risk by purchasing shares of other companies. The same is true for asset classes. As your stock accounts grow…