With the current housing market meltdown, it’s hard to think about investing in real estate. Moreover, the current tight credit market and lack of cash makes it even harder to buy an investment property even if you want to. This is where REIT comes in. Personally, I think it’s an attractive investment option regardless of [...]
5 Surefire Ways To Improve Your Investment Performance
Investing in the stock market is a risky business if you don’t know what you’re doing. Even if you do, it’s possible to lose a lot of money — e.g., Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc. Personally, I have moved away from individual stock picking for many years now, and embrace investing mechanics that [...]
Are You Financially Healthy? The 5 Stages
Last night, I was pondering the subject of cash flow (essentially how money flow through our hands) and about financial well being. I played around with various visualizations that consist of income, expenses, debt, and assets. What I came up with was the 5 stages of financial health below.
I believe that all of us go [...]
Ask The Expert with Larry Swedroe, June 2008 Issue
This is the 7th issue of the Ask The Expert column by Larry Swedroe. You can see Larry’s full biography and important disclaimer below. If you are interested in having your question answered by Larry, please send me an email via the contact page.
Now, let’s get to the questions and answers (please note that the [...]
In January, I wrote a review of The Only Guide To A Winning Investment Strategy You’ll Ever Need by Larry Swedroe. In his book, Larry dedicated a major portion of the book to the discussion of the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), specifically to explain why investing in passively managed funds is a winning investment strategy.
What [...]
Ask The Expert with Larry Swedroe, March 2008 Issue
This is the 4th issue of the Ask The Expert column by Larry Swedroe. You can see Larry’s full biography and important disclaimer below. If you are interested in having your question answered by Larry, please send me an email via the contact page.
Now, let’s get to the questions and answers (please note that the [...]
This question came to me when I was reading The Dough Roller’s post about why do mutual funds close to new investors. Part of the post read:
…taxes for existing investors went up after a fund closed. Why? Because there was no longer an influx of new investors to share the tax burden.
Photo via Wikipedia, text [...]
In the previous lesson with my wife, I taught her about various investment vehicles available at our disposal. This time we discussed choosing the right tool for the job; that is, choosing the best investment option available for various savings goals.
Photo from morgueFile
Common Savings Goals
First, we reviewed some of the more common savings goals. I [...]
I mentioned previously that I made many financial mistakes in the past. One of the more serious ones was refinancing my mortgage from 30 years to 15 years in 2003 (about 4 years after I purchased my home). On the surface, I did a brilliant job of saving nearly $97,000 in interest expenses and ending [...]
In “Beating the S&P 500, part 1,” I showed you my my investment performance that beaten the S&P 500. In this post, I will show you another way to look at these numbers and reveal how I managed the feat.
Here is a different look at the numbers
The following table shows how $10,000 invested in my [...]
| High Interest Savings Accounts | 1.51% |
| High Yield CDs (1-year) | 1.60% |
| High Yield Checking Accounts | 1.46% |
| Best Credit Card | TrueEarnings® |
| 0% APR Balance Transfer | 12 mo |
| Lowest Interest Rate | 9.75% |
| Best Cash Back Reward | 5% |