one hundred years

We in the personal finance blogosphere love to fill the internet with ideas on how to save money and discuss everything under the sun that you should not spend money on. Well, today, I’d like to discuss a few things that I believe are acceptable purchases.

Whether you invest in the stock market or not, bank accounts are a vital investment and savings vehicle. No matter how much or little money you have, everyone needs to set aside money that is guaranteed to be there when you need it. …

Who doesn’t need some extra money, even if it’s just to increase your savings? As the latest economic downturn has shown, no one ever seems to have enough savings, and many of us have none, so having some extra cash to save without having to take an outside job is never a bad idea. There [...]

We hear a lot about diversifying across asset classes — owning stocks, bonds, real estate, etc. We also hear a lot about diversifying within asset classes — owning mutual funds of hundreds of stocks rather than owning a few individual stocks. But there’s another, lesser-known form of diversification from which you could benefit: Tax diversification.

Photo [...]

Welcome to the 76th edition of Money Hacks Carnival. In this edition, I’ll be presenting some interesting and fun facts about money along with the submissions. For editor’s picks, please look for entries noted with (EP).

Money Fact #1: $1 bills wear out in about 17 months. Bills of larger denomination last longer because they are [...]

If you’re an investor in index funds, like I am, then you probably believe that it’s impossible to beat the market in the long run. You’ve had everyone from bloggers to Warren Buffett tell you the best thing for you is to invest in mutual funds indexed to the market. We do this because we [...]

Impulse buying can be the end to all financial plans. Accounts are most likely overdrawn by the end of the month or purchase decisions are regretted. This is the reason for a sinking fund for all planned or major purchases. Sinking funds are simply savings put in one particular place for a specific thing. For [...]

In this Ask The Expert With Larry Swedroe article, Zapp challenges the legitimacy of Modern Portfolio Theory citing Warren Buffett as a rule breaker.  So which is it, Modern Portfolio Theory or Warren Buffett? Here’s the question from Zapp:
Other than by taking the self-denigrating stance: “I am not an above average investor”, how can a [...]

The other day I was wondering if I owe any income tax this year, so I decided to give Intuit TurboTax Online Federal Free software a try.  In general, I was impressed at how far online software industry has evolved over the years (not just Intuit’s).  For this 2008 tax year software, you could hardly [...]

First, let me start off by saying that there are several advantages of investing in mutual funds and I do use mutual funds in my portfolios.  However, there are several disadvantages of investing in mutual funds that may not be obvious to new investors.  In this article, I’ll review some of the problems with mutual [...]