If you believe at all in the January Barometer (financial-folk-lore that if markets do well in January, the year will be good), then we’re in for a great year! The S&P 500 is up approximately 8% this year and most of the economic reports seem to be more upbeat than they have been in recent years. So what is there to worry about? Well, in the words of Warren Buffett: • “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful”. Looking for Safety: When my 401k dropped nearly 50% during the Great Recession, I decided it was time to stop playing offense and beef up my defense when it came to how I invest my money. … [Read more...] about Is It Time to Change Up My Retirement Portfolio?
Personal Finance
What is Shorting a Stock?
The first time I watched the Oliver Stone movie Wall Street 2, I was confused about something: Josh Brolin’s company, Churchill Schwartz, makes a ton of money when the company that Shia LaBeouf works for, Kellar Zabel (KZI), starts to dramatically fall in stock price. Contrary to conventional investing, how is it that someone gets “rich” from stock prices going down? How Shorting a Stock Works: Although there were a lot of factors at play in the movie, the basic answer to this question is that Schwartz was “shorting” the Kellar Zabel stock. What does that mean? Let’s look at a simple example: … [Read more...] about What is Shorting a Stock?
Are We Fools for Saving Our Money?
What would be the point of a blog if we didn’t explore an idea that may be slightly controversial? Anyone who reads this blog knows that my quest for financial freedom heavily relies upon disciplined saving and planning for retirement. Like many people, I am using my employer-sponsored retirement plans, IRA’s, and personal savings to build up a fortune that I can one day live off of. All of that is fine and good in theory, but what if everything I just said was ALL WRONG! What if all the money I’m saving will one day be worthless? It sounds crazy, that’s exactly what one famous author is promoting in one of his new books. … [Read more...] about Are We Fools for Saving Our Money?
Which is Better – Points or No Points on Your Mortgage?
As if understanding all the basics of a mortgage like interest rates, amortization, escrow, and PMI weren’t complex enough, there comes one more product that really convolutes the entire process even further: points. Like all of the items mentioned above, knowing whether or not to purchase points can have significant long-term implications on how much money you may actually save or lose throughout the life of the mortgage. This post is going to explain how all that works and I’ll even give you a Microsoft Excel worksheet to try it out yourself. … [Read more...] about Which is Better – Points or No Points on Your Mortgage?
The Now or Later Tax Refund
Yea! I got my income taxes done. Any day now I should be expecting both my Federal and State return to direct deposit into my bank account. I’m not getting back as much this year as I had hoped, but it will still be quite a handsome amount. Just like back-to-school signs and Christmas decorations, you can almost pin-point the time from December on when a swarm of tax-filing hysteria starts to show up in our lives. But among the tax software and lists of documents we’re told to dig out of our file cabinets, financial advisors also like to argue one age-old debate: • Should you wait to get your big tax refund check or take it throughout the year? … [Read more...] about The Now or Later Tax Refund
Ways to Squeeze Extra Cash – Sorta …
It’s important to know that you don’t have to agree with every single piece of financial advice you’re given. I know I don’t. I was reminded of this fact recently when I read an article on Daily Finance by Molly McCluskey from “The Motley Fool” entitled “5 Unconventional Ways to Squeeze Extra Cash Out of Your Budget”. I’m all for fresh ideas on ways to save money, especially if it can be shown to produce results. But although this article may have had its heart in the right place, some of the advice may be a little misleading. Let’s review each one and I’ll tell you why I felt this way. McCluskey’s Tips: 1. Rent, don't buy. Where to begin. Everyone knows you should never do a rent to own program for things that rapidly lose … [Read more...] about Ways to Squeeze Extra Cash – Sorta …
Adventures in Refinancing, Chapter 4
We’ve got big news: We applied for a refinance! What’s New It’s been quite a while since I’ve updated this series. Since my last post in Chapter 3, a lot has happened - a lot of good things! … [Read more...] about Adventures in Refinancing, Chapter 4
Retiring on the One-Million Dollar Myth
I recently read an article on Daily Finance that posed the question of whether having one-million dollars was enough to retire. For many, one-million dollars is perceived as being the classic bench-mark of finally having enough money to retire as well as a symbolic goal for finally “being rich”. But as you can expect, the article posed several questions about whether retiring on one-million dollars had become a myth. Would it be enough to retire or stop working altogether? Where Does One-Million Dollars Get You? Perhaps it’s a sign of the times that our expenses have gotten out of control. Or maybe our society just simply “thinks” they need too much to live comfortably. Either way, we can explore this situation a little further. … [Read more...] about Retiring on the One-Million Dollar Myth
