Blog

Blog

Musings on personal finance and more. Not written with AI since 2012.

Hard drive spindle

Failure to backup: Why I’m paying hundreds of dollars because I didn’t follow my own advice

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I’m not always the best at taking my own advice. There are many examples on this site. Like the time I went $500 over budget. Or my foot-dragging on getting a will. “Be prepared” isn’t quite up there on the … Read More … Read More

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Street collapse

Pay less now, or pay more later, your choice

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There are lots of ways to spend more money than you have to. One of the easiest ways to do that is to buy something before you have the money for it. And there are oodles of ways to do … Read More … Read More

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Waves crashing

Warren’s wisdom, or on being greedy and fearful

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One of the more famous—and certainly eerily relevant—quotes about financial self-awareness is from Warren Buffett, the “Oracle of Omaha”. The quote generally is rendered as: “Be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy.” It’s a great … Read More … Read More

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Opulent house

This time it’s different, or not

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If there’s one thing we are biased toward, it’s the sense the present is somehow different from everything that came before. This can refer to financial affairs, sure, but it also refers to anything: education, technology, social interaction, you name … Read More … Read More

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Windfall apples

What to do with the extra tax money in your new paycheck

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I really tried to avoid talking about the tax plan, and couldn’t help myself. But that was more of a “feelings” piece, and less practical. This article is coming from the other, more practical side. In the U.S., our new tax … Read More … Read More

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See saw

The HSA testing period might have less downside than I thought

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If you have an HSA (Health Savings Account)—and if you’re eligible, it’s probably a good idea to have one—you still have time to make your contributions count toward last year. Since HSAs are a great financial deal (only offset by … Read More … Read More

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Solar system

(Don’t) take this 30 second challenge about retirement (unless you want to panic)

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People always like simple things they can remember. Whether it’s using the Rule of 72 to figure out when an investment (or debt) will double, or whether it’s aphorisms like “own your age in bonds“, (or even “Mary Very Easily Makes … Read More … Read More

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Future painting

Years from now, you’ll wish you started today

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If there’s one thing I hear from so many people, it’s that they wish they started something years ago. Often it’s saving for retirement. “I just think of all those years I could have been saving, and I wasn’t doing … Read More … Read More

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Brackets

The folly of choosing a Roth IRA or Traditional IRA based on tax brackets

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If you’re saving for retirement (and you are saving for retirement, or at least working towards it, right?) you have probably been confronted with a choice when it comes to self-directed retirement accounts: Do you use a Roth IRA or a … Read More … Read More

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Papers

Okay, okay, I’ll talk about the tax bill

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I’ve been avoiding it. I haven’t wanted to talk about it. I wanted to bury my head under a pillow and forget about the whole thing. But, alas, it’s just too relevant to our work here. So I’m going to … Read More … Read More

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