Blog

Blog

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

Fleet week airplanes

How to search dozens of airports at once to figure out where to travel

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Most of the time, we know where we want to fly. We want to find the right price, and we also usually have a little bit of play in the date and time. But what about the times when you … Read More … Read More

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Old Voting Machine

What David Foster Wallace taught me about voting

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Tomorrow is Election Day in the U.S. This site was launched a few days after the previous presidential election in 2012, so this is the first presidential election under this site’s watch! I know that elections happen all the time … Read More … Read More

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Boot laces

Why I may have life insurance even if I never purchase it

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What’s the purpose of life insurance? It’s to help replace your income to your beneficiaries in case of your death. With regard to the giant payout that a term life policy generates, if invested properly, not only can it be … Read More … Read More

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Ski slope

Why I’m thinking about getting life insurance (before I need it)

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Life insurance is the teeth-flossing of financial products. It’s something you know you need to deal with, but you really don’t want to. Luckily, unlike flossing, there are those who don’t really need it. The question about life insurance is … Read More … Read More

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15 ball

Why to use the 15% rule for saving for retirement

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WARNING: This post contains math. Last time, when I talked about saving for retirement, I mentioned that I put away at least 15% of my income away in retirement. It occurred to me that some readers may feel like I’ve … Read More … Read More

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Pinwheels

Here’s when we really want to be celebrating National Save For Retirement Week

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I logged in to my Vanguard account earlier this week, and found this admonition: I must confess, I didn’t know about this celebration week. For this I can only apologize, although to be fair there are plenty of celebration days, … Read More … Read More

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Fishing partners

Why can’t we talk about money with our partners?

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I’ve talked about why it’s so hard to share financial struggles with your friends and peer group. But surely you can talk to a partner right? This is a person with which you want to travel through life. And yet, this … Read More … Read More

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Old car in field

Why can’t we talk about money with our friends?

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Do you have someone you can talk about money with? Notice that before you can answer that question, we actually need to specify what kind of conversation we’re having. “Talking about money” can mean not only the nuts and bolts … Read More … Read More

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The time I almost thought that Amazon Prime was a good deal for me

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I’ve talked about Amazon Prime before. My general take is that it’s probably not worth it, unless you would be paying for the music/movie streaming service, or buy a lot of stuff from Amazon. Amazon really really really wants you … Read More … Read More

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Sailboats

How to open a Roth IRA with Vanguard

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I’ve made no secret about a number of things: Retirement planning is something we need to do, and right now. The best way for everyone to plan for retirement is through investing. A Roth IRA is an investment vehicle that … Read More … Read More

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