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

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How to decide whether to keep a credit card with an annual fee

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I mentioned that there is only one reason to keep a credit card that carries an annual fee: The benefits you get from holding the card that you would have paid for anyway must be greater than the annual fee. … Read More … Read More

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Fire breathing

Conferring with the enemy (Part 5): Finishing the deal

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All posts in this series: Conferring with the enemy (Part 1): A credit card for a travel plan Conferring with the enemy (Part 2): Fulfilling minimum spend requirements on a credit card Conferring with the enemy (Part 3): The waiting (for … Read More … Read More

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Metallic

What pennies taught me about the problem of private interest in government

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I long for the days where it seemed like we fully funded the federal government to do its job or serving its people and keeping private interests in check. I think so much good could come from another set of … Read More … Read More

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Hula hoops

Technology isn’t the answer to our finance problems

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I believe we live in a techno-uptopian society. By this, I mean that “technology” is seen as the answer to whatever ails us. How else to describe the over-inflation that is Silicon Valley (and its cousins Silicon Alley, Silicon Forest, … Read More … Read More

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How to transfer an IRA to Vanguard

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Many years ago, when I was first learning about investing, I decided to start my own IRA. At my coworker’s suggestion, I set up the account at Scottrade. Over the course of two years, I put a little bit of money … Read More … Read More

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Porto Alegre at night

It’s 4 AM: Do you know where your retirement accounts are?

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I just remembered that I have a gift card with money on it that I haven’t yet spent. The gift card is for Williams-Sonoma, a nice place for sure, but looks like I’ll be able to afford only a pot … Read More … Read More

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Stock price on computer

Day trading, or forgetting what money is really for

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I was in college during the “dot-com” boom. My lab partner, a cocky dude to be sure, said he spent a lot of his days day trading. And he seemed to be doing well enough, though he never elaborated. While … Read More … Read More

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Monopoly house

Why the home mortgage interest deduction isn’t as disappointing as I thought

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Often when I play board games, I enjoy the process of losing as much as winning. That’s why I love it when people comment on my posts pushing back against my arguments. I don’t consider myself an infallible expert in … Read More … Read More

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Ceiling Circles

Financial Cage Match: Paying down a mortgage versus investing

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This is another entry in the Financial Cage Match series, where I look at two competing financial priorities and see which one comes out on top. Here’s another entry: Paying off student loans versus investing for retirement. WARNING: This post … Read More … Read More

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Man lying down

Just making sure: Mortgage interest isn’t a reason to hold on to a mortgage

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WARNING: This post contains math. “When you have a mortgage, you get a tax deduction for all the mortgage interest you pay. So you shouldn’t pay down your mortgage early, because you’ll lose the tax deduction.” This is one of the … Read More … Read More

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