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Musings on personal finance and more...

Is it possible to be an ethical investor?

  “Vote with your wallet.” “Put your money where your mouth is.” Where we spend our money matters. I’m assuming that there are certain companies that do not align with your personal ethical code, so you would not want to … Read MoreRead More

The best stock tip you’ll ever receive

  I’m not usually in the business of talking about stock advice, but every once in a while, I make an exception. Many people charge hundreds, even thousands, of dollars to get access to certain people’s stock tips, but I’m … Read MoreRead More

How (and why) to avoid taxis when traveling

  I have a few informal rules when traveling. One of them is to never take a taxi. Taxis, to me, equate with a kind of failure. Harsh? Perhaps. But it’s nothing personal, I just see it as a personal … Read MoreRead More

What I (re)learned from flying Business Class internationally

  I was in the fortunate position of flying international Business Class using frequent flyer miles recently. Yes, it’s hard to complain. And while it was a great experience, a lot of what made it great is that it gave … Read MoreRead More

How to plan for Social Security

  Here in the US, we actually do have a small safety net for the elderly and disabled. It’s called Social Security (technically called “Old-age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance” or OASDI) The idea is that when you reach a certain … Read MoreRead More

Why self-sufficiency is a myth

  The guy at the table was describing his situation growing up. “We were totally off the grid, pumping our own well water and everything. We were totally self-sufficient.” As a suburbs kid, I couldn’t deny that I was impressed. … Read MoreRead More

Travel hacking to challenge your ethics

  The speaker was talking about a particular product, and was asking the crowd how many of this product the members of the audience had. A show of hands. One person in the crowd asked: “Isn’t that product limited to one … Read MoreRead More

How to live without a smartphone

I’ve talked before about how I’m a great fan of the dumbphone, that is, a mobile phone without internet/web capabilities. I’ve never owned a smartphone, in fact, and don’t plan to get one, at least as long as I can … Read MoreRead More

Why I like the Roth IRA (though it’s not why people think)

  So I hope you’ve done your taxes for the year. I used a certain online program to do my taxes, and one of the questions asked was “Did you contribute to an IRA [Individual Retirement Arrangement] this year?” If … Read MoreRead More

Taxes, or the opposite of simplicity

  Each year for me, tax season goes pretty much the same way: I fire up one of the big online hosted tax programs, enter in my info, take the Standard Deduction, get something approximating zero dollars back (I try … Read MoreRead More

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