Blog

Blog

Musings on personal finance and more...

Five reasons why you can’t afford to buy a home

  It seems like lots of people I talk to these days are thinking about buying a home. Perhaps it’s the season, or the particular intersection of age and socio-economic background in the circles I travel in. Perhaps it’s coincidence. … Read MoreRead More

The complicated ethics of peer-to-peer lending

  “If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest.” – Exodus 22:25 “Neither a borrower nor a lender be, For loan oft loses both … Read MoreRead More

Don’t plan for a 12% return (but earn it anyway)

  WARNING: This post contains math. How much return do you expect to make on your stock market investments? (Don’t say zero.) There are those who will say that you can expect to earn a 12% return on your investments … Read MoreRead More

How are you “weird”?

  Admit it: there’s something about you that makes you different. Perhaps it’s some thing that you do (or don’t do) that is out of sync with others. Perhaps there’s something about you that others who meet you tend to … Read MoreRead More

My social media roundup (sort of)

  I recently switched my Twitter handle. It was @exvelleitier (read here for details on what that means), but for brand reasons, and because it’s admittedly a bit hard to spell, I decided to use the longer-but-easier @unlikelyradical. If you … Read MoreRead More

Monty Python vs. David Bowie: A study in creative legacies

  I’ve talked about the different types of creative legacies as a way for you to think about your goals, and how to balance your creative goals with other concerns, be they financial or critical. I find that artists respond … Read MoreRead More

What I learned about creative legacy from watching Ratatouille

  When you are engaged in a creative pursuit (and I’d argue that most of us are), you don’t necessarily think much about how you will respond to success. Most of us prepare ourselves only for failure, and therefore may … Read MoreRead More

Travel hacking to get to Buenos Aires (for cheap)

  I’ve talked about how to buy frequent flyer miles for immediate use in travel, and why it could potentially be a good deal to do so. But why stop at theory? Here is the story of how I helped … Read MoreRead More

How to save money on airfare by purchasing frequent flyer miles

  Frequent flier miles can be a really amazing tool for seeing the world. I used miles to travel in international business class when I came home from Europe earlier this year, and while it was a bit of an … Read MoreRead More

Why it’s better to be a volunteer than an attendee

  Within a space of two weeks, I have volunteered at two events: World Domination Summit and Northwest String Summit. (Interesting coincidence how both events happen to use the word “Summit” in their title.) The two events couldn’t be more different: … Read MoreRead More

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