Radical Finances

Scary hand

Why it doesn’t matter what your risk tolerance is

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When investing, whether for retirement or for any longer term goals, there is often a discussion of “risk tolerance”. Risk tolerance in this context means how much variability in the investment return process that an investor is willing to withstand. … Read More … Read More

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Gift cards

How to offload (or combine) unused gift cards

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After the debacle of trying to use a prepaid card to anonymously purchase VPN service, only to find that I couldn’t use it for purchases outside of the U.S., I decided to just buy the VPN service outright. But I … Read More … Read More

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Shadow selfie

I want you to be your own insurer

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As I’ve stated before, I have a natural built-in aversion to many insurance products. Mainly, this is because they are so heavily marketed and advertised (and you know how I feel about that). I just am usually not convinced that … Read More … Read More

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Safe door

Can your money ever really be safe?

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I feel like there are a lot more radio programs of a financial nature than there used to be. This might be a confirmation bias, in that I’m seeking these things out. I could just as easily say that I … Read More … Read More

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Push pins

Is a credit card safer than a debit card?

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I recently got some pushback about using debit cards. I always appreciate this. I want ideas to be battle-tested, and I welcome the opportunity to think critically about decisions I’ve made and suggestions I’ve given. I don’t need everyone to … Read More … Read More

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Bank Vault

Here are some better ways to spend $600 than on hard drive recovery

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I spent roughly $600 to recover personal files from a dead hard drive. Now, $600 is a lot of money. It was half of the price of my first car when I bought it. It was more than what my … Read More … Read More

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Why not debt consolidation?

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Paying off debt is hard. Chances are that you have debts in a number of different places (car, student loan, credit card, and even perhaps medical or personal debts as well), all of which have different payment dates, rates, and … Read More … Read More

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Mountain wall

The debt doldrums: how to manage a single large debt

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Do you have a really big debt? I do. It’s called my mortgage. Last year, I was able to successfully pay down my mortgage such that my loan-to-value ratio (essentially, the percentage of how much I owed on my home) hit … Read More … Read More

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U.S. Capitol

What’s wrong with an interest-free loan to the government?

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Every year, amid the discussion of taxes and rebates and the like, there is usually a talking point that goes like this: “Getting a rebate of any amount is a bad idea, because all you’re doing is giving the government … Read More … Read More

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Cluttered desk

Is it possible to pay in advance exactly the amount of tax you owe?

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Welcome back to tax season! It’s an interesting time that can seem extremely fraught to some, and a little exciting to others. For some: so much work to do. For others: big rebates! I’m fortunate to be young enough that … Read More … Read More

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