I hate haggling. It’s way too stressful. I hate having to disappoint people, and I worry about insulting them. Also, I always wonder if I’m getting ripped off. To be honest, I have no idea how much things really … Read More … Read More
Radical Finances
Financial cage match: Paying off student loans versus investing for retirement
Recently, I made the bold claim that those who have debt aren’t ready to start saving for retirement. I added some relaxing caveats, but I really wanted to put them in an order. Debt first, investing later. I don’t … Read More … Read More
This is how much you need for your emergency fund
An emergency fund, as I’ve talked about before, is a fundamental part of any sound financial life. You want to get to the point where you could live for six months on what you have socked away. (Retirement accounts … Read More … Read More
Join the Portland Integrative Finance Community!
Why the home mortgage interest deduction is a disappointment
UPDATE: I originally made a math error below, and have corrected it. Apologies. UPDATE #2: I have another take on this. “Oh you’ve got a mortgage now!” goes Conventional Wisdom. “Now your taxes will be lower because you’ll be able to … Read More … Read More
Which is better, a tax credit or a tax deduction?
What is the minimum needed to start investing for retirement?
Okay, so say you’re ready to invest. You’ve either paid off all your debts, or you’re not going to listen to me and want to get started now, regardless. Either way, I’ve got your back. Let’s also say that … Read More … Read More
How to know if you’re financially ready to start investing
I’ve talked a lot about investing on this site. This is both because this is where a lot of my focus is in my own life (that and my final boss character), but also because it’s where I think … Read More … Read More
How to pay for a deductible
I wrote about how to choose a deductible. Here is the equation we came up with. Choose a higher deductible over a lower one when: In general, I recommend higher deductibles over lower ones. A $1,000 deductible might seem … Read More … Read More
How to choose a deductible
WARNING: This post contains math. My car was hit the other day. We got a freak snow storm here in normally-rainy Portland, and people do not know how to handle driving in this weather. (To be fair, Oregon doesn’t salt … Read More … Read More