The stock market brought us gifts just in time for Christmas. The chart above show the % declines from all-time highs over the past five years for the S&P 500. Christmas Eve just happened to be the most significant pull…Read More
There are two great things about bad stock markets: 1) opportunities to buy at attractive prices, and 2) opportunities to harvest tax losses. We have been hard at work over the last couple of weeks finding ways to save our…Read More
A tiny fraction of the population loves budgeting and has years of spending data stored in Excel models. The rest of us would rather scrub grout between bathroom tiles. Using a budget is how to make financial progress on purpose….Read More
Vanguard stepped up its research capabilities and provided more information to investors in 2018 than ever before. Their market outlook for 2019 is particularly well assembled. My cliff notes are below and you can find the entire paper here. Short…Read More
Ben Bernanke can smile… and he is actually kind of funny. The perfectly formal and stiff Bernanke we remember from appearances during his tenure at the Fed spoke freely with occasional wit and humor at a November 2018 lunch meeting…Read More
A Donor Advised Fund (DAF) is kind of like your own personal endowment, but without the administrative costs and hassles. A DAF is an investment account that receives your charitable donations, allows you to take the tax deduction in the…Read More
If you have open enrollment between now and the end of the year, here are some important considerations. Health insurance – if your employer offers a high-deductible plan with an HSA account and matching funding, this may be worth strong…Read More
The Roth IRA is fantastic. When you deposit funds to a Roth IRA, the IRS tells us that you will never be taxed again on that money. This can be particularly compelling if you are expecting significant taxable income in…Read More
Required Minimum Distributions You did a great job building up that 401k, but the IRS eventually demands your tax dollars. This applies to people who are age 70 ½ or older by 12/31/2018. It also applies to people who have…Read More
Is the ‘value premium’ dead? Investing with a preference for cheap stocks (named “value” by marketing departments) over expensive stocks (named “growth” by marketing departments) is referred to as ‘value investing’.History provides compelling evidence that investors have received higher returns…Read More
