Category: Money

I am so grateful that I know what I know about investing. This morning, my wife and I went to the gym to swim. Friday tends to be a good day for us, and today didn’t disappoint. We both enjoyed swimming in the pool (and lounging in the jacuzzi). Afterward, I went back in the locker room to change. On the TV, two announcers were discussing the stock market and speculating on the direction it would take. Their loud booming voices suggested this was the pre-game show before a football…

I frequently visit my Vanguard account dashboard on the Vanguard website and study the progress of my portfolio. The dashboard includes a tool that specifically tracks the portfolio’s performance. On it, a table gives monthly stats on “Market Gain/Loss,” “Purchases & Withdrawals,” “Income Returns” and more. To the left of each number is an arrow. If the number is positive, the arrow is a green arrow pointed up. If the number is negative, the arrow is a red arrow pointed down. This color-coding of up and down arrows is standard…

Today, the S&P 500 closed at 4,027.81, up 1.42%. It last reached a high of 4,796.56 on January 3, 2022. By my calculation, that was 451 days ago. It has not returned to that high since, getting as low as 3,588.84 on October 11, 2022 and seeming to drift up and down in the 4,000 range (give or take a few hundred) over the past year. This has been the longest length of time without reaching a high I’ve personally experienced.* A few years back, just before the Pandemic changed…

So here we are in late March 2023. After a rough 2022 for the stock market, market shakiness continues, despite an upswing to start out the year. The ever-present volatility continues to be a slog. Even though I really do appreciate buying shares on discount, I feel like I have had a scratch that has remained un-itched for over a year. This feels kind of stupid as I write it, and yet, being a student of behavioral economics, I know how my brain works: I want to see gains! Sure,…

The magic of compounding is truly a remarkable thing. It is the idea that money invested can generate more and more money that eventually can snowball into impressive amounts (side note: here’s my thought experiment where a penny doubled every day becomes over $21 million in only a month!) Compounding has massive implications for our ability to accumulate wealth. Unfortunately, it seems that most people do not understand this principle, or do not believe it will work for them. I am very appreciative that I “got the bug” awhile ago.…

I read this article today stating that half of Americans nearing retirement (ages 55-66) have no retirement savings. I have heard these sorts of things before. Each time I hear about people not saving, I have the following reactions: Personally, when I started to save and invest, I was thrilled. I felt empowered and excited. I assumed everyone would feel this way, too. Who wouldn’t want to save and build a nest egg? In my experience, however, telling others to start saving does not work (surprise, surprise). At least, it…

They say the best offense is a good defense. When it comes to money management, I couldn’t agree more. In this area, playing defense is where I seem to shine. Before I make a list of areas that we play “money defense,” let me define what I mean by it: Playing defense with your money means doing all that you can to maximize how much you keep. In other words, playing money defense is about minimizing losses. Warren Buffett said the number one rule of investing is “Don’t lose.” Another…

I admit that I am a frugal guy. In 2015, I discovered a blogger named Mr. Money Mustache, whose financial blog changed my world (and the world of many, many other people). He helped give my innate frugality a cause: to save and invest money in order to build financial freedom. See, when I was a kid, I was just frugal. It seemed I had no choice. We didn’t spend much because, well, we didn’t have much. It was an unpleasant cycle: a feeling of lack motivating a resistance to…