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All in Investing
With the current expansion nearing its tenth year, it's actually possible that someone could have already worked a third of their professional career knowing nothing but expansion. I figured it might be interesting to describe the experience of a recession for all of those that have never known one, and provide some tips to soften the blows.
I’ve repeatedly seen two narratives told over and over again. First of all, debt is bad. Second, although debt is bad, having a mortgage is alright because it acts like a forced savings plan, slowly enabling borrowers to build wealth. But can't the “forced savings plan” idea can be extended beyond simply mortgage debt, if executed intelligently with low interest, short term debt?
The more that I learn, the more I think about investing and how I can be more effective with my portfolio. As the stock market has begun to falter, this has come to the forefront of my mind. Every day I find myself wondering how I can be more diversified and therefore more insulated from the everyday ups and downs of each market.
Life is expensive, and that can make it really hard to save. With rent, cell phones, cars, healthcare, food, childcare, vacations and thousands of other little costs, it’s not unusual for someone to have 80-90% of their income disappear into the ether. Lately, I’ve been thinking about ways I can try to turn at least some of those recurring payments into recurring investments, or at least mitigate them so I don’t lose so much of my income to recurring expenses each month.
HELOCs and refinancing aren't the only options for accessing the equity in a home. This week, I take a close look at a third option.
We may not know when the next recession will come, but one thing's for certain: it's easier to plan for it BEFORE it begins, when times are still good. Here's my plan.
A couple years ago I developed my own investment guidelines and principles with the eventual goal of building my own portfolio.
How much do I need to retire? I made this easy calculator to find out.
Portfolio Visualizer is a comprehensive suite of investment analysis tools that you used to have to pay thousands of dollars for, but thanks to the interwebs, is now free. Here’s what you can do with it.
