How Much Does Your ETF Really Cost? Let’s Discuss an Active ETF Expense Ratio vs. Index ETFs vs. Mutual Funds One of the most important factors to consider when analyzing and comparing ETF investment options is the expenses of the fund. The ETF arena now has so many investment options, that many areas in the […]
And what the comparison means, beyond our natural vanity It’s just human. Unless we’re struggling to survive, we care a lot more about how we’re doing compared to others, especially those we consider our peers than about our objective situation. Really. Don’t believe me? OK, let’s do a thought experiment. Ever hear of Maslow’s hierarchy […]
Social Security is a critical part of making retirement even somewhat affordable for many Americans. According to Fool.com, Social Security can replace over half of career-average wages for low-income Americans, and about 40% for middle-income Americans. By the time you reach the maximum Social-Security-taxable income, benefits replace just over a quarter of your career-average income. […]
Personal finance experts will tell you that budgeting well is at the heart of good money management. It’s true, but any budget is only as good as the method you use to make it. Sloppy budgeting could even be worse than no budgeting at all. If you leave important categories out of your budget, you’ll […]
I’ve been investing in (mostly stock) mutual funds since 1994. As I wrote elsewhere, after a rocky start, I developed a method for picking mutual funds that’s worked pretty well for me. 2 Pieces of Accepted Investing Wisdom I Rarely Follow There are two commonly accepted pieces of investing wisdom that I mostly reject. First, […]
Freelancing is tough. And many new freelancers make it tougher by falling into bad financial habits. Sometimes right from the start. Here are a few bad habits to avoid if you’re trying to make it as a freelancer. Treating freelancing like a job Financially a job is very different from being a freelancer. When you […]
* But Fortunately, Times Are Changing (Quickly) People who have access to a financial advisor have better financial outcomes. Charles Schwab conducted a survey of the financial behaviors of people who work with a financial planner compared to those who don’t. The results for people who work with a financial advisor are encouraging. 75% pay their bills and still have enough […]
There are now around 57 million freelancers in the US, and the move to full-time freelancing is becoming more attractive, for many reasons. Freelancing is far from being an easy option, though, and many freelancers find it hard to scale their business and earn more money. Simply working longer and longer hours isn’t a sustainable […]
Inflation keeps ticking higher and higher, but affects the cost of some items much more than others The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) tracks thousands of prices and folds them all into a weighted average they call the consumer price index, or CPI. Last month, I wrote how the CPI’s year-over-year increase was 5.0%, […]