Investing is hard enough. I don’t deal in maybes. If you’re researching 721 DSTs, chances are you’ve already owned real estate, completed a 1031 exchange, or are preparing for one. You may also be encountering conflicting advice about traditional DSTs, optional 721 DSTs, and something newer called an anticipated 721 DST or mandatory 721 DST. This article exists to clear […]
If you’re anything like me, anytime you need to make a significant financial decision, especially one you aren’t already intimately familiar with, you start researching. And an almost infinite variety of other topics. So, where do you search for such information? According to the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Board of Standards 2025 report, “Steering Clear […]
If you live in New York and have a decent income, you know that New York taxes are expensive. Really expensive. According to the Tax Foundation, New York has the highest per-capita state and local tax collection of any state, at $12,685, more than 78% higher than the national average. And that’s just the average […]
When my then-wife and I brought our first child home from the hospital, both our moms were there to help us settle in. Then, when evening came, they left. We looked at each other with matching “deer in headlights” expressions, realizing it was all up to us now. And as prepared as we thought we […]
It can be a financial lifeline for struggling retirees. Or it can turn out to be an expensive trap. “It” is the reverse mortgage, first issued more than six decades ago in a bid to help a Maine widow stay in her home, and subject to periodic tinkering by Congress ever since. If you’re a […]
Massachusetts has one of the country’s heaviest state tax burdens. According to the Tax Foundation, it ranks eighth nationally in per-capita state and local tax collections, at $9,341 per resident, more than 30% above the national average But even if you earn a high income, you may assume that Massachusetts millionaire tax surcharge will never […]
Life insurance is a tricky subject. It forces us to confront something most people prefer not to think about: our mortality. And as we get older, the issue feels much less theoretical. Still, if you’re like me and already a senior, it’s a conversation you probably need to have. Should you buy life insurance late […]
I’ve been a financial DIYer for decades, pretty much my entire adult life. And for most of those decades, it felt pretty straightforward. Now that I’m 63, the fact that I’m mostly retired is a testament to how well these habits and approaches work (especially when accompanied by a fair amount of good fortune). But […]
It took some doing. After 20+ years in academia, a notoriously underpaid career choice, followed by a brief stint as an employee in a small engineering services company, I started my own one-person consulting practice. That let me set my own compensation, and not worry about job security, as long as I could find customers […]