Each month, I find that there’s a bunch of small topics that don’t warrant their own post but that I want to share nonetheless. Here are some from August. Beach House In North Carolina In the eight years that we’ve lived in Virginia, we’ve rented houses near the beach on the southern coast of North… Continue reading August 2020 Update
One challenge that first time investors face is where to invest. The options are nearly infinite, with the financial industry creating new products every day. The myriad of choices are overwhelming. I propose the following four levels of investing. A beginning investor could start at the first level and as their education and stomach for… Continue reading Level Up Your Asset Allocation
For my readers in the United States, happy 4th of July! And for my readers outside of the United States, happy 4th of July as well 🙂 In a previous post I looked at target date funds offered by Vanguard. In my opinion, they are a great benchmark to measure other target date funds, including… Continue reading Comparing my 401(k)’s Target Date Funds
It’s been four months since I posted about my experiment selling covered calls on some stock in DumpsterFireInc. With the pandemic and the associated crazy market volatility, it’s felt like much longer than four months. Its a good time to check in with how my experiment has been going. The Good The good news is… Continue reading Covered Calls Experiment Update
For most of my peers, digging through 401(k) investment literature and understanding the different options is not exciting and even a little scary. Few make it a hobby like I do. I can sympathize with the allure of a “target date” fund. The chief advantage of target date funds is their simplicity. Simply specify the… Continue reading DIY Target Date Fund
It was Thanksgiving 2017 and I was having an investing conversation. During the conversation, I tried to explain the dangers of “return chasing”, picking investments solely based on past performance and projecting past performance into the future. Picking a fund that has had a good run is not an effective investment strategy. Instead of return… Continue reading Return Chasing
Fees make me grumpy. Given how much financial providers attempt to hide or obscure fees, I’m guessing I’m not the only one. Fees bite into my future retirement and are paid regardless of whether my investments do well or not. Investment Fees The first fee in my 401(k) plan that makes me grumpy is the… Continue reading 401(k) Fee Drag
I was eating lunch with coworkers a few days ago and the topic of stock options came up. I related to them my recent experience writing covered calls against stock that I acquired through a previous employer. They had many questions that I hope to address in this post. Risky Business What’s a covered call?… Continue reading Option(al) Income
