Personal Finance ABCs

A wise man wrote “There is a huge gap between the skills and knowledge each and every one of us needs to manage our financial lives, and the formal training that we’ve received.”  That was me.  It’s on the about page.

I have lots of posts to help with this.  The latest posts are on the home page, but there are many more.  Click on the category links in the header to explore!

I started with some ideas on how to save more money and create a budget, herehere and here.  Once we’ve managed to save some, we need to start investing.  Check out the posts on  compoundingasset allocationmutual funds and ETFsstocks and bonds. I’ve also got posts to help understand financial products and how they work, and how to use them to your advantage.

  • My company has a 401k. What is it, how does it work, and how can I participate?
  • My credit card gives me points. What am I giving up in exchange?
  • I’d like to invest in stocks but I don’t understand them.

I’ve also got tips on car buying from a former car salesman and a comparison of hearing aids.  

And you can always get back to the home page by clicking the dancing dollar sign guy at the top left of every page.

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Should I Buy An Annuity?
Should I buy an Annuity? Good question. Annuities are complex financial products. In this post, we’ll...
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Measuring Security Performance
As investors, we put our capital to work by buying securities in the expectation that they will increase...
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Investing Success - Avoid Disaster
Reflecting on some of my investments, it has occurred to me that investing success is as much about avoiding...
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Being Right Takes Time
Odd title for an article, but important for us as investors. We all make buy and sell decisions. Hopefully...
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Social Security - Now or Wait? A Follow-Up
Earlier this week, I posted some info on social security planning. This is a follow-up to answer a reader’s...
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Is NVIDIA On Sale?
This morning, CNBC Reported that Nvidia is in correction territory. Read here. Nvidia, ticker: NVDA,...
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When Should I Take Social Security?
For all my friends who are either close to, or in retirement, this is a common topic of discussion....
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Customer Service Stinks
I had lunch with Tony on Wednesday. Our usual spot, BYOB and mounds of good food for reasonable prices....
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The Dangers of Anchoring on Price
It’s easy for us to get stuck on a price for something. We get it in our head, and we never want...
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Roof-top Solar Panels - Worth It?
After years of debating, I finally decided to go with roof-top solar. I’m almost year in. Let’s...
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Investing - What if I Make a Mistake?
What if I make an investing mistake? In this post, we’ll talk about mistakes, how they happen...
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Please Save for Your Retirement
First off, easy for me to say. 78% of Americans report that they are living paycheck to paycheck. If...
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Think Twice Before You Buy That Car
Buying a car is a big expense. The average new car price is $50,000, and used car prices aren’t...
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Easy Ways to Save
We all need to save some of our income. It’s not as hard as you may think. We’ll talk about...
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Fastenal - What I Learned From Their Annual Report
I wanted to share some learnings from a brief review of the Fastenal Annual Shareholder Report. This...
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The Greatest 15 Pages You'll Ever Read
I’d like to share some excerpts from an exceptional annual report. As an investor, you’ll...
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Can I Retire Comfortably?
Can I retire comfortably? That’s the big question. Let’s dig in and talk a bit about what...
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Stock Splits - Meh!
In this post we will talk about what a stock split is, why they happen and what it means to you as an...
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Christmas in March, A Dividend Story
This morning, I checked my brokerage account and found an $814.57 gift. As a retiree, I rely on investment...
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Company Research
It’s annual report season. If you hold stock in more than a few companies, prepare to be inundated...
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Investor Mentality
In order to build wealth through investing, it is important to have the right mentality. In this post,...
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