When you buy a home, you will learn that there are two kinds of mortgages: fixed-rate and adjustable-rate. What’s the difference? A fixed-rate mortgage gives you an interest rate that never changes. An adjustable-rate mortgage gives you a volatile interest rate: in times of slow economic growth and low inflation, the interest rate will be…
Welcome to the anti-frugality blog. You CAN afford anything you want, if you learn to take the right steps. This is a blog for people who are tired of the extreme-frugality blogs. This is a blog for people who are tired of reading that you should skip that trip to Aruba, enroll at your second-choice…
Money management can get really complicated — if you let it. People ask me all kinds of nuanced, nitty-gritty questions: “Should I invest in Company XYZ, given that their price-to-book ratio is not up to recommended standards?” “Which of these five developed-market small-cap value funds do you recommend?” “Should I pay an early-withdrawal penalty to…
Retirement is such a part of our cultural fabric that it’s viewed as a basic human right. It’s the final chapter in the American Dream: a home, a family, a secure retirement. But it hasn’t always been this way. For much of American history, people worked until they were too sick to work anymore. The…
The traditional American Dream is home ownership, but everyone who lived through 2008 – 2010 knows that home ownership, for many, became the American Nightmare. What went wrong? (Aside from subprime mortgages and other things outside of our control): 1. Many people bought a home because it’s the “adult” thing to do … not because…
Here’s the truth about houses: Unless you’re a landlord, your house will probably be the lousiest investment you ever make. The myth about home ownership is that it’s a great investment — a way to “build equity” rather than “throwing your money away on rent.” Hogwash. Here’s the truth: When you rent, you pay one…