One of the most important rules of investing is this: Don’t invest in anything you don’t understand. If you don’t understand stocks, don’t invest in them. If you don’t understand options, don’t invest in them. If you don’t understand futures contracts, don’t invest in them. If you don’t understand credit default swaps, well … don’t … Read more
The author’s marketing company kindly sent me a complimentary company of Bill Schultheis’ latest reworking of his book: The New Coffeehouse Investor. According to the “about the author” section in the book, Mr. Schultheis is an investment adviser with Soundmark Wealth Management, LLC, a fee-only registered investment adviser located in Kirkland, Washington. In the preface … Read more
Over at the MBN Forums there was some discussion about a short video presentation called Drive Free, Retire Rich over at Dave Ramsey’s website. The first part of the presentation (up through Slide 11) was very well put together, and showed perfectly the value of buying used over borrowing and buying new. A synopsis of … Read more
This morning in Sunday school someone threw out that a substantial fraction of Americans have a lottery win comprising their retirement plans. (“How did we get to talking about gambling in Sunday school?” you might ask. It was just a chance discussion, that’s all.) I just shook my head at that statistic. I figured it … Read more
Finding time to invest in yourself is smart, especially in today’s rocky job market. If you have a commute, as many do, listening to audiobooks is a straightforward way to make productive use of that time. Popping in some thought-provoking or inspirational material can broaden your knowledge and sharpen your effectiveness at work, which will … Read more
This Michelle Singletary column on the Washington Post website has answers to a few readers’ questions regarding debt and debt reduction. The first question outlines a situation that stings a bit. Here’s a summary: Husband has less construction work coming in; takes lesser-paying jobs to bring in something. Couple cuts budget but is still short … Read more
(This is a guest post written by ABCs of Investing, a brand new site for novice investors which offers two short and simple investing posts per week. Feel free to subscribe to the feed.) The majority of investors use a financial advisor or broker to help with their investing planning. There is nothing wrong with … Read more
Jim posted a bit back about shutting off the financial news and watching lolcats. Synopsis: If the market news makes your stomach churn, just put your brain on autopilot for a while. I’ve checked out ICanHasCheezburger and FailBlog and they’re pretty amusing. No, actually, some of the posts are downright side-splitting. (This recent one is … Read more