Just tidbits about money and finance.
From the category archives:
Last week I heard a story about NPR’s Planet Money buying $1000 in a toxic asset. It was a fascinating story, one that’s going to evolve over time.
You can name the asset since they haven’t yet. (Today is the last day to enter their contest!)
Interesting stuff. It’s all about the risk.
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I made some trades last week in my IRA account and found out that trade commissions have been slashed. They’re now $7.95 instead of $19.95. YAY!
I thought my fees were lowered because I was buying a foreign stock, but I thought that was weird because I’ve bought this stock before and paid a higher fee. [...]
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I am not an investment genius. I think I am a diligent saver.
My 401k is up 16% for the year. But last year it was down, some 37%.
Yes, the market has rebounded a bit, true. But saving regularly into a down stock market has produced these results.
I’m also exploring a more balanced portfolio of stocks [...]
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Reader Dave asks:
Why would you stop contributing to ESPP and not sell shares and lock in gains?
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Some background, my ESPP balance is equivalent to about 10-12% of my total investment portfolio, so it’s at the maximum allocation it should be.
Dave makes the assumption that I have gains. His experience with ESPP’s is very different from [...]
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Enough Wealth asks:
When you say “I am underwater on my mortgage. I cannot possibly sell my condo right now. Renting is my best option.” Is that simply because you would make a loss by selling up (eg. have to take out a personal loan to settle the mortgage balance)?
If so, think through the option of [...]
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My net worth for April is very positive largely due to a rebounding market. I am also hoarding cash a little bit to prepare for my eventual move to DC with my boyfriend.
I also have some Stubhub ticket sales from the Washington Capitals playoffs. I made quite more than I initially thought I had, which [...]
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I live in a pretty decent area in Northern Virginia. Maybe this isn’t hot news to anyone, but it’s much worse than I thought. In Arlington, Capitals hockey players like Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green and Brooks Laich are buying places. So while it’s not great around NoVA, some neighborhoods are still pretty expensive.
My neighborhood is [...]
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This is the second part of my realization that I needed professional help with my investing.
In the first part, I wrote about my company’s benefit policy which offers me a 401k plan for retirement and a financial advising service. After my first session, the adviser prepared an investment report for me.
During my second session, the [...]
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My company has some rockin’ benefits. They make personal finance coaches available to employees to cover a range of topics, including debt reduction, budgeting, saving, retirement planning, insurance, and portfolio management.
I’ve been with my company for just over a year and a participant in the 401k plan for about 12 months. I have been buying [...]
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One of the benefits of working for a large company is that they offer free financial education courses and advising through a third party company.
A few nights ago, I had my first money coaching session. I don’t think of it as financial advising since they don’t offer specific investments as suggestions, but they talk about [...]
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