How Much Can I Afford To Spend On A House ??
A few months ago I started the process of “house hunting.” Personally, I find the whole process – looking, bidding, mortgage shopping, insurance, etc. way too stressful. Forget about packing and moving – that’s a nightmare! One of the first…
Tax Deduction For Sending Children To Private School ?
Last year, congress created a curious loophole in the IRS 529 code that provides a windfall for parents who send their children to a K-12 private school – and does it at the expense of the states. If you live…
Paying For College & 529 Plans
Scholarships For most of us, sending our children to college will require a multi-faceted plan involving grants / scholarship, savings and loans. I have heard several colleagues lament that we earn too much for our children to get scholarships but…
How Much Will college Cost?
I’m moving in a few weeks. Not across the country, just from Scottsdale to the South Mountain section of Phoenix. It’s a total distance of about 20 miles; however it might as well be in another state. All of the…
What are Inflation Protected Securities?
Earlier I introduced the concept of the inflation protected securities when I wrote about Bogleheads’ investment strategies. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) can be purchased at www.treasurydirect.gov, in $100 increments (minimum $100 purchase) and are available in 5, 10 and 30-year…
Where should I be investing my retirement savings?
That’s a great question – and the answer is likely to depend on whom you ask; however, among the honest investment advisors there are some common themes: Start early, invest regularly, take advantage of tax privileged accounts (401K, IRAs, etc.),…
The Rule of 100 – How Much Should I Invest In Stocks Vs. Bonds?
Earlier I wrote how historically, stocks have had the greatest potential for return but also had the highest risk. Bonds offer a much safer investment but much lower returns. So the question arises – how much of my investments should…
Diversification – The #1 Rule of Investing
When I was working on my MBA I became interested in a technology company that was changing the way the computer industry stored data. This was 1990 – long before the dot-com craze and this company actually manufactured something –…
The Rule of 72
There is an often misquoted “rule of 72” and it goes like this….. If you want to know the number of years needed to double money at a given rate of return, you just divide 72 by the rate. For…
All About IRAs
Traditional IRA vs Roth IRA What if you don’t have a 401K (403b, a “Simple IRA” or a or a SOLO 401K) at work? Or maybe you don’t like the available plan options. There are still tax-advantaged ways you can…
