Three months I mentioned in the post Mr. Financial Planner - Go Home and Get Your Shine Box! how 100% of my company-managed 401K was in the Fixed Income fund.
The statement lists the returns for all the investment options I had at my disposal. My Cash Fixed Fund earned just a 0.97% return. But [...]
About a week before 9/11, I made one of the most fortunate consumer choices of my life. Although I had already decided to buy a silver VW Golf hatchback, I didn’t know if I should get the gasoline or the diesel engine. Having never owned a diesel engine, I was concerned I wouldn’t find a [...]
A few people in Seattle have asked me if this is the right time to buy a house. They don’t really want my answer. They want to buy and want me to agree with that decision. My needs and their needs are not the same. My goal (at this time) is to maximize investment, not [...]
Don’t blame me. It isn’t my fault your home price is plummeting, your 401K is getting rocked and your bank is in trouble. I’m just a student of financial history and saw things differently than the bubble-heads on CNBC. I still have a lot to learn and I’m often wrong (oil). However, it is starting [...]
After posting True Job Insurance Means Shorting Your Own Company earlier this week I realized it raised some questions that weren’t answered in the post.
DHammy stated accurately:
I think it’s unlikely anyone is going to follow this advice. People just aren’t able to see how big that gap is between what they know and what they [...]
On 3/17/2008 I posted IndyMac I’m Never Coming Back.
IndyMac has the lowest rating a bank can receive with Safe and Sound ratings. After seeing Bear Stearns implode in days, I didn’t need much encouragement to close that account out immediately.
Then on 7/2/2008, I followed it up with IndyMAC - Dead Bank Walking?
Tonight after the market [...]
For years I’ve jokingly stated the number one investment rule is to:
Never invest in a company that would hire you or one of your friends.
Although this gets a laugh, there is some truth to this advice. Employees of a company are typically only told one side of the financial story. News about every deal or [...]
Over the past three years I’ve read many financial books across various subtopics. Although I had intended to take a break from the finance books, I couldn’t pass up a chance to read this book.
More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places (Updated and Expanded) by Michael J. Mauboussin for me was a [...]
This March in the post IndyMac I’m Never Coming Back, I wrote how as soon as my CD matured I closed out my account.
This morning my CD with IndyMac bank matured. IndyMac has the lowest rating a bank can receive with Safe and Sound ratings. After seeing Bear Stearns implode in days, I didn’t need [...]
In a post earlier this week TheTailGunner posted his success buying individual stocks since 2004. From The Market has been good to me:
On July 16th, 2004, I opened this account with $11,107.66.
As of some time today, the account is currently worth $26,869.12.
That’s an increase of almost 240% in less than 4 years. Not too shabby.
He [...]
