I was interviewed recently by an hourly fee-only financial advisor by the name of Jim Ludwick who has his own internet/radio show called “Swim with Jim.“ I thought you might be interested in checking it out. You can find the link here. It is about 15 minutes long. Sorry I don’t have a transcript. How’d I do? What should I have brought up in the interview? Comment below! … Continue reading
[Editor's Note: This guest post is written anonymously by a CPA who is currently working as a community college Chief Financial Officer. On a personal basis his six children have attended various public, private, and military colleges and graduate schools. On a professional basis, he has observed many financial errors made by students and their parents with regards to paying for college. In this piece he tosses WCI readers a few pearls of wisdom. We … Continue reading
The dentists who read the blog might not be happy about this post, but it’s something I’ve been dealing with a bit since I became a partner a few months ago. I now pay for all of my dental care, one way or another. I’ve been trying to figure out the least expensive way to do so. My partnership has “dental insurance” where you pay the dentist cash, then submit your forms for reimbursement to … Continue reading
[Editor's Note: This is Part 5/5 of a critique of Missed Fortune 101, a book by Douglas Andrew. If you're not coming here from part 4, better go back and read parts 1-4 first.] Insurance Is Not Triple Tax-Free There is an investment account that gives you a tax deduction when you contribute, grows tax-free, and then comes out tax-free. It isn’t a universal life insurance policy. It’s a health savings account. Mr. Andrew likes … Continue reading
[Editor's Note: This is Part 4/5 of a critique of Missed Fortune 101, a book by Douglas Andrew. If you're not coming here from part 3, better go back and read parts 1-3 first.] A Few Random Criticisms Of The Book Now, before we move on to my criticisms of the other part of Douglas Andrew’s strategy (investing in universal life insurance contracts), let’s pause for a minute to point out a few other random … Continue reading
[Editor's Note: This is Part 3/5 of a critique of Missed Fortune 101, a book by Douglas Andrew. If you're not coming here from part 2, better go back and read parts 1 and 2 first.] Putting Money Down Gets You A Cheaper Mortgage Throughout the book, Douglas continually shows you illustrations where the mortgage rate is the same no matter how much you put down. That hasn’t been my experience when I’ve been out … Continue reading
[Editor's Note: This is Part 2/5 of a critique of Missed Fortune 101, a book by Douglas Andrew. If you're not coming here from part 1, better go back and read that first.] Don’t Contribute To A 401K? Mr. Andrew isn’t completely unreasonable. He does acknowledge that you should contribute to a 401K enough to get the match (well, most of the time) and that Roth IRAs are pretty cool. But aside from the fact … Continue reading
I’ve written before about some ways in which Dave Ramsey may be misleading you. For the most part, however, I think he gives great advice, especially with regards to the behavioral issues relating to getting out of debt and dealing with family and small business financial issues. One of the pearls Dave has contributed to the personal finance lexicon are his “Baby-Steps.” They seem aimed at the financially clueless, but they still have merit for … Continue reading
Q. What should I do with a windfall, such as a $500K inheritance from a long lost Uncle or a larger sign-on bonus than expected? A. Two of my favorite investing/finance books, The Bogleheads Guide To Investing, and The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need, each have an entire chapter on this subject that are well worth reading. The Bogleheads Wiki also has a nice page on it. I prefer to divide windfalls into three … Continue reading
Q. Should I use my HSA for out of pocket health care expenses or use it as a Stealth IRA? A. I’ve written before about the wonderful benefits of a Health Savings Account (HSA.) If used for health care expenses, it can be a triple tax-free account. This makes it better than a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA, and a 529 account. You get an up-front tax deduction just like with a traditional IRA, it … Continue reading