Good morning! Today's email includes... The 14 biggest risks in retirement - and how to beat them. [Part 2 of a two-part series] A funny connection between investing and the weather - and our strange perceptions of both. The 14 Retirement Risks - and How to Beat Them In these two episodes, Jesse applies Charlie Munger's principle of inversion to retirement planning, arguing that instead of defining success alone, investors should first identify how retirement plans fail and then design...
8 days ago • 1 min read
Good morning! Today's email includes... The 14 biggest risks in retirement - and how to beat them. [Part 1 of a two-part series] A funny connection between investing and the weather - and our strange perceptions of both. The 14 Retirement Risks - and How to Beat Them In this episode, Jesse applies Charlie Munger's principle of inversion to retirement planning, arguing that instead of defining success alone, investors should first identify how retirement plans fail and then design strategies...
15 days ago • 1 min read
Good morning! Today's email includes... A description of a "life file" -- and an argument for why you need one. A conversation tackling a few hotly debated ideas in retirement planning. Why Everyone Needs a Life File: Friend-of-the-blog Mary and I had a wonderful conversation this week about an important – but depressing – topic: Everyone should get their sh** together in case they get hit by a bus. Seriously. It might not be a bus. But you never know when death will come knocking. The last...
22 days ago • 1 min read
Good morning! Today's email includes... A guide to living a terrible financial life (so we can choose the opposite)... A conversation tackling a few hotly debated ideas in retirement planning. And other articles about ......... How to Ensure Financial Misery One of Charlie Munger’s famous speeches is “How to Live a Life of Misery.” Rather than tell graduates how to live happily, he delivered the opposite message. Because if you avoid life’s surefire miseries, what’s left but happiness?...
29 days ago • 1 min read
Good morning! Today's email includes... A complete glossary of the confusing world of advisor fees (e.g. "fee based" vs. "flat fee" etc) Finding the balance between over-complicating vs. over-simplifying your financial plan And other articles about "the great filter," corporate earnings, and private equity. Advisor Fee Jargon Glossary The financial advising industry stinks for its jargon. The worst culprit might be the different ways advisors charge fees. Lots of DIYers – and lots of...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Good morning! Today's email includes... A cautionary tale about the 0% capital gains tax A big change in opinion about target-date funds. And articles on car costs, lowering birthrates, and "retirement date windows"... When "0% Capital Gains Tax" is Terrible Advice Time for another cautionary tale! A client sent me this video last week, along with the question: “Is this legit – or fake news?“ Johnefinance | John Eringman Here's why $3,227,500 is the perfect number to retire early, especially...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Good morning! Today's email includes... An apostle of FIRE makes a fundamental Social Security mistake that leads his flock astray. and A big change in opinion about target-date funds. "Shockingly Simple"...Or Shockingly Wrong?! Mr. Money Mustache (MMM) might be the “Paul the Apostle” of the financial independence / FIRE movement, a relentless missionary spreading the Lord’s word far and wide. If MMM hasn’t converted more people to FIRE than anyone else, he’s got to be near the top of the...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Thank you for reading The Best Interest And listening to my podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors From the blog... My accountant is a great guy. He’s sharp. He cares. There’s a reason I’m using him as my tax preparer. But… Tax season is busy. Most accountants report working ~60+ hours a week during tax season. It’s easy to make mistakes on a tax return. Even a “simple” tax preparation might involve 10+ sub-documents, various inputs, transposing numbers, etc. Then, most...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Thank you for reading The Best Interest And listening to my podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors From the blog... Tax season. GAH! Imagine this: you and your neighbor pay the same total in taxes this year. You’re frustrated. They’re thrilled. How is that possible?! It turns out, our relationship with taxes has far less to do with the numbers and far more to do with psychology, timing, and perception. If you’ve ever celebrated a refund or dreaded a bill, this article will feel...
2 months ago • 1 min read
