The mortgage payment is the biggest fixed cost that many families have, and getting rid of it frees up a lot of funds. It is also a large source of tax deductions. Interest rates are almost comically low right now. Should you pay off your mortgage or keep it? Here are a few questions to help you… [Read More]
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Paying for college: A credit to the alma mater
Recently, a writer I know was bemoaning a trite parenting-type story that she wrote. After all, she was an Ivy League graduate, shouldn’t she be doing something more with her skills than blogging about consumer products? Well, what should she be doing? We tend to define the successful payoff from a degree in terms of… [Read More]
Some notes on target-date funds
Target-date funds have become a popular way to save for retirement because they are such a simple idea that they qualify as a default investment for employer retirement plans such as 401(k)s. They have advantages, but they also have risk. The big risk is that your risk and return profile is not the same as… [Read More]
Money and happiness
One of the reasons that I like saving money is that there are things I really want that are not cheap, like travel. I’d rather spend less at the grocery store every week so that I have more money for vacation. Saving up for things is terribly old-fashioned. Yet, like many old-fashioned things, it’s good… [Read More]
