When friends ask me for advices, I generally tell them to buy index funds.
However, when my sister in law asked me about investing, I gave her a different suggestion.
I had started by telling her to buy index funds, while asking her risk tolerance/aversion, expectations etc.
After she told me what she wanted:
1. Low Risk
2. Short term [...]

Posted in Finances, Lifestyle 1 Comment »

A while ago, I wrote about the invincibility complex and that you should be really careful with it.
I’m a skeptical by nature, so it’s easier for me to expect that good things won’t last forever.
But for those of you that are too optimistic, you should step back and take a deep breath.
Some economists are not [...]

Posted in Finances, Lifestyle 2 Comments »

Most of us in the personal finance blogosphere know that we should be really, really careful with our checking account numbers. It’s just too easy for someone to withdraw all our money once they have our checking info.
Top Gear (a british show) presenter Jeremy Clarkson should read more personal finance blogs. He branded the scandal [...]

Posted in Finances No Comments »

The 133th edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance is up at “We’re in Debt”.
Don’t forget to check it out.

Posted in Carnivals, Finances No Comments »

So Christmas is over and the expenses are finally sinking in. You probably went over budget on food, decorations and specially gifts. It’s hard to keep things under budget. I blame it on the Xmas spirit.
We always hear that it’s not really the value of the gift that’s important, but the thought behind it, [...]

Posted in Family, Finances, Lifestyle No Comments »

I took a hiatus in posting in this blog.
A couple of months ago, my son was diagnosed with autism. As you can imagine, it was really heart breaking, and I really didn’t feel like blogging anymore.
But things are better now (I’ll post about his progress later), and I think it’s time for me to start [...]

Posted in Family, Finances 3 Comments »

Found this at CNNMoney.com through one of the comments in Dr Housing Bubble blog and thought it was funny.
But seriously…
I’ve been looking at houses for a while, but when you have a house that can be rented for $2500/mo going for $800k, which translates to a $3600 mortgage (considering a 200k downpayment and a 600k loan [...]

Posted in Finances, Real State 1 Comment »

There’s a very interesting article from John Mauldin at investor insight.
I’m going to be honest. I didn’t understand 100% of what he said, but even without all the details, I could better understand what happened to the market and how it was affected by the problems with the subprime loans and how it affected even [...]

Posted in Finances, Investment 2 Comments »

I have a friend/roommate that lives with us and pays me $600/mo to help out. It’s a good deal for her, because I don’t charge anything else, and she enjoys all the benefits that we do. The $600 pretty much covers my HOA and the utilities. Not really financially worth it for me to give [...]

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I wouldn’t suggest anyone do this. You need an emergency fund and you shouldn’t touch it unless it’s a true emergency. A pair of designer shoes on sale is NOT an emergency.
Easier said than done.
I’ve been putting money in the market these past few weeks.
Given the plunge these past 2 days and the great recovery [...]

Posted in Finances, Investment 3 Comments »