Author Archives: OnceUSave

We all pay into the Social Security system through FICA taxes each year. FICA is short for Federal Insurance Contributions Act that also includes paying for Medicare, but we’ll leave that discussion to later. The Social Security system, as designed, is set up as a transfer payment from the folks who are currently working payingContinue reading “Decoding Social Security”

Albert Einstein is a universal symbol of genius. He discovered the theory of relativity, won a Nobel Prize in physics, and made scientific advances in gravity, cosmology, radiation, theoretical physics, statistical mechanics, and quantum theory. So wouldn’t an investor be blessed to have the smarts like his? Einstein lost his savings – including his Nobel Prize moneyContinue reading “The Right Process & A Good-Enough Plan”

Tim Urban in one of his posts, The AI Revolution: The Road to Superintelligence, attempts to measure the accelerating rate of human progress through something called the Death Progress Units (DPU). Take George Washington for example, our first president and likely a very curious dude from the mid-eighteenth century and say we transport him to today. But imagine hisContinue reading “Reinvesting Dividends Sets You Free”

Johnny Depp was one of the highest paid actors in the world. He was worth $650 million at one point. In 2017, Depp filed a lawsuit1 against his former business managers, accusing them of stealing all his wealth and leaving him bankrupt with a $100 million tax bill. His business managers countersued2, claiming that DeppContinue reading “Investing Your Retirement Savings”

You know the end of working for a paycheck is coming but when you are in your 20s, that end seems so far away that it might not as well come. Plus, life has a way of getting in the way. But then you wake up one day when you are 45 and you startContinue reading “Never Too Late”

I get to listen to radio sometimes and there are (unfortunately) still a plethora of shows out there where people call in to ask whether a given stock is a buy, sell or a hold. So think about this. You call into a radio show to talk to a complete stranger – okay, a professionalContinue reading “Technical Analysis Is For Suckers”

I wish we would see a day when a majority women are at the helm of our businesses and the markets. I wish child-rearing, toddler-totting mothers someday rule Wall Street and investment houses across the globe. Consider me biased as I am a dad to two beautiful daughters but there is plenty of anecdotal evidenceContinue reading “Women Make Better Investors”

Whether you like it or not, the stock and bond markets is where a bulk of your savings will end up. Or at least they should. Owning stocks means owning pieces of businesses while owning bonds means becoming a lender to the same businesses or sometimes to the governments. In case a business goes bankrupt,Continue reading “Most Mistakes Happen In The Tails”

Fresh out of school and ready to take on the mean, bad world, you go find yourself your dream job. And with that comes access to a workplace retirement plan like a 401(k). Not all employers offer one but then you deem yourself lucky. So, an enlightened 25-year-old that you are who knows what timeContinue reading “Taking Market Declines In Stride”

Ralph Wagner, the legendary manager of the Acorn Fund, once likened the stock market to an excitable dog on a long leash in New York City, darting randomly in every direction. The dog’s owner is walking from Columbus Circle through Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum. But at any given moment, there is no predictingContinue reading “Price vs. Value”