Author Archives: OnceUSave

The short answer is no but before that, a bit about why everyone should have an estate plan in place. Imagine you have little kids and something bad happens to both of you and you don’t have an estate plan, the state gets to decide who raises your kids and who gets your money. EstateContinue reading “Do You Need A Revocable Living Trust?”

Let us use saving for retirement as an example. The first thing you would want to know is the amount you would spend in the first year of your retirement. You’d then want to inflation-adjust that amount each year through retirement. You’d then want to know how long retirement will last. A 100-year life expectancyContinue reading “If You Don’t Know How Much To Save, You Won’t Save Enough”

I am a worrier by design which means I try to protect what I need to protect through liberal use of insurance – life insurance for life, health insurance for health and auto insurance for my car. For my car? I don’t buy auto insurance to protect the value of my car because at someContinue reading “Umbrella Insurance”

Warren Buffett run Berkshire Hathaway paid a 10 cent dividend once in that one fateful year in 1967. Buffett, unarguably one of the best capital allocators ever, later joked that he must have been in the bathroom when that decision was made. Because of all the ways a business returns the harvested profits back to its owners,Continue reading “Dividends Are Not Free Money”

During World War II, researchers at the Center for Naval Analysis were trying to decide on where to add reinforcements to damaged aircrafts returning from their bombing missions. Reinforcements add extra weight so not all sections of the aircraft can be reinforced. So, if you were given the task to decide, where would you addContinue reading “Survivorship Bias Is Everywhere”

Bonds are safer than stocks. Cash is safer than bonds. Investing in startups is not for the faint of heart. On a risk-return spectrum, we see an upward sloping line as we go from safe investments on the left to increasingly riskier ones on the right. Finance nerds call this the Capital Market Line. ButContinue reading “A Spectrum Of Uncertainty”

Cornelius ‘Commodore’ Vanderbilt, the American railroad and shipping tycoon, died in 1877 and left behind a $95 million fortune to his eldest son, William H. Vanderbilt. $95 million might not put you anywhere in the Forbes 400 list today but that was more money at the time than was held in the United States treasury.Continue reading “Any Fool Can Make A Fortune”

There is seldom a parent who hasn’t gone through the tantrum-throwing phase of their kids’ lives. You walk into a store; your kid sees a toy and she must have it. The moment you say no and the next thing you see her rolling on the floor. I went through that phase as well. WhenContinue reading “Kids & Money”

What you feel is a good investment because of what you see and hear is seldom a good investment. A good investment is usually the one you don’t hear much about. Or if you do, you only hear disgust and shame. Because when an investment feels disgusting to own, its perceived risk is higher andContinue reading “One Banker, Thousand Borrowers”

President Dwight D. Eisenhower was once quoted as saying that in preparing for a battle, I have found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. There is no perfect plan because change is the only constant. But that does not mean we do not plan. I like simplicity which means that that 50-page binderContinue reading “Bridging The Gaps”