Disclaimer: I hate writing book reviews just a tad more than I hate reading them, but I figured it would be helpful if nothing else to at least mention a few a the typically 2-3 books I plow through during a week if I deem they could be helpful. I only expect to mention the [...]Those with lower wealth will eventually get done in by consumption. They’re simply spending too much to be able to invest significant amounts overseas. — from the book Richistan by Robert Frank I’d make that “invest significant amounts” period. Wealth is defined as the ratio between investable assets (not consumer assets like the house you [...]
Medicaid (MassHealth)
The Administration is feeling the heat with the increase in Medicaid (MassHealth) spending. Without a doubt something needs to be done—as spending now accounts for almost 40% of the overall budget. That’s less money for schools, for cops, and for roads.
I, among others, think the Administration is being too ...
Retirement Investing-The Main Challenge The long time problem of retirement investing has been the need to have a significant amount of money in equities while avoiding a downturn in the equity markets from destroying your retirement nest egg. Once retired, you cannot earn it back again if you lose it in the stock market. Why [...]
Learn how to calculate your High 3 Salary for your FERS or CSRS pension calculation.The Non-Foreign AREA Act outlines the change from COLA to Locality Pay for Federal Employees in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam and other US Territories. Here is the full text of the legislation.I don’t have a disaster fund or an emergency fund. For emergencies, I use a credit card. Why do I do that? The reason is that emergency funds must sit in a checking account to be liquid. While sitting there they earn less than a savings account (in general) typically only a few percent. If [...]Yesterday’s post described how it is possible to get superior returns by active value investing. Now, before anyone decides to become an active investor, there are some things to consider first. Value or any kind of active investing takes time. There are, therefore, opportunity costs to consider. Suppose you have $10,000 to invest and that [...]This recipe is grand because it can be cooked in the morning and eaten in the evening. Start in the evening by soaking some black eyed peas and some navy beans. These can be pressure cooked in the morning while DW takes a shower(*) and you cut up some green onions (I found a few [...]I think the reason that many people have the need to spend so much money and save more than 1 million for retirement is that is that they feel that security is achieved through ownership of multi-bed/bathroom houses (castles) that are built around car garages that house full size cars or big SUVs sometimes in [...]A quote that is entirely relevant to financial independence: “His goal attracts him, because he doesn’t let anything enter his soul which might oppose the goal. This is what Siddhartha has learned among the Samanas. This is what fools call magic and of which they think it would be effected by means of the daemons. [...]If you use a browser and you are addicted to more than a handful of blogs, then you are probably familiar with the routine of continuously checking the websites to look for updates. I used to do that too until I discovered the beautiful efficiency of RSS readers. You can read more about RSS here. [...]
Below is a guest post from rePete arguing that optimal budget solution follows a Pareto law. This means focusing mainly on housing and transportation. Terhorst spent an entire book trying to convince us that if only we’re willing to reconsider our attitude towards these two items a great many of us could retire on what [...]
Current rates for Alaska COLA and Alaska Locality Pay. Find out how the transition from COLA to Locality Pay affects Federal Employees in the State of Alaska.COLA Locality Pay rates for Alaska, Hawaii & US Territories. See examples of how this transition affects you and your federal retirement plans.
Learn about special rules to buy back COLA as Locality Pay to increase your High 3 Salary for Federal RetirementThe change from COLA to Locality Pay for Federal Employees brings concerns about take home pay and comes with increased taxes. Learn more about the tax increases most Federal Employees miss.Current rates for Hawaii COLA and Locality Pay. Find out how the change from COLA to Locality Pay affect Federal Employees in Hawaii
Current rates for Puerto Rico COLA and Locality Pay. Also rates of Locality and COLA Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa