Category: Blog
I am a licensed CPA sharing my experience building my portfolio as a young professional. During this process of sharing information online, I hope to increase free financial literacy access for all.
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Financial Literacy Essentials You Should Know
Many Americans believe they have strong financial knowledge, yet evidence shows a different story. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has found that a large portion of adults struggle with basic financial concepts. You should be able to pass the FINRA financial literacy quiz to ensure you have the essential financial skills needed for everyday…
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How Does Bond Laddering Work?
Investing wisely in fixed income can be challenging, especially in fluctuating markets. Bond laddering offers a strategic way to manage your investments by staggering the maturity dates of multiple bonds. This helps you achieve regular income and risk management by holding bonds until they mature. Imagine having a series of bonds that mature at different…
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How to Grow Your Emergency Fund to 18-24 Months for Retirement?
As you approach retirement, ensuring financial security becomes crucial. One way to achieve this is by reassessing the size of your emergency fund from 3-6 months of expenses to 18-24 months. This larger cushion can help you manage unexpected costs without dipping into your retirement accounts prematurely. Retirement can bring about various uncertainties, including fluctuations…
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What is an Expense Ratio?
When you invest in mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs), you’re often focused on the potential returns. However, a crucial factor that can significantly affect your earnings over time is the expense ratio associated with these investments. Essentially, the expense ratio is a measure of what it costs an investment company to operate a mutual…
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How to Build an Emergency Fund with Irregular Income
Building an emergency fund is a fundamental step towards financial security, especially for those with irregular income. Without a consistent paycheck, traditional budgeting advice often falls short, leaving you vulnerable to the ebbs and flows of freelance work, commission-based roles, or seasonal employment. But even with an unpredictable income stream, establishing a financial safety net…
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The Only Free Lunch in Investing is Diversification
In the world of investing, you often encounter the phrase that there’s no such thing as a free lunch, implying that it’s impossible to achieve a reward without taking on some risk. However, diversification stands out as a unique strategy, often referred to as the one ‘free lunch,’ where you can potentially reduce the risk…
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What does it mean to be an Accredited Investor and How to be One?
Wealth can be both a measure of financial success and a gateway to exclusive investment opportunities. As you explore the realms of investment, you may encounter the term ‘accredited investor,’ a designation that carries significant meaning in the financial world. Being an accredited investor denotes that you’ve met specific regulatory guidelines which, in turn, allow…
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Net Worth: Knowing Your Entire Portfolio of Assets and Liabilities
Understanding your net worth is a fundamental aspect of personal finance management. It provides a clear snapshot of your financial situation by balancing assets against liabilities. Totaling the value of everything you own and subtracting what you owe gives you a figure that can be pivotal for making informed financial decisions. This number serves as…
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Finfluencers Have Lied to You: Passive Income is Not Real
In the digital age, ‘finfluencers’—financial influencers on social media—have become a pervasive force, often peddling the allure of passive income as a gateway to financial security. They promise a life where money flows in with little to no effort, painting a picture of a lifestyle filled with leisure and free from the shackles of the…
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Standard Loan Calculator
Loan Interest Calculator Loan Interest Calculator Loan Amount: Annual Interest Rate (%): Loan Term (years): Payments Per Year: Calculate Payment Number Principal Paid Interest Paid Remaining Balance Standard Loan Calculator Welcome to our Standard Loan Calculator! This tool is designed to help you easily calculate your monthly payments, total interest paid, and principal paid on…
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How was the 2024 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting?
Attending a Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting is akin to a pilgrimage for investors seeking wisdom from arguably the most celebrated names in the world of finance, Warren Buffett and the late Charlie Munger. Held in Omaha, Nebraska, this event is more than a standard review of financials; it’s a festival celebrating the culture and…
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How Do Bonds Work: An Investor’s Guide to Debt Securities
Bonds act as loans that investors provide to governments and corporations for funding, in return the investor receives a (most often times) fixed rate of return on their capital. When an entity issues a bond, it is essentially borrowing funds from the bondholder and in return provides them with periodic interest payments. At the end…