Latest Blog Articles

Time flies when life is happening. It’s beautiful here now that it’s summertime in upstate New York. Between work, vacation, trail running and generally trying to get outside as much as possible I’ve been writing a little less. It feels like just yesterday I posted my first quarterly update ever for Q1 2022. Upon reflection I realized that I foolishly called it a “FI progress” post without actually stating how the numbers were stacking up against our rough FI number… Read more: Bear Markets, Crypto Winter and Recession Worries: 2022 Q2 Portfolio Update

BLUF: Target date funds are an incredibly simple way to get started investing. However, as you approach retirement they may limit your options or not align with your goals if you use them incorrectly. Sorry for the lack of posts lately ManagingFI family! I’ve been on vacation checking out Alaska using travel rewards, running some ultramarathons and generally enjoying the nice weather. NY weather is rough in the winter so we make the most of it when it’s nice! J.L.… Read more: Target Date Funds: Good For Beginners, Bad For Retirement?

BLUF: Stablecoins are attractive for their high interest rates and greater price stability but they aren’t risk free. It’s important to understand the risks before you decide how much to invest. I actually started writing this article 3 months ago in mid-February. I had personally been on a journey of exploring the crypto space which including building up 1% of our portfolio across Bitcoin, Ethereum and the GUSD stablecoin. At the end of 2021 I did a classic rookie mistake… Read more: How Risky Are Stablecoins? 5 Risks To Consider

BLUF: On average, active mutual funds largely underperform their benchmarks, have much higher fees and are less diversified than passive mutual funds. If held in a taxable account they often generate lower returns after taxes than passive mutual funds that follow the benchmarks. Everyone wants their portfolios to do well. Many of us work a job or run a business saving and investing for the future. We hope that those investments will grow for us in the future to fund… Read more: Are Passive Mutual Funds Superior To Active?

I’m a big fan of experimenting and trying new things so I’m going to try something new for this latest post. Earlier this year I became more transparent on the blog in posting how we crossed over the 7 figure investment account number and saving over $100,000 last year. Recently, I wrote about keeping a cool head and on track when the markets start getting volatile (in the downward direction). I’ve noticed a lot of people struggling in this aspect.… Read more: 2022 Q1 FI Progress, Inflation and Breaking My Market Addiction

BLUF: Mutual Funds and ETFs are the foundation of many portfolios. However, they do differ in tax treatment, ease of automation, liquidity, portability and fees. Educate yourself and choose the right tool for your situation. No matter where you are on your investing journey you’ve likely heard the terms mutual fund and ETF before at some point. While on the surface these may seem like investing basics, it’s important to understand what each are, how they work, their strengths and… Read more: Mutual Funds vs. ETFs: Pick The Best One For You

BLUF: iBonds do provide a safe bond that provides inflation protected income. However, with their buying limitations and short term illiquidity you do need to understand their limitations. It’s always interesting to me when something in the world changes and all of sudden you start hearing about something “new” for the first time. In 2021 and 2022 that something in the world changing was the jump in US inflation rates for the first time in decades. The hot “new” investing… Read more: iBonds: Good Inflation Protection Or Overrated?

BLUF: When investors let emotions drive their decisions, they often lose money. Use these tips to help you stick to your plan and avoid making “in the moment” investing mistakes. Market movement of all kinds can cause a wide range of emotions in us. Those emotions can very easily translate into investor behaviors that can cause long term damage to their portfolios. Selling investments to cash, borrowing to recoup losses and making huge changes to asset allocations are just a… Read more: How To Avoid Investing Mistakes When The Market Is Crazy

BLUF: Retirement healthcare expenses add up over your lifetime. Saving and investing all HSA funds before retirement gives you a large pot of money to cover many of those retirement healthcare expenses. I’ve written previously about how powerful Health Savings Accounts (HSA) can be as a quadruple tax advantaged account. Given that you can save into an HSA with pre-tax money and then spend that money tax free on medical expenses, why wouldn’t you spend that HSA money today? I’m… Read more: Investing An HSA: Our Retirement Healthcare Fund

BLUF: It’s impossible to predict how future tax laws will change. By saving in all retirement tax triangle accounts with diverse tax treatment we give ourselves more options to control our taxation in retirement. When you get into the details of saving for retirement, one thing you figure out is that not knowing the future makes planning really hard. One planning area where this is especially difficult is the area of taxation. One this is for certain though, you’re going… Read more: The Retirement Tax Triangle: Give Yourself Options