Taxable Brokerage Accounts: Flexibility With a Tax Bill
The account with no rules is also the account with no shelter.
Funds & investing
Costs and consistency drive long-run returns far more than fund selection does. These guides cover what you are actually buying, what it charges, and which account to hold it in.
SEP IRA vs Solo 401(k) for the Self-Employed
A solo 401(k) usually allows larger contributions at moderate income, and does not block a backdoor Roth.
Asset Allocation: Deciding the Stock and Bond Split
The split between stocks and bonds explains most of your portfolio's behaviour. Fund selection explains much less.
Rebalancing: Keeping Your Allocation From Drifting
Rebalancing is the discipline of selling what has done well. It never feels right, which is why it works.
Dollar-Cost Averaging vs Investing a Lump Sum
Automatic monthly investing is dollar-cost averaging done for the right reason. Sitting on a windfall is usually done for the wrong one.
The Three-Fund Portfolio
Three funds cover almost everything a long-term investor needs. The rest is preference.
Tax-Loss Harvesting and the Wash Sale Rule
Useful in taxable accounts, irrelevant in retirement accounts, and easy to get wrong by 30 days.
Capital Gains Tax Basics for Investors
Holding for a year and a day changes which rate schedule applies. It is the cheapest tax planning there is.
Robo-Advisors: What the Fee Buys
You are paying for maintenance and for not touching it. For some people that is excellent value.
Brokerage Fees: The Charges That Are Easy to Miss
Free trading is not free. The revenue moved somewhere less visible.
How to Start Investing: A Six-Step Order of Operations
The account comes before the fund, and the emergency fund comes before both.
Eight Investing Mistakes That Cost Real Money
Most damage comes from behaviour, not from picking the wrong fund.