Albert Einstein purportedly said “compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn’t, pays it.” The question is how do we understand it? We can start by running 7 calculations that demonstrate the power compounding. What is Compound Interest? Compounding occurs when investments grow in value…
I’ve been investing for over 30 years. I’ve been writing about investing for the past 15 years. One of the questions I get the most is whether you should invest in an S&P 500 Index fund or a total stock market index fund–VOO vs VTI (ETFs) or VTSAX vs VFIAX (mutual funds). It’s an important…
Rolling over a 401k to an IRA is a hassle. I know from personal experience. Capitalize, a venture capital backed technology company, looks to take the hassle out of 401k rollovers. The company offers a free service that handles all of the paperwork to safely transfer a 401k to an IRA. It never has access…
Dividend investing has become an obsession. Books have been written about. YouTube channels have been dedicated to it. Some have an almost cult-like attachment to the Dividend Aristocrats. Many investors flock to dividend ETFs because of their higher yields. In contrast, I like dividend ETFs for their lower valuation metrics. Given the high valuations in…
According to one study, cybercrime will cost the world $10.5 trillion a year by 2025. Today, every financial account from banks to credit cards to investments offer online access. For investors, the risk of loss from cybercrime ranks as the #1 concern. Fortunately, there are steps we can all take to increase our online security….
Summary: In most cases, distributions from a 401k, IRA or other retirement account before the account owner reaches the age of 59.5 are subject to a 10% penalty. There are, however, a number of exceptions. Some of the exceptions are unique to IRAs, while others are unique to 401k and other Workplace Retirement Plans. Hardship…