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I have spent more than three decades in finance, from auditing at KPMG to managing a billion dollar consumer electronics portfolio to the chief financial officer’s chair I sit in today. Along the way I was a licensed loan officer. My wife and I own rental property in two states and have flipped homes in Southern California. This site is where I write all of it down in plain language, for people who may have never been taught it.
If you read one thing here
Manage Your Money Like a Business
The framework I use at work, applied to a household.
How do I get out from under this debt?
Should You Pay Off Debt or Invest?
The real question is not the interest rate. It is certainty.
Paying Off Debt, What Actually Works
Snowball, avalanche, and the goal-first method that finally worked.
What is my mortgage actually doing?
Why Your Mortgage Rate Doesn’t Move When the Fed Does
The Fed held steady and your rate moved anyway. Here is why.
Refinancing the Right Way
When a refinance builds wealth, and when it quietly costs you thousands.
How do I start investing?
How to Open Your First Roth IRA
Every step, start to finish. You can do it in one sitting.
ETFs and Index Funds vs Individual Stocks
Three ways to own the market, and what each one is for.
Am I going to be okay in retirement?
Is a Million Dollars Enough to Retire?
Honest math on what a million dollars actually funds today.
The Hardest Part of Retirement Is Spending the Money
My mother could do for herself. She takes care of everyone else instead.
The other half of this site
There is a second side here that has nothing to do with money. We lost our daughter Isabella in 2003. My father died five months later. Seven months after he passed my wife was diagnosed with cancer while pregnant with our son. What came out of those years took me a long time to understand, and it became the conviction this site is named for.
Blessings Come From the Worst of Times.
If you want to understand why a personal finance site has an Inspiration section, start there.
Blessings Come From the Worst of Times
Every Saturday
I publish Weekly Notes, a short column on what moved in the markets that week and what it means for ordinary money. Usually three items. About ten minutes.
Stay in touch
If this is useful, I will send you new posts by email.