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Nicholas Pihl
Oct 3, 20244 min read
What Makes the S&P 500 Work?
For a long time I struggled with indexing for the same reasons anyone does. You're buying expensive companies, the market isn't that...
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Nicholas Pihl
Aug 8, 20244 min read
The Crash Always Comes From The Place You Least Expect
The last two weeks of volatility in the stock market offer a timeless lesson on market crashes: the thing that causes a crash is never...
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Nicholas Pihl
Aug 8, 20243 min read
Will the election make the stock market crash?
One of the most common questions I get asked is, “do you think the election is going to cause the market to crash this year?” My typical...
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Nicholas Pihl
Jul 31, 20245 min read
Social Security Crash Course
Let's start with the basics: Should You Wait to File or Not? For each year you wait after full retirement age (probably age 67 for most...
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Nicholas Pihl
Jul 3, 20243 min read
Notes on Long Term Care
https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance/howard-gleckman-we-pretend-this-isnt-problem Notes: "But to throw out one more statistic,...
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Nicholas Pihl
Jul 3, 20246 min read
How to Make Sure Everything Is Taken Care of When You Are Gone
The ICE Binder Your "In Case of Emergency" Binder is designed to be an aid to your loved ones and caregivers in the event that you are...
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Nicholas Pihl
May 14, 20243 min read
Not-so-Dumb-Guy Stock Market Math
The concept I'm sharing here is technically wrong, but I think it actually yields a better way to think about saving and investing in the...
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Nicholas Pihl
May 14, 20244 min read
A Good, Easy Decision for RSUs
One of the biggest mistakes I see among people who have RSUs (Restricted Stock Units) as part of their compensation packages is that they...
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Nicholas Pihl
Apr 3, 20244 min read
What does good health look like to you?
I heard this question recently at a Tony Robbins seminar, and found it intriguing. Partly because I hadn't thought about it very much,...
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Nicholas Pihl
Apr 3, 20242 min read
Dumb-Guy Mortgage Math
I was playing around with this mortgage calculator tool to see what happens to my mortgage payments when I put more down. You've probably...
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Nicholas Pihl
Feb 29, 20243 min read
Should I really use a debit card instead of a credit card, like Dave Ramsey says?
This fall, I started an experiment where I stopped using my credit card, opting instead to pay for everything with a debit card. I'd been...
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Nicholas Pihl
Jan 3, 20243 min read
What does the president mean for the market?
If you're like me, you're thinking, "an election year? Already? Didn't we just have one of those?" Maybe it comes from living so long in...
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Nicholas Pihl
Nov 30, 20233 min read
A Better Way to Do Charitable Giving
If you regularly donate to charity and have a taxable investment portfolio (like a brokerage account), you might be missing out on a...
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Nicholas Pihl
Nov 29, 20235 min read
Year End Gifts (non-charitable)
One situation I see fairly often is an aging grandparent making annual gifts to get money out of their taxable estate. This is a pretty...
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Nicholas Pihl
Nov 22, 20232 min read
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is simple, but spiritual. You don't have to have a perfect life, or even a particularly good life. The point is to...
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Nicholas Pihl
Oct 25, 20233 min read
The case for working part-time
Retirement can feel like an "all-or-nothing" decision. As a result, preparing for retirement not only means being ready financially, but...
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Nicholas Pihl
Oct 10, 20236 min read
What to do when an investment underperforms (this one's for you, small cap value investors)
The following graph summarizes US market performance year-to-date. Positive performance has largely been driven by large, growthy...
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Nicholas Pihl
Oct 4, 20233 min read
Yields Gone Wild
Yields on a 10 year Treasury Bond have risen rapidly over the last 22 months, and currently sit near 4.75%, compared with 1.8% at the...
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Nicholas Pihl
Sep 18, 20233 min read
Two Tax Changes That May Surprise You:
Two Tax Changes That Will Surprise Most of You: Some of you may have heard if you have high income (defined as wages >$145,000 per year),...
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Nicholas Pihl
Sep 18, 20232 min read
A Common 401k Mistake to Watch Out For (and How to Fix It)
In 2023 you can contribute $22,500 to your 401k, plus $7,500 of catch-up contributions if you're over 50. So, if you're under 50, you can...
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