With April 15th just around the corner, I jumped at the chance to talk with Mark Steber, the Chief Tax Officer with Jackson Hewitt. Jackson Hewitt is one of the largest tax preparation services in the country. Mark has been with the company for about a decade and has worked in various facets of income […]

The post 10 Last Minute Tax Tips From Jackson Hewitt appeared first on The Dough Roller.

This past weekend I spent several hours going through long forgotten papers. Like an old friend I haven’t spoke to in years, the paperwork brought back memories. The papers relating to finances were particularly interesting. For example, I found the sales receipt for a new 1965 Mustang my grandfather purchased for my step-mother when she […]

The post How Thinking Long Term Can Help You Manage Your Money appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Whether to pay off a mortgage early is an important decision. For some it’s a question of whether to allocate some extra cash each month to the mortgage. For others it’s a question of whether to pay off the home loan all at once. The lump sum approach often becomes an option from an inheritance […]

The post 5 Reasons Never to Pay Off a Mortgage Early (and 1 Reason You Must) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Josh Peters is director of Equity Income Strategy for Morningstar, and has been for over 10 years. He is also the writer and editor of Morningstar DividendInvestor, the newsletter that is built around the portfolio that he manages. He is also the author of The Ultimate Dividend Playbook. His strategy is to emphasize the production […]

The post DR 167: Interview with Josh Peters of Morningstar appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Imagine retiring at the age of 33, after just 10 years in the workforce. A fantasy you think? Hardly. I interviewed Justin, founder and owner of the blog RootOfGood.com, where he discusses the financial aspects of early retirement, as well as the psychology behind it. This was an enlightening interview on a number of fronts. […]

The post DR 166: How a Husband and Father of 3 Retired at Age . . . 33 appeared first on The Dough Roller.

How much should you be saving? It’s a question that we ask a lot, and there are a number of rules of thumb. One answer is based on the 50/20/30 budgeting system. Popularized by Senator Elizabeth Warren, this rule of thumb suggests we should be saving 20% of our income. Any general guideline, however, has […]

The post Financial Freedom Calculator – How Much Should You Save? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

In his book, Money–Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom, Tony Robbins describes what he calls an All Weather Portfolio. It’s very heavy in bonds, commodities, and gold, which makes it a questionable approach to investing. Yet it’s loosely based on an investing approach called risk parity that’s used by Ray Dalio of […]

The post DR 164: Risk Parity Portfolio Construction with Dar Sandler appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Davd Swensen manages more than $20 billion in assets as the Chief Investment Officer of the Yale endowment fund. Several years ago he distilled his investment knowledge and experience into a book, Unconventional Success, for the average investor. The book is an excellent guide to low cost, passive investing. One of the many great aspects […]

The post DR 163: The David Swensen Unconventional Success Portfolio appeared first on The Dough Roller.

This could be the million dollar question itself, since it’s something that so many people want to know. And actually, at least mathematically, it’s a question that has an easy answer. It just depends on how much money you save and what you earn on your investments. But before we get into the mechanics of […]

The post How Long Does it Take to Become a Millionaire? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

What’s the best way to save for a child’s education? We compare three options–a 529 Plan, a Roth IRA, and a taxable account. Is it better to save for a child’s college education with a 529 plan or a Roth IRA? That’s the question that Dan, a listener to the weekly Dough Roller Money Podcast […]

The post 529 Plan vs. Roth IRA—How to save for college appeared first on The Dough Roller.

There are three major tax preparation software packages on the market that most do-it-yourself tax preparers will use – TurboTax, TaxACT and H&R Block. Comparing these three options to find the cheapest can be a real chore. Each has several editions with varying features. As a result, it is important to compare competing editions between […]

The post The Cheapest Tax Software of 2016–TurboTax vs TaxAct vs H&R Block appeared first on The Dough Roller.

In what order should you pay down your debts? For those working hard to get out of debt, it’s an important question. Often we focus on either the amount of our debt or the interest rates. But what if the interest rate on a loan can change, either because it’s a variable rate or perhaps a […]

The post How to Use the Debt Avalanche with Variable Rate Loans appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Investing in a 401(k) plan at work can be a lot like eating at a cheap buffet. There are a lot of options, but they’re all bad. For those trying hard to keep investing costs down and to invest with a solid asset allocation plan, having bad options in a 401(k) or 403(b) is like finding […]

The post How to Make the Best of a Bad 401(k) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

When you look at your investment portfolio, does Rube Goldberg come to mind? Goldberg was a Pulitzer Price winning cartoonist famous for drawing complicated contraptions designed to perform a simple task.  In fact, Webster’s New World Dictionary defines a “Rube Goldberg” as a “comically involved, complicated invention, laboriously contrived to perform a simple operation.”   […]

The post Was Your Portfolio Designed by Rube Goldberg? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

The tax implications of mutual funds and ETFs can make the tax code look simple. Unlike investing in individual stocks, mutual funds can generate capital gains even when you haven’t sold any shares of the fund. These distributions make asset location–whether to hold certain investments in taxable or retirement accounts–critical. To help us sort through […]

The post How to Limit Taxes from Mutual Funds and ETFs–An Interview with James Rowley of Vanguard appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Credit Card signup bonuses offer significant benefits.  Many cards offer bonus miles or points worth $400 or more in statement credit.  Other cards simply offer bonus cash or free airline tickets. A reader named Ben wrote to me recently asking about these bonuses: I’ve been curious about credit card sign on bonuses for a long […]

The post List of Credit Cards that Offer Signup Bonuses appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Imagine that could use an online tool that could help you choose the asset allocation for your investments, whether in an IRA or a taxable account, reinvest all of your dividends, rebalance your portfolio as the value of your investments change, and perform even more complicated strategies, like tax loss harvesting. Now imagine that this tool […]

The post Interview With Herbert Moore of WiseBanyan appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Tax loss harvesting is one of the few free lunches in the world of investing. With a little planning, you can reduce or even eliminate your capital gains in any given year. In some cases, you may also get a deduction from ordinary income of up to $3,000. Tax Loss Harvesting, sometimes abbreviated TLH, has come […]

The post A Guide to Tax Loss Harvesting & Robo Advisors appeared first on The Dough Roller.

So much of our lives are lived on autopilot. We go about each day pretty much the same way we lived the previous day, and likely how will live tomorrow. From our morning routine to our drive to work, to our coffee break mid-afternoon, to dinner with friends in the evening, our habits control many […]

The post 7 Ways to Harness the Power of Habit appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Two of the biggest robo advisors are Betterment and WealthFront.  At first glance they may appear to be virtually identical.  Both create diversified portfolios with similar low cost ETFs.  Both rebalance your portfolio, reinvest your dividends, and offer tax loss harvesting.  Both have slick, easy to use websites. But there are some significant differences between […]

The post Betterment vs. Wealthfront appeared first on The Dough Roller.

There’s been a steady rise in “victim mentality” propaganda.  We hear it a lot from certain politicians who want to convince us that the “system” is rigged or that “income inequality” keeps us from improving our lot in life.  Some talk about wanting to give us a fighting chance, as if America hasn’t already served […]

The post Are 401(k) and IRAs a Fraud? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

With the start of the new year, January is the perfect time to evaluate your finances.  I did this recently, focusing on budgeting. I used to hate budgeting, but now I have a different view of it. I use YNAB, my favorite budgeting software, to make it easier. January is a natural re-set when it comes […]

The post 8 Budgeting Moves to Make for 2015 appeared first on The Dough Roller.

The wave of robo-advisors (e.g., Betterment, WealthFront, Personal Capital) have one thing in common–they can’t manage your 401(k) investments. Today I have the opportunity to interview Chris Costello, the co-founder of Blooom. For $15 a month, Blooom will automate the process of selecting an asset allocation and rebalancing your 401(k) investments. It works with just […]

The post How to Automate Your 401k–An Interview with Blooom Founder Chris Costello appeared first on The Dough Roller.

A few weeks ago in the Dough Roller weekly newsletter I asked the following question: “What would you do if you came into $10,000?” I received a lot of answers.  What surprised me about the responses were how similar they were.  The varied in the specific details of how people would spend $10,000, but they shared […]

The post DR 147: 10 Ways to Invest $10,000 appeared first on The Dough Roller.

How can thinking small help you accomplish big things? Why do most new year’s resolutions fail? And how can you baby step your way to a better 2015? I’ve been spending some time thinking of ways to be more productive. And that’s not about accomplishing everything, but rather accomplishing the most important things. For example, […]

The post DR 146: The Power of Daily Goals (and 15 ideas to get you started) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Investors today must make countless decisions. We have to decide on the type of account to open, where to open it, an asset allocation plan, specific investments, mutual funds vs. ETFs, and the list goes on. It can be overwhelming. This hit home for me recently when I received the following email from a reader: […]

The post DR 145: 6 Keys to Successful Investing appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Choosing between competing financial priorities is one of the hardest things to do in all of personal finance. Over the years I’ve received countless email from readers asking variations of the same thing related to financial goals. Should you pay off all of your debts before you begin investing? Should you fully fund your retirement […]

The post DR 144: 6 Keys to Setting Financial Priorities appeared first on The Dough Roller.

It’s common financial advice to max out a 401k. Putting as much away in a tax advantaged account as possible is just smart financial planning. There is of course a limit to how much we can contribute each year to a workplace retirement plan. And that has some asking whether they should max out their […]

The post DR 143: Should You Max Out Your 401k Early in the Year? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Your credit scores are never more important than when you are about to buy a home. That pesky 3-digit number can lower or raise your interest payments by tens of thousands of dollars over the life of a mortgage. So it was no surprise when a reader named Kelly sent me the following email: I […]

The post DR 142–How to Track All 3 of Your Credit Scores appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Financing a car is almost an automatic step. With the cost of the average car in the neighborhood of $32,000, very few people pay cash for a car. Yet this is just one of many times we shouldn’t go with the flow. There are plenty of reasons to pay cash for car, as well as […]

The post DR 141-6 Reasons to Pay Cash for a Car (and how to actually do it) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

It’s instructive and even inspiring to look back over the last year to see how you’ve lived. Reflecting on the good times and bad help us learn, grow and improve. So I was grateful to receive this email from a reader named Neil: Are you going to do a Best of 2014 show? I know […]

The post DR 140: The Best of 2014 appeared first on The Dough Roller.

The 3% mortgage is back. After years of turmoil in the housing market and recriminations on whose to blame, the low down payment mortgage has surfaced again. The 3% mortgage will mean more flexibility for homebuyers, and in some cases, for those looking to refinance as well. Until now, borrowers had a choice between conventional […]

The post DR 139: 3% Mortgages Are Back – Is This a Good Thing? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Wealthfront is the largest and fastest growing automated investment service, with over $1.6 billion under management. And it all happened in just three years! I had a chance to interview Wealthfront CEO, Adam Nash. He shares his insights on the platform, and on investing in general. His educational background is in software and design, but […]

The post DR 138: Interview with WealthFront CEO, Adam Nash appeared first on The Dough Roller.

When people talk about early retirement, they often mean at 50 or 55 – and sometimes as early as 45. But today’s podcast interview is with Todd Tresidder, a fascinating guy who managed to get out of the rat race at 35. I interviewed Todd about his life before retirement, what he’s been doing since, […]

The post DR 137: Interview with Todd Tresidder, a Former Hedge Fund Partner Who Retired at 35 appeared first on The Dough Roller.

As robo advisers grow in assets under management, more people are beginning to ask if using one is the right strategy. My last podcast on robo-advisors brought this email from a reader named Steve: The other timely podcast was the robo-advisor one. I’m in the process of helping my mom move her accounts from Morgan […]

The post DR 136: 5 Reasons Robo Advisors are Worth the Cost appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Imagine going to college while raising a young child. Imaging graduating from school with more than $200,000 in student loans. Imagine starting a new career as a single mom raising three children. Imagine tackling more than $15,000 in credit card debt. I give you Christa Miller. In today’s podcast she shares her story. We talk […]

The post DR 135: How a Single Mom of Three is Achieving Financial Freedom–Interview with Christa Miller appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Since starting my small business in 2007, I’ve used a business card for several reasons. My business credit card easily separates personal expenses and business expenses. I use GoDaddy’s online bookkeeping tool. It automatically imports all the charges from my business credit card, so these expenses are exceptionally easy to track. This makes preparing annual […]

The post 10 Top Small Business Credit Cards of 2016 appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Email is a real pain. Most of us have multiple email accounts. The inbox can easily pile up with junk, often resulting in important email getting lost or forgotten. For many, inbox zero is nothing but a pipe dream. This hit home for me recently.  I have four primary email accounts that I monitor.  One […]

The post DR 133: Inbox Zero–A Simple Strategy to Conquer Your E-mail appeared first on The Dough Roller.

The first so called Robo Advisor I recall is Betterment. Several years ago I met its founder, Jon Stein, and recently interviewed him for the podcast. Since then I’ve used or evaluated Motif Investing, Acorns, Wealth Front, Future Advisors, and JemStep. I’ve also used extensively the free Financial Dashboard offered by Personal Capital. It was […]

The post DR 132: Robo Advisors–The Pros and Cons appeared first on The Dough Roller.

One of the biggest surprises for me as a blogger was the retirement plan options available to a small business owner. While a 401k maximum contribution is $17,500 (as of 2014) and an IRA is $5,500 (as of 2014), as a small business owner I can sock away more than $50,000 a year. It almost […]

The post DR 131: Retirement Plan Options for Small Businesses–An Interview with Fidelity’s Brian Hogan appeared first on The Dough Roller.

The many ways to save money are limited only by our imagination. That’s why I asked the readers of the Dough Roller Newsletter their #1 money saving tip. In past weeks they have given some great replies to other questions: What is your favorite book about money? Where do you keep your emergency fund? What […]

The post DR 130: The #1 Way to Save Money Is . . . appeared first on The Dough Roller.

I‘ve struggled with productivity for years. Give me a deadline and I can work like a rented mule. Leave me to my own devices, however, and I’m as productive as carefree summer day at the beach. This really came to light for me when I started working from home. With no supervisors and few hard […]

The post DR 129: 5 Simple Strategies to Stay Productive Working from Home (bet you never thought of #5) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

With a son and daughter now grown, I often wonder how well I prepared them to handle finances. While they are both now in their early 20’s, the truth is that their financial education is far from over. I continue to work with them on everything from budgeting to investing. And that’s why Rob Pivnick’s […]

The post DR 128: What All Kids Should Know About Saving & Investing–An Interview with Author Rob Pivnick appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Robo-advisors are all the rage today. These online tools help automate investing, from picking an asset allocation plan to buying the mutual funds or ETFs to rebalancing. What they don’t do, however, is help us with broader financial planning tasks. Enter iQuantifi. Founded by Tom White, a former financial planner and investment advisor, iQuantifi is […]

The post DR 127: iQuantifi–Interview with its Founder Tom White appeared first on The Dough Roller.

In last week’s newsletter I asked the following question: What is your favorite book about money. Some of the responses listed popular books. Some mentioned books that were new to me. Each of the books offers some real insight into personal finance and investing. Arguably the best thing we can do to improve our finances […]

The post The Most Popular Personal Finance Books appeared first on The Dough Roller.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. It started with an innocent email from a listener of the Dough Roller Money Podcast. They asked if I would dedicate a show to talking about . . . me. For better or worse, they wanted to know about the guy behind the mic. Do that triggered […]

The post DR 125: A Podcast Listener Interviews . . . Me appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Where do people stash their cash for emergencies? That’s the question I asked more than 18,000 subscribers to the weekly Dough Roller newsletter. The common wisdom is to keep emergency funds in an FDIC insured bank account, preferably one that pays a high yield. But with interest rates at historic lows, are people taking on […]

The post DR 124: Where Do People Keep Their Emergency Fund? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

I met Joshua Sheats earlier this year at a blogger conference. In the span of 30 minutes we talked about everything from budgeting to investing to careers to podcasting. A certified financial planner, among other things, Joshua spent many years in the business. Recently, he hung up his calculator and started a podcast full time […]

The post DR 123: Interview with Joshua Sheats, CFP, of Radical Personal Finance appeared first on The Dough Roller.

A lot has been written about good debt vs bad debt. As the names suggest, the idea is to avoid bad debt and embrace, at least to a point, good debt. But what do these terms really mean, and how can they help us make sound financial decisions? Like so many financial rules of thumbs, […]

The post DR 122: Good Debt vs. Bad Debt appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Imagine you’ve worked hard and saved for retirement. You have assets in taxable accounts, traditional retirement accounts, and Roth retirement accounts. When you retire, which accounts should you withdraw from first? That’s the question I posed to Stuart Ritter of T. Rowe Price. In the interview that follows, Stuart does a great job of discussing […]

The post Which Retirement Accounts Should You Withdraw From First? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Prioritizing financial goals is one of the hardest things to do.  And it comes into play in so many different ways. How much would you save for an emergency fund while you’re paying off all your debt? Which debt should you pay off first? Should you pay off all your debt before saving for retirement? […]

The post DR 120: Should You Save for Retirement or a Home? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

One of the most important and confusing decisions retirees must make is how and when to claim social security benefits. There are countless things to consider including age to start taking benefits, whether you’ll continue to work, spousal benefits, and full retirement age. For that reason, I asked Social Security benefits expert Marc Kiner to […]

The post DR 119: Advanced Social Security Benefits Strategies–Interview with Marc Kiner appeared first on The Dough Roller.

It’s advice we hear time and again–stick to your asset allocation plan. Whether the stock market is reaching new highs are new lows, don’t change your investments apart from rebalancing. It’s the kind of advice that is simple to understand, but difficult to follow. In fact, a lot of investors don’t follow this advice. In […]

The post DR 118: 9 Actionable Tips to Help You Stick to Your Investment Plan appeared first on The Dough Roller.

The release of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus raises an important question–is the iPhone 6 worth the cost? While nobody can answer that question for you, I decided to pull together as much information as I could on how to find the best deal on the 6 and 6 Plus. What a headache. […]

The post Cheapest Place to Buy a iPhone 6 appeared first on The Dough Roller.

This is the third article in an ongoing series on dividend investing. In part 1 we started with an introduction to dividends. In part 2 we examined how dividends work in conjunction with mutual funds. Today we are going to look at dividend growth. My goal for this article and podcast is to convince you […]

The post DR 116: Dividend Investing (Part 3)–Dividend Growth appeared first on The Dough Roller.

In many families, one spouse handles the investments. As for the other spouse, he or she often has little interest in understanding mutual funds, ETFs, asset allocation, or retirement accounts. Yet what would happen if the one handling the investments were to die or incapacitated. How would the non-investing spouse handle this important responsibility? The […]

The post DR 115: How to Prepare Your Spouse to Invest When You Are Gone appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Tracking your net worth is an essential step to managing your finances. In a single number your net worth can measure your financial progress, whether you are climbing out of debt, building an investment portfolio, or both. We’ve covered how to track your net worth in the past. Recently I received an email from a […]

The post DR 114: 3 Tools to Track Your Net Worth appeared first on The Dough Roller.

How should you invest money in a 529 plan? These college savings plans present some unique investing challenges. On the one hand you want the money to grow to at least keep up with the rising cost of college. On the other hand, there is a limited time horizon. Assume too much risk and the […]

The post DR 113: How to Invest in a 529 Plan appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Have you ever paid off a debt only to find that it caused your credit score to drop? That’s exactly what happened to Lakisher, a listener who graciously sent me the following email: “I have a question. I think I know the basics of my credit and credit report but I recently paid off my […]

The post 7 Things that Cause Your Credit Score to Fluctuate from Month-to-Month appeared first on The Dough Roller.

What should you do with your 401k or 403b when you leave your job? This is a question that confronts more and more people. According to the Department of Labor young Baby Boomers held on average 11.3 jobs from age 18 to 46. So it was no surprise when I received the following email from […]

The post DR 111: What Should You Do With Your 401k When You Leave Your Job appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Recently two readers emailed me about cash back credit cards. Their questions prompted me to put this guide together to help readers better understand, compare, and choose a cash rewards credit card. First let’s look at the emails. From a reader named Pop: You have a great post on a strategy to use cash back […]

The post DR 110: The Complete Guide to Cash Back Credit Cards appeared first on The Dough Roller.

The 5-year rule on Roth IRA distributions comes in two flavors. The first applies to earnings from Roth IRA contributions. We covered the rule in Podcast 105. The second aspect of the rule applies to distributions of Roth IRA conversions. That’s what we’ll look at today. Listen to this Article 1. The Two 5-Year Rules […]

The post DR 109: The 5-Year Rule on Roth IRA Conversions appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Imagine you’ve just inherited some money. The amount just happens to match the outstanding balance on your mortgage. Now you have a decision. Do you pay off the mortgage or invest the money for retirement. That’s the question facing a podcast listener named Shelly. Here is her email to me: Great job on your podcasts. […]

The post DR 108: Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage or Invest for Retirement? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

It’s time for our monthly investment portfolio update. In each update I run through the tools I use and the results of my investments. I show you the good and the bad. We’ll even cover some mistakes I’ve made and what I’ve learned from those mistakes. Let’s start with the tools and a high level […]

The post DR 107: Monthly Investment Update–September 2014 appeared first on The Dough Roller.

It’s not an overstatement to say that budgeting is the foundation upon which all lasting wealth is built. That’s true whether you make $40,000 a year as a teacher or $40 million a year as an entertainer. If your cash flow is well managed, you can build wealth on any income. If it’s not well […]

The post DR 106: 8 Black Belt Budgeting Tips appeared first on The Dough Roller.

The Roth IRA was established by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 and named after its chief legislative sponsor, Senator William Roth of Delaware. The Roth IRA enables individuals with earned income to contribute after-tax (nondeductible) money to the retirement account. If the rules are followed, the money grows tax free. Unlike a traditional IRA, […]

The post DR 105: The 5-Year Roth IRA Rule for Contributions (breaking the rule is costly) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Is it possible to build $1 million in net worth in 10 years starting from scratch? In today’s interview with Alan Corey, author of A Million Bucks By 30, we’ll learn exactly how one man did it. I learned about Alan and his book from a listener named Natalie, who I had the pleasure of interviewing […]

The post DR 104: Rags to Riches and Back Again–Interview with Million Bucks by 30 Author Alan Corey appeared first on The Dough Roller.

If you’re a small business owner – whether you have employees or not – the thought of setting up a retirement plan can be overwhelming. 401ks and even SEP-IRAs are swimming in rules and regulations. What business owner really has enough hours in the day to deal with it? For that reason, I asked Chad […]

The post DR 103: The Small Business 401k–Interview with CEO Chad Parks of The Online 401(k) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

One of the best retirement savings tools is often overlooked. The tool can save you thousands of dollars in taxes and sleepless nights if you made a mistake with your IRA. And yet according to a 2010 study by Fidelity less than one-third of investors are aware of this tool. I’m referring to what’s called […]

The post DR 102: 4 Times Recharacterizing an IRA Conversion or Contribution Can Save Your Bacon (Literally) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Should you use a Health Savings Account (HSA) to save for retirement? That’s the question a listener to the Dough Roller Money Podcast asked recently. Here’s Mike’s email: Hi Rob, I have a question about my HSA at work. I have about $14,000 in it. I have not used it at all in the past […]

The post Should You Use an HSA for Retirement Savings appeared first on The Dough Roller.

To commemorate the 100th episode of the Dough Roller podcast, I pulled together 100 ways to improve your finances. Let’s get started. 1. Balance your checkbook: Balancing a checkbook helps you focus on where you’ve spent your money and it ensures your bank hasn’t made any mistakes. With the help of budgeting tools such as […]

The post 100 Ways to Improve Your Finances (Most in Under 10 Minutes) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

A reader we’ll call Frank recently emailed me about his advisor (we covered part of his email about dividends here). She had placed him in A shares of American Fund mutual funds. This told me he was working with a commissioned-based broker, as these mutual funds charge a sales fee of 5.75% to compensate the […]

The post DR 099: 5 Gotchas with Commissioned Based Brokers appeared first on The Dough Roller.

We began our series on dividend investing by examining the ins and outs of dividends. Today we continue the series by looking at how dividends work with mutual funds and whether the yield on a fund should be a key consideration in our investing decisions. This topic came to light from an email I received […]

The post DR 098: Dividend Investing (Part 2): Mutual Funds and Dividends appeared first on The Dough Roller.

The Fair Isaac Corp., better known as FICO, has introduced three major changes to its secret credit scoring formula. The changes relate to items referred to collections, medical debt, and consumers with limited credit history.  Believe it or not, these changes may result in higher scores for many consumers. Here are details on the three […]

The post DR 097: 3 Key Changes Just Made to the FICO Credit Scoring Formula appeared first on The Dough Roller.

One of my favorite aspects of investing is receiving a dividend payment. Each month I look to see how much I earned in dividends, and I track this amount yearly. In fact, dividends play a significant role in my investment policy related to individual stocks. With the exception of Berkshire Hathaway, every business whose shares […]

The post DR 096: Dividend Investing (Part 1)–What are Stock Dividends? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Photo: Phil Romans Saving to buy a home is both exciting and overwhelming. When my wife and I were saving to buy our first home, I thought we’d never have enough for the down payment. But somehow we came up with the money. One of the keys to our success was saving the cash in […]

The post DR 095: 5 Places To Keep Your Down Payment When Saving to Buy a Home appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Most of us use a lot of tools to manage our money, budget, investments, and so forth. So I thought I’d pull together a list of the tools I use nearly every day. Hopefully you’ll find some options here that will help you make the most of your money. Investing 1. Personal Capital: Without question […]

The post 22 of the Best Tools to Manage Your Money (most are totally FREE) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

In the world of tax-advantaged retirement savings accounts, there are plenty of options. But the two most commonly-used options are the 401(k) and the IRA. Both come in traditional (save taxes on contributions) and Roth (save taxes on withdrawals) options. While there are many similarities between a 401k and an IRA, there are also some […]

The post DR 093: 401(k)s vs. IRAs: What are the Pros and Cons? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

It all started with a simple question about dividends and mutual fund fees. A listener to the podcast named Stephanie wanted to know if a fund’s returns were after fees and dividends. (They are.) After I learned more about Stephanie’s finances and career through several email exchanges, I popped the question. No, not that question. […]

The post DR 092: How One Doctor is Learning to Invest Like a Pro appeared first on The Dough Roller.

If you have self-employed income in addition to your regular job, can you contribute to a SEP IRA even if you have a 401k at work? This question hit home for me a few years ago due to the income generated from this website. To get right to the point, the answer to the question […]

The post DR 091: Don’t Make the Same $100,000 Retirement Mistake I Just Made appeared first on The Dough Roller.

It’s without a doubt the most frequent question I receive from readers of this blog. People want to know whether they should put their retirement savings in a Roth vs traditional IRA or 401k. I’ve written a lot about these retirement options. If you are new to retirement accounts, I’d suggest you start by reading […]

The post DR 090: Roth vs. Traditional IRA or 401k: The Math Behind This Important Decision appeared first on The Dough Roller.

We face countless personal finance decisions every day. They range from the seemingly trivial (should we go out for dinner) to the more impactful (how much should we spend on a home). Yet each of these decisions work together to over a lifetime to define our finances. Over the course of running this blog since […]

The post DR 089: 12 Keys to Making Smart Financial Decisions (#7 is a Doozy) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Recently a number of listeners to the podcast have asked about evaluating real estate investments. They want to know how much rent they would need to charge for a specific property to make it a “good” investment. The good news is that evaluating the numbers is really simple. Today we’ll look at 3 key ratios […]

The post DR 088: 3 Key Ratios to Evaluate Real Estate Investments (#1 is All You Really Need) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

You’ve probably heard a lot of stories recently about new graduates with mountains of student loan debt. It’s not uncommon to hear of students with $100,000+ in school loans. Today I wanted to share a success story with you that bucks this trend. This story is about a young woman who made different choices when […]

The post DR 087: How Natalie Graduated Debt-Free, Paid Cash for a Car, and Bought a Home (She’s Only 24!) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Recently I’ve started receiving the Morningstar Portfolio Monitor. It’s a monthly pdf that Morningstar puts together for premium members who track their portfolio using Morningstar’s Portfolio Manager. Simply put, it’s an amazing look into an investment portfolio. In this article we’ll walk through a detailed review of the Portfolio Monitor (including screenshots). At the end […]

The post DR 086: How to Spy on Your Own Investment Portfolio appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Many people keep some form of a budget. We use our favorite budgeting tool, YNAB. Others use a spreadsheet or pen and paper. Whatever the approach, a budget helps you understand your income and expenses. Fewer people track their net worth. A net worth statement tracks your assets and liabilities. It’s the scorecard of personal […]

The post DR 085: How Your Budget and Net Worth Statements Work Together to Build Wealth appeared first on The Dough Roller.

It’s a good problem to have. You’ve maxed out your 401k and IRA contributions for the year and you still have some more cash to invest. What are your options? That’s the situation a reader named Harout recently emailed me about: I am a little obsessed with your podcasts. I listen to about one a […]

The post DR 084: Where To Invest When You’ve Maxed Out Contributions To Retirement Accounts appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Have you ever wondered how professional bloggers get started and make a living? Blogs don’t just spring up overnight. They take months – even years – of hard work. But the work can be well worth the rewards, if you do it right. The best way to learn about starting a blog is to talk […]

The post DR 083: How to Blog for a Living – An Interview with Bob Lotich of ChristianPF appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Exactly how much should you be saving for retirement? It seems that everybody has an opinion on this deceptively simple question. Actually, it is simple to answer, so long as you understand the implications of your choices. To address this question, we are going to look at the standard rules of thumb on retirement savings. […]

The post DR 082: How Much Should You Be Saving for Retirement? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Do you have student loans? Do you know someone who does? If you answered “yes,” then check out this interview with Andrew Josuweit, one of the founders of Student Loan Hero. It’s an excellent tool to help graduates organize their student debt, manage payments, and – hopefully – get out of debt faster. Topics Covered […]

The post DR 081: Take Control of Your Student Loans with Student Loan Hero (An Interview) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

It’s official. Credit scores are the most confusing aspect of personal finance. The FICO formula remains largely a mystery. And don’t get me started on the multiple versions of credit scores out there. By one account, you may have 49 different FICO scores, not to mention dozens of credit scores calculated using non-FICO formulas. So […]

The post DR 080: How to Build Credit When You Are Just Starting Out (the Smart Way) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

If you are in the market to buy your first or next home, a HUD home could potentially save you tens of thousands of dollars on the purchase price. While buying a HUD Home can save you a lot of money, there are some things to watch out for. In this article we’ll cover the […]

The post DR 079: HUD Homes–Saving Big Money with HUD Foreclosures appeared first on The Dough Roller.

As regular readers know, I’m a big believer in DIY investing. One of my goals for this site, my free weekly newsletter, and the podcast, is to arm investors with the information they need to invest on their own. Some folks, however, will still want some help. For these folks, my goal is to promote […]

The post DR 078: Are Low Cost Investment Advisors a Myth? [Interview with Mitch Tuchman of Rebalance IRA] appeared first on The Dough Roller.

One of the great things about producing a podcast are the emails I receive from listeners. Recently a listener named Kate emailed me about the 50-20-30 budget. One thing led to another, and now Kate and her fiancé Trevor are guests on the show. Kate and Trevor’s story was so inspiring that I wanted to […]

The post DR 077: Teamwork for Your Budget – An Interview with Listeners Kate and Trevor appeared first on The Dough Roller.

It’s a hotly debated question. Is it better to buy or rent? We covered this question in detail in Podcast 59. Many argue that buying is best because on average homeowners have a higher net worth than renters. Rather than looking at averages, however, today we are going to look at an actual case study. […]

The post DR 076: Is a Home a Good Investment? The Numbers Will Surprise You appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Recently I reviewed what Dave Ramsey calls his Endorsed Local Providers (ELPs). As I was doing research for that review I learned of Dave’s view that historically the S&P 500 has returned 12%. I also learned that he believes it will continue to do so over the long run. This was curious to me for […]

The post DR 075: The Reality of Dave Ramsey’s 12% ‘Reality’ (and why it really matters) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Many have said that Robert Kiyosaki’s ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ book is a piece of fiction. Apparently, he never had a rich dad and a poor dad as described in his book, or at least that’s what many believe. But I did. My parents divorced before I was two, and both remarried. My father, who […]

The post DR 074: My Real Life ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Next to the tax code, differential equations, and why Gilligan and the other castaways could never get off the island, annuities are really difficult to grasp. Frankly, any time you mix insurance products with investing products the result is ugly. Yet annuities can be a smart way to save for retirement and to generate income […]

The post DR 073: Annuities 101–Interview with Tim Holmes of Vanguard appeared first on The Dough Roller.

When it comes to mortgages and credit scores, there are two really important questions to ask: What credit score do I need to qualify for a mortgage? What credit score do I need to get the lowest interest rate on a mortgage? These different but related questions are important if you are looking to buy […]

The post DR 072: What Credit Score do You Need to Buy a Home? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

I‘ve always been suspicious of dollar-cost averaging. With DCA, rather than investing the cash you have all at once, you invest chunks of it over time. For example, you might invest $12,000 over the course of a year, $1,000 each month. In contrast, with lump sum investing, you’d put the full $12,000 to work right […]

The post DR 071: Dollar-Cost Averaging Versus Lump Sum Investing–Which is Best? appeared first on The Dough Roller.