Apex Money Posts

Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday dear meeeeeeee… Happy birthday to me!

Today I turn 52 years old. My 52nd year was an interesting one, and not just because of the coronavirus, the Capitol riots, and all of the other strange stuff that the country (and world) experienced as a whole during the last twelve months.

For me personally, it’s been a year of growth. I’ve done a lot of introspection and self-reflection. And, as a result, I’ve begun to make a lot of big moves in 2021. It’ll be intersting to see where I am (and who I am!) a year from now.

But you don’t really care about that, and I know it. You’re here at Apex Money for personal-finance links. Every year on my birthday — and I know this is only Year Two of the site — I share a list of my favorite money blogs.

There are lots of great blogs out there. This isn’t meant to be an objective list. It’s a subjective list. That is, these are the money blogs that I, personally, most enjoy reading. Your list might be (and probably would be) very different. That’s okay.

Here, then, are my ten favorite money blogs from the past year.

• One Frugal Girl was perhaps my favorite money blog of the past year. Jewels produces consistently great content that balances her own story with actionable advice. It’s great. Plus, she and I seem to have similar mindsets and have an ongoing e-mail conversation about life itself.
• Minafi has one of favorite blog designs. I’m not sure what Adam’s background is, but he has a firm grasp of UI and reader experience, which makes Minafi a joy to read. Couple that with his always-excellent content, and you’ve got a top-notch money blog.
• Bitches Get Riches has been one of my favorite blogs since it launched. Piggy and Kitty offer solid advice in an irreverent style. Their target audience is “young women”, but the material is useful for most folks (and entertaining for everyone). I like BGR so much that I put my money where my mouth is: I’m a long-time Patreon supporter of the site.
• Physician on Fire is, as you might expect, a blog targeting health-care workers pursuing financial independence. But again, the content here is useful for most folks. What I admire about the site is how well Leif curates everything, balancing his own articles with syndicated articles and guest post from other authors.
• Frugalwoods remains one of my fave sites to read for the sake of reading. I know many people are already familiar with Liz and her adventures on a 66-acre farm in Vermont. If you’re not, you should check her out. She and her husband have done FIRE the right way — high incomes, low spending, and a dedication to the things that bring them meaning.
• Raptitude isn’t a money blog. It’s a site about “getting better at being human”. But David Cain’s thoughtful approach to life and its challenges has plenty of applications to the world of personal finance. This recent article about ADHD was eye-opening for my own challenges with the condition, and helped me connect the dots between my ADHD and my depression/anxiety.
• The Fioneers, Jess and Corey, document their personal journey to financial independence with thoughtful, introspective pieces that cover traditional FIRE topics while diving into new ones. (They popularized the notion of Slow FI, for instance.) They’re doing great work.
• Abnormal Returns might not seem like much if you follow the link to its homepage, yet it’s probably my favorite source of money news. I’m not joking. Tadas Viskanta does an amazing job of curating financial news from all over the web. (It’s the first place I go each day when looking for stories to share here at Apex.)
• Women Who Money is a team blog focused on financial advice for, well, women. But the advice is generally useful for everyone. Amy and Vicki produce consistently excellent articles with practical advice about real-world situations. Highly recommended. (If I were to pick one blog that I thought was actually the best overall financial blog right now, it would likely be Women Who Money.)
• Apex Money. Wait, what? Is it ridiculous to pick one of my own sites as one of my favorites? I don’t think so. Jim and I work hard here to collect fun, interesting, and useful articles to share with you in a thoughtful, light-hearted manner. We cast a wide net to catch as many stories as possible, but we only pass along the best stuff we find. Apex truly is one of my ten favorite money blogs right now.

What do all of these sites have in common?

First, most are content-centric. They’re more interested in creating and publishing material that helps the readers than they are in making money. As a result, they don’t produce the same old material that you find on every other site. The material at these sites is unique and interesting.

Second, they tend to have strong authorial voices. One problem with most money blogs (the blogs that are focused on making money) is that they write about the things that generate revenue, not the things that interest the authors. As a result, there’s no passion. You can’t really be passionate about the latest credit card offer, right? Because these blogs draw on the personal experiences of the authors, the articles have a strong voice.

Finally, these blogs publish fairly often. They might not have regular schedules, but they don’t sit dormant for months on end either. The writers update at least once a month. (There are plenty of fine sites out there that rarely update. I don’t count those as favorites.)

Okay. That’s it for this birthday. I’ll be back tomorrow to close out the week with more great articles about money — and more. (And for those unaware, I update my life philosophy with a new lesson every year, then share that life philosophy at Get Rich Slowly on my birthday.)

Good morning! Good morning! Good morning! It’s Wednesday — my birthday eve — and today I’ve collected four great personal-finance stories for you. Let’s start with the seemingly-ageless Martha Stewart, shall we? (Stewart is 79!)

Martha Stewart is the original influencer. [Harper’s Bazaar] — “You can see Stewart’s influence every time you scroll through Instagram and spot an artfully lit photo of a frittata or a meticulously arranged tablescape, or in the raft of cooking and home-entertaining hosts who came after…to the entire Food Network and anyone who’s ever posted a how-to video on YouTube.”

“The financial spreadsheet I use to track my progress to financial freedom.” [Minafi] — “I’ve been tracking my finances in a Google Sheet since January 2015. I used Mint for years before that to understand my spending…Over the years I’ve dialed in my spreadsheet one row and column at a time. It’s to the point where I barely touch it anymore, yet can answer any question I have. I’ve found these five metrics to be the most useful over the years.”

Do self-help books help? [Art of Manliness] — “The demand for self-help books isn’t hard to understand: life can be confusing, frustrating, and obstacle-ridden, and yet also full of potential and possibilities. People are thus hungry for guidance on how to surmount the former and seize the latter. They want to better themselves. But hovering over this quest is a question that’s rarely asked: Do self-help books actually help?”

“Lessons in real hourly wage from delivering food on my bike.” [Financial Panther] — “I regularly earn $30 to $40 per hour delivering food on my bike with apps like Postmates, DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. When I calculate what I earn per hour with these apps, I always calculate it from the second I walk out my front door to the second I walk back into my house.”

That’s it for today, but I’ll be back tomorrow with my annual birthday list of favorite money blogs. Who made the cut? Come back to find out!

Hello, my friends. Welcome to Tuesday. Today’s edition of Apex money, as always, features some of our favorite recent money stories from around the web. And today, each featured article asks (and answers) a question! Take a gander…

What is lifestyle design? (And why does it matter?) [The Fioneers] — “I actually prefer to think of lifestyle design as an action or an identity. I want to be in the process of designing a life that I love. I want to be a lifestyle designer. When learning about lifestyle design, it was helpful for me to breakdown the phrase into its component parts.”

How much should you pay for tax preparation? [The Wealth Accountant] — “A good place to start your accountant search is by asking people in a similar situation as you are. If you have income properties, ask other income property owners who they use as a tax professional. Business owners should do the same. If you have multiple state issues you certainly need to find someone in the same boat you are because not all tax professionals handle out-of-state or multiple state tax returns.”

Which password manager should you use to secure your digital life? [Wired] — “Now that so many people are working from home, outside the office intranet, the number of passwords you need may have significantly increased…A password manager offers convenience and, more importantly, helps you create better passwords, which makes your online existence less vulnerable to password-based attacks.”

Finally, here’s something that has nothing to do with money.

Until I became obsessed with Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation earlier this year, my favorite film of all time was Alien — the first one. It’s a nearly perfect film. (Rogue Nation upped the bar. I’m not even joking.) I’ve seen Alien dozens of times in my life, and I hope to see it dozens more.

Well, HBO Max has re-created the trailers for ten classic films (including Alien) in a modern style. These are fun…but they also make me tense. I hate hate hate the short-attention span, quick-cut video that’s so prominent today. (It’s one reason I don’t like TikTok.)

Still, it’s fun to compare the original trailer for Alien…

to the “modern” trailer for Alien…

I don’t know. That first trailer is a classic. I remember seeing it in the theater (at age ten) and being both scared and intrigued.

The second trailer looks like every other movie preview on the market today. And like all modern trailers, it gives away too much of the movie. It’s the entire movie in two minutes instead of two hours.

Okay, that’s it for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with more fun stuff. See you then!

Hey hey, everyone! It’s Monday, March the 22nd. Spring has sprung! (Astronomical spring, anyhow. Meteorological spring started three weeks ago.) It’s my 52nd birthday on Thursday. Kim and I are prepping to sell our home. Things are CRAZY, I tell you. CRAZY!

Add to that craziness a brand-new money blog. Women’s Personal Finance started as a Facebook community three years ago, a community that many of my friends love. And now the founders of that group have started a supporting website. My buddy Gwen (from Fiery Millennials) pointed me to the site yesterday.

Women’s Personal Finance is a membership community first and a website second. Those who join get access to a quality group of like-minded folks, a monthly newsletter, and more. I like it! I hope it flourishes for years to come. To that end, our first article today comes from WPF…

Divorce ruined my finances but saved my life. [Women’s Personal Finance] — “In one harsh, cold decision, our whole world flipped upside down. I left with less than half our assets and all my debt, including some credit card debt from the move and the divorce. While I could have fought to have him help me pay it, we couldn’t afford lawyers, and I wanted freedom more than I wanted equality.”

Am I the asshole for hiding a large savings account from my husband? [/r/AmItheAsshole] — “My (44F) husband (46M) is a big spender. Whenever we have money to spare, he wants to buy something new for the house or for his car or boat. For this reason I have a secret checking account that I rarely use for purchases I don’t want him to know about…He found the [account] and asked me why I had a debit card he didn’t know about. Eventually I confessed that I was saving it for our vacation. He was really mad…Am I the asshole?” Reddit’s verdict? Not the asshole. My verdict? Also, not the asshole. What’s your verdict?

“The evolution of my thoughts on spending money.” [A Purple Life] — “I always assumed that my thoughts on spending money would remain stagnant, like my thoughts on marriage or having kids. However, it turns out that my view of spending has evolved almost as much as my thoughts on time.”

To round things up for today, here’s a crazy (but cool) five-minute video of a beekeeper removing a hive and moving it to a new location — all without gear. THIS FREAKS ME OUT!

I admire this woman’s courage. This is not for me. I have a bee allergy, and while I know the little guys are nice, they scare me. (I hate ants too, but that’s another story.)

Okay, that’s it for Day #1 one my birthday week. I’ll see you again tomorrow with more great stuff. See you then!

Salt!

How a Salt Monopoly Could Spike Car Accidents in the Midwest [BIG by Matt Stoller] – “Michael Milken, private equity, and a salt roll-up are showing we’re in for shortages and price spikes.” This was fascinating to read because of its discussion of the importance of salt (I did not know the magnitude of its importance in transportation) but also the larger implications of a roll-up in the industry.

How We Removed 80% of Our Unhappiness in The Home [Keepin’ It Frugal] – “In 2020, we removed 80% of our unhappiness in the home. Using the 80/20 rule, we took stock of what grated on us most, and one by one started eliminating them. The results were huge.” We started doing this at home too, finding those areas that bother us and slowly fixing them so they don’t bother us anymore. A lot of it is organizational (kids toys!) so very fast, just have to get your hands on it. Those pesky bebbles!

It’s Friday so two pieces of candy today —

Something fun for you to play with – draw an iceberg and see how it’ll float. (kinda)

Something fun for you to watch – How to impress a woman.

Stockton’s Basic-Income Experiment Pays Off [The Atlantic] – “Two years ago, the city of Stockton, California, did something remarkable: It brought back welfare. Using donated funds, the industrial city on the edge of the Bay Area tech economy launched a small demonstration program, sending payments of $500 a month to 125 randomly selected individuals living in neighborhoods with average incomes lower than the city median of $46,000 a year. The recipients were allowed to spend the money however they saw fit, and they were not obligated to complete any drug tests, interviews, means or asset tests, or work requirements. They just got the money, no strings attached.”

What happened next will (not) shock you!

How To Prepare For Prosperity [His & Her Money] – “You must be ready to be completely done with the debt that you have in your life. It gets hard being in the same place every single month, being in debt and being in over your head with bills. You have to get yourself to the mental space where you are tired of it and ready to get out of the hole you have dug yourself in. […] Believe you can do it. The change will not be comfortable. Be prepared for that too. Just remember this is going to lead to the best future for you and your family.”

NFTs are a dangerous trap [Seth Godin] – “BUYERS of NFTs may be blind to the fact that there’s no limit on the supply. In the case of baseball cards, there are only so many rookies a year. In the case of art, there’s a limited number of famous paintings and a limited amount of shelf space at Sotheby’s. NFTs are going to be more like Kindle books and YouTube videos. The vast majority are going to have ten views, not a billion. It’s an unregulated, non-transparent hustle with ‘bubble’ written all over it.”

This is just a cool drone video inside a bowling alley:

An interesting thought experiment – what would change in your life if you were rich? As in Elon Musk/Jeff Bezos rich…

Being Rich – What Would Change in Life? [Route to Retire] – “It’s hard to digest everything you could do if you had an unlimited amount of funds. Being rich – like really rich – would certainly give you the power to change the world if you wanted.”

12 Things I Remind Myself When Markets Go Crazy [A Wealth of Common Sense] – “3. Your gains will be incinerated at some point. Investing in risk assets means occasionally seeing your gains evaporate before your eyes. I don’t know why and I don’t know when but at some point a large portion of my portfolio will fall in value. That’s how this works.”

Is investing a zero-sum game? [Occam Investing] – “To understand whether investing is a zero-sum game, a useful place to start is a concept known as Sharpe’s Arithmetic of Active Management. Sharpe’s arithmetic begins with the premise that the equity market is owned by two kinds of investors: a) market cap indexers, who own every equity in the market in proportion to its market capitalisation (known as “passive investors”), and, b) active investors, each of whom owns a portfolio of equities which they believe will outperform.” That’s just a teaser but the summation is that active management is for the birds. 🙂

Speaking of which… how flipping cool is this??? I also learned a new word – “murmuration.”

Adam at Minafi is a really smart guy who makes some fantastically intuitive tools on his financial independence blog. If I can be honest, I’m super envious of them because they look so elegant. 🙂

Anyway, enough fawning… last week, he shared a good framework for weekly reviews:

How To Conduct a Weekly Review to Keep Yourself on Track [Minafi] – “Whether you call is journaling, mindfulness or just scheduling, spending a few minutes to create a plan for your week is the best step towards reaching your goals.”

A Mental Trick to Make Any Task Less Intimidating [Forge] – “All you have to do is picture yourself on the other side.”

Are The Simpsons Still Middle Class? [NPR] – “Back in 1989, the very first episode of The Simpsons aired on Fox. Since then, the Simpsons have become an iconic American family: The dopey, good hearted Homer; Marge, the rock of the family; three kids; two cars; a dog and a house. Money’s always tight but they make it work. Over 30 years later, however, the Simpsons’ life doesn’t feel so normal anymore. The idea that you could have one breadwinner working a job at a power plant supporting a family of five in the suburbs seems a little … unattainable.”

Related to The Simpsons but not related to money is this fun clip of The Simpson’s opening but live action:

I’ve long operated on a simple principle famously put into words by Jeff Bezos – regret minimization.

His story about deciding to start Amazon was similar to my decision to quit my (great) job at Booz Allen Hamilton to work on my personal finance blog, Bargaineering. The thought of quitting a stable job, where I had a security clearance, to work on a “blog” seemed incredibly risky and reckless. I can’t imagine what my friends thought of my choice.

But it was about regret minimization. I would know very quickly, within a few years, if the blogging thing was for me and whether I could succeed in it. Plus, I could always go back. Turns out, at least so far, I’ve made the right decisions.

I asked hundreds of people about their biggest life decisions. Here’s what I learned [The Conversation] – “You make decisions all the time. Most are small. However, some are really big: they have ramifications for years or even decades. In your final moments, you might well think back on these decisions — and some you may regret.”

That article introduced me to the book by Bronnie Ware (which I have yet to read, I only discovered it last week) but this Guardian article goes into greater detail on the five regrets:

Top five regrets of the dying [The Guardian] – “A nurse has recorded the most common regrets of the dying, and among the top ones is ‘I wish I hadn’t worked so hard’. What would your biggest regret be if this was your last day of life?”

5 Regrets Of The Dying And Why Financial Freedom Is The Answer [Financial Freedom Countdown] – “This was the most common regret when people realize that their life is almost over and look back to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. If you are stuck in the hamster wheel of earning, spending, earning, spending; you will soon realize that you need to keep on working for a very long period of time.”

It’s not easy to read but something everyone should.

Yay! It’s Friday! But before you head into your weekend, here are a few final money articles for you to digest and absorb.

Why retirees go broke. [The Retirement Café] — “Retirees don’t go broke as a result of sequence of returns risk. They go broke as a result of illness, injury, unemployment, housing problems, divorce, birth or adoption, death or illness of a family member, forced retirement, identity theft, consumer debt and aggressive debt collection and the interconnected, cascading effects of all of the above.”

The mystery of trust. [Comment] — “To make an institution more trustworthy when the conditions animating the trust from yesteryear have shifted or frayed, you need to take risks. You need to be willing and able to change the structure and incentives (and often the people). You need to make genuine strides toward public accountability. This is not just technical or cosmetic; it is moral.”

Maybe money does buy happiness after all. [Visual Capitalist] — “What’s the relationship between money and happiness? Previous studies have indicated that, while money can in fact buy happiness, it plateaus at approximately $75,000/year. However, new research suggests otherwise.”

Adding a legacy letter to your estate planning documents. [Humble Dollar] — “Your estate plan specifies what you want done with your money and possessions after your death. But your life’s treasures extend beyond these material items — to your values, heritage, relationships, hopes, dreams, memories and stories. You can share some of this with family and friends through a legacy letter”

Lastly, from the Break the Twitch channel on YouTube, here’s a five-minute video about how to build good habits through minimal viable actions. A minimally viable action is the smallest and easiest-to-do action of the habit you are trying to form.

For a more in-depth look at this concept, check out the accompanying article at the Break the Twitch blog.

And that’s it for this week! Jim will be back on Monday with more of the best from the world of personal finance. Until then, stay healthy and grow wealthy.