Attaining a high income, however you interpret that, can seem very important. Your level of compensation is often a direct reflection of your education, hard work and experience – though
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How to Buy Houses in a Highly Competitive Real Estate Market
Buying houses is stressful even at the best of times, but in a super competitive real estate market, just finding a house, any house, to buy can feel overwhelming. The first time we tried to buy a house in the competitive Denver metro area we ended up building one instead.
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Why Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) Is like a scam and 5 Ways to Deal With It
if car insurance protects your car, home insurance covers your house and health insurance is for your medical expenses, what does private mortgage insurance (PMI) insure you against? Nothing, actually.
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Budget Adjustments to Maximize Savings
In this article I will explore some of the most impactful budget adjustments and, using a some of Financial Samurai figures, examine the best ways to save money even in an expensive city like San Francisco
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Why Excellent Clients Should Demand Excellent Service
The best businesses have always prioritized their customers above all else. But over the last few decades, as the improvement of the internet has allowed a lot of the competition
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5 Things To Do Right Now in Order to Retire Abroad
For the adventurous, one of the best ways to attain F.I.R.E, is to retire abroad, at least part time. Depending on where you prefer to reside, a significant change in expenses can translate to a much higher standard of living than you might otherwise be able to afford.
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How To Calculate the True Value of Your Job (and Why You Always Should)
Most people don’t make well-informed decisions; they mean to, but they don’t. In general, people are much more likely to make decisions based on speculation, their feelings or a hunch, than to base decisions on hard data. Even well-meaning people who set out to be informed, can get bogged down by the sheer preponderance of information (and misinformation) they have to wade through.
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5 Ways That Working From Home Can Make You More Money
There are numerous, readily apparent benefits to working from home: the ability to design your ideal work environment, avoiding a long commute and the increased freedom, just to name a
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The Problems With Rental Real Estate and How to Overcome Them
There are typically two schools of thought when it comes to the prospect of owning a rental property: It’s either a no-brainer, or inherently a nightmare. It’s not surprising that
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Simplicity Is Often the Key to Financial Success
Although the mastery of something is one of the most difficult, and consequentially one of the most rewarding pursuits, there is good news: mastery is also largely overrated. Adhering to some simple principles and developing discipline prove far more valuable.
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The Pros and Cons of Rapidly Paying Down Your Mortgage
The idea that typical American home owner should pay down mortgage debt rapidly is nothing new. The sentiment certainly makes sense at face value; by eliminating your mortgage payment you free up a huge chunk of cash. You also no longer have to pay the bank interest, which must feel incredibly liberating. However, there are also significant problems with strategies that prioritize rapidly paying down your mortgage, namely “opportunity loss,” which complicate the issue.
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How to Access Your Retirement Money Early, Without Penalty
How to access retirement funds early, without being penalized. Investing for your retirement can actually be pretty easy to get right. However, the rules governing retirement accounts are often anything but straightforward. In my previous role at the investment firm I work for, I assisted hundreds of alternative asset investors working with “self-directed” IRA accounts. These investors are typically savvier than the average 401k holder, even they are often unclear about the rules determining contributions, and perhaps more importantly, how they can access funds early and without being penalized.
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5 Tax-Sheltered Investments That You Didn’t Know About
Most casual investors aren’t aware that they could own real estate in an IRA, HSA and even some 401Ks. Not just the ability to access real estate through REITS, IRAs can actually hold tangible rental real estate. Though typically riskier (and demanding more time and expertise) than a broadly diversified mutual fund portfolio, owning rental properties, private equity, or even a business within your retirement accounts is a secret that…
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These 10 Money Habits Will Make You More Money in the Long Run
At Valuist we often put broad financial topics under the microscope to provide in-depth analysis and, hopefully, determine their inherent value. But sometimes the most impactful articles are the ones that provide easy-to-digest tips on a range of pertinent topics. So, for this post, I am going to summarize some of the most important money lessons that I have learned and covered for Valuist.
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5 Reasons Why Dividend Investment Strategies Are Overrated
Dividend investment strategies are too often touted as, ‘easy passive income.’ These strategies have been around forever but have become extremely popular on social media, among beginner investors. The appeal
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