Stories of financial fraud are rampant in the media from schemes that involve fake bank text messages to out and out street crime known as “bank jugging” where people rob a person shortly after they withdraw cash from a bank branch or ATM. Over the years I’ve taken notice of the various schemes employed by criminals and have developed some processes and habits that I believe are effective in either preventing fraud or catching on to fraud very early in the process. The first of these habits is simple enough. I have a main checking account that my pay has historically been direct deposited into. From that account I allocate money to savings and investments in other accounts, and pay bills directly out of the account. For that reason it’s a very important account for me. Which is why I check the balance on a daily basis and at least once a week I’ll review recent deposit and withdrawal transactions. Some people may equate checking your bank balance on a daily basis to the activities of one pathetic miser named Ebenezer Scrooge, but there’s a difference in what I’m doing. While Mr. Scrooge was pathologically counting his wealth due to his obsession with money I’m simply checking to ensure that nothing unexpected has occurred. And if something doesn’t look right on a daily basis I can take a look at what happened right away.

It’s important to note that although you are not liable for fraudulent activity on your bank accounts that doesn’t mean that it can’t be hugely inconvenient while you and the bank attempt to sort out what happened and why. Banks also have established time frames for the reporting of fraud and beyond those time frames you may have a lot of trouble reversing fraud. So don’t sleep on your financial accounts, especially accounts that hold money you need to pay day-to-day expenses. It’s also comforting to know that financial institutions have sophisticated systems in place to identify fraud when it occurs, but sophisticated does not 100% guarantee they’ll catch all fraud. Which is why as a customer you need to be aware of your balances as well as the expected ebb and flow of money into and out of your accounts. We usually have regular deposits (like a paycheck or pension payment) as well as regular withdrawals (such as utility bills and those ever growing internet subscriptions) that we expect to impact our balances. Get familiar with what those are. As I mentioned above at least once a week I do a run down of charges to ensure that I understand all of the ones that have occurred. Understanding your banking activity is the first line of defense against potential fraud on your accounts.

Continue reading “Checking My Bank Balance Daily (And Other Anti-Fraud Measures)” →

If you’re aware of the news lately (and I’d be shocked if you weren’t) markets have turned bearish and commodity prices have risen sharply, basically turning the dynamics upside down compared to where they were in 2025. It’s a trend driven by the military action in the Middle East, whose long-term impacts and ultimate conclusion are greatly in doubt at this time. Hence, it’s unclear when things will turn around and stock markets will once again become bullish (meaning that stock values will once again continue rising) and gasoline prices will come down. Welcome to the world folks. The little people (which is just about all of us) never know when the great powers will make moves that turn the world upside down. We also never know (for sure at least) when things will go right-side up. So welcome to the proverbial rainy day. This being a time when prudence reigns over risk taking and when the people who eschewed the proverbial financial umbrellas (those are for losers, right?) are drenched in fear for their financial future. The thing is that everyone needs a financial umbrella because as many people are learning now, and I’ve learned over decades of saving and investing, that the rainy day ALWAYS comes eventually.

Now if you look at media coverage of financial topics in this time you’ll find lots of opinions, as always, of what investors should do next. Most of that coverage promotes a changing strategy to meet changing times. As far as I’m concerned such advice only makes sense if you’re one of the (far too many) people who think that prudence in terms of investing is for losers and wimps. What I will be doing, as I’ve always done, is to stay the course and continue to buy low cost index mutual funds at regular intervals, thereby taking advantage of good old Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) which, over time, will more than offset any temporary paper “losses” for the mutual fund shares that have reduced in value. For 25 years I’ve purchased in down markets and I’ve purchased in up markets, only selling shares when money was needed and I couldn’t cash flow a cost out of my salary or other cash savings. A great example of this was cashing in mutual fund shares when I needed a down payment for a primary residence. Another example was when an older vehicle of mine ceased to be reliable and I decided to buy a new car for cash. These examples are the exception rather than the rule though. Most mutual fund shares that I have purchased years ago I still hold, and market downturns like the current one have only deigned to chip away a small amount of my returns on those shares. Even then, that’s just on paper. In real terms the only loss taken when the value of a share falls is if a person panics or is otherwise forced to sell that share at a loss. Sometimes that is truly necessary but usually only if a person has failed to consider a financial umbrella in the event of a rainy day. More about that follows.

Continue reading “The Rainy Day Always Comes” →

Over the years people have called me cheap. Okay, perhaps they’re right about that but I prefer the categorization of frugal. From where I sit people who can be called cheap just don’t want to spend money…for whatever reason. But my perception of frugal people is different. I see frugal people as those who fail to spend…on some things…with a purpose. My purpose in not spending, where possible, is related to my desire to retire early and live well for the rest of my days. With that goal in mind I’m happy to pay for the necessities of life and to enjoy life where possible without joining the masses who worship at the altar of consumerism. Things, in particular, have never excited me too much. Things like a fine leather sectional sofa or a new car or an expensive watch. There are so many things people love to spend their money on these days. We used to think back in the 1990s that the Home Shopping Network (HSN) was a niche channel on cable that catered to shopping addicts. But today the near immediate satisfaction offered by the internet has revealed just how much mass there is in mass consumerism. Not being excited by things I have not joined in the orgy of internet spending, at least not to the level of most American adults. I enjoy my 25-year old IKEA couch. I enjoy my 15-year old dining table and chairs. I enjoy my 20-year old mattress, to name a few household items I’ve had for a stretch. Because when I think of those things, and others, in my apartment the thought of replacing them doesn’t move me as much as the thought of retiring early and living well in later years moves me.

Oh sure, I’ve been known to love technology in my day so I do have a MacBook Air, an iPad, and a Windows laptop. But when I buy these things I keep them for years, not trading them in every year or two when new versions come out. I confess I went a few early iPhone cycles upgrading every year. I quit that somewhere around iPhone 6 though. I now have a Samsung Android phone that’s 2.5 years old. I’m quite happy with it and don’t feel the need to have the latest and greatest phone with Artificial Intelligence (AI) features. When I do buy a new phone I usually get one that’s been out for at least year, has been discounted, and doesn’t include all the pro features that top of the line smartphones are known for. When I moved last, about 3 years ago, I was really wanting an updated 4K TV so I gave my ten year old 50-inch LCD TV to a maintenance guy at the apartment complex where I was moving from. When I arrived at my new home I bought a new 50-inch OLED 4K TV. I also decided I wanted to have really nice sound to enjoy those 4K action movies I love so I added a companion soundbar. So I’ve been known to splurge on things from time to time! But my spending on things like that are the exception rather than the rule. After I moved into a condo I purchased in late 2022 I had problems with the refrigerator. People I talked to about it urged me to get a new refrigerator. Now there’s no shortage of places where you can order a refrigerator online, have them bring it to your door and have them take the old one away. I looked at comparable new refrigerators and they all cost over $1,000. So I decided to call a repairman. The person I got diagnosed the problem as a circuit board issue. He happened to have a circuit board because it’s a common fault of my quite common refrigerator. For $300 the fridge has worked well for almost three years since. The way my mind works doing what I did a) reduced the waste of having to junk a refrigerator; and b) freed up $700 that I could save and invest for either retirement or something more critical I’ll need to spend on down the line. That’s my mindset…for better or worse.

Continue reading “The Power Of Frugality In Wealth Building” →

Something very frustrating has been occurring as I’ve been looking at different sources of information related to my plan to retire early, which at this point is about 14 months away. Whether it’s via blog website or YouTube videos I keep finding the content of influencers who all push the fallacy that good debt can help accelerate your path to wealth. My experience as someone who has gone from $0 to a net worth approaching $2 million (with no debt) is that using debt in an attempt to build wealth will only slow you down from achieving true financial independence. Most of the people whose content I’ve seen identify themselves with the so called FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement and have not yet achieved the FIRE they so desire.

Now I’m a ways down the road of life from the people whose content I’ve seen recently and I know about the debt pitfalls because I’ve experienced them. Yes, I’ve used debt in my life. I’ve had credit cards. I’ve had car loans. I’ve had mortgages. I’ve tried all the credit card tricks like transferring balances to 0% interest cards for a period of time and charging things so I could get points or miles. To name a couple of tricks that credit card companies use to get people hooked on using their cards. But in the end I realized that the purpose of all debt is to help you buy things you really can’t afford, which helps other people build wealth. But not you! Even mortgages, which I’ve had and think can be useful, can be quite destructive as people often use them to buy houses (or condos) that are too expensive in the hope that they can catch up on payments later or sell the property later when values rise. If they rise. And they don’t always rise as people found out in the 2008-9 housing crash. My experience simply has been that debt causes people to overextend themselves and gets people playing games (like accumulating points, miles or cash back bonuses) that distract from true wealth building.

Continue reading “Falling For The Debt Trap” →

In my earlier post as part of my financial literacy series I wrote about opening a brokerage account, which then allows a person to invest (for the long term) or trade (for the short term) depending on their level of knowledge and appetite for risk. Since this series of posts is about financial basics I wanted to share a few tips on how a person can invest safely. These tips are based on my experience of investing in brokerage accounts (including retirement and non-retirement) for 25 years. I know that some people who are impatient in terms of their desire to build wealth will scoff at my advice but I do know whereof I speak.

Early on when investing I did things the risky way because it’s what I thought all the big shots in investing did and I found out quickly that for every win that makes you money doing risky things there are bigger losses ahead. In addition to that if you use your brokerage account in a risky way you are exposed to the silent killer known as stress. Stress creates a vicious cycle whereby you’re likely to make more and more questionable decisions that lead you to financial disaster. Thankfully, my desire to avoid heavy losses and the stress that comes with them tempered my desire to get rich quick and for at least 25 years I’ve been investing safely using the tips listed below.

Continue reading “Safe Investing Tips” →

In my previous post meant to help people attain basic financial literacy I covered basic banking products, which are the foundation of wealth building. In this post I’ll expand into the world of brokerage accounts. Brokerage accounts are exciting on one hand because they are a critical wealth building tool. On the other hand, they can be very dangerous because if one uses a brokerage account in the wrong way then that person can create financial misery for themselves. My goal with this post is to help you understand the safe way to utilize a brokerage account so that it truly is the vehicle that will ultimately ensure your financial success over the long-term.

When I wrote about banking products I mentioned how they are safe products that can return between a little more than 0% to around 4% (as of early 2025) without risking the capital that you put into those products. Brokerage products have the capability of earning you much more than 4% a year and also open you up to the possibility of earning dividends, which can really accelerate your wealth building process. On the flip side, brokerage products do not guarantee your initial capital so it is possible to lose some, or even all, of your investment. That doesn’t stop millions of people from transacting brokerage business daily and as long as you don’t act foolish you can build a very solid nest egg as long as you exercise the winning traits of patience and discipline.

Continue reading “Opening A Brokerage Account” →

This is the third post in my financial literacy series. The first two posts can be found here and here. In this post I’ll provide overviews of the most basic banking products, which are checking accounts, savings accounts and Certificates of Deposit (CDs). Having an account at a bank is the foundation of wealth building so it’s important to know your options as well as the pros and cons of each product. In this post I lay out those pros and cons. Before I continue I do want to remind you that work on increasing your income as well as living on a reasonable monthly budget are critical in giving you a chance to use any financial tool effectively. So always consider how well you’re addressing your income and budget as part of any solid financial plan.

A checking account is the banking product that is most useful and also most widely used by everyone who earns a living and pays bills. Checking accounts today differ quite a bit from the accounts I dealt with in my post college years due to the advent of debit cards and easy online electronic transfers. The good news is that checking accounts have become much more flexible than they were in years past. Checking accounts allow customers to gain access to their funds in multiple ways, which is the reason why they are best used for the direct deposit of your paychecks and for paying your regular monthly bills. As the name implies checking accounts allow customers access to physical checks that can be written out and given to someone as a form of payment. The honest truth is that in 2025 people don’t write many checks but there are some instances where it’s useful to have access to a check to pay for something. So it’s good to have the option. Much more common with checking accounts are transactions that occur via debit cards tied to your checking account. A debit card can be used like a credit card to pay for something, either in-person or online, using funds from your checking account. In addition, a debit card can be used to withdraw cash at an Automated Teller Machine (ATM). Finally, it’s possible to link your checking account (either directly or via your debit card information) to automatically pay bills online or transfer money. As you can see checking accounts are important because they offer extreme flexibility in terms of moving your money to where it needs to be.

Continue reading “Basic Banking Products” →

My prior post regarding the virtues of attaining financial literacy has energized me to go deeper into the basics of personal finance so that you may benefit from my experiences (including failures) regarding wealth building. Briefly, in my mid-50s I have a net worth approaching $2 million having started from scratch and received no inheritances or large gifts from anyone. I’m 100% debt free and living in a condominium that I own outright. Honestly, 10 years ago (immediately following a difficult divorce) I couldn’t have imagined that I’d be in this financial position, which I’m very happy with. If you would like to know how I got here then please read the next few posts which will be on the topic of personal finance and wealth building. The focus of this post will be the cornerstone of wealth building and that’s your monthly budget. A monthly budget is not a sexy or exciting financial concept for most people. Most people consider a budget to be a financial albatross. Then again, most people are not achieving their financial goals…if they have financial goals at all. This is supported by data from the 2023 Federal Reserve  Report on Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households which revealed (here) that 51% of adults do not have the cash to cover a $400 emergency expense and that 52% of adults have less than $2,000 in savings.  

A good monthly budget that you stick to is the cornerstone of a solid financial plan and a successful financial future. A budget is not a financial albatross. Quite the opposite. It’s a road map to wealth. Follow the budget and you’ll find success. Go off the map and who knows where you’ll end up. People who live without a budget often find that they’re confused as to where their money is going. Eventually they get frustrated with the lack of control they seem to have over their money. This can turn into a vicious cycle where a person who is frustrated decides to avoid really looking at their finances for fear of what they might find out. Which only makes the situation worse. After a certain amount of time things may get so bad that a person either has a breakdown or a break through. I had the latter over 20 years ago. What I know now is that neither of those situations need to occur as long as you embrace the idea that a budget is important and get to work on one. Budgeting can be quite complicated as life becomes more complicated. That’s a great reason to start a budget when life is simple because the practice of maintaining a budget when life is simple and the numbers are small will make maintaining that budget much easier when life is more complicated.

Continue reading “Creating And Sticking To A Monthly Budget” →

I was recently approached by a family member who wanted my opinion on whether they should hire a financial advisor and give that person the power to make investments on their behalf. This person is relatively young (under 40), had recently been promoted to a higher salary position and is the sole breadwinner for his small family. I asked what prompted the question and he said that some co-workers were advising him on the issue. As a self-made millionaire I definitely have my own thoughts on the topic so I was glad that he came to me for advice before making a decision to turn over his financial future to a paid advisor.

Knowing the basics of his situation, which is a lot like mine was when I was his age, I was able to point out a few things which I think are worth sharing here. First off, it’s worth it early on in your life to invest your own time and effort to understand investing. If for no other reason than there are countless horror stories from people who turned over control of their financial life to an advisor…who then screwed those people over! Bernie Madoff is an infamous name that people will probably recognize and he used a broad, worldwide network of financial advisors to propagate what turned out to be a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. Most people who invested with those advisors knew nothing of Madoff, but the advisors knew. Those advisors later admitted that they didn’t really know what Madoff was investing in. That’s not to say that all financial advisors are foolish or crooks. Just to point out that if you manage your own investments then you’ll know what you’re invested in and you’ll know that you’re going to act in your own best interests.

Continue reading “Attaining Financial Literacy Is Worth Your Time And Effort” →

I couldn’t believe it when earlier this year I checked my retirement accounts and found that their total value had eclipsed one million dollars. Being a superstitious person (the kind who won’t mention during a game that a pitcher is throwing a no-hitter) I reveled over my fortune for about two minutes and then put it out of my head for a little while. As in for a day when I checked my accounts again after the following days close. Still over a million! The number was exciting to see as the one million dollar amount has been drilled into my head since I was a kid via the culture (with game shows like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?), politicians (always talking about taxing millionaires and having them pay their fair share of taxes) and family (telling stories over coffee and Sambuca about some distant family member or friend who had struck it rich). In practice what a million dollars in my retirement accounts mean to me now is that a) I’m not likely to be eating lots of canned food when I eventually retire; and b) My mantra of patience and discipline when it comes to money is paying off.

Honestly, I’ve been a bit reticent about writing about this milestone for a couple of reasons. First, due to the superstition that I mentioned above. In fact, in the months since the number topped a million there were a couple of stock market dips that took my retirement account values below that mythical threshold. The values have since recovered and are now above one million. Second, because I’m not one to brag about my finances. On the other hand, I’m compelled to write about my situation because I know there are many people who desire to build financial wealth and they would like some insight regarding how it’s done. I also know that I wish I’d had the kind of guidance that I can offer now many years ago as I might even be in a better financial position to day. So (as the kids like to say) no brag, just fact.

Continue reading “401K Millionaire Advice” →