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Book Review: Invest with the House

February 3, 2016 by Jon

Invest With The HouseThe idea of investing alongside great investors is nothing new. Investors have attempted to emulate Buffett for decades. Studies, stock screens, and more try to decipher exactly what drives his performance. But what if they settled for a close second and just copied him?

Invest with the House, by Meb Faber, answers that question and more.

Buffett’s not the only one with a track record of beating the market. The book digs into twenty successful hedge fund managers (most managers fall into the value camp though each has a slightly different style), clones their stock picks, compares the results to the market (the S&P 500), and provides an easy process to follow.

Essentially, Faber created a stock portfolio for each fund manager, going back to 2000, based on an equal weighting of their ten largest holdings at the time and rebalanced quarterly as holdings changed. Continue Reading…

TD Ameritrade Review: Why I Use It

June 14, 2019 by Jon

TD Ameritrade ReviewTD Ameritrade is one of the biggest online brokers. It’s won many awards and receives high ratings from the financial press. That all sounds great, but it’s not why I use it.

The broker you use is just as important as how you invest your money. While there are a lot of good online brokers to choose from, it makes sense to choose the broker that best fits your investment needs.

If I started from scratch and had to find a new broker today, these would be the key requirements I’d look for: Continue Reading…

Ally Bank Review: The Best Online Bank?

February 28, 2013 by Jon

The transition to online banking has been underway for years. It’s become so accepted that brick and mortar banks now offer most of the same features – online account access, bill pay, and even mobile banking to appease customers. Yet, they still fall short when compared to Ally and other online banks.

The reality is we are moving to a bank anywhere platform. Yet there will always be a few simple things we want from our bank.

That is why I started shopping around for a new bank last year. My criteria was simple and convenient:

  • The bank had to offer good checking and savings accounts. I wanted simplicity, so no separate accounts in multiple banks.
  • Both accounts needed to be no fee and free checking. If that’s not too much to ask.
  • Make deposits from home. Let’s be honest, running to bank is not convenient.
  • No ATM fees. Stalking an ATM network to avoid fees – not convenient.
  • A decent interest rate.

That includes all the standard bells and whistles you get with checking and savings accounts these days – free debit card, online bill pay, balance alerts, and FDIC insurance. Continue Reading…

H&R Block At Home Review

February 2, 2022 by Jon

H&R Block at HomeH&R Block is one of the world’s largest tax service providers with offices all over the country. The H&R Block at Home tax software is the online version of sitting down with one of their tax pros. Now you can get your tax return done without ever leaving your house.

I should preface this before we start. I’ve been a loyal user of Turbotax for years. So I could easily say it’s not worth the effort. But I’ve been digging through this online software for a few days. While I don’t think I’ll switch, because I’m comfortable with what I use, H&R Block at Home does have some nice features.

Besides, with online tax software, you don’t pay until you’re done. If it doesn’t work the way you want, it’s hard to figure out, or you have problems with it, just stop, head down to their tax office, or use a competitor. Continue Reading…

TurboTax Review: Tax Prep Made Easy

February 2, 2022 by Jon

TurboTaxTurboTax is one of the most popular online tax preparation and filing services around. During tax season, it’s nice to use great tax software that makes finishing your return as quick and painless as possible.

I’ve used TurboTax to do my tax returns for over a decade now. Back when the only option was to buy the software in a store, I was using it.  That was before the internet, by the way. Of course now, TurboTax offers online tax software and makes those dreaded tax returns that much easier to finish and file quickly. But how does it stack up against the competition?

With TurboTax, you’ll find a range of products that fit the easiest tax return to the more complicated ones.
Continue Reading…

Book Review: Millionaire Teacher

April 26, 2012 by Jon

Millionaire TeacherI was recently approached to do a book review.  It’s not a rare occurrence and I’ve had my fill of investing books over the years. When the Millionaire Teacher finally showed up in the mail, I honestly wasn’t overly excited about reading it. Despite my misgivings, I gave it a shot and quickly found it was not your typical investment book.

The Millionaire Teacher is an investing autobiography of sorts by the author Andrew Hallam.  He is a successful high school English teacher, investor and writer. Did I mention he’s a self-made millionaire on a teacher’s salary?

Hallam breaks down his financial successes and failures into nine simple rules that everyone can use to build wealth. He attacks each rule from an educational perspective, with humor, research, and pure simplicity. Continue Reading…

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