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Len Penzo dot Com

The offbeat personal finance blog for responsible people.

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When Good Personal Finance Practices Go Too Far

By Len Penzo

If a little is good, then it follows that more must be better. Well, okay, maybe not all the time. Take coupons, for instance. Clipping coupons to save money on groceries is a sensible idea. But so-called extreme couponing takes this otherwise ...

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June 8, 2020

How to Incorporate Gold In an Investment Portfolio with ETFs or Cashgold

By Tex Freitag

People have diverse reasons for including an investment instrument in their portfolio, whether stocks, precious metals like gold, bonds, or any other investment vehicles. Investment goals influence decision making because what Investor A finds ...

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June 5, 2020

Great Tips for Seniors Who Want to Live Frugally

By Sabado Domingo

Frugal living means different things to us at various stages in our lives. When we're young or have kids, we may think living frugally is more about scoring discounts and clipping coupons so we can save money. As we get older, living frugally as a ...

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May 8, 2020

Roth 401(k) vs. Roth IRA: What Is the Difference?

By Tex Freitag

Planning for retirement is important, but it can be tricky to understand all of the terms that are used when talking about the different ways you can prepare. In this article, we're going to focus on the similarities and differences between Roth ...

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April 21, 2020

Six Methods for Dealing with a Roller Coaster Market

By Rob Wrubel, CFP

Corrections and bear markets never come at the right time. Distressing world events materialize, and the stock market pullbacks just add stress and anxiety to the difficult times. In January, the world was fine; schools were in session, stocks were ...

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April 10, 2020

How to Withdraw from Your 401(k) Without Losing Your Savings

By Barri Segal

Your 401(k) is your retirement plan -- but sometimes you just need to use those funds before you retire. If you make a withdrawal, however, you'll not only reduce your balance, but if you're not 59.5 or older, you'll get an extra 10% penalty fee ...

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March 23, 2020

8 Common Portfolio Protection Strategies

By Len Penzo

Investing is one of the greatest ways to grow your wealth. After all, the long-term average yearly return in the stock market has been around 10% -- and that's way better than any savings account! But as we've all seen, while the market can sometimes ...

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March 20, 2020

Why Visualizing Your Financial Future Is So Important – and How to Do It

By Bret

There are millions of posts and thousands of books explaining how to improve your finances. In fact, much of this information seems to get recycled back and forth. I have found only a couple of good books and posts that deal with the visualization of ...

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March 11, 2020

Economic Collapse 101: Ten Ways to Prepare for the Unknown

By Len Penzo

Most folks are really good about making sure they have the proper amount of insurance for their home and automobiles. But when it comes to ensuring the survival of their family in rough economic times, well ... not so much. It's no secret that ...

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March 9, 2020

How to Plan for Your Retirement in Canada

By Sabado Domingo

Wondering how to start saving money for retirement in Canada? Millennials thinking of retirement planning often face a unique set of challenges today. With lower earnings, rising housing costs, and increasing childcare costs, it all means there's ...

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February 27, 2020

Grandfather Says: The Boy Is ‘Just Who He Is’

By RD Blakeslee

Grandfather says his preparing for retirement boiled down to supporting and, to the extent needed, enabling the family members (particularly the wife -- permanent fixture -- kids, temporary) to live the lives they wanted to live in their best ...

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February 6, 2020

19 Things Your Millionaire Neighbor Won’t Tell You

By Len Penzo

Although having a million bucks isn't as impressive as it once was, most people still consider it as a sign of financial success. And judging by the number of actual millionaires enjoying life in the world today, there are apparently quite a lot of ...

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January 6, 2020

Moron Alert: How One Man Paid $87,500 in Partially Avoidable IRA Fees

By Joe Saul-Sehy

Over the years I've read plenty of articles and blog posts about lying, cheating, and dumb advisors. While lying and cheating advisors are a topic for another day, I know from experience that there are plenty of morons in the advisory business. ...

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December 30, 2019

Is It Possible to Retire With a Million Dollars?

By Jeff Desjardins

For those of you still wondering if a million bucks is enough to retire on, this article by Jeff Desjardins from the Visual Capitalist will certainly put the concept of having a million dollars in perspective ... Being a millionaire is ...

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December 16, 2019

7 Basic Financial Goals Everyone Should Strive For

By Enero Febrero

Financial security is becoming the top priority for people around the globe. Gone are the days when having wealthy parents guaranteed a financially-secure life for their kids. Today, almost everyone has to work hard to ensure their financial ...

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December 3, 2019

5 Rules to Consider Before Taking Out a Loan in Retirement

By Annie Doisy

A million dollars -- the figure many people have in the backs of their minds as the ideal retirement fund -- isn't what it used to be. On average, it will last you about 25 years in retirement, and that doesn't include unanticipated expenses. If you ...

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October 15, 2019

11 Great Retirement Saving Tips for Twenty-somethings (& Older Folks Too)

By Len Penzo

For most twenty-somethings, saving for retirement is typically far far down their priority list. After all, it's tough to get motivated preparing for an event that won't arrive for 30 or 40 years. Heck, I know thirty-somethings and even a few ...

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September 9, 2019

Grandfather Says: Are You Ready for Retirement?

By RD Blakeslee

Grandfather knew when he retired nearly fifty years ago what it would be like. He thinks the reason that he knew was because there were things he wanted to do that he had to forgo when he was hired out to "the other man" and would now have free ...

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July 11, 2019

5 Ways to Handle Your 401(k) When You Change Jobs

By Tex Freitag

The average American changes jobs a dozen times in their lifetime. With each new job comes new offices, new co-workers -- and possibly a decision about what to do with the 401(k) plan they started at their last job. Selecting the right course of ...

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June 5, 2019

Good Personal Finance Habits Everyone Should Follow

By Len Penzo

There are good habits and there are bad habits - and I have a lot of bad habits. For example, I tend to bite my nails when I get stressed out. I also have a penchant for opening the cupboard to get a drinking glass -- then walking away and leaving ...

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April 29, 2019

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