Author: kfisch

Do You Feel Lucky?

Whenever the topic of investing comes up with teachers (and other folks, but most of my experience is with teachers), two common obstacles often appear: fear and overconfidence. While these obstacles are on opposite ends of a spectrum they both can be very damaging. Let's take a brief look. Fear Probably the more common of … Continue reading Do You Feel Lucky? →

401ks and 403bs and 457bs, Oh My!

The Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is well-named. (Technically, the 'A' actually stands for "arrangement", not account, but everyone just says account.) It describes really well what the account is for (although the details around it can still be confusing), and people quickly grasp the concept. The same can't be said, unfortunately, about employer-sponsored retirement plans. … Continue reading 401ks and 403bs and 457bs, Oh My! →

What’s In My Portfolio?

A while back I read How I Invest My Money, a fairly short book that is comprised of 25 financial "experts" describing how they invest their money. It was interesting to see the different perspectives and rationales, so I thought it might be helpful (to somebody?) if I shared my1 portfolio. I look at our … Continue reading What’s In My Portfolio? →

Spending Matters: Calculating How Many Days Earlier You Can Retire

This is going to be very long (first rationale, then step-by-step instructions). I think it's going to be worth it, but we'll see. Ask just about any math teacher and they'll tell you that humans don't have a very good intuitive sense of exponential growth (e.g., see the response to the pandemic). Humans are pretty … Continue reading Spending Matters: Calculating How Many Days Earlier You Can Retire →