August 21st marks my first year anniversary of blogging at MB-50. I’m so proud that I’ve managed to consistently produce two blog posts per month in spite of having a full-time career outside of blogging– I write code not blog posts for a living. Unbeknownst to many people, this shy, …

We recently just came back from a trip to the west coast. It was a week-long vacation with lots of driving between different cities within the state of California. I had to be careful not to overspend. I may be a millionaire, but keep in mind that it’s 2017– a million …

When it comes to your finances, there are two extremes to model yourself on, FIRE or FART (acronyms below) — that is if you want to be an extremist. The third option is neither, and that’s completely fine. The choice to quit the rat race at either 35 or 95 is completely your own …

One of my favorite personal finance books of all time is the one that was written by the late Thomas J. Stanley, The Millionaire Next Door (published in 1996). The bestselling book identifies common traits that show up again and again among those who have accumulated wealth. The surprising finding …

While I don’t believe that a bear market is coming, one big lesson from the last two recessions is that it can’t hurt to be prepared. Crashes will always come and go. Whether it’s six months or six years from now, nobody knows. The prospect of me becoming a thousandaire …

You’ve probably heard Dave Ramsey say this many times before, “The borrower is a slave to the lender.” The quote was taken from the scriptures. That’s exactly what I had in mind when I decided to lend my sister $14,000 last summer. Finally, I can ‘enslave’ my annoying sister, who …

I’ve recently started a Facebook group for this blog where members are encouraged to ask any question about money. Out of the blue, one member asked about Bitcoin. In an effort not to monopolize the forum, I waited several hours. But nobody was keen on answering the question. I eventually ended up …

Buy what you know, and stick to companies with good long-term prospects and quality management– are three well-known rules that the famous investor, Warren Buffett, follow when buying stocks. None of these rules I followed when I bought 200 shares of SNAP when it went public last week. The purchase was done …

With Valentine’s Day just a couple of days away, I’m feeling the pressure to come up with something really special for my wife. Traditionally, it would be fresh flowers— a bouquet of red roses to be specific. In the past, I hated buying flowers. I’ve always thought of it as …

Earlier this morning, I sold a mutual fund that I held for 15 long years– Laudus International MarketMasters Fund™ (ticker symbol SWOIX). As the name suggests, the fund invests in shares of companies outside the United States. It falls under Morningstar’s “Foreign Large Growth” category because the fund manager’s focus is …