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Articles about investing
Target-date funds for retirement should probably be the default investment for far more people. Most Americans do not want investing to become a hobby. They want to know what to buy, how much to contribute, and whether they can automate the whole thing. For many people, a low-cost target-date fund answers all three questions. Want … Read more
Set it and forget it investing should actually be simple enough to forget. Our normal Simple Finance Bytes portfolio uses just two investments—90% VTI and 10% VBIL—but even that requires some basic portfolio management. If you want the absolute simplest setup we would recommend, there is another option: one low-cost target-date fund for your long-term … Read more
The Simple Finance Budget sends 20% of your take-home pay to Savings & Investing. This savings priority order tells you what that 20% should fund first, so you are not trying to tackle six different financial goals at once. The answer is not to divide it evenly between six different goals. Use a simple savings … Read more
The Fidelity Rewards Visa is easy to recommend to someone who wants one main card without turning rewards into a hobby. It earns unlimited 2% cash back on eligible purchases when rewards are deposited into an eligible Fidelity account. There is no annual fee, no foreign transaction fee, and no rotating category calendar. Fidelity is … Read more
A Roth IRA at 21 sounds like something for later. It is not. If you start investing in a Roth IRA at 21 and do one simple thing every year until you retire, you can end up with millions of dollars and never have to think hard about money again. No spreadsheets, no stock picking, … Read more
Right now, a lot of people are looking at their monthly budget and wondering what has to give. Groceries cost more. Everything costs more. And that chunk coming out of your paycheck for retirement starts to look like an easy target. Before you pause your contributions entirely, there is one thing worth understanding: your employer … Read more
Conflict investing is the primary topic of conversation this week as headlines focus on the shaky ceasefire talks in Islamabad. With oil prices hovering near $114 a barrel and shipping delays in the Strait of Hormuz, the impulse to “do something” with your portfolio is high. Most people see red in their accounts and feel … Read more
Most employees leave thousands of dollars on the table every year because they don’t fully understand their employer benefits guide. The money sits there waiting – 401k matches go unclaimed, HSA accounts sit uninvested, FSA contributions get forfeited, and employee discount programs gather digital dust. This isn’t about exotic perks or complicated optimization. This is … Read more
Investing while in debt is one of the most common financial questions people wrestle with right now, and for good reason. Credit card rates are above 20%. The cost of everything is up. And the instinct to pause investing and throw everything at the balance is completely understandable. However, for most people, that instinct leads … Read more
Market volatility is loud right now. The headlines are dramatic, the numbers are moving fast, and if you’ve been checking your portfolio more than usual, you’re not alone. If you want straightforward investing guidance delivered straight to your inbox every month, sign up for the Simple Finance Bytes newsletter. Here’s the thing — the right … Read more