Tag Archives: 9) Personal Investment

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) Diversification is often called the only free lunch in investing. It is a great way to reduce the volatility of a portfolio and sometimes increase its returns. You want to avoid having all your eggs in one basket. So, instead, you are going to use many baskets. The idea of diversification is mostly to invest in many companies and many countries. But there are other forms of diversification that we are...

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) The Poor Swiss blog just turned three years old. It is difficult to believe it has already been three years since I started this blog. I have done a lot of things on this blog in the last year. Some of these things paid off. Some did not. But I think the blog is in a much better place right now than one year ago, which is always a good sign. I hope you agree with me! This article is a retrospective of this...

Income is the lifeblood of retirement.  In Part 1, wisdom from the early chapters of Jim Otar’s new book about retiree income challenges is explored. A one-person revolutionary. In 2004, I discovered the work of Canadian-based planner and Chartered Market Technician Jim Otar. As a result of his work, I changed my approach to planning. Compared to conventional financial gurus, Jim’s research showcased how stock market cycles changed over time and negatively affected...

A Fed survey of expectations shows that the consumer mood darkens on employment and job prospects. Job Transitions This chart shows the changes in employment status of respondents who were  employed four months ago. The Fed survey asks individuals currently employed (excluding self-employment) whether they are working in the same job as when they submitted their last survey. If in the past four months they have answered that they now work for a different employer,...

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) Zak and Neon are two good Swiss Digital bank accounts. They are both entirely digital and accessible through mobile applications. The great thing about these bank accounts is that they are significantly cheaper than conventional bank accounts. Their low prices are what make their success. And they have some attractive features. But which one should you choose? Which of Zak vs Neon is better for you? Let’s...

Depending on which index you are following, the bull market is back! It is now time to reflect on the bear market. If your portfolio is not yet out of the red, it does not hurt to be prepared. We have already discussed the things you should do during a bear market. The most important of these things is not to panic. But when the stock market recovers, there are a few more things you can do. It is now time to think about what happened and analyze how you have acted...

If you missed Part-1 of our series on the “Theory Of MMT Falls Flat When Faced With Reality,” start there. In Part-2, we complete our analysis of the theory and the potential ramifications. The premise of our discussion was this recent explanation of “Modern Monetary Theory” by Stephanie Kelton. As discussed previously, economic theory always sounds much better than how it works out in reality. The reason is that in “theory,” supply and demand imbalances always...

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) It is time for another monthly update! June 2020 flew by us! Like last month, we had to pay a ton of taxes. I did not pay enough taxes last year, so this year is very high. Fortunately, we had less to pay this month than in May. So, we still managed to save a little amount of money. It is better than last month, where our savings rate was zero. Except for the taxes, this month was relatively uneventful....

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) You have probably heard a lot about Financial Independence. A lot of things on this blog are about my path to Financial Independence (FI). But why would you want to be financially independent? There are many reasons for wanting to be financially independent. And as you will see, retiring may not be the most significant reason. In this post, I am going to list the main reasons people want to be Financially...

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) When you are investing, you want to minimize your investing fees. It is something most people already realize. But what most people do not realize is how expensive fees can be in the long-term. In this article, we are going to see precisely how much investing fees are hurting you! Not only will we see that they are more expensive than they seem. We will also see that investing fees have a significant...