Finance Clever

A number of questions have come up from the post I wrote a few weeks ago about buying our new home. One of the most frequent ones goes something like this: “Great job outlining the costs of homeownership, but what about the benefits? I get a tax deduction for the interest and property taxes I pay on my home!” Today, we put the above statement to the test. Are potential tax deductions actually valuable for home owners? Of course we cannot do this without a basic understanding of the U.S. tax system. So here is a quick high level crash course*. Let’s start with the basic income tax formula: As you can see we … Read more…

About a year ago I wrote about how Elisa’s car has saved us $26,200 over 4 years. Today, we’ll explore the numbers behind my own car. As I am writing this sentence, I have not yet run the numbers so I am excited to see how my car’s cost of ownership compares to Elisa’s. I bought this car back in 2011 when I moved to Greensboro, NC for graduate school. I had about $6,000 to my name, and even though I didn’t know about financial independence back then, I knew that borrowing money for a car was a bad idea. I … Read more…

One of the most common misconceptions out there is the notion that buying a home is always a better financial decision than renting one. This is nonsense. “Always” is rarely a good answer in the world of personal finance. There are too many factors at play for one alternative to always trump the other ones. A common argument in favor of buying that clearly overlooks many important factors goes something like this: “my mortgage payment would be roughly the same as my rent payment. Therefore, I should buy because I’m building equity!“. Not unreasonable, but awfully incomplete. With that in mind, let’s take a look at … Read more…

Financial independence… That wonderful thing that happens when your passive income equals or exceeds your expenses. It takes a sizable amount of money to get there. How much exactly? 25 times your annual expenses using the 4% percent withdrawal rule. For me and my family, annual expenses are about $29,000, so I would need at least a $725,000 portfolio in order to reach financial independence. In other words, the ultimate freedom costs $725,000 for us, and that’s what Elisa and I are working towards.   What Do You Mean It’s Not About the Money? Clearly, money is a key ingredient … Read more…

Back in January, I stumbled upon the possibility of getting tickets for Camp Mustache 2016. After about 15 minutes of thinking, I decided to go. I’m lucky I did because tickets sold out within a day or so, as I found out later. What Is Camp Mustache? The official website describes it as “4 days, 3 nights, 2 mountains, 1 rainforest – Meet like-minded badasses and learn about financial independence, in a relaxed outdoorsy environment”. I would describe it as the most inspiring experience in my financial independence journey so far. In case you are wondering, the event is named … Read more…