2million's Personal Finance Blog

My Journey to Financial Freedom

January 1, 2012

$75 in Sharebuilder Bonuses

Here a couple promotions for Sharebuilder account holders to kick off the new year: START50 - Make a deposit of $25 or more to earn a $50 bonus.INVEST122111 - Make a deposit of $25 or more to earn a $25...
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January 4, 2012

December 2011 Net Worth Update (+$18,477)

Assets Nov-11 Dec-11 Change % Cash & Savings $ 22,960.53 $ 27,882.26 $ 4,921.73 21.44% Taxable Brokerage Accts $ 152,906.99 $ 158,906.63 $ 5,999.64 3.92% Roth IRAs $ 77,482.86 $ 82,652.93 $ 5,170.07 6.67% Pre-tax Retirement Accts $ 270,954.68...
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January 5, 2012

2011 Net Worth Review

Its been a awhile since I posted an updated chart of our net worth growth. Here a net worth growth update including all of 2011: Progress continues to be made, but the better part of 2011 appears to be a...
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January 9, 2012

2012 401k Contribution Limit

The 401k employee contribution limit has finally had its first increase in 4 years in 2012. I historically max out my 401(k) contributions so I'll need to tweak my contribution levels to ensure I hit the max by the end...
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January 11, 2012

2011 Passive Income Summary

Here is my annual look at our passive income. I've historically focused on dividends, but I bought my first fixed income asset this year so I'll include it in the review. Our dividend income improved in 2011, but it was...
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January 16, 2012

Time Is Money

While on our transatlantic cruise our dinner table companions were 2 couples in their late twenties/early thirties that had quit their jobs and were trekking around the world. We had some great discussions about life and I gained a lot...
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January 23, 2012

Reduce Home Energy Costs

Regulars readers know over the past couple years I've had some focus on trying to reduce our household energy costs. We moved into our current home at the end of 2008 and it didn't take long for me to realize...
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January 26, 2012

Reducing Financial Impacts of a Job Loss

My wife was recently notified that the preschool she teaches at for a few hours a week is shutting down. It got us thinking about a more difficult scenario for us - the loss of my job. Given its by...
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