Millennial Moola - Page 18 of 21 - Personal Finance For the N64 Generation

Flash Crash 2.0 Showed Us What the Next Crisis Might Look Like

I still can’t shake the feeling I got from how Monday’s Flash Crash 2.0 went down. Investment funds like ETFs are supposed to be stable instruments to build long term wealth, and the SEC let fast money accounts take 30% or more from average retail investors. Before Monday, I never thought that ETFs could separate so drastically from the price of their underlying holdings, but now we know. Now that we have ultra fast computers and everything is run on algorithms, what might the next crisis look like and how can we be prepared? Continue reading “Flash Crash 2.0 Showed Us What the Next Crisis Might Look Like”

ETFs Are No Longer Safe For the Average Investor

We learned a lot yesterday in Flash Crash 2.0, some of which completely changed what I thought I knew about investing. Dozens of stocks and ETFs, and perhaps many more, separated from reality and thousands of investors were robbed of millions, if not billions of dollars. My article yesterday was specific to the Vanguard Healthcare ETF that collapsed over 30%, but now that the dust has settled we can see that there were many more ETFs than that that fell apart. It’s clear ETFs are no longer safe for folks not being helped by professionals. Continue reading “ETFs Are No Longer Safe For the Average Investor”

Was Vanguard Hit By a Flash Crash?

What in the world! Was Vanguard hit by a flash crash or algorithmic trading attack?!?!?!??!?! Look at this Yahoo finance chart above showing the 3 day stock price of VHT, Vanguard’s Health Care Sector ETF. Check out what just happened this morning. The ETF’s price plummeted on opening from over $130 a share to almost below $90 a share, over a 30% drop. In less than an hour it recovered over 40% to about $130 a share. Continue reading “Was Vanguard Hit By a Flash Crash?”

How to Love Losing Money in Investing

Stock markets were down 5% this week, in some cases even more depending on what part of the world you are looking at. We have seen oil fall almost 60% from its peak this year, and Emerging Markets are down over 25% from peak. I made the mistake of checking my investment account on Friday, only to see that my losses have been in the five figures in the past week alone. With markets in Asia opening down at least 5% this morning, I should have another solid four digit dollar loss by the end of the day unless there’s some kind of reversal or Fed speak that suggests they are delaying the rate hike that’s coming. AHHHH what should I do!!!! I’m on a Eurotrip right now. Should I sell everything and hurry back to the US before my holdings fall so much that I can’t even afford a plane ride back? One of the most important things to learn when you put a ton of money in stocks is how to love losing money in investing. Continue reading “How to Love Losing Money in Investing”

I Had No Idea Smoking Was This Expensive

I was buying a Coca-Cola the other day and that got me thinking how much money I would be losing if I made it a habit several times a day for a lifetime. While I was having these thoughts, I saw the guy in front of me at the convenience store ask for a pack of cigarettes, which he paid for with the crumpled up $20 bill in his pocket. Then I started wondering, sure this Coke would cost a bundle if I drank a bunch of them every day and got obese or had another health complication from all that sugar, but how much would it cost me if I was addicted to smoking? Continue reading “I Had No Idea Smoking Was This Expensive”

Stripper Wants to Save for His Retirement

Reader in Philadelphia, PA: This might be a random situation, but this stripper wants to save some money! In particular, I need to save for retirement. I’ve been doing this gig for a bit and I’m starting to make some serious dough, like $50,000 a year and I’m working about 25 hours a week. My friends in more traditional jobs have 401k’s and stuff like that, but I have no idea where to start in trying to put away more money and do it in a way that helps with taxes and all. I know I can’t do this forever but I feel like I could go another couple years and I think the money I’d make doing something else in the service industry will definitely be less than what I’m making right now. I’ve been taking my tips to the local bank and the teller knows me by now since I’m bringing in a couple hundred in singles, but I feel like there’s a better place to put the money than my bank where I earn nothing on my savings. Thanks! Continue reading “Stripper Wants to Save for His Retirement”

How Cheap is Ukraine Right Now

I know what you might be thinking. It doesn’t matter how cheap Ukraine is if there’s a war going on and you are risking your life for that cheap exchange rate. While that sentiment is an understandable one, it is not based at all in reality for the vast majority of the country right now. Ukraine is one of the best kept secrets in international travel. In fact I would take a step further and say it is one of the best bargains on the planet right now for travelers that make their money in Dollars or Euros. Continue reading “How Cheap is Ukraine Right Now”

How to Find a Frugal Girlfriend

Reader from Panama City Beach, Florida: “Dude you should have a blog post that talks about finding a frugal girlfriend. Instead of a nice pair of legs I’m looking for a sexy diversified portfolio with a high risk tolerance. However that paired with some nice legs would be nice.”

The struggle is real brother. A Google keyword search suggests guys are having a tough time out there finding a girl who’s down to chill in sweats on a Saturday morning and just talk about life on the couch. The average monthly volume for the phrase “How to find a frugal girlfriend” shows about 600,000 monthly searches, while the same phrase substituting girlfriend for boyfriend turns up only a 3,000 search volume average. This discrepancy suggests that finding that special girl that’s just as happy with a great dress from Goodwill as Neiman Marcus is very much on a lot of guys’ minds. Continue reading “How to Find a Frugal Girlfriend”

How Doctors and Lawyers Make Easy Financial Prey

Being a doctor or lawyer is a well worn path along the road of the American dream. You go to grad school and get the big job with great pay that confers a level of societal prestige and cocktail party nodding when you’re asked “What do you do?” that few other professions can match. Why then are there so many doctors and lawyers with deep financial problems? Why do we see countless examples of these folks working well into their 70s? Continue reading “How Doctors and Lawyers Make Easy Financial Prey”

Are You Investing or Speculating By Buying Tesla Shares?

The Edison of our Age, Elon Musk, has built not one but multiple billion dollar technology companies and recently announced the updated version of the P85D is going to do 0-60mph in 2.8 seconds. By comparison, a recent model Bugatti will do 0-60 in 2.4 seconds and a Ferrari will do 0-60 in 2.6 seconds. For so long, the big bureaucratic car companies like GM and Ford tried to produce sexy electric vehicles but the best thing they’ve come out with is the Volt, ’nuff said. So given that Tesla is building a Gigafactory to mass produce batteries that have the potential to replace the electric grid, SUVs that get better gas mileage than the smallest smart car, and sports cars that earn you green energy tax credits while rivaling the performance of the world’s most established brands, why isn’t everyone buying Tesla shares? Continue reading “Are You Investing or Speculating By Buying Tesla Shares?”