Recency Bias in Investing: How Chasing Last Year’s Winners Quietly Costs You 1–2% a Year
In Morningstar’s 2024 Mind the Gap study, the average mutual fund returned 7.3% annualized over the past decade — but the average investor in those…
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The Sunk Cost Fallacy in Investing: 5 Patterns Quietly Costing the Average Portfolio 1.5% a Year
The average investor holds losing stocks roughly 20% longer than winning stocks — about 124 days versus 104 days, according to Terrance Odean’s landmark 1998…
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Mega Backdoor Roth in 2026: How to Get $47,500 More Into a Roth (Step by Step)
The mega backdoor Roth is the largest legal Roth contribution most W-2 employees will ever access — up to $47,500 a year on top of…
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How Much Should You Have Saved by Age 35 Making $60K? The Real Benchmarks vs. the Median
The median retirement savings for Americans under age 35 is just $18,880, according to the Federal Reserve’s most recent Survey of Consumer Finances. Fidelity says…
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Dollar Cost Averaging vs Lump Sum Investing: Why the ‘Safer’ Choice Costs Most Investors Money
Picture this: you just got a $25,000 bonus, rolled over a $90,000 401(k), or inherited some cash from a relative. The conventional wisdom on dollar…
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Tax Loss Harvesting vs Roth Conversion: Which Should You Do First in 2026?
If you have $50,000 sitting in a taxable brokerage account and another $200,000 in a traditional IRA, you’ve probably been told to do both tax…
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Tax Loss Harvesting for Small Portfolios: Is It Actually Worth Doing Under $50K?
A reader emailed me last month asking whether to start tax loss harvesting on his $18,000 brokerage account. An advisor friend had told him it…
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The Backdoor Roth IRA, Step by Step: How High Earners Still Get $7,500 a Year Into a Roth (2026)
The IRS officially says the 2026 Roth IRA is closed to single filers earning more than $168,000 in MAGI. In practice, that limit has been…
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How to Start Investing With $100: 7 Steps to Get Your First Dollar in the Market This Week
Fidelity will let you buy slices of more than 7,000 stocks and ETFs starting at $1. Schwab will sell you a piece of any S&P…
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The Three-Fund Portfolio for Beginners: Why Simple Beats Complicated (and the Data Proves It)
Here is a number that should make every beginner investor breathe easier: over the 15 years ending December 2024, more than 90% of actively managed…
