Minafi

Financial Independence Through Investing, Minimalism & Mindfulness

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Why I Don’t Want to be a Landlord or Invest in Real Estate

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6 min read. Canonical, Blog, Financial Independence. 8 Comments

Everywhere I go, I read about how real estate is the fastest path to wealth. Drawn in by this promise of easy money, I’ve read a lot about this subject. I read books, listened to podcasts and audiobooks, analyzed properties, worked with local real estate and banks to get pre-qualified — but in the end, I decided I didn’t want to be a landlord. Here’s a recap of what I learned, and why I decided not to pursue this “obvious” source of wealth.

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How to Choose Between 401k, Taxable and Roth IRA Accounts to Optimize Taxes

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6 min read. Canonical, Blog, Investing, Financial Independence. 9 Comments

This post is the 3rd in the series “How to Be Brave and Start Investing“. First, we started with the Why Do You Want to Invest Now? of investing, and then moved on to Which Investment Accounts Should I Use? 

In today’s post, I’ll focus on what types of funds to use in which account for the most tax-efficient fund placement. This topic may sound a bit dry, but over the course of a few decades investing, it could make a difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars difference in taxes.

By the end of this post, you’ll know why different fund types (stocks, bonds, international funds, real estate trusts, etc) should go in specific accounts, what to look for when evaluating funds to determine placement, and how much money you stand to save by making the right decision.

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How to Listen to 100 Audiobooks a Year

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4 min read. Blog, Goals. 2 Comments

If you’ve seen me in person, there’s a high chance I had earbuds in. If I’m on my own anywhere, I’ll usually be wearing them and listening to an audiobook. I love listening — usually to science fiction, fantasy, business, personal growth, science or other non-fiction books. Over the last few years, this resulted in me listening to a LOT of books. 72 in 2016, 78 in 2015, 44 in 2014 and 43 so far in 2017.

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My Reaction to the 2008 Recession and Why I Still Invest in Bonds

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3 min read. Canonical, Blog, Financial Independence, Personal. 3 Comments

Back in 2005, my mom passed away. During the next year, I went through a bunch of different major life events: managing an estate (albeit small), cleaning out my childhood home, fixing it up, selling it, buying a new house, began dating a woman who would eventually become my wife, and moving in together — all while working my first job out of college. I’m convinced that every 5-7 years, there’s a major change in my life, and that was the big one for that timeframe.

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If You Want to Reach Your Goals, Track Your Activities

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3 min read. Blog, Mindfulness. 1 Comment

Every month I put together a list of things I want to work on in the coming month. When creating these goals, it’s always easier when I have a reference point to base any improvement on. I think of it the same as saying you’re going to lose weight, but never weighing yourself.

For my July 2017 Monthly Goals post, you might notice that each of these has a “benchmark” associated with — which is how I did on these in June 2017. For these, having this benchmark in the first place offers a starting point. Here are some of the things you can track to work on improving.

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