Category: Personal Finance
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Real estate investing for regular people is mostly a scam with a podcast
The real estate guru economy sells courses, not cash flow. For most regular investors, the math doesn’t pencil after fees, vacancy, and surprises.
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The child tax credit should be universal cash, and means-testing ruined it
The 2021 expanded child tax credit cut child poverty nearly in half. Means-testing didn’t make it fairer — it made it weaker and easier to kill.
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Overbuying Safety Gear Wastes Money
Helmets, monitors, locks, and alarms add up fast. Most safety gear past the basics buys peace of mind, not measurable risk reduction.
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Credit card companies know you better than you think
Credit card data is one of the most predictive datasets in commerce. Here’s what your spending tells issuers about you that you’d never tell them yourself.
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Long-term investing doesn’t guarantee success
Buy and hold is sold as a sure thing, but the historical data shows long timeframes can still deliver disappointing or negative real returns.
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Payday loans exist for a reason
Payday loans are easy to condemn, but the demand they fill is real. Here’s what they actually solve, what they break, and why banning them often backfires.
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Why losses are more important than gains
Loss aversion isn’t just psychology — it’s the math of compounding. Here’s why avoiding a 50% loss matters more than scoring a 50% gain.
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Why Some People Should Never Pay Off Their Student Loans
For some borrowers, paying off federal student loans is a financial mistake. Here’s why income-driven repayment and forgiveness programs change the math.