Below is a stock return calculator which automatically factors and calculates dividend reinvestment (DRIP). Additionally, you can simulate daily, weekly, monthly, or annual periodic investments into any stock and see your total estimated portfolio value on every date. There are over 6,000 American stocks in the database. Data is accurate to within the last 7 […]
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The First Ten Years of DQYDJ
Where were you ten years ago today? Funnily enough, I know where I was – logged into WordPress for the first time, drafting a blog post about HSA arbitrage. That’s right: 10 years ago today on May 24, 2009 DQYDJ published our very first post. The More Things Change… For the last ten years we’ve […]
If You Always Maxed Out Your 401(k) How Much Money Would You Have?
The 401(k) is one of the best accounts to save a significant amount for retirement in the United States. 401(k) contribution limits are generous, and allow you to shield a healthy amount of income from taxes. However, the majority of people don’t contribute the maximum to their 401(k) – which leads us to ask: what […]
If You Always Maxed Out Your IRA How Much Money Would You Have?
The Individual Retirement Account or IRA is an excellent tax free account available to most American workers. Unlike 401(k)s, IRAs are completely portable and usually have fewer restrictions on the number of investments they allow. They unfortunately come with smaller contribution limits than 401(k)s. Still, most people don’t take full advantage of the accounts… so we […]
Should You Focus on Spending Less or Earning More?
One of the age old arguments in personal finance is the relative priority of earn more or save less. Since there are only two ways to increase your savings – earning more money or spending less of what you have – you do, unfortunately have to prioritize. Let’s pick up the gauntlet: should you focus […]
What are the Magical Saving Rate Breakpoints?
One question we get quite a bit is related to the fundamentals of saving: is there a magic savings rate? In the past we’ve looked at the ideal savings rate. There we suggested 20% as a minimum savings rate, with the caveat you should save more if you can. Interestingly, there are also some magical […]
Body Fat Percentage by Age Comparison Calculator for the United States
On this page is a body fat percentage comparison calculator by age for adult men and women in the United States in 2015-2016 and 2005-2006. It estimates distributions for both DEXA scan body fat percentages or hydrostatic weighing & caliper body fat percentage estimates. At home we use the cheap Accu-Measure caliper to track our […]
Asset Allocation in 2019
Every year, “conveniently” timed with tax season, we remember that DQYDJ is ostensibly a personal finance site. Let’s turn tax-frowns upside down with a post on asset allocation here in in April, 2019. Why bother? It comes back to skin in the game – a phrase recently repopularized by Nassim Taleb. In his book with […]
What Was Your Savings Rate in 2018?
Every year, the “blessing” of tax season provides us the “convenient” opportunity to examine our personal financial performance in the previous year. And what is the most important marker of financial performance? I’m glad you asked – I’d argue it’s your savings rate. The input to this system is, of course, income. From income, there […]
A Crucial Part of the Yield Curve Inverted 3/22/2019. What Does it Mean?
The yield curve has been in some type of inversion since December of 2018. In a yield curve inversion, longer dated securities yield less than short term debt. This turns risk on its head – in a well functioning debt market, investors should be paid more to lock up money for a longer time. While […]