Don't Quit Your Day Job has got a lot of content buried in the archives... 688 articles published (well, 689 now), and 159 of them in 2013.
The practical takeaway? We hit a lot of singles, a few home runs... and into a few double plays. Unlike some of our peers, we like to try to document the whole range. Intellectual curiosity cuts both ways, and like one man who would disagree with most of our material once supposedly said, "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?"
So, without further annoying introductions, here's the highlight and the blooper reel from 2013!
DQYDJ Credits!
- "Should You Major In Photography?" - One of our more trafficked articles - apparently people are searching for information on photography majors? Well - read our take before you sign anything.
- "Discounted Cash Flow and Dividend Discount Model Calculator" - It's automatic. See the theoretical valuation of the stock you care about!
- "The NCAA is Useless. End It." - My favorite piece of this year. Also read the related article, "Athletes Are Still Underpaid".
- "An Ideal Savings Rate Calculator for Financial Independence and Retirement Planning" - Salary + savings rate is all you need. A great piece, if I do say so myself.
- "Why Everyone Should Care About Privacy" - I wrote this before the NSA stuff came out (as well as this article which mentioned the NSA explicitly) and before 1979's pen register ruling was stretched to mean any third party data was fair game. You know, like your medical data which you don't generate yourself. Next year I'll write about something else, like "why everyone should care about eradicating malaria". Worth a try?
- "May 8, 2013: The Actual All-Time Closing High in the S&P 500" - I updated this one a few times, since the media drumbeat was so annoying. Nominal price index returns? Rookie stuff. I hope I stepped up their game.
- "Inflation Adjusted Gold Return Calculator" - It automatically updates nightly, and adjusts inflation for any day you choose since the 1960s. Why isn't this one more popular? No clue - maybe because I don't have to manually update it?
- "Is Dave Ramsey’s Investment Advice Misguided?" - In a word? Yes. In slightly more words? Arithmetic vs. Geometric average. In a scenario? If you lose 50% in year one and gain 100% in year two... did you average 25% gains?
- "What Does it Mean to be Retired?" - Nothing is better than a pedantic argument over the definition of words which are constantly used incorrectly. Here's our take! (Click it, it has Bill Murray quotes).
- "What Stock Market Returns Can You Expect?" - Some people didn't believe my simple math from the Dave Ramsey article, so I did what DQYDJ is known for - built a calculator to silence the doubters! Enter any return, decide to adjust for inflation or not, and we'll tell you how many times the S&P beat your entry.
- "Treasury Return Calculator" - We built a dividend reinvestment calculator on the S&P 500 in 2012. It was quite the hit - apparently that information isn't widely available, eh? This version assumes reinvested coupons and gives you comparable results for the 10 year Treasury. Trust us, we've got some amazing interactive stuff planned in 2014.
- "Taylor Rule Calculator – How Would You Run the Fed?" - Speaking of the right audience... this is probably our most ambitious calculator we've put together. We graph the history of monetary policy in the United States... as if the Fed obeyed your rules for setting policy. Try it out!
DQYDJ Debits!
Whoops. Our apologies!
- "Beware Those Bearing Market Predictions…" - We mostly gave up our regular options market read in 2013, although we enjoy revisiting it from time to time. Hey, it's apparently exploitable, considering that the mispricing persists. Build a model and let us know how you beat long dated options on SPY in 2014!
- "Stock Picks for 2013!" - Hilarious. Well, it's hard to beat the stampeding bulls, and I don't own any of the stocks anyway (one of my rules is 'don't buy tech'). I sold TTM in the high 32s (too much cash in my portfolio.) Result: I'm on contest tilt, so when I reveal the picks for 2014 you'll... laugh, I think.
2014?
We'll still be here. Subscribe.
