Wall Street Journal (WSJ) How Reading the WSJ Daily Made Me a Smarter Investor (Not Just More Informed) Wow! It felt like unlocking a secret level in a game! Reading the Wall Street Journal every day wasn’t just like learning new words; it was like understanding the story behind the words. Before, I knew what … Read more
M1 Finance How M1 Finance’s “Pies” Helped Me Build and Automate My Perfect Portfolio Want to bake the perfect investment cake without getting messy? M1 Finance’s “Pies” felt like magic! I picked my ingredients (stocks/ETFs) and set the percentages, like choosing how much chocolate or sprinkles. Then, M1 automatically keeps my pie balanced, adding more … Read more
Alliant Credit Union How I Joined Alliant Credit Union (Without Military Ties) for Their High APY Checking Did you know you can join a cool money club even without being in the military? I felt stuck with my old bank giving me almost nothing back. Then I heard about Alliant! They said I could join … Read more
FAFSA (fafsa.gov) How Filling Out the FAFSA Unlocked Thousands in FREE Grant Money for College My heart pounded like a drum when I tackled the FAFSA form; college seemed like a far-off dream. Sharing our family’s money stuff felt super weird and a little scary, like showing everyone my secret piggy bank. Would anyone even … Read more
Experian (App/Website) I Tried Experian Boost for 6 Months: Did Paying My Netflix Bill ACTUALLY Raise My Credit Score? Could telling the librarian I pay for cartoons help my grown-up score? It sounded silly! Experian Boost let me connect bills like Netflix and my phone. For six months, I let it watch. Did my score … Read more
Mad Fientist How the Mad Fientist Podcast Unlocked Advanced FIRE Strategies I Never Considered Reaching Financial Independence (FI) felt like climbing a hill, but the Mad Fientist podcast revealed secret mountain passes! Listening felt like getting whispered secrets from a super-smart friend about complex topics like tax optimization and withdrawal strategies I hadn’t even thought … Read more
Bogleheads Wiki / Forum How the Bogleheads Forum Taught Me to Ignore Wall Street Noise and Build Wealth Simply Watching financial news felt like being yelled at by excited clowns – buy this! Sell that! It was confusing and stressful! Then I found the Bogleheads forum. It felt like walking into a calm library filled … Read more
FINRA BrokerCheck How BrokerCheck Saved Me From Hiring a Financial Advisor with a Shady Past Trusting someone with my life savings felt huge, like letting someone borrow my favorite teddy bear forever! This advisor seemed nice, but a tiny voice whispered “Check first!” I nervously typed their name into FINRA’s BrokerCheck tool. Oh wow! Red … Read more
Charles Schwab (Equity Awards Center) My RSUs Vested! How I Navigated Schwab’s Equity Awards Center to Sell Shares Suddenly, free company stock appeared in my account – like magic presents unlocking! It felt amazing but also confusing: what now? Logging into Schwab’s Equity Awards Center felt like opening the instruction manual. Big, clear buttons showed … Read more
AcreTrader How I Invested in American Farmland (Without Buying a Tractor) Using AcreTrader Imagine wanting a piece of a big, yummy farm pie, but not wanting to bake it or even own the whole kitchen! That’s how I felt. I dreamed of owning land, the kind that grows our food, but tractors and muddy boots? … Read more