The Interest Rate That Made You Feel Smart Is Disappearing
There was a specific window — roughly mid-2023 through mid-2024 — when putting money in a high-yield savings account was genuinely one of the better financial decisions available to most…
The Business Checking Account Decision Most Freelancers Make Too Late
I mixed personal and business transactions in a single checking account for the first few months of running The Global Frame. It felt fine until I sat down to file…
The IRS Spent Three Years Refusing to Enforce a Law. Congress Finally Killed It.
I want to start with the part that gets lost in most coverage of this story: the $600 1099-K threshold wasn’t some IRS overreach. It was a law. Congress passed…
“Renting Is Throwing Money Away” Is the Most Expensive Cliché
I’ve heard some version of this at almost every family gathering I can remember. The concern is genuine — it comes from people who watched homeownership build wealth for a…
The Roth IRA Is Excellent. The HSA Is Better. Here’s the Math.
I want to be upfront that this is a claim most personal finance writers hedge into meaninglessness, so let me be specific about exactly what I mean and what I…
The “Zero Tax State” Move Is One of the Most Expensive Mistakes
The pitch sounds airtight. California taxes your income at 13.3%. Texas taxes it at zero. Move from Los Angeles to Austin and you’ve given yourself an automatic 13-point raise without…
You Think You Own “The Market.” You Mostly Own Seven Companies.
I want to start with a number that changed how I think about passive investing: 34%. That’s the share of the S&P 500 that the ten largest companies represent as…
Nobody Told You the Front Door Was Decorative
Last year I spent some time mapping how people I know actually got their last job. Not the official version — “I saw the posting and submitted my application” —…
