Finance Resources

This page is here to efficiently include links for various resources and sites with finance. Remember, if you want to work with me directly on your own cash flow production, you can contact me through this link: https://prideandprosperity.com/ you can also download my free finance & lifestyle “who am I” worksheet at that link as well!

Legend:

• As with all pages the ‘✙’ sign is there to warn you/put in a “first do no harm” designation notification.

• A ‘do not pet that dog 🐻’ notification means you should stay the hell away or completely distrust whatever that product/security/site/external piece of advice is. To understand where the ‘do not pet that dog’ reference comes from watch this video here: link

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The following two books (and one link) I’d recommend everyone use FIRST as their starting point for retirement/financial planning. The idea behind this is ‘✙ first do no harm’:

• Risk Less and Prosper Your Guide to Safer Investing by Zvi Bodie & Rachelle Taqqu

• Safety-First Retirement Planning: An Integrated Approach for a Worry-Free Retirement by Wade Donald Pfau

• Budgets and budgeting tends to not get folks where they want to go, but the correct cash flow structure & tracking does, I personally use and recommend Currence for this (and if you need an invitation to use it, I can invite you upon request)

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Educational materials on finance

• Khan Academy has a great (and free) very basic course on finance

• Investopedia has lots of great articles on all kinds of investing topics

FIRE (Financial Independence Early Retirement)

• Mr. Money Mustache

• Financial Samurai

• Early Retirement Extreme

• Mad Fientist

Folks in finance I respect

• Skipper Davies (that’s me!)

• Howard Marks (great investor and credit analyst) his memos are always worth the read/listen)

• Moshe Milevsky (A professor of finance, expert in financial economics, pensions, and insurance)

• Zvi Bodie (An economist who is an expert on retirement and financial economics)

• Wade Pfau (founder of retirement researcher, he’s an economist who is a professor of retirement income)

• Gary Shilling (An economist and financial analyst who I greatly respect)

• Steve Selengut (A highly experienced portfolio manager focused on closed end funds)

Securities links

• TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities)

• I Bonds

• T bills (also known as cash or cash equivalents)

• EE bonds

• Baby bonds links: one two three and four

• Fidelity’s bond research center

• Backtesting your portfolio

• CEF screeners: CEF Connect (my favorite) and CEF Data (which also does BDC screening)

• Valueline is a phenomenal resource for finding and researching under valued companies

Cash value, traditional whole life insurance providers that are mutual companies (and ones that are decent for infinite banking strategies)

• Penn Mutual

• Lafayette Life

• Ameritas

• Guardian

• National Life Group

Annuities (✙ annuities are complex insurance products, who may be the best provider for your given situation is going to vary widely depending on your situation and when you are searching) - I strongly recommend you first read Annuities for Dummies before attempting to buy an annuity.

In addition 🐻 don’t listen to anything Ken Fisher says concerning annuities (they are 100% wrong)

• Mass Mutual

• Fidelity (scroll down and select your state & guarantee period)

• USAA

Closed End Fund Research/Screening Tools ✙ (do your research before buying!)

• CEF Connect

• CEF Data

• CEFA (Closed End Fund Association)

• Close End Fund Strategist GPT (that I personally created, use at your own risk!)

Credit Unions (ones that anyone can join without restriction in the US)

• Alliant Credit Union

• Pentagon Federal Credit Union

• Consumers Credit Union

• Blue Federal Credit Union

• Hope Credit Union

Money Market Fund with check writing and e-pay capabilities invested in US Treasuries only (✙ however it’s not FDIC insured)

• Fidelity (you would select the option to open a brokerage account, ensure the core position is in SPAXX, enable check writing and e-pay abilities, and order a debit card).

Major ratings companies

• Weiss (✙ Weiss is the best and the one you should go to first, they also have no conflicts of interest unlike the others listed below. It is also free to use and doesn’t require any registration.)

• Moody’s (you have to register to use)

• S&P Global Ratings (you have to register to use)

• AM Best (you have to register to use)

• Fitch Ratings

Government research tools

• CPI inflation calculator

• Social Security calculators (when using the mortality calculator, keep in mind you have a 50% chance of living 5 years longer than the maximum you expect)

• Office of Financial Research bank risk monitor

• FDIC lookup

• NCUA lookup

• Beige Book reporting from the Federal Reserve

• How to file a free tax return (on your own)

• Tax withholding estimator

Calculators ✙ (but remember… ‘garbage in garbage out’ the calculation is only as accurate as your assumptions, so be very conservative)

• Early Retirement Calculator (remember this is JUST A STARTING POINT)

• Present Value Calculator

• How long till I can double my money Calculator

• CPI inflation Calculator

• A very basic annuity Calculator

• FIRE (Financial Independence Early Retirement) Calculator

• How changes to interest rates could affect your bond value (if you wanted to sell it before maturity)

• I bond value growth history

• US Treasury Savings Bond Calculator

• Muni Bond Tax Equivalent Yield Calculator

• DRIP (Dividend Reinvestment Plan) Calculator

• Amortization Calculator

Periodicals/Publications (ones worth reading for a diverse set of business perspectives)

• The Kiplinger Letter (business weekly edition) is my favorite concise business report

• The Wallstreet Journal

• The New York Times

• The Los Angeles Times

• The Financial Times

• The Economist

• Barrons

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