Author: troyashbacher

For my latest trip to Oahu, this time to surprise my father and take him out for his 80th birthday, I decided to fly Basic Economy. I’m here this week. Originally, I planned to splurge on First Class for $1,600 roundtrip because the flight was on the Boeing 777 300ER, my favorite plane with solo first class lie flat beds along the window. But in the end, I could not bring myself to pay that much, largely due to my frugality. We have had such a strong stock market in 2025 that part of me felt it was fine to…

I’m on The Finance Girlies podcast today! I met Cassidy and Emily at Fincon, and we hit it off right away. They run a podcast together called The Finance Girlies, and they asked if I would be a guest. I always feel like I’m a little better at communicating by typing than talking (You can edit what you type! You never have to type, “um” while you are thinking!) but we had a fun conversation talking about grocery budgeting, Christmas spending, and more. Click here to listen to the episode. And here’s where you can subscribe to their Substack newsletter…

Peter Thiel’s Hedge Fund Dumped Nvidia Shares Just Before Its Big Earnings Report 46 minutes ago While everybody is watching for Nvidia’s earnings report tomorrow, a few big investors have already taken their chips off the table. Thiel Macro, tech titan Peter Thiel’s hedge fund, revealed in a regulatory filing late last week that it sold its entire stake in the AI bellwether during the third quarter. The 537,742 shares the firm held heading into the quarter would have been worth approximately $100 million at the end of September. While people may sell assets for all sorts of reasons, Thiel…

”I know all about taxes, Medicare, growth rate, inflation, Roth conversions, etc.”

Question: I’m 57 with a great remote job, but after five years of working from home, my company wants me in the office full-time. I don’t have the energy for a daily commute. Help!Answer: In early 2020, many companies implemented remote work policies in response to the pandemic. And a good number of employees have been enjoying a fully remote schedule ever since.But companies are increasingly asking workers to return to the office. And many are mandating it. CBRE reports that 77% of companies today across the U.S., Canada and Latin America expect employees to report to the office three…

The government reopening may spark a fresh historic run for recently battered cryptocurrencies.Bitwise’s Matt Hougan expects legislation to support new investment products in the space.”It’s going to be ETF Palooza in Cryptoland. I think there’ll be 100 plus launches,” the firm’s chief investment officer told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” on Monday. “We’re going to see a lot of single asset crypto ETPs [exchange-traded products.] What I’m most excited about, though, is the growth of index based crypto ETPs.”Hougan’s prediction comes during a rough week for digital assets. Bitcoin fell below the $90,000 mark for the first time since April. It traded…

Immigrants are a diverse group who play a significant role in our nation’s workforce and communities.  As of June 2025, there were 51.9 million immigrants living in the U.S., and roughly one in four children in the U.S. live with at least one immigrant parent. During his second term, President Trump has implemented an array of immigration policy changes focused on restricting immigration and increasing interior immigration enforcement efforts. KFF conducted this survey in partnership with The New York Times to increase understanding of immigrant experiences amid this policy environment. It builds on the 2023 KFF/LA Times Survey of Immigrants and two additional surveys conducted by KFF in 2024 and  2025. This is one…

Amazon has a bunch of options of Stanley drinkware on sale for 40% off.   The quencher 40oz size is 50% off and the IceFlow tumbler is also 50% off.  These are select colors only but this is a fantastic sale to check out for sure. There are beer pint cups and a bunch of coffee options.   You can click here to take a look.

Mortgage rates continue to yo-yo as lenders adjust and then re-adjust expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do at its meeting three weeks from now.The average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 6.22% APR, according to rates provided to NerdWallet by Zillow. This is 10 basis points lower than yesterday but nine basis points higher than a week ago. (See our chart below for more specifics.) A basis point is one one-hundredth of a percentage point.Since economists are missing weeks of federal data thanks to the shutdown, analysts are paying close attention to what central bankers…

Key Takeaways Known as the sandwich generation, Gen X is spending a significant amount of money on their children and aging parents. This generation is spending the most on their mortgages each month compared to other age groups. Higher spending on needs and obligations is impacting and delaying retirement savings for many Gen Xers. Spending among Generation X is getting weaker, largely due to slower wage growth and a greater need to focus on other priorities, such as educational costs, aging parents, and housing. Commonly defined as those born between 1965 and 1980, Gen X’s older members are approaching retirement…