The Knowledge Blog
Posts on finance, investing, business practices, and other oddball topics for freelancers. Grab your favorite beverage and get stuck in.
Latest Posts
The Stock Market. Big and Scary? Nope - It Creates Wealth In The Background.
The stock market is often widely misunderstood due to the hype in the media reporting on short-term market moves. That and the jibba-jabba of your next door neighbor or some guy in a bar. It’s the long term that matters. We need to ignore the noise.
FinCEN - Beneficial Ownership Information Report—Cancelled!
The Beneficiary Ownership Information Report.
UPDATE: As of March 26th, 2025 the whole thing got thrown out. Now only foreign companies have to fill it out.
Solo 401(k) investors — IRS Form 5500-EZ could cost you a $150,000 fine. EVERY YEAR.
i401k investors — IRS Form 5500-EZ could cost you a $150,000 fine. EVERY YEAR.
Vanguard exits managing Solo 401(k) accounts - but we still love their ETFs and funds
Vanguard exits managing i401k accounts - but we still love their ETFs and funds. Let’s chat about what i401k provider to use.
The HSA - Health Savings Account. Another sweet tax deduction
The HSA (Health Savings Account. Make your out-of-pocket medical expenses a sweet tax deduction. The money is always yours; it’s not ‘use it or lose it.’
2023 — Another example that no one can predict the market. We invest every quarter, no matter what.
2023 goes down as a classic example of how no one can predict the economy or the stock market. The Wall Street Journal’s headline was, “What Did Wall Street Get Right About Markets This Year? Not Much”
Empower Financial Dashboard — one to rule them all
The Empower Financial Dashboard: the magic crystal ball for freelancers that shows you your whole financial and investment life. And, it's free.
Why can’t I just pick my own stocks and make the big bucks?
This is called stock picking. Investors try to pick winning companies like Apple and Telsa or some unknown startup. Here is the problem, no one who stock picks will ever beat a three-fund portfolio long term!
Investor Psychology — ignore your brain
The thing that trips investors up is their emotional response. The market isn’t the problem, our brains that evolved on the savannah are.
Revenge of the Bogleheads (that’s us!)
So it looks like a new generation of investors are catching on to our way of thinking accord to CNBC. Get rich slow.
My name is Chris Albert. I’m a 52-year-old freelance Director of Photography and studio owner who built a seven-figure portfolio from zero—no inheritance, no financial background, just consistent saving and sensible investing over 30 years.
Financial institutions consider me a ‘high net-worth individual’. At Schwab, as a $1 million+ account holder, I qualify as a Schwab Private Client Services customer, and, under SEC rules, I am considered an Accredited Investor.
Why the website? I built this site because I couldn't find one place that explained what and how freelancers like us should set up retirement accounts (the Solo 401(k), Backdoor Roth IRA, and HSA) and what investments to put in them—without the sales pitch, fees, or the overly-complicated Wall Street products.
We are going to get rich slow. In later years, live more, work less.