Fun and Finance

In this post, we will talk about what HSA is, the benefits of using HSA and how you can use it to fund your retirement. Summary What is HSA? The benefits of using HSA How to use HSA to fund your retirement Other options What is HSA? HSA is a health saving account. You can use it for medical expenses with some high deductible health plans in the US. You can also use HSA for non-medical expenses before age 65, however, you will need to pay a 20% penalty plu tax if you do so. However, after age 65, you will be able to use money in your HSA account for non-medical expenses without any penalty. The benefits of using HSA The main benefits of HSA is due to its tax treatment. HSA is: Pre-tax when you are contribution to it, meaning that you are not paying tax for the money you contributed to it; Growth is tax free, meaning that you don’t need to pay tax for the growth of the funds; Tax-free when you withdraw it. How to use HSA to fund your retirement HSA is a great way for you to lower income ...

Salem is the capital city of Oregon. It is a scenic city located one hour away from the ocean, and one hour away from the mountains. This blog will walk you through a two day itinerary in Salem, Oregon for your weekend trip. Summary Day 1 Silver Falls State Park South falls Lower south falls Fossil hunting at sweet home Marco polo restaurant Day 2 Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge Shopping Day 1 Silver Falls State Park This is a state park with 10 beautiful waterfalls. It is 20 miles away from Salem. There is a 7.9 mile loop with 600 feet elevation gain called trail of ten falls. It takes you to all the ten waterfalls. You can also shorten the hike by turning back at any point. South falls This is the most famous waterfall in Silver falls state park. It is also the first one you will see along the trail of ten falls. It is about a 0.45 mile walk from the south falls trailhead to the south fall. Lower south falls Keep walking for another 0.8 miles, you will see another waterfall c...

In this article, we will talk about why you need to rebalance your portfolio, how often you should do it and how to rebalance your portfolio for accounts that you are regularly investing in vs. accounts that you are no longer investing in. Summary Why you should rebalance your portfolio How often should you rebalance your portfolio? How to rebalance your portfolio For accounts that you are no longer investing in For accounts that you are regularly investing in Why you should rebalance your portfolio Because different assets change in value over time, your portfolio can drift out of your intended allocation. By rebalancing assets, you are trading value out of strong-performing assets into weaker assets, which is a form of “buy low, sell high” that boosts long-term results. How often should you rebalance your portfolio? You can balance your portfolio when the percentage of a certain fund has shifted more than a certain percentage or at a certain time frequency. For example, you can rebal...

  Hawaii is a beautiful place to go to. The islands are all beautiful in different ways. You won't go wrong going to any of them. In this article, I will talk about what I like about each island, and I will give my personal suggestion on which island you should go as a first timer.  Note: I will only mention the islands with direct flights from the mainland. Summary Oahu Maui Kauai Big island My thoughts Oahu Overall, even though Oahu is the most developed of all the islands, it still offers a lot of opportunities for hiking and snorkeling. The Waikiki area is very well developed. There are many nice hotels, restaurants and shops in that area.  If you love music and want to learn more about the culture in different Polynesian islands, you would love visiting Polynesian culture center. They also offer a Lūʻau and wonderful shows.  There are also lots of good snorkeling places, hiking places, waterfalls, etc on this island. If you are into the history of World War II, ...

In this article, we will talk about what DRIP is, the advantages of using DRIP, tax considerations and how to set up DRIP for your Fidelity investment. Summary What is DRIP? The advantages of DRIP Tax considerations How to set up DRIP for your Fidelity investment What is DRIP? For a lot of stocks and funds, they pay dividends monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually. When you receive the dividends, you have the option to pocket the cash, or use the dividends to buy more stocks.  DRIP stands for dividend reinvestment plan. With DRIP, instead of getting the dividends payout in cash, you will automatically reinvest the dividends into the same companies or mutual funds that issued them. Since each DRIP program is supported by a particular brokerage, the specific details of the program (such as e.g. what securities are eligible for DRIP) will vary. This article presents a general overview of DRIP. For your brokerage’s program, you will need to consult with their documentation. The ...

Do you know what is the most common 401(k) default investment?  It is a target date fund.  In this post, we will talk about what they are, their pros and cons, how to pick the right one for you, and some final thoughts. Summary What is a target date fund? Pros and cons Pick the right one Final thoughts What is a target date fund? Target date fund is a combination of US stocks index fund, non-US stocks index fund, US bond fund and non-US bond fund. It is basically a fund of funds.  The name “target date”, means the fund itself is targeting a specific year of retirement. For example, if you plan on retiring in 2030, you can buy the 2030 target date fund. As the time goes nearer and nearer to the target date, the fund will gradually increase its percentage of bond funds and decrease its percentage of stock funds, in order to increase safety. The idea is that most people will be comfortable investing a lot of money into risky stocks when they are young and working, but as ret...