As an avid Boglehead investor, my portfolio is primarily composed of a few low-cost index funds. However, sometimes the simplicity of the portfolio feels a bit boring, and I find myself wanting to invest in something more exciting. When I feel this way, I allow myself to allocate up to 5% of my portfolio into what I call “Fun Money.” Over the years, I’ve had various Fun Money allocations. Some made money, some lost money, but it doesn’t really matter, it’s only 5% of the portfolio. ...

For the past few years I have been on a journey to develop a better understanding of money. It started when I came across Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) via Stephanie Kelton’s book, The Deficit Myth a few years ago, and has now lead me to begin reading Anthropologist David Graber’s book Debt: The first 5,000 years. Money is a Unit of Account The idea that has captured my recent attention is the notion that Money, rather than being a material item, is a unit of measure, specifically, a unit of account. The same way that an inch or a centimeter is a unit of length. ...

Interest Rates and Inequality: A Shift in Perspective I have been thinking lately on how a high interest rate environment affects working class citizens and ultra-wealthy individuals differently. It started when I heard a quote from Warren Mosler, the founder of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), describing a postitive interest rate policy as a “basic income for those that already have money”. I thought it was a pretty profound insight. How I Was Taught to Think About Interest Historically, I had been a fan of high interest rates. From a young age I was taught by my father to stay out of debt, pay off your credit card bill in full each month, and save your money, which is most certaintly solid financial advice. Because of that, I never feared high interest debt because I always knew to avoid it. And when it came to the other side of interest, the kind you earn, I was very excited by the idea of making a little extra just by letting my money sit. ...

Why the Fed Raises Interest Rates When the economy is heating up and inflation is above the 2% target, the Federal Reserve combats it by raising interest rates. Higher interest rates do a few things. On one hand, people are encouraged to save their money since it has a greater potential to earn interest. And on the other hand, people are discouraged from spending on credit and taking out loans since the interest on debt is higher. ...

A Land Value Tax (LVT) is a tax on the unimproved value of land. It is based solely on the location, size, and desirability of the land and excludes any buildings, structures, or other improvements made by the owner. LVT is rooted in the idea that while people are entitled to the value they produce from their labor and capital, the value of land comes from nature and the surrounding community and therefore should be reinvested into the public good. ...

Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is a heterodox macroeconomic framework that argues a government issuing its own currency, such as the United States, is not fiscally constrained in the same way households or businesses are when it comes to federal spending. Currency Users vs Currency Issuers. A core principle of MMT is the fundamental distinction between a currency user and a currency issuer. Currency users include regular people like you and me, who work to earn wages; businesses, which provide goods and services to generate revenue; and state and local governments, which rely on taxation. Most people, unsurprisingly, experience money only from the perspective of a currency user. ...

In this post, I’d like to share my thoughts on the frustrations of REST APIs and how JSON-RPC can alleviate some of these challenges. While some may argue that comparing JSON-RPC with REST is like comparing apples to oranges, I believe that if they are both fruit, then they can still be meaningfully compared. Before diving into the details, I’ll assume you’re already familiar with REST. However, if you’re unfamiliar with JSON-RPC, you can find the specification here. It’s concise and should take about 10 minutes to read through. ...

What is Asset Allocation? In the world of investing, you will often hear the term “Asset Allocation”. Asset allocation, as the name suggests, is the distribution of each asset class in your investment portfolio. The two most common asset classes that are considered when building a portfolio are stocks and bonds. Stocks are the high-risk, high reward asset and bonds, also referred to as “fixed income”, are the low-risk, low reward asset. There are other assets classes that exist such as cash, commodities, real estate, precious metals, and, in recent years, crypto currencies. Understanding how to balance these asset classes is key to building a portfolio that aligns with your financial goals. ...