Personal Finance
Tax Loss Harvesting
Taxes are a thorny topic to cover, even for a finance blog. A 1% saving on taxes equals 1% more in (net) returns, and we all know how hard is to increase returns even by just 1%. But taxes serve Read more…
Personal Finance
Model Portfolio Quarterly Update
In April 2022, I introduced on this blog The Italian Leather Sofa Model Portfolio. As a reminder, here is the portfolio composition: The idea behind the portfolio is stolen from here. The link offers the best explanation to what I Read more…
Personal Finance
Weird Math
I do not remember how and when I discovered HonestMath.com, it must have been on Twitter. Talking about Twitter, I fool myself all the time by thinking I can use it like a sort of RSS feed: someone posts a Read more…
Personal Finance
Returns and Sequence of Returns
I recently watched a video made by an Italian content creator on Safe Withdrawal Rates and Sequence of Return Risk (even if I do not think he formally mentioned the two definitions ever). The video is done well and, as Read more…
Personal Finance
Career Beta
I should definitely learn to save links when I read something interesting, especially if I plan to use the material later. I think (I think) Byrne Hobart, the author behind Capital Gains, some months ago wrote that moving from one Read more…
Personal Finance
Model Portfolio Enhancements
A year ago I introduced The Italian Leather Sofa model portfolio. The main goal was to put my money where my mouth is…even if, back in the day, it was only virtual money. In fact, the model portfolio is built Read more…
Personal Finance
Using Leverage to Reach Your Financial Goal (Sooner)
Ok, the title of this post feels a bit thrashy but stay with me for a minute. In the end, it might be really that simple. I spent a couple of weeks working on a video about leverage with Giovanni Read more…
Personal Finance
The State of Financial Advisory in Italy
I left Italy shortly after I got my first real job, say a couple of years. Up to that point, I had opened an online saving account and an online brokerage account: that was my only connection with the “banking” Read more…
Personal Finance
Stupid Debt: the Swiss Caution case
Shortly after I moved to Zurich with my family, we went to visit my wife’s sister that also lives in Switzerland. While chilling on the couch on a rainy Saturday, I started to rant to my brother-in-law about the fact Read more…
Personal Finance
Banking is a Relationship Business
The good news: I finally managed to buy US-listed ETFs (in a 100% legit way. I have a cousin who pretended to live somewhere by photoshopping utility bills to bypass regulations/restrictions; amazingly, he never encountered any issue by willingly taking Read more…