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Top 10 Personal Finance Articles of the Month — July 2024

Welcome to Fioney’s look at the top 10 personal finance articles of the month. On the first Friday of each new month, we look back at some of our favorite posts published in the weeks prior and highlight them right here. This includes a mix of sites that have become staples of our lists as well as many first-timers.

To start things off, we’ll look at one of the biggest financial topics of the past few years: inflation. Then, we’ll feature a trio of posts discussing retirement accounts and holdings. Finally, we’ll cover asking about APR, personal finance being a loser’s game, giving up on banking bonuses, and more.

Here are our picks for the top 10 personal finance articles for July 2024:

Inflation

How Does Inflation Impact Retirement? — Nick Maggiulli, Of Dollars and Data

For anyone paying even the slightest bit of attention, the impact of inflation has been obvious in recent years. This has certainly been evident to everyday consumers across the country. But how does inflation affect retirement funding and spending specifically? Nick takes a closer look.

Down With Inflation — Adam M. Grossman, Humble Dollar

It’s not hard to understand the damaging impacts of inflation. Yet, some inflation is actually necessary — which is why The Fed even has a standing inflation goal. In this post, Adam explains why deflation isn’t as attractive as it may sound.

Retirement Accounts and Funds

Should I Use My 401(k) Without a Match? — Jesse Cramer, Best Interest

One of the best aspects of many 401(k)s is the employer matching feature. Alas, this perk may vary greatly between companies — and some may not even offer any match at all. The question then becomes, is it still worth it even without the added funds? Jesse gives the answer and shows his work.

How to Avoid These 6 Costly Roth Conversion Mistakes — Alvin Yam, Physician on FIRE

You may have heard about how it’s possible to convert a traditional IRA account into a Roth. And while that’s true, there are some reasons why this may not make sense for everyone. To help you ensure that you’ve thought everything through, Alvin highlights some common (and costly) errors associated with these conversions.

Age-Based Asset Allocation (I’m Not a Fan) — Mike Piper, Oblivious Investor

An investing rule of thumb that’s been floating around for some time suggests that investors should determine their portfolio mix by subtracting their age from 100 and putting that percentage in stocks (with the other percentage in bonds). Meanwhile, some have argued that this formula is overly conservative. As for Mike, he explains why he’s not a fan of this concept even with adjustments.

Personal Finance Tips

Financing a Car? You’ll Want to Ask About the APR — Kyle Burbank, Money@30

For most people, the reality is that they’ll need to finance the purchase of a vehicle. Because of this, the cost of the car is often presented in terms of the monthly payment. However, this leaves out some key information that buyers should be aware of — such as how much they’re actually paying in interest. Following a recent experience of his own, Kyle looks at why car financing customers may need to ask some more questions when buying.

Personal Finance is a Loser’s Game — Jim Wang, Wallet Hacks

What’s the difference between gambling and personal finance? Well, for one, while gambling is exciting, personal finance is often boring. Furthermore, as Jim points out, personal finance is actually a loser’s game — although that term might not mean what you think it does.

Why I Stopped Chasing Bank and Brokerage Bonuses — Harry Sit, The Finance Buff

If you look in the right places, you’re likely to come across a number of bonus offers as FinTech, banks, and brokerages look to attract you as a customer. Often, these deals require you to deposit and/or spend a certain amount of money, as well as keep your account open for a specific amount of time. However, while these bonuses can occasionally be quite lucrative, Harry explains why he’s personally moving on from chasing this “easy” cash.

Summer Travels: Applying Lessons from Die With Zero — Chris Mamula, Can I Retire Yet?

How does a personal finance book that has little to do with travel impact your summer vacation? Well, when that book is the acclaimed Die With Zero, apparently quite a bit! Chris explains all of the details in his post.

6 Mistakes That Made Us House Poor and How We Got Out — Renee, The Fun Sized Life

With home prices on the rise and interest rates remaining high (compared to historical lows of recent years), it’s understandable that prospective homebuyers may feel the need to stretch their budget. Unfortunately, this can lead to what’s known as being “house poor.” As she shares, that’s the situation Renee once found herself in — but thankfully managed to escape.

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Thanks for checking out our top 10 personal finance articles published last month and congratulations to all of the bloggers who made the list. To find more of these great articles on a daily basis, be sure to follow us on Twitter @fioneymoney and of course visit Fioney.com.