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Top 10 Personal Finance Articles of the Month — November 2025

by Managing EditorDec 5, 2025

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 (or updated) 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.

We’ll start off with a topic that comes up often in these monthly features: investing. Then, we’ll discuss pursuing your dreams without financial worries. Lastly, we’ll cover budgeting with bank accounts, financial self-care, getting the most from your library card, and more.

Here are our picks for the top 10 personal finance articles for November 2025.

Investing

How to Measure Portfolio Complexity — Craig Stephens, Retire Before Dad

As you learn more about investing, there’s always the temptation to want to try a bit of everything. But, there’s a difference between diversification and building a portfolio that’s overly complicated. Here, Craig looks at how to measure your investment complexity and how to simplify it if need be.

Derisking Your Portfolio on the Run into Retirement — Monevator

Speaking of complicated, while many investors know that they should shift to a more conservative portfolio as they near retirement, that may not always be so easy to do. For example, market conditions at the time you look to make changes could impact your options. With that in mind, this post from Monevator is here to offer some tips.

The One Thing My Worst Investments Had in Common — Nick Maggiulli, Of Dollars and Data

Even “good” investors make bad investments sometimes. Moreover, there can be several aspects that make them bad. Yet, as Nick shares, his losers all have a certain commonality (that I won’t spoil here).

The Rat Race

Here’s the Best (and Second Best) Time to Start Your Side Hustle — Colin Graves

Side hustles have been all the rage over the past several years. That’s not just because people want to make extra money but also because they view building a successful side hustle as a means of exiting their current job and going the entrepreneurial route. If you’ve considered a side hustle before, Colin offers three quick actions you can take to get you ready for your endeavor.

The Bad Bargain: Why We Trade Our Dreams To Escape Our Nightmares — Tim Maurer and Tony Welch, The Net Worthwhile Weekly

If you’ve ever thought about leaving your stable career in order to pursue your passion, odds are that fears such as finances were what ultimately held you back. As Cormac McCarthy put it, “You would give up your dreams in order to escape your nightmares.” Building on that idea, this article from The Net Worthwhile looks at why that’s a bad bargain.

Personal Finance Tips

How To Use Multiple Bank Accounts To Budget Smarter — Nadia Vanderhall, The Brands and Bands

Even though we think of budgeting as being just one thing, the truth is that there are several methods that consumers can employ. Moreover, more and more budgeting tools are hitting the market seemingly all the time. Yet, in this post, Nadia suggests a unique plan of attack: leveraging multiple bank accounts and automation to help manage your money.

Simplify Your Life: Financial Self-Care by Subtraction — Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, Mind Money Balance

These days, the term “self-care” is used all the time. While it’s a solid idea overall, attempts at self-care can often mean embracing a “more, more, more” mentality. Instead, Lindsay shares some self-care suggestions (including financial ones) that put a spotlight on subtraction.

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Library Card: Sister Libraries, Free Passes And Apps — A Purple Life

With so many different subscriptions fighting for your entertainment dollars these days, you might forget that your local library has a lot to offer as well. In fact, at many locations, the number of options you have is only growing. For those looking to get the most out of their free library experience, Purple shares a few things you might not know about but are worth exploring.

Building a Bond Ladder with Individual Bonds and ETFs — Harry Sit, The Finance Buff

The concept of a “bond ladder” might not be one you’ve thought about before. Nevertheless, there can be some benefits to building one. What’s more, as Harry explains, there are several routes you can take to making this process even easier.

I’m Getting Another Credit Card (But I Didn’t Apply for One) — Kyle Burbank, Money@30

Finally, when you apply for a credit card, you might be under the assumption that the product will remain largely the same — or you’ll at least be able to keep the card as long as you want. In reality, though, there are several reasons why a card issuer might force you into a completely different card option. For example, as Kyle notes, a situation involving Bilt means he’ll soon be unintentionally adding a new credit card to his wallet.

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.

Author

Managing Editor

Managing Editor ~ Fioney

Toren Ajk is the founder of TAC Marketing Group, the parent company of Fioney. Toren has over 15 years of experience in the digital publishing space and has worked with a number of FinTech clients over the years, including LendingClub, Upgrade, and Able Lending, among others. He has a BA in Business/Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara and earned Beta Gamma highest academic honors for his MBA work in Finance and Marketing at Loyola Marymount University.