Short Takes: Inefficiency of Long Hours and more

I had another full week of posts. How much longer will I keep this up?

Working Out Your Retirement Magic Number

How Often Should You Buy Stocks with New Savings?

It’s Still Not Rocket Science

Abusing the 4% Rule

You can follow me on Twitter now (@MJonMoney). Here are some short takes and some weekend reading:

Freakonomics discusses a study on the effects of long work hours. Just about every high-tech company I’ve worked for celebrates employees who work long hours. I’ve long known that my own performance drops off badly if I try to work too many hours. It’s not just that I’m inefficient in hours 9 through 12 of a given day – I’m likely to be inefficient the entire next day as well. Adequate exercise, rest, and mental relaxation give me the time to reflect and “work smarter.” If I work too many hours, I’m very unlikely to see a better way of getting things done. However, any discussion of these facts at work just sounds to management ears like a lack of commitment to the company, so I usually keep these thoughts to myself.

The Blunt Bean Counter is running a series on how much money you need to retire. Here are part 1 and part 2. My concerns about the 4% rule are that many people don’t understand that you have to pay portfolio fees out of the 4% yearly withdrawal, and you need to be prepared to cut back your spending if your portfolio performs very poorly.

Big Cajun Man explains how he doesn’t use his TFSA for long-term or short-term needs, but for middle-term needs.

Million Dollar Journey explains why a mortgage vacation may be the most expensive vacation you’ll ever take.

My Own Advisor is giving away 6 codes for TurboTax online.