Showing results by author "Dale C. Maley" in All Categories

Most studies have shown that asset allocation, not what stocks and when you buy stocks, is the most important determinant of future net worth. This short story explains the basics of asset allocation. This short story will help you determine what type of asset allocation strategy best fits your particular financial situation.

Bogleheads® are people who are very interested in investing. They meet and share their ideas about investing and personal finance on their online forum. Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard, is one of their heroes. The typical Boglehead lives below their means so they can save and invest. They typically invest in low-cost Vanguard index funds in a well diversified portfolio. Over half of the Bogleheads are already millionaires. After reading this short story about the Bogleheads, you may decide to improve your own financial situation by joining their online forum.

The Jones House is located at 314 E. Madison Street in Pontiac. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. This 1858 home experienced a major fire in 1975 and was ready for the wrecking ball. Two Pontiac gentleman purchased it and donated it to the Livingston County Historical Society. It took about ten years to fully refurbish the house. Members of the public now enjoy free tours of this unique pre-Civil War home that is the oldest brick home in Pontiac, Illinois. This book explores the history of the people that lived in this home and the refurbishment process.

Zoath Yost was born and raised in West Virginia. He completed college and obtained a law degree from West Virginia University. Zoath married Pontiac native Ella Louise Hartshorn in 1890. Ella Hartshorn graduated from Pontiac Township High School and then attended several colleges. In 1898, Zoath and Ella Yost built their home on the Vermilion River at 298 West Water Street in Pontiac. Zoath and Ella Yost had three children. The oldest child, Hellene Louise Yost, graduated from Pontiac Township High School. Hellene Yost received a bachelor’s degree in Greek from Randolph-Macon Woman’s ...

Unfortunately, our U.S. educational system teaches Americans nothing about investing. Many people struggle for years to develop an optimum investment plan. This short story recounts the author's journey to a diversified portfolio of low-cost index funds. I hope the story of my journey to a diversified portfolio of low cost index funds will inspire other investors to further explore the advantages of index fund investing.

This short story explains the basic concepts of financial planning and provides a conceptual roadmap for planning your retirement. By using a conceptual roadmap approach, you can quickly grasp the general concepts of retirement planning in a very short amount of reading time.

American medical doctors face some unique financial planning challenges. They often have to incur student loans in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Unlike regular college graduates who start working at age 22, they often can not start working until about age 30. Their relatively high income can also drive the need for huge retirement savings. Because of their high income, doctors are major targets for people selling bad investments. This short story explores these unique challenges. Read this short story if you are a medical doctor who wants to learn how to meet your long-term ...

William T. Stackpole was one of early Fairbury's most interesting citizens. During his lifetime, he was gold prospector, pioneer, farmer, merchant, grain speculator, oil field worker, real estate sales person, inventor, writer, publisher, and visionary. His first adventure was traveling from Pekin, Illinois, to the gold fields of California in 1849. He kept a diary of this very interesting trip. This book transcribes his diary from longhand to modern typed text. It is hoped this transcription of his diary will help future Fairbury historians better understand the experiences of this very ...

Fairbury is a small town located in Central Illinois. It is 100 miles south of Chicago and 60 miles east of Peoria. It was founded in 1857 when the railroad first crossed Central Illinois. This short story attempts do documents all the Fairbury citizens who have authored books over the years. Several of these book authors are major figures in the history of Fairbury. Additional biographical and historical information for these book authors is included in this short story.

The first settlers in the Fairbury area was Major Darnell south of town in 1829 and the McDowells north of town in 1832. In 1857, the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad installed new tracks which helped to create the village of Fairbury. This book is a collection of over 70 different carefully researched stories about various aspects of Fairbury history. These stories run the range from the pioneer settlers to modern efforts to preserve Fairbury history. It is hoped this book will help people better understand the almost 200 years of rich history that helped to define the community of Fairbury.

Financial bubbles have been occurring for hundreds of years. Most of us have lived through the Tech Wreck of 2000 and the Sub-Prime Crash of 2008. This short story examines and identifies the common characteristics of financial bubbles. Reading this short story might help you identify the next time we find ourselves in a financial bubble.

Fairbury is a small town located in Central Illinois. It is 100 miles south of Chicago and 60 miles east of Peoria. It was founded in 1857 when the railroad first crossed Central Illinois. William T. Stackpole came from a prominent family in the Maine coastal city of Thomaston, Maine, on the St. Georges River. He was born in 1827. He grew up on the St. Georges River in Maine, where it emptied into the Atlantic Ocean. He was aware of the great success of the Erie Canal, built in 1821. These factors led to a life-long obsession with improving waterway shipping, including rivers and canals. ...

Nassim Nicholas Taleb popularized the term Black Swan through his books and interviews. Taleb’s Black Swan Theory refers only to unexpected events of large magnitude and consequence and their dominant role in history. Such events, considered extreme outliers, collectively play vastly larger roles than regular occurrences. This short story explores whether or not Black Swan events are really important to Main Street investors versus Wall Street traders.

Abraham Lincoln visited Pontiac, Illinois, on five separate occasions. Lincoln visited Pontiac twice in 1840 and was the lawyer who represented William Popejoy on his lawsuits with Isaac Wilson. Lincoln was the lawyer in another Pontiac case with County Sheriff Blue in 1843. In 1855, Lincoln spent several nights in Pontiac after he was rescued from a train stuck in a snowstorm. Lincoln’s last visit to Pontiac was in January of 1860 when he gave a speech at the Presbyterian Church. After the speech, Lincoln spent many hours at the home of Jason Strevell before he caught his train to ...

Fairbury is a small town located in Central Illinois. It is 100 miles south of Chicago and 60 miles east of Peoria. It was founded in 1857 when the railroad first crossed Central Illinois. Fairbury was home to one of great horse importers of Illinois, John Virgin. He was named by the Governor of Illinois to be on the planning commission of the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition. The Keeley Institute was founded in 1891 as an alcoholic treatment center in Dwight, Illinois, 30 miles north of Fairbury. Many Fairbury citizens worked at the Keeley institute during the years it was open from 1891 ...