All Posts by Aaliyah Jordan

|In: Finance Readings|Last Updated:
Fueling Your Future: Top Financial Independence Blogs to Follow in 2024

The Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement has evolved far beyond extreme frugality, giving rise to diverse strategies like Lean FIRE, Fat FIRE, and Barista FIRE. For aspiring early retirees, the best resources provide not only investment strategy but also emotional and behavioral guidance. In 2024, the top FIRE blogs offer actionable advice tailored to different income levels and lifestyle goals.

The Foundational Classics: Strategy and Frugality

These blogs laid the groundwork for the modern FIRE movement, emphasizing a high savings rate and simplified investing. They are essential reading for any beginner.

  • Mr. Money Mustache (MMM): Considered the definitive guide to FIRE, MMM (Pete Adeney) is known for his sharp-witted philosophy that challenges consumerism and advocates for extreme frugality and a Badass life of leisure. His core message focuses on cutting costs drastically to achieve a 50-70%+ savings rate, which accelerates the timeline to
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|In: Finance Readings|Last Updated:
Breaking the Barriers: How to Start Investing in Real Estate with Little Money and Bad Credit

The dream of real estate investing often seems reserved for those with perfect credit scores and deep pockets. However, the reality is that many successful investors started with significant financial limitations. While having little money and poor credit certainly adds hurdles, it forces you to become creative, resourceful, and focused on finding non-traditional financing and low-entry strategies. The key is to shift your focus from relying on banks to leveraging partnerships, seller motivation, and technology.

1. Low-Capital, No-Credit Strategies

To bypass the need for a large down payment and a high credit score, start with strategies that prioritize deal-finding and business skills over personal finance.

  • Real Estate Wholesaling: This is the ultimate low-money, no-credit entry point. You act as a middleman: you find a distressed property at a deeply discounted price, secure a purchase contract with the seller, and then immediately assign that contract to another investor (the end
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|In: Finance Readings|Last Updated:
Unlocking the Code: Free Online Academic Journals for Quantitative Finance Research

Quantitative finance, the discipline that applies mathematical models and programming to financial problems, thrives on cutting-edge research. For students, researchers, and practitioners who need free access to the latest breakthroughs in areas like algorithmic trading, option pricing, and risk management, several online platforms and open-access journals serve as essential resources. While subscription-based journals hold prestige, the following free sources are critical for daily research and exploration.

1. The Powerhouse Preprint Servers: arXiv and SSRN

The most valuable free sources for current quantitative finance research are preprint servers. These platforms host papers—often before or during the formal peer-review process—providing immediate access to new models and findings.

  • arXiv.org (Quantitative Finance Section – q-fin): Hosted by Cornell University, arXiv is a vast open-access repository primarily known for physics and mathematics, but its Quantitative Finance (q-fin) section is a goldmine. It covers key sub-categories including:
    • q-fin.MF (Mathematical Finance)
    • q-fin.CP (Computational Finance)
    • q-fin.TR (Trading
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|In: Investments|Last Updated:
Powering Your Golden Years: Best Dividend Stocks for Long-Term Growth and Retirement Income

For long-term investors, particularly those planning for or nearing retirement, dividend stocks offer a powerful, dual-purpose strategy: a steadily growing stream of passive income combined with the potential for capital appreciation. The key is to look beyond high current yields and focus on companies with the proven financial strength to not only maintain, but consistently increase their payouts for decades. This is the difference between an income trap and a genuine wealth-building machine.

The Power of Dividend Growth Investing

A stock that pays a dividend of 3% today, but raises that dividend by 8% every year, will ultimately provide a higher effective yield on your original investment than a stock that pays 6% but never increases its payout. This compounding of income acts as a powerful hedge against inflation and a primary engine for portfolio growth.

When selecting dividend stocks for long-term growth and retirement income, focus on three key …

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|In: Finance Readings|Last Updated:
The M&A Playbook: Must-Read Investment Banking Case Study Books

Mastering Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) in investment banking requires a deep understanding of financial theory, valuation techniques, and, critically, real-world execution. The best case study books blend technical expertise with captivating narratives, offering aspiring and current bankers a look into the high-stakes world of deal-making. They don’t just teach the formulas; they teach the strategy, the politics, and the pitfalls of massive corporate transactions.

1. The Technical Cornerstone: Valuation and Modeling

To truly understand an M&A deal, you must first master the mechanics of valuing a company. These books provide the essential technical foundation, often integrating practical case studies and templates.

  • Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers & Acquisitions by Joshua Rosenbaum and Joshua Pearl: Often called “The Investment Banking Bible,” this text is a rigorous, practical guide to the core financial methodologies used on Wall Street. It offers a clear breakdown of Comparable Company Analysis (CCA)
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