Good morning:
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​Reminder: The next live show will be Monday, January 5th at 7 pm ET. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel where the show is broadcast here.

3 Things

1. 6 Simple Ways to Improve Your Investment Performance (A Wealth of Common Sense)

2. Personal Finance Reading List (Adam Grossman)

3. Roth or Tax-Deferred Contributions: It Depends on Existing Balances! (Oblivious Investor)

My Videos & Articles

• ​7 Things to Check in Your Portfolio Before the Year Ends​
• ​Why I Use VTINX in Retirement Accounts (Shortform)

ICYMI

• Thin Desires Are Eating Your Life (JA Westenberg)
• The Art of the Question (The Financial Pen)
• 2025 Highlights – The Top 22 Nerd’s Eye View Blog Posts You Might Have Missed (Kitces)
• Sax Appeal (99% Invisible)
• The Risk You Aren’t Thinking About (Oblivious Investor)
• The Best Books In My Bookstore That You Need To Read Right Now (Ryan Holiday on YouTube)
• The Devil’s In the Details (Jesse Cramer)
• How getting richer made teenagers less free (The Argument)
• The Best Spy Books of 2025 (Five Books)
• Largest wildlife overpass in North America opens across six-lane interstate (AccuWeather)
• Lab diamonds drive bigger, cheaper rings for "engagement season" (Axios)
• A center for homeless residents was set to close. Then Rick Steves stepped in. (MSN)
• Real Life Experience with a Deferred Fixed Annuity (MYGA) (Finance Buff)
• Voices From 2099 (YouTube)
• Skyscraper Live (X)
• The Oil and Water Planet (KK)
• 4 Simple Steps to Change Your Life (Mark Manson)
• On Paperbacks and TikTok (Cal Newport)

What I'm Reading, Listening To, Watching, and Thinking About

• My wife and I watched the second season of Joe Pickett. I enjoyed it much like the first season. (Paramount+; we paid for both seasons via Amazon Prime)
• I've started reading The Odyssey allegedly written by some guy named Homer. I'm a slow reader, so finishing it is a 2026 goal! Oh, and I have War and Peace on my desk, too.

Tools I'm Using From Partners

• Monarch Money: Get 50% off the First Year Discount Code: ROB50​
• ProjectionLab: 10% Discount Code RBERGER-10, I also use Boldin.
• ​Kubera: My choice to track investments and net worth. They offer a 14-day free trial. An excellent free alternative is Empower.
• 1Password: An excellent password manager currently offering 25% off on annual plans.

Resources From Partners

• ​Raisin Bonus: Get up to $2,000 in bonuses, new customers only.
• Quicken Simplifi: Get Simplifi 50% off the first year ($2.99 a month)
• Get free Medicare guidance from Chapter (410) 220-5494
• For a limited time, try the AI-powered budgeting app Origin for just $1 the first year.
• You can see a list of all of my Youtube videos here.
• You can see a list of the budgeting, investing and retirement planning tools I use here.
• You can view past issues of the newsletter here.
• ​DIYRetirement Subreddit​

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Best,
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Rob Berger
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P.S. Feel free to hit reply and send me a message. I read every email.