Mark Agustin is a personal finance writer and the founder of KatchingStacks. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Management and came to personal finance the hard way — through firsthand financial hardship that made the gap between what schools teach about money and what actually matters in real life painfully clear. That experience drove him to spend years researching the tools, platforms, and strategies that genuinely help people build financial stability from scratch — robo-advisors, index funds, retirement accounts, and the compound math that works quietly in the background when everything else feels uncertain. Every review and guide on KatchingStacks reflects that same ethos: research-backed, jargon-free, and written for the person who doesn't have a financial advisor and doesn't plan to get one. Mark evaluates each platform on fees, portfolio construction, and real-world usability — not affiliate payouts. He is not a licensed financial advisor, and nothing on this site constitutes personalized investment advice. It's the research he does to make better decisions with his own money, shared plainly.
Moving a robo-advisor account is not taxable; selling is. How to transfer in-kind, what gets sold anyway, and the wash-sale trap.
Read More →
Naming the wrong beneficiary — or forgetting to update them — can send your death benefit to the wrong person. Here's everything wealth-building investors need to know about life insurance beneficiaries.
Read More →
Life insurance and investing aren't competing priorities — they solve different problems. Here's how to integrate both into a coherent financial strategy without sacrificing one for the other.
Read More →
Northwestern Mutual has paid dividends for over 150 consecutive years and holds the highest financial strength rating available. Here's what investors need to know before buying a policy.
Read More →HSA vs 401k: see why the HSA's triple tax advantage often beats even a Roth, and the right order to fund both in 2026.
Read More →401k vs robo advisor: get the match first, then choose based on taxes and flexibility. Here's the framework that actually settles it.
Read More →New York Life is the largest mutual life insurer in the U.S. and holds the highest possible financial strength rating. Here's what investors should know before getting a policy.
Read More →Debt avalanche vs snowball: the real math, the real psychology, and a simple framework for picking the method you'll actually finish.
Read More →Learn how much to keep in high-yield savings — the simple formula based on essential expenses, not gross income.
Read More →Insurance agents pitch whole life as an investment. Financial advisors usually disagree. Here's an honest breakdown of what whole life actually delivers — and when it might make sense.
Read More →