About Investor Junkie
At Investor Junkie, we’re creating the essential destination for modern DIY investors to explore their options and find their wins. We leverage the power of trusted authors and the need for debate on investor-facing options.
Founded in 2009, Investor Junkie started as a humble blog with a single idea at its core: help people become better investors. Since then we’ve grown into one of the top platforms for people who truly love investing.
We like helping every investor. But at the end of the day we’re wonks and proud of it. We don’t stop at interest rates comparisons and product reviews. Rather, we go deep, contextualize, get into the weeds, and compare every competitor we can find.
Our Founder: Larry Ludwig
Larry Ludwig founded Investor Junkie in 2009 to be a site aimed at helping you become a better investor.
Back in the ’90s, Larry helped create some of the first financial websites for firms like Chase, T. Rowe Price and ING Bank, and later went on to work for Nomura Securities.
Investor Junkie came about because he was looking to learn more about finance from unbiased sources outside the financial industry. He's been actively interested in business and investing since he was a teenager, but technology has always been his first passion. Why not combine the three?
Investor Junkie quickly became the internet's leading investing services review and comparison site that generated revenue only from affiliate marketing. Larry sold the site in 2018.
Currently, Larry lives in the Long Island, New York, area with his wife and three children. But he hasn't retired — his current passion is mentoring entrepreneurs and helping them grow their businesses through technology and internet marketing.
Editors
Clint Proctor, Editor-in-Chief
Clint has been passionate about investing ever since high school when he opened a Roth IRA and made his first investment in an S&P 500 index fund. He quickly got “the bug” and became obsessed with growing his financial knowledge through books, blog posts, and podcasts. It truly felt like a dream job when he received his first opportunity to write for a personal finance website in 2018. Since then, his writing has been featured in several major publications such as Business Insider, Credit Karma, MyFICO blog, and MagnifyMoney. Before accepting the Editor-in-Chief role at Investor Junkie, Clint served as the managing editor of The College Investor from 2020-2022.
Connect with Clint on Twitter @clint_proctor_.
Jessica Wei, Editor
Jessica Wei is a freelance writer and editor based in Toronto, after stints in Hong Kong and Montreal. She has ten years of experience as a journalist and has previously written for The Guardian, GQ, ELLE Canada, and other publications. When not writing or editing, she loves woody scents, vintage vases, and slipping anchovies into any sauce.
Connect with Jessica on LinkedIn.
Karen Stevens
Karen is a personal finance and business writer/editor with experience across industries from travel to tech. She believes personal finance should be accessible to everyone and is always on the hunt for that next money-saving hack.
Connect with Karen on LinkedIn.
Writers
Tom Blake, Staff Writer
Tom Blake is a staff writer at Investor Junkie who specializes in cryptocurrency, investing, and passive income. His work has appeared on numerous publications like The College Investor, Money Crashers, Greedy Rates, and his own blog This Online World. In his spare time, Tom enjoys spending time outdoors and traveling as a digital nomad.
Connect with Tom on Twitter @ThisOnlineWorld.
See a complete list of Tom's articles on his author page.
Kevin Mercadante, Freelance Author
Since 2009, Kevin Mercadante has been sharing his journey from a washed-up mortgage loan officer to emerging from the Financial Meltdown as a contract/self-employed “slash worker” — accountant/blogger/freelance writer — on Out of Your Rut.com. He offers career strategies, from dealing with under-employment to transitioning into self-employment, and provides “alt-retirement strategies” for the vast majority who won’t retire to the beach as millionaires.
He also frequently discusses the big-picture trends that are putting the squeeze on the bottom 90%, offering workarounds and expense-cutting tips to help readers carve out more money to save in their budgets — AKA breaking the “savings barrier” and transitioning from debtor to saver. He’s a regular contributor/staff writer for as many as a dozen financial blogs and websites.
Connect with Kevin on Twitter @OutofYourRut.
See a complete list of Kevin's articles on his author page.
Ruth Lyons, Freelance Author
Trading three decades of financial publishing experience in the corporate world for a life of personal and financial freedom as a freelancer in 2012, Ruth is passionate about helping others take control of their personal finances and become aware of and educated about their options as self-reliant individuals.
Disenfranchised with the high cost and lackluster performance of her IRA handled by a full-service broker, Ruth moved her retirement money to a Self-Directed IRA (SDIRA) in 2015. Since then, Ruth has been buying distressed properties and turning them into income-producing rentals held by her SDIRA, which is delivering healthy double-digit returns annually. In 2018, Ruth attained her Maryland Real Estate License to help others confidently and successfully diversify their investments into winning real estate ventures.
Ruth holds a Masters degree in Financial Management from Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business (1991) and a Business Management degree from the University of Maryland (1984).
Connect with Ruth on LinkedIn.
See a complete list of Ruth's articles on her author page.
Eric Rosenberg, Freelance Author
Eric Rosenberg is a finance, travel and technology writer in Ventura, California. He is a former bank manager and corporate finance and accounting professional who left his day job in 2016 to take his online side hustle full-time. He has in-depth experience writing about banking, credit cards, investing and other financial topics and is an avid travel hacker. When away from the keyboard, Eric enjoys exploring the world, flying small airplanes, discovering new craft beers and spending time with his wife and little girls.
You can connect with Eric at Personal Profitability or EricRosenberg.com.
See a complete list of Eric's articles on his author page.
Chris Butsch, Freelance Author
Chris helps young people prosper – both mentally and financially. In addition to publishing personal finance advice for Investor Junkie and Money Under 30, Chris speaks on the topics of positive psychology and leadership through CAMPUSPEAK and sits on the advisory board of the Blockchain Chamber of Commerce.
Connect with Chris on LinkedIn.
See a complete list of Chris's articles on his author page.
Erin Gobler, Freelance Author
Erin Gobler is a freelance personal finance based in Madison, Wisconsin. After seven years working in state politics, she left to pursue writing full-time. Now she writes about financial topics including mortgages, investing, and more for major publications like Fox Business and NextAdvisor. In addition to finance writing, Erin also provides financial coaching services where she works with individuals to help them reach their money goals.
Connect with Erin Gobler on Twitter @ErinGobler.
See a complete list of Erin's articles on her author page.
Jay Wu, Freelance Author
Jay Wu, CFA®, has over a decade of finance experience spanning asset management, restructuring, and investment banking. He started Money Knock (https://moneyknock.com) to help readers navigate through the intricacies of various investment and personal finance related topics.
Connect with Jay on LinkedIn.
See a complete list of Jay's articles on his author page.
Jordann Brown, Freelance Author
Jordann Brown is a millennial money expert and personal finance blogger based in Nova Scotia, Canada. Jordann is the founder of the popular personal finance blog, My Alternate Life, and she frequently appears as an expert in Canada media.
Connect with Jordann on Twitter @jordannwrites.
See a complete list of Jordann's articles on her author page.
Amanda Claypool, Freelance Author
Amanda Claypool is a writer, entrepreneur, and digital nomad. She writes about wealth, blockchain technology, consumerism, and the future of work. She is a digital nomad currently based in Asheville, NC, and shares about her life on the road over on Substack. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading, and spending way too much time in local coffee shops.
Connect with Amanda on Twitter @millionbynextyr.
See a complete list of Amanda's articles on her author page.
Kate Underwood, Freelance Author
Kate Underwood left a career teaching high school French to create financial content on budgeting, retirement, passive income, and much more. Her work can also be found at Business Insider, Money Crashers, and Clever Girl Finance. She hopes to one day spend a year RVing around the country with her family.
Connect with Kate on LinkedIn.
See a complete list of Kate's articles on her author page.
Jacob Wade, Freelance Author
As a nationally-recognized personal finance writer for the past 8 years, Jacob Wade has written professionally for The Balance, The Spruce, LendingTree, Hedge With Crypto, Investopedia, Money Under 30, and other widely-followed sites. He has also been a featured expert on CBS News, MSN Money, Forbes, Nasdaq, Yahoo! Finance, Go Banking Rates, and AOL Finance. His background includes five years as an Enrolled Agent at an accredited CPA firm, where he prepared tax returns for individuals and small businesses.
Connect with Jacob on LinkedIn.
We Want to Hear From You!
We love to hear from our readers. If you have any comments, leads, suggestions or even different opinions, please feel free to share by posting a comment. We want people to voice differences of opinion, and we appreciate any tips. We promise to do our best to respond to comments and emails.
In the end, most of what we say is a matter of opinion. You should read the disclaimer before taking any of our investing advice or ideas. What might be appropriate for our situation may not make sense for you.
Hopefully, you will get something out of our ramblings and become a better investor and entrepreneur in the process. We have enjoyed putting effort into creating this site and hope you enjoy it just as much.
Webpals Finance
Investor Junkie is owned and operated by Webpals Finance, which also operates other websites in the personal finance sector. Webpals Finance-owned sites publish content in all areas related to personal finance – from credit cards and insurance to loans and robo-advisors – to help consumers make informed financial decisions.
Stay In Touch
You can contact us at info@investorjunkie.com. You can also connect with us on Twitter and Facebook.