Search found 223 matches

by jasonp99
Thu Jan 13, 2022 2:44 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Quicken 2019 and forward
Replies: 1061
Views: 114313

Re: Quicken 2019 and forward

Longtime Quicken user (started around '98). Been using Quicken 2007 (Mac) for several years, after migrating the 2002 data. Got a new MBP and Quicken 2007 no longer worked (bummer!), so bought latest Quicken (Deluxe Mac 6.5.1, about $31). Saved [on old Mac] copy of datafile from Quicken (had to copy datafile to external non-APFS drive and run old Quicken from there in order to save a copy). Re-opened datafile on new Mac and it was able to translate the file (cloud-based translator) this time. All data was good was except for one older investment account where it for some reason didn't transfer out (to nowhere) about 1000 shares of MOT (which had split into two other companies). Fixed that and all was good. The new Quicken no longer supports...
by jasonp99
Thu Nov 25, 2021 11:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What to do with Universal Life policy?
Replies: 39
Views: 3131

Re: What to do with Universal Life policy?

I have had usaa homeowners insurance for decades … I can’t find anyone to compete with them in Syracuse - what other companies do you find that are more competitive w/ good claims service (I have not filed a claim in 20 years but you never know) - maybe I am missing something ? (probably lots of other threads with this advice) For auto/home have had good service with Allstate (2 home claims, 3 auto claims). I recently switched to Farmers for Auto as I was able to save $400 on a 6-month term for 2 cars. May switch home to Farmers as well once I see my new home insurance cost from Allstate without the Auto policy discount. For a point of comparison of the auto policy quotes: USAA $1516, Allstate $1190, Farmers $804. Same terms. USAA apparent...
by jasonp99
Mon Nov 22, 2021 9:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What to do with Universal Life policy?
Replies: 39
Views: 3131

Re: What to do with Universal Life policy?

Ahhh, to answer one question, any money I add to the policy is subject to a one time fee of 3%. There are no further expense charges for that deposit after that. It will then start earning interest monthly.
by jasonp99
Sun Nov 21, 2021 11:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What to do with Universal Life policy?
Replies: 39
Views: 3131

Re: What to do with Universal Life policy?

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I've thought about putting more money into this policy as the 4.5% is, at the current time anyway, far higher than I can get with any other "safe" investments. However there is a 3% one-time charge for any cash deposits. In theory then the first year would net about 1.36%, OK for what it is. I need to research on how to get money out of this policy, how to get the entire cash value at any time, and what it means to my USAA membership if I cancel the policy. I wouldn't exactly be heartbroken if that was the end of my relationship with USAA, as I don't have any other policies with them and don't foresee that happening with their current prices. Also need to ask for an illustration if I put...
by jasonp99
Sat Nov 20, 2021 10:46 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What to do with Universal Life policy?
Replies: 39
Views: 3131

Re: What to do with Universal Life policy?

The premiums have been fixed at $160/yr for as long as I can remember (my Quicken data only goes back to '99). I'm currently 52 and it has not changed in that entire time.

The death benefit is $38K. I guess the "cash" value is (death benefit) - (base insurance) which would be about $13K.

The cash value has been growing at 4.5% per year, or about $600/yr for recent statements. The interest rate has always been 4.5% for as long as I can remember.

Oh, just looked at a recent statement. It says the policy will remain in effect until 2049 if premiums payments were discontinued.
by jasonp99
Sat Nov 20, 2021 10:15 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What to do with Universal Life policy?
Replies: 39
Views: 3131

What to do with Universal Life policy?

I currently have a Universal Life policy with USAA. It was purchased by my parents many years ago and given to me about 25 years ago or so. The base insurance is $25K while the current death benefit is $38K. I pay about $160 per year in premiums while the policy itself has been growing about $600 per year after charges (returns about 4.5% interest). So in theory this is not costing me anything. In theory I think I could stop paying the premiums and the deficit would be deducted from the current death benefit. I believe I also can take out a loan against the amount in excess of $25K. I don't actually need life insurance (and don't have any except for this policy and a work-provided benefit). While I'm married and have 2 kids, the amount here...
by jasonp99
Sat Nov 20, 2021 9:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: (Non)Deductible Traditional IRA Madness - please advise
Replies: 20
Views: 1833

Re: (Non)Deductible Traditional IRA Madness - please advise

spammagnet wrote: Sat Nov 20, 2021 12:47 am
jasonp99 wrote: Sat Nov 20, 2021 12:04 am... But, bad news, it looks like the pending Build Back Better Act, if passed, would prohibit any backdoor conversions:

Firstly, it would prohibit any after-tax contributions in 401(k) and other workplace plans and IRAs from being converted to Roth savings. This rule would apply to all income levels starting after Dec. 31, 2021.
Take care with discussions of pending legislation, to avoid thread lock.
Ahhh, good to know, did not know that. Thanks.
by jasonp99
Sat Nov 20, 2021 9:48 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How did the USAA bank Get So Bad
Replies: 66
Views: 9992

Re: How did the USAA bank Get So Bad

I've had 2 roofs replaced by Allstate and 3 auto claims that were handled with no issues. First roof, Allstate paid roofer, I only paid deductible. 2nd roof (16 years later, same house, hail damage again) Allstate paid me directly for all charges minus deductible and minus roof upgrade. Auto claims depended on how the claim was filed, either Allstate paid us all except for deductible, or Allstate paid repair place and we only paid deductible. So only good things to say about how Allstate handled these claims [if it weren't for the extreme rate increases over the past 2 years we would still be with them]. p.s. 2nd roof replacement was more complicated because I had to have 21 solar panels and accessories removed from the roof prior to the re...
by jasonp99
Sat Nov 20, 2021 12:18 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How did the USAA bank Get So Bad
Replies: 66
Views: 9992

Re: How did the USAA bank Get So Bad

Long ago I had home and auto insurance thru USAA. Switched to another company when it was more expensive to stay with USAA. Over the years I've checked again to see how their rates compare and they have always been higher or MUCH higher than the competition. For a number of years when I had a German Shepherd Dog they declined to even give a home ins. quote. I still have a Universal Life policy there that my parents bought when I was a kid though. And a credit card that I never use but I think I got because it had no ATM charges internationally. That CC got hacked a few years back, not only the CC but my USAA account itself. What a pain to fix that. Then some months later, I got bogus charges on a the same CC that had not even been activated...
by jasonp99
Sat Nov 20, 2021 12:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: (Non)Deductible Traditional IRA Madness - please advise
Replies: 20
Views: 1833

Re: (Non)Deductible Traditional IRA Madness - please advise

I've done a "backdoor" Roth IRA conversion every year for many years, for my wife and my self. Sometime in January I add the max contribution to our non-deductible IRA's (which have zero balance since they are full converted every year), then a day or two later I do the backdoor conversion to our existing Roth IRA's. Then would fill out two 8606's (one for each of us) when I file taxes the next year. I don't have to wait until the following year to make a contribution for the current year, since I already know our income will be higher than the Roth limit. The 8606's are pretty easy to fill out, I wouldn't worry about complexity there. But, bad news, it looks like the pending Build Back Better Act, if passed, would prohibit any ba...
by jasonp99
Fri Jul 16, 2021 9:05 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Quicken 2019 and forward
Replies: 1061
Views: 114313

Re: Quicken 2019 and forward

Does anyone have 2017 and earlier locally stored on your machine? Can you upload bulk transactions via CSV/excel files? I've heard for items out of support window, you can no longer log in (which would be problematic). But if the functionality still works, I'd rather get an older version and work 100% offline and not have to pay a recurring subscription rate. I really only want it to run some basic analysis on spending trends across 5 or 6 different financial institutions. TIA I use quicken premier 2016 still, and even migrated it to a new computer. I like the ROI features for investments that you can't get in the deluxe versions. To answer your question, I use CVS imports for pricing of securities, but not for transactions. (Exporting fro...
by jasonp99
Sun May 24, 2020 10:20 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: any easy way to adjust cost basis in eTrade?
Replies: 4
Views: 3273

Re: any easy way to adjust cost basis in eTrade?

So 3 monthes later all the cost basis numbers from WellsFargo were transferred to eTrade. Every single one. Now eTrade matches up exactly with what I have in Quicken. I was surprised the cost basis info would transfer over but it was nice that it did.
by jasonp99
Fri May 15, 2020 10:44 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Quicken 2019 and forward
Replies: 1061
Views: 114313

Re: Quicken 2019 and forward

The only two issues I experience with my 2007 release is that when making a calendar transaction I can't set it to automatically enter unless I first change it to recurring, set it to automatically enter, and then change back to non-recurring. Annoying but I've gotten used to it.

Second issues is that I cannot get report on estimated cap gains, e.g. hitting the "Cap Gains" widget in the Investing tab. That always crashes the program. I can get a cap gains report from the Reporting/Investment of securities that have been sold.
by jasonp99
Mon May 11, 2020 8:53 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Quicken 2019 and forward
Replies: 1061
Views: 114313

Re: Quicken 2019 and forward

I download QFX files from my credit cards/brokerages and then suck those into Quicken (after post-processing to auto-categorize). No need for automatic download and this takes less than 2 hrs per month to do. I enter checking account transactions manually because those are few and far between (or on a regular basis [salary] so those are set as auto-transactions in Quicken). My 2016 expired Quicken won't import QFX files. Which version do you use? Have you tried these Web Connect Troubleshooting tips? I could import QFX before. But after Quicken expiration, it won't import any more. I'm using Quicken 2007. It still runs under High Sierra (10.13.6) which is the last MacOS version I can update my MBP to. Actually I cannot import QFX directly,...
by jasonp99
Sat May 09, 2020 11:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Quicken 2019 and forward
Replies: 1061
Views: 114313

Re: Quicken 2019 and forward

I download QFX files from my credit cards/brokerages and then suck those into Quicken (after post-processing to auto-categorize). No need for automatic download and this takes less than 2 hrs per month to do. I enter checking account transactions manually because those are few and far between (or on a regular basis [salary] so those are set as auto-transactions in Quicken). Per stock prices, I use a free Google function at docs.google.com/spreadsheets. You just put a ticker symbol in a cell, then can get all the data on that ticker using functions like: GoogleFinance(<tickerCellRef>,"price") GoogleFinance(<tickerCellRef>,"change") GoogleFinance(<tickerCellRef>,"changepct") GoogleFinance(<tickerCellRef>,"vo...
by jasonp99
Fri Apr 24, 2020 2:58 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Quicken question- changing cost basis, adjusting holdings etc.
Replies: 14
Views: 655

Re: Quicken question- changing cost basis, adjusting holdings etc.

You can download CSV from Fidelity but not QIF/QFX/OFX, which is a shame. I can do that on ETrade and WF platforms. They only support direct download into Quicken which means you need a fairly recent version to do that. I do all my importing via QFX/OFX [edit: actually QIF but it's easy to convert QFX/OFX to QIF], easy to download this from all credit card sites I use too.

I just finished chat with Fidelity rep. He said he put in a feedback request to developers asking to add this if it's ever becomes possible. I'm not hopeful. But maybe if a lot of people asked for it they would do it.
by jasonp99
Thu Apr 09, 2020 11:09 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: any easy way to adjust cost basis in eTrade?
Replies: 4
Views: 3273

any easy way to adjust cost basis in eTrade?

Hello all. I had a large number of securities (stocks/etf's/mf's) at Wells Fargo Advisors. But I also had brokerage accounts at Fidelity (zero value but account active) and eTrade (work stock accounts), and liked those interfaces better. eTrade had a transfer promotion going so I transferred all my securities from WF to eTrade in one fell swoop (memo to others: there is a $95 charge for doing this from WF, that I didn't know about. Could have avoided had I transferred everything piecemeal and left at least one security (or cash) there). I have all my stock data in Quicken. Moving the securities from my WF account to my eTrade account in Quicken was painless (drag each security from one account to the other, all history is then preserved tho...
by jasonp99
Sat Oct 26, 2019 8:33 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: take lump-sum from pension or not?
Replies: 16
Views: 1859

Re: take lump-sum from pension or not?

I'm not sure. Will have to check if our 401k plan allows such rollovers.
by jasonp99
Sat Oct 26, 2019 7:57 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: take lump-sum from pension or not?
Replies: 16
Views: 1859

Re: take lump-sum from pension or not?

One more piece of info, the pension plan is a single employer plan.
by jasonp99
Sat Oct 26, 2019 7:27 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: take lump-sum from pension or not?
Replies: 16
Views: 1859

Re: take lump-sum from pension or not?

Hello, OP here, thanks for all the replies! More info on the pension: Monthly Payment Type of Payment Chosen start_age_65 start_age_70 Single Life Annuity 2159 3891 Joint & 50% Survivor Annuity 1952 3427 Joint & 75% 1863 3234 Joint & 100% 1781 3062 Life Annuity w/10yrs Certain 2030 3502 The amounts are fixed and will not ever be adjusted for inflation. I have a spouse and 2 kids (10 & 12). We make combined about $260k/yr, more if bonuses. Net worth around $4M. We max our 401k's each year, and each year we do maximum backdoor Roth Conversions. I was always considering this pension "bonus" money I would get in retirement. Our investment mix at the moment is more equities than bonds. Save for about $550K in real estat...
by jasonp99
Sat Oct 26, 2019 2:14 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: take lump-sum from pension or not?
Replies: 16
Views: 1859

take lump-sum from pension or not?

Hello all. Years back I worked at a company that had a pension plan, it was frozen after about 10 years of working there. Now I'm being offered 3 choices from the insurance company that is holding the pension. a) do nothing, will start receiving $25913 yearly payments when I turn 65 (15 years from now). This is payment for no survivor benefits. b) take lump sum payment of $167625 in a few months c) take yearly payments of $9748, first monthly payment this December. The "yearly" payments above would actually be 12 equal monthly payments to generate that yearly payout. Scenario b) - assuming invested for 3% interest, compounded annually, then taking $25913 annual withdrawals starting at age 65, the fund would run out at age 76. - as...
by jasonp99
Tue May 07, 2019 2:33 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Quicken 2019 and forward
Replies: 1061
Views: 114313

Re: Quicken 2019 and forward

A few years back when I decided that at some point I would need to upgrade my 2011 Mac to something newer than Snow Leopard (10.6.8) I got Quicken to send me a free version that would work on Lion. I tested it out and it worked fine. Then I bought the 2016 version (mainly to pay them some money so they would stay in business). Transferred my giant QIF (started 1997!!) and that worked fine too. But in the meantime I looked at other financial programs, some free, some pay. By and large I thought they all were inferior to Quicken. The reporting in Quicken is I think it's best feature and none of the other programs had as good reporting mechanisms. I even looked at the "new" Quicken for the Mac and hated that, it just lacked so much. ...
by jasonp99
Tue May 07, 2019 2:13 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Quicken 2019 and forward
Replies: 1061
Views: 114313

Re: Quicken 2019 and forward

I have no intention of paying annual fees; I thought the 3-year sunset was not justified. I have Q2017, so my decision point is a further year out. Nevertheless here is my plan. Last year, I purchased ImportQIF from QuicknPerlWiz.com (note the missing 'e') I had stayed on Q97 for over a decade before moving to Q2011. During that decade without support I had my own awk (primitive Perl) programs for formatting QIF downloads and yahoo stock prices. QuicknPerlWiz wrote more sophisticated Perl programs to do the same thing. I've been using Quicken since 2002, and have only bought that version and the 2016 version (last Mac normal version I think). Anyway, I never got the auto-download stuff to work so I just downloaded the QIF files from my cre...
by jasonp99
Tue May 07, 2019 1:38 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: New car loan - Interest rate
Replies: 32
Views: 5368

Re: New car loan - Interest rate

Fortune wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:12 pm
livesoft wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:27 am I do not. Maybe google does?
hi i checked and its 3.49% for the model i am looking for. Thx
Bummer! I bought an Outback Nov '17 and got 0% for 6 years, could not pass that up.'
by jasonp99
Tue May 07, 2019 1:25 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Educational pathway(s) for future engineer
Replies: 90
Views: 6061

Re: Educational pathway(s) for future engineer

I'll throw in my two cents, as a EE working for a chip-design firm. Definitely try to get co-ops/internships, they were the path to my first (and 25 years later) and only job (rare these days I know). I did 3 co-ops and two internships, worked in three different departments for the same company. Very interesting and focused what I wanted to study in school. Took 7 years (because of the 1.5 yrs of co-op-ing/interning) but I got my BS and MS. Mainly I got the MS because of all the required classes we had to take there were still more interesting classes to take. And my roommate was staying for his MS so that made it easy to stay. And I got a generous scholarship from GEM so it was an easy choice. Besides, I figured I would be working for the ...
by jasonp99
Wed Dec 21, 2016 1:05 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Roth IRA phase out and Turbo Tax
Replies: 2
Views: 483

Re: Roth IRA phase out and Turbo Tax

Just do a backdoor contribution to your Roth IRA's if you think you might hit the MAGI limit. Or wait until next year to make this years' contribution ( I think you have until April 15th?). I always make the current year contribution in January to our regular (non-deductible) IRA's and then immediately transfer the entire contribution to our Roth IRA's. That way I don't have to worry about MAGI limits and the accounts are funded as early as possible. Only drawback is the paperwork for the transfers and an extra IRS form (8606). Note: this only works because we have no other non-Roth IRA's so no taxes are due on the transfer.
by jasonp99
Wed Dec 21, 2016 12:58 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How do you track your finances?
Replies: 79
Views: 11545

Re: How do you track your finances?

I've been exclusively using Quicken Mac since 2002. A few years back moved to the 2007 version, this imho is the last good version that Quicken put out for the Mac. Tried out the 2016 version but just do not like it, seems way harder to get reports out of it and schedule future one-off transactions. So I'll be sticking with the 2007 version until it no longer functions on MacOS. I track everything in Quicken - bank accounts, credit cards, investments, really makes it nice to see everything in one spot. I download data into it using QIF/QFX (wrote a Perl script to convert QFX to QIF so that would work) manually, not via auto-download in Quicken, and my pre-Quicken-parser auto-categorizes transactions based on the payee.
by jasonp99
Wed Dec 21, 2016 12:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Sallie Mae Rewards MC being discontinued
Replies: 154
Views: 24964

Re: Sallie Mae Rewards MC being discontinued

Wow, what a bummer! We've been using this card for over 3 years, just saw the letter today. We'll use it until the end and then I guess switch to the Costco card for 4% gas. Already have the Amex BCE for 3% groceries. Don't spend enough on groceries to make the BCP worth it. Have the Chase Freedom for the rotating categories. Slight inconvenience though to have to carry around at least 3 cards all the time (Priceline/Costco/Amex) instead of just two (Priceline/SM).

Still will be using the Priceline 2% card for everything else, I hope Barclays doesn't kill this card off! Though if they do the Citi Doublecash card is out there to get.
by jasonp99
Mon Mar 07, 2016 9:51 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: FSL NXP merger tax consequences? [Freescale / NXP Semiconductor]
Replies: 11
Views: 2208

Re: FSL NXP merger tax consequences?

WF says another week or so before they deliver me a final 1099. But I did find this text on the original F-4 (page 100): A U.S. holder’s aggregate tax basis in its NXP ordinary shares received in the merger will equal the fair market value of such shares at the effective time of the merger, and the holder’s holding period for such shares will begin on the day after the merger. which seems to strongly imply that the tax basis going forward is the FMV of the NXP stock at the time of the merger, meaning it is not an adjusted tax basis calculated from the original FSL stock basis. Meaning that cap gains (or losses) are taxed due to the transaction. That is a definite bummer. It just seems so odd that you have to pay stock on gains where you did...
by jasonp99
Wed Feb 24, 2016 12:40 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: FSL NXP merger tax consequences? [Freescale / NXP Semiconductor]
Replies: 11
Views: 2208

Re: FSL NXP merger tax consequences?

I have received a tax document from WF but there was a notation that the FSL transaction was not finalized. Have not received an update yet.
by jasonp99
Wed Feb 24, 2016 12:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: FSL NXP merger tax consequences? [Freescale / NXP Semiconductor]
Replies: 11
Views: 2208

Re: FSL NXP merger tax consequences?

Well, in the quote from the F4/a above, what does it mean by "adjusted tax basis"?
by jasonp99
Wed Feb 24, 2016 11:37 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: FSL NXP merger tax consequences? [Freescale / NXP Semiconductor]
Replies: 11
Views: 2208

Re: FSL NXP merger tax consequences?

Interesting, let me know what you find out. I didn't get any useful info out of Wells Fargo. In my example above the value of the 35 shares of received NXP stock was about $3100 so the change in basis was $2050. I still think the only taxes owed are on the cash received.
by jasonp99
Tue Jan 26, 2016 11:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: File taxes via mail or electronically
Replies: 87
Views: 9875

Re: File taxes via mail or electronically

I've been using the free forms at Free File for years too! Though I usually do my taxes first on a sophisticated Excel spreadsheet (available for free at excel1040.com) and double-check with online TurboTax as well (free to do the computations as long as you don't file with them).
by jasonp99
Tue Jan 26, 2016 11:34 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: FSL NXP merger tax consequences? [Freescale / NXP Semiconductor]
Replies: 11
Views: 2208

FSL NXP merger tax consequences? [Freescale / NXP Semiconductor]

I owned shares of FSL prior to the FSL/NXP merger (started 12/7/15 completed on 12/9/15). The merger stipulated that each shareholder of FSL would receive 0.3521 shares of NXP per share of FSL plus $6.25 per share of FSL. Ok, no problem, after the merger that is what happened. For example: pre-merger: owned 100 shares FSL, cost basis = $1050 post-merger: owned 35 shares NXPI, received $625 cash plus $18.11 for the sale of the 0.21 fractional shares (sold at $86.23). My take is that I should pay cap gains (long term for me) on the $625 cash received and short-term cap gains on the $18.11. The stock basis for the $625 cash part is 0.0, the stock basis for the frac share is 0.21/35.21*$1050 = $6.26. So total cap gains on the cash is $637. My v...
by jasonp99
Fri Jun 19, 2015 12:05 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Wife's car is having issues and under water :-/
Replies: 98
Views: 16810

Re: Wife's car is having issues and under water :-/

I use Excel--not a man-brain--to track my vehicle maintenance. 2002 Honda Civic LX Mileage New: 12 Mileage Current: 194,000+ Still runs great, has never had a mechanical breakdown. I haven't skimped on regular maintanance, but haven't had to do much else. I absolutely recommend Honda reliability. -ingenue Just to provide a contrast, my wife bought a new Honda Civic EX in 1998, we sold it in 2014 with 180K miles on it. Regular maintenance was always done and it needed few if any repairs for 11 years, but it still needed about $4000 in repairs over its last 5 years (multiple oil leaks, radiator, distributor, window regulator). So I don't believe all Hondas are perfect (e.g. current airbag recall). Not liking any of the new Civics or Camry/Co...
by jasonp99
Sun Jan 25, 2015 11:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much umbrella insurance do I need?
Replies: 20
Views: 5358

Re: How much umbrella insurance do I need?

The insurance company only asked me about very specific high risk sports. Rock climbing, skydiving, perhaps a few others. They didn't ask about recreational motorcycle riding, so I am not going to volunteer that information. Jeeez, I go rock climbing most weekends and don't consider it high risk. Far safer I think than motorcycle riding. As long as one and one's partner keep safety in mind then the risk is minimal. Mostly you just get scratches/bruises, but if you mess up badly on a safety issue then you are looking at a really bad injury or likely death. For perspective I've been injured far worse running, playing racquetball and soccer than I ever have rock climbing. On the other hand I know of two people who died in the last few weeks c...
by jasonp99
Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:53 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: ESPP and filing own taxes
Replies: 6
Views: 888

Re: ESPP and filing own taxes

In theory the W2 income has already been taken out for the discount. When you sell you should just have to report the gains based on the FMV (fair market value) at the time the shares were bought.
by jasonp99
Thu Jan 22, 2015 11:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Taxes on RSU / Fees on MFs
Replies: 1
Views: 355

Re: Taxes on RSU / Fees on MFs

bnovc wrote:I have two, probably simple, questions, so I'll bundle them into one topic.

I have several rounds of vested RSUs from my company that have gone up in value since they were vested. Given that they've gone up in value, if I sell them within one year of the vesting date, is the profit on them from the date of vesting going to be taxed as short-term capital gains?

Yes.
by jasonp99
Thu Jan 22, 2015 11:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Need help with HSA
Replies: 3
Views: 783

Re: Need help with HSA

Hi there, So my question is, should I drop the FSA and go with the HSA. I don't get the benefit of contributing pre-tax dollar to the HSA, since it's not through work but I can obviously hold the money there long term, vs the FSA which I have to spend, minus 500 that I can roll to the next year. Not sure this would affect you, but if you had the HSA and FSA at work then you could only use the FSA as a Limited-Use FSA (LUFSA). The LUFSA can only be used for vision and dental expenses. In this case it's only useful to have a LUFSA if you want to contribute the max to the HSA and not spend it all (or you think you'll have medical + vision + dental expenses exceeding what you have in the HSA). But if the FSA is at work and the HSA is not, then...
by jasonp99
Thu Jan 22, 2015 11:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: ESPP and filing own taxes
Replies: 6
Views: 888

Re: ESPP and filing own taxes

So are you saying that if you put $100 in your ESPP account then on the buy date your employer would add $15 so you got $115 worth of stock? So I would think your "discount" is 13% in this case (15/115).
by jasonp99
Thu Jan 22, 2015 11:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I open a Roth IRA ?
Replies: 25
Views: 2776

Re: Should I open a Roth IRA ?

mistike wrote: I know, but however you look at it, my situation is not very good. All I can do now is save as much as I can, while keeping as many options open as I can.
Wellllll, most folks would say an annual income of > $100K is fantastic (OK, maybe not on the East/West coasts). So while your net worth is not great you should be able to save a fair amount every year. Good luck with your plan!
by jasonp99
Thu Jan 22, 2015 10:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How Many Credit Cards do you have?
Replies: 101
Views: 1253479

Re: How Many Credit Cards do you have?

Main card: Barclay Priceline 2% Visa (can't get this one anymore) 2nd choice: Barclay Sallie Mae 5% gas/groceries/bookstores (Amazon) but limits on each Amex Blue Cash - Costco, rental cars because I have the added Rental Car Protection plan ($20/rental for full primary insurance), and whenever a usable Amex offers shows up in my online account for free cash. This card also offers 5% on gas/groceries/drugstores but have to spend too much to get that ($6500). Chase Freedom - rotating 5% categories (not used that much unless the categories are different than Sallie Mae) US Bank REI Visa - used at REI to get full dividend (10%, or 5% on sale stuff) Macy's - not used unless discount using card is better than any of the above cards All those car...
by jasonp99
Wed Dec 10, 2014 11:23 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Credit card sign-on bonuses -- worth the trouble?
Replies: 83
Views: 12772

Re: Credit card sign-on bonuses -- worth the trouble?

I sign up for these bonuses several times a year. I just got offers for citi AA Platinum Select Mastercard - 50K miles after $3k in spend within 3 months, and the citi AA Gold World Mastercard - 50K AA miles after $1500 in spend within 3 months (also an extra 10K miles after 5K in spend within 12 months, but the opportunity cost of that extra 10K miles is $70 if not using my regular 2% card).

I think I'll sign up for one and my wife the other. Interesting in that I just cancelled the regular citi AA card.
by jasonp99
Thu Nov 13, 2014 11:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Quicken 2015 for Windows - Any reviews?
Replies: 117
Views: 31736

Re: Quicken 2015 for Windows - Any reviews?

I'm still using version 1998. Wondering if I'll every be able to upgrade, or need to? My sister uses Q-98. She doesn't do any auto-updating, and basically uses it for checking accounts. It works just fine for that. If you track investments, or need cc data downloaded, then you will want to stay current. Otherwise, the basic functionality has been there for decades. I'm still on the 2002 version on my Mac, works great! To import stock quotes I have a Perl script that pings Yahoo and dumps the quotes into a QIF file that I can then import. I'm still able to import QIF/QFX files from my credit card accounts to track expenses, and from Wells Fargo for my investment accounts. Can't auto-download directly from Quicken, that never worked for me. ...
by jasonp99
Thu Nov 13, 2014 11:21 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Local bank without any checking account fees?
Replies: 31
Views: 5209

Re: Local bank without any checking account fees?

Open up a Wells Fargo PMA package and WellsTrade account for free. Put $50,000 of your Vanguard assets by transferring "in-kind" from Vanguard for free into your WellsTrade account. Then all of a sudden everything becomes FREE, FREE, FREE: free checks, free ATM, free everything. Of course, read the fine print and understand what FREE means. FREE! FREE! FREE! I'll second getting a PMA account, it's great. Especially the 100 free trades/yr/account (but that has since been changed for new signups). I like getting the free checks and the huge number of WF branches. But I also have a credit union account for some things, mainly because their ATM is at my work, and they don't charge for depositing a foreign check (WF charges 5 bucks, e...
by jasonp99
Tue Oct 28, 2014 10:14 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I use 50k Delta miles for a $600 flight?
Replies: 73
Views: 9804

Re: Should I use 50k Delta miles for a $600 flight?

I'm assuming you and your wife live at the same address. Do you apply for different cards? I would think you couldn't apply for the same card for two different people at the same address, no? We do live at the same address and sometimes the cards are the same, some times different. It just depends on our goal. We've never had issues with banks offering two of the same card to two different people at an address as long you aren't authorized users on each other's cards. Heck some banks don't even care if you already have the card. My wife had three of the exact same Citi Hilton cards open at the same and got the bonus for all three. (People knock on Hilton for their high redemption requirements but their points are absurdly easy to earn). It...
by jasonp99
Tue Oct 28, 2014 8:57 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I use 50k Delta miles for a $600 flight?
Replies: 73
Views: 9804

Re: Should I use 50k Delta miles for a $600 flight?

I always thought this would truly harm your credit score. Has anyone else on the forum done something like this without repercussions? Careful, I didn't write that, but no big deal in this context. [ There is a slight dip on initial credit pull but your on time payments and debt:credit ratio will more than make up for it. IME this takes less than 3 months as long as you make your payments on time and dont go on a spending spree. I have applied for 12 credit cards and one auto loan in the last 18 months and my score is now 799. My wife has gotten 11 credit cards and her score is 801 Wow, and I thought I churned a lot! I'm assuming you and your wife live at the same address. Do you apply for different cards? I would think you couldn't apply ...
by jasonp99
Mon Oct 27, 2014 11:33 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I use 50k Delta miles for a $600 flight?
Replies: 73
Views: 9804

Re: Should I use 50k Delta miles for a $600 flight?

OP here. I bought the ticket with the 50k miles earlier today. Thanks for the input. With all the airlines changing their miles programs to a price basis instead of distance, I have a feeling it'll take me years to build up miles in the future! I have a Cap One cash back card which seems good, though I should probably investigate credit card info on this forum. I'm sure there's something better out there for me. Iced Tea It's tough building up miles by actual flying unless you are a business traveler. Best way is to sign up for all the Airline credit cards, get the 30K-50K mile bonus, then cancel at the end of the free year. Wait until the offer letters start arriving in your mail again, repeat. I don't see any disadvantages to this strate...
by jasonp99
Fri Oct 24, 2014 12:47 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: lump sum now vs pension later?
Replies: 45
Views: 7642

Re: lump sum now vs pension later?

Correct, the original pension does not have a lump sum offer. It is only offered now for a very limited time due to the pension being sold to an insurance company and the lump sum being a way to move some of the liability off the balance sheets.

Thanks all for all the great information presented, gives me much to think about.
by jasonp99
Wed Oct 15, 2014 11:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: lump sum now vs pension later?
Replies: 45
Views: 7642

Re: lump sum now vs pension later?

Hi Frugal Al. Here's some more info about our finances. Wife's age 41. Double-income, about $180K-$200K joint (bonus amount is variable). Net worth about $2M, of that $370K is two homes, the rest is cash, 401K's, IRA's, or taxable investments. Only debt is $40K (mortgage on 2nd home, not a rental). Emergency fund about $80K (mostly held in VSGBX). Cash on hand waiting to invest - $165K (not part of emergency fund). Considering using part of that $165K to wipe out the mortgage (3.75%, 15-yr) just to get it off the books. Our normal total spend rate is about $5700/month. 401k's and Roth IRA's maxed out every year, rest of savings goes to taxable. Starting to put about $3500/yr into HSA. No desire to retire within the next 10 years, after that...