Search found 1888 matches

by toto238
Fri Dec 24, 2021 9:55 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best suggestion for where to shop for a buyers agent
Replies: 7
Views: 799

Re: Best suggestion for where to shop for a buyers agent

Also now that I think about it, my refinance just closed on the 21st, earlier this week. Is there a period of time I should wait for credit reasons before applying for a mortgage? I don’t know if lenders will frown on the idea of applying for a mortgage so quickly after doing a refi.
by toto238
Fri Dec 24, 2021 9:51 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best suggestion for where to shop for a buyers agent
Replies: 7
Views: 799

Best suggestion for where to shop for a buyers agent

Hey all. So I’ve got my down payment money together ($140k) from my cash-out refinance for my current home. It is set aside in a high yield savings account (0.55% at comenity direct).

My thought is next step is get pre-approved for a mortgage, so I figured I’d go to bankrate and apply for whatever shows as the lowest rate there (is there a better method than this?).

But then comes finding a buyer’s agent to help me with the process, and I don’t know really where to start. I could just Google around but I have to think there’s a wiser way to find a good agent. What suggestions do you guys have?
by toto238
Thu Dec 09, 2021 6:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Share your net worth progression
Replies: 4273
Views: 1072563

Re: Share your net worth progression

Just to be clear, I only spent 50k on the ring, not 250k. I just wanted to put in perspective why I was ok contributing 125k to the wedding, I didn’t want my new family to think I was being cheap. You need your own thread...for entertainment purposes. Or just mosey on over here https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6372172, where a few other posters told us all that not much is left over of a $500k+/yr income if you have a family in a HCOL area. Honestly, at this point i'm 50/50 on whether the guy is just a troll. I have trouble believing someone like that would bother visiting us in our little forum here. Don't know for what purpose he's wasting his time here. He clearly doesn't need our advise, since it doesn't really apply to...
by toto238
Thu Dec 09, 2021 6:05 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Share your net worth progression
Replies: 4273
Views: 1072563

Re: Share your net worth progression

blueberrypi wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 3:29 pm 2018 - I finished college and started working, with about 15k left from working and a small inheritance.
2019 - 30k. Working full time, saving, started investing in company 401k.
2020 - 60k. Doubled down after March when the markets tanked.
2021 - 85k. Opened Roth IRA and taxable accounts.
Wow you're doing a great job. Keep up on this track my friend! I didn't hit a zero net worth until 3 years after I graduated. You're way ahead of where I was. You'll find some great advice here but you're already making great decisions and are well on your way!
by toto238
Thu Dec 09, 2021 2:01 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Share your net worth progression
Replies: 4273
Views: 1072563

Re: Share your net worth progression

It was a shock to my system too, but when you try to throw a 600 person wedding in a city like SF or NYC or Boston, the price tag escalates alarmingly. But my thought process was that I wasn't marrying an airhead, I was marrying a doctor with a good head on her shoulders. And if her Dad wanted to use the wedding as a statement for everything he accomplished and saved for his whole life, I was gonna have to get on board. While I am reminiscing about that time, I remember a funny story. I asked my parents about how one buys an engagement ring. They said she's a great girl, dont be your usual cheap self and get a 5k ring. So that was the number I had in my mind. My wife at that time said listen I realize you dont know anything about jewelry a...
by toto238
Sun Nov 28, 2021 1:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Share your net worth progression
Replies: 4273
Views: 1072563

Re: Share your net worth progression

I haven't been keeping meticulous track of my net worth but a few milestones that are worth mentioning: 2013: Graduated college, net worth -$80k approximately due to student loans 2016: Bought first home, net worth finally hit approximately $0 2019: Net worth surpassed +$100k November 2020: My calculated net worth has surpassed +$250k A large portion of the big jump in the last year and change has been due to estimated appreciation in the value of my home. Of my total net worth, $97k of that $250k is home equity. Assets (493k) - liabilities (243k) gets us that quarter million figure. I'm wary of counting on home equity as part of my net worth, as it's somewhat impossible to know exactly what your home is worth until you actually go to mark...
by toto238
Fri Oct 29, 2021 5:59 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?
Replies: 64
Views: 5463

Re: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?

From a bit of research, it looks like rentback agreements are typically no more than 60 days, and they are actually generally seen as a bonus that makes an offer stronger. Most buyers want to move in immediately, but many sellers are trying to cash in on home values right now but don’t have their next home lined up yet. Offering an extra 60 days for the seller to find a new place could be seen as a way to make your offer somewhat stronger, not weaker. If I could make something like that work, that would be 60 less days that a large amount of assets would be producing nothing of value. If I receive the down payment mid-November, I could start the search then and I doubt I’d be closing on anything until late December at the earliest. 60 days...
by toto238
Fri Oct 29, 2021 2:33 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?
Replies: 64
Views: 5463

Re: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?

So really the best thing to do is sit in cash, maybe get 0.5% out of this money, and just accept the risk that housing inflation over the next 6 months could very well significantly hurt my ability to buy a home in 6 months? There has to be some way to protect against this risk. I dunno. Maybe there’s nothing to be done. I just have to cross my fingers and hope for housing prices to not move over the next 6 months or accept that I’ll be raising my kids in a significantly smaller house than I wanted to. You have the down payment, why not just buy the house now? So this is really interesting because I’ve been thinking more on it. I won’t be ready to move until March at the earliest and probably April/May if I’m being realistic. And I don’t w...
by toto238
Fri Oct 29, 2021 12:53 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?
Replies: 64
Views: 5463

Re: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?

So really the best thing to do is sit in cash, maybe get 0.5% out of this money, and just accept the risk that housing inflation over the next 6 months could very well significantly hurt my ability to buy a home in 6 months? There has to be some way to protect against this risk. I dunno. Maybe there’s nothing to be done. I just have to cross my fingers and hope for housing prices to not move over the next 6 months or accept that I’ll be raising my kids in a significantly smaller house than I wanted to. You have the down payment, why not just buy the house now? So this is really interesting because I’ve been thinking more on it. I won’t be ready to move until March at the earliest and probably April/May if I’m being realistic. And I don’t w...
by toto238
Thu Oct 28, 2021 12:57 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?
Replies: 64
Views: 5463

Re: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?

I am trying to find something that correlates strongly with the housing market You aren't buying the housing market in 6 months. You are buying a particular property in a particular location. The housing market could go down 10% and that house could go up 20%. It's like assuming that since the S&P 500 goes up, all 500 stocks also goes up. So really the best thing to do is sit in cash, maybe get 0.5% out of this money, and just accept the risk that housing inflation over the next 6 months could very well significantly hurt my ability to buy a home in 6 months? There has to be some way to protect against this risk. I dunno. Maybe there’s nothing to be done. I just have to cross my fingers and hope for housing prices to not move over the ...
by toto238
Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:59 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?
Replies: 64
Views: 5463

Re: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?

You're making an unfounded logical leap that price inflation in your local market has anything to do with the value of a REIT fund. I’m open to suggestions for how to best insulate myself against the risk that the housing market appreciates significantly over the next 6 months while im sitting in cash, significantly reducing my buying power. I think you're worrying about stuff that you have no control over. There are no investments that will return you anything significant in a 6 month time frame without far more risk than housing continuing its run. Talking specifics, if your fear is that housing increased by 20% in the next 6 months and want something that matches that, you're looking for a 40% annual return. There is nothing reasonable ...
by toto238
Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:53 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?
Replies: 64
Views: 5463

Re: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?

Wouldn’t doing nothing or sitting this large sum of money in a savings account that earns 0.1% or less also be very risky? If my down payment money does not keep pace with the housing market over these next 6ish months, I could lose significant buying power for my next home. That’s a very huge risk. So far, assuming that I counted correctly, you have had 15 people (including myself) voice to you that investing your home purchase money in stocks is a poor idea. None have strongly endorsed your proposal as wise, yet you seem to have held to your original idea. I generally find that, when everyone is telling me I am wrong but I remain undaunted, I need to do a little soul searching regarding the reasons for my certainty. Usually I find very l...
by toto238
Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:51 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?
Replies: 64
Views: 5463

Re: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?

You're making an unfounded logical leap that price inflation in your local market has anything to do with the value of a REIT fund. I’m open to suggestions for how to best insulate myself against the risk that the housing market appreciates significantly over the next 6 months while im sitting in cash, significantly reducing my buying power. 1. Continue to save 2. Reduce down payment and finance any market appreciation that occurs You don't invest money you need in 6 months if you care about capital preservation. Given that the sole purpose of this money is to use as a down payment for a purchase, what I care about is it maintaining its value relative to the house i would be looking to purchase. If the house and my down payment both go dow...
by toto238
Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:46 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?
Replies: 64
Views: 5463

Re: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?

So I have roughly $100k i will be receiving from a refi in the coming weeks, which i'm looking to use to purchase my next home (the plan is to rent out the old one). This is usually not a good idea as you will lose the 250K tax exclusion on the sale of your primary home. https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc701 I did exactly what you are describing and wish someone had talked me out of it. Even with a great rental income for a decade, basically no repairs, and ridiculous appreciation I still came out a bit behind. I consider myself lucky that I learned the lesson without getting burned too bad but I can't imagine the stars aligning that well in most situations. I’m not sure that logic applies in my situation. Basically I’m already decided I am ...
by toto238
Thu Oct 28, 2021 10:22 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?
Replies: 64
Views: 5463

Re: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?

cchrissyy wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 9:54 pm You're making an unfounded logical leap that price inflation in your local market has anything to do with the value of a REIT fund.
I’m open to suggestions for how to best insulate myself against the risk that the housing market appreciates significantly over the next 6 months while im sitting in cash, significantly reducing my buying power.
by toto238
Thu Oct 28, 2021 10:18 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?
Replies: 64
Views: 5463

Re: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?

I did this same thing you're considering and feel now like a fool. Had 100k saved up for a downpayment, likely will be needed in 1-2 years. Became afraid of possible accelerating inflation vs at least housing prices continuing to rise between now and our ultimate purchase. Thought that a REIT would mirror those changes in housing prices and so plopped it all in the Vanguard fund, not taking the time to really understand that much of it wasn't even residential (and so would not mirror housing prices at all). Once the money was invested I began to fear some type of broader economic crisis or market crash. And so I pulled out the money and realized an approximate $1600 loss. Just foolishness. What a waste. I'd keep the money in cash if I were...
by toto238
Thu Oct 28, 2021 10:11 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?
Replies: 64
Views: 5463

Re: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?

REITS are a kind of stock. It is common advice that money you will need in five years or less should not be invested in stocks. (I think even five years is too short). Say it is spring of 2008 and you were planning to buy a house in spring of 2009. If you had invested $100,000 into the Vanguard REIT Index Fund, then by spring of 2009 you would have had only about $43,000. A loss of -57%. Source: Morningstar https://imgur.com/lhiEGq0.png House prices dropped, too, but over that same period the Case-Shiller housing index dropped from 170 to 149, or -12%. Source: St. Louis Fed https://imgur.com/aoqNgu5.png Houses cost -12% less, but the Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund lost -57%. Over 85% of the Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund is invested in a...
by toto238
Thu Oct 28, 2021 10:07 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?
Replies: 64
Views: 5463

Re: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?

So I have roughly $100k i will be receiving from a refi in the coming weeks, which i'm looking to use to purchase my next home (the plan is to rent out the old one). But I'm not going to be making the home purchase until probably Q2 of next year. Under normal circumstances, I'd just sit it in a 3month CD or whatever the highest yielding money market mutual fund or high yield savings account was. But the way real estate has been moving, the house I want to purchase may gain 10% or more in value between now and Q2! So would it make sense to sit this money in something like the REIT Index fund so that it positively correlates with the real estate market in general? No. It doesn't make sense. It is a bad idea...You can try it out though. You m...
by toto238
Thu Oct 28, 2021 10:05 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?
Replies: 64
Views: 5463

Re: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?

So I have roughly $100k i will be receiving from a refi in the coming weeks, which i'm looking to use to purchase my next home (the plan is to rent out the old one). This is usually not a good idea as you will lose the 250K tax exclusion on the sale of your primary home. https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc701 I did exactly what you are describing and wish someone had talked me out of it. Even with a great rental income for a decade, basically no repairs, and ridiculous appreciation I still came out a bit behind. I consider myself lucky that I learned the lesson without getting burned too bad but I can't imagine the stars aligning that well in most situations. I’m not sure that logic applies in my situation. Basically I’m already decided I am ...
by toto238
Wed Oct 27, 2021 8:19 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?
Replies: 64
Views: 5463

How bad of an idea would it be to invest down payment money in a REIT?

So I have roughly $100k i will be receiving from a refi in the coming weeks, which i'm looking to use to purchase my next home (the plan is to rent out the old one). But I'm not going to be making the home purchase until probably Q2 of next year.

Under normal circumstances, I'd just sit it in a 3month CD or whatever the highest yielding money market mutual fund or high yield savings account was.

But the way real estate has been moving, the house I want to purchase may gain 10% or more in value between now and Q2!

So would it make sense to sit this money in something like the REIT Index fund so that it positively correlates with the real estate market in general?
by toto238
Wed Oct 27, 2021 8:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Share your net worth progression
Replies: 4273
Views: 1072563

Re: Share your net worth progression

I haven't been keeping meticulous track of my net worth but a few milestones that are worth mentioning: 2013: Graduated college, net worth -$80k approximately due to student loans 2016: Bought first home, net worth finally hit approximately $0 2019: Net worth surpassed +$100k November 2020: My calculated net worth has surpassed +$250k A large portion of the big jump in the last year and change has been due to estimated appreciation in the value of my home. Of my total net worth, $97k of that $250k is home equity. Assets (493k) - liabilities (243k) gets us that quarter million figure. I'm wary of counting on home equity as part of my net worth, as it's somewhat impossible to know exactly what your home is worth until you actually go to mark...
by toto238
Wed Oct 27, 2021 8:13 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard subsidizing money market funds by $100 million
Replies: 16
Views: 3298

Re: Vanguard subsidizing money market funds by $100 million

Keep in mind vanguard has trillions of $$ under management. Not one trillion, but something like 7 trillion worldwide. When you manage that much money, 100,000,000 is not even close to a statistically significant number. I'm sure they care, but I just want to put the numbers in perspective. There are management functions that go into all of the funds so the costs are defendable. In the case of money markets, you nailed it when you said "... keeping interest rates so low for so long makes weird things happen." In this case the weird thing is losing money on a money market. It's nice that Vanguard is making the adjustment rather than passing the losses on to it's customers. Just doing some back-of-the-envelope here, but Vanguard's ...
by toto238
Tue Nov 24, 2020 1:29 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Share your net worth progression
Replies: 4273
Views: 1072563

Re: Share your net worth progression

I haven't been keeping meticulous track of my net worth but a few milestones that are worth mentioning: 2013: Graduated college, net worth -$80k approximately due to student loans 2016: Bought first home, net worth finally hit approximately $0 2019: Net worth surpassed +$100k November 2020: My calculated net worth has surpassed +$250k A large portion of the big jump in the last year and change has been due to estimated appreciation in the value of my home. Of my total net worth, $97k of that $250k is home equity. Assets (493k) - liabilities (243k) gets us that quarter million figure. I'm wary of counting on home equity as part of my net worth, as it's somewhat impossible to know exactly what your home is worth until you actually go to marke...
by toto238
Mon Jul 15, 2019 2:01 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Post your Financial Milestone Announcements Here
Replies: 3606
Views: 562493

Re: Post your Financial Milestone Announcements Here

Ophiuchus wrote: Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:39 pm I had a positive net worth until I bought a house. I was pretty excited about that
Unless your house depreciated in value very quickly or you paid a LOT of expenses out of pocket to buy this house, your net worth should still positive.

The house is an asset, the mortgage is a liability.
by toto238
Wed Jul 03, 2019 4:32 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Post your Financial Milestone Announcements Here
Replies: 3606
Views: 562493

Re: Celebrating a milestone today: my first day with $100,000 in retirement accounts

Congratulations on the milestone! You're way ahead of me at the same age so you're on a great track. I do this by using either double or triple leveraged ETFs in my Roth IRA. I've done back-testing analysis for this technique and found it to have a positive ROI even through events like the 2008 financial crisis. It also compared it to a portfolio that was always leveraged by the same average % (approximately 11%) and it outperformed that portfolio as well. What we've observed here is that when the market falls significantly (10% or more) the actual expected ROI for the market goes up. We can't predict when it will have those drops, and generally speaking it's not a good idea to keep money on the "sidelines" so I remain at least 1...
by toto238
Wed Jul 03, 2019 11:52 am
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Post your Financial Milestone Announcements Here
Replies: 3606
Views: 562493

Re: Celebrating a milestone today: my first day with $100,000 in retirement accounts

But that's not my greatest investment sin. That would be the plan I've written into my IPS that states that I will increase the leverage of my investment portfolio... I do this by using either double or triple leveraged ETFs That's where I'd not go... the increased risk weakens the plan. But if you're right then it works out. So, you'll eventually either say it was a good plan or a bad one, but that will be based on an Outcome Bias. I don't think you're advocating that any increase in risk weakens a plan. Say someone says they're increasing their exposure to equity vs fixed income due to a change in their expected returns of the two asset classes. You wouldn't say their plan is weakened just because they've accepted more risk. People make ...
by toto238
Fri Jun 28, 2019 4:08 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Post your Financial Milestone Announcements Here
Replies: 3606
Views: 562493

Re: Celebrating a milestone today: my first day with $100,000 in retirement accounts

....But that's not my greatest investment sin. That would be the plan I've written into my IPS that states that I will increase the leverage of my investment portfolio when the S&P 500 hits certain negative thresholds. So when the S&P 500 falls 10% from its previous all-time high, I change my portfolio to 110% equities. When it hits 20% down from its previous all-time high, I change my portfolio to 120% equities. And then I de-leverage as it works its way back up. I do this by using either double or triple leveraged ETFs in my Roth IRA. I've done back-testing analysis for this technique and found it to have a positive ROI even through events like the 2008 financial crisis. It also compared it to a portfolio that was always leverage...
by toto238
Fri Jun 28, 2019 3:54 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Post your Financial Milestone Announcements Here
Replies: 3606
Views: 562493

Re: Celebrating a milestone today: my first day with $100,000 in retirement accounts

Jesteroftheswamp wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2019 3:04 pm Great job! Which funds do you hold?
I do a 33-33-33 split between Vanguard Total Stock Market, Vanguard Total International Stock Market, and PRIMECAP fund Admiral Shares.

The end result is very low cost, while having a domestic tilt that I like.
by toto238
Fri Jun 28, 2019 2:18 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Post your Financial Milestone Announcements Here
Replies: 3606
Views: 562493

Re: Celebrating a milestone today: my first day with $100,000 in retirement accounts

I think if we continue aggressively saving and making good decisions that enjoying an early retirement in our 50s is very achievable. Absolutely! You are well on your way! A savings rate of 40k a year is pretty amazing, especially at your age. Keep it up! I don't know if it's really a savings rate of 40k per year, as about $30k of my change in net worth was due to investment returns. And another approximately 70k or so of my change in net worth was equity gained in my house (which went up in value by about 45% in only 3 years which is crazy and I don't anticipate continuing). So my actual "savings" which is money put away into investments along with reductions in debt was probably about half that at an average of $20k per year. I...
by toto238
Fri Jun 28, 2019 2:08 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Post your Financial Milestone Announcements Here
Replies: 3606
Views: 562493

Re: Celebrating a milestone today: my first day with $100,000 in retirement accounts

I just wanted to jump on board to congratulate your milestone! Good for you! Keep going! I'm assuming you're investing BH style, so, "Stay the Course." There's also nothing wrong with investing into taxable accounts after you've maxed tax advantaged accounts. When IRAs first became a thing I was close to your age and they said "sock away $2000 a year, you'll have a million when you retire!" Then the common wisdom from the "gurus" was to save 10% of your income. In hindsight I now say they were all wrong. I went through all that and what I finally realized was what you want to do for the long term is invest every dollar you can spare. You'll determine what that amount is. But there's no such thing as set amount...
by toto238
Fri Jun 28, 2019 1:48 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Post your Financial Milestone Announcements Here
Replies: 3606
Views: 562493

Re: Celebrating a milestone today: my first day with $100,000 in retirement accounts

Congratulations! What is the interest rate on your auto loan and student loans? They vary. One auto loan is at 0%, the other is at 3%. The student loans vary from as little as 3% to as much as 6.5%. Those high interest rate loans are our primary target with extra cash that becomes available. We are considering re-financing with SoFi some portion of those high interest rate loans as well, to see if we can't get a better rate over a shorter term for them. That sounds like a great plan. Getting a 6.5% loan refinanced would likely be worthwhile since it will likely take you a few years to knock it out. Yes I did this with my high-interest rate student loans, so now my only remaining loans are between 3-4%. My wife has loans with larger balance...
by toto238
Fri Jun 28, 2019 1:25 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Post your Financial Milestone Announcements Here
Replies: 3606
Views: 562493

Re: Celebrating a milestone today: my first day with $100,000 in retirement accounts

willthrill81 wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2019 1:17 pm Congratulations!

What is the interest rate on your auto loan and student loans?
They vary. One auto loan is at 0%, the other is at 3%.

The student loans vary from as little as 3% to as much as 6.5%. Those high interest rate loans are our primary target with extra cash that becomes available. We are considering re-financing with SoFi some portion of those high interest rate loans as well, to see if we can't get a better rate over a shorter term for them.
by toto238
Fri Jun 28, 2019 1:13 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Post your Financial Milestone Announcements Here
Replies: 3606
Views: 562493

Celebrating a milestone today: my first day with $100,000 in retirement accounts

[Topic merged into here -- moderator oldcomputerguy] Pending the market not tanking in the next 2 hours (oh god did I just jinx myself?), for the first time ever at market close today I will have just over $100,000 saved up between my 401k and my Roth IRA. A quick breakdown: Roth IRA: $29k 401k (roth portion): $16k 401k (pre-tax portion): $55k I'm not quite at $100k net worth though due to some debt, so I'll have another milestone post hopefully within a year once my net worth hits $100k. But i'm not ridiculously far off. Other assets include: Cash/emergency fund: $13.5k Equity in home: $75k Liabilities though: Equity in autos: -$8k Student loans (his): -$11k Student loans (hers): -$63k Solar loan: -$15.5k Total net worth: $91k I'm close. ...
by toto238
Tue May 28, 2019 11:11 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Changes to 401(k) and IRAs, SECURE Act - It's signed
Replies: 292
Views: 27627

Under new retirement bill, could I use $5,000 allowance to pay off a student loan?

[merged into existing thread and topic remains locked - moderator prudent] Hi everyone. So I've been reading up on this new "Secure Act" bill that seems to have a very high likelihood of becoming law and trying to figure out how it might impact me. http://www.ignites.com/c/2303953/281073/house_passes_retirement_reform_senate_deck?referrer_module=emailMorningNews&module_order=0 One thing I noticed is that new parents (through birth or adoption) are allowed to withdraw $5,000 penalty free from a 401k to help pay for child related expenses. My question would be is there anything stopping me from using that exemption to withdraw $5000 and use it to pay down one of my student loans that's sitting at a 6+% interest rate right now? ...
by toto238
Thu Aug 02, 2018 5:03 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fidelity Files for Four Fidelity ZERO℠ Funds (0.00% ER)
Replies: 814
Views: 112385

Re: Fidelity Files for two Fidelity ZERO℠ Funds (0.00% ER total stock and total international mutual funds)

Has Fidelity provided information on how much of their security lending revenue they are going to share with the holders of these funds? Because I could very easily see in the fine print that you get a zero expense ratio but they get to keep 100% of all security lending revenue. If that were to happen, the incentive for Fidelity as a profit-maximizing entity would be to generate as much securities lending revenue as they possibly can for themselves. It is the only rational thing to do, I would think. And if they're trying to maximize that revenue they're going to have to lend to riskier and riskier borrowers. And they'll be investing the collateral they receive in riskier and riskier investments. Many Vanguard funds already probably have an...
by toto238
Thu Apr 05, 2018 11:31 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with math problem
Replies: 7
Views: 1336

Re: Help with math problem

pablolo wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 11:08 am Yes, I meant earns 4% constantly for 10 years and I withdraw 5% a year. Divided by 12 months
Well in my formula I basically recalculated 4% and 5% every month. So every month you earn 0.33% of your previous month's balance, and then withdraw 0.42% of the previous month's balance. Those may not be the assumptions you want though.

At Month 0 you have $118,600
Month 12: $117,419.42
Month 24: $116,250.59
Month 36: $115,093.40
Month 48: $113,947.73
Month 60: $112,813.46
Month 72: $111,690.48
Month 84: $110,578.68
Month 96: $109,477.95
Month 108: $108,388.17
Month 120: $107,309.24
by toto238
Thu Apr 05, 2018 11:00 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with math problem
Replies: 7
Views: 1336

Re: Help with math problem

I think you need to clarify a couple points. 1. Are you assuming a constant 4% return? Like it never goes down, it just goes up slightly every day and at the end of the year has earned 4%? 2. You said "taking out 5% monthly", does that mean you intend on taking out 5% of the balance every month? Because in that case I can tell you now the whole thing will be gone in less than 2 years. Or do you mean you want to take out 5% annually but with monthly withdrawals? 3. If you do want to take out 5% annually but take it as a monthly payment, how do you want to calculate that monthly amount? 5% of $118,600 is $5,930. Do you just want that dollar amount every year for ten years? Or do you want to recalculate what 5% is every month or ever...
by toto238
Fri Apr 28, 2017 1:45 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard Press Release--Vanguard: World's Largest Stock And Bond Funds Report Lower Expense Ratios
Replies: 7
Views: 2239

Re: Vanguard Press Release--Vanguard: World's Largest Stock And Bond Funds Report Lower Expense Ratios

We seem to be getting into the area where expenses don't matter nearly as much as what a firm's security lending policies are.

These funds could easily earn 5-10bps in security lending income per year, far outpacing the expenses. VG's policy is to operate security lending operations extremely conservatively and give back 90+% of their security lending income to the fund shareholders. Many competitors are not so generous, and take on much more risk to try to squeeze every dollar they can out of it.
by toto238
Sat Apr 22, 2017 3:50 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Recommendation for Adults-only All-Inclusive resort/hotel?
Replies: 21
Views: 5847

Re: Recommendation for Adults-only All-Inclusive resort/hotel?

Gill wrote:Are you locked into the Caribbean or Mexico? For a July vacation there is the the entire North American continent to choose from, many places which I would consider more desirable and cheaper than the Caribbean.
Gill
I am open to other possibilities. As long as it's adult-only and all-inclusive, I would definitely consider it.
by toto238
Sat Apr 22, 2017 2:35 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Recommendation for Adults-only All-Inclusive resort/hotel?
Replies: 21
Views: 5847

Recommendation for Adults-only All-Inclusive resort/hotel?

I've never really been on a real vacation before as an adult, and I've finally gotten to a point where I think I can swing one. And God knows my wife deserves one. I'm looking for recommendations either on specific locations or websites/resources I can check out to help me plan this out. I know a lot of you have probably been on some pretty great vacations, and this forum is known for finding ways to stretch your dollar to its maximum value ;-) Here are the specifics: - Looking to travel this July - Looking in the Caribbean region (including Mexico) mostly but open to other possibilities - Adults-only is a must. My wife is a school teacher and doesn't want to see kids during her summer vacation. I'm not keen on seeing them either. - All-inc...
by toto238
Sat Feb 25, 2017 1:36 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: new study on Investor behavior being disconnected from financial theory and reality
Replies: 89
Views: 8649

Re: new study on Investor behavior being disconnected from financial theory and reality

Good Article Larry. Berkshire Hathaway share A price was $255,040 per share. Class B are only $170.22/share. Berkshire Hathaway doesn't pay a dividend (only did so once in its history....Warren thinks he left the boardroom to use the bathroom when the board voted on whether to issue a dividend). Say I own one share of Berkshire Hathaway A share. I can't rightly create my own dividend by selling stock because I only have one share. What am I to do? Is one in this situation supposed to convert their shares from A into B shares so they own "more" shares from which they can sell periodically to create this self-created dividend? The Boglehead answer is that you probably shouldn't be putting so much of your portfolio is such an illiqu...
by toto238
Sat Feb 25, 2017 1:28 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard Reports Third Round Of Expense Ratio Reductions Resulting In $143 Million In Cumulative Savings For Investors
Replies: 13
Views: 2969

Re: Vanguard Reports Third Round Of Expense Ratio Reductions Resulting In $143 Million In Cumulative Savings For Investo

raven15 wrote:Here was my take away from the announcement:
Expense ratios represent the actual operating expenses for the prior fiscal year (including investment advisory fees, administrative costs, and shareholder-service expenses), meaning investors have already realized these savings by the time they are reported.
I am a lot less excited now.
If you're invested in VG funds, you are likely "paying" an even lower expense ratio than they currently show. They decrease their expenses over time, pretty consistently. This backward-looking measurement means you're probably losing less to expenses than you think right now!
by toto238
Sat Feb 25, 2017 1:23 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: AP: Americans buy existing homes at fastest pace in a decade
Replies: 45
Views: 6188

Re: AP: Americans buy existing homes at fastest pace in a decade

Bought my house last year, so maybe I'm in that statistic. I got my house so cheap and such a low interest rate that my mortgage interest STILL wasn't enough for me to itemize my deductions. It's a nice problem to have I suppose.

And according to Zillow, my home value has increased 10% since I bought it in the summer. Take that for what it's worth, but I'm pretty ok with where it's all at.
by toto238
Sat Feb 25, 2017 1:20 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Has anyone had problems gifting Vanguard shares to an organization?
Replies: 38
Views: 5943

Re: Has anyone had problems gifting Vanguard shares to an organization?

You seem to be running into this issue because you're using the old style "legacy" mutual fund only accounts. They're very unwieldy when it comes to transfers in and out, including gifting.

Recommend upgrade to their brokerage account. Then that first form you filled out will be acceptable (you may have to send a new copy with the new account number on it) most likely.

It's kinda like complaining that you can't get HDTV on your 1940s black & white TV.
Use the new technology and you'll get what you want.
by toto238
Sat Feb 25, 2017 1:14 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Total World expense ratio lowered
Replies: 39
Views: 11731

Re: Total World expense ratio lowered

Is it tax-efficient to use Vanguard Total World ETF (VT) in a taxable account? Relative to what? It will pay out dividends, those are taxable. It may pay out capital gain distributions but probably not many due to the ETF share class (and perhaps none at all). Those are taxable too. So it will produce taxable events. The question is what are you comparing it to? It will have fairly low turnover, and the ETF share class helps eliminate capital gain distributions. That's pretty tax efficient. Are you comparing it to a bond fund? Yeah it's probably more tax efficient than any bond fund in a taxable account. Unless it's a muni bond fund. And whether you're using muni or taxable bonds depends on your individual tax situation. Are you comparing ...
by toto238
Sat Feb 25, 2017 1:07 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What if someone gets your password and transfers money from your bank to theirs?
Replies: 42
Views: 12838

Re: What if someone gets your password and transfers money from your bank to theirs?

carruthers209 wrote:I asked a manager at a Bank of America branch in California about identity theft with a bank account and was told that our assets, as consumers, are protected even if the amount exceeds the $250,000 FDIC limit. So a fraudulent event even beyond $250,000 is covered. So I would check with your bank manager. I assume that policy is in writing somewhere so you should probably ask for a copy. State laws do differ. Now if you have a commercial account the same laws that protect consumers don't apply and I don't think there's much hope of seeing your stolen money returned.
It should be noted that FDIC insurance is specifically for bank failure. It is not related to fraud in any way.
by toto238
Sat Feb 25, 2017 1:05 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax info from Vanguard to Turbo Tax
Replies: 14
Views: 1956

Re: Tax info from Vanguard to Turbo Tax

gkaplan wrote:
toto238 wrote:It takes me about 60 seconds to input the info from my Vanguard tax forms into TurboTax manually. I don't usually bother even trying to import things.
That's what I do.
I should say I make one attempt to import it. If within 30 seconds I haven't figured it out, I input in manually.

I understand this may be frustrating for people who have 50 different investments in a taxable account and 300 different transactions.

That's why I only own 3 funds and currently use only retirement accounts. Even when I eventually start using non-retirement accounts, may even try to simplify further.
by toto238
Sat Feb 25, 2017 1:02 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard Lousy Customer Service
Replies: 88
Views: 12945

Re: Vanguard Lousy Customer Service

Sheepdog wrote:
bondsr4me wrote:
pennstater2005 wrote:I would move on. Nothing is worth stressing that much over.
+1

probably the best thing to do to keep OP's sanity.
+2
As established by the OP's original post, this was an in-service rollover, implying he is not retired and still with his employer.

Therefore, unless his employer changes plan sponsors, leaving Vanguard isn't an option for OP.
by toto238
Fri Feb 24, 2017 10:39 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What if someone gets your password and transfers money from your bank to theirs?
Replies: 42
Views: 12838

Re: What if someone gets your password and transfers money from your bank to theirs?

JPH wrote:I'd like to hear from someone this has happened to.
As would I.

This seems like a really flawed robbery plan. I think many of us have thought of the "perfect crime" for stealing a lot of money as a thought experiment. This definitely isn't it. Way too many flaws.
by toto238
Fri Feb 24, 2017 10:25 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Just started a Roth IRA w/ Vanguard
Replies: 10
Views: 3797

Re: Just started a Roth IRA w/ Vanguard

Cammillus - I'm trying to save up to $10k for now so I can put it into a mutual fund with admiral status. Is target fund better than others? I was thinking about the Vanguard total. Gropes & Ray - Why do you recommened selling VYM & VBK? I was planning to start off with small caps, and then slowly add more into VTI later when I get money. Probably when I get my tax refund. Billyv - Thanks, I will look into those ETFs. pkcrafter - what do you mean by Market weight is about 10%? Does that mean I should only have 10% in small? Thanks for the advice guys. DSLK, VTI (aka Total Stock Market) means just that. It is the Total Stock Market (for the US anyway). That means that every single company that's in the small-cap and the high-dividen...