Search found 218 matches

by corpgator
Sat Mar 16, 2024 11:15 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Great news! No more [fixed real estate] agent commission
Replies: 163
Views: 15088

Re: Great news! No more agent commission

Since it has been a percent based fee, the seller's agent already had an incentive to get the house to sell for the most. If your million dollar house sold for 1.2 million, the agent would get more money. I don't think we need to start offering 35% of our houses to people. There could be another down side to your idea. The listing agent could convince you that your million dollar property is only worth $800,000. That way when it sells for a million, the agent gets 35% of that last $200,000 instead of the same 3%. Now you just list $64,000. No, the agent only has incentive to sell quickly. Obviously $6k more is noce for the agent, but are they going to want to wait months to get $36k or would they rather get $30k now? That's especially true...
by corpgator
Sat Mar 16, 2024 3:57 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Great news! No more [fixed real estate] agent commission
Replies: 163
Views: 15088

Re: Great news! No more agent commission

I always thought there should be some sort of tiered or floating commission, such that if a selling agent got me (the seller) a price over a certain level, the commission percent would be higher. That would motivate both the seller and the agent to get the best price. So if I had a million dollar property, the agent could get 35%, say, of anything over a million, and, say, a smallish commission on the basic million dollar target. There ought to be some sort of algorithm. Maybe it's a job for AI... (Isn't this how hedge funds work?) Since it has been a percent based fee, the seller's agent already had an incentive to get the house to sell for the most. If your million dollar house sold for 1.2 million, the agent would get more money. I don'...
by corpgator
Sat Mar 16, 2024 11:01 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Great news! No more [fixed real estate] agent commission
Replies: 163
Views: 15088

Re: Great news! No more agent commission

I always thought there should be some sort of tiered or floating commission, such that if a selling agent got me (the seller) a price over a certain level, the commission percent would be higher. That would motivate both the seller and the agent to get the best price. So if I had a million dollar property, the agent could get 35%, say, of anything over a million, and, say, a smallish commission on the basic million dollar target. There ought to be some sort of algorithm. Maybe it's a job for AI... (Isn't this how hedge funds work?) Since it has been a percent based fee, the seller's agent already had an incentive to get the house to sell for the most. If your million dollar house sold for 1.2 million, the agent would get more money. I don'...
by corpgator
Fri Mar 15, 2024 9:16 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Great news! No more [fixed real estate] agent commission
Replies: 163
Views: 15088

Re: Great news! No more agent commission

Does this mean there is less of an incentive now to buy a home without an agent? I was thinking of doing this by talking directly with the building company. I think the answer here is yes. For the past couple of decades, the seller paid for the buyer's agent. That will largely go away as buyer's will not see as much value in full buyer's agent representation, and when it is coming out of the buyer's pocket...... Hence, the post above about having it added on the buyer's side on the loan. It will be interesting to watch. The seller has never paid for the buyer's agent. That was all a scam perpetuated by NAR. The buyer has always paid the full commission for both sides. Just because the closing sheet shows the commission coming out of the se...
by corpgator
Fri Mar 15, 2024 8:50 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Great news! No more [fixed real estate] agent commission
Replies: 163
Views: 15088

Re: Great news! No more agent commission

Does this mean there is less of an incentive now to buy a home without an agent? I was thinking of doing this by talking directly with the building company. I think the answer here is yes. For the past couple of decades, the seller paid for the buyer's agent. That will largely go away as buyer's will not see as much value in full buyer's agent representation, and when it is coming out of the buyer's pocket...... Hence, the post above about having it added on the buyer's side on the loan. It will be interesting to watch. The seller has never paid for the buyer's agent. That was all a scam perpetuated by NAR. The buyer has always paid the full commission for both sides. Just because the closing sheet shows the commission coming out of the se...
by corpgator
Wed Mar 13, 2024 11:28 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What's your primary credit card?
Replies: 117
Views: 10251

Re: What's your primary credit card?

I used to churn pretty hard so that I was always chasing one sign up bonus or another. The pandemic soured me on all that - points became impossible to use. Now, I make enough that the extra hassle of it all just isn't worth it anymore. Now I use Fidelity 2% and amazon prime visa. I mostly shop at whole foods for groceries, so it's great getting 5% off.
by corpgator
Sun Mar 10, 2024 12:02 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Have any of you Frugal Zebras Changed Your (Spending) Stripes?
Replies: 130
Views: 10717

Re: Have any of you Frugal Zebras Changed Your (Spending) Stripes?

I 4xed my total comp and my spending 4xed with it, but my savings are also 4x, so we're still on track to retire early. I probably didn't need to be so frugal early on had I known what was coming, but it wasn't a guarantee, so I insured against the worst.
by corpgator
Fri Mar 08, 2024 5:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit
Replies: 1772
Views: 194817

Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

You might as well cancel since there's an initiative approved for the November ballot to repeal it that I'm pretty sure is going to pass.
by corpgator
Thu Mar 07, 2024 1:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is it Time to Self-Insure? CA Homeowners Rate Increases
Replies: 118
Views: 8841

Re: Is it Time to Self-Insure? CA Homeowners Rate Increases

snackdog wrote: Thu Mar 07, 2024 12:41 am USAA is an above average insurer in terms of service but they are no longer competitive on price in most locations as far as I can tell. So, if OP wants cheaper coverage, USAA would not be my first choice.
Agreed, I check them every couple of years, but they haven't been competitive for me in over a decade.
by corpgator
Sun Feb 25, 2024 11:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: High Salary (>$500,000) careers
Replies: 244
Views: 28598

Re: High Salary (>$500,000) careers

Anyone saying they're in big tech and are average or it's just a matter of applying are suffering from imposter syndrome. Big tech companies are perpetual motion machines: hire the best engineers, make tons of money, throw more money at even more engineers and repeat until you're worth more than most countries. Those who were persistent and motivated self selected into applying and continuously grinding until they passed the interviews.

Most everyone I work with in big tech is ridiculously smart (I'm not a SWE, in another tech role just below them so I "only" make $400k per year), and maybe a few slip through the cracks, but 90% are here because they earned it and the other 10% are on their way out the door.
by corpgator
Thu Jan 18, 2024 7:50 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Are car washes necessary?
Replies: 116
Views: 12618

Re: Are car washes necessary?

Jack FFR1846 wrote: Thu Jan 18, 2024 5:47 pm I watch lots of shows where guys find barn find cars or in a field. So not washed sometimes for decades. They often have green and black mold growing all over them. If you like mold then you don't really need to wash your car. I'm sure this is location dependent. I expect in Phoenix, it might never be a problem but in Seattle, mold would start in about a week.
We live in Seattle and rarely wash our cars. No mold to speak of.
by corpgator
Sat Jan 06, 2024 5:07 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How did you find your dream job?
Replies: 79
Views: 23751

Re: How did you find your dream job?

A lot of hard work, long weekends and nights, tears, stress, and a bit of luck got me into a job at one of the big tech companies.

Within 2.5 years, I'll have made as much as all my other working years combined around 15 if you don't count school years.

One piece of advice is don't be afraid to sell everything and move. Being attached to a place can be a real hindrance even in this more remote friendly environment. Employers still prefer you to be in office part of the time and the big tech companies are all concentrated within a few cities.
by corpgator
Sat Dec 30, 2023 3:39 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]
Replies: 5249
Views: 900251

Re: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]

Bogleheads return on investment spreadsheet says 51.8%. Bearded Ladies calculation (including contributions in the calculation) says investments are up 75%, 101% including all assets such as house, and I officially joined the millionaires club this month when including house equity.

I'm heavy into life cycle investing with a lot of leverage. It's been a wild ride, but my risk tolerance has proven to be very, very high.
by corpgator
Sat Dec 09, 2023 1:30 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey
Replies: 14343
Views: 1971183

Re: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey

You don't get it; you are missing the point. Swaps are considered safe; relatively little money is at stake at any given time due to the nature of swaps, and there are additional safety measures like collateral. The risk of the ETN structure is that the ETN itself a debt instrument. In contrast to ETFs where the assets are segregated, here the assets are on the balance sheet of the issuer. If the issuer, BMO(?), goes bankrupt, then you will lose your money, even when the stock market and the swaps do fine. I personally never heard of BMO before. Lol, that last part is just a little insulting to all the Canadians here, BMO is the 3rd largest bank in Canada by market cap, 28th in the world and 15th in the US by AUM under its subsidiary, BMO ...
by corpgator
Thu Nov 30, 2023 8:36 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey
Replies: 14343
Views: 1971183

Re: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey

firebirdparts wrote: Thu Nov 30, 2023 8:02 pm Fidelity says up 31.5% I definitely unlost some money.

I was pretty surprised to see that dive that caused us to need to come UP to $5 on TMF. Long bonds and TMF had been very flat for about a year and I thought everybody was satisfied with bond prices. But whatever.
Unlost is a good way to put it.
by corpgator
Thu Nov 30, 2023 7:29 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey
Replies: 14343
Views: 1971183

Re: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey

Had to have been one of the best months ever for the strategy.
by corpgator
Fri Oct 20, 2023 8:40 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey
Replies: 14343
Views: 1971183

Re: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey

am wrote: Thu Oct 19, 2023 6:36 pm
corpgator wrote: Thu Oct 19, 2023 10:15 am Once in a lifetime buying opportunity nearly every day now on TMF. I feel for those who stuck to the rebalancing schedule. I'm hurting enough with the small DCAing I've been doing.
In 6 months there may be an even better once in a lifetime opportunity 🙂
That's the perpetual joke.
by corpgator
Thu Oct 19, 2023 10:15 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey
Replies: 14343
Views: 1971183

Re: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey

Once in a lifetime buying opportunity nearly every day now on TMF. I feel for those who stuck to the rebalancing schedule. I'm hurting enough with the small DCAing I've been doing.
by corpgator
Mon Oct 02, 2023 10:55 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Riding HEDGEFUNDIE’s excellent adventure
Replies: 367
Views: 98210

Re: Riding HEDGEFUNDIE’s excellent adventure

lawyeredCLO wrote: Mon Oct 02, 2023 2:06 pm For those that stayed on the sidelines, now is a great time to take a look at DCAing a position. TLT yielding 5%ish. PE ratios on the S&P 500, not insane. Interest rate regime slowing down. Take a hard look.
Unless rates keep going up and TMF keeps dropping. I'm not bitter.
by corpgator
Tue Sep 26, 2023 9:58 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey
Replies: 14343
Views: 1971183

Re: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey

Once in a lifetime buying opportunity on TMF*




*Until next week.
by corpgator
Fri Sep 22, 2023 9:15 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey
Replies: 14343
Views: 1971183

Re: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey

Is anyone rebalancing back into TMF? I have been following this strategy since 2021 and haven't been rebalancing in the past year. What are your thoughts on TMF. Should I start to rebalancing quarterly again (why, why not?) or let it ride until the fed decides is done with hikes. The whole point behind an investment plan is so that you don't make decisions on a whim like this. In fact, not rebalancing when one asset class declines relative to others goes against the whole idea of rebalancing in general. The only reason to shift your strategy is that you either misjudged your risk profile, in which case you should lower your overall allocation to HFEA, or you think the fundamentals behind HFEA are now wrong based on some new information, in...
by corpgator
Tue Aug 15, 2023 2:40 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Riding HEDGEFUNDIE’s excellent adventure
Replies: 367
Views: 98210

Re: Riding HEDGEFUNDIE’s excellent adventure

am wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2023 8:14 am With rates continuing to rise, have most been rebalancing to 55 upro/45 tmf, letting it ride without rebalancing or simply quit and taken losses? I remember a rising rate environment being mentioned as a killer for this plan.

Wondering what to do? I am up on upro and down thousands on tmf, overall down 18k.
Started buying a little TMF here and there, but not rebalancing until the fed decides it's through with rate hikes, which seems like it will be never.
by corpgator
Wed Aug 02, 2023 11:06 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey
Replies: 14343
Views: 1971183

Re: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey

Days like today make me question if tmf is the right counter to upro anymore. Last time there was a credit rating cut, people rushed into bonds. This time, everyone is rushing to cash.
by corpgator
Tue Aug 01, 2023 7:22 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey
Replies: 14343
Views: 1971183

Re: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey

Still in and still wishing I had sold TMF long ago. I haven't been rebalancing much, which has been the right choice thus far, but hopefully that will start to turn around at the end of this year. I've been buying TYD and TMF in my mega backdoor roth lately. I'm almost back to even on my upro/tqqq positions due to buying a lot last year when it was down heavy.
by corpgator
Tue Aug 01, 2023 7:12 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: US credit downgrade
Replies: 130
Views: 15654

Re: US credit downgrade

cmr86 wrote: Tue Aug 01, 2023 7:01 pm I would imagine treasury rates would increase for new issues.
But why? The rates are set based on market demands. Is the market really going to ask for higher rates because some random credit agency that deemed all banks credit worthy before the 2008 crisis says so?
by corpgator
Sun Jul 30, 2023 10:39 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: is it legal for merchants to not accept cash ?
Replies: 97
Views: 10378

Re: is it legal for merchants to not accept cash ?

It's legal tender for debts . That's the catch. If a sit-down restaurant brings you your food first, you are now in debt. When they bring you the check, you can settle the debt by paying in cash and they have to accept it. They cant say "I won't take paper currency, you have to pay in gold" (or whatever). But if they require payment in advance, I think they can put any conditions on it they like. That doesn't match what the Federal Reserve page referenced above says.... "There is no federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a ...
by corpgator
Fri Jul 28, 2023 2:33 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
Replies: 2906
Views: 515459

Re: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]

Still a wild ride here on the in Bellevue, WA (Suburbs east of Seattle). I track the price that redfin says my house is worth - watching them adjust their graphs to make it look like they were always perfect throughout the time curve on their predictions amused me to no end, but they finally fixed that recently and actually show the correct past values. Bought in Sept 2021 for $955k, appraised at $1.045 million. Hit $1.45 million May 2022. That seemed about right as a very similar house in the neighbor sold for $1.4 that month - ours was slightly bigger, slightly more updated. Fell all the way to $1.028 million in February this year - also looked about right based on sales after May 22. Now back up to $1.2 million. Also looks about right ba...
by corpgator
Thu Jul 20, 2023 2:54 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]
Replies: 5249
Views: 900251

Re: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]

27% returns so far and total net worth up 41% YTD. HFEA is a wild ride.
by corpgator
Thu Jul 20, 2023 2:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Credit card rewards vs hassle factor
Replies: 149
Views: 15894

Re: Credit card rewards vs hassle factor

Back when I was early career and credit card churning was more lucrative, I was all in. Now that I make a lot more money, I just can't be bothered anymore. It takes too much mental energy to keep up with it all for such little gain.
by corpgator
Mon Jul 17, 2023 11:56 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is International allocation even a thing?
Replies: 190
Views: 15722

Re: Is International allocation even a thing?

CraigTester wrote: Mon Jul 17, 2023 8:01 pm
visualguy wrote: Mon Jul 17, 2023 3:56 pm
CraigTester wrote: Mon Jul 17, 2023 12:14 pm Reversion to Mean.
Is that even a thing? What does it mean? Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, Google, Tesla, Meta, etc. going back to the past and diminishing or disappearing into the vortex of the mean? Certainly sounds scary :shock:
I certainly didn't invent the term... Not sure why you find it amusing?
Because it's impossible to know the mean when the future is unknowable.
by corpgator
Sun Jul 16, 2023 11:49 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is International allocation even a thing?
Replies: 190
Views: 15722

Re: Is International allocation even a thing?

3) Data can usually be tortured by playing with endpoints to "win an argument", but this won't necessarily make you richer. You betcha! (see sig:) 7) So what is the most "logical" way to position your AA given all the unknowns and uncertainties, in the context of the above assumptions? I believe that with the end of QE, the most "logical" answer is to now adopt a global market cap weighting of 60-40 US-Int'l, and don't be too quick to rebalance as one of the horses begins to pull away..... Market cap has always been the most logical way. Don't confuse strategy and outcome. 8) As mentioned before, If we get another round of US QE, disregard everything from above and go 100% US.... And there you go again... Mark...
by corpgator
Sun Jul 16, 2023 9:07 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is International allocation even a thing?
Replies: 190
Views: 15722

Re: Is International allocation even a thing?

To quote somebody above, I also found via online search that 38% of S&P 500 earnings come from outside the US. So basically close to the 60/40 ratio that VT comprises as market weight. That begs the question, especially as the world continues to become more global and not less, would owning just the S&P500 suffice for equity exposure? I know it doesnt account for small and mid cap international, but at market weight how much exposure are we really talking about here for small/mid cap international? And, would having a small exposure to that really move the needle? S&P500 -- 37.5% tech Total world -- 29% tech That includes communication services sector companies (such as Google) as part of tech. Markets of countries other than t...
by corpgator
Sun Jul 16, 2023 1:50 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is International allocation even a thing?
Replies: 190
Views: 15722

Re: Is International allocation even a thing?

It's funny how people always bring up the gambler's fallacy and that past performance does not equal future performance in every debate but international. The rationalization for holding international is that it will regress to the mean and outperform the US at some point. But we don't know that. It is entirely possible that the US has reached a long term advantage and will outperform forever. You cannot say that is not possible because it is impossible to know the future. All you can possibly do is evaluate what is most likely to happen and what you are comfortable risking and stick with it. So taking all the knowledge we have available, can you say that at some point international outperform even with all the technical issues that go with...
by corpgator
Fri Jul 14, 2023 10:06 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Now that long TIPS yields are 60 bp off their highs I will…
Replies: 2937
Views: 611882

Re: Now that long TIPS again yield more than 1.70% I will…

Average annual inflation in USA: 1914-1920 12.3% 1920-1940 -1.8% 1940-1970 3.5% 1970-1990 6.3% 1990- 5/2023 2.6% https://www.calculator.net/inflation-calculator.html? 2023- 2060 ?????????????? I don't know why the Fed. target is 2%, or why people assume 2-2.5% is "normal" or "expected". That strikes me as recency bias. Inflation numbers are all over the map. As with other complex nonlinear systems, it seems predictable until it isn't (like last year). That is why I favor a TIPS ladder over nominals. Even if there is deflation, you may lose relative to nominals but at maturity your purchasing power is still protected. And if there is massive deflation you can get rich. Mature economies have low inflation 2.6% over 33 yea...
by corpgator
Sun Jul 09, 2023 10:28 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is QE responsible for US outperformance over Int'l from 2010-2021?
Replies: 263
Views: 19203

Re: Is QE responsible for US outperformance over Int'l from 2010-2021?

Very unlikely, unless you think that QE is responsible for the Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Nvidia, Netflix, Tesla boom. Imagine comparing Boeing, Ford, GM, GE, Kroger, Johnson & Johnson, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan etc. with foreign competitors. I think the bottom line is that US tech firms can attract and get rid of top talent in ways international companies can't. For whatever reason, the US is really good at scaling the value of superstars in dynamic industries in ways other countries cannot. Thanks for that perspective.... Sounds like you might work for a US superstar company to arrive at that conclusion...? If yes, have you observed that the US seems to have an ability to out-perform International companies today, more so than ...
by corpgator
Sun Jul 09, 2023 10:19 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is QE responsible for US outperformance over Int'l from 2010-2021?
Replies: 263
Views: 19203

Re: Is QE responsible for US outperformance over Int'l from 2010-2021?

What companies outside the US are huge growth drivers that could obtain high PEs? TSMC, Foxconn, Samsung, Infosys, for example -- but their stock markets may be less bubbly so that investors there are wary of high PEs. Americans, in contrast, have 401ks and index funds so Americans care a lot less about PEs. Infosys is nowhere near the league of the top tech companies ($3B net income from $19B revenues in most recent year), nor would I necessarily trust its numbers or governance as much as a US tech company. Samsung is basically the South Korean government, and Foxconn has a lot of exposure to the Chinese government. All riskier relationships that can drag down their attractiveness. TSMC is doing well though and I would group them with US ...
by corpgator
Sat May 27, 2023 4:24 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Win rates" for U.S. vs. non-U.S stock markets
Replies: 20
Views: 1559

Re: "Win rates" for U.S. vs. non-U.S stock markets

Since 1970 the win percentages over rolling monthly and 12 month time frames have been better for the S&P 500. But looking out 5, 10, 15 and 20 years it’s basically the same [for U.S. vs. non-U.S]. And international stocks actually have a higher win percentage than US stocks over 5 and 10 year periods. I think these numbers might surprise some people because the United States has outperformed international stocks by a hefty margin over the past 15 years or so. The U.S. stock market has been the clear winner over the past 15 years and the past 100+ years. But the risk profile for international stocks isn’t all that much different. Patience and diversification are rewarded around the globe. We don’t have a monopoly on that. https://aweal...
by corpgator
Wed May 03, 2023 4:55 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
Replies: 2906
Views: 515459

Re: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]

I find the graph a little interesting because nearly everywhere I go in the USA, I see massive suburbs that have been emerged out of the corn fields. No matter if it's Dallas, Kansas City, Columbus, Atlanta, Charlotte, etc. But maybe there's not enough new housing developments to support Generation Z? Now that I think about it, a lot of the exurbs built around me began pre-2008. There's been fill-in since then, but I no longer see the massive exurbs built out in the corn fields right now. Anecdotally in my city, I've seen a lot of housing stock that's been rendered "obsolete" for modern families. Parts of town I call the "inner ring" that used to be the suburbs consisting of housing stock built in the 1950's and 1960's ...
by corpgator
Wed May 03, 2023 4:37 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Has anyone had a good experience with these high-yield online savings accounts?
Replies: 19
Views: 3290

Re: Has anyone had a good experience with these high-yield online savings accounts?

Vanguard User wrote: Wed May 03, 2023 12:54 am It doesn’t matter about experience. All that matters is the high interest rate.
I disagree. Sometimes the slightly higher rate just isn't worth the hassle.
by corpgator
Fri Mar 10, 2023 4:21 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey
Replies: 14343
Views: 1971183

Re: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey

Finally getting some bounce from TMF when UPRO goes down. Still not nearly enough to recover all the losses, but at least it's not broken entirely.
by corpgator
Mon Feb 20, 2023 10:48 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: *Update* Melancholy Tale: Parents Had Pension, Social Security, SPIA & TIPS, but …
Replies: 282
Views: 48715

Re: Melancholy Tale: Parents Had Pension, Social Security, SPIA & TIPS, but …

The most unbelievable part about this is they lasted that long in a double wide in Florida without it being destroyed.
by corpgator
Sun Feb 19, 2023 2:33 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
Replies: 2906
Views: 515459

Re: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]

Tax assessment was based on Jan 1 22, and house was valued at $1.2m in Bellevue, WA, so taxes went up 20%. Houses were selling for that much then and continued to rise until around April with one going for 1.4m in the neighborhood. Now we'd be lucky to get $1m based on comps the past 6 months. Hopefully tax assessment for Jan 1 23 is back down.
by corpgator
Wed Feb 01, 2023 12:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Bank account just hit 90k, what should I do?
Replies: 16
Views: 2851

Re: Bank account just hit 90k, what should I do?

Do not pay off the student loan until payments are unpaused. It's a 0% loan, so it doesn't get better than that and if forgiveness does happen, you'll kick yourself for paying it.
by corpgator
Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:50 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone know of a mortgage lender with low rates?
Replies: 2
Views: 751

Re: Anyone know of a mortgage lender with low rates?

We'd need to know you purchase price and zip code. I had good luck finding lenders through zillow and bankrate. The numbers were always what was stated during the search or better in some cases.
by corpgator
Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:48 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Bad Homebuying Experience. Need Advice
Replies: 84
Views: 9498

Re: Bad Homebuying Experience. Need Advice

… I doubt your contract has a clause to get out due to the house not being insurable. Neither here nor there now with the OP’s update, but what I think is the “standard” New Mexico offer agreement has a clause that says the buyer has X days after offer acceptance to obtain satisfactory insurance coverage. If such can’t be obtained, the contract can be terminated with no penalty, as I recall. I’d be shocked if other states’ standard agreements didn’t have something similar. What is X days??? New Mexico? Is this in New Mexico? I think you are stretching....there is no such clause in the standard contract in my (large) state. By all indications...this is in Florida. X days was either 3 or 5 days, as I recall. I presume that the precise number...
by corpgator
Tue Jan 31, 2023 8:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Does anybody here lease cars?
Replies: 83
Views: 7970

Re: Does anybody here lease cars?

A lease can be a good way to ride out the overinflated prices on cars right now. I've leased a couple Hyundais and a Honda and they really don't look too deeply into wear and tear unless you're really abusive.

Popular cars are going to be a lot more expensive to lease though. We generally look for stuff that's been sitting on the lot for a while or has a national lease special. Right now, we have a 21 Sonata at $204 per month for 35 months, nothing down. We sold our old car (16 Corolla) for cash for near what we had bought it for 5 years before to take advantage of the crazy used car prices and got the lease for something bigger. In 3 years when it's up, we'll probably go electric.
by corpgator
Mon Jan 30, 2023 1:21 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Holy moly my credit score dropped like a rock!!
Replies: 84
Views: 11649

Re: Holy moly my credit score dropped like a rock!!

Ally has checking accounts. Thanks for the head-up and nudge. I just looked into that a bit and their available services for checking, mobile deposit, and online bill pay have improved considerably since we set up our HYSA there a few years ago. Definitely worth considering now. Transfers are instantaneous. They haven't been for us, and Ally has never promised us otherwise. There's always been a 3-day lag in EFT transfers, and they've never arrived sooner. For example, last month we moved $40K from Ally HYSA to our US Bank checking account. We initiated the transfer on 12/18 and the funds arrived on 12/20, as promised. Regardless, Ally isn't a "standard bank" by any stretch of the generally accepted definition. I ditched Ally bec...
by corpgator
Sat Jan 28, 2023 2:31 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey
Replies: 14343
Views: 1971183

Re: HEDGEFUNDIE's excellent adventure Part II: The next journey

- With 1.4x leverage you didn't need to deleverage at any time since 1929. (The 2007-2009 showdown would have turned 1.4x into 2.3x with no action from your side.) So if I don't deleverage, like you often advocated, then my excess return from leverage should be approximately equal to the equity risk premium (5.55% - 3%) on the leveraged amount (40%) -> 2.55% * 0.4 = 1.02% p.a., or not? How would that reconcile with your result of 0.21% p.a. excess return from the Kelly formula? Kelly Criterion is the portfolio and leverage that maximizes CAGR. That is, no other portfolio beats it in growth over arbitrarily large time periods (thousands of years). For that to be the case, it clearly cannot go bust as it doesn’t matter your CAGR if you have ...