Search found 815 matches

by danaht
Sun Jan 14, 2024 5:27 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Is anybody actually running out of money in retirement?
Replies: 201
Views: 46626

Re: Is anybody actually running out of money in retirement?

My parents ran out of their savings recently - they are supporting one of their kids financially in retirement. But fortunately they have social security and a good pension. Unfortunately the pension does not adjust for inflation - so they are now trying to watch their expenses going forward.
by danaht
Sat Dec 09, 2023 5:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?
Replies: 7203
Views: 1413583

Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

For those of you with grocery cards, it is my understanding that most of the big superstores like Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, etc. will not register as grocery retailers. Is that true? These are pretty much the only places we shop at. We use Target Red Card for 5% off there, and I think Sam's has a 5% back card, but is there a good rewards CC for these types of retailers? Correct, those aren’t grocery stores. Pretty sure not 100% correct. Super Walmart (not the regular) in-store (not online) and the Walmart Neighborhood Market will register as grocery stores with some, if not all, Visa cards. This is according to Reddit. I haven't tested it myself yet. I know for a fact that BA codes WM as grocery for in-store purchases, if I use a card i...
by danaht
Mon Sep 11, 2023 6:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Does anyone here with net worths north of $1 mil use financial advisors?
Replies: 454
Views: 86824

Re: Does anyone here with net worths north of $1 mil use financial advisors?

Never used a financial advisor. According to Fidelity - my portfolio has beaten the S&P 500 over the last 10 years. So I guess that means I am better than most of the FAs out there. I am not willing to pay a FA 1% and at the same time have them put me in expensive funds rather than the indexes I want to be in.
by danaht
Fri Aug 25, 2023 12:20 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What frugal thing did you do today?
Replies: 4524
Views: 617313

Re: What frugal thing did you do today?

Cancelled Sling TV. Decided most of my time is watching content on You Tube instead. I can't justify paying $50 a month for the few news channels I watch on it. I can watch Pluto TV and local channels for the rest.
by danaht
Fri Jul 28, 2023 7:30 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: HSA - CA tax implications
Replies: 22
Views: 3645

Re: HSA - CA tax implications

This is why I plan to sale and repurchase like positions for all my HSA investments a year before (if I ever decide to move to CA). This should re-establish a higher cost basis and make it simple to determine it.
by danaht
Mon Jul 10, 2023 1:04 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: SCHD/VTI 55% and Wellington/Wellesly 35% for well rounded portfolio
Replies: 45
Views: 4795

Re: SCHD/VTI 55% and Wellington/Wellesly 35% for well rounded portfolio

brad.clarkston wrote: Sat Jul 08, 2023 2:02 pm That looks good, just realize what SCHD is. It has a 0.06% ER that's really good but still a drag, it only buys non-faang stock, and it's current price is way way over NAV.

If your going to buy it and never sell all is well. If your going to look at it weekly not so much as it's a golden divi thrower and it will be in the red a lot.
My only issue with it is the price it's a hold for me right now but I have a bunch of it at about half the current ask.
According to www.etf.com SCHD's NAV is actually higher to what it is trading at right now ($72.71). I really like SCHD's index strategy - and am over-weighting both SCHD (domestic) and SCHY (international) in my portfolio.
by danaht
Sat Jun 24, 2023 11:33 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Hired remote, forced into office. Should I stay or go?
Replies: 118
Views: 9581

Re: Hired remote, forced into office. Should I stay or go?

I think WFH might be ending for a lot of companies soon. Management will be concerned that people may not be working 100% of the time. But I think that is a poor view- they should be more focused on results. If you like your job and the people there - then try to get an exception. The company should grant exceptions - otherwise they risk losing their best employees. If they don't grant one - consider moving beyond 51 miles or finding another WFH job. Good Luck
by danaht
Thu Apr 13, 2023 9:58 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Side hustles for mid to late career folks
Replies: 112
Views: 16403

Re: Side hustles for mid to late career folks

Considering every dollar I make in my side business is taxed over 50%, it definitely puts a damper on things yes.. it is less appealing.. I definitely don't make that much $$. But I am at the high 24% bracket because I am also converting as much as I can to my Roth IRA. Because I don't want to be pushed past the 24% bracket - I want to focus on making as much income from my "side hustle" that is tax free. I sell out of money covered calls in my Roth IRA as my "side hustle". Trying to follow the best guidance that should beat "buy and hold" only if followed correctly. My goal is to still buy and hold the index - but also sell covered calls (that hopefully always expire) along the way. I am not 59.5 yet - so it'...
by danaht
Sun Mar 26, 2023 9:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I move to a state with no income tax to save on taxes?
Replies: 220
Views: 21491

Re: Should I move to a state with no income tax to save on taxes?

I believe Florida is the only state that doesn't tax any kind of income. The other states you mentioned don't tax ordinary income but they all tax some combination of things like interest, dividends, capital gains, pensions, social security and gambling winnings. Not really, the details are here.... https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0210/7-states-with-no-income-tax.aspx That article is about income tax in general along side other kinds of taxes like sales tax and property tax. But on the subject of income tax only, I'm pretty sure only Florida doesn't tax any kind of personal income at the state level. At least in Nevada people can avoid the gambling tax by not gambling. I don't think Nevada has any other "income" type ...
by danaht
Sun Mar 26, 2023 9:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Do I have to get a hybrid?
Replies: 178
Views: 17304

Re: Do I have to get a hybrid?

Hybrid drivetrains have shown to be lower impact on the vehicles than they initially projected, so the battery replacement rates are much lower than anticipated. I have known a lot of Prius owners and none of them have ever replaced the battery. We own a 13 year old Prius and have never replaced the battery, nor have we had any issues with it. We still get 46-50 mpg in it, depending on the time of year. The older Prius batteries were NiMH. The newer Prius batteries are Lithium-ion. We don't know exactly how long the newer batteries will last. We are entering a new chapter for the Toyota Prius. I want to buy one of the new Prius models - but I am hoping to get 3 more years from my cheap 2016 Chevy Spark before I do that. In 3 years they wil...
by danaht
Sun Mar 26, 2023 10:42 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I move to a state with no income tax to save on taxes?
Replies: 220
Views: 21491

Re: Should I move to a state with no income tax to save on taxes?

I've never understood moving to save income taxes by the exact people who make so much the taxes can't impact their lifestyle. Live wherever you like! You can afford it. For many people getting taxed at around 50 percent of income, How does that NOT impact their lifestyle? If I lived in a lower tax state, I could work less, retire sooner, and retire with less... That seems like an impact to me... In my job at least, it gets progressively harder to make more money, only to see less and less of that money land in my account, so much so that I'll start to work less when it's clear that the effort (post tax) doesn't justify the rewards. When the combined tax rate is > 50%, the government is making more money than I am even though I'm the one w...
by danaht
Sun Mar 26, 2023 10:22 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I move to a state with no income tax to save on taxes?
Replies: 220
Views: 21491

Re: Should I move to a state with no income tax to save on taxes?

You need to also consider real estate taxes and other things as well. But if your income is that high - then a no-income tax state makes a lot of sense. I don't have the high income the OP has - but I still prefer to live in a no income tax state when I can. It also gives me a chance to do Roth conversions without the added state taxes. I also like not having to file the additional state income tax each year.
by danaht
Sat Mar 25, 2023 8:32 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Can I transfer HSA without closing the account?
Replies: 19
Views: 1964

Re: Can I transfer HSA without closing the account?

I find it bizarre that financial institutions still use paper checks for anything these days. Anyway, the problem with making direct contributions is you lose any employer matches and have to pay FICA tax. (Some believe the ROI on FICA taxes is good enough that this is not really a problem). IMO the best solution is for your payroll to direct deposit contributions straight to Fidelity. It can be difficult to get HR/payroll people to cooperate but it can be done. A lot of employees as well as HR people mistakenly treat HSA's like employer plans and assume the employers are locked in, but HSA's are individual accounts more like IRA's. Good advice. I'll ask my employer for sure. But since I am dealing with a mega-corp - it is probably unlikel...
by danaht
Sat Mar 25, 2023 8:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Can I transfer HSA without closing the account?
Replies: 19
Views: 1964

Re: Can I transfer HSA without closing the account?

I have payflex and Fidelity HSA. I do a pull from Fidelity (account transfer), leaving some money (I leave $500) in the payflex account so that it doesn't close. Doing it this way there are no fees. It can take about 3 weeks or so for the transfer. This is very helpful as I’m also interested in avoiding fees. Is there a limit to how many times I can do this in a year and still avoid fees? I’m expecting I’d do this about 3 to 4 times per year if it’s free. I don’t mind the three week delay, I’ll just time when the market is about to drop before I initiate the transfer :mrgreen: How do you pull from fidelity, must I call them or is there a way to do this online? I am seeing several Payflex plan documents indicating $25.00 fee for custodian-t...
by danaht
Sat Mar 25, 2023 7:39 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: HSA transfer gone awry
Replies: 21
Views: 3720

Re: HSA transfer gone awry

Wow. This is scary. I transfer funds once a year from Optum to Fidelity. I hope this does not happen to one of my yearly transfers. I can't close my Optum account because my work uses it for the HSA payroll deposits. I am hoping Optum modernizes their system to allow for electronic transfers. One thing I could do is to tell my work to stop the payroll deductions for HSA - and then just contribute my yearly contribution to my HSA directly with Fidelity. This might be the last year of Optum HSA contributions and transfers for me after reading this post. I think I may lose a few tax benefits with Medicare and social security payroll taxes by doing this - but it's probably worth it.
by danaht
Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:15 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards
Replies: 7041
Views: 878824

Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

A strategy to increase your cash back from Costco is to purchase Costco gifts online, which actually count as "online purchases", and give you a base of 3% on the Customized Cash Rewards cards (so long as you set your 3% category to online). You have to wait to receive the gift card in the mail, but then you can use that in-store. Costco now offers electronic gift cards. These can be used easily at self-checkout, with the touchscreen option to pay with the electronic card. They can also be used at regular checkout, but some cashiers may be unfamiliar with how to use them and need to ask for help. They usually arrive within an hour for me, though I've had at least one purchase delayed longer. Good to know - I have been looking for...
by danaht
Mon Jan 02, 2023 1:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What are you doing differently in 2023?
Replies: 210
Views: 28712

Re: What are you doing differently in 2023?

Nothing majorly different. This first week of January I will do the last of my tIRA conversion (41k) to Roth leaving me with a zero balance. Will have withdrawn 900k, so consider it a major accomplishment. And will start whittling away at spouses as close to the IRMAA cliff as we can get. It will get more difficult when she has to take her SS at 70 in a couple of years. Going to take our first air trip since the 2019 shutdown, only a 2 hour direct flight to someplace not as cold for a few weeks, but no where near as nice as the Mexico extended trips we took pre-COVID. Congratulations. I have been converting 35K to 65K every year. But my TIRA balance seems to never go down - because of the investment returns. Seems like I'll never make a de...
by danaht
Mon Jan 02, 2023 12:46 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What are you doing differently in 2023?
Replies: 210
Views: 28712

Re: What are you doing differently in 2023?

1) May start to sell out of money covered calls against some of my ETFs/stocks in my retirement accounts. I did relatively well doing this in years past - but stopped doing it in 2022 - since I was just too busy moving to a new house (and state). I want to someday develop an application that will look at all my stocks/ETFs every month and let me know if/when it's an ideal time to sell an out of money covered call on those. (things to consider are dates of earnings, dates of the ex/dividends, how volatile the stock/ETF has been, etc) Without that app - it takes a while to examine your portfolio - and you will miss some windows where it really did make sense to do that. 2) Saving money by eating less food and getting healthier. Starting a low...
by danaht
Mon Jan 02, 2023 12:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I Get a Raise?
Replies: 97
Views: 7940

Re: Should I Get a Raise?

I think you almost have to leave to get that type of raise. My mega corp only gave out 3% raises to it's top performers for it's non-union employees last year (and reduced benefits - healthcare, etc.) when we had 8% inflation rates - so really a 5%+ cut. Those who change companies usually get the cost of living wage increases - but they are also taking the risks to make those changes. To me it's a difficult risk to take - since you never know if the work conditions will be much worse for the new company - (ie more hours/ expected overtime, potential stress with working with a tougher boss, less WFH, etc)
by danaht
Mon Jan 02, 2023 11:16 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity free Turbotax 2022
Replies: 473
Views: 58136

Re: Fidelity free Turbotax 2022

dallasjava wrote: Thu Dec 29, 2022 3:43 pm
MisterBill wrote: Thu Dec 29, 2022 3:39 pm From SD:

I have the premier offer under the beta view, but when I click to the turbotax website it still gives me only $20 off, even though fidelity says premier for free w/ state. Called Fidelity, they know about the issue and said to wait until the new year as they are working on the problem.
Thank you for the update. I wonder why Fidelity does not put that in the offer display.
Thanks for the update. I was also having that issue today. Will wait a few days next week to try again.
by danaht
Sat Dec 10, 2022 9:31 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay raises for 2022
Replies: 421
Views: 63190

Re: Pay raises for 2022

My MEGA CAP company that I work for is still hiring a lot of people (both remote and non-remote) for tech jobs (but it's not a tech company). I think tech recruiters getting laid off by tech companies could easily go to these non-tech companies to get hired. You just need to find industries that are not effected (yet) by the high interest rate environment. Examples of these industries are energy, travel, defense, etc. The biggest issue with transitioning from a tech employer to one of the stalwart industries you mentioned is that compensation in considerably less. Some technical recruiters were making well over $200k at companies like Meta. It might just take some time to accept the new market rates. That is true. I am a software developer...
by danaht
Fri Dec 09, 2022 11:15 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay raises for 2022
Replies: 421
Views: 63190

Re: Pay raises for 2022

No raise Laid off last week I’m a recruiter. Job market is bleak I know several recruiters who have been laid of recently, including two I knew well at my employer and a friend who works at one of the larger local tech companies...she was due to have a baby in 3 weeks. Utah is supposed to have one of (if not the ) strongest economy of any state, but pretty much every company I am familiar with is (low-key) laying people off. My employer is one of the largest in the state and I have seen nothing about our two recent rounds of layoffs - I wouldn't even know except I know several people who have been let go and I discussed it with my boss at my review. I did see that two local tech companies (Podium and Route) had significant layoffs this wee...
by danaht
Sun Nov 20, 2022 7:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Option to buy company stock at a discount
Replies: 18
Views: 2096

Re: Option to buy company stock at a discount

It's a good idea if you can remember to sale it as soon as you receive it. I am still down 10% from my 4 year participation in my megacorp's company stock purchase plan - and that is with a 10% discount.
by danaht
Fri Nov 11, 2022 9:42 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Why Max HSA?
Replies: 58
Views: 9228

Re: Why Max HSA?

Medical expenses in retirement are the #1 expense usually. Your saved HSA $ will pay for most of these tax free. I believe you can also use your HSA to pay for medicare advantage plan premiums. So most likely you will need every $ in your HSA for retirement medical expenses. I am also keeping track of my daily health care expenses and receipts that are HSA qualified expenses. This allows me to use my HSA account as an extra emergency fund since I have the health care expense records to be able to withdraw from it if needed. I don't plan to withdraw from my HSA account until I retire - but it's good peace of mind to know that I could if I needed to in a real emergency.
by danaht
Fri Nov 11, 2022 9:27 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Brown Recluse Spiders
Replies: 36
Views: 4164

Re: Brown Recluse Spiders

I agree with other posts about introducing other spiders - like the common house spider. I'd rather have a lot common house spiders than brown recluses in the house. The other thing you could try are the electronic ultrasonic pest repellers - they may encourage the insects and spiders to leave the house. Be sure to read the reviews on the ultrasonic pest repellers - some are better than others.
by danaht
Thu Aug 25, 2022 9:18 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Alternative to VWO - ex China?
Replies: 14
Views: 2114

Re: Alternative to VWO - ex China?

roth evangelist wrote: Thu Aug 25, 2022 8:40 pm China is 34.10% of VWO. Taiwan is 17.50%. That's more than half the entire fund. If you think China is going to invade Taiwan and that's going to influence your asset allocation, maybe you shouldn't invest in emerging markets.

Of course, you shouldn't stray from index weights because of something that might happen, and if you own a total international index fund, China and Taiwan make up about 12.9% of that fund. If total international is 40% of your portfolio, that's 5.16% of your portfolio. At 25% it's 3.22%. At 20%, 2.6%, etc. And that's not counting bonds if you have them. So maybe put your exposure in perspective.
That's probably a good idea. I may just trade most of my VWO for VEA or some all international fund like FZILX.
by danaht
Thu Aug 25, 2022 7:27 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Alternative to VWO - ex China?
Replies: 14
Views: 2114

Re: Alternative to VWO - ex China?

retired@50 wrote: Thu Aug 25, 2022 7:26 pm
danaht wrote: Thu Aug 25, 2022 7:23 pm Listening to several experts - I think there is a good chance that China will try to invade Taiwan in the next 24 months. Given the risks of the China investments - I kind of want to divest from VWO because of the large China exposure. Is there an all international (or all emerging markets) fund that excludes just China?
Check out EXMC.

https://www.ishares.com/us/products/288504/

Regards,
Great! Thanks
by danaht
Thu Aug 25, 2022 7:23 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Alternative to VWO - ex China?
Replies: 14
Views: 2114

Alternative to VWO - ex China?

Listening to several experts - I think there is a good chance that China will try to invade Taiwan in the next 24 months. Given the risks of the China investments - I kind of want to divest from VWO because of the large China exposure. Is there an all international (or all emerging markets) fund that excludes just China?
by danaht
Sun Jul 31, 2022 6:57 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: If you have over $1M at Fidelity or Schwab, do you have a personal rep?
Replies: 44
Views: 7261

Re: If you have over $1M at Fidelity or Schwab, do you have a personal rep?

I don't think there is any "free" option at Fidelity to get a personal rep. If you have that added service it will cost you something. The best thing that Fidelity does provide for people who have a lot invested with them is a free turbo tax offer every tax season. I wish they would offer a commision discount on options also - hopefully that will be something added in the future. If they added that - I would definitely sell a lot more covered calls on my ETFs / stocks. This is incorrect, as many posters have stated above. Why do you think this? I have a personal rep. I have had two of them in the last ~10 years (one got promoted out their role). They were both CFPs, and very knowledgeable. At the first meeting with them, I told t...
by danaht
Sun Jul 31, 2022 4:58 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: If you have over $1M at Fidelity or Schwab, do you have a personal rep?
Replies: 44
Views: 7261

Re: If you have over $1M at Fidelity or Schwab, do you have a personal rep?

I don't think there is any "free" option at Fidelity to get a personal rep. If you have that added service it will cost you something. The best thing that Fidelity does provide for people who have a lot invested with them is a free turbo tax offer every tax season. I wish they would offer a commision discount on options also - hopefully that will be something added in the future. If they added that - I would definitely sell a lot more covered calls on my ETFs / stocks.
by danaht
Sun Jul 31, 2022 4:08 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Does inflation eat away at investments at 1:1 "gearing"?
Replies: 28
Views: 2804

Re: Does inflation eat away at investments at 1:1 "gearing"?

It depends what you were invested in. You would need to be earning 9% to just break even. The average stock is still down about 13% this year - so in real terms you are down 22% (-13% + -9% inflation rate) if you stayed in the S&P 500. Bonds have also performed badly too. The only thing working so far have been energy stocks, and single family home real estate (and those are both showing weakness recently). I recommend just staying in the S&P 500 - and not worrying about inflation. This is a good time to dollar cost average into the S&P 500 - when stocks are on sale.
by danaht
Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:51 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Leave Bank of America for SoFi Bank?
Replies: 80
Views: 10545

Re: Leave Bank of America for SoFi Bank?

B of A appears to have much better credit card rewards than Fidelity or Sofi (if your at the highest rewards tier) . So if it was me - I would just have enough assets in B of A to qualify for the highest credit card rewards. (You can do this by just keeping $200 in a B of A checking account - and transferring an IRA to a B of A IRA for the rest). Afterwards - you can just open another checking account with Sofi or Fidelity for your main banking needs.
by danaht
Sun Jul 10, 2022 8:47 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Reverse mortgage-- why not??
Replies: 36
Views: 6415

Re: Reverse mortgage-- why not??

JoeRetire wrote: Thu Jun 30, 2022 5:43 am
danaht wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 8:34 am The risk here is that you could outlive the reverse mortgage - and then lose your home.
That doesn't happen. That's not how reverse mortgages work.
That is true. The homeowners have to leave the home before the bank can collect on it. But how do you stay in your home once your income is gone? Homes are expensive to maintain. I think these should only be used as a last resort - and not for any retirement plan.
by danaht
Sun Jul 10, 2022 8:37 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Out of Market Chiefs Fan - How do you watch?
Replies: 16
Views: 1315

Re: Out of Market Chiefs Fan - How do you watch?

If you had family or friend in the area willing to allow you to setup a OTA Sling TV Air TV device or Tablo TV in their house. You should then be able to record and stream anywhere from those.
by danaht
Fri Jun 17, 2022 5:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards
Replies: 7041
Views: 878824

Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Is there an easy way to determine if you are over the $2500 category bonus reward limit for the customized cash back credit cards? The only way for me to check right now seems to be at the "Rewards" tab - you start getting messages like "Combined purchases for bonus exceeds the quarterly max of $2,500". But you might not catch this until 10 days later. Is there a better approach that fellow boggleheads use to make sure they don't go above the $2500 quarterly limit on one card?
by danaht
Sun Jun 12, 2022 12:13 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: YouTube TV
Replies: 127
Views: 16710

Re: YouTube TV

Because you can't get the local channels with an antenna - You Tube TV is probably the best choice for you. If you need all the channels (+ local channels) and unlimited DVR storage, or ESPN + Sports - YTTV is a great choice. Otherwise if you are on a budget and were able to get some of the local channels via antenna - then I would recommend Sling TV Blue over YTTV. Sling TV is a little buggier and has less features - but it also costs a lot less especially if you don't need ESPN + the sports channels. You Tube TV is $64.95 per month while Sling TV Blue is only ~$38 per month. You might want to add some extra channels to Sling TV - which could add another $6.49 - but that is still $20 a month cheaper than YTTV with the added channels. Howev...
by danaht
Sun Jun 12, 2022 11:57 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: TX electricity rates
Replies: 88
Views: 9643

Re: TX electricity rates

What is the cost of breaking the 3 year contract? If it's only $200 to break it - it is most likely worth getting the 3 year contract. You probably won't need to break it - but if we do get a recession in one year that leads to energy prices going down - it might be worth it to break it at that point.
by danaht
Sun Jun 12, 2022 11:29 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I want to buy Docusign stock
Replies: 99
Views: 12406

Re: I want to buy Docusign stock

I think buying individual stocks is OK - just know that you need to actively monitor and manage those - unlike an S&P 500 fund. Individual companies can go bankrupt and the value can go to $0. To me this is similar to buying individual real estate - it's an actively managed at risk investment. But definitely OK if it's a small portion of your investments. As far as DocuSign goes - it's not something I would choose to invest in - since the forward PE is 37. That is a high forward PE for a company that is not growing as fast as before right now. It might have further room to drop in price to a lower PE.
by danaht
Wed May 25, 2022 9:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards
Replies: 7041
Views: 878824

Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

I made a gas purchase at sams with the app on Jan 9 and it received 5% on my CCR set as online. In the app I have my paypal key (which currently points to the CCR) set as the payment method. BASE: PAYPAL *SAMS CLUB CATEGORY BONUS: for online shopping purchase RELATIONSHIP BONUS: Preferred Rewards - 75% Bonus Thanks. I guess I need to start using my Paypal account with Sams Club to start getting the online rewards category again. I find no way to use Paypal directly in the Sam's Club app. Note that exarkun used a Paypal key, which would be entered as a regular credit card. Since paypal key has been discontinued, I'ved tested out using my CCR in the sam's club app. Every purchase of gas so far has received 5.25% in rewards. So paypal key, at...
by danaht
Tue Apr 12, 2022 2:10 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Burned by Paul Merriman Advice
Replies: 242
Views: 30607

Re: Burned by Paul Merriman Advice

International in general has been a bad investment. There is too much risk and very little reward if you invest something like China and they decide to invade another country (that happens to be an important chip producer) - there goes your investment. Other parts of international are almost in a recession due to the high cost of energy. Be glad you had some of of your portfolio in the US - and not all of it was international. I am still invested in international ETFs - but not adding at this time. I expect things to get worse internationally before things get better. Why would you not expect the increased risk you cite (in international stocks) to result in increase return over the long term? I don't expect it. I just have some exposure t...
by danaht
Tue Apr 12, 2022 2:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Recommendations for Texas Property Tax Appeal Company
Replies: 53
Views: 5344

Re: Recommendations for Texas Property Tax Appeal Company

Will be interesting to see if there will be changes to the Texas property tax laws so that property taxes are more competitive to where other states are. Nevada and Florida both have no state income tax like TX and still have much cheaper property tax rates than TX does. With some TX home prices doubling in the last couple years - I expect a lot of people to be priced out of their TX homes soon.
by danaht
Tue Apr 12, 2022 12:10 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Can this family afford $1M house?
Replies: 100
Views: 14584

Re: Can this family afford $1M house?

I saw your thread in city-data as well. I understand what you are going through as we are looking for homes in Plana/Frisco as well. Housing prices in North Dallas have appreciated significantly in the past 2 years. They are growing much faster than income creases. Supply chain shortages and labor shortages are affecting new home builds. Normally there is a 6 month supply of homes and the current supply is 15 days. These are stressful times for anyone trying to buy a home. We bid on just 1 home and we were the 25th lowest bid. Someone paid $270k more than us to get that home. We are also experiencing FOMO but have decided to stay put where we are or rent in DFW. currently, we are living out of state. We will pay 90% of the cost of the home...
by danaht
Tue Apr 12, 2022 11:48 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Burned by Paul Merriman Advice
Replies: 242
Views: 30607

Re: Burned by Paul Merriman Advice

International in general has been a bad investment. There is too much risk and very little reward if you invest something like China and they decide to invade another country (that happens to be an important chip producer) - there goes your investment. Other parts of international are almost in a recession due to the high cost of energy. Be glad you had some of of your portfolio in the US - and not all of it was international. I am still invested in international ETFs - but not adding at this time. I expect things to get worse internationally before things get better.
by danaht
Tue Apr 12, 2022 9:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I buy Owner's Title Insurance?
Replies: 43
Views: 3893

Re: Should I buy Owner's Title Insurance?

I just bought and moved into a new home in Las Vegas - also from a top 5 mega-cap national home builder. I used the builder's lender and title company to buy the house. It was the title company that provided me the owner's title insurance. It's definitely an added risk if you don't get it. Also, if your paying all cash for the house - you probably can afford the extra 1K or 2K for the owners title insurance.
by danaht
Mon Apr 04, 2022 12:07 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Safe to do Roth conversions in 2022?
Replies: 3
Views: 611

Safe to do Roth conversions in 2022?

Has anyone done any Roth conversions in 2022 yet? I have held off so far this year - since I am worried about possible retroactive law changes that could prevent people who are over the Roth IRA contribution income level to make Roth conversions too. Is it safe to go in the water now?
by danaht
Mon Apr 04, 2022 11:03 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Transition to fully Remote
Replies: 36
Views: 3854

Re: Transition to fully Remote

My office is 20 hours away now :D . I took a chance and relocated to another state while my office still had a WFH policy due to covid. I believe that the policy will probably gradually change back to a full onsite policy. That's also why I think everyone is trying to buy a new home in a hurry - they are trying to get one before office policies change (off topic). (back on topic) I am hoping to be grandfathered-in to a full work from home policy due to my new home location. I really like work from home. The main thing for me is that I dreaded the 30 mile (60 mile round trip) commute to the office every day. Work from home has been a huge benefit to avoid this risky commute (there were a lot of crazy drivers and unsafe cars in that path). It...
by danaht
Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:12 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Too much taxes owed due to mutual funds
Replies: 29
Views: 4613

Re: Too much taxes owed due to mutual funds

starboi wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2022 12:12 am How can you be taxed on paper gains?
When a mutual fund sells it's underlying asset(s) to buy other asset(s) (without distributing anything to the shareholder) - those assets can sometimes be taxed as having capital gains - even though the shareholder never received cash from the sell(s). In more modern times - some mutual funds and ETFs have been able to get around these hidden unexpected capital gains by trading "like" assets so that it involves no capital gains. But a lot of mutual funds still don't do this - and still have the large "hidden" capital gains. That's why I don't own any non-index mutual funds - especially in taxable accounts.
by danaht
Sun Apr 03, 2022 12:12 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Am I in trouble? Worried I messed up my retirement already.
Replies: 67
Views: 14707

Re: Am I in trouble? Worried I messed up my retirement already.

Don't worry about it - if you put this in perspective the total size of your Roth is still smaller than the going price of most new cars today. And with new cars as soon as you drive off the lot - you lose a lot of the value. I would just suggest that you start putting new money towards a broad US market index fund like (VOO, or VTI). With dollar cost averaging - soon the value of your VOO (or VTI) funds will be much larger than the other investments you started with.
by danaht
Sun Mar 27, 2022 12:37 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buying a home in California, out of state
Replies: 19
Views: 2324

Re: Buying a home in California, out of state

If you are going to buy a home that close to the CA / Nevada border - it's probably better to buy in Nevada rather than CA due to the extra costs associated with CA. I just did that - I just moved from TX to Las Vegas to be closer to my family who all live in southern CA.
by danaht
Sat Mar 05, 2022 5:44 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Closing on house in 1 week builder raises price by 10K
Replies: 111
Views: 14505

Re: Closing on house in 1 week builder raises price by 10K

Is this a well known national home-builder? Just curious if the big national home-builders are adding price escalation clauses to their contracts.