Search found 124 matches

by jpsc
Fri Jul 12, 2019 8:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do foreign nationals need to file US income taxes?
Replies: 10
Views: 1180

Re: Do foreign nationals need to file US income taxes?

If they don't earn any income in US, why declare ?
by jpsc
Tue Jun 11, 2019 11:15 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How to preserve $10M+ in wealth owned by unsophisticated people?
Replies: 82
Views: 17417

Re: How to preserve $10M+ in wealth owned by unsophisticated people?

If you want ultra safe you can buy US Treasury bills - that mature in one month, you can set up
a recurring purchase - it is paying 2% something at Treasury Direct. US Treasury just send the interest income to your bank account
or you can buy those Fidelity government bond fund - also paying around 2%
or you can always buy Treasury TIPS, also another very safe investment

all the safe investments are paying 1.5% to 2%
by jpsc
Wed May 08, 2019 1:01 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Shingrix [Vaccine availability]
Replies: 153
Views: 17641

Re: Shingrix [Vaccine availability]

Get Shingrix price and coupons at - https://www.goodrx.com/shingrix
it's a $10 off of $161, better than none :sharebeer
by jpsc
Sun May 05, 2019 12:38 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 401k advice
Replies: 8
Views: 1293

Re: 401k advice

wow, 0.11% expense fees for a total stock index? that's highway robbery
even Fidelity 500 index (FXAIX) fee is going for 0.01%
by jpsc
Thu May 02, 2019 4:39 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: House A/C: repair refrigerant leak vs replace
Replies: 13
Views: 1314

Re: House A/C: repair refrigerant leak vs replace

I wouldn't repair, just buy those portable AC that you can move room to room.
I install 2 air ducts, one for in-air and one for out hot air (some wall cutting required)
the nice thing is that you don't need a gigantic AC to cool the whole house down
just the room you're in.
by jpsc
Thu May 02, 2019 4:11 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Vanguard Patented a Way to Avoid Taxes on Mutual Funds"
Replies: 140
Views: 13948

Re: Bloomberg--Vanguard Patented a Way to Avoid Taxes on Mutual Funds

If the mutual funds doesn't sell, it doesn't have to pay income tax - just like you and me
so they can only buy individual stock, not trade options or buy LP?
by jpsc
Tue Apr 30, 2019 5:32 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Intel sell or hold NOW sold.
Replies: 71
Views: 7370

Re: Intel sell or hold

I say keep the 30,000+ intel stock, the quarterly dividend is enough for you not to work. At 30c that's 9K+ per quarter, or $3K per month.
Not sure about your expense, but $3K cash is more than I make after tax
by jpsc
Mon Apr 29, 2019 6:12 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Open Office and stock quote
Replies: 2
Views: 988

Re: Open Office and stock quote

Is there a link to download Googlesheet for plug into Open Office, or are you force to use Google Sheet / calc ?
I need to use Open Office, not some canned service
by jpsc
Mon Apr 29, 2019 5:55 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Sitting on $1.5m cash - need help
Replies: 53
Views: 16065

Re: Sitting on $1.5m cash - need help

I'm surprise that no one mention Spyder dividend (SPYD) and Vanguard Dividend growth, Vanguard international dividend high yield (VIGI) for dividend income. From that $1.5M if you buy those dividend ETF, and use the dividend income, you don't actually need income from a job.
by jpsc
Mon Apr 29, 2019 1:53 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Open Office and stock quote
Replies: 2
Views: 988

Open Office and stock quote

A while back, someone wrote GetQuote extension for Open Office calc,
I now need that function, but a search on google reveal GetQuote somehow no longer support
for Open Office Calc

So any suggestion ?

thanks
by jpsc
Wed May 23, 2018 3:07 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buying I bonds - what is the purpose of Registration on TD website
Replies: 24
Views: 3718

Re: Buying I bonds - what is the purpose of Registration on TD website

I bought them with spouse as co-owner. I had no trouble cashing in a trial amount after one year, even after adding a different bank for convenience of spouse. Have heard it is a bit of a hassle to have heirs cash them in. It is nice to buy them with less than 30 years until retirement so they could be cashed in and pay federal tax when income is usually lower. Some parents qualify to use for their child's college tax-free, depending on income. In some emergencies, your income would be lower anyway, such as if you lost your job. The nice thing about I-bonds, and when you retire and have no other income, is that the interest that the I-bonds earn is tax free, up to 30K per year tax free. So I highly recommend you buy a ladder of I-bonds
by jpsc
Sat May 19, 2018 9:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Why do so many people quote "You will likely be in a lower tax bracket in retirement"
Replies: 756
Views: 75811

Re: Why do so many people quote "You will likely be in a lower tax bracket in retirement"

randomguy wrote: Fri May 18, 2018 11:59 pm
106k/year annual contribution (53k for you and wife), 7% real returns and you are looking at 21 million after 40 years. Seems pretty doable:) Or if you invest with Dave Ramsey and get 10% real you are looking at 47 million. Definitely should have done the ROTH. And we haven't even talked about your defined benefit plans yet for another 4.5 million or so, 403, and who knows what else:)
There is no warranty of 7% real return, some year your 401K will return -20% like 2008-2009 - some year your 401K becomes 201K :-)
by jpsc
Fri May 04, 2018 12:45 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Where to invest about 200K
Replies: 9
Views: 1714

Re: Where to invest about 200K

You could always buy SPY, QQQ, or DIA with that $200K
by jpsc
Fri May 04, 2018 12:43 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Too much cash - what to do?
Replies: 16
Views: 3621

Re: Too much cash - what to do?

If you are buying TIPS now, and probably has TD account, you could
set your account to buy I-bonds for x amount every month. Build a ladder of I-bonds,
it's tax deferred instead of putting in bank that pay ...a paltry of 0.05% or some non-sense
interest rate
by jpsc
Wed May 02, 2018 10:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Help me choose a second computer monitor
Replies: 18
Views: 2374

Re: Help me choose a second computer monitor

I have this 60" 4K TV that I use as my computer monitor :-)
by jpsc
Wed May 02, 2018 9:59 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I-bond fixed rate = 0.3%
Replies: 62
Views: 12067

Re: I-bond fixed rate = 0.3%

jeffyscott wrote: Wed May 02, 2018 5:03 pm
Mel Lindauer wrote: Wed May 02, 2018 3:32 pm And don't forget about EE Bonds. They can come in handy for building a retirement annuity.

Here's a Forbes column I did on that topic some time ago.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/theboglehe ... eb6cb97ba3
But pretty much only if held 20 years and not too much longer than that, since they double in 20 years but earn 0.1% otherwise. So they would earn 0.1% per year for 19 years, 11 months, then go up by about 96% in value in one month, before going back to earning 0.1% per year.
I have both I-bonds and EE-bonds, after 10 years, the I-bonds value seems to go up a lot faster than EE. Why people still buy EE ?
by jpsc
Wed May 02, 2018 9:52 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I-bond fixed rate = 0.3%
Replies: 62
Views: 12067

Re: I-bond fixed rate = 0.3%

TravelGeek wrote: Tue May 01, 2018 10:54 pm I’m gonna be RICH! :P
With the stock market (DOW, SP500), even bonds mutual funds keeps going down- I-bond looks really good !!!
by jpsc
Thu Apr 26, 2018 8:50 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Investing for a 17 y.o.
Replies: 18
Views: 2192

Re: Investing for a 17 y.o.

Put your son $8K in I-bonds. When he is ready, he can take the money out and use it to pay for college tax free.
I-bonds is currently paying 2.58%, tax deferred
and nothing beat I-bonds (CD, saving ...even stock index funds) at the moment.
by jpsc
Thu Apr 26, 2018 8:47 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: DIY Desktop PC
Replies: 43
Views: 3815

Re: DIY Desktop PC

raveon wrote: Thu Apr 26, 2018 6:19 pm
1. Building for fun/educational + reduce costs.
2. Not intending to buy SATA drives. Will reuse 12 year old drives for now.
3. Not looking to overclock or do heavy gaming
4. Mostly an average user, but do want to experiment with CUDA programming / ML etc
All current motherboard use SATA drives, sorry but you can't even find IDE drive at the local computer store
maybe at the junk store. but if you want obsolete (pre 2010), visit your local junk store and buy refurbish PC
with IDE drive. 1TB Sata is going for $30-$35 nowadays, so don't be cheap.
by jpsc
Thu Apr 26, 2018 8:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: DIY Desktop PC
Replies: 43
Views: 3815

Re: DIY Desktop PC

madbrain wrote: Thu Apr 26, 2018 6:34 pm
For the monitor you chose, the built-in GPU will be fine, unless you are a gaming afficionado.
I would never pick a motherboard with build in GPU. What if the motherboard GPU die?
also get a video/GPU that can handle 4K TV/HDMI monitor.
by jpsc
Thu Apr 26, 2018 8:42 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: DIY Desktop PC
Replies: 43
Views: 3815

Re: DIY Desktop PC

Tech wrote: Thu Apr 26, 2018 4:46 pm 500W Power supply would be too small if you happen to add a nice gaming graphic card.
16GB memory is decent, you would want 32GB if you find a good deal.
The rest looks good.
This is quite true - don't be cheap on power supply. Get at least 1000W to 2000W power supply
if you plan to use I7 and a couple video cards. Add up the wattage at max load and x2. That is what
a power supply you need to buy. Read review on Amazon, some import power supply are junk
by jpsc
Thu Apr 26, 2018 8:37 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is my computer obsolete?
Replies: 60
Views: 7699

Re: Is my computer obsolete?

Your PC is totally obsolete, walk/run to the nearest computer store or Costco and get yourself a whopping i7 with 64G of ram
and 10TB of HD. 4K 26" monitor, and a decent video card.

please buy a couple, so my Intel stock can go up.


Thanks :-)
by jpsc
Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:57 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How do you stop junk mail?
Replies: 38
Views: 4578

Re: How do you stop junk mail?

tc101 wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2017 7:17 pm I did a google on "Stop Junk Mail". A big list of sites came up. I don't know which are for real.

Do you know the best way to stop junk mail? We are getting 10 or more unwanted catalogs every day.
The easiest to stop getting junk mail - open the envelope, and if it has one of those self stamp envelope just shove as much junk mails
into that return/self stamp envelope and mail it back !!!
by jpsc
Tue Apr 24, 2018 1:27 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Cashing out of the Bay Area
Replies: 84
Views: 16223

Re: Cashing out of the Bay Area

Any other Bay Area homeowners thinking about cashing out? It feels to me like we may be near the peak of the current real estate cycle. Moving to a cheaper state and buying a house for cash has always been a major component of my retirement plan. I have been targeting 2020 or 2021 for that milestone, in order to finish vesting a nice chunk of RSU shares, but housing has appreciated much more rapidly than I expected. I have crunched some approximate numbers and think I can afford to pull the trigger this year. I may even come out ahead if I sell now versus waiting a few years, if a housing downturn is on the horizon. Does anyone care to offer their prognostication? Realtor recommendations would also be highly appreciated, if that's appropri...
by jpsc
Tue Apr 24, 2018 1:23 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is it time to dump high yield savings for prime money market?
Replies: 141
Views: 35845

Re: Is it time to dump high yield savings for prime money market?

Whakamole wrote: Mon Apr 23, 2018 12:32 pm
I/EE bonds are a very small part of the US debt and may simply not be worth the cost to operate.
I'm not sure about that - a lot of folks forget to cash their bonds when it mature in 30 years or they misplace their paper bonds.
The Treasury never sent a notice that say "Your bond is mature, please cash them"
by jpsc
Tue Apr 24, 2018 1:18 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is it time to dump high yield savings for prime money market?
Replies: 141
Views: 35845

Re: Is it time to dump high yield savings for prime money market?

pascalwager wrote: Sun Apr 22, 2018 11:20 pm
jpsc wrote: Sun Apr 22, 2018 7:59 pm When I compare high yield saving account - max you can get is 1.8% - taxable
Look at I-bonds, paying currently at 2.48%, tax deferred until you sell - no state/local tax.
so why putting in a bank ?
I-bond purchases are limited to $10k per year. Also, not liquid first year. Penalty to redeem for first five years. Appears that the Treasury is phasing them out, too.
True, if you have a lot of money, you can buy TIPS or US Treasury bonds - they still pay more than bank CD
by jpsc
Tue Apr 24, 2018 1:14 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How old are you and how much do you save for retirement a year
Replies: 244
Views: 42988

Re: How old are you and how much do you save for retirement a year

revert wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 8:44 pm 29, Single, VHCOL area

Currently $300k in retirement accounts and $400k in taxable.

In an extremely fortunate position and saving just shy of $50k/year in retirement accounts and $100k/yr in taxable. Make hay while the sun shines, etc. etc. :sharebeer
wow, if you can only put in $18K a year in 401K, how do you get it up to $300K ?
by jpsc
Mon Apr 23, 2018 9:46 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Building a New Home (Talk me out of it!)
Replies: 61
Views: 7225

Re: Building a New Home (Talk me out of it!)

Why buy a new home - use the money and invest in some dividend paying ETF/mutual fund/stocks.
use the dividend and take your wife on trips, lots of trips.
So if you take your wife on trips, and not staying home - why buy a new house ? :-)
by jpsc
Mon Apr 23, 2018 9:42 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buy iBonds now or wait for May1?
Replies: 6
Views: 989

Re: Buy iBonds now or wait for May1?

I would do 60% before May, and 40% after May/November.
You're not loosing anything - it's nickle and dimes (lots of nickles and dimes) :-)
by jpsc
Sun Apr 22, 2018 8:03 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Dividend fund in taxable account during retirement, yea or nay?
Replies: 33
Views: 5266

Re: Dividend fund in taxable account during retirement, yea or nay?

Is it possible to just get the dividend yield instead of selling share during retirement?
if the dividend yield 4% - why sell share ?
by jpsc
Sun Apr 22, 2018 7:59 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is it time to dump high yield savings for prime money market?
Replies: 141
Views: 35845

Re: Is it time to dump high yield savings for prime money market?

When I compare high yield saving account - max you can get is 1.8% - taxable
Look at I-bonds, paying currently at 2.48%, tax deferred until you sell - no state/local tax.
so why putting in a bank ?
by jpsc
Sun Apr 22, 2018 7:51 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Another emergency fund allocation thread
Replies: 17
Views: 2062

Re: Another emergency fund allocation thread

I buy I-bond for emergency fund. Build an I-bond ladder since 2000.
No tax to pay until sell, can't beat the interest rate - better than any CD bank account
by jpsc
Sun Apr 22, 2018 7:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I am 62 year old with no bonds now. Need advice please.
Replies: 13
Views: 3004

Re: I am 62 year old with no bonds now. Need advice please.

Why not just buy those Vanguard target fund - let say you are going to do cash out in five years, buy Vanguard target fund 2020 or 2025. They have right amount of bond, stock and decrease stock and increase bond each year.
by jpsc
Thu Apr 19, 2018 8:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What is best strategy for taking RMD from VG IRA
Replies: 26
Views: 5919

Re: What is best strategy for taking RMD from VG IRA

You should look at your bond funds and just move/consolidate to Vanguard Target Retirement income trust
by jpsc
Thu Apr 19, 2018 7:05 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Finally Getting out of Annuities
Replies: 5
Views: 1119

Re: Finally Getting out of Annuities

I've successfully converted both of my parents (age 55) to passive investing and they are buying index funds in Roth IRA's I've set up for them recently. In 2008 they were swindled into getting out of the market completely and buying fixed index annuities housed in traditional IRA's. Long story short they've not only missed one of the greatest bull runs in history, but have each contributed 11k (5k initially and $50/month over 10 years) yet the value of each annuity today is only 13k. I know... Now that they are out of the surrender fee period we're considering rolling over each of their 13k IRA's into their Vanguard Roth IRAs and cash-flowing whatever income tax is due. Reason being is they're not longer contributing and they're tax brack...
by jpsc
Wed Apr 18, 2018 8:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: PC laptops
Replies: 94
Views: 10561

Re: PC laptops

if all you use the laptop is to browse the internet/email - instead of buying a laptop, get a quad-core android tablet with wifi and/or cell phone
and those 64G sim flash. Lots of free games and apps to keep you entertain for years :-)
by jpsc
Tue Apr 17, 2018 8:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 2.5% Withdrawal for 50 Years With 50/50 Portfolio?
Replies: 121
Views: 17197

Re: 2.5% Withdrawal for 50 Years With 50/50 Portfolio?

TonyDAntonio wrote: Tue Apr 17, 2018 11:19 am
Thanks to this site I now worry that I don't have enough for retirement with 2 million plus and no debt including a paid off house in the SF Bay area. Thank you bogleheads. 🙄
If you invest in VIG - or one of those Vanguard target retirement income trust, you can make 2.5% to 5% easily per year.
by jpsc
Tue Apr 17, 2018 8:44 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Cash instead of bonds?
Replies: 59
Views: 15511

Re: Cash instead of bonds?

Why not just buy a 2 years Treasury, or a 5 years TIPS?
staying in cash, and have inflation eating at your money is just bad.
by jpsc
Tue Apr 17, 2018 8:40 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Please help me with arguments for/against actively managed...
Replies: 34
Views: 3571

Re: Please help me with arguments for/against actively managed...

simple - expense.

Take a look at some index SP500 funds, then look at the managed fund like Contra, etc -
do a chart comparison (over lay the two, etc) - they both look a like. Why would you want to pay $$$ vs 0.$ per year?
by jpsc
Tue Apr 17, 2018 8:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Retire early. Do you think it is possible?
Replies: 33
Views: 4917

Re: Retire early. Do you think it is possible?

basspond wrote: Tue Apr 17, 2018 8:30 pm It will be hard to live on $2k a month with almost 1/2 in property tax. Utilities, maintenance, insurance, auto expenses, food, entertainment, medical/dental, kids activities, vacation will eat into the remaining $1,100 very quickly.

It’s doable if your current portfolio doubles and you can save the least of 30% or $40k yearly.
it is possible, just make sure you have stocks/mutual funds that pay monthly or quarterly dividends.
by jpsc
Tue Apr 17, 2018 5:13 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Too Many Options: IRA, i401k, 403b, 457b. What to do?
Replies: 8
Views: 1257

Re: Too Many Options: IRA, i401k, 403b, 457b. What to do?

Max out your pre-tax retirement account, that will cut your tax bracket.
Any other money left over from paying the bills - buy I-bonds
by jpsc
Tue Apr 17, 2018 5:00 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with my mom's investments, please.
Replies: 47
Views: 6612

Re: Help with my mom's investments, please.

If I were you - I would look into Vanguard target income trust fund, or Vanguard Dividend Appreciation VIG, or simply buy I-bonds.

Dividends are tax free if you have 0 income - but since you have annuities and social security, I-bonds (tax deferred, compound interest, no fee) is probably the best. Last few months, it is too volatile for index like SP500, NASDAQ-100.

Plus the advantage of I-bonds - your mom could have you or other sibling as co-owner - no need for death tax and the bond keeps growing for 30 years.
by jpsc
Sun Apr 15, 2018 3:57 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How can I Invest 4 million dollars to earn 120k (inflation adjusted) a year for life?
Replies: 93
Views: 26992

Re: How can I Invest 4 million dollars to earn 120k (inflation adjusted) a year for life?

You could buy a Vanguard Target Retirement Income Trust Plus - there are several different one
that pay anywhere from 2% to 6%, instead of buying a life insurance/annuities
by jpsc
Fri Apr 13, 2018 9:51 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Which fidelity funds?
Replies: 29
Views: 5481

Re: Which fidelity funds?

I would look at the expense per fidelity funds - Some funds has low maintenance fee - most index fund should be under 0.10%
by jpsc
Fri Apr 13, 2018 5:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Help me decide what to do with my 30 year old NML whole life policies
Replies: 22
Views: 2730

Re: Help me decide what to do with my 30 year old NML whole life policies

for tax efficient, can you borrow against your life insurance policies instead of withdraw?
by jpsc
Fri Apr 13, 2018 4:08 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Grandparents requested our help to manage $300K
Replies: 29
Views: 4404

Re: Grandparents requested our help to manage $300K

since your grandparents are retire, they should just invest in some target income fund
Vanguard and Fidelity has those - the target income fund yield is around 5%, so they should buy that
and get a yearly 5% dividend or $15K a year.

A note - Vanguard Target Retirement Income Trust Plus seems like it is a private corporate 401K (in my corp 401k plan)
the consumer grade only return 2% or so
by jpsc
Fri Apr 13, 2018 4:25 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buy I-Bonds before May 1 or After?
Replies: 16
Views: 2561

Re: Buy I-Bonds before May 1 or After?

Buy it now and lock in the 2.48%, why wait until May and get the measly 2.2% ?
:happy
by jpsc
Thu Apr 12, 2018 5:23 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I bonds rates and returns
Replies: 7
Views: 1886

Re: I bonds rates and returns

I-bond is best keep for more than a year to see the benefits
by jpsc
Wed Apr 11, 2018 6:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: High-yield Savings
Replies: 31
Views: 5512

Re: High-yield Savings

the best saving account still fall short of I-bonds at US Treasury direct. I-bonds is paying 2.48% state tax free federal tax deferred until sell Correct if wrong, from my reading I-bonds won't let you redeem for a year from purchase? And then the federal tax deferral is an all or nothing proposition, ie you can't just defer tax on a portion of your bonds and redeem/pay tax on another portion? They look attractive, but I balked at a few of the conditions. You are right about the one year wait period and there is a small interest penalty up to five years, if I remember correctly. I am not sure about the all or nothing. It might be that on a given purchase that is true, but don't know how that works for a holding of multiple purchases over t...
by jpsc
Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:52 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Alternatives to muni bonds? (and portfolio update)
Replies: 13
Views: 3071

Re: Alternatives to muni bonds? (and portfolio update)

You could buy that Vanguard Target Retirement Income Trust .