Search found 3902 matches

by hsv_climber
Sat Mar 06, 2021 11:54 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What year to report Roth IRA distributions?
Replies: 3
Views: 480

Re: What year to report RothIRA distributions?

cas wrote: Sat Mar 06, 2021 11:33 am You may find this thread useful - I think it is your exact situation. Forum expert Alan S. goes through options and tax reporting.

Excess Roth Contribution (March 3, 2021)
Thanks!
Yeah, looks like very similar situation, except that I'd need to pay early penalty on distributions.
by hsv_climber
Sat Mar 06, 2021 11:20 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What year to report Roth IRA distributions?
Replies: 3
Views: 480

What year to report Roth IRA distributions?

Here is my situation: - Contributed to RothIRA (for myself & wife) $6k in April 2020 - Due to job changes / higher wages in 2020, realized that we've barely crossed the magic AGI number and not allowed to contribute to Roth for 2020 at all (and most likely won't be allowed in 2021 either). - (could've tried backdoor, but since I am not familiar with it, decided to withdraw, since thought it would be easier) Submitted contributions withdrawal request to Vanguard in early Feb., 2021 - Vanguard returned $6k for both of our accounts + distributions (I've made a mistake thinking that distributions would be near $0, since money were in Money Market accounts; however, distributions are calculated on the value of the entire account :shock: ) No...
by hsv_climber
Fri Feb 24, 2017 5:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?
Replies: 7203
Views: 1413223

Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

My general recommendation to Bogleheads readers of this thread is to regularly review three to six travel/credit cards/rewards blogs. They provide you with the latest news and contain useful information you did not seek. My regular go-to blogs are: http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/ http://millionmilesecrets.com/ http://www.doctorofcredit.com/ http://boardingarea.com/onemileatatime/ http://thepointsguy.com/ http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/ I do NOT read everything. I scan titles, expand those that seem relevant, and read them completely only if they appear useful. Thus, the whole exercise takes from 5 minutes to 45 minutes, depending on how many days have passed since my last review and whether there is something directly relev...
by hsv_climber
Sun Jan 17, 2016 10:00 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Large amount of CDs maturing....what to do?
Replies: 162
Views: 27470

Re: Large amount of CDs maturing....what to do?

protagonist wrote:One other question....
Can seniors do withdrawals penalty-free, as is the case with Penfed IRA certificates and some others?
Sorry, I don't know. I am not a senior and have not researched this issue.
by hsv_climber
Sun Jan 17, 2016 9:58 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Large amount of CDs maturing....what to do?
Replies: 162
Views: 27470

Re: Large amount of CDs maturing....what to do?

Questions: Did you find the IRA transfer easy to do? Were you able to do it completely online, or with a bare minimum of emails (e.g., to email picture of ID and signed IRA application)? Or was their some hard-copy mailing required? Did you ask for and receive a guarantee that the rate would be honored once they had received the IRA transfer form (or any other form of rate-lock guarantee)? It usually has taken 2-3 weeks for me to do an IRA transfer, and I don't want to get a reduced rate if they drop their rate before the transfer is complete. That happened to me once. Did PenFed require a signature guarantee on the IRA transfer form? I will call on Tuesday to get answers for myself, but since you've already done the groundwork here, would...
by hsv_climber
Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:21 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Large amount of CDs maturing....what to do?
Replies: 162
Views: 27470

Re: Large amount of CDs maturing....what to do?

Personally, in taxable, I've also been buying 20-year can-not-touch-your-money 3.5% tax-deferred bonds, fully backed by US government.
by hsv_climber
Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:09 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Large amount of CDs maturing....what to do?
Replies: 162
Views: 27470

Re: Large amount of CDs maturing....what to do?

protagonist wrote:But I'm getting sidetracked....I suppose because I can identify with both of your sentiments.
Back to CD's. If anybody finds a better offer please let me know. Thanks.
I have not replied earlier, because I saw that you were only looking for CDs in taxable, but since this thread has started discussing IRAs, nobody has mentioned yet Andrews FCU CD - 7 years, 3%, IRA only.
I've opened an account with them last month and moved there my matured CDs from PenFed IRA.
Getting membership @ Andrews is easy, but they do hard pull on TransUnion on new accounts.
by hsv_climber
Mon Nov 09, 2015 10:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Mango prepaid card - 4.8% (effective) APY
Replies: 557
Views: 387639

Re: Mango prepaid card - 4.8% (effective) APY

nanoanalyzer wrote:Per person, but be careful about using a joint account for transfers. More info on that in the fwf thread...
I've read about using joint accounts for transfers and I've thought that it is only for Mango.
Is Netspend / Brinks having the same issue?
by hsv_climber
Mon Nov 09, 2015 9:57 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Mango prepaid card - 4.8% (effective) APY
Replies: 557
Views: 387639

Re: Mango prepaid card - 4.8% (effective) APY

nanoanalyzer wrote:
achen9291 wrote: The limit is still 5 accounts?
Yes. Some folks have gotten away with 6. Luck of the draw, really.
Is the limit per person or per household? Can myself and wife open 5 accounts each?
by hsv_climber
Sat Nov 07, 2015 5:54 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best Use of Ultimate Rewards Points
Replies: 109
Views: 17487

Re: Best Use of Ultimate Rewards Points

About United...United economy is 30,000 one-way + ~$80 anywhere in Western Europe. Price is about the same on a return ticket.
So, you'd pay 60,000 UR (or United) points + ~$160 on a round-trip ticket to nearly any airport in Western Europe (there are few exceptions, such as higher London taxes) at any time of the year when United economy is available.
by hsv_climber
Sat Nov 07, 2015 5:50 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best Use of Ultimate Rewards Points
Replies: 109
Views: 17487

Re: Best Use of Ultimate Rewards Points

I just would like to add about Southwest booking with points. Not only you can get your points back, but it is also extremely useful for getting the best value out of your points by re-booking the same flight.
For example, you'd buy a one-way ticket from Point A to Point B on Aug. 10 for a flight on Dec. 10.
Lets say, next week (remember - Sothwest sales are always between Tue afternoon and Thr. evening) flight price drops by 3,000 points. All that you'd need to do is login into your southwest account -> select Change -> select the same flight -> rebook. You'll get refunded 3,000 points. This would be essentially "free money", since you were ready to pay higher price the previous week.
by hsv_climber
Mon Aug 24, 2015 8:58 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What to do now with market crash?
Replies: 59
Views: 11371

Re: What to do now with market crash?

Vanguard is taking care of its clients by prohibiting them to do anything about it, since Vanguard website keeps crashing...
by hsv_climber
Thu Jul 09, 2015 10:13 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is it a good idea to travel to Western Europe with kids?
Replies: 39
Views: 5097

Re: Is it a good idea to travel to Western Europe with kids?

Wolkenspiel wrote: Btw, if one goes to e.g. London or Berlin and spends most time in museums, the savings in entrance fees will pay for at least one plane ticket, compared to doing the same in the US (other than DC).
That is not correct. There are many great free museums in US outside DC. For example, check out St. Louis. Art museum, science center, history museum, Zoo (btw. great zoo), etc. are completely FREE.
ASTC membership (typically ~$70-$80 / year) would allow you to visit most Science Centers free, which include other museums, not just Science Centers, as well, e.g. just in IL/Chicago: http://www.astc.org/passport/?country=& ... &keywords=
by hsv_climber
Wed Jul 08, 2015 1:53 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is it a good idea to travel to Western Europe with kids?
Replies: 39
Views: 5097

Re: Is it a good idea to travel to Western Europe with kids?

I guess I am not following that if you went to Europe you would want to do the museums/architecture etc. but if stateside it would be a hiking vacation? Pretty much :-). We've already been to Alamo / Mission trail couple of years ago. Thanks to ASTC membership, we've been to many science centers across US: Columbus (rated #1 by Parents magazine), Boston, Cincy, Orlando, Nashville, BHM, STL, etc. Last Spring Break we went to Stl (zoo/science center/city museum) and Springfield, which has an outstanding interactive Lincoln Museum, which covers Civil War in great details. But that is my major concern with going to Europe, which I was trying to outline in my OP. If going to Europe then I would not want to spend time in Europe's Science centers...
by hsv_climber
Wed Jul 08, 2015 1:24 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is it a good idea to travel to Western Europe with kids?
Replies: 39
Views: 5097

Re: Is it a good idea to travel to Western Europe with kids?

tigermilk wrote:Have you thought about someplace like Tokyo instead? .
It is an interesting idea.
But we live in the Southeast, so I am guessing that travel time to Tokyo would be ~24+ hrs each way. That is a big deal, considering that we don't typically have too many days, since our plans are bounded by school calendar and sport activities during the summer.
by hsv_climber
Wed Jul 08, 2015 1:13 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is it a good idea to travel to Western Europe with kids?
Replies: 39
Views: 5097

Re: Is it a good idea to travel to Western Europe with kids?

Have they been to NYC, DC recently? Did they enjoy it? Alternative to NPs could be cities here in the US. Never been to NYC. Spent a week in DC <2 years ago. They did not really like any of the Art museums, but had a good time in Air & Space (~8 hrs.), History, Newseum (also spent ~8hrs. there), etc., as well as paid attention in Holocaust museum. When we were visiting Newport, RI mansions last Fall, I was surprised that they've not complained and had a good time while visiting 5 mansions on the same day. On our 1-day trip to Boston last Fall, when we were coming back from Acadia NP and were planning to see the city, we've ended up spending the whole day at Boston Science Center. But I can't say that they like science. They like pushin...
by hsv_climber
Wed Jul 08, 2015 12:17 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is it a good idea to travel to Western Europe with kids?
Replies: 39
Views: 5097

Is it a good idea to travel to Western Europe with kids?

Trying to figure out either it is a good idea or not to take a family to Western Europe next Spring break (kids will be almost 13 and 8.5). We have never been there, so specific country is not that important, so it could be London or Paris or London + Paris or Barcelona/Spain or Rome / Florence. Ireland has St. Patrick's Day right on Spring Break and Easter will be earlier (03/27) next year as well. I've read Rick Steves article about taking kids to Europe ( https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/kids-in-europe ), as well as multiple other resources on this topic and they all bring up the point that if you'd go to Europe with kids then you should take them to zoos, playgrounds, pools, etc. But that sounds to me like a bad time...
by hsv_climber
Thu May 29, 2014 10:22 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Would you work without pay?
Replies: 63
Views: 6497

Re: Would you work without pay?

Why can't we just call it "volunteer"?

Many of us have done volunteering in the past and plan to do it in the future.
by hsv_climber
Wed May 14, 2014 7:27 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Intermediate bond fund yields are getting ridiculous
Replies: 20
Views: 3321

Re: Intermediate bond fund yields are getting ridiculous

10 year brokerage CDs (FDIC insured) are 3+% and provide a good alternative.
by hsv_climber
Mon Mar 03, 2014 1:04 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Timing Russian stocks right now
Replies: 22
Views: 2130

Re: Timing Russian stocks right now

Politics aside, lets not forget about possible economic sanctions that can be implemented against Russian companies in the near future.
Gazprom is probably immune right now and might even make extra $$ due to rising natural gas prices in Europe, but other Russian companies may suffer and I have no idea who can predict what will happen.
by hsv_climber
Mon Mar 03, 2014 9:51 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Good Russian ETF
Replies: 15
Views: 2543

Re: Good Russian ETF

I wish I could sell all Russian holdings from my VWO investments, but I don't know how.
by hsv_climber
Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:26 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: New PenFed CD rates!
Replies: 313
Views: 67134

Re: New PenFed CD rates!

I've called PenFed regarding my Edu IRA that I've sent paperwork on Monday.
CSR said that they are 7-days behind on processing IRA paperwork, but will honor Jan. rate for the paperwork received in Jan.
by hsv_climber
Tue Dec 31, 2013 12:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Credit Card Bonuses
Replies: 67
Views: 7611

Re: Credit Card Bonuses

ieee488 wrote: I understand about buying the gift cards - I have done that, but that still doesn't explain how you can avoid spending money using credit card #2 which also has some sort of spending requirement in the first 3 months.
Not sure what you mean by CC # 2.

But here it is in a nutshell - you apply for Chase Sapphire Pref.
- First month - Go & buy $2k of some GCs + $1k of real spending
- Second month - Go & buy $1k of some GCs + $1k of real spending
---> Get the bonus.
Months 3, 4, 5, - use GCs that you bought above, which matches your regular spending of $1k / month as you've written about.
by hsv_climber
Tue Dec 31, 2013 12:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Credit Card Bonuses
Replies: 67
Views: 7611

Re: Credit Card Bonuses

nordlead wrote: One thing I know you can do (if you go to the right stores), is buy them on one CC and return them on another CC. I've done this at a few stores, but mostly because my wife buys it on her Amex and I return it on my Amex. You could churn through $11k pretty quickly that way, but some stores will probably blacklist you from returns.
... and your second Amex will blacklist you even faster than the stores for running negative balance.
by hsv_climber
Tue Dec 31, 2013 12:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Credit Card Bonuses
Replies: 67
Views: 7611

Re: Credit Card Bonuses

ieee, there is no reason to become defensive. Yes, it is easy to spend any amount of money without actually spending much money ( I won't write how on the public forum).
It is also very easy to push spending into future months. For example, you could buy an AMEX Gift Card using your new Chase card and then use AMEX card later on in the year. Or buy some store gift card that you will use later in the year.

I just did a quick count and me & wife got 18-20 CC last year.
by hsv_climber
Tue Dec 31, 2013 11:54 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Credit Card Bonuses
Replies: 67
Views: 7611

Re: Credit Card Bonuses

nordlead wrote: I believe only active accounts are counted against your "average age" credit score metric. So, canceling them doesn't really hurt, it is all the inquiries. Make sure you keep 1-2 old fee free cards to increase your account age.
All accounts count against your "average age". The only issue with the closed accounts is that they will fall off from the report after 10 years; thus, hurting your average age.
by hsv_climber
Tue Dec 31, 2013 11:51 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Credit Card Bonuses
Replies: 67
Views: 7611

Re: Credit Card Bonuses

ieee488 wrote:
Rainier wrote:I did the $400 Chase Sapphire last January and just did the $400 Barclay card offer last month.

Agreed, needs to be $400+ for me in cash or statement credits.
If I waited for a $400 card, I'd be waiting forever.
You and THY4373 are indeed very special individual.
Where can you find a Chase Sapphire Preferred without a $400 bonus? 8-) Actually, it is 40,000 UR points, which are better than $400.
Link is right on Chase website and you can get additional 5000 points for adding an authorized user.
https://creditcards.chase.com/credit-ca ... ?fcsplit=1
by hsv_climber
Mon Dec 23, 2013 2:20 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: [Are there any] Billionaire Boglehead!!!
Replies: 49
Views: 6581

Re: Billionaire Boglehead!!!

friar1610 wrote: What if you are a Boglehead - three fund port or a slice-and-dicer with perhaps no more than 6-8 funds - and also fairly frugal. You hit one of the really Powerball or Megabucks jackpots and end up with, let's say,
a $50M lump-sum after taxes.
One of the rules to win a lottery is to buy a ticket, which contradicts to the definition of the "frugal Boglehead".
by hsv_climber
Mon Dec 23, 2013 9:23 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Gas mileage quiz
Replies: 57
Views: 4921

Re: Gas mileage quiz

Correct answer is D, since the option of driving 0 miles / year every year is not excluded by the question.
by hsv_climber
Fri Dec 13, 2013 8:49 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Porter Stansberry advising going to 100% cash - Help!
Replies: 61
Views: 16775

Re: Porter Stansberry advising going to 100% cash - Help!

Below is the best advice for your friend. Either he will follow it or not is up to him.
Taylor Larimore wrote:
What`s an investor to do?
This is your answer -- whether bullish or bearish:

The Boglehead Philosophy:

1 Develop a workable plan
2 Invest early and often
3 Never bear too much or too little risk
4 Diversify
5 Never try to time the market
6 Use index funds when possible
7 Keep costs low
8 Minimize taxes
9 Invest with simplicity
10 Stay the course

Best wishes.
Taylor
by hsv_climber
Mon Dec 09, 2013 2:07 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Convert from Coverdell to 529: state deduction allowed?
Replies: 5
Views: 877

Re: Convert from Coverdell to 529: state deduction allowed?

It worked for me in AL. It worked for EmergDoc in UT.

One thing to watch out for is "earnings". I could not get it resolved, so 100% of my conversion went into "earnings". It is tricky and I don't have a solution for this.
by hsv_climber
Fri Dec 06, 2013 6:24 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Extreme Cheapskates
Replies: 25
Views: 4515

Re: Extreme Cheapskates

VictoriaF wrote: I must point out that that Victoria is not me.

(different) Victoria
I am guessing that it is this Victoria: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/ ... 61956.html
by hsv_climber
Thu Dec 05, 2013 12:53 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Permits for kitchen remodel
Replies: 17
Views: 2500

Re: Permits for kitchen remodel

I bet that all this info is State / County - specific.
by hsv_climber
Mon Dec 02, 2013 11:13 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: of bitcoins, money & Byzantium
Replies: 78
Views: 7643

Re: of bitcoins, money & Byzantium

If bitcoins are not really exchanged to the real $$$ then there is no reason why the size of the bitcoin market won't grow larger than the size of the world (or Universe) GDP.

Of course, it will burst the moment that some players will decide to cash in.
by hsv_climber
Tue Nov 19, 2013 12:38 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bubble bitcoins... $300 -> $800 in 10 days
Replies: 27
Views: 3216

Re: Bubble bitcoins... $300 -> $800 in 10 days

Very good article about bitcoins: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/11/19/the-billion-dollarbitcoinrollercoaster.html That is the way to make money: In December 2012, Tom, a husband and father with a heavy load of student-loan debt, applied for a $30,000 interest-free loan from a credit card company. Over the next month, he used the entire sum to buy up a hoard of the nearly five-year-old virtual currency known as Bitcoin. The $30,000 amounted to the combined value of Tom's retirement and savings accounts. If Bitcoin failed, he would have to declare bankruptcy or wipe out his nest egg. But after reading news articles, Tom had become fascinated with Bitcoin's potential. Something clicked. He bought as many as he could, as fast as he...
by hsv_climber
Tue Nov 19, 2013 11:15 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is a credit card annual fee worth it sometime?
Replies: 21
Views: 5620

Re: Is a credit card annual fee worth it sometime?

karpems wrote:Check out the Blue Cash Preferred from AMEX...probably the best deal out there.
$75 annual fee
6% cash back at Supermarkets
3% cash back for gas and Dept Stores
1% cash back on everything else

For us, card easily pays for itself in one month of use.
It is not 6% @ Supermarkets. It is 6% at the standalone grocery stores.
Target and WalMart are NOT considered "grocery" stores by AMEX. They are marked "discount" stores and someone would get only 1% for shopping there.
by hsv_climber
Fri Nov 15, 2013 1:59 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Shiller P/E 10 hits 25
Replies: 331
Views: 55014

Re: Shiller P/E 10 hits 25

Profits have shot up since 2000. There was a hiccup in 2009, then back to meteoric rise. That looks unusual. What happened in 2000 that allowed profits to take off like that? There is a possible explanation that data is messed up in your charts, i.e. we are not looking at the correct data. Here is the link: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/09/30/mystery-sort-of-solved-why-are-wages-so-low.aspx For years the explanation was that corporate owners were collecting more of the economic pie for themselves at the expense of workers. Unions declined, shareholders benefited, and so on. And that's almost certainly the case. But a new paper published by the Brookings Institute shows that explanation might be overstated. The paper covers a l...
by hsv_climber
Tue Oct 29, 2013 7:56 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Deleted
Replies: 28
Views: 4995

Re: I bonds: October or November?

I agree with discman017. It is an interesting logic. Yes, it is definitely makes sense to wait till Nov.1 if we expect inflation to be higher in the future. ( BTW, with the current rate of 1.2% (or whatever it is), the difference between Oct 30 and Nov. 1 is $10 on $10,000 purchase. ) So, here is a bit more explanation to his idea. Lets say inflation will be 2% / 6m. (4% annualized) starting from May 2014 and thereafter until you sell in 2015. You will get: Buying on Nov. 1: Nov.1 - Apr. 30 - 0.59% May 1 - Nov 1., 2014 - 2% Nov 1 - sell time - 2% Buying on Oct. 30: Oct.30 - Apr. 29 - 0.59% Apr. 30 - Oct 30 - 0.59% Nov 1 - sell time - 2%. So, with higher inflation in the future... $10k will provide a higher return. So, ~$130 more in the abov...
by hsv_climber
Wed Oct 23, 2013 12:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: can I afford X?
Replies: 38
Views: 3225

Re: can I afford X?

Can I afford not to have X?

Sometimes answering a slightly modified question or a series of related questions can lead to a better answer.
by hsv_climber
Tue Oct 15, 2013 2:52 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Shiller PE10 too low now -- should be 29
Replies: 8
Views: 1553

Re: Shiller PE10 too low now -- should be 29

Hussman has turned bullish last month when he predicted that this market will have ": the possibility of a short-lived but spectacular speculative blowoff".
http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc130923.htm

Of course, some people believe in this noise and think that this time is different.
by hsv_climber
Tue Oct 15, 2013 10:22 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is AAPL reliving the past???
Replies: 7
Views: 1279

Is AAPL reliving the past???

Apple (AAPL) Hires Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts to Oversee Retail Stores.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/burber ... d=20574025
Starting in the spring, Ahrendts, 53, will report directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook and will oversee the company's online and retail stores
Again, N2 in Apple is a former CEO of a marketing / fashion company. Apple is back to 80th.
by hsv_climber
Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:59 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Living on $5,000 a year
Replies: 28
Views: 4207

Re: Living on $5,000 a year

Yes. Not that I am proud, but I did without health insurance (and some other far more embarrassing things) for the year. I owned a car but it was parked for over 13 months in my garage, I biked or walked 100% of the time (even in the crazy Houston rain). I was fortunate to be only a few blocks from campus and the grocery store was literally 500' from my front door. Along with going through the very fun dissertation process, I was also going through a very messy divorce; was an interesting period in my life. Many students live even on less than that. My first year of grad school I was spending less than $5k / year and that included purchasing a driveable car. No HI, dental or car insurance (was not required by my state at that time). Got a ...
by hsv_climber
Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:35 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Can't seem to spend money on myself, guilty feelings
Replies: 34
Views: 4728

Re: Can't seem to spend money on myself, guilty feelings

"Spending on things" vs "spending on experience" is a very questionable debate. For example, anyone can search this forum and find Victoria's post on how she boasts about her new REI backpack. Sure, it could be argued that she has bought it to improve her future "experiences". But then how is it differ from an NFL fan buying a big flat screen TV to improve his/her game watching experience? Of course, Ariely, etc. all point out that our memory keeps the best parts of the past trips, while we'd get used to "things" and don't enjoy them anymore. Yet, I can assure you that I still remember the misery of my first long backpacking trip without expensive clothing and I've been enjoying and still enjoy wearin...
by hsv_climber
Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:05 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Living on $5,000 a year
Replies: 28
Views: 4207

Re: Living on $5,000 a year

stoptothink wrote:I lived off ~$10k in '12 (final year of my PhD), $7200 of that was rent.
Does this number includes medical/dental insurance and car/bike/etc. amortization that has happened during that year?
by hsv_climber
Mon Oct 14, 2013 11:24 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Government Shutdown/Default [effect on investments]
Replies: 454
Views: 42892

Re: Government Shutdown/Default [effect on investments]

gerrym51 wrote:market will tank on monday.
Currently down by 0.2%... Truly scary drop.
by hsv_climber
Thu Oct 10, 2013 8:47 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Surprising GNMAs
Replies: 26
Views: 3329

Re: Surprising GNMAs

Lets not forget that GNMA and TBM share ~24% of their portfolios, i.e. ~24% of TBM is in Mortgage-backed securities. That is a big chunk that might be responsible for the high correlation.
by hsv_climber
Thu Oct 10, 2013 8:41 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Programming Linux
Replies: 23
Views: 3320

Re: Programming Linux

Why would you want for a 12-year old to start with advanced programming? Programming Linux really mean OS-specific programming.

IMHO, the best place to start for a 12-year old would be either khan academy (yes, they do have a programming section) or Python programming for kids ( http://inventwithpython.com/ ).
by hsv_climber
Wed Oct 09, 2013 3:40 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What will happen to BND if US default?
Replies: 19
Views: 2681

Re: What will happen to BND if US default?

Considering that yield on US bonds did not rise in Oct. despite all the talks, we should assume that collective market wisdom does not believe that anything bad should happen to BND.

OTOH, I am surprised that stock market has not lost more than it did. Unlike bonds, stocks have real danger, since all US companies, that are doing business with the government in one way or the other, are currently losing money. That should effect ALL government contractors, and ALL service-related businesses. There will be real profit losses for many businesses in the 4th quarter.
by hsv_climber
Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:17 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What influence does China have with US debt?
Replies: 6
Views: 907

Re: What influence does China have with US debt?

Statement is false.
Selling debt cheap won't devalue $.

BTW, I will be more than happy to be on the other side of that trade :-).
by hsv_climber
Thu Oct 03, 2013 12:46 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Shutdown is affecting my Grand Canyon trip! Backup plan??
Replies: 35
Views: 4685

Re: Shutdown is affecting my Grand Canyon trip! Backup plan?

Rob,

You are seriously underestimating the beauty of UT / AZ / NV state parks. They are as beautiful as National Parks in the area, but much less crowded. Even with the shutdown, there will be less people in the State Parks than you would've seen in Zion.
To see it for yourself, just type in the names of the parks that I and EmergDoc provided into google images and compare them with pictures from National Parks that are nearby.