Search found 1079 matches

by zie
Wed Mar 13, 2024 4:23 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard or Fidelity
Replies: 73
Views: 6487

Re: Vanguard or Fidelity

Literally do either one for any reason whatsoever. I picked my preference because I liked their colour scheme. I haven't been disappointed yet.
by zie
Tue Mar 12, 2024 2:32 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Holding six figures of cash for the next year
Replies: 18
Views: 2741

Re: Holding six figures of cash for the next year

has anyone ever lost money on a brokerage failure when sipc didnt make whole? I dont even remember the last brokerage failure...I guess Drexel but I dont remember their customers getting hosed, just some bankers Yes, see Bernie Madoff's disaster. It's not quite fully over and done with I don't think, but they are still not 100% fully back to even. Though every retail investor was I believe. I don't really remember the details. Madoff Investments was a hedge fund, though? Not an investment dealer - that was a different part of his empire? Or did you mean Madoff Securities? I thought that was purely a wholesale NASDAQ securities dealer? Madoff Investments investors will never get back what they were owed - on paper. Because it never existed ...
by zie
Tue Mar 12, 2024 12:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Holding six figures of cash for the next year
Replies: 18
Views: 2741

Re: Holding six figures of cash for the next year

rule of law guy wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2024 5:59 pm has anyone ever lost money on a brokerage failure when sipc didnt make whole? I dont even remember the last brokerage failure...I guess Drexel but I dont remember their customers getting hosed, just some bankers
Yes, see Bernie Madoff's disaster. It's not quite fully over and done with I don't think, but they are still not 100% fully back to even. Though every retail investor was I believe. I don't really remember the details.
by zie
Tue Mar 12, 2024 12:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Holding six figures of cash for the next year
Replies: 18
Views: 2741

Re: Holding six figures of cash for the next year

My response to your first question is that I'd have zero qualms about exceeding the SIPC limit in a MMF. You answered your second question yourself in your post. The needle will barely budge, so do whatever is simplest for you. Agreed! OP: Just make sure the cash vehicle you decide on is all US government debt(aka treasuries), and not some reaching for yield complicated mess. Any brokerages core/default MMF would almost certainly qualify (I know Vanguards and Fidelity's both do for instance). SGOV is an ETF that would also work fine and could be bought at any brokerage and holds short term(3 month max) US govt treasuries. I have it all in VMFXX. Is that a reasonable one? Yes "The fund invests at least 99.5% of its total assets in cash...
by zie
Mon Mar 11, 2024 8:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What does Schwab do better than Fidelity?
Replies: 305
Views: 49297

Re: What does Schwab do better than Fidelity?

gunny2 wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2024 8:25 pm The last quote you attributed to me above is the only one I actually wrote FYI. :)
tj wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2024 12:11 pm Are you serious? That's Fidelity's official customer support.
Wow my bad, I thought it was just reddit jabber...that's...weird...
To be fair, it's not Fidelity's only customer support, they offer the more normal customer support options as well. When Robinhood went all wacky briefly, the WSB crowd went bananas, they seemingly moved en-mass to Fidelity and Fidelity really leaned in and welcomed them with open arms. Part of that welcoming was starting the official Reddit sub. They also made UI/UX changes, especially in the Mobile app.
by zie
Mon Mar 11, 2024 8:32 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Wisdom of cross-country, one-way RV rental (with a cat)
Replies: 37
Views: 3009

Re: Wisdom of cross-country, one-way RV rental (with a cat)

Regarding planning for food, it has also occurred to me that campsites, compared to hotels, are much less likely to be near stores and restaurants; no room service, breakfast buffet, or walking down the street to somewhere for dinner. That could be good or bad. Very true. Of course they all include a stove/range and refrigerator at the very least. The larger/fancier RV resorts often have a little store, which might have just knick-knacks and snack food to full on convenience stores and restaurants(these sometimes also have entire golf courses attached). Of course these sorts of places might be around $100+/night as well, which can add up quickly. None of them I've ever been to offer to your spot anything, except maybe re-fills of propane t...
by zie
Mon Mar 11, 2024 4:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Holding six figures of cash for the next year
Replies: 18
Views: 2741

Re: Holding six figures of cash for the next year

veggivet wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2024 3:24 pm My response to your first question is that I'd have zero qualms about exceeding the SIPC limit in a MMF.
You answered your second question yourself in your post. The needle will barely budge, so do whatever is simplest for you.
Agreed! OP: Just make sure the cash vehicle you decide on is all US government debt(aka treasuries), and not some reaching for yield complicated mess. Any brokerages core/default MMF would almost certainly qualify (I know Vanguards and Fidelity's both do for instance). SGOV is an ETF that would also work fine and could be bought at any brokerage and holds short term(3 month max) US govt treasuries.
by zie
Mon Mar 11, 2024 4:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Wisdom of cross-country, one-way RV rental (with a cat)
Replies: 37
Views: 3009

Re: Wisdom of cross-country, one-way RV rental (with a cat)

I think you are guaranteed to have an adventure. If that's what you are after, I'm all for it. I generally agree with everyone else, secure the cat while driving. 6 people however small they are is going to be the upper limit for a single RV. I think you will abhor the trip if both of you have to drive the whole way, so I'd suggest you sell one or both vehicles before the trip, so you can take turns driving. It's a hassle calling ahead and organizing RV spots every single night, planning food, ensuring everyone got done what needed doing, etc. You are probably going to have a much better time if one of you handle the logistics and the other handles the driving, or you switch off, etc. Anyways, car seats and RV's can mix well, just make sure...
by zie
Mon Mar 11, 2024 3:49 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Affordable "____@domain.com" email creation
Replies: 10
Views: 1155

Re: Affordable "____@domain.com" email creation

If you like and want to keep Gmail, you can just pay them to do it for you. Google currently calls that product 'Google Workspace' and starts at $6/month per user: https://workspace.google.com/pricing.html If you do want to replace Gmail, then there are plenty of providers, Apple and Microsoft will both do it. MS charges about the same as Google for their Office 365 with a domain email account. Apple's solution is probably the cheapest of the big tech companies, it's free as part of almost any iCloud plan. Migadu.com and Fastmail.com are other cheap, independent and decent options, if you want to get away from the big tech companies. There are plenty more, and I'm sure you will see lots of options in this space in the thread. But if you wan...
by zie
Mon Mar 11, 2024 3:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [Updated] The IRS Owes Me Money...
Replies: 20
Views: 2584

Re: The IRS Owes Me Money...

Let them take their time. They’re paying 8% interest. The IRS owes me around the same from a 2019 tax return, I'm with bsteiner. I occasionally get a letter saying, we are sorry it's taking so long, we will respond with a new letter every 30 days letting you know we are still working on your return until it's resolved. I get maybe one or two of those a year, not nearly the 12 I'm supposed to be getting. I'm wholly unconcerned. They will either eventually get around to it, or I'll retire and find myself bored and will get more active about it. In the meantime, I occasionally post messages like this saying the IRS is still under-funded, and Congress seems to like it that way, since they've been under-funding it for literally decades. Maybe i...
by zie
Sun Mar 10, 2024 11:01 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Longtime iPhone user looking at Pixel - what to know?
Replies: 60
Views: 4772

Re: Longtime iPhone user looking at Pixel - what to know?

I'm confused by what you are asking. iTunes isn't on the phone, it's on your desktop machine. In Apple land, there are two options, depending on if you subscribe to Apple Music or not. If you subscribe to Apple Music, it will ask you if you want to 'sync' your library, you say yes, and then everything just magically works and all of your music is everywhere and you can play it wherever, even if you never transferred the music, Apple will either move it to the local device or stream it from their servers for you. If you don't subscribe, then you can only transfer from your computer to your phone(via the iTunes app, when plugged into the phone), but the Music app will play your sync'd music that you have in iTunes. This is the "old"...
by zie
Sun Mar 10, 2024 5:32 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Longtime iPhone user looking at Pixel - what to know?
Replies: 60
Views: 4772

Re: Longtime iPhone user looking at Pixel - what to know?

I have lots of CD's that I rip to mp3. It is not possible to store on the phone and use iTunes Music to play them. Of course you can stored them as files and play with VLC but it's a pain. There are hacks and third party work arounds. For security I used only apps from the app store. If there is a way to store mp3 on an iPhone using an app from the app store let me know. I'm confused by what you are asking. iTunes isn't on the phone, it's on your desktop machine. In Apple land, there are two options, depending on if you subscribe to Apple Music or not. If you subscribe to Apple Music, it will ask you if you want to 'sync' your library, you say yes, and then everything just magically works and all of your music is everywhere and you can pla...
by zie
Sun Mar 10, 2024 1:51 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Longtime iPhone user looking at Pixel - what to know?
Replies: 60
Views: 4772

Re: Longtime iPhone user looking at Pixel - what to know?

With pixel phones I can store my mp3. Can't do that with iphone. Integration with Dropbox is great. You can't? I have thousands of MP3s on my iPhone 14. What do you mean? +1 I have lots of CD's that I rip to mp3. It is not possible to store on the phone and use iTunes to play them. Of course you can stored them as files and play with VLC but it's a pain. There are hacks and third party work arounds. For security I used only apps from the app store. If there is a way to store mp3 on an iPhone using an app from the app store let me know. I'm confused by what you are asking. iTunes isn't on the phone, it's on your desktop machine. In Apple land, there are two options, depending on if you subscribe to Apple Music or not. If you subscribe to Ap...
by zie
Thu Mar 07, 2024 2:46 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Transfer Car ownership to daughter or not?
Replies: 41
Views: 4955

Re: Transfer Car ownership to daughter or not?

psteinx wrote: Wed Jul 06, 2022 3:33 pm
That said, she'll be moving to a different state, and will need to register the car there. Trying to keep it in my name, but registered in a different state or whatever, would have been awkward, at best.
We did it the hard way(keeping it in the parents name, while child was in a different state). This involved a whole new insurance policy, in the 2nd state. It's def. annoying. Highly recommend not doing this and just transfer ownership to them and have them buy insurance themselves. I forget all the complicated details, but it was about two weeks of back and forth getting all the details correct.

10/10 would not do this again.
by zie
Thu Mar 07, 2024 9:15 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Longtime iPhone user looking at Pixel - what to know?
Replies: 60
Views: 4772

Re: Longtime iPhone user looking at Pixel - what to know?

Around the "Hold for me" feature, it only works for 800 and 888 numbers, so it might have limited usefulness. It's also not foolproof.

Anyways, unless you are willing to switch off of iCloud completely, you are unlikely to have a good time.
by zie
Wed Mar 06, 2024 2:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: tax filing using PDF
Replies: 22
Views: 1421

Re: tax filing using PDF

iceport wrote: Wed Mar 06, 2024 1:53 pm
zie wrote: Wed Mar 06, 2024 1:45 pm The USPS has armed law enforcement whose job it is to keep the mail safe and sound. They are well aware of the IRS and the importance of tax returns. So I'm not very worried about safety, just the delay.
Same here. I do make a point to drop the returns off *inside* the post office, though.
I'm lazy, I pay someone ($170 this year) to fill out the forms and e-file them for me. I certainly could do them myself, but I just don't want to.
by zie
Wed Mar 06, 2024 1:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: tax filing using PDF
Replies: 22
Views: 1421

Re: tax filing using PDF

Zie is correct, you cannot email to the IRS, you must use the postal service. Now, do you trust the post office to deliver, and do you trust the IRS to open the mail in a timely manner? No way I would file by mail unless there was no e-file option. I trust the USPS and IRS to do the right thing, but the IRS makes it very clear that there will be a delay in processing mailed in returns. The 2nd link says "several weeks" as the delay, I'd suggest the delay to be more like months, but they did get some new funding recently, so perhaps that's sped up a little bit for this tax season and it will be more like a month, instead of 2-3. Regardless, it will definitely take longer, of that there is no doubt. The USPS has armed law enforceme...
by zie
Wed Mar 06, 2024 1:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: tax filing using PDF
Replies: 22
Views: 1421

Re: tax filing using PDF

Print them and mail them.

The general picture is here:
https://www.irs.gov/filing/individuals/how-to-file

You can do free fillable forms online, but they are not PDF's, and it's a separate process. see the link above for links to the details.



The actual addresses to send to are here: https://www.irs.gov/filing/where-to-fil ... -a-payment
by zie
Mon Mar 04, 2024 2:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: At what point in a car’s life do you try miracle elixir fixes?
Replies: 36
Views: 3319

Re: At what point in a car’s life do you try miracle elixir fixes?

When you are bored and have a few extra bucks in your pocket. It's very unlikely to harm anything, and you never know, you might get lucky!

I reckon this question is much like the question: when do you play the lottery? The positive outcome for the miracle elixir fixing something might be a bit higher odds, but maybe not by enough to notice.
by zie
Sat Mar 02, 2024 10:15 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: OK to pay down large chunk of mortgage?
Replies: 35
Views: 2742

Re: OK to pay down large chunk of mortgage?

I recommend you game out the math on your options:

* Pay it off, getting a 2.75% return
* Put the cash you would pay it off with into a muni or US treasuries, like others have mentioned.

And then do the math over your time period(s) and see if it makes you feel any differently. If you still don't feel any different knowing the $$$'s you would be "losing"(around 2.84%/yr), then by all means pay it off and don't worry about it.

Either way, you are in a great position.
by zie
Sat Mar 02, 2024 11:06 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards
Replies: 7041
Views: 878657

Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Unless you are spending massive amounts of money, how much reasonably can you expect here? Even at $100k/yr of expenses @ 4%(5% high end rate - around 1% current yield in checking), we are talking about $4k/yr at the top end. I mean it's not nothing, but it's probably not going to meaningfully make a big difference. Is it worth the hassle? If your Bank of America account charged you $4k a year in fees, and another bank was offering a free account, would switching be worth it? That's what's happening in this scenario. Bank of America is charging you $4k/year. Just because you're paying it out of money you could earn but aren't doesn't make it not real. Opportunity cost is real and it is not rational to use zero as the relevant inflection po...
by zie
Fri Mar 01, 2024 11:58 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cloud based backup options for sensitive files
Replies: 92
Views: 7391

Re: Cloud based backup options for sensitive files

Jebmke, like others mentioned, no you don't get versioning in iCloud specifically, as it can provide very user-surprising behaviour if you dig into the details. You should be aware, lots of those that advertise 'versioning' as a cloud/filesystem feature can do a pretty bad job of it, because the software you are using is probably not designed for versioning file systems, so you can get weird results if you go back across versions sometimes. It just depends. Not surprised. Another aspect of a good backup "system" is periodic testing of the restore process. One should not wait until the backup is needed to make attempts at restoring files, including prior versions if available. In my early days, my company had a VAX cluster in engi...
by zie
Fri Mar 01, 2024 11:18 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cloud based backup options for sensitive files
Replies: 92
Views: 7391

Re: Cloud based backup options for sensitive files

Nope. iCloud ADP. iCloud ADP is pretty great, but it's not perfect. It's probably perfect enough for 99% of use cases though. For someone wanting to take their security seriously, they should read the Advanced Data Protection documents on Apple's support website, to learn what is and is not protected(and how it's protected). But I agree they have done a great job so far with it, and I hope they continue at the edges to whittle down the 14 things(last time I checked) that are not yet fully E2E encrypted with it. Does iCloud have versioning? No. You are now adding a new requirement. Many of the previous suggestions also do not have versioning. Without some level of versioning it is merely a mirror. Better than nothing but not what I would ac...
by zie
Fri Mar 01, 2024 11:02 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cloud based backup options for sensitive files
Replies: 92
Views: 7391

Re: Cloud based backup options for sensitive files

Ideally, the storage should be zero knowledge so that the host has no way of knowing what your data is. Most cloud vendors are encrypted but they can access your files. The only commercial vendor I know of (there are probably others) is sync.com. I believe proton of proton mail also has zero knowledge cloud vault. You can also encrypt data in the cloud, but you don't want to use veracrypt because it's meant for local storage. You can use an alternate product call Cryptomator. Nope. iCloud ADP. iCloud ADP is pretty great, but it's not perfect. It's probably perfect enough for 99% of use cases though. For someone wanting to take their security seriously, they should read the Advanced Data Protection documents on Apple's support website, to l...
by zie
Fri Mar 01, 2024 10:34 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cloud based backup options for sensitive files
Replies: 92
Views: 7391

Re: Cloud based backup options for sensitive files

Ideally, the storage should be zero knowledge so that the host has no way of knowing what your data is. Most cloud vendors are encrypted but they can access your files. The only commercial vendor I know of (there are probably others) is sync.com. I believe proton of proton mail also has zero knowledge cloud vault. You can also encrypt data in the cloud, but you don't want to use veracrypt because it's meant for local storage. You can use an alternate product call Cryptomator. Nope. iCloud ADP. iCloud ADP is pretty great, but it's not perfect. It's probably perfect enough for 99% of use cases though. For someone wanting to take their security seriously, they should read the Advanced Data Protection documents on Apple's support website, to l...
by zie
Thu Feb 29, 2024 10:05 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards
Replies: 7041
Views: 878657

Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

leland wrote: Thu Feb 29, 2024 9:13 pm Most of my dates are synchronized, so I could follow that plan but probably needs to be preferred deposit as any of the mutual funds require some settlement time, plus I've found that if logging in after market hours I can't always sell. If there's a way to one-step transfer from a money market mutual fund in a business day then I'd be fine with that.
TTTXX will sell and transfer same day if you get the sell order in before 3PM or something EST(I forget the cutoff time). So you don't have to wait for settlement. Also settlement later this year will be T+1 anyway, so all the other MMF's will get close.
by zie
Thu Feb 29, 2024 8:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards
Replies: 7041
Views: 878657

Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Anyone have a good system / method to share for keeping funds in an interest-bearning account and either autodrawing or transferring to BofA for billpay? I've been a BofA billpay(er) for a decade+, but considering switching elsewhere for this so funds for billpay earn interest in the interim. I'd just like to get a bit more automated / automatic. And if the answer is not with BofA that's cool, too. Unless you are spending massive amounts of money, how much reasonably can you expect here? Even at $100k/yr of expenses @ 4%(5% high end rate - around 1% current yield in checking), we are talking about $4k/yr at the top end. I mean it's not nothing, but it's probably not going to meaningfully make a big difference. Is it worth the hassle? Anywa...
by zie
Thu Feb 29, 2024 8:23 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cloud based backup options for sensitive files
Replies: 92
Views: 7391

Re: Cloud based backup options for sensitive files

There are plenty of options, some of the large cloud storage providers essentially already do this for you. Basically there are a few options(in order least -> most secure): * no encryption at all including during transit[0]. This is exceedingly rare anymore. * Encrypted during transit, but not encrypted at either end. * Encrypted during transit and on the remote end, but using their keys, so they could decrypt it whenever they wanted. (Mostly the default these days) * Not encrypted locally, but you encrypt on your end before transit and before storage, using your keys. * Encrypted while stored locally, also encrypted during transit and encrypted on their end all using your keys. Obviously these are in order from least secure to most secure...
by zie
Thu Feb 29, 2024 10:24 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Zelle Questions: safety, speed, uses?
Replies: 57
Views: 5485

Re: Zelle Questions: safety, speed, uses?

I don't think asking for the request really helps matters much, timing attacks come to mind(i.e. if I can be the first to request your money instead of the actual intended destination, chances are high I'd get your payment instead).

I think the saner way to double check is to send $1 or some other very small amount you can happily lose, then verify it all worked with the other party and went where you expected it to go. Then send the real amount after you know it works.

I do this with ACH and everything else as well whenever possible.
by zie
Wed Feb 28, 2024 11:17 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Zelle Questions: safety, speed, uses?
Replies: 57
Views: 5485

Re: Zelle Questions: safety, speed, uses?

Generally a lot more misery and trouble than PayPal, Venmo and the other big competitors. I'd much prefer those to Zelle if given the choice. I agree with you on ACH being unwound. Our bookkeeper was scammed (her fault IMHO did not check email) on a payroll account switch scam for an employee. It was noticed right away because the employee was looking for the payroll deposit and it never came. Bank unwound it quickly. But I ask this out of ignorance and non-use of Paypal for money transfers and little use of Venmo. The main issue being I either send a payment to the wrong person, or am scammed. So I can unwind a Paypal or Venmo cash transfer after it is claimed, is that what you are saying? And if that is not it, what is the misery and tro...
by zie
Wed Feb 28, 2024 9:36 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Zelle Questions: safety, speed, uses?
Replies: 57
Views: 5485

Re: Zelle Questions: safety, speed, uses?

2. There were recent news stories about Zelle fraud that made it sound like it was incredibly unsafe. But when you actually read the stories, they were all people who sent money to a fraudster rather than someone hacking their Zelle account. They were mad that their bank didn't refund the money, but that type of fraud could happen with check or cash too, so it seems like the security concerns are overblown, or am I missing something? Banks can undo fraudulent checks(they may not do so in your particular case, but they can do it). Banks can't undo fraudulent Zelle or Cash transactions. My take: The happy path for Zelle is fine. If you ever find yourself off of the happy path, then Zelle is pretty much guaranteed to give you a very bad time....
by zie
Mon Feb 26, 2024 10:34 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Heavy Value Tilt Away from Mag 7 stocks
Replies: 221
Views: 13738

Re: Heavy Value Tilt Away from Mag 7 stocks

I believe that the stocks that make up the Magnificent 7 (AAPL, MSFT, NVDA, AMZN, GOOGL, TSLA, META) are overvalued and will eventually underperform the market. Seriously? Do you have a crystal ball that the rest of us don't have? I 100% agree with smartinvestor2020 with that sentence, the only issue is, when is 'eventually'. They are making the claim it's soon. I'm making the claim that it will happen, but it could be 50 or 100 more years from now, I have no idea. We used to have the "Nifty 50" stocks, where the US market was overly concentrated in 50 companies. Many are still alive and doing OK, but they aren't the top performing stocks anymore. Some crashed and burned and ran away and others got eaten by someone. I'm confident...
by zie
Mon Feb 26, 2024 10:21 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity as a one stop shop
Replies: 5973
Views: 1008121

Re: Fidelity one-stop - backup option for writing checks

You can just ask Fidelity to send you a box of checks, they will. Or you can order checks from a 3rd party if you want to pay for them to get a cute logo or something.
by zie
Mon Feb 26, 2024 8:20 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity as a one stop shop
Replies: 5973
Views: 1008121

Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

When you apply for a CC, they absolutely do verify you are who you say you are, sure fraud happens, but again, the banks are on the hook for CC fraud, so they absolutely care. HA. If that were true then there wouldn't be so much identity theft and associated fraud. Banks verify the information given to them is correct in various databases, but in my experience, in no way do they verify that YOU are who you claim to be when you apply for credit. I'm not saying they can't do better, but it's literally costing them billions of dollars a year, so they are incentivized to strike a good balance from ease of signup/use for legit customers with keeping fraud to a dull roar. New Credit card Identity theft fraud is down 1%[0]. Existing credit card i...
by zie
Mon Feb 26, 2024 12:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity as a one stop shop
Replies: 5973
Views: 1008121

Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Not any random person, but any bank can do so for their customers. The bank must know their customers, and the bank that initiates the transfer is on the hook if the transfer is fraudulent. I think lockdown is to prevent transfer of shares or assets from one account to another outside of the ACH system that debit cards use. --vtMaps Arguably, "any random person" could do this... Think about "automatic payments" pulling from a bank account - all that's needed is a routing number and account number - same things that are on a check. If I accidently, or fraudulently, entered in the wrong information, how is the business/bank/etc. supposed to know/stop the transaction. That said, there's a reason why ACH has a "clearin...
by zie
Sun Feb 25, 2024 2:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Where to park 150k for 2-3 years
Replies: 18
Views: 1959

Re: Where to park 150k for 2-3 years

One other option, if you value laziness(I mean convenience, ya that's it), is buy a target date maturity bond ETF, something like IBTG https://www.ishares.com/us/products/312457/ishares-ibonds-dec-2026-term-treasury-etf It will own US treasuries that mature no later than Dec 2026. When all the bonds mature, they will liquidate the fund and hand you a pile of cash. Convenience has a cost, Expense Ratio: 0.07%. So for $150k, they will charge you $105/yr. The upside, you don't have to deal with Treasury Direct or the sometimes complicated hassles of buying individual treasuries @ Vanguard, Fidelity, etc. If you want to go out another year, or out for more risk, they have a whole slew of options: https://www.ishares.com/us/strategies/bond-etfs/...
by zie
Thu Feb 22, 2024 7:45 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The One-Fund Portfolio as a default suggestion
Replies: 872
Views: 234960

Re: The One-Fund Portfolio as a default suggestion

If you have $1M and are withdrawing $40k/yr, it seems to that giving an extra $2k/yr to the IRS is significant. So, as we're discussing Bbrock's post and my reply, you'd prefer for the investor to pay 0.30% of a $3,333,333 portfolio, of which $1,000,000 (or 30%) is taxable, to Vanguard's PAS instead. That's paying an extra $10,000 to the financial industry, to avoid paying an extra $2,000 in taxes . :oops: And your calculation is wrong. It's $2,000 of a $133,333 withdrawal using the illogical 4% SWR withdrawal method ($3,333,333 portfolio, of which $1,000,000 is taxable, X 4%). That's before even considering that the analysis is flawed, as Zie acknowledged. Pardon the typos, I dictate. I appreciate your response Long invest. Not to mention...
by zie
Thu Feb 22, 2024 7:33 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The One-Fund Portfolio as a default suggestion
Replies: 872
Views: 234960

Re: The One-Fund Portfolio as a default suggestion

If you have $1M and are withdrawing $40k/yr, it seems to that giving an extra $2k/yr to the IRS is significant. Sorry, this is not even remotely close to reasonable. If all you have is $1M in taxable, you made a mistake long before you started paying the IRS the extra convenience fee. Also, $2k/yr is the worst case here, with the full 37% tax bracket, you can't get even close to 37% tax bracket on $40k/yr of income. If you are drawing $40k/yr you would be in the 10% bracket after the standard deduction, so it would be less than $520/yr extra in 2023. In 2022 it was under $360 extra in taxes. Again these are *worst case*, since some of AOA's 3.56% dividend will be qualified, etc. So worst case for this wacky hypothetical of only $1M in taxa...
by zie
Thu Feb 22, 2024 6:10 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The One-Fund Portfolio as a default suggestion
Replies: 872
Views: 234960

Re: The One-Fund Portfolio as a default suggestion

Everyone keeps saying AOA is miserable because of dividends, so I decided to compare VT vs AOA. According to nasdaq.com[0], the difference in dividend yield between AOA and VT is .36% For every $10k of AOA in taxable, it's an extra $13.32 in taxes at the 37% tax bracket. So for a 1M portfolio of AOA vs VT, AOA will cost you an additional $3,600 of income in taxable. At the 37% tax bracket that's an additional $1,332 in tax. I don't know what magic AOA does to have such a small difference between VT, or if my math is just wrong(totally possible), but based on this, I'm definitely not losing sleep over having AOA in taxable vs VT and complicating my portfolio. Yes, convenience(laziness) has a cost, but it doesn't seem to be much of one. 0: A...
by zie
Thu Feb 22, 2024 3:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What does Schwab do better than Fidelity?
Replies: 305
Views: 49297

Re: What does Schwab do better than Fidelity?

So your downside liability is 5,500/month for life? Yowza. So basically if you get scammed, your only recourse is to entirely cancel your relationship with that institution(for this thread Schwab) and move to Fidelity, Vanguard or some other brokerage? That's a serious downside risk and pain in the behind. That's even worse than I thought and I had a terrible perspective of Zelle to begin with! Come on people, let's understand things before we post. No, not for life, not for another day, you call the bank and they have EWS remove the Zelle "tokens" from your account, and from your email, or from your phone, however it is set up. For those that don't understand, and for obvious reasons, you can only associate one phone number or e...
by zie
Thu Feb 22, 2024 12:06 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What does Schwab do better than Fidelity?
Replies: 305
Views: 49297

Re: What does Schwab do better than Fidelity?

……. if you are bound and determined to expose yourself to the Zelle infinite liability fun…………..have fun being broke! An example of fear mongering IMHO. This is not how Zelle works, even in a scam. There are daily and monthly limits. My Ally limit, for example, is 2K per day. Edited: I should add, if someone does not want to use Zelle because they see it as a threat vector that is not worth the risk, I have no issue with that, as I do not use debit cards, billpay to sketchy vendors, auto-liquidate options, or overdraft protection, and I rarely write checks, and loathe sending checks through the mail. Good catch, I couldn't find a definitive limit from schwab.com, but from a 3rd party website, it looks like their limit is $2,500/day and $5,...
by zie
Thu Feb 22, 2024 9:29 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What does Schwab do better than Fidelity?
Replies: 305
Views: 49297

Re: What does Schwab do better than Fidelity?

……. if you are bound and determined to expose yourself to the Zelle infinite liability fun…………..have fun being broke! An example of fear mongering IMHO. This is not how Zelle works, even in a scam. There are daily and monthly limits. My Ally limit, for example, is 2K per day. Edited: I should add, if someone does not want to use Zelle because they see it as a threat vector that is not worth the risk, I have no issue with that, as I do not use debit cards, billpay to sketchy vendors, auto-liquidate options, or overdraft protection, and I rarely write checks, and loathe sending checks through the mail. Good catch, I couldn't find a definitive limit from schwab.com, but from a 3rd party website, it looks like their limit is $2,500/day and $5,...
by zie
Thu Feb 22, 2024 4:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What does Schwab do better than Fidelity?
Replies: 305
Views: 49297

Re: What does Schwab do better than Fidelity?

My problem with Zelle, there is no undo button. This is the banks super-power from a retail perspective, they can undo transactions that shouldn't have happened(in the case of fraud, etc). The banks purposely killed their superpower with Zelle, because they don't like using their super-power(it's a lot of work for them). IMO, that's not a problem, it's working as designed. Zelle is an electronic replacement for peer to peer cash transfers. and just like cash, if you get scammed, there's no recourse either. in both cases, you track down the scammer and ask for your money back. the bank never gets involved. How do you track down the scammer? Fly to Nigeria, Russia or India? it's a figure of speech. if someone manages to convince me to: 1) pu...
by zie
Wed Feb 21, 2024 7:25 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The One-Fund Portfolio as a default suggestion
Replies: 872
Views: 234960

Re: The One-Fund Portfolio as a default suggestion

Everyone keeps saying AOA is miserable because of dividends, so I decided to compare VT vs AOA. According to nasdaq.com[0], the difference in dividend yield between AOA and VT is .36% For every $10k of AOA in taxable, it's an extra $13.32 in taxes at the 37% tax bracket. So for a 1M portfolio of AOA vs VT, AOA will cost you an additional $3,600 of income in taxable. At the 37% tax bracket that's an additional $1,332 in tax. I don't know what magic AOA does to have such a small difference between VT, or if my math is just wrong(totally possible), but based on this, I'm definitely not losing sleep over having AOA in taxable vs VT and complicating my portfolio. Yes, convenience(laziness) has a cost, but it doesn't seem to be much of one. 0: A...
by zie
Wed Feb 21, 2024 8:52 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What does Schwab do better than Fidelity?
Replies: 305
Views: 49297

Re: What does Schwab do better than Fidelity?

Schwab has Zelle Zelle is one of the two reasons I am looking at Schwab for my checking and emergency fund, moving them from Fidelity. Zelle is the way of the future. The other reason is that Fidelity doesn't play nice with budgeting/portfolio apps. I really hope Zelle is not the way of the future. I agree we want near-instant transfer of money as mere retail bank customers, but the Fed is doing that, but it's just barely been rolled out(last year) and most banks aren't all signed up yet. Hopefully as it rolls out that will kill Zelle. My problem with Zelle, there is no undo button. This is the banks super-power from a retail perspective, they can undo transactions that shouldn't have happened(in the case of fraud, etc). The banks purposel...
by zie
Tue Feb 20, 2024 10:40 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Aids for slowing down speech when talking with hard-of-hearing
Replies: 52
Views: 5419

Re: Aids for slowing down speech when talking with hard-of-hearing

EyeHear just uses Apple's Siri to do speech to text, it's AI driven, like all the other AI driven tools. That said EyeHear is pretty great, they don't do any data collection, though of course your audio is sent to Apple to be converted to text. Microsoft Teams(Team Transcribe app) is the only one that supports multiple speakers at the same time as far as I'm aware. Sadly Microsoft is discontinuing that product in April now. AI driven tools are maybe good enough in a pinch, but are not remotely close to good enough for anything that matters. You should not use an AI transcription tool for going to the doctor or anything important. Medical professionals should absolutely not be using EyeHear or any AI tool, they should be using CART or a lang...
by zie
Tue Feb 20, 2024 2:36 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best < $100 purchase?
Replies: 299
Views: 55789

Re: Best < $100 purchase?

I think a wireless phone charger might have been one of the best gifts I've ever gotten my wife, especially since I got her a stand up model that lets her charge while she has a recipe or show up on her phone while she cooks. Of course, I use it, too, but she uses and therefore charges her phone more, and made it so convenient to get a top-up charge that it was a minor transformation in her habits. The catch is it more or less eliminates budget model phones from her consideration, since they leave out wireless charging compatibility, and it's now a must-have feature for her. 100%. Wireless charging is a wonderful upgrade. I have chargers all over and in the car. I wish everything portable with batteries did this. Never going back to wires!...
by zie
Fri Feb 16, 2024 7:10 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best < $100 purchase?
Replies: 299
Views: 55789

Re: Best < $100 purchase?

I think a wireless phone charger might have been one of the best gifts I've ever gotten my wife, especially since I got her a stand up model that lets her charge while she has a recipe or show up on her phone while she cooks. Of course, I use it, too, but she uses and therefore charges her phone more, and made it so convenient to get a top-up charge that it was a minor transformation in her habits. The catch is it more or less eliminates budget model phones from her consideration, since they leave out wireless charging compatibility, and it's now a must-have feature for her. 100%. Wireless charging is a wonderful upgrade. I have chargers all over and in the car. I wish everything portable with batteries did this. Never going back to wires!
by zie
Wed Feb 14, 2024 12:35 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Utah and Las Vegas for one night-best hotel/food?
Replies: 14
Views: 2280

Re: Utah and Las Vegas for one night-best hotel/food?

I'd say pick based on your combined interests if you can, if you like pyramids and/or Egypt, then you obviously want to stay at the Luxor. Excalibur has the whole nightly feast event, the New York hotel has roller coasters and stuff and the Strat at the top of the strip has some exciting thrill rides off the roof of the main tower. Any of those might be interesting for a teenager, depending on their tastes. There is plenty of variety. If you stay with the larger properties(the ones you see on TV shows and what not) you really can't go wrong. All of them pretty much will have amazing food choices, from super fancy restaurants to a food court with some form of fast/casual food. Just know the individual properties are gigantic and it can be a ...
by zie
Wed Feb 14, 2024 10:33 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Apple Mail & Xfinity Mail Incompatible ?
Replies: 22
Views: 2007

Re: Apple Mail & Xfinity Mail Incompatible ?

I have not had any difficulty accessing Xfinity email on my iPhone or iPad. My incoming server is imap.comcast.net. On my laptop I have the path to my Xfinity emails set up as a favorite - and those same emails appear when I tap the Apple mail app on my iPhone - but if I delete an email from either laptop or iPhone it isn't deleted on the other devise - this has been the case since the beginning of this year - synchronization isn't maintained . Question : Is there somewhere in settings on my iPhone where I can see if I'm set to imap.comcast.net ?? Yes, upthread, I gave you instructions on how to do it both on MacOS and on your iOS/phone/tablet devices. Here it is again: MacOS In Apple Mail on desktop, if you look on the left sidebar, you w...