Search found 3536 matches

by MrJedi
Sun Mar 17, 2024 7:00 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Getting Your Money Back from an S-Corp
Replies: 3
Views: 666

Re: Getting Your Money Back from an S-Corp

Presumably if the business is losing money, you are also deducting those losses off your income on those years using that basis. On the flip side, the profitable years will have taxable income which will increase your basis and you can use that basis to get your money back.

You may already know this but I wanted to mention it since you phrased your question in a way that made it seem like it was maybe unfair.
by MrJedi
Sun Mar 17, 2024 6:47 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 401(k) rule of 55: plan-specific?
Replies: 4
Views: 806

Re: 401(k) rule of 55: plan-specific?

Once you separate they cannot stop you from taking out the money but they also don't have to allow partial distributions. If that's the case you can still use the rule of 55 to avoid the penalty but it may not be very helpful to take a lump sum distribution of your full balance since any pretax amount will be taxable and presumably you want to spread it out over many tax years.

I believe a slight workaround would be to take the full distribution and do an indirect rollover to an IRA for any amount you don't want taxable that year. That will only really help for 1 year though.
by MrJedi
Fri Mar 08, 2024 6:36 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity as a one stop shop
Replies: 5973
Views: 1008536

Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Yeah I started using Full View after Mint shut down. It's actually been more reliable for me. Seems I don't have to fix connections nearly as often as I had to on Mint.

I did get recently get a phone call sales pitch from Fidelity which may be coincidental but I have a suspicion it's because I added my Vanguard accounts which added a significant sum to what Fidelity can see. I originally thought things in Full View were in a totally separate bucket from the rest of Fidelity, but I noticed that my external accounts started showing up on Fidelity's portfolio analyzers and whatnot, not just what's in Full View.
by MrJedi
Thu Mar 07, 2024 10:04 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: ETF Experiencing Outflows -- How Does That Work?
Replies: 5
Views: 818

Re: ETF Experiencing Outflows -- How Does That Work?

If there's excess selling pressure that will drive the share price down. As ETF goes down, an AP will eventually see arbitrage opportunity and buy up those shares (this helps keep ETF shares value in line with actual/NAV) and then redeems the shares for the constituents. Those constituents are then sold and a small profit can be pocketed for the AP. Net result is less ETF shares and thus "outflow".
by MrJedi
Fri Mar 01, 2024 7:00 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: SGOV state tax and selling each month before ex-div date?
Replies: 32
Views: 2430

Re: SGOV state tax and selling each month before ex-div date?

Keep in mind you lose a bid/ask spread for each round trip you take. SGOV spread is typically 1 penny or roughly 0.01%. But if you do this every month it will be roughly 0.12% annualized. If you are trying to micromanage taxes, this might make a difference in the overall benefit.
by MrJedi
Fri Mar 01, 2024 6:42 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [Using PayPal to pay bills and earn 5% on credit cards]
Replies: 603
Views: 89369

Re: [Using PayPal to pay bills and earn 5% on credit cards]

My utility and HOA dropped out. This actually lasted longer than I thought it would, but still a big bummer. I do kinda wish maybe they'd have kept the billers but added their own nominal fee. Sometimes that can still be worthwhile for credit card SUBs, etc. on billers that don't even take CCs directly
by MrJedi
Fri Feb 16, 2024 12:48 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do qualified + nonqualified dividends = ordinary dividends?
Replies: 55
Views: 4575

Re: Do qualified + nonqualified dividends = ordinary dividends?

It's difficult to follow all of your calculations, but one nuance to remember is that 1a total ordinary dividends includes the 7 foreign tax paid. 1a total ordinary dividends can differ from what actually ends up in your account if you had foreign tax paid, because that is withheld before you get the distribution. I feel like you might be calculating a foreign income without accounting for the foreign tax that came out which is part of your income. If you've already considered that, please ignore.

It's unfortunate that your broker does not provide more detail. My 1099 has the totals in the main section but includes supplemental information that breaks down each number per fund.
by MrJedi
Wed Feb 14, 2024 8:24 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Funds with 100% QDI and non-zero Govt Interest
Replies: 14
Views: 1202

Re: Funds with 100% QDI and non-zero Govt Interest

Northern Flicker wrote: Sat Feb 03, 2024 1:42 pm
I'm curious if you decided on a direction with this?

I'm starting to put my return together and ran into this same situation.

I received dividends from VOO (Vanguard 500 index) and VV (Vanguard Large-Cap index). My 1099-DIV shows VOO's dividends as being entirely qualified dividends or Section 199A dividends. The VV dividends show as 100% qualified dividends. There are no dividends that are reported as ordinary and non-qualified or ordinary and non-Section 199A. The 2023 Vanguard supplement shows both of these funds as having a small amount of USGO income. Of course the amount is very small and trivial (for me), definitely not worth the time for a small time investor like myself to analyze. But I am curious in the technicalities.
by MrJedi
Tue Nov 21, 2023 7:28 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax Underpayment Penalty Question
Replies: 26
Views: 3266

Re: Tax Underpayment Penalty Question

The 100%/110% previous year tax safe harbor provision helps prevent underpayment issues for those unfamiliar with the rules and have one-time lumpy income like you are describing, since you can qualify based on the previous year tax that did not have the one-time lumpy income. I still recommend doing some reading on safe harbor though. Likely useful to know for future purposes.
by MrJedi
Sun Nov 19, 2023 7:48 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fidelity introducing automatic ETF investing
Replies: 158
Views: 27384

Re: Fidelity introducing automatic ETF investing

It takes like 30 days or something for many ETFs to become margin-able, assuming you have margin account. I would guess the auto invest cash line will eventually move to your margin line once it becomes margin-able.
by MrJedi
Sun Nov 19, 2023 5:58 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What to do with i-series bonds
Replies: 34
Views: 6478

Re: What to do with i-series bonds

tfunk wrote: Sat Nov 18, 2023 9:08 pm I would wait until March 1, 2024. That way you will only lose three months interest at 3.38%. If you sell now you will lose three months of 6.48% interest.

You can check the details at: https://eyebonds.info/ibonds/home1000.html
Did you mean January 1, 2024?
by MrJedi
Fri Nov 17, 2023 1:38 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Mega Backdoor Roth contribution deadlines
Replies: 4
Views: 626

Re: Mega Backdoor Roth contribution deadlines

Employee deferrals are always based on calendar year.

Employer contribution and after tax voluntary (anything not considered deferral) can differ based on how the plan is setup/defined, whether the plan operates offset from the calendar year, etc.
by MrJedi
Fri Nov 17, 2023 1:02 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best way to pay taxes on a Roth conversion in January for the year
Replies: 23
Views: 5290

Re: Best way to pay taxes on a Roth conversion in January for the year

ryman554 wrote: Fri Nov 17, 2023 11:53 am
260chrisb wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2023 4:28 pm Thanks for the replies. There is no other income in this instance as the person is retired. Sounds like the best thing to do is to make equal payments quarterly of the estimate. The amount in question is just 20K.
No, it's not. If you realize income in Q1, taxes (in full) are owed in Q1 if you are doing estimated taxes if you want to avoid a potential penalty. Not 25% in Q1, 25% in Q2.....
That may be true if using the annualized income method, but paying quarterly would work to avoid penalty for the default / non-annualized method. I would think in general somebody with front loaded income would avoid using annualized income method. That generally only helps with back loaded income.
by MrJedi
Thu Nov 16, 2023 6:15 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: At what mortgage rate would you pay it off early?
Replies: 258
Views: 22504

Re: At what mortgage rate would you pay it off early?

If mortgage rates are high, presumably the risk free rate is also high. I expect my investments to beat the risk free rate over time. So there isn't really a mortgage rate I would pay off early. I would only really pay off early to simplify my finances once mortgage balance becomes small compared to the overall portfolio. If the risk free rate plummets while I hold a high rate mortgage, that likely means I can simply refinance to a lower rate. So if you are taking mortgage today at 8%, you won’t pay it off early? No, definitely not. You seem to be wise to the equity risk premium but totally ignorant of the mortgage risk premium Sure. I typically assume the market to be efficient and I can only accept what the market gives to me. If I'm tak...
by MrJedi
Thu Nov 16, 2023 5:35 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: At what mortgage rate would you pay it off early?
Replies: 258
Views: 22504

Re: At what mortgage rate would you pay it off early?

anonymoususer wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2023 11:55 pm
MrJedi wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2023 8:40 pm If mortgage rates are high, presumably the risk free rate is also high. I expect my investments to beat the risk free rate over time. So there isn't really a mortgage rate I would pay off early. I would only really pay off early to simplify my finances once mortgage balance becomes small compared to the overall portfolio.

If the risk free rate plummets while I hold a high rate mortgage, that likely means I can simply refinance to a lower rate.
So if you are taking mortgage today at 8%, you won’t pay it off early?
No, definitely not.
by MrJedi
Wed Nov 15, 2023 8:40 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: At what mortgage rate would you pay it off early?
Replies: 258
Views: 22504

Re: At what mortgage rate would you pay it off early?

If mortgage rates are high, presumably the risk free rate is also high. I expect my investments to beat the risk free rate over time. So there isn't really a mortgage rate I would pay off early. I would only really pay off early to simplify my finances once mortgage balance becomes small compared to the overall portfolio.

If the risk free rate plummets while I hold a high rate mortgage, that likely means I can simply refinance to a lower rate.
by MrJedi
Wed Nov 15, 2023 7:24 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best way to pay taxes on a Roth conversion in January for the year
Replies: 23
Views: 5290

Re: Best way to pay taxes on a Roth conversion in January for the year

Thanks for the replies. There is no other income in this instance as the person is retired. Sounds like the best thing to do is to make equal payments quarterly of the estimate. The amount in question is just 20K. For less than $1000 owed (another safe harbor) one can even wait until next April 15. But more generally, it is not sufficient to get taxable income in January but pay tax in equal instalments throughout the year. Tax must be paid in the quarter it is due. See my previous post. It is possible to overpay taxes due (total for the year) and still owe a late fee if the payments were not timely. That may be true if using the annualized income method, but paying quarterly would work to avoid penalty for the default / non-annualized met...
by MrJedi
Wed Nov 15, 2023 7:03 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: HM Bradley - is it safe - FDIC response
Replies: 473
Views: 61712

Re: HM Bradley - is it safe - FDIC response

They have a special place in my heart for giving me 3% interest in 2020 and 2021 when rates were rock bottom. Also all the debates on whether money was safe there or not.
by MrJedi
Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:26 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Using Symantec VIP Access at Fidelity
Replies: 53
Views: 6253

Re: Using Symantec VIP Access at Fidelity

Symantec VIP is just a wrapped form of TOTP codes (like QR code authenticators). Once it's established, there are no updates needed. The codes are generated based on time and standardized algorithm that will never change.
by MrJedi
Thu Nov 09, 2023 2:00 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth 401k issues
Replies: 15
Views: 1561

Re: Roth 401k issues

fajako wrote: Wed Nov 08, 2023 1:50 pm Maybe I don't fully understand a Roth 401k so I'm not sure I understand your reply - This is a qualified Roth 401k account (or part of it is). My understanding is that this money is deposited post-tax and then grows and is withdrawn tax free. If I withdraw money from this mixed account in several years, how will I know/designate if it is money that will be taxed or not if there is no current separation?
In my plan, I cannot make exchanges per traditional vs Roth source. Everything is prorated. But upon distribution, I can select Roth or traditional. The record keeping is all there per source, you just need to poke around a bit more in your account. Mine tells me exactly how much Roth I have and how much is in each fund.
by MrJedi
Wed Nov 08, 2023 9:06 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fidelity 3 Fund Portfolio
Replies: 10
Views: 2343

Re: Fidelity 3 Fund Portfolio

For 401k, the employer is the one who decides what funds are available, so each employer 401k plan will look different. You will need to list out the exact funds in your plan to get meaningful advice.

Fidelity in this case is just the administrator that handles interface, transactions, record keeping, etc. For example, it's possible to have a Fidelity administered plan with Vanguard funds inside of it. It all depends on the exact 401k plan.
by MrJedi
Wed Nov 08, 2023 8:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: AMEX alerts changing
Replies: 46
Views: 7733

Re: AMEX alerts changing

student wrote: Wed Nov 08, 2023 8:34 pm
pretzels1971 wrote: Sun Nov 05, 2023 5:38 pm So on oct 15th amex broker the large purchase alerts via emails for additional cards. They claim it is a bug that is being worked on but any info people have would be great. thanks.
I don't think it is a bug, we received an email about the change as indicated in the OP.
OP says text alerts going away. We're talking about email alerts for additional card user. That should still work but recently broke.
by MrJedi
Wed Nov 08, 2023 8:03 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: AMEX alerts changing
Replies: 46
Views: 7733

Re: AMEX alerts changing

pretzels1971 wrote: Sun Nov 05, 2023 5:38 pm So on oct 15th amex broker the large purchase alerts via emails for additional cards. They claim it is a bug that is being worked on but any info people have would be great. thanks.
I noticed the same thing. Hasn't worked for the past couple weeks. Latest try was Monday 11/6 and no go.
by MrJedi
Wed Nov 08, 2023 5:35 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: SGOV dividend payment timing error?
Replies: 35
Views: 2317

Re: SGOV dividend payment timing error?

Schwab also pays piddly on its cash / settlement fund instead of using a money market fund with actual competitive interest.
by MrJedi
Wed Nov 08, 2023 7:11 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Roth Rollovers and 5-year waiting period
Replies: 4
Views: 615

Re: Roth Rollovers and 5-year waiting period

The IRS views all of your Roth IRAs as a single Roth IRA. If you contributed to a Roth IRA anywhere in 2016, then you should be qualified for any other Roth IRA. Your old 5498 from 2016 showing the contribution would be proof that a Roth IRA was established.

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590b# ... k100089543

You don't need to contribute to the old one and rollover. Just use the new one if you prefer.
by MrJedi
Tue Nov 07, 2023 10:08 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Cash for Roth IRA: What should I invest it in until January ‘24 (if anything)
Replies: 18
Views: 2021

Re: Cash for Roth IRA: What should I invest it in until January ‘24 (if anything)

Cranberry44 wrote: Tue Nov 07, 2023 9:41 am
pizzy wrote: Tue Nov 07, 2023 9:23 am Shouldn't you invest it as if today was 1/1/24?
I suppose I’m unsure. Is the tax benefit better to wait 8 weeks to guarantee I max out the tax advantaged space?
Not really the right way to look at it. Money earmarked for investment should be willing to be lost.

Let me rephrase with a different scenario. Say you invest $7k in Roth IRA on 1/2/24. Stock market immediately tanks and it is now worth $4k. You've maxed out your tax advantages space but only have $4k invested now instead of $7k. The fact that you maxed it out actually hurts in this scenario, as you have $4k in your Roth IRA and you can't contribute more.
by MrJedi
Tue Nov 07, 2023 9:37 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Cannot log into Vanguard with YubiKey
Replies: 60
Views: 4986

Re: Cannot log into Vanguard with YubiKey

StrongMBS wrote: Tue Nov 07, 2023 9:25 am I also broke out a new YK5 and tried to register it today without a PIN and it forced me to add one with this message “You’ll need to create a PIN for this security key.”, again I cannot tell you what the sties behavior was last month or will be tomorrow, but this is what it did today.
Ah interesting. This was not the case approximately a year ago or so when a few of us were working through the different workflows we were experiencing and noticed some people needed to enter a PIN and others didn't even know they could set a PIN. I'm thinking it is relatively new for Vanguard to enforce a PIN even if one is not present. It also might be different if somebody has a grandfathered FIDO2 key registered without a PIN set .
by MrJedi
Tue Nov 07, 2023 9:10 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Cash for Roth IRA: What should I invest it in until January ‘24 (if anything)
Replies: 18
Views: 2021

Re: Cash for Roth IRA: What should I invest it in until January ‘24 (if anything)

I invest money as I receive it. I don't try to pileup money to lump sum later. That said, saving up a pile of $7k once a year instead of just investing it as you receive won't make a big difference, as long as you actually do it. I've seen some behavioral mistakes as people freeze up before investing the 6-7k in one shot. If you always just invest as you receive that helps take away some of the emotion and help prevent potential behavioral mistakes.
by MrJedi
Tue Nov 07, 2023 7:28 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fidelity introducing automatic ETF investing
Replies: 158
Views: 27384

Re: Fidelity introducing automatic ETF investing

stan1 wrote: Tue Nov 07, 2023 7:21 am I know its new, but maybe someone knows if it support any cost basis method including specific ID?
You can specify shares at time of sell order and also continue to edit until settlement.

If you're talking about average cost vs actual cost, that's more of a mutual fund thing, not ETF.
by MrJedi
Tue Nov 07, 2023 7:10 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fidelity introducing automatic ETF investing
Replies: 158
Views: 27384

Re: Fidelity introducing automatic ETF investing

nisiprius wrote: Tue Nov 07, 2023 7:01 am Nice!

If they offer fractional shares, which I assume they do, that takes care of my major issues with ETFs.

What controls the time of day when the purchase occurs?
10am.
by MrJedi
Tue Nov 07, 2023 6:58 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Calculating maturity value on zero-coupon bond
Replies: 17
Views: 1688

Re: Calculating maturity value on zero-coupon bond

wolfstock wrote: Tue Nov 07, 2023 6:19 am To add more confusion - for some reason it shows a cost basis of $!4k. However I originally paid $11,700, not $14k. So - not really sure how that works either. Presumably it's adding in the imputed interest as part of the cost basis as we go along (?).

(Again - I'm used to stocks, where the cost basis stays flat - it's what you paid for it at the beginning, and it stays at that the whole time)

Thanks.
You can think of the rising basis like reinvested dividends.
by MrJedi
Tue Nov 07, 2023 6:55 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fidelity introducing automatic ETF investing
Replies: 158
Views: 27384

Re: Fidelity introducing automatic ETF investing

Yes, staggered rollout though so not everybody has it yet.
by MrJedi
Tue Nov 07, 2023 6:07 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Cannot log into Vanguard with YubiKey
Replies: 60
Views: 4986

Re: Cannot log into Vanguard with YubiKey

Vanguard still allows you to register a FIDO U2F key, in which case you will not need a pin. Even though their documentation says you need a FIDO2 key in which case I believe you will need a PIN. This conflicts with my experience. We have YubiKey 5 NFC, 5C, and 5 Nano keys and none of them require PINs with Vanguard or any other sites. We use a mix of ChromeOS, macOS, and Windows. I also have a YubiKey 4 Nano, which supports FIDO but not FIDO2, and it was previously registered with Vanguard but was no longer recognized during reregistration last year. I am guessing you have never set PINs on your keys, is that right? This has confused people before. AFAIK FIDO2 does not inherently require a PIN; it is an option for the site implementing th...
by MrJedi
Mon Nov 06, 2023 9:21 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Cannot log into Vanguard with YubiKey
Replies: 60
Views: 4986

Re: Cannot log into Vanguard with YubiKey

I too find the various protocol terminologies (with alternate names as well), and lack of transparency on what Vanguard supports on Yubikeys confusing. I use Yubikey 5NFC. The documentation says these keys support FIDO2 as well as U2F. Yet, when I registered my keys at Vanguard, there was no prompt or requirement to set a PIN (which appears to be possible on keys with FIDO2 as per above posts). I just press a button and get through. Have you ever set a PIN on your 5 NFC? Last I knew, if there is no PIN setup on it, then Vanguard doesn't force you to set it and use it. But if there is a PIN on it, Vanguard does force you to use it. AFAIK, PIN is not a requirement for FIDO2, it is an option for the site implementing the key. So it seems Vang...
by MrJedi
Mon Nov 06, 2023 1:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TLH with ETF @Fidelity
Replies: 10
Views: 1135

Re: TLH with ETF @Fidelity

I've always been able to trade with the sale proceeds immediately, but you may have to refresh the page to get your available to trade funds to update.
by MrJedi
Mon Nov 06, 2023 10:06 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity as a one stop shop
Replies: 5973
Views: 1008536

Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

New accounts/links take longer to become withdrawable. My seasoned bank links are withdrawable next day. This is common practice at many banks too to hold funds longer when a new link is established. Pretty sure Vanguard is the same way too. You can see when the transfer is withdrawable in the cash management section. My BoA link is not new. I have consistently noticed these delays at Fidelity. Every transfer I initiated at Ally and Vanguard was always fast and used to take at most 3 days. When was the last time it was used? It's hard to figure everything out since this stuff is all internal algorithm type stuff. I know Ally has some sort of algorithm for 1 day vs 3 day transfers. Vanguard I know also has some sort of extra hold requiremen...
by MrJedi
Mon Nov 06, 2023 9:21 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity as a one stop shop
Replies: 5973
Views: 1008536

Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

New accounts/links take longer to become withdrawable. My seasoned bank links are withdrawable next day. This is common practice at many banks too to hold funds longer when a new link is established. Pretty sure Vanguard is the same way too.

You can see when the transfer is withdrawable in the cash management section.
by MrJedi
Sat Nov 04, 2023 7:07 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity showing T-Bills as Capital Gains
Replies: 45
Views: 7261

Re: Fidelity showing T-Bills as Capital Gains

It will be reported differently on the official 1099 tax form. There are several things on that tax page that aren't fully reflective of what will go on the 1099. Another one I know is qualified dividends. I believe there is a disclaimer saying not to use that page as official tax information.
by MrJedi
Thu Nov 02, 2023 1:02 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Intuit's Mint App Shutting Down...Replacement Recommendations?
Replies: 754
Views: 141269

Re: Intuit's Mint App Shutting Down...Replacement Recommendations?

Seems like CK will do what I need but I'm curious if others might have recommendations for me in case not.

I don't care about budgets, investment tracking, etc. since I run my own spreadsheet. But what I do find nice is the aggregation of a bunch of credit card balances and their transactions. I chase credit card bonuses so I have dozens of cards. The aggregation is nice there so I can get a quick add up of all my outstanding balances and also reconcile my own transaction spreadsheet in one spot instead of each individual card/account.
by MrJedi
Wed Nov 01, 2023 1:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity as a one stop shop
Replies: 5973
Views: 1008536

Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

IMO if you're going to maintain an extra app/account like Cash App, you might as well find a local CU/bank with free checking account with no minimum balance fees, etc. and just deposit your cash there with no fees. You can take care of other B&M needs there too while doing 99% of your other banking activities with one stop shop or whatever else. Using Cash App occasionally certainly seems like a lot less hassle than scrubbing through CU/bank terms and conditions. Not to mention down the road possibly dealing with a fee, policy change, or some other consequence of only using your account once in a blue moon. Bank accounts are made to be used regularly. If cash deposit was my only outstanding need I would certainly just use Cash App and...
by MrJedi
Wed Nov 01, 2023 10:18 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity as a one stop shop
Replies: 5973
Views: 1008536

Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

IMO if you're going to maintain an extra app/account like Cash App, you might as well find a local CU/bank with free checking account with no minimum balance fees, etc. and just deposit your cash there with no fees. You can take care of other B&M needs there too while doing 99% of your other banking activities with one stop shop or whatever else.
by MrJedi
Wed Nov 01, 2023 7:31 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Robinhood 3% IRA Match
Replies: 1459
Views: 110239

Re: Robinhood 3% IRA Match

It's an intriguing offer but not enough for me. Maybe if they still offer it when I'm retired and ready to rollover a fat 401k balance, but I have doubts the offer will still be around.

I frequently chase credit card and bank account bonuses, but IRAs are a bit more hassle to track and maintain with the extra 1099-Rs, 5498s, etc., making sure your contributions and distributions are coded properly (even well established brokers make mistakes on those sometimes). Credit card bonuses are generally not taxable at all, and bank accounts just have a 1099-INT income to enter.
by MrJedi
Tue Oct 31, 2023 7:09 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity as a one stop shop
Replies: 5973
Views: 1008536

Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

There shouldn't be margin interest in that case, since the sell order proceeds would settle on the same day the buy order settles, leaving no margin balance.
by MrJedi
Tue Oct 31, 2023 6:56 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity as a one stop shop
Replies: 5973
Views: 1008536

Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

You can have two windows open with both sell and buy orders ready. You might be able to rig up a conditional order for a sell order to trigger a buy order too. 1-2 minutes does not bother me personally.
by MrJedi
Sat Oct 21, 2023 7:26 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [Using PayPal to pay bills and earn 5% on credit cards]
Replies: 603
Views: 89369

Re: [Using PayPal to pay bills and earn 5% on credit cards]

I've tried several vendors and I haven't seen it as cash advance anywhere. Not a bad idea to lower/disable cash advance in general anyway though. Another thing I do for any new vendors/accounts I setup there is to make a small test payment first, like $5, before I start paying full bills. Since it's a bill pay service it can take some time before you see it posted and reflected at the vendor's side. Similar to using a bank's bill pay service. Usually it's 1-2 business days, but I have seen it take a week before. Maybe it's irrational but I get slightly uncomfortable with any new payment link when I don't have instant feedback that the bill was paid properly at the vendor side. As you mention, a small test payment would uncover a cash advanc...
by MrJedi
Wed Oct 18, 2023 6:33 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Where can you get the most detailed credit report of yourself?
Replies: 19
Views: 2172

Re: Where can you get the most detailed credit report of yourself?

Since they’re all separate agencies, you’d want to pull them all. https://www.annualcreditreport.com/ +1 Not only can you pull all 3 credit reports from this site but 1) it's free AND 2) despite the (legacy) site name, you can now pull your credit reports WEEKLY for free not just annually. -2 Do not do this! In the world of cybersecurity, "best Practice" is to go the 3 major credit agencies separately and pull your credit there. If you have not frozen your credit, do so now. Yes, it's convenient but you are essentially giving your most private information to a for profit company who in a round about way sales it to 3rd parties. Check out their privacy statement. Full of loopholes. You are volunteering your personal info for FREE!...
by MrJedi
Thu Oct 12, 2023 6:33 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: VFMXX pays 0.55% more than SPAXX?
Replies: 15
Views: 2572

Re: VFMXX pays 0.55% more than SPAXX?

jnw wrote: Wed Oct 11, 2023 9:58 am If this is true -- realizing Bard is often wrong if not most of the time -- why would anyone want to go with Fidelity over Vanguard Brokerage? I don't get it. My brokerage account is with Vanguard. But I do have a Fidelity brokerage account as well, but only $50 in it currently. EDIT: Additionally I trust Treasury Bills more than any other sort of money market investments.
If you like treasury bills, Fidelity has t bill autoroll. Vanguard does not offer this. So there is at least one reason directly applicable to you.
by MrJedi
Wed Oct 04, 2023 5:13 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to roll over a maturing T-Bill at Vanguard?
Replies: 13
Views: 1153

Re: How to roll over a maturing T-Bill at Vanguard?

Different length tbills have different auction schedules.

https://www.treasurydirect.gov/auctions ... ns-happen/
by MrJedi
Wed Oct 04, 2023 8:20 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [Using PayPal to pay bills and earn 5% on credit cards]
Replies: 603
Views: 89369

Re: [Using PayPal to pay bills and earn 5% on credit cards]

My natural gas provider is pushing for payments directly from bank accounts and has implemented a flat $2.99 fee for every credit card and debit card transaction. I started thinking about prepaying my bill a bit for a few months at a time to spread out the fee, but then I remembered this PPBP trick. Sure enough, my utility does show up in the system.

I really wonder how long this is going to last...I imagine PayPal is the one eating the costs and I don't understand the incentive to provide this service for free unless it's maybe a loss leader or data source for them in some way.
by MrJedi
Wed Oct 04, 2023 6:48 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity as a one stop shop
Replies: 5973
Views: 1008536

Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

That core/sweep change has all sorts of references to "your firm" and "your customers". Makes me think this is only for third party managed accounts, not DIY/self-service accounts.