Search found 429 matches

by Paul78
Tue Feb 20, 2024 7:28 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: For those of you that bought right before the 2008 housing crash how did you cope?
Replies: 146
Views: 18860

Re: For those of you that bought right before the 2008 housing crash how did you cope?

A couple of days away from 2 years since purchasing the house. No crash yet (but of course that could happen at anytime). on the plus side -house "on paper" has gone up another 20% since I purchased it in Feb 2022. Not saying I would get that much for it but I should be able to at least break even if I was forced to sell for some reason. To be clear I have no desire or intent to sell. -I hit the two year mark so I qualify for the capital gains exemption. Again no plan to sell but still a nice mark to hit. -my 3.625% interest rate well not the absolute historic rate some people got is still pretty amazing compared to what is out there today. negative -Repairs were way more than I was hoping for. The 50k repair fund I had when I bou...
by Paul78
Fri Jul 07, 2023 9:17 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Citi Bank Suspended Our Credit Card Because We Missed a Payment
Replies: 39
Views: 5746

Re: Citi Bank Suspended Our Credit Card

Citi has been the most aggressive from my perspective. I played the points/rewards game years back and as a result was left with several cards I rarely use. Citi closed three accounts I rarely use. Meanwhile Chase, American Express, and Discover, leave accounts open that haven't been used in 5 plus years.
by Paul78
Sun Jul 02, 2023 6:47 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Don't pay full price for SiriusXM radio
Replies: 649
Views: 112419

Re: Don't pay full price for SiriusXM radio

10 year follow up. I did the premium lifetime plan for just under $800 just about 10 years ago. Car only has 90k miles on it currently so hoping to get 10 more years out of the lifetime plan. On the plus side it was one and done. One call, one payment. No calling every year to get the special rate. Also the lifetime plans were not suppose to have access to the application/online radio (which has a ton more stations) but they did end up activating that on my account a few years ago. I would say for the first 8 years of so it was a huge plus. But now I both finally have a cell plan with decent data (can stream music) and broke down and always have a streaming/download service (bounce back and forth between Spotify and Amazon to get promo rate...
by Paul78
Sun Jul 02, 2023 6:29 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Extra or "play" money high risk/reward speculative moonshots... If you partake, what are you doing?
Replies: 39
Views: 6930

Re: Extra or "play" money high risk/reward speculative moonshots... If you partake, what are you doing?

During my 40% life crisis (probably was a bit too young to call it a mid life crisis) Did some sports gambling ended up postive (ended up between 10k-100k post taxes) Did some purchasing of the thing we are not allowed to talk about on here that starts with a c. This was equal to my post tax gains in gambling (between 10k-100k). Currently it is down 50% and although at this point it is impossible that it will have absolutely insane returns a dream scenario is probably 10x returns in the next 5 years. Yes that dream case is unlikely but is possible. And yes I am aware it is far more likely it basically goes to zero in the next fives years than even breaking even (ie doubling from current price). I know the boglehead thing to do would be to c...
by Paul78
Tue Jun 13, 2023 9:44 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
Replies: 2906
Views: 515444

Re: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]

The thread is too good to ride into the sunset. The two markets I watch have both seen houses going for 1-5% over asking in the past 2 months, roughly back to where prices were last year. I honestly don’t know where people are getting the money for this but if they are taking a mortgage at 7% they are likely looking at paying double what they would have a year ago. I got my mortgage back in Feb 2022 at that time I was literally only a few weeks away (as the rates just keep creeping up) from not being able to afford the house. Zero chance I could have afforded it at a 6%+ mortgage rate. Thus far the house (on paper) has gone up probably 5% (ie not even keeping up with inflation) since I bought it. Kinda guessing the end result will be price...
by Paul78
Tue Jun 13, 2023 8:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Millionaire by 40 and How you Did it?
Replies: 352
Views: 74789

Re: Millionaire by 40 and How you Did it?

Finished residency at age 29. Worked in emergency medicine for above average compensation in a LCOL area. Saved over half of my income. Pretty simple formula. Funny how medicine works. You get paid above average wages in MCOL/LCOL areas, but below average in HCOL. My wife could make 50% more if we moved somewhere cheaper. This is very true and hard for almost anyone outside of medicine to comprehend as this is not what most experience. I mean not really that hard to comprehend. Everywhere needs Doctors but Doctors, just like everyone else, tend to want to live in certain areas. Thus the less desirable areas have to pay more (at least relative to cost of living) to attract Doctors. Most other "required" occupations (teachers, rest...
by Paul78
Sat May 27, 2023 10:10 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: For those of you that bought right before the 2008 housing crash how did you cope?
Replies: 146
Views: 18860

Re: For those of you that bought right before the 2008 housing crash how did you cope?

Add in the loss from 2006 - 2012, and the gain from the next house for the next decade, and it's all about an 8% CAGR. But let me tell you, it was a lot more painful and emotionally draining than having $$ in a Vanguard fund that ultimately gets 8% over 15 years! I have certainly learned I would rather take my chances with the market (in mutual funds) as that will probably work out ok and if it does not oh well. I am not smart enough to pick individual stocks so if we are entering a 20 year period of no or negative growth I am screwed anyways. With regards to a house to me it feels more like picking one stock. Sure if it works out great it will be huge piece of my retirement and allow me to retire sooner but if it doesn't work I will proba...
by Paul78
Wed May 24, 2023 8:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: For those of you that bought right before the 2008 housing crash how did you cope?
Replies: 146
Views: 18860

Re: For those of you that bought right before the 2008 housing crash how did you cope?

Well 15 months in and the crash hasn't exactly come just yet. So I guess I did not buy at the absolute peak. "On paper" house is probably gone up around 3% from my Feb 2022 purchase price (well of course that would still be a loss if I was forced to sell as there are cost associated with selling). I have learned that this will absolutely be the last house I purchase unless I do indeed have children in the future. Don't get me wrong the privacy and quite that a home offers is amazing BUT it really doesn't outweigh everything else -I had 50k in cash saved up for repairs when I bought the house. I used 40k of that within 12 months (as the house is 40 years old the more I looked for problems the more I found). As a result I went from ...
by Paul78
Thu Feb 23, 2023 4:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Can I afford our “dream” home
Replies: 36
Views: 6086

Re: Can I afford our “dream” home

You can easily afford it and I don't think there is any reason to wait. As others have mentioned the house won't be built overnight and your family isn't going to get any younger.

The only real potential downside is having a property that will be hard to sell down the line. But you already stated that shouldn't be an issue and even if it is an issue is it still most likely worth it regardless.
by Paul78
Tue Feb 14, 2023 8:48 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: HSA's After Age 45?
Replies: 35
Views: 3496

Re: HSA's After Age 45?

The high deductible HSA eligible plans are often good when you have little medical expense and when you have larger medical expense. It's in the middle range that it can be harder to tell. For me, I will hit the max out of pocket no matter what plan I am on so it's easy to pick the plan that has the lowest total premium plus max out of pocket cost. Of course plans vary so you have to look carefully at your specific plan. The choices about the HSA account are independent as long as you are eligible to continue contributing to the HSA. Pick the insurance first. Then decide how to manage the HSA account. You can continue holding and using any HSA you already have open. Agree with the comments that it depends on your plan. This "middle ra...
by Paul78
Mon Jan 09, 2023 10:48 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Outrageous bill for physical therapy
Replies: 89
Views: 7132

Re: Outrageous bill for physical therapy

MrBobcat wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 6:50 pm $363 doesn't seem all that outrageous to me, sorry.
this.

For a pre insurance rate that seems 100% fine. If you look at your EOBs you will see the general pre insurance rates and be thankful you have insurance. Now maybe since you are paying cash they might drop the price a bit if you ask?
by Paul78
Thu Oct 27, 2022 7:44 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Continue renting or buy a home?
Replies: 180
Views: 13444

Re: Continue renting or buy a home?

I would say rent. You already missed out of the COIVD boom so housing appreciation might start falling back to normal range. I bought back in February. Mostly as I felt that a home in a good neighbor is a better situation to raise a potential family but also in part because it is something "you are suppose to do". After 8 months and several repairs latter I am still 100% on board that it was the right choice choice if I have a family. BUT if I end up single (or married without kids) to me renting is the way to go. In part cause it is "easier". In part because with my income/savings I am pretty much assured to be ok in retirement (if single/married w/o kids). I don't need to be leveraged (ie a mortgage) and hope it works ...
by Paul78
Sun Oct 23, 2022 1:31 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: why does Clark Howard hate Chase?
Replies: 107
Views: 10276

Re: why does Clark Howard hate Chase?

Chase has been fine for me. My accounts migrated over there when WAMU was absorbed by them.

No monthly account fees, they have the most ATMs of any bank in America, and offer occasional free services if you ask (normally would incur a modest charge $20 or so).

Sure the interest rate in the saving account is horrid but I get around that by only keep a month or so of expenses in the account.

To me a bank's job is to make it easy to access and transfer your money. If I am looking for return on my money I sure as heck wouldn't use a bank for that.
by Paul78
Mon Oct 10, 2022 10:54 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Any BH retirees with no pension?
Replies: 134
Views: 17450

Re: Any BH retirees with no pension?

I would assume most don't have a pension. I am still 23 years off from retiring but will get an ok pension as I am a federal employee. Nothing you can completely live off of like some state pensions but still a significant source of money during retirement. Plan is to retire at 57 and get pension of 32% of my high three year salary average. By the time I get to 62 and add social security I could probably just live off those two incomes if needed. Even if the pension didn't exists I will still be ok as I am saving through roth ira/hsa/tsp accounts so that by itself (even with no pension and no social security) would probably allow me to still retire at 57. Major difference would be not having as much breathing room and also a far smaller in...
by Paul78
Sun Oct 09, 2022 2:20 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
Replies: 2906
Views: 515444

Re: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]

We'll see how/when this ends. Probably not until interest rates stop climbing. I bought one of those houses that went from 500k to 750k from 2019-2022. Heck it really went up a bit more since I bough in early 2022 so I would say 800k was probably the true peak. In Tucson though so not as highly speculative as Phoenix but still a pretty huge increase. I think higher interest rates (they will come down at some point but I don't think we will see historic lows for a long time, rates that most current mortgage owners are locked into to) and inflation will help to keep the absolute drop much more modest this time. But a bad recession could easily change that and cause a collapse. In my head I mentality prepare for my house, on paper, to drop do...
by Paul78
Sun Oct 09, 2022 2:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Any BH retirees with no pension?
Replies: 134
Views: 17450

Re: Any BH retirees with no pension?

AnnetteLouisan wrote: Sun Oct 09, 2022 1:31 pm

It’s really the generation before boomers that frequently had pensions, like my grandma (greatest generation, born 1905). But they were modest if you were working- or middle class.
And pensions should be modest. It is pretty clear the system will not be able to sustain itself when you work 20 years at a place and then make 80-100% of your salary as a pension. Especially when some people collect that pension for longer than they actually worked at a company. A pension should just be another tool of retirement not the only source needed for retirement income.
by Paul78
Sun Oct 09, 2022 2:06 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Any BH retirees with no pension?
Replies: 134
Views: 17450

Re: Any BH retirees with no pension?

I would assume most don't have a pension. I am still 23 years off from retiring but will get an ok pension as I am a federal employee. Nothing you can completely live off of like some state pensions but still a significant source of money during retirement. Plan is to retire at 57 and get pension of 32% of my high three year salary average. By the time I get to 62 and add social security I could probably just live off those two incomes if needed. Even if the pension didn't exists I will still be ok as I am saving through roth ira/hsa/tsp accounts so that by itself (even with no pension and no social security) would probably allow me to still retire at 57. Major difference would be not having as much breathing room and also a far smaller inh...
by Paul78
Fri Oct 07, 2022 12:03 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is it the drop that scares you or the fear of further drops?
Replies: 114
Views: 8924

Re: Is it the drop that scares you or the fear of further drops?

would take at least a 50% drop before I would even think about getting scared at my age. Check back in 20 years and I will likely have a much more conservative number that scares me.
by Paul78
Tue Sep 13, 2022 7:16 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Credit Card "Churning" for Bonuses --- Can't You Just Run Out of Decent Cards to Get?
Replies: 124
Views: 15190

Re: Credit Card "Churning" for Bonuses --- Can't You Just Run Out of Decent Cards to Get?

Strayshot wrote: Mon Sep 12, 2022 9:45 pm Chase has all the best cards so 5/24 really puts a damper on things.

You are selling yourself short not considering all the cards with a big annual fee but big value.
Yes that is the obvious mistake the OP is making. Big fee doesn't equal bad deal. Heck I would say the best deals I have ever gotten were on a couple of large fee cards (believe they were between 300-500 a year in an annual fee). I believe this is because in part fewer people qualify for these cards but also there are probably fewer people (even among the subset that do qualify) that want to play the credit card churn game when it involves a high fee card.
by Paul78
Mon Sep 12, 2022 7:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Credit Card "Churning" for Bonuses --- Can't You Just Run Out of Decent Cards to Get?
Replies: 124
Views: 15190

Re: Credit Card "Churning" for Bonuses --- Can't You Just Run Out of Decent Cards to Get?

You are doing it right. Just be patient and sign up for the ones that make sense. Personally I need at least $500 in value before signing up for a card to churn. Some times it is simply $500 cash back after spend x amount of dollars. Some times it is more complicated but still adds up. Like having to pay a $295 annual fee but getting benefits that exceed $800 (so total net profit is at least $500).

I just wait for the good ones. If that means 1 or 2 a year so be it, that is fine.
by Paul78
Mon Sep 12, 2022 5:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Hit by drunk driver
Replies: 32
Views: 4965

Re: Hit by drunk driver

You can 100% get some money if you hire an attorney. Granted the attorney will keep probably 50% of the settlement and give you the other 50% but that will still likely be more than what the other insurance company will offer you if you don't get an attorney. And yes be vigilant of any changes health wise. It can take some time for them to appear and given the airbags deployed that is a pretty decent collision. And no I am not just talking about "back pain" (which some people claim even when it is not actually there and of course in other cases claim it when it is actually real) there is potential for delayed bleeds that can be a medical emergency. I know someone who almost died after a "minor" (in their mind) car accide...
by Paul78
Mon Sep 12, 2022 3:02 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: AP vs IB vs Other High School Coursework Options
Replies: 35
Views: 2599

Re: AP vs IB vs Other High School Coursework Options

I mean as long as the high school has decent AP teachers isn't than enough? I guess it also depends on how smart your kids actually are. If they are top 1% or higher then yes you probably need to actually engage them to find things that challenge them. But if they are just 90ish percentile kids or worse it seems like AP classes plus trying to be a well rounded students (sports, clubs, playing an instrument ect) would be enough. I was probably in the 92-93 percentile. Excluding spelling in elementary school (I have never been great on the front and it was it's own "class" in elementary school) I had only had 3 classes that were challenging 9th grade honors English, AP world history, AP Calculus BC. Everything else was joke in terms...
by Paul78
Mon Sep 12, 2022 8:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: I am losing my house cause of my ignorance. Please advice.
Replies: 312
Views: 37324

Re: I am losing my house cause of my ignorance. Please advice.

Pitagoras wrote: Mon Sep 12, 2022 7:43 am
I think the problem is the house appraisal went up. Your friend wants a part of that. As already said, I would straighten that out ASAP, with a lawyer. O would right now buy him out, I assume you will need to pay him back the 65k and on top of that the 50% of the (potential) net proceeds which is about 100k.

Cut your losses, the sooner the faster you will be over it. Your friend made a great deal. :(
If other posters are correct it is more than just that 100k of potential proceeds. As they are both on the mortgage he would also have to get a new mortgage that would be much much higher than the 2.75% rate he currently has. Over the course of a mortgage a new interest rate would probably cost him at least another 100k.
by Paul78
Wed Aug 17, 2022 8:14 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: I buy extended warranties, here's why.
Replies: 105
Views: 11741

Re: I buy extended warranties, here's why.

I like to buy laptops/tvs from Costco if the price is fairly close. You get a pretty long standard warranty going that route (manufactory, +citi Costco card, +they often add on another warranty). So far it has been beneficial as my two laptops I have bought their both had major issues after the two year mark. One they literally just refunded me the full price for. I mean it wasn't store credit they just put it back on my credit card. The other they fixed.
by Paul78
Wed Aug 17, 2022 7:45 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Inflation Reduction Act - Clean Energy tax credit for home purchases
Replies: 82
Views: 12058

Re: The new passed climate bill: optimizing home purchases for tax savings?

On a personal level it means I am going for new roof and solar by 2032. My roof probably has 5-10 years left so the timing lines up. Also hopefully batteries gets better/cheaper as that is really the only way solar truly makes sense (it is can cover 100% of energy needs not just needs in day time). The break even point is really pretty long without reasonable priced batteries.
by Paul78
Sat Aug 06, 2022 8:02 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
Replies: 2906
Views: 515444

Re: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]

You are absolutely right I see two places where the sellers could argue with me. One is the comps as that is clearly as much an art as a science. Second of course is my estimate vs their estimate of what it will cost to bring the house up to snuff (my realtor said if he was flipping the place it would be $50k to refurb not counting the HVACs) so they are not that far off by that measure (to live there I'd want better than flipper quality). They could also be hoping that somebody comes along that is willing to put in the sweat equity to buy a place they could not otherwise afford. A decade or two ago I might have done that myself but today nah. There is clearly no way they would consider my offer at less than seven days on the market (I cer...
by Paul78
Mon Aug 01, 2022 6:09 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Renting for life - a bad idea?
Replies: 735
Views: 87750

Re: Renting for life - a bad idea?

Apathizer wrote: Mon Aug 01, 2022 12:48 am
willthrill81 wrote: Mon Aug 01, 2022 12:35 am
Apathizer wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2022 11:17 pmSo what exactly is your concern with "far below market rate rents across the street"?
One word: crime.
That attitude is disappointing. Affordable housing doesn't appear to result in more crime.
https://www.vox.com/2016/5/2/11568262/l ... ing-impact
But you know what does cause increase crime? Inequality in income/wealth ie "relative poverty" (you being much much poorer than the rest of your area). If an area is mostly the same (poor, middle class, wealthy) crime is lower.
by Paul78
Mon Aug 01, 2022 6:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Renting for life - a bad idea?
Replies: 735
Views: 87750

Re: Renting for life - a bad idea?

Not only do people in many areas not want services, many are opposed to more housing (affordable or market-rate) in their area for fear it might reduce their property values Why would I want my property values to decrease? I put effort into investing in an efficient manner, I maintain my property to best keeps its value, I pay my bills to keep up my credit rating. Why would I ignore other things that affect one of my largest assets? So you're admitting to being entirely selfish? Again, people need housing. It has to be built somewhere. Not everyone can afford market-rate housing, so affordable housing has to go somewhere. If not in your neighborhood, or anyone else's, where will it go? That's the ugly NIMBY-ism of homeownership. Renters ar...
by Paul78
Sat Jul 30, 2022 5:32 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Renting for life - a bad idea?
Replies: 735
Views: 87750

Re: Renting for life - a bad idea?

My adult life so far Rent 11 years Mortgage owner 5 months (moved in late February 2022) For 11 years I though it was a no brainer to buy a home I just didn't because I couldn't afford a home in an area I wanted to live. These last 5 months have taught me renting is no so bad. Granted I might be feel differently in 20 years (ie when my mortgage payments will be way less than what it would cost to rent something similar and my house hopefully appreciates a decent percentage) but for now I do miss the luxuries or renting 1.) lower cost 2.) flexibility to basically move at the drop of a hat 3.) Only worry is what your next rent increase will be but no worries about anything else (pipe burst? on well just notify the emergency repair line, termi...
by Paul78
Sat Jul 30, 2022 8:19 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
Replies: 2906
Views: 515444

Re: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]

I think you are personally making an issue out of a complete non issue. Like saying that you recently found out the house was built in Oct so you want another 3% off... Which aspect are you referring to? Having 2 sex offenders at the address is *a lot*. This fact certainly raised my eyebrows and it'd be silly of me to think that it won't raise future buyer's eyebrows. These offenders stay at your address forever, at least in Texas. Do they stay at the address forever? A brief internet search shows that sex offenders in Texas must registered at minimum for 10 years after their sentence (clocks starts after all jail/parole/probation is over) and up to life. Even if they just got to 10 year registration period that might not even be over yet....
by Paul78
Fri Jul 29, 2022 8:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
Replies: 2906
Views: 515444

Re: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]

We bought in 2021 with a record low rate. If rates were 3.5%, we'd need an 8% drop in price to keep a comparable payment or a 15% drop at a 5% interest rate. It was the low rate that made our place "affordable". Similar story on my end. I got locked into 3.625% which is historically great but obviously not the low 3% or high 2%. With the current rate my purchasing power would have been 20% less to have the same monthly payment. So yes low rates were a very large factor in increasing the housing prices. I also prefer to pay a higher housing price and lower interest rate that the other way around. Why? I would rather give the money to a home owner (higher list price) than a bank (higher interest rate). It sets the ceiling higher fo...
by Paul78
Fri Jul 29, 2022 6:47 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
Replies: 2906
Views: 515444

Re: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]

Would you guys buy a house now? Rate is around 5.8 percent or market time and wait for a further drop? I bought my house in 2008 at 5.875% interest rate. You can always refinance if interest rates do drop. I refinanced to 3.5% in 2011, only 3 years later. One reason this housing situation is slightly different is some many people literally got the best rate possible. A lot of low 3% or high 2% on 30 year mortgages. Unless the fed goes with a negative interest rate it is basically impossible for a 30 year mortgage to be any cheaper. People will be stuck in their home cause they won't be able to afford to give up the golden interest rate. Although I 100% believe rates will drop I highly doubt they will get down to the high 2% again in my lif...
by Paul78
Mon Jul 25, 2022 8:13 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Separate property and "fairness" in marriage
Replies: 129
Views: 13760

Re: Separate property and "fairness" in marriage

My general idea with this is whatever assets that occurred prior to marriage and any inheritances are separate. Whatever assets during marriage are joint.

This way even if say she spends 200k (in part to due to her having more cash related to inheritances) more than her "fair" share on joint expenses (house repairs ect) it would just be made up in any penitential divorce and if you never get divorced it really won't matter.
by Paul78
Fri Jul 22, 2022 8:23 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I-bonds plus roth IRA as emergency fund?
Replies: 22
Views: 2190

Re: I-bonds plus roth IRA as emergency fund?

To me it seems like for now I bonds (10k + likely around 3k in federal refund) is a no brainer. I was thinking phase two for me could be roth ira but simply putting it in a money market. I know that would be earning basically zero but there is the advantage that if I end up not needing the money I can always put it in the market years down the line and reap the tax benefits of a roth ira. We did something similar and were very happy with it. We just made sure that we had enough in our Roth IRAs and checking account to cover emergencies during the I Bond lock up period. Once we had enough in I Bonds to cover our emergency fund completely (~$50,000), we switched the money in our Roth IRA from bonds to a total stock market fund. Founding Fath...
by Paul78
Fri Jul 22, 2022 8:20 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I-bonds plus roth IRA as emergency fund?
Replies: 22
Views: 2190

Re: I-bonds plus roth IRA as emergency fund?

rgs92 wrote: Fri Jul 22, 2022 12:53 pm Holding cash in a Roth is a waste of Roth-space unless you are trying to time the market, which is a gamble (of course).
In my case it is either having cash (or more likely TIPS) in the roth ira with a chance I covert it to stocks (ie if no emergency comes up) in 5ish years. OR not using the roth ira space at all and just putting the cash somewhere else.
by Paul78
Fri Jul 22, 2022 8:20 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I-bonds plus roth IRA as emergency fund?
Replies: 22
Views: 2190

Re: I-bonds plus roth IRA as emergency fund?

duplicate post
by Paul78
Fri Jul 22, 2022 8:20 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I-bonds plus roth IRA as emergency fund?
Replies: 22
Views: 2190

Re: I-bonds plus roth IRA as emergency fund?

duplicate post
by Paul78
Fri Jul 22, 2022 10:28 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I-bonds plus roth IRA as emergency fund?
Replies: 22
Views: 2190

Re: I-bonds plus roth IRA as emergency fund?

Do you have 50k in investments or 500k or 5 million? At what point does an emergency fund become an unnecessary complication? But yeah, buy ibonds. Pretty sweet. 500k in investments but all of that is in retirement accounts (tsp/roth ira/hsa) so tax consequences if I have to dip into it. Also have home equity 160k but that is not relevant caus3 I am not going to take a loan out on that or try to sell house anytime soon. Also 40k currently in cash. Ah. If you 40k in cash do the I bond thing then consider either short-term tips (e.g. the STIP ETF) or T-bills. This assumes you are OK taking some risk for higher yield. Besides TIPS and I bonds, everything is getting eaten by high inflation anyway, so you can pretty much count on a significant ...
by Paul78
Fri Jul 22, 2022 9:41 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I-bonds plus roth IRA as emergency fund?
Replies: 22
Views: 2190

Re: I-bonds plus roth IRA as emergency fund?

whodidntante wrote: Fri Jul 22, 2022 9:35 am Do you have 50k in investments or 500k or 5 million? At what point does an emergency fund become an unnecessary complication? But yeah, buy ibonds. Pretty sweet.
500k in investments but all of that is in retirement accounts (tsp/roth ira/hsa) so tax consequences if I have to dip into it. Also have home equity 160k but that is not relevant caus3 I am not going to take a loan out on that or try to sell house anytime soon. Also 40k currently in cash.
by Paul78
Fri Jul 22, 2022 9:30 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I-bonds plus roth IRA as emergency fund?
Replies: 22
Views: 2190

Re: I-bonds plus roth IRA as emergency fund?

Just a point of clarification. I bought a house at the top of my budget (I no that is a no no for most bogleheads). Thus my active retirement savings for the next 5 years or so will just by 10% of salary (5% contribution plus 5% matched by company).

I will ahave roughly 20k a year of money after basic expenses. That is the money I am deciding what to do with. To be frank I probably want to have 100k in safe money before I really ramp up my retirement again. The main "emergencies" this would be for are home repairs and car repairs.
by Paul78
Fri Jul 22, 2022 8:31 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I-bonds plus roth IRA as emergency fund?
Replies: 22
Views: 2190

I-bonds plus roth IRA as emergency fund?

Since recently become a mortgage owner I am valuing having cash on hand a lot more than I did in the past. However I don't want that cash to be sitting in a bank earning zero percent and I also don't want the risk of it being in the market. To me it seems like for now I bonds (10k + likely around 3k in federal refund) is a no brainer. I understand that money is locked away for a year and if you withdraw it before 5 years you take a 3 month interest penalty. But it still seems like the best thing out there. I was thinking phase two for me could be roth ira but simply putting it in a money market. I know that would be earning basically zero but there is the advantage that if I end up not needing the money I can always put it in the market yea...
by Paul78
Wed Jul 20, 2022 9:31 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: If currently eligible to retire with a pension, would I effectively be earning less if I keep working at same job?
Replies: 58
Views: 5523

Re: If currently eligible to retire with a pension, would I effectively be earning less if I keep working at same job?

Well technically yes. You are now working to earn 100k a year cause you are assured 50k if you just stopped working all together. But that really isn't that terrible. I know people that continued working when their pension would have been 80% of their salary not 33%.

Sure if you can go out an find another 150k job a year it would make sense to retire from this job and go start working elsewhere. However for most people (especially with pension) that isn't really the case. If you retire and find another job you will probably be making much much less.
by Paul78
Sun Apr 24, 2022 11:46 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
Replies: 2906
Views: 515444

Re: Tales from this insane real estate market

https://www.redfin.com/UT/Holladay/4744-Naniloa-Dr-84117/home/86460225?utm_source=android_share&utm_medium=share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link&2010988919=variant&813945303=variant House was sold for 650K a year ago I believe. Some remodeling done and listed for twice..some not so crazy foot traffic last week on open house https://www.redfin.com/UT/Holladay/2819-E-Sleepy-Hollow-Dr-84117/home/91804240?utm_source=android_share&utm_medium=share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link&2010988919=variant&utm_campaign=homecard_share A bit more foot traffic for this one two weeks ago and under contract already! I am guessing not much stretching going on at these levels but who knows And here I was thinking the...
by Paul78
Sun Apr 24, 2022 10:53 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dental Services questions
Replies: 33
Views: 3437

Re: Dental Services questions

The dentist with the fanciest office/ equipment and the Mercedes lease probably isn’t the best fit. Same with the young gun with $3-500k in school debt alone and lack of real world experience. My general sweet zone is a Provider that graduated from a school with a good reputation in that field and is 3-5 years out of school. Both as they are more likely to be up with modern practices but also so they can have the potential to be my Provider for 20 plus years. Don't get me wrong there are also plenty of amazing Provider's latter in their career that do keep up with modern techniques but there is no chance they will be your long term Provider. It was pretty easy to met that criteria when I was living in Southern California (one plus of livin...
by Paul78
Sun Apr 24, 2022 10:46 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dental Services questions
Replies: 33
Views: 3437

Re: Dental Services questions

Sorry to hear of you dental provider issues. As an example: IMHO: there's a tendency to stick to medical professionals, from Primary Care, MD's, Internists, to dentists, to teeth cleaners, even if they are marginal or just plain junk. It's that traditional doctor/patient relationship where each is responsible to try their ultimate best and trust both ways. Unfortunately, with the changing of times and so forth, these foundational precepts of human behavior and societal norms and peer respect is slowly fading, though there are still bastions and heroes. 100% agree. For many people I would say sticking with subpar Providers could easily be a top 5 mistake in their entire life. It can easily shorten your lifespan significantly. I think it is ...
by Paul78
Sun Apr 24, 2022 10:33 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dental Services questions
Replies: 33
Views: 3437

Re: Dental Services questions

Find a new dentist. Insurance wise- A good dental office will be proactive and check with your insurance company to make sure things are covered before they do the service. I had a similar thing where I requested two cleanings within a 6 month period. I knew it would be covered as my policy is two cleanings per calendar year with no 6 month gap required. But my dental office still called insurance to double check to make sure it was covered. There was another case where I was requesting a crown be placed on my front tooth (tooth had a root canal and was turning grey). My primary motivation was cosmetic (ie I don't want one of my front teeth being an off color) but they were still proactive and able to come up with legit health reasons why i...
by Paul78
Mon Apr 18, 2022 8:48 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Any AZ tax filers know about 140-SBI?
Replies: 8
Views: 1121

Re: Any AZ tax filers know about 140-SBI?

Can someone explain how this works and/or how it might benefit a filer? I have significant dividend and LTC income in 2021. My perception of the 140-SBI is that its simply an alternative "path" to file your small business taxes. So you'd file a 140 for your personal taxes and a 140-SBI for your small business income/taxes. Am I wrong? The OP implies that the 140-SBI, despite its naming, can also be used for one's personal (ie, not small business related) dividend and cap gain income, even if one doesn't have a small business. Am I misinterpreting? So if one can potentially choose to direct their personal dividend/CG income to either the 140 -or- the 140SGI, is the potential benefit just the marginally lower rate (3.5%) with the S...
by Paul78
Mon Apr 18, 2022 8:15 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
Replies: 2906
Views: 515444

Re: Tales from this insane real estate market

Dont want to sound pessimistic but RE price will come down. Rate is super high at 5 percent now and it will only go higher. I would be shocked if they don't have at least a minor correction at some point. But I do think fear of rates going even higher and inflation in general are providing a last gasp right now were people are trying to get into the market. My guess it they top out around 6% but obviously not impossible for them to pass that. But at least on a personal level the interest rate increase helps me psychologically as I bought a house in February. I got a very good rate (historically speaking) but came no where near the absolute bottom rate of last year. However even with what I locked in at the first 12.5% drop in value of my h...
by Paul78
Sun Apr 17, 2022 4:48 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: TSP new offering - 5000 mutual funds ! But will new fees make it worthwhile?
Replies: 60
Views: 6920

Re: TSP new offering - 5000 mutual funds ! But will new fees make it worthwhile?

I will stick to the core tsp funds for now to avoid those extra fees but it is still nice to have those other options should I decide to go down that route at some point. At the moment I can fill in any gaps the tsp core funds are missing with my roth ira and hsa accounts so this change doesn't affect me at all currently. I am pleased they seem to be placing the cost of these new options on the clients that elect to use them instead of just placing them on every single client.
by Paul78
Wed Mar 30, 2022 8:09 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Wife hit a deer with her car. Body shops can't get car in for repairs until June/July. Is this a problem?
Replies: 33
Views: 3948

Re: Wife hit a deer with her car. Body shops can't get car in for repairs until June/July. Is this a problem?

Hello. She hit the deer last week, but the shops we've called are backed up until June/July. Is there anything we should be considering about this? We're waiting to hear back from the insurance company on their thoughts, but any insight from BHers would be great. Thanks. Many insurance companies have preferred body shops that might work on a better timeframe if it is organized through the insurance company. I use Erie Insurance and in times I've needed auto body work, things have gone much more smoothly when using a preferred body shop. Ask your agent or the insurance company if this is the case and see if they can help at all. Body shops (at least in certain areas) are hammered right now. I know for my recent not at fault accident zero &q...