Search found 30 matches

by yehudimenuhin
Mon Oct 21, 2013 11:32 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How Much (est) For A Home Addition?
Replies: 17
Views: 12305

Re: How Much (est) For A Home Addition?

We're doing a 800 ft addition. Master bed & bath, office, mudroom. Addition will run us about $200/sqft. That cost excludes other repairs and upgrades we're also doing at the same time...new hvac, driveway, plumbing, repaint, etc.

Builders are very busy here in central Texas, so supplies and contractors are at a bit of a premium.
by yehudimenuhin
Mon Aug 12, 2013 3:34 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Premium Products That Are Worth It To You
Replies: 368
Views: 65427

Re: Premium Products That Are Worth It To You

I've always tried to buy high quality, dependable items. Over the years I've over-purchased bunch of stuff, but here are the things that I found expensive but I benefit from daily; Kitchen : Blue Star Range Broan Hood Cast Iron Skillets (cheap, but the higher maintenance makes them premium in my book) Technivorm Coffee Maker Heavy duty aluminum foil VitaMix Blender Music : USB DACs (instead of onboard soundcard for my MP3s - I have NU FORCE and Scott Nixon) M Audio AV40s (instead of computer speakers) Bike : Power Meters (had PowerTap - trying Stages Cycling on new bike) Assos bib shorts Other : Allen Edmonds shoes Lucchese boots Nice lingerie for the wife Nanny for the kids Glock26 and a V-Line Safe Nikon D90 with fast lenses Here are some...
by yehudimenuhin
Wed May 22, 2013 11:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Emergency Room Visit -- HDHP
Replies: 58
Views: 8610

Re: Emergency Room Visit -- HDHP

Jeanz wrote:At McDonald's they post the prices over the counter -- or, at least, they did on my last visit, which was several years ago. One problem with looking at medical care as a consumer good is that we rarely know the prices in advance, and even if we do, unless we're very unlucky we have too little experience to make a decent choice.
Bingo! I had a cortisone short (shoulder), which constitutes surgery. In advance, I asked the ortho's support team to quote the cost in advance and they pretty much couldn't. But hey, they said, I'd met my deductible so it was free! No worries.
by yehudimenuhin
Fri Apr 05, 2013 2:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Leaving equal inheritance value to all kids?
Replies: 71
Views: 7745

Re: Leaving equal inheritance value to all kids?

I also read "Beyond the Grave". Worth buying a used copy if you haven't thought about these topics in depth. It caused me to appraise some scenarios for our family that I never would have considered, but are eminently possible.
by yehudimenuhin
Fri Apr 05, 2013 2:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Leaving equal inheritance value to all kids?
Replies: 71
Views: 7745

Re: Leaving equal inheritance value to all kids?

My friend has a large amount of commercial property and a 100 employee light manufacturing business. He also has 2 adult daughters. One is highly responsible and capable. The other is flighty and is married to an underachiever. He has chosen to leave the bulk of the estate to the responsible daughter with the agreement that she will oversee the growth of the estate for the next few generations and use the money (as necessary) to protect the other daughter from disaster. Makes sense to me. If Daughter B were to get 1/2 of the estate, it and its potential value to the next generation would vanish. About as financially favorable as a divorce. Under his plan, Daughter A will manage the estate for everyone's benefit and her sister will never sta...
by yehudimenuhin
Fri Mar 15, 2013 12:22 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What % of gross income do you spend on rent/mortgage?
Replies: 132
Views: 13284

Re: What % of gross income do you spend on rent/mortgage?

About 8% of gross in Mort/Ins/Tax. Then another 3% prepayment against principal.
by yehudimenuhin
Fri Mar 15, 2013 12:12 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Need a good book on negotiating
Replies: 24
Views: 3154

Re: Need a good book on negotiating

Influence by Cialdini is great, but not directly about negotiation. It's a review of the psychology of persuasion, citing a lot of case studies and experiments. Not designed to be a practical guide, but the insights are highly usable.

Story: In the final class in my MBA course on Organization Processes (i.e., soft skills), the professor opened the floor to any and all questions. One student asked (only half jokingly) what books or tips could the prof recommend for manipulating people....taking things beyond the more acceptable approaches we had been covering that semester. Without pause, he recommended Influence as the best survey of how people can be persuaded to do things they have not intention of doing.
by yehudimenuhin
Wed May 02, 2012 11:43 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Opt-out of employer healthcare?
Replies: 68
Views: 6317

Re: Opt-out of employer healthcare?

There was a thread a week ago about how to avoid medical bankruptcy. The OP mentioned that his neighbor had a good job that provided his health care. The neighbor then contracted cancer, began treatment, and got fired/replaced a few months later because he couldn't work and lost his health care. Sad, but not an unreasonable move on his employer's part. Personally, I like my individual HDHP policy. I'm an otherwise healthy 20 something though and my premiums are about $800/yr. If I do actually use my insurance it means there is an excellent chance I would be fired imminently anyway (I probably can't work with cancer, or after getting hit by a bus, or whatever). Going with the employer plan might save a few bucks, but the peace of mind knowi...
by yehudimenuhin
Fri Apr 27, 2012 10:38 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What's your % ROTH vs Tax differed in your portfolio
Replies: 43
Views: 2692

Re: What's your % ROTH vs Tax differed in your portfolio

Ages 40 & 35

CURRENT
Roth - 11%
SEP & 401k - 71%
Taxable - 18%

We are maxing all out (SEP makes conversion for one of us too costly, so we to BD-Roth for just one of us) and adding aggressively to our taxable accounts.
Given that, and that our deferred accounts are bond heavy, I project our balance at retirement will end up in the approximate neighborhood of:

2032
Roth - 10%
SEP & 401k - 37%
Taxable - 53%
by yehudimenuhin
Mon Apr 23, 2012 10:26 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Health Insurance Risk
Replies: 1
Views: 392

Health Insurance Risk

I've searched around and haven't seen this addressed in a comprehensive way, so here goes.... Question : How do you mitigate the risk of losing your coverage as a result of a serious illness? Scenario : Neighbor has a junior exec job at a white collar company. By his accounts has a good health plan, good LTD coverage, and Term Life. He also has a wife (stay at home), 2 kids and a significant amount of assets. A few years ago, he was diagnosed with cancer and has been in treatment. The therapy has prevented him from performing his job effectively and after burning up all vacation, his firm has decided they need to part ways. That leaves him with 18 months of COBRA and then he can join the Texas high-risk pool (which won't provide the level o...
by yehudimenuhin
Tue Jan 31, 2012 9:56 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Rebalancing Help - Overflowing into Taxable
Replies: 3
Views: 835

Re: Rebalancing Help - Overflowing into Taxable

Awesome. Thanks. To answer your questions: Q - What are the HSA options? A - I don’t have access yet, but I suspect they won’t be adequate and , I’ll move rollover to one of the recommended custodians and roll my accumulating contributions 1-2x per year. And, I guess a fund like Total Bond Market works best here if I’m treating it as an extension of my portfolio, no? Q - In taxable are the "Her Employer" and "His Employer" amounts company stock? A - Yes. We’re liquidating those as soon as we can avoid ST Cap gains. Q - What are the expense ratios for the 401k options, especially the five above? A – Woo, some are higher than I expected. Asterisk by your selections. HIS: Stock Large Cap DFA US SUSTAIN CORE1 – 0.37% FID CAP...
by yehudimenuhin
Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:20 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Rebalancing Help - Overflowing into Taxable
Replies: 3
Views: 835

Rebalancing Help - Overflowing into Taxable

Hi there, I hope you can help with rebalancing and rethinking. We are in the middle of rebalancing and have reached a stage where the tax-advantaged opportunities aren't enough. Good problem to have, but it's unfamiliar territory having less than 1/2 yearly contributions going to taxable accounts. Emergency funds = 6 Months Debt : Mortgage 4.875% 30yr (paying on 15yr timeframe) Student Loan – Variable at 3.5%, Fixed at 3.875% Tax Filing Status : Married Filing Jointly (1 child) Tax Rate : 33% Federal 0% State Age : 40(he) and 35(she), 6months(wee one) Desired Asset Allocation : 35% Bonds 5% REIT 60% Stock Int’l Allocation : 30% of stocks **Current Portfolio - +/- $400k (incl non-emerge ncy cash) Taxable 4.1% CASH$ 4.0% BRK.B 2.4% Her Employ...
by yehudimenuhin
Tue Sep 14, 2010 11:34 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Deduction/Contribution Phaseout Zone - how to navigate?
Replies: 3
Views: 863

Deduction/Contribution Phaseout Zone - how to navigate?

How do folks deal with the point where every new dollar earned seems to phase us out of one deduction or another? Suppose we (no-kid joint-filing couple) earn $220k-250k and have a lot of deductions (property taxes, mortgage, etc.). If we contribute the max to our (no-match) 401k plans, it lowers our AGI below or into some of the phaseout thresholds. But we don't know if it's worth it. So many questions pop up at this point: * Is it worth it to pile money into the 401k? That could keep us in the 28% bracket. * What options could trigger AMT? * We have an IRA we could convert to Roth.....should we put some dollars toward the tax-hit? I imagine this is a common situation. Are there any guiding principles or references that can help work out t...
by yehudimenuhin
Mon Dec 07, 2009 8:29 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Trying to sell a one ounce gold Krugerand coin
Replies: 30
Views: 8084

In response to Helga...

As a consultant, I did some work for a few mining companies a decade ago.

There are a lot of ways to extract the gold from the rock. and the classic way involves a series of crunchers that break the "blowed up" rock into a large granular form. From there, it is run by conveyer belt to a large flat space called a leach pad, where a sprinkler system sprays it with a cyanide acid mix that leaches the gold down into a recovery drain system. After that, it's a simple purification process.
by yehudimenuhin
Wed Jan 07, 2009 2:07 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "The Paradox Of Thrift"
Replies: 61
Views: 10411

Spacemonkey,

Continuing that thought into the modern era.

Do we, in this age, wage war in a way that would have that same effect?

Those "total resource" kind of wars (with boots on the ground, tanks, jeeps, tens of thousands of air and naval craft, et...) seem to have been replaced by jets, missiles, and a few other niche technologies (for the most part). Doesn't seem like the current two wars are making a productivity difference.
by yehudimenuhin
Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "The Paradox Of Thrift"
Replies: 61
Views: 10411

Shizzyfin,

I don't want to seem like an apologist for Laffer. I'm not, but your comment about zero taxation demands a response.

Laffer doesn't say that revenues increase indefinitely as taxes decrease.

There is an inflection point where revenue is maximized...somewhere between 100% taxation and 0% taxation. It looks like an upside lower-case N.

The controverisal part is where we are on the curve, but not whether revenues begin to decline after a certain low rate.

more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laffer_curve

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UR594f25pQ
by yehudimenuhin
Tue Jan 06, 2009 10:52 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "The Paradox Of Thrift"
Replies: 61
Views: 10411

On the New Deal and the Depression

As I understand it, the current thinking (Krugman aside) is that the New Deal did not and could not end the depression. Rather that money supply is far more siginifcant a contributor to the recovery (as well as with other recessions).

Here's a paper on it: http://www.nber.org/papers/w4765

The author is Christina Romer, new chair of Obama's Council of Economic Advisors. So, there may be some hope.

Krugman's the go-to guy for trade/tariff economics, but on domestic stuff, he's simply another political ax-grinder.

And anyway, if putting this money in the hands of folks is good for industry, etc..., why not permanantly lower taxes?
by yehudimenuhin
Tue Jan 06, 2009 10:28 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "The Paradox Of Thrift"
Replies: 61
Views: 10411

Freezing Eggs

DieHard,

RE: your question on freezing eggs. I haven't tried it, but I imagine grandma could just beat the eggs before pouring them into trays.

They sell frozen egg whites in the market, but I think yolks don't handle freezing well.

I'd like to buy a laying hen or two....just to see my neighbors' reactions.
by yehudimenuhin
Tue Jan 06, 2009 3:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "The Paradox Of Thrift"
Replies: 61
Views: 10411

Even though I took macro-economics at MIT, I never got a good feel for macro-theory. I might just be too simple, but then again, I didn't sit in Krugman's class. So, my question is this: Don't most people discussing "paradox of thrift" come at things from the wrong angle? The discussion usually goes along these lines: "Sure, things were terribly unbalanced, and that has given us this awful recession. And those folks who have ceased spending money they don't have on things they don't need are just making it worse. If we can encourage them to blow their non-existant savings, we can get this thing running again." Isn't it a lot like a junkie hitting a score so the urge goes away? How does stimulus improve things in the long...
by yehudimenuhin
Mon Dec 22, 2008 3:42 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Indymac Refi - 30 yr @ 4.625%
Replies: 58
Views: 12820

FWIW:

My broker with Wells Fargo quoted me the following--

30y FR at 4.875 0 pts, $2534 fees (initially offering 4.75 with .5pts)
by yehudimenuhin
Wed Jul 18, 2007 7:02 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Dilemma: Avoid PMI or Pay Down 8.25% Loan
Replies: 24
Views: 7099

Our savings rate is 25% or so. Most of that goes into tax-advantaged accounts.

If I'm hearing you correctly, you're saying any taxable savings should go to the loan. I agree. We'll be able to whittle it down pretty quickly, especially while we're on two incomes.

Thanks for the input.
by yehudimenuhin
Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:31 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Dilemma: Avoid PMI or Pay Down 8.25% Loan
Replies: 24
Views: 7099

Thanks all. Alexander: You're right. I forgot the interest on the extra 10% on the mortgage in option 1 after paying the student loan. With PMI, it would cost more. I'm not crazy about the HELOC idea since it'll be closely tied to Prime Rate, as is my current loan. They'll always be within 5 basis points of each other. NYCPete: Thanks for the clarification. Education interest tax deduction is above the line. I wasn't clear, but for us, it's also unapplicable because of our incomes. All: Thanks for the comments about PMI and other loan structures. Very insightful. Austin is not a bad place to rent right now. I'm tempted to rent an extra six months or more, and dump the savings into the student loan, while also setting sights a bit lower for ...
by yehudimenuhin
Mon Jul 16, 2007 11:15 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Dilemma: Avoid PMI or Pay Down 8.25% Loan
Replies: 24
Views: 7099

Blackhawkzone: I don't think I can re-finance the Student Loan at a better rate. Also, it's a private loan and can't be consolidated via a govt program.

EmergDoc: The SL interest is tax deductible. But without a house or state income tax (TX), I dont' think we can do better than our standard deductions.

All: We will buy the cheapest house we can get away with, but Austin an expensive market (which has somehow managed to not be impacted by the slowdown elsewhere).

That said, doesn't it seem that the best solution is to pay the loan down and use that as a "spur" to hold out for the bargain house?
by yehudimenuhin
Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:55 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Dilemma: Avoid PMI or Pay Down 8.25% Loan
Replies: 24
Views: 7099

Dilemma: Avoid PMI or Pay Down 8.25% Loan

Hi folks, I'm faced with a dilemma: Let me lay it out with rough numbers: Option 1) Put 20% down on a DP for a $360k house. Option 2) Put 10% down, put the remaining $36k toward a private student loan charging 8.25%, and pay the PMI on the mortgage. That would push the loan balance with Citibank to $20k (the Federal loan is locked in at 3.25%) Details: The loan is by Citibank and is adjusted quarterly based on WSJ Prime. I've read that PMI costs about .5% of the loan amount. Our plan is to get a 30-yr mortgage with no prepayment penalty and make extra payments as possible (after maxing 401, Roth, etc). It seems like a no-brainer to pay down the loan, and pay for the PMI, by my math: In option 1) I'm paying (8.25% x 36,000) = $2970/yr in stu...
by yehudimenuhin
Thu Jul 12, 2007 1:24 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A new low in personal finance
Replies: 26
Views: 9498

Scurlock and Spurlock

Valuethinker,

For the record.

Maxed Out was directed by James Scurlock

Supersize Me was directed by Morgan Spurlock

Similar styles, different guys.

Cheers.
by yehudimenuhin
Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:21 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fresh Start---- AA for a newlywed couple
Replies: 10
Views: 3620

Jim in Austin, Your numbers are very close, except that "her roth" is 4% and "his roth" is 3%. Was probably a rounding error. "his roth" is above the $3k min of many funds, but below the $10k that others want. Thanks. Laura, I see that your suggested reallocation results in: Bond (all TIPS) 25% International 25% Total Stock Market 16% Large Cap Index 17% (Spartan US Equity) Small/Medium Index 7% (Spartan Extended) REIT 5% Small Value Index 5% With contributions going toward: her 401(k) Bond (US total index) 50% Large Cap Index 50% (Spartan US Equity) his 401(k) Large Cap Index 50% (Vanguard Inst Index) Small/Medium Index 50% (Spartan Extended) Both Roths Total Intl Stock Mkt 100% each *It seems like the initia...
by yehudimenuhin
Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:39 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fresh Start---- AA for a newlywed couple
Replies: 10
Views: 3620

(disregard original comment. corrected)

Thanks for spotting.

EDIT -

On second review, it wasnt' a mistake. In selling off my brokerage accounts for the loans/house, I pulled money out of the total "pool". The proportion in the SEP account naturally grew by 10%.
by yehudimenuhin
Mon Jul 09, 2007 10:30 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fresh Start---- AA for a newlywed couple
Replies: 10
Views: 3620

Wow. My appreciation to both Alexander and Laura

Laura, your comments are clear....and it's a lot to digest. We're gonna walk through this carefully, and may have some follow-up questions down the line. Thanks

BTW - We weren't thinking of the REITS as bonds. I placed it last on the list because of its low movement correlation with equities. For the sake of our target 75/25 split, however, we see it as an equity. So, your numbers are spot on. Good stuff.

Cheers.
by yehudimenuhin
Mon Jul 09, 2007 8:30 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fresh Start---- AA for a newlywed couple
Replies: 10
Views: 3620

Thanks for the input. I'm not very excited about our plans' funds. That's why I've latched onto the idea of the BrokerageLink account. We'll be putting the max into our 401(k), so I didn't want to be stuck with the options in these plans. Are there any downsides to using the Brokeragelink? I imagine that even if there is a transaction fee for the Vanguard funds, we can get Fidelity Spartan with no brokerage fees, correct? Any advice in that regard is very appreciated. For what it's worth, here's our plans' funds: HIS: Large Cap - ALVIZ - American Cent Lg Co Val Inv CL  - 0.84% Large Cap - FDCAX - Fidelity Capital Appreciation Fund  - 0.87% Large Cap - FCNTX - Fidelity Contrafund - 0.90% Large Cap - VINIX - Vanguard Institutional Index - 0.0...
by yehudimenuhin
Mon Jul 09, 2007 11:42 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fresh Start---- AA for a newlywed couple
Replies: 10
Views: 3620

Fresh Start---- AA for a newlywed couple

We're getting married in a few months and want to get started off right. As you'll see, our investements are a hodgepodge. Professional couple. He's 35. She's 30. No kids yet. Tax rate: He today=28%. She today=25%. Joint (both employed) 28%. Joint (his salary during kiddie era) 25%. *Have emergency fund and down payment fund established. No CC debt. *Have about $50k in private variable student loan, now at 8.25% *Currently renting at a very favorable rate. *Frugal style of life, paid cars, budgeting already, etc.. *His current portfolio is a mess, ready to reboot the whole thing. *We plan on liquidating the taxable account and putting most of it against the loans. There are no net capital gains in that account. *Holding lots of cash in reti...