Search found 33 matches

by rohitj
Sat Mar 30, 2019 4:32 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Invested in a startup that went bankrupt
Replies: 2
Views: 1258

Invested in a startup that went bankrupt

I made a high risk investment several years ago and found out through an investor update that the company shut down in mid 2018. Unfortunately a k1 was not issued this year, most likely because the company is still going through the process of shutting down.

For the purposes of taxes, is there anything I can claim this year or do I need to wait until I receive a final k-1?

Thanks!
by rohitj
Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:10 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 1099-g California Question
Replies: 3
Views: 1271

1099-g California Question

I received a 1099-g this year and the amount correctly states my last year;s refund. The problem is that I received a notice around mid-2012 stating I had underpaid taxes. I promptly paid the taxes owed.

What should I do about my 1099-G? Is there an easy way to tell the california state tax board that they did issue me a refund but then I gave them some of the money back due to the underpayment?
by rohitj
Thu Jan 10, 2013 8:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Implementing Two-Factor Authentication for Fidelity Accounts
Replies: 48
Views: 22652

Re: Implementing Two-Factor Authentication for Fidelity Acco

I have yet to see a banking app that let's you save your password.

If they enable two-factor, I hope they also give a way of allowing mint.com/other trusted apps to still work. Otherwise it's really discouraging to those that use any sort of software to monitor their accounts.

Ingdirect allows you to create a specific password for aggregators.
by rohitj
Wed Sep 26, 2012 3:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Liability limits and "protected accounts"...
Replies: 3
Views: 605

Re: Liability limits and "protected accounts"...

Umbrella policies are cheap. You can get 2 - 3 million dollar additional coverage for auto/home/renters for less than $200 in most states. At that rate, I would just purchase that coverage and not optimize further as your assets increase or decrease in protected accounts.
by rohitj
Thu Jul 12, 2012 1:00 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Ford
Replies: 13
Views: 1531

Re: Ford

They've improved substantially by paying off much of their debt. Their credit rating improved so their financing costs are going down. Many of the new cars are also much better quality and have technology that puts them ahead of the competition (i.e. ford sync).

That being said, Ford has huge european exposure and their stock price won't go anywhere until the crisis in europe gets better. It could go to 20+ but will take several years to get there given all the headwinds in place. Are you willing to hold that long? On the plus side, they now have a dividend that pays you to hold it.
by rohitj
Wed Feb 29, 2012 4:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Doing my own taxes.
Replies: 32
Views: 3624

Re: Doing my own taxes.

Use turbotax and do it by hand. Pick whichever gives you a more advantageous return and submit that to the IRS.
by rohitj
Mon Feb 27, 2012 5:21 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: MLPs
Replies: 18
Views: 2450

Re: MLPs

I have a few mlps in a tax-account. While its a slight pain, the dividend payout is quite substantial. Turbotax will walk you through it but you need to file for the most expensive version of their software (since you're effectively a partner in a business). You'll need to budget in the additional tax burden before jumping into this investment.
by rohitj
Wed Feb 01, 2012 4:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Redux:Newbie question for high 7 figure portfolio
Replies: 29
Views: 2383

Re: Redux:Newbie question for high 7 figure portfolio

+1 this thread should be marked as an ad and deleted. A lot of people spent time helping this person with a supposed 7-figure portfolio and its truly shameful that there was such a major hidden agenda.
by rohitj
Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:45 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help me invest 12mm
Replies: 54
Views: 7361

Re: Help me invest 12mm

Congrats on getting ahead of the game. My advice would be to take some time off for 6 to 12 months but not much more than that. Then get back in the game but this time swing for the fences when you start a company. Since you have a successful 'base hit', you'll be able to get intros to a few venture capitalists and other small- to mid-size startup CEOs. Take advantage of it because the current funding environment won't last for very long imo -- just not sustainable. When I first made money, the best advice I got was to do 'nothing' with it. Just let it sit in cash until you know exactly what you're doing. There is no rush. If it starts to burn a hole in your pocket, then use a bit of it to pay off the mortgage. Take your time when choosing ...
by rohitj
Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:36 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Young couple asset allocation w/ foreign national spouse
Replies: 15
Views: 2197

Re: Young couple asset allocation w/ foreign national spouse

If you do leave permanently from the US, there's implications with your 401k. I thought you had to take one lump distribution. I'm not sure if you researched that further but it may be a drawback (depending on your company's match) towards contributing further in 2012.
by rohitj
Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:04 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Lending car to friend for a month - any liability issues?
Replies: 35
Views: 6654

Re: Lending car to friend for a month - any liability issues

If you have an umbrella policy with a few million in protection, that should be adequate. On top of that, if your friend has good insurance and an umbrella policy, then you pretty much have everything you need covered.
by rohitj
Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:45 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Swank sushi: Tuna fetches record $736K in Tokyo
Replies: 4
Views: 976

Re: Swank sushi: Tuna fetches record $736K in Tokyo

They probably recouped a sizable portion of that based on all the free media coverage they've received today. I've seen it mentioned on three stations while channel flipping. I can only imagine the coverage they'll get in tokyo.
by rohitj
Wed Jan 04, 2012 2:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Families of public safety officers killed in line of duty
Replies: 7
Views: 1388

Re: Families of public safety officers killed in line of dut

While these benefits are fairly solid, most major corporations offer very good benefits if killed while working. Its usually a big payout. You can also get additional supplemental life insurance that protects you even if you are killed on your own personal time, that is a very, very large multiple of your salary.

I suspect most jobs don't have as high risk of death, so you'd rather have your employer focus on providing/improving other benefits.
by rohitj
Tue Jan 03, 2012 1:47 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Are people who invest in hedge funds morons?
Replies: 48
Views: 4456

Re: Are people who invest in hedge funds morons?

Its tough to categorize the thousands of hedge funds in the world into one basket. Each has a slightly different philosophy with different risks.

Most of the individuals investing in hedge funds are accredited investors that probably have the basics taken care of (enough fixed income / index funds that their family / grandchildren could live off of if need be).
by rohitj
Mon Jan 02, 2012 10:41 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Three-Fund Portfolio
Replies: 3895
Views: 2424618

Re: The Three Fund Portfolio

You still have institutional risk. If vanguard screws up their algorithms for buying / selling / balancing, you're pretty much screwed. Just not worth the risk to me -- I'd rather have 8 or 10 funds spread between 2 or 3 trusted institutions.
by rohitj
Fri Dec 30, 2011 10:32 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Divorce in California
Replies: 18
Views: 3599

Divorce in California

A friend of mine is going through a divorce and california and I wanted to see what other people's experiences have been like. In particular, she started out the marriage with a significant number of assets. My understanding is that california is a community property state. Are they normally good at considering what assets existed prior to the marriage? Or is it usually end up being a 50/50 split irregardless? In this case, it seems like an 80/20 split would fairly provide for what assets existed prior to the marriage / splitting assets acquired during marriage.

It seems pretty easy showing that funds weren't comingled.
by rohitj
Wed Dec 28, 2011 8:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best Frugal Way to Create a Will
Replies: 32
Views: 5887

Re: Best Frugal Way to Create a Will

If you work for a big company, you can sign up (usually doing open enrollment) for 1 year of legal services. One of the legal services covered is estate planning. FWIW, you can usually get a decent lawyer to help set everything up for a grand or so, depending upon the complexity of your estate. Obviously this varies if you have all sorts of assets etc.,
by rohitj
Wed Dec 28, 2011 3:46 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Case Study: Broker speed of dividend payments
Replies: 108
Views: 27982

Re: Case Study: Broker speed of dividend payments

If you are in an MLP, REIT, or other high-dividend paying stock (i.e. VZ etc.,), it could matter. For me its just a matter of principal. These broker could very well be doing it intentionally because in aggregate it could be a sizable amount of money.
by rohitj
Wed Dec 28, 2011 3:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Cash - do you keep a stash on hand?
Replies: 83
Views: 9848

Re: Cash - do you keep a stash on hand?

I have a bag ready with clothes in case of an earthquake. Keep enough cash in there to survive a few nights, assuming credit card terminals aren't working. Generally I try to charge everything because I like points and, more importantly, a record of it will be kept on mint for itemization purposes. I am too lazy to enter cash purchases on mint at this point.
by rohitj
Wed Dec 28, 2011 3:30 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Case Study: Broker speed of dividend payments
Replies: 108
Views: 27982

Re: Case Study: Broker speed of dividend payments

Even if its not showing up, you should check to see if they start accuring interest on your behalf from the 28th (assuming you have a setting for keeping available cash in a money market).
by rohitj
Wed Dec 28, 2011 3:26 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Amazon Prime for Bogleheads?
Replies: 36
Views: 4663

Re: Amazon Prime for Bogleheads?

Why I love amazon:

1.) Create a "subscription" for common household items like shaving cream. Get 15% off.
2.) Pay no sales tax (8% saved in california).
3.) Pay with an amazon visa credit card. Get 3 points for every dollar spent for items on Amazon.com. (~3%)
4.) Free shipping (though they don't qualify for two day delivery even with prime.).
5.) Don't have to go shopping as often.
6.) Prices, even without any of these discounts, are already cheaper than our retail stores.
by rohitj
Tue Dec 27, 2011 4:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: APMEX - buying precious metals
Replies: 28
Views: 4312

Re: APMEX - buying precious metals

Did the issue get resolved?
by rohitj
Tue Dec 27, 2011 2:33 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: best place to put my saving account
Replies: 9
Views: 1759

Re: best place to put my saving account

With such a small amount of liquid cash, i'd focus less on rate chasing and more on finding the most convenient institution. Put it at a bank close to your home that doesn't have crazy fees and provides free checking.
by rohitj
Tue Dec 27, 2011 2:28 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A stock index/ETF screening out overly paid CEOs?
Replies: 41
Views: 3675

Re: A stock index/ETF screening out overly paid CEOs?

i don't think anyone is disputing the invisible hand but some of us may take comfort in putting x% of our money towards fixing a systemic problem (i.e. get rid of labor unions etc.,). that may come at a cost of less than stellar returns on a portion of our investments.

as for actual implementation, my guess would be one of us would have to start the fund and prove the concept before it can be taken on by vanguard at scale.
by rohitj
Tue Dec 27, 2011 1:02 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A stock index/ETF screening out overly paid CEOs?
Replies: 41
Views: 3675

Re: A stock index/ETF screening out overly paid CEOs?

What is the 'average investor'? It just seems so subjective. These 'privileged' people were voted in by the average investor as well.
by rohitj
Tue Dec 27, 2011 12:57 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Finance pros...who also use a financial planner
Replies: 8
Views: 1144

Re: Finance pros...who also use a financial planner

I had a planner try to sell me some of his managed funds with ridiculous fees (2% - 4%) that didn't seem anywhere near market performance. I ran away from that fast. To be fair, the person knew I was fairly savvy and had the desire to put in the hours to do the research. He correctly pointed out that many people would rather give up a percentage of their returns to get the peace of mind that their money is being managed.

On the occasion I do need advice, I utilize a person I found on yelp with hundreds of reviews and legitimate credentials. I just pay an hourly fee to soundboard advice. Occasionally, I'll have tax questions or want someone else to do a sanity-check on a potential investment -- it works out well for my use-case.
by rohitj
Tue Dec 27, 2011 12:40 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A stock index/ETF screening out overly paid CEOs?
Replies: 41
Views: 3675

Re: A stock index/ETF screening out overly paid CEOs?

Great idea. On a similar note, I believe that union works are overpaid and underperform. Look at the automotive and airline sector for some great examples. It'd be awesome to have an ETF that invests only in companies that severely limit their exposure to union workers. I used to like berkshire hathaway because of warren buffett's resistance to unions. That's changed in recent years with his acquisition of union pacific.

If we only inject capital in such companies, we can eventually abolish unions. This would create a more competitive workforce and help grow America.
by rohitj
Sun Dec 18, 2011 11:28 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Kim Jong Il has died what does this mean for the markets?
Replies: 27
Views: 3683

Re: Kim Jong Il has died what does this mean for the markets

Its a bad thing and will likely hurt most stocks tomorrow. That being said, a few days from now the markets will be focused solely on europe.
by rohitj
Sun Dec 18, 2011 11:26 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Should Vanguard disclose executive compensation?
Replies: 52
Views: 5348

Re: Should Vanguard disclose executive compensation?

It'll probably be in the millions and most of you will outraged. I'm pretty sure whatever the number is, it'll less than what those executives could make at many of the other major investment fund. If those numbers are published, those executives could be 'poached' and vanguard would lose much of its talent. Worse yet, it'd likely have to increase fees to try to defend itself.

I'm a believer that a company which remains private should get EVERY benefit of doing so. They aren't public and aren't as beholden to their shareholders. If you don't like that, then have you money managed by a public company. We all know how that ends up.
by rohitj
Wed Nov 23, 2011 4:57 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Full time income + side business
Replies: 12
Views: 2213

Re: Full time income + side business

Why not just keep it under the corporation and build up the balance sheet? You could use it as a way to 'shield' some assets in the event that you're named personally in a suit.

Perhaps you could issue yourself a one-time dividend which might be subject to a lower tax rate.
by rohitj
Wed Nov 23, 2011 4:46 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Discrepancy regarding lifetime maximum for health insurance
Replies: 10
Views: 1492

Re: Discrepancy regarding lifetime maximum for health insura

My experiences with BCBS have been nothing but stellar. I'm glad your issue got resolved.

If you want, you can send in a letter via 'snail mail' with your explicit question. It may take them a few months, but they'll come back with a complete response that's usually signed and dated by someone in their customer support department. The letter would actually have some weight in the event of a future discrepancy or legal dispute.

I don't think taking screenshots or printing out pages can hold up as easily since those could be manipulated.
by rohitj
Tue Jun 07, 2011 11:18 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Never pay for a phone call or text message again
Replies: 5
Views: 1893

Steve Job's announced iMessage which could potentially narrow the cost of SMS significantly in the next few years. If I were a betting man, I'd say that SMS will be history within ten years. Voice might be longer but it'll fall in price as VOIP (voice over internet protocol) becomes more acceptable within households.

We'll still be paying $100/month for these 'utilities' but we'll just be paying for bandwidth instead of minutes / SMS. The major carriers will pivot to become ISPs with a bunch of a la carte add-on services (i.e. VOIP, content platforms etc.,).
by rohitj
Tue Jun 07, 2011 11:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: The buy/rent ?. Can't landlords just pass on costs?
Replies: 95
Views: 8415

You need to factor in opportunity cost. How much is your time worth doing something else? I know a friend that's making about 7k a year in profit renting out several small studio apartments but without fail it usually occupies one morning of his weekend. Depending upon how you choose to finance this, you are taking some risk with the hope that the house's value stays the same or rises in the long-run. This can be very risky given how dynamic some neighborhoods are. I live in San Francisco and haven't found a market yet that really provides a compelling risk/reward investment strategy. I have found other, more attractive markets around the US but ultimately found other assest classes are less work and provide a more compelling risk/reward. I...