Search found 2024 matches

by bigred77
Fri Mar 01, 2024 2:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Real Stories of College Savings: what was your plan, and what happened?
Replies: 98
Views: 7338

Re: Real Stories of College Savings: what was your plan, and what happened?

I'm reading this thread with interest. My family is similar to the OP's. 3 kids: 6, 3, and 6 months. We're just approaching 40 ourselves with a family NW of just over $1.5M. My goal was to get each kid 50k in their respective 529 plans before they started Kinder and adding about 5k per kid each year after, hopefully getting to 200k each by the time they reached college age. We're a little behind that goal now with about 50k in 3 529 plans combined, but we're trying to play catchup over the next couple years if our income cooperates. I don't have any confidence in my ability to estimate what we'll need in 12 - 20 years, so this seemed like a good enough proxy. I imagine we'll try to get each kid through undergrad and grad school if that's wh...
by bigred77
Mon Jan 08, 2024 3:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: make sense to have kid #3?
Replies: 77
Views: 19191

Re: make sense to have kid #3?

We just had kid #3 about 5 months ago. We're at 6, 3, and 5 months.

We were so sure we were done at 2 we had a tubal ligation done during the delivery of #2 (oops.) Went through IVF for #3.

It is chaos. We love it, we know it will get easier as the youngest gets a little older, but it is pure chaos. We have one stay at home parent (been that way since the first was born) and that has been a god send for us. Financially we're not where you guys are but we're fine. If anything, I tell myself we can just work 1 or 2 more years at the backend and we should make up for the financial aspects of having #3. Seemed like a no brainer trade off for us.

Good luck!
by bigred77
Sun Jul 16, 2023 10:40 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Success in a career is a risk as you age
Replies: 86
Views: 9868

Re: Success in a career is a risk as you age

One thing I’m starting to see more clearly is rising up the management ranks in Mega Corp introduces (office) political risk.

Corporate restructuring is a fact of life every X years or so. If you get sideways with an executive or somebody new gets brought in that doesn’t know you or value what your team does, it’s pretty easy to get forced out. Higher levels of middle management on up seem to be most at risk during these cycles.
by bigred77
Sun Feb 19, 2023 10:24 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Irrational fear of investing after growing up poor
Replies: 129
Views: 11511

Re: Irrational fear of investing after growing up poor

I suggest looking into immediate annuities once you actually retire… paired with a conservative target date fund where your actual decision making can be paired down quite a bit
by bigred77
Wed Feb 08, 2023 7:40 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Compact-ish Luxury SUV Recommendation?
Replies: 96
Views: 8782

Re: Compact-ish Luxury SUV Recommendation?

We’ve had 2 BMW X3s over the past decade plus and loved them.

No major repairs (knock on wood) over that time, pretty much just standard maintenance. Had an independent mechanic I trust to service them though, which really helps cost wise to not rely on the dealership. Current one is a 2014 with just under 80k miles on it, still going strong.
by bigred77
Mon Feb 06, 2023 12:27 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: I’m the nouveau riche
Replies: 148
Views: 24916

Re: I’m the nouveau riche

This reads to me like doctors whose parents were well off enough to pay for their education and likely also weddings, down payment on first house, etc.

If you get that attending job with no loans and have a down payment gift for the house you can live VERY well on most physician incomes and still save 20% for retirement. Most people don’t see the need to save over 50% of their income and that’s perfectly rational.
by bigred77
Tue Jan 10, 2023 9:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: F500 Career Progression
Replies: 13
Views: 2617

Re: F500 Career Progression

It’s really tough to generalize across industries and functions but here are a couple of takeaways I have so far in my career: In your 20s it’s tough to be taken seriously by the older crowd, they’re just not going to view you as a peer if the age gap is too big. I think it’s most valuable to take that time to learn as much as you can, gathering experience across a large swath of business functions. Switch departments, volunteer for projects, always ask for the “why” behind assignments. In your 30s I found the hardest part of moving up the ladder is the first promotion to middle management with direct reports. From what I’ve seen you either have to spend a lot time treading water until someone taps you for a vacated opening, or you can be p...
by bigred77
Fri Nov 20, 2020 8:43 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Should I buy a new BMW X3?
Replies: 37
Views: 4368

Re: Should I buy a new BMW X3?

My wife’s past 2 vehicle purchases have both been X3s (2007 and 2014). Both have been great. Maintenance is a little more expensive but nothing crazy if you have access to an independent mechanic shop who has experience with the German brands. The 2014 model was bought CPO in 2017 with about 35k miles on it for $24k and I think the value has been outstanding. We have 2 kids under the age of 3 and it fits both car seats and all the “stuff” just fine as a family hauler (although there are days when more room would be nice to have, if only because I’m a pretty big guy).
by bigred77
Fri Nov 13, 2020 3:27 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Post your Financial Milestone Announcements Here
Replies: 3606
Views: 562189

Re: Post your Financial Milestone Announcements Here

I’m going to post in this thread since there’s nobody besides my wife to tell and celebration options are limited these days due to Covid. Today our household networth (including home equity) crossed the 2 comma threshold!! We hit this earlier than planned (mid 30s) with an extremely helpful market this past decade. It took 12.5 years to go from -$70k to +$1M. I consider myself extremely fortunate to stumble upon the bogleheads forum when I was just 23. We developed a plan, stayed relatively disciplined with it, and we’re lucky enough to stay employed the entire time with a steadily rising income. Goals of $1.5M networth and $1M in investable assets look very attainable before 40. Stretch goal of $2M networth by 40 would be possible if we g...
by bigred77
Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:36 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any Blended Scotch Drinkers Here?
Replies: 59
Views: 6668

Re: Any Blended Scotch Drinkers Here?

It’s pretty hard to beat JW Black for value on the blended side. I stick with that and get adventurous when I go single malt.
by bigred77
Tue Sep 22, 2020 10:32 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: The Magic Number; Rule of 25; 4%; etc.
Replies: 46
Views: 3709

Re: The Magic Number; Rule of 25; 4%; etc.

Based on your previous posts, you make a lot of money, spend a lot of money, and save a lot of money.

Nothing wrong with that, and an 8 figure portfolio might actually be right/necessary to continue funding the lifestyle you're accustomed too.

Frankly, most people don't need that much money because they spend a lot less than you do.
by bigred77
Thu Aug 20, 2020 9:31 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What is your asset allocation and what future % returns are you expecting?
Replies: 91
Views: 8005

Re: What is your asset allocation and what future % returns are you expecting?

I’m 80/20 and 50/50 US/Intl on the stock side, moderate tilts to small and value.

I hope to retire in 20 years and plan for 5% real returns during that time span.
by bigred77
Wed Jun 10, 2020 5:27 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Speculating - Chesapeake Energy (CHK)
Replies: 55
Views: 5443

Re: Speculating - Chesapeake Energy (CHK)

Since misery loves company I will add my name to the list of gamblers burned by CHK.

I traded CHK off and on over the past 2 years, it was always hugely volatile. Was probably up close to 7k. Then in Q1 2020 I lost all my gains and eventually exited with a 20k loss shortly after the reverse split occurred. I thought they’d eventually get bought up by either a major or private group who would reset their debt/equity structure. Shows what I know.

At least this was in a taxable account. Hopefully I’ve relearned this lesson again.
by bigred77
Wed May 13, 2020 2:43 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Using A Conservative Calculation
Replies: 11
Views: 766

Re: Using A Conservative Calculation

I typed out numerous snarky responses but decided that’s really not helpful to the OP if we are giving the benefit of the doubt that this is a serious question.

Those assumptions are way, way beyond conservative and reasonable.

I would plan using your actual starting balance and make sure you would be safe with a balanced portfolio returning anywhere from 2% to 6% real over the long term. Worst case scenario is conceivably less than that, but not anything I would make life decisions based on.
by bigred77
Mon Mar 30, 2020 2:08 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why shouldn´t I buy oil futures now?
Replies: 92
Views: 8587

Re: Why shouldn´t I buy oil futures now?

As a retail investor, if your asking how commodity futures work, you should not be entering into any positions.

If you want to bet on oil prices increasing, just buy VDE. It’s a much safer instrument to play around with.
by bigred77
Thu Mar 26, 2020 5:45 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Bear 2020 Like Bear 1987?
Replies: 6
Views: 1077

Re: Bear 2020 Like Bear 1987?

If then next 13 years are similar to 1987 - 2000 then just go ahead and sign me up right now.
by bigred77
Sun Mar 22, 2020 9:21 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Why does the 4% rule work when the markets have huge corrections
Replies: 51
Views: 4119

Re: Why does the 4% rule work when the markets have huge corrections

My recommendation is if you retired within the past 3 years and took 4% of your starting retirement balance at the time the first year and adjusted for inflation after that, you could consider reducing your spending by a reasonable amount for the next couple years until the full fallout of this bear market becomes clear. By reasonable I mean 10% -20%.

If you’ve been retired for longer or started with a withdrawal rate of sub 4%, I don’t think any action is needed. Bear markets happen all the time. It’s understandable to be freaked out in the moment, but history suggests this will not derail an entire generations prudent retirement planning.

Just my 2 cents.
by bigred77
Fri Mar 20, 2020 8:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Actual Layoff: Just Need Some Positive Reassurances
Replies: 42
Views: 4707

Re: Actual Layoff: Just Need Some Positive Reassurances

My sympathies to Random Poster. No matter how much you dislike your job, it’s always difficult when the decision to separate is taken out of your hands and made by the employer. On the bright side your severance should last you for over a year and your significant assets and networth should last you indefinitely at your projected spend level, even if you can’t bring yourself to believe it.

I’m in the same industry (oil & gas) and it is absolutely gruesome right now. I know there’s little sympathy for our industry, but it’s very sad how many long tenured folks like the OP are being forced out at a very difficult time for everyone financially.
by bigred77
Mon Mar 09, 2020 9:11 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Anyone buying oil/energy sector?!
Replies: 59
Views: 6702

Re: Anyone buying oil/energy sector?!

All I can tell you as someone who works in the Oil industry is that today is a pretty darn scary day.

It's the reality of working in a commodities business. Everyone understands that it's cyclical. Current prices won't persist long term because they're below the cost of marginal production needed to meet demand, but that doesn't mean they're wont be pain, possibly for a significant period of time, while countries do what countries do.

If my employment wasn't linked to the industry I would buy at today's prices, but I can't concentrate that much risk.
by bigred77
Wed Feb 12, 2020 2:39 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Does being active on Bogleheads lead to confirmation bias?
Replies: 17
Views: 1478

Re: Does being active on Bogleheads lead to confirmation bias?

I notice a distinct pessimistic tilt while reading Bogleheads. I don't know if it's a vocal minority of members or truly representative of the active population. Can you explain the pessimistic tilt? I would like to understand what is deemed pessimistic. I see a lot of discussion around sub 4% (or even 3%) withdrawal rates, planning around 0% real returns for a balanced portfolio over multiple decades, building in assumptions for no social safety nets, planning for 1yr+ bouts of unemployment coinciding with a severe recession/depression, etc. I understand the argument that this is just being a "realist" because these situations could actually happen. I just don't think people understand (or at least internalize) how unlikely thes...
by bigred77
Wed Feb 12, 2020 1:58 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Does being active on Bogleheads lead to confirmation bias?
Replies: 17
Views: 1478

Re: Does being active on Bogleheads lead to confirmation bias?

I notice a distinct pessimistic tilt while reading Bogleheads.

I don't know if it's a vocal minority of members or truly representative of the active population.
by bigred77
Wed Jan 01, 2020 3:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Strategies for Dealing with A Job Layoff
Replies: 28
Views: 2610

Re: Strategies for Dealing with A Job Layoff

Just curious, are you in a field that has lots of layoffs? (former now retired due to layoff Eagle Ford Landman asking). If so, might want to invest in some cross education, training, as back up. I was laid off March 2018. Severance included 4 months of pay, so unemployment payments could not start until almost Mid July. (we took a river cruise in Russia in June, hey, it was available). I was 64. Had just bought a new house, lost my mom and had cataract surgery on one eye. Yeah. Company covered our Cobra until Medicare time. (Never had that from a layoff before, and this was my 3rd one). Keep your resume updated and network as much as possible Do 100% your best on your job and watch for signs of department issues. So yes, file for unemploy...
by bigred77
Wed Jan 01, 2020 3:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: To what do you owe your ability to forego spending now and save for your future?
Replies: 116
Views: 6409

Re: To what do you owe your ability to forego spending now and save for your future?

I grew up in a household where money was scarce and I was vaguely aware my parents were always concerned about it.

I found a good job right after undergrad in 2008, at age 23, in the heart of the recession and decided I better learn all I can about money and how to manage it so it wasn’t a primary stressor for the rest of my life like it was for my parents. I’m good at math, so I figured out how powerful investing money in your 20s can be. I’ve been investing 25%-33% each year ever since.

Money is still a stressor in my life, but I know I don’t have to worry about feeding my family or putting a roof over everyone’s head. That peace of mind is priceless.
by bigred77
Fri Oct 18, 2019 5:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: NYT: Why Don’t Rich People Just Stop Working?
Replies: 18
Views: 4152

Re: NYT: Why Don’t Rich People Just Stop Working?

I’m not wired to ever be mega-rich and I’m OK with that.

1.) I’m too risk adverse to ever put all my chips in the middle of the table.

2.) As soon as I ever got anywhere near 8 figures (and probably less than that amount) I’d be out of the office and into the sunshine.

I have way too many things I’d like to do, see, and experience around the world to put up with work once I could finance the life I’d like to live.
by bigred77
Tue Oct 15, 2019 12:40 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Invited to join HOA board. Pros/cons?
Replies: 98
Views: 15855

Re: Invited to join HOA board. Pros/cons?

I serve as Treasurer on my very small residential HOA.

It's a pain, a thankless job, and probably costs me a couple hours per month of my ever dwindling free time. But I do it because I plan to stay in the same house for the next decade plus and I want to have my say in decisions, capital projects, enforcement, etc.
by bigred77
Tue Aug 27, 2019 10:31 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Equitizing future cash flows
Replies: 4
Views: 358

Re: Equitizing future cash flows

This is one of the cases where it might make sense to use derivatives to put a floor on the stock compensation owed to you if the amount in unvested stock is a material percentage of your networth. Now the mechanics of how to do that is tough to optimize. Is the company a huge publicly traded entity with ample liquidity in the futures or long term options market? If not, you may need to look into a OTC solution with a financial institution (although the amount to most of them is probably way below the amounts they typically customize a solution for, I don't have any direct experience with that sort of thing). I'm sure that sort of thing is going to be pricey and heavily tilted in the banks favor. Other options: - buying straight puts - cash...
by bigred77
Thu Jun 13, 2019 7:01 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Purchasing home with less than 20% downpayment experiences?
Replies: 59
Views: 6004

Re: Purchasing home with less than 20% downpayment experiences?

5% down on first property. FHA loan.

10% down on second property with a 10% piggyback loan (HELOC) and 80% primary mortgage, no PMI.

Both times expenses were a little higher at closing than I originally thought they’d be. Closing also took forever (about 60 days each time with a lot of drama) but that could have been my lenders fault, not necessarily indicative of the loan products themselves.

All in all it was a positive experience. Allowed me to purchase properties years before I would have been able to afford 20% down. Both properties appreciated quickly after I bought them, although I didn’t bank on that being the case. My current home/neighborhood I would have been priced out of if I had waited until I had 20% to put down up front.
by bigred77
Fri May 31, 2019 11:57 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: For those who earn $500k+ per year. How'd you do that?
Replies: 369
Views: 59850

Re: For those who earn $500k+ per year. How'd you do that?

I see Managers in my field making $250K give or take working 40-50 hours a week with limited travel/stress. One can make it to this level being good, ambitious, and persistent (you have to wait your turn; put in the years). I see Directors in my field making $400K give or take working 50 - 60 hours a week with limited travel but some stress. You have to be very good, very ambitious, and very persistent to make it to this level. I see VPs in my field making $1M+ working 50-60 hours a week and dealing with significant travel and stress. You have to be excellent, politically astute, and lucky to make it to this level. Which field are you in? In my field (civil engineering), managers make $100k-$150k working 45-55 hours/week, directors make $1...
by bigred77
Fri May 31, 2019 12:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: For those who earn $500k+ per year. How'd you do that?
Replies: 369
Views: 59850

Re: For those who earn $500k+ per year. How'd you do that?

I see Managers in my field making $250K give or take working 40-50 hours a week with limited travel/stress. One can make it to this level being good, ambitious, and persistent (you have to wait your turn; put in the years).

I see Directors in my field making $400K give or take working 50 - 60 hours a week with limited travel but some stress. You have to be very good, very ambitious, and very persistent to make it to this level.

I see VPs in my field making $1M+ working 50-60 hours a week and dealing with significant travel and stress. You have to be excellent, politically astute, and lucky to make it to this level.
by bigred77
Fri Mar 08, 2019 1:18 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Divorce Question - 401K QDRO
Replies: 36
Views: 4135

Re: Divorce Question - 401K QDRO

I would probably just leave it alone. I assume you already have a lot on your plate with a divorce getting finalized and there are other things pulling on your attention. That being said, if you do have concerns, I think the right way to look at this is you now have a leveraged portfolio until the QDRO is filed and processed. You have 250k invested in your 401k and you've borrowed 150k at 0% interest. Your ex can force repayment of principal at anytime, but you are going to see investment gains/losses magnified by this leverage on the 250k that you're truly entitled too. Edit - If you want to deleverage your portfolio, just put the 150k in a MM account and wait for the QDRO to remove the 150k amount proportionally from all sources. Then imm...
by bigred77
Mon Mar 04, 2019 2:48 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Why do you live where you live?
Replies: 134
Views: 12521

Re: Why do you live where you live?

I live in Houston because I work in O&G and this the place to be for that industry.

It helps that my family lives here as well. It's not really LCOL if you want to avoid commuting (inside or just outside the 610 loop) but it's manageable. It's incredibly diverse. The food and sports scenes are top notch. Arts/Culture scene is pretty good.

As has been mentioned the heat and humidity in the summer is brutal. Outdoor activities leave a lot to be desired.

Overall I'm a huge fan of the city and have no plans to move.
by bigred77
Wed Feb 27, 2019 12:06 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Seller Evaluating Multiple Offers
Replies: 12
Views: 1214

Re: Seller Evaluating Multiple Offers

I would counter #3 and ask them to match the selling price from #2.

If they do, great.

If not I'd probably go with the offer from #2 unless you really want to just get the process over and done with. Do you want to eat the spread between #2 and the original offer from #3 in order to close quicker and remove some of the uncertainty?
by bigred77
Wed Feb 20, 2019 7:05 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Effective tax rate
Replies: 26
Views: 2699

Re: Effective tax rate

skor99 wrote: Tue Feb 19, 2019 7:20 pm
bigred77 wrote: Tue Feb 19, 2019 5:59 pm (income taxes + property tax + FICA + estimated sales tax) / Gross Compensation = 21% (roughly).

Would be a lot lower if I rented a house instead of owned.
Would you also share your approximate gross income, if you don’t mind ?
Right around $175k gross for 2018
by bigred77
Tue Feb 19, 2019 5:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Effective tax rate
Replies: 26
Views: 2699

Re: Effective tax rate

(income taxes + property tax + FICA + estimated sales tax) / Gross Compensation = 21% (roughly).

Would be a lot lower if I rented a house instead of owned.
by bigred77
Tue Feb 19, 2019 4:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do Non Boglehead Type People Know Their Net Worth?
Replies: 17
Views: 1374

Re: Do Non Boglehead Type People Know Their Net Worth?

The vast majority of the population could not tell you their household networth with any degree of accuracy.
by bigred77
Tue Feb 19, 2019 2:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What's your tax filing strategy? (for commoners)
Replies: 31
Views: 2576

Re: What's your tax filing strategy? (for commoners)

I just use turbo tax (web version).

I've been using it for years so I know they handle my RSUs in a weird way and I manually input the cost basis for those.

Other than that I have no real complaints and it costs me less than 50 bucks all in.
by bigred77
Mon Feb 18, 2019 5:48 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: How many bogleheads do you know in real life?
Replies: 165
Views: 20884

Re: How many bogleheads do you know in real life?

The only person I know is my brother, who is also the only person who asked me for financial advice and actually did anything with the information and resources I gave to him.

My friends and coworkers are pretty close to financially illiterate. Best case scenario is they contribute enough to their 401k to get the company match but remain heavily over invested in company stock.
by bigred77
Mon Feb 04, 2019 12:58 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Please critique my plan for early retirement
Replies: 42
Views: 6067

Re: Please critique my plan for early retirement

Have you considered Roth conversions instead of SEPP withdrawals? Once you convert traditional to Roth you can withdraw those conversions (but not gains on the conversions) five years later without tax or penalty. The only problem with this tactic is that you need enough outside money to live on for those first five years and to pay the tax on the conversion, but given that about 70% of your money is in taxable this shouldn't be a problem for you. Once the first five years is up you can just keep converting and withdrawing each year, much like a CD ladder: hence the colloquial name for this strategy, a Roth conversion ladder. The advantage is that this is much more flexible than a SEPP as you can convert more or less in a given year depend...
by bigred77
Sat Feb 02, 2019 11:58 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Just did my taxes.
Replies: 38
Views: 3217

Re: Just did my taxes.

The SALT cap really got us. We still itemized but our deductions got cut significantly. Our income wasn’t high enough for the lower marginal rates to compensate. Even with a new kid (and my first year getting the child tax credit) we paid more in taxes this year.
by bigred77
Wed Jan 30, 2019 6:50 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: FIRECalc, do you accept their assumption?
Replies: 91
Views: 10908

Re: FIRECalc, do you accept their assumption?

I accept their assumption. Notice they correctly used the word “likely” and not “guaranteed”.

For those concerned with using a US only data set: that is a flaw IMO (since I think global diversification is more appropriate for almost all investors). Results would look worse if we used other single country specific data sets over the same time period. However, using a global cap weighted index would actually bump up the floor of worst case scenarios and lower the ceiling of the best case scenarios. It would be safer for those whose primary concern is not running out of money in retirement.
by bigred77
Mon Jan 28, 2019 1:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Money Troubles: Need advice to start over from a hole.
Replies: 37
Views: 3740

Re: Money Troubles: Need advice to start over from a hole.

Pulling $$ from retirement accounts is a really inefficient way of dealing with this problem.

Looking into a 0% balance transfer is the best option.

At the very least I would look into rolling the balances to the current employer's 401k plan and pursuing a loan.
by bigred77
Wed Dec 26, 2018 2:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Working Holidays for extra money.
Replies: 64
Views: 5679

Re: Working Holidays for extra money.

Not a chance (not that it’s an option in my line of work).

I would only volunteer to work through the holidays if the hypothetical multiple was something ridiculous (like 10x). Since that would never happen, I simply enjoy some much needed time off.

The only times I ever worked between Xmas and New Years were childless years where I burned through all my vacation time for the year traveling during that summer.
by bigred77
Thu Dec 20, 2018 8:34 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I feel cheated, saved too much in 401K vs cash.
Replies: 74
Views: 13082

Re: I feel cheated, saved too much in 401K vs cash.

In terms of asset location, there's probably no better place for a medium to low earner to save and invest their money than in a 401k or traditional IRA. You deduct it at your marginal rate and get to withdraw it later at your effective tax rate which almost certainly comes out more favorably than paying taxes on your money and investing in a taxable brokerage account. For many people it's actually superior to a Roth IRA/401k because their paying taxes at their current marginal rate. There's an argument to be made that many, many people would be better off maxing a traditional 401k before they start putting funds in a Roth account. In terms of asset selection, there is a lot of misinformation, rosy projections, and frankly just plain bad ma...
by bigred77
Thu Dec 13, 2018 5:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do our savings rate habits change as we get older?
Replies: 16
Views: 1822

Re: Do our savings rate habits change as we get older?

I think the most common route for the general population is to be poor savers throughout their working years.

Among those who generate above average wealth, I imagine the most common route is an increasing savings rate as their income increases are their capacity to save grows along with it.

Good savers in their 20s are fairly rare.
by bigred77
Mon Dec 10, 2018 5:16 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: To each his own ( I guess ) [Opinions of traveling in retirement]
Replies: 109
Views: 9581

Re: To each his own ( I guess ) [Opinions of traveling in retirement]

My wife and I caught the travel bug in our mid 20s when we finally got some real disposable income. We had a long streak of 2-3 weeks of international travel per year before the first baby came. We're gonna try to pick it up again and do a couple of weeks in Italy next year with a 14 month old. That's a scary proposition for me but we'll see how it goes. :shock: Hope to knock out the last 2 remaining continents we've never been too in the next 5 years. In retirement, I'm looking forward to trying to spend a longer amount of time in foreign places and doing a deeper dive into the cultures there. It's a different experience spending 5-6 weeks in Barcelona than just spending 5 days there. I can't afford the time away from work to pull that off...
by bigred77
Tue Dec 04, 2018 4:01 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Why Is Insurance Worth It (Analytically)?
Replies: 89
Views: 5845

Re: Why Is Insurance Worth It (Analytically)?

You are insuring against catastrophic risk. You purchase a product with negative expected value in order to insure you don't get wiped out if the negative tail risk shows up.

It's the same reason I don't lever up on small cap value stocks as my entire portfolio. It has the highest expected value, but that does me no good if I get wiped out in the process.
by bigred77
Tue Nov 20, 2018 3:46 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: If Markets Move on the Unexpected, What Gives Now?
Replies: 6
Views: 965

Re: If Markets Move on the Unexpected, What Gives Now?

You’re not playing the game right:

Headline X - Market moves - “The market reacted to unexpected news X”

Headline X - Market is flat - “The market has already priced in X before the headline today”

😀
by bigred77
Tue Nov 06, 2018 2:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much money are you leaving your kids after you die?
Replies: 234
Views: 20026

Re: How much money are you leaving your kids after you die?

If my wife and I were to die tomorrow, my 8 month old son would stand to inherit just about $1M.

This reminds me that I really do have to shore up our estate planning :shock:
by bigred77
Thu Oct 25, 2018 11:02 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How do you define how/when you make or lose money?
Replies: 17
Views: 1731

Re: How do you define how/when you make or lose money?

You mark to market at whatever two points in time your interested in measuring and then assess.

If the later endpoint shows a higher number you made money.

If the later endpoint shows a lower number you lost money.
by bigred77
Tue Oct 23, 2018 7:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 2019 Expenses > 2019 Income – Help us close the gap
Replies: 128
Views: 10550

Re: 2019 Expenses > 2019 Income – Help us close the gap

Spend down from your 50k in cash over the next 2 years and then rebuild the balance if you so desire once your wife rejoins the workforce.

It’s not even spending above your means, think of it as shifting a portion of your taxable assets to tax advantaged accounts (because that’s exactly what your doing) in addition to your regular retirement contributions.