Search found 273 matches

by lazyfabs
Tue Nov 21, 2023 8:50 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Quicken 2019 and forward
Replies: 1061
Views: 114305

Re: Quicken 2019 and forward

I used PC Quicken for 20+ years and then switched to Mac and used Mint instead of Quicken for many years. With Mint disappearing I tried a few other apps and gave Quicken Mac another chance. I wish I would have done it sooner. Connections have worked great fine and it reminded me of old PC Quicken when Quicken Mac used to falter. Worth the price for sure in comparison to other pay for apps in my opinion.
by lazyfabs
Sat Apr 09, 2022 10:06 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: [Fidelity Announces new Youth Account]
Replies: 59
Views: 7970

Re: [Fidelity Announces new Youth Account]

we have a fidelity youth teen account i'm the parental custodian on the account. you log into her account using her profile and have to link her account to yours, fidelity or external. my understanding and downside and why i haven't done it, is that she will then have control to go both ways on transfers. in an out of the account linked.

currently we have it so only money can go from my account (logged into my profile) to hers, since im the custodial the set up of one way transfer from my profile to hers is automatic until she turns 18 and the account turns to a 'norma' brokerage account.
by lazyfabs
Wed Jan 19, 2022 4:54 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: [Fidelity Announces new Youth Account]
Replies: 59
Views: 7970

Re: Fidelity Youth Account

To me, it's just marketing. Lock them in early. Let's face it, if a minor is 13-17 and already opening an investment account, they are most likely a privileged young person who will be a top % investor in their later years. This feeds into the narrative of the superior parent. If Fidelity can lock these people in, that's 60-80 years of a high net worth individual. Pretty good stuff. Just updating this thread. I opened one of these accounts for my 14 year old last year. He uses it purely as a cash management account with debit card. Plan to open another for my 12 year old as soon as he turns 13 in August. Today I received an email from Fidelity stating they are depositing $50 in all Youth Accounts no strings attached to save, spend, or inve...
by lazyfabs
Wed Dec 29, 2021 4:38 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Financial advisor for federal employees
Replies: 37
Views: 3369

Re: Financial advisor for federal employees

Can anyone recommend a financial advisor who specializes or focuses on federal employees? I’ve found a bunch with a google search but would like to see if anyone has experience with one in particular. Im in Wisconsin so I’d likely meet by phone since I assume most are in the DC area. https://www.innovatefinancial.com mike is in minneapolis. he holds several seminars a year as well. i have worked w/ him on and off over the years . he is very knowledgeable about fed benefits and how they might intertwine w/ non-fed benefits. i don't have any money under his management (did for a year or so as a test many moons ago, but DW employer started offering free advice thru fidelity executive svcs and we are simple dyi porfolio type), but have used hi...
by lazyfabs
Wed Dec 29, 2021 4:31 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Financial advisor for federal employees
Replies: 37
Views: 3369

Re: Financial advisor for federal employees

deleted duplicate.
by lazyfabs
Fri Aug 06, 2021 8:37 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TSP Rollover - In-Service
Replies: 12
Views: 923

Re: TSP Rollover - In-Service

TSP does not allow in-service rollovers unless you've reached 59.5 years of age. And unless I'm misreading your post, your reasoning for wanting to do this - to do the mega backdoor Roth at Fidelity - is based on a misunderstanding. The mega backdoor requires an employer plan that allows you to make after-tax (not to be confused with Roth) contributions, which the TSP does not. Even if in-service rollovers were allowed, you wouldn't be able to do the MBR. https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Mega-backdoor_Roth thanks for reply. after doing some more in-depth reading the mud cleared up a bit and came to the realization one has to be at least 59.5 or land in the hardship parameters. re the mbd conversion, thanks for clarification and i edit orign...
by lazyfabs
Thu Aug 05, 2021 9:02 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TSP Rollover - In-Service
Replies: 12
Views: 923

TSP Rollover - In-Service

didn't want to hijack the ongoing thread since it pertains to retired feds and my question is more while one is still in service. i am currently ~8 years away from being able to be a retired fed. i have maxed out my tsp + max catch. when tsp instituted the rothtsp option i started contributing to it regularly and subsequently once hit 50y put my catch-up into rothtsp. after reading multiple threads on tsp withdrawal, fedweek, fedsmith, fedzone, tsp.org, etc., most of the info, tips, suggestions, examples, etc. were geared more towards retired feds and/or those at the verge of being retired fed. I'm interested in doing a direct partial rollover from tsproth to rothira currently at FIDO. I'm able to do backdoor Roth conversation every year w/...
by lazyfabs
Thu Aug 05, 2021 12:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fed Retirees and the TSP
Replies: 81
Views: 9291

Re: Fed Retirees and the TSP

Faith20879 wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 12:08 pm
lazyfabs wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:21 am
@TimeRunner or others that have transfered $ out of the TSP either while employed or retired. going from rothTSP to FIDO (or other institution) rothIRA any tips and/or suggestions on how to make the process easier and minimize the potential heartburn?

thx
There have been many discussions on the board about this subject. Here is one that we followed. Poster geobrick gave a nice and detailed algorithm:

viewtopic.php?t=290527

You can always do a search on "form 99" to see other threads.
thank you
by lazyfabs
Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:21 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fed Retirees and the TSP
Replies: 81
Views: 9291

Re: Fed Retirees and the TSP

anther possible nuisance if one has both regTSP and rothTSP and a mix of funds b/w both types of account is in re to interfund transfers and allocations. per tsp site "Note:  If you have both traditional (non-Roth) and Roth amounts in your TSP account, you cannot request a separate interfund transfer for each balance. Your interfund transfer request will be applied to your entire TSP account. Note:  If you have both traditional (non-Roth) and Roth amounts in your TSP account, you cannot request a separate allocation for each balance. Your contribution allocation request will be applied to your entire TSP account." I rolled the Roth TSP to a Fido Roth IRA, kept all of the bond allocation in the TSP IRA G Fund, and rolled the rest o...
by lazyfabs
Thu Jun 24, 2021 12:25 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fully Paid Lending Program at Fidelity
Replies: 15
Views: 3968

Re: Fully Paid Lending Program at Fidelity

op here w/ an update after talking to our account rep for the yearly 'free' check-in call he stated that there are really no cons. as some have mentioned one would give up voting rights if shares are on loan and if one needed to liquidate shares and the shares are on loan might take a little bit longer, but that in his time at fidelity he has never hear from one of his clients that it has been an issue a rare occurrance from what he has heard from other coworker. tip he gave was that when filling out paperwork that do for each account sepeately, i.e. don't comingle in paperwork joint accunts w/ individual accounts regardless if brokerage, iras, etc, or application would get kicked back. also, no need for signature guarantee, notary, etc. se...
by lazyfabs
Fri Jun 04, 2021 4:18 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tiller Money vs mint vs PC vs ?
Replies: 12
Views: 2512

Re: Tiller Money vs mint vs PC vs ?

thanks ill look at moneyspire for sure.
by lazyfabs
Wed May 26, 2021 6:31 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fully Paid Lending Program at Fidelity
Replies: 15
Views: 3968

Fully Paid Lending Program at Fidelity

has anyone participated in this program or looked into it?

pros/cons

thanks

https://www.fidelity.com/trading/fully-paid-lending
by lazyfabs
Wed May 19, 2021 10:35 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: [Fidelity Announces new Youth Account]
Replies: 59
Views: 7970

Re: [Fidelity Announces new Youth Account]

I’m surprised that people don’t think this is a good idea. Or perhaps because it’s Fidelity and not Vanguard that it’s a bad idea. Read the fine print, the accounts are only available to those kids who’s parent already has a relationship with Fidelity. Now let’s read between the lines - at some point down the road it’s a good bet to believe that those youngsters who become adults may be in line for an inheritance. Folks who have an existing relationship with a trusted partner will likely bring those monies to where they are most comfortable doing business. There is nothing nefarious about this concept. I completely agree this is a good idea. I don't like the idea of keeping kids in the dark about investing until all of a sudden they are ou...
by lazyfabs
Fri May 14, 2021 3:15 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tiller Money vs mint vs PC vs ?
Replies: 12
Views: 2512

Tiller Money vs mint vs PC vs ?

just ran into this while researching money/budgeting apps https://www.tillerhq.com

has anyone tried it, thoughts, etc.

i use pc and like it fine, but looking for something a bit more robust for non-investment type of tracking and mint is just ok. i used quicken for 20+ years until it lost its 'allure' for hardcore users.

thanks

#edited
by lazyfabs
Mon Mar 29, 2021 8:12 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: multiple backdoor Roth conversions in a year...
Replies: 4
Views: 449

Re: multiple backdoor Roth conversions in a year...

limits is what i figured, but read some changes were made to IRA via secure act and wanted to make sure. thanks for responses/clarifications.
by lazyfabs
Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:45 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: multiple backdoor Roth conversions in a year...
Replies: 4
Views: 449

multiple backdoor Roth conversions in a year...

this is two part question. as fyi, all accounts are held at Fidelity. i am also maxing out + catch-up with my 401k. filing as married/joint and our MAGI is above the income limits to make deductible Trad/Roth contributions. A) in jan 2021 i made a $7000 (over 50) non-deductible cash contribution to my Trad IRA and the following day i backdoor/rolled it over to my Roth IRA. I have been doing this for several years now, pre/post turning 50. ? - can i make another non-deductible Trad IRA and subsequently backdoor/roll it over to my Roth IRA OR am i limited to the max amount of $7000/year? B) i currently hold etf (Fidelity Energy FENY) in my brokerage account. some of the shares are in short term gain status and all have some LT/ST) gain. no ch...
by lazyfabs
Sun Mar 07, 2021 4:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Realizing gains for UTMA/UGMA?
Replies: 16
Views: 2091

Re: Realizing gains for UTMA/UGMA?

we learned that a certain portion of gains in MN got taxes. fed was $0, MN was ~30/kid (we have 2) for both kid's utma's. might want to check your state taxe rules just in case. my question is: currently we put $50/month and the occasional grandparent bday gift into each utma invested in a s&p 500 index fund and set up dividends to be paid in cash (after suggestion made above). does it make sense to do a one time deposit up to the $2200 mark at the beginning of the year and then subsequently sell it the following year once it hits LTG and reinvest it, add another one time deposit of $2200 on new year, etc. to create a large chunk cycle going fwd OR continue to do monthly dollar cost averaging type of investments and just figure out any ...
by lazyfabs
Sat Mar 06, 2021 5:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax-optimizing UTMA accounts
Replies: 11
Views: 1066

Re: Tax-optimizing UTMA accounts

Having just done this for two accounts, most of the assertion is correct. Anything under 1100 is not taxable because the standard deduction for dependents without income is 1100. Between 1100 and 2200, long term cap gains and qualified dividend income is not FEDERALLY taxable. Short term gains and non qualified dividends are taxable. To my surprise, however, a portion above 1100 of long term gain and qualified dividends was taxable in Minnesota. Going forward I will manage to 1100 as much as possible. we also were suprised w/ the MN portion above 1100 being taxed. it was ~30/kid (we have 2) and we were close the to 2200 mark for both kid's umma's. might want to check your state taxe rules just in case. my question is: currently we put $50/...
by lazyfabs
Sun Jan 10, 2021 3:08 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: finance/investing books for kids...
Replies: 10
Views: 834

Re: finance/investing books for kids...

gr7070 wrote: Sun Jan 10, 2021 3:01 pm Learning/reinforcing the personal finance basics is probably most valuable asset their age; living below your means, budgeting and paying oneself first, need to save, need for insurance, (largely) debt avoidance, giving, etc.

While most of us dislike Dave Ramsey's investing his basic message is largely very good. He also has content geared directly for kids. Unsure about books, but he has a video course for the kids.
reinforcing the basics of personal finance is the idea for sure.

though i have never been a fan of his, will take a look at the videos for sure. thanks.
by lazyfabs
Sun Jan 10, 2021 3:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: finance/investing books for kids...
Replies: 10
Views: 834

Re: finance/investing books for kids...

At 11.5 and 13, these concepts are pretty abstract. Practical experience with money is better at that age. You are giving them that. If they show more interest, you might walk them through your family budget. A lot of people don’t like to share details with their kids. At this age, it was helpful for our kids to see how much the music lessons were relative to the cell phone bill. And of course, the age old “electricity isn’t free” agree on the concepts being abstract. we are in the infancy stage of this learning process and given what the have already started and what they are getting from their school in the sense basic health/home economic (for lack of better terms) they have access to what looking for suggestion on potential kid like bo...
by lazyfabs
Sun Jan 10, 2021 2:15 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: finance/investing books for kids...
Replies: 10
Views: 834

finance/investing books for kids...

our daughters are 13 and 11.5. we have started talking about personal finance, investing, spending, saving, etc. we have set up a checking account w/ debit card, utma account invested in s&p 500. in school they have also started discussing it in health/life classes.

we have also started the discussion, but after doing a search here and on the intraweb kind of came at a very large list of possible books they could read themselves.

inquiring if anyone had any suggestions on books for kids to ready themselves in addition to any discussion we are doing w/ them to help them easily understand, comprehend, etc. in a funish manner to keep them engaged.

thanks
by lazyfabs
Wed May 06, 2020 12:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity Private Client Group
Replies: 82
Views: 40732

Re: Fidelity Private Client Group

we are currently coded 'premium services' but have +$1m in total fidelity assets combined.

does being pcg have any additional benefits that surpass 'premium' coding? does the switch happen automatically?

we also have access to the executive services thru dw work as a benefit. we do not pay any type of fee as a previous poster, for us it is covered by the company.

i did a search on fidelity and as others have mentioned any info has either been purged or vague. never really paid attention to the level of account since we are dyi, but if one gets added freebies might be worth looking at further.

thanks
by lazyfabs
Fri Aug 31, 2018 8:21 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Anyone investing in Municipal bonds ?
Replies: 48
Views: 6612

Re: Anyone investing in Municipal bonds ?

We are Fidelity as well and use FTABX (Fidelity Tax Free Bond Fund” in taxable for muni, net exp ratio of .25, min is $25,000, and per strategy on web site

“Objective
Seeks to provide a high current yield exempt from federal income tax.
Strategy
Normally investing at least 80% of assets in investment-grade municipal securities whose interest is exempt from federal income tax. Normally not investing in municipal securities whose interest is subject to federal alternative minimum tax”

Salud,
by lazyfabs
Sat Aug 25, 2018 12:43 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fidelity Full View transition to eMoney
Replies: 161
Views: 42423

Re: Fidelity Full View transition to eMoney

I have noticed that when pulling transation from various sites, i.e. cc, banks, etc, for the ‘first’ time sometimes only last few months are migrated. Guessing that by having to relink accounts it must count as a ‘first’ time. Bit frustrating to have to start all ver, but as. Mentioned previusly the emoney sability is more robust than mint and pc combined. I was a qiuicken user until it died a slow death few years back and have played with most of the aggregate sites out there. Emoney allows one ro create categotries and rules like quicken. If you have tsp, some proprietary type of age based funds ticker symbols will be off but tha was the case in old fv. Will correct my previous robust reporting statment, since it looks like all the report...
by lazyfabs
Tue Aug 21, 2018 2:24 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fidelity Full View transition to eMoney
Replies: 161
Views: 42423

Re: Fidelity Full View transition to eMoney

I have been using the emoney platform thru an old financial advisor that offered his clients access. I find to be a combo of mint and personal capital, used both off an on. I have had very little issues with conectivity and rarely get errors. I was quicken user for 20+ years until its demise, and emoney feels very similar in usability, reporting, keeping track of financila stuff. Another emoney plus one can agregate isnurance policies and include them the planning aspect of reporting. What i really like is the reporting. Very robust in comparison to other aggrgate sites. For investing, taxes, and tranactional/budgeting. I browsd thru the fullview version when it was released and seemed to have all of the reports, account info, ect as the st...
by lazyfabs
Fri Aug 04, 2017 11:01 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: High tax bracket, AMT, state taxes - best approach
Replies: 13
Views: 2392

Re: High tax bracket, AMT, state taxes - best approach

in general for individuals in a high tax bracket that are also subject to state income tax and AMT, is it more prudent to try and minimize the AMT hit or lower the state tax hit? It depends on which type of AMT you pay. If your AMT is due to timing items (incentive stock options, for example), minimizing AMT doesn't give as much of a benefit, as you expect to get back the AMT as a credit in later years. If your AMT is due to non-timing items (state tax deductions), then you want to consider the total tax cost. If your AMT marginal rate is 35% and your state tax rate is 9%, then an AMT-free muni fund will be taxed at 9%, while a fund with 20% AMT bonds from your state will be taxed at 7%. The 2% difference in taxes (probably 0.05% in after-...
by lazyfabs
Wed Aug 02, 2017 6:24 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Questioning use and viability of Muni in taxable account
Replies: 15
Views: 2176

Re: Questioning use and viability of Muni in taxable account

djscal wrote:Do you have access to a NQDC employer plan? You can often defer large pre-tax amounts in an NQDC far beyond what can be deferred in a 401k.

Although one must be careful to read the precautions associated with NQDC's. If your company has a plan perhaps you can ask if you can join it. My company allows HCE's and execs to join the NQDC plan.
Unfortunately not for both, just straight fwd 401k, hsa, etc.
by lazyfabs
Wed Aug 02, 2017 5:50 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: High tax bracket, AMT, state taxes - best approach
Replies: 13
Views: 2392

Re: High tax bracket, AMT, state taxes - best approach

Iliketoridemybike wrote:I get hit with the AMT and I do my own taxes via Turbo Tax. They give advice on how to best avoid the AMT and most of it was useless. I gave up trying to minimize it and accept that it is a consequence of earning more than most.
Agree totally, positive side of amt that it is a good problem to have though painfull as it may be.
by lazyfabs
Wed Aug 02, 2017 5:20 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Questioning use and viability of Muni in taxable account
Replies: 15
Views: 2176

Re: Questioning use and viability of Muni in taxable account

I love Fidelity but I think their muni funds aren't great. Maybe swing your muni stuff over to Vanguard? Their tax exempt funds seem to stay away from bonds that count against AMT. Their municipal money market does invest in private activity bonds...I think it was around 14% last I checked. Still a small amount. I didn't see you mentioned your age. How close to retirement are you? Maybe take a look at building an EE bond ladder to create an annuity for 20 years from now. Mel Lindauer wrote a good article about 5 years ago in Forbes explaining it. https://www.forbes.com/sites/thebogleheadsview/2013/03/01/build-your-own-annuity/#5a80d4757ba3 You could use this for a portion of your bond allocation. Savings bonds are tax deferred and EE bonds...
by lazyfabs
Wed Aug 02, 2017 5:16 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: High tax bracket, AMT, state taxes - best approach
Replies: 13
Views: 2392

High tax bracket, AMT, state taxes - best approach

I started a thread specific to our situation here https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=224798 regarding the use of Muni funds in taxable account. after thinking bit more about the general/global view on the topic i became more curious as to what is the general consensus on approaching the issue as an overall perspective. though we have always used a cpa for tax doing our taxed i have always done them in tandem as a hobby, curiosity, and interest in trying to understand the why of taxes and have always come close + and - from what the cpa's have come up with. we are also very aware and clear that though taxes should be part of the equation when coming up w/ an investment strategy and a portfolio allocation of ones desire,...
by lazyfabs
Wed Aug 02, 2017 4:21 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Questioning use and viability of Muni in taxable account
Replies: 15
Views: 2176

Re: Questioning use and viability of Muni in taxable account

curmudgeon wrote:Personally, I might pay down the mortgage in place of buying munis (or other bonds in taxable), at least to a significant extent. There are various trade-offs, and I wouldn't drain cash flexibility, but it is worth considering.
we have been paying down our mortgage aggressively over the years by making extra payments and recently paid off our HELOC that was attached to our house. the HELOC we paid off in less than five years at the original balance was $260k. we used a large chunk of our cash to do so and now after things have settled bit since doing so we are regrouping sort of speak.
by lazyfabs
Wed Aug 02, 2017 4:19 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Questioning use and viability of Muni in taxable account
Replies: 15
Views: 2176

Re: Questioning use and viability of Muni in taxable account

Splitting your muni allocation between a national fund and a MN fund would be a good idea, just so all your muni eggs aren't in one basket. Or you could stick to stock funds in taxable and increase the allocation to bonds in your 401k . Both good ideas, I would do the latter. If you want to sell bonds to raise cash, you sell stocks in taxable, and exchange stocks for bonds in tax-advantaged. Then you get your bond interest tax-free and are paying only the capital gains rate on the stocks. You can even do this if you want to hold cash in the form of a money market fund--do it in the tax-advantaged. The only caution is that if your taxable account is all stocks it could drop by half or more in a crash. Is half of your taxable account enough ...
by lazyfabs
Wed Aug 02, 2017 4:15 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Questioning use and viability of Muni in taxable account
Replies: 15
Views: 2176

Re: Questioning use and viability of Muni in taxable account

Kennyt7 wrote:buy individual 5k munis nothing beats tax free monthly income
have done it for 40yrs they are quite safe
do not worry about rates if you dollar cost average over many yrs
buying individual bonds has always been tad intimidating personally and something have shied away from. but has always been somewhat intriguing will definitely look into it and educate myself to see if that is a better route.
by lazyfabs
Wed Aug 02, 2017 8:50 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Questioning use and viability of Muni in taxable account
Replies: 15
Views: 2176

Questioning use and viability of Muni in taxable account

Summary: -We max out all tax-deferred accounts, 401k, back door roth, etc. -529 and other education/children accounts funded appropriately -Asset allocation historically hovered and maintained in the 65/35 range through the ups and downs of market fluctuations. -mostly invested in index funds both in tax deferred and taxable accounts -solidly cemented in the 33% tax bracket or higher depending on DW bonus. -live in MN so get to pay 8-9.45% state tax depending on income -get to experience the wonderful feeling of AMT every year and don't see this changing any time soon -Debt none besides mortgage, ~17 years left on 30 yr loan at 3.75% -equity ~$750k+ Dilema, what p we are trying to figure out is in our taxable account held at Fidelity broker...
by lazyfabs
Thu Aug 27, 2015 6:19 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Which tax-exempt bond fund ??
Replies: 37
Views: 11258

Re: Which tax-exempt bond fund ??

I have over the last few years been on the fence b/w vwitx and mub (closest comparison to tne new vanguard fund/etf/ since tax rate has gone up and can trade mub free via fidelity and of course no brainer on vanguard re fees. Sinc im on an ipad and dont know how to post screen shots here are 2 links from reuters fund screener web site. Looking at the overall and past rankings it appears that vwitx makes more sense. Not sure how they come up lipper fund readings, but do they have any merit and should it be considered as to which one to go with VWITX http://funds.us.reuters.com/US/funds/lipperLeaderProfiles.asp?YYY622_IyrG+jCS9wZm5+wUKDWP2BuZTH3KwZb8EX/lL+8rQLeRpB8HmVGv5ExWvpl3FsPV MUB http://funds.us.reuters.com/US/etfs/lipperLeaderProfiles....
by lazyfabs
Fri Aug 21, 2015 11:32 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Switch from Quicken (Windows) to iBank5/Moneydance on Mac?
Replies: 7
Views: 2086

Re: Switch from Quicken (Windows) to iBank5/Moneydance on Mac?

TravelGeek wrote:
lazyfabs wrote:
Also, read yestaerday intuit is looking at divesting quicken, turbo tax, and quick books.
Actually, the products they want to divest are Quicken, DemandForce and Quickbase.

See http://www.marketwatch.com/story/intuit ... 2015-08-20

And separate discussion here on BH: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=172088
Thanks for the correction was going off misguided memory blurred by my dissatisfaction of pc q15 and having to find different option after many years :beer
by lazyfabs
Fri Aug 21, 2015 8:32 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Switch from Quicken (Windows) to iBank5/Moneydance on Mac?
Replies: 7
Views: 2086

Re: Switch from Quicken (Windows) to iBank5/Moneydance on Mac?

I was a pc q user for about 20 yrs. over the last year or so, q15 the program is as buggy as can be. Customer servire appaling. Many complaints on the q forums. I also used parralles and after every update/patch from either parralles and more so from q, it became very frustrating to use. I upgraded to windows 10 and the problems multiplied, so for those using parralles and havent gone to to win10 dont, might want to wait. Also, the syncin to the app for both both pc and mac version is horrible, i have tried it on several occasions and just turn off that feature. I have been using/giving q for mac 2015 since the pc version stopped working, lot better than the last version 07. The investing portion is very week. So if that is your goal youll ...
by lazyfabs
Wed Aug 05, 2015 8:59 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: $13 Million Goal for Early Retirement (am I crazy?)
Replies: 320
Views: 82774

Re: $13 Million Goal for Early Retirement (am I crazy?)

Riprap wrote:
letsgobobby wrote:This means money that could have been spent by you will not be.
Exactly.

I appreciate your thoughtful post, you make many excellent points.
X2 :sharebeer
by lazyfabs
Wed Aug 05, 2015 8:17 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Buying a Rolex Watch
Replies: 171
Views: 30171

Re: Buying a Rolex Watch

When i got my first real job with a 401k, i took it upon myself to educated myself on investing, saving, budgeting, etc.

i made myself a promise that at 40 i would purchase a rolex submariner if financially able to do so. The idea went and still goes against any of the advice offered by numerous of financial/investment type of help books and now websites, forums, etc. at that time and now.

At 40 i bought my rolex submariner and upgraded the househould ceo's cubiczerconia stud earings to real diamond ones.

There are some auxilary goals that are well worth shooting for especially when the core ones are sitting on solid ground.

Salud
by lazyfabs
Tue May 26, 2015 4:26 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: YNAB a good subsitute for Quicken?
Replies: 43
Views: 20311

Re: YNAB a good subsitute for Quicken?

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I appreciated the feedback and it was enough for me to spend a number of hours over the last couple of weeks with the free YNAB trial. For those interested here are my thoughts: I can definitely see the value of their approach. If you want to tightly manage cash-flow/budget in a forward-looking manner and enter transactions manually it seems like a great tool. Also - even if you aren't entering transactions manually, but are fine doing pulls from all your accounts every couple of weeks without the anal-desire I have to have all your balances always up to date - the flow will also likely work well for you (or if you don't mind using multiple tools as mentioned by other posters...). For me, however, I was so...
by lazyfabs
Thu Dec 18, 2014 11:15 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Denver area ski in/out lodging?
Replies: 22
Views: 2598

Re: Denver area ski in/out lodging?

Recommend visiting this forum http://www.epicski.com you'll get lots of good insight. Its the bogle forum of skiing. If ski in/out is an absolute must you'll probably need to boost that budget. We stay in frisco, 15-30 minutes drive to keystone, breck, copper, vail depending on the resort. The public transportation system is great as well. Stayving frisco will save you $ plus there is all the ammediities of a true towm and there is a great park with xcountry skiing, tubing, etc. Keystone and copper dont really have a 'town' feel as much as breck and vail. All great places to ski and staying in the summit co area tons to do, see, eat, etc. Regardless i highly recommend half a day of dog sledding at breck. Super fun for the whole family and k...
by lazyfabs
Wed Sep 03, 2014 7:27 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Reinvest dividends and capital gains?
Replies: 44
Views: 9922

Re: Reinvest dividends and capital gains?

Thanks for reply. It's was more of advisory ?. The muni fund is fed and state tax free. We don't need the cash right now. We are in a higher tax bracket and use it to offset bond money in tax deferred accounts. We currently don't hold any other funds @ fido in taxable and use this muni w/in fido b/c it's a ntf mutual fund that provides state tax benefit for us b/c of where we live.
by lazyfabs
Wed Sep 03, 2014 4:23 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Reinvest dividends and capital gains?
Replies: 44
Views: 9922

Re: Reinvest dividends and capital gains?

Would it make a difference if the holdings in taxable is a national and /or state tax free muni mutual fund if it would be better to reinvest or take as cash?

Thanks
by lazyfabs
Wed Aug 27, 2014 7:00 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Best time to exercise stock options
Replies: 10
Views: 2235

Re: Best time to exercise stock options

thanks all for your replies. to answer some of the ? - options vest over 3 years. we also get rsu's that vest after a year. for the rsu's generally we have liquidated after they vest. we also have espp that we liquidate every year once they hit that long term basis. as for the options are plan has always been to wait until few years when they expire which is 10 years. we try to keep our company stock to ~10% or less of total portfolio. grant price was ~mid 30's back in 2009 we exercised at a price of ~mid 60's couple years. decision was made to exercise to turn our unfinished basement into the most expensive play room for our kids w/ a small wine fridge as a bonus. question stemmed more b/c we have options that were granted at high ~30's an...
by lazyfabs
Tue Aug 26, 2014 12:17 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Best time to exercise stock options
Replies: 10
Views: 2235

Best time to exercise stock options

We been accumulating stock options via dw employer. The earliest they will start to expire is 2020. Some have vested others are slowly but sure vesting. We have exercised some vested options to pay for some major home improvements, not plan on exercising any more until right before they expire to unless we need to tap into some major cash for large expenses. When we have exercised they automatically hold taxes at ~33% or thereabouts.

? is - at what point or is there a point in time that it make sense to sell and cover the taxes and hold them, sell to cover, etc., before the expiration date of the vested portion of the grants?

Or do as we have been doing exercise at will when needed?

Thanks
by lazyfabs
Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Buying a camper
Replies: 26
Views: 5426

Re: Buying a camper

Raid your 401k and buy one of these http://www.earthroamer.com
by lazyfabs
Fri Jun 20, 2014 3:54 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Too Much in 529's?
Replies: 25
Views: 3007

Re: Too Much in 529's?

Our kids are of similar age and balances at vanguard 529 is about 20k in vanguard 529 each. Our state doesn't offer in state tax benefit. We contribute on monthly basis now and occasional lump sum from grandparent gifts and such.

Out of curiosity do you have $ invested in age based type of funds or a fixed allocation?

For others that are farther along what was you experience and thoughts on age based vs fixed allocation?

Thanks

* as an aside if we were in a position to fund it by $50k per child and forget about it until they partially vacate our house we would. So don't think doing it in your case is out of the question.
by lazyfabs
Fri Apr 11, 2014 4:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paying off HELOC
Replies: 2
Views: 588

Re: Paying off HELOC

4.25 on 5th year. five to go. it's pay down now.
by lazyfabs
Thu Apr 10, 2014 2:58 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paying off HELOC
Replies: 2
Views: 588

Paying off HELOC

Currently we have a mortgage and a HELOCCurrently on our home. We have been aggressively paying the HELOCCurrently over the last 5 years and should have it paid of in the next ~4 years. Currently we have some stock vested stock options that we could sell and pay into principal about ~75%. This would decrease our aggressive payoff timeline to about ~1 year. We have the means to make payments, saveas aggressively as we have been, etc. the stock options are part of the wife's bonus structure and is reluctant to sell options since we have the means to continue down our agreed path w/o affectin our families lifestyle, savings rate etc. I would like to take this subconscious albatross off the books. Anyone been in this dilemma of sorts and any ad...