Search found 48 matches

by juanovo
Tue May 09, 2017 11:55 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Sunscreen for men in office environment
Replies: 25
Views: 5307

Re: Sunscreen for men in office environment

Go to Reddit' DR/skincareaddiciton site and post this question. Seriously. Take a look:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SkincareAddict ... creen_recs

Questions you need to answer: skin tone, what sort of finish (matte, a little shine ok?) chemical vs physical etc.

All of those things make a difference in your sunscreen looking like it is not there.
by juanovo
Fri May 05, 2017 9:44 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Early Retirement Calculus
Replies: 31
Views: 8898

Re: Early Retirement Calculus

Hi OP Congrats on your imminent retirement! I also am in the camp of lower SWR. The Trinity study specifically assumes 30 years, and considers successful in its percentage as $0 balance bequest to heirs. That may be fine for you but maybe not. Do you plan on leaving something to the child? The Trinity study also specifically examines the results of the median retiree, not necessarily the tails. Depending on you willingness to take risk that may be fine. I recommend reading this series: https://earlyretirementnow.com/2016/12/07/the-ultimate-guide-to-safe-withdrawal-rates-part-1-intro/ Livesoft on another thread recommended it. It is excellent and uses similar methodology to the Trinity study to test up to 60 years of retirement. Not surprisi...
by juanovo
Mon Mar 20, 2017 8:23 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Salary / employment verification
Replies: 27
Views: 3434

Re: Salary / employment verification

Depends on the rental laws in your area. If you live in an area with rent and eviction controls they may want verification of your income in order to determine if you can cover the cost of the rental in the event your partner loses her job. Similarly they what if you divorce your partner and choose to remain in the unit? This is theirs chance to be sure they are covered in such unlikely events. It is much more difficult once you are in the unit. If you choose to feign not being able to provide the information or purposefully mislead or falsify the application it is possible that they would be able to use that as grounds for eviction as well.

They seem to just trying to do their due diligence.
by juanovo
Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:54 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone here knowledgeable about heating degree days?
Replies: 9
Views: 1289

Re: Anyone here knowledgeable about heating degree days?

My guess is that the k value used by the oil supply company is based on climatic HDD and CDD that assume a balance point of 65, 60, or in rare instances 55. You will often see climatic data indicate HDD60. If it does not included a subscript it is 65. These assumptions are based aggregated data of vintages of buildings. It is of course possible that the oil supply company has interval data for hourly usage that they weather normalize. This is what gas and electric companies do with "smart meters". I just haven't heard of it in oil heating. If you know you have a smart meter you can do the regression analysis pretty easily.
by juanovo
Wed Feb 22, 2017 9:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone here knowledgeable about heating degree days?
Replies: 9
Views: 1289

Re: Anyone here knowledgeable about heating degree days?

Listen to Valuethinker. Calculating your balance point temperature (what you refer to as base temperature)for heating is relatively straight forward. Measuring that balance point is more involved. Calculating the CDD is very involved and complex (due to the variability of cooling loads like sun incidence over the course of a day on walls facing different directions). You can look around the web and find any number of residential heat load calculation spreadsheets. This will give a reasonably accurate estimate of your balance point based on your inputs. Do you know the air changes per hour (ach) of your house? Do you know the insulation values (u factors) of walls, windows, roof and foundation? Can you estimate the heat contributions of the ...
by juanovo
Mon Feb 13, 2017 9:07 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should I count value of homes in my Swensen AA?
Replies: 15
Views: 1761

Re: Should I count value of homes in my Swensen AA?

I think there is a difference between considering your home as an investment and considering it relative to your need, ability, and appetite to take risk. Based on my reading of Swensen I think he would agree. He specifically states that home ownership should be taken into account in determine one's AA and cites exposure to the effects of inflation as one of the reason. That is a home owner has less need to protect against inflation than a renter because of the inherent inflation protections afforded by home ownership (paid off or not). This may mean that someone who owns their home lowers their TIPs allocation, not because the house is an investment but because their need to protect against that risk. Similarly Swensen suggests that someon...
by juanovo
Tue Feb 07, 2017 8:05 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How the Bogle Model Beats the Yale Model
Replies: 28
Views: 5838

Re: How the Bogle Model Beats the Yale Model

I guess I find this a little sensational. Swensen himself the architect of the Yale Model wrote a whole book saying that individual investors could not and should not attempt to copy the Yale Model. He cites all the reasons in this thread: tax free status, best and brightest, access to investments, large dollars to invest etc.

I came to bogleheads through Swensen. If I had to do it all over again I probably would not slice and dice but rather go with a three fund. That being said I think the lazy portfolio he suggests, which for an individual investors follows his Yale Model's principles, but not methods or actual investments is very sound for an individual investor. Many roads to Dublin.
by juanovo
Thu Jan 05, 2017 3:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Difference between HCOL and LCOL [High and Low Cost of Living]
Replies: 35
Views: 6788

Re: Difference between HCOL and LCOL

I live in Bay Area and the costs of owning property are very location dependent in CA. I would guess in other HCOL areas it is similar. I actually only pay 1.32% of my property value in "property taxes". The property value can only go up by a maximum of 2% per year unless I remove or add or something like that. Here are the catches: In HCOL areas of CA 1.32% of a highly valued home is still a lot of money. In addition there are other fees and assessments that add an additional significant amount to the cost of property ownership. In my case the property tax costs it self is only around half of the total amount I pay for mosquito abatement, special school bonds, library bonds etc. if I moved cities that amount could go down (Oaklan...
by juanovo
Tue Dec 27, 2016 8:30 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: David Swensen says "never have anything weighted more than 30%"
Replies: 42
Views: 7801

Re: David Swensen says "never have anything weighted more than 30%"

TdF. Yes I am not surprised that the portfolio never sank. I don't believe such a portfolio exists. As in diversification doesn't mean guarantee inverse correlation or the portfolio never sinking. On Nisi is usually right. If I were to go back and start over I would probably go with a three fund portfolio. But I had already gone down the Swensen slice and dice when I became aware of bogleheads and stuck with it. It seems to have served me well. Especially thanks to advice from folks like from who seem to be know a good deal about Swensen's approach.

Thanks for looking at the long bonds, barbell and TIAA REIT examples.
by juanovo
Mon Dec 26, 2016 10:59 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: David Swensen says "never have anything weighted more than 30%"
Replies: 42
Views: 7801

Re: David Swensen says "never have anything weighted more than 30%"

TdF, I wonder if you'd run the portfolio again with long bonds instead of intermediate bonds and once more with a bond barbell of long bonds and short term bonds. It is my reading of Unconventional Success that he originally recommended long bonds and then clarified that the bond allocation should match the duration of intermediate term fund or the total bond market overall. It is my understanding that he recommended the long bonds because they have historically were not correlated (not inveresly correlated) with stocks. I believe others have suggested long bonds as a counter balance to high equity allocations as well. I think he is not very excited about REITS and much prefers TIAA Real Estate for its direct ownership structure. I think th...
by juanovo
Mon Dec 26, 2016 10:54 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: David Swensen says "never have anything weighted more than 30%"
Replies: 42
Views: 7801

Re: David Swensen says "never have anything weighted more than 30%"

I think this is a general rule Swensen suggests in his recommended allocation but it is missing some of the larger context. He generally believes that the portfolio should be adapted for individual needs, abilities and circumstances. Swensen recommends the following for individual investors: 50% equity (30% US Total Market 20% international developed market 5%/10%emerging markets) 30% fixed income (15% nominal US Treasuries with an average duration matching the market, 15% TIPs) and 20%/15% Real Estate preferably like TIAA Real estate rather than REITs. He suggests that home owners may allocate less to TIPs because of the historic inflation protection in home ownership. A real estate owner or manager less to REITs and a business owner less ...
by juanovo
Fri Dec 02, 2016 2:29 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Is there any no-risk investment option?
Replies: 22
Views: 2546

Re: Is there any no-risk investment option?

Hi Taomu, Welcome to the forums! Based on your profile it seems you are fairly new here. Here is a pretty high level answer to your question: 1) Return is commensurate with risk. If there is no risk in an investment there is little to no return. 2) There are different kinds of risk. For example - will the business or the government go into default or go bankrupt? Will I be able to reinvest the returns I make at the same interest rate? Will interest rates go up making the value of my investment providing some "guaranteed" returns go down, because other investor late could buy another investment instead of mine? How easy is it to sell my investment? What sort of capital is available and competing for my investments? Value of a given...
by juanovo
Wed Oct 26, 2016 3:05 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The riskiness of home ownership
Replies: 239
Views: 26788

Re: The riskiness of home ownership

juanovo, << I believe now that folks generally rent a "house" and buy a "home". If folks rented "homes" and bought "homes" or rented "houses" and bought "houses" the situation would skew more (not necessarily completely) to ownership. >> Why should a person spend MORE on housing just because they are buying? In fact, a person should spend LESS if they are buying in order to be probably compensated for THE RISK. KlangFool, I agree with your conclusion but not your premise. I believe that if there were not cultural biases against renting and for home ownership then people would spend MORE on rental properties than they do now because they would view the renting as a long term rather...
by juanovo
Wed Oct 26, 2016 10:33 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The riskiness of home ownership
Replies: 239
Views: 26788

Re: The riskiness of home ownership

KlangFool, 1) For the most part I agree with your conclusions to the extent that I agree with your assumptions. I also realized that this is premised on folks renting "less house" than they end up buying. I believe that this is generally true. I started to wonder why it is so true that folks rent less than they buy. At this point I believe that folks generally rent "less house" than they end up buying because they are making do, bidding their time, sacrificing now so they can have what they really want later, saving that downpayment for their future dream. I believe now that folks generally rent a "house" and buy a "home". If folks rented "homes" and bought "homes" or rented "...
by juanovo
Wed Oct 12, 2016 11:16 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Rotten Floors & Damp Crawlspaces
Replies: 35
Views: 5649

Re: Rotten Floors & Damp Crawlspaces

I agree you should deal with the drainage issues first as indicated in my previous post. In order of importance bulk water control, water carried by air via penetrations, lastly water carried via vapor diffusion. The issue you have is that you don't really know which one is causing the problem. The past history of the site is unclear in regards to drainage and why that would be causal to the rot. So a reasonable process would be to install a perimeter French drain. You can easily do this yourself. It is hard physical work to dig the ditches and haul drain rock and drain tiles (plastic drain pipe) but it is not difficult. You could relent a trencher as well to make it fast. Cal your local utility first to make sure there are no utilities run...
by juanovo
Tue Oct 11, 2016 8:39 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Rotten Floors & Damp Crawlspaces
Replies: 35
Views: 5649

Re: Rotten Floors & Damp Crawlspaces

For a long time the building code encouraged vented crawlspaces based on historic building practices. It is likely that your home, if built in the 30s did not have AC for a fair part of its life. That means in the summer when the temperature is warm enough the grow mold and rot, the floor boards were not condensing water. Rot needs three things to grow-food (wood), heat (above say 60 or so) and water. No water, especially, none in the surface of the mold, no rot. Even if the surrounding soil is wet it won't necessarily rot without liquid water. So let's say they installed an AC in the 50s or 60s, now condensing on the surface but maybe there are no neighbors and their us sufficient airflow. Neighbors go in and the hydrology changes a bit, a...
by juanovo
Tue Oct 11, 2016 11:33 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Rotten Floors & Damp Crawlspaces
Replies: 35
Views: 5649

Re: Rotten Floors & Damp Crawlspaces

I consult on projects like these here is what I would do--assuming you live In a somewhat hot maybe humid climate during some part of the year. 1) take care of the bulk water/ drainage issues. Regrade, put in French drains etc. 2) then fully enclose the crawl space, no vents to the outside. Put down a rat slap or think poly plastic sheeting on the exposed soil. Insulate the short crawl space walls so that they are continuously insulated to the floor. 3) clean and repair any mold/ rot 4) open "passive" ventilation openings from your currently conditioned space to your crawl space. Ta da now you have what is known as a conditioned crawl space. There should be no mold or rot unless you have that problem elsewhere inside your house. I...
by juanovo
Wed Jun 15, 2016 8:55 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 60:40 is dead: Charles Sizemore
Replies: 51
Views: 13242

Re: 60:40 is dead: Charles Sizemore

"Let’s stop and ask an obvious question: If it’s good for trustees of Harvard, would it not also be good for you?"
How about because I don't have the dedicated staff to trade on a daily basis my individualized allocation to alternative investments, the ability to do so tax free, huge source of donations to replace my losses, and an infinite timeline to manage my investment like the trustees if Harvard do.

"Let's stop to ask an obvious question: if David Swensen the manager of Yale's endowment doesn't believe that individuals should invest like his endowment does, why would you trust someone who does?"
by juanovo
Fri Apr 01, 2016 9:18 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: SF Bay Area Housing: Listing agent underpricing
Replies: 58
Views: 11544

Re: SF Bay Area Housing: Listing agent underpricing

Not a lawyer but here is my take-

The list price is not an offer. It is an invitation to bid. Just like any auction can choose not to sell if the reserve is not met (from eBay to Sotheby's) the same is true on home sales. It sets expectations not offers a price. This is actually quite different from new home sales where one sees signs stating "offered at xxx" I may be wrong but I believe "offer" is a term of art and that is why the first "offer" always come from the buyer, not the seller.

Tl;dr auction pricing sets expectations and not offer prices.
by juanovo
Fri Nov 13, 2015 8:19 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "Vacation Buy" from employer - is it worth it?
Replies: 30
Views: 18574

Re: "Vacation Buy" from employer - is it worth it?

I do this every year. Absolutely legal. I use all my vacation every year. I would forgo a raise for more vacation time and in effect I do that by buying extra vacation days. That is benefit to me. At my megacorp this is a formal way to retain the right for extra time off. Leave without pay has a formal HR process that is annoying at best.

Pretax means that unlike regular vacation time, or other taxable benefits (like the $25 thank you card from my coworker) I don't get hit with additional tax for this benefit. In fact it ends up reducing my taxable burden by taking that salary out pretax. I don't make enough for that to be a big deal but for large wage earners it has an impact.
by juanovo
Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:20 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: San Francisco Bay Area Bogleheads?
Replies: 21
Views: 8849

Re: San Francisco Bay Area Bogleheads?

I'll throw out again--
I have a place 2 blocks from Powell BART on Howard. Across the street from Moscone West. Free WiFi. Folks would have to bring their own food, but there are lots of restaurants in the neighborhood. we could even order in. Pretty great AV. There are many parking garages near by and parking is free in the area after 6 or so.

But if the requirements mean: Close to public transit, and Ample FREE parking, good inexpensive food, and free WiFi I do not believe we will truly find a venue that matches those requirements. My guess is that the SF real estate market bought those up long ago...
by juanovo
Tue Mar 31, 2015 9:17 am
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: San Francisco Bay Area Bogleheads?
Replies: 21
Views: 8849

Re: San Francisco Bay Area Bogleheads?

In true boglehead fashion I can offer a free venue down the street (on Howard between S4th and 5th). PM me and we can discuss. What I can't offer is anywhere downtown there is easy parking. I do know a few weekend and evening secret spots but I am not telling.
by juanovo
Sat Mar 28, 2015 1:52 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: When does a 529 plan make sense to me?
Replies: 204
Views: 23673

Re: When does a 529 plan make sense to me?

Yes. I think our situation are different. My spouse only works 10% time and we are in the bay area so in some sense we are one income. But from a purely financial standpoint, the option of those tax protected funds as a safety net was significant to me. Its all about balancing risk. Depending on the final outcome it may have been better to have everything in taxable. I really appreciated the thread. Similar to you I paid my own way through college and grad school by working. I do feel that my grades suffered because of that BUT my ability to get a job after was greatly improved due to my job experience. I have struggled with whether to fund my children's education at all due to my spouse's family getting everything paid for and, frankly, no...
by juanovo
Sat Mar 28, 2015 1:24 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: When does a 529 plan make sense to me?
Replies: 204
Views: 23673

Re: When does a 529 plan make sense to me?

KlangFool,

I would not necessarily need my taxable to cover my family, I could use my Roth principle for that. I also have a two income family, while insufficient to last for life, the combination of unemployment and my spouse's income could get us through a year or so, minimizing the need to draw on those Roth funds that I can't replace.
Its not a slam dunk but works for my situation.

As far as being more of a coursera person I totally get it. I view the possibility of studying abroad as very attractive in retirement. To each his/her own on that.
by juanovo
Sat Mar 28, 2015 12:16 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: When does a 529 plan make sense to me?
Replies: 204
Views: 23673

Re: When does a 529 plan make sense to me?

KlangFool,

You missed my reasoning for funding a 529. I too work in an industry on the decline and decided that funding a 529 could act as a tax beneficial job re training plan, allowing me to transition to a new career in the event of job loss. If I did not.lose my job I could use it for my children or for leisure in retirement.
by juanovo
Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:47 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: When does a 529 plan make sense to me?
Replies: 204
Views: 23673

Re: Why 529 plan makes any sense??

KlangFool, 1st off I max out everything else first, 401k, IRA. I don't have an HSA, had one live in California and decided given CA tax structure around HSA it was too much of a headache. I fund 529s for many of the reason mentioned here, here are two more for me that may be relevant to others: 1) Personal Job Training- If I get laid off I can use the funds for myself or my spouse to start a new career funding my own skills development-tax free. 2) Personal Retirement Fun- I love going to school. I love learning. If my kids don't use it all I probably will use it in retirement. Study abroad, learn a new language, get that degree in painting I always wanted. I could use my retirement for that but the 529 allows me to bridge pre 591/2 retirem...
by juanovo
Tue Nov 04, 2014 5:46 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Any Legal ways to lower MAGI for ACA signup?
Replies: 34
Views: 11529

Re: Any Legal ways to lower MAGI for ACA signup?

But the wiki says: Interest from muni bonds is not included in Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), which determines eligibility for many income tax deductions and credits, whereas dividends and capital gains are included in AGI. http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Principles_of_tax-efficient_fund_placement Right but MAGI is a modification of AGI. Many of the modifcations remove deductions and thereby increase income. The wiki is right I believe. From IRS.gov Exhibit 2.2: Modified Adjusted Gross Income Computation Modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) for FORM 8582 line 7 is determined by computing: AGI without: •Any passive loss or passive income, or •Any rental losses (whether or not allowed by IRC § 469(c)(7)), or •IRA, taxable social security or •O...
by juanovo
Mon Nov 03, 2014 5:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Any Legal ways to lower MAGI for ACA signup?
Replies: 34
Views: 11529

Re: Any Legal ways to lower MAGI for ACA signup?

My understanding is that by converting some of your portfolio to rental income, assuming the work you do on the property meets the passive income standards, will lower you MAGI. I am not an expert but I do know that every year I am surprised by how much lower my MAGI is vs. my AGI is. I own a duplex and rent out half.

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Bus ... omputation
http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Bus ... ive-Income

This may not meet the other requirements the OP has but would conceivably lower the MAGI.
by juanovo
Thu Sep 18, 2014 11:06 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Any success stories of ppl who never made >$50,000?
Replies: 149
Views: 17578

Re: Any success stories of ppl who never made >$50,000?

My father retired in ’98 maxing out at 41,0000 a year. 8 kids went to college, though with only minimal support from mom and dad. They gave 10% to charity every year. They have pensions, social security and small retirement savings. My dad just received a small veteran benefit. They don't own their home outright but have no problem making the payments. They own a small condo on the Oregon Coast. My mom is a master of LBYM. They don't know what to do with the money they received from the VA. They feel they don't need it. To me that is financial success. Using what I learned from my parents I saved money in a 401k while an undergrad, graduated with no debt, and for the first few years of living in the Bay area was able to save some money whil...
by juanovo
Fri Sep 05, 2014 8:01 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone have experience with AtticFoil Radiant insulation
Replies: 12
Views: 2989

Re: Anyone have experience with AtticFoil Radiant insulation

Livesoft--

Vacuum Insulated Panels are commercially available. Some boutique and hobby energy savers use them. They are difficult to work with and expensive. The sound of the nail/screw/fastener puncturing them is really the sucking of all the money you spent on them into the new hole.
by juanovo
Fri Sep 05, 2014 7:54 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone have experience with AtticFoil Radiant insulation
Replies: 12
Views: 2989

Re: Anyone have experience with AtticFoil Radiant insulation

It does work. While using the foil for reflectivity a la Cool Roof high albedo is best in your case that is not really an option. In your case the foil will act best as a poor emitter (or reradiator) of radiant energy. Emissivity is a surface phenomenon. The foil must face air in order to perform that function well. That means hang it, unless you like dusting the horizontal barrier on your attic floor. The implications of hanging the the foil is that everything on the non-air side will be hotter. For example sun lands on the roof, roof absorbs heat, heat conducts through framing and insulation and reaches the radiant barrier, typically the heat would transfer via radiation heating up your attic and in turn, following conductive paths to the...
by juanovo
Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:28 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Small Credit Union Seemingly Great Rates-Help!
Replies: 5
Views: 1167

Re: Small Credit Union Seemingly Great Rates-Help!

Thanks for the responses. I was initially attracted for the reasons folks mentioned. Small operation,great retention of employees and solid financials (as member oriented). Maybe I spent too much time with My mega bank and became too suspicious. Thanks again.
by juanovo
Wed Mar 12, 2014 8:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Small Credit Union Seemingly Great Rates-Help!
Replies: 5
Views: 1167

Re: Small Credit Union Seemingly Great Rates-Help!

Like I said in my post under Benefits:
1. It is an NCUA insured account.

I agree if it was not then I would not touch it. That security means a good deal for my emergency funds and liquidity.
by juanovo
Wed Mar 12, 2014 9:42 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Small Credit Union Seemingly Great Rates-Help!
Replies: 5
Views: 1167

Small Credit Union Seemingly Great Rates-Help!

I belong to an unbelievably small credit union. But they have a seemingly great dividends--sort of. I need Boglehead guidance because the caveats are significant. What am I missing here? There is significant "hassle" in this account. But hassle of a different sort than my rewards checking. Caveats 1. The dividends are annual average balance.As best I can tell it is a version of APY with 1 period (the year). 2. The dividends are not determined until the end of the year. (yes this means I don't actually know the APY until the I receive the check there is risk there.) 3. The dividends are paid directly, not deposited into the account. I receive a check. This limits compounding. 4. I can only deposit a max of $500 a month. 0 reinvestm...
by juanovo
Fri Jan 31, 2014 7:20 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Killer smartphone and monthly plan combo
Replies: 22
Views: 3510

Re: Killer smartphone and monthly plan combo

Yeah I get that too Browser. I am a creature of inertia. Unless something significantly changes I will stay with them. I had been with Sprint for the past 6 years and AT&T for 6 years prior to that. I have only changed when there was a great deal, I am giving up my old SERO plans for this plan. It won't work for everyone and I get that. Especially if Republic goes under...
by juanovo
Fri Jan 31, 2014 5:40 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Killer smartphone and monthly plan combo
Replies: 22
Views: 3510

Re: Killer smartphone and monthly plan combo

Republic Wireless ( www.republicwireless.com ) has a $25/mo 3G plan with 500MB of data and unlimited Talk and text. The Moto X only costs $299 through them, but you only get to choose white or black. They have great alternate deals as well like $40 a month for 4g unlimted talk and text 500MB data. No contract. They even have 5 dollar and $10 plans for the ultimate frugal Bogleheads. The catch is that they want you to use available WiFi (like your home WiFi) preferentially. Since I already have WiFi at home and would regardless of cell plan it is a significant savings for me. They use Sprint for cell service who was my prior provider anyway. The WiFi calls, in my experience, are of a similar quality as cell. YMMV. There are referal bonuses i...
by juanovo
Thu Jan 30, 2014 8:48 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Low Income Budget
Replies: 70
Views: 7668

Re: Low Income Budget

If you are of the faith I think you are then not tithing is certainly not an option. There are folks who believe that tithing is 10% of gross, other say it is 10% of net and tithe on any tax returns. Only you the poster can decide if you are a full tithe payer. I have paid tithing in the past in appreciated stock. The benefit of paying in stock includes 1) Meeting your personal spiritual covenants 2) getting a tax write-off on the APPRECIATED value, not on the basis. 3) Avoiding long or short term capital gains while complying with 1 and 2. This is potentially significant. By investing now you may provide a stream of future tithing funds you can pay while avoiding capital gains taxes on money you would have paid in tithing anyway. To be cle...
by juanovo
Wed Sep 04, 2013 8:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Good Real Estate move?
Replies: 47
Views: 5269

Re: Good Real Estate move?

Joint Ventures are not exclusively for Tax Purposes (different rules of liability as well vs. an LLP, LLC etc) but yes they are primarily used in that to that end. I agree that it would work best in if things "went smoothly" but isn't that the case with every transaction? There are plenty of Joint Ventures where two or more unrelated parties to the agreement got along and things went fine. Probaly more that didn't get along, things did not go smoothly and it caused issues for all folks involved. That is not an issue with Joint Ventures, it is an issue of the dynamics of the folks involved. Adding the family dynamic certainly increases this. With all the scrutiny of mortgage loans since the financial meltdown, it seems to me that t...
by juanovo
Wed Sep 04, 2013 5:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Good Real Estate move?
Replies: 47
Views: 5269

Re: Good Real Estate move?

They could certainly create a Joint Venture allowing her to be the only name on the title while obligated to pay her according to the terms of the Joint Venture. If the "outside document" is a contract then there should be little problem EXCEPT it cannot be characterized as a gift for Tax purposes, for the banks maybe. Good deal for her? I am not so sure. Renting and paying a mortgage? is she paying off the other 1/4 of the loan? If so I would, if I were them, just buy the place outright and not write any letters claiming gifts etc. She could then pay the mortgage to her father and receive the tax benefits. But she won't get any tax benefits if she doesn't owe a mortgage to someone. If she is getting a bank loan for the remaining ...
by juanovo
Wed Jun 19, 2013 12:34 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: First time tax loss harvest and wash sales-Indices
Replies: 3
Views: 435

Re: First time tax loss harvest and wash sales-Indices

Thanks Iorek-- I got the same sense as you from the Fairmark article linked to in the Wiki from the Tax Loss Harvesting entry: "If you have a strategy that completely eliminates risk from your sale and repurchase, it's likely that you have a wash sale." Does my exhange completely eliminate risk? Dunno. I don't believe it does, after all it seems reasonable to me that just as Wells Fargo is not substantially identical to Bank of America, MSCI should be sufficiently different than FSTE. I also read this from the Wash Sale entry on the Wiki: "There is no ruling on whether two funds operated by different companies tracking the same index are substantially identical; tax experts have differing opinions. Two funds tracking differen...
by juanovo
Wed Jun 19, 2013 11:17 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: First time tax loss harvest and wash sales-Indices
Replies: 3
Views: 435

First time tax loss harvest and wash sales-Indices

I am going to tax loss harvest my position in emerging markets.

Currently I have my funds in FPMAX, FIdelity's Spartan Emerging Market Fund that tracks the FSTE Emerging Market Index.

My plan is to buy EEM in the interim- iShares's Emerging Market ETF that tracks the MSCI Emerging Market Index.

What do you folks think--are these two products too substantially similar?

There are a number of differences but the most fundamental, imo, is the different underlying indices?
Do folks feel that is sufficient?
If not what would you suggest that continues my EM exposure?

Thanks!
by juanovo
Tue Apr 30, 2013 11:15 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Contemplating buying rental property - what to consider?
Replies: 38
Views: 3436

Re: Contemplating buying rental property - what to consider?

Confused, I am 99% sure that I actually attended the school in question and lived in the approved housing. There is MUCH more risk here than you are considering, anytime folks get married, leave to pursue proselytizing etc you have a high likelihood of partial occupancy. Approved housing does not necessarily require a year long contract. Most contracts are for the Winter and Spring only. There are lots of ways around the approved housing requirement as well--turn 24 (not as unlikely as one might initially think considering the majority of males here take off of school for two years), start grad school or get married all obviate the need to stay in approved housing, stay with family. 100% occupancy is not only unlikely, it's rare. The big co...
by juanovo
Fri Aug 24, 2012 7:33 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Traditional Pension vs Cash Balance + increased 401k match
Replies: 3
Views: 984

Traditional Pension vs Cash Balance + increased 401k match

My employer is offering to a cash balance pension if I voluntarily forgo the traditional pension. The traditional pension is calculated based on a percentage of years of service, age and the average value of my pay for my final three years of employment. From what I have been able to gather from past posts and research this most often comes down to: A) Am I at this job for the long haul? B) How old am I? (36 by the way. Most traditional pensions offer a huge premium to age vs. cash balance pensions) C) Likelihood to change jobs There are a few complicating factors: 1) The traditional pension will not convert to a cash balance amount. I will receive whatever the monthly pension value is as calculated at the time of conversion at retirement. ...
by juanovo
Thu Dec 01, 2011 6:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Bartering for mortgage with Stock - cost basis
Replies: 7
Views: 1009

Bartering for mortgage with Stock - cost basis

My house note holder will accept stock as an "in kind" payment for my debt. My plan is to pay with significantly appreciated stock. The idea is that by paying with appreciated stock the basis for the note holder is the stock's current market value. But my home's basis is lower than my original purchase price. This lowering of my home's basis is based on my stock's cost basis. This would then allow me to exclude any future profit on the sale of my home due to the personal exclusion up to $250,000 personal. So here's an example: Amount owed on house (and for ease of explanation let's assume this is what i paid for it): $200,000 Current Market Value (CMV) of stock at time of "barter": $200,000 Stock's basis $100,000 Home's ...
by juanovo
Thu Dec 01, 2011 6:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Why Rent?
Replies: 52
Views: 5556

Re: Why Rent?

It seems in general that, with relatively few markets withstanding, Bogleheads believe that renting is a better financial decision. I see almost no one here advocating purchase of a home with the exception of people in areas where the ratios are astoundingly good.

So who owns all of these rentals and how do they make money? I really mean this sincerely are rental property owners losing money? Do they just defer maintenance? Have they owned the property for many, many years and thereby cover their costs?
by juanovo
Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:07 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Historic HSA account vs Current HRCA
Replies: 0
Views: 323

Historic HSA account vs Current HRCA

So I have an HSA account with my current employer. During open enrollment I am switching out of the HSA account to a more traditional HEalth Care plan, maintaining the potential investment balance of the HSA and opening what my employer calls an HRCA.

My employer states that I need to use my HSA for all medical expenses and can only use the HRCA for vision and dental. Does this hold true if I am no longer enrolled in the HSA but maintain a balance? That is do I have to zero out my HSA before I can spend money I set aside in my HRCA even if I can no longer contribute to the HSA?
by juanovo
Mon Oct 10, 2011 2:30 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio Guidance
Replies: 2
Views: 1182

Portfolio Advice

Thanks ObliviousInvestor. You have confirmed my initial notions. I think I need to get the guts to do it. Califormia Capital Gains is another area I am concerned about especially with such a big sell off. I guess I should do it now before the capital gains rate changes for investment sales...

At the same time you state that others might disagree. I'd love to get multiple perspectives on this. I am sure there is something that I don't know, understand or an opportunity I might be missing out on. Lot's of views
by juanovo
Sun Oct 09, 2011 11:56 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio Guidance
Replies: 2
Views: 1182

Portfolio Guidance

I have lurked in the shadows for a while and this is my first post. I have Read The Boglehead’s Guide on Investing among a few other books. I am really overwhelmed by the sale of my taxable assets situation. I realize I should do something about the expense ratios I am working with as well. No big surprise there I guess. So I am new and please be patient. Emergency funds = 6 months of expenses @ 1.1% checking Debt: Mortgage $180,000 15 yr at 3.125% (House value ~$500,000 that’s context I don’t consider it an investment, it is more of a hobby with some inflation benefits). The house is divided into a duplex so we rent out half and use that for some tax advantages and the income to offset the property taxes and fees. Tax Filing Status: marrie...