Search found 2601 matches

by harikaried
Wed Mar 06, 2024 9:16 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Asset allocation while having a 6%+ mortgage
Replies: 16
Views: 1137

Re: Asset allocation while having a 6%+ mortgage

vv19 wrote: Wed Mar 06, 2024 7:17 amI don’t have any bonds but have 10% of my AA in CDs and cash
Some people treat bonds/fixed-income and debt more closely related in that they could offset each other, e.g., CDs yielding 5% APY vs mortgage costing 6% APR. As you suggest, you can maintain an amount for liquidity, emergency, etc., but conceptually you'll be leveraged while debts are larger. So it's up to you to decide how leveraged you want to be, and some people want more and others want less.
by harikaried
Mon Mar 04, 2024 1:40 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: sauna or hot tub, which to get and why?
Replies: 51
Views: 4428

Re: sauna or hot tub, which to get and why?

ondarvr wrote: Mon Mar 04, 2024 11:23 amI really like the hot tub, but just the hot water while looking a sunrise or the stars at night
I wouldn't say I really like the hot tub, but maybe it's our procedure of washing before/after and getting around inside/outside while wet. But it is indeed pretty nice to enjoy a clear night sky or even when it's raining/snowing. We haven't done a morning sunrise though.
by harikaried
Sun Mar 03, 2024 6:02 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Recast mortgage to pay off faster or keep taxable investments
Replies: 16
Views: 1057

Re: Recast mortgage to pay off faster or keep taxable investments

toddthebod wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 5:56 pmHe can only reduce his monthly required payment by $600 if he liquidates his brokerage account to pay down the principal before recasting.
Oh sorry, missed that part. Recasting without liquidating will probably reduce payments given the previous prepayments, but it probably won't significantly reduce the monthly payments.
by harikaried
Sun Mar 03, 2024 5:53 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Recast mortgage to pay off faster or keep taxable investments
Replies: 16
Views: 1057

Re: Recast mortgage to pay off faster or keep taxable investments

We paid off our mortgage that was more than 0.5% lower, but it was a different time and allowed us to do other stuff without the debt. But if you do want more invested because your 3.25% mortgage is cheap now, you can still recast to reduce your monthly required payments by $600. Is it worthwhile to have $7.2k/yr extra to invest at the cost of paying more interest with the mortgage around for longer?
by harikaried
Thu Feb 29, 2024 4:53 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Ford, GM, Rivian, Volvo, Polestar, Mercedes, Nissan, Honda, Jaguar, Hyundai, Kia, BMW, Toyota, Subaru, VW join Tesla
Replies: 178
Views: 30728

Re: Ford, GM, Rivian, Volvo, Polestar, Mercedes, Nissan, Honda, Jaguar, Hyundai, Kia, BMW, Toyota, Subaru, VW join Tesla

Ford is first to get access to Superchargers starting today. I’m proud @Ford is first to offer our customers this access. With @Tesla Superchargers added to the @Ford BlueOval Charge Network, it more than doubles the fast-chargers available to them. Paired with Plug & Charge, no other apps are needed to start a charge. https://twitter.com/jimfarley98/status/1763186239702716847 I've tested it myself and it works great. Making something this easy to use takes a lot of hard work behind the scenes, so congrats to the @Ford and @Tesla teams for making this happen. I would also like to thank @ElonMusk and the Tesla team for their close collaboration and leadership to help change the lives of so many EV customers through improved access to cha...
by harikaried
Mon Feb 12, 2024 11:34 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Home Buying: Mortgage or Realize Cap Gains?
Replies: 15
Views: 1183

Re: Home Buying: Mortgage or Realize Cap Gains?

It's a 345k condo and if I sold some stocks I'd realize about 100k in gains and pay 15k in capital gains taxes… I'd also save 6k in loan origination fees. Are there significant differences in the basis where maybe you can get say $200k with relatively low gains? Any gains you sell now then rebuy later will have new basis likely reducing your future taxes, so the main opportunity cost of the used cash is not having access or it invested in the meantime. The closing costs can be covered by the lender with upfront credits that come at a long-term cost of higher interest rates. However, if you can pay down the mortgage quickly, that lessens the effect of higher interest rate. For example, instead of a 7% mortgage with 6k closing costs, it coul...
by harikaried
Tue Feb 06, 2024 9:35 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Asset allocation in taxable account
Replies: 10
Views: 1395

Re: Asset allocation in taxable account

In taxable, the cost basis matters There are cases where capital gains tax will be 0% or 15% or 20% (or others with NIIT, state taxes, etc.), and indeed it'll depend on the cost basis. Hopefully in the long-term growth, there's gains and not losses, and if it's significant gains, the tax will likely be closer to 20% than 0%. But even then, it won't be the full 20% as you get your basis back tax-free even if it ends up being a small portion of what you sell. For example, $10k invested that doubles ($10k gains) after some time then sold paying 20% long-term capital gains nets you $18k or 90% of what was sold. If it instead was 10x ($90k gains), you end up with $82k or 82%. Or maybe you sell that at 0% LTCG getting the full $100k or 100%. So ...
by harikaried
Mon Feb 05, 2024 4:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: self investments to pay off mortgage
Replies: 8
Views: 722

Re: self investments to pay off mortgage

newkidontheblock wrote: Sun Feb 04, 2024 10:58 amIf I pay off the mortgage I can start contributing $2000 per month into Vanguard Non Retirement
If you sell non-retirement gains to pay off the mortgage, reinvesting with what was going towards the mortgage would likely reduce future capital gains taxes with new basis. You should be able to sort lots with higher basis first to find those with larger losses then smaller losses then smaller gains then larger gains, and up to you to decide what threshold to sell until.
by harikaried
Mon Feb 05, 2024 4:28 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Mortgage quick refinance after purchase
Replies: 22
Views: 2019

Re: Mortgage quick refinance after purchase

esipsi wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2024 3:17 pmSo say Bank offers rate 6.25% today; while realtor lender is offering 6.75%
Are closing costs already covered with realtor lender? How about if you increase the rate to say 7% or 7.25% for more credits which might even be allowed to use towards principal curtailment? If you can refinance soon after, then you might be able to get some additional cash without paying too much interest.
by harikaried
Wed Jan 31, 2024 1:06 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Mortgage Payoff Calculation
Replies: 12
Views: 1392

Re: Mortgage Payoff Calculation

gregger wrote: Tue Jan 30, 2024 5:15 pmI am interested to retire at end-of-year, at age 65.5, but not take SS until 70. I will draw from my 401K and after-tax investments to "bridge over" to SS income
Will you be able to tax-gain harvest at 0% rates in the coming years? You can decide to reinvest the cash effectively resetting the basis or use it however appropriate.
by harikaried
Tue Jan 30, 2024 1:22 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: college decision: UIUC or UF for ECE?
Replies: 339
Views: 31719

Re: college decision: $63k UIUC ECE or full-ride UF ECE?

acegolfer wrote: Mon Jan 29, 2024 8:01 pmUIUC: She got directly admitted to EE, which she wants to study. 50+ ECE research labs with undergrad research assistant opportunities
Anybody more recently go to Illinois with assistantships as undergrad vs graduate student? I believe there's MS/BS programs that allow for earlier tuition waiver and stipend. https://grad.illinois.edu/assistantships
by harikaried
Sat Jan 27, 2024 10:05 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: should we be saving in 529 or in taxable or should we pay off mortgage faster?
Replies: 43
Views: 3861

Re: should we be saving in 529 or in taxable or should we pay off mortgage faster?

You are rich and can do whatever you want to fund the kid's college 16 years from now. I think it is prudent to do the "optimal" choice given alternatives. Don't you think? People have different "optimal." We decided to go with simplicity and actually took money out of 529s paying a penalty as well as paid off our mortgage, so the plan is to pay for college with cash flow and taxable (selling high basis / low gains) just like any other expense. Similarly we had TreasuryDirect accounts for I bonds, but that also was too much of a special account to keep track of not worth the effort for us like 529s. There's a bunch more decisions with the 529 such as ongoing contributions, tracking expenses, dealing with excess, etc. Bu...
by harikaried
Thu Jan 25, 2024 11:05 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with fund consolidation in taxable account
Replies: 44
Views: 3780

Re: Help with fund consolidation in taxable account

m&m2035 wrote: Thu Jan 25, 2024 10:19 am
harikaried wrote: Wed Jan 24, 2024 6:15 pmSelling VXUS now actually reduces your taxes given it has a loss
If buy something identical in 401k plan would it trigger wash sale?
Sounds like you'll be buying FSPSX Fidelity International Index Fund, which has ~800 holdings whereas VXUS has ~8600 holdings. That could be due to tracking "Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe, Australasia, Far East Index" vs "FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index," so you might not need to worry about wash sale here anyway.
by harikaried
Wed Jan 24, 2024 6:15 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with fund consolidation in taxable account
Replies: 44
Views: 3780

Re: Help with fund consolidation in taxable account

How did you come up with $821? Is this going to be my tax impact I sell all but VTI? Most of your net gains are from VTI, so if you don't sell that, you continue defer the capital gains taxes until later. Short-term: 24% * (2315.61 (all) - 1133.31 (VTI)) = $284 Long-term: 15% * (13180.10 (all) - 9598.85 (VTI)) = $537 Total tax from selling all but VTI: $284 + $537 = $821 Given that you'll be more than doubling the taxable account from $160k to $360k with the additional $200k, it seems like it might be simpler to just get this over with even if it's not optimal. Even if your taxes are higher, say from 3.8% NIIT, 20% LTCG, 35% income tax; that seems to bump the tax to around $1.3k, which still in the context of adding $200k, is more but mayb...
by harikaried
Wed Jan 24, 2024 2:07 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with fund consolidation in taxable account
Replies: 44
Views: 3780

Re: Help with fund consolidation in taxable account

https://i.postimg.cc/wMyZr5vK/VG-Cost-Basis.jpg How does this compare to the balance in retirement and other investments accounts? For example, you could sell everything and simplify to just VTI (and fill in international and bonds to desired levels in other accounts). Guessing 24% short-term and 15% long-term capital gains taxes of selling non-VTI today, that's around $821 that will also reset your basis to newly purchased VTI so future taxes are likely reduced. Is it worthwhile to pay that upfront cost to be done simplifying your taxable account? (If you're going to be tax loss harvesting future additions of VTI, you'll probably end up with a pair or even triple of similar but not substantially identical positions anyway, so you don't ne...
by harikaried
Tue Jan 23, 2024 12:24 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Need help deciding what to do with 2 teslas
Replies: 30
Views: 4439

Re: Need help deciding what to do with 2 teslas

I'm not aware of there being an explicit minimum holding time for a new EV to be able to claim the tax credit. You have to buy the vehicle for the purpose of using it, not reselling it, but I haven't seen any guidance (and the text of the law itself doesn't clarify) suggesting how long a period where you use the car should be. IRS says within 30 days will be treated as having an intent to sell: Q12. What happens if the new clean vehicle sale is canceled or the vehicle is returned or resold shortly after purchase? (added Oct. 6, 2023) A12. … In the case of a resale by the purchaser made within 30 days of placing the vehicle in service, the purchaser is treated as having purchased the vehicle with an intent to resell and cannot claim a Clean...
by harikaried
Sun Jan 21, 2024 11:27 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio - need to optimize/simplify - advice needed
Replies: 4
Views: 716

Re: Portfolio - need to optimize/simplify - advice needed

https://i.imgur.com/ivyYKBx.jpeg What's AGG ? Ah, I was guessing AGG as a bond index fund based on the BlackRock iShares equities funds you have in your 401k. Here's the ones with low expense ratio: Vanguard Cash Reserves Federal Money Market Fund Admiral Shares 0.10% Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade Fund Institutional Shares 0.07% Prudential Core Conservative Bond Fund 0.08% BlackRock US Stock Index Fund (Russell 3000) 0.007% BlackRock US Small Cap Stock Index Fund (Russell 2000) 0.012% BlackRock International Stock Index Fund (MSCI ACWI ex-US) 0.045% I'm not sure if others have experience with Prudential Core Conservative Bond Fund, but it doesn't seem like an index fund but is priced like one. The duration is probably longer than th...
by harikaried
Sun Jan 21, 2024 3:51 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio - need to optimize/simplify - advice needed
Replies: 4
Views: 716

Re: Portfolio - need to optimize/simplify - advice needed

Desired Asset allocation: 90% stocks / 10% bonds Desired International allocation: 40-50% of stocks https://i.imgur.com/vCMn5sQ.png How’s my portfolio balanced in general You provided a subject of optimize/simplify but didn't specifically ask it in your question, so are you looking to reduce the number of positions you have? For example, your Roth IRA currently has 8 positions but could just be 1. Across all your accounts, your asset allocation seem to be close to what you wrote for desired. 8% cash 10% bonds 18% international 61% US equities (3% missing) Looking at it by types of accounts: 8% treasury 16% taxable 7% taxable india 15% empower 401k 19% prudential 401k 10% your roth 3% spouse roth 14% 529 5% HSA (3% missing) If you really wa...
by harikaried
Sat Jan 20, 2024 12:56 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Selling rental property to max our retirements (good idea?)
Replies: 12
Views: 2007

Re: Selling rental property to max our retirements (good idea?)

Rental property value $500k (mortage 250k, 26years, 3.34%) If we sell this at $500k we assume to have $200k left after all expense and loan paid off (500k-250k(loan)-50k(taxes and fees). Purchased in 2020 at 380k. Mortgage payment is $1780, so we pay $2100 to the loan to pay more in principal. When to see the year-end mortage statement, we only paid about $7,697 toward principal in 2023. How much money did you put in initially when buying the rental? Seems like your original borrowed amount was around $280k (~25% down) if you've been reducing the balance by at most $8k/yr. So if your initial investment was $100k and you expect to get $200k after 4 years, that seems pretty good actually? And you get back the extra principal payments which a...
by harikaried
Fri Jan 19, 2024 9:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: It Does not Seem to Make Sense for Me to Ever Pay Home off Early
Replies: 51
Views: 5597

Re: It Does not Seem to Make Sense for Me to Ever Pay Home off Early

BizarroJerry wrote: Thu Jan 18, 2024 7:07 pmwe have 55% equity in the house (346k purchase price, but honestly worth closer to 400k now) and owe 156k on it
If you're thinking of not paying off the mortgage early, what do you think about borrowing more money? Theoretically there's nearly $250k in additional equity that you could invest and similarly never pay off early. You would have more monthly payments, but you'll have a lump sum of liquidity to work with. Some people use leverage when younger to have more invested over more time.
by harikaried
Mon Jan 15, 2024 11:31 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay down mortgage? Invest?
Replies: 96
Views: 8864

Re: Pay down mortgage? Invest?

I was spending most of my disposable income earlier by hiring overseas team to launch my own company which failed (good experience though) so most likely I would do the same when I'm ready for round two. Did that experience change how you look at debt/leverage? If you don't pay down the mortgage, that's liquidity you could use towards another company, or you could also borrow money to get round two started sooner when the timing is right? Or maybe non-monetary aspects of having a paid off home will provide some stability to take on risks of another company even if that might mean higher interest rates (but presumably a business expense, so effective rate could be lower) than your current mortgage (although these current payments could be f...
by harikaried
Mon Jan 15, 2024 10:27 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay down mortgage? Invest?
Replies: 96
Views: 8864

Re: Pay down mortgage? Invest?

Nottingham wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2024 9:18 amas taxable accounts do not have a benefit of deferred taxes
Taxable accounts also defer taxes on gains until when they're sold or distribute dividends, and an original $10k invested basis isn't taxed (i.e., you get it back tax-free). Whereas $10k in a 401k even with 0% gains will have a $10k distribution fully taxed at a future tax rate hopefully lower than your current 32% (+ future state tax). When selling gains from the taxable account, those could be treated more favorably at say 15% long-term capital gains rate, and some are able to make use of those gains tax-free in certain situations.
by harikaried
Mon Jan 15, 2024 10:03 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay down mortgage? Invest?
Replies: 96
Views: 8864

Re: Pay down mortgage? Invest?

Nottingham wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2024 9:10 amWhen I enter additional payment of $6800 to my loan calculator at servicemac it says that I save $35,550 on interest by doing that over the course of the loan. It also reduces the loan by 2 years.
Is paying off the loan 2 years earlier worthwhile to you? Of course you can pay down even more like $10k/yr that might have gone towards I bonds if you have sufficient money even after maxing out retirement accounts, and this would shorten the loan even more.

What would you do with the money that would have gone towards paying the mortgage and extra principal after it's paid off potentially many years sooner? How soon could you pay it off if you maintained the rate of paying down the mortgage from last year?
by harikaried
Mon Jan 15, 2024 1:17 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: To new car or not ...
Replies: 23
Views: 2884

Re: To new car or not ...

Could I buy an older Tesla Model S and claim a tax credit There's a used EV federal $4000 tax credit for EVs sold by a dealer for under $25k with married income limits of $150k. Tesla website for used Model S currently shows cheapest is $35k 2018 with 46k miles and 259 miles of original EPA estimated range. What price range were you expecting as that Model S isn't eligible for the used EV federal tax credit (but your state/utility might have some local incentives), but a 2024 Model Y is pretty close to that price at $36k after point-of-sale $7500 new EV tax credit (if under $300k income; can be used as downpayment) with almost same estimated range at 260 miles. If you say 10k annual miles at 25mpg and $2.70/gal, that's $1080/yr for fuel. A...
by harikaried
Mon Jan 15, 2024 12:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay down mortgage? Invest?
Replies: 96
Views: 8864

Re: Pay down mortgage? Invest?

Nottingham wrote: Sat Jan 13, 2024 9:54 amI have $275 000 remaining at my 6.5% mortgage.
Paid around $22 000 in interest in 2023.
What was the balance at the start of 2023? $22k interest would seem to be an average balance of around $338k, so the current balance is already $63k lower. Were you planning on paying off the mortgage within some number of years?
by harikaried
Sun Jan 14, 2024 11:50 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay down mortgage? Invest?
Replies: 96
Views: 8864

Re: Pay down mortgage? Invest?

Nottingham wrote: Sun Jan 14, 2024 9:17 amIf I max our 401k/roth etc. does it make sense to still invest money into taxable accounts?
As in after maxing retirement accounts, you have money to potentially direct towards $10k I bonds or mortgage or other investments?
by harikaried
Sun Jan 14, 2024 11:33 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay down mortgage? Invest?
Replies: 96
Views: 8864

Re: Pay down mortgage? Invest?

Admiral wrote: Sun Jan 14, 2024 7:30 amIt's math: pay 32% (in your case) in taxes to save 6.5% in mortgage interest for savings that won't be realized for potentially DECADES
You've made this comparison of 32% vs 6.5% earlier, but maybe I'm missing the math part of how to actually compare. Is there a tax and interest rate when it starts to favor paying down the mortgage?
by harikaried
Sun Jan 14, 2024 12:33 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay down mortgage? Invest?
Replies: 96
Views: 8864

Re: Pay down mortgage? Invest?

So it looks to me that extra $10 000 at 401k beats extra $10 000 at i-bonds? Now the question is does it beat the mortgage at 6.5%? Contributing more to 401k allows you to defer income taxes with the hopes of lower future rates. Deductible IRA has similar benefit as 401k of tax later (with extra benefit of more investment choices) while Roth IRA flips that to pay tax now for tax free later. You could invest in bonds in your 401k/IRA to better match the risk of mortgage, but if you're comparing with investing in equities instead, that is effectively a decision to be more leveraged. You could similarly increase leverage by selling bonds you already have to invest more in equities as well as choosing not to pay down the mortgage. Yet so far, ...
by harikaried
Sat Jan 13, 2024 10:57 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay down mortgage? Invest?
Replies: 96
Views: 8864

Re: Pay down mortgage? Invest?

Would it make more sense to max out my 401k instead of looking at i-bonds? Or should I still focus on paying down 6.5% debt? I throw some extra principle every month anyway Over a year, how much money could go to these "savings" including retirement, taxable account and extra principal? Additional money in 401k allows for some tax advantages now vs later similar to if you otherwise would have invested that money in an account with eventual taxable gains. 401k-or-not, you have a separate decision of how you want it "invested," e.g., in equities or bonds (including I bonds and extra principal), and that's more of an asset allocation question, so make sure you're comparing similarly risked investments. If your annual savin...
by harikaried
Sat Jan 13, 2024 10:34 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should I Pay down my 5.59% Commercial Building Loan
Replies: 15
Views: 2476

Re: Should I Pay down my 5.59% Commercial Building Loan

I have a commercial building I purchased at 1.5 million | 10 year loan I would like a 75/25 Stock Bond Portfolio. Right now it is 2M in stocks and 100K in Bonds No other debt What's your loan balance and your portion of the building value? Just guessing at some values for example, an overall asset allocation could be: $2.0M equities $0.1M bonds $0.5M debt $0.8M real estate So that's $2.4M with a net asset allocation of 83% equities / -16% bonds-debt / 33% real estate. Some people group together bonds and debt similar to how you're considering investing in bonds vs paying down debt, and this makes it more obvious that you are leveraged overall. Some people want more leverage when younger and/or end up leveraged when buying a home or in your...
by harikaried
Sat Jan 13, 2024 10:12 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay down mortgage? Invest?
Replies: 96
Views: 8864

Re: Pay down mortgage? Invest?

I have $275 000 remaining at my 6.5% mortgage. Usually I buy $10 000 of i-bonds every year I bonds are currently yielding 5.27%, so in a year it could be around $527 earned before taxes and penalty. Whereas paying down the mortgage with the same $10k, you could save $650/year in interest before tax deductions (if you can itemize). I bonds at least you can get your money out after a year if necessary whereas principal curtailment is a bit more involved to get cash back, but if you're good on liquidity with say a sizable taxable account or other ways to access money if necessary, then "locking" up $10k might not be a problem. How much were you thinking of allocating towards paying down the mortgage? If it's much more than $10k, you...
by harikaried
Sat Jan 13, 2024 10:01 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to effectively liquidate stocks for home purchase
Replies: 18
Views: 2827

Re: How to effectively liquidate stocks for home purchase

moral_hazard wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2023 4:02 pmSell any lots from taxable that have low or no capital gains (is there a certain capital gains percentage to use as a target threshold?)
Do you think you would sell the lots with capital gains down the line anyway, and is the plan to repurchase these positions down the line? You'll probably pay say 15% capital gains taxes now or later when eventually selling the gains. The repurchased positions will have new basis that will likely reduce future taxes. There can be a small difference in more/less taxes if needing to additionally pay NIIT now vs later.
by harikaried
Fri Jan 12, 2024 2:10 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should I Pay down my 5.59% Commercial Building Loan
Replies: 15
Views: 2476

harikaried

What would be the deciding factor on moving money over to pay off the debt? You can compare the effective yields/rates such as the 3.57% tax-free yield vs 3.52% rate along with the dollar amount you would have expected to invest/paydown. E.g., $100k could yield $3,570 vs saving on $3,520 interest net taxes. If that $50/year isn't a meaningful difference, you can look at other aspects like liquidity where it would be more difficult to get that $100k back out if used for principal curtailment, so it's up to your situation if you expect there might be a need for cash (perhaps another real estate purchase? or other investment or expense) and that you wouldn't have other alternatives, e.g., a large taxable account or lines to draw upon. If thos...
by harikaried
Fri Jan 12, 2024 9:33 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: More EVs lose US tax credits including Tesla, Nissan, GM vehicles
Replies: 16
Views: 3871

Re: More EVs lose US tax credits including Tesla, Nissan, GM vehicles

Wwwdotcom wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 7:07 pmI just looked up an article on this and it says Tesla has not started providing the point of sale credits yet.
There were some issues on the IRS side as well, but it seems like both are ready now according to some early reports on X showing a new screen in the usual Tesla App vehicle purchase flow: https://twitter.com/niccruzpatane/statu ... 4856849666
@niccruzpatane on X wrote:Tesla Point of Sale $7,500 Credit is now live!

Incentives

Enroll in the following incentive programs?

Federal Section 30D Clean Vehicle Credit ⓘ
Do you want to apply the $7500 credit to your order today by transferring to Tesla?

[ Yes ] [ No ]
by harikaried
Wed Jan 10, 2024 10:00 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should I Pay down my 5.59% Commercial Building Loan
Replies: 15
Views: 2476

Re: Should I Pay down my 5.59% Commercial Building Loan

So I can pay up to 15% of the initial principle each year for the first three years (including my principle mortgage payment). I believe it is a 3% fee over the 15%. Then goes down to 2% and 1% . Was the loan originally for $1.5M, and you're responsible for half? Does that mean across the 3 tenants, the total prepayment allowed each year without penalty is $225k or that your $750k portion is allowed $112.5k prepayment without the 2% penalty this year? We had a commercial loan where we additionally paid the maximum 10% principal each year on top of normal monthly payments without incurring a 1% fee, and we paid it off after the 5 year window of prepayment penalty. So we effectively did both prepaying the loan and investing the rest. Are you...
by harikaried
Wed Jan 10, 2024 2:20 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Board Games for Two in 2024
Replies: 52
Views: 6359

Re: Board Games for Two in 2024

Kobinator wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2024 2:02 pmAnother recommendation for Pandemic
This is a highly rated cooperative game with many reimplementations due to its popularity, but it very much depends on both players desire and ability to cooperate in a fun way. I suppose it's not too different from other similar warnings of potential cutthroat competitiveness of other games and both player's ability to have fun with the games. Perhaps one style or the other or both are appropriate for OP and spouse.
by harikaried
Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:44 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Another new car thread
Replies: 52
Views: 7528

Re: Another new car thread

I keep wondering if they are gonna find a way to change the batteries or whatever to have the refreshed Tesla 3 qualify for the credit later in the year, once they sell a bunch of the Y's that qualify. These federal incentives to localize battery and EV manufacturing do seem to be pushing Tesla to prioritize scaling up US production, but it's unclear if the additional battery supply will be enough to also cover Model 3. Presumably, this will also be in partnership with Panasonic where the original Gigafactory in Nevada was built to support Model 3, so unclear what battery component is currently preventing Model 3 from getting any credit and if that can be quickly switched to a different supplier? I suppose in the meantime, Model 3 default ...
by harikaried
Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:33 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Sold House $$$
Replies: 6
Views: 1037

Re: Sold House $$$

Truckdriver wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:19 pmWould I be smarter to just park it in FZFXX which is returning about the same right now?
At least simpler FZDXX Fidelity® Money Market Fund Premium Class has been yielding 5.2% but has a $100k minimum, so you might be able to just park your cash there until you decide if you want to add Treasury bill/bond index funds.

Unclear if you'll want to consider your tax rates for tax equivalent yields, e.g., FZEXX Fidelity® Tax-Exempt Money Market Fund Premium Class.
by harikaried
Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:01 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Board Games for Two in 2024
Replies: 52
Views: 6359

Re: Board Games for Two in 2024

The games that initially caught her eye were: 7 Wonders Duel Targi Splendor To be clear, there's Splendor and Splendor Duel. The original supports up to 4 players, and wife and I played this a lot even on a tablet under the crib, and now kids are old enough to play these and other variations of Splendor. The dedicated 2-player version is actually rated higher on boardgamegeek (8.0 vs 7.4 of 10; family rank #15 vs #48). The newer version adds some interactions like spatial positioning of the tokens instead of a simple stack/bank to take from. These games have randomness in setting up and drawing cards to keep things replayable, so each player needs to adapt their strategy to what's available. Of these three, Splendor is the "lightest&q...
by harikaried
Tue Jan 09, 2024 11:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Another new car thread
Replies: 52
Views: 7528

Re: Another new car thread

cubs1999 wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2024 6:05 pmNow only the Model 3 performance qualities but all three Model Y's count so the base Y works out to being cheaper than base 3
The Model 3 Performance is no longer available to order, so no Model 3s have the tax credit for now. Seems like Tesla removed it as part of refreshing the RWD and AWD: "Refined with more range, an all-new premium interior and a noticeably quieter ride."
by harikaried
Thu Jan 04, 2024 2:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Board Games for Two in 2024
Replies: 52
Views: 6359

Re: Board Games for Two in 2024

1. 2-person game 2. Play length not longer than 1-2 hours (or at least not multi-day) 3. "Date night" qualities (not highly cutthroat; nor something like chess, requiring so much concentration it kills conversation) Here's a filtered list from 2022 People's Choice Top Games With Two | BoardGameGeek for at most medium-light weighting/complexity that all also happen to fit your play length (although conservatively double the time for first play): 7 Wonders Duel / Medium-Light / 30 min Patchwork / Light / 15-30 min Wingspan / Medium-Light / 40-70 min Azul / Light / 30-45 min Targi / Medium-Light / 60 min Jaipur / Very-Light / 30 min Lost Cities / Very-Light / 30 min Carcassonne / Light / 30-45 min Cascadia / Medium-Light / 30-45 min...
by harikaried
Thu Jan 04, 2024 9:52 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)
Replies: 6651
Views: 1203597

Re: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)

tj wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 8:41 pmI was able to downloaded my 2024 1099 info this morning, too. Don't have to deal with TD's website anymore.
Interesting. All of our accounts do have a linked "Year 2024" under "Manage My Taxes" but no linked 1099 form yet. The page shows this:
TreasuryDirect Taxable Transactions Summary wrote::?: Learn more about Tax Reporting.
View your 1099 for tax year 2024 (Available on or before January 31)
Transaction 1:
So sounds like we'll be done with the website by the 31st too!
by harikaried
Wed Jan 03, 2024 1:51 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: More EVs lose US tax credits including Tesla, Nissan, GM vehicles
Replies: 16
Views: 3871

Re: More EVs lose US tax credits including Tesla, Nissan, GM vehicles

Tesla Model Y All-Wheel Drive Tesla Model Y Performance Tesla Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive Yep. This is the only news to me. Now all Model Ys will receive 7500 at point of sale instead of a rebate. I believe it's up to each dealer to register with IRS to submit a seller report that the IRS needs to accept before receiving advance payment of the transferred credit at point of sale. I'm not sure if there are any reports of this whole system working yet for any dealer, but presumably it has been working for at least submitting seller reports from last year. So if you're planning to buy a $36,490 Model Y with point of sale price reduction, hopefully it won't be long wait before it's a simple and fast process. In the mean time, IRS has provided som...
by harikaried
Wed Jan 03, 2024 1:22 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)
Replies: 6651
Views: 1203597

Re: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)

Just a last check, it seems like we should be able to redeem our April 2022 I Bonds I was going to wait until Monday to initiate the sales, though i have no idea if it would make a different in the redemption date I requested redemption back on Monday 1st, got an email saying it's scheduled for 2nd, received cash in Fidelity 3rd even though officially the website says Pending Redemption 4th. My cash is also in FZDXX (I wonder how much longer it will be yielding 5.21%!) I just placed orders for FZDXX and VTI on the close in brokerage account to match up with exchanges to Total US Bond index mutual fund in retirement accounts. I guess last thing is to make a note to check for tax forms in each TreasuryDirect account next year and that should...
by harikaried
Tue Jan 02, 2024 2:44 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Selling $80000 of ETFs— one sale at noon, or four sales over the day?
Replies: 17
Views: 2804

Re: Selling $80000 of ETFs— one sale at noon, or four sales over the day?

There are many seconds of trading during the day, but only one opening cross and one closing cross for ETFs, and mutual funds trade at the close. Are there benefits or downsides of these specific times?
by harikaried
Tue Jan 02, 2024 10:14 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: More EVs lose US tax credits including Tesla, Nissan, GM vehicles
Replies: 16
Views: 3871

Re: More EVs lose US tax credits including Tesla, Nissan, GM vehicles

This is interesting, curious how it will effect stocks when the market opens: The number of EV models qualifying for U.S. EV tax credits fell from 43 to 19 Which models were people buying? Will it cause people to shift to the models that still do have the credit? Also interesting is this year's addition of the point-of-sale aspect newly opening the credit to those who wouldn't have had $7,500 tax liability to get the full credit. Even those with $0 federal tax could get the full $7,500 off these 19 vehicles at time of purchase. For Tesla, this still includes all trims of their best selling Model Y SUV. Here's the list of 10 that get the full $7500 in 2024 from https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/tax2023.shtml Chevrolet Bolt EUV Chevrolet Bolt EV C...
by harikaried
Tue Jan 02, 2024 10:09 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is this a good deal on Tesla model Y Long range
Replies: 114
Views: 15208

Re: Is this a good deal on Tesla model Y Long range

dsmclone wrote: Tue Jan 02, 2024 9:23 amIf you set cruise, which is now 1 pull down, it includes Lane Centering (Lane departure)
If you've changed the setting to be 1 pull, it makes it activate Autosteer. If you want the two different behaviors, you need to keep it as the default 2 pulls for Autosteer (where 1 pull is just cruise / Traffic-Aware Cruise Control).
Tesla Model Y Owner's Manual wrote:If Autopilot Activation is set to Single Pull, pulling the drive stalk down once also activates Autosteer (which includes Traffic-Aware Cruise Control). Touch Controls > Autopilot > Autopilot Activation and choose Double Pull to use Traffic-Aware Cruise Control independently of Autosteer when you pull the drive stalk down once.
Model Y Owner's Manual - Autopilot - Traffic-Aware Cruise Control
by harikaried
Fri Dec 29, 2023 10:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: To Trust or Not To Trust
Replies: 8
Views: 1536

Re: To Trust or Not To Trust

shelterinplace wrote: Fri Dec 29, 2023 8:51 pmShe wants to hire a very good friend and long-time employee to pay her parents' bills and take care of their financial accounts
Sounds like the desire is to outsource managing daily/monthly finances and the concern is the trust makes it harder to do that?
by harikaried
Fri Dec 29, 2023 11:34 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)
Replies: 6651
Views: 1203597

Re: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)

Just a last check, it seems like we should be able to redeem our April 2022 I Bonds potentially as early as today but probably safer to wait until the 1st? We already delivered $10k to each of us for 2023, so we should wait until next year to deliver the final gifts also purchased back in April 2022. Each of these will be redeemed for $11,208 completing 6 months of 6.48% composite but giving up the 3 months of Nov, Dec, Jan interest that have been at 3.38%. I believe for now we'll just put the money in FZDXX which has been yielding 5.21% and rebalance in our other accounts while simplifying our overall portfolio no longer with the special TreasuryDirect accounts.
by harikaried
Fri Dec 29, 2023 11:23 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is this a good deal on Tesla model Y Long range
Replies: 114
Views: 15208

Re: Is this a good deal on Tesla model Y Long range

YeahBuddy wrote: Fri Dec 29, 2023 8:46 amBattery technology is ever improving, the CEO keeps slashing prices, new models should be on the way in mid to late 2024.
There's just rumors of a new Model Y, and it's not even clear when it'll be available in the US as the updated Model 3 is only made in China right now. But the first two points of battery improving and price slashing, do you expect that to stop or slow down enough to ever decide it's better to buy now vs waiting for even better next year?