Search found 160 matches

by HockeyFan99
Mon May 29, 2023 7:14 pm
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Bogleheads and ChatGPT
Replies: 325
Views: 44210

Re: Bogleheads and ChatGPT

For what it's worth, I've not really ever envisioned ChatGPT (vs. other AI/ML technologies) as being particularly computationally sophisticated, or relevant to much of the Boglehead experience. I think of ChatGPT - in some iteration, if not the current one - as a very helpful assistant moderator/ commentator, who can act like a combination summarizer ("summarize the three key points from this 400 points thread"), librarian ("find me the most relevant posts on this question, so I can avoid posting it again and wasting everybody's time"), and freelance writer ("write me a first draft post, in the Bogleheads style, describing the impact on personal finance and investing of newly passed legislation X, and send it to mod...
by HockeyFan99
Fri Dec 30, 2022 8:40 pm
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Bogleheads and ChatGPT
Replies: 325
Views: 44210

Re: Bogleheads and GPT

German Expat wrote: Thu Dec 29, 2022 8:35 pm It can save a lot of time though but you still need to know what you are doing, actually it will support better developers a lot more because they can spend less time on more mundane tasks. Same for bogleheads answers, if you know a topic really well it could support you to write your answer faster and more concise / better English. I would not trust a GPT3 answer out of the box.
This, though I’m slightly more optimistic about how it could be used if it was trained on / by Bogleheads, given how active and expert this community is.

I’ll be interested in revisiting this thread 1 / 3 / 5 years hence to see how attitudes have changed.
by HockeyFan99
Sun Dec 25, 2022 11:38 pm
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Bogleheads and ChatGPT
Replies: 325
Views: 44210

Re: Bogleheads and GPT

To clarify my original post: 1) I would not expect - now or soon - for GPT to be used or useful to provide personal investing advice. It’s not a robo-advisor, and it definitely cannot answer “can I retire now?” or “please help me clean up my portfolio!” posts. 2) I think its value is much more likely to be in Wiki-like posts, especially if trained specifically on the Bogleheads dataset. For instance, “what are the most common topics that do not appear in the Wiki?” or “summarize the common arguments for and against international allocation in a portfolio.” 3) Every AI regulation and ethical code I’m aware of stipulates a “human in the loop” element, and I think that would be absolutely essential here, too. A model can provide the starting ...
by HockeyFan99
Sun Dec 25, 2022 2:42 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What are you doing with your iBonds?
Replies: 133
Views: 18732

Re: What are you doing with your iBonds?

What is the rationale for selling iBonds? The big issue with iBonds is that you can only buy 10k per year, so even though it is awesome when inflation spikes, 10k doesn’t really move the needle on a 1 mil portfolio. My plan is to max out my iBonds every year, so that if inflation ever spikes I have a large amount of money protected from inflation, not just 10k. Is this the wrong thought process? No, you have it exactly right, IMO. I have been buying for 10 years so I was able to build up a decent chunk over time. Then when inflation hit, while others scrambled to buy as much as they could in 1 year, they did what they were supposed to and I had a nice chunk of fixed income earning ~10%. I don't see any reason to deviate from that course, a...
by HockeyFan99
Sun Dec 25, 2022 2:38 pm
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Bogleheads and ChatGPT
Replies: 325
Views: 44210

Re: Bogleheads and GPT

To clarify my original post: 1) I would not expect - now or soon - for GPT to be used or useful to provide personal investing advice. It’s not a robo-advisor, and it definitely cannot answer “can I retire now?” or “please help me clean up my portfolio!” posts. 2) I think its value is much more likely to be in Wiki-like posts, especially if trained specifically on the Bogleheads dataset. For instance, “what are the most common topics that do not appear in the Wiki?” or “summarize the common arguments for and against international allocation in a portfolio.” 3) Every AI regulation and ethical code I’m aware of stipulates a “human in the loop” element, and I think that would be absolutely essential here, too. A model can provide the starting p...
by HockeyFan99
Thu Dec 22, 2022 5:51 am
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Bogleheads and ChatGPT
Replies: 325
Views: 44210

Bogleheads and ChatGPT

This is maybe a bit off topic (?) but is anybody else thinking about the potential to apply GPT-3 or a similar AI model to the Boglehead experience? There is a large corpus of material on which a model could be initially trained, plus a large and active expert community that could provide feedback and supervision to content generated by the model (e.g., vetting answers in response to questions). Use cases I could see: - Generating first drafts of Wiki content for requested topics - Identifying frequently asked questions that should have Wiki pages but do not currently (gap identification) - Providing initial (and real-time) responses to certain posts that can then be adjusted / expanded upon by the community (these could potentially be subj...
by HockeyFan99
Sun Dec 18, 2022 7:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Exercising stock options in a private company
Replies: 17
Views: 1821

Re: Exercising stock options in a private company

That major round of funding a year ago is paying your salary. So, be glad they chose the route of spending more this past year instead of continuing to focus on being cash flow positive. This is correct, and it sounds like your company did well in timing that round. Congrats. Sounds like you may be in a position to wait and only exercise before a valuation that will be convincingly higher. This misunderstands options. A future higher FMV will not require you to exercise your options. It just means the value of the shares - IF you exercised - would be higher. Think of it as paper profit that you cannot actually realize without some other liquidity event or option (IPO, acquisition, tender offer). Generally, you will hope that the FMV of a s...
by HockeyFan99
Sun Dec 18, 2022 10:37 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Exercising stock options in a private company
Replies: 17
Views: 1821

Re: Exercising stock options in a private company

If there is a tender offer within a private company, then stay away from it (don’t tender). The only reason for a tender at a private company is because someone thinks the company is significantly more valuable than the tender price. The person offering the tender probably is aware of an imminent liquidity event. I disagree with this. While I’m sorry you had a bad experience with a tender, yours is not particularly representative. Companies can and do use tender offers for a variety of reasons, including as a way to create liquidity for employees who, otherwise, would be unable to diversify / “cash out” until a full liquidity event (M&A, IPO), which can be years away. Employees de-risk concentrated equity holdings (in part, typically, ...
by HockeyFan99
Sat Dec 17, 2022 9:24 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Exercising stock options in a private company
Replies: 17
Views: 1821

Re: Exercising stock options in a private company

If you wait and the FMV of the stock goes up, you could still exercise a year before acquisition, but now you'll have to pay AMT (on ordinary income?) on the difference between FMV and strike price. Not very different than before, except your tax return will be more complicated, and you'll have more money at risk. (Pretty sure that the AMT that you pay on this is lost if the stock isn't worth more when you sell it.) This is a good point, as depending on how many options and the spread between exercise price and FMV you can wind up with AMT liability, which would be out of pocket money in addition to the exercise price. In my experience this is, for most people, more of a theoretical risk than an actual one, but it’s worth investigating, es...
by HockeyFan99
Sat Dec 17, 2022 6:00 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Exercising stock options in a private company
Replies: 17
Views: 1821

Re: Exercising stock options in a private company

That major round of funding a year ago is paying your salary. So, be glad they chose the route of spending more this past year instead of continuing to focus on being cash flow positive. This is correct, and it sounds like your company did well in timing that round. Congrats. Sounds like you may be in a position to wait and only exercise before a valuation that will be convincingly higher. This misunderstands options. A future higher FMV will not require you to exercise your options. It just means the value of the shares - IF you exercised - would be higher. Think of it as paper profit that you cannot actually realize without some other liquidity event or option (IPO, acquisition, tender offer). Generally, you will hope that the FMV of a s...
by HockeyFan99
Sat Dec 17, 2022 5:53 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Exercising stock options in a private company
Replies: 17
Views: 1821

Re: Exercising stock options in a private company

This ignores how ISOs actually work, and the tax benefits of exercising and holding for required waiting period prior to selling. Ignore this. You should only exercise the options if you would immediately sell the shares. Otherwise, you're taking un-necessary risk. Say the company goes under. Without exercising, you gained nothing, you lost nothing. Same if the company is acquired and it skyrockets. In that case, you could then exercise and immediately sell. If you buy and don't sell, you're no better off then buying on the open market. Don't do that. There's no reason to. Just hold tight. That said, it doesn’t sound like you need to exercise now. If your and your CFOs best guess is that an exit is multiple years away, and you enjoy working...
by HockeyFan99
Fri Nov 25, 2022 1:34 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Leaving Company - Exercise Vested Options or Let Expire?
Replies: 14
Views: 2084

Re: Leaving Company - Exercise Vested Options or Let Expire?

Since this seems to be a persistent source of confusion I’ll try one more time: - a Right of First Refusal (ROFR) operating in favor of the company gives the company the right - but not the obligation - to step in and buy shares of the company when a current shareholder proposes to sell them to some third party (another investor, for example) - the ROFR does *not* apply if you choose to exercise your options. An option, once vested, lets you pay the exercise price (hopefully less than the current value of the share, otherwise you should not typically exercise) and transfer your option into an actual share of the company. Now you are an actual shareholder, not just an optionholder. - Sometimes, such as in the case of a major liquidity event ...
by HockeyFan99
Thu Nov 24, 2022 1:18 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Leaving Company - Exercise Vested Options or Let Expire?
Replies: 14
Views: 2084

Re: Leaving Company - Exercise Vested Options or Let Expire?

Some comments below but the biggest one is this: before you tie up $50K that you have but that is meaningful to you, make sure you fully understand your options, your equity incentive plan, and the different choices available to you. Some questions to your HR / Legal teams, if they are helpful and you trust them, might get this for you for free. Otherwise, or if you want to be certain, a benefits lawyer experienced in this area will help you make sense of it quickly and it will be worth the money. Other points: - Ask and do not guess about the 409A. This is typically done after the financing, and it could move the number materially from $35. You may have even done a down round - many companies are right now. - The comment below about right ...
by HockeyFan99
Sun Jan 23, 2022 9:16 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Looking for Advice for a Short Trip to NYC with toddler (I'm from small Midwestern City)
Replies: 97
Views: 8399

Re: Looking for Advice for a Short Trip to NYC with toddler (I'm from small Midwestern City)

Cannot read all of the posts, but if nobody has yet advised Spot Hero as the parking app it’s what we use when parking in the city (which we do regularly). If you just park in the hotel garage it’s likely to be at least 5x the cost.

With our kids we like Central Park, the Union Square farmers market, the west side parks and playgrounds from the Battery all the way up to Riverside, and walking the bridges to watch the trains (if your kids like to see subways take them on the Manhattan - a tenth the people of Brooklyn and all the subway trains).
by HockeyFan99
Sat Jan 22, 2022 3:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Startup equity question: ISOs v. NSOs, please help!
Replies: 13
Views: 1360

Re: Startup equity question: ISOs v. NSOs, please help!

Thank you again to all for your advice. I wound up accelerating my start date at NewCo, with my last day at OldCo on 12/31 and my first day (officially) today, 1/1. That allowed me to get the ISOs at NewCo at the current FMV, and NewCo is comfortable with my continuing to spend some time transitioning work at OldCo during the next few weeks so I do not leave any fires there. All in all, a good outcome I think (although the IT transition over the holidays was not ideal!) and thank you all again for the guidance. Happy holidays / new year to all! Just be aware that your options won't actually be granted until the next board meeting, which hopefully is before the new round closes and new 409a is established. Yes, a belated thank you for this....
by HockeyFan99
Sat Jan 01, 2022 7:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Startup equity question: ISOs v. NSOs, please help!
Replies: 13
Views: 1360

Re: Startup equity question: ISOs v. NSOs, please help!

Thank you again to all for your advice. I wound up accelerating my start date at NewCo, with my last day at OldCo on 12/31 and my first day (officially) today, 1/1. That allowed me to get the ISOs at NewCo at the current FMV, and NewCo is comfortable with my continuing to spend some time transitioning work at OldCo during the next few weeks so I do not leave any fires there.

All in all, a good outcome I think (although the IT transition over the holidays was not ideal!) and thank you all again for the guidance.

Happy holidays / new year to all!
by HockeyFan99
Mon Dec 20, 2021 9:34 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Startup equity question: ISOs v. NSOs, please help!
Replies: 13
Views: 1360

Re: Startup equity question: ISOs v. NSOs, please help!

A very, very big thank you to all of the detailed, expert replies. I've been sifting through these and doing so more research and think I have boiled it down to these options, in this order of preference: Move up my start date at NewCo, and either stay employed / consult with OldCo as needed thereafter. I am going to explore this with both companies this week to see if it is possible. This would allow me to take ISOs at NewCo now, at the current FMV. Take NSOs now, at the current FMV. This locks in the current FMV, avoids various forms of dilution by waiting until the next round, etc. Take ISOs at the later start date at NewCo, at potentially a higher FMV. 83(b) is not an option without NewCo Board approval, which I could push for but does ...
by HockeyFan99
Thu Dec 16, 2021 9:06 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Startup equity question: ISOs v. NSOs, please help!
Replies: 13
Views: 1360

Startup equity question: ISOs v. NSOs, please help!

Hi everyone – I’ve so appreciated the advice from this forum over the years, and am now back to seek advice in connection with a major career move. I’ve done my best to lay out below the relevant context, options I can see, and my questions. I apologize for the length, and I greatly appreciate your thoughts! Thank you! Context : next month I am leaving (a privately held) megacorp after nearly a decade as in-house counsel to join a growing but early stage (Series Bish) startup as their general counsel. Part of my compensation initially will be in the form of stock options, with which I do not have prior experience. The wrinkle : this is a fast-growing company that appears as though it is likely to raise another round of funding in between wh...
by HockeyFan99
Sat Apr 03, 2021 3:53 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: WSJ article "How to Know if Your Retirement Savings Are on Track"
Replies: 33
Views: 5150

Re: WSJ article "How to Know if Your Retirement Savings Are on Track"

At my age (37) I don't find either metric particularly useful for determining my retirement number. Things are too darn unpredictable and transient. The discrepancies between the two can be enormous (25x expenses is roughly a million dollars more than 10x income for us despite having a reasonably high savings rate?). Tough to predict expenses in retirement? OK, use 10x salary. Oh, you just got a big promotion and can save more? Congratulations, now you're wayyyy behind on retirement. I get nervous looking at these metrics sometime because despite our efforts to save we look like we're wayyyy behind on this one. Then I remind myself that 6 years ago I was just finishing grad school and our annual household income was literally < 10% of what...
by HockeyFan99
Sat Feb 20, 2021 12:10 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Accumulation Trust for young children
Replies: 1
Views: 348

Accumulation Trust for young children

Spouse and I are redoing our wills and I have a question about the purpose / necessity of an accumulation trust for our two young children (both less than 5 years old). Attorney has prepared standard wills, with trusts created for kids automatically if both spouse and I are deceased. Attorney has also suggested separate "retirement benefits accumulation trusts" which would receive retirement assets (and possibly life insurance as well, though I'm not sure about that). I haven't been able to get a super clear answer, yet, from the estate planning attorney as to the purpose of the accumulation trust. (I've also read through some of the previous threads I could find here, but posts I could find were either not quite on point or too t...
by HockeyFan99
Sun Feb 07, 2021 11:10 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How expensive of a house should I target?
Replies: 21
Views: 2629

Re: How expensive of a house should I target?

livesoft wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 10:02 pm FWIW, our house value is less than 10% of the value of our invested mutual funds and ETFs.
Was that the ratio when you purchased it?

When we bought we looked at it from a cash flow perspective. We bought at just over 1x our annual (combined) salaries, and something that we would be able to afford if either of us were to lose a job. That’s what allowed us to sleep soundly once we moved in.
by HockeyFan99
Sat Jan 30, 2021 7:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Refinance Mega Thread
Replies: 12862
Views: 1265524

Re: Refinance Mega Thread

pmorgan2020 wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 4:36 pm
Contango1025 wrote: Thu Jan 28, 2021 5:54 pm Another data point:

NJ, loan amount of $660k

Loan depot offered 30 year fixed of 2.5% with $300 in closing costs and waived appraisal. Could probably get it to zero cost but not worth the extra effort. Currently at 2.99 from refi earlier last year.
Is lender title included in the $300 closing costs? Appreciate if you can share total costs the lender indicated in the disclosure for NJ
Also interested in the NJ data points for anybody who can share.

Contango, what is your LTV?
by HockeyFan99
Sat Jan 23, 2021 7:10 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Do bond funds price in market expectations like equity funds do?
Replies: 27
Views: 1819

Re: Do bond funds price in market expectations like equity funds do?

Matt Levine covered bond market pricing this week, in his usual helpfully informative and amusing style.

Worth a read if you have questions about whether bond market pricing is, indeed, always efficient. (It’s not the lead piece, scroll down and you’ll find it.)

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/artic ... mean-libor
by HockeyFan99
Sat Jan 23, 2021 7:06 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: The Mega Backdoor Roth IRA
Replies: 549
Views: 244696

Re: The Mega Backdoor Roth IRA

+1 to retiredjg’s comments about whether your plan actually offers the mega back door option.

What you really need to get are your plan documents, if possible, as well as the forms required to make an after-tax traditional contribution, if allowed.

In my experience, even plan administrators can be quite confused on this point, particularly if the plan does *not* offer the back door option and, thus, they are not experienced answering questions about it. Both DW and brother thought, based on written correspondence with plan administrator reps, that their plans offered this. Turns out they did not.

tl;dnr — don’t take plan administrator’s word for it; find the documents and read them yourself.
by HockeyFan99
Sat Jan 23, 2021 6:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: CitiBank $700 Offer
Replies: 44
Views: 15188

Re: CitiBank $700 Offer

Just another data point that Citi is the worst. Battling with them to get previous bonus actually paid, transfer out limits tie up money once there, fees on way out. Not worth all of the headaches or hours. Never again with them. YMMV.
by HockeyFan99
Thu Jan 21, 2021 7:09 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: The Mega Backdoor Roth IRA
Replies: 549
Views: 244696

Re: The Mega Backdoor Roth IRA

retiredjg wrote: Thu Dec 24, 2020 2:20 pm
kahangi wrote: Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:46 pm Doing a lump sum, one-time max aftertax contribution ($25k) and immediately rolling over is an interesting idea but too adventurous for me from an investment timing perspective.
We have heard from maybe 2 people that they are allowed to make their after-tax contribution in a lump sum. Almost all plans require you to withhold it from your paycheck.
For what it’s worth, my company only allows a single lump sum contribution to after tax, at the end of the year, and the in service rollover to Roth can be done immediately. It’s quite easy / efficient, and I’m very grateful that it’s an option for me.
by HockeyFan99
Thu Jan 14, 2021 10:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Nanny Payroll - Pay a service or do manually?
Replies: 21
Views: 3271

Re: Nanny Payroll - Pay a service or do manually?

Use NannyChex, been very happy with them.
by HockeyFan99
Wed Jan 13, 2021 8:32 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Refinance Mega Thread
Replies: 12862
Views: 1265524

Re: Refinance Mega Thread

I've been reading through the pages and pages and trying to piece things together, but since I see there may be an incentive to move quickly if rates are rising I'm hoping for a quick read on whether a refi is likely to make sense for me and, if so, where to start (it seems like order of approaching different lenders may matter). Quick details: 1. Purchased townhome/condo in New Jersey in late 2020, so only made 3 payments and LTV (at least based on purchase price) is basically 80% still. 2. Currently in a 2.75% fixed rate 30 year mortgage (was obtained with aid of relationship discount from mortgage lender). 3. Unlikely to want to pay down additional principal (or pay points) to lower rate - would like to stay in 30 year fixed with essent...
by HockeyFan99
Wed Jan 13, 2021 2:01 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Refinance Mega Thread
Replies: 12862
Views: 1265524

Re: Refinance Mega Thread

I've been reading through the pages and pages and trying to piece things together, but since I see there may be an incentive to move quickly if rates are rising I'm hoping for a quick read on whether a refi is likely to make sense for me and, if so, where to start (it seems like order of approaching different lenders may matter). Quick details: 1. Purchased townhome/condo in New Jersey in late 2020, so only made 3 payments and LTV (at least based on purchase price) is basically 80% still. 2. Currently in a 2.75% fixed rate 30 year mortgage (was obtained with aid of relationship discount from mortgage lender). 3. Unlikely to want to pay down additional principal (or pay points) to lower rate - would like to stay in 30 year fixed with essenti...
by HockeyFan99
Mon Jan 04, 2021 7:54 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I-Bonds a good idea?
Replies: 48
Views: 7270

Re: I-Bonds a good idea?

The Yelp reviews of TreasuryDirect website all say the website is a nightmare. Is there any other way to buy iBonds, like through a bank or brokerage? Has anyone here had a user-friendly experience w/TD? If one buys paper bonds with their tax refund, is the idea to keep the paper bonds in a safe place for years until redemption/ What if you lose the paper bonds? Thanks! But 93% of folks who take the post-use survey that actually use Treasury Direct website rate it either EXECELLENT or GOOD. More specifically:71% of the users say it's excellent and another 22% say it's Good (4% Fair and 3% Poor). I just logged in this morning to plan my 2021 purchase - these numbers are current. It's not a glitzy commercial website but it works well in my e...
by HockeyFan99
Sun Jan 03, 2021 9:43 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best bank for a new mortgage
Replies: 12
Views: 1388

Re: Best bank for a new mortgage

With all due respect to livesoft, one of the most prolific and helpful posters on this site, you still have to get through the actual mortgage process before it is sold. And that was two months of headaches, and many dozens of unnecessary hours of bureaucratic hurdles, before we got to closing and my mortgage could be handed off to another party for post-closing servicing.

FWIW, my first mortgage experience, with another bank (a local lender) and also on a condo (so like for like properties) was nearly seamless in comparison.

So I’m standing by my recommendation to at least consider the customer service / value of your time perspective when selecting the initial mortgage bank.
by HockeyFan99
Sun Jan 03, 2021 9:38 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What have YOU used an emergency fund for?
Replies: 44
Views: 4129

Re: What have YOU used an emergency fund for?

TheTimeLord wrote: Sun Jan 03, 2021 7:10 am
TravelGeek wrote: Sun Jan 03, 2021 1:23 am Sleep aid :)
+1

Also think it benefitted my career in that I never feared losing my job.
+1

There have been plenty of times that what kept me at my job has been the knowledge that I didn’t *have* to keep the paycheck coming in, month after month.

We also used part of our emergency fund for an unexpectedly long but voluntary parental leave to travel. The money provided the ability to take advantage of what was likely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us. I’m grateful to this forum, and all the advice I’ve received along the way, for helping me to be in a position to say “yes” to that.
by HockeyFan99
Sun Jan 03, 2021 9:34 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best bank for a new mortgage
Replies: 12
Views: 1388

Re: Best bank for a new mortgage

There are lots of threads on this, and you’ll probably shop around for the best rate, as you should. But having recently gone through this I’ll throw out one vote for considering the ease/hassle of the bank you choose, and considering whether you value your own time enough to include that in your calculus. I did not, and with two kids and a pandemic, in retrospect I wish that I had.

tl;dnr: a strong vote *against* Citibank.
by HockeyFan99
Mon Dec 28, 2020 8:59 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: EE- and I- Bonds after winning game
Replies: 4
Views: 821

Re: EE- and I- Bonds after winning game

Others who are in the decumulation phase will have more first-hand experience, but my initial reaction is that if you have more than you need I would start to value simplicity for yourself, your spouse, and your heirs over maximizing efficient return, especially when you are talking numbers as small as I and EE bonds will be to your overall portfolio.
by HockeyFan99
Tue Dec 01, 2020 8:23 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Citi online saving transfer limits seem very restrictive
Replies: 54
Views: 7519

Re: Citi online saving transfer limits seem very restrictive

I'm bumping this thread just to vent my frustration at Citi. I obtained my mortgage through Citi and had to obtain Citi accounts to qualify for the relationship discount. Even though I'm "Citigold" I'm still running into the same transfer out limitations as the OP described, in direct contravention of their posted terms (to another snarky comment above): https://online.citi.com/US/JRS/pands/detail.do?ID=InterCiti I am now trying to track down and escalate through customer service. Again. The experience with Citi has been miserable throughout, on both the mortgage and banking side, and had I the opportunity to do it over again I would have paid more on the mortgage to avoid the constant stream of headaches. Lesson learned for me - ...
by HockeyFan99
Sat Nov 28, 2020 5:42 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: EE Bonds for high income couple in their 30's
Replies: 47
Views: 4713

Re: EE Bonds for high income couple in their 30's

JoMoney wrote: Sat Nov 28, 2020 5:34 pm Personally, I'm willing to take more risk for money 20 years out, and not putting that money into bonds. I keep some money in Series I Savings Bonds as part of my short term 'emergency fund'.
This is where I keep netting out. I like EE bonds relative to holding additional bonds outside of my retirement accounts, but at 40 I’m not really holding such bonds. So it winds up being EE bonds vs. additional equities in a brokerage account. Greater expected return and flexibility keep pushing me to equities, even though I keep reading these threads and wondering if I’m making the wrong call...

(I do max I Bonds each year as part of EF)
by HockeyFan99
Thu Nov 26, 2020 1:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buying a house in NJ, how much to spend?
Replies: 75
Views: 6662

Re: Buying a house in NJ, how much to spend?

Since I haven’t seen it mentioned I’ll add a vote for Union county. Moved from Manhattan due to COVID, wound up with more space inside and out, a much nicer quality of building (compared to “luxury” city apartment), and our PITI is less than half of what our rent was. Even after generous set asides for both discretionary upgrades and required maintenance we are well below our monthly NYC renting costs. And that’s before factoring in the income tax savings, which for us is meaningful now that we can forego the NYC income tax. We are on an express train line to Penn Station, too. All that said, it was a decision that worked financially but was not an investment. We had to have more space, with two young kids and two remote working parents, bu...
by HockeyFan99
Sat Nov 21, 2020 2:07 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [.]
Replies: 7
Views: 1408

Re: BigLaw senior associate - wondering about timing for move in house

I’d consider going now. Longer in private practice is not necessarily better if you want to transition, since you can become too senior/expensive for some positions and aren’t going to have any in house experience that will make you attractive for more senior roles, especially those that require real management experience.

At least that’s what hiring has looked like at my company, including on my team. With about two dozen hires over the past three years we’ve hired a lot of law firm associates - probably about half, maybe a bit over - but never once a partner, and all positions that involved managerial responsibilities went to attorneys with prior in house experience.
by HockeyFan99
Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:28 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Shifting to a new insurance company
Replies: 3
Views: 315

Shifting to a new insurance company

We are moving states (from NY to NJ) and, as a result, have to switch to a new insurance agent / company. We have / need the following policies: 1. Homeowners (HO-6) 2. Auto 3. Umbrella 4. Worker's compensation (for the nanny that we now are employing due to COVID and school / daycare closures) (To anticipate a question, we are all set with our term life insurance policies, and have extended LTC and disability through work.) We have been with State Farm for years. Have shopped around a little bit never found anything that was worth it in savings to justify the headache of moving everything. Since we have to move now anyway, am looking for recommendations. Does anybody have one that they like, particularly for NJ? Or suggestions for where/ho...
by HockeyFan99
Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Decision to make on mortgage (first time homebuyer)
Replies: 8
Views: 851

Re: Decision to make on mortgage (first time homebuyer)

Thank you for the feedback! Are you paying extra for the 90-day lock? If so, consider whether that cost is worth the security, when no major rate increases are expected for awhile. No. Have asked this twice and it's no fee, although it did wind up being shortened to a 75 day lock, after which it's a quarter of a point to further extend. A 75 day lock should work for us though. ETA: I moved securities in-kind to qualify for a relationship discount with no issues. I think I had to pay an account closing fee on the way back out, but no other issues I can recall. Was that disclosed up front? I've been told there are no fees to bring in / move out, and no restrictions on keeping assets there post-close, which sort of seems too good to be true. ...
by HockeyFan99
Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:53 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Decision to make on mortgage (first time homebuyer)
Replies: 8
Views: 851

Re: Decision to make on mortgage (first time homebuyer)

Thank you for the feedback! Are you paying extra for the 90-day lock? If so, consider whether that cost is worth the security, when no major rate increases are expected for awhile. No. Have asked this twice and it's no fee, although it did wind up being shortened to a 75 day lock, after which it's a quarter of a point to further extend. A 75 day lock should work for us though. ETA: I moved securities in-kind to qualify for a relationship discount with no issues. I think I had to pay an account closing fee on the way back out, but no other issues I can recall. Was that disclosed up front? I've been told there are no fees to bring in / move out, and no restrictions on keeping assets there post-close, which sort of seems too good to be true. H...
by HockeyFan99
Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:50 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The non-mortgage pieces of buying a home
Replies: 18
Views: 2547

Re: The non-mortgage pieces of buying a home

gretah wrote: Mon Jun 15, 2020 1:14 pm Have the home inspected for mold.

Mold exposure almost killed me several years ago. You don't want your children to be exposed to it.
We are now into the inspection phase and talking to inspectors most seem to look for evidence of mold and if they find it recommend a separate test / inspection. Is that the same experience others' have had?

Also, for a home inspector, how meaningful is ASHI certification (there are two badges on their website - gold and black)? All of the inspectors are listed on the site, but only some of the ones we've been referred to have the certifications/badges. Am wondering how much this actually matters as a differentiator?

Thank you!
by HockeyFan99
Wed Jul 01, 2020 10:02 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Decision to make on mortgage (first time homebuyer)
Replies: 8
Views: 851

Re: Decision to make on mortgage (first time homebuyer)

tomtoms wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 8:57 am What is your down payment? How much are you borrowing?

You get the best rate if you can put down 40% or more.
Edited initial post to clarify 20% down. It's a non-jumbo loan in the $500K range. We could do 40% but only if we liquidated a bunch of assets in our brokerage account and took a capital gains hit. I'm not sure that would be worth it unless it was a major discount on the loan, would it?
by HockeyFan99
Wed Jul 01, 2020 7:09 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Decision to make on mortgage (first time homebuyer)
Replies: 8
Views: 851

Decision to make on mortgage (first time homebuyer)

Hi all - Have been doing my best to shop around for mortgage as we just went under contract for our first home (a townhouse, which I believe is actually a condo and not a "true" townhouse, although I am trying to confirm this). I have so far been able to connect with Ally, Citi, Chase, Bank of America and a local mortgage broker. I have others on my list - including many gleaned from reading posts on here - but the process is time consuming and we have a lot going on right now! The best of these offers so far is Citi, which is offering the following: Base rate : 3.125% (on a non-jumbo loan, 20% down so no PMI) Type of loan : offering this rate on either condo or true townhouse, which is something that no other bank is willing to d...
by HockeyFan99
Fri Jun 12, 2020 10:45 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The non-mortgage pieces of buying a home
Replies: 18
Views: 2547

Re: The non-mortgage pieces of buying a home

Here’s a list of ny specific info that I found out as a first time homebuyer last year that is unique. 1) inspection comes before contract. Other states are the opposite. The reversal adds a ton of stress to buyers to have an inspection, have attorneys draft a contract, and get is signed. In the delay between a verbal offer and signed contract (5-7 days), seller agents are calling around to find other buyers with a better deal. 2) inspection value is somewhat deflated As the inspection happens before contract, it’s informative, but likely won’t stop you unless something extremely major is discovered. Most other states, the inspection comes after contract and gives the buyer the opportunity to price in findings. You could try in ny state, b...
by HockeyFan99
Wed Jun 10, 2020 7:49 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The non-mortgage pieces of buying a home
Replies: 18
Views: 2547

The non-mortgage pieces of buying a home

Hi all - We are looking at buying our first home (in the NYC metro area) and I've been reading up on how to secure the best mortgage (we are already pre-approved, but will be shopping as we get closer) and how much house we can afford. But I have heard / read that having a good real estate attorney and home inspector are critical to getting the deal done, and not winding up with a lemon. I have recommendations from our real estate agent but I am wondering if there are other / better resources for identifying skilled and independent attorneys and/or inspectors. Does anybody have any suggestions, again particularly for the NY metro area? Will also gratefully take additional feedback / advice on what to watch out for, other critical service pr...
by HockeyFan99
Sat Jan 25, 2020 2:52 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Pull-ups and Push-ups
Replies: 678
Views: 182137

Re: Pull-ups and Push-ups

obgraham wrote: Sat Nov 02, 2013 12:58 am Heavens! I thought this thread was about Lingerie!
And I thought diapers. All about stage of life I guess?
by HockeyFan99
Thu Jan 02, 2020 6:30 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: OFFICIAL REGISTRATION FOR THE 2020 BOGLEHEAD CONTEST
Replies: 688
Views: 36351

Re: OFFICIAL REGISTRATION FOR THE 2020 BOGLEHEAD CONTEST

2323.20 (but I hope I’m very, very wrong)