Search found 235 matches

by TomP10
Wed Mar 13, 2024 10:31 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard Cash Plus Account
Replies: 511
Views: 69559

Re: Vanguard Cash Plus Account

stan1 wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2024 3:39 pm
rjicsjjw wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2024 2:50 pm List of institutions where forum members report Cash Plus routing/account number pair is invalid:
Treasury Direct
Bank of America - some customers with both a credit card and a checking account cannot pay by ACH from another bank
Comcast/Xfinity
Target Red Card
Internal Revenue Service (routing number not recognized by Direct Pay)

Add to the list
PSE&G
Thanks for the addition I will add it. You are the first to report it.
PSE&G is an electric and gas utility serving New Jersey correct?
I can confirm PSE&G does not currently accept Vanguard Cash Plus routing/account number.

PSE&G provides service in parts of NJ and NY.
by TomP10
Sun Feb 25, 2024 8:28 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: LMP/TIPS Ladder Pros & Cons Master Thread
Replies: 71
Views: 6038

Re: LMP/TIPS Ladder Pros & Cons Master Thread

Stormbringer wrote: Sat Feb 24, 2024 1:29 pm Being a year or two or five from early retirement, we ho'd and hum'd for a few months before finally laying down a 30 years TIPS ladder in October. It was a big relief to do so, knowing that our basic spending needs will be covered in about as risk-free a way as possible.
I did something similar in the middle of 2023. I used the tipsladder website to create a 25 year TIPS ladder. Easy peasy. And, I can absolutely attest that doing so has made me feel better (less stressed) about having money set aside for my minimum required expenses.
by TomP10
Sun Jan 21, 2024 4:08 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard Cash Plus Account
Replies: 511
Views: 69559

Re: Vanguard Cash Plus Account

watchnerd wrote: Sun Jan 21, 2024 10:53 am
TomP10 wrote: Sun Jan 21, 2024 9:49 am
watchnerd wrote: Sun Jan 21, 2024 9:03 am
Wow

How old are they?
28 and 31
Do you plan help them with their mortgage forever?
Giving them money now might yield a bigger "bang for the buck" than if they inherit a slightly larger pot of money when they are in their 60s.
by TomP10
Sun Jan 21, 2024 9:49 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard Cash Plus Account
Replies: 511
Views: 69559

Re: Vanguard Cash Plus Account

watchnerd wrote: Sun Jan 21, 2024 9:03 am
Wow

How old are they?
28 and 31
by TomP10
Sun Jan 21, 2024 8:58 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard Cash Plus Account
Replies: 511
Views: 69559

Re: Vanguard Cash Plus Account

anagram wrote: Sat Jan 20, 2024 6:36 pm Monthly withdrawals for what? Also the notification feature is still being developed.
Each month I send each of my two kids money that goes towards their house loan payment.
by TomP10
Sat Jan 20, 2024 6:29 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard Cash Plus Account
Replies: 511
Views: 69559

Re: Vanguard Cash Plus Account

Right, and with CP you do not need to push. Payees do an automated ACH withdrawal. I am using CP for simplicity and full automation.


Given that I can't schedule monthly withdrawals from CP means it's not fully automatic.
by TomP10
Wed Jan 17, 2024 7:22 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard Cash Plus Account
Replies: 511
Views: 69559

Re: Vanguard Cash Plus Account

watchnerd wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2024 6:42 am
Correct, it has no automation.
Thanks
by TomP10
Tue Jan 16, 2024 1:41 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard Cash Plus Account
Replies: 511
Views: 69559

Re: Vanguard Cash Plus Account

From the prior thread I am under the impression the Cash Plus account will not allow me to set-up a monthly automatic transfer. This is an important feature for me --- without it I would rather remain with my existing high yield savings account. If automatic monthly transfers are possible, then I will close the high yield savings account and move this cash reserve to Vanguard.

I have read the Vanguard Cash Plus info page but this is not addressed (or at least I did not see it).

Anybody know?
by TomP10
Mon Jan 15, 2024 2:20 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Minimum Dignity Floor - Spreadsheet?
Replies: 2
Views: 1039

Minimum Dignity Floor - Spreadsheet?

I have been listening to “The Retirement and IRA Show” podcast over the last year. It has influenced my thinking toward retirement spending. Their philosophy is that your basic needs (housing, insurance, food, transportation, healthcare, etc.) in retirement should be covered, preferably by an secure income stream. They called this the “Minimum Dignity Floor". They suggest you project the MDF expenditures for, say, a 30+ year retirement, and then confirm you have sufficient secure income to pay for the MDF. If you fall short, you will need to set aside money to fund the shortfall (e.g., buy an annuity, purchase a TIPs ladder). Once you have your MDF fully funded any "excess money" can be spent on "fun". The advantage...
by TomP10
Wed Sep 13, 2023 10:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How to? Rollover from SEP-IRA
Replies: 7
Views: 598

Re: How to? Rollover from SEP-IRA

sailaway wrote: Wed Sep 13, 2023 3:44 pm Contact Vanguard and ask them to do the whole process, pulling the SEP into the IRA.
Thanks... but not a particularly helpful comment. I contacted Vanguard (via secure email) and still haven't gotten a reply. I was hoping someone here could tell me the steps.
by TomP10
Wed Sep 13, 2023 3:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How to? Rollover from SEP-IRA
Replies: 7
Views: 598

How to? Rollover from SEP-IRA

I am in the process of trying to consolidate my various retirement accounts. I currently have a SEP-IRA and also a (standard) IRA at Vanguard. I would like to rollover the ENTIRE amount of the SEP-IRA to the existing IRA.

Can anyone provide directions?

I want to be careful to ROLLOVER and not accidentally take the money as a distribution.

Thanks in advance.
by TomP10
Thu Jul 13, 2023 3:01 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: DFA applying to have ETF as share class of mutual fund
Replies: 21
Views: 2571

Re: DFA to apply to have ETF as share class of mutual fund

friar1610 wrote: Thu Jul 13, 2023 2:58 pm I have a vague memory that VG had a patent or a copyright on the process/procedure it used to make the ETF a separate share class of the mutual fund. I don’t know if the patent/copyright has expired.
Yes. The patent has expired. However, there has been some discussion that the SEC does not like this particular structure (as there are potential situations where it might MF holders impose costs on ETF share holders) and, as a result, that the SEC would not approve it for other applicants.
by TomP10
Thu Jul 13, 2023 2:46 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: DFA applying to have ETF as share class of mutual fund
Replies: 21
Views: 2571

DFA applying to have ETF as share class of mutual fund

Potentially big news today. Looks like DFA is trying to stem the tide of outflows to ETFs from its traditional mutual funds by adopting the Vanguard (Gus Sauter) model. Applying for ETF Share Class Exemptive Relief If I am not misaken this would make DFA the first firm (other than Vanguard) to have ETFs as a share class of its mutual funds. To accomplish this, we engaged with the SEC staff in 2019 and 2020 to discuss ETF share class relief, which the SEC has granted to just one firm: Vanguard, for its index funds beginning in 2000. These conversations improved our understanding of the SEC staff’s concerns, and lead us to believe that we can offer an approach that would alleviate those concerns. Will be interesting to see if the SEC approves...
by TomP10
Thu Jun 29, 2023 7:39 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: convert iBonds from paper --- how long is too long?
Replies: 67
Views: 8360

Re: convert iBonds from paper --- how long is too long?

Thanks for the helpful suggestions.

I had completely forgotten about the email I received indicating Treasury had received my envelope. It says it could take 13 weeks.

I also found the same email I received a year ago. It said it would take 7 weeks.

I guess Treasury is just swamped.

Once again, thanks for the replies.
by TomP10
Wed Jun 28, 2023 7:09 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: convert iBonds from paper --- how long is too long?
Replies: 67
Views: 8360

convert iBonds from paper --- how long is too long?

Using my Federal tax refund I purchased $5000 of iBonds. On May 1st I received a single ($5000) paper iBond in the mail. I immediately followed the directions to convert to an electronic iBond, returned the manifest and paper iBond via US mail. Now, almost 7 weeks later I am still waiting for Treasury to confirm receipt. On my online account I thought it would say "pending" upon receipt... but it says nothing!

I did the same thing last year (2022) and the conversion was finished by June 7th.

I'm getting concerned. Should I be? Anyone know who/how I contact to make inquiry regarding this?

Thanks
by TomP10
Fri Jun 23, 2023 3:21 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Which Emerging Mkt ETFs?
Replies: 8
Views: 1300

Re: Which Emerging Mkt ETFs?

nisiprius wrote: Fri Jun 23, 2023 3:16 pm
Without clicking on the "source" link to check the numbers, can you even say which of the three had the highest return over that time period?
Not to the naked eye!
by TomP10
Fri Jun 23, 2023 3:19 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Which Emerging Mkt ETFs?
Replies: 8
Views: 1300

Re: Which Emerging Mkt ETFs?

OVERLAP COMPARISON (https://www.etfrc.com/)

VWO & DGS -- 6% overlap
VWO & DFEV -- 29% overlap
VWO & AVES -- 18% overlap

DGS & DFEV -- 52.8% overlap
DGS & AVES -- 40.2% overlap
AVES & DFEV -- 33.4% overlap
by TomP10
Fri Jun 23, 2023 2:51 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Which Emerging Mkt ETFs?
Replies: 8
Views: 1300

Which Emerging Mkt ETFs?

For the past decade I have had 5% of my portfolio allocated to Emerging Markets -- half (2.5%) to VWO (Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets) and the other half to DGS (Wisdomtree Emerging Markets Small Cap Dividend). I think this is a good combination as DGS is a lot smaller and more valuey than VWO. However, now there are at least two other good alternatives to DGS: DFEV (Emerging Markets Value) and AVES (Avantis Emerging Markets Value). They seem attractive if for no other reason than they are both considerably less expensive than DGS. I am wondering if I should replace my DGS allocation to one of those two. SIMPLE COMPARISON VWO - 8 bps, P/B = 1.53, Avg MktCap = 19.95B DGS - 58 bps, P/B = 0.94, Avg MktCap = 1.86B DFEV - 43 bps, P/B = 0.83, Avg...
by TomP10
Tue Apr 04, 2023 8:47 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Moving retirement accounts to Vanguard from TIAA
Replies: 26
Views: 4630

Re: Moving retirement accounts to Vanguard from TIAA

I plan on retiring in about 5 years. My 403(b) is at TIAA. I will roll those accounts into an IRA at Vanguard for two reasons. First, simplicity. It seems slightly easier to have just a single brokerage. Second, fees. TIAA has index funds but each offering is about 10 bps more expensive than the equivalent fund at Vanguard. Compared to many other 403(b) providers TIAA is great but they are not as good as Vanguard (in my opinion)

20% of my account is in the illiquid TIAA stable value fund. I will also roll that money over --- but the rollover will take 9 years (+1 day)
by TomP10
Tue Mar 28, 2023 6:05 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Investing in Your Alumni: Endowments' Investment Choices in Private Equity
Replies: 3
Views: 863

Investing in Your Alumni: Endowments' Investment Choices in Private Equity

This seems like a paper folks here might be interested in. From the abstract We investigate the role of alumni ties in university endowments' decision to invest into private equity funds. Based on a sample of 1,590 commitments made by 189 U.S. endowments into 613 funds during the period of 1995 to 2017, we show that endowments are more likely to invest into funds that are managed by the alumni of their own alma mater. This finding is more pronounced for less prestigious and less private equity experienced university endowments. Thus, our results are not only dominated by institutions with a larger proportion of active alumni in the private equity industry. Furthermore, we observe that alumni ties are not associated with better performance c...
by TomP10
Thu Mar 16, 2023 1:55 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Yubikey only at Vanguard now possible.
Replies: 658
Views: 84403

Re: Yubikey only at Vanguard now possible.

@oldzey , @bertilak , @MrJedi , @RonSwanson

Thanks for your helpful replies.
by TomP10
Tue Mar 14, 2023 5:22 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Yubikey only at Vanguard now possible.
Replies: 658
Views: 84403

Vanguard - YubiKey Set-Up: requesting a PIN?

[Thread merged into here --admin LadyGeek] I have recently decided to use a Yubikey with my key accounts. I now have my password manager, my email accounts, and bank account secured with Yubikey. In the set-up process to have the Yubikey to work with Vanguard I am asked to name the key (YubikeyRed). That's standard. I am then prompted with the following unusual query "You'll need to create a PIN for this security key" None of my other accounts have asked for a PIN for the Yubikey. Erring on the side of caution I canceled the Vanguard set-up. Can someone explain what this PIN will do? Will it apply to the other accounts I have on the Yubikey (i.e., is it something general to the Yubikey) or will this PIN just apply to the Vanguard...
by TomP10
Tue Mar 07, 2023 4:26 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth contribution -- wrong year
Replies: 6
Views: 1005

Re: Roth contribution -- wrong year

I got a reply back from Vanguard email customer support. As it turns out changing the contribution year is quite easy. I thought I would share the information in case someone else finds themself in a similar situation. >>>Change Contribution Year>>> If you would like to change the tax year of a contribution to your IRA online, please complete the steps below. 1. Log on to vanguard.com. 2. Select the "My Accounts" tab. If “My Accounts” isn’t available, select “Transact” instead. 3. Choose the option for "Transaction history." 4. Select the applicable account from the dropdown menu. 5. Click on the appropriate date to the left of the transaction you wish to change. 6. Under the transaction details, click on "Edit cont...
by TomP10
Sat Mar 04, 2023 7:58 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth contribution -- wrong year
Replies: 6
Views: 1005

Re: Roth contribution -- wrong year

an_asker wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 7:39 am Are you sure of your facts? I don't think you can contribute to tax year 2023 - in year 2022. Unless you meant last week/month instead of last year.
Sorry --- my post was not clear. She contributed last WEEK (Feb 2023) but accidentally designated it as a 2023 contribution when she meant it to be 2022.
by TomP10
Sat Mar 04, 2023 7:28 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth contribution -- wrong year
Replies: 6
Views: 1005

Roth contribution -- wrong year

My daughter made her first Roth contribution last year --- $2000. Yay. She opened her account at Vanguard.

However, a few days later she realized she designated it a 2023 contribution but it was supposed to be a 2022 contribution.

Can anyone provide directions how she can change the designated year?

Thanks in advance.
by TomP10
Wed Feb 22, 2023 3:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Summer camp job and taxes
Replies: 5
Views: 523

Re: Summer camp job and taxes

Thanks for the advice and answers!
by TomP10
Wed Feb 22, 2023 3:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Summer camp job and taxes
Replies: 5
Views: 523

Re: Summer camp job and taxes

homebuyer6426 wrote: Wed Feb 22, 2023 2:43 pm Looks like PA and NJ have a reciprocal tax agreement.

https://www.thebalancemoney.com/state-w ... ts-3193329
The article seems to indicate he should NOT have had PA states withheld last summer.... but he did. He had about $90 in PA state taxes withheld.

So -- how does he get that back? By filing a PA tax return? NJ tax return?

Sorry -- I'm still confused.
by TomP10
Wed Feb 22, 2023 2:33 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Summer camp job and taxes
Replies: 5
Views: 523

Summer camp job and taxes

My son worked in Pennsylvania last summer as a camp counselor. It was a sleep-away camp so he lived in PA for about 8 weeks. The rest of the year he was living in New Jersey. His only income in 2022 was from the PA summer camp job.

Question -- I'm assuming he files a NON-RESIDENT state tax return for PA..... but does he have to also file a New Jersey resident tax return?

Thanks in advance.
by TomP10
Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:07 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Spousal brokerage account
Replies: 2
Views: 386

Spousal brokerage account

My wife and I have a joint brokerage account at Vanguard (joint tenant with the right of survivorship).

For tax reasons we'd like to start a brokerage account where she is the ONLY account holder (I would be the primary beneficiary) and then transfer certain low basis SPECID ETF purchases from the joint brokerage account --- without incurring a tax hit.

Is this possible?

Thanks in advance.
by TomP10
Mon Jan 02, 2023 4:42 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Yubikey and TurboTax Downloading of Tax Info
Replies: 10
Views: 920

Re: Yubikey and TurboTax Downloading of Tax Info

TJat wrote: Mon Jan 02, 2023 1:09 pm Should work fine. I’ve never had a problem downloading into TurboTax or quicken.
And you have your Vanguard account setup to use Yubikey?
by TomP10
Mon Jan 02, 2023 12:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Yubikey and TurboTax Downloading of Tax Info
Replies: 10
Views: 920

Yubikey and TurboTax Downloading of Tax Info

My 2023 resolution is to increase the security of my online accounts. I am going to get a Yubikey. Both of my two financial institutions --- Vanguard and Bank of America ---- work with Yubikey.

However, I do have one concern/question. I love Turbotax's ability to "directly download" my tax information from Vanguard. I would hate to lose that functionality.

Does anybody know --- can I still use Turbotax to transfer my tax info from Vanguard once I convert access to requiring Yubikey?

Thanks in advance.
by TomP10
Sat Nov 12, 2022 4:38 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Wasmer Schroeder through Schwab?
Replies: 8
Views: 2688

Re: Wasmer Schroeder through Schwab?

From what I can ascertain the expense ratio for those funds exceeds 60 basis points. My Vanguard municipal intermediate term bond fund (VWIUX) has an expense ratio of 9 basis points. Do you really think the Wasmer Schroeder funds will outperform the Vanguard fund by 50 bps? I think such out performance (assuming the same level of risk) is nearly impossible.

I would pass on those funds. If you can't purchase VWIUX, I would go with an ETF like VTEB -- Vanguard Tax Exempt bond ETF (with an expense ratio of 5 bps). That ETF should be something you can purchase no matter who your custodian is.
by TomP10
Thu Nov 03, 2022 12:53 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best resources -- planning for retirement?
Replies: 8
Views: 816

Best resources -- planning for retirement?

My younger sister (age 55) is still 10 years away from retiring... but wants to begin the process of learning how to plan for retirement. She is thinking of taking a CFP prep course in order to gain knowledge (not to become a practitioner). That seems like a bit of overkill to me. Would cost her more than $3000. There's got to be a cheaper (and perhaps more effective) alternative.

Can folks recommend books that she could read on her own to gain this education?

I know of two good resources
  • How to Make Your Money Last by Jane Bryant Quinn
  • 10 Costly Medicare Mistakes by Danielle Kunkle Roberts
Any other suggestions and/or thoughts/
by TomP10
Fri Sep 16, 2022 5:08 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: image of check?
Replies: 2
Views: 659

Re: image of check?

Thank you! That worked perfectly.
by TomP10
Fri Sep 16, 2022 9:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: image of check?
Replies: 2
Views: 659

image of check?

For my personal records I would like to get an "image" of a check that I wrote on my Vanguard brokerage account. I have done this before but I can't figure out how to do it now. It's been at least a year and I think Vanguard might have changed this functionality on their website.

For my regular bank (Bank of America) it is easy. You click on the transaction and a scanned copy of the front and back of the check pops up.

Can anyone provide directions how to do this on Vanguard?
by TomP10
Mon Jun 13, 2022 6:27 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: VTI vs. Sector Specific Funds for 50 yrs retirement?
Replies: 8
Views: 891

Re: VTI vs. Sector Specific Funds for 50 yrs retirement?

I'd like the OP to re-run his analysis with sector weights as they were in 2005. Or, more agnostically, equally weighted.

The proposed empirical support is biased toward what turned out to be the winning sectors.
by TomP10
Mon Jun 13, 2022 6:51 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: VTI vs. Sector Specific Funds for 50 yrs retirement?
Replies: 8
Views: 891

Re: VTI vs. Sector Specific Funds for 50 yrs retirement?

By coincidence, Ben Carlson has a post on the sector returns today

https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2022/0 ... r-quilt-2/
by TomP10
Mon Jun 13, 2022 6:39 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: VTI vs. Sector Specific Funds for 50 yrs retirement?
Replies: 8
Views: 891

Re: VTI vs. Sector Specific Funds for 50 yrs retirement?

What is critical for your back test is the various market weights for each sector. Those weights reflect market outcomes. Energy is your lowest percentage sector. That’s because energy also had the lowest return of all the sectors since 1995. If you really think the strategy is correct, you need to go back and use the sector weightings as they were in 1995 and then analyze the returns for your sector portfolio. As it is, the sector with the highest percentage weight is also the sector that has had the greatest return. The sector with the lowest weight had the lowest returns Your back test based upon the relative performance. If you’re going to do a test like that, why do sectors? why not choose the 10 Stocks that had the best return since 1...
by TomP10
Tue May 17, 2022 2:23 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Minimum "slice and dice" percentage?
Replies: 20
Views: 1697

Minimum "slice and dice" percentage?

Many times I've heard (and read) that one should not fill a portfolio with a small percentage of many different mutual funds. For instance, on a recent Twitter spaces Q&A Rick Ferry was asked about this issue and said the minimum percentage he recommended was 5% --- anything small was not meaningful. This seems sensible -- but I am nonetheless a bit confused.

Is the 5% a percentage of the whole portfolio or just the equities portion? For example, suppose I have a 60-40 portfolio. 5% of the 60 would mean one might have as little as 3% slice of, say, small cap value. Does this sound correct?

Or, does the 5% refer to the entire portfolio? If so, the minimum would be a 5% slice.

What is the correct way to think about this?
by TomP10
Thu Mar 31, 2022 6:12 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: S&P 500 expense ratio -- historical perspective?
Replies: 2
Views: 503

S&P 500 expense ratio -- historical perspective?

Is there any historical record of what the annual expense ratio for the Vanguard S&P 500 index fund has been? In the most recent Bogleheads podcast a passing comment was made that it was around 50 bps when it was first launched (1976) and that it was about 20 bps in 1992 (when the SPY ETF was launched). Today it is 3 or 4 bps depending on whether you hold it as an ETF or mutual fund.

It would be interesting to see how the expense ratio fell over time.

The reporting will be somewhat more complicated due to the different share classes Vanguard introduced in 2000.

Just wondering.
by TomP10
Thu Feb 24, 2022 5:26 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: HELP!! Rolling over Betterment SEP IRA to ETrade Solo 401K
Replies: 7
Views: 495

Re: HELP!! Rolling over Betterment SEP IRA to ETrade Solo 401K

If I transfer it now I will lock in a loss because the market is down and Betterment says they can’t transfer in kind and will have to cut a check to Etrade. You are moving from one tax advantaged account to another tax advantage account. The fact that you have losses in the SEP should have NO influence on your decision whether to transfer. Assuming the funds don't sit in cash for a long time you will be quickly back in the market with your desired stock-bond allocation. Just with a simpler portfolio! You should just do it. I would just do it directly to the Solo 401k and not complicate with multi-steps or changes to other parts of your portfolio. You will be out of the market for, what, 5 days? In the long run that is almost surely not go...
by TomP10
Mon Jan 31, 2022 10:29 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: State Tax question - 2 states
Replies: 3
Views: 524

State Tax question - 2 states

Looking for some advice. My son collected unemployment in New Jersey during 2021. Late in the year he moved to a new state Pennsylvania and got a job. He has a few thousand dollars of PA income. He had no NJ income in 2021.

Will he need to file both PA and NJ taxes? If so, which state is he "resident" and which state is he "non resident". He currently lives in PA but was only a resident there for the last 6 weeks of 2021. That other 46 weeks he was a NJ resident.

Thanks in advance for your advice.
by TomP10
Tue Jan 11, 2022 3:10 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Good website for a new Chromebook user?
Replies: 10
Views: 916

Re: Good website for a new Chromebook user?

rich126 wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 2:38 pm Do you have any specific plans for the Chromebook?
Not really. Am curious whether I can dump Windows and go with something simpler. Due to the pandemic I have a company laptop at home. But, eventually that will need to be returned (if nothing else, when I retire in a few years). Seems like you can get a pretty nice Chromebook for about $450.
by TomP10
Tue Jan 11, 2022 1:41 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Good website for a new Chromebook user?
Replies: 10
Views: 916

Good website for a new Chromebook user?

I decided to buy a basic Chromebook from Costco. I am interested in joining a "user support" forum for Chromebook users -- kind of like bogleheads but for Chromebook users.

Does anyone have any advice? I have found chromeunboxed.com -- very helpful videos but it is not a forum

Thanks in advance.
by TomP10
Mon Dec 13, 2021 3:43 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Solar questions and advice for a 20 year old roof
Replies: 46
Views: 3755

Re: Solar questions and advice for a 20 year old roof

Sunrun is a legit company. They are the largest residential solar installer in the country. I am sure the person from Costco works on commission and that explains why he/she was so aggressive. If you are considering Sunrun, there are two "ownership" paths. One is that they are just the installer. They procure the panels, inverters, etc. and sell the whole package to the homeowner (including installation cost). The second method is that Sunrun retains ownership of the panels and any state-level solar subsidies (often referred to as renewable energy certificates). You sign a contract with Sunrun to buy the electricity produced from your panels at a price of x cents per watt, where x is smaller than the price charged by the local uti...
by TomP10
Tue Dec 07, 2021 11:12 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice sought: Int'l large cap value fund
Replies: 4
Views: 1355

Advice sought: Int'l large cap value fund

I currently have a tilt to my international holding using EFV (iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF). I am thinking of switching to AVIV (Avantis International Large Cap Value ETF). The benchmark index varies. Notably, AVIV gives me Canada and is cheaper. But, it has a lot fewer assets. Below is a comparison table. Any advice? I only hold EFV in an IRA account so there are no tax consequences to switching. Thanks in advance EFV Numb of holdings 502 Expense ratio 35 bps Net Assets About $15B Country Weights Japan 24.33% United Kingdom 17.62% France 11.41% Germany 11.05% Switzerland 7.1% Other 28.49% Index MSCI EAFE Value The MSCI EAFE Value Index captures large and mid cap securities exhibiting overall value style characteristics across Developed Mar...
by TomP10
Tue Oct 05, 2021 9:51 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Questions for Barry Ritholtz, our next "Bogleheads on Investing" podcast guest
Replies: 44
Views: 6661

Re: Questions for Barry Ritholtz, our next "Bogleheads on Investing" podcast guest

While I understand the tax advantages of direct indexing, it seems like the main advantage (from the RIA's perspective) is that direct indexing essentially locks-in a client to your services for many years. It is nearly impossible for an individual to leave a RIA and then manage a portfolio of, say, 465 stocks. The alternative of a single S&P500 ETF is surely easier. I'm suspicious that direct indexing is a way to lock-in clients into paying 50 to 100 bps more each year than they would if they just had a simple portfolio of broad ETFs. After all, the message I hear is the investor will get a return "similar to" the S&P 500 (or the total market index). If that's true, how do you justify the higher costs? Seems like the valu...