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fmzip

-1.6% 60/40 portfolio

Happy to have been paying down my 4.5% mortgage this year instead of investing even more into the market. International investing continues to be a killer.

I know how to get International into the black for everyone...all I need to do is sell it

fmzip

if you hold it a little longer, 18 month CD 3.10% APY

https://www.homeloanbank.com/ebanking.aspx

fmzip

Sierra...

I was in your shoes with the exact same headlines....

I bought at the peak, the very top....

viewtopic.php?p=3731794#p3731794

fmzip

TheAncientOne wrote: ↑
Tue Jan 23, 2018 7:44 pm
Wrong site to be asking this. I suspect most of us would say, "Way to go! Now sell it all and put it into index funds!"

Ditto...Odds are not in your favor. I'm 51, I've been on the wrong side of individual stocks too many times

fmzip

Thank you for posting your inspirational story! It's posts like these that help us all to keep the faith when we are tempted to stray. :sharebeer Buying at what appears to be the top is difficult. But if one is to to truly believe that the markets will be higher 15/20/30 years from now, then you ar...

fmzip

Thanks all

fmzip

redditpeke wrote: ↑
Mon Jan 22, 2018 11:51 pm
Hi G

And the 37,000 Employer Match would not have to be reported on W2 at all. Correct?

The match does not go on the w2, that is for certain

fmzip

InvestorNewb wrote: ↑
Mon Jan 22, 2018 4:34 pm
Am I being greedy? I need another 77.78% to reach that number. It doesn't seem that far away if this bull market continues for another 3-4 years.

My answer is YES

fmzip

Last month I had 60 different mutual funds with my financial adviser. Over the past few weeks, I transfer every penny to Vanguard thanks to the help of this forum. Today, in the face of market highs ( The Dow made it to 16,947.08 and the S&P 500 hit 1,962.87 ), I invested it all, just over $500K. I...

fmzip

TBH it's actually fear that has caused me to lean into equities. I'm young-ish (33) and I fear that this will be the last stock market run up for 30 years, I fear that Bernstein & Bogle are right that the days of 10% returns are over, I fear that I'm behind on my retirement savings (compared to Bog...

fmzip

Back in 1997 I could not understand the logic of owning any bonds and had a very tech heavy portfolio. The daily grind of w atching $1.3M dwindle to $589K was .. well, without 4 letter words, horrid . It took more than a decade for me to recover. I'm now 45/55 with 18 years draw in bonds sans divid...

fmzip

I think what I am taking away from this thread is that most people shouldn't buy a house. LOL, I totally have been thinking the same with all this discussion. And here I thought having a paid for house was just another piece of the puzzle. Silly me :) Guess a few months before I retire, I will be s...

fmzip

Traveler wrote: ↑
Sat Jan 06, 2018 10:00 pm
I remember your original post and the lovely pictures of your old house. Congrats on the new one - it is just as beautiful. I hope you enjoy it for many years.

Thank you!

fmzip

You could lose your home, if you aren't careful. Depending on your age, the risk becomes far greater if you do what you're suggesting How? I mean, you'd have to have no money at all. Remember, all you have to do is meet your monthly debt service. Ask the people who lost their homes during the finan...

fmzip

You could lose your home, if you aren't careful. Depending on your age, the risk becomes far greater if you do what you're suggesting How? I mean, you'd have to have no money at all. Remember, all you have to do is meet your monthly debt service. Ask the people who lost their homes during the finan...

fmzip

Open a line of credit on your house equity. If market crashes, use line of credit to rebalance. Better rate than Bond. Yikes! Been down that road. I would never borrow against my home equity to invest a dime. Why is that? And did you have a mortgage while investing at any time? My mortgage was abou...

fmzip

WhiteMaxima wrote: ↑
Wed Jan 10, 2018 12:45 pm
Open a line of credit on your house equity. If market crashes, use line of credit to rebalance. Better rate than Bond.

Yikes! Been down that road. I would never borrow against my home equity to invest a dime.

fmzip

60-40 strikes me as very conservative for someone still 12 years from retirement but to each his own. Yes, you are correct, that the rule of thumb is not to refinance if the delta is less than 1%. You could also split the difference, investing some $ to principal each month and putting the rest to ...

fmzip

Certainly if one can avoid going into retirement with a mortgage, that is desirable. And if you are referring to your own situation, you'd be wiser to re-fi to a 15 year note than to pay down your current note, so that in 12 years your note will have a MUCH smaller balance remaining. You could then...

fmzip

There is no rational financial argument for paying down a mortgage over saving that money in tax advantaged space. The former saves you the relatively low interest rate of your loan. The latter saves you 15, 22, 25, 28%....whatever your fed tax rate is. Even in scenarios like 2000-2009, assuming yo...

fmzip

Will all the negativity toward a mortgage, is there any plus's to it other than spending tons of money on it for the banks benefit?

fmzip

But in the course of discussing this question, the author makes a point that I hadn't seen before. If you have a mortgage and are making your regular mortgage payments, but are simultaneously using extra income to save for retirement in equities, you are effectively borrowing money to invest in equ...

fmzip

At age 59 I moved from a home in a lower cost area to a higher cost, and much safer and more friendly, neighborhood. So I moved up when many are downsizing. I've never been happier. I have an ideal house in a fabulous area, perfect for me. I had no mortgage at the old place and took a small-ish mor...

fmzip

Great looking remodel - hopefully you did not improve it past what the new neighborhood will sustain for future sale. Even if you did it will be enjoyable and likely almost worth it if you stay in it long enough. We picked it up for $365k. House next to us same layout just sold for $400. Both homes...

fmzip

Great looking remodel - hopefully you did not improve it past what the new neighborhood will sustain for future sale. Even if you did it will be enjoyable and likely almost worth it if you stay in it long enough. We picked it up for $365k. House next to us same layout just sold for $400. Both homes...

fmzip

I considered the refi at 15 years at 3.75%. But being commission only income earner, I like the idea of the 30 just in case business were to go south If that is the reason you are not refinancing -- you are cash flow sensitive and should keep yourself as liquid as possible. Therefore, listen to Kla...

fmzip

I missed this when it started. Congratulations! Your new home is very nice, as was your last home. Are you happy with the move? Did the re-model come in under budget? How has the move impacted your finances? Thanks all for the kind words. As far as the budget....nowhere near. We planned for $65K, i...

fmzip

I considered the refi at 15 years at 3.75%. But being commission only income earner, I like the idea of the 30 just in case business were to go south If that is the reason you are not refinancing -- you are cash flow sensitive and should keep yourself as liquid as possible. Therefore, listen to Kla...

fmzip

Here's a few... Master Bath Before: http://thetechhouse.myqnapcloud.com/~fmzip/Vista/mbbold.jpg Master Bath After: http://thetechhouse.myqnapcloud.com/~fmzip/Vista/mbnew4.jpg http://thetechhouse.myqnapcloud.com/~fmzip/Vista/mbnew.jpg http://thetechhouse.myqnapcloud.com/~fmzip/Vista/mbnew1.jpg Dining...

fmzip

Makes sense but if you were my age, what would you do. 52 and 29 years left on the mortgage? I'd still owe $210,000 in 12 years and would have already paid $137,000 in interest. Piling up the prepayments in a taxable account doesn't make much sense to hopefully pay off the mortgage if and only the ...

fmzip

pshonore wrote: ↑
Thu Jan 04, 2018 11:32 am
We need a picture taken today! (So we can all see the blizzard raging thru Connecticut)

Here's a video out the back door!

http://thetechhouse.myqnapcloud.com/~fm ... i/blizzard

fmzip

This is a difficult decision. There's a lot involved, age, income stability, and piece of mind. Here's the issue, the next time the market drops by 50%, you will be wishing you paid down the mortgage and recasted as you watch the nest egg lose, quite possibly the value of a HOUSE! The other possibi...

fmzip

This is a difficult decision. There's a lot involved, age, income stability, and piece of mind. Here's the issue, the next time the market drops by 50%, you will be wishing you paid down the mortgage and recasted as you watch the nest egg lose, quite possibly the value of a HOUSE! The other possibi...

fmzip

2) I've never met anyone that refinanced their house to invest in the market. I did number two when I was much younger on the advise of my adviser! Needless to say I learned the valuable lesson buying options and lost a cool $50K..... Might be one more reason why I look forward to no mortgage! Had ...

fmzip

Love the brick house - much more than the others you were looking at! Congrats on the new home and excellent result selling your existing home. It also sounds like a financially sensible result all around. Please post some interior photos once you get moved in - would love to see them after followi...

fmzip

But in the course of discussing this question, the author makes a point that I hadn't seen before. If you have a mortgage and are making your regular mortgage payments, but are simultaneously using extra income to save for retirement in equities, you are effectively borrowing money to invest in equ...

fmzip

every piece, sounds like the last piece....

keep to the plan and block out the noise, can't time the market

fmzip

Lol. Is it only me who thought it was a new kind of POT. Nope I did too :oops: would have been great to see a pot thread on BH. :D :D Agreed. After reading the title, this thread is a complete disappointment. I thought it would herald the opening of the Colorado sub-forum we have all been waiting f...

fmzip

beech grove wrote: ↑
Mon Jan 01, 2018 6:05 pm
how do you determine percentage???

Use this spreadsheet:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/emjo61qdyfk87 ... .xlsx?dl=0

Details here:

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Calcula ... preadsheet

fmzip

as the ball drops closing out the year.... 12.05% on the Bogleheads Returns spreadsheet. Just tallied my first 3 year return on the spreadsheet, 5.8%. Very pleased, hoping to retire in 12 years. A 3.5% annual return average from here until then would be a blessing. 60/40ish asset allocation. Thanks ...

fmzip

jessikaur wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:11 pm

so I bought a tesla for 90K,.... I intend on keeping it until all cars are self-driving, or it completely breaks down. I love the damn car, it makes me happy

Only true car people understand this. Love is blind. I love my car too. Most lasted longer than all my relationships

fmzip

Absolutely buy it! You have plenty of income. Just stating that the house would be paid for in 3 years is reason enough. You will save plenty over your lifetime much easier getting in and out of that car at 39 than 69 when you have the giant nest egg saved. Enjoy life a little. I am a car guy, alway...

fmzip

Totally agree. I can see a long term power outage and the need for some cash. We had one in October for 13 days here in CT with a freak October snowstorm. Some groceries stores were open without power, cash only. Fortunately we were stocked up. The entire state had this issue, a bit unsettling. I'd ...

fmzip

Suggestion: Buy two, two-three year old cars, under factory warranty. This is ideal. I just bought a 2015 Audi S4 with 12,000miles in July. Sticker new, $60K, bought for $39K. Under factory warranty until 10/2019. NEVER will EVER buy a new car again. Maybe you need to get it out of your system by ha...

fmzip

i started bogleheading just after the 2008 crash. at the time i picked Swensen's portfolio to start. over time i tweaked it for my stock/bond allocation, and simplified it just holding TBM instead of intermediate+TIPS due to lack of 401k choices. however, i've always held a large REIT allocation an...

fmzip

I'm with you.

I am not pushing it. Just glad I planted a few seeds for him to step back and just look at the big picture. I don't think he even realized he had what he had already.....Success! He won the game.

fmzip

A long time friend of mine stopped by today. He's been a gambler with investing as long as I've known him. I used to be like him, buying individual stocks. I had the bad luck and he has been extremely lucky (until he bought a lot of oil stock). We are both in our early 50's. So I asked him if he was...

fmzip

I would go with a 20 year term (a fairly standard offering) and just make payments based on your amortization schedule of preference (16 or 17 years). I agree with this thinking. Being in sales and commission only income for the past 20 years, flexibility has been key for me. Although I could alway...

fmzip

TimeLord I know exactly what you were saying. I remember as a newlywed agonizing over a $17 box fan at Kmart - this was to get us through another sweltery southern summer. While I'll always be frugal by nature once I reached the point I could easily buy whatever I found was good value for the money...

fmzip

I was once given a bonus by my "client" as I was a paid consultant at the time. Took the time to write a short thank you note saying how unexpected it was and how much I appreciated being considered part of his team. It was an opportunity for me to do a little positive relationship work. My daughte...

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