Search found 69 matches

by FlyerJack
Thu Apr 28, 2022 3:42 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Looking at a new Camry or Rav4. Is a Rav4 easier to drive?
Replies: 26
Views: 4613

Re: Looking at a new Camry or Rav4. Is a Rav4 easier to drive?

Test drive both. I recently did, and found the Camry easier and more pleasant to drive — a smoother experience overall. Also more legroom in the backseat if you regularly have passengers back there.

The main benefits to the Rav4 are ride height if you enjoy being up higher and/or find it easier to enter and exit, and cargo space at the same height. I have not had any issues with groceries, etc., in the trunk of my Camry. I do think the RAV4 is louder and you feel the wind more on the highway.

Camry gets a little better gas mileage.

Comes down to personal preference. Either way, get a hybrid.
by FlyerJack
Mon Feb 28, 2022 7:33 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How much to Tip a Taxi Driver in NYC & DC (Non - UBER)
Replies: 120
Views: 9150

Re: How much to Tip a Taxi Driver in NYC & DC (Non - UBER)

I don’t always like “the system,” and the system is not always logical, but punching down at low-wage workers isn’t the way to change it. :beer
by FlyerJack
Tue Nov 16, 2021 8:32 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Products that last forever
Replies: 288
Views: 29979

Re: Products that last forever

I bought an Arc’teryx soft shell jacket about 20 years ago that has held up through normal seasonal wear around town and multiple ski trips. They made the jackets in Canada back then. I think they still make some in Canada, and most of them elsewhere. Can’t speak to the current quality — may or may not be just as good.
by FlyerJack
Fri Jun 25, 2021 9:21 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What pitfalls do even smart people make when buying a home?
Replies: 211
Views: 25481

Re: What pitfalls do even smart people make when buying a home?

So, median household income will differ from median household income of a working couple or family. You're right, of course. I don't know how to break out the numbers for median household income only for households with two working adults, if that's possible, so that was the closest I could find. On the general point, in my experience, $100k is well above average for "normal" households in these kinds of states. The bogleheads.org population (particularly the population of frequent posters) is not normal and there is a potential for wealthy folks to get "out of touch." :happy Ramsey's rule works great for him, a multi-millionaire. It works great for someone bringing home $500k. For normal incomes, there just aren't enou...
by FlyerJack
Wed Jun 23, 2021 11:53 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What pitfalls do even smart people make when buying a home?
Replies: 211
Views: 25481

Re: What pitfalls do even smart people make when buying a home?

Are there plenty of $200k homes in areas that have jobs paying $100k? I suspect the median income (household income, even) in areas with plenty of those homes is far below that. Therefore, most people in those areas couldn't afford the $200k house if they follow Ramsey's "rule." Without writing an essay on Ramsey's bad advice, I don't think this particular rule is realistic or even helpful for most. A working family of two can probably come together with $100k income. And yes, if a family is making $50k a year, it is probably not in their best interest to be buying a $200k house. Also, some of those very low income neighborhoods have houses selling for $100k or less. Just for kicks and giggles I did a search for homes for under $...
by FlyerJack
Wed Jun 23, 2021 10:43 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What pitfalls do even smart people make when buying a home?
Replies: 211
Views: 25481

Re: What pitfalls do even smart people make when buying a home?

Finding a home that fits within a budget of 25% of your TAKE HOME pay on a 15 year mortgage is impossible in many a few select areas of the country. Let me adjust the above statement for accuracy. That's just not true though. This problem is not just limited to VHCOL and HCOL areas of the country anymore. What percentage would you say on average an employee takes home, maybe 70% after factoring in taxes/healthcare/401k/etc.? Using that number you'd need to have a gross salary of $432k to afford a $1M home. Or stated another way, someone making $100k could only afford a house valued at $231k. Feel free to use a different number than 70% but it doesn't change the math very much. Not bad. Plenty of $200k homes out there. One of my friends jus...
by FlyerJack
Fri Apr 23, 2021 9:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Taxes for kid with Etsy Shop
Replies: 12
Views: 1998

Re: Taxes for kid with Etsy Shop

Congrats to her! For what it’s worth, our tax professional is not a CPA but an Enrolled Agent (EA; less expensive than a CPA) and handles this sort of thing just fine. And sorry if this is obvious, but she should keep meticulous records of all of her supply purchases, software purchase and monthly subscriptions, web hosting fees, other materials, postage, etc., because she will be taxed (or not) on profit, not the revenue listed on that 1099.
by FlyerJack
Fri Feb 12, 2021 12:37 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: If you are investing in a traditional 401(k) or traditional IRA, do you have a good reason for doing this?
Replies: 156
Views: 11881

Re: If you are investing in a traditional 401(k) or traditional IRA, do you have a good reason for doing this?

But I'll add an additional perspective on it. The marginal utility of dollars to me now while I'm in my 30's is much higher than the marginal utility of dollars to me when retired . I need to save up to buy a house. I have no doubt that I'll have more than enough money to be comfortable when retired barring unlikely circumstances, and yet right now it's still a crunch to buy a house in VHCOL area. So even if the taxes are the same or potentially even slightly higher when retired, I'd rather pay taxes later, when those dollars are less valuable to me. :sharebeer Yep. An extra $5,000/year for necessities at age 30 is qualitatively worth more than an extra 5,000/year (in 2020 money) for a 65-year-old multimillionaire. Many good points in this...
by FlyerJack
Thu Feb 04, 2021 1:20 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: [GameStop GME trading mega-thread]
Replies: 5086
Views: 400859

Re: [GameStop GME trading mega-thread]

On Reddit today, someone asked what a "boglehead" was and someone else responded:
Check out bogleheads.org. It's basically the opposite of r/wallstreetbets. It's a bunch of rich old boomers, but those are actually good people to listen to about getting rich.
:beer
by FlyerJack
Tue Apr 28, 2020 3:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity as a one stop shop
Replies: 6053
Views: 1037398

Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

3. Depends on what you’re using the money for. You can use it to buy stocks instantly, same day. You cannot use it to (for example) pay your Fidelity credit card bill out of your Fidelity cash management account the same day you transferred from your bank to the cash management account; that takes a few days to settle before it can be used. The website actually does make this clear if you read the details in the “balances” tab, but it can be surprising if you just glance at “cash available to trade.” If I transfer money from bank to fidelity via ACH, will I get full credit to buy stocks/ETFs full amount?. Webull gives $1000 as instant buying power and remaining will settle in 5 days. Full amount, as far as I’ve ever found – I’ve never done...
by FlyerJack
Tue Apr 28, 2020 3:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity as a one stop shop
Replies: 6053
Views: 1037398

Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. Depends on what you’re using the money for. You can use it to buy stocks instantly, same day. You cannot use it to (for example) pay your Fidelity credit card bill out of your Fidelity cash management account the same day you transferred from your bank to the cash management account; that takes a few days to settle before it can be used. The website actually does make this clear if you read the details in the “balances” tab, but it can be surprising if you just glance at “cash available to trade.”
by FlyerJack
Tue Apr 28, 2020 3:06 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Well, I am market timing due to coronavirus... Wish me luck.
Replies: 1439
Views: 158453

Re: Well, I am market timing due to coronavirus... Wish me luck.

HomerJ wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2020 9:32 am
It's not a closed system... Billions of humans work each day and input their human capital into the system.
Yep. They do that, and technology constantly improves, and also the world’s population increases by tens of millions per year (birth rate - death rate). I agree that there’s a fundamental difference between “past performance is no guarantee” with regard to the worldwide market growing over the long term, and that same phrase with regard to anything more specific.
by FlyerJack
Wed Apr 22, 2020 1:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How much to tip on DoorDash?
Replies: 60
Views: 6577

Re: How much to tip on DoorDash?

Wow! You are correct, of course. :beer
by FlyerJack
Wed Apr 22, 2020 12:39 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How much to tip on DoorDash?
Replies: 60
Views: 6577

Re: How much to tip on DoorDash?

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by FlyerJack
Thu Apr 09, 2020 9:45 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: NYT hit piece on Donor Advised Funds
Replies: 67
Views: 3648

Re: NYT hit piece on Donor Advised Funds

I read the two-year thing differently...I just thought it meant that some grants would be required every 2 years, so the money didn't sit indefinitely. I didn't read it to mean that 100% of a contribution had to be donated within 2 years. Edit - Re-reading it, the post you reference said "such and such a percentage" every two years. So some (presumably small) percentage, not the whole amount. Fair point, I guess I did not read it carefully...of course said percentage could be 100%, resulting in what I stated. In any case, the two years is completely nonsensical to me regardless of the percentage. If the distributions are too high than it destroys the benefit, that was my point. In my opinion, anything over 5% per annum is prejudi...
by FlyerJack
Thu Apr 09, 2020 8:25 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: NYT hit piece on Donor Advised Funds
Replies: 67
Views: 3648

Re: NYT hit piece on Donor Advised Funds

Here is some real (rough) math... Family 1 has 200k taxable income Family 1 gives 15k per year directly to charity Family 1 has 9k of additional itemized deductions so can’t itemize (with the exception of this tax year due to CARES act..let’s ignore that for now) Done Family 2 has same income and instead uses a DAF and lumps 4 years of contributions together. 60k...but family also now can itemize. So family gets 24% back in taxes on 69k-24k roughly 11k. Family can now give an additional 11k over 4 years. Couldn’t Family 1 just choose to donate 60k this year and then they can itemize, too? They could even choose to donate appreciated stock directly to United Way, for example, to get the same tax benefits. Or use a DAF for more charities, li...
by FlyerJack
Fri Mar 27, 2020 7:35 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why does anyone invest in international funds?
Replies: 306
Views: 24878

Re: Why does anyone invest in international funds?

I know it’s a joke thread, but I like owning Toyota, Samsung, Unilever, Nestle, Sony, etc. etc., through VTIAX. Maybe one day they will make me as much money as VTSAX.
by FlyerJack
Tue Mar 17, 2020 1:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Safety of Money Market Funds Currently
Replies: 149
Views: 16741

Re: Safety of Money Market Funds Currently

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by FlyerJack
Fri Mar 06, 2020 8:43 am
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Where is Livesoft!?
Replies: 147
Views: 33016

Re: Where is Livesoft!?

Yep, feet up, sipping coffee, enjoying a relaxing morning with the newspaper and the 1040 instruction book.
by FlyerJack
Thu Mar 05, 2020 8:52 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: U.S. stocks in free fall
Replies: 36221
Views: 4685338

Re: U.S. stocks in free fall

Stinky wrote: Wed Mar 04, 2020 8:43 pm
The “free fall” and “soaring” threads add a little excitement to investing. Especially when they’re both hyperactive at the same time.
:beer I chuckle every time I see the thread titles next to each other. Great tongue-in-cheek commentary!
by FlyerJack
Thu Mar 05, 2020 8:22 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Are debt levels a cause for concern?
Replies: 17
Views: 1713

Re: Are debt levels a cause for concern?

Dude2 wrote: Thu Mar 05, 2020 7:25 am the average person on the street has a very skewed idea of what debt really means in an economic sense. (I'm not saying I grasp it either).
:sharebeer Good point. There’s also fearmongering about who owns the debt (mostly US individuals and institutions, including everyone who owns US treasurys). The media often fails to explain the national debt in any helpful way.

There’s good discussion and links on Bogleheads (just search for national debt), e.g. viewtopic.php?t=204028.
by FlyerJack
Sat Feb 29, 2020 10:43 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why so much buying/rebalancing going on?
Replies: 100
Views: 7742

Re: Why so much buying/rebalancing going on?

Ob81 wrote: Sat Feb 29, 2020 9:50 am The best performing portfolios over time have belonged to dead people, as so the saying goes (backed by an actual study). I am sort of shocked by some of the recent threads.
From what I’ve found, that’s an internet myth and there was no such study (although it doesn’t mean the moral of the story is wrong). See, for example https://saverocity.com/independentlyfin ... not-wrong/ and https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytime ... s.amp.html.
Fidelity, which has received inquiries about the study ever since, without knowing why, told me this week that it had never produced such a study.
by FlyerJack
Wed Feb 19, 2020 9:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Potential sue - Loss of money
Replies: 128
Views: 14246

Re: Potential sue - Loss of money

Well, maybe the correct response for the OP then is to casually mention to the neighbor that he is glad the neighbor brought the issue to his attention because he would have had no idea. And it is better to get a handle on these things sooner than later. Fortunately, he was able to spend a few hours with his lawyer brother and his brother came to the conclusion his has nothing to worry about. So life is good and he is quite relieved. I disagree and would not recommend that OP (1) initiate additional unnecessary communication with the neighbor, (2) admit that OP had “no idea” about the issue, (3) lie about being glad that the neighbor raised the issue, (4) lie about spending hours consulting with his “brother,” (5) lie about said brother be...
by FlyerJack
Sat Feb 08, 2020 12:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Make The Case: Fidelity v. Schwab
Replies: 66
Views: 9265

Re: Make The Case: Fidelity v. Schwab

Vanguard has what I think is the simplest most straightforward easy to use web interface. I can only speak for myself, but a couple of examples come to mind. First, I was unable to open a Roth IRA account at Vanguard without mailing in paper forms. I was able to open a Roth IRA account (and fund it) at Fidelity that same day online, so I went with Fidelity (I later got a Vanguard account which is linked to my spouse’s Roth IRA there). Fidelity proactively tells me how much I’ve contributed to the Roth for 2019 and for 2020. Transferring money into the Roth is easy. On Vanguard, in contrast, I have to click around to find out how to get money into my spouse’s Roth. And if I click the wrong transfer option, Vanguard tells me something like, ...
by FlyerJack
Sat Feb 08, 2020 9:27 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Make The Case: Fidelity v. Schwab
Replies: 66
Views: 9265

Re: Make The Case: Fidelity v. Schwab

student wrote: Sat Feb 08, 2020 8:09 am
The keyword here is "may." I have personally used the Cash Management Fidelity ATM card to withdraw money internationally and there was no foreign transaction fee . . . . However, Fidelity does charge 1% if the card is being used as a debit card for purchases.
And for credit purchases. At least in my experience, placing an internet order that was processed by a European company in its own currency, I was assessed a small foreign transaction fee.

Regarding the Fidelity website in general, I’ve never compared it to Schwab but I agree that it’s much more intuitive and easy to use than Vanguard.
by FlyerJack
Sun Jan 26, 2020 4:07 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How Did 2001-2002 and 2007-2008 Influence Your Investing Philosophy? Or Did It?
Replies: 113
Views: 7672

Re: How Did 2001-2002 and 2007-2008 Influence Your Investing Philosophy? Or Did It?

flaccidsteele wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2020 12:46 pm A 10 year downturn would be a dream come true
That makes me think of all the posts here advising against international stock index funds because they’ve underperformed US index funds for the past 10 or so years. Is this a dream-come-true opportunity to “buy low”? Here’s hoping.
by FlyerJack
Sat Jun 01, 2019 9:18 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: A time to EVALUATE your jitters
Replies: 678
Views: 632998

Re: A time to EVALUATE your jitters

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