Search found 344 matches
- Thu Jun 18, 2020 3:11 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: How to think about money earned during semi-retirement
- Replies: 26
- Views: 2446
Re: How to think about money earned during semi-retirement
OP. Regarding health insurance, is the affordable care act an option for you? We are on the affordable care act and manage our modified adjusted gross income. Base premiums of $24,000 per year cost us $0 due to the premium tax credit. I am seriously considering FIRE, and ACA is one factor that worr...
- Thu Jun 11, 2020 8:50 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: How to think about money earned during semi-retirement
- Replies: 26
- Views: 2446
Re: How to think about money earned during semi-retirement
OP. Regarding health insurance, is the affordable care act an option for you? We are on the affordable care act and manage our modified adjusted gross income. Base premiums of $24,000 per year cost us $0 due to the premium tax credit. I am seriously considering FIRE, and ACA is one factor that worr...
- Mon Jun 08, 2020 10:49 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Unexpected Early Retirement - Need Portfolio Advice
- Replies: 21
- Views: 3238
Re: Unexpected Early Retirement - Need Portfolio Advice
I edited my original post ... added the fund names and specified $84K/yr expenses NOT including taxes and healthcare ... makes a big difference, THX! If you haven't done so already, you can use the official Washington State ACA website to price out plans and get an idea of what kind of subsidy you ...
- Fri Jun 05, 2020 5:24 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Don't pay full price for SiriusXM radio
- Replies: 384
- Views: 49177
Re: Don't pay full price for SiriusXM radio
I was on the $5/month plan and called them to cancel because I'm just not driving these days. They kept offering me better and better deals until they got down to 38¢/month for the remainder of the summer. I figured at that rate it's worth it to have some music for my weekly drive around the block.
- Thu May 28, 2020 4:02 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: What have you baked recently?
- Replies: 336
- Views: 39445
Re: Bread failure question
The other day I tried a no-knead recipe. Followed it exactly. Very basic, flour, instant yeast, salt, water. initial proof - 12 hours covered with plastic, around 90°F . Baked in a cast iron dutch. oven. Didn't rise much, wasn't eaten. :( The video specified "cool" water mixed with the dr...
- Wed May 20, 2020 7:20 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Airline refusing to issue refunds
- Replies: 174
- Views: 17239
Re: Airline refusing to issue refunds
I didn't say that travel agencies can't set their own fees. I said that as ticket resellers they are subject to the same basic provisions of contract law that airlines are subject to, i.e. if they charge for a service they must provide it. They can't get around this by claiming that they are just g...
- Wed May 20, 2020 6:13 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Airline refusing to issue refunds
- Replies: 174
- Views: 17239
Re: Airline refusing to issue refunds
DoT will regulate sale of air transport which they have authority over such as full fare disclosure in advertising/disclosure of baggage fees/no retroactive changes to contract of carriage etc. DoT does not set or regulate OTA service fees whether it be a booking fee, phone answering fee, email fee...
- Wed May 20, 2020 3:53 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Airline refusing to issue refunds
- Replies: 174
- Views: 17239
Re: Airline refusing to issue refunds
I just noticed that if you go to the DOT complaint form linked above, you will find that “Vayama” is actually a choice included in the “Airline/Company” dropdown list. So it seems DOT is happy to receive complaints about them. Also, from the FAQ: “Every month, DOT publishes its Air Travel Consumer ...
- Wed May 20, 2020 2:41 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Paul Tudor: Compelling case for bitcoin ?
- Replies: 310
- Views: 19369
Re: Paul Tudor: Compelling case for bitcoin ?
I still wouldn't put my net worth in it. But probably half of the engineers I know here in Silicon Valley have a significant stake in it and several have the majority of their net worth in it. This is just how it became unstable, as I'm sure you already know. It's become a speculative collectible, ...
- Wed May 20, 2020 12:27 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Airline refusing to issue refunds
- Replies: 174
- Views: 17239
Re: Airline refusing to issue refunds
If you do not receive a FULL REFUND of airfare for flights that have been canceled during the outbreak of Covid-19, you can file a complaint at the DOT website: https://airconsumer.dot.gov/escomplaint/ConsumerForm.cfm It isn't clear to me this would help if the airline company isn't the problem (in...
- Tue May 19, 2020 10:19 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Paul Tudor: Compelling case for bitcoin ?
- Replies: 310
- Views: 19369
Re: Paul Tudor: Compelling case for bitcoin ?
That doesn't sound quite right, because there are so very many examples in history of sovereigns having difficulties due to running out of money. I don't mean that to be argumentative, nor to weigh for or against bitcoin being "money." Of course the two statements above aren't necessarily...
- Mon May 18, 2020 6:39 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Paul Tudor: Compelling case for bitcoin ?
- Replies: 310
- Views: 19369
Re: Paul Tudor: Compelling case for bitcoin ?
Some gripes about transaction costs in this thread. Transaction costs lately for BTC are relatively high. Currently around $3!! Most of the year has seen fees around 50cents. But of interest may be the fact that the average transaction value has been $30k USD. $3 to move $30k, not bad. People are m...
- Mon May 18, 2020 4:37 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Paul Tudor: Compelling case for bitcoin ?
- Replies: 310
- Views: 19369
Re: Paul Tudor: Compelling case for bitcoin ?
Some gripes about transaction costs in this thread. Transaction costs lately for BTC are relatively high. Currently around $3!! Most of the year has seen fees around 50cents. But of interest may be the fact that the average transaction value has been $30k USD. $3 to move $30k, not bad. People are m...
- Sat May 16, 2020 1:23 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: How did you feel after giving notice to retire?
- Replies: 52
- Views: 4634
Re: How did you feel after giving notice to retire?
I never had any second thoughts or regrets. I gave notice in April 2018, my last day was in July, and in August I moved 2000 miles away to a new home. Sure, I was sad to say goodbye to my friends and colleagues, but I never second guessed my decision. If anything, I felt excited about transitioning ...
- Sat May 16, 2020 8:54 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: SWR Data: 6.5 Million Possibilities Considered
- Replies: 152
- Views: 7473
Re: The only safe withdrawal rate is one under 3%
Japan is often discussed as the outlier with regard to SWRs, but I find it more than a bit silly. At its peak, the Japanese stock market was trading at something like 90 times earnings. That was absolutely insane , and the idea that that could keep on going was utterly ridiculous. In my economics a...
- Sat May 16, 2020 6:33 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: SWR Data: 6.5 Million Possibilities Considered
- Replies: 152
- Views: 7473
Re: The only safe withdrawal rate is one under 3%
The burden of proof is not on me because I'm not saying the U.S. will not continue on a similar trajectory; I'm saying there is no basis to conclude that it will. As I pointed out, I was bombarded with both data and logic that showed that Japan's amazing rise after WW2 would continue - and it didn'...
- Thu Apr 30, 2020 9:50 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: What have you baked recently?
- Replies: 336
- Views: 39445
Re: What have you baked recently?
$21 is high but if you need it and it ships immediately you might think it’s worth it as yeast availability is very limited in my area. I just received a 1 lb. bag of SAF yeast from King Arthur’s for $5.95. But it took 3-4 weeks to receive it due to limited availability. Good to know. I have enough...
- Wed Apr 29, 2020 8:44 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: What have you baked recently?
- Replies: 336
- Views: 39445
Re: What have you baked recently?
New Bread Making Machine finally arrived. KBS Pro. Stainless. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BYXHYLY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 A newbie baker. So will first try: Cornbread Gluten Free Whole Grain Chocolate anything. Easy Suggestions? I have yeast in a tightly packe...
- Wed Apr 29, 2020 8:22 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: ??? Thomas Stanley - Stop Acting Rich book
- Replies: 121
- Views: 13713
Re: ??? @Thomas Stanley - Stop Acting Rich book
I agree with this analysis. In the farmer/doctor comparison, Stanley considered an annual realized income of $200,000 or more to be "high income", and defined a "millionaire" as someone having an investment portfolio of at least $1,000,000, not including equity holdings in farml...
- Tue Apr 28, 2020 11:37 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: ??? Thomas Stanley - Stop Acting Rich book
- Replies: 121
- Views: 13713
Re: ??? @Thomas Stanley - Stop Acting Rich book
In his research, did Stanley explicitly correct for those effects? No, he doesn't correct for it. He simply totals up the number of "high-income" people and "high-wealth" people. Also, remember the data is based on his own surveys. Only 1,594 people responded and only 944 of the...
- Tue Apr 28, 2020 4:41 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Insurance under COBRA - Will returning to work disqualify me?
- Replies: 53
- Views: 3385
Re: Insurance under COBRA - Will returning to work disqualify me?
... LadyGeek , are you saying that this coverage gap exists every month? If your payment is received on the first you are technically uncovered until a week later and during that timeframe you need to pay expenses in cash? That sounds odd to me. Is it possible that it's something specific to your p...
- Tue Apr 28, 2020 4:18 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Insurance under COBRA - Will returning to work disqualify me?
- Replies: 53
- Views: 3385
Re: Insurance under COBRA - Will returning to work disqualify me?
First, my question about returning to work is now obsolete. I have resigned. See: Re: Roll Call for the Retirement Class of 2020! Payment from the COBRA administrator to the insurance provider is a process . When payment is received, the insurance provider does not get paid until one week later. Si...
- Tue Apr 28, 2020 4:04 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: FIRE 32 Y/O New Investor Portfolio Review
- Replies: 58
- Views: 6964
Re: FIRE 32 Y/O New Investor Portfolio Review
You’re trying to optimize on your asset allocation while still getting killed on taxes. That’s putting the cart before the horse. 1. Max out your traditional 401k 2. Transfer your Rollover IRA into your current 401k 3. Complete the Backdoor Roth: you still have time to fill up 2019 as well as 2020 ...
- Tue Apr 28, 2020 2:21 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Investing in 401k w/low life expetancy
- Replies: 23
- Views: 1778
Re: Investing in 401k w/low life expetancy
My worry is that 401k + Roth only set them up for long term (ie 30 yrs from now) but if something happens to me in short term (ie in next 5 - 10 yrs), I want them to optimize so they are covered for both short term and long term. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but IRA's and 401K's have optio...
- Tue Apr 28, 2020 2:02 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Recent Retiree using rising equity glide path - only increase equity during crashes?
- Replies: 41
- Views: 2418
Re: Recent Retiree using rising equity glide path - only increase equity during crashes?
This is heavily dependent on market conditions. If you started with a 25/75 stock/bond ratio in 2009, you'd have hit 50/50 by 2020 without ever doing any rebalancing: https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/backtest-asset-class-allocation?s=y&mode=1&timePeriod=4&startYear=2009&firstMonth...
- Tue Apr 28, 2020 12:35 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: FIRE 32 Y/O New Investor Portfolio Review
- Replies: 58
- Views: 6964
Re: FIRE 32 Y/O New Investor Portfolio Review
Another question: it looks like CA taxes dividends heavily. I was going to do VTI in taxable account, but in order to minimize dividends in taxable account, how about using a growth centered fund in taxable to minimize dividends (like VOOG or VUG), and a value centered fund in tax-sheltered to allo...
- Tue Apr 28, 2020 10:38 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: ??? Thomas Stanley - Stop Acting Rich book
- Replies: 121
- Views: 13713
Re: ??? @Thomas Stanley - Stop Acting Rich book
I admit I haven't read the book, but I'm a little doubtful of the 'keeping up with the Jonses' explanation. It just seems too pat. Then you would be wrong. The associated concept is a very clear and strongly contributing factor. Like I said, I read a portion of the book that states this. Cheers But...
- Tue Apr 28, 2020 10:03 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: ??? Thomas Stanley - Stop Acting Rich book
- Replies: 121
- Views: 13713
Re: ??? @Thomas Stanley - Stop Acting Rich book
I admit I haven't read the book, but I'm a little doubtful of the 'keeping up with the Jonses' explanation. It just seems too pat. Then you would be wrong. The associated concept is a very clear and strongly contributing factor. Like I said, I read a portion of the book that states this. Cheers But...
- Tue Apr 28, 2020 7:27 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: ??? Thomas Stanley - Stop Acting Rich book
- Replies: 121
- Views: 13713
Re: ??? @Thomas Stanley - Stop Acting Rich book
On Page 54 of Thomas Stanley's Stop Acting Rich book he writes It takes only 54 high-income generating farmers to produce 100 who are millionaires. But it take 383 high-income generating physicians to produce just 100 millionaires. Where do the remaining 46 farmers come from to produce 100 milliona...
- Mon Apr 27, 2020 2:16 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Poor Publix employee seeking 401k investment advice
- Replies: 169
- Views: 12566
Re: Poor Publix employee seeking 401k investment advice
The RJ account is a regular account and not an IRA. I'll try and figure out where to go next. At the very least, you can stop putting new money in that RJ account and open a new IRA at a discount broker like Fidelity, Vanguard, etc. You can then start funding the IRA instead (up to $6,000 per year)...
- Sat Apr 25, 2020 10:23 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Leveraged SMA200 Strategy Back-tested 1929 - 2019
- Replies: 104
- Views: 9463
Re: The Leverage Approach that returned 14.73% over 100 Years
Why did you choose to use the 235 day moving average? Is it just the one that backtests the best? And how does it affect your returns if you choose a different MVA--200, 250, 300, etc? I have back tested using 100-400 Day moving averages. The best results were achieved using SMA180-SMA270 SMA225 di...
- Sat Apr 25, 2020 10:10 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Why do investors have a hard time doing nothing?
- Replies: 53
- Views: 4133
Re: Why do investors have a hard time doing nothing?
I think it is hard to settle for "average" returns even though those returns would be better than 80% of portfolios over the long term. They see things with the benefit of hindsight and fail to realize past performance is not a forward indicator, and many times it's quite the opposite. I ...
- Sat Apr 25, 2020 7:59 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Leveraged SMA200 Strategy Back-tested 1929 - 2019
- Replies: 104
- Views: 9463
Re: The Leverage Approach that returned 14.73% over 100 Years
Why did you choose to use the 235 day moving average? Is it just the one that backtests the best? And how does it affect your returns if you choose a different MVA--200, 250, 300, etc?
- Fri Apr 24, 2020 8:04 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Poor Publix employee seeking 401k investment advice
- Replies: 169
- Views: 12566
Re: Poor Publix employee seeking 401k investment advice
I can barely see some of the screen shots, but it looks like you’re paying like $700 or more in fees at RJ for the $25k portfolio. A simple 2-3 fund at Vanguard would be like $25 a year instead. It's probably even worse than that. The $700 are the direct wrap fees on the Raymond James account, but ...
- Fri Apr 24, 2020 3:20 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: FIRE 32 Y/O New Investor Portfolio Review
- Replies: 58
- Views: 6964
Re: FIRE 32 Y/O New Investor Portfolio Review
I like the ability to sell ETFs like stocks over MFs but my issue is that I cannot invest automatically in ETFs in my Fidelity account. If I could I would rather go ETFs. I spoke to Fidelity about this and they said there is dividend reinvestment on the majority of ETFs. Do you know for sure? I ask...
- Fri Apr 24, 2020 5:00 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Poor Publix employee seeking 401k investment advice
- Replies: 169
- Views: 12566
Re: Poor Publix employee seeking 401k investment advice
It seems that your 401K options have fairly high expense ratios. Do you know what the expenses are for those five State Street funds? If it's not too expensive, the State St. S&P 500 fund would be a good option for a U.S. stock market index fund. Another possibility is to only contribute enough ...
- Fri Apr 24, 2020 4:04 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: FIRE 32 Y/O New Investor Portfolio Review
- Replies: 58
- Views: 6964
Re: FIRE 32 Y/O New Investor Portfolio Review
Current 401K is through Betterment so not a lot of control with this; I have it set for aggressive growth right now. My rollover IRA is kind of a blank sheet right now. I'm not all that familiar with how Betterment picks portfolios, but there must be a way to move to an allocation that's fixed inco...
- Thu Apr 23, 2020 8:17 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: FIRE 32 Y/O New Investor Portfolio Review
- Replies: 58
- Views: 6964
Re: FIRE 32 Y/O New Investor Portfolio Review
45% - US stock equity - VOO (Vanguard S&P 500 ETF) - ETF so it will be tax efficient and it’s highly rated on Morningstar 10% - US small and mid cap - VXF (Vanguard Extended Market ETF) - gains expsoure to small and mid cap that’s not in VOO Why not just replace these two with a total market fu...
- Thu Apr 23, 2020 8:11 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: FIRE 32 Y/O New Investor Portfolio Review
- Replies: 58
- Views: 6964
- Thu Apr 23, 2020 4:10 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Insurance under COBRA - Will returning to work disqualify me?
- Replies: 53
- Views: 3385
Re: Insurance under COBRA - Will returning to work disqualify me?
^^^ That's a good idea, thanks. I didn't consider that delaying my response (and paying a premium retroactive to the start date) would give me time to figure out my work situation. If anything happens during the coverage "pause", it will be a hassle to resolve, though. Has your state reop...
- Tue Apr 21, 2020 10:59 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Anybody sell 1 MB or 5 MB internet and how much? I don't need high speed internet at $50-$60 a month.
- Replies: 17
- Views: 1301
Re: Anybody sell 1 MB or 5 MB internet and how much? I don't need high speed internet at $50-$60 a month.
If you have a cell phone that can be used as a hot spot, why not change to a cell plan that has the amount of data you need? I think the limitation is that so many of the less expensive cell plans don't allow hotspot use. I don't do streaming or intensive up/downloads but still can run though rough...
- Tue Apr 21, 2020 9:20 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Anybody sell 1 MB or 5 MB internet and how much? I don't need high speed internet at $50-$60 a month.
- Replies: 17
- Views: 1301
Re: Anybody sell 1 MB or 5 MB internet and how much? I don't need high speed internet at $50-$60 a month.
If you have a cell phone that can be used as a hot spot, why not change to a cell plan that has the amount of data you need? I think the limitation is that so many of the less expensive cell plans don't allow hotspot use. I don't do streaming or intensive up/downloads but still can run though rough...
- Fri Apr 17, 2020 4:22 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Well, I am market timing due to coronavirus... Wish me luck.
- Replies: 1439
- Views: 133660
Re: Well, I am market timing due to coronavirus... Wish me luck.
Lots of false dichotomy going on around here. There's this sense that unless you absolutely perfectly time the market, you can't come out ahead. That's just mathematically false. People keep saying it because either (1) they are ignorant of the truth or (2) it reinforces what they already believe. ...
- Fri Apr 17, 2020 3:02 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Laid Off - COBRA vs. Healthcare Exchange
- Replies: 12
- Views: 1743
Re: Laid Off - COBRA vs. Healthcare Exchange
My former employer provides 3 months of COBRA at the active employee rate ($101/month), but after the 3 months, the COBRA rate changes to $600/month... If I ... use my state's exchange, it is about $255/month... Is there a way I can go the COBRA route for the Months 1-3 while I have the active empl...
- Fri Apr 17, 2020 3:43 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Laid Off - COBRA vs. Healthcare Exchange
- Replies: 12
- Views: 1743
Re: Laid Off - COBRA vs. Healthcare Exchange
Based on the below page, it looks like the answer is that the loss of a COBRA subsidy does not trigger a special election period, although if your state uses Healthcare.gov as its exchange the situation is not so clear. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/employers-offering-subsidized-cobra-to-20955/ ...
- Thu Apr 16, 2020 3:13 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Well, I am market timing due to coronavirus... Wish me luck.
- Replies: 1439
- Views: 133660
Re: Well, I am market timing due to coronavirus... Wish me luck.
Lots of false dichotomy going on around here. There's this sense that unless you absolutely perfectly time the market, you can't come out ahead. That's just mathematically false. SP500 is still 500+ points below where OP exited. Would take an epic screw up not to come out ahead. In the past, Bogleh...
- Wed Apr 15, 2020 3:39 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Any benefit to having a financial advisor?
- Replies: 23
- Views: 1857
Re: Any benefit to having a financial advisor?
The most compelling argument I've seen in favor of using a financial advisor is that they can help you avoid the behavioral traps that can really mess up one's investing. Basically, if they talk you down from the ledge when you're about to sell at the bottom like we saw so many people doing even on...
- Tue Apr 14, 2020 6:11 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: My theory about FIRE
- Replies: 419
- Views: 32334
Re: My theory about FIRE
People mention volunteering as the solution, and that's ok, but that's basically continuing to work, only without pay. Fine, but if you can continue to work doing what you were actually trained for, and get paid, why not prefer that? For anyone who has a job that's a good fit for them, and that the...
- Tue Apr 14, 2020 5:29 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Ponzi Scheme?
- Replies: 218
- Views: 19785
Re: Ponzi Scheme?
I haven't read all the comments, but I'll volunteer that as a criminal-defense attorney who has worked on cases like this, I agree that it's a scam but disagree a little on what you should do about it. "Pyramid scheme" can be a little misleading. No one, except you, has said that this is ...
- Tue Apr 14, 2020 5:16 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Ponzi Scheme?
- Replies: 218
- Views: 19785
Re: Ponzi Scheme?
I haven't read all the comments, but I'll volunteer that as a criminal-defense attorney who has worked on cases like this, I agree that it's a scam but disagree a little on what you should do about it. "Pyramid scheme" can be a little misleading. No one, except you, has said that this is ...