Search found 26 matches

by JTravers
Tue Mar 28, 2023 11:36 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: HCE/mega backdoor Roth risk?
Replies: 37
Views: 6537

Re: HCE/mega backdoor Roth risk?

Doomsday (March 15th) is fast approaching. I'm excited to see what hand I'm dealt this year. :P And? šŸ˜‰ No return of contributions this year. I was able get $8,100 through. I'm currently in the process of performing a direct rollover to an IRA. Awesome! I started at a new megacorp last Spring. No risk last year since my partial year of income didnā€™t qualify me as an HCE. This year Iā€™ll definitely qualify so Iā€™ll probably wait to rollover until next March. I did contact the HR Benefits people, and they say they have never failed the ACP testingā€¦ so thatā€™s a good sign at least. Interesting wrinkle at the new company is that theyā€™ll match after-tax contributions (up to 6%) just like normal/Roth contributions. So I could theoretically only cont...
by JTravers
Tue Mar 28, 2023 2:17 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: HCE/mega backdoor Roth risk?
Replies: 37
Views: 6537

Re: HCE/mega backdoor Roth risk?

whodidntante wrote: ā†‘Mon Mar 13, 2023 10:40 pm Doomsday (March 15th) is fast approaching. I'm excited to see what hand I'm dealt this year. :P
And?
šŸ˜‰
by JTravers
Fri Oct 07, 2022 4:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: New EV: Type of Level 2 Charging for Garage?
Replies: 135
Views: 10347

Re: New EV: Type of Level 2 Charging for Garage?

LOL. I watched that entire hour long video, and found it interesting, even though I donā€™t have an EV, and have no immediate plans to get one. Actually, that video made me realize that a really good idea for my family would be to replace one of our cars with an older Leaf or something like that. 70 mile range and level 1 charging would handle 95% of our driving. We could take the CR-V for the occasional longer trips. I made it about 2 minutes into the video. His bias showed through when he said he said that plugging the unit in every night is easier than going to a gas pump every few weeks. He said ā€œgoing to the gas station every weekā€, which is what typical 15k miles/year people do. I donā€™t know about your biases, but spending 5 seconds pl...
by JTravers
Wed May 14, 2014 12:19 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice [on Shariah compliant investment products]
Replies: 60
Views: 10657

Re: Advice [on Shariah compliant investment products]

Nomadix wrote:Ok, as an aside, does anyone know a broker that allows purchase of funds sold on foriegn exchanges into a retirment account (ex ROTH IRA)?

Specificaly looking at funds below on London exchange:

iShares MSCI World Islamic (ISWD.L) ER 0.6%
iShares MSCI USA Islamic (ISUS.L) ER 0.5%
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Islamic (ISEM.L) ER 0.85%
Interactive Brokers.
by JTravers
Mon Jul 01, 2013 2:03 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio Design help needed - Multiple restrictions!!
Replies: 7
Views: 1516

Re: Portfolio Design help needed - Multiple restrictions!!

I know this is quite a few months after the original post, but I hope the OP finds the following information useful. The best way to invest in Shariah-compliant passive indexes is to open an account at a broker that offers trading on global exchanges at reasonable prices -- Interactive Brokers, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, etc. -- and buy the 3 iShares MSCI Islamic Index ETFs that trade on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). They are: 1. iShares MSCI World Islamic ETF (ISWD) 2. iShares MSCI USA Islamic ETF (ISUS) 3. iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Islamic ETF (ISEM) The World ETF contains US stocks, so you have to keep that in mind when setting up your portfolio. Beyond that, you're stuck with mutual funds with high fees or trying to create portfol...
by JTravers
Fri May 31, 2013 4:43 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Skating Where the Puck Was"
Replies: 79
Views: 18599

Re: "Skating Where the Puck Was"

Just saw that both of Dr. Bernstein's short ebooks are available for free through the Kindle Lending Library (must own a Kindle device and be a Prime subscriber).

Thanks for making them available!
by JTravers
Tue Mar 12, 2013 1:20 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone use iPad or iPhone for auto navigation system?
Replies: 77
Views: 8654

Re: Anyone use iPad or iPod for auto navigation system?

GPS does not work without the 3G or 4G service on iPad or iPod. I have the latest iPod without 3G. There is an app called find my iPod. When using the app on my iPod in my family room, it shows it located across the street in the neighbor's back yard. I think it uses my IP address to come up with a location. My son's iPhone with 3G/4G finds the location correctly. You can buy bluetooth GPS receivers to use with non-3G/4G iPads or iPods. http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Portable-GLONASS-Receiver-Vehicle/dp/B00AYAZENY/ http://www.amazon.com/Dual-Electronics-XGPS150A-Universal-Bluetooth/dp/B006M49G80/ The beauty of these solutions is you don't have to keep spending extra each time you buy a new iPad or iPod just to get GPS, since these are portab...
by JTravers
Sun Oct 07, 2012 4:00 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Any regrets moving from a active manager to passive indexing
Replies: 52
Views: 6661

Re: Any regrets moving from a active manager to passive inde

Just the other day AAII mailed me their "Shadow Stock" portfolio long term results: 17% per year over 10 years, but after reading books by Bogle, Bernstein and Ferri, I am now educated enough to realize that this is a mechanical rate of return achieved by computer, and doesn't take into account commissions, spreads and actual real time price executions of buys and sells at different times of the day. That 17% would probably be more like 10-12% realistically-not worth the hassle of anxiously awaiting the latest AAII bulletins for stock buys and sells. (By the way, missing from the AAII literature is the fact that the "Shadow Stock" portfolio plunged 50% in 2008!) Indexing keeps things SIMPLE. :happy Agree with everything...
by JTravers
Sat May 28, 2011 10:09 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: VOIP options
Replies: 18
Views: 2884

I must agree with the Obihai device recommendations. Check out the Obihai OBi100 and OBi110 devices. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LO098O/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=alslibl-20&camp=213381&creative=390973&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B004LO098O&adid=094F0S2M3VDQ8W7CNKYS& https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0045RMEPI/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=alslibl-20&camp=213381&creative=390973&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B0045RMEPI&adid=06EDV9158HVZ93BHNPYK& These devices can hook into Google Voice (through Gmail chat functionality) so you can place and receive Google Voice calls using your phone. All calls to the US and Canada are currently free (Google announced free calling through the end of 2011 -- no one knows if they'll exten...
by JTravers
Fri Apr 15, 2011 10:58 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone use Magic Jack?
Replies: 36
Views: 6998

Check out the Obihai OBi100 and OBi110 devices. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LO098O/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=alslibl-20&camp=213381&creative=390973&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B004LO098O&adid=094F0S2M3VDQ8W7CNKYS& https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0045RMEPI/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=alslibl-20&camp=213381&creative=390973&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B0045RMEPI&adid=06EDV9158HVZ93BHNPYK& These devices can hook into Google Voice (through Gmail chat functionality) so you can place and receive Google Voice calls using your phone. All calls to the US and Canada are currently free (Google announced free calling through the end of 2011 -- no one knows if they'll extend it further into the future, though). You can also r...
by JTravers
Tue Apr 12, 2011 11:02 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Value-Weighted Indexes Beat Fundamental Indexes????
Replies: 11
Views: 2424

Here's the site for his new book.
http://www.valueweightedindex.com/

Anyone care to make a comparison to the "proper" benchmarks?

Thanks!
by JTravers
Wed Oct 20, 2010 4:28 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio allocation (no bonds allowed), please suggest
Replies: 132
Views: 21016

Good news about the ShariahShares ETFs. I emailed the CEO, and he told me that they are planning to roll out the ETFs in 2011. This will be a great option for Muslim investors that want to follow the Boglehead principles.
by JTravers
Wed Oct 20, 2010 3:25 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio allocation (no bonds allowed), please suggest
Replies: 132
Views: 21016

I found a couple possible Shariah-compliant bond substitutes. University Islamic Financial offers 1, 2, and 5 years CDs that share profits from its Shariah-compliant mortgage business. http://www.universityislamicfinancial.com/deposit_rates.html The only downside is that the rate of profit-sharing ("interest") is reduced in months where they take a loss on a mortgage. You can see that all of the profit was wiped out in August and there was a slight reduction in September. http://www.universityislamicfinancial.com/file/PDF%20Forms/SHAPEAccountPerformance.pdf I also stumbled across the WISE Capital Fund. http://azzad.net/new/products_mutual.aspx I'm a little leary of this, though, because Azzad Funds has a worse track record than th...
by JTravers
Fri Aug 27, 2010 9:10 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio allocation (no bonds allowed), please suggest
Replies: 132
Views: 21016

Valuethinker wrote:Indeed, many of my investments would conflict with my high school Principal-- send me straight to his office ;-).

In addition, many of my investments have caused me to lose capital, another conflict with my principals ;-).
:lol
by JTravers
Fri Aug 27, 2010 12:40 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio allocation (no bonds allowed), please suggest
Replies: 132
Views: 21016

By win I mean to get a maximum return on investment while mitigating appropriate risk using whatever vehicles that present themselves. To remove one will reduce your agility of position - something that would pain most all boglers. And I think the OP's definition of win would include a caveat that he would like to "win" while also trying to adhere to the principles his religion dictates he should live by. Not everyone is trying to maximize returns above all else. My rant is not antireligios, it is anti-mingle religion and finance. I think the original poster made it clear that he did want to mingle the two. If you don't have an answer for his query, I don't understand why you would bother trying to convince him otherwise. If appl...
by JTravers
Thu Aug 26, 2010 6:10 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio allocation (no bonds allowed), please suggest
Replies: 132
Views: 21016

Sure you could win but you have set yourself at a severe disadvantage right off the line and probably could only win by luck. Depends on your definition of "win." Many people forget that the sacred texts for many of religions were written and edited by man - who are with inherent flaw. I don't think the Koran took into account inflation circa it's creation - most payment was probably made in gold or silver at the time. I myself am a God fearing person but all the technicalities of religions have been created by man who wants to exert control, this transcends all faiths. I am amused by those who are more concerned with worshiping their religion then God. Something to consider deeper for those who consider themselves spiritual. Wit...
by JTravers
Thu Aug 26, 2010 12:42 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio allocation (no bonds allowed), please suggest
Replies: 132
Views: 21016

How about lowering volatility by using covered calls on a diversified selection of highly-liquid, but shariah compliant stocks? A covered call means you buy (or already own) a security and you sell an option to someone else to buy your security at a given price in the future (since you have to own the shares, I assume it passes the no-shorting test). The premium you receive for selling your option gives you some protection if the share price decreases. What you lose is the potential for large increases if the stock goes up because the buyer of the option will force you to turn over the security at the agreed price. Here's an article on using deep in the money covered calls - http://seekingalpha.com/article/111840-get-on-base-with-spy-cover...
by JTravers
Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:47 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio allocation (no bonds allowed), please suggest
Replies: 132
Views: 21016

Re: Portfolio allocation (no bonds allowed), please suggest

JTravers wrote:There are Shariah tests that Islamic finance scholars have developed for determining the acceptability of an investment. One is that its gross income cannot be made up of more than 5% interest income. As long as the interest income a company generates is less than 5% of gross income, it is considered de minimus and holding stock in that company is acceptable.
Another standard that is frequently applied instead is that all revenue from impermissible sources should be kept to less than 5% of total revenue (I'm still searching for an explanation of the reasoning behind the 5% rule; I know I've read it somewhere but tracking it down now is proving difficult).
by JTravers
Wed Aug 25, 2010 3:45 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio allocation (no bonds allowed), please suggest
Replies: 132
Views: 21016

Re: Portfolio allocation (no bonds allowed), please suggest

Houston101 wrote:It doesn't make sense though! Beer is also not permitted in Islam but I haven't seen any Islamic Scholar say that you can drink it as long as there is only 5% concentration.

I am not an expert on Islamic finance but I don't get it.
There are Islamic legal rulings that go into all the details. If I can find any that are specifically about the 5%, I will post a link.

And, BTW, there are legal rulings that determine at what % concentration "filth" (i.e., najasa) permeates something. For example, urinating in a bath tub isn't the same as urinating in the ocean (as far as the purity of the water is concerned). But this is probably getting off topic ;)
by JTravers
Wed Aug 25, 2010 10:28 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio allocation (no bonds allowed), please suggest
Replies: 132
Views: 21016

Could you do merger arbitrage? For example, go to Yahoo finance and look at a company called ADC Telecomm (ticker ADCT). It's being bought by Tyco for $12.75 a share, expected to close at the end of the year, currently selling for $12.65. There is a contract for the purchaser to buy the shares, but your interest would be equity, not debt. The annualized return is low but similar to a short-term bond, suggesting similar risk. This would be modest trouble to manage, but there are websites that publish lists of companies being purchased, from which you could assemble a diversified portfolio that would be likely to earn a low, steady return (although many deals are risker than my example). Just a thought. Seems like a reasonable substitute. Th...
by JTravers
Wed Aug 25, 2010 10:21 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio allocation (no bonds allowed), please suggest
Replies: 132
Views: 21016

Houston101 wrote:I looked at those too but like you said they are not passive fund and have higher expense ratios. Not really the boglehead style of investing.
You have to do the best you can with the tools currently available. Maybe in the future more ETFs will be available that follow Shariah indexes, but until then it seems like the Amana funds behave better than most other Shariah-compliant funds out there (IMANX, ADJEX).

One thing that looks interesting as a bond substitute is a new fund recently released by Azzad Funds called the Wise Capital Fund (WISEX). This is a fund that should be watched to see if it can achieve its goals. High expense ratio, though. Hopefully, it'll get lowered the way ADJEX was recently lowered to 0.99%.
by JTravers
Wed Aug 25, 2010 10:15 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio allocation (no bonds allowed), please suggest
Replies: 132
Views: 21016

For the safer side of the portfolio and you can't have bonds you might want something like Vanguard's Market Neutral fund hedge fund. -- with a lower minimum from somewhere else. I know nothing about it except that it has a 2.8% ER (high due to the dividend rules on short sales) and is relatively uncorrelated with the rest of the stock market. It also has a 250K minimum which is prohibitive for most investors. "Vanguard Market Neutral Fund seeks to provide long-term capital appreciation while limiting exposure to general stock market risk". Any experts on this fund?? Shorting, in general, is not allowed in Islamic finance because you cannot sell that which you do not own. Even putting that aside, the act of borrowing shares (whic...
by JTravers
Wed Aug 25, 2010 10:11 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio allocation (no bonds allowed), please suggest
Replies: 132
Views: 21016

Re: Portfolio allocation (no bonds allowed), please suggest

So - I think it cannot be done honestly with other than physical assets. jej I understand that almost every company has some interest income, but I am compromising on that as long as I don't have any direct stake in interest bearing assets like bonds etc. If you own stock, you are an owner of a company. If the company owns an interest bearing asset and receives interest, then you are receiving interest directly. Nothing is being "passed through". There are Shariah tests that Islamic finance scholars have developed for determining the acceptability of an investment. One is that its gross income cannot be made up of more than 5% interest income. As long as the interest income a company generates is less than 5% of gross income, it ...
by JTravers
Mon Aug 23, 2010 2:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio allocation (no bonds allowed), please suggest
Replies: 132
Views: 21016

Guys I really appreciate the comments from all of you. In the end I have realized that I don't know much about Islamic Finance either. The complications of modern finance requires that I study Islamic finance in detail to know what can be done. To summarize, the intellectual contribution from all of you has forced me back to the studying room. It took me so long to just catch up with modern finance concepts and Islamic finance is whole different game. It feels like I have been playing basketball all my life and suddenly I have realized I need to understand baseball also to be a better player. I will be back on this thread once I have done some study on this topic. Thank you everyone. Just saw this thread. I'm going down the same road of tr...
by JTravers
Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:12 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Gift of more than $12,000
Replies: 17
Views: 4484

Use middle men...

If you can find 3 other people that you trust, gift them each $12K and make sure that they each gift your friend $12K.

Including your own $12K gift to your friend, that would end up being $48K.

Not sure if this would violate any IRS rules on creating schemes explicitly to avoid taxes. If so, then don't do this :D
by JTravers
Wed May 28, 2008 10:05 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Where are all the great managers?
Replies: 26
Views: 5201

Re: Where are all the great managers?

SH,
I'm new to this group and just came across this post.
Very interesting stuff.

One small correction, however. I believe 3rd Ave Value is more of a mid/large cap fund, while 3rd Ave Small-Cap is the proper comparison for small value.

Fairholme fund would be another good one to add to the comparison, as they are really gaining a lot of esteem within the value investing community.

BTW, did you by any chance try to match up factor loads to really see what kind of alpha (positive or negative) the "great managers" were producing?

Thanks for the great post.