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BrownEyedGirl_27

We’ve cut down on online shopping but we will probably be spending on discretionary items in April. We like to support local stores when we can though, but might buy online pickup in store to avoid touching clothing and other possibly infected items.

BrownEyedGirl_27

My 3.875% mortgage had a balance of $101,000 on 01 Jan 18. My wife and I began to attack the mortgage very aggressively to the tune of $4K a month. Then we would also hit it with lump sum payments of $10K during bonus time. I must admit that on several occasions I wondered if we should be investing...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Congratulations! I had the same thought, especially after watching a video about a couple who paid off their mortgage in 4 years. When you put your mind to it and have the means, I don’t see why not. Once this is out of your life you can funnel that money into investing and be the millionaire next d...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Aged 29, started investing in 2015 after the mini crash in august. Bought in 100% equities. Sold out last year to avail of lower CGT after a move abroad but did not buy back in due to a concern about impending bear market. Now DCA'ing back in into 100% equities You got lucky but now I fear for your...

BrownEyedGirl_27

geerhardusvos wrote: ↑Fri Mar 20, 2020 7:38 am 29 yo with a (now$600k) 90/10 portfolio and staying the course. Thankful my employment seems rock solid, plowing more in the market each paycheck. Haven’t turned on the tv in a week. We will bounce back even if it takes a long while

That’s very impressive. Congratulations are in order!

BrownEyedGirl_27

Age 27. Well 2018 was technically my husband and mine first “crash” if you want to call it that. I got in late 2017 thinking this is great, glad I’m investing. Then 2018 came in and I was swimming upstream in losses. Portfolio was much smaller back then. Had a great run of ~30% gains in 2019. The la...

BrownEyedGirl_27

pennsylvania211 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 20, 2020 6:17 am Buying more

+1. If the government decides to give us money from the stimulus in the next few weeks it is going straight to taxable.

BrownEyedGirl_27

Our emergency fund took a hit due to owing taxes for the first time this year. We are shoring up our reserves and to do that I am employing bank account sign up bonuses over the next couple months. If I can successfully churn in the near future we will save an extra little cushion to help make up f...

BrownEyedGirl_27

I would max out your Roth IRAs ASAP and then start paying down the car loan. If both you and your wife are working once you max the Roths use the 3k left towards the car and keep the momentum going on paying off the loan. Are you both contributing at least 15% to your 401ks or even more? I think as ...

BrownEyedGirl_27

I always work from home, a large percentage of my federal agency does so, which is great. My wife has to go to work. If she doesn't she won't get paid, she doesn't get any official paid time off. There is nothing essential about her job and there's nothing special about being at the office, but the...

BrownEyedGirl_27

I work in sales/retail and so I need to come into work. They have just reduced my hours but I do not know yet if that will be a 10 hour cut or a 6 hour cut. Either way our family can get by as my husband's job is pretty stable and he can work from home if and when his boss asks him to. We have an em...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Our emergency fund took a hit due to owing taxes for the first time this year. We are shoring up our reserves and to do that I am employing bank account sign up bonuses over the next couple months. If I can successfully churn in the near future we will save an extra little cushion to help make up fo...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Liquidity (beyond emergency fund) is the most overrated concept on Bogleheads. Use your lack of liquidity as the tool it should be and as motivation to pay off debt, live within your means, and invest appropriately. I'd pay everything off and have a, temporary yet increasing, 8k EF +1 Get rid of al...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Just contracted a cold today so I will go back when I am feeling well. Physical exercise helps me to de-stress and maintain current weight, so I do not want to stop. My gym is still open but they have increased the number of spray bottles and have one of the staff members disinfect machines more fre...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Mid 30s, no debt, soon to be married (planning on buying home / having 1 kid) We both max out 401K and IRAs; No debt and high savings rate. I like the idea of “whole life” in theory, but does this make sense financially? I know term life is cheaper, but don’t like that benefits terminate after cert...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Staying the course as a young investor. Increased 401k contributions in January no looking back. Already put in our Roth contributions for 2020. Working on building emergency fund back up.

BrownEyedGirl_27

I don't know how likely a 30 year mortgage under 3% is, but we got a 2.5% 15 year mortgage back in 2013. We kept it only a year before we sold the property though. The broker who sold us our mortgage called last week. We have a 15yr at 3.125% and he said he could probably get us 2.65% right now. Wo...

BrownEyedGirl_27

I have a couple of older tablets. 1. HP Slate stuck at Android 4.4 ; on T-mobile's grandfathered Data For Life program ; not 4GLTE just 4G 2. LG stuck at Android 5 ; has 4GLTE if I buy data on Sprint 3. Alcatel One Touch stuck at Android 6 ; on T-mobile's grandfathered Data For Life program ; only ...

BrownEyedGirl_27

I have a couple of older tablets. 1. HP Slate stuck at Android 4.4 ; on T-mobile's grandfathered Data For Life program ; not 4GLTE just 4G 2. LG stuck at Android 5 ; has 4GLTE if I buy data on Sprint 3. Alcatel One Touch stuck at Android 6 ; on T-mobile's grandfathered Data For Life program ; only ...

BrownEyedGirl_27

I have a couple of older tablets. 1. HP Slate stuck at Android 4.4 ; on T-mobile's grandfathered Data For Life program ; not 4GLTE just 4G 2. LG stuck at Android 5 ; has 4GLTE if I buy data on Sprint 3. Alcatel One Touch stuck at Android 6 ; on T-mobile's grandfathered Data For Life program ; only ...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Asset allocation should be derived from what purposes you have for use of the money. There are people who would put it all in muni bonds and other people who would invest 100% in stocks, or the infamous Buffett recommendation of 90% stocks and 10% Treasuries. I do think you should hire a CPA to con...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Good tips, went more aggressive in stocks a couple weeks back, fine with it. Not looking at balances because it might hurt. Haha

We are going to try to contribute about 50% of our income this year in retirement savings, up from 45% last year. Recession or not, we are staying the course.

BrownEyedGirl_27

Personal Capital: view net worth, all accounts in one place, excellent retirement and savings planner. Best app overall. Prism Bills: I pay my bills here; they’ll cover your total bill if they have an issue on their end. Beautiful background colors you can choose from. Every Dollar: best budgeting a...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Take a careful look at your withholding if you haven’t already done so. Since the tax laws changed we ended up owing $2500. We both contribute more to our Roth 401ks and much less in 401ks so our liability was high for the first time ever. We have fixed our withholding for the 2020 tax year. Good jo...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Fidelity HSA is great. Signed up for one a couple weeks ago, invested in FZROX. First no-load no expense ratio fund I’ve bought. Platform is pretty nice!

BrownEyedGirl_27

My parents built their home and paid cash for it all. They have always encouraged me to not go into unnecessary debt. They’re not far off from a wonderful retirement. I’m considering putting in a generous down payment myself once I’m in a position to buy or build a house (still years away). Or I cou...

BrownEyedGirl_27

thanks! we've priced out the cost of daycare and it's not cheap. we are both contributing $2500 to a dependent care FSA which we may adjust as i don't think we'll need much of it in the first year. a bit behind on retirement savings, yes. i didn't get started contributing to a 401k until i was 26 s...

BrownEyedGirl_27

I admit to changing my asset allocation over the last two weeks after reconsidering my motives to hold a REIT index fund and bonds (both Vanguard). I wasn’t trying to market time, just wanted to get everything into order this year. I won’t really need to rebalance because I own total market funds, n...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Resist the urge to tinker with your investments
Invest in total market index funds
Be greedy when others are fearful
Invest as much as you can as early as you can (check out William Bernstein’s “If You Can” PDF)

BrownEyedGirl_27

drivera5 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 28, 2020 4:28 pm
BL wrote: ↑Fri Feb 28, 2020 4:07 pmDid you do it?
Lol, may not be able to do it right this second but leaning towards throwing it all in this weekend

Good for you. I put in 6k last weekend, no looking back. Roth is an excellent choice given that you are allowing it to grow tax free. Good luck in your financial journey!

BrownEyedGirl_27

Not me. I bought 6k worth of ETF index funds two days ago. Not concerned about the market since I have many decades before retirement age ahead. Cheers

BrownEyedGirl_27

I don’t have an opinion on the loan but for the emergency fund: remember you can sell shares from any taxable investment accounts and use it if there is a true emergency. If emergency is bigger you can withdraw your own Roth contributions (just not beyond that amount). Then you can funnel future mon...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Good thing you have term already. Time to get rid of the universal life policy, stat. Do you and your wife have dependents or a large amount of debt? (Since you're on Bogleheads I'm assuming you don't have to worry about the latter). If your nest egg is doing well and you have no one depending on yo...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Don't be a landlord if you can't handle the damage done to the property. My parents learned the hard way that renters are a terrible investment--I couldn't even tell you the total amount they have paid (and are still paying!) to repair the damage done to the house they built. They didn't live in the...

BrownEyedGirl_27

-Tipping
-Facebook Marketplace purchase
-Road trips (only about $100)

BrownEyedGirl_27

Chromebooks are pretty cheap depending on the features and power you want, and it sounds like you would enjoy one. Windows 10 certainly is not the best OS out there and for what you need a computer to do the Chromebook can handle it. Why pay so much for Windows when you don't need it? I would buy Ch...

BrownEyedGirl_27

-Going to get into alpine skiing more. Trying to get the gear at our local swap meet to save money next November. Season passes aren't cheap but they'll pay for themselves if we can go at least 8 times a year. Not buying the pass yet but will in a couple years. -Hard wax treatments at home. I enjoy ...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Historically I have always saved the vast majority of my bonus. But I (fairly recently) have hit my retirement number so I decided I would try to spend this year's bonus on frivolous and fun things. So far I've gotten a new deck/fence for the house, bought ridiculously overpriced world series ticke...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Where do you prefer to place your emergency fund assets? (e.g. Ally online savings, Fidelity money market, etc.) Capital One 360 Performance Savings (1.7% APY) Never had an emergency yet that required dipping into emergency fund, so planning to use part of our high-yield checking account through lo...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Run, don’t walk, from a financial advisor! Unless you’re setting up a major financial move like a living trust or a complicated will don’t hire a planner at all. Read the advice from your fellow Bogleheads on this forum. Search bar on the website will help you find everything you’ll need to do this....

BrownEyedGirl_27

Get one for sure, it is like insurance, better to have one and not need it than need it and not have one. You can pay for her lawyer, but it should not be the same lawyer as yours. You should meet with a lawyer first to walk through what needs to be done, they can answer all your questions. Definit...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Don't they get most of their wares from China, which you can get from Amazon for less? The only way brick and mortar stores can stay in business is: 1. You are Apple with the highest revenue per sq.ft. of all retailers on earth. 2. You lease floor space to brand names or charge for premium placemen...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Samueul wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 11:21 am CapitalOne Performance Savings is 1.7% right now.

I have this one. It’s great

BrownEyedGirl_27

Thanks for the heads up. If I think of anything I will ask it here. Can’t wait for the podcast!

BrownEyedGirl_27

So not an online job, but have you thought of:

-Walking your neighbors’ dogs
-Donating plasma
-Churning credit card or checking/ savings account bonuses

These are all legit ways to make money. The dog walking is just an extra excuse to get some exercise. Just my two cents.

BrownEyedGirl_27

Remember “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison?

BrownEyedGirl_27

Signed up for a Fidelity HSA account last night and am getting ready to purchase FZROX! Cheapest fund I will ever buy, going to buy and then see how it performs. People say it is similar to VTSAX. Read the prospectus, truly no fees or hidden costs. Here’s to a great and prosperous 2020. :moneybag *I...

BrownEyedGirl_27

I use TD Ameritrade and love it. The research tools are great and site is easy to navigate. Going to start using Fidelity for my HSA.

BrownEyedGirl_27

Mortgage payoff!!! My balance is $0.00. :beer I had originally setup my bank account to do an ACH transfer for the balance due. When I tried to execute the ACH transaction, I was very surprised to learn that banks put a limit on the ACH dollar amount (like $5,000 or so). It would take a number of d...

BrownEyedGirl_27

Also reducing my commute time from 1h 20min to 15min! A massive improvement for me :D Congrats :D 15 minute commute is awesome... I have a 15 minute commute too... it's the best perk :sharebeer Congrats! Having a tiny commute is a huge blessing...I used to drive for 1 h a day and I've cut it down t...

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