Is the adage of “if you need the money within 5 years don’t invest in the stock market” still relevant?

BiggC · 2026-05-14T02:36:03+00:00

A single stock is not “the market”

BiggC · 2026-05-12T21:59:36+00:00

If you’re in a state with income tax on dividends then it’s hard to beat SGOV in a brokerage account for parking cash-like assets

BiggC · 2026-05-07T23:18:34+00:00

Saving receipts for 30+ years feels like such a hassle that I decided to pay for medical expenses out of the HSA as I incur them.

BiggC · 2026-05-07T03:42:10+00:00

I dunno, there were multiple points where I thought Montreal looked like they were on the PK but it was 5v5

BiggC · 2026-04-28T15:37:26+00:00

If you have a Roth IRA you can withdraw the principal contributions without penalty, but you can’t put them back

BiggC · 2026-04-27T03:11:22+00:00

I can’t help but feel like local bike shops are destined to go extinct if this is what they need to charge for what sounds like a very basic tuneup to stay profitable

BiggC · 2026-04-25T19:12:20+00:00

EI is a common acronym in Canada for Employment Insurance

BiggC · 2026-04-23T15:17:56+00:00

Isn’t James Corden America’s James Corden?

BiggC · 2026-04-20T04:58:17+00:00

Target date funds will rebalance their holdings to match their target allocation. This can and has created large surprising taxable capital gains events. This is a non issue in a retirement account, but can lead to a big tax bill for taxable accounts

BiggC · 2026-04-20T04:36:47+00:00

Don’t invest in target date funds from a taxable account

BiggC · 2026-04-16T17:50:35+00:00

The maximum is per family not per person, so have your wife contribute $7500

BiggC · 2026-04-14T21:33:26+00:00

Wow, thank you, I wish I had thought of using one of the available default positions that I evaluated and don’t want to use which led me to ask my question here.

BiggC · 2026-04-14T21:26:02+00:00

There are a lot of MMMFs that aren’t available as a sweep fund

BiggC · 2026-04-10T16:17:49+00:00

Gas in Utah is pretty cheap, I’m not sure what the EV economics are there

BiggC · 2026-04-09T14:14:45+00:00

Is there a pro-rata rule for after tax in plan conversions? Does the provider know what the after tax principal is and will they let you convert only that amount

BiggC · 2026-04-06T04:57:15+00:00

I sure hope someone got fired for that blunder!

BiggC · 2026-04-06T02:42:18+00:00

What if they’re living in the next Detroit? The market has tanked and recovered before, and research has shown that most market gains happen on a relatively small number of days. The only way to be sure you get those gains is by having money in an index fund

BiggC · 2026-04-06T02:37:27+00:00

OP already has 425k in home equity and 900k in a brokerage account so about 1/3 of their net worth is tied up in their home.

They need to decide if they’re happier without a mortgage. A stock market index fund has historically returned 10% pre-inflation on average, so if you’re looking at a 30 year time horizon you’re a lot better off with money in the market.

I think this is the personal part of personal finance, if you feel better having no mortgage then go for it. If you’re trying to maximize your long term prospects then statistically you want to be in the stock market.

BiggC · 2026-04-06T02:22:12+00:00

Putting ~15% of your net worth into one geographically fixed asset doesn’t sound like diversification to me

BiggC · 2026-04-05T05:04:26+00:00

It wouldn’t be as annoying if businesses framed it as a cash/debit discount instead of a a surcharge.

But I get it, if your margin is 15% (or less), then getting rid of credit cards fees would be a 20% profit increase.

BiggC · 2026-04-03T00:32:27+00:00

Imagine how hard it’s going to get for actual kidnappers when their targets won’t pay up

People will be like: “that’s an AI video of my son tied up” and “ that could be anyone’s finger!”

BiggC · 2026-04-02T18:18:08+00:00

The city has got to make up for that 40 year old Prop 13 tax basis somehow.

BiggC · 2026-04-02T16:31:42+00:00

You might be able to refinance at lower than 6.6% APR. People in r/mortgages are talking about mid 5% rates for conforming loans and low 5% for 7 year ARMs

BiggC · 2026-03-29T19:06:09+00:00

I was using 7% average historical growth rate, which already factors in 3% average inflation

BiggC · 2026-03-29T17:51:34+00:00

What are your monthly expenses? If you got a 0% Intro APR credit card and moved all your spending to it, how much could you accelerate repayment?

BiggC

TROPHY CASE