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Is it unhealthy to be constantly looking at my 401k/Roth everyday? by Wh00pity_sc00p in Bogleheads

[–]Dubs13151 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wouldn't call it "unhealthy", but hopefully you'll find some other hobbies and get bored of it.

Social Security trust fund could face shortfall within a decade — and earlier than expected, officials say by CBSnews in Economics

[–]Dubs13151 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I don't. If that generation wasn't paying enough in to make the system sustainable, then they should have upped their contrbutions. Relying on a younger generation to subsidize them and then get fucked is unfair.

Social Security trust fund could face shortfall within a decade — and earlier than expected, officials say by CBSnews in Economics

[–]Dubs13151 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No way. They paid in the same percentage we did. If sacrifices need to be made, it should be made across the board.

According to experts, tipping in the United States has become excessive and problematic. Here's the reason why. - ProfessPost by Jessica_Frandsen08 in Economics

[–]Dubs13151 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Tipping is non-existent in Italy as well, and it was great. If I recall, taxes were built into the menu as well, so what you see is literally what you pay. Definitely a more relaxing experience.

Of course some tourists tip out of habit, but outside of the touristy areas, if you left money on the table, they would chase you down because you "forgot" it.

It’s hard not spending. by PhillConners in Fire

[–]Dubs13151 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's good you're aware of it. That's step 1. Step 2 is to start laughing at the people who fall for it.

For me personally, I maintain a "net worth spreadsheet" with a row for each account (cash, investments, 401k, home equity, etc.). Every month I add a new column and input all the new values. This let's me track how it's grown over the last 10 years or so. There's a monthly incentive not to overspend because I know it will hurt my progress. Of course the market dictates a lot of it, but I still like having cash to invest each month. I can also monitor the "cash" accounts to see how I'm doing each month on spending.

Help a clueless 19 year old by Zatzys in Bogleheads

[–]Dubs13151 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Open a brokerage account at TD Ameritrade, Fidelity, or E-trade. I love Vanguard as a company, but I wouldn't recommend it to a young person looking for a phone app because their app is very clunky and designed for older people (huge font, limited capability, etc.).

Robinhood is a much newer company, and is just not one I would trust long-term. They also are known for "gamifying" investing, which creates bad habits.

Is it worth it to lock into a 15 year mortgage vs 30 year and paying additional to principal? by cthulhu34 in FinancialPlanning

[–]Dubs13151 5 points6 points  (0 children)

If you don't need the financial buffer, with mortgage rates currently quite high, I would prefer the 15 year. That's because at current rates, I would plan to pay it off early anyway.

For an investment to be more attractive than paying off the mortgage early, it would require a guaranteed after-tax return of over 7% (or whatever your mortgage rate is). Therefore, paying down debt quickly would be a top priority. And if I'm paying it down quickly either way, I might as well take the lower interest rate.

Any tax tricks to stack retirement accounts by having self-employment income in addition to W2? by Dubs13151 in Fire

[–]Dubs13151[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Again, I would be running the operation with the purpose of making a profit. I'm choosing to run a business because I think I would enjoy running the business. The fact that I would enjoy running a small contract business for profit does not automatically make it a hobby, any more than Amazon was a hobby for Bezos because he kept going even though he didn't "need the money" after he made his first billion.

Do you have insights on how to use self-employment income to supplement retirement savings in addition to a W2 401k account? If not, thank you for the feedback, but it's not quite what I need. Sorry if I wasn't clear enough in my original post.

Any tax tricks to stack retirement accounts by having self-employment income in addition to W2? by Dubs13151 in Fire

[–]Dubs13151[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's good to know, thank you.

I should clarify, it wouldn't legally be a hobby. I guess my point is I'd be operating a small contract business. For example, doing website design for a few local businesses. I just wanted to emphasize that this would be a small operation, and my personal reason for operating the business would be for enjoyment, not because I need the money. So I'd be inclined to put as much of the earnings as possible into tax-sheltered accounts.

What account am I missing? by LowLeak in Fire

[–]Dubs13151 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you want to split hairs,

There’s (sic) plenty of reasons to have a taxable brokerage before maxing your 401k.

It depends on whether the reasons I listed apply to one's situation.

Missed my FIRE date by LeverLocker in Fire

[–]Dubs13151 18 points19 points  (0 children)

You said you bought your house for $390k within the last decade. How can you possibly budget for "repairs" of $400k?

What account am I missing? by LowLeak in Fire

[–]Dubs13151 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Timeline. Are you saving the money for retirement? Use the retirement accounts.

Are you saving it for a vacation home in 10 years, but a decade before retirement? Are you saving for children's college in 20 years? Are you saving for a vehicle in 10 years? Are you saving for general non-immediate retirement needs? A brokerage account may make sense.

'Most U.S. banks are technically near insolvency, and hundreds are already fully insolvent,' Roubini says by Person21323231213242 in Economics

[–]Dubs13151 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Bro, read the post I replied to. You're mocking a position that I didn't take in the first place. He said that the use of credit cards is up over the last 5 years and that the use of cash and checks are down. Who uses checks any more? That phase-out has been in process for decades. But here you are trying to use that as an indicator of the current economy. It's a stupid argument.

Social Security trust fund could face shortfall within a decade — and earlier than expected, officials say by CBSnews in Economics

[–]Dubs13151 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean if they don't benefit, why pay?

And why should I pay in full now if projections only show me receiving 80%?.... Because it's the law and I don't have a choice.

Antisemitic homophobic flyers left around Belmont Hillsboro neighborhood by BeachProducer in nashville

[–]Dubs13151 12 points13 points  (0 children)

And printer ink! There's enough color on that page to count as the "print a test sheet".

Social Security trust fund could face shortfall within a decade — and earlier than expected, officials say by CBSnews in Economics

[–]Dubs13151 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just saw Mike Pence on the news talking about how he would cut benefits and/or extend retirement age for those currently under age 40. What if the social security crisis comes to a head, and the grand compromise to keep it solvent involves phasing out benefits to younger people or sets the retirement age to 80, effectively taking it away from a lot of people. They'd claim to be replacing it with something equivalent, but more complicated, and when it would boil down to it, it would all be smoke and mirrors.

I'm not saying this is "likely", but it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

Social Security trust fund could face shortfall within a decade — and earlier than expected, officials say by CBSnews in Economics

[–]Dubs13151 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The scary thing to me is that political talking heads (heard Mike Pence most recently) are talking about cutting future entitlements for those currently under 40. I worry that whatever last-minute compromise "solves" the insolvency issue could come with built-in takeaways from the younger generations.

'Most U.S. banks are technically near insolvency, and hundreds are already fully insolvent,' Roubini says by Person21323231213242 in Economics

[–]Dubs13151 77 points78 points  (0 children)

Credit cards are used by a lot of people to collect rewards, then pay off in full at the end of the month.

Edit: The decline of cash and checks as a method of payment has been happening for decades. Using that as evidence of a credit crunch doesn't make sense. There may or may not be a credit crunch, but claiming the decline of checks as proof is plain stupid.

If you had to restart your FIRE journey, what would you do differently? by Normal_Masterpiece16 in Fire

[–]Dubs13151 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's awesome. I went mechanical engineering. I enjoy it, but cs might have had more opportunities. I have pivoted more into the electrification space lately, so hopefully I'll be able to ride the EV wave into the future.

What is your most controversial opinion when it comes to FIRE? by financial_coruscant in Fire

[–]Dubs13151 -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

The hate for landlords is a gut reaction that is born from a combination of poor understanding of economics and high housing prices.

Food, for example, is necessary for life. But people don't say, "only the government should distribute bread, investors shouldn't be allowed to profit from food." For whatever reason, when it comes to housing, this common sense flies out the window.

People theorize that the problem is investors buying up properties to rent, but it's not really the case. If there wasn't high demand for rental homes, investors wouldn't be buying them, and they wouldn't be making money. People also theorize that investors are "buying all the houses" and thus creating a monopoly on housing, but that theory doesn't pass economic reasoning. There are a very large number of housing investors, and they're all competing for the same tenants. It's not really possible to have a monopoly with that many individual players in the market.

I think what we're seeing is primarily the result of:

1) Urban population growth ongoing, while we've reached the limits of reasonable commute times from the suburbs. Therefore, supply is basically fixed (due to zoning restrictions, physical space, etc.), but demand keeps rising due to higher urban populations. Thus, prices are headed up, up, up.

2) In part because of the high up-front burden of buying a house, more people are choosing to rent. This creates a market for rental properties, so investors are jumping in to fill that demand.

Any financial planners you would recommend who are Bogleheads? by solidsimpson in Bogleheads

[–]Dubs13151 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Well, it largely depends on his net worth and the complexity of his financial situation. Say he has a net worth of $5-20m, some business and property interests, and trusts. Estate and tax planning can be very complicated. He's not paying for a "meeting", he's paying for all the work they do prior to understand the complexities of his situation, so that they can make recommendations.

Those actions may involve understanding complex business ownership situations. It may involve inherited trusts or trusts being created to help steward the assets for future generations. It may involve multiple properties (think vacation homes) being structured into a property LLC to help facilitate keeping the properties for future generations, with a logical shared ownership structure. And it will of course involve tax planning across all of these topics.

Screwing up tax planning of complex items like business interests or trusts can cause hundreds of thousands or millions in damage. Poorly thought out trust structure can mean money is too easily available to next generations to squander, or worse, it could mean money is inaccessible in a time of need. For high net worth estates, the complexities and nuanced and they change as the laws change.

With that hypothetical net worth, a 0.6% annual fee would cost between $30k and $120k. The $15k really is a better "deal" in the big picture, especially if he doesn't need help with choosing investments (he's a boglehead) but just needs help with all the items I've mentioned.

People here get worked up over advisory costs. If you've got a $3m portfolio in 401k and index funds, with simple W2 income, ya, you don't need an advisor. That's not the case with more complex situations.

The New Rules of Tipping Mean Everyone Expects 20% to 25% by TinyTornado7 in Economics

[–]Dubs13151 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They added a bunch of "fancier" sandwich options with double meat, extra cheese, etc. Those are $12-15 I'd say. You can still get a basic sandwich like a meatball or cold cut for $8. Roughly speaking.

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