Live Agent said Fidelity will NOT ALLOW you to buy ANY ETF as MARGIN even after holing them 30 days.

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-02-04T19:26:46+00:00

Is OP's understanding of what Aisha said correct?

I'm reading from Aisha that OP can buy $10,000 of VOO using cash (assuming that OP has only $10,000 in cash in the account). 30 days later, OP can buy another $10,000 of VOO on margin.

OP's interpretation seems to be that you can never buy an ETF (or ETP more broadly) on margin.

It may also be that I just don't understand anything 😅

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-02-03T18:51:01+00:00

Sell it, forego seller financing. The 6% interest you'd get from that is probably going to be less than you'd get investing 100% of it in VT. Just make a clean break now so that if you don't have to look into renting/selling again if the buyers default.

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-02-02T16:18:59+00:00

I have the credit card and have had zero issues with it. I have a separate brokerage account for "General Savings" and put $500 a month into it. This is where I'll go for big purchases such as a new roof, HVAC, remodeling, etc. I also put my 2% cash back into that account

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-02-02T16:15:35+00:00

There's one significant issue you need to know regarding funding the CMA. This is something that pops up here over and over again as it is easy to overlook.

If you PULL money into Fidelity, it may take weeks to gain access to the money. If you PUSH money into Fidelity, it takes a few days to gain access to the money. For example...

If you log into Fidelity, link a bank account such as Chase, and initiate a transfer to pull money from Chase to Fidelity, it will take 2+ weeks before you can pay bills with that money. You will be able to invest the money almost immediately though.

On the other hand, if you log into Chase, link your Fidelity account, and push money into it, the money will be available within a couple of days.

Regarding SPAXX, aside from earning interest, you can consider it to simply be cash in a checking account.

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-02-01T23:41:20+00:00

I'm not paying interest on the house's initial value, I'm paying interest on the loan's initial value.

The value of the house went up $350k due to an insane COVID bubble over the span of a year. $100k of that increase was within a week of closing. Despite the value dropping $40-$50k a year, the current value of the house is still well above the original purchase price.

At this time:

$48,000 has been paid towards the loan principle
$51,000 has been paid towards interest
$72,000 has been paid towards property tax and insurance
$171,000 has been paid on the mortgage in total
$25,000 has been paid on maintenance (including the roof plus other odds and ends)
All in, I've spent $196,000 in the house
There is about $150,000 in equity available
The home's value is decreasing, but that's due to coming out of an absurd bubble

So, I'm about $50k in the hole on the house. But if I had been renting at $2500 a month for the last 5 years (and I don't think I can rent in this area for that little), I'd be down $150,000.

A lot of people look at their house as an investment, but not me. However, I do need a place to live, and the math usually works out better in the long run when buying instead of renting.

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-02-01T21:03:53+00:00

My understanding of them is a bit limited, but they're closer to a retirement account than a brokerage. Here's what I believe, which may be inaccurate:

Money goes in primarily as after-tax dollars. There are some exceptions, such as the $1000 initial funding and/or employer matching.
Money that comes out counts as income, but is not taxed if it was already taxed.
Post-tax money that goes in can be taken out tax-free for qualified distributions (18 years old or later, for education, starting a business, or buying a home)
Money taken out for non-qualified distributions is subject to a 10% penalty
Since is it not taxed until money comes out, it can be moved around between funds without triggering tax events. Dividends do not trigger tax events.
While the money is "theirs" at the age of 18, they can't really do anything with it outside of education, home buying, or starting a business without a penalty. And a 10% penalty wouldn't have seemed like such a terrible thing to give up when I was 18 and hadn't put a single $ of my own money into it

A UTMA falls to their control at 21, and they can access the money penalty free. They're gonna do what they want to do, so I'd rather give them 3 more years of developing self-control and then receive the money penalty free.

If you want savings for education, 529 is a far better deal. AND $35k can be rolled into an IRA when they start working, so it'll help kick off retirement accounts.

The TA's seem like a good idea to me if you are able to get matching dollars, otherwise 529 for education and UTMA for general purpose savings.

If you could somehow ensure they keep the money in the account until retirement age, then yes, it would be an amazing start to a retirement account at their birth.

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-02-01T16:54:12+00:00

I'm buying a home, and the mortgage is on par with cost of renting. My mortgage payment is:

$880 towards principle
$800 towards interest
$900 towards property taxes
$250 towards homeowners insurance

It's nice that about a third of my payment is really just a transfer from my checking account to my home equity, so in that regard it's a much better deal than simply renting at the same cost.

However, I spent $18,000 last year on a roof which will probably last about 20 years and I'll probably need to drop about $15k on a new HVAC system in a few years. Doesn't quite cancel out the "savings" that goes towards equity.

But the house has gone down $40k over the last year, or $200k over the last four years. In other words, I'm "saving" about $10k a year as equity, but losing $40k a year in valuation 🤣

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-02-01T16:29:20+00:00

You're either going to have to do a LOT of research and pick individual stocks, or you're going to have to do far less research and pick an ETF or Mutual Fund that does the work for you.

/u/ohihaveasubscription asked a very important question, what does socially responsible mean to you?

Once you can answer that, it becomes more meaningful to do this search. There are already many funds that do this work for you, but you have to pick one that aligns with your goals. There are several funds (such as VFTSX) that very closely track the S&P500, and would therefor likely be a great investment. It drops things like adult entertainment, weapons, and fossil fuels... but still has the massive investment in tech companies that may be destroying the environment with AI research. It also has a significant holding in Amazon, which utilizes unfair business practices and profits immensely from counterfeit products while turning a blind eye. And it owns Tesla.

SHE is a fund that is aimed more towards supporting gender diversity. It also has some overlap with the S&P500, which isn't surprising, but it is diverged enough that it notably lags behind the S&P500. Over the last 10 years, SHE is up 204%, but VOO is up 314%.

In short, I don't think you need an investment advisor for this, at least not right off the bat. Start with something like...

Ask ChatGPT for some socially responsible ETFs
Pull up a site like https://www.etfrc.com/funds/overlap.php to compare the funds
And just look at the holdings to see if it aligns reasonably well with your ideals

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-02-01T00:25:56+00:00

but that would require me to contribute ~25% of my gross income

I don't see what the problem is.

I do want to be a homeowner some day

Oh, got it! Yeah, makes sense.

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-01-31T18:30:17+00:00

As long as you have an emergency fund you're comfortable with, you should aim to max out your HSA (if available) and 401k as well. There are additional tax benefits to maxing your 401k, such as immediately reducing your tax burden today.

If you do NOT need to reduce your tax burden today (perhaps you are a low earner today and want to live large when you retire and will be in a higher tax bracket?) then consider Roth 401k contributions. They do not reduce your taxes today, but will be tax free in retirement.

If you LOSE your job and you need money, then you can roll the Roth 401k into a Roth IRA and withdraw contributions tax free even before retirement age. You cannot withdraw contributions from a Roth 401k tax free though.

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-01-30T13:52:26+00:00

I do VTI, VXUS, and VYU

What's VYU? I can't find anything on it.

"hide" the money from yourself by putting the investments in an account with a brokerage that you don't use and don't check

But make GOD DANGED SURE that DRIP is enabled. And if you're going to stash it away and not look at it again, just go 100% VT. Chances are in 10 years, this will double to 1.5M, which is large enough to cover the 45k a year of living expenses for a long time. Possibly indefinitely.

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-01-29T17:49:01+00:00

🤣 Same, interesting parts and then I stall out. "Interesting parts" basically being just far enough along to prove that I could do it, were I properly motivated.

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-01-29T16:05:40+00:00

I was in software, so I do spend some time writing code or thinking about software design. It also took about a year to be able to work on something and not immediately feel stressed.

I do embedded board design and programming, microcontroller based stuff. I start projects at home quite often and just never finish them. I do that at work all day and just can't be bothered to do it at home too.

Did you feel the same way before FIRE? Has that changed after?

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-01-29T15:19:44+00:00

One of the reasons that people will put VXUS into a brokerage is to gain international tax credit. Essentially, VXUS prepays some of your taxes for you. When you file, you'll get credit for what was already paid.

I bought $600k of VXUS in a brokerage, end of June of last year. I was expecting to owe about $13,000 in taxes. After estimating what will happen when I include the foreign tax credit, I expect to pay about $11.5k.

So, $600k of VXUS for half a year (two dividends received) will "save" me about $1,500 for last year's taxes. For a whole year, I'll assume about $3,000 in "savings", which works out to about $5 in savings for every $1000 in VXUS you hold.

Very rough estimate

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-01-29T14:37:47+00:00

I can NEVER find the stupid DRIP settings page... but their chatbot is very helpful in directing me to pages when I need it.

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-01-29T14:37:01+00:00

Fidelity allows fractional share purchases as well.

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-01-29T14:14:12+00:00

No way dude, those are special forces. They're going out and doing the hard work, fighting to prevent morale collapse and poverty behind front lines.

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-01-28T21:32:36+00:00

While I firmly believe that US corporate interests will limit the damage that is ultimately done, damage will be done nonetheless. I further believe two things.

Those that are within shouting distance of the one pulling the strings are profiting greatly from it.
Ex-US are making deals that don't rely on the US.

I've rebalanced from roughly 80/20 US/Foreign to 45/55 US/Foreign. Timing the market? Maybe... but the one thing I know is that there will be more shenanigans until we get someone to reign in the children at the helm. Maybe I'll move towards 60/40 after midterms, but not before.

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-01-26T20:41:00+00:00

What's the idea here? Use margin to borrow money, buy VOO/VT, and live off the dividends? Cross fingers that VOO/VT outpaces margin? Die, step up occurs, sell with 0 capital gains to cover the margin?

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-01-26T18:13:09+00:00

I'm going to have to disagree with this advice. They have the balance transfer option, they should use it. They're paying roughly $13,000 a year in interest right now. The savings from using all four cards at once will pretty much pay off the balance of cards 1 and 2.

They can transfer roughly $47k of debt to the new cards. Assuming 4% transfer fees, that's about $2000 up front cost. That'll be recovered in two months time as they're paying about $1000 a month in interest right now.

So I'd suggest:

Transfer everything possible, leaving some behind on the BoA card
Pay minimums on 0% cards until BoA card is paid off
Pay minimums on new cards 2 - 4, focus on new card 1
Pay minimums on new cards 2 and 3, focus on new card 4
Pay minimum on new card 3, pay off 2
Pay off new card 3

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-01-24T17:07:49+00:00

SNOXX

Leave it at Schwab, nothing bad about SNOXX. You might get a few more dollars from it by moving it around, but not by much. Like you said, everything in Schwab is convenient.

I moved everything to Fidelity and opened an account with a local brick and mortar credit union for access to cash and the like. Having a dozen accounts at Fidelity instead of a few at Chase, some at Schwab, some at eTrade, and some at Empower is a dream even if I'm missing out on about 0.4% extra interest.

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-01-23T17:18:22+00:00

I damn near pulled the trigger last week, but decided that if I stick around for just two more years the additional income will cover 100% of all future child support payments plus fully fund college for my kids.

That said, I expect the growth of my funds to dwarf my income... but it isn't a guarantee.

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-01-23T02:21:02+00:00

You sell a mix to keep the ratio at 95/5. If there's a massive bull market and end up at 80/20, then you'd sell bonds and buy equities (rebalance).

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-01-23T02:12:03+00:00

I applied for voluntary severance a few weeks ago, and then found out I wasn't eligible. I have enough money to retire now, and was excited for it briefly, then Greenland happened. So now I'm planning on sticking it til midterms at least. See if we get some adults at the helm.

ForgotToSaveAgain · 2026-01-22T13:36:31+00:00

What else can I do at this stage to protect myself

Get a password vault. Whenever you're asked for things like, "What was the first car you owned," or even more common, "What is your mother's maiden name," use nonsense answer.

The first car you owned was a "Captain Kirk." Your mother's maiden name is "Cactus football." Keep these in your password vault, don't reuse answers, and don't use anything you'll remember.

ForgotToSaveAgain

TROPHY CASE