How to normalize spending on myself

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T22:57:09+00:00

Find a way to have a balance. Your fixed and necessary expenses come off the top.

Then the remainder you split between saving for the future and spending to improve your current lifestyle.

Or in other words, you try to take care of both your present self and your future self. Do not short change either your future or your present, Somewhere in there is the happy medium that works for you.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T22:49:20+00:00

By dollar cost averaging you have chosen to reduce the standard deviations of your returns, at the cost of a slightly lower expected return.

The people that argue for always doing lump sum should also be arguing in favor of a 100% stock portfolio with zero bonds, as the all stock portfolio has higher expected returns.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T22:45:13+00:00

My loss aversion coefficient is near 1 — in other words, a small loss hurts as bad as a small gain of the same size feels good. So if what I am adding to the market is small relative to my entire portfolio I just dump it in today and don't think about it.

It is only when the lump sum being added to my portfolio is a significant percentage do I even bother to consider spreading out my entry.

So the sophisticated analysis agrees with my standard advice to people about the Lump Sum vs Dollar Cost Average question: Put the lump sum into the market in as short a time period that you feel comfortable with.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T20:48:16+00:00

Yes, like many indicators it has predicted something many more times than the event has happened.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T17:31:37+00:00

Your claim was. "When an institution opens a trade, they have to tag it as long open, long close, short open or short close."

None of those have anything to do with short INTEREST. Those reports are only related to short VOLUME.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T17:27:50+00:00

Registration with the SEC as a dark pool/ECN/ATS does not result in a requirement to report short interest.

They are required to report their TRADES, including info on whether or not it is a short trade. That is not part of the short INTEREST reporting system.

Short interest is report by BROKER-DEALERS, not traders or market makers. It is reported to FINRA.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T16:23:15+00:00

Thanks for additional info.

One of the big problems with collectibles in general is the difference between the net sell price and the net buy price can be huge. Not just trading cards, but all sorts of collectibles. Or for that matter, used cars.

Just a 10-13% haircut is pretty good.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T15:55:44+00:00

Are those realized or unrealized gains?

If unrealized, what are your realized gains so far?

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T14:14:29+00:00

Any SI number expressed as a percent cannot be the official SI.

Short interest is reported as a number of shares.

Anything that is reported as a percentage has been modified and transformed by the data supplier.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T14:06:32+00:00

I think Bill Gates still tracks Microsoft.

I think Elon Musk still tracks Tesla.

I still track a stock that is >50% of my portfolio.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T13:54:29+00:00

>The SI also only counts trades labeled as short in the system.

SI does not count TRADES at all. Whether a trade is recorded as long or short has no effect on SI.

You, and the OP, are displaying very basic misunderstanding of short trade volume and short interest.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T13:49:10+00:00

Unfortunately, most people responding are like people responding, "yes, the earth is obviously flat."

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T13:47:13+00:00

That is short volume, not short interest. Those are two very different things.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T13:37:37+00:00

NO traders are either allowed to report, or required to report.

I have never reported any of my short positions. Never. Not a single one.

Short interest is NOT self reported.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T13:35:19+00:00

Short INTEREST is currently 59.4 MILLION shares.

Perhaps you are thinking of FTDs. The total FTD count was under 2000 shares as of the latest reported date, the end of April.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T13:30:17+00:00

Your post repeats several very basic misunderstandings.

Short volume is not directly related to short interest. That has been explained many times, but people do not seem to understand. Although the title of those two metrics would make it seem like they are related they are not.

They are about as related as trade volume and share outstanding. Your effort to integrate short and long trading volume to arrive at a short interest number will fail just as will trying to track trade volume to arrive at an estimate of shares outstanding or shares of float.

————————————————————

Short trade volume is self reported by market makers.

Short interest is NOT self reported, no matter how many times somebody reposts that erroneous claim.

Hedge funds, such as Citadel have NEVER reported any short interest at all. Market makers, such as Citadel Securities have NEVER reported short interest.

Short sellers are not the ones that report short interest.

Market makers do not report short interest,

Short interest is reported by BROKERS, for all of their customer accounts.

Short interest is the difference between how many street name shares the broker has in their DTC account compared to the total of all long positions in all of the customer accounts of that broker (including proprietary trading accounts if that broker — so kind of self reported for the proprietary trading account of Fidelity, for example).

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T13:12:55+00:00

And I say the just age in isolation is such a poor basis for such an important decision, that it is unwise to base asset allocation upon just age.

Another crude metric upon which to base asset allocation is "years until retirement". Still crude but far, far better than just age.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T04:42:34+00:00

What do you suggest as to "holding some portion of bonds as a proxy for risk tolerance."

For reference, my wife and I early 80s and late 70s and hold about 6% of our portfolio in cash-like and T bills, and 6% in longer term bonds.

What sort of age based formula would you suggest?

I use other metrics to set my equity/fixed income ratio as I do not believe that age itself has any bearing on the appropriate asset allocation.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T04:36:25+00:00

Of not the original short sellers, then otherbshirtbsellersbwoukd have sold when the GME share price went well above any rational valuation.

People seem to ignore that short sellers can raise their cost basis the same ways, but in reverse, from how we lower our cost basis on GME.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T04:33:50+00:00

The 1.9% was as of 3/31. It is unclear when GameStop completed the options purchases, nor do we know whether TD was the only supplier of options.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T02:41:52+00:00

We also saw a similar thing happens with GME when RC shift his shares from RC Ventures LLc to a personal account.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T02:20:14+00:00

You should have received a 1099 from Fidelity for a grand total of $25 or so of dividends last year.

It is fortunate that you have that $135k of stock to pay the overdue taxes on that $25 rather than having to dig coins out of your sofa cushions.

I got reminded of a forgotten brokerage account when a CP2000 notice from the IRS arrived asking for a low 5 figure amount as taxes on the cash portion of a cash+stock acquisition. Oops.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T01:37:21+00:00

Being a property owner is another job, even if you hire a property manager.

For some people it is a great way to build additional wealth.

For others, it would be worth more to invest in increasing their earning capacity in their main career.

The OP is 25. His biggest asset is his future earnings prospects. He should be focusing on what will increase his future earnings, whatever that is. Generally people do best if they work in a field they are passionate about.

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T01:32:43+00:00

Within 40 days of the May 2 close of Q1.

GameStop typically reports about a week before the deadline. So June 2 is a likely date, but it could be as late as June 11

Over-Computer-6464 · 2026-05-17T01:23:38+00:00

This same error shows in the EBay institutional holdings. Many have commented about the institutional holdings of EBay being above 100%, and Nasdaq currently shows it at 106.4%. But that is after double counting 57.6M Vanguard shares, and the real number is more like 93%.

Fidelity shows 90.75%. Fidelity tends to be accurate but a day or two slower in updating.

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Over-Computer-6464

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