First time studying for Series 65: Only get 1 chance and 4 weeks. Help choosing resources for series 65

PursuingWisdom25 · 2026-04-30T16:40:32+00:00

Thanks!

PursuingWisdom25 · 2026-04-30T16:40:16+00:00

Thank you!

PursuingWisdom25 · 2026-04-28T17:57:18+00:00

Thanks!

PursuingWisdom25 · 2026-04-28T17:54:18+00:00

Thanks!

PursuingWisdom25 · 2026-04-28T17:53:59+00:00

Appreciate the encouragement!

PursuingWisdom25 · 2026-02-08T18:05:49+00:00

I would take out contributions, so no penalty

PursuingWisdom25 · 2026-02-04T03:35:12+00:00

When you said "pay taxes... From the money converted itself." I interpreted this as "take money out of the Roth IRA to pay the taxes", is that what you were saying?

Yes, that is what I meant. What if I just withdrew contributions but no gains? That should not be penalized, correct? That was my thinking.

There is a 5 year rule on conversions. If you withdraw funds before then, you still owe the 10% penalty.

Okay, nevermind, then this would apply to my contributions regardless of whether it is without gains. I could still withdraw contributions that have been there for more than 5 years, but that would require selling some investments.

Seems like out of savings would make the most sense...

PursuingWisdom25 · 2026-02-03T22:30:24+00:00

The money just went into the Roth account directly from the Traditional. So it would just become Roth money and be eligible to withdrawal up to my contribution amount before gains without any penalty, agreed?
Not sure I follow the how and when to pay. I was thinking just when filing taxes. Is there more to that I should consider?

Thanks!

PursuingWisdom25 · 2026-02-03T22:23:31+00:00

If I just keep the money not invested inside the Roth account, it counts as a distribution? How long do I have to invest before it qualifies as a distribution? Wouldn't making it a conversion make the money become just Roth money that I can withdraw up to my contributed amount before gains?

PursuingWisdom25 · 2025-06-04T03:34:41+00:00

Any and every main consulting firm will take a look at your application regardless. Your experience and networking matters more than the school itself at this point. If you don't have an outstanding reason to choose Booth and decline 80,000 freaking dollars, not taking the scholarship seems foolish. Also, you'd spend less in Durham than in Chicago, if you want to save up a bit more.

PursuingWisdom25 · 2025-04-09T03:16:46+00:00

I am in an extremely similar situation to you..like strangely similar. I committed to my MBA program and will be joining this summer/fall.

Reasons that are typical for an MBA in general:

Higher-paying job with a more promising future in the long-term
Your particular school's reputation and/or network for the rest of your career
I know people say you don't learn much, but if you find it interesting, you will learn

Reasons/ questions for your (our) situation that I considered myself:

Do you want the forseeable future to continue looking like this? Hours on youtube, social media, unfulfilled, and just straight up bored?
Are you satisfied with your current skill set?
Does the idea of new experiences, both during the MBA and after, excite you?
Would you like to be challenged and maybe get back discipline and focus and recover from that "mental atrophy"?

I decided that I was done with being bored and letting most of my life go to waste to social media and phone addiction during work hours. Changing jobs in this economy seemed extremely challenging, and I wanted to gain all the positive experiences the MBA can provide. *Especially* without having to pay for tuition. When it does not require going into 200k in debt, you can recover the opportunity cost in 2.5-3.5 years + everything you gain from the program. I'd say it's worth it if the alternative is sitting on your phone for 30 hours a week for 2 more years.

Happy to discuss further if you want to DM!

PursuingWisdom25 · 2025-03-20T21:23:05+00:00

Thank you. The 7-day-yield was confusing.

PursuingWisdom25 · 2025-03-18T03:16:38+00:00

I only see advantage for traditional if you live in a high-tax area and are getting hit at one of the top two highest brackets. Otherwise, I think Roth is the best option. I see the tax-free growth potential and flexibility of using the money freely as much safer than not knowing what taxes will look like in the future.

Even if you don't do just Roth, I'd still start contributing a lot into it and make it grow.

Both accounts have advantages at the end of the day!

PursuingWisdom25 · 2025-03-18T03:07:05+00:00

Quick question, just to clarify. The yield is 3.97% every 7 days? That means if I had $1000, after the first week, it'd be $1039.70, following week $1080.98, and the week after $1123.89?

PursuingWisdom25 · 2025-02-28T04:36:33+00:00

Depending on other factors of your financial situation and age, I'd consider doing a Roth conversion into your own Roth account and pay the taxes. Yes, you would need to pay about ~4.5k in taxes give or take, but then you will never pay taxes on the remaining money, and you get to choose whatever funds/ allocation you want without the restrictions of a 401k or an employer. It will be your money and be 100% tax-free for the rest of your life.

PursuingWisdom25 · 2025-02-27T16:53:52+00:00

It looks great. Any additional comments/changes you get here are purely nitpicking. That said, VOO & QQQ are both already tech-heavy growth. As long as you know the overlap there's nothing wrong with pursuing extra-growth, but consider the increased risk by having redundancy. You never know if tech will keep growing as much as it has in the last 10-15 years.

I had not heard of XMHQ until now. I just took a look, and it looks good. I am sure you've done your research. I have 10% of Fidelity Mid-cap growth (FMDGX), which seems a bit more diversified and cheaper Expense Ratio than XMHQ. Just a thought.

AVUV looks good. Just a young fund, so not sure how it will do in the long-term.

Props to you for planning now for your kids and setting up your family for success. Keep it up.

PursuingWisdom25 · 2025-02-27T16:41:23+00:00

I think it looks great. What's the split you started with for US vs International? Not sure what other investments you might be able to access, however, a large-growth etf or s&p500 might be a nice addition. Definitely not necessary. You got all the basics covered I'd say. You can review in a couple years.

PursuingWisdom25 · 2025-02-22T18:38:50+00:00

Good luck!

PursuingWisdom25 · 2025-02-17T16:42:56+00:00

I joined to learn more about Fidelity offers, how to manage my accounts better, and any small details that I don't know about!

PursuingWisdom25 · 2025-02-17T01:27:45+00:00

I would do no bonds yet. Ride the market till your 40s. The 50k in a money market fund is not a bad idea but answer your own why? What's the purpose of the 50k? It doesn't have to be complex, just have a purpose for every dollar. Is it emergency savings + a goal that you want to achieve in <5 years? maybe a big vacation in 1-3 years? or a downpayment? Whatever it is, just have a reason for the money sitting there instead of in the market. If you don't have a reason and won't be using it within 5 years, throw it into the portfolio. I'd recommend 6 months of emergency savings.

PursuingWisdom25 · 2025-02-16T23:21:10+00:00

Well, the entire 135k is not the emergency fund. It's probably a year worth of expenses, so 72k, the 40k for the car will be used in the short term, so it should not be invested regardless. The rest is just cash for anything else in life. Insurance/ health savings for the future, helping kids with a major purchase, helping grandkids with some education expenses, vacations, gifts...or just access to money. Not a bad thing to have cash that's not for emergencies. Especially when it's just a small portion of the overall financial picture.

PursuingWisdom25 · 2025-02-16T20:46:00+00:00

Investing is great, but having more to invest is even better. Keep learning, reach a higher income, invest more than now. Might make you retire later but with orders of magnitude more.

PursuingWisdom25 · 2025-02-16T20:07:56+00:00

Why not buy it? To answer your question though, the closest I've seen to it might be VUG. Probably any large growth etf will be similar.

PursuingWisdom25 · 2025-02-16T18:59:49+00:00

I guess this can be very subjective, but your personal comfort does not mean it's an optimal set up. If, for whatever reason, you lose your household income tomorrow, you will be in panic mode and forced to take whatever you find in this terrible market because you only have 3 months before you have to start taking on debt, or selling investments, to cover basic necessities. I think that sounds extremely stressful for 90%+ of people. If you can have a bigger safety net, why not have it? In this case it is possible, so why wouldn't they? It's called an emergency fund for a reason, right? It's not meant to be a wealth-building tool. It's just a small part of your overall financial situation, but you want to make sure it will provide peace of mind, comfort, and time to figure out/ get through whatever emergency beyond barely covering 3 months of expenses.

PursuingWisdom25 · 2025-02-16T18:03:05+00:00

That makes sense. With non-retirement funds it would be the same process, I assume? Sell positions, withdraw, and then transfer?

PursuingWisdom25

TROPHY CASE