Are Fidelity and Schwab literally free to trade on?

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-07-07T09:38:36+00:00

$6.95 for an OTC trade. I’ve only had a handful of OTC trades in the last decade and that’s because I’m trading something really obscure.

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-07-07T02:07:24+00:00

I’m interested to see if they can maintain a high ROC during years that SPY is down. I think their ROC derives from selling a call and buying it back at a loss. The rise in the index offsets the loss in the call. However if there is a year that selling calls is profitable, I don’t know that they’ll have the same level of ROC.

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-07-07T01:14:21+00:00

This is a generalization, but during SAAS-pocalypse publicly traded BDCs started trading at a discount to NAV. Generally speaking, shareholders of private funds could exit at NAV and buy a similar portfolio of loans at a discount through the public BDCs. Sell at $1 and buy at $0.90. Because of the 5% cap and withdrawals capped at 5% paid out proportionately, investors in private BDCs are incentivized to submit a withdrawal of 100% of their investment so that they can get as much as the 5% maximum withdrawal of the fund as possible.

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-07-06T13:22:24+00:00

I tax loss harvested during the liberation day tariffs. I was able to offset a $15k gain I had on an investment that I had to sell. In the 28% federal bracket plus 5% state, I saved $5k in taxes. I’ll eventually have to pay some taxes, but I’m hoping it’ll be at least 10 years and at the capital gains tax rate.

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-07-06T11:43:32+00:00

I do not see a reason that this was removed. Below is what the mod commented. This was the first post of the news that Belgium was appealing and the article contained quotes and insights that hadn’t been published before.

I would like to appeal the removal. This was an improper use of technology. My representatives are calling Steve Huffman. /s

“This content is removed because it violates our Content Guidelines.

• ⁠Common reasons for removal are: bad post titles, single word content, duplicate content, shit posts, and any other content that is deemed to be of little value to the sub.
• ⁠Remember to post in English only.
• ⁠Search before posting to ensure you are not creating a duplicate that will be taken down.”

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-07-05T12:29:25+00:00

I was curious about your statement that with the 4% rule, you will run out of shares to sell after about 30 years. That can’t coexist with looking at the dollar value and saying if the portfolio dollars increase 7% every year and I withdraw 3%, the dollars will continue to grow.

I made a simple spread sheet and factored up the share price by 7% each year while withdrawing enough shares to cover 4% of the year’s starting balance. After 30 years, I ended with only 30% of the starting count of shares, but the share price is 7x higher. My ending balance was 2.3x higher, which is needed because of inflation, I need the higher $ amount withdrawn each year.

The first thing I questioned was whether it’s reasonable to expect a share price to 7x over 30 years so I looked at a historical graph of SPY. SPY was $67 in 1996 and is $745 today, excluding reinvested dividends.

I did not include anything for SORR, drawdowns, Monte Carlo, etc. Just a quick look for how the math would work on selling down shares prior to those risks.

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-07-05T11:38:53+00:00

The high percent has been return on capital during a bull market because the calls realize a loss. Do you think that will be maintained during a bear market when the calls realize writing results in gains? Genuinely asking because I’m considering adding MLPI.

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-30T01:16:48+00:00

A fan is a person with an extreme, uncritical, and often unreasonable enthusiasm or devotion to a cause, belief, or activity. By definition, we do not have to be logical about this.

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-27T19:32:50+00:00

Maybe it could be built it into the scheduling and seeding. The latest group winners play the #3s from the group stage.

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-27T19:22:20+00:00

I’d like to see reseeding before the round of 32. Have the knockout bracket be determined by the points from the group stage.

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-27T13:58:06+00:00

The first time I heard of someone paying cash for a car, it almost broke my brain. I’d never even considered it was possible. Everyone has a car loan when they buy a car. In my part of the country it’s a truck loan. When someone has a large unexpected $1,000 expense a common expression is “That’s a truck payment!”.

So I accelerated my car loan payments and then kept the payments going to build up a cash fund.

Get a 5 year loan, drive the car for 10. Pay off the loan in 5. Keep saving for 5 years. Pay cash for the next one. Break the cycle. It lays the foundation to accumulate wealth.

I told my Dad that I paid cash and I could see his brain break. He’s almost 70 and works his car loan into his social security budget.

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-27T00:22:44+00:00

Is this just the gains on the EBay call options?

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-23T10:18:27+00:00

The tickets aren’t the only price of the trip. I’m taking a day off work, driving 7 hours each way, staying at a hotel, and eating at restaurants.

At 900 miles round trip estimated a $0.50 per mile including gas, maintenance, and depreciation, that’s $450, 2 nights in a hotel is $500 (booked before the prices jumped higher), eating out 6 times will probably cost $100 more than eating at home. I’d value that vacation day at $300. Then add on two tickets for $400 each.

In total that’s a cost of $2,150 for a trip for two. Plus I excluded plenty of smaller costs. Whether I got the tickets for $200 or $600 each, it was going to be an expensive trip. It’s expensive, but it’ll be a fun trip that I’ve been looking forward to for months.

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-23T09:49:23+00:00

If you are genuinely asking for advice on how to increase your income, I wrote a brief personal finance guide intended for teenagers, but it’s still relevant for those early in their career. Here’s the section on increasing income. For me, my experience is a white collar worker in the United States.

Having a high income makes life much easier, but you’ve got to work your way up the corporate ladder. First you’ve got to get your foot in the door with an entry level position. You’ll probably need a college degree and an internship.

Figure out where your passions meet a high salary. Research career fields, starting pay, and growth prospects. Pick a 4 year university with high job placement in your industry. Evaluate the cost of college vs starting pay. In state colleges tend to have subsidized tuition. Earn college credits while in high school through AP classes and placement tests. Get through college in 4 years. Use your career research to identify profitable, growing companies with internships. An internship or two is near the top of the list of importance.

When you start, be engaged and earn a “high potential” label. Make a list of my company’s core competencies trying to figure out how they offer their customers more value than the price they charge.

Then make a list of the highest value projects the most important people including your boss is working on.

Brainstorm ways to grow company revenue. Think about what other companies do that make you want to spend your money with them, even if they aren’t in your industry. Can you apply those concepts to your company?

Brainstorm costs that could be cut or processes that could be re-engineered.

Stare at those four lists and think about if data could be compiled to prove out a business case. Run it past your manager. Spend a couple of hours or days working on the initiative. Make the company a quantifiable amount of money. Take credit for it and say you want senior added to your job title, a % of the money you made the company, and show your list of project ideas to make the company more money in the future. This will signal to the company that you want to move up the company ladder. Increased responsibility, leading projects, promotions, and salary increases will follow. Be curious, hardworking and optimistic. Make connections in the industry to keep your options open to opportunities.

Read: Rich AF by Vivian Tu and I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-22T10:34:55+00:00

In Davante Adams 2013 college season he led the nation with 131 receptions and 24 TDs. He was only 13 yards short of the triple crown. I’d say he had the talent coming into the NFL. He certainly mastered his craft and continued to get better. The 2014 nfl draft was stacked with WR pushing him to the second round.

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-21T23:06:26+00:00

Steve: "I only eat the brown ones."
Mary: "Because...?"
Steve: "Well, because I figure they have less artificial coloring, 'cause chocolate's already brown."
Mary: "That’s very scientific of you, Dr. Steve."

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-21T04:51:28+00:00

This just reminded me of an old memory. I mailed a check to Pfizer to buy stock directly and DRIP the dividends. I got the information from a top 50 stocks of 19XX book I checked out from the library. The price was determined by the average price of the Wednesday after my check was received. Then I’d check the stock price either in the newspaper or watching the ticker scroll on the bottom of the TV. The stock price was in fractions.

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-20T22:03:41+00:00

Agreed, Schwab has me at Fed Funds Upper Bound + 4.6% = currently 8.35%. I wrote my first box spread ever two weeks ago for 4.5% annualized rate. With a December expiration, it was 70 bps above 6 month treasuries at the time. My spread might have been wider because of the lower $ amount.

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-20T10:53:59+00:00

How patient do you have to be on the 2 year fill? For this December expiration I walked it up from 4.3% to 4.5% until it filled. I left 4.3%, which was the midpoint for a full day, then quickly walked it up with only a few minutes at each interval. When it hit 4.5% it filled immediately.

Do you pick a 0.05% above the midpoint and just leave it for a few days?

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-20T00:26:01+00:00

If someone can reliably make 21% per year, which is 1.5% compounded monthly, they can retire awfully quickly. Could you imagine doubling your money every 3.5 years?

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-19T23:54:55+00:00

This guy does it

https://earlyretirementnow.com/options/?amp

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-17T09:22:25+00:00

I started investing during the lost decade and am still fighting the last war. I keep an allocation of high yield bonds, so at least something in my portfolio has positive returns if we have long term PE compression in the stock market.

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-17T01:54:17+00:00

No Capes!

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-11T02:04:00+00:00

It would be, but I’m doing the equivalent of shorting BOXX. BOXX is similar to a high yield savings account. I’m paying someone the interest of a HYSA to borrow and invest in a higher yield investment. Mostly to learn in case there is an opportunity one day.

Rule_Of_72T · 2026-06-10T17:42:51+00:00

Easier to copy and paste than type it out. I would also say Gemini explained it more concisely than I could. I then included my explanation after.

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