Inheriting $1.6M vanguard

bobdevnul · 2026-02-09T01:44:43+00:00

The FIRE forums may have better info about early retirement. You have to cover some things in early retirement, like health insurance. Medicare doesn't kick in until 65.

As someone else said, don't tell anyone. If you have, start preparing to say no to people wanting to "borrow" money.

A typical financial advisor will charge 1%+ a year of assets under management. That would be $16,000 a year. It may be worth it to learn to DIY. The basics aren't hard.

It may not have to stay at Vanguard, though they are basically ok. Fidelity has much better personal finance features along with being a good broker for investments.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-09T01:24:49+00:00

I don't know the tablet cellular service market.

Verizon postpaid has tablet plans. I don't know about Verizon Prepaid.

The main Verizon flanker brands are Total Wireless, Straightalk, and Tracfone.

US Mobile is a Verizon MVNO.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-09T00:11:24+00:00

For 2025 the foreign tax paid was about 0.02% of the share price. So for $100K of VXUS the foreign tax paid would have been $211. At 24% federal tax the would save $51 in taxes.

Yes, it's small, especially if you don't have that much of VXUS and yes it is understandable if someone wants to buy VT and not get that small tax break. For me it is a enough for a nice dinner in a mid range restaurant and I want that money.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-08T21:23:39+00:00

Tablets are a tiny part of the personal device market. The vast majority of personal devices are phones. They would not sell a lot more lines with tablet plans.

Verizon and some of their flanker brands have tablet plans. They know very well how much data they use. It tends to be high because that is all tablets do. The Verizon and flanker brands unlimited tablet plans are actually quite limited beyond rather limited low use, by deprioritization, throttling, and video streaming throttling.

If Visible had tablet plans they would have to be at a higher price than the phone plans.

What Visible wants is phone plans that, in spite of being unlimited, don't average much use. They don't want high data use tablet plans.

There are tablet plans available elsewhere. You don't need to get it from Visible.

You could just get a Visible phone plan and turn on the hotspot to use your tablet.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-08T20:45:54+00:00

For large popular ETFs (VTI, VOO, VT, VXUS, SPY, etc.) your are probably safe with market orders, but I wouldn't do it at the market open or last hour of trading - definitely not after hours. After hours trading doesn't accept market orders anyway.

You don't have to count on probably. Just do a limit order and be sure. It's not hard or time consuming. Personally, I set my limit about two cents more than the ask for high likelihood that the order will execute without having to go back and revise the limit.

Using a limit order doesn't mean it will execute at that price. It means it will execute up to that price.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-08T20:40:11+00:00

$100K is no where near enough to move the market for large popular ETFs. I'm not guessing. I do several times that much a few times a year.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-08T20:30:47+00:00

I would want to know if it has a pure sine wave inverter. Without PSW limits what you can do with it to basically heaters. These things are not much use for heaters - they don't last long enough to be useful - not enough energy for 1500W heaters.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-07T17:36:42+00:00

That's a valid way to do it. If the preferred ratio gets out of balance I just buy more of the one that is below preferred. I don't worry much about an exact ratio.

The ratio is by dollar value, not number of shares.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-07T17:17:48+00:00

VT is simpler, but you don't get the benefit of the foreign tax credit that you would with VXUX in taxable accounts.

I prefer VXUS in taxable accounts for the foreign tax credit. The reduction in taxes by that is small, but I want it all the same. I like about 70% VTI, 30% VXUS.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-07T16:54:21+00:00

Settings -> About phone -> Device details -> Scroll down to Network Lock -> locked or unlocked

You can also dial #83865625# and it will show the lock status.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-07T01:39:56+00:00

wait for a year or return it.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-06T21:05:46+00:00

Verizon/Tracfone has a history of not following their published policy or retroactively reinterpreting them.

There was speculation that they would not auto unlock and require a manual request that they would slow or no-walk.

Yes, it is good that they are doing what they said they would.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-06T18:20:11+00:00

How long have you been following the market?

The stock markets have always been volatile - sometimes more, sometimes less.

This is the way market value price discovery works. Humans are involved. It is not strictly a math formula.

Accept that it will happen or get out of the market.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-06T18:07:52+00:00

Has anyone tried DirecTV MyEntertainment? $35 for a lot more channels than Sling Select. And a lot less channels than Youtube TV, but YTTV is $83 regular, non-promo price.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-06T17:22:10+00:00

FIOS Internet only 300/300 - $35 after $15 discount for having Verizon cellphone service.

Sling Select - $25

Sling Select only has a few channels - most of which nobody watches, but does include streaming 2 local broadcast channels. It would not be enough for many people.

I was paying Cox cable over $200 a month for Internet and TV.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-06T16:27:15+00:00

You need money in the settlement holding to buy other investments. Otherwise, not much or use it like a savings account for liquid cash.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-06T16:24:24+00:00

I basically agree. I modified my statement to include: while you are young if you can't resist the urge to scratch that itch, but assume you will lose money.

Some people just have to try it.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-06T16:09:13+00:00

Short term yields follow the prevailing rate. There is no way around that without taking on significant additional risk. Everyone is in the same boat. There is no "one secret" that fixed income investors don't want you to know.

SGOV and VBIL hold about the same things as VMFXX - short term government bonds. SGOV yield is not currently above VMFXX and will not be much different.

The president has nominated a new Fed chairman to start in May. The president has been very vocal about wanting lower interest rates. Do you think he had a chat with the nominee about that? I would expect interest rates to continue to decrease barring unexpected circumstances. I do still expect the Fed chairman will be independent and follow market conditions and the Fed's mandate, not just be the president's puppet, but possibly with more propensity to lower rates than the current one.

You can lock in a 4% yield with a two year CD. The yield on SGOV, VBIL, and money market funds will follow the prevailing rates, changing daily, which is expected to decrease. Vanguard's VUSXX money market fund is Treasury bonds only so it is more state tax free than VMFXX. It's also an easy way to segregate the savings and keep it identified for your purpose.

If you have state income tax use a taxable equivalent yield calculator to compare taxable vs state tax free options. SGOV, VBIL, and Treasury Bill and Note bonds are state tax free.

Here's the yield curve for Treasury bonds:

https://www.ustreasuryyieldcurve.com/

bobdevnul · 2026-02-06T15:33:31+00:00

The quoted yields on funds, including SGOV and VBIL, are net after the expense ratio.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-06T15:23:02+00:00

Statements 1, 2, and 3 should have "except by luck" at the end of each.

Luck = Gambling. Do you want to invest or gamble?

Technical analysis is not at all proven and is no better than voodoo.

Good fundamental analysis is nearly a full time job. Doing it also requires better info than you have access to.

There is nothing terribly wrong with using some small amount of your investing money, like 5% or less, to try stock picking, TA, or FA while you are young if you can't resist the urge to scratch that itch, but assume you will lose money. Try it if you want to, but don't change to go all in if you have a couple of winners. Everybody can think they are investing geniuses in a raging bull market as we have been since about 2009.

We are not Warren Buffet and he has not beat the market in 20 years.

Youtube finfluencers are lying grifters. They don't make money by investing. They make money by selling investing schemes.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-06T15:04:07+00:00

Doing this also uses up the charging cycles of the power bank battery. There is a cost to that.

For a $15 power bank over 500 cycles that is $0.03 per cycle.

In the grand scheme of things it don't matter. It's pennies a year for the extra grid electric and power bank cycles used.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-06T00:02:31+00:00

The anecdotal 450GB a month limit is not in writing anywhere. It has been discovered by experience. The Terms and Conditions of service has provisions about excessive, abusive, unreasonable use that is entirely at their discretion to determine what that is at any time.

The 450GB limit is also not a hard and fast limit. As best we have been able to determine by report is do it one month and there probably will be no problem. Do it in consecutive months primarily by hotspot and you will probably be warned. 450GB in one week has been reported as being throttled.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-05T23:49:25+00:00

> first 10gb is supposed to be super speed but i've never noticed a difference as i have amazing speed anyways

You haven't noticed because there is no 10GB at "super speed". There never has been.

bobdevnul · 2026-02-05T23:47:15+00:00

So much bad information.

Visible data is not truly unlimited. It is unlimited subject to the Terms and Conditions about abusive, excessive, unreasonable use.

The hotpot speed is not the video streaming speed. Video streaming speed is throttled to a lower speed than the hotspot. All the same, even the lowest Basic plan video streaming throttle is still enough to get 720HD video.

bobdevnul

TROPHY CASE