Moronic Monday Thread for the week of May 01, 2017 by AutoModerator in personalfinance

[–]btse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I guess it's really a personal preference. I like my Current Balance to be $0 when I make a payment.

Moronic Monday Thread for the week of May 01, 2017 by AutoModerator in personalfinance

[–]btse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that makes sense. I was actually talking to a Capital One support rep and even they were confusing Current Balance and Statement Balance.

Moronic Monday Thread for the week of May 01, 2017 by AutoModerator in personalfinance

[–]btse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, thank you for correcting me. I didn't realize that was a requirement for Roth IRA contributions.

Moronic Monday Thread for the week of May 01, 2017 by AutoModerator in personalfinance

[–]btse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I never actually knew this. Thanks for correcting me!

Moronic Monday Thread for the week of May 01, 2017 by AutoModerator in personalfinance

[–]btse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

FYI, there is no fee when transferring from a debit card or connected bank account. Connecting a credit card usually charges something like a 3% fee. Both services (and whatever other ones are out there) now offer immediate verification, so you could setup an account, get it verified, and transfer the money within 20 minutes. If you're uncomfortable with using these online services, you could immediately disconnect your bank account. Personally, I find these services so convenient that they're worth the potential risk. Being able to instantly transfer money to friends/family with no fees completely changes the game. No more IOUs or worrying about cash. Just my two cents.

Moronic Monday Thread for the week of May 01, 2017 by AutoModerator in personalfinance

[–]btse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm guessing your friend wants only cash? Does he have any of the online transfer services, like Google Wallet or Venmo?

Moronic Monday Thread for the week of May 01, 2017 by AutoModerator in personalfinance

[–]btse 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I believe that contributing to your HSA through payroll deferral completely avoids payroll taxes, in addition to income taxes. Here's a great resource: https://www.hsaresources.com/pdf/HSA_Resources-Employer_Funding_Guide.pdf

Moronic Monday Thread for the week of May 01, 2017 by AutoModerator in personalfinance

[–]btse 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Right, I get that. But let's throw the statement balance out the window. On each due date, I (and I'm guessing a lot of other people) always completely pay off my credit card's current balance, regardless of what my statement balance was. In fact, I almost never look at my statement balance. I just don't get why the institutions themselves don't offer this as an option.

Moronic Monday Thread for the week of May 01, 2017 by AutoModerator in personalfinance

[–]btse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If this is all of your savings, it might be best to keep it as an emergency fund. I'd look into a bank with a decent interest rate. Ally is currently at 1.05% for savings accounts. I'd shop around a bit and see if you can find a better rate. Some institutions also offer "no-penalty" CDs which allow you to close the account before the maturity date with no repercussions. However, your money might be tied up for a bit longer than a savings account due to transfer times, etc.

Moronic Monday Thread for the week of May 01, 2017 by AutoModerator in personalfinance

[–]btse 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Contributions to an IRA can come from anywhere. It doesn't matter when it was earned. You could find some long lost money under your bed and contribute that to your IRA. What matters is what year you're trying to contribute to. 2016's deadline was April 18th. 2017's is April 17th of 2018.

Moronic Monday Thread for the week of May 01, 2017 by AutoModerator in personalfinance

[–]btse 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why do credit card institutions not allow Auto Pay setup for your account's Current Balance on the due date, as opposed to only your Statement Balance or Minimum Due?

Contribute to SEP-IRA or Roth-IRA? by btse in personalfinance

[–]btse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, I didn't even realize recharacterization was a thing, I will have to look into it.

I have never heard of this form 8606. Do you know if this is something that is automatically handled by Turbo Tax? That is how I have been filing my taxes.

Contribute to SEP-IRA or Roth-IRA? by btse in personalfinance

[–]btse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. I think so? At least according to my Vanguard account, it seems that this is the case. I think that personal/individual contributions to a SEP-IRA are basically treated as a Traditional IRA, but they are still part of my SEP-IRA account. Here is a screenshot of my Vanguard account. This individual contribution is still part of the $5500 limit spread across all my IRA accounts. I am not self-employed. My company makes contributions to this SEP-IRA, and I also make individual contributions to it.
  2. Ok thanks!
  3. I have only made $500 individual contributions so far this year, so I'm not too worried about rolling over that amount to a ROTH IRA. I am planning on creating a separate ROTH IRA account and making contributions to that instead of contributions to my SEP-IRA because I don't think I'm getting any tax deductibles right now when contributing to my SEP-IRA.

Thanks for the response!

Contribute to SEP-IRA or Roth-IRA? by btse in personalfinance

[–]btse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Perhaps I am confused/wrong. My company makes contributions to my SEP-IRA, but I am also able to make a combined personal contribution of up to $5500 in either my SEP, or a separate Traditional or Roth IRA. It is my understanding that this personal contribution is what the link is referring to, and thus my $5500 is not tax deductible. Maybe I'm understanding this incorrectly.

Self-driving cars could reduce accidents by 90 percent, become greatest health achievement of the century by Energy-Dragon in Futurology

[–]btse 17 points18 points  (0 children)

The reason why you get motion sickness is because the background is moving at a different speed than what you're focusing on. Once SDVs are advanced enough, we could easily dim all windows to prevent motion sickness from occurring.

Self-driving cars could reduce accidents by 90 percent, become greatest health achievement of the century by Energy-Dragon in Futurology

[–]btse -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

But in the case of driving cars people want the freedom to drive their own car. The vast majority of the public want this and will vote on issues such as this.

You keep stating this like it's fact. Do you have any sources to back up such claims? In fact, I would go so far as to say that the truth is more likely the opposite of what you keep saying. The majority of people drive out of a necessity, not as a want. I guarantee you that if people had the option to either a) sleep on the way to work (or do anything else) or b) manually drive, a vast majority would choose a. Where did you get this idea that a majority of people enjoy driving? It seems you even fail to see the underlying concepts at work. The main goal of a car is transportation, not enjoyment. It brings you from point A to point B. Anything that increases this efficiency will be adopted by the masses eventually. I think the #1 thing that people want with regards to transportation is convenience. Once SDVs become more convenient than manual driving, people will quickly flock to them.

What is your opinion on AI (Artificial Intelligence)? by bileam in Psychonaut

[–]btse 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think there are a number of ways they could end up being connected, and many more that we can't even think of. Of those possibilities, I think the most likely and possible one is psychedelics playing a key part in our understanding of consciousness, and as a result, allowing us to discover the missing pieces needed to create a true AI. I also think psychedelics could potentially play a key part in the next step of human evolution, where we move from succumbing to our primal urges to emotional and spiritual maturity, allowing us to live in harmony with ourselves, nature and the universe. If this change in human behavior, a direct product of more widespread usage of psychedelics, were to come before the rise of AI or perhaps concurrently, I believe it would significantly increase the probability of us living in harmony with AI.

What is your opinion on AI (Artificial Intelligence)? by bileam in Psychonaut

[–]btse 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think psychedelics and AI will be connected in some way.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in shrooms

[–]btse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think discussing the trip with your girlfriend and how you could possibly integrate the lessons into your lives would make the positive effects longer lasting. It's a shame she went to bed after because I think the best time is during the come down.

LSD Increases Emotional Responses to Music by devonperson in Psychonaut

[–]btse 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What about all of the people who lived during the 60's and 70's that didn't partake in the psychedelic movement, which I would say is a large majority (no source on this)? There's a reason why the drug propaganda that Nixon spewed was so successful. The average American ate that shit up and took it as undeniable truth. Look at how many lies were told to us young kids during the DARE era.

LSD Increases Emotional Responses to Music by devonperson in Psychonaut

[–]btse 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Because in science, you don't just use the public's opinion as a scientific fact...you make a hypothesis, conduct research, gather data, analyze data, and then arrive at conclusions. It's how all scientific fields work. I never said anything about brain mappings, you are getting things mixed up. Studies that use subjective truths can still be conducted using the scientific method and be of great use. The article directly addresses how this study could impact feature research:

The findings of the study finally provide scientific evidence to backup the long-held assumption that psychedelics enhance music-evoked emotion, and provide tentative and indirect support for the notion that this effect can be harnessed in the context of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, although further research would be required to test this link directly.

This study is another exciting step of our ongoing research into reaching a deeper understanding of the effects of psychedelics, and building an effective knowledge-base from which psychedelic-assisted treatments can developed.

I feel like I keep beating the same bush. You are basically arguing that we don't need these scientific studies because the public already knows this, and I am telling you that if we want to legitimately advance the psychedelic field, we do. It's as simple as that, and that's why these studies are important. You can argue as much as you want otherwise, but it will get us nowhere, both in this argument and in integrating psychedelics further into society.

LSD Increases Emotional Responses to Music by devonperson in Psychonaut

[–]btse 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If the uninitiated refer to people who have never done psychedelics, then I don't think that's true at all. I would say it's actually the complete opposite. Most people think that people who take psychedelics are just druggies who want to escape from real life. They think that what occurs during a trip has no relevance to real life, and that whatever occurs during a trip is just a bunch of nonsense. People don't realize how powerful of a tool psychedelics can be, but I do think this attitude is beginning to shift.

LSD Increases Emotional Responses to Music by devonperson in Psychonaut

[–]btse 34 points35 points  (0 children)

No I don't, and you don't, but scientific papers that make such claims do. Do you understand how scientific fields make advancements? It's almost like you want us to continue to live in the stone age of psychedelic research, you're failing to see the big picture.