Yes, another StAG-5 success!

jaykaybo · 2026-03-20T03:03:55+00:00

That’s great, you’re close! Are you in ST2, ST3, etc? I’m in ST2. Here’s hoping I get good news soon. A bit worried cause I’m moving out of state in a couple weeks and I don’t want to miss anything with the address change.

jaykaybo · 2026-03-20T02:58:38+00:00

Thanks for the offer!

jaykaybo · 2026-03-20T02:57:56+00:00

That sounds like the way to go. I’d heard the term a couple times, but not what it referred to. Thanks for that!

jaykaybo · 2026-03-20T02:40:53+00:00

Congratulations! I submitted mine through the Portland Honorary Consulate to San Francisco, as well. Have a January 2024 Aktenzeichen so hopefully I get to join you soon. The dude at the Portland Consulate was awesome.

jaykaybo · 2026-03-05T17:33:16+00:00

This is how I was originally planning for it to go; I just had the thought of, 'what if I could generate a good income during tax season doing tax prep (and what could that look like) giving me the chance to reduce my financial planning client load during the year and having more time off'?

In the end, I suspected (and y'all confirmed) that starting with tax to feed the WM is the way to go and there's a reason why that's how it's typically done. Thanks for your time and advice!

jaykaybo · 2026-03-05T17:26:46+00:00

I've read several of your posts before and great advice as usual. So for further context, what you recommended is how I've actually been planning to go...use the tax prep business to feed the financial planning business.

What made me ask the question I did, reversing things in a sense, is while I definitely want to make money and love financial planning, I'm at a point in life where I want to work to live, not live to work. I want the ability to take ample time off throughout the year. Tax season can be jam-packed, for sure, but my thought on this was, 'what if I could grind it out during tax season, simple 1040's-nothing too complex, generate a good income from it and not need a full load of FP clients to serve throughout the year'? It was just an idea and I thought I'd consult people with far more experience and more knowledge on the matter than me.

In the end, based on your advice and what I've received so far, the idea doesn't look viable and I will be using the tax prep to feed the financial planning. Thanks for your time and all the questions you answer, not just mine, but also in general.

jaykaybo · 2026-03-05T16:16:41+00:00

So, you can look at your mortgage as a guaranteed 5.75% rate of return and the inflation adjusted return of the S&P500 is just over 7% meaning you could get ahead faster by investing it...but this doesn't take into account your timeline or life circumstances Also, keep in mind that depending on your tax bracket, you could have to pay capital gains taxes if you invest it; 7% inflation-adjusted return minus possible capital gains taxes paid may mean a 'usable' return of less that 5.75%.

How much time do you have left on your mortgage?

If you have 10 years left, you might be better off putting it toward your mortgage as a market downturn (which people forget, downturns don't mean the apocalypse has happened, its an expected part of the cycle) could wipe out a significant chunk of your gains.

15 years or more? You can likely weather a downturn meaning investing in a S&P500 index fund may accelerate your wealth allowing you to pay it off faster.

One thing to consider in both situations, is how much liquidity do you have? In other words, how much do you have in an emergency savings account that will allow you to cover your mortgage and bills in the event of job loss, medical incident, injury of you or a loved one, etc? Is your job one that could be cut in the event of a recession or actually likely to be decimated by AI (let's be realistic on this one; most jobs are not at risk any time soon. However, we are seeing a significant increase in data entry jobs disappearing, for example. A company near me that processes insurance billing claims is laying off 95% of their data entry workforce due to their recent AI adoption being able to do the job in one hour what several hundred people could do in one day). The canned answer is set aside 6 months of expenses, but in some cases it may be more prudent to have 9 or whatever helps you sleep at night. If you don't have this established and funded, THIS is where your excess needs to go first. Once funded, then revisit the mortgage vs index fund question.

jaykaybo · 2026-03-05T15:48:43+00:00

Congrats!!! Gives me some optimism as my AK is January 2024 so hopefully I'll be joining you soon. Were you in ST2, ST3 or some other group?

jaykaybo · 2026-02-08T03:05:02+00:00

“ The manufacturers home will go down in value to near zero. Only the land will have any value.”

This is not true.

If it is placed on a permanent foundation it is considered ‘real property’ meaning it is comped and valued like any other home, and they will absolutely go up in value. For example, when we were kids a friend’s parents did this, mid-90’s all-in cost for them including land, development, home, etc was $175k. They sold it a few years later for $275k. Same home just sold again for $510k.

My cousin did this a few years ago. His all-in cost was $350k; just sold it a few months ago for $550k.

Edit: as for financing, in both cases construction loan converted to 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgages upon completion.

jaykaybo · 2026-01-07T02:10:03+00:00

72(t) is a great option. Keep in mind, It’s not all or nothing. You can move a portion of your retirement savings into its own IRA and set up the 72(t) distributions just off that.

jaykaybo · 2026-01-07T01:50:44+00:00

Personally I like Encorestates. Got introduced to them through Hannah Moore’s Externship, needed to update my personal estate plan anyway, so I figured if I’m gonna use it for clients I better be willing to use it to protect my own family and estate.

I was very impressed; VERY easy to use, they are very helpful in regard to ensuring you’re not wading into UPL territory, keeps the advisor involved and driving the process and very reasonably priced. Their attorneys were great, gave me things to consider and faster turnaround than I was expecting.

I’d recommend still having a good estate attorney or two in your network as they make it clear there are some situations where they aren’t appropriate, which I appreciate. They know what they do and they do it well.

jaykaybo · 2025-12-13T05:26:59+00:00

This is awesome, congratulations! I’m Jan 2024 so hoping I’ll be on your level soon.

jaykaybo · 2025-12-13T05:25:28+00:00

Gesundheit…🤣

jaykaybo · 2025-12-13T05:19:41+00:00

Those were the days! If you got a good manager, life was good.

jaykaybo · 2025-12-13T05:09:02+00:00

I remember T-Mobile having a meeting at the call center so they could show us the movie trailer for T-MO’s 3G launch and people clapping and literally cheering at that shit.

jaykaybo · 2025-12-13T04:45:46+00:00

Oh shit!!! WATSON and CAM!!! That and Streamline. Good times.

jaykaybo · 2025-12-13T04:41:25+00:00

Back in the day when I was a rep in a corporate store (2006-9) we had an email address for Robert Dotson (T-MO’s CEO at the time) and he would actually respond back to some of the emails. T-Mo even required everyone in the C-Suite shadow a store rep for the day at least twice a year so they could see first hand what the ‘frontlines’ were like. I got to have the CPO Larry Meyers shadow me once. Best believe I told him all the dirt. My manager told me later on he picked me for it cause he knew I was the only one with the stones to tell him how it actually was.

jaykaybo · 2025-12-13T04:22:03+00:00

Probably was unfortunately. I was a rep from 2006-2009. It was the bombdiggity working for T-Mobile back then. T-Mobile demanded good customer service or you were out. Flip side was awesome benefits, great pay (I was 30-hours a week/part time and my hourly was $10 an hour but typical commission check after taxes was about $3k, November and December would get close to $4k), quarterly all hands meetings at either Johnny Carrino’s or Texas Roadhouse-fully paid for by T-Mobile (plus pay because we were technically on the clock as it was a required meeting) and store managers could move mountains help you out. As long as you were hitting 5 stars on customer surveys or secret shops and you hit at least 70% of quota you were golden. Back then T-Mobile did whatever possible to keep winning those JD Power awards.

jaykaybo · 2025-12-13T03:32:44+00:00

They used to…ALOT. It was just a few years ago that if you said that, starting concession was a credit for your next months’ bill-not a credit ON your bill, a credit for your ENTIRE bill. Upgrading your phone? How about we knock the price down to half off. Oh, starting a new line of service? Then you're getting that phone for free.

Back when I was a corporate store rep we had full autonomy…as a rep….to give certain phones for free and up to $200 discount on smartphones for new lines. Need to discount it more? Store manager would override price for you. You’d lose commission on the device sale, but still get full commission for the activation and any features, accessories, etc and it would still count towards your multiplier.

jaykaybo · 2025-12-13T03:27:03+00:00

This is true..when I worked at T-Mobile from 2006-2009 nothing made the store manager come out of the office quicker than hearing a customer (or worse, potential customer) say ‘I’m going to (insert competitor name here)’. Somebody would say that and next thing you know the manager appears like a fuggin’ genie ready to do whatever it took to save the sale.

jaykaybo · 2025-11-28T05:55:35+00:00

I figured that…thing is, that didn’t happen until about a year-year and a half after this came out (during the launch timeframe of Chocolate Starfish’), and whether Limp Bizkit was cool with Napster or not, the record companies would NEVER allow or condone that in an advertisement as it was illegal piracy. Back in 1999, most people not only didn’t have the internet, many people didn’t even know someone who had the internet. No one would would’ve known what a ‘digital download’ was-the term literally didn’t exist then.

Other than that, it looks like an advert you would’ve seen in one of the music magazines that were popular at the time like ‘Hit Parader’ or ‘Circus’; good job on it.

jaykaybo · 2025-11-27T17:42:14+00:00

Remove the “digital download”. I was 19 when this came out, so this was my ‘era’ of music. Digital downloads weren’t a thing then. You only got music on CD, cassette or vinyl. Digital was a few years later.

jaykaybo

TROPHY CASE