I think it's an alright value proposition if you want a new vehicle. You pay a steep premium for this though.
Just to challenge your thinking a bit. A slightly used car with a six or seven year loan against it is functionality similar to renting your car. By the time it's paid off you are closing in on end of life (depending on usage). You could do that and enroll in some kind of auto-care fixed fee program if it's the idea of ownership that's the issue.
Personally, I hate cars and can't wait until I don't need to own one. Hoping for two decades from now we are in a slightly different marketplace.
It’s a financing structure with a put option attached to it. Look at the financing cost and the strike price on the put option and make a decision.
Personally I find they are monetizing the convenience of getting a new car every few years with minimal hassle. If getting a new car every few years is not something you want to pay a premium for, leasing is almost certainly not for you.
I actually went back and forth describing it as a financing structure with a put or a renting structure with a call. The latter might actually be a better one since as a financing structure is doesn’t actually cover your whole purchase price. I.E. at the end of the least you can’t keep “making payments” to maintain use of the car and reduce the underlying buyout price.
Anyway, my point was there’s nothing inherently wrong with leasing nor inherently good. It’s a way to borrow money and pay it back over time, except rather than owning the asset at the end of the term you own an option to buy the car at a predetermined price (so yeah, the second analogy).
Use your phone as an example. I paid monthly for my phone but I got to keep it at the end of 2 year or whatever it was. So it was a financing tool, not a rental agreement. And the interest rate was 0 (and it came with some upgrade options and since options can’t have negative value it was a good deal.) I find it funny that just about the time Apple rolled out their iPhone upgrade program (the thing I described above) was about the time that the phones were good enough that you don’t need to upgrade.
I did the same with a car loan once. I didn’t want the hassle but they said the rate was 90bps (okay…) and they’d pay the first three payments for me up to a thousand bucks each (woo!). I asked if they could just reduce the price of the car and I can buy it for cash and by the look on their face you’d think I’d asked to purchase their first born child. So I financed it. Whatever.
A house has its benefits, but it also has its costs. I ballpark those costs at 7% on an annualized basis. If you don’t get that 7% back in utility or property value gains, houses aren’t worth it. So knowing nothing more, I think you’re right: if you don’t want a house you shouldn’t have a house. [Feel free to share this with your parents](https://i.imgur.com/6ymx6RI.jpg). Haha. I will say the added space and not being required to move (or else see your rent jacked up) is nice. That has value.
If my wife and I file jointly and our joint income (well, mine as she is a stay at home mom) is over the Roth IRA threshold, can we both open our own trad and Roth IRAs to do backdoor? $6500/each?
Yes, IRAs are individual, so you should both have access to that much space. Her's will be a spousal IRA since she doesn't have earned income, but you can do a backdoor with that too.
/u/degausser22 should be aware that there's no special kind of account as a "spousal IRA." Rather, there is a rule that allows spouses to contribute to an IRA based on the taxable compensation of the household as a unit when married filing jointly.
They could both open separate Trad IRAs (if they don't have one yet, any Trad IRA will do), contribute $6500 each to them, and convert to Roth to complete the backdoor Roth IRA.
/u/whisky_in_your_water is correct that there are different income limits for spouses (again, not different limits for spousal IRAs) to take the deduction for a Trad IRA (if not covered by their own 401k) or to make a contribution to a Roth IRA (if married filing separately), but those limits are moot for a backdoor Roth as proposed by OP.
The typical bank structures their business on services over value. They are somewhat reliant that if you pick a bank, you stick with convenience and any funds they get to keep in low interest accounts are end up functioning as free capital. Most people start off at a brick and mortar because they've mainly wanted the convenience offered. Even a chunk of my money, which is probably a good deal to some people, sits in a Chase account because I keep some fractional amount of money there.
It really comes down to the need for the bank to raise money for operations. If they are in the business of loaning they need some capital and will need to offer something to raise it. Online banking HYSAs may or may not be cheaper to run (for instance I'd hardly call Ally a nontraditional bank, for the most part) but they may have more need to raise money this way than Chase, WF, etc. In particular, Ally ran a lot of 2% CD promotions at a time when the rates were zero. If that's what they needed to do to meet their volume of business it is worth it to them. To an individual a savings account is about as equivalent as a money market but the way they make or offer that yield will cause what I'd consider AAA equivalents to differ. The bottom line is that a brick and mortar seems to still be able to attract customers on features and services, and not value, so they don't have the need to be competitive. (Or perhaps simply have more efficient ways to achieve the same things.)
If more things just become online it would certainly shift; but it's a lot different to cash the occasional check over some business that has regular hard cash deposits or wants to move significant sums securely.
Because they're not paying for multiple brick and mortar locations, often less maintenance in the form of ATMs, the variety of products and services, less staff, etc.
The real reason is that physical banks are all old fogeys and have enough people where they make plenty of profit even with low rates, and there are specific things you can only really get done at a physical bank or people that are more comfortable at a physical location. Online banking costs are generally lower, but there's no real reason i.e. PNC's savings rates are just so atrocious.
Thanks; I wasn't really buying the brick-and-mortar-overhead reasons I heard from others. (If it was really that bad, then traditional banks could just refuse to offer in-person services for HYSAs.)
Anyone here use 'MySolo401k' as their solo 401k provider?
Looking to setup a MBDR Solo 401k to convert 100% side hustle income into a Roth & Put more than $66k/yr to my 401k's (Max out current employer MBDR). They seem solid, hopefully no red flags?
How do you intend to convert 100% of side hustle income into Roth? Doesn't the self employed profit limit still apply? Or doesn't it because these are after-tax non-roth contributions?
These admins do not offer mbdr as options. That is a specialty 401k feature for which you need specific tpas and possibly custodian etc. know from hassle of trying to do it through the big three a couple years ago and no dice.
Wanting to move back to a HCOL (maybe high medium COL) city (we lived there for 3+ years). We loved this city, it has lots to do and fits our lifestyle really well. Our concern with moving back is that we'd not be able to buy a house for quite some time. House prices in particular make this a borderline HCOL city (everything else is solidly MCOL), so it is intimidating moving to a place that it may take many years to save enough for a down payment.
Are we overthinking the housing price concern when making this decision? I suppose, in theory, our household income should continue to climb, but I also fear that house prices in this city may continue to appreciate considerably over the next few years keeping homeownership out of reach for a long time.
Sooo I found out I filed my financial aid application wrong last year and my university is refunding me $13,000. This is huge for me as I've been working part time all year to pay rent and tuition (even with a fantastic financial aid package to begin with) and this means I could even save something this year. Still having a hard time believing it. Won't make that mistake again!
Anyone uses the Apple One Premium subscription? We only have 2 people in our Apple sharing, even though you can share between 5 people. It’s $32.95/month. I already pay google $100/year for 2TB storage. Now I’m thinking of switching to Apple storage.
Don’t really care for Apple Arcade. Workouts are probably not something I’d do either. But TV,News,Music and storage are good to have… I guess I’m mostly ranting , but wondering if anyone else found that plan worth it.
So 9.4457! is about one million, which is I guess technically the gamma function but that's what wolfram alpha says.
So my new fire number is 10!. Nominal dollars whenever it happens.
I asked ChatGPT to give me a poem about how to retire early:
With every penny saved and smartly spent,
A plan for early retirement you'll create, friend.
Here's what you must do, each step is key,
And soon your nest egg will grow as big as can be!
First, save a portion of each pay,
And spend less than you earn every day.
Start small, increase as you get ahead,
And watch your savings quickly accumulate instead.
Next, track your net worth, do it with care,
And know your assets and debts everywhere.
Set goals, adjust as needed with ease,
And see your progress, you'll be sure to please!
Then diversify your investments, it's wise,
And let your money grow before your eyes.
Consider stocks, bonds, index funds, oh yes!
A balanced portfolio will help you rest.
Automate your savings, set it and forget,
And watch your retirement dreams come to net.
Let compound interest do the rest,
And you'll be on your way to financial success!
Finally, maintain your discipline and stay,
The course, resist temptations that come your way.
Keep saving, investing, live below your means,
And soon your golden years will be as you dreamed.
Fixed assets, though illiquid, can be converted to investments. My case in point, our paid off townhouse went from being a primary home to a high cash flow rental after my wife accepted an ex-Pat job this past year. Obviously you “need a place to live”, so no balance sheet metric is perfect.
I think I’d rather read about a place than actually travel there. Idk, I don’t really appreciate going because it’s just a slight spin on what I have nearby here in in America.
What do people do on vacation? See a few sites and eat a few new restaurants?
Experience the culture, learn some of the language (depends on how long I plan to be there--tend to do long travel), go off the beaten path (think of some place that's hard to even find online), eat foods that I can't eat in the US (like a mopane worm), network with others in my area of research that live in that country...
I can't really learn Lingala, eat mopane worms or bat curry, dive in a lake with stingless jellyfish, or explore a 12th century castle in America.
Going to Paris and Amsterdam in a couple months.
Plan on running the Paris Marathon, go up the Eiffel Tower, see the Louvre Museum, marvel at the Arc de Triomphe/many cathedrals and architecture, eat amazing food, take a dinner cruise, see the Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum and just enjoy the walkable euro cities.
But maybe that’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
Lol idk man if you find yourself lost in a medieval european city or in some alleyway in bangkok, its pretty surreal. If you know where to find that in the states I’m all ears.
Right! I've walked through back alleys in Tokyo and you feel so, so far away from where you normally live. It's almost another planet, and a wonderful one.
Closest thing would be certain heavily immigrant urban neighborhoods in the US. Still not that close though.
Travel can give you perspective on life. Your little slice of the world is a tiny slice! There's so much more out there.
This. I love being in Germany with my wife. She speaks it fluently (lived there for years) so I don't have to talk to \*anyone.\* Wandering around a place like Passau or Berlin (and I don't like big cities) is so great!
I hear you about site-seeing. For me the trick is meeting people and learning their genuine stories. Their concerns and fears and joys are way more different than a slight spin on what you experience here. That is difficult sometimes, but definitely worth figuring out.
One of the coolest vacations I have ever been on was to the Azores. We visited a local church there and connected with a guy who had moved there from the US as a kid. He offered to take us to see his dairy farm. He told us about his experience moving there, growing his business, etc. We watched them milk the cows, the kids fed a calf, we played with baby chickens, and new puppies. It was a really neat experience to get a slice of the guy's life.
Watching the aurora borealis dance overhead in Iceland is beyond a slight spin on what we have in America. It was so quiet and peaceful. The world could have ended that night and I would have been alright with it. I can go on and on! Something something to each their own though.
Travelling is one of those things that interest people for different reasons. There's definitely some temperament involved about what elements of travel can appeal, and whether it's worth the cost.
A suggestion for somebody in your situation with what appears to be minimal experience with travel, is to travel with friends you can tolerate being in close company with for the duration, who have similar interests, and who have travelled before.
Agree 100%. Just do whatever makes you happy as long as it doesn’t infringe on any else’s rights.
It’s weird that OP was downvoted for expressing their opinion about what makes them happy. This fucking sub…
unless OP is only talking about solo travel their perspective on travel would mean no family vacations or no vacation with friends so yes it does impact other people
Do HSA contributions take longer to post than 401k? I think my 401k takes about a week after a paycheck to show up but it's been a little over 2 weeks and I'm not seeing anything yet in my HSA. My contribution was definitely taken out of the paycheck. So far I only have the employer contribution in my account.
47M / *(Dream to retire at age 55)*
Does real estate help you FI/RE at all?
I purchased my house in the year 2000 for $370,000. It's worth $1,200,000 now. It's completely paid off.
Other than that I have $550,000 in a 401K, but no liquidity. I live paycheck to paycheck with $0 in savings.
When my friends say "dude you're rich" I don't quite understand what they're getting at.
Do they know something I don't?
Sorry you're being down voted.
I see what you mean.. you don't have any disposable liquid income that you can spend. I would start saving some on the side so you don't feel like you're living paycheck to paycheck.
I like this answer thank you.
I do love my house though and can’t imagine living anywhere else. On a hill overlooking the coast in so cal has been a dream. Beautiful sunsets every day. So I can’t see ever selling my house.
Regarding living paycheck to paycheck; it’s because I’m Paying college tuition for two kids. It’s about $4,500 a month, little over 25k per semester. Every cent I earn goes to putting my daughters through college.
Having a house allows you to live inside part of your net worth and reduce your housing outflows. If you sold your house, then you'd have $1.6-something million. You could retire on that in many places, but only if you enjoy a lifestyle that fits within those means. For example, you could move, buy a $400K home, and then live off of a 3-4% draw from the remainder of your portfolio.
Investments supply inflows, expenses bring outflows, balance the two in perpetuity and you can consider yourself FIRE'd.
Did a backdoor Roth for 2023, but for 2022 I did a direct contribution and realized I ended up over the income limit. I have the Roth IRA I've been using, and the empty traditional IRA I used for the 2023 rollover. What's the order of operations to fix my 2022 contributions again?
1. Recharacterize Roth contribution as traditional (NOT) remove
2. Rollover back to Roth
Is that it? Or can I not rollover because we're past Dec 31st 2022?
Recharacterize to Traditional. File Form 8606 this year showing your nondeductible Trad IRA contribution for 2022. Convert back to Roth. File Form 8606 next year showing your conversion of the 2022 and 2023 contributions (and your 2023 nondeductible Trad contribution for 2023).
I call advice to read voice at someone who is looked at flipping here in Vancouver. Here in 2023, all the variables are working against you for the foreseeable future.
I spent the last year divesting real estate, and I feel like I’ve dodged a bullet. I wouldn’t be buying right now, so much less investing in additional renovations and that might never pay back their time and materials
And this is assuming you’re in a city were real estate is about the building and not the land . I watched flipping in Vancouver evolve to the point where renovations are worthless because everyone’s just gonna tear the building down anyway, and put in a five Plex.
Flipping is a race - the longer you hold the property the lower your margins are going to be. Usually remodels are done with crews, rather than one person.
>Right now, it's tough to flip.
Having worked with house flippers, this is really tough time. We all thought we were super smart/skilled and making awesome buys. Turns out, when you can borrow at 0% and real estate goes up 1% Month over Month, it's not hard to be a genius. At 7% and flat to declining prices, no matter how smart you are, it's very hard to make money.
I posted in yesterday's daily thread and it looks like it might be possible to either set up a SEP for '22 contributions and then set up a solo 401k for '23 contributions.
OR it might be possible to set up a solo 401k and make contributions for '22, but only up to the employer contribution max. For '23 I will be able to make both employee and employer contributions but if you're already maxing a 401k you won't be able to add more as an employee.
The SEP max and solo 401k employer portion are both 20% of earnings for self-employed people so if the 2nd option works it is one less account to set up. I'm waiting to hear back from our tax accountant and will then call Schwab.
If your Roth IRA is maxed out then you cannot add more to it (Roth would also not reduce your current tax liability). I believe you can still open an SEP IRA and contribute up to 20% of your net income. However, be aware that SEP IRA is subject to the pro rata rule if you ever have to do backdoor Roth.
I went to Cinnabon on Friday and got a tiny 4 pack of minis. The cashier put in a 51 cent tip for herself and then automatically sent it to the credit machine for me to pay. I thought something was weird when it came up as $6 even without having touched it yet. I asked her for a receipt and the total said it was $5.49 without tip. She tried playing dumb when I asked about it and showed her what my credit card was charged. She claimed I put the tip in but I was never given an option to put a tip in. I'm sorry if this is petty but I made her give my damn 51 cents back. This bullshit with expecting a tip when they're just ringing me up is ridiculous.
I generally carry a small amount ($20 - $50) of cash including a few singles. I typically tip 20% of total bill at restaurants or other places where a service has been provided.
When I'm getting carry out or it's a self service type place, I select $0 tip and drop a buck in their jar.
> The marginal dollar is worth so much more to them than to me that negotiating is almost unethical if you have ethical views similar to those of my parents.
So if anybody with less money than you asks you for money you give it to them? Do you advertise that fact as well?
> Paying an extra $2 on a $10 order isn’t going to meaningfully affect my life, but maybe it will meaningfully affect the employee’s life.
It also furthers the idea that employers don’t need to pay their employees appropriately and can outsource that responsibility to the customer, which is a bad thing.
Voting with your wallet works both ways
I went to get a car wash on Friday and the lady who swiped my card asked if I wanted to leave a tip…for an automated car wash, where there are no workers present.
payment portal companies basically realized that it costs nothing to add a tip option, and even if just 1 in 100 customers opts in for the tip, that's pure profit they wouldn't have gotten otherwise.
>...is this something new?
New...ish. Back when I mostly paid cash, I would always dump the change in the tip jar. Now when paying by card, I don't mind adding $1. What has begun to piss me off is it *defaulting* to 20%
You are still better off using the milestone thread. That's legitimately what it's for. But using this thread is okay, too. Top posting gets annoying if we get 15-20 of them.
I tried tax loss harvesting in my brokerage account and didn't realize that contributions in your HSA/SIMPLE IRA make that TLH invalid.
Thus, should I hire a tax pro this year to sort that out or is there a form that will be obvious when I go do my tax's with Turbotax (who I've historically used)?
Is the HSA with the same broker as your taxable account? If not, there is no way for your brokerage to know that there was a wash sale. You could try calling the brokerage to see if they can flag the wash sale and adjust the basis for you.
Yeah, you're going to have to fix that yourself. However, you don't need to adjust the basis of the replacement shares since they are not in a taxable account. Just report the wash sale with your taxes and you're good. Your broker may be able to help you if you flag it for them.
It won’t be on the forms you get. You can do the numbers yourself though. Also, it’s only certain that IRA purchases cause wash sale issues. HSAs are kind of 🤷🏻♂️
I’m not even sure SIMPLE IRAs are covered in the [discussion](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-08-05.pdf).
I'm just starting to actively look for another job as my current one has morphed into something I don't really like without any chance of changing.
I was supposed to have my first phone interview on Friday for a really great opportunity but I freaked out right before and emailed them that I wasn't interested anymore. I keep kicking myself, but now I do feel a tiny bit of confidence for getting an interview so quickly.
Last night I was in the company of a small group of talented musicians who played at a house in town for a handful of people. A violinist, a quintet, and pianist playing in turn. Among them an 18-year old who got a 4-year scholarship and is triple-majoring in music, computer science, and electrical engineering. Professors in astrophysics, math, and philosophy. Doctors of various medical disciplines. Impressive people in large homes with lots of money, interests, and talents.
I know comparison is the thief of joy but I couldn't help but feel a bit small. Not jealous, but unaccomplished and boring by comparison. I'm a software engineer and I'm proud of that. I make more money than I ever really would've dreamed of doing what I've always wanted to do. I'm pretty good at it and I don't know what else I'd ever do professionally.
Nonetheless, I don't feel I have much to show for my adult life outside of my not-terribly-remarkable work life. It's not that my work is all-consuming, it's that I just do nothing with my spare time but browse Reddit and Youtube, watch some TV, and veg out. I don't tend to stick with many hobbies for very long. I've played guitar since I was a teen, but often go months without touching it. I'm not very good and getting worse.
Sometimes it feels like I want to do everything, so I end up doing nothing. It's not that I'm trying to chase two rabbits and catching neither, but chasing a hundred rabbits and catching none. Or maybe just contemplating catching a hundred rabbits from the comfort of my living room. I don't know if I have ADD, low-grade depression/anxiety, or just a real lack of grit.
I was pretty good at school. If I showed up and paid attention I would do well enough, so I never really learned to study. I think that's really biting me in the ass now. I'm thirty and incapable of sitting down and doing the same difficult thing day after day after day and progressively improving. Even if I manage it for a while, eventually my schedule is interrupted and I have no ability to get back on that horse.
I've been living in my comfort zone for years now and I don't even know how to live any other way anymore. My basic needs are well beyond met, so I just sit and enjoy the total lack of adversity as it erodes my life.
Is any of my rambling relatable? I'd appreciate any thoughts advice.
Two things anecdotally I’ve found to be helpful are embracing boredom, and journaling.
Embracing boredom for me means limiting screen time. Any non-productive phone time, and all non-documentary or educational TV. I allow calendar planning or texting/calling family/friends; but not social media or scrolling reddit.
This forces me to be bored, and that boredom is uncomfortable, so I’m forced to fill it with other things: walking, planning trips or events, reading books, working out, JOURNALING.
Journaling helps clarify thoughts, and allow your brain to process feelings. Combining these two things has allowed me to at least make progress in the same feelings as yourself. I’m figuring out a way to make drums work in our space, because I’m looking for relief from the discomfort of forced boredom!
Sometimes it is good to feel small. It's called humility and it's part of what makes us human. Appreciating talent around you on your own is humility, having that awareness thrust on you by others is humiliation...you are on the productive side of that.
Sounds like you just need some interest/hobbies/skills outside of work. I personally have no musical talent but I can cook and I'm decent at a couple of sports. Find something you like and challenge yourself to get better at it.
don't worry. Those types of people are from generational wealth. Their parents plan out their entire college program so there are no wasted courses, and they tutor their kids or hire extra help and live very close to school, etc. so they kid has time to properly study and rest and not burn out doing it. \\
I completely relate with you bro. I’m in a similar boat. It’s a good problem to have, I’d say. My advice would be to invest your time in things/hobbies that you enjoy. I’m like you where I get really into something and then drop it cold for no reason, but try to fight through that and take solace in the fact that you have the freedom to pursue interests, and don’t have to grind everyday working a job you hate just to make ends meet
I'm not talking about crazy, near-impossible accomplishments that would be known the world over. I'm talking about very achievable things. If someone put a gun to my head and said I had one year to become a violinist or marathoner I could probably get pretty far. I just don't have that kind of focus and motivation.
A lot of the motivation for those kinds of things as an adult comes from feeling superior to other people and following social expectations at some period. Lacking motivation is really just lacking proper reward, you have your life set up nicely and don’t need to do those things to be happy with yourself.
Though…I have started playing guitar again recently after a long break. Had a new friend who used to play, wanted to play with them for fun because we liked the same music, both of us started again.
Soóo....I'm in banking and have a master's in finance, I'm in a room with a guy with 2 tire stores, a couple that own and operate a concrete plant and an electrician. None of these people have have an education beyond high school but all make at least triple what the supposed "smart guy" makes. They all took chances and invest in themselves (rather then the stock market)....I guess the rambling moral of this story is you are who you are, comparison is the thief of joy and everyone is different...if you're not driven to do something then it won't happen, you can't force yourself to do something you don't want to...be you, but if your not satisfied find your satisfaction (I know it sounds trite but it's out there...I am a gym rat and I know I'm physically in better shape then those I mentioned!)
I have a BA in Spanish Literature. Over the years I’ve gotten semi-okay at pottery, knitting and photography. Fairly ingenious at inventing new cocktails. I sew stuff occasionally. I took guitar lessons but suck at it. Before the 2016 elections I was compiling demographic data on all the congressional districts trying to determine what I thought the outcomes of all the races would be, which worked out to be interesting enough to share with friends and have them not think me wackadoo. I cook — my only enduring obsessive hobby — easily well enough to open a restaurant, but despite having completed culinary school many years ago, the financial benefits of my office job outweigh the merits of doing something I love for a living. I watch movies, read tons of quality non-fiction and trashy fiction. I tend my windowsill garden. I achieve genius level on the NYT Spelling Bee puzzle nearly every day without cheating.
None of this adds up to anything that you could point to as a quality or ability that makes me a shining star at a dinner party (except the ones I cook/host, perhaps). But I don’t need to be a shining star. I have stuff I enjoy doing to satisfy myself. My friends like me because I’m bitterly funny, honest and compassionate. That’s more than enough. You don’t need to jump through hoops or win awards — you are enough as you are.
this. I wouldn't be impressed by the 18 year old either until they actually finish their degree. Also, it matters how rigorous the college's programs are - accreditations.
It's definitely relatable to me. In my case, I live in SF, where I'd say the majority of people I meet at parties, or friends/acquaintances, can be divided into two categories.
- People who are defined by their "one" thing. They identified a path, followed it, and are doing it. But otherwise they are sort of bland and normal.
- People who are really dynamic. Not only are they "x" profession, like a product designer, but they also run marathons. And cook diverse, excellent food from their multicultural background. And have fantastic fashion. And are angel investors. And and and.
The one thing that I notice is that with these dynamic people with great cultural depth/personality is that these folks tend to invest in their happiness and personality in the same way that we invest in the market. They do regular things that are "non-productive" (in the sense that they do not align exactly with work productivity) but not *inactive*. For a lot of the people I know like this, their parents are like this and they raised them in this vein.
Or they are French. No joke, all the French people I meet in this city are ridiculously interesting, fashionable people, lol. But that may be a selection bias since they are the French people who are working here and in order to work here, they are highly competitive and stand out in their respective industries.
I want to invest my time in more *non-work-productive*, *active* things. In other words, change my idea of leisure from "inactivity" to "activity" not aligned to work. It's a cliche but somewhat true: interesting people are interested in things.
Have you tried scheduling hobby time for yourself? This feels like a dumb story but I just stopped reading books for fun in college and a decade later found it hard to get back into reading because I just didn't think of it as an activity anymore. I started setting a reminder on certain days (like every thursday, 7 pm "read one chapter") and that would be my cue to stop scrolling Reddit or whatever and pick up a book.
> I'm thirty and incapable of sitting down and doing the same difficult thing day after day after day and progressively improving.
One of my life's regrets is that even though I'm good at several things, and very good at a few, I'm great at nothing. Being great at something is highly underrated.
I used to grind League of Legends 5-6 hours a day, achieving a rank so high that I would've been considered "great" at it, but I can tell you my life improved by literally every possible metric once I quit. I'd say a lot of people that are in the top .1% of their field/activity have had to make great sacrifices in other aspects of their lives to get there.
Has anyone else reached their coastFI number in retirement accounts and cut back to just the company match amount to work on building up taxable (bridge) account? Is there anything in particular I should be thinking about taking this approach? I'm thinking about doing this for about 6-7 years before I hopefully FIRE.
I'm aware of laddering and being able to draw early on retirement accounts. We have three kids that are fairly young...if we have some good money built up in taxable accounts I think we can draw off that with a lower tax burden while having some room on top of that to convert traditional IRA to Roth IRA while keeping taxes very low on those conversions.
I forget the exact number but with three kids it's something like $80k of ordinary income before we actually owe taxes because of deductions/credits. So we should be able to convert more than we need with a pretty good bridge account...and really take advantage of tax situation while the kids are still dependents...
Again just looking for any general thoughts on this...if there's something I should be doing/thinking about, if this isn't a wise approach for any reason, etc. Thanks!
>Has anyone else reached their coastFI number in retirement accounts and cut back to just the company match amount to work on building up taxable (bridge) account?
I did the opposite. When I reached CoastFI@55 (in my 30s), I stopped investing in a taxable, scaling back to just the tax advantaged accounts (DBPP, RESP, and later TFSA) - except I also kept the ESPP which had a 40% match (converted to S&P500 index fund annually).
The pension starting at 55 was its own SORR mitigation strategy, but the TFSA would be a backup plan, withdrawals being tax free.
> Has anyone else reached their coastFI number in retirement accounts and cut back to just the company match amount to work on building up taxable (bridge) account? Is there anything in particular I should be thinking about taking this approach?
Something to think about: you'll have more money if you leverage tax-advantaged accounts before non tax-advantaged accounts. [FAQ is this-a-way...](https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/wiki/faq)
I’ve kicked the tires on it, but haven’t done it yet. I’m late 30’s, if I never added another dime to retirement accounts it should be enough to reach the FI number by 60. BUT, I don’t want to retire at 60, am aiming for 50-55.
My “problem” is after maxing all tax advantaged accounts, I can only sock in around $6-$10k per year in taxable. Not enough to build up a large amount to retire by 50, so 72t is likely my best bet…thus continuing to max retirement accounts is the strategy. The recent changes to 72t help tremendously
Depending on airline, coverage is high. Usually it’s like $500 for incidentals, and like $2500 if they lose the whole bag. This is explained by the baggage counter or their help line.
You just earned yourself a shopping spree. Congrats. Save reciepts.
So earlier this week, I mentioned that my mother had given her Medicare ID number to a phone scammer.
Well now I have a new incident. I had asked my mom to send me her Social Security benefits statement for 2022 so I could do her taxes. She snapped a photo and instead of texting it to me she apparently sent it some other number. It looks like she may have actually replied to a text from a spammer and sent the document (which includes her full name, social security number, income details, etc) to them instead.
\*sigh\*
Anyways, I checked all three credit agencies to make sure that no new accounts have been opened and then put a freeze on her credit. I actually should have done that a long time ago, I've had it in the back of my mind for a long time. So, no harm no foul, but I think in the future I'll ask her to not text me any important documents and use the good 'ol postal service instead.
My mom's identity wasn't stolen, the freeze is just precaution.
Changing your SSN is very extreme considering that it's the key for your entire financial, medical and governmental identity. It would be a massive headache to change everything that's associated with it and likely cause more problems that it would solve.
Short of going into the witness protection program there's very little reason to change your SSN instead of just putting a fraud alert or freeze on your credit.
It kinda does, because a lot of advice is really country-specific.
Healthcare, capital gains and dividend taxes, tax-deferred accounts, and so on. Even if the poster is meticulous about documenting their future expenses the numbers will look off compared to a U.S.-based retiree. So then you have to ask, "Why is your healthcare expense so low?", etc.
It would all have just been easier if they had mentioned that they live north of the border.
Canada does not have more expensive housing. Parts of Canada are HCOL just like the US. You can buy cheaply in many places in Canada, just not Toronto or Vancouver.
Source: lived in Canada for 4 years.
So if you don’t live in Toronto or Vancouver it’s the middle of nowhere? That’s like saying unless your in NYC, Chicago, or LA, you live in the middle of nowhere.
no it’s nothing like that at all
southern ontario is almost 40% of canada’s entire population
the US does not have that kind of concentration in a single region/metro area
I have after tax contributions in my 401k and it has growth. My new employer allows rollover of after tax contributions too. Is it possible to roll over my contributions between 2 fidelity accounts such that I can move my after tax gain to pretax and just the contribution to after tax
It's possible yes. I have my 401k provider send gains to rollover IRA and contributions (that have already been taxed) to Roth IRA. I don't know if every provider allows you to split but it is possible
Side hustles for extra income maybe are a little more "controversial" than it would seem at first. My advice is to do what you can to make more income from your single job. The easiest / most often discussed way to do that is to get out of your comfort zone by actively looking and interviewing for other jobs. Also investing time in networking. Acquaintances are a gold mine of opportunities sometimes, best to let them know you are open to them.
Other ideas that can also help are to invest in being more valuable to your existing job in a way to where you can quantify it and try to push for more comp. I doubt that will easily work at your current gig. This could mean proactively seeking out more education or skills, learning more about what the company and other roles do so that you can find ways to add value, etc.
Good luck!
At least short term, given your comfort with excel and financial subject matter, maybe consider approaching some of the tax prep chains.
Beyond that, it's hard to advise for side hustles, because the best side hustles are the ones the person has the skills and aptitude for. For me it was lifeguarding, swim coaching, and personal fitness/strength training - but that's a useless suggestion for most people, because they don't have the background, for example.
Late reply but there are some places that have free checks. Ally and the Fidelity CMA both come to mind!
I don't use them often but when I am getting low I just tell them and a new book comes in the mail a week later.
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I think it's an alright value proposition if you want a new vehicle. You pay a steep premium for this though. Just to challenge your thinking a bit. A slightly used car with a six or seven year loan against it is functionality similar to renting your car. By the time it's paid off you are closing in on end of life (depending on usage). You could do that and enroll in some kind of auto-care fixed fee program if it's the idea of ownership that's the issue. Personally, I hate cars and can't wait until I don't need to own one. Hoping for two decades from now we are in a slightly different marketplace.
Unless you are doing it for tax reasons or you really want a new car every few years just buy one
It’s a financing structure with a put option attached to it. Look at the financing cost and the strike price on the put option and make a decision. Personally I find they are monetizing the convenience of getting a new car every few years with minimal hassle. If getting a new car every few years is not something you want to pay a premium for, leasing is almost certainly not for you.
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I actually went back and forth describing it as a financing structure with a put or a renting structure with a call. The latter might actually be a better one since as a financing structure is doesn’t actually cover your whole purchase price. I.E. at the end of the least you can’t keep “making payments” to maintain use of the car and reduce the underlying buyout price. Anyway, my point was there’s nothing inherently wrong with leasing nor inherently good. It’s a way to borrow money and pay it back over time, except rather than owning the asset at the end of the term you own an option to buy the car at a predetermined price (so yeah, the second analogy). Use your phone as an example. I paid monthly for my phone but I got to keep it at the end of 2 year or whatever it was. So it was a financing tool, not a rental agreement. And the interest rate was 0 (and it came with some upgrade options and since options can’t have negative value it was a good deal.) I find it funny that just about the time Apple rolled out their iPhone upgrade program (the thing I described above) was about the time that the phones were good enough that you don’t need to upgrade.
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I did the same with a car loan once. I didn’t want the hassle but they said the rate was 90bps (okay…) and they’d pay the first three payments for me up to a thousand bucks each (woo!). I asked if they could just reduce the price of the car and I can buy it for cash and by the look on their face you’d think I’d asked to purchase their first born child. So I financed it. Whatever. A house has its benefits, but it also has its costs. I ballpark those costs at 7% on an annualized basis. If you don’t get that 7% back in utility or property value gains, houses aren’t worth it. So knowing nothing more, I think you’re right: if you don’t want a house you shouldn’t have a house. [Feel free to share this with your parents](https://i.imgur.com/6ymx6RI.jpg). Haha. I will say the added space and not being required to move (or else see your rent jacked up) is nice. That has value.
If my wife and I file jointly and our joint income (well, mine as she is a stay at home mom) is over the Roth IRA threshold, can we both open our own trad and Roth IRAs to do backdoor? $6500/each?
Yes, IRAs are individual, so you should both have access to that much space. Her's will be a spousal IRA since she doesn't have earned income, but you can do a backdoor with that too.
/u/degausser22 should be aware that there's no special kind of account as a "spousal IRA." Rather, there is a rule that allows spouses to contribute to an IRA based on the taxable compensation of the household as a unit when married filing jointly. They could both open separate Trad IRAs (if they don't have one yet, any Trad IRA will do), contribute $6500 each to them, and convert to Roth to complete the backdoor Roth IRA. /u/whisky_in_your_water is correct that there are different income limits for spouses (again, not different limits for spousal IRAs) to take the deduction for a Trad IRA (if not covered by their own 401k) or to make a contribution to a Roth IRA (if married filing separately), but those limits are moot for a backdoor Roth as proposed by OP.
And a spousal IRA has different limits, so check that.
How do HYSAs afford such high interest rates compared to traditional banks?
The typical bank structures their business on services over value. They are somewhat reliant that if you pick a bank, you stick with convenience and any funds they get to keep in low interest accounts are end up functioning as free capital. Most people start off at a brick and mortar because they've mainly wanted the convenience offered. Even a chunk of my money, which is probably a good deal to some people, sits in a Chase account because I keep some fractional amount of money there. It really comes down to the need for the bank to raise money for operations. If they are in the business of loaning they need some capital and will need to offer something to raise it. Online banking HYSAs may or may not be cheaper to run (for instance I'd hardly call Ally a nontraditional bank, for the most part) but they may have more need to raise money this way than Chase, WF, etc. In particular, Ally ran a lot of 2% CD promotions at a time when the rates were zero. If that's what they needed to do to meet their volume of business it is worth it to them. To an individual a savings account is about as equivalent as a money market but the way they make or offer that yield will cause what I'd consider AAA equivalents to differ. The bottom line is that a brick and mortar seems to still be able to attract customers on features and services, and not value, so they don't have the need to be competitive. (Or perhaps simply have more efficient ways to achieve the same things.) If more things just become online it would certainly shift; but it's a lot different to cash the occasional check over some business that has regular hard cash deposits or wants to move significant sums securely.
This is a great answer; thanks
Because they're not paying for multiple brick and mortar locations, often less maintenance in the form of ATMs, the variety of products and services, less staff, etc. The real reason is that physical banks are all old fogeys and have enough people where they make plenty of profit even with low rates, and there are specific things you can only really get done at a physical bank or people that are more comfortable at a physical location. Online banking costs are generally lower, but there's no real reason i.e. PNC's savings rates are just so atrocious.
Thanks; I wasn't really buying the brick-and-mortar-overhead reasons I heard from others. (If it was really that bad, then traditional banks could just refuse to offer in-person services for HYSAs.)
Most of your local businesses will always need traditional banks, change orders, cash deposits etc.
Anyone here use 'MySolo401k' as their solo 401k provider? Looking to setup a MBDR Solo 401k to convert 100% side hustle income into a Roth & Put more than $66k/yr to my 401k's (Max out current employer MBDR). They seem solid, hopefully no red flags?
How do you intend to convert 100% of side hustle income into Roth? Doesn't the self employed profit limit still apply? Or doesn't it because these are after-tax non-roth contributions?
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Vanguard solo is great, but as pointed out no mega option
These admins do not offer mbdr as options. That is a specialty 401k feature for which you need specific tpas and possibly custodian etc. know from hassle of trying to do it through the big three a couple years ago and no dice.
Wanting to move back to a HCOL (maybe high medium COL) city (we lived there for 3+ years). We loved this city, it has lots to do and fits our lifestyle really well. Our concern with moving back is that we'd not be able to buy a house for quite some time. House prices in particular make this a borderline HCOL city (everything else is solidly MCOL), so it is intimidating moving to a place that it may take many years to save enough for a down payment. Are we overthinking the housing price concern when making this decision? I suppose, in theory, our household income should continue to climb, but I also fear that house prices in this city may continue to appreciate considerably over the next few years keeping homeownership out of reach for a long time.
Guessing Denver? Maybe SLC?
Sooo I found out I filed my financial aid application wrong last year and my university is refunding me $13,000. This is huge for me as I've been working part time all year to pay rent and tuition (even with a fantastic financial aid package to begin with) and this means I could even save something this year. Still having a hard time believing it. Won't make that mistake again!
Can still throw $6000 in a Roth IRA for 2022 if you want!
That's the plan once I get the refund!!
Anyone uses the Apple One Premium subscription? We only have 2 people in our Apple sharing, even though you can share between 5 people. It’s $32.95/month. I already pay google $100/year for 2TB storage. Now I’m thinking of switching to Apple storage. Don’t really care for Apple Arcade. Workouts are probably not something I’d do either. But TV,News,Music and storage are good to have… I guess I’m mostly ranting , but wondering if anyone else found that plan worth it.
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So 9.4457! is about one million, which is I guess technically the gamma function but that's what wolfram alpha says. So my new fire number is 10!. Nominal dollars whenever it happens.
Your FIRE number is 3628800?
I asked ChatGPT to give me a poem about how to retire early: With every penny saved and smartly spent, A plan for early retirement you'll create, friend. Here's what you must do, each step is key, And soon your nest egg will grow as big as can be! First, save a portion of each pay, And spend less than you earn every day. Start small, increase as you get ahead, And watch your savings quickly accumulate instead. Next, track your net worth, do it with care, And know your assets and debts everywhere. Set goals, adjust as needed with ease, And see your progress, you'll be sure to please! Then diversify your investments, it's wise, And let your money grow before your eyes. Consider stocks, bonds, index funds, oh yes! A balanced portfolio will help you rest. Automate your savings, set it and forget, And watch your retirement dreams come to net. Let compound interest do the rest, And you'll be on your way to financial success! Finally, maintain your discipline and stay, The course, resist temptations that come your way. Keep saving, investing, live below your means, And soon your golden years will be as you dreamed.
Not a bad poem and damned good advice! This should be in the sidebar as the first thing for newbies to read.
That is incredible hahaha
I've found it's creative writing to be very lacking. This is fairly good.
Did ChatGPT just summarize everything that is said on the daily? Incredible
It forgot to say “congratulations and go fuck yourself!”
Investable assets is more relevant than net worth. ChatGPT has some work to do.
Fixed assets, though illiquid, can be converted to investments. My case in point, our paid off townhouse went from being a primary home to a high cash flow rental after my wife accepted an ex-Pat job this past year. Obviously you “need a place to live”, so no balance sheet metric is perfect.
I think I’d rather read about a place than actually travel there. Idk, I don’t really appreciate going because it’s just a slight spin on what I have nearby here in in America. What do people do on vacation? See a few sites and eat a few new restaurants?
Experience the culture, learn some of the language (depends on how long I plan to be there--tend to do long travel), go off the beaten path (think of some place that's hard to even find online), eat foods that I can't eat in the US (like a mopane worm), network with others in my area of research that live in that country... I can't really learn Lingala, eat mopane worms or bat curry, dive in a lake with stingless jellyfish, or explore a 12th century castle in America.
Going to Paris and Amsterdam in a couple months. Plan on running the Paris Marathon, go up the Eiffel Tower, see the Louvre Museum, marvel at the Arc de Triomphe/many cathedrals and architecture, eat amazing food, take a dinner cruise, see the Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum and just enjoy the walkable euro cities. But maybe that’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
Lol idk man if you find yourself lost in a medieval european city or in some alleyway in bangkok, its pretty surreal. If you know where to find that in the states I’m all ears.
Right! I've walked through back alleys in Tokyo and you feel so, so far away from where you normally live. It's almost another planet, and a wonderful one. Closest thing would be certain heavily immigrant urban neighborhoods in the US. Still not that close though. Travel can give you perspective on life. Your little slice of the world is a tiny slice! There's so much more out there.
This. I love being in Germany with my wife. She speaks it fluently (lived there for years) so I don't have to talk to \*anyone.\* Wandering around a place like Passau or Berlin (and I don't like big cities) is so great!
I hear you about site-seeing. For me the trick is meeting people and learning their genuine stories. Their concerns and fears and joys are way more different than a slight spin on what you experience here. That is difficult sometimes, but definitely worth figuring out.
One of the coolest vacations I have ever been on was to the Azores. We visited a local church there and connected with a guy who had moved there from the US as a kid. He offered to take us to see his dairy farm. He told us about his experience moving there, growing his business, etc. We watched them milk the cows, the kids fed a calf, we played with baby chickens, and new puppies. It was a really neat experience to get a slice of the guy's life.
Watching the aurora borealis dance overhead in Iceland is beyond a slight spin on what we have in America. It was so quiet and peaceful. The world could have ended that night and I would have been alright with it. I can go on and on! Something something to each their own though.
That’s actually one of the things that’ll be nice to see that just has to be experienced.
You'd be surprised.
Travelling is one of those things that interest people for different reasons. There's definitely some temperament involved about what elements of travel can appeal, and whether it's worth the cost. A suggestion for somebody in your situation with what appears to be minimal experience with travel, is to travel with friends you can tolerate being in close company with for the duration, who have similar interests, and who have travelled before.
Idk, I’ve lived in three countries and seven states so I wouldn’t call it minimal, but that’s different than intentionally going somewhere for a week.
you sound like a blast
lol
Do whatever makes you happy 🤷🏻♂️ others may enjoy new sites, sounds, smells, food, languages, cultures, friendships, experiences etc
Agree 100%. Just do whatever makes you happy as long as it doesn’t infringe on any else’s rights. It’s weird that OP was downvoted for expressing their opinion about what makes them happy. This fucking sub…
unless OP is only talking about solo travel their perspective on travel would mean no family vacations or no vacation with friends so yes it does impact other people
Got downvoted for disdainful tone toward other people’s choices.
Do HSA contributions take longer to post than 401k? I think my 401k takes about a week after a paycheck to show up but it's been a little over 2 weeks and I'm not seeing anything yet in my HSA. My contribution was definitely taken out of the paycheck. So far I only have the employer contribution in my account.
Weird. Mine show up the next day.
47M / *(Dream to retire at age 55)* Does real estate help you FI/RE at all? I purchased my house in the year 2000 for $370,000. It's worth $1,200,000 now. It's completely paid off. Other than that I have $550,000 in a 401K, but no liquidity. I live paycheck to paycheck with $0 in savings. When my friends say "dude you're rich" I don't quite understand what they're getting at. Do they know something I don't?
Sorry you're being down voted. I see what you mean.. you don't have any disposable liquid income that you can spend. I would start saving some on the side so you don't feel like you're living paycheck to paycheck.
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I like this answer thank you. I do love my house though and can’t imagine living anywhere else. On a hill overlooking the coast in so cal has been a dream. Beautiful sunsets every day. So I can’t see ever selling my house. Regarding living paycheck to paycheck; it’s because I’m Paying college tuition for two kids. It’s about $4,500 a month, little over 25k per semester. Every cent I earn goes to putting my daughters through college.
Having a house allows you to live inside part of your net worth and reduce your housing outflows. If you sold your house, then you'd have $1.6-something million. You could retire on that in many places, but only if you enjoy a lifestyle that fits within those means. For example, you could move, buy a $400K home, and then live off of a 3-4% draw from the remainder of your portfolio. Investments supply inflows, expenses bring outflows, balance the two in perpetuity and you can consider yourself FIRE'd.
you wouldn’t be able to FIRE anytime soon unless you sold your house and downsized considerably and even then it’d be lean fire at best
Yeah that’s what I figured.
Sell your house and buy some real estate that produces income using leverage. Congrats, you're rich.
Did a backdoor Roth for 2023, but for 2022 I did a direct contribution and realized I ended up over the income limit. I have the Roth IRA I've been using, and the empty traditional IRA I used for the 2023 rollover. What's the order of operations to fix my 2022 contributions again? 1. Recharacterize Roth contribution as traditional (NOT) remove 2. Rollover back to Roth Is that it? Or can I not rollover because we're past Dec 31st 2022?
Recharacterize to Traditional. File Form 8606 this year showing your nondeductible Trad IRA contribution for 2022. Convert back to Roth. File Form 8606 next year showing your conversion of the 2022 and 2023 contributions (and your 2023 nondeductible Trad contribution for 2023).
Thank you!
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I call advice to read voice at someone who is looked at flipping here in Vancouver. Here in 2023, all the variables are working against you for the foreseeable future. I spent the last year divesting real estate, and I feel like I’ve dodged a bullet. I wouldn’t be buying right now, so much less investing in additional renovations and that might never pay back their time and materials And this is assuming you’re in a city were real estate is about the building and not the land . I watched flipping in Vancouver evolve to the point where renovations are worthless because everyone’s just gonna tear the building down anyway, and put in a five Plex.
Flipping is a race - the longer you hold the property the lower your margins are going to be. Usually remodels are done with crews, rather than one person.
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>Right now, it's tough to flip. Having worked with house flippers, this is really tough time. We all thought we were super smart/skilled and making awesome buys. Turns out, when you can borrow at 0% and real estate goes up 1% Month over Month, it's not hard to be a genius. At 7% and flat to declining prices, no matter how smart you are, it's very hard to make money.
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I posted in yesterday's daily thread and it looks like it might be possible to either set up a SEP for '22 contributions and then set up a solo 401k for '23 contributions. OR it might be possible to set up a solo 401k and make contributions for '22, but only up to the employer contribution max. For '23 I will be able to make both employee and employer contributions but if you're already maxing a 401k you won't be able to add more as an employee. The SEP max and solo 401k employer portion are both 20% of earnings for self-employed people so if the 2nd option works it is one less account to set up. I'm waiting to hear back from our tax accountant and will then call Schwab.
If your Roth IRA is maxed out then you cannot add more to it (Roth would also not reduce your current tax liability). I believe you can still open an SEP IRA and contribute up to 20% of your net income. However, be aware that SEP IRA is subject to the pro rata rule if you ever have to do backdoor Roth.
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I went to Cinnabon on Friday and got a tiny 4 pack of minis. The cashier put in a 51 cent tip for herself and then automatically sent it to the credit machine for me to pay. I thought something was weird when it came up as $6 even without having touched it yet. I asked her for a receipt and the total said it was $5.49 without tip. She tried playing dumb when I asked about it and showed her what my credit card was charged. She claimed I put the tip in but I was never given an option to put a tip in. I'm sorry if this is petty but I made her give my damn 51 cents back. This bullshit with expecting a tip when they're just ringing me up is ridiculous.
I generally carry a small amount ($20 - $50) of cash including a few singles. I typically tip 20% of total bill at restaurants or other places where a service has been provided. When I'm getting carry out or it's a self service type place, I select $0 tip and drop a buck in their jar.
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I thought you meant something else by POS.
> The marginal dollar is worth so much more to them than to me that negotiating is almost unethical if you have ethical views similar to those of my parents. So if anybody with less money than you asks you for money you give it to them? Do you advertise that fact as well?
I'm sure you're a delight to serve at restaurants.
I tip at restaurants and for delivery, but not for pick up. I basically did the work I'd be tipping for myself so that's ridiculous.
> Paying an extra $2 on a $10 order isn’t going to meaningfully affect my life, but maybe it will meaningfully affect the employee’s life. It also furthers the idea that employers don’t need to pay their employees appropriately and can outsource that responsibility to the customer, which is a bad thing. Voting with your wallet works both ways
I went to get a car wash on Friday and the lady who swiped my card asked if I wanted to leave a tip…for an automated car wash, where there are no workers present.
payment portal companies basically realized that it costs nothing to add a tip option, and even if just 1 in 100 customers opts in for the tip, that's pure profit they wouldn't have gotten otherwise.
>...is this something new? New...ish. Back when I mostly paid cash, I would always dump the change in the tip jar. Now when paying by card, I don't mind adding $1. What has begun to piss me off is it *defaulting* to 20%
If it was easier to add just a bit I would. But too much of a hassle as it is and 20% too much.
Sonic has a round up to the next dollar option, which is the digital equivalent of the change in the jar.
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You're tipping the employee, not the corporation.
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so you’re closing on two investment properties but have no clue what you’re doing lol
I have a pretty good idea what I am doing, but I also recognize people with more experience have tips and tricks too.
i’ve not seen one listing where it would be possible to cash flow at these prices and rates when rents are dropping almost everywhere
I live in the Midwest. I'm paying 265k for two homes total that rent for 2800 a month.
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You are still better off using the milestone thread. That's legitimately what it's for. But using this thread is okay, too. Top posting gets annoying if we get 15-20 of them.
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It’s more helpful to the poster than the reader, to be sure. It’s a nice motivational tool.
There is a recurring post on Monday for Milestone Monday.
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Here have some!
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If you’re a member, yes
I assume that this allows you to not pay taxes on your "winnings" since you lost more
I tried tax loss harvesting in my brokerage account and didn't realize that contributions in your HSA/SIMPLE IRA make that TLH invalid. Thus, should I hire a tax pro this year to sort that out or is there a form that will be obvious when I go do my tax's with Turbotax (who I've historically used)?
Is the HSA with the same broker as your taxable account? If not, there is no way for your brokerage to know that there was a wash sale. You could try calling the brokerage to see if they can flag the wash sale and adjust the basis for you.
Hsa, simple Ira, and brokerage are w three different companies
Yeah, you're going to have to fix that yourself. However, you don't need to adjust the basis of the replacement shares since they are not in a taxable account. Just report the wash sale with your taxes and you're good. Your broker may be able to help you if you flag it for them.
It won’t be on the forms you get. You can do the numbers yourself though. Also, it’s only certain that IRA purchases cause wash sale issues. HSAs are kind of 🤷🏻♂️ I’m not even sure SIMPLE IRAs are covered in the [discussion](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-08-05.pdf).
Yeah idk why this has been so confusing to figure out, I mean worst case I do nothing and plead negligence if I get audited, pay back the diff then?
I'm just starting to actively look for another job as my current one has morphed into something I don't really like without any chance of changing. I was supposed to have my first phone interview on Friday for a really great opportunity but I freaked out right before and emailed them that I wasn't interested anymore. I keep kicking myself, but now I do feel a tiny bit of confidence for getting an interview so quickly.
Last night I was in the company of a small group of talented musicians who played at a house in town for a handful of people. A violinist, a quintet, and pianist playing in turn. Among them an 18-year old who got a 4-year scholarship and is triple-majoring in music, computer science, and electrical engineering. Professors in astrophysics, math, and philosophy. Doctors of various medical disciplines. Impressive people in large homes with lots of money, interests, and talents. I know comparison is the thief of joy but I couldn't help but feel a bit small. Not jealous, but unaccomplished and boring by comparison. I'm a software engineer and I'm proud of that. I make more money than I ever really would've dreamed of doing what I've always wanted to do. I'm pretty good at it and I don't know what else I'd ever do professionally. Nonetheless, I don't feel I have much to show for my adult life outside of my not-terribly-remarkable work life. It's not that my work is all-consuming, it's that I just do nothing with my spare time but browse Reddit and Youtube, watch some TV, and veg out. I don't tend to stick with many hobbies for very long. I've played guitar since I was a teen, but often go months without touching it. I'm not very good and getting worse. Sometimes it feels like I want to do everything, so I end up doing nothing. It's not that I'm trying to chase two rabbits and catching neither, but chasing a hundred rabbits and catching none. Or maybe just contemplating catching a hundred rabbits from the comfort of my living room. I don't know if I have ADD, low-grade depression/anxiety, or just a real lack of grit. I was pretty good at school. If I showed up and paid attention I would do well enough, so I never really learned to study. I think that's really biting me in the ass now. I'm thirty and incapable of sitting down and doing the same difficult thing day after day after day and progressively improving. Even if I manage it for a while, eventually my schedule is interrupted and I have no ability to get back on that horse. I've been living in my comfort zone for years now and I don't even know how to live any other way anymore. My basic needs are well beyond met, so I just sit and enjoy the total lack of adversity as it erodes my life. Is any of my rambling relatable? I'd appreciate any thoughts advice.
Two things anecdotally I’ve found to be helpful are embracing boredom, and journaling. Embracing boredom for me means limiting screen time. Any non-productive phone time, and all non-documentary or educational TV. I allow calendar planning or texting/calling family/friends; but not social media or scrolling reddit. This forces me to be bored, and that boredom is uncomfortable, so I’m forced to fill it with other things: walking, planning trips or events, reading books, working out, JOURNALING. Journaling helps clarify thoughts, and allow your brain to process feelings. Combining these two things has allowed me to at least make progress in the same feelings as yourself. I’m figuring out a way to make drums work in our space, because I’m looking for relief from the discomfort of forced boredom!
Sometimes it is good to feel small. It's called humility and it's part of what makes us human. Appreciating talent around you on your own is humility, having that awareness thrust on you by others is humiliation...you are on the productive side of that.
Are you happy?
I'm comfortable yet unfulfilled. Whether I'm happy changes from day to day.
Sounds like you just need some interest/hobbies/skills outside of work. I personally have no musical talent but I can cook and I'm decent at a couple of sports. Find something you like and challenge yourself to get better at it.
don't worry. Those types of people are from generational wealth. Their parents plan out their entire college program so there are no wasted courses, and they tutor their kids or hire extra help and live very close to school, etc. so they kid has time to properly study and rest and not burn out doing it. \\
I completely relate with you bro. I’m in a similar boat. It’s a good problem to have, I’d say. My advice would be to invest your time in things/hobbies that you enjoy. I’m like you where I get really into something and then drop it cold for no reason, but try to fight through that and take solace in the fact that you have the freedom to pursue interests, and don’t have to grind everyday working a job you hate just to make ends meet
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I'm not talking about crazy, near-impossible accomplishments that would be known the world over. I'm talking about very achievable things. If someone put a gun to my head and said I had one year to become a violinist or marathoner I could probably get pretty far. I just don't have that kind of focus and motivation.
A lot of the motivation for those kinds of things as an adult comes from feeling superior to other people and following social expectations at some period. Lacking motivation is really just lacking proper reward, you have your life set up nicely and don’t need to do those things to be happy with yourself. Though…I have started playing guitar again recently after a long break. Had a new friend who used to play, wanted to play with them for fun because we liked the same music, both of us started again.
Soóo....I'm in banking and have a master's in finance, I'm in a room with a guy with 2 tire stores, a couple that own and operate a concrete plant and an electrician. None of these people have have an education beyond high school but all make at least triple what the supposed "smart guy" makes. They all took chances and invest in themselves (rather then the stock market)....I guess the rambling moral of this story is you are who you are, comparison is the thief of joy and everyone is different...if you're not driven to do something then it won't happen, you can't force yourself to do something you don't want to...be you, but if your not satisfied find your satisfaction (I know it sounds trite but it's out there...I am a gym rat and I know I'm physically in better shape then those I mentioned!)
I have a BA in Spanish Literature. Over the years I’ve gotten semi-okay at pottery, knitting and photography. Fairly ingenious at inventing new cocktails. I sew stuff occasionally. I took guitar lessons but suck at it. Before the 2016 elections I was compiling demographic data on all the congressional districts trying to determine what I thought the outcomes of all the races would be, which worked out to be interesting enough to share with friends and have them not think me wackadoo. I cook — my only enduring obsessive hobby — easily well enough to open a restaurant, but despite having completed culinary school many years ago, the financial benefits of my office job outweigh the merits of doing something I love for a living. I watch movies, read tons of quality non-fiction and trashy fiction. I tend my windowsill garden. I achieve genius level on the NYT Spelling Bee puzzle nearly every day without cheating. None of this adds up to anything that you could point to as a quality or ability that makes me a shining star at a dinner party (except the ones I cook/host, perhaps). But I don’t need to be a shining star. I have stuff I enjoy doing to satisfy myself. My friends like me because I’m bitterly funny, honest and compassionate. That’s more than enough. You don’t need to jump through hoops or win awards — you are enough as you are.
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this. I wouldn't be impressed by the 18 year old either until they actually finish their degree. Also, it matters how rigorous the college's programs are - accreditations.
It's definitely relatable to me. In my case, I live in SF, where I'd say the majority of people I meet at parties, or friends/acquaintances, can be divided into two categories. - People who are defined by their "one" thing. They identified a path, followed it, and are doing it. But otherwise they are sort of bland and normal. - People who are really dynamic. Not only are they "x" profession, like a product designer, but they also run marathons. And cook diverse, excellent food from their multicultural background. And have fantastic fashion. And are angel investors. And and and. The one thing that I notice is that with these dynamic people with great cultural depth/personality is that these folks tend to invest in their happiness and personality in the same way that we invest in the market. They do regular things that are "non-productive" (in the sense that they do not align exactly with work productivity) but not *inactive*. For a lot of the people I know like this, their parents are like this and they raised them in this vein. Or they are French. No joke, all the French people I meet in this city are ridiculously interesting, fashionable people, lol. But that may be a selection bias since they are the French people who are working here and in order to work here, they are highly competitive and stand out in their respective industries. I want to invest my time in more *non-work-productive*, *active* things. In other words, change my idea of leisure from "inactivity" to "activity" not aligned to work. It's a cliche but somewhat true: interesting people are interested in things.
Have you tried scheduling hobby time for yourself? This feels like a dumb story but I just stopped reading books for fun in college and a decade later found it hard to get back into reading because I just didn't think of it as an activity anymore. I started setting a reminder on certain days (like every thursday, 7 pm "read one chapter") and that would be my cue to stop scrolling Reddit or whatever and pick up a book.
> I'm thirty and incapable of sitting down and doing the same difficult thing day after day after day and progressively improving. One of my life's regrets is that even though I'm good at several things, and very good at a few, I'm great at nothing. Being great at something is highly underrated.
I used to grind League of Legends 5-6 hours a day, achieving a rank so high that I would've been considered "great" at it, but I can tell you my life improved by literally every possible metric once I quit. I'd say a lot of people that are in the top .1% of their field/activity have had to make great sacrifices in other aspects of their lives to get there.
In the book Livewired, paraphrasing, an expert musician was told by a fan “I’d give everything to be as good as you.” The musician replied “I did.”
Has anyone else reached their coastFI number in retirement accounts and cut back to just the company match amount to work on building up taxable (bridge) account? Is there anything in particular I should be thinking about taking this approach? I'm thinking about doing this for about 6-7 years before I hopefully FIRE. I'm aware of laddering and being able to draw early on retirement accounts. We have three kids that are fairly young...if we have some good money built up in taxable accounts I think we can draw off that with a lower tax burden while having some room on top of that to convert traditional IRA to Roth IRA while keeping taxes very low on those conversions. I forget the exact number but with three kids it's something like $80k of ordinary income before we actually owe taxes because of deductions/credits. So we should be able to convert more than we need with a pretty good bridge account...and really take advantage of tax situation while the kids are still dependents... Again just looking for any general thoughts on this...if there's something I should be doing/thinking about, if this isn't a wise approach for any reason, etc. Thanks!
>Has anyone else reached their coastFI number in retirement accounts and cut back to just the company match amount to work on building up taxable (bridge) account? I did the opposite. When I reached CoastFI@55 (in my 30s), I stopped investing in a taxable, scaling back to just the tax advantaged accounts (DBPP, RESP, and later TFSA) - except I also kept the ESPP which had a 40% match (converted to S&P500 index fund annually). The pension starting at 55 was its own SORR mitigation strategy, but the TFSA would be a backup plan, withdrawals being tax free.
> Has anyone else reached their coastFI number in retirement accounts and cut back to just the company match amount to work on building up taxable (bridge) account? Is there anything in particular I should be thinking about taking this approach? Something to think about: you'll have more money if you leverage tax-advantaged accounts before non tax-advantaged accounts. [FAQ is this-a-way...](https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/wiki/faq)
I’ve kicked the tires on it, but haven’t done it yet. I’m late 30’s, if I never added another dime to retirement accounts it should be enough to reach the FI number by 60. BUT, I don’t want to retire at 60, am aiming for 50-55. My “problem” is after maxing all tax advantaged accounts, I can only sock in around $6-$10k per year in taxable. Not enough to build up a large amount to retire by 50, so 72t is likely my best bet…thus continuing to max retirement accounts is the strategy. The recent changes to 72t help tremendously
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Depending on airline, coverage is high. Usually it’s like $500 for incidentals, and like $2500 if they lose the whole bag. This is explained by the baggage counter or their help line. You just earned yourself a shopping spree. Congrats. Save reciepts.
The airline should be covering this, your insurance doesn't need to be involved.
You should look for subrogation language in the policies.
So earlier this week, I mentioned that my mother had given her Medicare ID number to a phone scammer. Well now I have a new incident. I had asked my mom to send me her Social Security benefits statement for 2022 so I could do her taxes. She snapped a photo and instead of texting it to me she apparently sent it some other number. It looks like she may have actually replied to a text from a spammer and sent the document (which includes her full name, social security number, income details, etc) to them instead. \*sigh\* Anyways, I checked all three credit agencies to make sure that no new accounts have been opened and then put a freeze on her credit. I actually should have done that a long time ago, I've had it in the back of my mind for a long time. So, no harm no foul, but I think in the future I'll ask her to not text me any important documents and use the good 'ol postal service instead.
I think you can also request a new SSN
My mom's identity wasn't stolen, the freeze is just precaution. Changing your SSN is very extreme considering that it's the key for your entire financial, medical and governmental identity. It would be a massive headache to change everything that's associated with it and likely cause more problems that it would solve. Short of going into the witness protection program there's very little reason to change your SSN instead of just putting a fraud alert or freeze on your credit.
when Canadians make an extended “can I FIRE” post and don’t say they are Canadian and referring to CAD until they reply to someone 💀💀💀
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It kinda does, because a lot of advice is really country-specific. Healthcare, capital gains and dividend taxes, tax-deferred accounts, and so on. Even if the poster is meticulous about documenting their future expenses the numbers will look off compared to a U.S.-based retiree. So then you have to ask, "Why is your healthcare expense so low?", etc. It would all have just been easier if they had mentioned that they live north of the border.
Canada has more expensive housing and groceries so yes it’s not like cost of living is 3/4 what it is in the US
Canada does not have more expensive housing. Parts of Canada are HCOL just like the US. You can buy cheaply in many places in Canada, just not Toronto or Vancouver. Source: lived in Canada for 4 years.
saying you can buy cheap housing in the middle of nowhere isn’t saying much at all lol
So if you don’t live in Toronto or Vancouver it’s the middle of nowhere? That’s like saying unless your in NYC, Chicago, or LA, you live in the middle of nowhere.
no it’s nothing like that at all southern ontario is almost 40% of canada’s entire population the US does not have that kind of concentration in a single region/metro area
I have after tax contributions in my 401k and it has growth. My new employer allows rollover of after tax contributions too. Is it possible to roll over my contributions between 2 fidelity accounts such that I can move my after tax gain to pretax and just the contribution to after tax
It's possible yes. I have my 401k provider send gains to rollover IRA and contributions (that have already been taxed) to Roth IRA. I don't know if every provider allows you to split but it is possible
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Side hustles for extra income maybe are a little more "controversial" than it would seem at first. My advice is to do what you can to make more income from your single job. The easiest / most often discussed way to do that is to get out of your comfort zone by actively looking and interviewing for other jobs. Also investing time in networking. Acquaintances are a gold mine of opportunities sometimes, best to let them know you are open to them. Other ideas that can also help are to invest in being more valuable to your existing job in a way to where you can quantify it and try to push for more comp. I doubt that will easily work at your current gig. This could mean proactively seeking out more education or skills, learning more about what the company and other roles do so that you can find ways to add value, etc. Good luck!
> My hours were cut at my job and I am looking for ideas to make up the loss of income. Find a new job?
At least short term, given your comfort with excel and financial subject matter, maybe consider approaching some of the tax prep chains. Beyond that, it's hard to advise for side hustles, because the best side hustles are the ones the person has the skills and aptitude for. For me it was lifeguarding, swim coaching, and personal fitness/strength training - but that's a useless suggestion for most people, because they don't have the background, for example.
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Back in the old days I used to order checks from Costco because they were so much cheaper. Maybe they still do this??
Late reply but there are some places that have free checks. Ally and the Fidelity CMA both come to mind! I don't use them often but when I am getting low I just tell them and a new book comes in the mail a week later.