All Things Personal Finance

[bigvince]

Guys, I'm sure this is all valid info, but I do not know where to even get started.

[Witness1970]

12 hours ago, davanz said:

Randall, is this sister a Witness? My wife and I live only about 30 miles from Kilgore, and that Congregation is in our circuit. If any of your family is in that congregation we may know them.

Glendean will be 81 in November.  Glendean is a fairly rare name.  She has told me that, when she attends meetings, the brothers line up the elderly sisters, get their keys, and pull their car around so that they don't have to walk so far.  I know she attends meetings sometimes but I don't think she has been able to attend an assembly or a convention.  Her husband died a couple of years ago, just before their 60th wedding anniversary.

[Witness1970]

On 1/9/2024 at 1:19 PM, bigvince said:

@Cushiso, how do I get out of carrying a balance over when charges hit after I've zeroed it and other charges come in?

I normally pay the full statement balance each month.  That keeps the balance low.  On one occasion, I paid the credit card balances a few days before the statement was generated.  The statement date should be the same each month.  When I paid everything off before the statement dates (I have more than one card I routinely use) it was a little more time-consuming.   

[computerwiz]

15 hours ago, bigvince said:

Guys, I'm sure this is all valid info, but I do not know where to even get started.

 

That's because financial advice really should be personalized.  It's not a one strategy fits all.

 

Do you already have any investment accounts?  A 401k?  Are you deep in debt or relatively debt-free?  How easy is it for you to save a "good" amount monthly?  Do you already have a good amount in savings?  Are you up for taking big risks for big rewards or do you rather play it safe?  The psychology of money is very important...

 

There's lots to consider when figuring out where to start.

[computerwiz]

The Dow will surge 24% after the Fed's first rate cut with recession looking unlikely

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dow-surge-24-feds-first-015254316.html

 

 

Edited January 26 by computerwiz

[Cushi]

Very interesting video. The gas station story he tells is hilarious 😆

 

 

[computerwiz]

On 1/24/2024 at 3:01 PM, Cushi said:

I’m about to get in the market soon.

 

Hope you got in!  As you can see, we're still going up.  Up up up!!!

 

[Cushi]

2 hours ago, computerwiz said:

 

Hope you got in!  As you can see, we're still going up.  Up up up!!!

 

No, not yet. I’ve had some things come up. I’m helping a couple of siblings that lost their jobs. Plus, I’m about to dump 30K into my house for some remodeling. It will be soon though.  

[jwnate]

On 1/24/2024 at 4:47 PM, bigvince said:

Guys, I'm sure this is all valid info, but I do not know where to even get started.

I've found the wiki articles of the Personal Finance forum on Reddit are very clear and simple as far as giving a good game plan. It's nothing you couldn't find elsewhere, but is laid out in a way that's easy to understand what to do first, second, etc. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics/ 

[Cushi]

 

[Cushi]

I’m gonna finally call Vanguard and set up an appointment with an advisor to set up my ROTH IRA next week. The following week I’m going to set up an appointment with Merrill Lynch to set up my ROTH 401K. My job matches 5% and at first I was going to only invest up to the match, but since I’m setting up a ROTH instead of traditional, I’m going to invest 10%. I’m really excited 😊

[Cushi]

3 minutes ago, Cushi said:

The following week I’m going to set up an appointment with Merrill Lynch to set up my ROTH 401K.

By the way, does anyone know if you can see index funds on Merrill Lynch’s website? I know what kind of index fund I want to invest in but I can’t see any on their website. I’d rather research them first before setting up an appointment. I have browsed their site and don’t see any.

[Tortuga]

4 minutes ago, Cushi said:

I’m gonna finally call Vanguard and set up an appointment with an advisor to set up my ROTH IRA next week. The following week I’m going to set up an appointment with Merrill Lynch to set up my ROTH 401K. My job matches 5% and at first I was going to only invest up to the match, but since I’m setting up a ROTH instead of traditional, I’m going to invest 10%. I’m really excited 😊

Talk to your tax guy and see if he thinks that is a good investment strategy.

[Cushi]

Just now, Tortuga said:

Talk to your tax guy and see if he thinks that is a good investment strategy.

Why do you think it could possibly be a bad idea?

[Tortuga]

1 minute ago, Cushi said:

Why do you think it could possibly be a bad idea?

Both of your plans are ROTH, I don't see any tax deductions. He may advise just funding the ROTH 401K to the match and then fund a traditional IRA for the tax deduction.

[Cushi]

11 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

Both of your plans are ROTH, I don't see any tax deductions. He may advise just funding the ROTH 401K to the match and then fund a traditional IRA for the tax deduction.

Thanks, but I’d prefer not to have a traditional IRA account because I don’t want to pay taxes on money earned when I retire (if this system lasted that long), especially since we don’t know what the tax rate will be in 20 years. I’d rather invest with post tax dollars.

Edited March 17 by Cushi

[Tortuga]

1 minute ago, Cushi said:

Thanks, but I’d prefer not to have a traditional IRA account because I don’t want to pay taxes on money earned when I retire (if this system lasted that long), especially since we don’t know what the tax rate will be in 20 years. I’d rather invest with post tax dollars.

Sounds good. Have you researched ROTH Conversions?

[Cushi]

17 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

Sounds good. Have you researched ROTH Conversions?

I have but not heavily. I think I read something that said if you convert a traditional to a ROTH (401K I think), you can’t withdraw the money until 5 years. That would be terrible if the economy entered a bear market after the 5 years and you were ready to retire. I was like no way 👎🏾

 

Plus, Dave Ramsey always says ROTH beats traditional. I’m not part of the Dave Ramsey cult that hangs on to every word he says… but I agree with him on that.

Edited March 17 by Cushi

[Cushi]

I called Vanguard this morning to set up an appointment for Thursday. I was told my area doesn’t have walk-ins available so I got set up over the phone. Just waiting for the money to go through to my account so I can start investing 😁

 

I plan to set up my 401K next week 😊

[computerwiz]

On 3/19/2024 at 1:13 PM, Cushi said:

I called Vanguard this morning to set up an appointment for Thursday. I was told my area doesn’t have walk-ins available so I got set up over the phone. Just waiting for the money to go through to my account so I can start investing 😁

 

I plan to set up my 401K next week 😊

 

 

 

 

Market is setting new highs, again...  

[Tortuga]

42 minutes ago, computerwiz said:

next week

"Whew, glad I finally got that done.."

[Tortuga]

51 minutes ago, computerwiz said:

Market is setting new highs, again...  

My return YTD is 6.3%

[computerwiz]

12 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

My return YTD is 6.3%

 

4.54% with Wealthfront

 

94.52% with crypto 😁

[bigvince]

1 minute ago, computerwiz said:

 

4.54% with Wealthfront

 

94.52% with crypto 😁

Wow. I'm up for adoption, just putting that out there lol.

 

My 401k is 3.3%YTD, lol

[Tortuga]

On 3/16/2024 at 9:01 PM, Cushi said:

My job matches 5% and at first I was going to only invest up to the match, but since I’m setting up a ROTH instead of traditional, I’m going to invest 10%. I’m really excited 😊

It's always been my understanding that most 401K plans are very limited on the stocks they offer. Let us know if you are comfortable with what they offer.