All Things Personal Finance

[Cushi]

12 hours ago, Tortuga said:

Is that a rhetorical question?

No. Of course I wouldn’t invest in companies like that. I mean can you delete some companies from the index. I was considering investing in an S&P 500 index until this crossed my mind. There’s too many companies I don’t agree with in the S&P. It seems it wouldn’t be worth it to delete some of the vice companies.

[computerwiz]

1 hour ago, *Jack* said:

No. Of course I wouldn’t invest in companies like that. I mean can you delete some companies from the index. I was considering investing in an S&P 500 index until this crossed my mind. There’s too many companies I don’t agree with in the S&P. It seems it wouldn’t be worth it to delete some of the vice companies.

 

Do you buy gas at gas stations that sell lotteries?

 

Do you shop for food at supermarkets that sell cigarettes?

 

Do you buy sports video games from companies that sell shooter video games?

 

Do you buy hunting equipment from stores that sell guns that criminals use to kill people? 

 

Do you go to theaters that also show spiritistic movies?

 

Just some comparable examples to consider.  The S&P 500 itself is not wrong or engaged in unchristian behaviors. But parts of it might be. How far do we need to concern ourselves? 🤔

[Cushi]

54 minutes ago, computerwiz said:

 

Do you buy gas at gas stations that sell lotteries?

 

Do you shop for food at supermarkets that sell cigarettes?

 

Do you buy sports video games from companies that sell shooter video games?

 

Do you buy hunting equipment from stores that sell guns that criminals use to kill people? 

 

Do you go to theaters that also show spiritistic movies?

 

Just some comparable examples to consider.  The S&P 500 itself is not wrong or engaged in unchristian behaviors. But parts of it might be. How far do we need to concern ourselves? 🤔

Thanks. I understand. I wasn’t talking about investing in companies that indirectly support the type of vices you mentioned. I was talking specifically about companies like pornographers and tobacco companies. 

[Tortuga]

3 hours ago, *Jack* said:

No. Of course I wouldn’t invest in companies like that. I mean can you delete some companies from the index. I was considering investing in an S&P 500 index until this crossed my mind. There’s too many companies I don’t agree with in the S&P. It seems it wouldn’t be worth it to delete some of the vice companies.

When I contracted with a financial advisor I told him that I did not want to invest in any tobacco or military contract companies. I periodically check my portfolio and I haven't seen any problems yet.

[Tortuga]

7 hours ago, *Jack* said:

No. Of course I wouldn’t invest in companies like that. I mean can you delete some companies from the index. I was considering investing in an S&P 500 index until this crossed my mind. There’s too many companies I don’t agree with in the S&P. It seems it wouldn’t be worth it to delete some of the vice companies.

There are many, many stocks and mutual funds available that don't involve objectionable companies. Do your own research about ethical investing. However, at some point you have to realize what Computerwhiz said, that you can't always determine what happens to your money.

 

Ethical Investing: What it is and How to do it | The Motley Fool

Edited September 10, 2023 by Tortuga

[Tortuga]

You may find this helpful. Notice what it says about socially responsible investments.

 

https://www.investopedia.com/impact-investing-with-a-robo-advisor-4775379

[computerwiz]

11 hours ago, Tortuga said:

You may find this helpful. Notice what it says about socially responsible investments.

 

https://www.investopedia.com/impact-investing-with-a-robo-advisor-4775379

 

And if anyone wants to use a Roboadvisor, please let me know.  I have a Wealthfront referral.  😁

[Tortuga]

12 minutes ago, computerwiz said:

 

And if anyone wants to use a Roboadvisor, please let me know.  I have a Wealthfront referral.  😁

Can that be configured to use only ethical or socially responsible stocks?

What is the minimum investment and the fees?

Edited September 11, 2023 by Tortuga

[computerwiz]

5 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

Can that be configured to use only ethical or socially responsible stocks?

 

Yes there are options:

 

 

 

 

And when you click on one like "Sector ETFs", there's tons to choose from.

 

6 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

What is the minimum investment and the fees?

 

Minimum to open an account is $500.  And future deposits must be at least $100.

 

With my referral, you pay no fees on the first $5000.  After that, it's 0.25% annually.  But they tend to make on average 10%  annually with my money (with my settings) and there's also tax loss harvesting, which pretty much negates that 0.25% fee.  

[bigvince]

I have multiple money market and checking accounts(business and personal) and would like to invest some money. I usually only bank with credit unions. I live very simply and am single. I use 1 credit card for all payments and purchases and pay off the entire balance at the end of my billing cycle.

 

I want help with investing if anyone has experience.

 

I also am looking for tips on paying my credit card balance. I pay it off every last day of my billing cycle, but always have some small purchase that goes through so it never is 0 on my statement, it is so frustrating. Any tips on that would be appreciated.

[Tortuga]

1 hour ago, bigvince said:

I want help with investing if anyone has experience.

Investing is like buying a car, it all depends on what you need, what you want and what you can afford. 

You might want to consult with a local financial advisor and get some advice on what would work best for you.

[computerwiz]

2 hours ago, bigvince said:

I want help with investing if anyone has experience

 

Best thing to do is use Wealthfront, a robo-advisor. Very cheap, makes a modest 10% annually on average. Keyword is "average". Right now pretty much no one is making money. But it is an excellent time to be investing for when the bull market returns. 

 

I can provide a referral and guidance on using Wealthfront if you want. Trying to pick your own stocks and having success that way is a nightmare. 

 

Or you can just invest in crypto. Guaranteed gains from Bitcoin in the next year or two.

 

2 hours ago, bigvince said:

I also am looking for tips on paying my credit card balance. I pay it off every last day of my billing cycle, but always have some small purchase that goes through so it never is 0 on my statement, it is so frustrating. Any tips on that would be appreciated.

 

You are doing it the right way. No need to change or worry. Just continue paying the FULL balance every month and don't worry about it never being 0.

Edited October 2, 2023 by computerwiz

[bigvince]

12 hours ago, computerwiz said:

 

Best thing to do is use Wealthfront, a robo-advisor. Very cheap, makes a modest 10% annually on average. Keyword is "average". Right now pretty much no one is making money. But it is an excellent time to be investing for when the bull market returns. 

 

I can provide a referral and guidance on using Wealthfront if you want. Trying to pick your own stocks and having success that way is a nightmare. 

 

Or you can just invest in crypto. Guaranteed gains from Bitcoin in the next year or two.

 

I will look into wealth front, a referral would be appreciated. I've never looked into crypto. 

[computerwiz]

Here's the referral (note that Wealthfront is just for those in the USA):

 

https://www.wealthfront.com/c/affiliates/invited/AFFB-37TS-C96C-3UUN

 

 

It is worth looking into crypto as well.  Bitcoin has been around since 2008.  Almost every year you have people calling it a scam, only used for illegal things, a bubble that will pop, etc etc etc.  And yet here it still is, and currently worth $28,000 per coin.  It's not going away.  In fact, there are many big businesses looking to create ETFs for it, which will cause the price to shoot up even more.

 

To learn more about crypto, one of the best places to start with is CryptoCasey's YouTube channel.  Here's her "beginner's" playlist:

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK6Xq6UOOvAAZ7TM6SqkZW4gn-jCSP0tu

 

[Cushi]

On 10/1/2023 at 5:40 PM, bigvince said:

I also am looking for tips on paying my credit card balance. I pay it off every last day of my billing cycle, but always have some small purchase that goes through so it never is 0 on my statement, it is so frustrating. Any tips on that would be appreciated.

It’s been my experience and the experience of many others that it’s better for 1% credit utilization to get reported than 0%. My score always drops when my utilization goes from 1% to 0%, just one percent. What I do is I stop using my credit card shortly before I pay my my bill and bring my utilization down to 1%. I usually pay my credit card and bring my utilization down about 4 or 5 days before the statement date. I then wait until after the statement closing date is over and 1% utilization is reported to the credit bureaus to pay my credit card bill in full.

I use either another credit card with a different billing cycle or my debit card for purchases during the time I’m not using the first credit card. By doing this, I was able to get my score up to 816 in a relatively short period of time before I got my second credit card.

[Cushi]

 

[Cushi]

I decided to get serious about setting up a retirement account. I want to invest in a “socially responsible investment”, particularly a Roth IRA with an S&P 500 index fund, with the exclusion of “vice” companies. I have some questions. I’ve been researching but I know very little about the stock market, so any help is needed. 
 

I’ve always heard you’re supposed buy when the price is low and sell when the prices are high… but I plan to maximize my Roth IRA every January to get the best compounding results. If you buy an index fund at a certain price per share, is that the same price you’ll be paying when you invest annually?

 

Also, since the companies that make up the S&P 500 are always changing, what happens to your index when companies are no longer on the list and new ones are added? 
 

Thanks guys.

[Lee49]

Apparently congress members know how to invest in stocks!

 

https://www.npr.org/2021/09/21/1039313011/tiktokers-are-trading-stocks-by-watching-what-members-of-congress-do

 

TikTokers Are Trading Stocks By Copying What Members Of Congress Do

 

 

 Young investors have a new strategy: watching financial disclosures of sitting members of Congress for stock tips.

Among a certain community of individual investors on TikTok, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's stock trading disclosures are a treasure trove.   "Shouts out to Nancy Pelosi, the stock market's biggest whale," said user 'ceowatchlist.' Another said, "I've come to the conclusion that Nancy Pelosi is a psychic," while adding that she is the "queen of investing."

         No wonder she's worth millions and millions!

 

[Hotteok]

Korea gov’s national pension depart. bought 20,000,000 dollars’ worth of coinbase stocks! 😦

[computerwiz]

On 11/18/2023 at 12:02 AM, *Jack* said:

Also, since the companies that make up the S&P 500 are always changing, what happens to your index when companies are no longer on the list and new ones are added? 

 

The price might fluctuate slightly but there's so many in the index that you probably wouldn't notice. 

[computerwiz]

On 11/19/2023 at 8:07 AM, Lee49 said:

Apparently congress members know how to invest in stocks! 

 

Of course they do. They make policies and decisions that affect the markets. So they know what to buy & sell before they announce things publicly.

 

Thing is they don't have to report their trades right away. They can wait until after the thing that impacts the market and then tell everyone about their trades. 

On 11/20/2023 at 7:23 AM, Hotteok said:

Korea gov’s national pension depart. bought 20,000,000 dollars’ worth of coinbase stocks! 😦

 

This might be crypto's biggest bull run yet. They know what's coming... 😁

[Cushi]

On 11/27/2023 at 8:05 AM, computerwiz said:

 

The price might fluctuate slightly but there's so many in the index that you probably wouldn't notice. 

I mean, what happens when the company is no longer considered to be in the top 500 companies? Do the investments get automatically sold and a new company replaces it?

[computerwiz]

10 hours ago, *Jack* said:

I mean, what happens when the company is no longer considered to be in the top 500 companies? Do the investments get automatically sold and a new company replaces it?

 

Yes.  

 

When a company is removed from the S&P 500 because it is no longer considered one of the top 500 companies, the index fund or ETF will sell the shares of that company and use the proceeds to buy shares of the new company that is added to the index. This process is known as "rebalancing."

 

Investors in the index fund or ETF don't need to take any action when these changes occur. The fund manager handles the adjustments to ensure that the fund continues to track the performance of the S&P 500. Rebalancing is a routine and essential part of managing index funds to maintain their alignment with the underlying index's composition and objectives.

 

Also worth noting, this rebalancing is NOT a taxable event.  Since it is done by the fund manager or ETF, there is no taxable impact to you.

[Tortuga]

What is your opinion about Roth conversions?

[computerwiz]

1 minute ago, Tortuga said:

What is your opinion about Roth conversions?

 

As in switching from a traditional 401k to the Roth version?