Search found 1024 matches

by Gadget
Wed Mar 27, 2024 12:22 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Does the IRS care if I report a basis of zero?
Replies: 21
Views: 3162

Re: Does the IRS care if I report a basis of zero?

I have no personal experience in this... However, I've helped a few people do their taxes on crypto for similar things. One person had no idea what their crypto cost basis was, so they thought it would be most amenable to the IRS if they reported it as zero. They got audited. They ended up paying less in taxes after the audit, but they felt that by reporting zero cost basis on crypto caused them to get audited because the IRS felt that it just appeared out of thin air and maybe they weren't reporting income on crypto received from some other year. I might try to find the most conservative non zero cost basis if you can get a year estimate on when you received the stock. There may be automated flags for audits setup in the system that don't ...
by Gadget
Wed Mar 27, 2024 12:13 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: 3 month rental in Destin FL area?
Replies: 7
Views: 1174

Re: 3 month rental in Destin FL area?

Are you with the military or working for them at Eglin AFB?

If so, there is a military home rental site. Ask HR for the reference, because I don't want to give out the wrong one from a Google search. You may need to ask around what it is. All my information is years old. Never used it in that area, but any rental that posts on the site is friendly to short term leases for military families and gov employees.
by Gadget
Wed Mar 27, 2024 12:07 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Intuit's Mint App Shutting Down...Replacement Recommendations?
Replies: 774
Views: 146732

Re: Loved Mint, Hate Credit Karma - Good Alternatives?

I also loved Mint and hate credit karma.

You could try Empower. Formerly personal capital. I deleted it a year or two ago because it wasn't as good as Mint for me, but it tracks net worth well. It is just so so on tracking expenses. Keep in mind my opinion on empower may be very outdated now though.

I'm currently using Fidelity Full view. It's not as good as Mint, but it is close enough and a lot of my data is already with Fidelity. It too does a good job at tracking net worth, but is just OK at tracking spending and handling budgets.
by Gadget
Sun Mar 17, 2024 6:34 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: New insights on safe and perpetual withdrawal rates
Replies: 61
Views: 7462

Re: New insights on safe and perpetual withdrawal rates

Top tier work on the analysis. I may need to retire to have time to fully understand it all, but I appreciate the work and the great visualizations.
by Gadget
Mon Mar 04, 2024 8:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Crypto appraisal needed for 2023 donations
Replies: 19
Views: 1932

Re: Crypto appraisal needed for 2023 donations

Although I don't really get it. I'm trying to think of how this was being abused or if it was possible to abuse when exchanges list the value on the day of and keep a history of it. Seems like the IRS is just preventing rich crypto people from wanting to donate to charity. Although maybe there are so few that they don't care. Before this rule was put in place it was common for rich folks to donate artwork and arab horses. I know of dome great stories about price manipulation here. Hence the need for appraisals. Regulated securities are exempt because they trade on a regulated market where prices are determined by arms-length transactions. One could argue that cryptocurrencies are a step behind the regulatory curve. Or you could point to ma...
by Gadget
Thu Feb 08, 2024 11:06 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Crypto appraisal needed for 2023 donations
Replies: 19
Views: 1932

Re: Crypto appraisal needed for 2023 donations

This doesn't make sense to me. You donated to a DAF. Did the DAF not record the day it received the assets? Can you not look up the price of the asset at the time of the donation? I don't see how it is different than donating stocks to a DAF. The IRS has specifically said it is not, and crypto requires a qualified appraisal if the donation exceeds $5,000. https://www.google.com/search?q=crypto+donation+appraisal Interesting. I didn't realize how complicated the IRS made donating crypto. Although I don't really get it. I'm trying to think of how this was being abused or if it was possible to abuse when exchanges list the value on the day of and keep a history of it. Seems like the IRS is just preventing rich crypto people from wanting to do...
by Gadget
Wed Feb 07, 2024 11:14 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Crypto appraisal needed for 2023 donations
Replies: 19
Views: 1932

Re: Crypto appraisal needed for 2023 donations

This doesn't make sense to me. You donated to a DAF. Did the DAF not record the day it received the assets? Can you not look up the price of the asset at the time of the donation? I don't see how it is different than donating stocks to a DAF.
by Gadget
Sun Feb 04, 2024 5:53 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Crypto taxes
Replies: 16
Views: 2372

Re: Crypto taxes

- BlockFi filed for bankruptcy but it's not ended yet. Guess I am just waiting before claiming loss - Celsius almost finished bankruptcy, so I'd have more than $20k loss. Can I write this off against other capital gains income ? (I also paid taxes on income that I never got). - I had done some I believe crypto options at a different firm. So I moved let's say for simplicity 1BTC from Coinbase to VegaX in 2021 when BTC was $50k. I got back 1.2 BTC from VegaX in 2023 which I transfered to Coinbase when BTC was $40k. So I gained 0.2 BTC, but $ is lower so technically it is a loss. It is still in BTC on Coinbase. Is this taxable event or would it be when I move from Coinbase to Bank ? - Staking etc has made it gazilion line items that Coinbase...
by Gadget
Sat Feb 03, 2024 9:53 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Wire Fraud in Real Estate Transaction - What Next?
Replies: 122
Views: 14455

Re: Wire Fraud in Real Estate Transaction - What Next?

So for those of us who can't help the OP but are horrified by the situation, is there anything we can even do to prevent the scenario?

I'm unclear if he used a title company in the transaction, or if that would have even helped. I did a cash real estate purchase last year, and I thought the title company handled this part.
by Gadget
Fri Jan 26, 2024 4:26 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Yosemite vs Smokies vs ...
Replies: 58
Views: 5519

Re: Yosemite vs Smokies vs ...

I've been to both more than once. I don't think you can go wrong with either.

I would just cross off crowds from your list of considerations. These parks are both extremely crowded unless you go in the complete winter off season. The only way to avoid the crowds is to hike further away from the roads. The further you get from the main roads, the more peaceful it will feel.

The Smokie's when the fall leaves change is pretty magical. But then again so is Yosemite. I think my favorite time for Yosemite is after snow melts and all the waterfalls are roaring.

If you love waterfalls, I'd pick Yosemite. But really, both of these parks are awesome and you can't go wrong. I'm not even sure which I'd pick as my favorite.
by Gadget
Thu Jan 25, 2024 10:37 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Favorite features on your spreadsheets
Replies: 82
Views: 10657

Re: Favorite features on your spreadsheets

Some of my favorite features in google sheets: Pulling TSP share prices Pulling zillow values for real estate, but only if zillow doesn't return null Pulling values for asset classes not to be named Automatically calculating remaining mortgage loan amount (2.125% mortgage celebration) Using vlookup to total numbers based on account type Google scripts that automatically record sum totals per account type monthly over time to generate logged net worth history across asset classes and account type Calculating weighted expense ratio across all accounts I haven't yet decided if sharing my net worth progression on this site doxes me, but that thread did inspire me to do that early on in my career. It's fun looking back on the chart at the dips a...
by Gadget
Wed Jan 24, 2024 4:58 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Crypto taxes
Replies: 16
Views: 2372

Re: Crypto taxes

If you do your own taxes and understand how stocks and property are taxed, then it should be easy. Crypto is basically taxed like property is, with the key annoyance/difference being that you have to track your own cost basis and all buys/sells/exchanges. Most people jump in to crypto with no idea how taxes work at all, do a bunch of stupid taxable events, then realize the next tax year that there was no Fidelity/Schwab/etc. to keep track of all their taxable transactions for them. Do you have a specific question about crypto taxes? No one on this website supports crypto (crypto investing talk is banned), but it is one of the premier sites for taxes. You're just a few word substitutions away from your answers to translate between crypto ter...
by Gadget
Tue Jan 23, 2024 8:45 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fidelity CMA overdraft
Replies: 66
Views: 9367

Re: Fidelity CMA overdraft

I keep my CMA at zero, and all debits come from the CMA. Everything auto liquidates from the brokerage, whether it's SPAXX or FMPXX. I used to use FZDXX, and that worked too.

I've never had any of the issues the OP did. I suspect it was an outlier, or that there was something else going on.
by Gadget
Tue Jan 16, 2024 2:04 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Holding VXUS in my brokerage at Vanguard
Replies: 15
Views: 2370

Re: Holding VXUS in my brokerage at Vanguard

Is this a taxable brokerage or tax advantaged like a 401k?

If this is an international vs US question, I suggest you just search the forum for the endless debate.

If this is a tax efficiency/complexity question about having large amounts of VXUS in taxable, then we need more info. Like how much VXUS you have in taxable, and if you're in form 1116 complication range.
by Gadget
Fri Jan 12, 2024 4:50 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Real estate as % of net worth?
Replies: 53
Views: 6744

Re: Real estate as % of net worth?

Equity in real estate is 26% of net worth.

Primary home equity is about 6% of net worth. The rest is in a vacation home.
by Gadget
Fri Jan 05, 2024 1:06 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: looking to buy a new laptop
Replies: 58
Views: 7665

Re: looking to buy a new laptop

For the things you list, a Macbook with Apple silicon (any M-series processor) will be the fastest computer and not by a small margin. I work daily back and forth between an M1 MacBook Pro and a top-end Thinkpad X1 Extreme. The MacBook is considerably faster and smoother in every regular web/office/type workflow. Those who say that there's no difference - or worse - suggesting Chromebooks for someone who asked for Excel and Speed, well, :oops:. Lots of people can't tell the difference between 30/60/120hz screens, or the difference of a few tens of ms of lag in a game either. My MBP is the first computer in 40 years of computing that can keep up with the way I want to work. It's obvious you've never tried a high end Chromebook. You seem to ...
by Gadget
Thu Jan 04, 2024 9:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Board Games for Two in 2024
Replies: 53
Views: 7083

Re: Board Games for Two in 2024

We like Quirkle and Hive.
by Gadget
Thu Jan 04, 2024 9:12 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: looking to buy a new laptop
Replies: 58
Views: 7665

Re: looking to buy a new laptop

For the things you list, a Macbook with Apple silicon (any M-series processor) will be the fastest computer and not by a small margin. I work daily back and forth between an M1 MacBook Pro and a top-end Thinkpad X1 Extreme. The MacBook is considerably faster and smoother in every regular web/office/type workflow. Those who say that there's no difference - or worse - suggesting Chromebooks for someone who asked for Excel and Speed, well, :oops:. Lots of people can't tell the difference between 30/60/120hz screens, or the difference of a few tens of ms of lag in a game either. My MBP is the first computer in 40 years of computing that can keep up with the way I want to work. It's obvious you've never tried a high end Chromebook. You seem to ...
by Gadget
Thu Jan 04, 2024 9:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: looking to buy a new laptop
Replies: 58
Views: 7665

Re: looking to buy a new laptop

Your requirements fit a chromebook perfectly. Seriously. It doesn't get much better than a chromebook for basic web browsing. Most people only get cheaper chromebooks, but if you want it to feel blazing fast, the HP Elite Dragonfly Pro will feel instantaneous. Yes, it's a $1000 chromebook which is a very niche market segment. But it'll run like a $2000 macbook pro. That said, the $400-&700 chromebook segment will also feel very fast for most users. Sub $400 I wouldn't recommend if you're used to a fast/expensive PC or Mac. I’ll take a look What are the disadvantages of chromebooks? The disadvantage is you can't install normal apps or games. If you're a gamer, or use Photoshop or something. That said, they can play a lot of phone games ...
by Gadget
Wed Jan 03, 2024 4:02 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: looking to buy a new laptop
Replies: 58
Views: 7665

Re: looking to buy a new laptop

Your requirements fit a chromebook perfectly. Seriously. It doesn't get much better than a chromebook for basic web browsing.

Most people only get cheaper chromebooks, but if you want it to feel blazing fast, the HP Elite Dragonfly Pro will feel instantaneous. Yes, it's a $1000 chromebook which is a very niche market segment. But it'll run like a $2000 macbook pro.

That said, the $400-&700 chromebook segment will also feel very fast for most users. Sub $400 I wouldn't recommend if you're used to a fast/expensive PC or Mac.
by Gadget
Mon Dec 11, 2023 6:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity free Turbotax 2023
Replies: 435
Views: 156999

Re: Fidelity free Turbotax 2023

I wonder if Fidelity offers free Turbotax based on fees they earn for the account. That's why the total amount seems to vary so much from person to person. But someone with Fidelity mutual funds in 401ks and HSAs and fidelity money market funds probably generates a lot more revenue than someone who just holds $1 million in VTI in a brokerage account. Even if all of us are doing the same low ER boglehead investing. That said, I'm too lazy to calculate my revenue per year earned across their expense ratios on mutual funds and money market funds and probably so are most. Practically every theory you post here will have counter examples. There is no method to the madness whatsoever! In Jan 2022 I moved all my assets from VG to Fidelity. One we...
by Gadget
Mon Dec 11, 2023 6:07 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity free Turbotax 2023
Replies: 435
Views: 156999

Re: Fidelity free Turbotax 2023

I might be stating the obvious, but is anyone who searched for "Turbotax" in the Fidelity search bar stopping after reading the title of the link? Because my link title just said discount on Turbotax of 20% in the hyperlink title. But when I clicked on the link anyway, it showed that it was actually free or $5 for the desktop version.
by Gadget
Mon Dec 11, 2023 1:08 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity free Turbotax 2023
Replies: 435
Views: 156999

Re: Fidelity free Turbotax 2023

I wonder if Fidelity offers free Turbotax based on fees they earn for the account. That's why the total amount seems to vary so much from person to person.

But someone with Fidelity mutual funds in 401ks and HSAs and fidelity money market funds probably generates a lot more revenue than someone who just holds $1 million in VTI in a brokerage account. Even if all of us are doing the same low ER boglehead investing.

That said, I'm too lazy to calculate my revenue per year earned across their expense ratios on mutual funds and money market funds and probably so are most.
by Gadget
Mon Dec 11, 2023 10:37 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity free Turbotax 2023
Replies: 435
Views: 156999

Re: Fidelity free Turbotax 2023

tj wrote: Mon Dec 11, 2023 10:09 am It appears it is live now:

https://www.early-retirement.org/forums ... 20204.html
It's working for me when I search for "Turbotax" in the fidelity search bar and click on the first link that says discount.
by Gadget
Sat Dec 09, 2023 1:18 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Fast Money: Verizon $10/mo discount per line retention credit
Replies: 40
Views: 8960

Re: Fast Money: Verizon $10/mo discount per line retention credit

The $10/mo savings for each of 3 lines just went through for me.
by Gadget
Sat Dec 09, 2023 1:09 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: [Software to track investments?]
Replies: 27
Views: 3744

Re: [Software to track investments?]

jarjarM wrote: Fri Dec 08, 2023 1:50 pm I too use a custom googlesheet to track my investments across different brokerages and have a bunch of custom reporting/graphs setup for what I need.
It's one of those things where I'd love to see everyone's custom googlesheets and graphs so I can steal some good ideas, but I bet most people's sheet is so customized to their own numbers and situation that it'd be hard to take out info that might personally identify you or something. That's why I haven't shared mine.
by Gadget
Fri Dec 08, 2023 1:38 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: [Software to track investments?]
Replies: 27
Views: 3744

Re: [Software to track investments?]

I use a modified version of a google sheet originally from Doughroller: https://www.doughroller.net/investing/an-awesome-and-free-investment-tracking-spreadsheet/ Yes, it uses Google Finance formulas to update tickers, but it works well enough for me. If I find that I’m obsessing over it too much, it means I’m violating my IPS, which specifies NOT obsessing. Still need to manually enter banking, 401k, HSA, etc. This is exactly what I'm doing. This specific google sheet was a great baseline. I just added to it to fit my needs, like calculate my mortgage loan left automatically, pull zillow values of homes, calculate TSP share prices, and calculate prices of assets not to be named on this forum. Then you can make it more of a net worth track...
by Gadget
Thu Dec 07, 2023 4:02 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Inexpensive Chromebook or Similar?
Replies: 25
Views: 3301

Re: Inexpensive Chromebook or Similar?

I feel like you have to get to the 500-700 range for it to feel like a fast and pleasant experience with a chromebook. But everyone has their personal preferences and it depends what they're used to.

If you're used to a macbook pro, you'll need to be in the $700-$1000 range on a chromebook for the experience to be similar.

Just wanted to level set expectations. I see a lot of people used to a macbook pro, decide they want a cheap affordable chromebook, then are appalled by how slow their $200 chromebook is.
by Gadget
Tue Dec 05, 2023 10:23 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fidelity MM - Retail vs Institutional
Replies: 17
Views: 2647

Re: Fidelity MM - Retail vs Institutional

Retail clients can buy FMPXX and FSIXX. I know that one for certain.

You can also let the value drop well below the initial minimum. It seems to work the same as FZDXX. It'll even auto redeem from those funds.
by Gadget
Wed Nov 29, 2023 2:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What's the easiest way to donate appreciated shares to a non-profit?
Replies: 9
Views: 1309

Re: What's the easiest way to donate appreciated shares to a non-profit?

Can you tell us why you would prefer to not open a DAF? It's really easy to open a Fidelity or Vanguard DAF. It's way easier for the charity to deal with, because they just get a check cut. Sure there are fees, but they're pretty minimal, and they really only exist if you keep the funds in the account continually without donating them and use it like a charity investment account. I usually just donate appreciated shares to one every two years, then draw down all the funds over those two years. That way every other year I itemize taxes.
by Gadget
Wed Nov 29, 2023 2:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Share your net worth progression
Replies: 4288
Views: 1082135

Re: Share your net worth progression

Anyone tracking their inflation adjusted target along with their net worth? I.e. what is your "number", be it 25x or whatever, and since the number needs to be adjusted by inflation, does it grow faster than the portfolio? I do, but only been tracking since 2020, so yes the number grew bigger with inflation and the portfolio went down, things are looking up though Quicken "Classic" (desktop) recently added a "Lifetime Overview" report, that includes an "Adjust for Inflation" checkmark. I clicked it once and then I was sad so I didn't look again.. :) If you go from peak market + the high inflation, the net worth drop is brutal. Inflation adjusted, I still need a 22.4% gain in asset values to get back ...
by Gadget
Wed Nov 29, 2023 2:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Share your net worth progression
Replies: 4288
Views: 1082135

Re: Share your net worth progression

Anyone tracking their inflation adjusted target along with their net worth? I.e. what is your "number", be it 25x or whatever, and since the number needs to be adjusted by inflation, does it grow faster than the portfolio? I do, but only been tracking since 2020, so yes the number grew bigger with inflation and the portfolio went down, things are looking up though Quicken "Classic" (desktop) recently added a "Lifetime Overview" report, that includes an "Adjust for Inflation" checkmark. I clicked it once and then I was sad so I didn't look again.. :) If you go from peak market + the high inflation, the net worth drop is brutal. Inflation adjusted, I still need a 22.4% gain in asset values to get back ...
by Gadget
Wed Nov 22, 2023 12:50 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: [Fidelity] BrokerageLink® changing future investment %'s, menu is gone
Replies: 10
Views: 1449

Re: [Fidelity] BrokerageLink® changing future investment %'s, menu is gone

This happened to me once about a year or so ago. I had to clear my cookies from Fidelity to let it get back to normal where I could access that page. Doesn't really make sense why, but it worked for me.

To test that, you could try to login in incognito mode for Chrome where no stored cookies are utilized. Before you just delete them all.
by Gadget
Fri Nov 17, 2023 12:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity as a one stop shop
Replies: 6053
Views: 1037354

Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Your issue should be with the horrible BOA credit card payment system. It really wants you to pay from a BOA account, and makes every other account a PITA to pay with. I don't think this is Fidelity's fault.

It's been years, but I had to google instructions on how to setup automatic payment for BOA credit cards to an external account. Finally got it to work from BOAs Bill Pay to a Fidelity account. Every other credit card I had was easy to setup autopay with Fidelity. But I always prefer to have the credit card pull the money from my account instead of rely on a bill payment center to push money.
by Gadget
Thu Nov 16, 2023 4:19 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Does Fidelity's auto-liquidation of non-core money market funds ever fail?
Replies: 30
Views: 6645

Re: Does Fidelity's auto-liquidation of non-core money market funds ever fail?

The answer for me is yes. But very rare. Been doing it for years. The only time I had an issue is for a stock purchase to Vanguard (back before I transferred everything to Fidelity). Vanguard stock purchase failed for insufficient funds. When I called Fidelity, they said since it was a purchase over $100k someone manually had to review it and they screwed up and didn't look correctly in my overdraft account at money market balances. Fidelity said to try again and that they'd refund any fees. Being Vanguard, they didn't charge fees anyway and a retry of the purchase went fine. Over the years though, I've used Fidelity as my main bank and auto liquidation of FZDXX, FMPXX, and FSIXX have all went smoothly. Usually when people post that it does...
by Gadget
Mon Nov 13, 2023 2:02 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Where to donate car?
Replies: 22
Views: 2487

Re: Where to donate car?

If you want the largest donation for your charity, you should sell your car to a private party or carmax or a dealership. Then donate the money you get. Most of the large charities you donate to, including Habitat for Humanity and some of the others mentioned here, send the car automatically to auction. The car is bought for way less than what it is worth, especially if it was in good condition. I didn't know all of this until I did it myself with Habitat for Humanity. I had a car to donate that I think I could have gotten about $1500 for. At least $1000 on a private party sale. It was old, but a great condition Toyota Camry. I instead took the lazy route, donated it to the charity, and they sent me a letter back saying congrats, they sold ...
by Gadget
Fri Nov 10, 2023 1:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Bank of America promo: extra 2%/2x credit card rewards [Updated later in thread for Nov 9, 2023]
Replies: 268
Views: 30355

Re: Bank of America promo: extra 2%/2x credit card rewards [Updated later in thread for Nov 9, 2023]

Just so I know for next year... Was this offer for EACH BOA credit card? Or for each BOA account holder?

I paid property taxes with one card, but realized after the fact I could have separated it out into multiple if it was $50 bonus per card.
by Gadget
Mon Nov 06, 2023 9:12 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Can I Deposit a Check for Someone Else in Their Chase bank Account?
Replies: 34
Views: 7602

Re: Can I Deposit a Check for Someone Else in Their Chase bank Account?

I can't get past the $2,000 mobile deposit limit. I've never heard of one that small. It would drive me to change banks, which would understandably be hard for someone who is sick though.

I'm with Fidelity and had no idea what my limit was so I looked it up. It says $250,000 daily deposit limit.
by Gadget
Sat Nov 04, 2023 2:28 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Intuit's Mint App Shutting Down...Replacement Recommendations?
Replies: 774
Views: 146732

Re: Intuit's Mint App Shutting Down...Replacement Recommendations?

Fidelity Full View is getting a much needed makeover. I got to see it once and it looked a lot better for spending and net worth tracking. However, now I don't get the screen to beta test the new version and can't get back to it. So I'm stuck on the old one.

But Full View might be an option for some now, or after they update the interface.
by Gadget
Thu Nov 02, 2023 2:19 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Question for Married Bogleheads - % to allocate to joint accounts
Replies: 174
Views: 13491

Re: Question for Married Bogleheads - % to allocate to joint accounts

I'd love to see large scale data on this subject with what percent of married couples do joint finances and what percent do separate finances. Then what percent of recently divorced couples did separate finances. I'm a big believer in joint finances when married. However, I've seen many couples make separate finances work too. That said, in my admittedly small sample size of my friend and coworker circle, I'd argue that the couples who are together the longest and don't divorce lean more towards joint finances. The best work lunch stories though were always from the married people with separate finances. It was always funny listening to their struggles about how their spouse would give themselves a raise by reducing their W-4 tax witholding...
by Gadget
Mon Oct 30, 2023 1:42 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Deferred Comp vs ARM Mortgage Payoff
Replies: 12
Views: 1545

Re: Deferred Comp vs ARM Mortgage Payoff

I would reduce your deferred compensation, but probably not for the reason you think. If you're still 10 years away from retirement, I view deferred comp, even at a Fortune 100 company, a big risk. There are so many things that can go wrong. Lets say your company doesn't ever go bankrupt, which could completely lose your deferred comp money. We'll say you don't view that as a risk even though it can happen. What is the risk that the company merges or buys out another company? Just take a look at Exxon/Pioneer and Chevron/Hess recently. That can trigger a 100% payout of your deferred comp plan, even if you don't want it to. It all depends on the specific terms of the company merger/acquisition. You can't really predict future tax rates, but ...
by Gadget
Thu Oct 26, 2023 11:05 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity as a one stop shop
Replies: 6053
Views: 1037354

Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

I’ve done atm withdrawals with $0 balance in CMA account and core money market fund with balance in Brokerage account and it worked fine. I don’t know if it makes a difference if you use a non core money market account though. It does not make a difference. I always do 0 balance in CMA and rarely have the core account in brokerage. ATM withdrawals and other debits all work just fine. The only thing that sometimes won't work is Venmo and things like that pulling directly from the 0 balance CMA account. It uses Plaid and checks the balance and blocks it before trying from Fidelity. The workaround is to use the debit card that ties to the CMA, or transfer money from brokerage to CMA and wait 10-60 minutes for the stupid Plaid link to update.
by Gadget
Wed Oct 25, 2023 12:50 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How to get credit card interest waived
Replies: 26
Views: 3014

Re: How to get credit card interest waived

I'm always amazed at how the bogleheads financial approach is to keep everything simple and straightforward, yet so many bogleheads don't use credit card autopay to pay off their cards in full.

I get it for the large portion of the world living paycheck to paycheck not knowing how much they can pay. But if you're in the boglehead philosophy, you should be paying off each card in full and doing so in the simplest way possible. I don't see how that isn't to just use autopay for all CCs.
by Gadget
Thu Oct 19, 2023 10:25 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Fast Money: Verizon $10/mo discount per line retention credit
Replies: 40
Views: 8960

Re: Fast Money: Verizon $10/mo discount per line retention credit

How long did you have to wait for Verizon to text you a credit offer?
by Gadget
Thu Oct 19, 2023 9:59 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Schwab Cash Misery Adventure
Replies: 61
Views: 7120

Re: Schwab Cash Misery Adventure

Fidelity would fix this annoyance. You just have to determine if it's worth it for you personally to switch over to Fidelity. Each place has its pros and cons, but if cash yield and ease of auto redemption of high yield mmfs is your top priority, Fidelity is your best bet by far.

If cash yield on mmfs is your top priority and you don't care if it is auto redeemed, Vanguard is the best.

There are lots of happy people at Schwab. You can't go wrong with them. But as you've found out, you're paying for that customer service. Just depends on what you value more.
by Gadget
Tue Oct 17, 2023 1:19 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Pixel 8- unlocked or $100 more for Verizon model?
Replies: 6
Views: 2174

Re: Pixel 8- unlocked or $100 more for Verizon model?

I would get the cheaper non Verizon model even if you're on Verizon. I've had almost all the Pixel phones on Verizon. So far with every one I've had, my phone works better if I turn off the mmwave from Verizon. It eats in to the battery way faster and makes it so when it does hit the mmwave area, it can sometimes slightly stutter or pause music or calls. It was never a seamless transition. There are also such small and limited areas that actually have the mmwave. So if you happen to live in one that you'll use a lot without moving, it may be worth it. If you just drive through those areas where it goes on and off repeatedly, you'll likely end up wanting to turn that mmwave off and just leave it on normal settings anyway. At least that's bee...
by Gadget
Tue Oct 17, 2023 1:14 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Google photos storage space
Replies: 17
Views: 1853

Re: Google photos storage space

The incentive for the higher tier is that you get 10% credit on all purchases from the google store and free Google VPN. So not much incentive, but may be worth it to some.
by Gadget
Mon Oct 09, 2023 9:01 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fidelity Solo 401K Electronic Contributions?
Replies: 1
Views: 415

Re: Fidelity Solo 401K Electronic Contributions?

I just did this. I found a link that acted like it was going to let me contribute electronically, but then it went to the standard transfer window and didn't list the Solo 401k as an account I could transfer money too.

I instead had to call. Granted, it was a 5 minute painless phone call with someone who knew exactly what I was doing and completed it promptly. But I'd still prefer to not have to talk to anyone.
by Gadget
Sun Oct 08, 2023 2:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: nonqualified deferred comp plan
Replies: 14
Views: 1165

Re: nonqualified deferred comp plan

FiveK wrote: Sun Oct 08, 2023 1:40 pm
Gadget wrote: Sun Oct 08, 2023 1:31 pmYour company could merge with another, which would possibly force a payout of this plan and create a tax bomb.
Possibly, although some plans (e.g., Megacorp's) allowed one to opt in or out, when signing up for the deferral, of a lump sum on "change in control."

Making good use of a NQDC plan can allow you to be closer to retirement than without it. ;)

Of course, there are risks, so everyone should choose for themselves....
I can tell you from personal experience that even if you opt out of a lump sum when a change of control occurs, that sometimes the terms of the merger/buyout will override your selection.
by Gadget
Sun Oct 08, 2023 1:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: nonqualified deferred comp plan
Replies: 14
Views: 1165

Re: nonqualified deferred comp plan

I don't ever recommend people do these NQDC plans unless they are close to retirement and have a date in mind. Like 5 years or less. There is so much that can go wrong with these that the benefits don't really outweigh the risks. You mentioned company risks, but do you understand all of them? It isn't just the company going bankrupt and losing all your money. Your company could merge with another, which would possibly force a payout of this plan and create a tax bomb. Your company could get bought out. I've heard of companies buying out a smaller company which caused unexpected forced payouts of these plans. When these plans payout unexpectedly all at once, it is usually in your peak earning years. Which usually negates any tax savings, and...