Investing questions

[Sea Turtle]

What do you guys think about Fundrise? It's a crowdfunding eREIT that allows you to invest as little as $10 a transaction.

 

[BrownerandFry]

Strong recommendation is dollar cost averaging (you do that automatically and painlessly in a 401(k) into a diversified stock portfolio, an S&P 500 index will suffice. Sure, because of fees, the S&P 500 fund, must, a fortiori, underperform the actual index, but it is chump change.

99% of Americans should NOT invest in individual stocks. 99%

The S&P 500 is diversified enough that it will mirror enough of the worldwide market to give you some international flavor.

One book to read?

Jeremy Siegel, stocks for the long run.

Note particularly the graphs on Japan and Germany's stock markets from and THROUGH

WWII. It is the most exhilirating graph this stat nerd has ever seen.

I can not tell you where the next 1,000 point in the maket is, but I assure you that the next 5000 move will be up.

THE ADVANCES ARE PERMANENT AND THE DECLINES ARE TEMPORARY AND IF YOU WAIT IT OUT, THE DECLINES WILL GO AWAY.

When you retire, leave your money in a stock option, S&P 500 index will suffice, and remove the money, SLOWLY as you need it, more or less mirroring the pace at which you accumulated it.

Again, 99% of Americans would be best served by this approach.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Question about an employer sponsored HSA: Do we have to use that particular company?

My wife carries our family insurance plan through her employer and they sponsor TCU for the HSA portion of the plan. But over the years, we've learned that TCU is garbage* for their HSA plans and would like to move it to Fidelity. Can we do this? Or are we stuck?

*TCU routinely screws up our end-of-year contributions. They also don't offer an investment opportunity with the HSA, which is extremely costly considering these accounts grow tax free like a Roth.

 

[pumpdog20]

I believe you can move the funds to a separate HSA, but don't think you can close the account because your future contributions will go still need to go there first. I'm thinking of doing the same thing, only I'm thinking of moving to fidelity to get away with the investing fees my plan (United Healthcare/Optum).

 

[CoachB]

Have any of you started any investment accounts for your kids? And if so, what did you choose to do?

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

We use Fidelity for our "overflow" investments from our HSA and I've been mostly pleased. They don't give you access to every fund you may want but still plenty of options for someone like me. I'm a #BasicB so I stick with S&P 500 index funds and total market funds for the most part.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Have any of you started any investment accounts for your kids? And if so, what did you choose to do?

Can you add some more context? 529? Straight brokerage? Roth IRA?

 

[pumpdog20]

Have any of you started any investment accounts for your kids? And if so, what did you choose to do?

I started a youth individual account for my 16 year old at fidelity. I think I have access to see his account with my list of accounts and can deposit funds into his, but only he can make investment decisions. Then when he turns 18 he has to transition it into a "big boy" account. Which basically means his account won't show up along with mine.

super high level overview

Fidelity Youth Account frequently asked questions (FAQs) | Fidelity Investments

 

[BleedBlueGold]

We use Fidelity for our "overflow" investments from our HSA and I've been mostly pleased. They don't give you access to every fund you may want but still plenty of options for someone like me. I'm a #BasicB so I stick with S&P 500 index funds and total market funds for the most part.

When you say "overflow," what do you mean? My wife is convinced that we can't open up a different account at a different bank (just going off her gut instinct, no info). Meanwhile, everything I've been reading suggests we can open an account with Fidelity and then transfer funds from TCU into the new one. I believe we still keep the TCU account open and her direct deposits go into it, but we just need to move them monthly/quarterly etc into the Fidelity. Am I reading into this correctly?

Have any of you started any investment accounts for your kids? And if so, what did you choose to do?

I looked into custodial accounts a while back. I have a 7 and 4 year old. I ultimately decided not to open a brokerage account for them. Currently, all we have are basic savings accounts and 529 accounts. I'd like to find a way to open Roths for them. I have two side-hustles that act as my "business" in which case I may be able to "pay them" for helping me do random things. That's a loophole I need dig into further with my CPA though.

If you do choose custodial accounts, I looked into Vanguard. Reach out to a professional to further discuss the ramifications of said account. Ownership at age 18, FAFSA, taxes, etc.

 

[Irish#1]

Have any of you started any investment accounts for your kids? And if so, what did you choose to do?

My Father in Law opened custodial accounts with Edward Jones for his great Grandkids before he passed. He put $3K in each. They're at $11K now after 8 years. They were higher before things took a downturn. Not sure they exact type of account, but once they turn 21, my wife releases custodianship to them.

 

[Henges24]

Have any of you started any investment accounts for your kids? And if so, what did you choose to do?

529. I have a fixed amount of money come out of our savings account twice a month and goes into both of my kids’ accounts. Their grandparents have easy access (just with their account #) to throw in money for birthdays/Christmas gifts.
Mine are 3.5 and 18 months & started the month they were born.
Check to see if your state offers a 529 program.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

When you say "overflow," what do you mean? My wife is convinced that we can't open up a different account at a different bank (just going off her guy instinct, no info). Meanwhile, everything I've been reading suggests we can open an account with Fidelity and then transfer funds from TCU into the new one. I believe we still keep the TCU account open and her direct deposits go into it, but we just need to move them monthly/quarterly etc into the Fidelity. Am I reading into this correctly?

I looked into custodial accounts a while back. I have a 7 and 4 year old. I ultimately decided not to open a brokerage account for them. Currently, all we have are basic savings accounts and 529 accounts. I'd like to find a way to open Roths for them. I have two side-hustles that act as my "business" in which case I may be able to "pay them" for helping me do random things. That's a loophole I need dig into further with my CPA though.

If you do choose custodial accounts, I looked into Vanguard. Reach out to a professional to further discuss the ramifications of said account. Ownership at age 18, FAFSA, taxes, etc.

We have different situations so i can't speak directly to yours. I meant to say that our HSA is with HealthEquity and Fidelity. I set how much money stays liquid in my HSA for medical expenses and everything over that gets moved to fidelity automatically to the present fund(s) I've chosen.

but a quick google gave me this, so there is hope:

Transfer Your HSA | Health Savings Account | Fidelity Investments

You'll want to confirm but this blurb in particular makes it seem doable:

• What if part of the HSA I want to transfer to Fidelity is invested?
  If your HSA money is invested, you may be able to do an in-kind transfer into a self-directed HSA, which allows your HSA provider to transfer both your cash balance and your investments to Fidelity. You may need a separate transfer request for each. Some HSA providers don't allow this, which means you'd need to liquidate your investments before moving the money.
  Transfers directly into a Fidelity Go® HSA can be made in cash or in-kind, if they are transferred in-kind they will be liquidated and reinvested, but you can transfer securities you don’t wish to liquidate into a Fidelity HSA®.

 

[zbikowski88]

Have any of you started any investment accounts for your kids? And if so, what did you choose to do?

I have on M1 with some Vanguard funds. Dollar cost averaging. Automatically invests a certain number of dollars each week.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

post deleted: answered my own question

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

post deleted: answered my own question

I'm glad you were able to help you

 

[GATTACA!]

post deleted: answered my own question

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Yea after I posted the question, I literally found exactly what I had been looking for. I did pat myself on the back. Felt great. Got a treat too.


New question: Not investing, but tax-related. Any CPAs on here, please advise... I ordered my Tesla Model Y Performance in Oct 2021 and took delivery in March 2022....did I legit get screwed out of the tax credit because of the timing of the new tax credit changes? Because if so, why in the F couldn't they just include previous years at a prorated credit? If I'm reading this correctly, I get $0, but my friend who ordered his like 6 months later (the exact same car...same year, same specs, same everything) gets $7500. WTF. Is this correct?

 

[BleedBlueGold]

In honor of Koon asking for advice and then ignoring it, I wanted to make this post to get some opinions of others before ultimately ignoring you all and doing what I want to do:

We just refinanced the house for 15-yrs at 2.75%. I'm the type of person who hates debt and would love to just dump money into it to pay it off asap. So I ran some numbers and it could be accomplished in 8 years. Then I started thinking, what if I used my non-retirement Vanguard account to build a balance faster and then use that to pay off the mortgage? Ran some numbers, it's possible I could do this in 5 years (with a good market...I know, seems laughable at the moment).

I ran this by our broker and he basically said to keep the debt (low interest) and just focus on building wealth by maxing out all retirement accounts, Roth accounts, and then the Vanguard account.

Where are you all on the topic of carrying low-interest debts in order to invest? Or do you all hate debt as much as I do?

Which path helps me retire at 50-55 years old? (that's 13-18 years from now)

I just recently remembered this conversation from a few years ago. I ultimately followed everyone’s advice who suggested to continue investing. Although I did add a few extra bucks to the mortgage. As we know now, market volatility has totally destroyed my three year plan. But I’m still on track for early payoff in about 5 more years. Which means I cut the 15 yrs down to 8 total since refinancing…while also saving some money in what’s now a cash fund, getting about 6%.

It still doesn’t make sense mathematically to pay off the house versus investing. But doing so reduces my monthly expenses, which ultimately allows me to cut back hours at work to spend more time with family. And eventually retire early. That was the goal all along.

Thanks again for everyone’s input. I value your opinions and wanted to provide an update.

 

[calvegas04]

Yeah the market has been trash the past few years, found it better to open up a high yield savings account and have steady growth.

 

[Giddyup]

Index fund. Unless some sycophants know the next amazon

 

[Ndaccountant]

It's amazing the psychological surroundings of taxes. In short, about 25% of my pay package last 10 years or so is company stock after I moved up the org. Company has always been a blue chip, top 50 corporation. Earning this quarter were really solid and the share price popped. Trading window opens and I liquidate quite a bit, my tax bill on the LT gain will be more than half my starting salary at the same company 14 years ago. The tax is really passing me off, yet, on a % basis, it will be lower than my average tax rate. Of course, since most of that is withheld, i don't think twice about it. The physical act of allocating money to taxes is so much more powerful.

 

[Irish#1]

You’re smart to cash out. I received stock shares as part of my bonus. Had enough after the grant price to net over $100k. This was back in the early 2000’s. Then the Chairman wants to sell. When all was said and done, the stock went from $50 to $6 per share which was below the grant price. The stock never got above the grant price so I essentially lost the $100K which by today probably would have been significantly more.

 

[INLaw]

It's amazing the psychological surroundings of taxes. In short, about 25% of my pay package last 10 years or so is company stock after I moved up the org. Company has always been a blue chip, top 50 corporation. Earning this quarter were really solid and the share price popped. Trading window opens and I liquidate quite a bit, my tax bill on the LT gain will be more than half my starting salary at the same company 14 years ago. The tax is really passing me off, yet, on a % basis, it will be lower than my average tax rate. Of course, since most of that is withheld, i don't think twice about it. The physical act of allocating money to taxes is so much more powerful.

Everytime I write a check I want to write FU in the memo line and then go punch a democrat

 

[Rockin’Irish]

It hurts a

Everytime I write a check I want to write FU in the memo line and then go punch a democrat

It hurts a LOT more physically writing out those quarterly tax checks…….

 

[Rambler09]

Dave Ramsey, boys. Dave Ramsey.

 

[NDRock]

Everytime I write a check I want to write FU in the memo line and then go punch a democrat

And yet the income tax began with Republicans in charge. Almost like they’re all crooks.

 

[NDRock]

Dave Ramsey, boys. Dave Ramsey.

Debt free is the only way to live (for me anyway).

 

[forkbeard3777]

Have any of you started any investment accounts for your kids? And if so, what did you choose to do?

Vanguard UTMA accounts. 100% VTSAX.

I have 529 accounts as well, but do not / will not overfund it. Your use of the money is severely hamstrung, and I’m hoping that Notre Dame will give them a full ride (wishful thinking, I know). 😂

 

[forkbeard3777]

Everytime I write a check I want to write FU in the memo line and then go punch a democrat

I put something similar in regard to Biden on my quarterly / 1040es tax payments to the IRS.