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Personal Finance Advice and Education! (5 Viewers)
- Thread starter No. 16
- Start date
James Daulton
Footballguy
Any updates on best reward credit cards? I currently use Discover and their 5% action is the shiz, but is there anything else better out there?
-OZ-
Footballguy
wilked
Footballguy
Haven't made a real move on my funds for a while...
I have a rollover IRA from previous jobs. That has more or less prevented me from Roth IRA (I am above salary range, and pro-rata rule would apply for backdoor Roth).
To date that's how I left it. Just became aware that I can roll that IRA into my current 401K and then do backdoor Roth.
Will be doing that over the next couple of weeks.
This is all very exciting for me...
I have a rollover IRA from previous jobs. That has more or less prevented me from Roth IRA (I am above salary range, and pro-rata rule would apply for backdoor Roth).
To date that's how I left it. Just became aware that I can roll that IRA into my current 401K and then do backdoor Roth.
Will be doing that over the next couple of weeks.
This is all very exciting for me...
Chadstroma
Footballguy
There is a credit card thread floating out there. It really all comes down to what you spend your money on. I mean, you can get yourself 10 credit cards and maximize your rewards by spending the cards on whatever you get the most bang for your buck. You can go the other route and find one decent all around card and simplify your life. You can do what I think makes the most sense and have about 2 or 3 cards- cards that give you more bang for your buck in the several areas you spend most but you are not basically taking on another job to manage it all. Again, which 2 or 3 is not an objective thing but very much subjective. Look for that credit card thread and there are tons of rewards cards people have found that they talk about.
Dentist
***Official FBG Dentist***
Chadstroma
Footballguy
That makes it sound like it is more efficient but the expense ratio is .52 while the Vanguard small cap ETF (VB) is at an expense ratio of .06.
It does have a bit better return over 5 years at 15.59 versus VB's 12.89 though. (I didn't compare over any other times)
kutta
Footballguy
I like the American Airlines card, but I travel like a mo fo. The card gets you into the lounges at the airports and I get a lot of free flights and upgrades using my points. But, if you don't travel a lot, it's pretty worthless.
wilked
Footballguy
Binky The Doormat
Footballguy
I have healthy teeth (only 1 cavity) but have always thought about veneers, just didn't want them to look "Hollywood", if that makes sense. I have been quoted between $800 - $1K per tooth. What would you likely charge me?
Chadstroma
Footballguy
Not at all. Just being fair. Percentage of return is backward looking and famously does not guarantee forward performance. However, very much like in fantasy football where you review the stats of a player from previous years to make decisions- it is something you review and incorporate into decisions.
My portfolio has two basic things: 1) low cost funds, much like the Vanguard Small Cap (VB) though I do not believe I have that particular one. 2) Individual stocks where I buy and hold long term.
I pay other people very minimally for my investments.
Chadstroma
Footballguy
A bit of a war being waged for high end travel rewards. US Bank just launched one to go against Chase, Citi and AMEX as the big players that have made splashes with travel cards that give an extra kick for you. This gives a decent review of them:
http://blog.credit.com/2017/05/5-credit-cards-that-will-help-you-quickly-rack-up-rewards-points-173235/
Dentist
***Official FBG Dentist***
That's what I charge also, and I'm surprised you were quoted that price, it's on the low end these days.
The composite veneers can be less, but it's pretty hard to find a dentist that can actually do them and do them well
Follow up on this. I did some reading on the website and see that he has 3 different models. Do you duplicate any of these or simply just buy/sell when he blogs about his activity?
wilked
Footballguy
If past performance has been shown to not be predictive* of future results, why even bother to mention it? To mention it is to introduce bias, no?
You say it doesn't 'guarantee' forward performance, but I say it has 'no predictive relevance' on forward performance (once you filter for the lowest performing managers)
*the one past performance that has been shown to be predictive is 'very poor' performance.
edited to add: an extreme analogy would be to rewind the world 50 years or more, and to mention the race of the fund managers. It wouldn't be surprising that after mentioning the races, more than half the people would choose the Caucasian manager over the African American manager, in spite of there being studies that showed that each manager was equally likely to be successful going forward. Knowing there was inherent bias (just as there is inherent bias to select the manager who outperformed the other in the last 5 years), you might choose not to mention that and introduce bias to the discussion
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Dentist
***Official FBG Dentist***
When he says he "likes" a new issue, if I'm in the market to add something, I buy it. The guy is very thorough and pretty conservative.. so if he likes an issue, I know it's going to be good enough for me. Sounds a little "blind-faithy" I know.. but i've read and followed the guy long enough to know that he's pretty legit and has nothing to sell other than ads on his website. I follow him on twitter also for the latest updates.
I don't duplicate the models.
Binky The Doormat
Footballguy
You are talking about the dividendyieldhunter site? I went there and found it a bit hard to follow. Nor did I get any spreadsheets - I saw the "get rid of ad blocker" ...got a primer on this somewhere?
Dentist
***Official FBG Dentist***
Yes, that's the site. It is a bit hard to follow I agree, but I've been reading him for so long that I can follow everything easily.
Basically if I've learned anything about debt issues, it's that you want to get in on the IPO quickly in the pink sheets or as soon as it comes to market before it gets bid up if it's a good issue. If you pay the wrong price on these, they become a mediocre to bad deal
I would start by reading the dividend portfolio section where he goes over his 3 models. Just a good basis...then read each of the types of products when you have time. It is a lot, but you start to understand the lingo and such.
It's new territory for me, but it's something I've always been interested in. Not sure what route I'm going to take.
Binky The Doormat
Footballguy
Where are his recommendations? Also, can you download the spreadsheets - don't see where/how to do that. - Thanks
The spreadsheets are at the end of each of the articles on the models. They're embedded into the browser.Binky The Doormat said:
It looks like you have to read through each of the blog posts to learn his recommendations...he seems to post a few times a week...doesn't update twitter as often though.
Chadstroma
Footballguy
Yea but if you are a frequent traveler then the various credits pay most of it back on most of the cards and then some with the US Bank card. Then you get the added perks too along with the points in purchases. I don't have one of these cards because I just don't travel that much. If things change where I am doing more traveling then I would get one of these without doubt.Slapdash said:
Chadstroma
Footballguy
Uh. OK. Sure, you win.wilked said:
What is the average travel spend you'd suspect on something like this? Worth it for a few big trips a year or need to be doing business type traveling?
Chadstroma
Footballguy
Let's look at the US Bank one because that is the one I considered the most.
$400 annual fee. I am in the 'never pay an annual fee for a credit card camp' so, I need to be able to get that $400 value back and THEN the rewards and perks make sense over another none annual fee card for me to say 'sign me up'. The $325 in travel credits is easy (apparently they just credit you the $325 after you use the card on travel expenses). One trip easily takes care of that. That leaves $75 in value left to recover. You get the 12 Gogo inflight wifi- which is cool, because being the cheap b-####### that I am, I will never buy wifi but if I get it free it makes the flight much better. I don't know how much $ that is per use. $85 application fee every four years for TSA precheck. So, annually that is $22.25. Gives me about $50 or so left for the Gogo to make up. Then there is a bunch of other perks for travelers.
As is right now, I am traveling 0-2 times a year. Not really worth it in my mind. Even though just one trip really makes the bulk of that annual fee back. Heck, you don't even need to fly- one rental car use takes up that $325 pretty much.
If I up that to 2-4 or more- then yea, I am signing up. My thinking is the use of those perks (which the site I linked doesnt go in to very well) can really make those trips much more enjoyable. If you are doing business travel, then you are kind of dumb to not take a hard look at one of these cards. If you are doing a few big trips a year as you put it or your big thing is vacation travel etc, then I think it could still be worth it. If my travel goes up- then I would do more comparison of these (and any new ones that might come along to compete against these). For this US Bank card- two things I would do. 1) Make sure to spend $4500 in 90 days to get the 50K point bonus (about $750 worth of rewards). 2) Finally switch to Andriod Pay which I been meaning to do but haven't because I am lazy.
Good stuff @Chadstroma. We've done some fee cards. Got the Chase Sapphire for wedding/honeymoon last year. We ended up cashing the singup bonus and other items before the first annual fee was due. Have a Marriott card with a fee, but free night/status upgrades that made sense when my wife traveled closer to 70 nights a year. Have a BofA Travel Rewards that doesn't have a fee, but I will lose their Preferred Rewards kicker in November.
So we're kicking the tires on something help pay for upcoming trip to Taipei and others...
So we're kicking the tires on something help pay for upcoming trip to Taipei and others...
Didn't pick up that this refund is incremental to point earnings first time around, a game-changer IMO.
Chadstroma
Footballguy
I don't know about the Chase but I do know the US Bank one just does a statement credit for the travel credits. Which is nice because you don't have to worry about who you are using or a process to get the credits or anything.
@Slapdashif I was doing one big trip, like Taipei, I might move ahead one the US Bank card (or one of the others after careful comparison). Use the card for all the tickets etc so you chew up the $325 credit right there. Hit the $4,500 spending in 90 days to get the bonus points ($750 in points). Use the $100 credit for the TSA world thing to make that easier. And then all the other perks for the trip. After the trip- I would consider keeping it or closing it. That's my thinking
matuski
Footballguy
Yes just credits you back on the charges.I don't know about the Chase but I do know the US Bank one just does a statement credit for the travel credits. Which is nice because you don't have to worry about who you are using or a process to get the credits or anything.
@Slapdashif I was doing one big trip, like Taipei, I might move ahead one the US Bank card (or one of the others after careful comparison). Use the card for all the tickets etc so you chew up the $325 credit right there. Hit the $4,500 spending in 90 days to get the bonus points ($750 in points). Use the $100 credit for the TSA world thing to make that easier. And then all the other perks for the trip. After the trip- I would consider keeping it or closing it. That's my thinking
Andrew74
Footballguy
Has anyone here ever done or contemplated doing a Qualified HSA Funding Distribution (QHFD)? This is where you fund a HSA from your IRA, but the funding uses up your HSA contribution limit for the year. I don't think this is a good idea normally, as I'd think one is better off funding both from cash flow to get the tax deductions. But I've had a lot of unexpected extra expenses to fund in the next 12 months and may not be able to easily swing the HSA contribution next year.
Just thinking out loud. I've thought about this and am thinking it is only a last resort - only do this if the other option is $0 in HSA contributions.
Just thinking out loud. I've thought about this and am thinking it is only a last resort - only do this if the other option is $0 in HSA contributions.
Sand
Footballguy
Don't forget primary rental car insurance, trip insurance, baggage insurance, and all that jazz.
If you do about $3k in travel each year the card is easily worth it, even after the first bonus year. I'm keeping mine. I'm up to 370k pts on the card. 3x points on travel, dining adds up quick.
Sand
Footballguy
Rida Morwa on Seeking Alpha comes out with good articles on issues in this vein. I've picked up a couple. I also like the site you mention here. Their lists of baby bonds and preferreds is pretty useful.
Leeroy Jenkins
Footballguy
Do you guys use Mint or something similar for budgeting? Do you trust it really?
PinkydaPimp
Footballguy
Been using Mint for years. Its very helpful to see all of your finances and investments in one place. It also will alert you if it sees unusual transactions. The only hitch are that some banks have issues staying updated in Mint. But 95% of mine work and its very helpful.
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MattFancy
Footballguy
We just started using YNAB (You Need A Budget). Pretty simple to use and keep track of everything.
matttyl
Footballguy
Was actually going to come here today and ask what others are using for budgeting type stuff. I tend to do most of the financial stuff in the household, and now the wife want's to get more involved which I'm totally fine with an have semi encouraged over the last few years here and there. I'd just like her to know all the moving pieces should (God forbid) I not be here tomorrow. Would also like her to see the plan(s) for retirement, as well as us figuring out a plan to accumulate ~$20k in the next few years for some home improvements (new siding, gutters, exterior trim and such).
Looks like Mint and YNAB are the current nominees. Any others? How did you start coming up with a budget and such with a significant other?
Looks like Mint and YNAB are the current nominees. Any others? How did you start coming up with a budget and such with a significant other?
Steve Tasker
Footballguy
I just use an Excel file and have been doing so for 8 years now. It's nice having 8 years of data in 1 place. I update it once a week.....I'm also a CPA, though, so I kinda nerd out over financial data modeling.
That said, my wife and I aren't really on strict budgets, so I don't know how it would really work on that end. I manage our investments and pay the mutual bills that we have. We each manage our own credit cards (paid in full every month of course). I don't nitpick her expenses and she doesn't nitpick mine, so as long as we're hitting our savings targets, there's no true family budget.
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matttyl
Footballguy
I'm in a very similar situation all around, and currently use Excel myself for much of the financial stuff in the house. We're just introducing the "savings target" (non retirement, which we're already doing) you bring up, so that's where I'm at.
mquinnjr
Footballguy
I do the same, it takes 10 minutes to update manually once it's setup. I can also tweak as I feel necessary, and I'm extremely conservative with what I adjust. Do a monthly personal P&L and Statement of Net Assets where I track every penny that goes in and out, which is not as hard to do as it sounds. It takes away the "saving isn't sexy" argument, seeing the market movements and what you've invested grow and managing your personal P&L to control your spending in a quantifiable Excel spreadsheet every month is
.
NutterButter
Footballguy
I use excel, but more for playing around with retirement scenarios. Most of my finances are on auto-pilot. All the bills are autopay. 401k from paycheck. Roth just throw in at the beginning of the year. 529 monthly contribution is done manually based on where my short term savings are at. There's hardly much that changes from month to month give or take a couple hundred bucks.
Brony
Footballguy
I don't do any budgeting. Our checking accounts and credit cards are with the same bank and I monitor that probably more than I should. But as a result, never felt the need to spend much on credit monitoring or other security things since I watch our spending like a hawk. I'm not trying to hit a certain number any given month, but I have a good sense of when we're good on money or when we need to tighten for a little while.
We do something similar. I put in $1.5k biweekly and she puts in $1k biweekly, which more than covers shared spending. Rest is up to ourselves for savings/spending beyond the obvious 401k/HSA/IRA matches.
Do need to figure out the Backdoor Roth this year though.
