Investing General Discussion

Sanrith Descartes

Sanrith Descartes

Von Clippowicz
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Haus said:
This is exactly where my conundrum in answering this one is.

I'm good at math, good enough to know even if I invested in a moderately conservative portfolio I could beat 4% a year. Meaning it would be more profitable to invest and keep paying the mortgage as slow as one could. Same with the car payment as long as it's also at a lower interest rate than one could make in investment. Right now just dropping money into a stable coin (DAI) and dropping that on AAVE is yielding over 9%.

The "human side" of the equation for me though is that I was raised by post depression/WWII era Americans (my grandparents). To say my grandfather didn't trust banks would be like saying bears occasionally shit in the woods, and the pope is sometimes catholic. It galled him to no end to have had to take a mortgage out to buy a house when he moved the family to the city in the 50's (and it was fully paid off before I was born in the late 60's). He NEVER had a car loan (cars are something you save up and buy in cash...) We had ONE single credit card in the family while I was growing up. It was a Sears card, and it was used essentially for two things. To buy my school clothes once a year (since it was easy to use over the phone ordering from the Sears catalog) , and if a major appliance needed replacing. For a decade after he died I was STILL finding money stashed away and hidden in the house I was raised in. The only thing he thought the bank was good for was putting money into CDs which is how he gave me "College or get yourself started" money when I graduated high school.

That part of me would scream to eliminate any and all debt.

In this scenario for me, paying off car would just mean that amount would then go monthly into the portfolio. Paying off my mortgage wouldn't eliminate that all together, it would still mean round half what my current mortgage payment would be would be for "escrow" (Insurance and Taxes) and ergo I'd want to save away anyways (probably dropping into the aforementioned DAI stablecoin yielding account).
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You sound like you were raised in the same neighborhood I was. My personal take on it is to find a median common ground and that is how I live. I have zero debt beyond two cars and the mortgage. My car is almost paid off and will be given to my daughter when she gets her license in a couple of years. I keep more cash in the bank than I "should" but I enjoy the piece of mind that comes with it being there and not in the brokerage account. My annual 401k contribution is maxed as is our two SEPs and IRAs. Almost no one can truly min/max their cash management. In general the answer lies in finding your own personal balance point.
 
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Haus

Haus

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Sanrith Descartes said:
You sound like you were raised in the same neighborhood I was. My personal take on it is to find a median common ground and that is how I live. I have zero debt beyond two cars and the mortgage. My car is almost paid off and will be given to my daughter when she gets her license in a couple of years. I keep more cash in the bank than I "should" but I enjoy the piece of mind that comes with it being there and not in the brokerage account. My annual 401k contribution is maxed as is our two SEPs and IRAs. Almost no one can truly min/max their cash management. In general the answer lies in finding your own personal balance point.
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For Mrs. Haus Mrs. Haus and I the agreement is a maximum of one car payment at a time. When mine's paid off we will go as long as she can endure before wanting a newer car with zero. Since she rarely drives much her car is in surprisingly good shape. I also try to keep a nice sum of "immediately accessible" cash, but owing to my grandfathers influence, it's not in a bank and referenced as the "liquid fund" on my budget spreadsheet.
 
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Borzak

Borzak

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I predict a week of highs and lows that in no way match the news. Just going off recent trends lol.
 
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Sanrith Descartes

Sanrith Descartes

Von Clippowicz
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ABBV moving as it approaches ex-div date (Weds). I tried modeling out dividend capture models and the shit never worked for me on paper. I just dont see how it is profitable.
 
Pogi.G

Pogi.G

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Khane said:
As someone who has been debt free since 3 years ago I can say there is a freedom that comes from not being beholden to monthly payments. That position of "fuck you" if you will. It's hard to overstate how much stress it alleviates.
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It's been about a year or so since my wife and I have paid off everything except the mortgage, and it's fucking fantastic. No personal credit cards, loans, or car payments. It is incredibly freeing.

I have one AMEX card that is through my company, but I pay that off every month. The amount of points I get from that just about pays for all off my xmas shopping at the end of the year.
 
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Sanrith Descartes

Sanrith Descartes

Von Clippowicz
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Pogi.G said:
It's been about a year or so since my wife and I have paid off everything except the mortgage, and it's fucking fantastic. No personal credit cards, loans, or car payments. It is incredibly freeing.

I have one AMEX card that is through my company, but I pay that off every month. The amount of points I get from that just about pays for all off my xmas shopping at the end of the year.
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This is the point you want to be at. Put every single expense onto a rewards credit card and pay it off each month. I have the Amex Cash card which gives me 1.5% cash back on all purchases. Basically my life is 1.5% cheaper.
 
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Haus

Haus

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Sanrith Descartes said:
This is the point you want to be at. Put every single expense onto a rewards credit card and pay it off each month. I have the Amex Cash card which gives me 1.5% cash back on all purchases. Basically my life is 1.5% cheaper.
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For me it's an Amazon Visa. Not only does it have the lowest rate I have in case I do need to carry a balance month to month. Offers 1% back on everything, 2% back on fuel & restaurants, and 5% back on Amazon purchases. Adds up surprisingly fast.
 
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karma

karma

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Wife and I hit that a few months ago. Right now we owe on the mortgage and a 0% interest loan for a whole house generator we are having installed (hurricane zone).

We COULD liquidate my "trading account" and have the house paid off this year, but I am still managing to bumble my way into a few bucks here and there while I learn to trade. Both cars are newish (2018s) and fully paid for. Our expenses go onto a cash back rewards card and the rewards go into HSA/IRAs/Investments.

It changed the "financial" discussion for us quite a bit when we hit that threshold, and it is a pretty amazing feeling. We joked about the fact we may be able to sell off her business and live off some no brainer minimum wage job if it really came down to it, and while, it certainly isnt something we intend to do, it felt odd knowing it was possible.
 
Kiroy

Kiroy

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Sanrith Descartes said:
Basically my life is 1.5% cheaper.
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It's not, that's included in the purchase price of everything you buy - card companies don't make their nut off card users, they make it off the business swiping the card

I pay like 1.5 percent if someone swipes a debit, which I feel is a pretty good compromise for the convenience, but the better the reward card is, the more the business has to pay - I think some of those fancy amex's are like 7%. They're one of the greatest skimming scams in history and everyone just chalks up how much they increase the price of goods/services to inflation.

If you can't tell, i'm very anti reward card.
 
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swayze22

swayze22

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Sanrith Descartes said:
This is the point you want to be at. Put every single expense onto a rewards credit card and pay it off each month. I have the Amex Cash card which gives me 1.5% cash back on all purchases. Basically my life is 1.5% cheaper.
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Haus said:
For me it's an Amazon Visa. Not only does it have the lowest rate I have in case I do need to carry a balance month to month. Offers 1% back on everything, 2% back on fuel & restaurants, and 5% back on Amazon purchases. Adds up surprisingly fast.
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I use Capital One Savor and pay it off every month for all the family expenses. This one to me makes the most sense for our discretionary spending, definitely adds up for "free money" when you spend a few thousand a month on it.

4% dining, entertainment, streaming services
3% groceries
1% all other
 
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Gravel

Gravel

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karma said:
Wife and I hit that a few months ago. Right now we owe on the mortgage and a 0% interest loan for a whole house generator we are having installed (hurricane zone).

We COULD liquidate my "trading account" and have the house paid off this year, but I am still managing to bumble my way into a few bucks here and there while I learn to trade. Both cars are newish (2018s) and fully paid for. Our expenses go onto a cash back rewards card and the rewards go into HSA/IRAs/Investments.

It changed the "financial" discussion for us quite a bit when we hit that threshold, and it is a pretty amazing feeling. We joked about the fact we may be able to sell off her business and live off some no brainer minimum wage job if it really came down to it, and while, it certainly isnt something we intend to do, it felt odd knowing it was possible.
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Congratulations, you basically discovered the "barista FIRE" movement without knowing it (essentially being able to take a minimum wage job to cover all your expenses, and your portfolio covers the rest).

Just plug away at your investment accounts and eventually you can hit retirement well before your peers.
 
Furry

Furry

WoW Office
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It's amazing the shackles that debt puts on your life. Most people I know have been paying 500+ a month to the man for years. Meanwhile I've been paying that to myself. Shit's gotta go really tits up for me not to retire early at this point.
 
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Locnar

Locnar

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I'm not afraid of the right kind of debt. I have credit cards that are offering me zero percent on purchases for 15+ months. Everything goes onto them and they are forgotten about for a year. They will be paid off before the zero percent expires and by then inflation would make the debt less than what it today.
 
Fogel

Fogel

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Sanrith Descartes said:
DIS crushing it today on those Black Widow numbers.
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1626107689091.png
 
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Fogel

Fogel

Mr. Poopybutthole
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I missed the part in Terminator where Skynet was able to fund itself off of AMC

 
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Pogi.G

Pogi.G

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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Pogi.G said:
Buying $X US steel here under $23. Fully expect it to break above $26 again and a possible retest of $28. May even going higher with that retarded infrastructure bill dementia joe is trying to get through.
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X has been doing well since I bought at $22.90 on the 21st. Just broke $25 and tempted to close out, but I still see it breaking above $26. Going to move stop loss up to $24.25 and continue holding. That said, earnings come out in 10 days, and I will probably sell before then. People have taken that whole "sale the news thing" a bit to serious, and I have seen many stocks tank on good news recently because of it.
 
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