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What I Am Buying Today.
You just gave me some PTSD mentioning those dotcom era telecoms. I don't remember the details except I sold some shares for under a penny to get them off my monitor screen. Commission was probably $7.95 and it was worth it. Smile
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(12-04-2021, 08:14 AM)fenders53 Wrote: You just gave me some PTSD mentioning those dotcom era telecoms.  I don't remember the details except I sold some shares for under a penny to get them off my monitor screen.  Commission was probably $7.95 and it was worth it.  Smile

I've probably said this before, but at the time my Dad was working as a consultant at Cisco, Nortel, & Lucent, so I assumed they were good companies.  One of the three remains...

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I extended my 2022 shopping list out to the next $75,000 (using today's prices).  I will probably liquidate $100k of company stock in 2022, so that would be:

$75k to the Taxable for equities
$10k to the Taxable for cash
$6k to the ROTH (assuming the backdoor conversion isn't gone)
$9k to savings
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They were acquiring start ups with their bloated shares. I didn't know how much debt was too much for hard times. It's why I won't own too many stocks with bad balance sheets since.
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(12-04-2021, 09:01 AM)fenders53 Wrote: They were acquiring start ups with their bloated shares.  I didn't know how much debt was too much for hard times.  It's why I won't own too many stocks with bad balance sheets since.

Ah... makes sense.
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Regrets and/or advice as we roll to the end of 2021.

If I were to get a do over of my financial life this is what I would do (recommend) or change.

Load up on the sep ira or 401K whichever is applicable.
Bought many more rental properties than I did.

Buy UPRO or equivalent every 10% drop in SPY.
Individual stock names are great on the way up but when the fit hits the shan, everything becomes correlated.

Live below your means. I can pretty much afford to do anything one would want. I'm happy catching bluegills on live bait, same thrill as deep sea fishing for me. Rather than season tickets to Blackhawk games, I go to High School games and skate with the boys on the pond as often as possible. You get the idea. Don't even pay attention to the Joneses, they will bring you down.

Be active and EXERCISE.

Happy holidays to all here and a Happy Healthy New Year!
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(12-04-2021, 10:16 AM)NilesMike Wrote: Live below your means. I can pretty much afford to do anything one would want. I'm happy catching bluegills on live bait, same thrill as deep sea fishing for me. Rather than season tickets to Blackhawk games, I go to High School games and skate with the boys on the pond as often as possible. You get the idea. Don't even pay attention to the Joneses, they will bring you down.

Be active and EXERCISE.

Happy holidays to all here and a Happy Healthy New Year!

It's not the Joneses bothering me, it's the standard of living I had pre-divorce as a dual-income couple.  We went on a trip every month, I could go to shows and make purchases without budgeting, and we still had $2k left over each month for me to invest with.  

Exercise - I started 2021 strong on that but faded.  I need to renew my efforts!

Happy holidays as well.
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(12-04-2021, 03:31 PM)ken-do-nim Wrote:
(12-04-2021, 10:16 AM)NilesMike Wrote: Live below your means. I can pretty much afford to do anything one would want. I'm happy catching bluegills on live bait, same thrill as deep sea fishing for me. Rather than season tickets to Blackhawk games, I go to High School games and skate with the boys on the pond as often as possible. You get the idea. Don't even pay attention to the Joneses, they will bring you down.

Be active and EXERCISE.

Happy holidays to all here and a Happy Healthy New Year!

It's not the Joneses bothering me, it's the standard of living I had pre-divorce as a dual-income couple.  We went on a trip every month, I could go to shows and make purchases without budgeting, and we still had $2k left over each month for me to invest with.  

Exercise - I started 2021 strong on that but faded.  I need to renew my efforts!

Happy holidays as well.
Always an interesting topic.  You only live once so IMO you should be able to enjoy some pleasures in life before you are old.  You do need an investing plan very early on.  If you can't hit a number that works for you then you evaluate  where you trim discretionary spending.  There was a lot of sacrifice in the beginning of my investing career.  I wondered if it was worth it now and then.  It wasn't even that much money on 1980's dollars, but if compounded nicely.  If I had started later there isn't any doubt I'd be working a few years longer and time is precious now.  

Your occupation and where you live plays a part.  I suspect Ken and many others here make a lot more money than I ever did.  I also suspect most of you can't buy a modest but modern 2000 SQ FT home on an acre of land for $200K and $3K property taxes. I am guessing a nice room addition would cost half of that where some of you reside?  Oddly enough if my wife would let me retire where I want to I could move and pocket a considerable amount of cash as there are no jobs there.  $20/HR there is rich folk wages lol.
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Right; I consider myself middle class for the Boston area and I can't afford to live any closer to the city than I do, which is 2/3 of the way to Providence. That said, when the child support ($25k/year) ends things will be much more comfortable. Now, when that happens I have no clue.
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Need to have a real cost of living thread sometime to wise me up lol. I never get over being shocked by home prices near metro areas. I wouldn't like to commute two hours a day, nor would I like to pay 3X what my house payment used to be for to rent an apartment large enough to raise a family.

Businesses are going to struggle to get their workers back in the office as long as their competitors continue to allow it post Covid. Employees are saving a fortune while getting paid the big city wage. At least until a recession comes and then they will have the hammer. I get it you can efficiently call on clients you are trying to sell to five states away, but I won't be easily convinced it works well for team projects.

My special skill is spinning a thread in a new direction. Forgive me for that but this is the only place I have adult conversations with a dozen financially prudent people. Smile
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(12-04-2021, 04:13 PM)fenders53 Wrote:
(12-04-2021, 03:31 PM)ken-do-nim Wrote:
(12-04-2021, 10:16 AM)NilesMike Wrote: Live below your means. I can pretty much afford to do anything one would want. I'm happy catching bluegills on live bait, same thrill as deep sea fishing for me. Rather than season tickets to Blackhawk games, I go to High School games and skate with the boys on the pond as often as possible. You get the idea. Don't even pay attention to the Joneses, they will bring you down.

Be active and EXERCISE.

Happy holidays to all here and a Happy Healthy New Year!

It's not the Joneses bothering me, it's the standard of living I had pre-divorce as a dual-income couple.  We went on a trip every month, I could go to shows and make purchases without budgeting, and we still had $2k left over each month for me to invest with.  

Exercise - I started 2021 strong on that but faded.  I need to renew my efforts!

Happy holidays as well.


Your occupation and where you live plays a part.  I suspect Ken and many others here make a lot more money than I ever did.  I also suspect most of you can't buy a modest but modern 2000 SQ FT home on an acre of land for $200K and $3K property taxes. I am guessing a nice room addition would cost half of that where some of you reside?  Oddly enough if my wife would let me retire where I want to I could move and pocket a considerable amount of cash as there are no jobs there.  $20/HR there is rich folk wages lol.
Very true regarding location. Back around 1990, I was 31, I was going to change jobs and relocate to Florida's Space Coast.

I would have sold my Chicago house, bought a brand new Rutenberg pool house along with 2 rental houses. My monthly nut out of pocket was around $55! Yes $55.

We didn't do it because all of our family was here, and we don't regret it for a moment. We have been truly blessed.
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Family and happiness is important. We stayed here for that reason. May move within less then five years, it's neither urgent or decided yet. And Chicago co-workers is where I first learned of crazy high real estate prices.
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(12-05-2021, 09:53 AM)fenders53 Wrote: Family and happiness is important.  We stayed here for that reason.  May move within less then five years, it's neither urgent or decided yet.  And Chicago co-workers is where I first learned of crazy high real estate prices.

Yep, and now that I'm a newly Grandpa, we will have to do the seasonal thing. This is what I equate money with, the ability to have the freedom to do your thing and not worry about cost. I live cheaply ( of course everything is relative) but do whatever the Mrs. and I want to do.
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