Recent posts

#1

Family Finances / Re: teaching kids about money ...

Last post by AlexNY - June 07, 2023, 03:25:12 PM

To teach my kids about making smart purchasing decisions, I turn grocery shopping into a game. I give them a set budget and a shopping list, and they have to find the best deals while staying within the budget. It helps them understand the value of money and how to make choices based on their needs and priorities.

#2

Family Finances / teaching kids about money mana...

Last post by AlexNY - June 07, 2023, 03:22:50 PM

Teaching kids about money is crucial for their financial well-being. What are some creative and effective ways you've found to educate children about money management?

#3

Getting Started / Re: Welcome! Please introduce ...

Last post by TitanUp - October 23, 2022, 05:17:03 AM

Thx for the forum. I am recently retired and heard your podcast on New Retirement. Look forward to poking around the forum.

#4

Financial Advice From The Community / Reader Profiles / Re: I-Bonds or Vanguard's 528b...

Last post by stevesheets - May 27, 2022, 08:41:34 AM

The only issue I see is that if you have a 16 year time horizon, you might not be holding the i-bonds for that period of time.  The 9% is likely only a temporary phenomenon based on current inflation that should subside at some point in the next few years, at which point the yield will subside as well.  That said if you only have 10k to invest that's probably your best option for the next year, then afterwards use the proceeds for the 529

#5

Financial Advice From The Community / Reader Profiles / I-Bonds or Vanguard's 528b for...

Last post by Shredder - May 11, 2022, 08:42:39 AM

Hello! I'm trying to save for college education for my 2 y/o son.  With high inflation we're currently experiencing, I-Bonds that are paying over 9% seem like a good option to invest in long term.
Vanguard's 529b plan is a conventional long-term college savings plan and I'm wondering which option is better at to put say $10k into with an intent of not touching it for many years.
I want to of course retain as much earned interest as possible and reduce tax burden at the time of withdrawal.  Does anyone have experience with that? I'd appreciate a constructive advice.  Thank you.

#6

Family Finances / Re: How much did you spend on ...

Last post by Shredder - April 25, 2022, 07:38:02 PM

Well... I spent a $1k for every year that we were dating prior to getting engaged.  Ended up spending $9k

#7

Real Estate Crowdfunding / reAlpha

Last post by Mobius - January 28, 2022, 10:53:34 AM

https://invest.realpha.com/

Has anyone invested in / done additional research on this company?

Website is... flashy and their claims/hopes seem very aggressive.
The old fake it til you make it tech type mentality.

I do like the idea but without more data, it's been impossible for me to get a good feel for their model.

#8

Managing And Investing In Physical Real Estate / Help in figuring out my next m...

Last post by Kalliste - January 23, 2022, 07:02:53 AM

Hey forum, I have a family of 3 and potentially leaving TX for Europe (France) this summer. I have a house paid for with 11K$ of taxes that could net 1300-1500$/month (rent-property management-maintenance-taxes-etc) if rented. I could also sell into the market for say 500$-530K...My house is about 16% of Net worth. I plan to rent in france for a while until i find the right place (2-5 years probably). I have about 600K in other real estate investments as well in US (multifamily, hard loans,  mobile homes, etc), rest is stock market in tax deferred and after tax accounts.

My Pros and cons of renting vs. selling

1) Pros Renting
- Cash flow positive
- favorable tax if i reside in emea
- continue long on real estate trends in US / TX


2) cons
- Wil get taxed big time when I sell and cannot get 250/500K tax waive for primary home
- maintenance. In TX, lots of issues (tornadoes, wood house not as strong always need maintenance) and thus will be quite complicated to manage from EMEA ( i would dread having to talk to insurance company if something wrong with my roof/pool, etc)
- sell now and i get the cash and can try to deploy in other investments

How should I think through this decision?

Thanks for the pointers.

#9

Real Estate Crowdfunding / Re: Thoughts On RealtyShares C...

Last post by Allover - January 12, 2022, 09:06:16 AM

Hello and Happy New Year.......

RS and the successor company continues to astound me by reaching new levels of incompetence.  What a pack of nitwits that got skelled by a pack of thieves.

Speak to you attorneys : the people on the board of directors should have had what is called Directors and Officers (D&O) coverage.  Plenty of president for people suing directors and officers of companies that sunk and getting pay outs from D&O coverage.   After all, if the Federal Govt can put Charles Keating in PRISON for being a bad banker ( S&L Crisis).....then we should be able to get a settlement from the D&O coverage.

Speak to anyone you know with a badge.  Even if its a local player cop in your part of the world. They can move it up the line.  Ambitious prosecutors are always looking to make names for themselves.  Sad but true.  Only when people with badges start asking questions are we ever going to get in any real answers.

Regarding my investments at RS :  What a goat rodeo.   As I have mentioned before its just too coincidental that these people could lose money on real estate in both FL and CA.......during the biggest real estate boom in the history of this country.   

I have basically "written off " the $$ that I gave them.  I might get a few pennies here and there.....but I doubt it.   

Hard earned......easily lost.

Ultimately : the fools at RS and the crooks that hosed them will have to answer for their sins.   I have found in life that people always " get theirs" in the end.

I wish all of you the very best of luck. 

#10

Financial Advice From The Community / Reader Profiles / Re: Pay down debt or save? Int...

Last post by aILaGend - January 08, 2022, 06:47:42 AM

This decision was probably made long ago, but I'm confused on the 8.3% personal loan. Why don't you get a different cheaper loan and knock that down? You could use the additional funding to lower the gross value and maybe leverage your house with a HELOC to get a better rate. 8.3% seems high to me...

Hi! Thanks for your comment!

Yes, you are right. The interest rate seems high, but that is the best I could get. I live outside the US, so interests are higher relative to the US