Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Hi newgirl! Well, I have a couple real disasters in the port, and think about "trading them in" for something of better merit that's also down. Stuff that's down comes in a few forms: funds/stocks that will outlast my lifetime, and some that are so …
@OJ: kinda thought I'd hear from ya. Hell, my old days are so old I remember the Brills, who were pre-FA as I recall.
Now I'm sittin here picking off a few things that look interesting, mostly for the grandkids, might do the same for great grandkid…
After months (years ?) of doing nothing I finally scratched the itch yesterday and Wednesday, and let Fido loose. Small bits of Archer Daniels ADM, Boeing BA, BRKB, Canadian Nat CNI, Diageo DEO, Gen Dynamics GD, IBM, MMM, Plains All Am PAA. Probably…
No you can't start too young! A grandson is an "apprentice" to his uncle who moonlights as a rodeo clown in the summer and a college mascot in the fall. He gets paid a modest amount and is having a blast riding around in a wagon, getting dressed up …
Hey oj, thanks for the kind words. Yes, I am still here. Wonder where some oldies are we never see: big dimmy (the poster boy for STAR fund), neutron, brat, etc. Hmmm.
Anyway, I'm about to hand over the reins to the 'kids'. It's time. And with new s…
Yes, we are in process of winnowing out unneeded funds. "Kids" are now late 30s early 40s and these iras were started age 12 or so, so they have quite a collection. Now using a few vanguard indexes, keeping a few managed funds like Primecap POAGX, d…
Often wondered why those coastal states haven't gone geothermal: use ocean water at (I'm guessing 56 degrees or so.) Horizontal install. We are inland, use vertical wells, finish off with electric. Works summer and winter.
Guess I'm just dumb but w…
Hi VF:
We've done this for our grandkids, ages 11 and 7. They don't have to have a W-2, just keep a meticulous log of hours and persons worked for. The 11yo worked for two old ladies down the street, mowing, weeding, planting bulbs, etc. The little …
Hi catch! Thanks for additional info. To answer, the 529 accounts are in my name as owner only. The IRS permits one owner, so if I transfer ownership it will go to only one parent of each kid.
The computer stuff is interesting...it looks like the IR…
Many thanks to bee and bk2000p.
It does seem that fed financial aid is impacted less (much less) if a parent owns rather than gparent. No other advantages that I can see except that I will be mercifully divested of 3 accounts to oversee
Um, I am not a wsj subscriber so cant read article. But the issue is one that rankles as I made myself, the grandparent, the owner of 3 529s. Maybe that was a bad move. Who should be the owner if the grandkids want to apply FAFSA? Am i just dumb or …
A dedicated laptop with exactly five dropdowns on it (3 brokerages, one bank and one credit card company.) No surfing, no e-mail. So far, no spam, or other incoming junk. Three years and hoping. Probably will add the two-step verification thing.
No MN? How dem puppies going like FL?
I hate those whirley-gigs. There's a residential model like a double helix...better.
Solar panels aren't so bad either. But geothermal you can't see. And free cool water works.
Good luck with your move.
best, ha…
Don't mean to obfuscate this discussion of solar, but we are geothermal'ed and find it works very well. Built 4000sf house 15 years ago. Water from 4 wells comes in at 56 degrees and is finished off by electric. Our first monthly electric bill back …
Hi BenWP! Wow, what a great thing you are doing. I agree with Mark: keep it simple. Stress one or two things, maybe compound interest and low expenses and pick a fund holding recognizable stuff. A Vanguard ETF will exhibit all of these things over t…
Hi Davidmoran! Thanks for your comments. I think employee designation comes into play. The 12 yo mowed lawns, and its seems according to H&R Block that a 'household employee' under 18 who mows lawns, babysits, delivers newspapers is a special ca…
Hi Catch! Thanks for your time and effort in responding. I noted several of your sources I want to explore further. We did this minor IRA drill years back for our own kids, and continue contributions to this day as a holiday present, but times have …
Thank you Skeet and MSF. The younger kid seems exempt from filing - as there is a factor of .9235 on the Schedule SE that brings her $432 down just below $400. The older kid is probably going to file and pay Med & SS, but no income tax due to st…
Lucky was my daughter who worked in a school district that already had some teachers (including her) enrolled in Vanguard products. They fought to keep that and won. The others were screwed over by, well, you know, whatever representatives of insura…
Well, the rollover IRA would be taxed say 35-40 years from now. Yikes. The thing going for the Roth minus $16k is that the 'promise' of no tax on Roth IRA withdrawals will be honored. As congress sees the ever-growing largesse in these Roth accounts…
For some insane reason my 2 kids and their spouses allow me to oversee their IRA's. I've had some fun with this project (for the 2 kids this has been over 20 years). Former FA's might remember my "Annual Angst' post wherein I asked advice on their t…
Totally disgusted with Sequoia, a core holding in my kids' Roth IRAs for 9 years. I pulled them out several weeks ago. Alas, the kids do not qualify for O'Reilly or VRX, or whatever else SEQUX wants to get rid of for their affluent customers. I sha…
If you bought Bridgeway Ultra-Small Company Portfolio BRUSX in the mid-90's (I think it was JM's first fund) you got a simple wad of 8X11 paper stapled in the upper left corner. I saved one for each of my kids and put it in their plain old manila fi…
Hi tommitchell! Congratulations on becoming a great grandparent!
I also have 529's going at Vanguard for 3 grandchildren. I can terminate at any time and pay the penalty for not using the funds for education expenses. But then, why did I set them up…
Small bits of widders n orphans stuff...divy growers mostly.
We are leaving leaving cash at about 20% of the retirement port. Right now we can rely on pensions an SS for what we need...for however long they all honor THAT.
We try to put the rmd's …
As much as I think about Munger's assiduity thing, sometimes ya just have to scratch the itch. Got a little Deere (DE) near today's low so now I have their tractors etc plus some shares, in the past weeks have picked up Nofk Southern NSC - it comes …
Well, we have an overload in energy stuff, bought 3-5 years ago...ouch. Maybe common sense says buy more when its down but at ages 75 and 73, do we want to catch the falling knife...hmm.
The port has some long-held widders&orphans things which h…
Hi expatsp:
I manage, or mismanage, retirement accounts for 2 kids and their spouses. Bought FAIRX maybe 10 years ago, sold maybe 5 years ago. Why? The 'star' manager phenom. Some of those 'kids' are more attuned than others, but none of them have t…
Bee makes a good reminder. 'Dead-heading' a car can be useful. We got hotel vouchers and gas coupons to run a snowbird rental from FL to Washington DC. This was some years ago - glad to see they still need the service. We got 2 weeks to do this.
An…
The old single-hulled tankers that are not allowed in too many ports anymore may be sitting out there storing the stuff. I guess shipowners just hit oil...
'Bull or bear in the China shop' Gotta love it.
Anywho, guy in PA near us bought up unused railroad trackage and turned it into a parking lot. $3 dollars a day per car. We estimate he can accomodate nearly 1000. I drive by this stuff frequently...oi…
It's possible the over supply of everything is related to the misuse of just about anything.
Stephen Hawking suggests we find another planet. So much for optimism.
