Tag Archives: building wealth

Become An Owner Instead of a Worker

Posted on by
3

When we’re young, we trade our health for money.  We work long hours.  We lift heavy things and wear down our tendons. We spend hours typing or doing other repetitive motions that cause carpal tunnel syndrome.  We spend hours on our feet and wear down the disks in our backs and develop heel spurs.

We trade this wonderful gift of youth and health that we’ve been given, the ability to keep pushing it for may hours, to bounce back when we fall down and heal fast when we get cut, for cash by working way too many hours.  We go in before dawn and leave after dark, never getting out to see the sun and the woods and the oceans.  We work hard to go on a vacation, which is then rushed and filled with work thoughts and emails back to the office the whole time.  We buy large, beautiful homes that we spend all of our free time maintaining and cleaning when we aren’t working to pay the mortgage.  We buy things on credit and then spend a quarter to half of our time working to pay interest payments.

Join the discussion and ask your questions.  Visit the SmallIvy FaceBook page and become a friend.

While we’re young we can make extra money by just pushing it a little harder.  We can make that car payment if we work overtime on weekends so we can drive that shiny new car to work and have it sit in the parking lot all day, slowly decaying away.   We can take on that second job and get all of the cable packages and five different web streaming services.  We can keep buying clothes to impress people we don’t like and buying all of the latest gadgets to look good for people we don’t even know.

When we get old, we trade our money for health.  Any money we’ve saved up through those long hours of work goes to treatments, surgeries, and drugs to reduce the pain our weary bodies feel.  We spend money to try to have the ability to walk and run and jump and heal like we did so easily while we were young.  We get surgeries to be able to walk after long hours of carrying heavy loads have destroyed our knees.  We buy prescriptions to lower our blood pressure after years of sitting idle at a desk, eating poorly, and letting our health decay.

Stop.  Stop today.  Stop right this minute and change your life.

Become an owner instead of a worker.  Instead of getting that new car, drive your old one for a few more years and send those car payments you would have made into a stock mutual fund and become an owner in a group of companies.  Buy a smaller house for cash and invest the money you save on interest.  Stop buying things to impress people and just buy what you need so that you can spend time with your family who don’t care what the label on your blouse or jeans says.

Start building a portfolio so that you will be getting dividend payments and capital gains instead of paying interest payments and penalties.  Let others work for you so that you don’t need to work those extra hours.  Expand your lifestyle by waiting a little while to buy things, instead investing the money in mutual funds, then using the distributions from those mutual funds to add to your income.  Direct some of that money back into buy more mutual funds, and your income will expand on its own.

Etekcity 4 Pack WiFi Smart Plug Mini Outlet with Energy Monitoring, Works with Amazon Alexa Echo and Google Assistant, No Hub Required, White

Everybody can become an owner.  You can start a mutual fund account with Schwab for only $1.  You can start investing through Vanguard funds for only $3,000 ($1,000 if you start a retirement account).  Start an account and start sending a little of your paycheck in each month to build your wealth.  Own things.  Build things.  Stop just using all of your effort to generate entropy.  Stop having your money flow into your back account through direct deposit and then back out again to bills through auto pay without your even seeing it.

The next SmallIvy book, Cash Flow Your Way to Wealth, will be coming out in about a month.  It gives the game plan to go from worker to owner.  Subscribe to this blog to make sure you get your copy when the time comes and don’t miss out.

Click here to view the Cover.

Follow on Twitter to get news about new articles.  @SmallIvy_SI

Disclaimer: This blog is not meant to give financial planning or tax advice.  It gives general information on investment strategy, picking stocks, and generally managing money to build wealth. It is not a solicitation to buy or sell stocks or any security. Financial planning advice should be sought from a certified financial planner, which the author is not. Tax advice should be sought from a CPA.  All investments involve risk and the reader as urged to consider risks carefully and seek the advice of experts if needed before investing.

Are Your Parents Likely to Move In? If So, How Should You Prepare?

Posted on by
Reply

Don’t look now, but if your parents are in their late fifties or sixties, chances are pretty good that they’ll be moving back home – to your home – in ten to fifteen years.  They’ll still be healthy.  The issue will be that they’ll be out of money since many people in their late fifties and even early sixties have just a fraction of the amount of money needed to make it through a 20-30 year retirement.  Many just have enough to make it five years or less.

There are a couple of things you could do.  You could just ignore the issue and believe it won’t happen.  You could move away and leave no forwarding address, hoping to hide somewhere.  Or you could take on the issue head-on, figuring out if you are likely to need to take your parents in, perhaps help them take steps to delay the inevitable, and make choices now to be ready when the day arrives.  Here are some steps to take:

Have the talk

People say that the two conversations parents and children find most difficult are those about sex and money.  But if your parents are heading into retirement in the next ten or twenty years, now is the time to get a gage on how they are doing.  You may not be able to get them to talk about specific numbers, but maybe you can find out things like 1)Do they have a pension plan at work or a 401k?   2) If they have a 401k, have they been putting away 10% or more right along (if not, suggest they start putting away 15% now) 3)If they have they have a 401k, have they let it build up their whole career or have they pulled money out?  4)Are they planning to stay in their home in retirement or downsize and use the savings for living expenses?  5)Have they talked to a financial planner about their readiness for retirement?

Hopefully, they have a pension plan or they have been regularly contributing to their 401k with no withdrawals.  If they are planning to sell their home and downsize, they may be able to stretch their retirement savings a bit.  If they have gone to a financial planner, hopefully he/she has started to help them realize whether or not they have saved enough.  If from the answers to these questions it does not look like they have done much planning, brace yourself for the worst.  At the very least, see if you can set up a meeting with a financial planner to discuss their status and look at options.

That’s Christmas To MeTime to get your Christmas music

If you do get specific numbers, you can calculate the amount they have total in retirement accounts and other savings/investments (their net worth) to determine how much money they have available to generate income for retirement.  (Do not count their home value in the total unless they plan to sell.)  Once you have their net worth, subtract $400,000 for a couple or $250,000 for a single from the total to account for medical expenses in retirement, then divide by 25.  That is the yearly amount they’ll have available to withdraw each year to fund their retirement and probably make it through without running out-of-money.

For example, if they have $500,000 saved:

Yearly Amount = ($500,000 – $400,000)/25 = $4000/year

In the case above, they would be able to generate about $4,000 per year before starting to deplete their savings.  Add that to maybe $12,000 from Social Security, and they would have about $16,000 per year to spend.  That would not be a good lifestyle for most people and they would need help with bills and expenses.

Nike Mix AAAA Golf Balls, 50 Balls

Set a Target

If you figure out that they need to be saving more, figure out how much they will need to pay for yearly expenses, and then figure out how much they need to save up to reach that target.  Assuming they’ll receive $12,000 per year from Social Security, here’s how much they would need to save up to generate different yearly income levels:

Monthly Income Yearly Income Single Account Value Couple Account Value
$2,500.00 $30,000 $700,000.00 $850,000.00
$3,333.33 $40,000 $950,000.00 $1,100,000.00
$4,166.67 $50,000 $1,200,000.00 $1,350,000.00
$5,000.00 $60,000 $1,450,000.00 $1,600,000.00
$5,833.33 $70,000 $1,700,000.00 $1,850,000.00
$6,666.67 $80,000 $1,950,000.00 $2,100,000.00
$7,500.00 $90,000 $2,200,000.00 $2,350,000.00
$8,333.33 $100,000 $2,450,000.00 $2,600,000.00

Realize that without the expenses of work clothes, maintaining a car for work, and things like professional dues and meals out, the amount needed in retirement will be less than their income while they are working.  If they pay off their home and cars, this will lower the amount needed even more.  They might therefore be able to set their retirement income target at 70% of their current take-home pay or so.  Of course, setting the target high reduces their risk in retirement.

Encourage them to save/invest if needed

If it looks like your parents aren’t ready, you’ll need to help them get into the best position they can.  Have them pull together a budget using the income you expect them to have in retirement if things don’t change.  Perhaps seeing what their life will be like if they head into retirement with $50,000 will cause them to decide to get passionate about saving.

You can then help them develop a savings plan to reach their goal.  If they are five years or less away from retirement, just subtract the amount they have from what they need, then divide by the number of years they have left until retirement to determine how much they need to put away per year.  Divide that number by 12 to determine how much they need to put away each month.

SmallIvy Book of Investing: Book1: Investing to Grow Wealthy

 If they have more than five years until retirement, Multiply their monthly savings rate by the factor from the table below to estimate how much they’ll need to save each month since they’ll be able to invest to enhance their savings.

Years to Retirement Multiply Monthly Amount by
5 0.9
10 0.81
15 0.4
20 0.27

So, for example, if you calculate that they’ll need to raise about $2,000 per month to reach their goal and they have ten years until they will retire, they will actually only need to put away $2,000 x 0.81 = $1620 per month.  This assumes that they invest the money in a diversified set of stock and bond mutual funds or a target date fund appropriate for their retirement date.

Note that they will only need to save 27% as much if they start 20 years early – their investments will make up the rest.  If they are only five years away, they’ll need to raise about 90% of the difference through hard work and saving.  There is good reason to start saving early.  It may be too late for your parents, but you still have a chance.

NEOSAN Womens Thick Ribbed Knit Winter Infinity Circle Loop Scarf Twist Khaki

Encourage them to work longer

If they don’t have enough saved up and it is clear that they will not be able to do so before their expected retirement date, encourage them to think about working longer.  Not only will this allow them to pile up more money, but it will also reduce the number of years they’ll be drawing an income from their savings, reducing the amount they will need to have.  As long as they are healthy and don’t have enough saved up to live comfortably, they should continue to work, even if it is only part-time near the end.

New to investing? Want to learn how to use investing to supercharge your road to financial freedom?  Get the book: SmallIvy Book of Investing: Book1: Investing to Grow Wealthy

Have a question?  Please leave it in a comment.  Follow me on Twitter to get news about new articles and find out what I’m investing in. @SmallIvy_SI

Disclaimer: This blog is not meant to give financial planning or tax advice.  It gives general information on investment strategy, picking stocks, and generally managing money to build wealth. It is not a solicitation to buy or sell stocks or any security. Financial planning advice should be sought from a certified financial planner, which the author is not. Tax advice should be sought from a CPA.  All investments involve risk and the reader as urged to consider risks carefully and seek the advice of experts if needed before investing.

How to Fund Everything without Filling Out Tax Forms

Posted on by
Reply

A while back, probably right after I’d finished filling out my income tax forms for 2010, I made a post about a tax idea called the Fair Tax.  The beauty of the Fair Tax is that it would eliminate all of the hassles involved in paying taxes.  Income taxes, Social Security, and other Federal taxes would be replaced by a single sales tax on goods and services when purchased (a national sales tax).  Because taxes would be figured out and charged automatically when you purchased something, you would no longer need to keep track of expenses, have tax-deferred accounts, set up medical savings accounts, 401ks, IRAs, etc… and go through other hassles.

You would simply receive your whole paycheck each month and then spend or save as you choose.  One benefit beyond the simplification of tax compliance is that saving would be rewarded while spending would be penalized.  The current system encourages spending and borrowing, through tax breaks for things like business expenses and the mortgage deduction, and penalizes earning.  This means that under the current system there is a disincentive to grow businesses or work harder because more of your income is taken the more you earn.

The Fair Tax is prevented from being regressive, or level in any case, through the use of a prebate.  In the prebate, a certain amount is refunded to each person each year at the beginning of the year.  For example, if the sales tax is 10%, and $3000 were prefunded to everyone each year, then no one earning less than $30,000 would pay any taxes that year ($30,000*10% = $3000), even if they spent their entire paycheck on taxable goods and services.

One issue with implementing the Fair Tax is the radical change to the tax system.  We have spent so many years having taxes taken from our paychecks and doing things to reduce income taxes that it would be a big shock to the system to see it changed overnight.  Imagine the shock of going to buy a new car and seeing a 20% tax added to the top of it!  Never mind that you have 20% more cash in you pockets – you still see that big tax on the car.  You were paying that big tax before, but it was taken in small increments so you did not see it all at once.  There is a way, however, to implement the tax in a way that will be a smaller shock on the system.

(Never read The Millionaire Next Door?  It is a must for anyone wanting to actually become a millionaire.)

Currently about 50% of people pay no income tax at all.  In fact, many get cash given to them by the tax system since they receive a refund through the Earned Income Tax Credit.  This means that implementing the Fair Tax to replace the tax payments of the lower 50% of earners would not require a large sales tax since the amount of revenue collected from them is mainly Social Security and Medicare, which aren’t large amounts of money.  Also, implementing the Fair Tax would enable taxes to be collected from those who currently don’t pay taxes – those who get paid under the table and/or have illegal sources of income (drug sales, prostitution, illegal labor) – since they would also be charged the sales tax when they spent the ill-gotten money.

If the Fair Tax were implemented only on people making $60,000 per year or less say, it would only be necessary to have a sales tax of about 5% or less.  This means that everyone would see a prefund each year of $2000 (5% x $40,000) and see their sales taxes increase by about 5%, assuming that it is desirable to continue to see 50% of the people pay no income taxes.

After a few years of seeing those at the low-income levels not need to file taxes and also seeing how the system worked, those in the middle and upper-middle classes would probably want to join the system.  The threshold for the Fair tax could be then be ratcheted upwards as political winds allowed.  The prefund would need to be ratcheted upwards as well since the level of the sales tax would need to increase as the income level of the Fair Tax threshold increased.  This is because in order to generate the same level of revenues the sales tax percentage would need to increase since those at the higher income levels are paying a larger portion of the taxes.  If the Fair Tax were ever to fully replace the income tax, including for those in the top 1% of earners, the rate would be about 23%.  It is thought, however, that the drop in the expenses paid by businesses for tax compliance and tax avoidance would allow them to charge less for the goods and services; therefore, the actual price of the goods might stay about the same.

If you like this idea, please tell a friend – let’s get rid of the IRS!

Follow me on Twitter to get news about new articles and find out what I’m investing in. @SmallIvy_SI

Disclaimer: This blog is not meant to give financial planning or tax advice.  It gives general information on investment strategy, picking stocks, and generally managing money to build wealth. It is not a solicitation to buy or sell stocks or any security. Financial planning advice should be sought from a certified financial planner, which the author is not. Tax advice should be sought from a CPA.  All investments involve risk and the reader as urged to consider risks carefully and seek the advice of experts if needed before investing.

How to Live Like a Millionaire

Posted on by
1

Many would love to live the millionaire lifestyle.  Spending each day at the beach, on the golf course, or in exotic resorts around the world.  Each night would be parties and galas.  Perhaps a random trip to the office to check on things and grab some cash from the safe.

Sadly, that is not the normal lifestyle of the typical millionaire.  As chronicled in The Millionaire Next Door, the flashy lifestyles seen are those of people who have a large income, but probably would be on the streets within six months of losing that income.  Most millionaires work a lot harder than most other people.  They forego a flashy lifestyle, instead saving religiously and judiciously buying things that will increase in value rather than drop.

(Never read The Millionaire Next Door?  It is a must for anyone wanting to actually become a millionaire.)

Millionaires could afford to buy new cars every few years, but they choose not to because they know they are a wasting asset.  Likewise they could buy big, flashy mansions in new subdivisions, but instead they chose to buy modest houses in older neighborhoods since they cost less to maintain and the rate of appreciation for the neighborhood can be judged from its history.  Whenever they make a big purchase, it is something that will grow in value such as fine furniture, works of art, or properties.  They minimize the amount of money they put into things that go down in value (such as cars).Millionaires also tend to own their own businesses.  It is much easier to become wealthy when doing something that allows each of your hours spent at work to be multiplied.  For example, if you work for someone, you may get paid $30 per hour.  You can earn more by working more hours, but you still only get $30 per hour.   If you work for yourself and use the time to design and market a product, you can get paid each time someone then buys the product.  If you write a novel, you get paid each time someone buys a copy of the novel.  If you own a movie theater, you get paid more if more customers attend the movies and buy popcorn.

Having people working for you also multiplies your time since for each hour you spend supervising, several other people are working to increase the money your business earns.  If you hire effective people and manage well (eventually hiring other effective managers), the more people who work for you the more money you can make for each hour of your time.  Note that even doctors and lawyers don’t make a lot of money because of their salaries.  They make a lot of money because most of them own a practice or are partners in a law firm with people working under them.   They are business owners.

      

So, if you wish to become a millionaire, here are some tips:

1) Spend less than you make, and religiously put money away into assets – things that grow in value and eventually provide an income.  Note that investing in your own business can be an asset.

2) Start your own business, or find something to do that multiplies the value of your time.  This is a tough step for many to take and requires a certain type of personality, but it definitely makes becoming rich a lot easier.

3) Cut down on expenses and payments as much as possible – it is easier to invest and save if you do not have every dollar spoken for before you earn it.

4) Live below your means.  Have a smaller house, older cars, and take less exotic vacations than your level of wealth and income will allow.

5) Make smart purchasing choices.  Bring in drinks from home rather than hitting the vending machine every day.  Bring a lunch in rather than eating out all the time.   When you do eat out, have a water and save $2.50 plus taxes per meal.

(Save money by bringing your own water bottle and skipping the vending machines. Shown: CamelBak Eddy Water Bottle, 0.75-Liter, Cardinal.)

6) Plan your success.  Don’t simply hope your investments will grow.  Make a budget, plan how much you will invest each month, then stick to that plan.  Good luck generally comes to those who have set themselves up for success.

7) Work hard.  Whether you own your own business or work for someone else, you can plan on working harder than most other people if you want to become wealthy.  Additional money earned generally is available for investments since other expenses have been taken care of.

8.) Hire people to perform tasks you are not skilled at doing.  Most millionaires would not work on their own cars, repair their own sinks, or cut their own grass unless it was a leisure activity for them.   Millionaires would rather spend the time doing what they do best or with their families than doing tasks that they can hire someone to do who will do a better, faster job.  If you will take 8 hours to fix a sink and could make $400 in those eight hours at work, it makes sense to hire a plumber at $150 and instead work the extra hours.  Even if it only takes him 1 hour because of his experience and tools, you come out ahead.

Follow me on Twitter to get news about new articles and find out what I’m investing in. @SmallIvy_SI

Disclaimer: This blog is not meant to give financial planning or tax advice.  It gives general information on investment strategy, picking stocks, and generally managing money to build wealth. It is not a solicitation to buy or sell stocks or any security. Financial planning advice should be sought from a certified financial planner, which the author is not. Tax advice should be sought from a CPA.  All investments involve risk and the reader as urged to consider risks carefully and seek the advice of experts if needed before investing.

Hedging Strategies to Protect Yourself Against a Market Drop

Posted on by
Reply

With the big run-up in stocks this year and many people expecting a pull-back or an outright bear market, perhaps you’re getting nervous and looking for ways to protect the gains you’ve made.  Hedging refers to taking positions that will reduce your loss should the market drop while still allowing for gains should the markets continue to perform well.  Today I thought I’d discuss some hedging strategies for those who are looking for a little protection.  Understand, however, that any hedging strategy you employ will reduce gains in the future.

In speaking about hedging we’ll assume that the investor is primarily long to start with, meaning that the investor will make money if the stocks he/she owns go up in price.  (When you buy a stock, bond, or mutual fund, you are “long.”  When you sell short or buy an option that goes up in price when a stock goes down, you’re “short.”)  Most people are long most of the time and this makes sense because the market’s long-term tendency is always up.  Being short for a long period of time would be like entering a turbulent river and expecting to travel mostly upstream.  Hedging a short position can also be done just by doing the compliment of the trades I describe.  For example, buying a call option instead of a put option.  (If you are not familiar with options, check out Options Trading: QuickStart Guide – The Simplified Beginner’s Guide To Options Trading or a similar book.)

One often associates hedging with risk, largely because of the term, “hedge fund” applied to the high risk/high return funds purchased by wealthy individuals.  These funds get their names because they can take long or short positions, but often these funds are not hedging.  Instead they are using large amounts of leverage to make large gains from relatively small movements in the markets.  This causes a substantial risk of losing money.  True hedging actually reduces risk.

To hedge is to take up positions that are designed to offset long positions, such that the investor will be less susceptible to losses due to falls in the market.  For those who play roulette, you would be hedging a bet of $100 on red by putting $50 on black as well.  You would be reducing the amount you would win if red were rolled since you would lose the bet on black, but you would also be reducing your loss should black be rolled since your small win on the black bet would reduce the loss on the red bet.   If an investor is perfectly hedged, he/she will not lose money no matter what the market does.  But by taking up these positions, one also limits or eliminates the possibility for making gains while the hedges are in effect.  The following are ways to hedge a long position:

Selling shares of the same stock short-  This is also called “selling short-against-the-box” and forms a perfect hedge provided that equal numbers of the shares are sold short as are held.  No matter the movements in the stock, no money will be gained or lost.  (Note that if the stock price goes up an investor would need to add cash to the account or pay margin fees, since this would result in  negative cash balances in the account).  Selling short-against-the-box has little purpose other than delaying gains from one year into the next for taxes.

Selling shares of other complimentary companies short-  In this strategy, the investor sells short shares of a company that he/she expects to decline if shares of the company he/she owns fall in price.  For example, if he owns McDonald’s, he might sell shares of Wendy’s short, figuring that is the market turns against fast food companies shares of both companies will fall.

Buying put options- A put option is a legal contract by which someone agrees to buy shares of a stock for a predefined price before a certain date.  This can be though of as an insurance contract on the shares of the stock.  In exchange for this agreement the owner of the shares gives the seller (called the writer) of the put a certain amount of money, called the “premium”.  For example, a put option for selling 100 shares of XYZ stock at 50, good for three months, might cost $300 when the price of XYZ was at $51 per share.

Writing covered calls on the stock–  Here a contract is written that allows another individual to purchase your shares for a fixed price.  This limits the amount the investor can make on the shares (since if they go up above the agreed to sales price they will be purchased for the sales price) but reduces losses somewhat if the shares decline in price due to the premium collected.

Buying short ETFs– This involves buying short exchange traded funds (ETF).  These are financial instruments that are designed to go in the opposite direction of a particular market segment or index.  For example, an owner of several mining companies might buy a short basic materials ETF as a hedge against a fall in commodities prices or a slowdown in goods production.

Selling a portion of the position The simplest way to guard against losses in a position is to simply sell some or all off the position, and is probably the best thing to do if you really need the money in the short-term since it is the most cost-effective way to be safe.  This, of course, reduces the possibility of future gains, however.

If you’re interested in individual stock buying and this strategy, I go into far more detail in my book, SmallIvy Book of Investing: Book1: Investing to Grow Wealthy.  Check it out at the link below if interested.

‘

Have a question?  Please leave it in a comment.  Follow me on Twitter to get news about new articles and find out what I’m investing in. @SmallIvy_SI

Disclaimer: This blog is not meant to give financial planning or tax advice.  It gives general information on investment strategy, picking stocks, and generally managing money to build wealth. It is not a solicitation to buy or sell stocks or any security. Financial planning advice should be sought from a certified financial planner, which the author is not. Tax advice should be sought from a CPA.  All investments involve risk and the reader as urged to consider risks carefully and seek the advice of experts if needed before investing.

Are Rewards Cards Really that Rewarding?

Posted on by
Reply

I have a huge amount of respect for Dave Ramsey.  I discovered him soon after I moved to Tennessee in 1998.  At that time we had just bought a new Jeep Cherokee and were making car payments.  I also had a couple of credit cards that I was paying off every month, which seemed to be working for me, until it wasn’t.

After I started listening to Dave Ramsey, we started paying off the car faster, paying it off in about three and a half years instead of the original six we were signed up for.   We then refinanced the mortgage from a  30-year to a 15-year, taking advantage of the lower interest rates, then paid if off in about 12 years, saving probably a hundred thousand dollars in interest. Thanks to Dave, we were on great financial footing by the time we reached our mid-thirties, despite starting off “normal,” as Dave would say, which meant that we were in debt with a car payment, spending money as fast as it came in.  (At least we never had credit card debt since we were paying the cards off each month.)

Pick up a copy of Dave’s book if you’re perpetually in debt beyond your mortgage and get started on your debt snowball – it can change your life:

I still held onto the credit cards since they did not seem to be hurting anything and we were getting a little cash back.  One day, however, I opened up a bill and discovered that I had been charged a bunch of interest, basically wiping out the cash back I was getting.  What had happened was that I had written a check for the full amount, something like $1759.65, but had mis-written the line where you write out the amount of the check.  The  box said $1759.65, but the line said “One-thousand fifty-nine and 65/100s.”  I had left out the seven hundred.

I’m sure that the people who received the check noticed the mistake, but didn’t call and tell me, letting me think that I had paid off the balance in full.  The credit card company (Bank of America) decided instead to cash the check for the lesser amount, then charge me for interest for the first month and the next month since I had not paid the amount in full.   Because I had particularly a large balance the next month, the interest came out to several hundred dollars!   At best I was getting a hundred dollars or so a year in rewards.  Needless to say, I was fairly upset.  When the company refused to refund the interest, I cancelled the card, sending in a check large enough to make sure I paid off the balance so that I wouldn’t continue to be hit with interest.

At that point I swore off credit cards, instead using only cash and a debit card for about eight years as Dave Ramsey advised.   Rewards cards were nice for the free stuff, but they’re ready to zing you if you make one mistake.  There is also the danger of purposely letting yourself carry a balance during an emergency event in your life.  Once you fall into that hole, while you think you’ll just pay everything off and be done with debt, things usually just keep happening to make you fall back in.  It is difficult to climb your way out.

   

A couple of years ago I did get a credit card again, but this time it is on automatic payment from my brokerage account such that they automatically pay it off in full each month.  So far this has mainly worked out, although I am still somewhat leery.  The only thing I don’t like about it is that they wait until the last-minute to pay off the card, allowing the balance to build up as I add charges for the next month, such that the balance can grow with time and even start to threaten to bump the credit limit if I’ve had some big charges.  I go in every so often and make a special payment to send it back to $0 to keep this from happening.

A few days ago, a gentleman from US News and World Report contacted me, saying that they had done a survey and written a piece on rewards cards, including how to select the best ones and how to manage these cards and was wondering if I wanted to include a link to it in my blog.  At first I was a bit leery to reference the report since I certainly don’t want to promote everyone rushing out and loading up on rewards cards since they really can bite you, but I was impressed once I read the piece in that they constantly made the reminder that you really need to pay the balance each month if you want to be “rewarded.”  If you carry a balance, the value of any rewards will quickly be swallowed up by interest payments.  It also does give some good information on how to select the right rewards card for you if you are so inclined.

The U.S. News & World Report’s 2017 rewards credit card survey and guide can be viewed here:

So if you do decide to get a rewards credit card, here are some things that I would suggest to help protect yourself from ending up in a bad place a few years later:

  1.  Make sure you have an emergency fund, meaning 3-6 month’s worth of expenses, saved away in cash to handle the little emergencies that come up.  Having a credit card for an emergency is a bad plan since that is how people often start to get into serious debt.  Instead, have the cash you need to cover things that come up before the next payday.
  2. Have as fool-proof a way as possible to make sure the bill is paid on time each month. Credit card companies purposely make you wait until after a certain day in the month before you can pay the minimum payment to increase the chances that you’ll pay late.  Watch out for their games that are designed to get you paying interest and penalties.  Find as good a method as you can to make sure that bill gets paid on-time (or early) each month.  Some people send in a check or do a transfer as soon as they make a purchase.  Using automated payment seems to be working for me.  
  3. Don’t ever let the teaser rates cause you to decide to carry a balance.  If you are late with a payment for any reason, and sometimes if you are late in paying another card or even your mortgage payment, they can jack your rates up to 30% or more.  Really, they can jack you rate up if Wednesday falls in the middle of the week or if it is hot in the summer.  They have all of the power in that credit card agreement you probably didn’t scan before you signed up.  You can quickly go from being able to easily handle the payments to just scraping by if the interest rates are raised.  There is no reason to carry a balance on a credit card, ever.
  4. Still use cash to help control your spending.   For most people, spending with credit is painless, where paying with cash hurts.  Think about going to Wal-Mart and shelling out ten crisp $20 bills to pay for a cart full of stuff, versus handing over a card and signing a slip.  One really makes you think about the money you’re spending, the other barely registers.  This means that people spend more with plastic than they will with cash, even when using a debit card.  That is why the fast food chains are now taking credit cards even though they pay a fee when they do.  The amount extra that people spend when using plastic more than makes up for the fees.  While your impulse may be to put everything on the card to maximize your rewards, it is still a good idea to use cash for things like dinners out where you may be tempted to blow your budget if you don’t feel a little pain when the bill comes.

Follow me on Twitter to get news about new articles and find out what I’m investing in. @SmallIvy_SI

Disclaimer: This blog is not meant to give financial planning or tax advice.  It gives general information on investment strategy, picking stocks, and generally managing money to build wealth. It is not a solicitation to buy or sell stocks or any security. Financial planning advice should be sought from a certified financial planner, which the author is not. Tax advice should be sought from a CPA.  All investments involve risk and the reader as urged to consider risks carefully and seek the advice of experts if needed before investing.

How to Save for Retirement with Coffee

Posted on by
Reply


Coffee drinks are all the rage ever since Starbucks expanded to every corner and convinced everyone that they should pay $6.00 for a cup of coffee on the way into work.  Being a graduate of UC Berkeley, which I consider to be the center of the coffee-house universe, I can’t stand Starbucks.  You see, a coffee-house is supposed to be an experience.  You go and order coffee drinks made with machinery that you could not afford to possess, get served in fancy glasses and cups, and then sit for an hour or two, sipping your beverage and pondering life.  You can also get together with friends and relax on a nice couch and play a board game or two over a latte and scones.    When Starbucks came along, they doubled the price you would normally pay for coffee, plus everything was suddenly served in paper cups instead of a real glass or mug.  Now the experience is like going and paying for a movie, only to be handed a DVD to take home and watch.  Totally missing the point!  (Starbucks likes to think of themselves as environmental, but now thanks to their influence instead of people reusing glasses and mugs each time they get a cup, everyone is getting a paper cup, a cardboard wrapper so they don’t burn their hands, and a plastic lid.  Not very green!)

Still, everyone around me seems to be stopping off at Starbucks on their way into work.  I’ve also started to see people with bottles of Starbucks iced coffee in the refrigerator or at their desk.  At least in this case Starbucks put the drinks in a nice bottle.  I’m surprised they don’t come in a plastic soda bottle, given how much Starbucks degraded the coffee shop experience.

  

Get Office Products from Amazon

That got me thinking.  Here is a great way that people could save a lot of money, perhaps so that they could start to contribute to a retirement account, with very little if any sacrifice on their part.  Let’s say you drink 2-3 of those Starbucks iced coffees per day.  The Starbucks website lists their suggested retail price at $4.99 to $5.99 for a pack of four.  That’s about  $3-$4.50 per day if you drink 2-3 of them.  If you do this each work week, that’s $720-$1,080 in coffee per year.  Invested in growth stocks, getting 12% per year from age 22 to age 70, that’s between $1.5 M and $2.3 M for retirement.  (You can check my numbers in the investment calculator here, and play around with your own numbers of you like.  Note the most amazing thing about that calculation is that you only contribute something like $32,000 yourself – it is investing and compounding that takes care of the rest!)

But wait – what about your coffee fix?  Well, those bottles are totally washable and reusable.  Start off by buying a couple of 4-packs, then save and wash out the bottles.  You could even use the dishwasher if you’re lazy.  Then, get some good coffee (check out some of the selections below if you wish).  You can get something like 50 cups of coffee from each pound of coffee, so with a quality coffee selling for about $10 per pound, you can make about 50 iced coffee bottles for about 20 cents each from a pound of coffee beans.

 

The recipe would be something like:

  • While still hot, dissolve 1/2 cup sugar in 4 cups of coffee.  If desired, add a flavoring.
  • Once cool, in a pitcher, add 1 cup milk, or half milk and half cream, and mix.
  • Divide between 4 cleaned bottles, using a funnel.  Add milk to fill bottles as desired.
  • Cap and store in the refrigerator until ready to take to work or drink at home.

Note you could make 8 cups of coffee and make eight bottles by doubling the recipe, or even make more at the start of the week if desired to save time later in the week.  The cost for everything will be something like $0.30-$0.40, depending on whether you use only milk or milk and cream, how strong you make the coffee, and how much sugar you add.  You could also make it lower calorie by using skim milk and less sugar.

      

So there you have it.  You can save for retirement, still have your coffee, and even reduce the amount of waste you generate by reusing bottles over-and-over.  You can have better coffee, be able to reduce the calories you’re consuming if desired, or even make it especially decadent by using more cream and extra sugar and flavorings if desired for a special treat now and then.  It’s really a win-win for everyone except perhaps Starbucks.  If you feel bad for them, you could use Starbucks coffee beans.

Follow me on Twitter to get news about new articles and find out what I’m investing in. @SmallIvy_SI

Disclaimer: This blog is not meant to give financial planning or tax advice.  It gives general information on investment strategy, picking stocks, and generally managing money to build wealth. It is not a solicitation to buy or sell stocks or any security. Financial planning advice should be sought from a certified financial planner, which the author is not. Tax advice should be sought from a CPA.  All investments involve risk and the reader as urged to consider risks carefully and seek the advice of experts if needed before investing.

3 critical habits of leaders people want to follow

Posted on by
Reply

This is a great article from Business Insider everyone will want to read.  The best part is talking about how to provide positive feedback.  People want to be able to make a contribution and to get recognized when they do so.  Think of ways to say, “Thank you!” to coworkers and those who help you at work (and at volunteer activities).   Read the full article here.

 

Shop New Computers at Amazon


GoPro Cameras for sale at Amazon.

401K Changes that Would Work

Posted on by
Reply

IMG_0120401k plans are better than traditional pensions and way better than Social Security, if they are used correctly.  The issue is that they are not used correctly.  People are too timid and leave all of their money in the money market or treasury fund their entire careers, missing out of the growth they could have had if they had invested.  They don’t enter the plan until they are in their forties or fifties, or contribute far too little.  They are too aggressive when they are nearing retirement, usually because they are trying to make up time, and see a market crash wipe out half of their portfolio value right when they were ready to head out-the-door.  They borrow against their 401k plan, or take the money out entirely, and lose the effects of compounding.

These issues could be easily solved.  The reason they occur is the rules behind 401k plans that allow or even encourage behaviors that are destructive to the employees retirement.  People have no choice in the amount they contribute to Social Security or pension plans.  The employer or the government dictates how much of the employee’s pay is contributed and how much they provide.  And at least with Social Security, you have no choice but to participate.  You are enrolled whether you like it or not.  Employees can choose not to enter the pension plan at some companies, but most realize that they should and they do enroll.  Likewise, you can’t borrow against your pension plan or Social Security or take it out early.  In the case of pension plans, they are invested in a mix of stocks and income investments in a manner that is appropriate for the goals of the plan and the payouts that must be made.

The sad part is, if people were to put all of the money they are putting into Social Security (about 13% of their paycheck) into a 401k plan and invested it properly, everyone who worked their whole life would be set for retirement.  There would be no issue paying for living expenses and medical bills.  The senior discount would vanish since most seniors would be multi-millionaires.  Unfortunately, people don’t think about their futures and plan.  They either see the big pile of cash they’ll need to build up to have  comfortable retirement as being either too difficult to achieve or retirement too far out in the future, so they sabotage themselves.  Much as I hate to see central government planing and control, some regulation is needed to nudge people in the right direction.  Unlike Social Security, where the government has proven that they’ll just squander any money given to them, however, government involvement should only extend to preventing people from drawing the money out to soon, not enrolling at all or not contributing enough,  or investing the money in a way that is too timid early or too aggressive late.  Here are some regulations that would make 401k plans the path to comfortable retirement for all:

1.  Required enrollment.

Employees should be required to contribute at least 5% of their pay to a 401k plan to ensure they’re putting enough away for at least a basic retirement.  While I hate to force people to do anything, it is for the good of society to not have a group of destitute retirees.  As an incentive to contribute more, the rules could eliminate the need to make a Social Security contribution if at least 10% of an employee’s paycheck is being contributed to a 401k, between the employee’s contribution and the employer’s.

2.  Forbid withdrawals until age 62, then limit withdrawals until age 70.

There is no good reason for people to be pulling their retirement savings out early, and again, doing so subjects society to the burden of carrying a lot of destitute old people.  No withdrawals should be allowed until the employee has reached at least the age of 62 (which also encourages people to work longer and reduce the number of years they’ll need to be supporting themselves with their savings).  To prevent people from pulling all of the money out at age 62 and blowing it, they should only be able to pull out a portion, like 5%, each year until they are age 70.  Hopefully by that point they will have learned that it is a good thing to take the money out slowly since then the account has the ability to recover and generate more money and they’ll continue that behavior from then into old age.

3.  Eliminate borrowing of funds.

Just as funds should not be withdrawn, they should not be borrowed.  If people want to pay down credit cards, start a business, or upgrade their home, they should find the money elsewhere than their retirement savings.  People shouldn’t live beyond their means at the expense of their retirement funds.

4.  Remove the money market option for those under age 58.

There is zero reason for anyone to have a dime in a money market fund within a 401k account until they are getting close to using the money.  Removing this option would force employees to invest the money, which would allow the money to grow and prevent inflation from reducing their spending power in retirement.

5.  Require a professional money management option.

Most people know little about investing.  An option where a professional money manager just invests the money for employees should be included.  This would be similar to a traditional pension plan, except the money manager could invest for groups of employees separated into different age brackets instead of investing everything as one big account.  Because there would just be a few, large accounts (maybe three), instead of a lot of little accounts to manage, and because the manager would be investing in mutual funds instead of individual stocks, the cost would not be very much.

6.  Limit the contribution of company stock by employers.

Some employers like to issue company stock as their contribution instead of giving cash because cash is more precious.  This puts an employee in a risky position since he/she then has a big position in one company – their employer’s.  They could both lose a job and see their 401k decimated should the company misread market conditions.   A reasonable limit, such as 1% of salary, should be placed on the amount of company stock that can be issued by a company for a 401k contribution.  Alternatively, require a company match at least 5% of salary with cash before issuing stock so that the employee at least has 10% of his/her salary going into the 401k in a diversified manner before concentrating in company stock.  Employees should also be able to sell shares that a company distributes to them immediately and shift the money into mutual funds where it will be appropriately diversified.

7.  Require low-cost index fund options in each plan.

Research has shown that low-cost, passive funds will beat out high cost, actively managed funds over time.  Unfortunately, some employers only have high cost funds available.  Every 401k plan should at least have the choice of a large cap, small cap, international, and bond index fund in their investment mix.

8.  Auto-enroll employees in a target date retirement fund.

Even when they do enroll (usually through automated enrollment), many employees tend to wait to get into their 401k plans and make their investment choices, sometimes for years.  Currently, many 401k plans auto-enroll employees in a money market fund, meaning they are losing money to inflation until they shift the money somewhere better.  Instead, they should be auti enrolled in a target date retirement fund so that at least they’ll have a reasonably good investment plan until they get the time and motivation to take a little more active role.

To ask a question, email  vtsioriginal@yahoo.com or leave the question in a comment.

Disclaimer: This blog is not meant to give financial planning advice, it gives information on a specific investment strategy and picking stocks. It is not a solicitation to buy or sell stocks or any security. Financial planning advice should be sought from a certified financial planner, which the author is not. All investments involve risk and the reader as urged to consider risks carefully and seek the advice of experts if needed before investing

Is a Roth 401k Better than a Traditional 401k?

Posted on by
5

IMG_0120We’ve all heard the conventional wisdom.  If you have an old, stodgy traditional IRA you should convert to a snazzy new Roth IRA.  There is now even a new Roth 401k.  Sure, you’ll need to pay all of the taxes since the money was initially invested tax-deferred and the conversion requires that the taxes be paid immediately.  For an account of $100,000 this could mean a tax bill of $20,000 or more.  But it will be worth it in the long-term, right?

Well, maybe.  It is true in general that if you are investing for a long time before retirement, the mathematics show that a Roth IRA , where after-tax funds grow tax-free, will do better than investing in a traditional IRA where funds are not taxed until withdrawn from the account at retirement.  This is true even if you invest the tax savings (the money that would have gone to taxes) in a taxable investment account rather than spend it.  This is because the large amount of growth in the IRA will not be taxed, so when you are withdrawing your millions later, because you paid the taxes on the thousands you put into it now, you will end up with more money.

But those making the above calculations leave out some important factors.  First of all, they assume that you are investing for a long time period, such that the money you put into the Roth IRA will have years to grow, compounding ad nosiuem such that the amount gained from interest and capital gains will far exceed the funds deposited.  If you are putting funds into an IRA for a shorter period of time — 10 years before retirement, for example — it may be better to put the funds into a traditional IRA.  This is because the money has little time to grow (15 years or so), and if your withdrawals are small enough, you may be in a higher tax bracket when you are making the money than when you are withdrawing it.  It may therefore make sense to make tax-free Roth IRA contributions early in one’s career when in a lower tax bracket and with many years before retirement, and then make increased tax-deferred contributions into a 401K or Traditional IRA when near retirement.

The second big factor that is left out of the calculation is politics and all of the things that can happen in thirty or forty years.  Because the rules can be changed at any time at the whim of the legislature, your calculations may be meaningless.  This is particularly true with the current demographics.  We have a large percentage of the population who have saved nothing for retirement, and a few people who have saved a great deal through IRAs and Roth IRAs.  This has led to a situation where some individuals have millions of dollars, and others have almost nothing (or negative balances, in some case).

Given that the nothing-savers far outnumber the big savers, it could be very popular to establish some sort of wealth tax (as the inheritance tax is already) or change the rules on the Roth IRA withdrawals, charging a “distribution fee” or some other form of tax.  After all, “how is it fair that some people have lots of money, and others have none”, the thinking will go.  Even if the rules are not changed, the taxes on dividends and interest as funds from the Roth IRA are pulled out and put into fixed-income securities could rise to high levels as governments try to balance their books.

Another possibility is that the income tax could be abolished or radically changed.  For example, the Fair Tax idea has been around for years.  In this scheme, income taxes would be eliminated entirely and replaced with a national sales tax.  To make things “fair” each individual would receive a prefund (beginning of the year refund) such that those who make little would pay essentially nothing in taxes, while the larger spenders would pay more.  If such a tax scheme were enacted, the Roth IRA tax-free growth would evaporate.  There has also been talk about eliminating the income tax and replacing it with a Value Added Tax (VAT), which is similar to a sales tax.  Here again, the Roth tax-free growth would be eliminated.

The bottom line is to not get too enamored with mathematical calculations when it comes to finances.  One must always remember that the rules can change and the risk of rules changes affecting results, particularly when large time periods are involved, must be taken into consideration.  As the old saying goes, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, and perhaps sometimes it is better to save the taxes now than save the taxes later.  So go ahead and save up for retirement, putting away at least 10-15%, but think about spreading it out between tax-deferred and tax-free growth, just to play both sides of the table.  Also, think long and hard before converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, particularly if it is a large account.  In particular, if you do not have the funds available to pay the taxes without touching the balances of the IRA, it may not be worth it.

To ask a question, email  vtsioriginal@yahoo.com or leave the question in a comment.

Disclaimer: This blog is not meant to give financial planning advice, it gives information on a specific investment strategy and picking stocks. It is not a solicitation to buy or sell stocks or any security. Financial planning advice should be sought from a certified financial planner, which the author is not. All investments involve risk and the reader as urged to consider risks carefully and seek the advice of experts if needed before investing