Money Advice

[samhexum]

On 10/31/2021 at 11:33 AM, WilliamM said:

And a job you really enjoy. Money isn't everything if you dislike the work

Said by nobody ever who didn't have a lot of money.

Sometimes the simplest investing practices are not the best:

Giannis Antetokounmpo opened bank accounts with 50 different banks — each one of them holding $250,000, his boss, team owner Marc Lasry, told Bloomberg News.

The $250,000 sum is the maximum amount of cash that a depositor can hold in an account that would be covered by the Federal Despot Insurance Corp, or the FDIC.

FDIC protects depositors of insured banks against the loss of their deposits if that bank fails.

Lasry, the billionaire hedge fund manager and founder of private equity firm Avenue Capital Group, told Bloomberg that he gave Greek Freak and other Bucks players valuable investment advice.

“I spend a lot of time with them explaining where they should invest,” Lasry told a conference in New York.

“I’m like, ‘Giannis, you can’t be having accounts at 50 different banks. Let me tell you something, if JPMorgan goes under, your little dinky banks are going to go under too. Let me explain what you should buy, you should buy U.S. Treasuries, you should buy this’.”

Since entering the NBA in 2013, Antetokounmpo has earned a total of $146,344,870 — and that’s just from playing basketball.

His off-court endorsements are at least in the eight figures.

Lasry, whose son, Alex, is a Democratic Party candidate for the US Senate seat from Wisconsin currently held by Republican Ron Johnson, became a co-owner of the Bucks after buying his stake in the team for $550 million. His private equity firm, which specializes in distressed securities, manages $12 billion in assets.

[+ Charlie]

On 10/30/2021 at 8:04 AM, WilliamM said:

People were not asked that question during the draft  in the 1960s and 1970s.  My dad served in the Second World War - even though he was no longer alive I respected his military service and very glad I did

And fifty plus years later, I still see some of the friends I met in the Army. 

Sorry, William, but that is untrue: men were asked that question when they were summoned by the draft board for their physicals. They weren't asked, "Are you gay?" because that term wasn't in common use in the 1960s. They were asked, "Have you had sex with another man?" I was advised by a friend in the ACLU to answer it honestly, because if the military decided to have one of their witch-hunts for "subversives," they could easily discover evidence of my history of activity in the gay rights movement, and I could receive a "Dishonorable" discharge for lying about it. So I checked the 'yes' box, and I was called into a private office for an interview. The interviewer asked if I had meant my answer, and I confirmed it. He asked, "When was the last time this happened?" I said honestly, "Last night." Interview ended, and I was not drafted.

[gallahadesquire]

Just reporting an interesting conversation with my financial advisor:

 Unless you can Roth an IRA, funding it with post-tax dollars, or Deduct your contribution, there’s no point to having an IRA. You lose when you contribute to if, and you pay regular income tax on it when you take a withdrawal. Absent the perks mentioned, it’s better just to make regular investments; hold them until they are long-term gain; and then pay capital gains tax at a lower rate than regular income tax. 

[+ FrankR]

8 minutes ago, gallahadesquire said:

Just reporting an interesting conversation with my financial advisor:

 Unless you can Roth an IRA, funding it with post-tax dollars, or Deduct your contribution, there’s no point to having an IRA. You lose when you contribute to if, and you pay regular income tax on it when you take a withdrawal. Absent the perks mentioned, it’s better just to make regular investments; hold them until they are long-term gain; and then pay capital gains tax at a lower rate than regular income tax. 

I appreciate his position - but there are other benefits beyond taxation to consider.  Many of my friends ask for my opinion and I assist them with their investments (it is not my career - i am not an advisor but I do know a bit about it.) They are all in “high risk” careers where bankruptsy can occur (auditor, lawyer or doctor that gets sued for malpractice, business owner that goes bankrupt after a deal goes bad) and I encourage them to stash money in an IRA since the IRA has federal bankruptsy protection up to $1.3mil (when last I checked). 🤓

[+ WilliamM]

On 4/9/2022 at 12:31 PM, Charlie said:

Sorry, William, but that is untrue: men were asked that question when they were summoned by the draft board for their physicals. They weren't asked, "Are you gay?" because that term wasn't in common use in the 1960s. They were asked, "Have you had sex with another man?" I was advised by a friend in the ACLU to answer it honestly, because if the military decided to have one of their witch-hunts for "subversives," they could easily discover evidence of my history of activity in the gay rights movement, and I could receive a "Dishonorable" discharge for lying about it. So I checked the 'yes' box, and I was called into a private office for an interview. The interviewer asked if I had meant my answer, and I confirmed it. He asked, "When was the last time this happened?" I said honestly, "Last night." Interview ended, and I was not drafted.

I was not asked that question, perhaps because I was drafted in the more enlighten Commonwealth of Massachusetts, rather than Pennsylvania or New York.

 

[Rod Hagen]

On 4/11/2022 at 8:03 AM, WilliamM said:

I was not asked that question, perhaps because I was drafted in the more enlighten Commonwealth of Massachusetts, rather than Pennsylvania or New York.

 

If they had asked, and you wanted to be coy, you could have pulled a Harold Ramis:

 

[mamarika]

If you can't find a job with a pension, at least try to find a job which will match your 401(k) or other retirement account contributions.

[arnemgreeves]

On 5/12/2021 at 2:45 AM, dentjusay said:

Hey y'all I just want to ask if there are any suggestions you have for how to wisely use/invest/save money. I'm applying to med school this year and looking at some future medical school debt, but hoping to learn things I could potentially do even now or in the future too. Any books you found useful or tips from your own experiences would be mighty helpful!

 

Some things I've started so far have been opening a high-interest savings account, light investing with Robinhood, and just tracking income/expenses with a monthly budget excel sheet I made.

This works for me, but everybody is different:

 

- Have a budget every month or quarter. Itemise who one needs to get and then things that are nice to have. For every month or year, i have a basic plan of what I want to spend or can spend on. 

- Have a savings goal. I try to save roughy 10-20% of my income - some of this is for pensions, normal savings, home maintenance, etc.

- Save in government bonds or guilts. I try to put away a little in long-term bonds that can grow money over time. 

 

I'm no whizz nor a financial expert, though this basic plan works well enough for me. 

[arnemgreeves]

I'm not an investment expert, but I'd argue most initial investments should be low risk and/or high yield. Volatile investments should be done when one has more money to lose. 

I'm thinking of moving into foreign gilts, for countries that are economically strong and advanced/developed.  I have some UK-based gitls and a couple of American ones, but I just want a steadily growing base right now.