Top Golf

Winner!!! They're packed with people!

I've been listening to Dave Ramseys' podcast lately and I've been trying to look into mutual funds but I'm having a hard time looking some up. Any suggestions on research tools? I'm having a heck of a time trying to screen them through Schwab & Fidelity.

Call Schwab. Best customer service i've ever gotten. Thier brokers have been top notch and I would be surprised if they couldnt help.

Always packed, you will spend as much on food and drinks as the bay fee, nothing else like it, and every big city in the US will need one (or more).
I would love to see this go public.

Just have to brag for a moment about investing in LECO last january. I only wish I wouldve put more in.

Thanks to Mr Weld for the advice on investing in dividend stocks or I wouldve never thought about it.

Id take a look at ELY (callaway) they seem to be the only golf manufacture making money and they have a significant investment in Top Golf.

Bitcoin
 

Just saw CNBC discussing Bitcoin..... and if you remember -- I was dead set against people getting into this kind of "investment" back when it was "the hot thing". I'll stick with that....


It's gone up crazy this last year -- wonderful.... I'm very happy for those people with the LUCK to have gotten in to it a year ago. Good for them...


But let's step back and ask ourselves how many of you would have gotten in to it when it was a $1,000 and rode it to $300?? I remember the big news about some "X" tech twin brothers sinking 10 million or something like that -- near the top --- wonder if they held and watched their 10 million turn in to 3....


It's GAMBLING -- sometimes you get lucky -- sometimes the house takes all your money. I'll stick with dividends (even though I - and some of you - have the money to gamble on stuff like this - I still won't do it - it's too depressing when it goes south).

I've mentioned "FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE" in this thread about half a million times.... Today -- we see what that looks like.

McDonalds lost my vote a few years back -- which I also posted about ad infinitum.... the food was bad - the restaurants were dirty - the bathrooms were dirty.....

In comes fundamental change --- in 2015 they fire the CEO and move Steve Easterbrook to that position.... since then -- the stock has been on a tear. Up about 62% in two years...

I still do not own it - I missed the change and failed to believe one man could have such a dramatic effect. I guess that's my reason for the post. Part of STOCK PICKING is to be ahead of the curve - see the changes for what they can and could be -- some times they (stocks) continue to go down. Sometimes they turn the corner. Two I've missed --- McDonalds and Microsoft.

Now I wonder if the change at General Electric (GE) will make a difference? The stock was stellar under Jack Welch -- then fell under Jeff Immelt -- now he's going to retire and a new guy gets a chance. Will be interesting to watch. I won't be a buyer this time either -- because their dividend isn't high enough for me to take the risk... but let's watch it and see what happens.

I also lost faith in MCD about the same time and have missed the runup after as well. You can't win them all I guess...

I've lost so much money on GE in the past I don't think I'd EVER be able to buy it once again...no matter who they put in charge or change. Its personal... :bigun2:

I do that as well Lance ---- I don't think I've owned GE since Jack Welch retired - I made money with him. Now -- I think GE is too "all over the map" business wise. They need to sell off some assets and be good at a couple things vs all the different businesses they're in.

I had started thinking about dropping MCD but was in no hurry. They turned around right before I was going to sell so I figured I'd see where it went. I'm wishing I had more faith when they were down to put more money in them then.

Also on the discussion of timing, I missed AT&T's bounce. It's about time for me to make another purchase in general. I was taking my time again while deciding if I wanted to put this round into an existing holding or add V or SQ or both now. I should have just adding to T since it was down and called it a day. Oh well.

I was thinking about bringing up T... Nice day today...

I was pondering if it was time to sell it a week or so ago, sure glad my buy and hold strategy kept me from doing so.

Now, if only the oil stocks would do the same... :D

... and I missed VZ's bounce, too. :bang:

Choose good names and get in there or you won't make anything.

Glad I bought a bunch of Caterpillar a while back.

How's everyone doing lately?

Markets like this are TOUGH -- the right stocks win and what was a winner is struggling -- and stuff you thought would never go down falls like a rock.

Two things -- if you've been in a name for awhile -- you should have nice gains and a rising dividend percentage as companies raise their dividend payout....

And when the market is a mess - like it seems to be - this is when dividend investing begins to look better and better.

I've been "trading" Amazon a few times here --- when it drops $10 and goes up $15.... but even that begins to be real risky. Just when you think you got it down - that can bit you. A name like that though - when it doesn't work - I just hold as an "investment". LOL

Oil is still my personal lunch eater.... and I continue to average a couple big losers DOWN. I'm now holding 27,500 shares of ETP.... and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the dividend is intact. If not -- I will lose big time.

Switched out KMI (at a sizable loss) --- waited awhile --- and replaced it with KMI-A (preferred shares paying an 11.7% yield

Honestly, not great, but I'm not worried. I'm in solid companies and so far none are facing dividend payment challenges. Well, that depends on if you think Verizon is going to have issues. I've read both sides of the argument and am not convinced they have cash flow issues. Like Greg, oil is not being nice to me, but I'm in this for the long haul in general so I'll continue to ride it out patiently.

One thing I will mention is I was planning on selling Whole Foods, cutting my loses, and dumping the money into Visa. Then, the Amazon buy out was announced. Ultimately, I made very little money because my cost basis was high. All of the money I made was due to the dividend though. Glad they paid a dividend even though it was a small one.

A side affect I don't agree with but took advantage of is Costco took a big hit because of the Amazon buyout of Whole Foods. Fine by me. I got Costco at a discount as far as I'm concerned. Now if only I had remembered Altria was also on sale before I spent all my money....

Doing fair to partly.

only have 6, two are flat, two are losers thus far (Chevron being one, but i'm long and they haven't cut their divi "yet") And two are up (bought McD's, my wifey want'ed it, "because i love that place and i used to work there". So i bought 2500 worth (not shares though i wish) two years ago, so i've got that going for me lol....

Couple of my 401k's are up finally

and maximizing my corporate pension (tax differed)

Any body got any suggestions or input on decent REIT's?

Here in the Bay Area rentals are bank, was thinking of pulling 1/2 my money out and buying two fourplexes (I know real estate fairly well as i deal with housing and dont mind the whiny tenants, although i use the Dave Ramsey models, interview more than once, try to get a "character analysis.) Can REIT's be geographical, if so, how do i find? Google it like i do everything else ?lol

Warren Buffet
 

Words to live by --- from Warren Buffet:



Nonetheless, he (Warren Buffet) said long-term investing remains the way to go.

He noted that since Forbes created its first list of the 400 richest Americans in 1982—Buffett was worth just $250 million then—some 1,500 different people have been included.

All with one thing in common.

"You don't see any short sellers," he said, referring to people who bet stock prices will fall.

An interesting REAL LIFE story on a couple that retired early and their advice....



https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/20/earl...aboolainternal




I haven't posted here for quite awhile..... 500 pages pretty much has covered it all. Hope all are doing well and their investments have grown and their dividends are piling up!

Giddy up!!

Overall, I'm doing fine. Today though, I'm getting kicked hard for owning AT&T.

You and me both Trey... In fact been getting kicked hard for owning just about everything but thankfully I've had lots of other things on my mind to keep me from thinking about it.

Haven't made a holdings change in I'm not sure how long, just reinvesting divvys and going on with life for the summer.

Funny --- not funny as in laughing -- but I have always had a bit of the Peter Lynch investing theory --- I owned 10,000 of Verizon and AT&T -- and sold the AT&T because their coverage got lousy -- and I switched all of our phones (6 of them) to Verizon...

Far superior coverage where I live and travel.... and so far - so good. VZ is up and T has sucked.

Lucky me!

I've always thought Verizon had the better coverage. I liked both as investments and still do so I'll continue to hold them both. It's just going to take a little before T gets pretty again. I'm not worried at this point.

forgot about that main point with Lynch regarding att vs verizon. i hate att and sprint, verizon is the only one that works for me for work. funny, i dont own it yet but its on the list.

Chipotle cant seem to make a come back either yet i love their product...

Also too, many a question for Greg, regarding the video, is 3-4% a usual number for draw on liveable wages base on your gross worth?

I have zero idea for an answer for that question..... What I try to do is EARN 5% on my investments --- some pay more some pay less..... But my net worth/income far exceed "normal" --- and we have zero in fixed expenses.... our actual outflow is HUGE -- but it's just because of the way we live -- versus what we HAVE to pay to live. My only point being --- that I haven't had to experience that type draw down -- nor have I had to have that conversation with any of my financial people.

I think that people are living far longer than they used to ---- so many basic assumptions about finances are being tossed out the window. I don't think it's unusual for people to live 30 years in retirement..... Maybe not both but one or the other of a couple anyway.

Here's what I usually say to people..... to get them to think "correctly". If you're coming up to retirement - and you're struggling to live on $200,000 a year..... how much money do you think you're going to need to live retired!!!! I figure I make about $50,000 annually PER MILLION DOLLARS invested.... so that person is going to need $3+ million and be collecting maximum social security etc. Even if you think you'll only need $75,000 in retirement income -- you're going to have to have at least 1 1/2 million..... because the dividends are taxed -- so 20% taxes -- and you're earning 5% -- that's only going to NET $40K a year in spendable income.

However --- it you're drawing down your principal at 4% a year --- and then you have less and less each year to earn you income.... sounds like a real bad plan to me! Let's throw in a decade of crappy market growth -- or stalled out real estate prices.... and you're burning your capital?? Yeah -- just NO! You want to be really old and broke? I sure as hell don't want to be figuring like that.

I've found that expenses GROW.... they don't shrink. My insurance is way up -- our taxes go up -- cars are expensive -- trips are 10 X what I used to spend 20 years ago mostly because they're longer! WTF -- you don't have to get back to work on Monday! Clothing is expensive... and then there's always that pesky health issue and all of that associated out of pocket expense.

Thanx Greg good info, 3 happens to be my “goal” number. But yeah, inflation is just an unknown variable, best to be prepared as possible

I certainly hope to leave my family in great financial shape when I'm gone, but I'll have no problem living off the money I spent my whole life accumulating if need be.

Personally, the older I get, the simpler I like to live. I like choices, not shackles. :lol: Living WELL below your means is a good place to start and a hell of a good way to grow wealth rapidly. I find it amazing how fast you can grow wealth when you live below your means and invest heavily every month. My wife and I have tripled our net worth in only 5 years carrying little to no debt and investing in real estate, IRA's, 403b's, and individual stocks.

We are certainly blessed and grateful that we made major changes around 35 to our spending habits and strategy. It's put us well ahead of where I dreamed I'd be at 40. I think it becomes harder as we age to change our ways and let's be honest, passion and energy can begin to wane. Those long hours get tougher to handle as you realize you'd rather be with your kids, racing, or taking a nap than pushing so damn hard all the time.

Dave Ramsey says: Live like no-one else now, so you can live like no-one else later.

I think you have to have a period in your life where you really hunker down and stock it away to set yourself up and take advantage of that great magician, compound interest. I still think it's important to save a large chunk of your income every month. We save 15% of our gross income, personally. You can only do that if you live well below your means or increase your income to offset your expenses. We've done both.

I hope everyone owns Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) and Google - now under that asinine name of Alphabet - and with two different stock symbols Goog and GoogL (sorry -- so stupid and confusing).

I own a whopping 200 shares of AMZN.... zero of the other two.

If we were smart we would have bought Steve McQueen's Rolex years ago -- someone just paid 17.8 million for it at auction. (seriously are you kidding me!). His house here, with acreage (500), was struggling to find a buyer in the $7.4MM range.

I agree completely, and we have done much the same. Some of the things that have been said to me by friends during this move process have been interesting. One friend in particular has to have a brand new high end 3/4 ton 4x4 truck every few years...but said to me disparagingly "it must be nice to be able to retire and move West so young". He has spent more out of pocket money on just trucks the last 15 years than we did on the new house. BTW, I daily drive a 15 year old truck with 220,000 miles on it.

It's the little tweaks that result in a major difference over time. Owning a car outright and investing the payment is a solid place to start for anyone.

I leased brand new BMW's and Audi's for nearly a decade at over $900 a month. That's over $100,000 in payments, not to mention the high insurance and registration costs. We woke up and smelled the coffee over 5 years ago and won't ever have a car payment again. I drive a 2007 Tundra with 117k on it. My wife has a 2015 Acura we bought certified.

But you can write off the car payment for business. Would you spend a dollar to get .25-.33 cents(tax bracket)? I used to be that bad at math too.

Same with rental homes... "you can write off the depreciation and save a ton on taxes..." What they neglect to tell you is if you EVER sell the property, you reclaim all of said depreciation as regular income at whatever tax bracket you happen to be in at the time, and any extra gain is taxed as Capital Gains.

Everyone I know that got into the rental home racket has either claimed bankruptcy and lost them all or is still holding onto them and dealing with tenants daily because they can't afford to sell them.

This is where all of the accounting classes I took in school helped me to avoid certain investments...

I have a few commercial and residential rentals/leases, and feel like they are solid investments. The trick is picking your target market. I will only buy 30-50K brick or block homes in "the not so good areas". Although I buy them outright, my strategy is they pay for themselves in 2.5-3 years. I invest very little in them for upkeep, pay little to nothing in taxes, and rent them through the section 8 program. I'm guaranteed my money, my tenants will never leave, and I get above average rent for the areas they are located.

That strategy is different than the "owning rentals for the tax break" strategy that was all the rage years ago. You are using the smallish investment to create monthly income and as long as you buy properly and keep expenses in check, it works fine.

If you were financing these homes and relying on the depreciation fa for to make them cash flow, the results are vastly different.

I've had really good luck with real estate in Las Vegas and Phoenix, but there have been lucrative opportunities twice in 15 years.

While I'm building my new house, I'm living in home we rented for a few years to convert it to a primary residence. I will still need to pay taxes on the forced depreciation while it was rented, but I'll escape capital gains. My accountant said they probably wouldn't catch it, but I don't play games with the IRS. I pay what I owe them.

I do agree though, the forced depreciation really hurts if you hold long term. You get in a place where you are almost forced to 1031 exchange to avoid taxes. I wonder if the taxes must be paid on the depreciation when it's passed on to your estate?

#1 -- the estate tax laws have changed dramatically in the last few years..... In MOST cases there are no estate taxes (they start at 5 million). If you set up a proper will - with trusts etc - then you can give your spouse 5MM - and your kids 5MM each etc - with no taxes. Of course there are complications to any and all tax planning strategies..... and only a professional in the field can guide you on that.


#2 -- Securities (stocks) assets are passed thru at the STEP UP value. I.e., the day they exchange hands (from dead guy to living guy) - the cost basis for the living guy is the value on that day (the day they pass hands).

However --- PROPERTY passed thru via an inheritance is taxed at the original cost basis. So if "Dad" paid $100,000 for the rental house in 1965 -- and you inherit it and then sell it asap.... you're paying taxes on the difference in value from $100K to what you sell it for. In other words -- there's no going back and having to recapture or pay taxes on Dad's deductions etc.

I'm not sure that is 100% correct...probably based on how the "PROPERTY" is defined or classed before death.

I've always been taught that Death always accelerates basis if the transfer of property is direct. For example, if my Father owns a personal residence house and I am listed on the deed as TOD (Transfer on Death), when he passes away the property automatically becomes mine at current market value as a basis the day he passes away.

This is assuming my fathers entire estate is under the 5 mil cap as far as inheritance tax is concerned. If over that cap, pretty much everything changes.

Rental property that has been depreciated might have to be treated differently though. I wouldn't be shocked if either Capital Gains tax on the gain or Deprecation recapture income tax would need to be paid by the heirs if they ever sell the property.

I do know this, income producing property that has not been depreciated (ie: farmland with no equip or structures) passes thru to heirs at an accelerated basis.

I do recall that if the beneficiary of the estate holds onto real estate for a certain amount of time, (Maybe a year?) the tax situation can change for the worse.

RE: Inheriting depreciated rental property




You will not need to worry about past depreciation on your inherited property. You will just use your stepped up basis (FMV of property on date of inheritance) and this new basis will be used for depreciation. You will be able to depreciation these inherited assets in full over the property's useful life. For example, use the full 27.5 year, S/L for the rental house (less land) and the start date will be the date when the rental property was transferred to you.

For any prior capital improvements, these will be included in the stepped up basis on the inherited property so do not depreciate them separately.

For any appliances, since they are considered "new" to you, you will just use the new FMV of these items and depreciate them over the new useful life at the date the asset were transferred to you.