My daily is a 2002 with 230,000 miles on it, no plan on upgrading it anytime soon. Wife's is a bit newer 2012 with 110,000 miles. Both owe me nothing...

Newish Escalades and Mercedes SUVs rule my neighborhood, along with new jacked up 4x4 trucks. I'm betting the majority of them have larger car payments than my mortgage payment. :relax:

That's the real American dream! They can keep the shackles on while you live well below your means. :D

I always like the "I can afford it" statement when it comes to MAKING PAYMENTS....

NO..... if you're making payments..... then YOU CAN NOT AFFORD IT. Affording it means you bought it - straight up. Period.

Putting 10% or less down on a house..... Yeah - NO. You really shouldn't be in that house (YET).

Being in debt on depreciating assets.... Yeah about that.... Not the way to EVER get ahead. Try buying something that you can pay for -- and if you can "afford" to make payments - make that payment to your savings account instead of to the lender. Next time you go to the "jacked up truck store" -- I'll bet you look at that pile of cash it took you 5 years to save, a little differently. Guaranteed you won't be in such a big hurry to piss it away.

That's basically what happened to me when I was still working for Halliburton in Kansas. I really wanted a 01-06 GMC Duramax 2500 with 4 doors and 4WD in dark blue. I could easily have afforded it paying cash etc. But, I'm sitting there doing my thing in the back of my wireline truck going into hour I don't know for the day because I had lost count and started doing the math. Even though I could easily have bought a ~$20k truck, I decided that I was better off doing something else with the money because of how much time, since time is money after all, I was basically spending to buy the truck. I decided my time was worth more than a really sweet truck.

Hell, I'm doing this again right now. I'm seriously looking at 540i BMWs instead of M5s simply because I don't want to spend the money. Never mind that I can afford the M. My time is worth more and it's just a toy. So I'll go get my jollies in the 540 with all that extra cash in my pocket.

That's a really great point

All of our cars are paid for, the only time we've not paid cash is because our credit Union had .56% interest

One of my coworkers, younger guy, has very nice cars and I was always curious how he managed to pay for it all. I finally found out at his going away party, he found a higher paying job, he rolled his car payments into his refinanced mortgage....:G-Dub::G-Dub:

Reminds me of a quote I've shared before:

"The cost of anything is the amount of life you're willing to trade for it."

You don't think your trading life for debt, think again.

Maybe it's 2 missed suppers with your family every week or your kids baseball game to eek out another deal.

Maybe it's a Saturday at work instead of doing something you want to do.

Regardless, debt can put an anvil around your neck. Count the costs...

Greg:

Awesome advice. IF ONLY, I learned this 10 years earlier than I did (like 6 years ago)....

I relate 100% here in Orange County. I actually take a good amount of ribbing for my 03 F-150 XLT daily driver.

I've had so many friends "talk themselves into" buying or leasing something brand new..... because...... their old one "might" break down and cost them money.

Super smart people! Let's spend 50 grand on a depreciating asset to save having to rebuild a $2500 transmission.... And by the way -- if you don't have the $2500 -- then FOR SURE you shouldn't be buying anything!! LOL WTF

UGH -- just shoot me!

Well..... here we go!!


The idiots at the FED are just bound and determined to wreck a good thing....


Headline today.


Mortgage rates jump past 5%, signaling more home price cuts ahead

Next up will be a slowing in the car biz - and the resulting layoffs.....

Everything dropped hard today. Just when I thought I was gaining some serious steam. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

Looks like another rough day today.

Granted, i've got quite a few years ahead of me, so the downturn may just be a good opportunity to put some more money to work. ;)

I personally think things need to cool down a bit to avoid a huge mess like last time.

With a 7% decrease in mortgage applications - you might just get your wish!

Sweet, more time to have some fun. :lol:

And just like that...BAM...my portfolio is back up to pre-correction highs.

Thanks PG...

Good Lance. The only losers are the people that think long term is Tuesday at 2.....

Basic investing is about fundametals. Is business good? Are companies profitable? Are they growing or laying off..... in other words - until things CHANGE the swings are just noise.

Pay attention to fundamental change - are we beginning to see sales slowing - house prices dropping - sales slowing - layoff announcements etc — then you want to think about selling some stuff and raising a little or a lot of cash —- but right now - if you’re paying any attention - you’re not hearing any of that kind of talk. Housing tanks first —- this is something to really pay attention to now and for next couple quarters (as rates rise).

Food for thought!
 

Yale economist Robert Shiller has joked about how there's nothing special about a year. Twelve months "is the time it takes the Earth to go around the sun," he says. "I don't see any other significance."

If a stock, bond, or fund is down for the 12 months from one particular January to December, how much should you care? What if it's back to positive returns by the next February, or April, or December?

Speaking of Shiller... the Case-Shiller Home Price Composite Index was a ground breaking development in tracking (and helping predict) RE price trends when it was released.

Carry on, Greg. LOL

I work at a start up, so we have plenty of rich investor types come in, most of them are pretty cool and I regularly chat with one of them about investments and frugality (think Mr Money Mustache)

The other day he was talking about how he is building up his savings to buy a bunch of assets when the market crashes in the next year or 2

this got me thinking... A LOT

what all are you guys doing to limit the damage if the market crashes or if we hit another Great recession? Any tips for us lowly newbs? haha

Great question — and the correct answer is..... “it depends”. Depends on your time horizon — depends on your job security — depends on your debt load...

Dodging the question? Nope....

But “trying to time the market” is almost impossible - even if you’re a professional. The correct way for the average guy to invest is to invest when you have the money... particularly if your horizon is 5 / 10 /20 years. The idiots that BAILED out of stock that they’d bought high going in to 2009.... and SOLD... they lost their you know what. Was there a bunch of handwringing and worry while the market sunk 40%... you bet! But had they held the course - and in fact bought instead of sold - they’d have made a bundle plus.

I do investing AND I also “trade” a bit.... very little on the trading - but if Amazon is going up and down $50 a day - I might play with that a bit... but that’s a whole different question — but to answer your question — right now I’m not buying much of anything because nothing seems to be working. So I’m long cash and sitting back to see what happens.

HOWEVER — my CORE investments don’t change very much because that’s where my income comes from - and they keep paying dividends regardless of their stock price...

If your horizon is “retirement” — and you’re investing in your 401/IRA/ROTH — just keep buying and putting money to work. We’ve discussed this all in the thread a million times.

If you have a 2 or 3 year horizon — that’s pretty short term and if that’s the case — and you’re going to need the money for something — then taking some profits (or selling some losers before they’re bigger losers) never hurts.

Awesome thanks

Ok so you wouldn't do anything like change asset mix or something along those lines?

My horizon right now is hopefully ~10 years, my goal is to retire before I'm 50 and be able to live off of 4% of our portfolio

The wife and I are trying to save at least 25% of our income, lately I've been putting this into either VTI or FZROX

I've been using FZROX kinda like a savings account

Speaking of savings accounts, I've transferred all our savings (emergency fund and car fund) to an online bank with 1.9% vs .25% at our credit union

We have a savings account at Capital One that is FDIC insured and paying 2% on balances with no fees or restrictions. Just food for thought.

I'm with Greg, powder dry holding course and collecting divies...

I have the same type account. When I opened it, Capital One was paying a $500 bonus for opening the account.

:tiptoe: Makes sense to me.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/19/gold...next-year.html

If you’re INVESTED in the things we’ve discussed here (not names but the premise for good investing) — then everyone will be fine and will be rewarded.... Let the few down days or periods shake you out.... and you’ll never catch up... Choose WISELY — don’t be greedy — stay the course - get the rewards.

I am with you ... been buying for about 15 years .. only thing I sell are losers just enough each year to get 5he tax benifit.... I know it’s situational your horizon is and lifestyle are huge...

But is their ever a time to take some of you winnings off the table ? Even it you plan to buy the same holding back later at a lower share price?

I am being advised to take some money off the table but I am struggling

I guess there's that old saying.... no one ever got hurt taking a profit. :)

Happy Thanksgiving all.

Yep just not sure how to take some profit without getting hit with taxes? I don’t want to end up in a higher tax bracket or pay short ter rates.:

Pardon my ignorance those both nay be completely wrong assumptions?

Is it in a tax sheltered account like a Roth IRA? If not, you can only lessen your tax percentage by making sure the profit qualifies as capital gains as far as I know. To qualify for capital gains, the stock you sell needs to have been bought 366 days before. Otherwise, it'll be counted as ordinary income and be taxed as such which could put you into the next tax bracket.

I'm not sure what will happen if this is inside a 401k. Please make sure you don't put yourself into a position where you get penalized for selling stock. I believe the 401k only faces penalties if you take any money put in out ie not profit but the original purchase/contribution. However, what qualifies as taking money out? I don't know. It might be something dumb like when you roll over a 401k from one employer to the next it's imperative the money never be sent to you even if you turn right around and send it to the next employer's 401k.

You can sell stock within an IRA and 401k without paying tax.

Don

Adding some info
 

These would be outside a 401k and I think I can select the ‘lots’ I can sell from and be over any cap gains

Here is an example I purchasec Facebook at the IPO

How can I take some of that money off the table without it being income tax?

Losses on your investments are first used to offset capital gains of the same type. So short-term losses are first deducted against short-term gains, and long-term losses are deducted against long-term gains. Net losses of either type can then be deducted against the other kind of gain.

SO —- in other words —- if you have some losses you plan to take anyway — see that they’re long term or short term losses — harvest those - calc your loss and take a matching gain.... bingo — zero tax

Ahh ha Eureka! I recently sold DBD at a loss which I held for years.. I can take the los amount and take that dollar amount in gains fro FB provided they are both have been own for more than 1 year Sound right ?

Sounds correct... And sound advice Greg.

For those following along... "Tax loss harvesting" is the term to search for to get more info.... here is a link with some good info

https://www.investopedia.com/article...harvesting.asp

Things have been dropping for a while.. anyone putting more cash to work, or waiting it out a bit longer?

I did. I was getting some good deals. Could have waited til today and gotten better deals but that's ok. It'll rebound. I'm getting slaughtered though that's for sure. I am glad this isn't my income or job.

Well...... you girls lived thru some of the worst stock market action in a decade.... and I’ll bet ya all did just fine.