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Maybe an "internet tax" would level the playing field
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
45 isn't wrong that there are trade issues out there, especially or even primarily with China. However, the way to handle this issue is with talks and negotiations, handled like a mature responsible adult. As was said, China isn't dumb, nor is it scared - it can fight back. In such a fight, the real losers are normal consumers. Best case scenario, instability hurts the USD, which causes fuel prices to rise. Who suffers? Normal consumers, especially those in middle America who drive a lot.
I am going to move off of the direct political babble, it gets tiring. We have more in common than different, not worth the headache. Not to mention, no matter who gets an election, we have the same issues. Same clowns (even when they claim to be anti-establishment/anti-"elite"), different suits.
National debt, just kick the can down the road.
I'm more worried about hucksters, shysters, and social regressives weaseling their way into public policy than teachers unions. Private profiteers involved in publicly funded social goods often go wrong.
Given the performance of everything in Michigan, beating the local system might not take much. The aviation-themed school that her husband is involved with does not make much of a case - it could easily be an anomaly. I haven't seen any quantifiable data showing anything she is involved with is kicking butt, but I have seen plenty of data about the deficiency of charter schools in general. Charter schools are quite rare in my area and the schools here are generally highly rated.
Michiganders are familiar with her, no doubt, I am sure Rocky is thrilled about her and that family overall
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I'm sure we can all get our world views confirmed by watching a little cable news..
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2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
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2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
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I know at some point in the future I will want to retire again, so having this other avenue of income will come in very handy once those Enterprise checks no longer come. Figure it's best to put that 99% away for that rainy day we've all heard about!
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
Anyway, I have some money to invest. Not really feeling the whole sub-1% savings and CD accounts. I read up on some interesting crowd-funding companies and thought I'd take a shot.
One is lending folks money outright for whatever they need. Another is commercial real estate projects. The third is small business bonds.
I don't necessarily want to lay out all the rules for each one, and there are more than one of each type of company out there. The investing sites I found all rated the ones I chose highly. Of course, who the heck knows how much advertising dollars come into play with those reviews. They actually cautioned against the bond one because the company behind it has yet to turn a profit and, therefore, could go under at any second.
What I like about the former two is that I can actually pick and choose exactly where the money goes. So, for example, I can see that someone with a 700 credit score and $10k/mo income wants to consolidate debt with a $20k 3-yr loan and choose to give them some of my money in return for 8% interest. Of course, they say the trick is to diversify. Loan out $25/person over 200 loans so the defaults don't kill you.
Anybody ever tried such an investment before?
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
The problem with this sort of thing, is no one is really doing the due diligence on each investment. At the small amounts being requested, it just isn't feasible.
Personal loans: Good credit score, but $20K of credit card debt (assuming, otherwise, why would you be willing to pay 8%?). This might be someone trying to get their spending habits/debt back on track. But, would I risk my money on someone that makes $120K/yr, but doesn't have any assets to secure a loan (HELOC, etc)? At a 10% default rate, you'll lose money, even if you spread it out.
Commercial real estate: I haven't seen too many sites with crowd funding for this. I've seen specific project deals, but that would seem very, very risky. It seems the people that make money on commercial real estate are the contractors on new build projects, or the third owners, that scoop in at a reasonable price, after the first two go bankrupt. Locally, we have a company that creates $50 million funds to invest in commercial projects. Accredited investors only, with a $50K minimum investment. These are real pros running the fund, and while a couple of the funds have done well, there are others that haven't. I thought about this, but I didn't see enough upside to risk tying up my money for 8-10 years.
Small business bonds? Just say no.
If you are putting in $10K-25K that you can afford to lose, this is more like buying bitcoin, than actually investing. I know the low interest rates are killing those with extra cash. That's why we paid off our mortgage in January. The fund I was in went from 2.65% to 1.40% yield.
The best alternative investment I've ever been in, was becoming a partner in an apartment complex. But, I was riding on the coattails of two real estate management pros, and one of them I would trust with everything I own. We sold that after 6.5 year, with a compounded return of about 17% annually. But, that was a large chunk of money, upfront.
Obviously, I don't know your personal situation. But, if your earning are throwing off extra cash, I would up the 401K contribution. With tax rates so low, now, it would be best if you had a Roth 401K option.
I get wanting to put cash to work. Since we sold the apartments two years ago, I've investigated dozens of investments. I'd get back into rental real estate, but the prices have gone nuts, and I really have no desire to be an actual landlord, and deal with the renters.
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Verizon (VZ). 4.1% dividend
Abbvie (ABBV) 5.2% dividend
Those are two really solid stocks, with good dividends
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I may pull back out of the others only because folks are so negative about it. But, like I said, other online advisors have tried them and didn't have much to complain about.
Thing is, the return doesn't look any better (or even worse) than a lot of ETFs. I've dropped a chunk of change into my Etrade account that I'll probably use for that purpose.
The money is my inheritance. It isn't much, but it gives us some breathing room, and I'd like to see some growth from it. I'm not a 401k or IRA fan because I hate being restricted, and I don't think putting post-tax money there makes sense. I put enough in from my paycheck to benefit from the employer match. I also put 10% of my income toward the employee stock purchase plan. That has been doing very very well for me so far.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
RE: retirement accounts
Post tax contribution makes all the sense in the world. That money grows for a long, long time, with zero tax on the earnings. I'm still 10 years from taking RMDs, but I'm already looking at massive tax bills from my pre-tax IRAs and 401Ks, once that time gets here (luckily, because of big balances). There is literally no other way to accumulate that kind of wealth for the average working person.
Hard to judge the stock market looking at short term fluctuations. I was down 28% from my peak, at the beginning of April. Now, less than 3%.
There are some good stocks yielding 3%-5% that are a lot safer than Joe Palookas $20K of credit card debt at 8%.
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I'd love it if I could find something to support myself other than my J-O-B. Or where it could supplement income from a gig I would really enjoy, such as teaching. I haven't found that magic bullet, though.
I'm not understanding why you say post-tax contributions to a 401k makes sense. You can invest in the same funds in a non-age-restricted account and, as you pointed out, you still pay tax on the earnings at some point, so what is the advantage to using the restricted account?
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Yeah, I have some GE stock that I paid $33/sh for, too. But, I also have Microsoft stock that I bought for $24/sh in 2006.
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'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
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'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
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'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
My reits are still paying out, just the dividend is smaller. But add that to my paycheck from Enterprise working part time, and I'm happy. And am a retired federal worker.
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
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'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
It's probably hard to get really diversified on those things without $20K or more to work with. Should be interesting, though. You might learn some valuable lessons.
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2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
8% return looks great, until you realize the share price is dropping 5%-10% per year.
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Q, those muni bonds we had were with the city of Jacksonville Florida, sewerage bonds as I recall. Gave us a good 4% interest and that extra $1000/year was nice to receive. And now, at this stage of our lives, I want a decent paying dividend so I can still put some cash into our retirement accounts and my 401K. And now, since the minimum distributions for the RMD's have been pushed back to age 72, want those accounts to grow a bit. Luckily, we've always lived under our means and obviously the kids noticed as they all are following suit. And even though it's not required, I'd like to leave each of our kids something when I pass like I was given. It wasn't a very large amount but it helped me start investing. And every little bit helps now!
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
The $1k in bonds thing ... we'll see. I'll ride it a little and let you know. It shows 13 cents interest for day 1. lol.
I put $5k in the personal loans funding account, but am manually choosing who I lend it to. So far, I've earmarked $1,050 and only a few hundred has been funded thus far. The others are still pending.
Still waiting for funds to clear to my Etrade account to see what I'll do there.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
In my Etrade, I put most of my investment in ETFs and playing with some stocks. Quick little hits here and there, and all have netted a profit thus far. Nothing big, and nothing long-term just yet. I'm very distrusting of the market. I also sold off most of my employee stock in my current company as of this morn, just in case.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
big thing for me, personally, is that I have a tough time coughing up over $100 a share for anything. I'm relatively small time and get hung up on volume. $2500 for 100 shares of something that goes up 1 point is getting me better profit than 25 shares of apple for the same investment that goes up even 2 points. Probably not a great way to look at it, but I can't help myself.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
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'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
With part of that muni bond money, I also bought some more of a dividend paying stock that over 12 months would give me the twice a year interest payment that bond was paying. So, I'm back at that same level of yearly dividends that I wanted plus have a small chunk of Apple stock which I plan to sit on as a long term investment right now. The only negative here is that the interest I was getting on the muni bond was tax free. But, I might sell and take a loss on a loser stock I have so I can use that loss to my advantage, tax wise. But, I need to sit down and figure that amount out with my CPA wife. Or, just put a little more into my IRA for 2020. Also need to see how much I'll make this year at my part time gig as I can only earn so much from that before I lose some of my very meager s s payment, which they take to pay for most of my Medicare Part A & B. But, that's a whole different story due to me being a civil service retiree and that ridiculous & unfair Windfall Provisions Act of 1984 I believe. I don't want to go into detail as it'll turn into a rant!
Bottom line for me is I like dividend paying investments and especially with stocks, I have no problem taking some profits when necessary. Especially as I slowly leave the work force for good, I need my income to stay at current levels and hopefully go higher, so must make good investments now to insure that income matches or bests what I'm making now while still in the work force. Also, I want to enjoy some of the fruits of my labor while leaving some for my three kids to enjoy once I'm gone. I was gifted a small amount from my grandmother and father upon their deaths, so I'd like to do the same going forward.
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)