haha this is very true.

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what are you talking about

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http://mobile.texags.com/Forums/34/Topics/2266688?page=0#r34898995
Where you threw a board sponsor (that based on your age I assume you've never worked with) under the bus, get called out on it by several of us, and have yet to respond.

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Forgot I did that. Removed and apologized for the comment. You have successfully derailed yet another decent thread by taking personal shots at somebody, well done sir, well done.

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Wait a sec...another poster brings up your over the top actions on the Ticket Exchange...but he's not derailing the thread. I play off of that and point out your cheap/stupid comment on another thread where you imply that using one of the board sponsors is a bad idea. You were called out by several people about that, never retracted your statement, so I simply point that out here, and all of a sudden I'm the thread derailer?

Just out of curiosity, which other threads have I derailed?

You both successfully derailed this thread. Does that make you feel better?

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You both successfully derailed this thread. Does that make you feel better?

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Yes...yes it does. Now I have a derailing buddy.

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You both successfully derailed this thread. Does that make you feel better?

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Yes...yes it does. Now I have a derailing buddy.

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One day, someone will eulogize this about Stive: So humble… always willing to share his online victories with others.

[This message has been edited by Are you a Wizard (edited 1/22/2014 12:18p).]

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One day, someone will eulogize this about Stive: So humble… always willing to share his online victories with others.

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On my tombstone my man....on my tombstone.



I've been humbled on this board lately. I'm WAY more humble this week than I was last week. I predict I'll have my swagger back in full force by mid-March.

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Yes...yes it does. Now I have a derailing buddy.

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Take it to the LBGT board.

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I've been humbled on this board lately. I'm WAY more humble this week than I was last week. I predict I'll have my swagger back in full force by mid-March.

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Doubtful, I'll keep you grounded. THIS IS WAS NOT A VICTORY FOR YOU


[This message has been edited by hennessy11 (edited 2/20/2013 9:08a).]

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Take it to the GB board.

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FIFY

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Doubtful, I'll keep you grounded. THIS IS WAS NOT A VICTORY FOR YOU

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Aww...thanks for the offer. Feel free to try.

And I didn't realize there was anything that could be classified as "victorious"? What'd I win?

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Hennessy, I am more interested in your situation due to the fact we are the same age and make pretty much the same money. How much do all your bills come out to a month? When I factor in rent, utilities, cable/internet, student loan, car payment, insurance, cell phone etc it comes to about $1750 a month. This stays the same about every month... After all pretax deductions (401K, medical/dental) & taxes leaves me about $1100 or so a month leftover for all spending (gas & groceries) as well as anything I want to save on the side.

After everything, I don't have much leftover. Hoping for a nice raise/promotion around summertime when I approach 2 years though. How does your situation compare?

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I'm in a very similar situation actually. After all is said and done I have very little to save, if not any. I have about $1965 in bills a month. Leaving me ~$1400 left over for everything else. According to the evaluation cycle I am eligible for a promotion in June. I am in the same boat as I am hoping for this to happen so that I can start saving/paying down more on my loans. I just started using Mint to help me manage my $$ better and realize how much I have spent on unnecessary things. I'd recommend it if you haven't done so. Because I don't have much money left each month, I think I have decided to put some way in a very conservative fund so that I'll have it out of my hands given my spending habits this past year.

[This message has been edited by hennessy11 (edited 2/20/2013 9:35a).]

For Edwards

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What would your investment portfolio look like for that $15k?

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Assuming 8% average return:

$24,202.53 in 7 years without monthly deposits

$33,405.07 in 7 years with $100 monthly deposits




Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2002

Hennessey, I don't want to get too much in your business, but if you are so tight financially right now, why are you looking to buy stocks like AMRN and allocating money to mutual funds? Is that your refund money going into the market?

Thriller, no problem. This is why I started this thread. I didn't have much plans to pursue the AMRN stock. I am just trying to learn more about this whole side of things. I have never been as interested in $ in general than I am right now. How to save, what investing in general is about, and what to do with those savings etc. Yes this is my tax refund money I am discussing, I wouldn't be putting next months bills into the market. I am trying to find the balance of putting the refund cash toward loans and savings. I need to save for 2 short term(emergency and plan on getting engaged soonish) while saving for retirement, and paying off my loans.



[This message has been edited by hennessy11 (edited 2/20/2013 10:18a).]

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Thriller, no problem. This is why I started this thread. I didn't have much plans to pursue the AMRN stock. I am just trying to learn more about this whole side of things. I have never been as interested in $ in general than I am right now. How to save, what investing in general is about, and what to do with those savings etc. Yes this is my tax refund money I am discussing, I wouldn't be putting next months bills into the market. I am trying to find the balance of putting the refund cash toward loans and savings. I need to save for 2 short term(emergency and plan on getting engaged soonish) while saving for retirement, and paying off my loans

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I realize you hate me, so I don't expect you to listen to this, but since this is what I do for a living, I'll make a serious reply here and you can ignore it or not.


Based on your post on page one, your refund + your current cash puts you at about 6K of savings. I believe you also stated that your monthly bills are around 1,900/month. So if I'm reading this right, you have roughly 3 months of living expenses in cash.

The 3 months is on the bottom end of what most advisors/experts/people say you should keep in emergency/liquid money. Add to that, I believe you said you're planning on buying an engagement ring... I'd probably tell a client to take that money and stick it in the bank. If something happens to your ability to work, or you lose your job, then you're in a bind if you've taken the money and paid down a car note or student loans. You can't get it back.


People on this board will debate all day long about where one should stick their emergency money. And if that needs to be hashed out, fair enough. But where it stands right now, by most standards,you don't have enough of a cushion to meet the goals you want to meet in the short-term forseeable future.

Stick it in the bank.

Before you get engaged, take this tax refund and go to Vegas for the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. You can thank me later.

re aTmPapi (and Stive, any others)

My question is more specific to having a lump some (previously in savings) that you want to get working at higher potential return (with assumed risk) (and yes in a taxable account).

Today (right now) with the markets at 5 year highs... do you drop all 15/20/25 k into an index fund... or dollar cost average monthly/quarterly/etc (and if so, for how long).

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re aTmPapi (and Stive, any others)

My question is more specific to having a lump some (previously in savings) that you want to get working at higher potential return (with assumed risk) (and yes in a taxable account).

Today (right now) with the markets at 5 year highs... do you drop all 15/20/25 k into an index fund... or dollar cost average monthly/quarterly/etc (and if so, for how long).

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I'm not a market timer so 95% of the time I lean towards DCA. Length of time is up to the client, amount of money going in, breakpoint considerations, etc. Monthly/quarterly depends on the same variables.

my thoughts exactly... - thanks stive

Dang Hennessy11 I didn't know you were getting engaged. Otherwise my non-expert opinion would have been to keep the car and enjoy your youth but you're already going to blow it getting married. Sell the car quick unless she comes from a family with money.

What Stive said about DCA...


DCA is a GREAT way to get into investing, and that is something I use with Sharebuilder. I usually invest with the idea of depositing and leaving the money in there for a long period of time.

STIVE I HATE YOU SOO MUCH!! haha. Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it.

So basically the idea behind DCA is to invest some money initially and then put in money monthly/quarterly?

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STIVE I HATE YOU SOO MUCH!!

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Join the crowd. The list of people that hate me is long and distinguished. Just like my johnson (are you old enough to know that movie)?

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So basically the idea behind DCA is to invest some money initially and then put in money monthly/quarterly?

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Kind of (leave the "invest some money initially" off of your statement and you've got DCA).

DCA is basically the premise of investing money every month/quarter regardless of whether the market is up or down. You'll be buying high at times, and low at times, and in between at times. But you'll average out to buying somewhere in the middle. The premise is you can't time the market, so just put your head down and start getting in and let the market do it's thing.

There's a little more math to it than that, but that's the simple version.

[This message has been edited by Stive (edited 2/20/2013 4:32p).]

imho - one key point that stive left out is investing the 'same amount' on a recurring schedule. this way you buy 'less' when the market is up and 'more' when the market is down.



[This message has been edited by edwardsk2003 (edited 2/20/2013 4:39p).]

These threads are cool to read. I applaud the OP for his courage coming here.

When I graduated from A&M in 1980, I bought a car, but it was a $12,000 car when I was making $22,500. It seemed like a huge expense at the time. $290/month for 48 months (not 60 months like so many). I had a $500/mo. student loan, but it was a short term. Like others here, I loved the car, but two years into it I started looking for some financial relief. I ended up not doing anything, as my salary was going up. But I came close to selling it and buying something cheaper. There is little doubt if I could do it again I would have bought a less expensive car.

My son is a recent graduate. He does not seem interested in buying a car. He is hanging on to his Honda Element for a while. Putting money away. I hope it stays that way....

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mho - one key point that stive left out is investing the 'same amount' on a recurring schedule. this way you buy 'less' when the market is up and 'more' when the market is down

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Yeah...that was my "there's a little more math to it" comment. My brain did a block and I couldn't think of having to word that without really muddying the waters.

You said it well.

curious how do you come up with 2700 return making 53k? I made about that a year ago and only got like 1600

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Just curious, are you living at home rent free and that is how you are affording those payments on student loans and car? I bought a $14K used SUV after graduation (I needed a vehicle bad) and owe about $7500 left, and have about $21K in student loans.. Between the two, I pay about $550 a month. But when I throw in all other costs of living, rent/utils, contributing to 401K, insurance, etc... I barely have anything leftover. And we have almost an identical salary.

Luckily, my first year out in a new city I didn't know anyone and therefor was able to save up about $10K fairly quickly, but with now a developed social life, girlfriend, and a handful of last minute expensive emergency flights home (dad's health) my savings has slowed and even taken a little bit of a hit.

I'm paying almost $900 a month in rent living alone and that is what kills me the most.

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my first year I was making less with a bit more student loans, was able to buy a similar price SUV in cash after a year, sharing a house with friends in socal, was spending about 1500/month total expenses, now that I make over double what I started I'm still only spending ~2k just dumping loads to kill the loan out in a few months

and I've always gone out every fri/sat just not making it rain and blowing tons at the bar

[This message has been edited by EliteZags (edited 2/21/2013 12:50p).]

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outside of selling the car, what recommendations do y'all have for the return?

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You realize you're taking the number 1 advice from this thread, trashing it, and then asking the same people for more advice, right?

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Before you get engaged, take this tax refund and go to Vegas for the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. You can thank me later.

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Quoting myself, because it's still what I'd tell you to do.

Im going to try to give you an opinion of someone a little closer to your age/situation.

Im 24, my income is more than double yours, but I too just bought a 30k camaro and love the car. I feel the expression "Your only young once" fits nicely. BUT if I were getting married, I would get rid of my car and start looking to be smarter for my future.

PS. The car already did its job and helped you get a great fiance anyway right? Just trade it for a 10k honda civic....

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BUT if I were getting married, I would get rid of my car and start looking to be smarter for my future.

PS. The car already did its job and helped you get a great fiance anyway right? Just trade it for a 10k honda civic....

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Minivan moment!!!

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You realize you're taking the number 1 advice from this thread, trashing it, and then asking the same people for more advice, right?

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To be fair, he may plan to do that and just wonder if there are any other steps he can take once that one is done or in the meantime.

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PS. The car already did its job and helped you get a great fiance anyway right? Just trade it for a 10k honda civic....

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don't be ridiculous how's he gonna pull side tail in a civic?

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You realize you're taking the number 1 advice from this thread, trashing it, and then asking the same people for more advice, right?

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To be fair, he may plan to do that and just wonder if there are any other steps he can take once that one is done or in the meantime.

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Thank you! I am simply exploring all options. Please explain to me how I trashed the idea by asking for other alternatives as well?

[This message has been edited by hennessy11 (edited 2/21/2013 2:38p).]