On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:30:26 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
says...

OK let's see how much it is costing me. Say I got $5000 back and it
was put in there evenly over a year. I put this in my financial
calculator using $416.67 a month for 12 months at .25%. (what my bank
pays) I lost a whopping $5.77.
That is pretty cheap insurance against having a windfall towards the
end of the year that blew out my withholding and got me stuck in
paying quarterlies or worse, some kind of penalty.
Said another way that is a Mocha Venti Frappachino starbucks.
I can afford it. I have plenty of cash on hand.



YOu are ok with that small amout.

Now try throwing the same numbers in that calculator and an interist
rate of 15 % over a period of 10 to 20 years and see how much it is
costing you in the long run.


You are only talking about year to year (no compounding) and this is
money that would either be in the bank or at IRS. Until banks start
paying a lot more than they are now, I will leave it with the
government.

You are allowed a certain ammout of under payment on the federal taxes.
I think it may eveh have something to do with the tax the year before,
but not sure.


I know about that but you are still playing chicken. If I sell a stock
around the end of the year, I have some cushion down at the tax man.
Most brokers don't want to screw with withholding and if you just send
in one estimated payment in December, they might ding you for it. I
have done it and got away with it but it just depends on why they
might be looking at your return.
I will handle venomous snakes, wrestle with alligators and pick fights
in bars but I am not screwing with the IRS.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:06:29 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Friday, April 16, 2021 at 12:06:42 PM UTC-4, Frank wrote:
On 4/16/2021 11:37 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
On Friday, April 16, 2021 at 9:11:45 AM UTC-5, AK wrote:
Is there any relatively safe investment that makes a better rate than a CD?

I am getting .4 %.

I don't think that is even better than the inflation rate.

Thanks.

I checked the inflation rate a few days ago. One source put it at 1.6%. It's been years
since I had money in the old government bond. EE?
You might want to look at balanced index funds. I've had some of my money in one of Vanguard's but
that particular one is closed to new investors. It has 60% of the money in stocks, 40% in bonds.
An article here about others.
https://investedwallet.com/best-vanguard-index-funds/
Consumer Reports years ago claimed it's better to get an index fund that just tracks a group of
stocks and/or bonds. Doing that cuts out the hot shot stock picker who might make a fortune one
year then go tits up the next.

Lot depends on your age and tolerance for risk.

You are not going to get any interest rates anywhere near inflation rate
and I think inflation is much higher than quoted. Government plays
games in trying to show inflation rate is low such as if price of beef
spikes then people will eat chicken so they say inflation in meat prices
did not go up.


Yet another right wing myth. At least that one won't create an insurrection.


Do you really think inflation is as low as the government says it is?
They underplay it for political reasons and also so they can justify
paying such low rates on federal paper. When you owe almost $30
TRILLION a half a point on your interest racks up cost pretty fast.

wrote in message
...
On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:30:26 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
says...

OK let's see how much it is costing me. Say I got $5000 back and it
was put in there evenly over a year. I put this in my financial
calculator using $416.67 a month for 12 months at .25%. (what my bank
pays) I lost a whopping $5.77.
That is pretty cheap insurance against having a windfall towards the
end of the year that blew out my withholding and got me stuck in
paying quarterlies or worse, some kind of penalty.
Said another way that is a Mocha Venti Frappachino starbucks.
I can afford it. I have plenty of cash on hand.



YOu are ok with that small amout.

Now try throwing the same numbers in that calculator and an interist
rate of 15 % over a period of 10 to 20 years and see how much it is
costing you in the long run.


You are only talking about year to year (no compounding) and this is
money that would either be in the bank or at IRS. Until banks start
paying a lot more than they are now, I will leave it with the
government.

You are allowed a certain ammout of under payment on the federal taxes.
I think it may eveh have something to do with the tax the year before,
but not sure.


I know about that but you are still playing chicken. If I sell a stock
around the end of the year, I have some cushion down at the tax man.
Most brokers don't want to screw with withholding and if you just send
in one estimated payment in December, they might ding you for it. I
have done it and got away with it but it just depends on why they
might be looking at your return.

I will handle venomous snakes, wrestle
with alligators and pick fights in bars

Obvious lies, you are much too obese for any of that.

but I am not screwing with the IRS.

That's why they **** you over.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 21:22:58 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:30:26 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
says...

OK let's see how much it is costing me. Say I got $5000 back and it
was put in there evenly over a year. I put this in my financial
calculator using $416.67 a month for 12 months at .25%. (what my bank
pays) I lost a whopping $5.77.
That is pretty cheap insurance against having a windfall towards the
end of the year that blew out my withholding and got me stuck in
paying quarterlies or worse, some kind of penalty.
Said another way that is a Mocha Venti Frappachino starbucks.
I can afford it. I have plenty of cash on hand.



YOu are ok with that small amout.

Now try throwing the same numbers in that calculator and an interist
rate of 15 % over a period of 10 to 20 years and see how much it is
costing you in the long run.


You are only talking about year to year (no compounding) and this is
money that would either be in the bank or at IRS.

If those are your only two options, then you've placed a constraint on
yourself that the rest of us don't have. Think about your choices.

Until banks start
paying a lot more than they are now, I will leave it with the
government.

You are allowed a certain ammout of under payment on the federal taxes.
I think it may eveh have something to do with the tax the year before,
but not sure.


I know about that but you are still playing chicken.

What is this chicken of which you speak? I'm familiar with the game of
chicken but I don't see why you've introduced it into this discussion.
There is no chicken going on.

If I sell a stock
around the end of the year, I have some cushion down at the tax man.
Most brokers don't want to screw with withholding and if you just send
in one estimated payment in December, they might ding you for it. I
have done it and got away with it but it just depends on why they
might be looking at your return.

None of that makes the least bit of sense. All transactions are recorded
and taxes are paid, one way or another. Your broker issues 1099's that you
use to calculate your tax obligation. If you have a broker that you can't
trust, why are you still using that broker?

I will handle venomous snakes, wrestle with alligators and pick fights
in bars but I am not screwing with the IRS.

More nonsense.

In article ,
lid says...
All of that is a very good approach. About the only thing we do differently
at my house is that we invest about 95% in stocks, mostly US stocks but a
bit of international stuff sneaks in now and then, and about 3-4% in bonds
with the rest in a money market account so that we have a pool from which
to buy more stocks. Mutual funds aren't a bad choice, but the low risk and
low returns didn't do it for us. Lastly, CDs were decent back in the first
half of the 1980s, but they'd be a foolish choice in the last 20 years or
so.



For those that want to take time to follow the stocks I agree that the
mutual funds do not pay as well, but they do pay very good compaired to
other things and I do not have to spend time trying to pick the stocks.
I do try to pick the funds that have a low overhead cost. I still
average around 10 % on the stocks on the long run and lately about
double that or so. One only did about 8 % while the others were over
double that, so that fund got swapped for another.

I don't do the bonds mainly because I do not want to try and understand
them. So know nothing about them. From what I understand, they are
about as bad as the CDs over the last number of years for the most part.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 23:18:03 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
says...
All of that is a very good approach. About the only thing we do differently
at my house is that we invest about 95% in stocks, mostly US stocks but a
bit of international stuff sneaks in now and then, and about 3-4% in bonds
with the rest in a money market account so that we have a pool from which
to buy more stocks. Mutual funds aren't a bad choice, but the low risk and
low returns didn't do it for us. Lastly, CDs were decent back in the first
half of the 1980s, but they'd be a foolish choice in the last 20 years or
so.



For those that want to take time to follow the stocks I agree that the
mutual funds do not pay as well, but they do pay very good compaired to
other things and I do not have to spend time trying to pick the stocks.

I fully understand and agree. My wife enjoys doing stock research more than
I do, and she has the time to do it. My son takes an easier route and
subscribes to a stock picking newsletter from Motley Fool. On an annual
basis he sees about 17-28% return in the last decade, but it's not for
everyone. He's in his 30s, so he can tolerate a lot of risk. My wife and I
are a bit more conservative in our stock picks, but we still do OK at
around 20-25% annual return, although recent years have far outpaced those
numbers.

I do try to pick the funds that have a low overhead cost. I still
average around 10 % on the stocks on the long run and lately about
double that or so. One only did about 8 % while the others were over
double that, so that fund got swapped for another.

Excellent approach. When dealing with mutual funds, it always pays to be
aware of the fees. In the last year or two the big brokerage houses have
eliminated the fees related to buying and selling stocks, so that
simplifies things a bit. Fidelity, and possibly others, also do 'by the
slice' now so that small investors can buy partial shares of stocks. If a
particular stock is valued at $600 a share and you only want to invest $50,
you can do that now. That doesn't benefit us, but it's good for the little
guys.

I don't do the bonds mainly because I do not want to try and understand
them. So know nothing about them. From what I understand, they are
about as bad as the CDs over the last number of years for the most part.

Bond strategies tend to be focused on 'preservation of principal' rather
than 'growth', although there are certain tax strategies that can come into
play. Tax-free dividends, for example, can sometimes be used to your
advantage. In the big picture, bonds can sometimes be used as a hedge
against stock market declines. Just as with stocks, the safer approach with
bonds is probably to just buy into a bond fund that agrees with your goals,
rather than picking specific bonds to hold.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 21:58:57 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 21:22:58 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:30:26 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
says...

OK let's see how much it is costing me. Say I got $5000 back and it
was put in there evenly over a year. I put this in my financial
calculator using $416.67 a month for 12 months at .25%. (what my bank
pays) I lost a whopping $5.77.
That is pretty cheap insurance against having a windfall towards the
end of the year that blew out my withholding and got me stuck in
paying quarterlies or worse, some kind of penalty.
Said another way that is a Mocha Venti Frappachino starbucks.
I can afford it. I have plenty of cash on hand.



YOu are ok with that small amout.

Now try throwing the same numbers in that calculator and an interist
rate of 15 % over a period of 10 to 20 years and see how much it is
costing you in the long run.


You are only talking about year to year (no compounding) and this is
money that would either be in the bank or at IRS.

If those are your only two options, then you've placed a constraint on
yourself that the rest of us don't have. Think about your choices.

You said you keep your ready cash in a money market. Tell me which one
pays that 10% you alluded to and I will put my money there.
I have plenty of investments that pay me well.
We are talking about a couple grand. I am not going to obsess about
the fraction of a percent I am losing.

Until banks start
paying a lot more than they are now, I will leave it with the
government.

You are allowed a certain ammout of under payment on the federal taxes.
I think it may eveh have something to do with the tax the year before,
but not sure.


I know about that but you are still playing chicken.

What is this chicken of which you speak? I'm familiar with the game of
chicken but I don't see why you've introduced it into this discussion.
There is no chicken going on.

If you have no clue what you will have to be paying taxes on and some
of it will not be subject to withholding, like selling stocks or maybe
other assets, you are gambling it won't be too much to trigger that
underpayment penalty and just mailing the IRS a check in December or
early next year isn't going to get it. I like a little buffer in the
kitty. I am at the point where a little change on my line 9 makes a
big difference on the rest of that return (SS calculations, taxing of
dividends etc). My wife can also tip that scale by deciding to cash in
some of her 401k to buy a car for the grand kids.

If I sell a stock
around the end of the year, I have some cushion down at the tax man.
Most brokers don't want to screw with withholding and if you just send
in one estimated payment in December, they might ding you for it. I
have done it and got away with it but it just depends on why they
might be looking at your return.

None of that makes the least bit of sense. All transactions are recorded
and taxes are paid, one way or another. Your broker issues 1099's that you
use to calculate your tax obligation. If you have a broker that you can't
trust, why are you still using that broker?

I get 1099s but that is after the fact, usually showing up in late
January and I have had several brokers. None withhold for the IRS.

I will handle venomous snakes, wrestle with alligators and pick fights
in bars but I am not screwing with the IRS.

More nonsense.

Go ahead and **** with them.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 22:11:44 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 21:50:33 -0400, wrote:

Again with the chicken reference. If you're skirting the law, as you seem
to be suggesting, I'd advise you to take a better look at what you're
doing.

Frank gave you the perfect example. He underestimated his withholding
and ended up writing too big a check A couple years later they
actually looked at his return, assessed a penalty and charged interest
on that penalty for a couple years before he even knew he was in
trouble.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 22:40:38 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

Bond strategies tend to be focused on 'preservation of principal' rather
than 'growth', although there are certain tax strategies that can come into
play. Tax-free dividends, for example, can sometimes be used to your
advantage. In the big picture, bonds can sometimes be used as a hedge
against stock market declines. Just as with stocks, the safer approach with
bonds is probably to just buy into a bond fund that agrees with your goals,
rather than picking specific bonds to hold.

We agree on that I am in a bond fund.

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 00:50:09 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 22:11:44 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 21:50:33 -0400, wrote:

Again with the chicken reference. If you're skirting the law, as you seem
to be suggesting, I'd advise you to take a better look at what you're
doing.

Frank gave you the perfect example. He underestimated his withholding
and ended up writing too big a check A couple years later they
actually looked at his return, assessed a penalty and charged interest
on that penalty for a couple years before he even knew he was in
trouble.

I don't know what that contrived scenario has to do with what we've been
talking about. Your estimated withholding is unrelated to any capital gains
or losses you encounter as a result of selling financial instruments.

You don't have Federal tax withheld (from what? from where?) on the off
chance that you might sell some stock shares and make a profit. Those are
two entirely different things, not captured anywhere near each other on
your return and not related to one another in any way.

Is that what you've been worrying about all this time? Well, don't.

I think what might have confused you is that the net of capital gains minus
capital losses is added to (or subtracted from, if negative) your ordinary
income amount and the sum is reported as total income. Withholding isn't
affected by capital gains, though. It's possible to owe a ton of Federal
tax if you made a ton of capital gains, but that doesn't enter into the
calculation on whether you didn't withhold enough throughout the year. The
IRS knows that taxpayers have no idea what the market rate will be when a
taxpayer decides to sell an asset. They aren't going to penalize you for
selling in a hot market. Think about it.

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 00:46:10 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 21:58:57 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 21:22:58 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:30:26 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
says...

OK let's see how much it is costing me. Say I got $5000 back and it
was put in there evenly over a year. I put this in my financial
calculator using $416.67 a month for 12 months at .25%. (what my bank
pays) I lost a whopping $5.77.
That is pretty cheap insurance against having a windfall towards the
end of the year that blew out my withholding and got me stuck in
paying quarterlies or worse, some kind of penalty.
Said another way that is a Mocha Venti Frappachino starbucks.
I can afford it. I have plenty of cash on hand.



YOu are ok with that small amout.

Now try throwing the same numbers in that calculator and an interist
rate of 15 % over a period of 10 to 20 years and see how much it is
costing you in the long run.


You are only talking about year to year (no compounding) and this is
money that would either be in the bank or at IRS.

If those are your only two options, then you've placed a constraint on
yourself that the rest of us don't have. Think about your choices.

You said you keep your ready cash in a money market. Tell me which one
pays that 10% you alluded to and I will put my money there.

You've misunderstood something. There is no money market that pays 10%. I
said that I keep a small amount, usually $100K or less, in a money market
account and I've also separately said that investment returns of 10% up to
40% or more are possible under the right circumstances, but those are two
different things. The high returns aren't from a money market account.

I have plenty of investments that pay me well.
We are talking about a couple grand. I am not going to obsess about
the fraction of a percent I am losing.

Like I've been saying, I'm no longer trying to save you any money. You've
made it clear that you have enough to the point where a few hundred here or
there or even a few thousand here or there isn't going to affect anything.
I only wanted to try to warn others, who may be less fortunate than you,
not to do what you're doing with regards to a large Federal tax refund. Who
knows who all reads this newsgroup, or may read it in the near future.

Until banks start
paying a lot more than they are now, I will leave it with the
government.

You are allowed a certain ammout of under payment on the federal taxes.
I think it may eveh have something to do with the tax the year before,
but not sure.


I know about that but you are still playing chicken.

What is this chicken of which you speak? I'm familiar with the game of
chicken but I don't see why you've introduced it into this discussion.
There is no chicken going on.

If you have no clue what you will have to be paying taxes on and some
of it will not be subject to withholding, like selling stocks or maybe
other assets, you are gambling it won't be too much to trigger that
underpayment penalty and just mailing the IRS a check in December or
early next year isn't going to get it.

OK, I'm pretty sure I see your concern and I went into some detail in
another post just now to try to address it. Bottom line, the IRS knows that
we taxpayers have no control over the stock market (or bond market, futures
market, commodities market, etc.) so there are no possible penalties for
not having enough money withheld *from another income source!* to cover the
taxes on a sale over here. It just doesn't work that way. It couldn't work
that way.

I like a little buffer in the
kitty. I am at the point where a little change on my line 9 makes a
big difference on the rest of that return (SS calculations, taxing of
dividends etc). My wife can also tip that scale by deciding to cash in
some of her 401k to buy a car for the grand kids.

If you're getting a $5000 refund, you're way beyond the point of a little
buffer in the kitty, but it's up to you. Do what you like. It's just money.

If I sell a stock
around the end of the year, I have some cushion down at the tax man.
Most brokers don't want to screw with withholding and if you just send
in one estimated payment in December, they might ding you for it. I
have done it and got away with it but it just depends on why they
might be looking at your return.

None of that makes the least bit of sense. All transactions are recorded
and taxes are paid, one way or another. Your broker issues 1099's that you
use to calculate your tax obligation. If you have a broker that you can't
trust, why are you still using that broker?

I get 1099s but that is after the fact, usually showing up in late
January and I have had several brokers. None withhold for the IRS.

Don't file your Federal taxes until you get all of your 1099s. That way
there's no after the fact surprises. And as stated above, there's no
requirement to have money withheld just in case you sell some stocks. That
has never been the case.

I will handle venomous snakes, wrestle with alligators and pick fights
in bars but I am not screwing with the IRS.

More nonsense.

Go ahead and **** with them.

They make the rules. Just follow their rules and no one will be ****ing
with anyone.

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 12:26:51 +1000, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again:

FLUSH the trolling senile asshole's latest troll**** unread

--
Richard about senile Rodent:
"Rod Speed, a bare faced pig and ignorant ****."
MID:

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 01:28:25 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 00:50:09 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 22:11:44 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 21:50:33 -0400, wrote:

Again with the chicken reference. If you're skirting the law, as you seem
to be suggesting, I'd advise you to take a better look at what you're
doing.

Frank gave you the perfect example. He underestimated his withholding
and ended up writing too big a check A couple years later they
actually looked at his return, assessed a penalty and charged interest
on that penalty for a couple years before he even knew he was in
trouble.

I don't know what that contrived scenario has to do with what we've been
talking about. Your estimated withholding is unrelated to any capital gains
or losses you encounter as a result of selling financial instruments.

You don't have Federal tax withheld (from what? from where?) on the off
chance that you might sell some stock shares and make a profit. Those are
two entirely different things, not captured anywhere near each other on
your return and not related to one another in any way.

Is that what you've been worrying about all this time? Well, don't.

I think what might have confused you is that the net of capital gains minus
capital losses is added to (or subtracted from, if negative) your ordinary
income amount and the sum is reported as total income. Withholding isn't
affected by capital gains, though. It's possible to owe a ton of Federal
tax if you made a ton of capital gains, but that doesn't enter into the
calculation on whether you didn't withhold enough throughout the year. The
IRS knows that taxpayers have no idea what the market rate will be when a
taxpayer decides to sell an asset. They aren't going to penalize you for
selling in a hot market. Think about it.

You are the first person I have ever heard who said a big capital gain
did not abrogate the rule about owing too much money at tax time.

In article ,
lid says...

Excellent approach. When dealing with mutual funds, it always pays to be
aware of the fees. In the last year or two the big brokerage houses have
eliminated the fees related to buying and selling stocks, so that
simplifies things a bit. Fidelity, and possibly others, also do 'by the
slice' now so that small investors can buy partial shares of stocks. If a
particular stock is valued at $600 a share and you only want to invest $50,
you can do that now. That doesn't benefit us, but it's good for the little
guys.



I have been using TD Ameritrade for the stocks I play with. They used
to charge under $ 10 per trade, but now do not charge anything. Many
years ago I looked at trading stock with the savings and loan company I
was dealing with. Forgot what they wanted but it was way out of line to
use them for trading. I much perfer just to do the trading on line.
Most of the time I will just tell the computer to buy or sell a stock at
a certain ammount. There are other ways to do it. I have set it to
sell or buy if the stock moved a certain dollar or percentage ammount.

writes:
On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:06:29 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Friday, April 16, 2021 at 12:06:42 PM UTC-4, Frank wrote:
On 4/16/2021 11:37 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
On Friday, April 16, 2021 at 9:11:45 AM UTC-5, AK wrote:
Is there any relatively safe investment that makes a better rate than a CD?

I am getting .4 %.

I don't think that is even better than the inflation rate.

Thanks.

I checked the inflation rate a few days ago. One source put it at 1.6%. It's been years
since I had money in the old government bond. EE?
You might want to look at balanced index funds. I've had some of my money in one of Vanguard's but
that particular one is closed to new investors. It has 60% of the money in stocks, 40% in bonds.
An article here about others.
https://investedwallet.com/best-vanguard-index-funds/
Consumer Reports years ago claimed it's better to get an index fund that just tracks a group of
stocks and/or bonds. Doing that cuts out the hot shot stock picker who might make a fortune one
year then go tits up the next.

Lot depends on your age and tolerance for risk.

You are not going to get any interest rates anywhere near inflation rate
and I think inflation is much higher than quoted. Government plays
games in trying to show inflation rate is low such as if price of beef
spikes then people will eat chicken so they say inflation in meat prices
did not go up.


Yet another right wing myth. At least that one won't create an insurrection.


Do you really think inflation is as low as the government says it is?

Do you have any evidence that it is not?

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 00:46:10 -0400, gfretwell wrote:

You said you keep your ready cash in a money market.
Tell me which one pays that 10% you alluded to

I left the details to my broker, and on his advice bought as much clean
uranium as I could. Buy a good distribution of stock & bonds in nuclear
reactor builders & maintainers as well as uranium prospecting &
processing on all continents.

Then you find out that some of your prospectors found precious metals
silver, gold, platinum, rare earth metals, copper, and vanadium, which is
the key component of *huge* (as Americans would say, 'football field
sized') batteries; perfect for sucking power out of uranium whilst the
world waits to wake up to another clear and clean day.

I'm not sure how much actual uranium world-wide is owned by me, because
there are lot of people who do futures trading on all metals, especially
uranium, companies owning pieces of each other, and nobody really knowing
who is going to find what valuable metal or who's reactors of the
hundreds under construction will come on-line first while oil is unstable
as well as always being expensive & dirty to ship, &c.

It all started with that Canadian uranium that Hillary sold to Russia. I
got in on it before I really understood what was happening, but I'm glad
I did anyways.

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 14:23:50 GMT, (Scott Lurndal)
wrote:

writes:
On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:06:29 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Friday, April 16, 2021 at 12:06:42 PM UTC-4, Frank wrote:
On 4/16/2021 11:37 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
On Friday, April 16, 2021 at 9:11:45 AM UTC-5, AK wrote:
Is there any relatively safe investment that makes a better rate than a CD?

I am getting .4 %.

I don't think that is even better than the inflation rate.

Thanks.

I checked the inflation rate a few days ago. One source put it at 1.6%. It's been years
since I had money in the old government bond. EE?
You might want to look at balanced index funds. I've had some of my money in one of Vanguard's but
that particular one is closed to new investors. It has 60% of the money in stocks, 40% in bonds.
An article here about others.
https://investedwallet.com/best-vanguard-index-funds/
Consumer Reports years ago claimed it's better to get an index fund that just tracks a group of
stocks and/or bonds. Doing that cuts out the hot shot stock picker who might make a fortune one
year then go tits up the next.

Lot depends on your age and tolerance for risk.

You are not going to get any interest rates anywhere near inflation rate
and I think inflation is much higher than quoted. Government plays
games in trying to show inflation rate is low such as if price of beef
spikes then people will eat chicken so they say inflation in meat prices
did not go up.


Yet another right wing myth. At least that one won't create an insurrection.


Do you really think inflation is as low as the government says it is?

Do you have any evidence that it is not?

Just my grocery bill, the cost of energy, the cost of various
materials I buy, the cost of real estate/rents and the cost of
consumer goods, in spite of most being made by Asians or 3d world
workers. The exception is electronics but that is just because of the
technology getting smaller/cheaper. There is far less labor involved.
What used to be hundreds (thousands?) of parts soldered together by
hand is now on a chip that costs pennies to produce and is wave
soldered on a board by a robot.
I am not sure what the government puts in it's basket to get the CPI
but I don't seem to buy much of that.

writes:
On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 14:23:50 GMT, (Scott Lurndal)
wrote:

Do you really think inflation is as low as the government says it is?

Do you have any evidence that it is not?

Just my grocery bill, the cost of energy, the cost of various
materials I buy, the cost of real estate/rents and the cost of
consumer goods,

My grocery bill is basically the same. I'm still paying
the same price for bread ($5.49 for two 32oz loaves) that I was
paying five years ago. Milk has not gone up. Fresh veg are
about the same. Grapes are a bit higher (0.50/#) as they're
shipped from south america this time of year. I still pay
$4.99 for a rotisserie chicken at Costco. That hasn't changed
for a decade. Salmon varies through the year between 7.99
and 9.99/lb; currently it's at 8.99. Dungeness crab is
up, mainly because the fishing season was cut short.

Yes, lumber has gone up thanks to Trump's foolish tariffs,
for which you can blame the protectionist republicans.

Real estate has been increasing every year since the
Clinton administration and is a function of supply-and-demand;
unrelated to inflation.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 16:29:51 -0400, Ralph Mowery posted for all of us to
digest...


In article ,
says...
*Starting next year I will have to take the RMD and it will be more than
I want to spend.* Not too sure what to do with the excess money.

Pay tax on it * I set it up so money is automatically withheld.



Even though the article is from 2016, the options are still valid:

https://www.marke****ch.com/story/wh...ses-2016-11-02





While valid, they don't help me.

1. Invest--I may invest some in stocks but that still just gives me more
money with nothing I really want to do with it. The needs and wants of
me and the wife are not much.

2. Invest QLAC Have to live to 80 or 80 years old, I may not make it
that long.

3. Life Insurance I would have to die and that would not do me any
good. I don't have any on me or my wife. Waste of money for us at this
point in life being over 70 years old and the ammount of money we have.
Nursing home will probably get it anyway later in time.

4. Charity Again that is just giving the money away and will not help
me.

5 college fund of 529. Still will not help me, but do have one grandson
that may or may not go to college in about 10 years.

I will probably just spend it on things that I may want,but never
thought about buying or needing. Like just went through over $ 30.000
to build a carport garage and new larger lawn tractor to put in it. May
have the master bed room remodeled next year. Seems that about every 2
years the wife wanted another room redone or painted or new flooring.

That is what you worked for. Spend it for yourself and wife. Have fun. That is
why I recommend a financial advisor. They will look at what your objectives are
and help you keep enough for the nursing home. Won't have to play with the
taxes because they are on it along with their tax people. If you want to give
money to charity do it in your will. Make sure you have your Living will and
Last Will up to date. If you want to play the stock market let them know and
set up an amount you, your wife and the advisor recommends. Make a long term
game out of it, fun...

--
Tekkie

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 18:09:57 GMT, (Scott Lurndal)
wrote:

writes:
On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 14:23:50 GMT, (Scott Lurndal)
wrote:

Do you really think inflation is as low as the government says it is?

Do you have any evidence that it is not?

Just my grocery bill, the cost of energy, the cost of various
materials I buy, the cost of real estate/rents and the cost of
consumer goods,

My grocery bill is basically the same. I'm still paying
the same price for bread ($5.49 for two 32oz loaves) that I was
paying five years ago. Milk has not gone up. Fresh veg are
about the same. Grapes are a bit higher (0.50/#) as they're
shipped from south america this time of year. I still pay
$4.99 for a rotisserie chicken at Costco. That hasn't changed
for a decade. Salmon varies through the year between 7.99
and 9.99/lb; currently it's at 8.99. Dungeness crab is
up, mainly because the fishing season was cut short.


I am not seeing that here. Store brand bread was $1.50 a loaf, Now it
is $1.79. Meat his higher across the board with the possible exception
of chicken. Canned goods are up 15 or 20 cents a can. I do all the
shopping and I am in the store a few times a week.

Yes, lumber has gone up thanks to Trump's foolish tariffs,
for which you can blame the protectionist republicans.


I am not going to argue with you about that but the real issue is we
don't have the saw mill capacity. We shipped that all overseas. The
logs themselves are a glut on the market right now and logging is at a
standstill ... but wasn't that what the tree huggers wanted in the
first place?
With the wage demands people are placing on producers, that saw mill
capacity is not going to get better.

Real estate has been increasing every year since the
Clinton administration and is a function of supply-and-demand;
unrelated to inflation.

It still represents up to half of the budgets of many Americans and
that is inflation. Maybe you do not understand what most people think
inflation is. You may have some University of Chicago definition but
most people think it is the cost of living and your home is a big part
of that living cost.

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 13:27:54 -0400, posted for all of us to
digest...


On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 14:23:50 GMT, (Scott Lurndal)
wrote:

writes:
On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:06:29 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Friday, April 16, 2021 at 12:06:42 PM UTC-4, Frank wrote:
On 4/16/2021 11:37 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
On Friday, April 16, 2021 at 9:11:45 AM UTC-5, AK wrote:
Is there any relatively safe investment that makes a better rate than a CD?

I am getting .4 %.

I don't think that is even better than the inflation rate.

Thanks.

I checked the inflation rate a few days ago. One source put it at 1.6%. It's been years
since I had money in the old government bond. EE?
You might want to look at balanced index funds. I've had some of my money in one of Vanguard's but
that particular one is closed to new investors. It has 60% of the money in stocks, 40% in bonds.
An article here about others.
https://investedwallet.com/best-vanguard-index-funds/
Consumer Reports years ago claimed it's better to get an index fund that just tracks a group of
stocks and/or bonds. Doing that cuts out the hot shot stock picker who might make a fortune one
year then go tits up the next.

Lot depends on your age and tolerance for risk.

You are not going to get any interest rates anywhere near inflation rate
and I think inflation is much higher than quoted. Government plays
games in trying to show inflation rate is low such as if price of beef
spikes then people will eat chicken so they say inflation in meat prices
did not go up.


Yet another right wing myth. At least that one won't create an insurrection.


Do you really think inflation is as low as the government says it is?

Do you have any evidence that it is not?

Just my grocery bill, the cost of energy, the cost of various
materials I buy, the cost of real estate/rents and the cost of
consumer goods, in spite of most being made by Asians or 3d world
workers. The exception is electronics but that is just because of the
technology getting smaller/cheaper. There is far less labor involved.
What used to be hundreds (thousands?) of parts soldered together by
hand is now on a chip that costs pennies to produce and is wave
soldered on a board by a robot.
I am not sure what the government puts in it's basket to get the CPI
but I don't seem to buy much of that.

Is this what I posted a few hundred posts ago?

Past Performance Is No Guarantee of Future Results.

--
Tekkie

On Monday, April 19, 2021 at 2:10:03 PM UTC-4, Scott Lurndal wrote:
writes:
On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 14:23:50 GMT, (Scott Lurndal)
wrote:
Do you really think inflation is as low as the government says it is?

Do you have any evidence that it is not?

Just my grocery bill, the cost of energy, the cost of various
materials I buy, the cost of real estate/rents and the cost of
consumer goods,
My grocery bill is basically the same. I'm still paying
the same price for bread ($5.49 for two 32oz loaves) that I was
paying five years ago. Milk has not gone up.

Lucky you. In January 2019 it was $1.99 a gallon. Now it's
(if I recall correctly) $2.32, although the online shopping site
at my grocery store says $3.09.

Cindy Hamilton

In article , says...

That is what you worked for. Spend it for yourself and wife. Have fun. That is
why I recommend a financial advisor. They will look at what your objectives are
and help you keep enough for the nursing home. Won't have to play with the
taxes because they are on it along with their tax people. If you want to give
money to charity do it in your will. Make sure you have your Living will and
Last Will up to date. If you want to play the stock market let them know and
set up an amount you, your wife and the advisor recommends. Make a long term
game out of it, fun...




I intend to spend for me and the wife. I just hate to take out money
from the IRA because of the taxes,but do take out some so I do not hit
the higher tax brackets.


For some the financial advisor is fine, but not for me. Reading much of
the financial advice on the internet is about opposit of what I want.
They want you to work to you drop (70) so your SS will be the max. I
stopped at 62 when SS took effect. I would have quit 2 years sooner,
but the company changed owners and screwed me out of over $ 1000 a month
and they were going to pay for 80 % of the medical insurnce that I had
to come up with all of that.

The wills and power of attourny is up to date for the wife and I.

I have most of the IRA in some mutual funds and am playing with a little
less than 10 % of that in the stock market myself just for fun. When I
get a fair ammount of profit in that 'play' stock, I take it out to buy
something I would like to have, but no real need for . Like the new
lawn tractor . The one I had was about 5 years old, but I just wanted a
bigger and better one.

For the nursing home, if you do not have any money , you get a free
stay. If you do have some money, you won't have it long. Have you ever
priced the stay in the nursing homes ? It may run a couple of thousand
or more a month. Probably more as it has been about 15 years when I was
looking a the homes for my dad. As he was a prisoner of war in WW2 I
put him in the local VA hospital. We were lucky enough to have a very
nice one in the town we live in.His body was so,so, but his mind was
really bad.

wrote in message
...
On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 18:09:57 GMT, (Scott Lurndal)
wrote:

writes:
On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 14:23:50 GMT, (Scott Lurndal)
wrote:

Do you really think inflation is as low as the government says it is?

Do you have any evidence that it is not?

Just my grocery bill, the cost of energy, the cost of various
materials I buy, the cost of real estate/rents and the cost of
consumer goods,

My grocery bill is basically the same. I'm still paying
the same price for bread ($5.49 for two 32oz loaves) that I was
paying five years ago. Milk has not gone up. Fresh veg are
about the same. Grapes are a bit higher (0.50/#) as they're
shipped from south america this time of year. I still pay
$4.99 for a rotisserie chicken at Costco. That hasn't changed
for a decade. Salmon varies through the year between 7.99
and 9.99/lb; currently it's at 8.99. Dungeness crab is
up, mainly because the fishing season was cut short.


I am not seeing that here. Store brand bread was $1.50 a loaf, Now it
is $1.79. Meat his higher across the board with the possible exception
of chicken. Canned goods are up 15 or 20 cents a can. I do all the
shopping and I am in the store a few times a week.

Yes, lumber has gone up thanks to Trump's foolish tariffs,
for which you can blame the protectionist republicans.

I am not going to argue with you about that but the real issue is
we don't have the saw mill capacity. We shipped that all overseas.

Bull****.

The logs themselves are a glut on the market right
now and logging is at a standstill ... but wasn't that
what the tree huggers wanted in the first place?

With the wage demands people are placing on producers,
that saw mill capacity is not going to get better.

Because Biden will cancel Trump's stupid tariffs.

Real estate has been increasing every year since
the Clinton administration and is a function of
supply-and-demand; unrelated to inflation.

It still represents up to half of the budgets of many Americans
and that is inflation. Maybe you do not understand what most
people think inflation is. You may have some University of
Chicago definition but most people think it is the cost of
living and your home is a big part of that living cost.

On Tue, 20 Apr 2021 06:56:35 +1000, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again:

FLUSH the trolling senile cretin's latest troll**** unread

--
Website (from 2007) dedicated to the 86-year-old trolling senile
cretin from Oz:
https://www.pcreview.co.uk/threads/r...d-faq.2973853/

"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
...
In article , says...

That is what you worked for. Spend it for yourself and wife. Have fun.
That is
why I recommend a financial advisor. They will look at what your
objectives are
and help you keep enough for the nursing home. Won't have to play with
the
taxes because they are on it along with their tax people. If you want to
give
money to charity do it in your will. Make sure you have your Living will
and
Last Will up to date. If you want to play the stock market let them know
and
set up an amount you, your wife and the advisor recommends. Make a long
term
game out of it, fun...




I intend to spend for me and the wife. I just hate to take out money
from the IRA because of the taxes,but do take out some so I do not hit
the higher tax brackets.


For some the financial advisor is fine, but not for me. Reading much of
the financial advice on the internet is about opposit of what I want.
They want you to work to you drop (70) so your SS will be the max. I
stopped at 62 when SS took effect. I would have quit 2 years sooner,
but the company changed owners and screwed me out of over $ 1000 a month
and they were going to pay for 80 % of the medical insurnce that I had
to come up with all of that.

The wills and power of attourny is up to date for the wife and I.

I have most of the IRA in some mutual funds and am playing with a little
less than 10 % of that in the stock market myself just for fun. When I
get a fair ammount of profit in that 'play' stock, I take it out to buy
something I would like to have, but no real need for . Like the new
lawn tractor . The one I had was about 5 years old, but I just wanted a
bigger and better one.

For the nursing home, if you do not have any money , you get a free
stay. If you do have some money, you won't have it long. Have you ever
priced the stay in the nursing homes ? It may run a couple of thousand
or more a month. Probably more as it has been about 15 years when I was
looking a the homes for my dad. As he was a prisoner of war in WW2 I
put him in the local VA hospital. We were lucky enough to have a very
nice one in the town we live in.His body was so,so, but his mind was
really bad.

I wont be using any nursing home. I will pull the plug instead of using one.

gOn Tue, 20 Apr 2021 07:21:46 +1000, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again:


I wont be using any nursing home. I will pull the plug instead of using one.

You COWARDLY BIGMOUTH!

--
"Who or What is Rod Speed?
Rod Speed is an entirely modern phenomenon. Essentially, Rod Speed
is an insecure and worthless individual who has discovered he can
enhance his own self-esteem in his own eyes by playing "the big, hard
man" on the InterNet."
https://www.pcreview.co.uk/threads/r...d-faq.2973853/

On Tue, 20 Apr 2021 06:56:35 +1000, "Rod Speed"
wrote:

Because Biden will cancel Trump's stupid tariffs.

Reading that Wiki page it appears Biden is going down the same "anti
dumping" road Trump took with Canada. They started another review Mar
4.

On 04/19/2021 02:29 PM, wrote:
On Monday, April 19, 2021 at 2:10:03 PM UTC-4, Scott Lurndal wrote:
writes:
On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 14:23:50 GMT, (Scott Lurndal)
wrote:
Do you really think inflation is as low as the government says it is?

Do you have any evidence that it is not?

Just my grocery bill, the cost of energy, the cost of various
materials I buy, the cost of real estate/rents and the cost of
consumer goods,
My grocery bill is basically the same. I'm still paying
the same price for bread ($5.49 for two 32oz loaves) that I was
paying five years ago. Milk has not gone up.

Lucky you. In January 2019 it was $1.99 a gallon. Now it's
(if I recall correctly) $2.32, although the online shopping site
at my grocery store says $3.09.

Cindy Hamilton


Quit your bitching. Around here the cheapest store brand milk is $1.99 a
half gallon with the grass fed, hand pumped, ecofriendly stuff going for
a lot more.

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 19:06:44 -0600, lowbrowwoman, the endlessly driveling,
troll-feeding, senile idiot, blabbered again:

Lucky you. In January 2019 it was $1.99 a gallon. Now it's
(if I recall correctly) $2.32, although the online shopping site
at my grocery store says $3.09.

Cindy Hamilton


Quit your bitching. Around here the cheapest store brand milk is $1.99 a
half gallon with the grass fed, hand pumped, ecofriendly stuff going for
a lot more.

YOU quit your gossiping first, senile blabbermouth! tsk

On 4/19/2021 4:49 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
In article , says...

That is what you worked for. Spend it for yourself and wife. Have fun. That is
why I recommend a financial advisor. They will look at what your objectives are
and help you keep enough for the nursing home. Won't have to play with the
taxes because they are on it along with their tax people. If you want to give
money to charity do it in your will. Make sure you have your Living will and
Last Will up to date. If you want to play the stock market let them know and
set up an amount you, your wife and the advisor recommends. Make a long term
game out of it, fun...




I intend to spend for me and the wife. I just hate to take out money
from the IRA because of the taxes,but do take out some so I do not hit
the higher tax brackets.


For some the financial advisor is fine, but not for me. Reading much of
the financial advice on the internet is about opposit of what I want.
They want you to work to you drop (70) so your SS will be the max. I
stopped at 62 when SS took effect. I would have quit 2 years sooner,
but the company changed owners and screwed me out of over $ 1000 a month
and they were going to pay for 80 % of the medical insurnce that I had
to come up with all of that.

The wills and power of attourny is up to date for the wife and I.

I have most of the IRA in some mutual funds and am playing with a little
less than 10 % of that in the stock market myself just for fun. When I
get a fair ammount of profit in that 'play' stock, I take it out to buy
something I would like to have, but no real need for . Like the new
lawn tractor . The one I had was about 5 years old, but I just wanted a
bigger and better one.

For the nursing home, if you do not have any money , you get a free
stay. If you do have some money, you won't have it long. Have you ever
priced the stay in the nursing homes ? It may run a couple of thousand
or more a month. Probably more as it has been about 15 years when I was
looking a the homes for my dad. As he was a prisoner of war in WW2 I
put him in the local VA hospital. We were lucky enough to have a very
nice one in the town we live in.His body was so,so, but his mind was
really bad.


You make a perfect case why most people need to try to learn the lingo
and read widely, learning as much as possible about all alternatives.
Then, given their own specific circumstances and threshold for risk,
they can determine what and how to organize their finances. There's no
one correct strategy that can meet the wide variety of preferences and
circumstances for all who are fortunate enough to have discretionary income.

On 4/19/2021 4:49 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
In article , says...

That is what you worked for. Spend it for yourself and wife. Have fun. That is
why I recommend a financial advisor. They will look at what your objectives are
and help you keep enough for the nursing home. Won't have to play with the
taxes because they are on it along with their tax people. If you want to give
money to charity do it in your will. Make sure you have your Living will and
Last Will up to date. If you want to play the stock market let them know and
set up an amount you, your wife and the advisor recommends. Make a long term
game out of it, fun...




I intend to spend for me and the wife. I just hate to take out money
from the IRA because of the taxes,but do take out some so I do not hit
the higher tax brackets.


For some the financial advisor is fine, but not for me. Reading much of
the financial advice on the internet is about opposit of what I want.
They want you to work to you drop (70) so your SS will be the max. I
stopped at 62 when SS took effect. I would have quit 2 years sooner,
but the company changed owners and screwed me out of over $ 1000 a month
and they were going to pay for 80 % of the medical insurnce that I had
to come up with all of that.

The wills and power of attourny is up to date for the wife and I.

I have most of the IRA in some mutual funds and am playing with a little
less than 10 % of that in the stock market myself just for fun. When I
get a fair ammount of profit in that 'play' stock, I take it out to buy
something I would like to have, but no real need for . Like the new
lawn tractor . The one I had was about 5 years old, but I just wanted a
bigger and better one.

For the nursing home, if you do not have any money , you get a free
stay. If you do have some money, you won't have it long. Have you ever
priced the stay in the nursing homes ? It may run a couple of thousand
or more a month. Probably more as it has been about 15 years when I was
looking a the homes for my dad. As he was a prisoner of war in WW2 I
put him in the local VA hospital. We were lucky enough to have a very
nice one in the town we live in.His body was so,so, but his mind was
really bad.



Look up state charges. They are staggering. Guy across the street was
paying $14,000/month for his mother. If you go in poor you will share a
room and a medicade room has to be available. Assisted living is just
as expensive. This is the US but I believe in the UK you get the same
facility whether or not you can afford it so people there spend all
their money.

"Frank" "frank wrote in message
...
On 4/19/2021 4:49 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
In article , says...

That is what you worked for. Spend it for yourself and wife. Have fun.
That is
why I recommend a financial advisor. They will look at what your
objectives are
and help you keep enough for the nursing home. Won't have to play with
the
taxes because they are on it along with their tax people. If you want to
give
money to charity do it in your will. Make sure you have your Living will
and
Last Will up to date. If you want to play the stock market let them know
and
set up an amount you, your wife and the advisor recommends. Make a long
term
game out of it, fun...




I intend to spend for me and the wife. I just hate to take out money
from the IRA because of the taxes,but do take out some so I do not hit
the higher tax brackets.


For some the financial advisor is fine, but not for me. Reading much of
the financial advice on the internet is about opposit of what I want.
They want you to work to you drop (70) so your SS will be the max. I
stopped at 62 when SS took effect. I would have quit 2 years sooner,
but the company changed owners and screwed me out of over $ 1000 a month
and they were going to pay for 80 % of the medical insurnce that I had
to come up with all of that.

The wills and power of attourny is up to date for the wife and I.

I have most of the IRA in some mutual funds and am playing with a little
less than 10 % of that in the stock market myself just for fun. When I
get a fair ammount of profit in that 'play' stock, I take it out to buy
something I would like to have, but no real need for . Like the new
lawn tractor . The one I had was about 5 years old, but I just wanted a
bigger and better one.

For the nursing home, if you do not have any money , you get a free
stay. If you do have some money, you won't have it long. Have you ever
priced the stay in the nursing homes ? It may run a couple of thousand
or more a month. Probably more as it has been about 15 years when I was
looking a the homes for my dad. As he was a prisoner of war in WW2 I
put him in the local VA hospital. We were lucky enough to have a very
nice one in the town we live in.His body was so,so, but his mind was
really bad.



Look up state charges. They are staggering. Guy across the street was
paying $14,000/month for his mother. If you go in poor you will share a
room and a medicade room has to be available. Assisted living is just as
expensive.

This is the US but I believe in the UK you get the same facility whether
or not you can afford it so people there spend all their money.

That is just plain wrong.

On Wed, 21 Apr 2021 04:20:55 +1000, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again:

FLUSH the useless trolling senile asshole's latest troll**** unread

--
Sqwertz to Rodent Speed:
"This is just a hunch, but I'm betting you're kinda an argumentative
asshole.
MID:

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 09:36:36 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
says...

Excellent approach. When dealing with mutual funds, it always pays to be
aware of the fees. In the last year or two the big brokerage houses have
eliminated the fees related to buying and selling stocks, so that
simplifies things a bit. Fidelity, and possibly others, also do 'by the
slice' now so that small investors can buy partial shares of stocks. If a
particular stock is valued at $600 a share and you only want to invest $50,
you can do that now. That doesn't benefit us, but it's good for the little
guys.



I have been using TD Ameritrade for the stocks I play with. They used
to charge under $ 10 per trade, but now do not charge anything. Many
years ago I looked at trading stock with the savings and loan company I
was dealing with. Forgot what they wanted but it was way out of line to
use them for trading. I much perfer just to do the trading on line.
Most of the time I will just tell the computer to buy or sell a stock at
a certain ammount. There are other ways to do it. I have set it to
sell or buy if the stock moved a certain dollar or percentage ammount.

We used to have stuff scattered around in a dozen or so brokerage houses,
but we've consolidated everything at Fidelity. It's not better than the
others, it was just more convenient to transfer there.

We do 100% of our trading online. Like every other financial institution of
that type, they have advisors on staff but there are two big problems with
using them.

1. They seem to know less than we do, so they just agree with everything we
say. At first that comes off as being friendly and supportive, until we
realized they were just agreeing with everything, even things that we knew
better than to do.

2. This is a big one - They are usually not a fiduciary, meaning by law
they are allowed to serve their own priorities even when those priorities
do not benefit us. So when they make suggestions or recommendations, we
just ignore them.

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 13:27:54 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 14:23:50 GMT, (Scott Lurndal)
wrote:

writes:
On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:06:29 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Friday, April 16, 2021 at 12:06:42 PM UTC-4, Frank wrote:
On 4/16/2021 11:37 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
On Friday, April 16, 2021 at 9:11:45 AM UTC-5, AK wrote:
Is there any relatively safe investment that makes a better rate than a CD?

I am getting .4 %.

I don't think that is even better than the inflation rate.

Thanks.

I checked the inflation rate a few days ago. One source put it at 1.6%. It's been years
since I had money in the old government bond. EE?
You might want to look at balanced index funds. I've had some of my money in one of Vanguard's but
that particular one is closed to new investors. It has 60% of the money in stocks, 40% in bonds.
An article here about others.
https://investedwallet.com/best-vanguard-index-funds/
Consumer Reports years ago claimed it's better to get an index fund that just tracks a group of
stocks and/or bonds. Doing that cuts out the hot shot stock picker who might make a fortune one
year then go tits up the next.

Lot depends on your age and tolerance for risk.

You are not going to get any interest rates anywhere near inflation rate
and I think inflation is much higher than quoted. Government plays
games in trying to show inflation rate is low such as if price of beef
spikes then people will eat chicken so they say inflation in meat prices
did not go up.


Yet another right wing myth. At least that one won't create an insurrection.


Do you really think inflation is as low as the government says it is?

Do you have any evidence that it is not?

Just my grocery bill, the cost of energy, the cost of various
materials I buy, the cost of real estate/rents and the cost of
consumer goods, in spite of most being made by Asians or 3d world
workers. The exception is electronics but that is just because of the
technology getting smaller/cheaper. There is far less labor involved.
What used to be hundreds (thousands?) of parts soldered together by
hand is now on a chip that costs pennies to produce and is wave
soldered on a board by a robot.

In other words, no evidence.

I am not sure what the government puts in it's basket to get the CPI
but I don't seem to buy much of that.

That explains the lack of evidence. You know, they publish detailed info on
how they calculate the CPI, how they select products, the records they
keep, etc. You can look it up, or maybe this will get you started.

https://www.bls.gov/cpi/questions-and-answers.htm

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 09:27:34 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 01:28:25 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 00:50:09 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 22:11:44 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 21:50:33 -0400, wrote:

Again with the chicken reference. If you're skirting the law, as you seem
to be suggesting, I'd advise you to take a better look at what you're
doing.

Frank gave you the perfect example. He underestimated his withholding
and ended up writing too big a check A couple years later they
actually looked at his return, assessed a penalty and charged interest
on that penalty for a couple years before he even knew he was in
trouble.

I don't know what that contrived scenario has to do with what we've been
talking about. Your estimated withholding is unrelated to any capital gains
or losses you encounter as a result of selling financial instruments.

You don't have Federal tax withheld (from what? from where?) on the off
chance that you might sell some stock shares and make a profit. Those are
two entirely different things, not captured anywhere near each other on
your return and not related to one another in any way.

Is that what you've been worrying about all this time? Well, don't.

I think what might have confused you is that the net of capital gains minus
capital losses is added to (or subtracted from, if negative) your ordinary
income amount and the sum is reported as total income. Withholding isn't
affected by capital gains, though. It's possible to owe a ton of Federal
tax if you made a ton of capital gains, but that doesn't enter into the
calculation on whether you didn't withhold enough throughout the year. The
IRS knows that taxpayers have no idea what the market rate will be when a
taxpayer decides to sell an asset. They aren't going to penalize you for
selling in a hot market. Think about it.

You are the first person I have ever heard who said a big capital gain
did not abrogate the rule about owing too much money at tax time.

Thank you. I'm glad I could help.

Now we can stop the nonsense about playing chicken, etc.

On Tue, 20 Apr 2021 15:46:52 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 13:27:54 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 14:23:50 GMT, (Scott Lurndal)
wrote:

writes:
On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:06:29 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Friday, April 16, 2021 at 12:06:42 PM UTC-4, Frank wrote:
On 4/16/2021 11:37 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
On Friday, April 16, 2021 at 9:11:45 AM UTC-5, AK wrote:
Is there any relatively safe investment that makes a better rate than a CD?

I am getting .4 %.

I don't think that is even better than the inflation rate.

Thanks.

I checked the inflation rate a few days ago. One source put it at 1.6%. It's been years
since I had money in the old government bond. EE?
You might want to look at balanced index funds. I've had some of my money in one of Vanguard's but
that particular one is closed to new investors. It has 60% of the money in stocks, 40% in bonds.
An article here about others.
https://investedwallet.com/best-vanguard-index-funds/
Consumer Reports years ago claimed it's better to get an index fund that just tracks a group of
stocks and/or bonds. Doing that cuts out the hot shot stock picker who might make a fortune one
year then go tits up the next.

Lot depends on your age and tolerance for risk.

You are not going to get any interest rates anywhere near inflation rate
and I think inflation is much higher than quoted. Government plays
games in trying to show inflation rate is low such as if price of beef
spikes then people will eat chicken so they say inflation in meat prices
did not go up.


Yet another right wing myth. At least that one won't create an insurrection.


Do you really think inflation is as low as the government says it is?

Do you have any evidence that it is not?

Just my grocery bill, the cost of energy, the cost of various
materials I buy, the cost of real estate/rents and the cost of
consumer goods, in spite of most being made by Asians or 3d world
workers. The exception is electronics but that is just because of the
technology getting smaller/cheaper. There is far less labor involved.
What used to be hundreds (thousands?) of parts soldered together by
hand is now on a chip that costs pennies to produce and is wave
soldered on a board by a robot.

In other words, no evidence.

I am not sure what the government puts in it's basket to get the CPI
but I don't seem to buy much of that.

That explains the lack of evidence. You know, they publish detailed info on
how they calculate the CPI, how they select products, the records they
keep, etc. You can look it up, or maybe this will get you started.

https://www.bls.gov/cpi/questions-and-answers.htm

I just know my grocery bills are higher, my energy bills are higher,
used car prices are higher and the rents people pay are higher. Buying
a house is a distant dream for most of them. What do you think drives
the cost of living for the majority? You millionaire democrats claim
to care about the working man but you seem to be totally out of touch
with the reality of their day to day life.

On Tue, 20 Apr 2021 15:48:33 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 09:27:34 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 01:28:25 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 00:50:09 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 22:11:44 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 21:50:33 -0400, wrote:

Again with the chicken reference. If you're skirting the law, as you seem
to be suggesting, I'd advise you to take a better look at what you're
doing.

Frank gave you the perfect example. He underestimated his withholding
and ended up writing too big a check A couple years later they
actually looked at his return, assessed a penalty and charged interest
on that penalty for a couple years before he even knew he was in
trouble.

I don't know what that contrived scenario has to do with what we've been
talking about. Your estimated withholding is unrelated to any capital gains
or losses you encounter as a result of selling financial instruments.

You don't have Federal tax withheld (from what? from where?) on the off
chance that you might sell some stock shares and make a profit. Those are
two entirely different things, not captured anywhere near each other on
your return and not related to one another in any way.

Is that what you've been worrying about all this time? Well, don't.

I think what might have confused you is that the net of capital gains minus
capital losses is added to (or subtracted from, if negative) your ordinary
income amount and the sum is reported as total income. Withholding isn't
affected by capital gains, though. It's possible to owe a ton of Federal
tax if you made a ton of capital gains, but that doesn't enter into the
calculation on whether you didn't withhold enough throughout the year. The
IRS knows that taxpayers have no idea what the market rate will be when a
taxpayer decides to sell an asset. They aren't going to penalize you for
selling in a hot market. Think about it.

You are the first person I have ever heard who said a big capital gain
did not abrogate the rule about owing too much money at tax time.

Thank you. I'm glad I could help.

Now we can stop the nonsense about playing chicken, etc.

The chicken part is still true for the ones you say you are helping.
If someone is trying to micro manage their withholding to minimize
their return, they can guess wrong. If you don't have a pretty good
sized slush fund, paying might be a burden. The average American would
be hard pressed to come up with a few grand on short notice.
As for me, I just look at it as a T bill that pays 0.04% less than the
going rate. I can afford the two bucks I am missing out on.

On Tue, 20 Apr 2021 17:34:56 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 20 Apr 2021 15:46:52 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 13:27:54 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 14:23:50 GMT, (Scott Lurndal)
wrote:

writes:
On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:06:29 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Friday, April 16, 2021 at 12:06:42 PM UTC-4, Frank wrote:
On 4/16/2021 11:37 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
On Friday, April 16, 2021 at 9:11:45 AM UTC-5, AK wrote:
Is there any relatively safe investment that makes a better rate than a CD?

I am getting .4 %.

I don't think that is even better than the inflation rate.

Thanks.

I checked the inflation rate a few days ago. One source put it at 1.6%. It's been years
since I had money in the old government bond. EE?
You might want to look at balanced index funds. I've had some of my money in one of Vanguard's but
that particular one is closed to new investors. It has 60% of the money in stocks, 40% in bonds.
An article here about others.
https://investedwallet.com/best-vanguard-index-funds/
Consumer Reports years ago claimed it's better to get an index fund that just tracks a group of
stocks and/or bonds. Doing that cuts out the hot shot stock picker who might make a fortune one
year then go tits up the next.

Lot depends on your age and tolerance for risk.

You are not going to get any interest rates anywhere near inflation rate
and I think inflation is much higher than quoted. Government plays
games in trying to show inflation rate is low such as if price of beef
spikes then people will eat chicken so they say inflation in meat prices
did not go up.


Yet another right wing myth. At least that one won't create an insurrection.


Do you really think inflation is as low as the government says it is?

Do you have any evidence that it is not?

Just my grocery bill, the cost of energy, the cost of various
materials I buy, the cost of real estate/rents and the cost of
consumer goods, in spite of most being made by Asians or 3d world
workers. The exception is electronics but that is just because of the
technology getting smaller/cheaper. There is far less labor involved.
What used to be hundreds (thousands?) of parts soldered together by
hand is now on a chip that costs pennies to produce and is wave
soldered on a board by a robot.

In other words, no evidence.

I am not sure what the government puts in it's basket to get the CPI
but I don't seem to buy much of that.

That explains the lack of evidence. You know, they publish detailed info on
how they calculate the CPI, how they select products, the records they
keep, etc. You can look it up, or maybe this will get you started.

https://www.bls.gov/cpi/questions-and-answers.htm

I just know my grocery bills are higher, my energy bills are higher,
used car prices are higher and the rents people pay are higher. Buying
a house is a distant dream for most of them. What do you think drives
the cost of living for the majority? You millionaire democrats claim
to care about the working man but you seem to be totally out of touch
with the reality of their day to day life.

If I may... Please pull to the side of the road and disconnect the rope
that you're using to drag the goalposts around.

Now, addressing your post:
1. Your example is anecdotal. One person doing some grocery shopping in
Florida does not inflation make.

2. Use the link I gave you and learn what goes into the actual calculation.

3. I forgot my third point, but I think it was just a reminder that running
after you as you move the goalposts is exhausting.