Financial Checkup, Let's Discuss Positions, Holdings, and Thoughts for Near Future

RabbitTroop

RabbitTroop

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stevenk said:
Last thing - don't go looking for $100k returns in 4 months if you're only going to stick $10k in. It's the % return that matters, not the $ value.
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This. I probably shouldn't have left that dangling carrot out there, but it still surprises me that the value of my place has increased so much, and so quickly, but this wasn't $10K out of pocket to get $100K. My down payment was over $230K, so yes, it's definitely a factor of how much skin you have in the game and I wasn't out for a short-term return, but a place to live. It's more or less just lucky timing and location I bought in.

My next property, I'm looking for hot areas, but more up and coming hoods. I have my eye on a few areas around Seattle, for that reason. The idea is to find the right area and property, not just buy any property.
 
HDRchampion

HDRchampion

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So how long have you guys been flipping houses? Seem like a lot money can be made but seems huge risk involve. Is this a full time job?
 
theMot

theMot

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Here is one I recently completed. Another Duel occ, renovated the house and built behind the old one. 7.5% yield.

Old Kitchen
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New Kitchen
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Old Bathroom
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New Bathroom 1
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New Bathroom 2
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Images of inside front house
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Old House Before...
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New House built at back
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Inside new house
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IMG_1749.JPG
IMG_1754.JPG
 
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Maury V.

Maury V.

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This month, my car will FINALLY be paid off after 5 years! Later this year, my student loans will be taken care of. Those two headaches will allow me to save and concentrate on my business more.
 
xRealNinjuzx

xRealNinjuzx

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Rabbit, take some time to look into the Vegas market a bit. They got going real big with overdevelopment during the boom, and a lot of million dollar homes are currently available in the $200's and they are just starting to tick back up over the last year or two. I'm looking to pick up a couple of 4plex properties so that I can hire a property management company and enjoy the passive income. The best part about the market in the area right now is that they are actually still developing. So you have options, between looking for foreclosures (if you don't mind some sweat equity, which is totally not my thing) new developments and existing properties.

My thinking is that if I get into something at a reasonable price while I can still get an interest rate around 4%, I will see a better return on my money over the course of 10 years than I would with other less secure methods of investing. I'm even less concerned about a market crash now than ever in the area because prices are still very near to the lows from a few years back.
 
xRealNinjuzx

xRealNinjuzx

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stevenk said:
It's always a good time to be buying property, it just depends where you are buying it. I know that sounds like the kind of bullshit mantra some con artist at an investment seminar would throw out but it's true. I don't know the US property market but your man RealNinjuz is talking about vegas - ask him why, look into it.

As for getting the cash - borrow it - it doesn't cost much to get into property in one way or another if you're really serious about it.

Last thing - don't go looking for $100k returns in 4 months if you're only going to stick $10k in. It's the % return that matters, not the $ value.
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Sorry about the double post, but I figured I would comment on this as well. Property is always a good invstment, but that doesn't always make it a profitable investment. A lot of people in the last few years got into situations where they were in million dollar homes that lost 80% of their value very quickly and then suddenly had to choose between dumping a bad investment and starting over, or losing hundreds of thousands of dollars sticking with a loser. As for the comment about borrowing the money, it's a little harder with investment properties. Some banks will even request a higher down payment if the investment property is not the primary residence. There are a ton of nuances but in the end, super worth.

That being said, to go with a previous comment, most of the money I use to invest comes from family inheritance and some comes from other traditional investing. Day trading penny stocks back in the day, regular job, bitcoin, the whole deal. I am 32 years old with no wife and no kids, so I am more ready able to take extreme risks in order to maximize profit. Doesn't always work, but it only has to hit once.
 
RabbitTroop

RabbitTroop

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GohanX said:
Lol, my 401k lost $1000 in two weeks.
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I don't even want to tell you what mine lost in two weeks. Hint for those with strong stomachs: Over $50K

Haha, not like it matters. My 401K has at least 30 years more to churn. 2008 was by far my worst year, down 28%. 2009, was my best year, up 32%. I'm not fretting the down turn at all, and over time I'll make it all back and then some. Best not to sweat the markets.
 
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HDRchampion

HDRchampion

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RabbitTroop said:
I don't even want to tell you what mine lost in two weeks. Hint for those with strong stomachs: Over $50K

Haha, not like it matters. My 401K has at least 30 years more to churn. 2008 was by far my worst year, down 28%. 2009, was my best year, up 32%. I'm not fretting the down turn at all, and over time I'll make it all back and then some. Best not to sweat the markets.
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Damn you lost 50K+ in 2weeks! You must have close to million in your 401k already.

I wish i have a 401k. Right now my only option is Roth IRA which im maxing every year. Wish i did this sooner.
 
RabbitTroop

RabbitTroop

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HDRchampion said:
Damn you lost 50K+ in 2weeks! You must have close to million in your 401k already.

I wish i have a 401k. Right now my only option is Roth IRA which im maxing every year. Wish i did this sooner.
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That what did it for me. It was a small piece of advice my brother-in-law gave me when I started working for a company back in 2000. They were my first to offer a 401K and he told me, day one, set it up for 15% contribution. It's going to suck, but it's your first paycheck and you won't even miss the money. Set it, and forget it.

I listened, and for the last 16 or so years, I've been contributing. 2004 was the first year I could max out contributions. That sucked too... but I made it work. I've maxed out contributions every year since. Now, I don't even pretend I have that money. It just auto-deducts... I never see it... I don't miss it... And it grows fast. Truth be told, this was a bad couple weeks, but like I said, it'll bounce back eventually. I've got a long time to go before I start taking payouts from the account.

:D But... Don't feel you're too late to start. Start today, the Roth counts... It's better than nothing, and at least you're saving. In 10-15 years, you'll be sitting pretty too. There's no secret, just time in the game, and you still have a lot of time to be in the game.
 
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madman

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GohanX said:
Lol, my 401k lost $1000 in two weeks.
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I wouldn't worry about a 401k loss, especially something like $1,000. Unless you're in your 60's it'll rebound and then some.

RabbitTroop said:
I don't even want to tell you what mine lost in two weeks. Hint for those with strong stomachs: Over $50K
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My options account with my current company is down about $300k in the last month and a half. That's the ebb and flow of the market. I rarely hold anything short term anymore, I used to actively trade quite a bit, especially tech stocks in my sector that I know quite a bit about. I still do some occasional short term trades, but I'm 90% in it for the long haul and make good income off dividends.

I'm sure it's been said in here before, but always max out your 401ks if you have option from your employer. If they do any matching, even better. You don't want to be that 70 year old mall cop or door man scraping by at that age.
 
lithy

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Oof, I'm maxing my employer offered Simple IRA, we aren't quite able to max the wife's 401k yet and we're putting the Roth IRA max in for the both of us each year as well.

Our Roths are with Fidelity, and going to try to put the 2016 contributions in shortly. Anyone have any recommendations on funds? Right now I think we have some mid-cap, some large-cap, a couple indexes (nasdaq, s&p) but honestly, I just look for something with some low fees.

Right now, trying to figure out how to save up for our next house down payment right now and continue to be at least close to the savings rate we've had. The goal is to buy again in 2020 and keep the current house as a rental. Unfortunately I think between now and then I also should look to replace the a/c and furnace in the current house.
 
madman

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lithy said:
Our Roths are with Fidelity, and going to try to put the 2016 contributions in shortly. Anyone have any recommendations on funds? Right now I think we have some mid-cap, some large-cap, a couple indexes (nasdaq, s&p) but honestly, I just look for something with some low fees.
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With my current 401k I've got FBGKX, FGCKX and FLCSX as my largest contributions. Great gains on those over the last 3.5 years I've been at this company.
 
RabbitTroop

RabbitTroop

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lithy said:
Oof, I'm maxing my employer offered Simple IRA, we aren't quite able to max the wife's 401k yet and we're putting the Roth IRA max in for the both of us each year as well.

Our Roths are with Fidelity, and going to try to put the 2016 contributions in shortly. Anyone have any recommendations on funds? Right now I think we have some mid-cap, some large-cap, a couple indexes (nasdaq, s&p) but honestly, I just look for something with some low fees.

Right now, trying to figure out how to save up for our next house down payment right now and continue to be at least close to the savings rate we've had. The goal is to buy again in 2020 and keep the current house as a rental. Unfortunately I think between now and then I also should look to replace the a/c and furnace in the current house.
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Does your Fidelity account have a total stock market plan. Vanguard's VTSAX is a low fee index fund version of their ETF VTI. Tracks within a few cents or so of VTI, and probably has a few clones by similar names. Otherwise, look at how you want to be positioned:

Large Cap is your big companies, usually with lower returns, but probably with decent dividends, so they actually do pretty decently.
Small Cap are your growth companies. A lot more volatility, a lot more up, and a lot more down when the days are bad, but usually perform pretty well during the good markets
Mid Caps are somewhere in between, and may have some dividends, and more volatility usually than Large Caps, but not as crazy as Small Caps.

I think it makes sense to fairly distribute for an mildly aggressive portfolio. Something like 30% Large, 30% Mid, 30% Small and 10% International. If you want to go for more growth, ratchet up the Small and Mid a bit and lower Large cap. International is a rocky road right now, but you should aim for 10-15% because it will pop and it's good to have some eggs in a world basket.

As for bonds. Yield is still shit as the Fed is keeping rates low. I've never been a big fan of bonds anyway, and right now I'm really not interested in owning any.

Your instinct is also dead on. Keep those fees low. Don't look at past performance and think it's indicative of future performance, and... Don't freak when the market swings (not that I think you will). Remember, time in the market always beats trying to time the market with long term investments. :)

Oh, and target accounts are not horrid during rocky years. I have a test account, just about $20K, sitting with Fidelity in a year-target account, and although it's been a low percentage performer during the last few skyrocketing years, it did slowly tick up at a decent rate. It's also doing really well right now with the downtrend. I actually am even on that account right now for the year, which is pretty amazing. Now, once things snap back, we'll see how it performs against its big brother.
 
lithy

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RabbitTroop said:
Does your Fidelity account have a total stock market plan. Vanguard's VTSAX is a low fee index fund version of their ETF VTI. Tracks within a few cents or so of VTI, and probably has a few clones by similar names. Otherwise, look at how you want to be positioned:

Large Cap is your big companies, usually with lower returns, but probably with decent dividends, so they actually do pretty decently.
Small Cap are your growth companies. A lot more volatility, a lot more up, and a lot more down when the days are bad, but usually perform pretty well during the good markets
Mid Caps are somewhere in between, and may have some dividends, and more volatility usually than Large Caps, but not as crazy as Small Caps.

I think it makes sense to fairly distribute for an mildly aggressive portfolio. Something like 30% Large, 30% Mid, 30% Small and 10% International. If you want to go for more growth, ratchet up the Small and Mid a bit and lower Large cap. International is a rocky road right now, but you should aim for 10-15% because it will pop and it's good to have some eggs in a world basket.

As for bonds. Yield is still shit as the Fed is keeping rates low. I've never been a big fan of bonds anyway, and right now I'm really not interested in owning any.

Your instinct is also dead on. Keep those fees low. Don't look at past performance and think it's indicative of future performance, and... Don't freak when the market swings (not that I think you will). Remember, time in the market always beats trying to time the market with long term investments. :)

Oh, and target accounts are not horrid during rocky years. I have a test account, just about $20K, sitting with Fidelity in a year-target account, and although it's been a low percentage performer during the last few skyrocketing years, it did slowly tick up at a decent rate. It's also doing really well right now with the downtrend. I actually am even on that account right now for the year, which is pretty amazing. Now, once things snap back, we'll see how it performs against its big brother.
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Thanks for the suggestions. I'm about to go to bed, but after a quick look it seems like FSTVX is similar to VTSAX. The Vanguard fund seems to be slightly better (and def more well known since I've seen it mentioned before).

Everything is basically stocks right now. In it for the long haul, I do have limited choices in my Simple IRA so it is in a target fund. Fees are high through Franklin Templeton, I made an effort to get work to switch from their plans to Fidelity or Vanguard last year but didn't get anywhere. I view it as my worst investment with only a 3% salary match and the tax benefit as the upside.

I'll take a longer look this weekend at where everything actually is. The only thing I left out is about a thousand bucks in an international funds account that is leftover from a mutual fund my parents opened to help with college. It is only about 1% of our total invested and it has not really done anything lately but you have a good point that it might come around eventually and it will be good to have something there.

Especially since most of our investing has been coming at market highs in the last couple years...
 
RabbitTroop

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For set it and forget it type things, a total stock market account will do pretty well. It's better than trying to eek out your own percentage and missing the mark, and it's an aggregate of the entire stock market, so it won't be a rocket performer, but it will be a solid performer giving you consistent gains/losses that follow the ebb and flow of the markets. Basically, it's a good way to get exposure to the market, and can be a major or majority play in your portfolio.

Hell, even Buffett has said he wants to see his money just sacked into VTI after he dies. I'm sure FSTVX would have similar results, overall.
 
mjmjr25

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I'm extremely conservative with my investments and fairly diverse too. My 401K has been rolling for 15+ years now - I think my best year was +6% and my worst was +2%. 75% of my money in goes to the most conservative fund they have - currently the Putnam Stable Fund, which returns about 3%, but it's stable / ex low risk. The other 25% is all over the place in diff mutual funds. I also buy Palladium, Gold and Silver every few months. Lastly, other than home, have never had a loan - cash only.
 
lithy

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I am setting up my accounting for 2017 and getting ready to close out this year and just wanted to see where everyone's head is at for the end of the year.

Just a reminder thatthe DJIA started 2016 at a high of around 17,500 in early January and bottomed out shortly after that in February at just over 15,500.

It has been on a huge run since then. Despite the recent rate hike, the market seems poised to close over 20,000 at least once before 2016 closes out.

Sucks for anyone still trying to accumulate savings. We will have to make our kid's college fund contribution this week to get the tax benefit but I might wait on doing our 2017 Roth funding just to see if things take a dip.

I also left my previous job in July and the current brewery is not yet open so I lost a little bit of tax advantaged savings for the second half of the year.

Still we were able to have a net worth increase about the same as the previous two years although more came from value growth this year.

2017 goals are to begin saving for a down payment so a portion of retirement saving is going on hold.
 
NeoSneth

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Pharma is still really really low. almost 5 yr low for some major players. Pulled out some during the decline, but I'm debating throwing more back in. I have no insider info for big pharma tho.

2017 is going to be a bumpy ride once Trump starts making official changes. I don't expect it all to be downhill, but it's definitely going to be a rollercoaster.
 
Lastblade

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NeoSneth said:
Pharma is still really really low. almost 5 yr low for some major players. Pulled out some during the decline, but I'm debating throwing more back in. I have no insider info for big pharma tho.

2017 is going to be a bumpy ride once Trump starts making official changes. I don't expect it all to be downhill, but it's definitely going to be a rollercoaster.
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Just invest in Vanguard's health care fund. It did poorly this year because of the pullback, but historically, this fund returns double digit. I am slowly buying in, every time cheaper than the last and have about 30k in there now. Population is getting older and living longer, requires more medical attention so this sector will be hot again sooner or later. The key is being able to ride out the rough times (like now) and keep buying when it is cheap.
 
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