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#61 McNulty

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Posted 07 September 2016 - 03:06 PM

As much as I know about boating, I'm a novice at sailing. But I could learn. I'd almost rather buy a yacht
  When you say yacht, whaddya mean?
Like a 35' cruiser type. Mid 90s boats that size run about 50-60,000

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#62 RShack

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Posted 07 September 2016 - 03:12 PM

Like a 35' cruiser type. Mid 90s boats that size run about 50-60,000

 

OK... I asked because sailboats can be yachts too... and were before cruisers were invented...

 

Personally, I get sick of boat noise-and-vibration... sailboats have that when you need it, but you can just float along without all that, just the air wooshing... IMO, that's more magic potential... 'specially at night...  plus, it doesn't cost a fortune in fuel to get someplace... (but you pay for it in time)...

 

But this is one of those things that some folks get religulous about... highly personal decision...


 "The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second-class citizen to a second-class immortal." - Satchel Paige


#63 Matt_P

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Posted 07 September 2016 - 07:43 PM

Anybody know anything about peer-to-peer lending/investing?  Looking to do something other than a savings account or CD to hopefully get a few more percentage points of return.  P2P seems intriguing, not as prone to market fluctuations but probably more active management required than simply investing in some fairly stable mutual funds.

 

OH DEAR GOD NO!!!!! 

 

To be fair, there's good news and bad news.

 

The bad news is that the most of the sites fraudulently state their returns to make things look better then they actually are. People mostly refuse to pay back their loans and you get pretty much screwed. It's a great way to lose your principal though and it's probably more efficient of doing so then setting your cash on fire. 

 

The good news is that most of the sites that offer such services are largely barred from taking money in most of the US. The ones that aren't require investors to have significant cash on hand. I forget the exact amount, but we're talking people with over a million dollars in net worth. 

 

It's a great concept that ends up being a scam.

 

Edit: Requirements have gone down since I last checked. That's probably not a good thing though.


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#64 CA-ORIOLE

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Posted 07 September 2016 - 11:41 PM

I'm definitely in the winter of my current career with 3 and change to go.  I spend a lot of time thinking about what I want to do in my second act.

 

Ideally, I'd love to have a job where I can set my own hours, maybe work from home, with low stress.  The pay isn't important since I'll have a steady retirement check every month.  

 

I'd love to buy something, and have most (if not all) paid off.  I've got about 16K in savings, and that should grow to around 45 while I'm here.  

 

Any suggestions?  I pretty much have a blank canvas here.  I've considered buying a tiny house, or a living aboard a boat.  My main goal is to get my bills down to as little as possible.  Where would you live if given the choice?

Well, my advice to you would be to document all your medical issues your past 3 years in the service and make sure any previous issues are in your record. I had moderate to major issues my past few years and I wish I had done a better job of documenting them in service. 


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#65 RShack

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Posted 08 September 2016 - 01:52 AM

Well, my advice to you would be to document all your medical issues your past 3 years in the service and make sure any previous issues are in your record. I had moderate to major issues my past few years and I wish I had done a better job of documenting them in service. 

 

Just curious:  Will they give you a copy of your entire military record?  Or are there parts they won't?


 "The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second-class citizen to a second-class immortal." - Satchel Paige


#66 Mackus

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Posted 08 September 2016 - 07:25 AM

OH DEAR GOD NO!!!!!

 

Yikes, that's a pretty strong recommendation against.  Are you sure we're talking about the same thing?  There are some tools I've found that generate statistics based on past loans, and only about 6% of Lending Club loans end in loss.  That number stays lower if you exclude some of the more riskier loans given out.  And, you don't fund a whole loan yourself as an investor (well, you can, but I wouldn't).  You can buy notes, effectively shares of a loan, for as small as $25, and then diversify that by investing in a couple hundred different loans so if one defaults it doesn't hurt that much (of course if one high rate one is paid in full, it doesn't help that much either to only own a fraction of a percent of it).

 

I haven't done enough research yet, but I haven't found as strong of a negative opinion as yours anywhere else.  Most negative thing I've seen is an article saying Lending Club may overstate their projected rates of return because they don't discount any loans that are currently delinquent but not yet defaulted when those loans have a much higher chance of reaching default than does an up-to-date one.  But they have since changed their options so you can project a more realistic rate of return by discounting the value of any notes that are a share of a loan in a current delinquent state, the later the payments the less valuable that note is. 

 

I also read another article questioning the credit grading system that Lending Club uses to determine if a loan grades from A to G.  But the rates of return are based on historical loan data, so unless the way they do things or the environment of its users changes in the future, it shouldn't matter too much if it is flawed.EDIT:

 

EDIT:  Here's a very negative article.  Wonder why this didn't pop up sooner in search results.



#67 Matt_P

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Posted 08 September 2016 - 05:57 PM

Yeah, before Lending Club there was Prosper. And they also had great rates of return... until people figured out they were cooking the books. Both Lending Club and Prosper still exist, but with a black eye.

 

There should be a lot of negative reviews. There certainly were six years ago. I imagine Prosper and Lending Club have found a way to get rid of negative reviews. 


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#68 Mackus

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Posted 08 September 2016 - 06:13 PM

Boring old low-risk/low-return mutual funds it is then...still, will be nice to get 3-5% instead of under 1% or even a big fat zero.

#69 Matt_P

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Posted 08 September 2016 - 09:16 PM

Boring old low-risk/low-return mutual funds it is then...still, will be nice to get 3-5% instead of under 1% or even a big fat zero.

 

True enough. 



#70 RShack

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Posted 09 September 2016 - 01:07 AM

Boring old low-risk/low-return mutual funds it is then...still, will be nice to get 3-5% instead of under 1% or even a big fat zero.

 

There are tons of mutual funds with various profiles... you need not pick something boring and low-return, nor something that's reckless... there are lots of very sound mutual funds that do way better than boring without sticking your neck out...  

 

The only reason I can think of to go with low-return ones is if you might need to cash them in on a moment's notice... in that scenario, you don't want any volatility... but if the funds are long-term savings without any short-term need, you can do way better than lousy returns, with some yo-yo'ing along the way...  

 

For example, I've got some money parked in 5 of them that have each increased by more than 20% since late-January (not saying they'll maintain that, but neither are they gonna fall off a cliff either), another 4 that have done between 8% and 14%, and  2 that have done between 3% and 5%... if you have time to do a little homework, the outcome doesn't have to be gray and boring...


 "The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second-class citizen to a second-class immortal." - Satchel Paige


#71 Cisc-O's

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Posted 09 September 2016 - 09:47 AM

I'm definitely in the winter of my current career with 3 and change to go.  I spend a lot of time thinking about what I want to do in my second act.

 

Ideally, I'd love to have a job where I can set my own hours, maybe work from home, with low stress.  The pay isn't important since I'll have a steady retirement check every month.  

 

I'd love to buy something, and have most (if not all) paid off.  I've got about 16K in savings, and that should grow to around 45 while I'm here.  

 

Any suggestions?  I pretty much have a blank canvas here.  I've considered buying a tiny house, or a living aboard a boat.  My main goal is to get my bills down to as little as possible.  Where would you live if given the choice?

One of my clients is an ex Navy guy 28 years of service.  His retirement job was relocating peoples boats for them for vacation or moving slips etc...  If they were vacationing in Florida but had their boat docked at the Eastern shore he would take it down while they would fly down.  It sounds something right up your alley.


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<p>I am pretty sure Shack is thinking of PBR.

#72 Mackus

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Posted 09 September 2016 - 01:34 PM

There are tons of mutual funds with various profiles... you need not pick something boring and low-return, nor something that's reckless... there are lots of very sound mutual funds that do way better than boring without sticking your neck out...  

 

The only reason I can think of to go with low-return ones is if you might need to cash them in on a moment's notice... in that scenario, you don't want any volatility... but if the funds are long-term savings without any short-term need, you can do way better than lousy returns, with some yo-yo'ing along the way... 

 

I've got a pretty solid retirement account that is separate from this money I've been talking about that I put more into every paycheck (and my employer matches a good chunk as well).  I invest that entirely in mutual funds, split across a few different asset classes, but overall very high on the risk/reward ratio because I've got 30+ years until I'll need to touch it.

 

What I'm looking to do with this other money is basically just move it out of no- or low-return checking/savings accounts and into something with a bit more potential for return but that is still very safe.  Money I'd likely need in the next few years and need pretty decent liquidity.  Like a down payment for my next house or maybe a big vacation or childcare expenses if that ends up being in the cards or some other emergency expense.

 

The P2P funds, even if Matt hadn't exposed them as being shady, probably wouldn't have been what I'm looking for.  Still think they sound interesting, though.



#73 Cisc-O's

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Posted 09 September 2016 - 02:35 PM

I've got a pretty solid retirement account that is separate from this money I've been talking about that I put more into every paycheck (and my employer matches a good chunk as well).  I invest that entirely in mutual funds, split across a few different asset classes, but overall very high on the risk/reward ratio because I've got 30+ years until I'll need to touch it.
 
What I'm looking to do with this other money is basically just move it out of no- or low-return checking/savings accounts and into something with a bit more potential for return but that is still very safe.  Money I'd likely need in the next few years and need pretty decent liquidity.  Like a down payment for my next house or maybe a big vacation or childcare expenses if that ends up being in the cards or some other emergency expense.
 
The P2P funds, even if Matt hadn't exposed them as being shady, probably wouldn't have been what I'm looking for.  Still think they sound interesting, though.


A financial advisor day trading might be something you want to look into.
<p>I am pretty sure Shack is thinking of PBR.

#74 Matt_P

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Posted 09 September 2016 - 04:09 PM

The P2P funds, even if Matt hadn't exposed them as being shady, probably wouldn't have been what I'm looking for.  Still think they sound interesting, though.

 

They wouldn't have. It takes years to get your money back. 

 

I'd look into a utilities mutual fund if I were you. Good liquidity and less risk than the overall market. 



#75 Mike in STL

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Posted 21 January 2017 - 06:54 PM

Thinking of investing in gold. Anyone else do this? Good idea? Not so much?

I have a 401K and a mutual fund. So pre taxed and post taxed. However companies mange them, and while I know nothing about stocks, and im pretty sure I'll be ok in 30 years, uncertainty worries me.

Historical data suggests that gold prices as a whole trend up. Like it goes up a lot, down a little, up a lot down a little, and so on. Right now we're in the down a little part of the cycle. Might be a good year to acquire some?

Also looks like gold prices sky rocketed surrounding 2008 when the market crashed. So if in 30 years we hit another recession and mutual funds are shit, if I've collected 100-150 oz of gold by then, could be a sweet back up plan.
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#76 Mackus

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Posted 13 September 2017 - 08:38 AM

Boring old low-risk/low-return mutual funds it is then...still, will be nice to get 3-5% instead of under 1% or even a big fat zero.

 

 

True enough. 

 

 

Been about a year since I moved some money out of a very low-interest savings account to a couple mutual funds.  This is short-term savings, so valued stability over potential for growth.  Put 2/3 of the money into a short-term bond mutual fund and 1/3 into an S&_ index fund.  Have continued to add money every month at the same split.  The bond fund has actually gone down a fraction of a percent in value but it pays dividends so overall it's up very slightly.  The S&P fund has been gangbusters, up over 15% plus dividends. 

 

Because I'm a nerd, I created an excel sheet to track everything - initial investment, contributions, dividends, and taxes owed on those dividends - and calculate my APY based on all of that.  As of now my APY has been about 7.25% combined over the past year.  I was hoping for 3-4% so pretty happy.


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#77 Cisc-O's

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Posted 13 September 2017 - 07:56 PM

Thinking of investing in gold. Anyone else do this? Good idea? Not so much?

I have a 401K and a mutual fund. So pre taxed and post taxed. However companies mange them, and while I know nothing about stocks, and im pretty sure I'll be ok in 30 years, uncertainty worries me.

Historical data suggests that gold prices as a whole trend up. Like it goes up a lot, down a little, up a lot down a little, and so on. Right now we're in the down a little part of the cycle. Might be a good year to acquire some?

Also looks like gold prices sky rocketed surrounding 2008 when the market crashed. So if in 30 years we hit another recession and mutual funds are shit, if I've collected 100-150 oz of gold by then, could be a sweet back up plan.

Gold normalizes fairly fast when people see the world is not ending or economy is not crashing.  Gold will always be a decent investment to have but on a low rate.  Think of it as bit better of a savings account and if the world does end you have something everyone will still covet.    


<p>I am pretty sure Shack is thinking of PBR.

#78 Cisc-O's

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Posted 13 September 2017 - 07:57 PM

Been about a year since I moved some money out of a very low-interest savings account to a couple mutual funds.  This is short-term savings, so valued stability over potential for growth.  Put 2/3 of the money into a short-term bond mutual fund and 1/3 into an S&_ index fund.  Have continued to add money every month at the same split.  The bond fund has actually gone down a fraction of a percent in value but it pays dividends so overall it's up very slightly.  The S&P fund has been gangbusters, up over 15% plus dividends. 

 

Because I'm a nerd, I created an excel sheet to track everything - initial investment, contributions, dividends, and taxes owed on those dividends - and calculate my APY based on all of that.  As of now my APY has been about 7.25% combined over the past year.  I was hoping for 3-4% so pretty happy.

That is good news Mack, I am glad it has worked out for you.


<p>I am pretty sure Shack is thinking of PBR.

#79 SportsGuy

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Posted 13 September 2017 - 10:28 PM

Thinking of investing in gold. Anyone else do this? Good idea? Not so much?

I have a 401K and a mutual fund. So pre taxed and post taxed. However companies mange them, and while I know nothing about stocks, and im pretty sure I'll be ok in 30 years, uncertainty worries me.

Historical data suggests that gold prices as a whole trend up. Like it goes up a lot, down a little, up a lot down a little, and so on. Right now we're in the down a little part of the cycle. Might be a good year to acquire some?

Also looks like gold prices sky rocketed surrounding 2008 when the market crashed. So if in 30 years we hit another recession and mutual funds are shit, if I've collected 100-150 oz of gold by then, could be a sweet back up plan.


Gold is so volatile.

It's remained relatively steady for a while now.

Back in that 2008-2010 area, we made a killing with it. Knew a lot of people who bought a lot of gold and silver in the early 2000s when it was next to nothing and they made a shitload of money when they sold it.

You have to be patient with it though. It's not likely to be a quick profit or anything like that. If you ever want to buy some gold, like coins or bars or something like that, let me know. I can give you a good deal on them.

#80 Matt_P

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Posted 17 September 2017 - 07:13 PM

Been about a year since I moved some money out of a very low-interest savings account to a couple mutual funds.  This is short-term savings, so valued stability over potential for growth.  Put 2/3 of the money into a short-term bond mutual fund and 1/3 into an S&_ index fund.  Have continued to add money every month at the same split.  The bond fund has actually gone down a fraction of a percent in value but it pays dividends so overall it's up very slightly.  The S&P fund has been gangbusters, up over 15% plus dividends. 

 

Makes sense that the bond mutual fund dropped a bit with the increase of interest rates, but you probably can't lose too much if its short-term. 

 

Glad things worked well for you.






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