We just need to relax a bit. I hit 4 pots of coffee a day, and that’s too much even for me. I’ve gone down to one.
We had the annual conference with the bank guy…honestly, if your bank offers free financial/investment advisors, get one. Our guy is a jewel: we can ask him planning questions and to a certain extent legal questions and which of two choices is better—and he can offer reasons. I mean, that’s what he thinks about, reads about, discusses day after day. And we don’t always take the advice, but it’s always well-thought-out.
We’re starting the annual tax monster. Today is the end of our little corporation’s fiscal year, so happy 2014 to us.
Our accountant we’ve had since the beginning is retiring this year, so we’re doing things with particular care.
And the snow is melting. I note the azaleas and magnolia are budded…spring is coming.
You have azaleas? Can’t grow ’em here in W.C. Ohio….I had them in my front yard in Virginia Beach, though.
We mulch them deep, summer and winter—because of extremes. But we do have them. Rhodies are hardier, however, and if you get the cheap ones from Lowes’ they’re far more likely to live. I have one I planted in a dirt pile because it needed planting (rootbound) and I was too busy to see it it properly and dig a hole. It seemed happy so I never moved it, and now it seems to be quite content where it is: it’s doubled in size.
Some rhodies are hardier, but some Japanese azaleas do very well. For the Spokane region one would want the hardier “East Coast” hybrids.
Certainly, if one were to find a jewel it should be cherished, but not Fool’s Gold and I’m afraid that’s what many come to the profession over the past couple decades; minus some that got washed out in the last two recessions and market crashes.
I may be an Aspie, but one of the compensations is a good head for facts, numbers, and analysis. I’ve been managing my own investments since the 80’s, and have personally collected daily market data from ’94 through minutes ago. I analyze the market action daily, write it up, and email it to a couple dozen friends to put my analysis “on the record”. It’s easy to tell oneself, “I knew that was going to happen!” but do nothing time after time. Putting it in black and white enforces a discipline!
For the most part we get what we pay for, and the freebies are usually not much more than salesmen (but admittedly not all). For the most part, it’s nothing that most of us couldn’t do ourselves, so if what one hears is jargon-rich, sounds arcane and baffling, amounts to “This man is an expert, don’t try this at home.” be polite but run like hell.
So as you say, apply critical thinking to all advice.
I’ll say this “for free”: providing one doesn’t neglect one’s responsibilities of diligence and looses the ante into the game (Apply Buffet’s First Law here) most mistakes and losses can be corrected except for time! Time is essential.
Oh, right, end of the month again. Hmmmmmmmm… 😉
So, given the news and in honor of some ancient Ukranian ancestry….
Problem is, most financial advisors make money only when you trade. And selling means you’re paying taxes. My conviction is that SPY, the S&P 500 ETF “spider”, is the best investment because you never have to trade it to rebalance your investements–it rebalances itself. It may not be the tippy-top investment in any particular year, but over time, after taxes, it’s going to be best or nearly the best, and it’s very low risk since you’re buying a composite of 500 companies.
The only exception I’ve seen is heading into a predictable crash (like the housing debacle) and buying the survivors or strongest after the crash (like Ford among automakers or Wells Fargo among banks). For the last crash, Warren Buffet bought into WFC before I: he got preferred stock; I got a lower price. Who will take Warren Buffet’s place? I see no one I trust as much, not by a long chalk.
Yep, in finance, in writing, and in life—follow no advice off a cliff; and remember that any ‘hot tip’ has cooled considerably while winging its way to you—and that if you have any knowledge of manufacturing or process that should make a company hot—that won’t happen until the public knows it. Then the hotness will immediately begin to decay.
This is why the only time I’ve ever made money in the market, a whole hundred-fifty dollars, the paperwork was so confusing I couldn’t figure it out.
Nay, but there are good funds and less good ones, and finding one with the right amount of risk for your situation takes somebody to do some reading…or a dartboard and blindfold. 😉
The wisest way to handle “advisors” is to first demand a “Fiduciary Agreement”, signed by the advisor and the operating branch manager–if they will. It doesn’t obligate you, but it does obligate them to act as your true agent in all things for your best interests first and foremost. 🙂
The spousal unit realized some stock options one year. I insisted that we go to a professional for the taxes, as I didn’t understand the math, though I had formerly done all of our personal and business taxes. I’m glad I did. Income: 90K Stock options realized: 30K Taxes due to federal government 200K. That is with 4 offspring living with us. Alternative minimum tax is the highest possible amount that any stocks could be sold for. If you didn’t sell them, that is what you paid the highest tax rate on. If you sold out, you only paid taxes on the amount they brought in at the maximum tax rate. For a year he walked around asking which general was his, as that would cover all salary and support for one major general for one year…
Saw this and am lobbing it into the conversation:
“A couple of years ago, a team of researchers from Copenhagen University located a single mutation that causes blue eyes. And all blue eyed people are genetically related to a person who lived in the Black Sea region sometime between 6 – 10,000 years ago. The research was published in the Journal of Human Genetics. A mutation in a gene called OCA2 came into being nearly 8,000 years ago. It can be definitively traced back to a single ancestor from the Black Sea.
“The gene does not ‘make’ blue in the iris; rather, it turns off the mechanism which produces brown melanin pigment. “Originally, we all had brown eyes,” says Dr Hans Eiberg, who led the team. And most people still do. The finding that a rare mutation, probably dispersed in the rapid wave of colonisation that followed the end of the last ice age, highlights one of the great mysteries of human evolution: the oddness of Europeans. Those from Europe have many characteristics that set them apart from the rest of the human race. Not only are Europeans far more likely to have blue eyes (up to 95 per cent in some Scandinavian countries), they also have a far greater range of skin tones and hair colour than any other ethnic grouping. One theory is that Europe’s cold weather and dark skies played a part. Fair skin is better at making Vitamin D from the sunlight found in northern latitudes.”
Also, I will add that most humans are like cats, being born with blue eyes that change within a few weeks of birth to their permanent eye color. http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howthingswork/f/eyecolor.htm
Since it takes two to make blue (it’s a recessive gene), it’s pretty certain that only one of that Black Sea person’s eye color genes would have mutated, and each of his/her offspring would have had a 50/50 chance of getting the mutated gene. What are the odds that that one mutation would have been passed down to enough offspring that it would continue to be present in subsequent generations? It’s likely the blue eyed mutation would have been floating around in the gene pool for a while before there were enough heterozygous people in the population to start producing homozygous children. Wonder what his/her clan mates thought of whoever was the first person whose eyes never changed color, but continued to stay blue? Evolutionarily speaking, a blue eyed person would be at a slight advantage in the dimmer light of forests and other such low-light situation.
Hooray! Let’s hear it for the recessives!!!! Blue eyes! Left-handed! That’s me! When I was born, my eyes were blue, then gradually turned hazel. Funny thing, right after I got my very first drivers license, which stated that I had hazel eyes, they turned blue again. When I went to renew, I told her that some things had changed, and she just jumped out of her chair when I told her my eyes weren’t hazel any longer. “They’re not????!!!!” “Um, no, they changed right after I got my probationary license.” When she looked at me, she had to take my word for it, them baby blues were staring right back at her. Dad’s got hazel eyes, Mom’s got brown eyes. Of the six boys in our family, the oldest (me), 3rd, and 5th all have blonde hair, and blue or hazel eyes. Numbers 2, 4, and 6 have brown eyes and brown hair.
Re: “What are the odds…” That can be found under “Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium”.
Blue eyes, blond hair that’s darkened some over the years, slight reddish tinge when I grow a beard. Very, very pale; I turn slightly ruddy, slightly freckled, and that’s it…even when I was out in the sun more as a kid.
I’m not quite Bren or Tully, but I could do a fair impression of either, if my hair were long enough.
Both parents and all four grandparents had blue eyes. I don’t know if all my great-grandparents did, but both my mother’s grandmothers had blue eyes.
However, there’s a pretty good chance there’s a little more than strictly European ancestry running around in my DNA. It’s possible, due to a historical twist (but unproven AFAIK) and family stories on both sides, that there’s Cherokee and/or one or two other Indian ancestries in there, in my paternal line and my maternal grandfather’s line.
Anyone else in the ol’ family tree, I don’t know of, but hey, that’s fine by me.
So although I look very northern European, I’m probably more of a mix, genetically, than I appear.
Also — My dad and his siblings were all white-blond as children. All but my uncle, who’s blond like me, turned dark brown haired when they were teens. My hair went from straight to wavy in my teens.
Oh, and BTW I definitely am moving in May and will be energetically downsizing in the meantime. Somehow I gotta get 7 bookcases crammed full of books thinned down to 3 or 4. I got a bunch of books I’ll give away to anybody willing to pay postage. (email trikt at sbcglobal dot net) — Georgette Heyer, 2 volume hard back Rememberance by Proust, a full set of Narnia books, and a gazillion other things. If you’re looking for something book wise, ask me. If I got it, you can have it for the cost of postage. (NONE of CJ’s books are included in this offer!!) I’ve got books of fairy tales, books of cartoons, fine art books, biographies, books on English monarchs and history of the British Isles, books on the Maya and Ancient Egypt. I’ve got some Zelazny, Farmer, Van Vogt, etc.
WOL, is your library at librarything.com? if so you might create a collection of giveaways.
That’s very generous, WOL. I hope it’s a desired move.
My sis works with health insurance billing and now that I live near her I had her give me some advice on what plans to look at since my job switched from a group plan to a stipend to use in the marketplace. I went from $140/mo my portion to only $30 a month (tears of joy) and get either the same benefits or only concede in the areas I don’t use anyway. Huzzah!
I don’t need tax or financial advice quite yet with my simple life, but I am considering trying to get a mechanic in the family. Having a network of people who are experts in something is priceless.
Oh, yes. A much desired move. The guy who inherited my current digs from his aunt four years ago lives in another town (Ballinger) — we needed a new roof when I moved in 13 years ago. The yard is a mess, the fence is falling down, there’s water damage to the fascia, and part of the sheet rock on the ceiling of the car port fell down due to being soaked by the leaking roof, etc, etc. The kitchen sink needs a new faucet, the bathroom sink is cracked but not bad enough to leak . . . and he won’t answer letters or phone calls. We’re supposed to fix stuff ourselves and take it out of our rent ….?! The other family in the duplex has already moved out.
If I get a chance between work, and my folks (my 91-year-old dad is in overnight observation at the moment), and packing to move I’ll try to post on librarything.com
You gotta see this. Hysterically funny.
http://theowlunderground.tumblr.com/
Ooops, sorry. Bad link: http://lashlee.tumblr.com/post/76347544641
Lol! Oh, that’s a good teeshirt!