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The victims are across various counties, and some of them are fearful of coming forward (this contractor has a powerful personality and has threatened libel against anyone speaking anything bad against him - to which I am told that truth is a very powerful defense on that). It's been a very...

So, I'm not a casino or sports-type gambler. But in a way, I gambled on a home building contractor. That builder ended up abandoning the job and I'm out over $140K. Now, yes, lesson learned: don't deal with contractors that require upfront before-the-job-is-done payment. Just not worth...

Thanks all, conversions in progress! There was some weird stuff about the accounts couldn't currently be 100% converted (I suspect having to deal with partial shares and also recently "loaned shares" has become a thing - I had to ask about a new nebulous position that appeared in my account...

My wife and I (combined) are slightly past the income limits for RothIRA. So we've started contributing to tIRA - using the same source that we would have used for the RothIRA (i.e. after-tax income, direct deposited after federal withholding from our employers). [ and we're in a state with no...

I'm wondering about "bad actors" that have an interface to do many trades at once. In Robinhood, I can physically only swipe one trade at a time (likewise for the broker websites). But I imagine there are systems where people can do multiple trade at once - a kind of LIMIT order on an entire...

Like many, I saw the cost of trades go from $20, $7, partially-free on some certain selections, to now completely free. So - now with a few years of history on this, has this been good for the market overall? And for retail traders in particular? I'm skeptical since rarely does free...

You can sell it on Fidelity, and have funds right away to buy - sort of. As mentioned, you can buy stuff immediately, but you can't then sell what you buy until the original selling is settled (typically after 2-3 days). Otherwise, you get a Good Faith violation. So as long you don't...

I see, you're right. Say we're taxed 20% or $3K of $15K - we could "earn back" that $3K eventually (3-4 years minimum), but it's not like we've caught up to what the original TSP balance would have gained in that same amount of time. Well, except possibly by luck -- i.e. Vanguard has a lot...

My wife worked for the VA for a few years, many years ago (over 10 years ago). She's largely ignored that account. We checked recently and it has grown to $15k. Her RothIRA is currently at $120k and she is 5-10 years to retirement. (our 401ks are larger, so this TSP and her RothIRA are just...

Wow :) My parents were dirt poor, I stopped asking for Christmas gifts when I was 8, I knew we couldn't afford anything. All inheritance somehow went to my parents siblings; and in general my family never talked about money because we never had any (beyond providing the basics). But I...

I was on some usual stop and go traffic on the 405. And a thought came to me: what of we thought of individual stocks as like lanes in a very wide highway? Sure, the analogy fall apart in many ways. BUT... In general, everyone is trying to move ahead. So in that regard, it shows the...

Just to follow up - I have decided to stick with it (on FILL). BUT - someone else made a comment about recouping the losses elsewhere: I did that too. I *accidentally* got out of TSLA at 350 (a Stop Loss accidentally got put in as a Limit....) but then got back in at 650 with a little...

In my case, it is in a tax deferred account - but still good advise on the tax harvesting. But I've got time here, no sudden movements :D To clarify and expand upon the thought: I think in early 2018 FILL had a bit of a pull back, so it looked like a reasonable timing to me. And, over that...

Ok, I put about 2% of my portfolio into FILL at the beginning of 2018. Things haven't been going well for it. FWIW, I did have other allocations into FUTY and FENY, which I can't complain there (FUTY is +37% for me, and FENY is over 6-7% returns). FILL is now down for me to -25%. I've...

Just for reference, the highest priced AC I could find is about $8500 (installed). That's consistent with this article: https://www.pickhvac.com/central-air-conditioner/american-standard/ While this article lists $6400, read the fine print referring to some markets having addition regulation...

Thanks all! I've canceled the project - I couldn't find any variable speed 20+ SEER HVAC for over $10K anywhere on the net, and they wanted to charge $15K! I'm ok with a company making a profit -- but margins needs to be in the 2-10% range, not over 50%. [ and that wasn't the only...

1. Interesting point. The wording says it also includes "installation costs", so it may be a little shady if they're going to claim the entire bill as an installation cost. I wonder if this is also why the seller uses language like "designing the system" and doesn't seem interested in...

That's fair! We covered some that already: The 3 kW system by itself is 10 panels, or roughly $12K. My average usage is (for the past 3 years) roughly 2 KWH/month. The extra cost is appliances/upgrades to reduce that 2KWH consumption (more efficient water heater, HVAC, improved insulation...

It's late and maybe I grossly missed something... But my initial take on applying the Tax Credit is that it doesn't change the overall thesis too much; but it does reduce the "time till benefit" a few years. (12 to 9 years for CASE 3, and nearly immediately for CASE 2 -- where you're applying...

Ok, let's do this! Disclosure: I'm not an expert and probably made some computation mistake here. Assumptions: - target of contributing $10K/yr pre-tax to 401K - 401K is making 5% average annual return (broad/blended funds) - target of contributing $10K/yr into a taxable (broker) account -...

Lots of good discussion! And good points here on the 401K. Being "out of the market" isn't necessarily a bad thing, this is a way to migrate over back to cash for awhile. But sure, trying to time the market isn't a sure bet. Also: (1) I'm not sure how much control you have over what...

Yep. There is a certain truth to it, and I think they might probably believe what they are saying. Case in point: Assume 2.5% inflation. Determine current electrical bill average. In my case, $200/mo or $2400/year. Apply inflation over 20 years, sum all that, and yes: I'm "wasting" $60K on...

Dang Telly, just when I was steering towards giving these Solar Kids all my money! Then you come and make me think it all over again. [ btw, I don't know how to do multi-quotes, so bear with me here... ] - good point on the bottom stairs AC generally being the lesser one; also, I'm REALLY...

BTW, not a HELOC -- that's interest paid going back to the bank, and it looks like over 4% at least. The 401K loan is "6%" but it goes back to yourself -- you pay yourself back more than you put in. An artificial "interest rate" is used to force the account to be repaid in a reasonable time...

It just seems all this stuff is marked way up over 30%, canceling out the benefit of the federal credit of 30%. It's like the "free sales tax weekend" we have around when school starts -- you save 6-8%, after shops have marked up prices 10%? Maybe shops don't take the time to adjust their...