Investment Thread - For all your money needs

[ChrisL68]

As long as you are itemizing, you can deduct interest on mortgages that are up to $750k, right? Unless AMT somehow changes things. Where's Chris when you need him.

This is true. Old mortgages are grandfathered in under the old limits.

But with the new state tax limits, you are going to need a combined $14K in contributions and mortgage interest to hit any marginal tax benefit if you are married over the married standard deduction of $24K.

We started paying down our house because it became a risk free almost 5% rate of return plus getting debt free at 50 starts to look attractive.

 

[DrummerDeac]

I've been debating Roth vs Traditional for quite some time and haven't come to a consensus. Ended up with splitting it, as having a little in both can be helpful once you start taking money out to have flexibility. If you're in a high state tax state it might be better to go with the traditional over the Roth, as like with California's 9.3%, you can just retire in Nevada/Florida/Texas and avoid those taxes altogether.

Same ... I contributed to get the match in a regular 401(k) pre-tax, then outside of my company's plan I contributed the max to a Roth IRA (more flexibility and less expensive than the company plan). After prioritizing those I'd go back and max out the full 401(k) to $19k. Agree that whether you are in a high tax state could sway whether you'd want to contribute pre-tax (regular) or post-tax (Roth) in your company's 401(k) plan. I personally like getting the tax deduction of the pre-tax contributions to keep my AGI/taxable income lower.

 

[JuiceCrewAllStar]

rolling over a Roth 401k to a Roth IRA was kinda a pain in the ass

So I have the start of a down payment on a house sitting in an Ally savings account getting 2.2% interest. Due to my move abroad, the housing purchase will not happen for roughly the next 3-6 years. I don't necessarily need the money liquid any time soon, so is there something better I should be doing with it that is relatively low risk?

I also find that the 3-5 year window is an awkward investment span

 

[06deacon]

Given that timeframe, if it was me and I was definitely using it to buy a house and definitely didn’t want to risk losing much of it then I’d just leave it there.

You could also toss it in a brokerage account and make a pretty conservative portfolio of like half stock index fund, half bond index fund (although that wouldn’t be particularly tax efficient) but if a market correction comes along and wipes out 20% of your portfolio value could you live with that?

 

[dartsndeacs]

This is true. Old mortgages are grandfathered in under the old limits.

But with the new state tax limits, you are going to need a combined $14K in contributions and mortgage interest to hit any marginal tax benefit if you are married over the married standard deduction of $24K.

We started paying down our house because it became a risk free almost 5% rate of return plus getting debt free at 50 starts to look attractive.

Yes, everyone is way more incentivized now to just start paying off their mortgages

 

[BostonDeac]

So I have the start of a down payment on a house sitting in an Ally savings account getting 2.2% interest. Due to my move abroad, the housing purchase will not happen for roughly the next 3-6 years. I don't necessarily need the money liquid any time soon, so is there something better I should be doing with it that is relatively low risk?

If you are sure you won’t need the funds you could do a 3 year cd at over 3%.

 

[DCDeac]

I second the Betterment suggestion. We were in a similar situation a couple years ago, dropped a chunk of savings we had just sitting around and put it in Betterment. Just bought a house at the end of last year, and that account definitely made a significant impact on our purchase. Granted, we got extremely fortunate with the market timing, but it was a simple process, relatively low risk, and it beat the hell out of a savings account or CD.

 

[TheReff]

Let's talk cannabis stocks. Quite a few good ones to be involved in now and at some really decent prices.
A little background--Mexico legalized medical pot in 2017 and Canada legalized recreational pot in the Fall of 2018. Combine that with a growing U.S. market and you have the makings of the next new bull market. So get yourselves positioned & primed for it now. Recreational usage will be big but medical will have bigger dollars associated with them. Just for numbers sake, Florida alone has 180,000 registered medical users. There are already more sales in legal cannabis than coffee in the U.S.--$8 Billion to $5 Billion in 2017 and will rise to $22 Billion in 2022 as more states get behind it in various ways. The U.S. Safe Banking Act which is going thru legislation now will really make this jump as companies have a legal place to deposit their money and do business.

SPRWF--Supreme Cannabis--high end stuff. Stock is $1.55 today. Good one to get a lot of and hold.
KSHB--Kush Co--cannabis packaging, doing the safety thing which will be really important in states like CA--$6.03 today
CWBHF--Charlotte's Web--medical stock in the CBD market. Already has a good epilepsy drug out. I got in at $15.00 an it is now at $22.03 with a ways to go with its proprietary genetics it owns
CRLBF--Cresco Labs--just bought Origin House [ORHOF--got it at $6 & is being bought out around $10]--is a great move as it gives more sq footage, more edibles, so tons more revenue sources $11.71
CURLF--CuraLeaf--$9.59 today--now has a deal with CVS Drugstores & will be selling lotions & creams--plus bought Eureka which gives a CA footprint
TGODF--Green Organic Dutchman--$3.21--Aurora Cannabis invested in a 17.5% state. Edibles, recreational pot, 49% interest in Jamaica
ZRRRF--Ionic Brands--tough one to buy, but is at .59. Just IPO'd last week. Will be one of the premier vaping companies with concentrates & cartridges--very fast growing. I will hold this one for a while. Bought a lot this morning.

More later. Have stuff on Emerald, Elixinol, iAnthus, Plus Products, Flowr Corp, Cann Trust, Trulieve, Severn Bancorp & Organigram.

Curalea Holdings {CURLF] was a nice sell today. Bought at $7.78 and sold today at $11.42 for a nice 46.7% pop in a little more than 2 months. They announced they are buying Cura Partners, a large West Coast cannabis oil manufacturer for almost $1 billion in an all-stock deal. Taking some of those profits & putting them into more Green Growth Brands [GGBXF] @ $3.69 & probably Valens GroWorks @ $3.21.

 

[TheReff]

Curalea Holdings {CURLF] was a nice sell today. Bought at $7.78 and sold today at $11.42 for a nice 46.7% pop in a little more than 2 months. They announced they are buying Cura Partners, a large West Coast cannabis oil manufacturer for almost $1 billion in an all-stock deal. Taking some of those profits & putting them into more Green Growth Brands [GGBXF] @ $3.69 & probably Valens GroWorks @ $3.21.

Elixinol Global [ELLXF] chart is looking really good. Has come from $1.20 in Nov 2018 to a high of $4.20 in late March to where it dropped to around $3.00. Now it is back to$3.43 and is really a good buy coming thru the year. There had been some profit taking earlier and some weak earning but decent revenues. They had been holding back some sales trying to stockpile their CBD to make better/higher revenues on a supposed large MD grocery store chain announcement coming soon. 330 stores to start with 1000 stores nationwide in the coming weeks & months. Plus they have gotten a company called Presence Marketing to help market with 100 people helping to move their products. This could be a 2x or 3x bagger

 

[JuiceCrewAllStar]

Reff as as weedbot is a strange turn

 

[YoungBuck95]

Who do y'all bank with? I'm currently with Alliant, getting 0.648% on checking, and 2.02% on savings. I have been having some difficulty with them recently that has made me start looking for a new bank if I can find something comparable. I have a second savings account with PNC that I am getting 2.35% on. I've been looking at Ally but their 0.10% on checking kind of writes themselves off. I think the only think that I have seen that is close is Bank 5 Connect's 0.76% on checking, and 2.05% on checking.

 

[HailToTheDeacons]

I would try one of the robo advisors like Betterment or Wealthfront, pick a moderate portfolio and let them do the work for you if you don't have the time or want to spend the time allocating to index funds yourself.

I second the Betterment suggestion. We were in a similar situation a couple years ago, dropped a chunk of savings we had just sitting around and put it in Betterment. Just bought a house at the end of last year, and that account definitely made a significant impact on our purchase. Granted, we got extremely fortunate with the market timing, but it was a simple process, relatively low risk, and it beat the hell out of a savings account or CD.

Good stuff, thanks. Here's the Nerdwallet review.

My neophyte question: how accessible is your invested money (relative to a Savings/MMA or CD)? I'm guessing you want to touch (read: withdraw) it less, anyway.

 

[JuiceCrewAllStar]

Who do y'all bank with? I'm currently with Alliant, getting 0.648% on checking, and 2.02% on savings. I have been having some difficulty with them recently that has made me start looking for a new bank if I can find something comparable. I have a second savings account with PNC that I am getting 2.35% on. I've been looking at Ally but their 0.10% on checking kind of writes themselves off. I think the only think that I have seen that is close is Bank 5 Connect's 0.76% on checking, and 2.05% on checking.

I just switched to Alliant a few months ago and it has been smooth sailing for me.

 

[DCDeac]

Good stuff, thanks. Here's the Nerdwallet review.

My neophyte question: how accessible is your invested money (relative to a Savings/MMA or CD)? I'm guessing you want to touch (read: withdraw) it less, anyway.

It's pretty accessible. We cashed out our entire investment account since we really just parked our downpayment there. Took a few days to sell the positions and move the funds into our USAA account, but all-told it was a very smooth process. I still have my old 401k's rolled over into an IRA fund there. It's outperformed the original 401k accounts by a pretty good clip, plus the fees are dramatically lower.

I'm sure if you have a significant amount of cash to invest privately somewhere (like $1M or more) there are much better options, but it you're looking to park $50k-$200k somewhere for some moderate risk earnings it'd be hard to do a whole lot better (imho). Then again, I might be biased because we lucked out timing-wise.

 

[tiltdeac]

Who do y'all bank with? I'm currently with Alliant, getting 0.648% on checking, and 2.02% on savings. I have been having some difficulty with them recently that has made me start looking for a new bank if I can find something comparable. I have a second savings account with PNC that I am getting 2.35% on. I've been looking at Ally but their 0.10% on checking kind of writes themselves off. I think the only think that I have seen that is close is Bank 5 Connect's 0.76% on checking, and 2.05% on checking.

IMO, you shouldn't have enough cash in a checking account that the interest rate is relevant enough to be constantly searching out the best rate and potentially switching when they (inevitably) change the rate on you. Find somewhere with great customer service and a good interface for you, and stick with them.

 

[ConnorEl]

^

Yep.

 

[greekdeac2011]

Who do y'all bank with? I'm currently with Alliant, getting 0.648% on checking, and 2.02% on savings. I have been having some difficulty with them recently that has made me start looking for a new bank if I can find something comparable. I have a second savings account with PNC that I am getting 2.35% on. I've been looking at Ally but their 0.10% on checking kind of writes themselves off. I think the only think that I have seen that is close is Bank 5 Connect's 0.76% on checking, and 2.05% on checking.

Checking at Bank of America to take advantage of their preferred rewards program. Savings at AMEX. I don’t keep tons of cash in checking so interest rate there doesn’t matter. It’s hard to find a decent rate on checking.

 

[Screamindemon3]

Company announced a 401k match today for 50% on the first 6% contributed (had no match before)

It's pretty much a no brainer to do the minimum 6% to receive the full match and put it in a Roth 401k, correct? 29 years old

100% at least do the 6% minimum. From there, depending upon your situation and short term goals (i.e, buying a house, paying off debt, etc.), may also make sense to just max out the Roth 401(k) each year ($19k in 2019).

Any recommendations on specific contributions? Right now I have it setup for a straight 50/50 split down the middle on American Funds Trgt Date Ret 2050 R6 (RFITX) B and iShares S&P 500 Index K (WFSPX)

American Funds EuroPacific Gr R6 (RERGX) B
American Funds Fundamental Inv R6 (RFNGX) B
American Funds New World R6 (RNWGX) B
American Funds Trgt Date Ret 2020 R6 (RRCTX) B
American Funds Trgt Date Ret 2025 R6 (RFDTX) B
American Funds Trgt Date Ret 2030 R6 (RFETX) B
American Funds Trgt Date Ret 2035 R6 (RFFTX) B
American Funds Trgt Date Ret 2040 R6 (RFGTX) B
American Funds Trgt Date Ret 2045 R6 (RFHTX) B
American Funds Trgt Date Ret 2050 R6 (RFITX) B
BlackRock Equity Dividend K (MKDVX)
BlackRock Liquidity Fund FedFund Mngt (BFFXX)
BlackRock Liquidity T-Fund Instl (TSTXX)
BlackRock Total Return K (MPHQX)
DoubleLine Core Fixed Income I (DBLFX) B
First Eagle Global I (SGIIX)
Guggenheim Ttl Rtrn Bnd Fnd Inst (GIBIX) B
JPMorgan Large Cap Growth R6 (JLGMX) B
JPMorgan Mid Cap Growth R6 (JMGMX) B
Janus Henderson Intl Opportunities N (HFOSX)
Janus Henderson Triton N (JGMNX)
Nationwide Mid Cap Mkts Index R6 (GMXIX)
Nationwide Small Cap Index A (GMRAX)
T. Rowe Price Intl Value Eq Fund I (TRTIX)
Templeton Global Bond R6 (FBNRX)
iShares S&P 500 Index K (WFSPX)

 

[tiltdeac]

Any recommendations on specific contributions? Right now I have it setup for a straight 50/50 split down the middle on American Funds Trgt Date Ret 2050 R6 (RFITX) B and iShares S&P 500 Index K (WFSPX)

American Funds EuroPacific Gr R6 (RERGX) B
American Funds Fundamental Inv R6 (RFNGX) B
American Funds New World R6 (RNWGX) B
American Funds Trgt Date Ret 2020 R6 (RRCTX) B
American Funds Trgt Date Ret 2025 R6 (RFDTX) B
American Funds Trgt Date Ret 2030 R6 (RFETX) B
American Funds Trgt Date Ret 2035 R6 (RFFTX) B
American Funds Trgt Date Ret 2040 R6 (RFGTX) B
American Funds Trgt Date Ret 2045 R6 (RFHTX) B
American Funds Trgt Date Ret 2050 R6 (RFITX) B
BlackRock Equity Dividend K (MKDVX)
BlackRock Liquidity Fund FedFund Mngt (BFFXX)
BlackRock Liquidity T-Fund Instl (TSTXX)
BlackRock Total Return K (MPHQX)
DoubleLine Core Fixed Income I (DBLFX) B
First Eagle Global I (SGIIX)
Guggenheim Ttl Rtrn Bnd Fnd Inst (GIBIX) B
JPMorgan Large Cap Growth R6 (JLGMX) B
JPMorgan Mid Cap Growth R6 (JMGMX) B
Janus Henderson Intl Opportunities N (HFOSX)
Janus Henderson Triton N (JGMNX)
Nationwide Mid Cap Mkts Index R6 (GMXIX)
Nationwide Small Cap Index A (GMRAX)
T. Rowe Price Intl Value Eq Fund I (TRTIX)
Templeton Global Bond R6 (FBNRX)
iShares S&P 500 Index K (WFSPX)

If it were me, I'd put it all in WFSPX. You are young enough that a 100% stocks allocation makes sense imo (though obviously many people are more conservative). And you take this approach, you want to go with the available index fund that is the closest approximation to a total stock market fund with the lowest expense ratio, which glancing at your list, should the the iShare S&P 500 index.

 

[harmoniousmonk]

80% iShares 500
10% Nationwide midcap
10% Nationwide smallcap.

Maybe a mid/small cap tilt if you want to be more aggressive