The Importance Of Saving

jflail2

tonyb wrote: »

Saving money is something most are not accustomed to. Remember the old savings account ? Which now pays jack on interest.

Thing is, you don't build wealth trying to save money under the mattress. The money has to work for you, or put it towards something that grows in value. Using the tax laws to your advantage helps too.

Wasn't long ago I saw a story that 75% of people would have a hard time dealing with a 1000 buck emergency. That....is sad.

I'd recommend a Charles Schwab high yield account for those interested in a decent checking account while having some "play money" in the stock market. (Requires at least $1k in an associated brokerage account, but they actually pay 10 basis points in on the checking account. There are also no ATM fees, no monthly service charges, and no minimum opening deposit.)

Obviously you should be maximizing your 401K match first, as that's "free money" your company is willing to pay into your retirement account. My company matches 6% a year, so I'd at very least put that much in. For savings (for home owners), I'd recommend having at least 5% of your home's value tucked away for the inevitable things that will break each year. Supposedly 3% is enough, but I spent more than that on my HVAC unit alone...

EndersShadow

@jflail2

I'm offended by your freedom and therefore you should not be free to do what you want with your house...

P.S. totally joking but because some people cant read irony on the internet, I always state it.

PS you still have that headphone amp, and if so hows it working out for you

tonyb

Amen guys, if you are one of the lucky ones whose company offers a matching 401k, it's free money so take advantage of it. Unfortunately not many do offer that anymore these days.

Again, the American dream is living your life as you see fit. That's what freedom is all about. Having choices is key.

Cathy, 14 floors in your building....didn't realize it was that big. That might explain the costs somewhat, but still....in my mind 8k is still a tad steep for junction boxes and connectors. Add up the units in the building and do the math. Ask the company the cost of the contract and see if anyone is pocketing some coin. Make sure nobody on the board has a relationship with this company. If they do, you can be sure a kick back is happening somewhere.

jflail2

EndersShadow wrote: »

@jflail2

I'm offended by your freedom and therefore you should not be free to do what you want with your house...

P.S. totally joking but because some people cant read irony on the internet, I always state it.

PS you still have that headphone amp, and if so hows it working out for you

Haha, yea........I can't say my music is always "crowd pleasing" but I'm at least free to listen as I please! We do have an HOA, but they're pretty much in place solely to keep someone from having 4 junk cars in the driveway, or painting your lawn pink or whatever. I can update my house as I please, which is nice. I have buddies whose HOA's are so tight they have to have even minor updates approved before moving forward...

And man, I love that SR71 and use it literally every day at work, at least 4 hours a day. I will say that buying 9v batteries gets old, but I love the portability of it if I'm going to be on the road visiting clients for a week or more.

Are you ready to sell me an upgrade at a decent price?

EndersShadow

jflail2 wrote: »

EndersShadow wrote: »

@jflail2

I'm offended by your freedom and therefore you should not be free to do what you want with your house...

P.S. totally joking but because some people cant read irony on the internet, I always state it.

PS you still have that headphone amp, and if so hows it working out for you

Haha, yea........I can't say my music is always "crowd pleasing" but I'm at least free to listen as I please! We do have an HOA, but they're pretty much in place solely to keep someone from having 4 junk cars in the driveway, or painting your lawn pink or whatever. I can update my house as I please, which is nice. I have buddies whose HOA's are so tight they have to have even minor updates approved before moving forward...

And man, I love that SR71 and use it literally every day at work, at least 4 hours a day. I will say that buying 9v batteries gets old, but I love the portability of it if I'm going to be on the road visiting clients for a week or more.

Are you ready to sell me an upgrade at a decent price?

HA, I dont have anything that would be an upgrade.

And have you thought about buying rechargeables (if they even make them)? Buy two sets and swap em out as needed in the charger (at work)....

cfrizz

tonyb wrote: »

Cathy,

I know you want to get that 8k chunk done with, but I'm not so sure taking it out of the MM account is the right thing to do in this case.

Seems to me, sitting in the cheap seats, that if you refinanced the mortgage and took it out of the equity in your condo, that equity will be replaced faster by simple time, than the MM account would. Plus it would be tax deductible. Taking out coin from the MM account, you might have to pay taxes on that, depending the type of account.

I could be wrong since I don't know the details to it all, just wanted to give you something to think about is all. Hope it all works out no matter what you do.

Tony dear, that might be the way to go about it if I had a mortgage...but I don't!

I have owned my condo from day one. So the thoughts of taking a loan to GIVE some bank an extra $1000.00 for NOTHING is not something that I'm interested in doing.

I can probably replace that 8k in a year or two depending on how the stock market does. I'll be taking the money from a mutual fund, not a money market.

tonyb

Your mortgage free Girl ? You get a smiley sticker just for that. Rock on...I'll tell the guys to take the garlic out of the Oppo.

cfrizz

LOL! You are too funny Tony.

I got real lucky with how it all worked out. We sold the co-op in Boston we were living in and everyone got a big chunk of cash. I bought my condo outright and used the rest for moving.

Fortunately the market went into the toilet that year and prices came down to within what I received from the sale.

I have never made enough money to be able to afford both a mortgage and a condo fee. If I hadn't owned my condo when I got laid off in 2010 I would have been up $hits creek w/o a paddle!

muncybob

They do make 9v rechargers...use them at home in a few things.