Overheard conversation!!!!

[RSKY]

Just be ready to turn it into cash and sit on it when the market starts back down. Or at the very least, don't sell too late and lock in your losses.

When the market is going strong stay in growth funds. But always have a few bucks in some good large cap value funds and some good bond funds. If it looks like the market is going to have a correction start shifting money out of the riskier growth funds into the value and bond ones.

Advice I got from some people a lot smarter than I am. Has served me well.

RSKY

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Simmer down you old timers...

Food for thought (a few quotes from days-gone-by):

"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise [disrespectful] and impatient of restraint".
(Hesiod, 8th century BC)

'The children now love luxury; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are tyrants, not servants of the households. They no longer rise when their elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize over their teachers.'
(Socrates)

"The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress."
(From a sermon preached by Peter the Hermit in A.D. 1274)

They [Young People] have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations; moreover, their hopeful disposition makes them think themselves equal to great things -- and that means having exalted notions. They would always rather do noble deeds than useful ones: Their lives are regulated more by moral feeling than by reasoning -- all their mistakes are in the direction of doing things excessively and vehemently. They overdo everything -- they love too much, hate too much, and the same with everything else.
(Aristotle)


So this is nothing new, or special. Older generations have been complaining about younger since we first learned how to talk (and complain). I'm pretty sure each of your own parent's generations had the same complaints overall about YOUR generation.

Such is the way of things.

Right on. Civilizations have been collapsing for thousands of years.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

i have to agree. thinking a credit card is a bad thing is foolish. i had a credit card since i was 18, never had a balance, never paid 1 dime in interest. and i have raked in over prolly 5k in cash rewards since i got them (all i use are credit cards which have rewards attached).

i also have a 804 credit score and never had a single debt in my life including purchasing my house. i got a mortgage pre approval just for giggles and was approved for over 500k in 20 seconds over the phone.

My credit cards make ME money, if you have no self control, you have no need for a credit card.

I am also 34 and is my wife, she averages $320 in rewards every 6 months, and we just got new cards with even better returns.

work smarter not harder

I'm always tinkering with the house, and Discover will give you a discount on Lowe's gift cards, a $25 card for $20 in cashback balance. The Farmer's Co-op gives an up front 5% discount if you pay cash instead of plastic, and also returns a nice dividend check every August. I just got my year-end statement and spent about $4500 there, just on fuel, hardware and feed. I've been doing my own home improvements since I was in my '20s, but I don't know if young people have the interest or skills any more. I do know one young couple who bought an old house and are busily fixing all the stuff that is wrong with it. The guy is replacing all the plumbing with PEX. I sure wish that stuff was around when I was in my 20s.

Don't forget to ask for the senior citizen discount. I'm 70, but they still card me because they don't believe I'm that old. It's the perils of a full head of hair that never went gray. They don't automatically assume I'm a senior citizen. It adds up at restaurants, hotels, barber shops, etc. Not that a millennial will have to worry about that for a few decades yet.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

It's not always a bad idea to buy a house with a mortgage. Considering that a good mutual fund can return 25% per year and interest on a house is only 3-5%, you're losing money by buying with cash. And considering that if you have your money in a fund you can get at if a real emergency arrises. Just be careful not to get stung in the next downturn, and that is not too hard to avoid.

There are a number of ways to make money besides not spending it. Spending a little can sometimes make you a lot.

I get a lot of pleasure from knowing there is no bank involved in owning my home. Of course, ownership only means the County won't take it away from you as long as you keep paying your taxes. So who really owns it? Not much different than a mortgage.

Ultra aggressive funds that earn 25% a year can also lose 25% a year.

 

[shaeff]

i have to agree. thinking a credit card is a bad thing is foolish. i had a credit card since i was 18, never had a balance, never paid 1 dime in interest. and i have raked in over prolly 5k in cash rewards since i got them (all i use are credit cards which have rewards attached).

i also have a 804 credit score and never had a single debt in my life including purchasing my house. i got a mortgage pre approval just for giggles and was approved for over 500k in 20 seconds over the phone.

My credit cards make ME money, if you have no self control, you have no need for a credit card.

I am also 34 and is my wife, she averages $320 in rewards every 6 months, and we just got new cards with even better returns.

work smarter not harder

Right on, we do the exact same thing. We were also approved for WAY more than we needed, honestly it was enough to put us in a hole we'd never climb out of. We went with or original plan and never looked back. We always take the rewards and drop them back on top of the credit card balance before the due-date. We bought our property for cash after saving feverishly, and when we built the house, it was immediately assessed for way more than our mortgage. I'd say we're right-side-up. (Luckily, the bank assessed it very high, but the town didn't so we don't even pay super high taxes.)

In any case, if you're not reaping the rewards that credit cards offer, I think you're missing out. Like Bill, I've never paid a dime in interest.

 

[RSKY]

I know most of the older people on here (nearly said guys on here, kinda sexist of me) know this so I am talking to the younger ones who haven't had time to make the mistakes us old guys have.

DO NOT CARRY DEBT ON A CREDIT CARD.

The only time I have paid interest on a credit card was when I swapped a couple numbers on a check. Had to pay fees and interest on something around $10. But it was my mistake.

I solved that problem by paying everything online. That also saves me $5/month in postage. My wife uses cards from stores, Dillards, Kohls, Old Navy, etc., to get the discounts and bonuses that come with them. I slowly changed due dates so that I now sit down on the 10th of each month and pay nearly everything online. There are a few bills I still write checks for and mail them it but it is only a few.

DO NOT CARRY DEBT ON A CREDIT CARD.

To all you younger ones reading this, take the time to study your finances. Make the decision to put money back in a 401K or an IRA. Watch that money and learn a little about investing. It can make the difference in retiring at 55 or retiring at 65.

I use credit cards on nearly every purchase we make. Getting 1%, 2%, or 5% back on a purchase can add up to several hundreds or thousands of dollars a year. For example, one card we use gives back 3% on restaurant meals and 5% back on gas. That one sends me a check once a year in February. Another card puts 2% of all purchases back in my IRA account. That is the account I draw part of my income from. Other cards, Lowes for example, give back 5% for each in store purchase.

All that adds up.

But one rule you must remember. If you don't have the cash to pay for a purchase, don't use a credit card as a short term loan. Pay it off each month. Or that purchase you got 5% back on will loose you 3% a month at the least. On some cards if you carry the balance for that purchase one month you will lose what you saved plus some more in fees and interest.

For gosh sakes, learn a little about money and how to manage it. You are going to make mistakes but so what, that is how you learn. If I had known thirty years ago what I know now about money and investing I would be a wealthy person instead of somebody watching closely every purchase.

End of sermon.

RSKY

 

[Larry Caldwell]

For you codgers who have to deal with the feds taking a big hunk of your SS check every month, my sneaky older brother turned me on to a trick. Send cash sheltered withdrawals (IRA, 401K) directly to the charities you support, rather than taking the money and sending them a check. That way it never shows up on your gross income, for purposes of taxing your SS. With the new Republican tax bill, this will be even more important, because they don't want you deducting charitable contributions.

 

[zmountaineer]

A couple years ago I basically bought half of my house using a rewards credit card. I would buy the materials on the card then submit the receipt to the bank for reimbursement. The check was approved within 3 days. So I got the cash rewards from the credit card and had the balances paid off by my escrow account at the bank.

 

[PJSprog]

I cringe every time I hear the credit repair commercial that starts out "Don't let the credit card companies TRICK you into thinking you have to pay it all back".

That one always sends me into fits of twitching and eye-rolling. I've also been known to develop temporary bouts of Tourette Syndrome during that commercial.

 

[/pine]

That one always sends me into fits of twitching and eye-rolling. I've also been known to develop temporary bouts of Tourette Syndrome during that commercial.

There is a commercial running in the Atlanta market that does similar to me...

It's put on by a two bit ambulance chasing law firm that shows a big long table with dozens of (supposedly) lawyers all sitting at multi line telephone banks chatting it up...with the announcer urging anyone that has been in an accident THAT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT CALL call in now to see what your case is really worth...!!

This is the reason I think they should outlaw law firms from charging contingency fees and make them charge flat rates without the 40%+ percentages...

I've thought of anonymously posting their tel. # on CL as a free fantasy sex line...!