2017 Investing Thread

[InRareForm]

lol snapchat.

they said a bunch of newbie investors joined in just because of the IPO.

[DMX7]

I don't use Snapchat and don't know enough about it but it got some interesting large investments like $500M from NBC Universal.

[boutons_deux]

Lots insider selling, indicating consensus that the market is at, near its peak

[Spurminator]

I still haven't figured out if Snapchat is a fad or if it has legit long term potential. If it can keep the users it has and continue to grow, there's still a lot of revenue potential on the advertising side.

But to keep attracting advertisers they need to figure out a better way to get users to actually watch the ads, and how they approach that will determine how many of those users they keep.

[InRareForm]

I use snapchat here and there... 95% of time i quickly exit out of ad. And another problem is the friend list is limited because it's not connected to Facebook for easy friend adding. Most of it is from your contact list.

[CosmicCowboy]

Snapchat taking a shit. :lol

Headed for $10

[CosmicCowboy]

Friday it was like 90 times trailing earnings :lol

[SnakeBoy]

I remember everyone was :lol when FB shit the bed on it's IPO. I'm glad I bought it then.

I'm following Snap

[hater]

:lmao snap hat has ads? :lol

So uou sending pics with someone and a ad for carpet cleaner shows up???

:lmao todays social media

[RandomGuy]

Look for the combined effects of a tourism slowdown and retail bubble burst start to drag the economy by the end of the year, and the irrational exuberance to wear off.

If Trump succeeding in starting a trade war, look for the countercylicals.

If Trump succeeds in starting a real war, look for bending over an kissing your ass goodbye. Seriously though either way firms that benefit from useless naval ship building.

[SnakeBoy]

Look for the combined effects of a tourism slowdown and retail bubble burst start to drag the economy by the end of the year, and the irrational exuberance to wear off.

If Trump succeeding in starting a trade war, look for the countercylicals.

If Trump succeeds in starting a real war, look for bending over an kissing your ass goodbye. Seriously though either way firms that benefit from useless naval ship building.

Dr. Doom :lol

Dude snap out of it already

[RandomGuy]

I expect that the effects of the moronic budget that will likely get passed will, once again, be more supply side fail, with a real possibility of the Trump Recession hitting in mid 2018.

Cutting regulations will be harder, take longer, and have far less effect than the GOP/Trump would like anyone to believe, so I discount that as having any effect.

[RandomGuy]

Dr. Doom :lol

Dude snap out of it already

Merely beginning to think.

Visa applications to the US is down already, and that will likely continue. It will take a bit before the trend becomes clear.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielreed/2017/03/06/reports-of-a-trump-slump-in-foreign-travel-to-the-u-s-abound-but-solid-evidence-does-not/#3600f27942d3

I'm not saying the economy is going to tank just yet, but will tell you that the president is vastly in over his head, and alienating the rest of the world. That will effect the economy in very tangible ways.

If I were doing some due diligence on a company with Trump as a CEO, knowing what I know, I would start raising red flags.

Autocrat
Blames everybody but himself for problems
unethical
habitual liar
bad sources of information (conspiracy theory websites)

These things are huge warning signs, and vastly increase the potential for really bad decisions.

[SnakeBoy]

Look for the combined effects of a tourism slowdown and retail bubble burst start to drag the economy by the end of the year, and the irrational exuberance to wear off.

If Trump succeeding in starting a trade war, look for the countercylicals.

If Trump succeeds in starting a real war, look for bending over an kissing your ass goodbye. Seriously though either way firms that benefit from useless naval ship building.

Part 1
Preparing for the Woods

http://pad1.whstatic.com/images/thumb/9/97/Survive-in-the-Woods-Step-1-Version-3.jpg/aid31352-728px-Survive-in-the-Woods-Step-1-Version-3.jpg

1 Do your research first. Don't just trek off into the wilderness; get a solid understanding of your surroundings first. Studying a map of the area where you're going -- and making sure to bring it with you -- will increase your chances of not getting lost tremendously. Educate yourself about the flora and fauna of the area you are exploring. Knowledge of the local plants and animals can save your life (for example knowing which plants are edible or knowing where the local colony of rattlesnakes make haven).

[SnakeBoy]

Merely beginning to think.

Visa applications to the US is down already, and that will likely continue. It will take a bit before the trend becomes clear.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielreed/2017/03/06/reports-of-a-trump-slump-in-foreign-travel-to-the-u-s-abound-but-solid-evidence-does-not/#3600f27942d3

I'm not saying the economy is going to tank just yet, but will tell you that the president is vastly in over his head, and alienating the rest of the world. That will effect the economy in very tangible ways.

If I were doing some due diligence on a company with Trump as a CEO, knowing what I know, I would start raising red flags.

Autocrat
Blames everybody but himself for problems
unethical
habitual liar
bad sources of information (conspiracy theory websites)

These things are huge warning signs, and vastly increase the potential for really bad decisions.



Part 1
Preparing for the Woods

http://pad1.whstatic.com/images/thumb/9/90/Survive-in-the-Woods-Step-2-Version-3.jpg/aid31352-728px-Survive-in-the-Woods-Step-2-Version-3.jpg

2 Make sure that you eat well before going into the woods, and tell someone where you are going, when you expect to return, when to know to call the cops, etc. Don't make the mistake that James Franco makes in 127, the survival movie based on a true story -- make sure someone know exactly where you're going and when. That way, if you do not return in time, someone will realize that you are lost, quickly alert rescuers, and be able to tell them where to start looking for you.

[RandomGuy]

Part 1
Preparing for the Woods

http://pad1.whstatic.com/images/thumb/9/97/Survive-in-the-Woods-Step-1-Version-3.jpg/aid31352-728px-Survive-in-the-Woods-Step-1-Version-3.jpg

1 Do your research first. Don't just trek off into the wilderness; get a solid understanding of your surroundings first. Studying a map of the area where you're going -- and making sure to bring it with you -- will increase your chances of not getting lost tremendously. Educate yourself about the flora and fauna of the area you are exploring. Knowledge of the local plants and animals can save your life (for example knowing which plants are edible or knowing where the local colony of rattlesnakes make haven).

You a funny guy.

PE ratios are already a bit high, there is a moron in the white house, and that makes me "Dr. Doom", for thinking there is a good chance for a mild recession mid-next year?

Keep drinking the Koolaid.

[SnakeBoy]

SNAP tanking again, looking to load up again around ~$19. Anyone else playing this...easy money.

[CosmicCowboy]

No fucking way snap is worth that.

[DMX7]

Paul Ryan's comments hurt the market today.

[SnakeBoy]

No fucking way snap is worth that.

Who gives a shit, it's been a great swing trade. Only 2 rules matter...don't get greedy and don't get stuck. Really don't care what it's "worth".

[TDMVPDPOY]

all those apps on smartphones that makes free calls .... I'm surprised the large telcos hasn't started to sue those app makers for freeloading on their infrastructure

[boutons_deux]

US hiring slowed sharply in March with just 98,000 new jobs; unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent

http://m.sfgate.com/news/article/US-hiring-slowed-sharply-in-March-with-just-11057446.php
Trash says, under Obama, 4.5% is a huge lie, it's really 30% under Obama, but 4.5% under Trash is Bible truth

[InRareForm]

Starbucks - 9% in Mexico Bc of trump lol

Waiting for price to fall more so I can double down.

Keep "Cara" on your watchlist

[RandomGuy]

Here is a stock NOT to buy:

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/TPRE?p=TPRE

Been reading through their 10k and past performance. Issued at 12.50 at the IPO, currently trading at 12.05.

Management has no plans for a dividend and talk about "financing growth". Weighted average stock price for managements options about 13.45, which is within historical realms.

Bermuda reinsurer. They aren't going anywhere, so it isn't worth shorting, and have a stock that has markedly underperformed the broader indexes for its entire publicly traded existence.

Yet the analysts watching it have about 1/2 saying "buy". WTF? Their business model is not unique, and the company is very obviously (if you read between the lines in the 10k) managed for the founding shareholders benefit (related party investment management with solid fees for example).

A solid company from a reinsurance standpoint, but man, their stock seems to be a pointless exercise.

[boutons_deux]

Fed gonna raise rate probably in June, killing 100Ks of jobs.

The Bankers' Toy has to keep unemployment high to keep BigCorp's wages low.

Surplus Labor, job insecurity, is essential to the success of Capital.

It's The American (Capitalist's) Way of Life

[DMX7]

Fed gonna raise rate probably in June, killing 100Ks of jobs.

The Bankers' Toy has to keep unemployment high to keep BigCorp's wages low.

Surplus Labor, job insecurity, is essential to the success of Capital.

It's The American (Capitalist's) Way of Life

Raising the fed interest rate 25 basis points doesn't automatically kill jobs.

[rmt]

I think they don't raise rates in June. Data hasn't been too good recently.

[RandomGuy]

I think they don't raise rates in June. Data hasn't been too good recently.

That is, as always, the trillion dollar question.

[boutons_deux]

The economy is barely growing. These are 3 theories why.

1) People didn’t buy as many cars

2) Retailers overstocked last year

3) The dollar keeps getting more valuable

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=266860&p=8993458#post8993458

[boutons_deux]

The stock market’s “fear gauge” is at a 23-year low, and traders are terrified


https://qz.com/979370/volatility-and-the-vix-index-the-stock-markets-fear-gauge-is-at-a-23-year-low-and-traders-are-terrified/

[CosmicCowboy]

SNAP tanking again, looking to load up again around ~$19. Anyone else playing this...easy money.

Hope you sold yesterday.

[InRareForm]

I wouldn't be suprised to see snap going to 10

[InRareForm]

Instagram stories was the roundhouse kick to snapchat imo

[SnakeBoy]

Hope you sold yesterday.

Sold Friday @23. I'll buy it back once it's oversold for another swing.

[SnakeBoy]

I wouldn't be suprised to see snap going to 10

That would be sweet but I think it gets support around 15-16.

[RandomGuy]

Here is a stock NOT to buy:

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/TPRE?p=TPRE

Been reading through their 10k and past performance. Issued at 12.50 at the IPO, currently trading at 12.05.

Management has no plans for a dividend and talk about "financing growth". Weighted average stock price for managements options about 13.45, which is within historical realms.

Bermuda reinsurer. They aren't going anywhere, so it isn't worth shorting, and have a stock that has markedly underperformed the broader indexes for its entire publicly traded existence.

Yet the analysts watching it have about 1/2 saying "buy". WTF? Their business model is not unique, and the company is very obviously (if you read between the lines in the 10k) managed for the founding shareholders benefit (related party investment management with solid fees for example).

A solid company from a reinsurance standpoint, but man, their stock seems to be a pointless exercise.

This thing is even worse than I had thought at first blush.

Company has issued $6.4Bn in credit default swaps. Shareholder equity: 1.4bn, total invested assets (including receivables) 3.9bn.

Care to guess how much they have reserved for issuing this $6.4Bn in credit default swaps? $16M, or... .016 Bn. .16/6.4= 0.25%

That may be realistic given the nature of the liabilities, but one has to wonder. CDS' offer quick investment returns, which is why they are attractive to hedge funds, who don't have to reserve the way a conventional insurance company does, but this is supposed to be an insurance company. Yikes.

[DarrinS]

Think Facebook will keep growing? I wish I had bought some when it was in the $20's. :lol

[RandomGuy]

Think Facebook will keep growing? I wish I had bought some when it was in the $20's. :lol

Dunno. They outlasted Friendster and Myspace.

There aren't actually too many more people on the planet who really can sign up at this point.

[Spurminator]

Hadn't bought Snap yet but thinking about going long now. They've got some interesting ad products rolling out.

Facebook isn't going anywhere. It's still the biggest social media channel by far, even for Millennials, and it owns Instagram. I don't think it's going to be able to replace Snap's camera/story offerings but it will continue to be the dominant newsfeed for the foreseeable future and they continue to innovate their ad products.

[SnakeBoy]

Hadn't bought Snap yet but thinking about going long now. They've got some interesting ad products rolling out.


Why go long? When the shorts and the longs are going to battle just play the swings.

[InRareForm]

Anyone with the stock ticker: TTD

What a beast

[rmt]

Bitcoin over 2070. Good thing dh didn't listen to me when I suggested selling at 1200.

[RandomGuy]

Anyone with the stock ticker: TTD

What a beast

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams?

[RandomGuy]

Ad buyers are able to share their customized messages and ideas with the people and in the context they deliberately choose. … Our mission is to help our clients compete in the marketplace of ideas—the place in media and public discourse where ideas and messages compete in the open market for the mindshare of men and women around the world. … Our platform makes media monetization more effective. Instead of disrupting the foundation of media and advertising, we enable it. By offering compelling improvements in effectiveness, efficiency and reporting, we aim to change media and advertising globally.

This company has grown faster than the programmatic market and has achieved significant revenue scale with $1.0 billion in gross spend in 2016. Its revenue was $202.9 million in 2016, representing a growth rate of 78% over $113.8 million in 2015, while programmatic advertising spend in the industry grew to $19 billion in 2016, according to Magna Global, representing a growth rate of over 27% from 2015.

ish.

As in Gibber.

Sounds nice, but I would have some serious misgivings about the underlying fundamentals if they can't 'splain it better.

[InRareForm]

Square - long position

Buying every red dip in starbucks stock until the end of the year, $70 stock by end of summer

[rmt]

Bit coin hits 2769. Dh thinks it's the ransom ware causing demand for it.

[InRareForm]

starbucks all time high on friday.

:toast

[spurraider21]

starbucks all time high on friday.

:toasteven after the christmas cup scandal??

[DarrinS]

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/amzn?ltr=1

Bezos going to overtake Gates?

[InRareForm]

even after the christmas cup scandal??

shit i wish there was more controversy with other things, gives me a chance to buy more when it dips.....

[DMC]

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/amzn?ltr=1

Bezos going to overtake Gates?

I think it hits 1500 in a few months.

It's a good investment but you need to be banking to get in on a level that matters.

[InRareForm]

E-commerce/tech infrastructure is the new bubble/craze.

It's hard to buy on dips these days when it doesn't last long or days continue to be green tbh..

[InRareForm]

Snap down 3 bucks since Monday lol

[RandomGuy]

Snap down 3 bucks since Monday lol

SNAP?

[RandomGuy]

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SNAP/

NM. found it. Class action lawsuit = stock hit.

[InRareForm]

Tech sector terrible day

[DarrinS]

Some practical advice for you youngsters

1. Time is on your side -- use it
2. Pay off dumb debt asap -- student loans, credit cards, cars
3. Invest 15% of your income in 401k, especially if employer matched
4. Open a roboadvisor account, like betterment, and put it on autodraft

You will be a millionaire

RG may have some better advice, but that's what I would do.

[Xevious]

Some practical advice for you youngsters

1. Time is on your side -- use it
2. Pay off dumb debt asap -- student loans, credit cards, cars
3. Invest 15% of your income in 401k, especially if employer matched
4. Open a roboadvisor account, like betterment, and put it on autodraft

You will be a millionaire

RG may have some better advice, but that's what I would do.
Solid Dave Ramsey-esque advice. I contribute up to the match on my 401k and then max out Roths for my wife and me. If your employer offers a Roth 401k you are golden as long as they have decent options.

Also, don't just dump money in your 401k, pick out the funds you'd like to invest in. Most of the target based funds they default you in are shit, loaded with bonds, money market cash, etc.

[DarrinS]

Solid Dave Ramsey-esque advice. I contribute up to the match on my 401k and then max out Roths for my wife and me. If your employer offers a Roth 401k you are golden as long as they have decent options.

Also, don't just dump money in your 401k, pick out the funds you'd like to invest in. Most of the target based funds they default you in are shit, loaded with bonds, money market cash, etc.

True, but do the research.

I just started a Roth, but I'm already pretty old, so I don't think it will be a huge windfall.

[MultiTroll]

Bit coin hits 2769. Dh thinks it's the ransom ware causing demand for it.
Which of the other crypto coins can we get in on the bottom?
And then they take a Bitcoin type rise.

[Spurminator]

I disagree with paying off student loans.

If it's a manageable monthly amount and a low interest rate, better to take the money you would be using to pay it off and invest it.

I've been paying student loans for 15 years and the S&P 500 has tripled since then. I've payed about 33% in accumulated student loan interest over that time.

[DarrinS]

You're still paying student loans after 15 years? Holy shit!

[rmt]

Which of the other crypto coins can we get in on the bottom?
And then they take a Bitcoin type rise.

Sorry but don't know anything about the other crypto - only that bit coin is limited in number. Dh started mining (instead of buying) bit coins when they were $6. Why doesn't he tell me about these things when they're that cheap. I started dabbling when it was $750 and foolishly sold 20 bit coins at $400 to offset stock gain in 2015? Really stupid but it was hovering at $400 for a looooong time.

[baseline bum]

Which of the other crypto coins can we get in on the bottom?
And then they take a Bitcoin type rise.

Ethereum mining right now is profitable with consumer level gpus, which is why AMD graphics cards are insanely expensive and difficult to find (they usually have much better hash rates than equivalently priced Nvidia gaming cards). It's probably a huge reason why bitcoin has shot up so much in value the last month or two also, since these coins are usually converted into bitcoin later on. My GTX 970 could make about $90 a month after factoring in what I'd be paying for electricity, but the AMD equivalent gaming card (RX 580) can make about twice that much. The same thing happened with 2013 with LiteCoin and the AMD 7950/7970/R9 280/R9 280x/R9 290/R9 290x/R9 295x2.

[Spurminator]

You're still paying student loans after 15 years? Holy shit!

$137 a month since 2002. They'll be paid off at the end of this year.

Hard to justify paying a bulk sum at any point in the past 15 years, but I realize not everyone's situation is the same.

[DarrinS]

$137 a month since 2002. They'll be paid off at the end of this year.

Hard to justify paying a bulk sum at any point in the past 15 years, but I realize not everyone's situation is the same.


Not a huge amount, but I'm sure you'll be happy to be done with that.

[Xevious]

I disagree with paying off student loans.

If it's a manageable monthly amount and a low interest rate, better to take the money you would be using to pay it off and invest it.

I've been paying student loans for 15 years and the S&P 500 has tripled since then. I've payed about 33% in accumulated student loan interest over that time.
The same can be said for auto loans, other low interest loans, etc. until all your income is going out in payments. The idea is that you bust you're ass for a short amount of time and then you have your entire income to build wealth with.

[Spurminator]

The same can be said for auto loans, other low interest loans, etc. until all your income is going out in payments. The idea is that you bust you're ass for a short amount of time and then you have your entire income to build wealth with.

I understand the Ramsey perspective, but it's really a psychological benefit, not a mathematical one.

[pgardn]

The same can be said for auto loans, other low interest loans, etc. until all your income is going out in payments. The idea is that you bust you're ass for a short amount of time and then you have your entire income to build wealth with.

This is safe. The other perspective would be the businessman who has to take out loans to produce wealth. Our president was famous for this. Risk takers can become unusually wealthy. The Donald did not mind being in the hole even though he started out way ahead. If one is doggedly determined, gets some good breaks, and lies/intimidates when necessary, this can work. There is some leniency in bankruptcy rules in Texas, give it a whirl.
Trump raised in the proper household could have made a great drug lord IMO. I think given the proper upbringing he could have killed people without grief. Or at least had people killed...sociopaths have an advantage in this way. So don't discount the white collar or blue collar criminal.

Dr. Phil

[InRareForm]

Keep "Cara" on your watchlist

Up to $24 right now from $14 back in April

$$$$

[RandomGuy]

Ethereum mining right now is profitable with consumer level gpus, which is why AMD graphics cards are insanely expensive and difficult to find (they usually have much better hash rates than equivalently priced Nvidia gaming cards). It's probably a huge reason why bitcoin has shot up so much in value the last month or two also, since these coins are usually converted into bitcoin later on. My GTX 970 could make about $90 a month after factoring in what I'd be paying for electricity, but the AMD equivalent gaming card (RX 580) can make about twice that much. The same thing happened with 2013 with LiteCoin and the AMD 7950/7970/R9 280/R9 280x/R9 290/R9 290x/R9 295x2.

So how would I get started doing this? I would assume my bitchin video card could do this.

[baseline bum]

So how would I get started doing this? I would assume my bitchin video card could do this.

I don't mine so I don't know the specific tweaks you'd want to do to improve your hashrate or what OS would be best to be running, which drivers you want to be using, etc. If you're willing to do all the legwork to get everything properly tweaked and if you're willing to have your gpu running 24/7 at 100% load and your computer unusable for anything else you could probably make around $6 a day after electricity costs mining ether with that card (well, until the bubble bursts). You'd lose money mining other cryptocurrency like bitcoin with gpus though.

[InRareForm]

That would be sweet but I think it gets support around 15-16.

Down to 11.80 now

[InRareForm]

AMC stock is going down pretty bad. Streaming, big TV, lack of good movies etc.

[InRareForm]

Anyone like Nvidia. What a wild ride

[SnakeBoy]

Down to 11.80 now

Damn. I took it off my watchlist when it stopped bouncing around and just started the slow march down.

[SnakeBoy]

Some practical advice for you youngsters

1. Time is on your side -- use it
2. Pay off dumb debt asap -- student loans, credit cards, cars
3. Invest 15% of your income in 401k, especially if employer matched
4. Open a roboadvisor account, like betterment, and put it on autodraft

You will be a millionaire

RG may have some better advice, but that's what I would do.

It's pretty hard not to become a millionaire if you start young

[UNT Eagles 2016]

$137 a month since 2002. They'll be paid off at the end of this year.

Hard to justify paying a bulk sum at any point in the past 15 years, but I realize not everyone's situation is the same.

I try to explain my mom this but she's all about "debt free" and such.

If you have 100k and 95k of manageable debt... best to make payments and invest your big money in real things like house flipping, maybe a rental property and a few stocks on the side. But most people prefer to pay off debt that's why they're stuck in the middle class.

[UNT Eagles 2016]

Some practical advice for you youngsters

1. Time is on your side -- use it
2. Pay off dumb debt asap -- student loans, credit cards, cars
3. Invest 15% of your income in 401k, especially if employer matched
4. Open a roboadvisor account, like betterment, and put it on autodraft

You will be a millionaire

RG may have some better advice, but that's what I would do.

lawl... if you live to 60?

Because that's the uber slooooooooooooooow way. Ramsey is selfmade rich but he dislikes competition and he gets paid to give lectures that... keep people in the middle class. Sure you can play the ultra conservative route like that but you'll never make money and be young enough to enjoy it, without being saddled with things like kids in school, grandkids, health issues, rapidly dying off family members, etc... and that's if you don't die before then, if you do you just lost all of it.

If you want to be wealthy and young... you have to go by this priority guide:

1) Cash on hand (in the bank or whatever... not saying just hide a wad of bills under your bed, that's silly)
2) Cash flow (becomes slightly more important than #1 in event of recession)

Distant 3rd) equity
..............
Eventually) pay off debts.

[DarrinS]

lawl... if you live to 60?

Because that's the uber slooooooooooooooow way. Ramsey is selfmade rich but he dislikes competition and he gets paid to give lectures that... keep people in the middle class. Sure you can play the ultra conservative route like that but you'll never make money and be young enough to enjoy it, without being saddled with things like kids in school, grandkids, health issues, rapidly dying off family members, etc... and that's if you don't die before then, if you do you just lost all of it.

If you want to be wealthy and young... you have to go by this priority guide:

1) Cash on hand (in the bank or whatever... not saying just hide a wad of bills under your bed, that's silly)
2) Cash flow (becomes slightly more important than #1 in event of recession)

Distant 3rd) equity
..............
Eventually) pay off debts.


Do it your way. I don't GAF. I'm jus saying how I'm doing it.

There's no way to be rich when you're young unless you're an entrepreneur, an athlete, famous, or you inherit it.

For the rest of us, I was trying to give practical advice.

All I know is I'm under 50 and I have no house payment, no car payments, about 400K in my 401k, and 200k in savings.

[UNT Eagles 2016]

Do it your way. I don't GAF. I'm jus saying how I'm doing it.

There's no way to be rich when you're young unless you're an entrepreneur, an athlete, famous, or you inherit it.

For the rest of us, I was trying to give practical advice.

All I know is I'm under 50 and I have no house payment, no car payments, about 400K in my 401k, and 200k in savings.

Correct. But if you live in a house with no house payments, and have 200k in savings... you should be able to turn that into a million in a couple years or less, of course you've got to have the risk taker/entrepreneur gene and not everyone has it.

The hardest part about being a young entrepreneur, is getting the first... I dunno... 50-60k in capital? Because if you have that you can turn it into a million with around five years or so of smart investing (maybe less, maybe more depending on the market, economy and things)... whereas if you're broke living paycheck to paycheck with little or no reserves, it's hard to make it big as an entrepreneur right away because you don't have enough to invest and you aren't going to qualify for loans very easily.

[DarrinS]

Correct. But if you live in a house with no house payments, and have 200k in savings... you should be able to turn that into a million in a couple years or less, of course you've got to have the risk taker/entrepreneur gene and not everyone has it.

I'm a low risk person, since I have a wife, two kids, and a mum to look after. You seem like a young chap. Take all the risk you want.

[UNT Eagles 2016]

I'm a low risk person, since I have a wife, two kids, and a mum to look after. You seem like a young chap. Take all the risk you want.

Agreed and now is the time to take risk, before you have kids and shit, that shit drives a lot of guys in their early 30s and shit into mediocrity. Like, I had the ambition to be rich but the kids came and now I'll settle for steady but middle-class and save for my kids' education (a giant rip off, but whatever). I'm glad you are happy and where you want to me, but shit, that ain't me.

And I noticed you said "mum"... are you British?

[DarrinS]

Agreed and now is the time to take risk, before you have kids and shit, that shit drives a lot of guys in their early 30s and shit into mediocrity. Like, I had the ambition to be rich but the kids came and now I'll settle for steady but middle-class and save for my kids' education (a giant rip off, but whatever). I'm glad you are happy and where you want to me, but shit, that ain't me.

And I noticed you said "mum"... are you British?

No worries mate. Everyone is different.

[DarrinS]

I mean, cool bruh.

[UNT Eagles 2016]

No worries mate. Everyone is different.

Aussie?

[DarrinS]

Aussie?

Texan

[Spurtacular]

US hiring slowed sharply in March with just 98,000 new jobs; unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent

http://m.sfgate.com/news/article/US-hiring-slowed-sharply-in-March-with-just-11057446.php


Trash says, under Obama, 4.5% is a huge lie, it's really 30% under Obama, but 4.5% under Trash is Bible truth

It's a huge lie under both, obviously.

[SnakeBoy]

TNDM is finally making a run. Should hopefully go over $1 as the shorts get squeezed.

[Xevious]

I try to explain my mom this but she's all about "debt free" and such.

If you have 100k and 95k of manageable debt... best to make payments and invest your big money in real things like house flipping, maybe a rental property and a few stocks on the side. But most people prefer to pay off debt that's why they're stuck in the middle class.
WTF are you talking about? Most of the middle class is deeply in debt and probably won't pay it all off in their working lifetimes. Placing a priority on paying off debt is not what keeps people in middle class, spending all their goddamn money on stupid shit is.

[boutons_deux]

spending all their goddamn money on stupid shit is.

... being fleeced by the oligarchy keeps people from advancing and from retiring comfortably. Oligarchy's BigFinance division aggressively sells "debt".

[Xevious]

... being fleeced by the oligarchy keeps people from advancing and from retiring comfortably. Oligarchy's BigFinance division aggressively sells "debt".
Sure it does, but there is something to be said for personal responsibility. Nobody forces you to finance a sofa, or put your McDonald's lunch on a credit card, or spend 100k on a generic business degree, or buy a new cell phone every year, or roll in negative equity on a new car, or any of the other stupid shit people do on a daily basis.

[Thread]

Sure it does, but there is something to be said for personal responsibility. Nobody forces you to finance a sofa, or put your McDonald's lunch on a credit card, or spend 100k on a generic business degree, or buy a new cell phone every year, or roll in negative equity on a new car, or any of the other stupid shit people do on a daily basis.

Food for thought.

[UNT Eagles 2016]

WTF are you talking about? Most of the middle class is deeply in debt and probably won't pay it all off in their working lifetimes. Placing a priority on paying off debt is not what keeps people in middle class, spending all their goddamn money on stupid shit is.

Well that too for sure... definitely correct on this one. This ranges from way too much mindless entertainment to student loans that fund liberal arts degrees. It didn't hurt that I got free college essentially because I was HS valedictorian, but there's also the factor that I love my 2013 Samsung Galaxy Exhibit and don't want to give it up.

But unless you won some kind of genetic lottery, you don't get rich without assuming some debt... even the top 500 companies in the world all have a debt to income ratio with both debt and income in the millions-plus, hopefully income is a lot higher and those companies are also great at deducting as many little expenses as they can so they barely pay taxes.

Ceiling for anyone who lives a purely W2 life is upper middle class... and that isn't usually reached until upper 40s or later.

[UNT Eagles 2016]

My cell phones...


- 2002 UT Starcom flip phone (a hand-me-down from my mom before I started HS)... service company was Pocket but they're defunct now
- 2010 Samsung blackberry imposter, designed for CricKet. Not in service anymore but I still keep it in my drawer to read old text messages from girls.
- 2013 Samsung Galaxy Exhibit smartphone, designed for MetroPCS (current phone)


And I hated it when I had to go from one to the other.

It's a microcosm of why I'm going to be rich.

[boutons_deux]

Sure it does, but there is something to be said for personal responsibility. Nobody forces you to finance a sofa, or put your McDonald's lunch on a credit card, or spend 100k on a generic business degree, or buy a new cell phone every year, or roll in negative equity on a new car, or any of the other stupid shit people do on a daily basis.

you leave out decades of wealth-sucking health insurance, and the cost of actual medical/dental care, the cost of housing (buy or rent).

Those are the big items that last decades and mostly aren't optional.

Then there's cable TV, Internet, mobile phone shittiness and expense compared to other industrial countries.

It's not over-consumption that holds the lower 80% back, it's necessary consumption.

And the oligarchy/private-equity is buying up water, sewage, road systems, old people's homes, etc, and it's not to reduce consumer prices.

[Xevious]

you leave out decades of wealth-sucking health insurance, and the cost of actual medical/dental care, the cost of housing (buy or rent).

Those are the big items that last decades and mostly aren't optional.

Then there's cable TV, Internet, mobile phone shittiness and expense compared to other industrial countries.

It's not over-consumption that holds the lower 80% back, it's necessary consumption.

And the oligarchy/private-equity is buying up water, sewage, road systems, old people's homes, etc, and it's not to reduce consumer prices.
People can only control what they can control. But to just throw your hands up and buy a house you cannot afford, or pay for an expensive cable package (which isn't a necessary consumption at all) just because "that's what it costs" is one reason why prices keep increasing. That supply/demand thing.

Healthcare is a big one though.

[Thread]

People can only control what they can control. But to just throw your hands up and buy a house you cannot afford, or pay for an expensive cable package (which isn't a necessary consumption at all) just because "that's what it costs" is one reason why prices keep increasing. That supply/demand thing.

Jesus, X. X

[spurraider21]

auto deferment on my student loans are done... so thats about to be real. general question is how aggressively should i be trying to knock it down at this stage?

financial situation is just a little hard to pin down since i just got married. if you were to take our current pay, our household income is sitting around 50k annually (after taxes), though that's projecting with my current law clerk level pay. assuming i pass the bar next month, that would scale up to closer to about 75k (assuming i stay at the same firm, just because the work is easy/stable). we currently have a pretty sweet living arrangement where we're getting away with paying 800/month rent including utilities and internet. cars are paid off, so monthly expenses are fairly minimal. the issue is that she's gonna be applying to med school this june, and will start school some time during the summer of 2018, at which point we'll be on one income while accruing more loans. not to mention that might end up moving us to another state, which means i need to take another bar exam (fml) and we lose out on the current cheap living arrangement.

i'm currently looking at a balance of 180k on mine which includes all of law school and my last year of undergrad. should i do the whole dave ramsey thing and just aggressively pay it off and dont worry about saving/investing at this point?

on a side note, there has been about 15k of interest that has accrued during my deferral period, which will be added to the principal unless paid within about a month. we have about 40k liquid right now. should i dump the 15k to prevent that capitalization? just feel pretty wary doing that since thats a significant % of what we've got in the bank

thoughts?

[InRareForm]

Square has been slowly going up up up

[rmt]

auto deferment on my student loans are done... so thats about to be real. general question is how aggressively should i be trying to knock it down at this stage?

financial situation is just a little hard to pin down since i just got married. if you were to take our current pay, our household income is sitting around 50k annually (after taxes), though that's projecting with my current law clerk level pay. assuming i pass the bar next month, that would scale up to closer to about 75k (assuming i stay at the same firm, just because the work is easy/stable). we currently have a pretty sweet living arrangement where we're getting away with paying 800/month rent including utilities and internet. cars are paid off, so monthly expenses are fairly minimal. the issue is that she's gonna be applying to med school this june, and will start school some time during the summer of 2018, at which point we'll be on one income while accruing more loans. not to mention that might end up moving us to another state, which means i need to take another bar exam (fml) and we lose out on the current cheap living arrangement.

i'm currently looking at a balance of 180k on mine which includes all of law school and my last year of undergrad. should i do the whole dave ramsey thing and just aggressively pay it off and dont worry about saving/investing at this point?

on a side note, there has been about 15k of interest that has accrued during my deferral period, which will be added to the principal unless paid within about a month. we have about 40k liquid right now. should i dump the 15k to prevent that capitalization? just feel pretty wary doing that since thats a significant % of what we've got in the bank

thoughts?

You don't say what % you're paying on your student loans.

[spurraider21]

You don't say what % you're paying on your student loans.
They're broken up into groups. Range from 5-8%

[DarrinS]

180k of student loan debt! Holy shite. That’s what I paid for my home 10 years ago, which I’m about to sell. At least you’re in a high-paying profession. My advice would be to live on the cheap while you pay that beast down.

[Th'Pusher]

You don't say what % you're paying on your student loans.

I’d pay the $15k to avoid the interest. It is almost 40% of your savings but I think it’s worth it to avoid the interest. It’s not like that $40k is going to be making you any significant money. Just pay that off, then work on stacking back up your savings while making minimum payments on the loans until you have your savings back to where you feel comfortable.

Also, tell your old lady to start earning her keep and get a job :lol

[rmt]

This is my take:

1. Under no circumstances, do you have a child until you're financially stable.
2. I would put away $10k for emergencies - if your car breaks, etc.
3. Study very hard and pass that bar exam.
4. Stay in Texas - you have excellent medical schools in TX and med school tuition is VERY cheap compared to everywhere else.
5. Once you pass the bar, find a higher paying job. I don't think easy and stable is good in this situation.
6. Eat at home (cheap and healthy) - brown beans and rice, whole wheat bread and peanut butter, etc.
7. I suggest that you start following bit coin - it is VERY volatile but I think it's here to stay and will only go up (look at its history) but because it is volatile, trying to time it is very difficult but I don't think it's gonna disappear or anything like that. It went over $6k and will most likely get back there. Study the ebbs and flow of it eg. on 8/31, it was at $4745 - dropped to $3530 on 9/15 and hit $6006 on 10/21. Don't try to hit the highs and lows and don't get greedy but you can definitely do better than 5-8% and keep your money "liquid" (meaning working for you instead of paying off a small part of your loan). Keep track of what you start with and as long as you make a better % (accounting for the tax that you must pay), keep on investing.

This is what I would do if I were in your position. Take or leave whatever you like - good luck.

[rmt]

Oh, missed the deferment being over. Of course, you must pay the minimum - do you know what that will be?

[SnakeBoy]

auto deferment on my student loans are done... so thats about to be real. general question is how aggressively should i be trying to knock it down at this stage?

financial situation is just a little hard to pin down since i just got married. if you were to take our current pay, our household income is sitting around 50k annually (after taxes), though that's projecting with my current law clerk level pay. assuming i pass the bar next month, that would scale up to closer to about 75k (assuming i stay at the same firm, just because the work is easy/stable). we currently have a pretty sweet living arrangement where we're getting away with paying 800/month rent including utilities and internet. cars are paid off, so monthly expenses are fairly minimal. the issue is that she's gonna be applying to med school this june, and will start school some time during the summer of 2018, at which point we'll be on one income while accruing more loans. not to mention that might end up moving us to another state, which means i need to take another bar exam (fml) and we lose out on the current cheap living arrangement.

i'm currently looking at a balance of 180k on mine which includes all of law school and my last year of undergrad. should i do the whole dave ramsey thing and just aggressively pay it off and dont worry about saving/investing at this point?

on a side note, there has been about 15k of interest that has accrued during my deferral period, which will be added to the principal unless paid within about a month. we have about 40k liquid right now. should i dump the 15k to prevent that capitalization? just feel pretty wary doing that since thats a significant % of what we've got in the bank

thoughts?

Pay the $15k

I think you should start retirement savings (IRA, 401k) now. If you have employer matching then max it out, if not then at least get something started. You are young and the power of time can't be overstated when it comes to retirement savings. If you start now it's pretty hard not to be a millionaire when you an old man. That's the one thing I disagree with Ramsey on. Being debt free is awesome and something you should strive for but religiously sticking to a retirement plan should come first imo.

I don't think you are in a position to do the Dave Ramsey debt snowball. Best you could do is tread water, but no more deferments...seriously. Actually I think DR would tell you that you don't have a debt problem as much as you have an income problem. So better job or 2nd job and then you can try to knock that debt out. If your wife is going into med school you're going to have plenty of time to either sit around the house by yourself or you could just work more. Trust me, been there done that.

[SnakeBoy]

40K sounds about right for what you should have in your emergency fund so you should try to build back to that after paying the $15k

[spurraider21]

Yeah, I never even considered getting a deferment. The first one is basically automatic since law grads spend their first few months in bar exam prep and job hunting and don't even get bar results until 6 months after graduating (in CA at least)

My main question is if I should go full Ramsey and spend basically every spare penny on paying down the loans, or if I should go at a more reasonable pace and also start saving. I don't have an income problem per se since our cost of living is quite low.*

But yeah as far as tackling a 180k debt, not really equipped for that just yet. Once I pass the bar I can job hunt more actively. But yeah paying that 15k lump sum made sense, wanted input on that too.


*That's it's own story. The guy was renting units to local college kids for like 500 a month but the place was in fucking disrepair. The unit we took over didn't even have a functioning kitchen. So I made a deal where I put in all the labor (with my father in law) and we fixed the place up. Repatched walls, plumbing, building a kitchen from scratch. The owner fronted costs of supplies. The unit is worth something like 1500/month now but we locked it in at 800 as repayment for the labor and increasing his property value. Was tiring putting in that labor every night after work, but it's pretty fucking rewarding living in it.

[SnakeBoy]

My main question is if I should go full Ramsey and spend basically every spare penny on paying down the loans, or if I should go at a more reasonable pace and also start saving. I don't have an income problem per se since our cost of living is quite low.*


That's what I would do. I did the full Ramsey a long time ago and it's great being debt free but in retrospect had I payed off debt a little slower and also invested I'd be in the same position I am today except with probably an extra few hundred grand in the bank.

I think Ramsey's advice is good if your talking about knocking out credit card, auto, etc. debt but for student loan or mortgage debt I think a more balanced approach is better in the long run.

[spurraider21]

That's what I would do. I did the full Ramsey a long time ago and it's great being debt free but in retrospect had I payed off debt a little slower and also invested I'd be in the same position I am today except with probably an extra few hundred grand in the bank.

I think Ramsey's advice is good if your talking about knocking out credit card, auto, etc. debt but for student loan or mortgage debt I think a more balanced approach is better in the long run.
for sure. he's adamant that you ONLY give mortgage debt that treatment, but yeah perhaps i should also carve out an exception for my student loans given their magnitude (not some 30k student loan like the callers on his show talk about). i'll talk it over with others, too, but good to get some insight here tbh :tu

[SnakeBoy]

for sure. he's adamant that you ONLY give mortgage debt that treatment, but yeah perhaps i should also carve out an exception for my student loans given their magnitude (not some 30k student loan like the callers on his show talk about). i'll talk it over with others, too, but good to get some insight here tbh :tu

Biggest thing you should do is look into refinancing that debt. It's been a long time since I thought about student loan debt but just I heard this commercial

https://www.sofi.com/student-loan-refi-dr/?campaign=MRKT_SEM_SLR-NB-Student-Loan-Refinancing-Broad-Bing_b_o_c_76553520334523_%2Brefinance%20%2Bstuden t%20%2Bloan%20%2Brates&utm_source=MRKT_BING&utm_medium=SEM&utm_campaign=MRKT_SEM_SLR-NB-Student-Loan-Refinancing-Broad-Bing_b_o_c_76553520334523_%2Brefinance%20%2Bstuden t%20%2Bloan%20%2Brates&utm_content=6ae5babc-d02d-48ae-99ad-ea7f6ec1cc49&N=1

[sickdsm]

Pay the $15k

I think you should start retirement savings (IRA, 401k) now. If you have employer matching then max it out, if not then at least get something started. You are young and the power of time can't be overstated when it comes to retirement savings. If you start now it's pretty hard not to be a millionaire when you an old man. That's the one thing I disagree with Ramsey on. Being debt free is awesome and something you should strive for but religiously sticking to a retirement plan should come first imo.

I don't think you are in a position to do the Dave Ramsey debt snowball. Best you could do is tread water, but no more deferments...seriously. Actually I think DR would tell you that you don't have a debt problem as much as you have an income problem. So better job or 2nd job and then you can try to knock that debt out. If your wife is going into med school you're going to have plenty of time to either sit around the house by yourself or you could just work more. Trust me, been there done that.

She's going to med school and he's going to pass the bar. If there not millionaires by 45 he should just throw the towel in. Fuck doing that so he can have rolex in the retirement home.

[spurraider21]

Biggest thing you should do is look into refinancing that debt. It's been a long time since I thought about student loan debt but just I heard this commercial

https://www.sofi.com/student-loan-refi-dr/?campaign=MRKT_SEM_SLR-NB-Student-Loan-Refinancing-Broad-Bing_b_o_c_76553520334523_%2Brefinance%20%2Bstuden t%20%2Bloan%20%2Brates&utm_source=MRKT_BING&utm_medium=SEM&utm_campaign=MRKT_SEM_SLR-NB-Student-Loan-Refinancing-Broad-Bing_b_o_c_76553520334523_%2Brefinance%20%2Bstuden t%20%2Bloan%20%2Brates&utm_content=6ae5babc-d02d-48ae-99ad-ea7f6ec1cc49&N=1
i might actually get a big hand with that in the next year or so. since i moved out, my parents are looking to sell their place and downsize, since it's just the two of them. once that's taken care of, my old man said he'd look into getting a personal loan at a much lower rate for the amount of my student loans, and they just have me make the payments on his loan. he's not going to need the credit since they'd be buying their new place cash. it would get the loan off my name and set me up with a much more reasonable interest rate.

i'm not depending on that, but it could potentially be a great solution and an easy way to refi

[rmt]

I would do whatever 401k match an employer gives before paying down debt at 5-8%. It's free money.

That's some wonderful dad you have there who is willing to do that. That's extremely risky on his part.

[Xevious]

for sure. he's adamant that you ONLY give mortgage debt that treatment, but yeah perhaps i should also carve out an exception for my student loans given their magnitude (not some 30k student loan like the callers on his show talk about). i'll talk it over with others, too, but good to get some insight here tbh :tu
To be fair... I've heard him tell people to start investing if their debt is going to take longer than two years to pay off, which is where you're at. So yeah I'd keep some money around especially since you are about to take the bar and you are newly wed. It sounds like you'll be moving soon? So you'll need cash around. The thing though is to keep your lifestyle down. You are living on 50k now. Keep living on 50k even if you are making 200k in a couple years until you pay this shit off. Don't buy new cars or buy an expensive house.

[spurraider21]

To be fair... I've heard him tell people to start investing if their debt is going to take longer than two years to pay off, which is where you're at. So yeah I'd keep some money around especially since you are about to take the bar and you are newly wed. It sounds like you'll be moving soon? So you'll need cash around. The thing though is to keep your lifestyle down. You are living on 50k now. Keep living on 50k even if you are making 200k in a couple years until you pay this shit off. Don't buy new cars or buy an expensive house.
i just took the bar in july, get my results in november. also already finished with the moving process and all expenses with that. furnishing, moving, everything. might buy another small cabinet next to the dining table but thats really about it.

so im not really anticipating any specific expenses, though holiday season tends to run up the bill. i'd only be screwed if i didnt pass the bar and have to retake it, which will cost something like 800 or so, plus working less...

[DarrinS]

Your wife is going to rack up debt with med school, too. If you keep expenses down now, you’ll be all right later on. I remember my sister living like a poor person after med school and she’s doing really well now. But it took a good 10-15 years.

[DarrinS]

Play the long game

[Spurtacular]

I'm thinking of investing in five to eight stocks for a ROI of maybe 5-15 percent or better over the next year. Anyone have suggestions?

[Xevious]

I'm thinking of investing in five to eight stocks for a ROI of maybe 5-15 percent or better over the next year. Anyone have suggestions?
Are you only leaving the money in for a year? If so, I wouldn't bother. Just put money in a money market.

[Spurtacular]

Are you only leaving the money in for a year? If so, I wouldn't bother. Just put money in a money market.

Have more than enough in money market at 0.4 percent.

[Xevious]

Have more than enough in money market at 0.4 percent.
I personally wouldn't invest money I planned on spending in 12 months just in case the market goes down. Now if it was 3 years or more, sure.

[vy65]

auto deferment on my student loans are done... so thats about to be real. general question is how aggressively should i be trying to knock it down at this stage?

financial situation is just a little hard to pin down since i just got married. if you were to take our current pay, our household income is sitting around 50k annually (after taxes), though that's projecting with my current law clerk level pay. assuming i pass the bar next month, that would scale up to closer to about 75k (assuming i stay at the same firm, just because the work is easy/stable). we currently have a pretty sweet living arrangement where we're getting away with paying 800/month rent including utilities and internet. cars are paid off, so monthly expenses are fairly minimal. the issue is that she's gonna be applying to med school this june, and will start school some time during the summer of 2018, at which point we'll be on one income while accruing more loans. not to mention that might end up moving us to another state, which means i need to take another bar exam (fml) and we lose out on the current cheap living arrangement.

i'm currently looking at a balance of 180k on mine which includes all of law school and my last year of undergrad. should i do the whole dave ramsey thing and just aggressively pay it off and dont worry about saving/investing at this point?

on a side note, there has been about 15k of interest that has accrued during my deferral period, which will be added to the principal unless paid within about a month. we have about 40k liquid right now. should i dump the 15k to prevent that capitalization? just feel pretty wary doing that since thats a significant % of what we've got in the bank

thoughts?

Homie, you need to get some plaintiff’s cases. If you’re in a job that is paying considerably below the Cravath-scale, you need to sure-as-shit be assured that there is some upward mobility in terms of salary, if not equity. Otherwise, I’d seriously consider looking at another firm. There’s something to be said about taking a pay cut to get experience, but 75k is too far below market to justify that kind of hit. Especially in California.

[vy65]

i just took the bar in july, get my results in november. also already finished with the moving process and all expenses with that. furnishing, moving, everything. might buy another small cabinet next to the dining table but thats really about it.

so im not really anticipating any specific expenses, though holiday season tends to run up the bill. i'd only be screwed if i didnt pass the bar and have to retake it, which will cost something like 800 or so, plus working less...

And I wouldn’t worry too much about taking another state’s bar. You can waive-in your MBE score for up to 2-3 years (I think). I took and passed the NY bar while a first year at a biglaw firm in Dallas. It can be done, you’ll just hate life for 3 months.

[Spurminator]

Pay the minimum on the student loans until they're paid off. Your monthly payment will seem like pennies once you're making real money.

Max out your 401K as much as possible starting now.

[spurraider21]

Homie, you need to get some plaintiff’s cases. If you’re in a job that is paying considerably below the Cravath-scale, you need to sure-as-shit be assured that there is some upward mobility in terms of salary, if not equity. Otherwise, I’d seriously consider looking at another firm. There’s something to be said about taking a pay cut to get experience, but 75k is too far below market to justify that kind of hit. Especially in California.
It's just the job I'm in line for right now, not what I plan to be doing for any significant period of time. A recent bar taker is just in a very awkward time period to be job hunting. I'd get more aggressive on the hunt once I get results. This job will keep bills paid for the time being, and the pay reflects the work. Boring as fuck and out of the office by 6. I'm ultimately looking to get into PD work but it's hyper competitive in LA county. We'll see.

And I wouldn’t worry too much about taking another state’s bar. You can waive-in your MBE score for up to 2-3 years (I think). I took and passed the NY bar while a first year at a biglaw firm in Dallas. It can be done, you’ll just hate life for 3 months.
Yeah I'm willing to deal with any state besides Louisiana tbh. With any luck she'll get into a CA school. She has the grades and a strong CV, it's up to her performance on the mcat this spring tbh.

Pay the minimum on the student loans until they're paid off. Your monthly payment will seem like pennies once you're making real money.

Max out your 401K as much as possible starting now.
Will having a loan around my neck, virtually in perpetuity, be a significant drawback on my credit or ability to qualify for mortgages later on?

[SpursforSix]

It's just the job I'm in line for right now, not what I plan to be doing for any significant period of time. A recent bar taker is just in a very awkward time period to be job hunting. I'd get more aggressive on the hunt once I get results. This job will keep bills paid for the time being, and the pay reflects the work. Boring as fuck and out of the office by 6. I'm ultimately looking to get into PD work but it's hyper competitive in LA county. We'll see.

Yeah I'm willing to deal with any state besides Louisiana tbh. With any luck she'll get into a CA school. She has the grades and a strong CV, it's up to her performance on the mcat this spring tbh.

Will having a loan around my neck, virtually in perpetuity, be a significant drawback on my credit or ability to qualify for mortgages later on?

I don't know your situation but I'd say that the student loans affect your credit less than anything else. Creditors are going to look at your monthly payment more than your overall debt. Additionally, if you build up a nice 401K, you have some borrowing power regardless of your credit check.

[Spurminator]

Will having a loan around my neck, virtually in perpetuity, be a significant drawback on my credit or ability to qualify for mortgages later on?

As far as mortgage qualifying, that depends on your monthly loan payment, I believe.

As long as you're current on payments, having that debt is actually good for your credit score.

It never hurt us... But we didn't have near the loans you have. :lol

[RandomGuy]

Pay the minimum on the student loans until they're paid off. Your monthly payment will seem like pennies once you're making real money.

Max out your 401K as much as possible starting now.

+1. Solid advice.

My student loans clock in at around 3%, with ONE exception at about 6.7%. I am in no hurry to pay any of it back.

[RandomGuy]

Will having a loan around my neck, virtually in perpetuity, be a significant drawback on my credit or ability to qualify for mortgages later on?

No. Making payments on student loan debt gets you a credit history, which is a big plus. Having a history of paying timely also helps.

It might hurt you if it ate up too high a % of income.

[RandomGuy]

If you have the opportunity:

Get a VA guaranteed loan as a vet. It is a sweet deal.

[vy65]

It's just the job I'm in line for right now, not what I plan to be doing for any significant period of time. A recent bar taker is just in a very awkward time period to be job hunting. I'd get more aggressive on the hunt once I get results. This job will keep bills paid for the time being, and the pay reflects the work. Boring as fuck and out of the office by 6. I'm ultimately looking to get into PD work but it's hyper competitive in LA county. We'll see.

Yeah I'm willing to deal with any state besides Louisiana tbh. With any luck she'll get into a CA school. She has the grades and a strong CV, it's up to her performance on the mcat this spring tbh.

Will having a loan around my neck, virtually in perpetuity, be a significant drawback on my credit or ability to qualify for mortgages later on?

I wouldn’t suggest even thinking about another job until you get your bar results, but you’ll know in a week or two as they always come out the first week of November (at least for NY and TX).

I’m with you on having a job to pay the bills, but keep in mind that once you start practicing, school matters less and less and experience (and an eventual book) matters more and more. You’re years away from needing to have a stable of clients, but assuming you want to do litigation (PD? Personal defense?), being able to tell a prospective employer that you’ve taken X many depositions, have argued Y many motions, and tried Z many cases is what will distinguish you from everyone else. Again, this shit starts mattering after a year or two of practice, but it may take that long before you can get some bites on another job. In the meantime, I’d try focusing on getting the most out of your job experience wise and not necessarily treating it as an 9-6.

And I wouldn’t sleep on Lousiana. It’s a niche area because of the Civil Code bullshit, and there is a ton of work to be had there. Not that I’d wanna practice in a place like Baton Rogue, but I think it more useful than say, Wisconsin or Tennessee.

[vy65]

+1. Solid advice.

My student loans clock in at around 3%, with ONE exception at about 6.7%. I am in no hurry to pay any of it back.

Can’t you also deduct student loan interest too? Or did I make that up?

[spurraider21]

I wouldn’t suggest even thinking about another job until you get your bar results, but you’ll know in a week or two as they always come out the first week of November (at least for NY and TX).

I’m with you on having a job to pay the bills, but keep in mind that once you start practicing, school matters less and less and experience (and an eventual book) matters more and more. You’re years away from needing to have a stable of clients, but assuming you want to do litigation (PD? Personal defense?), being able to tell a prospective employer that you’ve taken X many depositions, have argued Y many motions, and tried Z many cases is what will distinguish you from everyone else. Again, this shit starts mattering after a year or two of practice, but it may take that long before you can get some bites on another job. In the meantime, I’d try focusing on getting the most out of your job experience wise and not necessarily treating it as an 9-6.

And I wouldn’t sleep on Lousiana. It’s a niche area because of the Civil Code bullshit, and there is a ton of work to be had there. Not that I’d wanna practice in a place like Baton Rogue, but I think it more useful than say, Wisconsin or Tennessee.
PD being public defense. It's the best way to get trial work besides doing bullshit unlawful detainers for deadbeats. Much rather get my paycheck from the state than chasing some broke fuck with a lien

[vy65]

PD being public defense. It's the best way to get trial work besides doing bullshit unlawful detainers for deadbeats. Much rather get my paycheck from the state than chasing some broke fuck with a lien

Public defense as in you’ll be a public defender? Why not flip onto the other side as a prosecutor? Don’t want to start by trying DWI’s?

I don’t know much about that side of the practice other than you can break over onto the civil side pretty easily in a couple of years. You’ll have a shit load more experience than some random third year Latham associate. And you can make your money then, assuming that’s what you wanna do.

[vy65]

If not,

OHSYWIAAY2o

[spurraider21]

Public defense as in you’ll be a public defender? Why not flip onto the other side as a prosecutor? Don’t want to start by trying DWI’s?

I don’t know much about that side of the practice other than you can break over onto the civil side pretty easily in a couple of years. You’ll have a shit load more experience than some random third year Latham associate. And you can make your money then, assuming that’s what you wanna do.Prosecution definitely has its advantages. Better political connections, and an easier path to the bench for those that want it. I prefer the defense side though, just personally.

And don't get it twisted, public defenders start with dwi's too :lol

[InRareForm]

Amazon up a cool $122..no big deal

[Spurtacular]

I personally wouldn't invest money I planned on spending in 12 months just in case the market goes down. Now if it was 3 years or more, sure.

I can see that. I still may take the risk in a diversified manner.

[Spurminator]

Amazon up a cool $122..no big deal

Pretty good NASDAQ day all around. Amazon, Google, Apple, Facebook...

[RandomGuy]

Can’t you also deduct student loan interest too? Or did I make that up?

It is currently deductible yes.

[rmt]

This is my take:

1. Under no circumstances, do you have a child until you're financially stable.
2. I would put away $10k for emergencies - if your car breaks, etc.
3. Study very hard and pass that bar exam.
4. Stay in Texas - you have excellent medical schools in TX and med school tuition is VERY cheap compared to everywhere else.
5. Once you pass the bar, find a higher paying job. I don't think easy and stable is good in this situation.
6. Eat at home (cheap and healthy) - brown beans and rice, whole wheat bread and peanut butter, etc.
7. I suggest that you start following bit coin - it is VERY volatile but I think it's here to stay and will only go up (look at its history) but because it is volatile, trying to time it is very difficult but I don't think it's gonna disappear or anything like that. It went over $6k and will most likely get back there. Study the ebbs and flow of it eg. on 8/31, it was at $4745 - dropped to $3530 on 9/15 and hit $6006 on 10/21. Don't try to hit the highs and lows and don't get greedy but you can definitely do better than 5-8% and keep your money "liquid" (meaning working for you instead of paying off a small part of your loan). Keep track of what you start with and as long as you make a better % (accounting for the tax that you must pay), keep on investing.

This is what I would do if I were in your position. Take or leave whatever you like - good luck.

From a day before this post to today - $5615 to $6585 today - a 17.3% increase in 8 days - just more wow.

[rmt]

From a day before this post to today - $5615 to $6585 today - a 17.3% increase in 8 days - just more wow.

And it hits $7k!

[RandomGuy]

Pretty good NASDAQ day all around. Amazon, Google, Apple, Facebook...

Stock buy backs.

The fucked up thing about this trend is they are gradually removing shares from the overall system. Meaning the ultimate correction, when it comes, will be worse, because fewer shares sloshing around means that any given unit has more of an effect on the index. Thinner market = more volatility

Might be interesting to see just how many shares out of the total at these companies have been bought back in the last 10 years.

[RandomGuy]

This is my take:

1. Under no circumstances, do you have a child until you're financially stable.

Disagree. Wife and I waited until we were in our early 30's, and still in school. Waiting too late gets you into the territory of increasing risks to the child from all sorts of things, as well as risks to the health of the mother in carrying the child.

When the decision is "money" or "risk to health", the decision is a lot harder to make. How do you price out the risk of life long harmful mutations to offspring?

"no circumstances" is too narrowly put.

Put it off as long as you can, while you are too young to afford them. But don't wait too long. My kids got to know what it was like being pretty poor as we were working our way through school, which was probably a good eye-opener for the value of education.

[rmt]

Disagree. Wife and I waited until we were in our early 30's, and still in school. Waiting too late gets you into the territory of increasing risks to the child from all sorts of things, as well as risks to the health of the mother in carrying the child.

When the decision is "money" or "risk to health", the decision is a lot harder to make. How do you price out the risk of life long harmful mutations to offspring?

"no circumstances" is too narrowly put.

Put it off as long as you can, while you are too young to afford them. But don't wait too long. My kids got to know what it was like being pretty poor as we were working our way through school, which was probably a good eye-opener for the value of education.

Look, you do what you want - he asked for advice and I gave it. I didn't have my first until I was 34. My 2nd and 3rd they wanted me to take that amnio test and I refused. My dh's cousin took the amnio test, it punctuated whatever and she's childless today. My neighbor had a severely autistic child when she was 25 years old. You don't know what's going to happen but being financially stable while having kids sure takes a lot of stress off a marriage.

[Xevious]

I think emotional maturity is a better measure of when you're ready for kids than money. Contrary to popular belief, kids aren't that expensive.

[RandomGuy]

I think emotional maturity is a better measure of when you're ready for kids than money. Contrary to popular belief, kids aren't that expensive.

+1

Expensive enough. :)

[Xevious]

+1

Expensive enough. :)
It depends on the parents more than anything. If you use daycare, buy expensive clothing, sign them up for pricey activities, etc then hell yeah they're expensive. My oldest knows what it's like to be poor, we are in a completely different situatiin now, but still live frugally.

[CosmicCowboy]

Kids are expensive. In a two earner household daycare is a HUGE chunk.

[CosmicCowboy]

When my kids were in college it was a 25k hit per year for everything. I'm sure its more now.

[CosmicCowboy]

I think that 250K per kid is pretty damb accurate. I know I spent at least that much.

[rmt]

Kids are expensive. In a two earner household daycare is a HUGE chunk.

And if you do one earner (as we did), I gave up that government job so many of you mock me for and the calculation for pension (starting over at the bottom). IMO, kids are very expensive. 2 in college at the same time is a bummer and then the middle wants to do 5 year MS so more overlap when its the youngest's turn. That saying - I don't regret a thing - motherhood has been the greatest joy.

[InRareForm]

check out the short squeeze going on with DCIX

[InRareForm]

Snapchat taking a shit. :lol

Headed for $10

doing PUTS on every earnings time seems profitable lol.

[InRareForm]

Square - long position

Buying every red dip in starbucks stock until the end of the year, $70 stock by end of summer

well i was wrong about starbucks lol....

but square is a beast