Random Topics 3.1

[snickerd3]

I'm reading The Count of Monte Cristo and I just reached an interesting and scandalizing part of the story! A real page turner! ...and now I have a meeting.

I like that book, both the English and French translations. The movies aren't that bad either.

 

[Orchid PE]

Are you a cat?

*Hisses*

 

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

I like that book, both the English and French translations. The movies aren't that bad either.

That's good to know. I rarely want to see the movie after reading a book. I really want to see The Count of Monte Cristo on Broadway, wouldn't mind film. I also want to see The Kite Runner movie as well.

 

[DLD PE]

I like that book, both the English and French translations. The movies aren't that bad either.

Loved that book. Also, my only reason for becoming a "supporter" might be so I can take less than 2 mins between PMs.

 

[JayKay PE]

I feel like there was an investing thread and I just can't find it/I'm too lazy to go through everything...I'm thinking of finally looking into a personal brokerage account. I'm super simple/just want to hold onto stuff, but wanted to do it in an account separate from my IRA accounts at Vanguard. I was thinking of maybe looking into Fidelity? They don't have a minimum and they must have a S&P 500 index fund that I can maybe piggyback on like Vanguard VTSAX?

 

[Tiger15]

I feel like there was an investing thread and I just can't find it/I'm too lazy to go through everything...I'm thinking of finally looking into a personal brokerage account. I'm super simple/just want to hold onto stuff, but wanted to do it in an account separate from my IRA accounts at Vanguard. I was thinking of maybe looking into Fidelity? They don't have a minimum and they must have a S&P 500 index fund that I can maybe piggyback on like Vanguard VTSAX?

Question: Why not do a separate brokerage account, but still at Vanguard?
Don't take that as a recommendation. I don't have any recommendations. But it can be convenient to have your accounts at the same company. E.g. it makes transfers much easier.

 

[snickerd3]

we use both etrade and fidelity. WE haven't had issues with either. Look at what you want to invest in though. Not everything is available at both.

 

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

I use TD Ameritrade. I loved working with Vanguard in the past.

 

[JayKay PE]

Question: Why not do a separate brokerage account, but still at Vanguard?
Don't take that as a recommendation. I don't have any recommendations. But it can be convenient to have your accounts at the same company. E.g. it makes transfers much easier.

For some reason I want to keep my personal brokerage separate from my retirement accounts, just a personal reason, but I don't know if Vanguard would report them all as the same or not? As for transfers...that's not something important right now, since I'm prob not touching my retirement stuff until I'm at least 60 yo.

@snickerd3 I was looking for just a simple S&P 500 fund. I think Fidelity actually has one now, at low/minimal cost, but I need to do more research. Is there a reason why you have both Fidelity and etrade? Specific funds that made you learn more towards one?

@civilrobot PE PMP CCM do you like TD Ameritrade? I use it with my HSA account and I'm not really a fan, but that might be because it's HSA funds and it wasn't super clear about fees (it would just state that a fee was associated with a trade, but then wouldn't tell me how much until after the transaction went through).

 

[snickerd3]

we started out with etrade forever ago because it had the lowest transaction fees at the time. Mr snick added fidelity because he didn't want to put everything in a single basket, so to speak. He liked fidelity more than ameritrade. probably more to do with fees would be my guess.

 

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

@JayKay PE as a retail investor, TD Ameritrade is easy to use. Fees are minimal. I used Vanguard for a 401k a long time ago. I maintained that money through an IRA at one point with them, and the fees were acceptable. Good customer service.

 

[JayKay PE]

I did a little more research and I think I'm going to open up my personal account with Vanguard, since a lot of the fees go away if you have over $50k with them in some manner (which I have in my IRA/Roth accounts). Want to put in at least $3k so I can just VTSAX it and ignore it monthly. Going to start saving up that $3k since I don't want to steal from my HYSA (HMBradley is weird in that is calculates how much you 'use' per quarter and then changes your interest rate based on that). At least I now have a plan to go towards/a goal.

 

[Platypus Engineer]

Some one at a gun manufacturer actually thought this was a good idea. An actual fireable gun made fom lego blocks

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/legos-cease-desist-gun-manufacturer-guns

 

[mudpuppy]

I did a little more research and I think I'm going to open up my personal account with Vanguard, since a lot of the fees go away if you have over $50k with them in some manner (which I have in my IRA/Roth accounts). Want to put in at least $3k so I can just VTSAX it and ignore it monthly. Going to start saving up that $3k since I don't want to steal from my HYSA (HMBradley is weird in that is calculates how much you 'use' per quarter and then changes your interest rate based on that). At least I now have a plan to go towards/a goal.

I'm a little late to the party, but I have accounts with Schwab, Fidelity, E*Trade and TDAmeritrade. Of the four, I like E*Trade the best due to its website layout and being able to easily find all their tools and research. I would put Fidelity second. That being said I'm moving away from E*Trade because I had trouble getting them to do a backdoor Roth IRA contribution -- took several calls and a lot of time -- which I was able to do all online with Fidelity. E*Trade shouldn't be a problem if you never have a need to call them.

TD Ameritrade is my least favorite because their website interface seems counter-intuitive and clunky to me. But I'm also not a fan of Fidelity's tax forms. So pretty much no one is perfect.

Also note that Schwab bought TD Ameritrade and Morgan Stanley bought E*Trade, so both of those may be seeing changes in the future.

For what you're wanting to do, it sounds like Vanguard probably is the best choice.

 

[Tiger15]

 

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

I applied for this position at a university. Got the interview. Then cancelled. I need to sit still for a while.

 

[Tiger15]

I applied for this position at a university. Got the interview. Then cancelled. I need to sit still for a while.

Congratulations on getting the interview!

 

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

Congratulations on getting the interview!

Thanks! It's a really good job, but it's not the right time for me to move. I really need to develop in the role I'm in now. I think I made the right decision.

 

[Supe]

Anyone have any experience with Lenovo desktops (I've always had good luck with their laptops)?

Looking to pick up a pair of them for my wife and daughter so the family can do some basic gaming together (middle settings on 1080p is pretty much all we need).

With the insane price and limited availability of graphics cards right now, I can grab a Lenovo 5i tower with a GTX 1660 Super, SSD, i5 processor, B560 mobo, 8GB RAM, Wifi/Bluetooth card, 400w PS, Win 10 and basic peripherals for $950. The 1660 Super cards right now are going for $500 alone, so I don't think I could even build it for less right now.

 

[snickerd3]

all our work desk tops computers are lenovo. if you have the correct RAM size they operate fine. They are either long haulers or break within a month if you got a bum one. Ours are basically on 24/7 for 5-6 years before the lease is up and they get us new ones. our most recent computers, our group of 10 we had one completely die within a month. The power control board on another went belly up at 3 yrs. that's about it. Most of our issues are network and software related. Never hardware.