Starting Fresh

[krantcents]

Once again, I really appreciate this - I did some reading on my own, and I think I'll pay off my credit cards. I'll probably do autopay for a couple of utilities from my cards while repaying them regularly (within the 30 day period). I'm going to leave the car loan be, though, since it's an incredibly low interest loan, and it's going to be closed out in a couple of months anyway.

So, what's do you folks think of my investment strategy? Currently, the CCs will all be paid off next month, and the car loan in a couple of months.

Currently, I've a savings account with BofA, but my interest rate is quite low. I noticed that Amex and HSBC had a high yield savings accounts. Are there others? Any recommendations?

Cheers.

Good start! Review your investment strategy quarterly for a while and then annually.

[jpg7n16]

So, what's do you folks think of my investment strategy? Currently, the CCs will all be paid off next month, and the car loan in a couple of months.

I think you're jumpting the gun a little. Get the EF in place first, before boosting your investments. In fact, stop funding investments until the EF is in place (unless to retirement through payroll dedcution)

And as far as the investments you've chosen, they are all pretty high risk (commodities, energy, etc). Is that something you and your wife are comfortable with? And you do say these are long term, so that's good. These type of investments need a long time horizon. I like that they're in ETFs too. That diversifies away some of the risk, and is a great strategy if you're looking to invest in those sectors.

Currently, I've a savings account with BofA, but my interest rate is quite low. I noticed that Amex and HSBC had a high yield savings accounts. Are there others? Any recommendations?

Cheers.

I don't personally use it, but I hear ING online has good rates, and works well for many people on here. All my cash is in a savings account at my bank. The purpose isn't to earn a high rate on the cash, but to have it easily accesible just in case an emergency arises.

[Volkov]

I think you're jumpting the gun a little. Get the EF in place first, before boosting your investments. In fact, stop funding investments until the EF is in place (unless to retirement through payroll dedcution)

Well, the current savings are indeed for my EF -- unless you're saying that the current form of investment is not recommended for them? I've about $10,000 mostly in bonds/cash - and I've not included any of my 401K or other retirement plans. To me, that's money I do not care about. Typically, every year or so, I move a portion over from my investments below into my EF as cash/bonds. Like I said, I was about $50,000 higher - but having two weddings and some unforeseen events cut that down to about $10,000.

And as far as the investments you've chosen, they are all pretty high risk (commodities, energy, etc). Is that something you and your wife are comfortable with? And you do say these are long term, so that's good. These type of investments need a long time horizon. I like that they're in ETFs too. That diversifies away some of the risk, and is a great strategy if you're looking to invest in those sectors.

Thanks. Yes, we understand the risks and they are not all equally divided, so that helps. Here's what my current allocation looks like (without going into the specific ETFs) -

Domestic Stocks - 20.50%
International Stocks - 28.50%
Domestic Bonds - 13.00%
International Bonds - 13.00%
Commodities - 8.00%
Real Estate - 8.00%
Infrastructure - 5.00%
Energy Sector - 2.00%
Healthcare Sector - 2.00%

And of course, I tune my investments on a periodic basis based on market indicators, so that helps make sure that we're keeping up with the world.

I don't personally use it, but I hear ING online has good rates, and works well for many people on here. All my cash is in a savings account at my bank. The purpose isn't to earn a high rate on the cash, but to have it easily accesible just in case an emergency arises.

Fair enough.

Good start! Review your investment strategy quarterly for a while and then annually.

Thanks! I've been doing this for a while now (about 2 years), and tune it pretty much after quarterly announcements by key companies that constitute the ETFs.

[skydivingchic]

Volkov - it sounds like you are doing pretty well. I'm not an investment expert by any stretch so I'll leave that part to people who know more than I do. I did want to comment on a place for your EF. Obviously you want it liquid and risk adverse, so that leaves savings accounts and CDs. Several years ago, thanks to this forum, I stumbled on high yield checking accounts. These accounts require a number of debit card transactions each cycle (usually 10-15), electronic statements, and usually a direct deposit or direct debit each cycle. If you complete those requirements, they pay a great interest rate. There is generally a cap on how much money they pay the high interest on. Right now I earn 3.75% up to $15,000 on the checking account and 2% on my savings account up to $30,000 if I meet the checking account requirements. This strategy is not for everyone. You MUST have the discipline not to dip into the EF portion of your balance and only use the "checking account" portion. I use Mvelopes, so this is extremely easy for me - a spreadsheet would work just fine as well. But these are by far the best interest rates I've found for extremely liquid cash with FDIC insurance. You can search for these types of accounts here: Checking Finder. If you don't think this will work for you, the other online accounts mentioned are fine as well. I've used ING, Emigrant, Ally, and Capital One in the past and have had no bad experiences with any of them.

[snafu]

Welcome to this great site where we all try to offer suggestions that we believe helpful in the circumstances described. I suggest you monitor expenses and tighten up on those with little long, term value. Experience taught me that writing a basic menu plan of foods we like to eat and sticking to it, was healthier, kept us away from restaurants, fast foods and snacks. There was an instant, easy to track change in spending. Restaurant meals were 2/3 more expensive than home made without all the sodium, fat, and unpronounceable chemicals.

It doesn't matter who creates the plan. Both you & wife list your favorite meals. List the components like beef, poultry, pork, lamb, fish [named]. Add the sides that accompany like rice, buckwheat/kasha, beans, pasta, potato,yams, plantain, couscous, quinoa etc. List the vegetables you will eat... asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots,corn, green/yellow beans, mushrooms, peas, peppers [yellow, green,red]squash etc. Finally favorite salads/greens & dressings.

Organize meals around activities and time available. For example, roast a chicken on Sunday with a bunch a veggies. Makes a wonderful, special, Sunday dinner. Take sliced chicken & salad for lunch on Monday. Tues. combine with rice or pasta or potato for skillet dinner. Thurs there will be sufficient for stir fry or casserole or soup. Don't have time to cook soup? Invest $15. in a Slow Cooker/CrockPot [smaller sz.]. Dump in a handful of whatever frozen veggies you will eat, add leftover carb from earlier in the week, whatever spices you really like, a couple of chunks of onion, 3 cups of water in the evening. Leave the ceramic section in the fridge until morning. In the morning, before leaving for work, plug in the machine, add the section from the fridge and you will return to a fragrant home. Some rolls or quality bread and you will feel the love.

On the busiest days, plan simple, fast meals. Monte Cristo, Breakfast for dinner, Canned tomato soup & grilled cheese sandwich, baked salmon, spaghetti, shrimp scampi...anything that takes less than 30 minutes.

The trick to this is to have a list of meals. You need to know what's for dinner & tomorrow's lunch before you even walk in the door. Having a written list is your commitment to the plan. Funnily, you needn't be a good cook, you needn't know how to cook...you can just access cooks.com or a site you like and follow the instructions they set out. easy peasy.

Don't throw out the menu plan for January, you can use it again in March!