All Forum Posts by: Paul Vail
Paul Vail has started 6 posts and replied 189 times.
Post: Landlord Strategy: Become the Utility
- The Triangle, NC
- Posts 189
- Votes 117
Post: Saving for a First Home! How to make the most of my principal
- The Triangle, NC
- Posts 189
- Votes 117
What is your timeline? If you are thinking within the next 5 years, @Charles Carillo hit all of the main points. Like most posters here, I only offer opinion, not investing 'advice' - but I wouldn't invest in the stock market as you said you want to protect your principle. Unfortunately, there are few other tools out there that exceed inflationary erosion. E.g., Ally.com is a popular online bank with a nice HYSA rate that is in near-lockstep with the Fed rates (3.85% as of this writing, while the CPI is published at ~4.9%). CDs are nice tools as they don't float, but lock in predictable returns (a 60mo yields 4.1% presently). Normal CDs can also be redeemed early for a minor penalty (brokered CDs through decent outfits like Vanguard or Fidelity are different animals). i-bonds (a savings bond) get a lot of press when inflation is flying and are about the only tool that will approximate inflation (https://www.treasurydirect.gov...), but that's not guaranteed. I-bonds do have some tax-advantages these other tools do not. And finally you can look at the trifecta of T-bills, T-bonds, and T-notes with their own holding periods and interest rate scales.
Post: Condos in Banner Elk, NC
- The Triangle, NC
- Posts 189
- Votes 117
Quote from @Marty Johnston:
Jason,
I know this is a late response, but since I am currently a Claim's Representative for Metro Public Adjustment Inc (Or Metro PA for short), I felt the need to chime in for others interested in learning about public adjusters.
I'd first like to respond to Tim's comments about Metro PA. First of all, I would certainly agree that if you're looking for a career to aid you in your skills for property management, I would look elsewhere. Being a public adjuster will not really help you gain skills to work with upset tenants or the deal with the hassles of being a landlord. I will however have to disagree about the comment regarding a public adjuster being a door knocker - in fact, we very much discourage EVER go door knocking, and in some places (more and more it would seem) are making it illegal to do so. While we do generate our own leads, it is more like the efforts a realtor might have. People market in different ways, but the truth of the matter is, we are almost all on referral basis (of course after an initial marketing period). The truth is, people who work with ANY public adjuster, tend to have very positive things to say, and also tend to want to tell others about their experiences. Most people don't know what a public adjuster is even, and that's unfortunate, because we really provide a great service, ESPECIALLY for investors (landlords in particular) who have properties with tenants who cause damage, whether the damage was on purpose or on accident.
I don't think I'm aloud to go into details of what we fully offer on here since we aren't in the marketplace, ha. But I would definitelyyy inquire about at LEAST speaking with a public adjuster to see what they offer and what Metro PA is all about. You can of course always PM me too, I love what we do and would be more than happy to talk to you about it!
Marty, you posted 6 years ago. How do you feel about the company now (Metro PA)? Are they providing a fair service, or do they encourage boosting claims in ways that may inflate the payout beyond what the insured would normally pay (+ the 35% Metro PA would want in markup for their slice)?
Post: Is a 457 or 401k beneficial to me
- The Triangle, NC
- Posts 189
- Votes 117
Quote from @Account Closed:
Quote from @Chris Breezy:
I’m 26 and I’m all about personal finance and investing. I have a good amount of money that invest in stocks and I also max out my Roth ira every year. My job provides a pension and annuity for retirement so this would just be extra. Any benefit for me other then saving more for retirement ?
To be fair, we are in the Personal Finance section of the real estate forums. :)
Post: Is a 457 or 401k beneficial to me
- The Triangle, NC
- Posts 189
- Votes 117
Quote from @Nicole Heasley Beitenman:
Beyond the match, I don't plan to invest in a 401K beyond $100k. You can only borrow half of your 401k up to $50k, so once you hit that ceiling, it's pretty useless. I'm only interested in borrowing against it for other investments.
Post: Is a 457 or 401k beneficial to me
- The Triangle, NC
- Posts 189
- Votes 117
Quote from @Aaron Porter:
Life insurance is an investment in yourself, in your family, in your legacy, and they are designed as such. That is why you can get 500k in death benefit for less than $20/month in a term policy. Or why in a whole life policy (illustrated on myself) 35 years old putting $400/month for 30 years ($144K) is worth about $420K at the 30 year mark.
Cash Value Life insurance is a way to pass on substantial amount of money to our heirs while also allowing us access to that money while we are alive.
Good wording -- folks need to understand the value of insurance, gambling against themselves for their family's sake.
Post: Is a 457 or 401k beneficial to me
- The Triangle, NC
- Posts 189
- Votes 117
Quote from @Aaron Porter:
If you are capable and able to save extra money every month and not needing immediate access to the investments/ savings strategies. I would suggest looking into Cash Value whole life insurance policies or Indexed Universal Life policies and annuities. These have NO annual cap for what you can place inside of them unlike 401K's and IRA accounts making them an extremely good long term investment strategy.
Life insurance policies are front loaded for cost meaning that in the 1st 5-10 the policies pay out over 80% of the lifetime fees associated with the policies so in the 1st 5-10 years they don't look that great when looking from an investment standpoint. That being said when you look at year 20 they are on par with what an the statistical average mutual fund returns.
Aaron, do you have any numbers on the cost/earnings potential of CV Whole Life, and how they are on par with equity or bond mutuals?
Post: Is a 457 or 401k beneficial to me
- The Triangle, NC
- Posts 189
- Votes 117
Quote from @Chris Breezy:
Would a 457 be tax deductible
Chris, no. 401/403/457 -- these plans all come out of your paycheck BEFORE taxes are calculated. And their earnings are TAX-DEFERRED (not tax free like HSA or Roth IRA earnings), so you would pay taxes on the withdrawal (distribution) when you elect to take them. But -- contributions lower your taxable income. So if you are in a higher bracket now than you'll be in retirement, that's also a win.