Month: April 2010

Categories
401k and Personal Finance

Buying mutual fund for Scottrade IRA account

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Last Updated on May 21, 2010 by stlplace

So I opened an IRA account in mid March, deposit some money there, but I have not bought any mutual fund until today (theoretically tomorrow).

Why? Two reasons:
1) The market has been hot lately, and I was waiting for a dip, that dip did not come until recently the Goldman scandal surfaced, and Greece (Europe) debt crisis deepened.

2) Picking a good mutual fund is hard. I did not realized it because in the past, I only bought mutual funds in 401k plan, which usually has 10 mutual funds. Now, it’s a big pond (or ocean).

I remember David Swansen (the Yale endowment investment chief) once said, individual investor usually “buy high, sell low” on mutual funds, what he meant was individual investors usually did not get the good results from “good performance” funds. I also remember Warren Buffett suggested individual investors stick to index fund. Because most mutual funds lagged behind index benchmarks. With that in mind, I am still pulling my head and try to find a fund that will outperform. The first source I can think of is the WealthTrack TV program (which I listen to via Podcast) in which the hostess interview many mutual fund or hedge fund managers. I googled “WealthTrack mutual fund” and foundthis program guide (PDF). I found “ron muhlenkamp” on the guest list, and looking at his fund web site, it looks ok. So I placed an after-hour order at my Scottrade IRA account.

WealthTrack Consuelo Mack

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Categories
gadgets Life

The missing iPhone

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Last Updated on April 20, 2010 by stlplace

By now all the people who are into gadgets should have heard about this iPhone Gizmodo gate: this is apple’s next iPhone .

I don’t know about the fate of this Apple engineer, as Gizmodo did not say a word about him/her (Why Apple Couldn’t Get the Lost iPhone Back). I hope he/she won’t get fired for this (assume this whole thing is not an Apple stunt). Because a while ago, if we recall, a young Chinese engineer died from iPhone leak(HuffingtonPost: Sun Danyong, Chinese Engineer, Kills Himself After Losing ‘4G’ iPhone Prototype).

After all, life is much more important than stupid iPhone, if we can put things in perspective.

Categories
Fun

Baby starts smile more

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Last Updated on April 18, 2010 by omaha

We are seeing more interaction with our baby, who is about 6 weeks old. Recently her mom talk more to her, and sometimes we can see her response, either smile or making noise. Her smile is very much like her mom’s smile when she was little.

Yesterday we took her to St. Louis Botanical Garden, understandably she slept much of the time. Because the weather is a bit chilly, we wrap her around big blankets, and don’t want to expose her to the cold wind. She got a ride on our newly bought Maclaren triumph stroller. We saw quite a few babies at botanical garden, due to nice weather and family friendliness of the place.

Categories
401k and Personal Finance

Enroll in Ohio College Advantage 529 Plan and receive $50 bonus

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Last Updated on August 16, 2010 by stlplace

(Update 08-01-2010) It seems the referral still works. Feel free to use my referral code 2568778, and email me after you enroll. I will send you the $25 Amazon gift card as soon as I receive the referral bonus from Ohio 529 plan.

(Update 06-29-2010) My mistake, there is not limit in terms of the number of referral. But the deadline (to get referral bonus) is still valid, June 30, 2010.

(Update 06-22-2010) 10 Referral used. 2 more remaining. Note the offer expires on June 30, 2010. Send me a note after you enroll, if you like the Amazon gift card 😀

(Update 04-27-2010) First referral bonus received and the $25 Amazon gift card sent. Please note this offer is limit to first 12 accounts opened using my referral code.

CollegeAdvantageReferralBonus2010-04-27 AmazonThankYou2010-04-27

Why should I worry about my kid’s college now? She/he is just 3 years old, it’s 15 years away.
I know I know I know. I am a procrastinator too. A little more than a month ago, my daughter was born. I joked I would worry about her college tuition because I will be near retirement age when she goes to college.

But seriously, from my own 10 years 401K savings experience, “start early, and invest in high quality investments regularly” is the right thing to do. The other day, I found Nightly Business Report (NBR) folks at PBS did a nice job on this topic. They have a series of planning 101: paying for college covers the rising college costs, and how the parents can prepare well before kids going to college, very impressive reports. The only thing left for us, the parents (new or old), is action.

What is 529 Plan?
Obviously you can google and find the answer. Here is some explanation from SavingForCollege.com: A 529 Plan is an education savings plan operated by a state or educational institution designed to help families set aside funds for future college costs. It is named after Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code which created these types of savings plans in 1996. According to the 529 plan interview at NBR (PBS), the tuition does not have to be college, it can be graduate school or re-training. I think the tax treatment of expenses other than higher education might be different (read more from Wiki and other material if you are interested).

What are the factors when we consider the plans (in-state vs. out of state; can we transfer the money later)?

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Categories
advice and tips

Debating about air travel in May for our baby

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Last Updated on April 4, 2010 by omaha

I searched both google and bing.

It looks like it’s safe for our baby as she will be 3 months old (source: Indusladies.com). For new born, it’s almost a no-no (source: about.com). One factor, I saw from about.com and kidsgrowth.com, is the air quality in airplanes and the potential to exposed her to virus. Quote kidsgrowth:

The air in planes is not filtered and recirculates throughout the cabin. All the viruses and other nasty germs circulating through the cabin will increases your infant’s chances of getting an infection.

We also searched Chinese search site baidu.com keywords “新生儿 坐飞机”. And we got similar results, such as this one from pcbaby.

Considering all the risk and inconvenience, we pretty much settled on her not travel, another reason is the travel is non-essential.

Categories
401k and Personal Finance

More tips for 2009 income tax filing

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Last Updated on April 4, 2010 by stlplace

I received both the federal and state tax refund last week.

Besides using the Turbo Tax from Bank of America site (get 35% off). For State (show me state) filing, I used paper filing, because state filing is usually simply enough, and also the Turbo Tax already gave me the estimate refund amount (so that I can compare my own calculation with it).

One thing to keep in mind, is to use the “fill/calculate” versions of the tax forms, when filling the forms using Adobe Acrobat Reader. That way, when you print, you will have a bar code, which will expedite things according to MO Department of Revenue. One can certainly use Turbo Tax state version too, but I felt it’s just unnecessary. I did used the state version once or twice, and at one time I screwed up (put negative number in income), and the online software did not warn me. Later I had to make amended return. So my lesson there is never trust the computer blindly.

Categories
finance

Better early than late: join college 529 plan

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Last Updated on April 3, 2010 by omaha

I was thinking about this for a few days, and I took the plunge today. The kicker is the referral bonus from Ohio College Advantage 529 plan, as I read from my friend theSunsFinancialDiary.

As to investment choice, I picked the Vanguard Winsor II (which I got to know from my 401k plan), because its relative out performance over S&P 500. But the investment choice probably is not as important as “start early” (snowball or compound interest effect). Similar things can be said for state tax deduction from 529 plan contribution.

In case you are interested, please use my number 2568778 as referral code when you open account at Ohio 529 Plan, that way you will get the $25 bonus, and I will also receive some bonus money (provided you open and fund at least $25 to the account, by June 30, 2010). A rare win-win situation in the financial world 😀

(Update) PBS NBR Paying for college: the 529 plan. It also suggests “open an account as soon as the baby is born”. Another interesting thing is, 529 can be used for graduate school and re-training.

(Update 2) Comparing the fund options between Missouri 529 (MOST) and Ohio College Advantage plan, it seems to me Show Me State does not have much to show on this. Here is Morningstar’s best and worst 529 plans. One thing to note is while Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 Savings Plan is among the best, Ohio Putnam CollegeAdvantage (broker-sold) is among the worst. So keep this in mind: a state could have multiple plans. Choose the winner, not the loser.

(Update 3) I wrote the 529 plan in more detail at stlplace, and I will give additional $25 to those who use my reference code 2568778. So the total bonus for you will be $50.

(Update 4: 6-17-2010) I found this Kiplinger’s Find the Best 529 Plan to be interesting. One interesting point I noticed is the Show Me State (Missouri) offers state tax credit/deduction for any plan. In other words, we got lucky that we don’t have to enroll in the Missouri plan (which is not that good in my personal opinion), while get the same tax benefits. You can read the tax benefits of 529 plan at savingforcollege.com.

Categories
Fun

Little face, big face

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Last Updated on April 2, 2010 by omaha

These days because we paid much attention to our new born baby, both my wife and I did not have much time to look at each other carefully. This leads to an interesting point: both of us felt our faces are so big compared to our baby’s little face. 😀

Guess that’s all relative. When I first met my wife 3.5 years ago, I felt her face is small and lovely at the time. Now of course all the attention are reserved for our baby. But I think it’s would be good we reserve some time for us.