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401k and Personal Finance DIY gadgets Life Tips Technology

Switching from Charter Spectrum to AT&T broadband

Reading Time: 3 minutes

I thought about this for a while. The last time I planned to switch, was a few years ago, at our previous home (condo), for some reason the AT&T technician could not find a port for the broadband, per my wife (I was likely working at the credit card company at the time). And the technician gave up. I vaguely recall the reason for the switch was to reduce the monthly bill. Internet providers usually gave a good introductory price for one year, before jacking up the prices. And in the case of Charter, they jack up prices almost every year. Once I called them, and said I wanted to switch, and then they lowered the price by $10 a month. Basically switching providers or phone calls are two ways I know to lower the broadband bill.

I didn’t think of switching during the move – partially due to the unpleasant experience I had with $T (AT&T, T is their stock ticker symbol). Partially because Charter/Spectrum gave a good intro price for a year for new customers (here new as a new address, or a new account). I recall it took me some effort to figure out which cable to plug into my cable modem (the broadband modern for Charter), set up the Wifi router, and my IP phone (iTalkBB, refer to this old blog post here, time flies. Probably time to cancel iTalkBB now.) and I didn’t bother to switch to AT&T until very recently. I did recall about 2 summers ago, we had a power outage, and Charter Internet came back as soon as the power is back (both the cable modem and wifi router needed electricity). But the communication lines were damaged especially the AT&T cables, if my memory is correct, and it seems today during my AT&T install, another outside technician needs to come to the outside terminal and do some work – likely a fallout from 2 years ago. Again back to the topic.

Recently I had some intermittent issues with the Charter/Spectrum internet so I decided to switch. The intermittent/reliability issue is both from my observation and from informal surveys among friends (thank you friends 🙂

I placed the installation order last week, and a technician came today. I did some surveys before today. So I pointed out the outside and inside cables. Installation took a few hours. The setup is relatively straightforward, I mean the embedded Wifi router. It’s done via an app called Smart Home Manager. The technician is friendly and helpful too. In addition to pointing out the app, as well as showing me how to get to it, he told me to switch off Charter shortly to avoid a new monthly bill.

I did a speed test just now, it seems Charter still has a faster download speed, but the upload speed is comparable. I will update this post as time goes on.

PS: I recall The Sound of dial-up Internet both in China and in the US. It’s a bit funny when I was applying for US graduate schools in the fall of 1996, I borrowed the email and computer access card from my friend in Fudan U. The professor in Rolla thought I was a graduate student in Fudan: which probably helped my application a bit as they are more prestigious than my graduate school 🙂 I still remember those days when I wrote emails on a terminal of a UNIX machine. Copy, paste, and save information or write information to a disk seems like a century ago, in today’s smartphone, and ubiquitous Internet world. Also, just came across this post back in 2014 when I had to do some magic or hack to make the iPad work with Wifi at home.

PS2: the monthly cost, was $80 per month for Charter, vs $50 a month for AT&T. AT&T has a slightly slower download speed, from the speed test. Also, some offers one may be able to use. Rakuten (eBates): I used it and I saw $112.50 cash in my account (this will cover the $99 installation cost, btw). Some Chase credit cards may offer cash back for AT&T fiber (I think they all broadband will likely work): I plan to use my Amazon Chase card as it has a $50 offer. Last but not least, I had a twitter poll for this.

Update 01-28-2024: I used offer from Amex Gold too. Also it seems Dosh App gave me cash back on the top of the Amex offer. Now we are talking about double dipping 🙂 Last but not least, I realized that I used the link at ebates (now rakuten) and I received $112.50 cash back from them as well (on 08-15-2023). So in summary, at least for now, the AT&T service (about $55 a month) is mostly free for me/my family at this time. I do expect to use fewer offer from now on. And I don’t plan to switch back to Charter soon as their service seems still spotty from time to time.

Categories
401k and Personal Finance

Amex Gold card and Amex card offers

Reading Time: 3 minutes

(Update 09-25-2025) I believe the annual fee for the Amex Gold card is $325 now. The perks: $10 a month on both Uber Eats and Grub Hub; $7 a month back on Dunkin Donuts. Total $27 x 12 = $324. So, this basically pays itself right there.

(Original 06-06-2023) I owned an Amex Gold card for a while. Sometimes I tweeted about it. I was thinking about giving Serenity a card (I talked about it in my blog), too. In fact, the other day Mother’s Day 2023 to be precise, we had her “pay” for the dinner. Note the reason I used the double quotes is I still pay the credit card bill :-).

I mentioned/talked about Amex Gold Card in my other blog post: you will need to scroll down a bit to read the benefits of Amex Gold. I think for the most part, the benefits cover the annual fee of $250.

One thing I did notice recently, is that the Gold Card does not provide airport lounge access. For that access, it requires a platinum card: an Amex centurion lounge or a Delta Lounge. Btw, this video explained various airport lounges well. To summarize though, it may make sense if someone travels quite a bit (meaning probably once or twice each month). And it seems the $495 a year Amex Delta platinum card (Delta Lounge) and the $695 a year Amex Platinum (centurion lounge) are the way to go. For infrequent flyers, thinking Priority Club is worth trying via a day pass. (Update 06-13-2023) I came across another YT video that offers an interesting perspective – It’s Over: Why I’m Cancelling My American Express.

But I am happy with the other benefits that come with Amex gold, including some of the offers. Note I like the flexibility Membership Rewards offer too, e.g., I can transfer the points to my HHonors account (the Hilton family hotels, 1 Membership Rewards point = 2 Hilton Honors points), or Marriott Bonvoy (Marriott rewards program, 1 Membership Rewards points = 1 Marriott Points).

I do have another Amex card, the Blue Cash, with a $95 annual fee. And I think the benefits such as 6% grocery store cashback and offers such as the Disney bundle covers the fee as well.

Note I don’t necessarily like or appreciate some of their “offers”, again, for example, this Fiji water offer, $20 off $80, and I mentioned some of the controversy of the famous Fiji water here. Also the CNBC Jim Cramer’s Investors Club, which is a $100 off $399 offer, again I would pass.

Last but not least, I pay off the balance every month. I think with the rewards credit card, sometimes I may have over-spent. This is something I believe Mr. Zhang Xin did right, as he explained in Chinese about his personal finance tips ( 我的理財觀超級老古板，當作笑話看就可以了章新談談心，老了改不了了 ), basically, he does not use a credit card (he uses cash, I assume debit card included), and he doesn’t invest or trade stocks, as he thinks that’s a gamble.

Offers vs Promotion

I worked for a major credit card company’s rewards program for almost 4 years between 2015 and 2019. And I personally created or oversaw some of the promotions (or campaigns) when I was there. Offers are a bit different. It’s another type of promotion from the consumer’s point of view, basically, the consumer just needs to enroll in that offer, when a qualifying spend happens, the cashback or other rewards will happen automatically. Right now, I mainly use the offers from Amex and Chase credit cards, as they are fairly straightforward and easy to enroll. A good example of an “offer” is this one – #AmexGold has an offer from #Steelcase for $150 off $750, you may want to check your Amex cards if you are planning to buy office chairs from the Steelcase website directly.

PS, danger zone (stock investing) –

YouTube : Warren Buffett: American Express Was Our Best Ever Stock Purchase

Categories
gadgets Life Life Tips Software development

I decided to spend some money on office chair

Reading Time: 4 minutes

(11-06-2023) Design with Reach has some deals for the Herman Miller chairs. The website popup says 20% off (not sure if it can be stacked on the existing 25% off offer).

(09-25-2023) And now I realized I had an issue with the jeans. Googled it and it seems people were talking about it on Reddit. For now I am just going to use a seat cushion. Figured a seat cushion is probably cheaper than a pair of jeans (I have story for the jeans price too 🙂

(07-11-2023) Came across this one – again I am for #reuse #recycle and #reduce.

(06-19-2023) I changed 3 wheels out of 5, all out of necessity 🙂 || Separately, just came across this how Herman Miller tests its chair.

(06-11-2023) One of the wheels broke. I bought a replacement wheel set from Amazon and replaced it in one minute (btw, later on, I found the price is cheaper on eBay. Note this is not unusual, I mean the price difference). I saw a few choices for the wheels. and decided to go with the more expensive “Amazon’s Choice”. Here is a very short YouTube video explaining how to take out the old wheel and put in the new one. I also found there is a headrest for the Aeron chair (FB, used, $98 + $9 shipping); and it’s available on Amazon as well ($152). || Some day I will work a separate post on buying/owing the Herman Miller Aeron chair.

(Update 06-05-2023) I bought a used Herman Miller Aeron classic from an office that’s closed down, near where I live. I feel good about it so far. The other day I just realized this thing is heavy, about 48 pounds per Amazon. Btw, I found this PDF adjustment guide from the Herman Miller website too.

(Original 05-2023) The high-end office chair is not cheap, it costs more than $1,000. Let’s say a chair of $1,350 (note Haworth Fern is in that range), typical workers work 2,000 hours a year. Let’s say a typical worker sits 60% of the time, 1,200 hours sitting on a $1,350 chair. A dollar an-hour chair sitting cost. The chair lasts at least 10 years though. So it’s more like 10 cents an hour chair sitting cost.

Why is a chair important for office workers?

Weight problems, back problems, and other ergonomic chairs may help out. As explained by this YouTube video by Ahnestly (Dan Ahn) here. I don’t want to go much into detail here. I think for normal office workers (people who sit before the computer every day for a while), a good chair, a good posture, and even keyboarding, mouse/trackpad clicking/tapping are all important. Remember, your personal health is your responsibility. And I think standing desks could be a fad; see this Harvard Medical School article for reference. Wearing the Apple Watch (or other equivalent watches, that remind people to stand up and stretch a bit after sitting for a while), and standing up once in a while is the way to go.

Where to buy?

I see 2 (or 3) choices:

  1. Buy new (from the manufacturers or from retailers), usually via the website (e-commerce, such as Steelcase Leap at the manufacturer’s website, Steelcase Leap chair at Amazon, note the Amazon link here is my Amazon Associate link) nowadays. With today’s logistics, they could be shipped from the warehouse quickly, via UPS, FedEx or Amazon. The customer just needs to open the box and start to use it.
  2. Buy preowned. There are also “like new” such as this 3-month-old Haworth Fern asking for $900 (picture shown below), “refurbished” sometimes with warranty and buy used still in good condition. This is somewhat like buying a used car, we need to pay a bit more attention here. It seems nowadays CraigsList (sample search Steelcase chair on local CraigsList) and Facebook marketplace (sample search on FB for Herman Miller Aeron) are two popular places to look. || I think on coming Monday 05-22-2023 I am going to proceed with/check out this one on FB marketplace that’s very close to my home. Note like buying used cars, the prices for used office chairs vary, and again Ahnestly (Dan Ahn) explained it very well in one of his YT videos too: this one is specifically for Herman Miller Aeron (and I tried to follow his instructions when I checked out the chair). Btw, I also created a YouTube watchList for office chairs.

If one likes to have neck support (headrest)

From memory, it seems Steelcase Leap V2 (Amazon*; Steelcase) is a popular chair with headrest option.

The business of office furniture makers

It seems the manufacturers (mainly Haworth, Herman Miller, and Steelcase) do not have a business model like the iPhone. Typically people upgrade iPhones every 2, 3, or 4 years. Office chairs last more than 10 years.

Also, some knockoff products (e.g., this one on local Craigslist) may have an impact on the brand names (Haworth, Herman Miller, and Steelcase). What exactly is “equal to or better than Herman Miller Aeron Chair”, anyway? From the picture, the shape looks like Herman Miller Aeron Chair (picture shown below). It seems this person is doing it (selling used chairs) as a business.

It’s more a consumer win/manufacturer “did okay or lose a bit” kind of situation.

Danger zone

I have had some brief interactions with two manufacturers. In Spring Festival 2009, I visited Haworth for a business trip when I was working for Autodesk. Then recently I started looking into Steelcase stock ($SCS). I heard the Steelcase for 1st time probably back in 2009 when I asked Haworth folks who are the competitors. The two companies are close by, Haworth is in Holland MI, and Steelcase is HQ’ed at Grand Rapids, MI. When I visited Holland, the airplane is from STL to Grand Rapids (I recall it was an old MD DC airplane).

Investor Day presentation (webcast; PDF) for Steelcase 05-04-2023

Quick thoughts after doing office chair research

For Steelcase, a unique problem is its vast used inventory in the market, this is evident on the FB Marketplace and on CraigsList. It will take some time to digest those inventories that were a result of the pandemic (and work from home).

*Note the Amazon link is my Amazon Associates link. Your price will be the same, but I may earn a small commission if you click through the link and buy.

Categories
DIY gadgets Life Tips

DIY via Amazon and YouTube

Reading Time: 4 minutes

I am trying to fix small things myself these days, this is probably true for many other people too.

Replace the cell battery for the car keys

For example, recently I found out the new Car key (new to me anyway, it’s a used 2020 Toyota Camry key, so a few years old in reality), may have some issues, as sometimes although I put it in my pocket or in the car seat, the dashboard will say something like “key not found“. Note this is an electronic key now, basically as long as I have the key in my pocket or nearby, it should do its thing: meaning, I can open the front doors, and when I step on the break, and push the ignition button, the car should start. And if I don’t step on the break and just push the ignition button, the accessories should start (audio, etc). When the battery is low, some of those functions will stop working too. For example, on Mother’s Day evening, it started to rain, in the parking lot, I tried to open the car door via remote, but no luck at first. I tried to open the trunk first, then I was able to open the 1st front door. After I came home, I googled and followed this YouTube video to replace the battery in the remote. For the battery itself, I have some in stock, Amazon Basics 10-Pack CR2032 Lithium Coin Cell Battery, 3 Volt, Long Lasting Power, Mercury-Free*. Before this, I did similar replacements myself for my 2012 Camry and Sienna remote in the past too. The main difference is for newer car keys, we need to use them to start the car indirectly. But It’s done via pressing the button, in other words, if the remote is truly out of battery, we may not be able to start the car (which is a bit like a strand situation, and it’s ideal – update 11-20-2024, I found on YT there is a manual way to do this too).

Headlight in Toyota Sienna

PHILIPS – 12362B2 H11 Standard Halogen Replacement Headlight Bulb, 2 Pack || Youtube: How to change #Headlight #bulbs in #Toyota #Sienna (btw, always keep your car in top condition that you can afford, this includes the battery, tires and other misc things) || (Update 11-20-2024) I may need to rewrite this part as it’s on Twitter/X, and I no longer actively update on X. Also, the search functionality on X is horrendous.

MacBook Pro right arrow key

Recently I also bought a MacBook right arrow key* and my 13 year old daughter was able to follow along a YouTube video and replace it. She broke the original key first though. She was bored.

Garage Door sensor

Last year or so, I was able to buy the Genie GSTB-R STB-BL Replacement Safety Beams, Black, 2 Pack, Black, one size (GSTB-R)*, and replaced one broken safety beam. I think I got idea from the YouTube as well. This is relatively straightforward for me. I did hire a professional garage door person install the system for me originally, as it was above my head and hands.

GE Refrigerator Ice Maker not working

Ongoing (05-18-2023): the issue was something like this as described in this GE article. I think I am going to replace the ice maker on the fridge. Ordered the aftermarket part* from amazon just now, $55 before tax, it got high ratings and good reviews at Amazon. And here is the YouTube video by “DIY Repairs Now“. I watched it a few times, and I bought the replacement part using the author’s Amazon Associates (update 02-24-2024, all links to normal links now, Amazon invalided my Associates account because I didn’t bring in enough leads in a given duration. They are pretty ruthless, if I may) link as well. The author posted the OEM part in the description for the video too. I compared the price, delivery date and the reviews, and decided to go with the cheaper aftermarket part.

This is a GE 25.6 cu ft refrigerator made in 2007 (model number – PSS26MSWASS). The replacement (a Samsung 27.4 cu ft side by side) starts at about $1,149 at Costco. (Update 05-20-2023) I replaced the old ice maker with the new after market one that I bought from Amazon, and it worked (my wife is happy). The most difficult part is trying to unplug and plug in the electronic cable. I got some ideas from the YouTube video above, at about 1 min 10 seconds (unplug, use a tool, use hand solely was really hard) and 4 minutes 40 seconds mark (plug in). I realized those cables’ ends (6 pins, some are round, some are semi rounds) are not identical, which means we can only plugin via proper directions. Other useful resources: REFRIGERATOR – ICEMAKER DOES NOT FILL WITH WATER (GE again). Please note, I unplugged the electricity during the repair. I did not turn off water as I didn’t know how to do it for the refrigerator.

Note I do have one remaining task, that is to fix the ice dispenser. For that I found a video here: Refrigerator Won’t Dispense Ice – Top 6 Reasons & Fixes – Kenmore, Whirlpool, Frigidaire, GE & more. This is not as straightforward as I need to troubleshoot and determine which part is broken.

*The Amazon links are my own Amazon Associates links. I may earn a small fee but your price at Amazon should be the same regardless you use this link or go directly to Amazon.

(Update 11-26-2023) It seems the GE fridge is giving up today (it gave up probably 2 or 3 days ago, but we realized it today). And we decided to get a new one.

Ironically, I recall Amazon the company has its humble beginning including makes its own desk “How to build your own Amazon door desk“; From Scrappy DIY Desk to Amazon Icon | Amazon News – YouTube.

(Update 02-24-2024) How to replace the battery on a Dyson D8 (YouTube Video). New battery bought on Last purchased Jun 14, 2020 (Amazon). And on Nov 28, 2023 again Amazon. I just put this on thanks to the YT video. I don’t recall last time (around June 2020) how I replaced it, which video I watched etc.

Categories
Investing

The surprising losers in the First Republic Bank rout

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Do you want to guess the mutual fund (company) that lost the most in the First Republic Bank rout? I mean the mutual fund that held the most $FRC before it’s being closed by FDIC and since taken over by the JP Morgan Chase. I was a bit surprised to find that the Vanguard Group, held about 11.45% of $FRC shares (source: Yahoo Finance). And yes $FRC was in the S&P 500 index too (it was replaced by another company on May the 4th). It seems auto pilot, aka indexing is not always safe here.

At the same time, yesterday evening I learned a local hedge fund company Wedgewood Partners, invested in $FRC stock too (not a lot, also note their positions varies over the time). One ironic part is in their recent letter to clients, they put a bank run old movie photo (it’s a wonderful life) there, it’s no longer fun when you think about the stock were worth zero now. The Chief Investment Office CIO of Wedgewood, seems like a Warren Buffett admirer too (just like yours truly). Note Warren basically just said $FRC did some garbage mortgage deals a week ago. So blindly following Warren Buffett or blindly take reverse Berkshire position won’t work. We need to do our own research.

Also, last night (05-15-2023) I read this: ‘Big Short’ investor Burry bet on regional banks in first quarter https://finance.yahoo.com/news/big-short-investor-burry-bet-180322220.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr… Burry’s Scion Asset Management’s positions included 150,000 shares in $FRC, 250,000 shares in $PacW, 850,000 shares in $NYCB, and 125,000 shares of $WAL , filings showed.

(Update 05-16-2023) David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital snapped up 2 regional banking stocks during last quarter’s turmoil. It seems $NYCB and $FCNCA are the beneficiaries of the crisis so far. At one time I traded $NYCB too but I did not make money (in fact I lost a bit I think).

Last but not least, I found a website that have information on hedge funds and other institutional investors 13F/13D and holdings: e.g., Pzena and Wedgewood parnters.

Categories
401k and Personal Finance

Be Generous

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Yesterday, an interesting moment. I need a five dollar bill. And I asked my 13 year old and 8 (soon to be 9) year old. I asked my younger daughter 1st. She said, why don’t you go ask mom? My 13 year old was listening, she already went to her piggy bank. She didn’t have 2 five(s). I said it’s okay, I will give you 10 and and you gave me the dollar bills (6). No judgement I hope one day young daughter can be as generous as her big sister.

Btw, I gave my older daughter an Amex Gold card yesterday too. I plan to give my younger one a Chase Debit Card at her 9th birthday. Different banks have different age limit for credit or debit card. I think for Chase the age limit for debit card is 7. Also note I usually pay off all the credit card balance each month. So in other words I receive all the reward points for free (or almost free if we don’t consider the annual fees). I just noticed there is a 5,000 points reward if the new cardholder spends $2,000 in the first 6 month. I don’t think my 13 year will spend that much. And I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to spend that much either. More on the credit card and rewards on another post.

More about the Amex gold card – My 13 year old got her 1st CC. It’s an Amex Gold (technically it’s a charge card, which means there is no credit limit I think). It does provide the typical protection that a CC provides such as loss and theft. Yesterday I realized she will be herself, graduate from college and start working in 10 years. Our younger one will be in college too. || Time really flies. I remember when I was new to America, I saw the commercial/infomercial on the late night TV, and I cannot recall I applied for the Amex credit card 💳 or not. If I did, it would be a straight decline. 又突然想到我初中二年级的时候已经住校，而且好像是自己管理自己的粮票饭票菜票了[捂脸]。一个月见一次父母。

PS: today 05-12-2023 I renewed the Amazon Prime PBS Kids subscription ($4.99 a month, pas as you go) again for my 8 year old. I am a generous dad, right? I looked through my gmail “Your PBS KIDS Subscription Has Started”, and found that I subscribed three times, and cancelled twice 🙂

Categories
401k and Personal Finance

High yield savings account

Reading Time: 2 minutes


I think savers should look at high yield savings account #HYSA now. Personally I use the $AXP (#Amex or #AmericanExpress) and $DFS (#DiscoverCard). The rate as of today 05-05-2023 is 3.75% for both. I expect they raise the rate to 4% shortly after this week Federal Reserve’s 0.25% rate hike.

Doctor of credit has a more comprehensive list – http://doctorofcredit.com/high-interest-saving……

#savingsAccount #interest #yield

More readings: choose HYSA or Certificate of Deposit (CNBC – These 2 savings accounts have interest rates of about 5%: Here’s which one you should choose). Long word short, if you have money that you know you can put away for 3 months, 6 months, 1 year or more, go for the CD to lock in the current high interest rate. The convention wisdom is the Federal Reserve may pause here, and after a while, may start lower the interest rate if they see the inflation is slowly under control (of course, all these are hard to predict). If you want flexibility, e.g., if you just want to put your emergency funds somewhere safe, I think HYSA is the way to go. We just got a floating (market) interest rate then: I don’t know about how you feel, personally I am okay with that. Btw, I just saw the Discover Card is offering 4.5% interest rate for one year CD.

Categories
401k and Personal Finance

A stock WeChat group

Reading Time: 2 minutes

橄榄🫒村股票群
群公告 history

Please email me at minjie dot xu at gmail dot com if you like to join


讨论美股个股为主(Latest update is at the bottom). 近年我个人比较成功的是OKTA：她家做identity cloud ☁️ (single sign on, security as a service etc). ZM没有拿稳比较可惜。I also long Berkshire Hathaway, Alibaba and GoodRx. Two disclaimers: 1) Your money 💰, your call (decision); 2) I am not big on macro trend / economics, neither am I big on market predictions: other than general things such as republicans are usually for less regulations, Democrats are for more tax / wealth distribution if you will.

(Update as of 12-28-2020: I sold off GDRX recently and I sold some $BABA today and last Thursday. I plan to sell remaining $BABA in the near future)

(Update 01-08-2021: 股市有泡沫，投机需谨慎).

(Update 11-01-2021: top 6 stock holdings in all my accounts are (in the order of most money => least): brk.b, sbux, ko, hun, SLB and DVN. The last 3 are chemicals, oil services and oil / gas producer. I believe we have at least 10 to 20 more years of internal combustion engines cars / trucks, and many many more years usage of chemicals (thinking painting, building materials etc.), plastics etc). ||

(Update 01-22-2022) The US stock market 📉 is entering the correction mode, as we have seen from last week. Be careful out there and pay attention to the cash management. Personally I try to keep 10% to 15% in cash in my account: everyone can pick a ratio that’s comfortable to her / him. Buckle up and we will see the other end soon or later.

(Update 03-01-2023) not much has changed, except the inflation and the Fed. Big tech/saas/cloud players mostly entered into a plateau after the recent spectacular run/crash, $ZM is a good example. But in longer term, i agree with Warren Buffett said: the America’s best day us still ahead and the growth of this country is the best tail wind for the stock market. This was true in the past 🐻 markets (personally I recall 2000-2002, 2007-2009), and will be applicable today as well.

PS: 05-17-2023 I did not post those in the WeChat group. I looked at my performance in the last 2 years. My biggest gainer is the $BRK.B. And I think I need to find revenue or gain outside of $BRK.B and other Berkshire Hathaway holdings: e.g., $AVTI, $AAPL etc.

Categories
401k and Personal Finance

Advice for new investors/newbies

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Don’t buy penny stocks;

don’t buy stocks all at once (portfolio and cash management);

don’t look at the previous high and use it as reference price when buying (on sale mentality);

don’t own too many stocks especially for newbies, because it’s likely a newbie doesn’t know or learned a lot about those companies. In stocks we want to know something other people may not know, e.g., quite a few people don’t know or realize that Activision Blizzard $ATVI is posed to receive the $3 billion breakup fees from Microsoft if the antitrust review does go through. Huntsman corp $HUN got a similar jackpot from PE firm when the firm wanted to back out from a deal;

consider S&P index funds as the default investment option for 401k/403b/IRA etc. There are quite a few such funds in the market, note I am not talking about ETFs. Personally I have those funds from fidelity and vanguard, and I know others offer similar funds too;

be greedy when others are fearful and be fearful when others are greedy (VIX is a decent indicator for the turmoil/fear in the market).

Categories
Fun Life Life Tips

Getting older

Reading Time: 3 minutes
Not my PR, but hey I finished the race without hurting myself (I haven’t done much running last few years)

(Update 10-28-2023) Senior moment of yesterday: I was trying to find my Sienna minivan key, via the Tile app. I left it in the minivan after I filling the air for the tires. The reason I left key there was earlier I needed the accessories ON to power the portal air pump. So I was using the find feature in the iPhone Tile App, and only got the “moderate” signal, after probably 7, or 8 minutes, I realized I left the key in the car. For some reason I didn’t hear the beep, probably the door to garage has good sound insulation.

(Update 10-20-2023) Something I realized recently. A solar guy came by and asked if I was interested in installing the solar panel on the roof top. And on the 2nd conversation (which is a bit more serious) he mentioned the investment will pay off the future electric/utility bill for next 20 or 30 years, which may be $30,000 or 40,000 over the span of that time duration, due to inflation, rate increase, etc. || Yesterday and today I was thinking: will I live for another 20 or 30 years? Note this is not the main factor I am thinking about the solar panel: the main factor I see right now is we have a tree in the front yard, which blocks quite a bit sunshine in the morning; and in the afternoon, our neighbor’s tree will do the similar 🙂 I actually read up and did some research, the total cost (without any tax credit consideration etc.) is about $18,000 in Missouri. I am still not sure about the overall the worthiness of the solar panel as well as Net Metering with the electricity utility co.

Aging is one reason I restarted selling on eBay this year. I am on a couple “buy nothing, sell nothing” “give away stuff” group (FB, WeChat) as well. The main goal is make sure the house is not overly cluttered (garage included). And be conscious of buying new things – see if I can sell or give away a thing when buy a new thing. And so on.

Also noticed 17 years ago I wrote on similar topic: Senior Moment || At least the last problem is a muted issue now: I rarely bring wallet with me nowadays, bring my phone with driver license and 2 CC instead. We live in the post iPhone world, everyone 🙂

(Original written in April 2023, updated in early Oct 2023)

Aging

Big 5 (people usually said big 5 for 50). I recall years ago my AutoDesk colleague was nervous about it. Now I am qualified for senior Olympics at the J, and I suddenly realized that I am a senior in the Shanghai subway 🚇 a few months ago.

Facing death: need to think about all the time. Recall seeing an exhibit on this topic at the Fields Museum Chicago over the summer.

Exercise and Food

Workout or exercise to be fit, hopefully less a burden for my wife and kids when I get older.

七成饱 don’t gullet, and don’t eat late ⏰ e.g., after 8 pm. This is further confirmed after I talked to my kid’s violin teacher (he is 65) and he emphasized his veggie diet as we as excises.

Limit alcohol and caffeine intake too.

Sleep 💤 issue

Listen to the radio 📻 via iPod 📱 nano when I could not fall asleep. Put iPhone and computer outside bedroom. Try to get up when I am awake, go to the J instead of watching iPhone while lying on bed 🛌

More Senior Moment

Above mostly was written in April during / after my China trip, my today 10-03-2023 “senior moment” – I parked my white Camry outside the Korean grocery store near home, I did shopping and came out to look for my silver Sienna minivan, and obviously it’s not there. Sienna is my car and Camry is my wife’s. I took Camry because it’s close by and short trip. It took me a while to resize my minivan was not stolen and I came with Camry 😂