[asragov]

The Stonebridge development of 92131, I believe, is also in the Poway school district.

I think it’s Mt. Carmel High School, Meadowbrook Middle School, and Morning Creek Elementary School.

This is roughly at Stonebridge Parkway and Pomerado Road.

[asragov]

The Stonebridge development of 92131, I believe, is also in the Poway school district.

I think it’s Mt. Carmel High School, Meadowbrook Middle School, and Morning Creek Elementary School.

This is roughly at Stonebridge Parkway and Pomerado Road.

[asragov]

It is the market.

For some more details, you will notice (bankrate.com is a good site to check) that higher rates are usually found among smaller institutions.

This is sometimes referred to as a “small bank premium.” They also will often raise their rates more quickly than a large bank.

A lesser-known bank, especially one with fewer branches, will often need to pay more in order to attract deposits. These are also often captive banks that fund credit card operations (like Discover Bank).

See:

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/high_ratehome.asp?params=US,416&product=15

or

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/mmmf_highratehome.asp?params=US,416&product=33

[asragov]

It is the market.

For some more details, you will notice (bankrate.com is a good site to check) that higher rates are usually found among smaller institutions.

This is sometimes referred to as a “small bank premium.” They also will often raise their rates more quickly than a large bank.

A lesser-known bank, especially one with fewer branches, will often need to pay more in order to attract deposits. These are also often captive banks that fund credit card operations (like Discover Bank).

See:

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/high_ratehome.asp?params=US,416&product=15

or

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/mmmf_highratehome.asp?params=US,416&product=33

[asragov]

I was born and grew up in San Diego.

Just because homes today are worth more than the $50k-$100k that they were purchased for 30 years ago doesn’t mean that they won’t fall from their current crazy price.

No, they probably will never return to their early 1970’s levels, but from current levels, watch out.

[asragov]

I was born and grew up in San Diego.

Just because homes today are worth more than the $50k-$100k that they were purchased for 30 years ago doesn’t mean that they won’t fall from their current crazy price.

No, they probably will never return to their early 1970’s levels, but from current levels, watch out.

[asragov]

If by doing things the “right way” means that your spouse does not work, then I suppose, yes, it has gotten harder for both spouses not to work. This should be viewed as a significant “cost,” even though (IMHO) it is worth it for quality of life.

If you both have aspirations of a higher standard of living, or feel that you are struggling, then she should probably work. Most families that I know of have two working spouses, for many reasons, across all income levels.

I would not consider current lack of homeownership in San Diego a “problem,” though. The fact that the values have been inflated beyond reason in the past 5-10 years does not mean that you must participate in the farce. Hang on, resist the temptation to buy, and wait for prices to return to a more reasonable (historically) level. If you’re looking at other states (Utah, Texas, etc.), then it is a different conversation altogether.

But one has to keep in mind that, in general, the standard of living in San Diego is extremely low (excluding weather, of course). Costs of living are mostly high, and incomes are generally low (relatively speaking). You have to keep some perspective in that regard.

There has been plenty of advice from other posts about taxes, retirement, etc., but I am surprised that more people do not recognize that charity has a very high Return on Investment. This probably does not make sense to those focused on the P&L at hand, but there are other, more important benefits of charity. I applaud your commitment.

[asragov]

If by doing things the “right way” means that your spouse does not work, then I suppose, yes, it has gotten harder for both spouses not to work. This should be viewed as a significant “cost,” even though (IMHO) it is worth it for quality of life.

If you both have aspirations of a higher standard of living, or feel that you are struggling, then she should probably work. Most families that I know of have two working spouses, for many reasons, across all income levels.

I would not consider current lack of homeownership in San Diego a “problem,” though. The fact that the values have been inflated beyond reason in the past 5-10 years does not mean that you must participate in the farce. Hang on, resist the temptation to buy, and wait for prices to return to a more reasonable (historically) level. If you’re looking at other states (Utah, Texas, etc.), then it is a different conversation altogether.

But one has to keep in mind that, in general, the standard of living in San Diego is extremely low (excluding weather, of course). Costs of living are mostly high, and incomes are generally low (relatively speaking). You have to keep some perspective in that regard.

There has been plenty of advice from other posts about taxes, retirement, etc., but I am surprised that more people do not recognize that charity has a very high Return on Investment. This probably does not make sense to those focused on the P&L at hand, but there are other, more important benefits of charity. I applaud your commitment.

[asragov]

You might be interested to read (rather informal, chat-room style) software and broker reviews at:

http://www.elitetrader.com/

For the very active trader, most commonly cited there as being good are Interactive Brokers and MB Trading.

Personally, trading tools that have worked very well for me are:

http://www.tradeguider.com/home.asp

and

http://www.advancedget.com/default.asp

Trading actively and successfully requires a huge time investment, luck, and discipline, so there are plenty of drawbacks.

If you are more of a buy and hold investor, Outstanding Investments is one of the top-rated investment newsletters (focused mostly on energy and infrastructure stocks), which, needless to say, has done very well:

http://www.agorafinancial.com/

I also very much like Steve Sjuggerud’s True Wealth newsletter (interesting investments, like Icelandic Bonds and rare coins, in addition to stocks), from the folks at:

http://www.stansberryresearch.com/

Some other interesting sites:

http://seekingalpha.com/

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Commentary/ByAuthor/BillFleckenstein.aspx (contrarian, usually)

I think that the best news magazine is The Economist, which has a foreign (UK) perspective, and includes business and finance news, in addition to having US and regional sections. If you don’t subscribe or buy it at your local bookstore, you can read some of it at: http://www.economist.com

[asragov]

You might be interested to read (rather informal, chat-room style) software and broker reviews at:

http://www.elitetrader.com/

For the very active trader, most commonly cited there as being good are Interactive Brokers and MB Trading.

Personally, trading tools that have worked very well for me are:

http://www.tradeguider.com/home.asp

and

http://www.advancedget.com/default.asp

Trading actively and successfully requires a huge time investment, luck, and discipline, so there are plenty of drawbacks.

If you are more of a buy and hold investor, Outstanding Investments is one of the top-rated investment newsletters (focused mostly on energy and infrastructure stocks), which, needless to say, has done very well:

http://www.agorafinancial.com/

I also very much like Steve Sjuggerud’s True Wealth newsletter (interesting investments, like Icelandic Bonds and rare coins, in addition to stocks), from the folks at:

http://www.stansberryresearch.com/

Some other interesting sites:

http://seekingalpha.com/

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Commentary/ByAuthor/BillFleckenstein.aspx (contrarian, usually)

I think that the best news magazine is The Economist, which has a foreign (UK) perspective, and includes business and finance news, in addition to having US and regional sections. If you don’t subscribe or buy it at your local bookstore, you can read some of it at: http://www.economist.com

[asragov]

Stabilizing or falling inventory could be due to any number of bearish factors, including banks and private sellers holding on, hoping for prices to improve.

[asragov]

Stabilizing or falling inventory could be due to any number of bearish factors, including banks and private sellers holding on, hoping for prices to improve.

[asragov]

I believe that it has already been covered here – “tax and spend” from Democrats is better than “borrow and spend” from the Republicans. It is not a partisan comment, just noting that paying now is more fiscally conservative.

However, the unprecedented run-up in housing prices is probably most connected to the easy money sloshing around the financial system. This is due to large structural issues of the financial system, not really any one politician in particular.

Goldman Sachs has provided Treasury secretaries for both Clinton and Bush – these sorts of monetary planning factors are much larger than any one political party.

There is likely to be no difference, since there is not much of a difference in this area between the parties.

That is, of course, unless a Republican like Ron Paul is elected – then all bets are off:

http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2007/tst040907.htm

[asragov]

I believe that it has already been covered here – “tax and spend” from Democrats is better than “borrow and spend” from the Republicans. It is not a partisan comment, just noting that paying now is more fiscally conservative.

However, the unprecedented run-up in housing prices is probably most connected to the easy money sloshing around the financial system. This is due to large structural issues of the financial system, not really any one politician in particular.

Goldman Sachs has provided Treasury secretaries for both Clinton and Bush – these sorts of monetary planning factors are much larger than any one political party.

There is likely to be no difference, since there is not much of a difference in this area between the parties.

That is, of course, unless a Republican like Ron Paul is elected – then all bets are off:

http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2007/tst040907.htm

[asragov]

I am not a lawyer, and am not trying to give legal advice, but one of the main issues in business vs. personal liability is determining if, in fact, the business is separate from a person.

If there is no “corporate veil” (that is, no corporate minutes, no real employees, no corporate taxes, etc.) then such structures could be considered a sham. If the company owes taxes to the IRS, for payroll, etc., those could possibly have the first claim on the money, so the fate of the money depends on a lot of factors.

Regarding college financial aid, it would be assumed that your transfer of money to a business results in a higher value of the stock of that business. So, all you did was shift assets from your own cash to your shareholdings – your net worth did not change.

If you shift them to someone else’s name and then shift them back, it could (rightly) be considered a sham transaction by the IRS, the other person could owe back taxes, lots of risks, etc.

Try to look at having the money to pay for college as a blessing!

In terms of asset protection, you might find these links useful (no affiliation):

http://www.assetprotectionbook.com/asset_protection.php

http://www.garrettpub.com/garrettpub/garrettpubbooks.cfm

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