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CricketOnTheHearth
ParticipantYeah, 50 was the big boojum for me too.
Like you said above, the feeling really setting in that “I’m running out of time…” and there are so many things I want to do yet.
April 7, 2014 at 6:06 PM in reply to: Advice sought on renting out old house versus selling and taking the money #772597ParticipantHi, Dave:
Fascinating to hear a property owner’s side of the story. I rent and go around saying, “I wish all these people would sell their houses instead of renting them out, so I/other people could buy one.”
But assuming you could really get that 5.5% return, yes, I can see your point that renting it out would be your best financial option.But there are a lot of ‘ifs’.
Several of them are mentioned in the comments thread of a Doctor Housing Bubble post:1)”A simple issue such as someone flooding out your floor (it does happen) can wipe out an entire year (or more) of profits.”
2) If you get a bad tenant, it could take you 6 to 12 months to push them out.
3) How much of a bite out of your profits will the property tax bill take? My rule of thumb here in San Diego is “about $100/month for every $100,000 of assessed house value” (so about $700/month in your case, assuming the house is here in San Diego.)
4) The aforementioned management company at 8-10% will be taking up to $300/month on a $3,000 rent nut.One of the commentors on the above Dr. HB thread, “chris” on October 1 at 11:08 am, said he has been a landlord for 13 years. He had a lot of interesting comments, mostly about properties with mortgages on them, and the following which seems also relevant to you:
5) “You should budget at least 3% for capital expenditures and improvements.”
So out of your $3,000 a month rent, I estimate you’d be taking home roughly $1910 of it, or about 3.5% annual return. That’s if nothing drastic happens, like the water heater blowing a gasket and flooding the house, or a Tenant From Hell, or something.
Still better than market interest rates; up to you and whatever veteran landlords you can find for advice, if you/they think it is less risky than the markets.
One piece of advice I’ve gotten from house-landlords: DO NOT try to rent out a house that is in another city/state!!! Unless you get angels for tenants this can be a real pain, he told me.
February 28, 2014 at 3:49 PM in reply to: The Vampire Squid Strikes Again: The Mega Banks’ Most Devious Scam Yet #771309ParticipantThat’s more than “a little” scary.
That’s these big banks well on their way to becoming the absolute tyrants of the world. Combine this with all their financial influence on our government (50% of Obama’s 2008 donations came from Goldman Sachs people), economy, etc… sure looks like a power grab to me.
Reminds me of the fictional “United Earth Technologies” in a book I read years ago (Rissa Kerguelen). It was a single corporation that ran Earth, absolutely. Very scary stuff.
ParticipantWhich is a darn shame.
But that would explain why the artist has stopped working on it.April 18, 2012 at 5:35 PM in reply to: OT: red light camera ticket for right turn and 0.1 secs #741881ParticipantI hate the Mira Mesa Blvd at Black Mountain Rd and Westview Parkway lights. It seems like those lights have slightly short yellows. They “love to” turn yellow just when I am too close to stop without throwing every loose thing in the car into the windshield; but just far enough away that I have to gun it to make it through the yellow light. I hate being mousetrapped like that. I’m still watching the mailbox in case one of those times I got “flashed”.
I hate to slow down for the lights when they’re still green– it annoys the drivers behind me and I feel like a real doofus if the light stays green the whole time I go through it.
It’s better when the crosswalk signal is still flashing the red hand and numbers; that way I know I still have a little time but better get through there. It’s when the light is green but the crosswalk is just the plain red hand… that’s when I’m really not sure how much time I have until the yellow.
Funniest was when my housemate was driving the big slow truck from his work through one of those intersections while I rode shotgun. The light turned yellow just as he got to it. No way he could stop that big boat in time. So he sailed through the intersection giving the light a two-handed middle finger salute. Bet that looked good on the cameras.
March 1, 2012 at 2:03 PM in reply to: What would you do for the privilege of being American ? #739043ParticipantReality Check, Please.
As pointed out above, *all* workers pay Social Security taxes on *all* wage income up to $110,100, regardless of their actual income. The nominal SS tax rate is 7.25% (less these days due to temporary cuts) for wage-earners. Double that for the self-employed.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25. Some states have higher minimum wages, many don’t. We’ll use this figure for now.
For federal income tax, the total amount of income which is exempt from taxes (Standard Deduction + exemption(s)) is:
Single, no kids: $9,500
Married filing jointly, no kids: $19,000
Married filing jointly, 2 kids: $26,400Suppose we have a minimum-wage worker who is lucky (!) enough to be able to work that job full-time, and gets 1 week off per year (51 weeks x 40 hrs a week)–> they work 2,040 hours a year. This nets them $14,790 gross income.
However, it’s more usual that minimum-wage workers work 2 or more jobs. Let’s say they are again lucky (!) and able to work 60 hours/week. That’s 3,060 hours a year, which nets them $22,185.
It’s very easy to see a scenario where a young childless couple, or even a couple with children, are both working minimum-wage jobs. There’s a good chance one or both of those jobs is *not* full-time. Not by any wish of their own, but because many minimum-wage jobs simply do not come in the “full-time” flavor.
Thus, it is entirely possible for a young couple, with our without children, to be working and paying in Social Security taxes, but still coming in under the Federal exemption wire and thus not paying Federal income taxes.
And I’m willing to bet that those people, if you told them they could no longer enjoy the benefits of American citizenship “because you don’t pay any income taxes”, would pick up the nearest implement of destruction and earnestly beg to differ with you.
ParticipantThanks, bearishgurl.
It’s not actually a problem for me– I do have Signature Banking and my combined balance is over $25K.
However, this does indeed represent a change on their part. Digging through my old literature, back in 2009 when I started banking with UBOC, the required combined balance was $10,000.
So, I’m just wondering if the jump from $10K to $25K is a sign of weakness on their part, and should I jump ship and put all of that money into my credit union. (Which I hate to do, because I want to keep my eggs in several baskets.)
ParticipantUCGal: I got the same notice from Wells. It looks pretty crooked to me too.
Bearishgurl: Here is the text of the letter in question:
~ ~ ~
[Cricket’s name and addy]
Re: Your account ending in ####
We value your banking relationship and want to ensure you are aware of the changes associated with your Signature Banking account.
As included in the Notice of Change in Account Terms that you have already received, effective January 1, 2012, the minimum monthly balance required to avoid the monthly service charge on your Signature Banking account referenced above is increasing to $25,000.
Of course, this minimum balance requirement continueds to apply to your relationship balance with Union Bank. So, the fee will be waived if you maintain a minimum balance of $25,000 in any combination of Union Bank personal and business checking, savings, money market, retirement, time deposit, CD, or UnionBanc Investment Services brokerage accounts. Otherwise, the monthly service charge is $18 if you receive online statements or $20 if you receive paper statements.
Your Signature Banking account continues to offer you special discounts and savings well above the cost of the monthly service charge. Here are a few of these benefits, valued at more than $500 annually:
- Monthly service charge waiver on one MoneyMarket account
- Two rebates per month for ATM fees charged by other banks
- No Union Bank charge for using other banks’ ATMs
- Free personalized Signature Banking checks
- No annual fee for Cash Reserve
- $40 discount on a Safe Deposit Box
- Free expedited delivery of a lost ATM or debit card
- Union Bank Platinum Debit MasterCard with higher spending limits
- No fee for travelers’ checks, Union Bank cashier’s checks, and personal money orders
- Discounted Identity Theft Protection
Thank you for being one of our most valued customers. We look forward to continuing to help you meet your financial goals. If you have any questions about the changes to your account, or if you wish to change or inquire about other accounts, please visit your local Union Bank Relationship Banker or call us at 1-800-238-4486.
Sincerely,
Maha Madain
Senior Vice President
Consumer Products~ ~ ~
FWIW the “above referenced account” is a Regular Checking. I also have a Time Deposit and a savings account with them, all of which total (just) over $25,000.
I wonder if it’s because I’m just using them as a piggy bank and don’t actually do daily-life transactions with these accounts?
ParticipantPetiay, thanks for the alert.
I had no idea, as people call them “California” pepper trees.We never got a tree.
Now my landlord is plotting to hire an outfit to coat our roof white.ParticipantPetiay, thanks for the alert.
I had no idea, as people call them “California” pepper trees.We never got a tree.
Now my landlord is plotting to hire an outfit to coat our roof white.ParticipantPetiay, thanks for the alert.
I had no idea, as people call them “California” pepper trees.We never got a tree.
Now my landlord is plotting to hire an outfit to coat our roof white.ParticipantPetiay, thanks for the alert.
I had no idea, as people call them “California” pepper trees.We never got a tree.
Now my landlord is plotting to hire an outfit to coat our roof white.ParticipantPetiay, thanks for the alert.
I had no idea, as people call them “California” pepper trees.We never got a tree.
Now my landlord is plotting to hire an outfit to coat our roof white.ParticipantMaybe you could catch all the cats, have them spayed and neutered, and then put them back. Yes, re-release them sterile. The theory is that they will keep more from moving in but won’t have kittens of their own.
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