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Ask HN: What is your financial “setup”?

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Re: Ask HN: What is your financial “setup”?

#111

Post by newnewpdro »

fersho311 wrote: post #106

I don’t know anything about financial engine but I do have a cautionary tale. I pay poor people, teach them coding and help them move into middle class. I spent Most of my money doing that. 10 years of Bay Area swe pay, I only have $2k in my bank account. (Currently negative because of cc debts and holiday shopping). Don’t be like me. I originally thought if I helped others become as wealthy as me (relatively) they’l…

You essentially gave people grants with no strings attached.

Why not add some strings to make it fair and potentially sustainable?

Re: Ask HN: What is your financial “setup”?

#112

Post by newnewpdro »

lostlogin wrote: post #89
sshine wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having recently received private financial advisory, my advisor recommended that I do exactly this: Withdraw cash weekly, use only that cash to pay for food. Supposedly, it will make you more aware of how your spending affects your balance. Swiping a card "feels free".

> Swiping a card "feels free" Could this relate to age or how one grew up? It doesn’t seem like one abstraction is really all that different from the other.

Cash is physical, it's tangible, exists in your hand/wallet, occupies space, carries weight in the real world.

It's experientially very different to spend, and for me at least, carries substantially greater negative feedback as my wad diminishes in transactions. Then having to replenish my stash, visiting an ATM or asking for cash back, carries a distinct bite.

Those things are largely absent when using cards or other electronic payments like phones.

Though you can structure electronic payments such that it at least draws on a very small account requiring explicit replenishing of some inconvenience, to retain some of the bite as weekly or monthly funds become exhausted.

Re: Ask HN: What is your financial “setup”?

#113

Post by axaxs »

I don't have a simple setup, I optimize everything. Everything, and I mean everything, is paid for by credit card. You get rewards, and more importantly, protections that aren't afforded to you by paying other means. Some even offer extended warranties, and price drop protections. Do your own research. I typically use cards to average around 3 percent back, between Amex, Discover, and Capital One.

I keep my emergency fund in Varo. It gets 2.8 percent interest. I use SoFi as my main "bank", but also have a couple local accounts. Good luck.

Re: Ask HN: What is your financial “setup”?

#114

Post by travisjungroth »

jki275 wrote: post #108
fersho311 wrote: post #106

I don’t know anything about financial engine but I do have a cautionary tale. I pay poor people, teach them coding and help them move into middle class. I spent Most of my money doing that. 10 years of Bay Area swe pay, I only have $2k in my bank account. (Currently negative because of cc debts and holiday shopping). Don’t be like me. I originally thought if I helped others become as wealthy as me (relatively) they’l…

You invested in other people's future. That doesn't seem like a bad thing, and it seems like you could afford to do it. Don't beat yourself up over not having a lot of money in the bank, it seems like you've still got your financial life mostly in order. I often have to remind myself of this, as I send a significant amount of money to another country to help my spouse's family -- It's a significant amount for me, but…

> it seems like you could afford to do it

They have a negative net worth. They could not afford to do it.

Re: Ask HN: What is your financial “setup”?

#115

Post by newnewpdro »

alexmingoia wrote: post #72
dmerrick wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was with you until you mentioned you don't use IRAs. Tax advantage is important!

I don’t use IRAs mainly because they aren’t liquid. I can’t withdraw without a penalty. An IRA is not necessarily tax advantageous because gains are taxed as income when withdrawn, which is higher than capital gains. The choice to use IRAs is not straightforward. It's also hard to plan for any of this because tax rates can and do change. Capital gains and income tax rates may change, so I generally prefer to pay taxe…

> I have generally found it more financially rewarding to focus my time on increasing income rather than on finagling my finances to save money. Same reason I don’t own a credit card just to get the cash back or other incentives.

Diverting some of your income into a tax-deferred investment account will not significantly affect your ability to focus on increasing income.

They're not mutually exclusive.

My approach largely resembles yours, but there's no effective difference between increasing income and reducing how much of it is taken from you in the form of taxes. If your priority is to increase your income, deciding to throw some of it into a tax-deferred investment account can be seen as a very efficient use of your time spent increasing your income.

Re: Ask HN: What is your financial “setup”?

#116

Post by crisopolis »

Since I got in a lot of debt with credit in the past. I don't have much credit now and majority is being paid off. So my financial setup is rather simple, always slide the debit instead of the credit.

Charles Schwab is my main bank Local credit union finances my car loan (almost paid off), my secondary checking/savings and my only credit card.

CashApp for any type of sharing/transfer of funds.

YNAB does all the budgeting. (I've become better at spending money that I have!)

Re: Ask HN: What is your financial “setup”?

#117

Post by lukasbarton »

ttcbj wrote: post #19

We have a checking/savings account, and then various investment accounts at vanguard. All income goes to vanguard. Each year, we move our total budget for the year to checking. Then, we pay for all spending from checking. We can easily track whether our budget is on Pace at any given time. If we run out of money, we went over. (Technically, we subtract out year end expenses like property taxes to avoid a year End sur…

Also interested in the spreadsheet, but figured commenting directly rather than in that thread would increase the likelihood you see this.

Re: Ask HN: What is your financial “setup”?

#118

Post by marshallant »

alexmingoia wrote: post #69

My radically simple approach to finances is a result of simple living. I spend maybe 1-2 hours a month thinking about money and finances. - I don’t budget. - I don’t use spreadsheets or finance apps. - I don’t have any credit cards, loans, or debt. I don’t care about my credit score because I’m not ever going to get a car loan, electronics lease, or mortgage. - I don’t own a car. If I did I would buy it with cash and…

Sounds horrible. I don't get why people want to go through life like this.

Re: Ask HN: What is your financial “setup”?

#119

Post by fersho311 »

newnewpdro wrote: post #111
fersho311 wrote: post #106

I don’t know anything about financial engine but I do have a cautionary tale. I pay poor people, teach them coding and help them move into middle class. I spent Most of my money doing that. 10 years of Bay Area swe pay, I only have $2k in my bank account. (Currently negative because of cc debts and holiday shopping). Don’t be like me. I originally thought if I helped others become as wealthy as me (relatively) they’l…

You essentially gave people grants with no strings attached. Why not add some strings to make it fair and potentially sustainable?

I don’t think poor people will trust things with strings attached. It’s what screwed them in the first place. I wanted strong relationships built on trust.

Re: Ask HN: What is your financial “setup”?

#120

Post by fersho311 »

travisjungroth wrote: post #114
jki275 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You invested in other people's future. That doesn't seem like a bad thing, and it seems like you could afford to do it. Don't beat yourself up over not having a lot of money in the bank, it seems like you've still got your financial life mostly in order. I often have to remind myself of this, as I send a significant amount of money to another country to help my spouse's family -- It's a significant amount for me, but…

> it seems like you could afford to do it They have a negative net worth. They could not afford to do it.

Technically true. Depends on how long my wife lets me mooch off there, and I’m also winding down the number of people I help. I should be net zero starting next year and really positive when my RSU vests in a few months
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