Comments on: The Bottom Line

By: Adrian

Adrian — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:14:59 +0000

@ Josh – Sounds like a plan

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:55:40 +0000

Ryan, looking forward to your post…like a window into my future.

Adrian, I would like to remove those funds, but I figure I might as well wait until next year when the remaining 33% of my employer match is fully vested. Then the funds are really mine. Until then I will continue to trade with them.

By: Adrian

Adrian — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:14:00 +0000

@ Josh – Not much advice to you, because there aren’t too many variables to play with here; you already recognize that you need to increase your income (good luck with the trading!) in preparation for when your expenses DO start … and to estimate those, I suggest that you look at Ryan’s and Mark’s income / expense lines as they appear in their upcoming posts and plan around something that looks like those (young guys on their way up … one with / one without dependents, I think?).

I presume that you can pretty much do what you want (as far as selecting investment types/activities) with the $12k in the SDRA? Otherwise, you may want to think about ‘relocating’ those funds to someplace that you CAN use them …

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:51:22 +0000

@ Josh – Great job so far! You have basically no expenses and no liabilities, which is an incredible spot to be in. Your income is sure to rise and as long as your expenses don’t rise too much along with it you will have increasingly more cash to invest towards your number. Also very cool that you tithe.

By: Josh

Josh — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 18:59:46 +0000

Scott, thanks man. With patience on your side, your bound to find a good one for a great price.

Debbie, It’s always a joy to give. It’s also a Biblical commandment. I do it for both reasons.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 17:06:47 +0000

I love that you designate 10% of your income to charity.

By: Scott

Scott — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 13:25:22 +0000

Josh, we just saw your car, you got a killer deal man! We have been keeping an eye out on ebay and autotrader for a while now to get extremely acquainted with the price of the e46 330xi and 330ci convertibles for next years purchase. We will be buying in a little over 1 year when the company paid lease is up on my 328i, so I hope we can find a deal like yours. Or we’ll buy yours if you want to sell it next year!

By: Josh

Josh — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 05:24:58 +0000

lol, yea ebay can sometimes be a hit or miss.
Thank you for the encouragement Jeff.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 04:32:19 +0000

Josh, sorry to hear about the accident. Glad you made it out OK, without having to visit Scott’s business.

The new car looks great, enjoy it. Glad to hear it’s working out for you. I’ve bought two cars on eBay in the past. One work out great, the other was a disaster. My wife has banned me (permanently) from buying vehicles on eBay as a result.

I think you are getting a great jump on things, so don’t worry about starting “late.” I wish I had become as interested in learning about stock investing at as early an age as you are.

You’re off to a great start. I look forward to watching your success.

By: Josh

Josh — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 01:17:48 +0000

Scott, it was on Ebay when I crashed the Audi and watched it on the last few hours of the auction. I always bid within the last 20 seconds to keep the price down but I’m sure the mileage is what kept the price low (120,000). You may be able to check it out if you look up the auction number 220368840288.
Just registered the car on Monday of this past week and already enjoying it. When you go to buy yours, be sure to check the front suspension, a normal ware point in these cars. (not to expensive if you do the job yourself, but without a lift it’s definitely a pain in the neck to replace)