All things STOCKS

#20,101
#20,101
BigOrangeMojo said:
If that's all long term, looking at a $3-4K tax bill there..

Anyway to choose lots to reduce the 20K even more?
Click to expand...
Thanks for making me look at this a little better. With some creative lots I think the best I can do is a cost basis of 230k current value 265k. Would be 30k in LTCG and 5k short term.. but I think I may have some STGC loss carryover from 2025 once I do my taxes (options - lol). Decisions, decisions..

Just curious - what are your thoughts on the margin loan?
 
#20,102
#20,102
JFreak said:
Requesting advice - Purchasing a house and need 275k for a down payment, but trying to avoid a taxable event while also maximizing my $$ invested. Investment accounts as follows -
1.35 mil in Vanguard
500k in TSP (401k)

I think I have 2 realistic options -
1. Transfer my Vanguard account to Interactive Brokers and take out a margin loan at 4.65%
2. I can take a 100k loan from my TSP at 4.5% (not margin - money comes out of my balance/investments - must pay back in 5 years which isn't a problem). Then sell approximately 175k in Vanguard investments - if I do it right I can only pay LTCG for 20k in gains.

What would you guys do? Slightly higher risk - take the margin loan from Interactive Brokers and prioritize keeping the amount invested high? Or the more conservative option which reduces my amount invested?

And yes I realize this is truly a 1st world problem and one that I certainly never thought I'd be lucky enough to have.
Click to expand...
By TSP are you referring to Thrift Savings Plan...you work for the Gov't?

What is your age range..how many more years do you plan to work?

Congrats on your savings!
 
#20,103
#20,103
Jax_Vol said:
By TSP are you referring to Thrift Savings Plan...you work for the Gov't?

What is your age range..how many more years do you plan to work?

Congrats on your savings!
Click to expand...
That's correct - TSP = Thrift Savings Plan. I'm still active duty - late 30's.. plan to do about 5 more years. May retire for good at that point but most likely I'll find a low stress job.

And thanks! Wish I would have started earlier and not made some dumb early mistakes.
 
#20,104
#20,104
JFreak said:
That's correct - TSP = Thrift Savings Plan. I'm still active duty - late 30's.. plan to do about 5 more years. May retire for good at that point but most likely I'll find a low stress job.

And thanks! Wish I would have started earlier and not made some dumb early mistakes.
Click to expand...
I would vote for your Option 2. I'm very aggressive with the Vanguard funds. Over the long haul, it smokes the TSP C .... Common Stocks.

Admittedly, the sophomore year of a presidency is historically the worst. So, TSP may win out in 2026.

But throw the bulk into funds like VITAX, VWUAX, VFIAX...and you are all set for life.

I'm not familiar with Interactive Brokage but can't imagine leaving low cost Vanguard.

Sounds like you're putting down 20%..? Assuming you checked for a VA Loan w/10% option?

Thank you for your service!
 
  • Like
Reactions: JFreak
#20,105
#20,105
Liquidity Access Lines are similar to margin loans by using securities as collateral. The interest rate on a LAL should be slightly lower than a margin loan, but they also have payment schedules instead of simply accruing interest and adding it to the loan balance. Margin loans are tax deductible for those that itemize, but only against investment income.

Calls on margin loans result in immediate (a day or two) liquidation of investments while LALs are more flexible and could be restructured.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JFreak
#20,107
#20,107
All valid points TGO. Now if I only I could get a reasonable rate on an LAL without switching brokerages from Vanguard..

Running some calculations and taking a $275,000 margin loan on $1.3 million invested, the market would have to drop ~69% to get margin called. That feels reasonably safe to me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jax_Vol
#20,108
#20,108
**** happens, but Schwab’s trading platform was down for most of the day Wednesday. I had a couple of small, short put positions that I wasn’t able to access to close out but they will end up expiring at no value if the trend continues anyway. However I do like to close those if they fall significantly (and therefore with little potential profit left) and use the capital on something else.
 
#20,111
#20,111
“But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”
Isaiah 64:8 (KJV)
 
#20,112
#20,112
JFreak said:
Thanks for making me look at this a little better. With some creative lots I think the best I can do is a cost basis of 230k current value 265k. Would be 30k in LTCG and 5k short term.. but I think I may have some STGC loss carryover from 2025 once I do my taxes (options - lol). Decisions, decisions..

Just curious - what are your thoughts on the margin loan?
Click to expand...

I dont like variable loans on housing especially with a potentially inflationary war being fought right now...

But Im going to lean a little more conservative on this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JFreak
#20,115
#20,115
JFreak said:
Ok now this correction is getting a little annoying. I often wonder who TF is selling at this point?
Click to expand...
My guess is the people/entities/investment banks that think the Iran situation isn’t going to be resolved very quickly. Sitting right at correction territory and one would have to believe there is further downside the longer this goes. A lot of money has piled into energy for obvious reasons, cash, short term treasuries and out of equities. Despite our debt, the dollar has strengthened. We don’t move the amount of assets into that region to have a staring contest.
 
#20,116
#20,116
JFreak said:
Ok now this correction is getting a little annoying. I often wonder who TF is selling at this point?
Click to expand...
The marginal buyer/seller day-to-day in markets are HFs and CTAs. It's probably a lot of those guys who bought the S&P in that range it was in between about 6800 and 7000, expecting it to break higher, or who bought the pullback to the 200 DMA, who have given up.

It wouldn't surprise me if things got ugly next week. The tariff selloff followed a similar pattern to this before the final puke on 4/3 and 4/4. In this selloff and the tariff selloff there was initial leg lower that brought it down to and underneath the 200 DMA, then it hung out underneath the 200 DMA for several sessions. With the tariff selloff, you got a final capitulation move lower where the S&P fell about 14% over 3 trading sessions (4/3, 4/4, 4/7).
 
#20,117
#20,117
This is still such a remarkably orderly selloff. Since the S&P peaked on 1/28, the largest daily decline has been 1.74%, and that was yesterday. The highest the VIX has touched was just above 35, and it closed that day back at 25.

I think we see some disorderliness before it bottoms.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vol737
#20,125
#20,125
I got assigned ONDS at 9 and SOFI at 15.

I might be cooked in the short term boys. I went from 90% cash to 60% cash with a whole lot of potential bag holding.
 
New Posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

Advertisement



Back
Top