Buckeye Burglar
Kyle McIntosh | Nov 8, 2021
“DEAR OHIOAN: According to our records, you have applied for and/or received pandemic unemployment benefits.” As I haven’t been to Ohio in more than 20 years, I knew something was amiss. It was highly likely I was the victim of identify fraud. After some investigation, I found out someone had been receiving unemployment benefits in my name since March 2021. I’m hardly the only person victimized by this fraud. In a recent report, Ohio Auditor Keith Faber estimated that $3.8 billion in fraudulent unemployment payments and overpayments had been made since March 2020. The fraud has been so widespread that claims have been made in the names Ohio’s governor and lieutenant governor. To prevent further fraud, I reported the matter to the state of Ohio. Initially, I was skittish about filing the fraud report online because I had to provide my Social Security number, but I figured the online system was the safest way to report the fraud—and certainly better than giving my personal information over the phone, which had backfired on me before. Next, I reviewed my credit report to ensure that no one had parlayed my personal information into an even bigger fraud. Fortunately, there was no unusual credit activity. But because someone obviously had my personal information, I decided I’d better monitor my credit activity more closely. I chatted with a colleague about available services, and ended up selecting the Complete ID service offered by Costco. Costco partners with Experian to provide members with credit monitoring, identity protection and restoration services, which now costs me $8.99 a month. I also pay another $2.99 a month to have my two children’s information monitored.
Read more » Double Agent
Kyle McIntosh | Jan 4, 2022
MY MOM HAD PLANNED to look for a new home near my wife and me in 2022. In November 2021, I searched Realtor.com to see what was available. I saw a home that looked like a good fit, but its status was listed as “pending.” On a whim, I called the selling agent. It turned out that the house was falling out of escrow. We made an offer. We didn’t have an agent, so the selling agent offered to represent us. This dual-agent approach is allowed in California. While I was wary of having the seller’s agent also represent us, it ultimately worked in our favor. The first benefit: Our offer was accepted. That’s no small feat in today’s hot real estate market. Given that the property fell out of escrow once, the seller didn’t want it to fall out again. The agent got to know us and she conveyed to the seller that we were solid buyers. I believe this was a big factor in our offer being accepted over two others that were made around the same time. Another benefit was that the agent shared some of the extra commission that came from representing both parties. The seller received net proceeds higher than the prior deal, and we paid a lower price than what was previously contracted. While the agent was surely the biggest beneficiary of the arrangement, she made it a “win-win-win” for all involved. A final benefit: All requested fixes were accepted by the seller. In the real estate transactions I’ve been through, the “fix it” list seems to be the point at which animosity peaks between buyer and seller. That was not the case this time. It was difficult for the seller to turn away a request list that was presented to him by his own agent. There was no back and forth. All fixes were made and the deal is now done. What should you do if you’re involved in a dual-agent transaction? The key piece of advice I’d offer: Hire your own inspector. We ignored the list of inspectors presented to us by the agent, and instead hired a professional recommended by someone else.
Read more » Parting Advice
Kyle McIntosh | Jun 17, 2022
HALF OF THE COLLEGE students I taught last semester just graduated. A few are going on to graduate school, but most are starting accounting, finance or other business careers. For my classes with a heavy concentration of seniors, I reserve the last five minutes of the final class to give them a few career tips. In keeping with my overall teaching approach, I keep the message simple: Do what you enjoy.
Now, this isn’t the usual “follow your passion” pitch you hear in so many commencement addresses. In fact, I start by saying that most of us won’t follow our passion. Often, it isn’t practical to do so. Because we can’t all be passion-driven, we need to find ways to make our day-to-day work enjoyable. I encourage my graduates to find ways to incorporate things they enjoy into their career. There are two specific tips I share.
First, I recommend graduates use their skills to enter an industry that interests them. Many students have “dream” industries they’d like to work in, such as sports, not-for-profits and life sciences. But most judge it too difficult to land a job in these industries, so they apply to businesses that don’t excite them.
To be sure, graduates with technical majors—think accounting and information technology—may have an easier time getting their foot in the door of a preferred industry. But all graduates have skills, such as problem solving and communication, that are useful in any industry. If you have a genuine interest in an industry, I believe you should make putting your skills to work in that industry your focus. The fact is, if you’re working in your “dream” industry, chances are you’ll be more successful and more fulfilled.
Second, I encourage graduates to prioritize doing things they enjoy at work. These things might not be specifically related to your day-to-day responsibilities. Instead, they might include things like recruiting new employees from your alma mater, leading training sessions or working on special projects. It could even include organizing the company’s sports teams. Assuming you do these things well and they don’t detract from your core duties, you’ll be viewed favorably by your manager and your peers—and you’ll likely enjoy your job more.
Read more » Target Dating
Kyle McIntosh | Oct 1, 2021
IN JULY 2020, I rolled over my old 401(k) to an IRA. Between maxing out my 401(k) contributions for many years and strong investment performance, the balance was significant. I initially invested half the money in a combination of stock market index funds and a bond market ETF. For the remaining balance, I set up an automatic investment plan that invested a modest amount in stock index funds every two weeks. While long-run market returns argued for investing all the money in stocks right away, I slept better using this gradual approach. After about a year, I calculated that it would take another few years to put the remaining cash to work. This seemed too slow to me. After some research, I invested the rest of the account balance in Vanguard Group’s 2050 target-date index fund. This was the first time I’d put money in a target-date fund, but I don’t think it’ll be the last. Why select a target-date fund? First, I like that the 2050 fund has a similar investment mix to my other IRA investments. The 2050 fund’s current allocation is set at 90% stock index funds—a U.S. index fund and an international one—and 10% bond index funds. Another feature I like: The stock market exposure decreases over time. The allocation will drop from 90% today to 80% by 2030, 65% by 2040 and 45% by 2050. I’d probably be doing something similar anyway, so why not let Vanguard do it for me? The Vanguard 2050 fund’s annual expense ratio is 0.15%, or 15 cents a year for every $100 invested, which is about 0.1 percentage point higher than Vanguard's S&P 500 index fund. I see this premium as acceptable, given the 2050 fund’s broader diversification and its gradually shifting investment mix, plus the fund's expenses are set to drop next February. A heads-up: Vanguard will direct you to a target-date fund based on an assumed retirement age of 65. But I see myself working fulltime until 65 and part-time into my 70s, so I selected the 2050 fund, which assumes a retirement age for me of 75.
Read more » Quality or Quantity?
Kyle Mcintosh | Jul 7, 2024
Every three years or so, I can't resist the temptation to buy disposable razors at Costco. Given the disposables are about $1 each, they are about a third of the price of buying razor cartridges. About a week into the purchase, however, I am reminded why I prefer the cartridges. While more expensive, the cartridges provide a better shave and they last about 3 times as long. While the initial impression I get is that I am getting a bargain, I sacrifice quality and at best I am breakeven on the transaction. What examples do you have on times when a focus on price was more costly than if you'd ponied up for a better quality product in the first place?
Read more » Numbers Game
Kyle McIntosh | Oct 19, 2021
IT HAPPENED AGAIN. For the third time in two years, our credit card number was stolen. I learned this yesterday when I received the now-too-frequent question from Chase: “Do you recognize this gas station purchase for $1?” We live nowhere near the station in question, so I knew something was amiss. I appreciate Chase’s diligence in identifying such transactions, and the fact that we won’t be held liable for any fraudulent charges. Still, I’ve grown weary of the whole process of cancelling credit cards, especially resetting the automatic payments tied to each. On top of that, it’s unsettling to know someone is trying to buy things using one of our cards. The most frustrating thing about this latest theft: My wife and I had changed certain practices over the past year in an effort to limit the risk of fraud. For a previous card number theft, we observed a close link between the fraud and a “new account setup” with a vendor that required us to provide our card number over the phone. We now refuse to do so. We’ve found that, for vendors requesting numbers over the phone, they usually also accept payments via Venmo or PayPal. In addition, many also have websites that allow you to make payments online. The site still asks for your number, but this seems to be more secure. Another practice we started: We use cash for transactions where there’s a higher risk of fraud. For instance, we usually pay cash at gas stations, where skimming devices are sometimes used to steal card information. Another practice we follow: Pay cash at restaurants where the server takes your card and swipes it in another location. In such situations, it’s all too easy for a server to take a picture of the front and back of your card. I’m hopeful we can limit future card number thefts by using these practices. At the same time, I’m researching new ways to step up our fraud prevention because our current practices clearly aren’t perfect. Any suggestions?
Read more »
Adam M. Grossman is the founder of Mayport, a fixed-fee wealth management firm. Sign up for Adam's Daily Ideas email, follow him on X @AdamMGrossman and check out his earlier articles.
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