Ed Kadala

Comments:

• If I was not in a rush, I would definitely request the store correct the pricing error. Not so much for my sake, but to alleviate other customers from being overcharged or hassled with getting a refund. In fact the other day I picked out an item in the frozen section at Costco. When checking out the price was a few dollars more than I recalled seeing. So I went back to check the price and then to customer service. The one lady behind the counter was busy with a customer who was taking forever. My wife said let’s go and I said I didn’t want others buying the product getting ripped off. So I asked if they could get another person to the counter since there was now a line behind me. Another person came to help and sent someone with me to check the price. Well, the price I saw was on the shelf containing the stack of items, where the actual price was on the shelf above. My mistake,10 minutes lost. I’ll be more careful next time. 

  Post: Getting Rolled by Jonathan Clements

  Link to comment from September 19, 2024

• Interesting story on fate Andrew. Here’s mine which i think is somewhat unusual and not what I would have ever envisioned. After I graduated from university I got a job with the railroad refurbishing the northeast corridor. A job i enjoyed. I liked reading about finance and after a couple of years I thought about getting an MBA. Anyway, me and two buddies went on a trip out west to visit national parks. We stopped in Reno, NV and I lost $9 in a casino playing blackjack, so I bought a short book on blackjack strategy and studied the basics. When we got to Las Vegas I visited a casino to test the strategies I learned. I sat at a $2 table and played blackjack. With a little skill and plenty of luck, betting only $2 a hand and sometimes splitting cards and doubling down I was up over $100. A guy next to me was intrigued and struck up a conversation. He asked what I did for a living. He worked for the Naval Engineering Department in Washington DC and said they were recruiting engineers and gave me his card. This was during Reagan’s 600 ship Navy buildup. I was curious so I called him. I was intrigued by the program the Navy had to train civilian engineers in naval engineering. They said they’d also send me to graduate school if I wanted. I was okay with getting a MS in engineering vice an MBA. So I left the railroad and started with the Navy. After two year I went to the University of Michigan for Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture. I met a girl in my apartment complex who was studying music performance. We became friends. She graduated at the same time I did. I went back to Washington DC and as fate would have it there was an opening in a military band for her instrument. She won the audition and moved to Washington. After a few years we married. So from that fateful visit to a casino, I won a $100, got a career and a wife. Talk about luck! Incidentally, I haven’t gambled at a casino since that time. 

  Post: Friday the 13th, the Luckiest Day of My Life by Andrew Forsythe

  Link to comment from September 15, 2024

• Steve, you alway pick interesting things to write about. If active ETF’s trade more than passive ETF’s, they may generate capital gains. We may also have to consider after tax returns if held in a taxable account.

  Post: Active vs. Passive ETFs: Fidelity and T. Rowe Price Meet Vanguard by Steve Abramowitz

  Link to comment from September 13, 2024

• Matt, I found your article enlightening. I have 2 SMA’s, a global growth equity account and a municipal bond account. You are correct, the management fee is less than most similar mutual funds, although not ETFs. Where the equity account shined was in 2022 market sell off. In October of that year I had the SMA sell 10 of the 27 companies I owned for the tax loss and bought a MSCI All Country World Index ETF to stay-in-the-market. 31 days later, to avoid violating the Wash sale rule, I had the SMA sell the ETF and buy back those companies. This proved very advantageous. An advantage of the muni bond SMA is 50% of the bonds are from the state I reside so I pay no federal or state tax on the interest earned on those bonds. Also, the SMA doesn’t have to sell bonds when the environment is unfavorable due to redemption requests common with mutual funds. As for evaluating performance, your advice is spot on. I can compare my results to the SMA company’s mutual fund that hold most of the same companies. Although not an apple-to-apple comparison the MSCI All Country World Index ETF has out performed my SMA. One reason is the index holds NVIDIA, Meta and a few other high fliers, which my SMA doesn’t hold, but are held elsewhere. When compared to a National Muni Bond ETF, my SMA has also slightly under performed, although the ETF‘s credit quality, duration and holdings differ. I can instruct my SMA to lower the credit quality a little and extend the duration to try and pick up a little more yield. 

  Post: False Comparisons

  Link to comment from September 13, 2024

• Adam, good article. How about a word on a bond fund’s sensitivity to Fed’s fund rate changes? This can be estimated based on the bond fund’s duration, a concept that may be confusing to some.

  Post: Giving Credit

  Link to comment from September 8, 2024

• Steve, I appreciate this article and your due diligence that supports your conclusions. You write well, keep it up. Thanks

  Post: Nasdaq 100 Option-Income ETF: Is the Sequel to JEPI Just Theater? by Steve Abramowitz

  Link to comment from September 6, 2024

• David, you and Richard make good points. If we don’t know for certain we have to make assumptions. While models may be mathematically correct, results are only as good as the input. If probability based data is available for these assumptions, it’s better than a guess. So decisions can be made either subjectively or objectively, qualitatively or quantitatively. As a starting point in making a decision and if available I prefer basing it on a quantitative analysis. But it’s also paramount to consider the consequences. Sometimes, something just doesn’t feel right. 

  Post: DIY Analytical Tools to Support Financial Decisions

  Link to comment from September 6, 2024

• Jonathan, you & Randy make a very good point and that is exactly what I plan to do, roll funds back into a traditional IRA next year. That makes the transaction process clearer and gives the IRS less reason to poke around in your tax return. The reason to roll back into an IRA is for more investment options. But the IRS doesn’t require you to wait until the next calendar year. So, if rolling back into an IRA the same year you will need to provide the IRS supplemental information describing what you did, and if you e-file your tax return you can fax or mail this information separately to the IRS. This would likely delay receipt of a refund. 

  Post: Convert Your Traditional IRA Non-deductible Contributions to a Roth Tax-free

  Link to comment from August 9, 2024

• Max, did you figure out how to log in. If so can you please tell by us. I’d like to submit an article but can’t figure out how to do it.

  Post: I cannot figure out the procedures and methods for logging in to this site.

  Link to comment from August 7, 2024

• Randy, that’s clever. Please tell me how do I instruct the custodian of my traditional IRA, which consists of 2 separate funds, to only move the dollar amount that hasn’t already been taxed (contributions & earnings) to my 401(k)? The custodian does not have those records. Thank you.

  Post: Targeting Taxes

  Link to comment from March 11, 2024