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mikeyjones

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Posts posted by mikeyjones

  1. Posted

    Friend wants to go on a road trip to PA. Anybody been to Sunset Hill shooting range in the Poconos.
    Can anyone recommend one. Live in Bergen County so don't want to go to far South.
    Wants to go outdoor and somewhere that rents so he can try a few pieces. 
     


    I've been there a few times before I really got into shooting.

    Place attracts an interesting demographic.

    It's very different from other ranges in the sense that you'll always be with a rso. You pay per bullet, and it's really expensive.

    Not a huge fan of that place but you can try out a bunch of stuff.


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  2. Posted

    30 minutes ago, Howard said:

    I had a gun replaced by a factory ammo company that made the reloads that I used that blew up my 1911.  They gave me a bunch of crap at first how their policy, blah blah blah.  I told them I bet the ATF would be very interested in learning about the double loaded ammo they were selling - they quickly agreed to send me a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for buying me a new gun.

     

     

    Didn't you just violate that NDA?

  3. Posted

    Not really. I mean technically that is what it challenges, but the premise is that fund managers aren't worth it. HEdge funds have, in theory, the best managers. To eliminate jackpot luck for one, or a truly exceptional manager amongst a group of supposedly exceptional managers, he groups them together. 
     
     



    Disagree.

    The bet is very specific to a portfolio of funds of funds for a reason. Most fund managers can at least meet indexes but the fees chip away at those returns. Hence when you put active management fees on top of active management fees or fees^2, your returns are worse than the underlying indexes.

    Only the best mangers of funds of funds will be able to outperform. So if you aggregate those as a portfolio, you will do worse than passive management.

    The real issue is that those funds of funds are kind of necessary as feeder funds. HFs are relationship businesses so the average joe can't just get in there - even if you meet qualifications per the SEC.


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  5. Posted

    Any thoughts on those "retire in year x" mutual funds?  Or is one just better off in paying the fee and having like a Fidelity actively manage the account?  (Damit Jim I am a moon shuttle pilot, not a hedge fund manager)

    Those target date funds charge high fees. I personally would stay away.


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  6. Posted

    2 minutes ago, InFamous said:

    It's the exact same questionnaire they send your reference. Any time I have applied they sent it to whoever I put as my manager and work address. I always have it sent to a 2A friendly coworker. My wife has her own photography business and for employer puts down "Self Employed". She never received anything in the mail for herself. 

    I'm not sure why they send it to the employer, I've never asked because for me it's not an issue. If it was, I'd put N/A or something or claim I work for my wife's photography business, which I sort of do. 

     

    Stuff like this drives me nuts.  I work for a very large corporation and would rather not discuss anything 2A related with anyone at work.  Nor would I want to have my local PD send documents on official letterhead to my work address.  I'd almost rather wait 3 months for permits than bring my employer into my personal life.  

     

    Guess I'll have to cross that bridge if/when I get there.

  7. Posted

    Just now, InFamous said:

    A coworker of mine lives in Long Valley and knows many of the PD there, his permits still took over 2 months. 

    I live in Mt. Olive, very 2A friendly police force. To pick up paperwork you just go to the dispatch window which is open 24/7. They do mail all your references and your employer with a questionnaire. Turn around time is give or take 3 weeks. I applied for 3 permits last time because I was purchasing 2 pistols, I've never applied for over 3 but I doubt they would bat an eye. Last time I applied my employer questionnaire must have gotten lost in the mail and about 2.5 weeks in MOPD called me to ask if they received it. He said all the other paperwork was done and just wanted to follow up so he could get everything finished and get me my permits. They faxed it over to me and I faxed it back, three or four days later I had my permits. 

    Extensions were easy also, I dropped off my permit at dispatch one evening, said I needed it extended. The morning of the second day they called and said it was ready to be picked up, so about 36hr turn around. 

    I'm not sure if you have kids but the school system is excellent also.

    Any other questions don't hesitate to ask. 

     

    You mentioned employer questionnaire, what exactly is that?  That's not part of the standard paperwork.  

  9. Posted

    58 minutes ago, SW9racer said:

    So impending doom or not, one can't just pull everything out of the market now, there won't be anything to retire on. So stay the course in index funds, or pull 20% aside in cash?  Still looking 10 years out

     

    Don't try to time the market!!!!!  EVER! 

    As a layperson, you have no edge over people who watch, eat, breathe the markets on a daily basis. 

    Over any 20 year period in history, you would've been better off leaving money in the market than pulling out, even right before huge pullbacks.  

    That said, as you approach retirement you might want to start dialing back the risk and moving more into fixed income.  

     

    I'm not a financial planner, so you might want to talk to one and get their input.  

  10. Posted

    1 hour ago, leahcim said:

    I am keeping my bond duration's short (2 years and less, mostly way less).  I keep thinking rates will go up and I am afraid to be long duration when that happens.  But so far (other than the post-election bump) that has now happened.

    I am starting to consider TIPS via Treasury Direct now also...  What do you think of TIPS???

     

    All I've seen lately is a flattening of the curve.  Even if the Fed moves in June (tomorrow), the belly and long end of the curve most likely will not make a parallel shift.  

    This means a few things: 1) you're not really getting paid to go out the curve, so keeping short duration isn't the worst idea.  2) The short end will move much more than the long end as the Fed hikes rates 3) I wouldn't be opposed to owning some floating rate products in my portfolio 4) TIPS are great if you're worried about inflation or stagflation, but you will get wrecked in a deflationary scenario - which has a greater than 0 probability 5) The 10yr is up almost 100bps from lows so we could see a modest rally before seeing a large scale sell off - from a technical perspective there is a large tendency to fill in gaps on a chart due to a large move.  

    On that last point, we gapped up 80bps in 2 weeks after the election.  More often than not, those kinds of moves will be retraced and retested before breaking out of whatever current trading range we're in.  

    I could go on, but most of my knowledge isn't directly applicable to personal portfolios - my focus is on large institutions.

  11. Posted

    I am not talking about investment strategies. I'm talking about a $100 bill I put in the drawer in 1975 and didn't try to spend until 2017. My point is the U.S. dollar is not worth what it used to be, by in this case about 80%, and is constantly declining.
    That 80% has been stolen from all of us.
    That's why when currencies start to collapse there's a run on the bank. Because by the end of the week the same bill won't buy what it will today. Lots of examples throughout history, the latest one being Venezuela. (Which the MSM is being very careful not to report on.)

    Who mentioned investing? I said putting it in a plain vanilla savings account or CD.


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  12. Posted

    Here's an example of my major money beef with the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve.
    I put away $100 cash for retirement in 1975. Today that $100 cash will buy me only the equivalent of $21.50  in hard goods, whatever they might be. Through inflation they have stolen approximately 80% of the value of that $100 cash from me without me ever writing a check or direct taxation.
    And when the time comes they will steal a lot more by turning on Helicopter Ben's printing press at the speed of bank owned microprocessors. Again, without any cooperation from me.
    Not one bit different than the Roman emperors diluting the gold or silver content of their hard coins with other non-precious metals.


    When I get back to my computer I'll post some more concrete numbers, but the savings rate has outpaced inflation or at the very least mitigated it. So that same $100 in a savings account would be worth much more than your $21.50. It would be worth more than $100....


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  16. Posted

    11 minutes ago, Schrödinger's cat said:

    Tier1 is good to go, but I'd encourage you to do it on your own, there is no magic involved. 

    This...

     

    Precision or just daily shooter, assembling an upper is the same. Components might be different, but process is the same.

  21. Posted

    So I usually go out west a few times a year for ski trips (usually CO and UT).  Never really thought about bringing a gun before, but am kicking around the idea of bringing something with me when I go out to UT next in a few weeks.  I have my UT permit, so no legal issues.

     

    From a practicality standpoint, has anyone actually tried concealing a gun while skiing?  It doesn't seem like there's a safe way to do it and have easily accessible - thereby killing the prospect of it being useful.  

     

    Any suggestions? I think this might be DOA, but am soliciting opinions.

  23. Posted

    I definitely see what you're saying, and agree to an extent, but I wonder how many people actually treat their refund as a savings vehicle. Personally, before I actually knew what a tax refund was (my own money being paid back to me), i actually treated it as bonus money and would spend it on a big ticket item that I had been wanting. I'm 27 now and did this until I was 25. I'm not proud of how ignorant I was, but I'm willing to bet there are tons more out there who do what I did and throw their own money away thinking it's basically a gift.

     

     

    I'd be wiling to bet that the # of people is very high.  Since more credits/rebates are offered to lower tax brackets, refunds tend to be higher at lower incomes.  So essentially most people treat it as manna from heaven...

     

    On the flip side, people keep mentioning changing your withholding estimate.  Just remember if you underpay by 10% or more you WILL get penalized (assuming you owe more than $1000).  So keep that in mind when futzing around with your W4.

  24. Posted

    My x wife handled the taxes and had a guy who did them. He retired last year which was our last year filing joint. I've thought about doing them myself but I have never done it before. Maybe someone can recommend a good tax guy in the central jersey area.

     

    If your tax situation is fairly simple (a W2 and some 1099-INTs) then feel free to do it yourself.  Mint, HR Block, and Credit Karma all have free tax processing this year, just go to each of their respective sites.  They all have pretty straightforward guides to walk you through the process.

     

    If your situation is more complex, a CPA is worth their cost.

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