Posts by nimbleorca21

I feel bad about never picking up that tab I promised you ages ago. Anyway, wishing nothing but health and happiness to you and your kid. In the end, things turned out okay—not as messy as everyone expected, I guess.
I’m rooting for you; this was a learning experience for me, and next time I'll use some Common sense.

I told you right from the start that you should just sell it or trade it if you aren't feeling it; I truly wish you the best with everything. I guess if I ever find myself down in Chicago, I'll reach out and take you for a coffee—it feels like it’s been forever since we actually sat down.☕

Look, the truth is this apartment is becoming a massive anchor dragging you down. Your income might cover a "normal" lifestyle without crushing mortgage payments, but neither lower interest rates nor child support is going to save you here. You basically have two moves: find a way to bring in more cash or cut your spending. It’s noble that you want to leave an inheritance for your kid, but there's a real chance you'll just end up leaving them a mountain of debt instead. I mean, look at how things are going—you've been struggling for a while now, borrowing money just to stay afloat and constantly hitting that negative balance. This cycle will just keep repeating until you hit a wall, and then the bank is going to foreclose on the place, leaving you stuck with whatever you owe to the people you borrowed from. Thirty years is a hell of a long time, so there's plenty of room for more disasters like this to happen. Personally, I wouldn't bother negotiating with the bank to extend the loan terms; those adjustments are peanuts compared to what you actually need. You need a real shift—renting it out, selling, or swapping for something smaller—and you absolutely have to increase your income at the same time.

@lambodara
Come on, please tell me you didn't actually go through with that plan to use the pawn shop for another loan. lol

I was being a little sarcastic there, but whatever... regardless, they should have clearly stated it was a margin call. If, like you say, it wasn't, then I guess that just means my sarcasm wasn't actually sarcasm after all. It's obvious those people at Bank of America didn't realize the fund value could actually drop below the loan amount. I bet they've updated their contracts by now.

I tried writing a massive response to the Lambodarins post, but my posts keep getting rejected by the server lately (error 503, 504). Let's see if this works.
I agree that you have to take risks, but I honestly don't think now is the time for it. The market has been climbing for a while, yet we’re constantly hit with bad news from the Fed, the region, and globally. There's just nothing good coming out of it right now. Your targets are high—even that 15% mark. Very few people actually pull that off. Using leverage on top of leverage? Maybe that worked a few years ago, but not today. Right now, the goal should be protecting what you've already built through investing over the last few years. It's not your fault if you didn't jump on the bandwagon early enough, so don't beat yourself up about it. Just keep learning and educating yourself, and success will follow. Up until now, it felt like every amateur was making money on the US stock market, but those days are gone. There will always be a stock or an index that delivers an extra return, but you have to get into them before the surge, not after, and then try to use it as some statistical data point. Funds used to grow steadily, but in the last 6 months, we've seen one major fund collapse; imagine what could happen to any other fund, whether it's a solid one or a speculative play. I jumped in a bit earlier and saw some nice returns, which is why I'm being cautious, but I'm not the one suggesting we should pull the handbrake and stay on guard. For the KTA calculations, Kimberly Nguyen already gave you the answer. And don't forget about the margin call; believe me, that's a nasty situation. Don't let any single response discourage you; just step back, think about everything, and try to visualize the worst-case scenario. Don't suffer from that typical American fatalism where you just give up. 😳Right now, it's all about being prepared. In any case, I wish you plenty of success, both in your investments and in life.

"We can even arrange a trip out to the Plains... if there's something specific you're looking for, just let me know."

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I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea of what it costs right now to ship a 40ft container from China to a port like Savannah or Houston? Is there basically no container traffic going through places like Florida? Thanks

Nowhere else, straight to Germany