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persfin-digest         Thursday, July 23 1998         Volume 05 : Number 036



In this issue of the Personal Finance Digest:

       Rebate Cards/Parking Cash
       Mutual funds Supermarkets
       RE: persfin-digest V5 #33
       Polish Bond
       re: purpose of the list
       re:  Gov't
       Debt-FREE & Prosperous Living(tm)
       re: purpose of the list
       Questions
       Regular and Roth IRA AGI Limits

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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 20 Jul 1998 12:35:20 -0700
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Rebate Cards/Parking Cash

My original posting brought in a number of queries about rebate cards,
so it seemed best to reply to the list.
   1. The First Union card is Visa gold, that from Chevy is Mastercard
      platinum which was upgraded from gold on a spontaneous offer from
      Chevy Chase for no additional fee.  I believe we got a similar offer
      from First Union which my wife declined -- "Why do we need two?"
   2. Customer service numbers from the cards are:
      Chevy Chase 800-622-2616   First Union 800-359-3862
   3. Annual fees:  Chevy Chase $40   First Union $20
   4. Grace period: no charge on either if paid by statement due date
   5. Limits on rebate: none that I know of except credit limit on cards
I think that covers all of the inquiries to date.

Picking up on another thread, there are some funds where a bit more
income can be had than from straight money market funds.  Strong
Advantage yields more.  It is invested in very short term bonds and may
include issues with lower ratings.  The credit risk is reduced by the
short maturities, but there is still market risk based on fluctuating
interest rates.  However, the variation in price per share has been
quite small.  Be sure to note that share price is not constant like
a money market fund.  If memory serves, there is also a Heartland fund
which is something like a municipal junk bond money market fund.
I may not have all of that exact, but it might be something to look at
if one's tax bracket warrants.  I have not invested in either -- still
in the thinking stage.  Strong has a web site: Heartland probably does.

Trivia question of the day: Strong, Heartland, and Artisan fund families
are all located in Milwaukee.  Just coincidence or is there something
unexpected about Milwaukee?  Does anybody know?



- -

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 15:57:19 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Keith Mealy)
Subject: Mutual funds Supermarkets

I read a recent article that the number of supermarkets rose from
15 in 1996 to 24 in 1997 (and who knows how many today).  A funds
supermarket is company that allows you to buy funds from many
different families under one account.  The funds are sold either
NTF (no transaction fee - the broker is paid by the family for doing the
marketing and recordkeeping), transaction fee, or load.

These look like a terrific way to consolidate bookkeeping and allow
easy rebalancing and exchanges.

A couple examples are Schwab One-source and Fidelity
FundsNetwork.

Now for the questions --
- - does anyone have the list of where these supermarkets are?
- - do they allow existing shares to be transferred in?
- - if  a fund or family is a transaction fee in one supermarket is it
   necessarily a transaction fee in all supermarkets?
- - the couple that I've looked at have a fixed fee per transaction, are
there any
   supermarkets that are friendlier to DCA (dollar cost averaging)?
- - which supermarkets will do DCA for your account automatically?

[e-mail]
Cincinnati, OH

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- -

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 14:45:51 -0700
From: "David J. Churchill" <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: persfin-digest V5 #33

One thing you could do is invest in a Ginnie Mae fund like Vanguard.  These
funds earn from 6.5 to 7.0% and are relatively stable with respect to
principle value.  Since you need the money every August like clockwor, you
probably shouldn't be putting this money into equities.

Regards,
Dvae Churchill
- -----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 16:03:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: Paul Apollo <[e-mail]>
Subject: Investing Inheritance for Private School

Hi Listers,

My wife is about to inherit $50K+.  We live in a house free and clear
of mortgage.  We have no outstanding debt.  Our big expense is private
school for our children, at $20K per year.  Our total yearly income is
$55K.  We plan to save $1000 per month to pay this bill yearly, which
means we're $8K short per year. We may be able to save more, but can't
count on it at this point.  Also, mortgaging the house is out of the
question, as it is part of a family trust and the other family members
will not allow it.

Question: What's the best way to invest the inheritance in order to
help pay for private school?  This year's tuition is paid in full.
The bill comes due every August 15, starting next year.  My kids have
7 and 8 years respectively until college.  College is taken care of by
family, so I don't need to worry about that expense.  But, I cannot
use any of the college money for private school, no way, no how.

And, where do I invest the $1000 each month, given that I will use it
each August?

Thanks for your wisdom and ideas in advance.  If you answer me
directly I will post the answer to the list.

Paul Apollo
[e-mail]




- -

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 16:13:00 -0700
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Polish Bond

In 1920 my grandfather purchased a twenty year bond from the Republic of
Poland.  It appears to be a U.S. Dollar denominated bearer bond.  The
wording: "Twenty year six percent U.S. Dollar Gold Bond Issue of 1920,
Principal and Interest payable at the National City Bank of New York".  It
appears the coupons were clipped until 1936.  I'm assuming that the bonds
went into default either because of the Depression, or the pre World War II
situation in Poland (though the Nazis did not invade until 1939).  In the
mid 30's National City Bank became CitiBank.

My questions:  Does the new government of Poland inherit or honor any of
these old debts?  Does CitiBank?  How can I find out if the bond has any
value, either due to the debt it represents or as a collector's item.

Thanks,
Paul




- -

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 19:40:33 EDT
From: <[e-mail]>
Subject: re: purpose of the list

Re:  Purpose of this list

Wade has a point, but I enjoy the occasional discourse (argument), and the
social security thread certainly affects our personal finance, (granted in
this debate the effect was a bit indirect).  It should also be a reminder for
everyone to VOTE as part of thier financial management.

As for the postings, the emails would probably annoy me if I subscribed to the
plain list, but when reading the digest it only involves a tap on the 'page
down' key.  No big deal.  Also, in the last two years, the list itelf has a)
gotten much smaller and b)  repeats itself about every 3 -5 months.

I say keep up the debate- in moderation.  Relax and enjoy.

Scott


: Wade Watkins wrote:
Subject: Purpose of this list

I thought this was a list to discuss personal finance issues, not the politics
of the nation.  True, politics affect our personal finances, as well as many
other things, I don't think this is the place.  If you are going to spend all
of
this time arguing do it on a political list instead of here.  Let's get back
to
the real purpose of this list.



- -

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 19:40:36 EDT
From: <[e-mail]>
Subject: re:  Gov't

>Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1998 09:05:56 -0700
>From: elaine steward <[e-mail]> Subject: Re: Social Security and
>our govt
>
>That's because in other countries either the tax rate is higher or the
children
>die.  I, too, think this is disgusting, but I also think that since
individuals
>and/or communities aren't able to resolve the problem(s) that the Gov't must.
>
>elaine

[e-mail] then wrote

>>I don't agree.

>>The government does what we want it to do - eventually.  If
>>everyone decided tomorrow that something like this was intolerable and must
>>stop then govt would stop screwing around with things like independant
council
>>i.......  Seemingly,  the people's only power is to threaten to use their
one weapon --> the vote.

>>And since the people we're talking about (low income wage earners) for the
most
>>part don't vote, I guess you have the answer right there.

Excellent point Greg.  You don't vote, you lose.    I have another thought
regarding infant mortality and public policy:  (Understand this sounds cold,
but think before scolding me)

To what extent do we continue to fund eternal life?  The elderly and babies
die because that's how God (or evolution) set us up.  John Silber lost the
Mass Governor's race a while back for merely suggesting we "ration"  health
care.  Granted, Silber wasn't subtle,  but how long can it go on?  As the
population ages, medical costs go up.  Something like 80% of our medical
spending goes to people in their last year of life.  As they age,  SS costs
and other entitlements go up.  We fund more research, and the population ages
more.  Infant mortality is lowered.  We fund more research.  We buy fans for
hot people in Texas, because "we can't let them die of the heat".  They live
longer.   We pay more.  We complain about it...

It's cold and cruel, but I'd rather fund education or the environment than
never-ending research that feeds entitlements and continues the cycle.  (I
know this'll strike up some controversy, but I'm speaking as the 'brother' of
a  still-born and with three 80+ yr old grandparents)


Back to the original point:  Vote.   And if you really want to fix poverty,
vote to educate everyone and support forced welfare-to-work plans.
Scott



- -

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 14:15 -0500
From: ANDREA WELCH <[e-mail]>
Subject: Debt-FREE & Prosperous Living(tm)

Has anybody had experience with the "Debt-FREE & Prosperous
Living(tm)" course being offered by Greg Moore, Certified
Financial Independence Consultant,  Financial Independence Network
Limited?

The program is touted as offering a plan to reduce all debt in 5-7
years "no matter how much how much money you make or how much you
owe, because your debts are proportionate to your income, no
matter what that income is".  The materials suggest that followers
of the plan number 250,000 and I'm wondering if at least some of
our newsletter readers might be among them.

I'd be most interested in any and all feedback.

Regards,  Andrea




- -

------------------------------

Date: 21 Jul 1998 14:19:40 -0400
From: "Mark Zec" <[e-mail]>
Subject: re: purpose of the list

> From: Wade Watkins <[e-mail]>

> I thought this was a list to discuss personal finance issues, not the
> politics of the nation.  True, politics affect our personal finances,
> as well as many other things, I don't think this is the place.  If
> you are going to spend all of this time arguing do it on a political
> list instead of here.  Let's get back to the real purpose of this
> list.

I normally just lurk, but isn't the list owner the one who determines
the purpose of the list?  If they don't have a problem with the
discussions of a more political nature that take place on the list,
then my guess is that there isn't a problem with the list.  The problem
would lie elsewhere.

Mark

* GST * Democracy: 3 wolves and 1 sheep voting on who's lunch.





- -

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 10:20:35 -0500
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Questions



I bought a house recently, and am now living with my parent
and relatives.  If I move out (may be out of state) say, for
a new job, I will most likely need to pay at least $300 out
of my pocket each month to cover the mortgage because they
can't afford it. I don't think i can kick them out without
breaking the relationships, so this isn't an option for me.

My questions are:
1. Will I still be eligible for getting a tax break if I
   don't live there ?
2. Will my lender closes the loan because I broke the agreement
   that the property will be used as my primary residence ?
3. If I save enough money in the future, how much do i need
   to put for down payment, percentage-wise ?  Can one have
   more than one residents ?
4. I've heard that by making one extra payment each year to the
   mortgate will pay off the loan quicker, does it matter if
   you make the extra payment at the beginning of the year or
   the end of the year ?

Thank you very much,
- --trinh



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- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 08:44:26 -0400
From: Rick Baker <[e-mail]>
Subject: Regular and Roth IRA AGI Limits

My husband and I are living in Europe on an expatriate assignment.  My
question relates to the Regular and Roth IRA eligibility guidelines.  We
are interested in opening a regular or Roth IRA  for me this (prior to th=
e
end of the year) and didn't want to wait until our tax return is  complet=
ed
in 1999 to determine our AGI, thus our eligibility.  Both types of IRA's
have AGI limits to determine eligibility, but does anyone know whether th=
e
AGI limits are calculated before or after the Special Foreign Exclusions
(i.e. foreign earned income exclusion, foreign housing exclusion)?  How d=
o
others out there handle determining eligibility for IRA's?

Thanks!
B. Baker



- -

------------------------------

End of persfin-digest V5 #36
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