Tag Archives: Investing

Chronicling my investing journey, dividend portfolio, and other financial instruments. Including stories from my decade long adventure with crypto currencies starting in mid 2013. Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and more.

FWF Archive

FWF Archive: Bank Interest Rates?

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This is an archival post; the contents are well over 2 decades old, but some details may still be relevant.

I am editing some details.

Originally, all links were redirected from the forums, but they don’t work anymore. These require manual editing to remove the redirects and restore the URLs.

The copy/paste process is also compacting lines, so I do need to edit the spacing. I am also removing duplicate posts. And finally, some light edits to mispelled words.

Please refer to the parent page for information about FatWallet Forums and this project.

Date Posted: Oct/11/2001 2:25 PM
Posted By: sub0cool
Rank: Senior Member

I just saw this new forum and decided to ask a question.

I’m thinking of opening a Bank Savings Account.
Generally, how much interest do you earn with it?
Date Posted: Oct/11/2001 2:48 PM
Posted By: Blieb
Rank: w00t!

Often times it will depend on how much moolah you have in your account.

Don’t take my word as the final say, but I think from 1.8-4% …
Date Posted: Oct/11/2001 3:34 PM
Posted By: zulugrid
Rank: Ancient Member

Most B&M banks that I know of give you only a tiny bit of interest (ie, Wells Fargo “Regular Savings” offers only 0.5% interest), but ING Direct will give you 4.0% (wasn’t that 4.4% a few months ago?).
Date Posted: Oct/13/2001 10:52 AM
Posted By: cousinit
Rank: New Member

can anyone explain how the interest rates work?
for example if you have a $1000 in a savings account at ing drawing that 4% how much would you make a month?
Thank You in advance
Date Posted: Oct/13/2001 11:25 AM
Posted By: reggae4k
Rank: New Member

from what i know interest rates are based upon a yearly basis. it is a yearly compound. 40 bucks from 1000.
Date Posted: Oct/13/2001 1:34 PM
Posted By: Cyberbishop
Rank: Charter Member

Yep, the interest INGDirect posts on their website is the APY, annual percentage yield.
In other words, if you don’t touch your principle for a period of 12 months, the balance will grow by 4% at the end of the 12-month period.

The actual interest rate is something like 3.97%, compounded monthly. Most banks compound interests daily (and post monthly).
Date Posted: Oct/13/2001 3:36 PM
Posted By: reggae4k
Rank: New Member

its so awesome to know stuff like this about money and finance
Date Posted: Nov/07/2001 12:36 AM
Posted By: Cyberbishop
Rank: Charter Member

Wow, this is pretty said INGDirect only pays 3.50 APY now …
Date Posted: Nov/07/2001 3:43 AM
Posted By: speedman
Rank: New Member

heh you can’t really blame them. The way the things are going we will hit 0.25% Fed fund rate pretty soon!
Investing

An excellent recovery

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A couple of years ago, I tried my hand at dividend hopping. The strategy was to buy a stock in time to qualify for earning a dividend and then sell it right after—”Hopping” from one dividend to the next.

I had two successful jumps before I encountered problems. I managed over a thousand dollars with a few special dividends that showed up quickly. My fourth stock became an issue, partly because I forgot to sell it promptly.

Mesabi (NYSE: MSB) is a Royalty Trust that pays a quarterly distribution to unit-holders of record throughout the year.

The trust owns the right to an iron mine, and they have a separate firm (Northshore) to do the actual mining. The trust gets paid based on the amount of iron pellets that get shipped from the mine.

So, after I got the juicy distribution, I sat in front of the TV and spaced out, forgetting to close my position.

Then the share price began to drop as people jumped away to different stocks. By the time I remembered to sell, it was too late, and the difference between my buy-in value and the dividend payment would have resulted in an overall loss if I decided to close my position.

I decided to wait for the next distribution and make my sale then. At the time, it seemed like an easy answer to my blunder. But of course, it got worse.

Cleveland Cliffs, the parent company of Northshore, which operates the mining operation, announced that they were halting mining due to low prices in the market.

This meant that there would be a much-reduced payment for the quarter. A lot of people closed their positions, and the share price dropped further.

I had bought my shares at $33 each, and I was then looking at $20 per share in value. The mining company went on to use the leftovers or “tailings” from the mine to make rolled steel to sell.

There were maybe 1-2 years of low payments after this. Just the rent on the facility.

As the shares dropped to $16, I decided to buy some more to lower my average cost. I purchased an additional 50 shares last year.

Mesabi ended up saying that the mine operator didn’t have the authority to halt mining even if it wasn’t as profitable. The contract required them to keep mining.

They went into arbitration to get things sorted out, and thankfully, the judgment was in Mesabi’s favor.

Just recently, we (investors) got word that Mesabi would be issuing a large distribution that included the value of the arbitration award. I have 150 units and will be receiving $5.95 per share, for a total payout of $892.50.

Certainly, a happy number to see after all the waiting. I also see that the shares are back up to the 30-dollar range, where I had bought in.

I should be able to make the final payment on my credit card that has the balance transfer for my Nissan LEAF once I get the distribution payment, and I sell out about 50 shares from my position.

It’s been a rough ride, but I am glad there was a bit of light at the end.

Deals, Investing

Swagbucks: Path Crypto

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Path Crypto aims to give you a simpler, smarter way to invest in digital assets.

Open an account and make your first deposit to earn 5,500 SB.

Plus, Deposit $100 and get $100 in Bitcoin from Path Crypto!

Direct Link: https://www.swagbucks.com/offer?oid=25003&rb=69384823

  • Must be a new member to Path Crypto.
  • Must enter valid sign up information to earn.
  • Award will pend for 7 days

Must make your first deposit to earn SB.

For the bonus, you must hold a deposit of $100 or more in your Path account for more than 90 days to receive the $100 in Bitcoin from Path.

Balance Fees

The Advisory Account (Adviser) charges a monthly management fee (the “Management Fee”) as below:

  • Less than US $100 asset under management (“AuM”) = free
  • AuM between $101 – $1,000 = $5
  • AuM between $1,001 – $25,000 = $20

Account Terms

The terms of service say a $100 minimum account balance is required. A $5 monthly fee is assessed for balances $101-1000, however in the app it says the fee is assessed at $100.

If I am reading this right, they can revoke the $100 match if your account balance falls below $100 within 90 days. A deposit of $115 would be necessary to absorb the fees and still get the Bitcoin match.

Deals

Swagbucks: Q.AI Investing

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Q.AI Invest – 5,000 SB ($50)

The Q.AI offer is back and it has now increased from $30 to $50. You just need to Deposit $100 to earn the reward.

Q.ai helps you build wealth the way the pros do. Maximize your returns, invest in trends, and grow your money effortlessly with AI-powered investing. No fees and as little as $100 to get started. Install the app and complete your registration today! Once approved, connect your bank and fund your account with a minimum of $100 to earn 5,000 SB!

https://www.swagbucks.com/offer?oid=20511&rb=69384823
Link to Offer

There are a number of different ways to earn Swagbucks rewards or SB points that you can easily redeem for Amazon gift cards, PayPal, and other gift cards and great prizes. https://bit.ly/SwagbucksAce

InboxDollars is an online rewards club that pays members cash for their online and mobile activities. https://bit.ly/inboxdollarsace

MyPoints is an online shopping rewards program that, has helped its over 9 million members earn Points and cash-back shopping rewards for over two decades. https://bit.ly/mypointsace

Investing

Monthly Paying Stock Dividends

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Other than some speculation on Space and Green Technologies I primarily invest in Dividend stocks to make a living. I keep portfolio’s on Robinhood, Webull, Charles Schwab, Firstrade, Vanguard, Sofi, and Blockfi.

I have five portfolio’s with different mixes of stocks and a Vanguard account with a ROTH IRA and a regular IRA. I rolled my HSA and 401k from when I used to work into these two IRA accounts.

I primarily invest in REITs which are modeled after mutual funds. REITs pool the capital of numerous investors. This makes it possible for individual investors to earn dividends from real estate investments—without having to buy, manage, or finance any properties themselves.

For monthly dividends, the following are my picks:

  • Orchid Island Capital ($ORC) 19.33%
  • Credit Suisse X-Links Silver ($SLVO) 17.77%
  • Credit Suisse X-Links Oil ($USOI) 41.76%
  • Armour Residental ($ARR) 13.86%
  • Prospect Capital ($PSEC) 9.05%
  • Horizon Technology Finance ($HRZN) 8.17%

I also keep a portfolio that mimics the funds held in the Renaissance Technologies hedge fund. A bit of professional diversification in case my own picks fail.

Investing

Investing Update for 2022

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Hello everyone, I am Kasanje-카산제.

I just wanted to give an update on my current portfolios and generally where I am with my varied investments. Gains and Losses and how I am planning on investing in this new year of the black tiger.

First, though, I should offer some background information for context. I am currently living essentially rent-free in a family home owned by a relative.

I try to live simply and keep my expenses low. I resigned from my retail job of 11+ years in 2020 and have been unemployed since.

I decided to go back to college last year and am currently enrolled full-time at a local community college.

The FAFSA, plus other financial aid, more than covered my tuition needs and left me with a sizeable chunk of change left over.

I know it has been some time since I last posted anything about , but I had some good news today, so I will get right into it.

Webull

I use five different brokerage apps to manage my portfolios.

On Webull, I have all of my speculative stocks, including picks from Green Energy, Hotels, Space, IPOs, Electric Cars, and DOGE/SHIB.

This account started out with around $3,000 back in 2019, and currently, it sits at a value of $1,884.

It was mostly downhill until COVID-19 hit, and then I started to crawl my way back up.

Still, though I am looking at everything I hold being RED.

On Sofi, I have two dividend-paying stocks: Credit Suisse Silver (SLVO) and Orchid Island (ORC).

The rest of the portfolio includes SPACs that I thought had potential and a few Meme stocks, including Genius Brands International (GNUS) and Ocean Power Technologies (OPTT).

I’ve had the account since July 2019 and am down 42% unfortunately. Last year, I liquidated my HSA account from work and tossed the lot into Sofi, which put me at around $25k account value.

That number has dropped, and I now sit around $15k, which has been somewhat painful. I have earned around $1,990 in dividends, though.

My Charles Schwab brokerage includes funding from a home business mining the cryptocurrency Litecoin (LTC).

Sadly, I had to stop mining in 2020 and eventually shut down in 2021. I have an SBA loan from disaster relief financing that I am currently paying off using the dividends from Schwab. (Schwab won’t let you take screenshots as a security precaution.)

I have an account with Firstrade, which holds all of my OTC market stock.

I have small investments in ClickStream (CLIS), Farmmi (FAMI), Hyper Solar (HYSR), Envirotech Vehicles (EVTV), and Unrivaled Brands (UNRV).

These are all long-term plays, and I don’t check in on them all that often.

The last one is Robinhood.

I had some Green Energy stocks and Cannabis stuff in here for a long time, and they really didn’t fare well.

I also did crypto for a bit and failed. It is very RED in this portfolio. I think back in November 2021, I heard about Renaissance Technologies and the dividend stocks that were included in their portfolio.

That got me inspired, and I made a Watchlist on Webull that included all of those stocks.

I have started closing my GREEN positions at Robinhood and moving the funds into the Renaissance Dividend list.

Robinhood started with $1,935 in 2017 and is currently UP 3.32%, but used to be much higher.

For my future plans around investing, I recently threw the bulk of my Schwab cash into Retail Value (RVI), which is paying out a special dividend tomorrow of $3.27 per share.

I was able to buy 780 shares and am expecting a return of $2,550.50 from that, which should be enough to clear the SBA loan in full.

I will continue to chase dividends with the Schwab account. I have also been playing around with new YouTube and Instagram accounts to explore other topics I am interested in.

The Game Girls Gallery is one of the more popular pages that gets a lot of traffic, and so I made YouTube/Instagram pages for it.

If you are not already a member of Swagbucks, MyPoints, or InboxDollars, I strongly suggest you sign up. These sites are a great source of extra income for spontaneous purchases.

Deals

Swagbucks: Tornado (Nvstr)

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Tornado Investing

Tornado is an easy one, I’d definitely suggest completing it. It’s available on MyPoints, InboxDollars, and Swagbucks. Just keep in mind they have a subscription service for $5 a month for free trades. This is silly as most did away with charging for trades last year with the rise of Robinhood and it’s ilk. So you’ll want to close the account before the month ends. You get the SB, but you forfeit any bonus cash ($15-1,000) from Tornado.

Canceling the membership early will result in them charging you for the current month. Also the bonus cash you get from signing up is forfeit if you don’t make a trade within 1 month of receiving it. The bonus cash also cannot be withdrawn until 1 year after receiving it.

If you don’t mind keeping the account then I would suggest doing all of the bonus cash learning activities (worth $50-60) and then spending all but $5 on some stocks. You can then cancel the membership (paying $5 for 1 month) and keep the account until 1 year has passed. Then you can sell the stocks and withdraw the bonus cash and your profits.

I bought 11 shares of $FSP which is paying a 9-cent dividend quarterly. After a year that should cover most of the membership fee I paid when I canceled it. I thought I was being smart canceling it early, but they are smart enough to still charge you for the first month.

If you are not already a member of Swagbucks, MyPoints, or InboxDollars; I strongly suggest you sign up. These sites are a great source of extra income for spontaneous purchases. Like that time I bought a $500 drone, that now collects dust in my closet.

Investing

Lazy Investing

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I got tired of checking all of my stocks and through everything into 4 ETN’s by Credit Suisse. It really wasn’t much trouble but I have become lazy with the dividend investing. I’m also seeing much better returns with the ETN‘s over traditional dividend stocks. I know I’ll be paying way more tax but I still think I’ve offset that by my profit yields.

Ideally once the crappy stocks hit a breakeven I will be able to drop them and dump my money into dividend stocks. I have only regrets concerning SPAC‘s and IPO‘s, EV, POT, Green Energy and Crypto.

I’ve got 1000 shares of $USOI, 35 $REML, 14 $GLDI and 4 $SLVO on Charles Schwab.

Webull has 165 shares of $SLVO and a bunch of failed SPAC’s and IPO’s.

Robinhood has Green Energy, Cannabis and EV failures and 189 shares of $REML.

SoFi has my main investments and of course more speculative stuff that is always in the red. I have 100 shares of Alight, 100 Paysafe, 300 Genius International, 551 Ocean Power Technologies, 200 Orchid Island Capital, 2200 $SLVO, 20 $NSTB, 20 Blade Air Mobility and 80 shares of 23andMe.

On SoFi, the 200 shares of $ORC is getting me $13 per month. $SLVO earned $275 in June and $233 in July. I haven’t received coupon payments as of yet on the Robinhood or Webull shares. Over at Charles Schwab I get around $108 from $USOI each month and maybe $13 from $REML. I think I’ll eventually throw the entirety of my investments into REIT’s at some point.

Deals

The SoFi App

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SoFi services

SoFi’s mission is to help people reach financial independence to realize their ambitions. And financial independence doesn’t just mean being rich—it means getting to a point where your money works for the life you want to live.

Everything we do is geared toward helping our members get their money right. We’re constantly innovating and building ways to give our members what they need to make that happen.

Sofi is an all-in-one banking, credit card, loan, crypto and investing platform app. You can do everything from the app. I have moved about 85% of my net worth into SoFi and I use it to track all of my accounts and services that I utilize. You can buy and sell cryptocurrencies in the investing section and they have a great rewards program. If you signup using my link you will get $10 in points.

SoFi Rewards Program

Hi! 👋 Join me on the SoFi mobile app! You can save, spend, trade and borrow — all in one app. Use my link to sign up and you’ll get 1,000 rewards points. https://sofi.app.link/BiKLLQRxuib