<p>DocT, I’m glad that energy prices are down and that kept you away from #4. IMO, #4 is a miserable idea even when energy prices are booming. Just my $0.02.</p>
<p>@Dad<em>of</em>3, I use Quicken also. As long as you have a version less than 3 years old, you can set it up so that you do a download from all or your financial institutions (the lone exception, afaik, is Treasury Direct). One local bank I use requires that I log in and download, but everything else is “one button push.” The passwords are stored in an encrypted form, as good as anything your financial institution would use, and it’s stored locally.</p>
<p>I download daily, because I want to look at the credit card transactions, and I would probably not remember whether one was legit a week later.</p>
<p>Credit cards automatically categorize most expenses, although some are very broad (things I buy on Amazon, for example, don’t differentiate). But, it’s good enough for planning most expenses.</p>
<p>“DocT, I’m glad that energy prices are down and that kept you away from #4. IMO, #4 is a miserable idea even when energy prices are booming. Just my $0.02.”</p>
<p>Why do you say that?</p>
<p>We are still using a 2004 (!) version of Quicken and we enter everything. No automatic data downloads. I like checking my receipts against the credit card bills. It works for us, though I know there are much more efficient ways to track our finances. I can still tell you what we spend on books, Metro tickets, shoes for DH, groceries at college (yes, those are categories at our house), etc. We drill into much more detail than the broad credit card categories.</p>
<p>On some other ideas that were thrown out to me tonight, what do people know about non traded REITs and business development companies?</p>
<p>
I think the authorities might have a problem if I off’ed DW for the insurance.</p>
<p>Doct, what are the advantages of those? </p>
<p>“I think the authorities might have a problem if I off’ed DW for the insurance.”</p>
<p>That’s not how it works. </p>
<p>As far as the other stuff - we really didn’t get too into it. That’s why I’m asking the questions here. They gave me a book to read up on this stuff which I haven’t yet.</p>
<p>Those investments are illiquid. Are the returns better than you can get in the public markets in the same space. (Public reits vs private reits for example?)</p>
<p>Business development loans? What do you know about business development? If you don’t know a lot, you shouldn’t be in that space.</p>
<p>Those tax deals? Are they still legal? Doing investments solely to save on taxes is usually a loser.</p>
<p>A favorite phrase of mine: “Don’t let the tax tail wag the investment dog.”</p>
<p>Ixnaybob is right. </p>
<p>DocT, since I never get involved in illiquid investments or limited partnerships, I don’t know the details of why the oil & gas deals are so bad. I did a limited partnership once, and it only cost me $10k, but I have friends who lost six digit amounts. You can probably find the background googling or looking at Bogleheads. </p>
<p>Some rules I live by:
Don’t invest in things you don’t fully understand.
If a deal is great, odds are insiders and/or Wall Street are buying it up. Why is it being offered to you, who don’t understand it?
Warren Buffett recommends that his widow invest in index funds. Good enough for me too. </p>
<p>Those are good rules. </p>
<p>I have latest edition of Quicken, but choose to only download from bank account, where all checks and deposits made. Like Counting down, I prefer to input all credit card info myself. I added subcategories under Child expenses too, as CD did. I could tell you what son spent on travel, books, groceries, clothing, entertainment, etc. (Of course, that was way back when he didn’t have an income.) I added subcategories under Gifts, e.g. professional. As a self-employed person, it helps me track income and expenses.</p>
<p>My LTC is John Hancock. There are only a few major companies that are worth choosing, and each plan could be a little different each year. I went to an agent who specializes in this field. His wife specializes in Medicare supplements.</p>
<p>I never converted to Roth, but am learning a lot here. I’m older than a lot of you, so I’ve become more conservative. I like the idea of index funds, and like having all my money in Vanguard and Fidelity. </p>
<p>bookworm, if you don’t mind my asking, how old are you? I am also older than a lot of people here. </p>
<p>Hey, I think we’re all older than a lot of people here 
I imagine that the students and younger parents of students aren’t spending a lot of time on a thread about retirement.
Full disclosure: I’m 63 years old.</p>
<p>IxnayBob, I gotcha beat. </p>
<p>I am 54. <em>a girl can dream, can’t she?</em></p>
<p>@VeryHappy, I guess that’s one race I don’t mind losing :)</p>
<p>Tell me about it. 
</p>
<p>I had my second when I was almost 41. He’s now a quarter of a century old. You do the math.</p>