Hot Dog, here I am on ABC News!!!

[Wayne 962]

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/PersonalFinance/story?id=2866998&page=1

I need to learn not to say "ummm" as often as I do...

-Wayne

[rrcrawford70s]

Wayne,

What time will it air tonight PST?

[Moses]

What a beautiful family!

I do a lot of public speaking and have done several news pieces as well. Don't worry about the "ummmms". You speak well and communicate clearly. I'll be surprised if they don't ask you to do more pieces later.

One suggestion. Grow a beard or something! It's hard to generate any gravitas when you look like a teenager.

[CurtEgerer]

That was actually quite good! But I can't believe you didn't manage to get a Pelican poster/sticker in the background somewhere!!

[Elombard]

He had the shirt on!!

Nice job Wayne. What type of funds did you choose? I tend to stay with S&P 500 Index stuff.

The only thing about 529 plans that scares me is if the kids dont go to college I want the money back! I was under the impression you could not take it back with out a penalty.

[Palum6o]

Wayne, nice job, you're a natural! Just a quick question though, what was your thinking in regards to selling your home and going into renting? I know CA's housing market is crazy, but what about the tax deductions on intrest etc...?

[Wayne 962]

[Wayne 962]

Originally posted by Elombard

Nice job Wayne. What type of funds did you choose? I tend to stay with S&P 500 Index stuff.

The only thing about 529 plans that scares me is if the kids dont go to college I want the money back! I was under the impression you could not take it back with out a penalty.

We did a bunch of research on this. We went with the Utah plan - they use Vanguard funds, and they have these neat mixtures that are age-based, so when the kids are young, the portfolios are very aggressive, and then become more conservative later on as the kids get older.

You can take your principle out without any problems (so if you put in $10K, you can take that $10K back out later on), but the earnings on that get taxed at regular income levels, and you pay a 10% penalty on those earnings. But, the plans grow tax-free, which is tremendous. I've even looked at the 529 plans as a savings vehicle for later investment, as the tax penalty of 10% may be much, much less than the total that you would have earned post-tax.

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Originally posted by Palumbo
Wayne, nice job, you're a natural! Just a quick question though, what was your thinking in regards to selling your home and going into renting? I know CA's housing market is crazy, but what about the tax deductions on intrest etc...?

I've written about 100 posts on this in the Off Topic forum - I would do a search there. More rantings from me than you would care to look at...



Summary: bought the house in 2001, sold in in 2004 for 2X the amount we bought it for. Proceeds were tax-free, and much went into 529 plans for the kids. Current rental house is very nice, and costs about $3K/month, which is about 3-4K less than if we bought the same house. The house was bought by an investor 2 weeks before we moved in, so the valuation of the house and expected mortgage payment are real numbers. In other words, the landlord is effectively paying the $6-$7k mortgage/maintenance/prop tax costs on the house, and subsidizing us.

I would much rather save the $$$ for my kids, than pay that in interest to the bank...

-Wayne

[SCHNELE]

Wayne there are a couple of things I would disagree with in your investment strategy, 1) why rent, you are short changing yourself here and you are building 0 equity by doing so. 2) I love Vanguard broad market interest funds but you are putting all your proverbial eggs in one basket, diversify municipal funds are also a great alternative. 3) those kids are way too cute to be at home, put them to work doing some catalog work so that can put some money into bonds an even safer investment. Currently the Vanguard ROI is about 13% with the exception of their real estate fund. Good Luck. LP

[Mad Mike]

I saw the top of a Pelican on your shirt! Nice interview.

[schamp]

Wayne, I have looked and don't seem to find the shirts with the Pelican logo on them for sale. What gives? Good job on the interview. Never thought you were that young.

[johndglynn]

That is great Wayne, lovely family.

My wife is a high school drama/media studies teacher and did her degree and masters some time back. Her parents bought a house near the university, and Sarah rented the other rooms out while she was studying, so her accomodation was free. She had a couple of part-time jobs to pay for living ex's and when the house was sold after she graduated, it made enough money to clear the few debts she had accumulated.

We would hope to help ours through college/uni when they are older (if they want to do that), but I think the fact that there is no college fund (and there's never gonna be a college fund) means that whatever they get up to in third level education has to be a serious choice, as it will be partly their money they are playing with.

I don't ever want my kids to feel like they owe me degrees/Masters/doctorates because they might believe Sarah and I denied ourselves stuff for years to put enough away to send them to college. So to spare them the pressure of meeting our perceived expectations, I am spending everything I earn on Porsches, and racing the 911s around every European GP racetrack that will let me on! (kidding-ish)

Good on you for thinking ahead, know your schools are way more expensive than ours.

[FrinkFrog]

Nice job Wayne!

[Wayne 962]

Originally posted by SCHNELE
Wayne there are a couple of things I would disagree with in your investment strategy, 1) why rent, you are short changing yourself here and you are building 0 equity by doing so.

Not true, $4000 each month is going into savings, rather than by paying interest to the bank. I've bored everyone in the Off Topic forum to death with my financial analysis on this one. Building a few hundred dollars of equity a month is not a good investment, if you're paying $4000+ more in interest each month...

You're right about the investments all in one basket - interesting that you brought that up. On camera, I made a mistake and said the opposite of what we've done. I went with Utah instead of West VA because they use Vanguard, and our other funds are the ones used by W VA. Good point there...

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Originally posted by johndglynn
I don't ever want my kids to feel like they owe me degrees/Masters/doctorates because they might believe Sarah and I denied ourselves stuff for years to put enough away to send them to college. So to spare them the pressure of meeting our perceived expectations, I am spending everything I earn on Porsches, and racing the 911s around every European GP racetrack that will let me on! (kidding-ish)

That's a good strategy too. If my kids don't want to go to college, at least it will be available for them as an option. If they pass on it, then I will save the funds for their kids.

My goal in this is to fund their education, and sortof take finances out of the equation as to where they want to go. As some of you already know, my daughter has Down Syndrome, so she may not be going to college at all (who knows, sometimes the DS children do). We'll have to see. Something not mentioned in that segment was the fact that it's *very* difficult to guess at what's going to happen 20 years down the road. But, you've gotta take your best guess, so what the heck.

-Wayne

[Type911]

Wayne,

Nice job on the interview, you did really well.
Beautiful family..nice to see the Pelican get a little press too !

[johndglynn]

Originally posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts
...you've gotta take your best guess, so what the heck.

Too true Wayne, good to see people actually having a plan. Not so many people do, lots consider the world owes them and their families a living. Over here anyway.

Your kids look blissfully happy; I love that montage in the other thread. I adore my three girls, and watching their lives evolve is a total adventure. They drive me up the wall some days (bless them), but my eventual ungracious decrepitude will pay them back for that in spades LOL

[lonewolf]

nice job wayne .
and i think guys it shows us something else about wayne .
lots of people being interviewed even if it's in the kids playroom would have had posters and even plush little pelican toys scattered all over.
he's a class act.

[Elombard]

I agree on the renting, if you have the discipline to save its a fine strategy. I will have to check out the off topic.