A.I.M. Users Bulletin Board

[SFSecurity]

Hi Toofuzzy, You said:

That is why I make the initial account big enough.

That's great if one has that amount of money around. At this point I'm using the small amount of money in each trust account that comes in from dividends and tax loss selling, which I couldn't do in 2013 because I did not totally control the account and because of my mother's death. I didn't do tax loss selling in 2014 because I did not understand what I was doing and my accountant didn't suggest it. If I had I could have saved a significant amount of money in taxes for both years as well as free up money for better investments.

My mother did not have all that much loose money that was not already dedicated, some to my daughter for her college education, and some to a variety of causes she had supported like the ACLU. What was left has to be saved for any emergencies that might happen to my brother who is not self supporting. He gets a monthly stipend so that leaves very little maneuvering room with his trust. With the other trust that will ease up later this year when the last of the money for my daughter will be dispersed and the trust can be dissolved as I am the only other beneficiary and I can consolidate it with my small account.

The divorce and the fact that my ex had a stroke so could not contribute to my daughter's living and college expenses took almost all my spare cash.

Add to this that the market has headed down since roughly the middle of 2014 and that my mother traded stock value for dividends. One position had lost a bit over 15% and a couple had lost somewhere over 20% all before I took over. And then I had to learn what I had to do as a fiduciary and about the market, reading tons of stuff. I could not just sell it all at once and start from scratch without potential legal problems so caution has been the byword.

Best,

Allen