savings bonds?

[lilranch2001]

Are you directing that request to me?

As the great man said, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." In other words, there's no free lunch.

I would be happy to perform those calculations in return for modest compensation.

Steve

What would the calculation be if we substituted pallets for dollars?

 

[smstonypoint]

What would the calculation be if we substituted pallets for dollars?

That's a good question -- in fact, it's a real good question. I'm going have to think about that for awhile.

Steve

 

[MossRoad]

I was not precise in my wording -- I should have written "modest monetary compensation." And if you have to ask what "modest" means in this context, you can't afford my services.

Steve

If I knew how to do the accurate calculation myself I wouldn't ask. In the interest of showing TBN members an estimate of how much 20 bucks a week for 18 years will do for their child you won't plug some simple numbers into your calculator, but when anyone else posts an estimate you're quick to point out they are incorrect? Thanks.

 

[nc redneck]

Real Life Experience
15 years ago my kid was born put 10,000 in a 529 plan low cost index funds rated #1 or #2 on savingsforcollege. Added $ 200.00 per month every month from that time. Kid now has about 68 K in 529. I may be ok but she ends up going to vet school I will probably need to cash in some tax free for higher education I Bonds.
Moral of story don't count on stock market returns. Save a lot, Spend Little.

 

[smstonypoint]

Close enough for government work -- I came up with $41,808.36 from investing $20/week for 18 years (52 weeks/year) at an annual rate of 8% with weekly compounding.

If I knew how to do the accurate calculation myself I wouldn't ask. In the interest of showing TBN members an estimate of how much 20 bucks a week for 18 years will do for their child you won't plug some simple numbers into your calculator, but when anyone else posts an estimate you're quick to point out they are incorrect? Thanks.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

I did the numbers in my head, but the easy way is to use Excel.

If you want to find the future value of a series of constant payments (Pmt) for N periods (Nper) with a periodic interest rate = Rate, the Excel syntax is =FV(Rate,Nper,Pmt).

In the example I worked through, Rate = .08/52 = .001538 (rounded).Nper = 18*52 = 936, and Pmt = 20.

Let's say these values appear in cells A1, B1, and C1 of my spreadsheet. In cell D1, I would enter =FV(A1,B1,C1) and Excel would return -$41,808.36. If I use -20 in C1, Excel will return $41,808.36.

In the event you don't have Excel, there should be online financial calculators. *

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

Steve

* Edit -- Here's one Future Value of Annuity Calculator.

* Even better is Financial Calculators | Investopedia -- lots of useful calculators.

 

[bigtiller]

hua, what? I'm not mathematical enough to tell if you're trying to help or just showing off. :confused3:

 

[smstonypoint]

hua, what? I'm not mathematical enough to tell if you're trying to help or just showing off. :confused3:

Well, I was trying to help.

Steve

 

[MossRoad]

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

I did the numbers in my head, but the easy way is to use Excel.

If you want to find the future value of a series of constant payments (Pmt) for N periods (Nper) with a periodic interest rate = Rate, the Excel syntax is =FV(Rate,Nper,Pmt).

In the example I worked through, Rate = .08/52 = .001538 (rounded).Nper = 18*52 = 936, and Pmt = 20.

Let's say these values appear in cells A1, B1, and C1 of my spreadsheet. In cell D1, I would enter =FV(A1,B1,C1) and Excel would return -$41,808.36. If I use -20 in C1, Excel will return $41,808.36.

In the event you don't have Excel, there should be online financial calculators. *

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

Steve

* Edit -- Here's one Future Value of Annuity Calculator.

* Even better is Financial Calculators | Investopedia -- lots of useful calculators.

Thanks! :thumbsup: And I believe the saying is "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll be gone for the entire weekend."

 

[bigtiller]

That's way over my head, guess i'll go eat worms.

 

[timswi]

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

I did the numbers in my head, but the easy way is to use Excel.

If you want to find the future value of a series of constant payments (Pmt) for N periods (Nper) with a periodic interest rate = Rate, the Excel syntax is =FV(Rate,Nper,Pmt).

In the example I worked through, Rate = .08/52 = .001538 (rounded).Nper = 18*52 = 936, and Pmt = 20.

Let's say these values appear in cells A1, B1, and C1 of my spreadsheet. In cell D1, I would enter =FV(A1,B1,C1) and Excel would return -$41,808.36. If I use -20 in C1, Excel will return $41,808.36.

In the event you don't have Excel, there should be online financial calculators. *

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

Steve

* Edit -- Here's one Future Value of Annuity Calculator.

* Even better is Financial Calculators | Investopedia -- lots of useful calculators.

Excel is a beautiful thing..I live with it every day.

 

[smstonypoint]

Excel is a beautiful thing..I live with it every day.

I remember thinking that Lotus 1-2-3 (DOS) was the cat's meow.

Steve

 

[lilranch2001]

I agree, Lotus 1-2-3 was my favorite until our IT department quit supporting it
Just like I prefer Word Perfect a 1000 times more than Word.....

 

[Soundguy]

I agree, Lotus 1-2-3 was my favorite until our IT department quit supporting it
Just like I prefer Word Perfect a 1000 times more than Word.....

i remember when lotus, word perfect and dbase were taught as 'micro computer applications' in college...

 

[MoKelly]

Thanks! :thumbsup: And I believe the saying is "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll be gone for the entire weekend."

Now that was just plain funny. I like your sense of humor. REminds me of the Brad Pasley song --- I'm gonna miss her.

MoKelly

 

[timswi]

Thanks! :thumbsup: And I believe the saying is "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll be gone for the entire weekend."

Or: "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day"

 

[riptides]

Excel is a beautiful thing..I live with it every day.

I am the opposite, it kills me a little looking at others analytics.

 

[timswi]

I am the opposite, it kills me a little looking at others analytics.

Oddly I enjoy that, where the analytics are meaningful--Not always so much...I prefer to build my own stuff. Fun when there is sufficient time.

 

[smstonypoint]

i used to buy SB's have quite a few.. but if it is that hard to buy now.. I'll pass.

If you have been holding Savings Bonds for some time, you should check Nearly 47 Million U.S. Savings Bonds Worth Approximately $16 Billion Are No Longer Earning Any Interest, Reveals SavingsBonds.com, they may not be earning you any interest.

Steve

 

[MossRoad]

If you have been holding Savings Bonds for some time, you should check Nearly 47 Million U.S. Savings Bonds Worth Approximately $16 Billion Are No Longer Earning Any Interest, Reveals SavingsBonds.com, they may not be earning you any interest.

Steve

Good advice! :thumbsup:

My mother-in-law found a bunch of those and showed them to her financial planner. He suggested she cash them out and invest them in something that earns interest. She did.