Alexis Akira Toda

Alexis Akira Toda

Mathematical economist

Tracking cash flow

1 minute read

Published:

In this post, I mentioned that I tracked every single penny of my spending from 2008 to 2022, but I stopped because there was little room left to improve my behavior, and the opportunity cost of keeping track of everything was too high. During this period, I tracked my income and expenditures by manually entering items in an app and using (now discontinued) Mint.com.

I no longer remember when, but because Mint.com had syncing issues, I switched to Personal Capital. Other than occasional sales calls from them, I have been generally satisfied with their service. However, recently, Personal Capital changed to Empower, and in my opinion, their user interface has become much less user-friendly. Therefore, I have been searching for more useful tools.

After trying several free services, it turns out that there was no need to look further. Fidelity Full View provides account syncing for Fidelity customers. The page displays the household balance sheet with assets on the left and liabilities on the right, which I think is beautiful. There is also a function to look at cash flow and spending. The picture below shows my net cash flow in 2025 (blue solid line) and compares it to 2024 (gray dashed line).

Cash flow in 2025

We can make three observations.

  1. Net cash flow was declining until around August 2024.
  2. Net cash flow was stable between August 2024 and August 2025.
  3. Net cash flow has been on an upward trajectory since August 2025.

The explanation for these observations is very simple. First, I was so underpaid at UCSD (see this post) that my financial situation was precarious until I resigned at the end of June 2024. Second, by moving to Emory, I obviously got a raise (to reflect fundamentals), which improved my financial situation since July 2024. Third, because of differences in fiscal years and payment timing between the two universities, in the 2024-2025 academic year, my salary from Emory was divided into 14 monthly payments instead of 12. This is why my cash flow improved since August 2025: my salary is now divided into 12 monthly payments.

You May Also Enjoy

Capital One Quicksilver 0% intro APR (3)

less than 1 minute read

Published:

In my post, I mentioned that I have been happy with the Capital One Quicksilver Card because it offered 0% intro APR for 15 months (and the card has no annual fee and gives 1.5% cash back on all purchases).

I referred my wife to open an account, and we both received the referral bonus. But what has been truly great is the targeted deals through Capital One Shopping. We are now remodelling our two bathrooms that are over 20 years old. As my wife has been searching for fixtures, she has started receiving targeted deals from Home Depot, Lowe’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc., often offering 15% cash back. Furthermore, the timing of our remodelling coincided with Black Friday/Cyber Week sales (of course, intentionally), so we often get an additional 20% off from the merchants. Overall, I think we saved a few thousand dollars by optimizing credit card use.

I highly recommend the card to anybody. If you open an account by clicking this link, you will receive an extra sign-up bonus.

Saving taxes through UTMA accounts

less than 1 minute read

Published:

While studying how to legally save on taxes, I realized the following trick.

  1. Transfer appreciated stocks to your child’s UTMA (Uniform Transfers to Minors Act) custodial account.
  2. Sell the stock while keeping the capital gains within $1,350.
  3. Use the fund in whatever way you like.

This procedure completely avoids capital gains tax (15% at my tax bracket). The reason is that the standard deduction for a child is $1,350, so as long as income is below that amount, there is no need to file or pay taxes.

I wish I had known about this trick earlier, but it’s better to learn about it later than never. As I have substantial shares of VTI that I bought in 2010 for $60 per share but are now valued at around $335, I transferred a few shares to my kids’ UTMA accounts and sold them. Turning appreciated stocks into cash is almost alchemy.

Round trip between San Diego and Atlanta

less than 1 minute read

Published:

I often fly between San Diego and Atlanta, usually with Delta (because there are more flight options than Alaska, which also offers direct flights between SAN and ATL). As I was looking to book my next trips, I noticed that flight tickets got much more expensive, often over $600 round-trip with Delta (main cabin). After playing around with various searches, I realized that if I book a round trip from Atlanta instead of from San Diego, the price drops by 25% or more. I am not sure why, but maybe it’s because if I book from Atlanta and the trip is over the weekend, the booking system may classify me as a (price-elastic) leisure traveller. By using Alaska instead of Delta, the price often drops below $300 round-trip. Although I have achieved gold status with Delta, since Alaska is much cheaper and also offers status match, I will likely switch to Alaska.