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I did it when it was first introduced and yes, my insurance went down 30% (except uninsured motorist isn't included which is huge in Florida). I was in the middle of the 6 mo premium, and after 3 weeks of it being in my car, they credited my Credit Card with a refund. The device was in our cars for ...

RE: FKINX - there are ADV share class (FRIAX) that you could get NO LOAD, with a min of $50K and expense ratio of .49 I inherited it and have kept it; Brokers don't do you any favors with the Franklin Income Fund; My mom's broker put her in the "C" shares (ER of 1) - I found the ADV share ...

IBM was also the first stock I ever bought - mid 80s. I have it in paper form and they send the distro check every 3 months.

I have never converted it to a broker, because I would be so tempted to sell it. My original 20 shares are 80 shares.

I really feel badly for you - I went through this with my mom and she was in denial the entire time ~ 10 years. You are fortunate that you found out the diagnosis and hopefully it is recent and it is the early stages. On the debt, do you think any of it was fraud? do they have lots of stuff around? ...

I wrote out a long post and lost it; so here's the recap: BigMajor - Liability only - Lloyds of London (woohoo a company I've heard of). Not sure that it matters, but the brokerage that my agent obtained the quote was Tapco. Rotorhead - That is excellent for you. RogerMexico - That type of coverage ...

Barb, What insurance company were you able to find that would bind liability coverage only? Regards Matt I will call her tomorrow or Weds to get the company name. I get my insurance (auto, umbrella, house) from an independent broker, not an Allstate / StateFarm, etc. I only asked her to get a quote...

Update to my original post: I went to my agent inquiring about Tower Hill and they don't write policies in my zip code. My agent got a quote from another company Guardian - she said that quotes were coming in for thousands less, but have been not renewing in subsequent years, (I thought it might sti...

BarbK, If you go on Realtor.com, and search for houses within a 20 mile radius of Tampa that are 0-20 years old, with 3+ bedrooms and 2+ bathrooms, 1400+ square feet, 2+ stories and a garage, you can find many many houses that are located in normal-looking neighborhoods that look newly built and do...

[...] Have you ever heard of People's Trust Insurance Company? - It's based in Boca Raton - I get mail from them to call for a quote. [...] Don't know if this is the same person or not, but more than a decade ago, when I first got into investing, there was a Michael Gold who worked with the "S...

Welcome to our world!!!! (Homeowner insurance in Florida is a nightmare). In Florida, if a storm has a name then the hurricane deductibles go into effect. They are really quick to name the storms too. This is something you need to watch for on your policy renewals. We also don't get to choose how mu...

I went through the same thing. Florida homeowner here. Barb K.......drop State Farm. I went with Tower Hill...it's not State Farm, but it's not fly-by-night. Switch homeowners, and while your at it...if you need to shop for new auto policy...you might like what you find. Deepsea Thanks Deepsea - I ...

BarbK Assuming you do not have a mortgage that requires insurance coverage, and assuming you could afford a 100% loss of your home, then going without insurance coverage (particularly if your home is high and well built) is an option you should consider. In my opinion, it is usually a mistake to pa...

The insurance companies pulled that in California wrt "high risk fire areas" a few years ago - doubling in a year even ... one insurance agent who I was chatting to , and who said he couldn't write insurance for my house anyways due to the shake roof, said it was because they needed to co...

Thanks for your replies; It's so frustrating because I don't think I would ever collect anything if a hurricane hit b/c there is a newer clause that they would cover only $10K for mold. I'm pretty sure my house would not be leveled, unless there was a tidal wave and then the insurance wouldn't cover...

How much would it cost to rebuild your home? Maybe $600K? And why would you want to insure your home for half the value that it would cost to replace it? That is what the insurance premium is based on; but it would never sell NOW for anywhere near $600K. And it if was destroyed, the lot also has va...

I just received my renewal for my home insurance for January 2013 and it has increased another 20% from last year and this is with a $1400 credit for Lexan Storm Shutters. I was stunned to say the least. Last year (for January 2012), the increase was $1700; At that time, my husband wanted to go bare...

All bought new at the time. No plans to replace any in the near future since they all run great.

Honda Odyssey 1998 - 120K
Honda Pilot - 2006 - 78K
Madza Miata - 2001 - 12K - it sits in the garage.

My daughter went to Montessori school from 3-5th grade. She was totally bored in school until then. It was the best $ and decision we ever made. She then went to an excellent public jr/sr high school along with 2 of her Montessori classmates. The 3 of them graduated high school with perfect unweight...

I must have been writing when you posted the pics - the condo is outstanding - I can see why you love it. When real-estate recovers (and it will - maybe it will take 10 years) this place will be worth a lot. I don't know why I thought it was in Fl, so you can omit that home insurance warning - which...

So it's gone from $1M to $340K - real estate has already crashed. How would you feel if you found out someone else bought it? Relieved or Disappointed? In your current $20K yearly rent, does that include cable, electricity, etc? If not, then you need to add those expenses in for comparison. Need to ...

So the $1K a month includes all your utilities except phone? If it includes your home insurance $1K is a steal!!!!! otherwise I think it is pretty average since there are true elevator costs, etc. Do they have any buffer in the budget for when the place needs painting? I've owned townhomes before an...

I've read some of the other threads (until I couldn't take it anymore) and just read through this thread in it's entirety. My initial comments from your other thread(s), is I didn't think your wife's spending was nearly as bad as you portrayed her; she is using coupons which is probably something sh...

I checked out that bond - I now buy bonds at ZionsDirect and honestly, that one would have been filtered out even if it paid semi-monthly. I couldn't find it on ZionsDirect but did on Scottrade (they were selling it for more); and looked at the material events. Nothing substantial other than consist...

I have a lot of muni zeros that a broker sold us when we were much younger and although I am a fan of muni bonds, I do not buy zeros anymore. Mine all started out as AAA and a lot are BBB now. Definitely check emma to see what the bond sold for; Emma also has a new rating section. I am holding my ze...

Hey DeepSea - I'm updating the post - I received my $2M umbrella renewal today (live in Fl, have a 20 year old in college, pool, dog) and it was $791; which was about what it was last year. I'm with Progressive. You need to look at other companies. My quote with State Farm was twice that in August. ...

DeapSea - My HO policy renewal (Jan 2012) was delivered today and it went up $1000. That also includes a > $1200 wind mitigation credit (Lexan Storm Shutters). Jan 2011 it increased $700. No hurricanes, no nothing except huge price increases. They make us insure it for double what we could actually ...

The umbrella is good is someone fell on your property and sued you. That is why I am going to look for a liability only policy if my HO renewal is even more outrageous. RE: Tenents by Entirety and asset protection: What if both of you were jointly sued? In Fl, your Home, IRA/401K, Annuities are all ...

I don't understand why you would have $1 million liability on your cars, if you have the umbrella. If you want $3 million in coverage wouldn't it be better to just raise the umbrella? We have $100/300K liability on autos and the $1 million umbrella, if I wanted higher liability I'd do it via the um...

DeepSea - Fellow Floridian here. I thought you lived in Fl since I have the same insurance issues and frustrations as you. I don't think people from other states understand horrible and expensive all insurance is in Florida. I find our yearly increases are equivalent to their yearly premium. For Hom...

What State do you live in? That makes a HUGE differenct in Uninsured Motorist, Umbrella. Are you sure your $1M stacked (5 cars) is not providing $5M? I had $500K stacked - 3 cars, so I had $1.5M ; After years of outrageous premiums, I changed to 250K/500K - non-stacked. Last summer, I was getting qu...

I also live in Florida (east coast)-I have yet to get my policy renewal (Jan 2012) but my neighbors all had $700 increases. I did have a big increase Jan 2011, so hopefully, they are just catching up. HO insurance is Florida is so out of hand. Aren't you sick of it already? Our increases are what ot...

I live in Florida and don't have a choice. It is full replacement cost which is $300+K more than a realistic selling price. Never had a claim and home is owned outright. There are so few insurance companies that will insure you home, it's take it or leave it. We also do not have an option to just in...

RE: Harrisburg, Is this one of the bonds or is it guilt by association? Issue is: HARRISBURG PA AUTH WTR REV REF REV BDS, cusip: 41473MGZ0
It is highly rated (insured by AGMC) but has a negative credit watch.

My husband has a trac phone bought about 5-6 years ago. He hardly ever uses it and we run out of time way before the minutes. We buy the minimum minutes ($20) for 90 days, then on top of that we extend for a year ($59 or $69). So we end up with 15 months of service for $80-$90. I have never seen a w...

My daughter went to a Montessori school from 3-5th grade and the experience was fantastic. (she had been to a private school prior to Montessori and was bored, unchallenged, etc). At Montessor her teachers were so motivating and they didn't stress grades or standardized tests. They stressed the love...

I'm still in the camp that Matrix will be fine retiring now. If inflation is super high and he remains risk adverse, CDs will be paying a lot more than they are now so he will get a lot more income that way. Matrix, since you have so much $ in a MM yielding 1%, why don't you open 5 - 5 YR CDs at All...

I think you are in great shape to retire now. Your pension in 4 years, is like having another million generating 6%. RE College: If your children go to YOUR state university, your $300K will be plenty even if you have to foot the entire bill. How are their grades? Has the oldest taken the SAT test y...

I live in East Central Florida and I pay $1K a month between my property taxes and home insurance. The longer you can rent, the better off you will be. You will know when it is time to buy when your apartment just feels too crowded. I don't think prices are going up anytime soon. I bought my house i...

I've had Capital One for years and have never had any issues with their customer service. My CC had been hacked a couple of times (they caught the first one) and I caught the 2nd. They issued a new card immediately and no problems with the fraudulent charges. One thing to know, if you go out of town...

If the tax laws don't change, I don't see why you couldn't stay in the Federal 15% tax bracket if you did all your bonds as Munis. Munis - No tax, Stock Dividends - 15% Stock Capital Gains (just hold them more than a year if you have a gain and want to sell) - 15% -- I'm a big fan of individual muni...

My daughter's braces were suppose to be < 18 months. If she wore the head gear even less. She wore the head gear about 10 hours a day mainly when she slept. Anyway, her braces ended up taking 5 YEARS. She got them off when she was 15. We paid a little of $5K and her teeth turned out beautiful. In th...

I have a 2M policy and it is $800 per year. I also have a teenage driver (19). The policy is with Progressive and they enfore the 500K BI on auto to even get the policy. I was shopping auto insurance this summer with the caveat that I would need umbrella also. The quote I got from State Farm was $14...

I'm horrified reading this. I hope everything worked out today. However, isn't there a 3 or 7 day no questions ask cancellation policy if you want to return the car? My mom has dimentia and is in AL now, but she did some pretty bad financial stuff when she lived in her home alone. (ordered 5 top of ...

There's a bunch of stocks that yield 5% - T, MO as suggested, and several utilities. I'm with Duhmel1 re: munis. I have some muni funds but mainly individual bonds and have found many 5% taxfree highly rated that mature in < 20 years. Question for Duhmel1, I have been limiting my bond searches to ta...

Our $2M policy is just under $800; pool, dog, and teenage driver. We live in Florida and rate increased approx $300 this year even though none of the above changed. Policy is held by Progressive Insurance. Agent looked for an alternative and the rate was even more. An undesirable thing with Umbrella...

You could pick the lower rated company if you stayed within the guidelines of what the your state guarantee would cover (if there was a default). Not sure if this link works, otherwise paste it in your browser. http://www.immediateannuities.com/guaranty_liability/guaranty.htm I'm pretty sure the sta...

The OP's mother probably needs at least $5,000 a month on top of her pension and SS to cover her assisted living costs. So she'll need to pay a premium of at least $500,000. She doesn't have that. That is some high AL costs - 7.5K is more like Nursing home prices. AL cost is based on how many RDLs ...

I have windows XP on an old desktop that was running McAfee. It was such a resource hog and it took forever when booting up. (McAfee did it's job in that I didn't get a virus, but it made the PC so slow). So a month before my McAfee subscription was ending, I installed MSE. I did an uninstall of McA...

Because M* doesn't average grades the way they are averaged in school; it averages the estimated default rates and then converts that back to a grade, so that you get an idea of the risk of the fund. If a fund has 70% bonds rated A or higher (10-year default rate 1%), 20% rated BBB (default rate 3%...

How come when you look at MorningStar's Portfolio, it rates the avg credit quality as BBB. but the % of BBB or worse (even including the NR bonds) is approx. 22%? I have several VG Muni Funds but not this one. I do own individual muni bonds and when purchased years ago were AAA, but now average BBB ...