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The gist - Currently wife and I pay $58/month ($696/year) at local gym. (There are some cheaper alternatives in area but further away and we workout early in the morning - this one is very convenient for us.) New promo deal makes you pay 2 years ($1462) in advance at new rate and get third year free...

Hello All, Thanks for all of the replies and comments. Been a bit busy, so haven't had time to put my thoughts back together on this topic. I've been reading up on bond allocation and have a quick question. From the wiki: For instance, Graham's timeless advice was to never hold less than 25% of your...

Can you state, in your own words, why you are confident and optimistic about this now, when you apparently were not before? What has changed? What evidence do you have that varying your asset allocation according to your degree of confidence and optimism works better than blindly staying the course...

Hello All, Thanks for the replies. I agree with many of your statements. I think I will test out my new found risk tolerance by adjusting my AA much more slowly. So you're not currently age in bonds. You are age minus five in bonds, with a small tilt to a particular sector in your equity allocation....

As our (wife and myself) time to rebalance approaches I have been thinking about our AA. The recent recovery of stocks from the 2008 drop has caused me to rethink our AA. We currently hold roughly an age in bonds AA, with 4-5% of that bond allocation in REIT. I am confident and optimistic that the m...

and TA'ing in grad school, and teaching seems... If you have a masters, perhaps you could look into teaching at a community college. No certifications are needed, just 18 graduate credit hours in the specialty (at most institutions). You could even adjunct at night to see if you really like it for ...

Hello All, I always try to update my posts when I've made a decision or answered a question, so here is the update. We did refinance, and closed last week. I took the chance that it would appraise at <80% LTV, so applied for a conventional loan. It did appraise above what it need to, actually higher...

Thanks to all for comments and votes. As livvesoft and retiredjg pointed out it does depend on the size of the funds as well as the difference in ERs. Right now I we are going to stick with the target fund with the 0.45 % ER. Once the account grows we will put in the work to think about where else w...

Are you asking if she should use a target fund in her 401k (at .4%) instead of the 4 Vanguard funds listed? No, the four vanguard funds are in her IRA. Her 401k does not offer these funds, but does offer lower ER funds (but more specific) than the target fund. So, I could choose a large cap fund wi...

I know I may have to post specific portfolio information for better advice, but I just wanted to get a rough consensus on whether to think about changing my wife's portfolio. Here is the breakdown: She just switched jobs, so the majority (~99%) of her portfolio just got rolled over to Vanguard in bo...

Walmart has good prices all of the time. If you watch sales at Autozone (sign up for email ad), they sometimes will beat Walmart on deals.

Thank you very much for the comments. I knew this didn't seem right, but could not find the right words for how the employer should fix this problem. The employer should either amend their prior quarter's payroll tax return or adjust the current quarter's payroll tax return in order to get back the ...

My wife received a $3K bonus when joining her previous position. She has since left prior to the required one year and so now has to repay the bonus. She(we) are now arguing with her former employer over how much we have to pay, and would like some input on making sense of the numbers. Her bonus che...

Me: 2004 Nissan Sentra (114K)
Wife: 2011 Nissan Altima (15K)

We have really enjoyed our Nissans.

Thank you LadyGeek for the move, didn't think about that one. Thanks for the advice Outer Maker. I thought that is what should happen with our escrow, but it is good to hear that from someone else. I did not know that 90/10 15-yr FHA loans did not need PMI, that is something we will definitely look ...

Hello All, We purchased our first home ~1.5 years ago with a VA 30 yr fixed @ 4.75. I now want to look into a refinance. Our primary goal is to reduce interest rate, but would like to keep closing costs <~3000. I am not sure on how to proceed as we could go in a few different directions. The purchas...

Of the few gas station specific credit cards that I have look at the details there is always a minimum gallon/month purchase requirement - 45 gallons/mo for the one I saw most recently. I would not reach that requirement any month, so it is not for me. The cash incentive is 5 cents per gallon, which...

Thanks, letsgohobby, I came up with Schwab as well. As far as choosing an ESA, I think if you can find a funding option with lower costs you should always choose regardless if it has limits. The Guide even recommends place money in this vehicle first. I see little reason to own an ESA any more. I'm ...

Hello All, Just about to put 2K in an ESA for our 1yo, and thought for sure that I would go through Vanguard to do this - but as I just found out they no longer open new ESA accounts. from Vanguard ESA Info Page Note: Vanguard has removed ESAs from our lineup of college savings offerings (this inclu...

We currently have a 1 yo, and our plan is put 2K in ESA yearly and put enough extra on mortgage to payoff prior to college. That will give us some college money plus extra cash flow at that time. Any additional will go in taxable. I think that gives us the most flexibility for whatever may come down...

Hello All, Volunteering Comments - That sounds like a great thing to do. I would probably enjoy this avenue much more, but am currently looking for ways to make extra income. HR Block - Thanks for the info. Most of the comments have been negative so that makes me weary. I like to crunch numbers, but...

I enjoy doing my taxes. On this forum this probably a shared attribute. I have thought (for the past two or three tax seasons) about doing it for a part time job on the weekends/evenings. Our personal returns are very simple, so I would probably need some training and/or resources for completing oth...

Thanks sscritic. That explains it perfectly, I was only thinking it referred to the second definition "stream of regular payments". No wonder I couldn't find much information regarding the relationships b/w variable annuities and TSA accounts. :oops: To my defense, the only person that has...

I am employed as a state employee. In addition to a defined pension, I can contribute pre-tax to either a 403(b) or 457(b). I am not contributing to either of the TSA yet, as our current plan is to max out both our Roths and my wife's 401k (through Fidelity with some decent options) first, and we're...

If you are arguing against random attraction, I agree. I was. Conversely, someone who is ill or preoccupied with family problems is more likely to have an accident or make a critical financial mistake. Victoria Are there studies to show that individuals preoccupied with family problems (above some ...

tetractys wrote:There is a law of attraction.

No, there is not.


Sorry - I hate internet disagreements that will inevitably go nowhere, but I can't idly sit back and read a statement like this on a forum that usually employs a high level of critical thinking.

^ Yep, the PhDs need the GEDs, but perhaps not vice versa. :) I hope this statement was in jest, otherwise it is very uninformed and unfair. Many things, from the technologies you are using while you type on your computer to the drugs that keep you or your loved ones alive come from PhD labs and th...

...That might be because we are early adopters in electronics, or, we might just be unlucky. Sam I Am Or to think about it optimistically, you are lucky at getting your money's worth for warranties. Thanks all for the comments. This has now become a moot argument, as when I brought it up with my wi...

Hello, My wife and I just bought a new sectional couch (fabric) from Macy's (good price, on sale). I have never purchased an extended warranty for any thing. I agree with most advice out there that is against them, and I generally distrust the value of them because most salespeople push them SO hard...

Hello All, A quick update - We are getting two more quotes for the work. Even if our first estimate is lowest we have decided not submit a claim. Thank you all for your comments. I agree (assuming want is meant to be won't "you won't use it on a $5000 claim"). If you are willing to pay the...

Careful, I have heard a rumor that queries can also affect insurance rates. (I have no actual knowledge one way or the other.) - Joppy EDIT: Here is a link substantiating that rumor. My agent asked if I spoke with the insurance company, and told me not to until I was ready to submit a claim. Could ...

Hello All, Thanks for the advice so far. I have spoken with my insurance agent (broker, not employed by the insurance company), and he brought up most of my concerns mentioned here. The biggest problem he mentioned a claim has is that if we need to shop insurance in the future the companies will con...

Our master bathroom's tile shower has a leak and must be replaced. The estimate is $5500 which includes replacing the affected drywall. Our insurance deductible is $2500. We live in south Florida, so homeowners insurance is very high and supplied by a limited number of companies. We can pay out of p...

If you ask for suggestions, you are bound to get opinions, though some of them might veer off the original topic of discussion. Like, for example, all I came to see was whether you got the car you wanted ... and waded right into a discussion on parenting. And on topics such as those, you will rarel...

Presumably you had the kid because you wanted to have her in your lives, Nope. That is why we are pawning her off on a day care establishment. so I don't know what I'd do, but I would prioritize letting the child spend more time being cared for by her parents. I would not send the kid to daycare ea...

Hello All, Thanks for all of your comments. Just thought I would update any interested parties on what decision we made. We chose to postpone buying a second car. I will drop off early one day, and my wife will take me to work the other. Our thinking was that the longer we postpone the purchase pric...

I recently purchased a home in south Florida, and a wind mitigation report significantly lowered our home owners premium. The wind mitigation report determines how many of construction features your home has that better suit it for hurricane force winds including: "...concrete block constructio...

I've been using it for about 5 months now and like it. Prior to this we would track expenditures in excel. The automation of mint.com makes it useful for me. Per your question, yes it will automatically add your $100 dollars from Sams to a budget line. It may not be grocery right away, I don't know ...

I think being frugal is great as long as you are frugal in EVERY aspect of one's life. :) … reminds me of the person who eats a huge meal and has a diet soda with it. Thanks SP-diceman I don't agree with the first statement, nor the analogy. I try to be frugal, as a means to an end. Why do you have...

Thank you all for your thoughts and advice. Here are some of thoughts/replies to your comments: Biking/Public Transportation - My commute is about 15 miles, so biking is out. I also would need to start a new thread on what bike to purchase. Public transportation is almost an option. I live 4.5 miles...

Would a cheaper car be acceptable solution for you? Maybe something in 3-5k range? Doesn't sound like the second car will be driven a lot. That is one option we discussed, and still in the back of our minds. The logic behind the price point listed is that our current car is a 04 w/103k miles. Purch...

My wife and I are thinking about buying a second car. Currently my wife works from her home office, and I have a small commute. We have a 3 mo old daughter who goes to daycare. I drop her off and pick her up each day, leaving my wife at home with out a car. We have been doing this for a couple of ye...

No, mine was not on Oct 1. It should have been taken on Oct 6, but did not transfer until Oct 12. I guess I exaggerated a bit with the whole >10 days, but it felt like forever. As long as they don't try to charge me a late fee, I will be OK with this. Any extra interest charged will probably not be ...

They were 10 days late withdrawing funds on my automatic payment this month, from what I can only suspect was problems due to this transition. After I finally got logged on to their new site (which took a long time to register) it said I was late on the payment. I tried calling >10 times over the co...

You are probably on the right trail. Check out a video on another wireless network, like at a local Starbucks. That would rule out any communication error between the router and the laptop.

Don't use natural stone tiles (granite, marble, slate) for bathroom floors/shower stalls. There is no product that cleans them well and seems a constant battle to deal with sealing them, etc. I would totally agree with the shower stall. We have slate, and it is very difficult to keep clean. The bat...

Welcome to the Bogleheads Forum! Thank you! I am one of the authors of The Bogleheads Guide to Investing. After reading the book, if you have any questions, this is the place to ask for help. Thanks again, and I looked forward to reading your book. I enjoyed and learned a lot from your other book, ...

Looking to buy the BH Guide to Investing because my local library does not have a copy. I've never purchased nonfiction on my Kindle, so was wondering how well plots and/or graphs show up on a Kindle. I read the BH Guide to Retirement (library had a copy), and there were several tables and graphs. I...