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Someone pm'ed me about the Southwest card. To share with everyone, here is the info: Slickdeals.net: Two Roundtrip Flights (50k Points) with New Southwest Airlines Premier Credit Card Approval for $2000 Spent Within First 3 Months . It is good for more flight ($800) than gift cards ($500), minus $9...

USAA M/C (10% off gas through 6/13) Costco Amex everything else Taz, What type of USAA MC do you have? I have the World MC Cash Rewards and can't find any reference to 10% off gas. That's the one I have. I called USAA when my BP card converted from 5% cash back to new offer. I told them I wasn't us...

USAA M/C (10% off gas through 6/13) Costco Amex everything else Taz, What type of USAA MC do you have? I have the World MC Cash Rewards and can't find any reference to 10% off gas. To OP- I have 3: Fidelity Amex 2% off everything USAA MC around 1.25%, just use it for places that don't take Amex Tar...

A few comments from the "dark side"...aka non-financial consideratioins. -Does the company car have a GPS tracking device? My employers' cars do. Tracks location, speed, time spent idling, time between engine off and on, etc. I wouldn't want my boss to know I left my girlfriend's house at...

Does anyone do different 529s in different states for the same beneficiary? Here is why I ask: My friends live in MN and can't get any state tax deduction so they could pick whichever state plan they prefer for their newborn but they have grandparents in states that do offer a tax deduction, so woul...

Wanted to close the loop on this after the helpful responses:

I took the allowance and bought a 2009 Altima w 43K miles on it. Car has been running well so far, not quite the gas mileage I'd hoped for but the remote starter and MN winters might be impacting things

Thanks everyone.

I just bought a Fire HD, haven't gotten it yet but I've heard its a nice improvement from the regular Fire, which I thought worked OK. Its not an iPad, but I had no intention of paying iPad prices, and the reviews I've read are that the Fire HD and Nexus are both very good cheaper alternatives to an...

Does anyone have any thoughts on the tax implications of that $155/month fee for the company car? Would I be able to deduct that $1860/yr from the Taxable Income I would need to declare?
So it would look something like this:

(Personal Miles x $.55/mile (rate from IRS)) x tax rate) - Use Fee)

I know you said you weren't looking for a gym membership, but I live in the Twin Cities as well and do CrossFit at a CF dedicated gym in the area. Great workout! You can do a lot of the stuff at home if you like but I noticed you said you don't have much room available. Thats my plug!

JT,
The allowance IS taxable according to the company policy I've read. I still think its worth going the personal car route.

Epsilon Delta- 1) Correct, I am not counting the Cost AND Depreciation, just Depreciation. 2) I plan on being with the company / in the department for a while. Long enough to not need to worry about it's impact on the car decision. 3) The company standards aren't hard and fast (not x miles or x year...

Here is exactly what I'm getting and giving in each case- Company Car Give/Pay- $155/month fee Taxes due on Personal Miles Get/Receive- Company Car Insurance Maintenance Gas Car Washes Personal Car Give/Pay- Cost and Depreciation of Car Insurance Maintenance Gas Taxes Payable on Allowance Get/Receiv...

Is this your only car? Is there a significant other or children in the picture with a car(s)? Depending on that situation I might lean one way or another with respect to spacing out new car purchases. The Integra is my only car, correct. I'm 29 and have 1 girlfriend, 0 wives, & 0 kids, so I don...

Has anyone faced the decision whether to accept a company car or take a monthly car allowance to keep your personal car? I'm faced with that choice and was curious what factors people have taken into consideration and what decision they've come up with. Factors indentified so far-- Company Car: Mont...

Just wanted to update people after having switched to Straight Talk about 3 weeks ago. I haven't had any trouble with reception while talking but I have noticed that I hit dead areas that I can't connect to the internet from more frequently than I used to (I like in a suburb of a large metropolitan...

Thanks for the tips. Wanted to follow up and say I've got my AA just about to where I want it, I'm going to max my pre-tax 401k and IRA contributions this year (thanks to the Roth as EF idea), and am looking into the idea discussed in this thread http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&...

Just wanted to update people after having switched to Straight Talk about 3 weeks ago. I haven't had any trouble with reception while talking but I have noticed that I hit dead areas that I can't connect to the internet from more frequently than I used to (I live in a suburb of a large metropolitan ...

Alan and Ice-T- After reading through my companies Summary Plan Description it appears I am able to do this - they allow In-Service Withdrawals limited to my after-tax contributions and earnings (plus rollover contributions and vested company match). So if I understand things correctly: 1) It states...

Has anyone heard yet what the IRS's opinion on this is? I've tried checking the Wiki, other threads, and the Google to no avail. My employer 401k plan allows for pre-tax and post-tax contributions and I already have a Roth IRA set up with Fidelity so if I understand this correctly I just need to see...

Rotorhead,
Since you've been to both what are your thoughts on Norway vs New Zealand? The two are at the top of my To Visit list!

You don't need to do any unlocking if you get a new sim card and plan on another network, do you? I've done a fair amount of research and am looking at doing the StraightTalk plan and haven't read anything about needing to unlock my iPhone. If it was as easy as just changing SIM cards, there wouldn...

Also, I'm surprised no one mentioned the carrier locking issue. The contract might have ended, but the phone is still locked to AT&T. Some people have had luck getting AT&T to unlock their out-of-contract phones though. Yeah, I came in this thread to mention that. For unlocking to be proces...

Has anyone done this with wireless internet from Comcast? The modem rental is what they charge $7/mo for, the wireless router is free, but I'm wondering if I buy my own modem will they then make me start paying for the wireless router (or charge me for it). If they want to charge you for the wirele...

Has anyone done this with wireless internet from Comcast? The modem rental is what they charge $7/mo for, the wireless router is free, but I'm wondering if I buy my own modem will they then make me start paying for the wireless router (or charge me for it).

I spent 10 days traveling from Munich to Geneva a few springs ago (end of March, beginning of April) and absolutely loved it. Most of my time was spent in the Alps - I hit up Chur, St Moritz, Lucerne, Interlaken, Bern (briefly), Zermatt, and Geneva. If the two of you love mountains then you'll love ...

My son is out of college now but a few things you might want to add; 1) Make sure she has plenty of spare keys. I don't know about that model but some models have anti-theft features built into the key so to make a duplicate you have to have some numbers that came with the paperwork when you bought...

I get several hundred dollars a year from using a strategically-chosen mix of cash back credit cards. I never really thought of that as a "hobby" until a friend of mine, after patiently listening to me talk about the latest cash back credit card I had acquired, commented that "it see...

Currently I make $62k gross, contribute to a 401k, and have an "emergency fund" of $1k, :oops: , that I don't touch. 2. What should I consider as expenses. As far as monthly debt/expenses I have: -mortgage -student loan -car insurance -utilities (electric, gas, water, cell phone) What els...

Virgin might be offering sims in the near future, so one could bring in a phone. Simple Mobile already does this, with the sims costing about $10. The problem for me is none of these network piggy-backing companies offer tethering. Users do it at the risk of getting kicked off the plan. But that mi...

Since I already have an iPhone (3, not the newest, but it does the trick) and no contract to worry about I think my best option is going to be: - Buy the cheapest Straight Talk phone from Wal-mart ($20) - Do the monthly unlimited Straight Talk plan ($45/month, down from $83 for AT&T). - Activate...

Has anyone tried the StraighTalk plans from Walmart? Looks like it offers the same as the Virgin Mobile plan I'm looking at (for about $45 you get unlimited messaging & web access and virtually unlimited minutes).

Thanks for the advice Paddy, Brian, and Outdoors!

Don't mean to hijack a thread, but what other options are out there for someone in a 'traditional' employee role (large corporation) with no side businesses besides making max contributions to 401k and IRA? Just a simple brokerage account with funds in them? Does anyone have a side business with one...

joe8d wrote:

Emergency funds = 8 months in savings/MM low yield 0.08%

Why not put that in an Ally Bank Online Savings Account. Last time I checked, they were offering 10X that interest rate.

I was just looking at this today for my own EF:

ING- .8%
Discover- .8%
Ally- .89%
Barclays- 1.0%

MHC, Just took a look, the 1-3 YR did have more muted swings than the others. Is there a benefit of putting the EF into the Roth this year that I'm not seeing, other than to make sure I make the max contribution to the Roth? I've read the Roth as EF wiki and thats what I got out of it. From a strict...

I think you fit the appropriate situation. If you are using your EF as a cash flow buffer, then short term CDs don't work that well and you can probably earn more in a savings account. I would isolate what you think you need for EF and cash flow buffer and keep the cash in the savings account. You ...

I paid a fair amount for my wife's engagement ring, at least the two month salary rule. I actually wish I paid a little more and bumped it up to the next even carat. Even so, I have never regretted the purchase or even missed that money. I have spent far less on other items and had buyer's remorse,...

BDPB, Just read the following in the Emergency Fund Wiki: In some situations, a Roth IRA can be used as emergency fund. Contributions (that is, the money that you put into your Roth) can come out at any time, free of taxes and penalties. This is not true of earnings on your contributions, which are ...

Welcome to the forum. It makes sense to tax shelter as much money as you can; therefore, using your taxable account to get more money into the 401k and Roth makes sense. Good move. You investment choices are interesting. It seems reasonable, but it is very complex. I'm not really sure you are bette...

Hi, i'm looking for some help and discussion around Asset Allocation goals. I've recently taken a renewed interest in my retirement funds so I'm trying to strike while the iron is hot and set some AA goals. As for the basics: Emergency Fund: Yes, about 5-6 months worth of expenses Debt: School Loan ...