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A good strong Pellet rifle will help.

Just the fact that this issue prompted you to make the post/poll means that you already know the answer.

It's wrong...period.

Thanks guys for the input. Reading some more about this stuff - very interesting. Do you guys have wired or GSM or internet or all of them as you preferred contact methods to the call center if something happens? The net recommends at least two of the three. Strictly wired. I Used to have land line...

Thanks for the replies. Ideally, I would like to do it myself and go with a wireless system. I was researching a little and they certainly seem doable for an average person. The house has a lot of ground level windows and the equipment cost will be surely be higher. I recently contacted safemart fo...

Nobody seems to have a security system in my neighborhood in a well-to-do suburb, never heard any noisy alarms here. Also no one here has any signs of security companies on their lawn. Only break-ins here are walk-ins through unlocked doors and windows during daytime, probably by teenagers. We here...

I will stick with my "fake" sign, bad guys will just go somewhere else. I don't want a real alarm since 99.5% of alarms are false alarms. How does that "fake" sign help if you have a fire? Sign is for potential baddies. Smoke alarms are for fire. And if no one is home, who hears...

If you are going to have it done for you rather than install it yourself then perhaps ADT or one of those companies are for you. When I retired 9 yrs ago I installed my own, hardwired it all, took my time and snaked the wiring out of sight. Today's wireless is really easy to install, if I had to do ...

fatlittlepig wrote:I will stick with my "fake" sign, bad guys will just go somewhere else. I don't want a real alarm since 99.5% of alarms are false alarms.

How does that "fake" sign help if you have a fire?

Most common robberies are smash and grab types, quick in, quick out, so stickers don't do much to stop those. That said I do have an alarm system Self-installed and monitored thru a much less expensive company SafeMart. The cost of the monitoring is almost paid for by the discount I get with my hom...

Every situation is different with underlying issues and personalities. Me... I would have a 1 on 1 with him eyeball to eyeball and calmly express my concerns, not to be argumentative, just lay out how you feel and where you would like to go with the discussion. Take emotion out of the conversation.....

Most common robberies are smash and grab types, quick in, quick out, so stickers don't do much to stop those. That said I do have an alarm system Self-installed and monitored thru a much less expensive company SafeMart. The cost of the monitoring is almost paid for by the discount I get with my home...

I do 10% for take out, Chinese, Mexican etc...

Do you have health insurance from a previous employer or do you buy it on your own? If you're on your own and your income is near the cutoff level for ACA premium subsidies (around $60k for 2), this could be a big factor. Jim Hi Jim, Yes I do have health ins from my past employer inc eyeglass/Denta...

As a few of the last posts have been deleted somehow (including mine) , I have continued this here with some more information... http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=116870 If the moderators want to combine these two topics I have no objection. As posts disappeared I was reluctant...

I have posted before about if I should convert IRA to Roth, and due to all the other implications brought to my attention ie: SS taxes, RMD implications etc... http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=116554 I decided to run many/many scenarios with the ORP Calc http://i-orp.com I hav...

As I am in the 15% tax bracket, I am able to take LT cap gains in my taxable account at 0% tax consequence, as long as I stay within the 15% tax bracket, no? If my taxable income (line 43) exceeds the 15% tax bracket due to LT cap gains my taxes are increased because of it. I just ran that thru Tax...

Question... If the taxes for the conversion(s) are paid from the IRA at the time of the conversion(s) is that amount (taxes) also taxed as regular income for that/those years? All withdrawals from a Traditional IRA other than after-tax contributions are taxed regardless of how the money is used. If...

To anyone... I can see that where you get the dollars to pay the taxes might matter for the conversion. I see 2 feasible options... (I'm sure there are more) Pay the taxes thru conversion from the IRA acct. at the time of conversion. Better: Do it in two steps. Say you've got $10K left in the 15% b...

False alarm: I just ran down to the local garage and had a look at the noise problem. It turned out to be a loose metal housing on the catalytic converter that is rattling. No tranny issue. What do you think is a fair price for an independent garage to change the transmission fluid? I think there's...

@ BigFoot48, That is some spreadsheet! Certainly not for the faint of heart or knowledge to use it. I find however that I may be somewhere in between, just enough to input the information and read the results but for me it's way to complicated and I fear that by my muddling thru it I may come up wit...

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that that the consequences of making an incorrect choice are not really equal. By this I mean that if you choose to keep the money in an IRA and eventually end up in a higher tax bracket then you are doing pretty well financially and paying more taxes than yo...

I will figure out how to use google docs to utilize it. It can also be run using LibreOffice Calc, which is a free program available here: http://www.libreoffice.org/default/ I will try that, as I downloaded google drive and put it into my account in docs in my gmail and I cannot see how to input a...

Thanks to everyone for the input on my issue, I will be getting into BigFoot48's spreadsheet soon and thanks for that :beer I will figure out how to use google docs to utilize it. It would seem at first glance from the responses that I 'May' slip under the wire and not have to convert, however as it...

@ Watty You are entirely correct... "I am pretty sure that she would get your full SS benefit . You would also need to look at the numbers as if you survived her." My typing speed exceeded my thinking when I posted that. :beer Thanks to everyone for the replies and links I will get to them...

....but is there any other advantage I'm not considering? Did the numbers you ran include the taxation of social security? http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Taxation_of_Social_Security_benefits If your income is in the range where each dollar of IRA withdrawals makes more of your social security taxab...

The general concept is if the marginal tax rate is the same right now and gong forward, it would be beneficial to convert, provided you have money outside of retirement accounts to pay taxes, as conversion means you can put more value in retirement accounts. Thanks for the reply, So if I'm understa...

Retired at 50, only because the company needed to reduce manpower and made a offer (get out of jail free card) for me not to have to wait till I had 30 yrs.
Best thing I ever did...no regrets

The general concept is if the marginal tax rate is the same right now and gong forward, it would be beneficial to convert, provided you have money outside of retirement accounts to pay taxes, as conversion means you can put more value in retirement accounts. Thanks for the reply, So if I'm understa...

Greetings, I have always been on the fence with this issue, No matter what Calc I use the answer always seems to be a wash (give or take a small amount). Perhaps there is something I'm missing or not understanding that might be of benefit to me to actually do a conversion for the next 5 or 7 years. ...

If you are not using 100% synthetic now I would not switch from conventional with 150k on the odometer. There is NO problem with you using synthetic as far as lubrication goes, it will last longer especially the mobil 1 extended performance which was already mentioned and I use, 1x change per yr. Th...

Nettalk for the past 2 yrs. Edit... I thought I would add some info. and my experience. Nettalk, no need for computer to be on at all. $50 for device and 1 yr of service, $29 per yr there after. ALL hard wired outlets in the home for phones will operate off of Nettalk, if plugged into a wall phone j...

Question is, do you feel that it's necessary to have constantly recorded video for security?
Or do you just want to 'see' whats going on while your away from time to time?

How do you heat water? an electric HW heater 50 gal will use aprox $500 per yr. or about 94 kwh per week with 'average use'.
A modern average refrigerator uses about $35 per yr.
Heating and cooling, depends on usage, location and time of year and equipment.

. . . scribe (draw) a level line all the way around the house, buy a 7' metal level about $30 * * * EDIT about $70 for that level now (it's been a while since I bought one) :wink: Of course a 48" level will do too, use a straight 2x4x8' (check it with the level) in conjunction with the level t...

If you are handy and have the time, it's not rocket science, the most important thing to remember is to start from the bottom and scribe (draw) a level line all the way around the house, buy a 7' metal level about $30 and then every few rows of vinyl recheck your level, and vinyl siding needs to 'ha...

I am in no way an expert on financial matters, but seeings we are talking about a small amount 1k? for bonds, how about an 'I bond' it is paying I think 1.18% based on inflation and isn't taxable until you sell it. You have to hold it for 1 yr and then prior to 5 yrs you have a 3 month interest pena...

Personally I wouldn't go thru the bother of repainting it. The cleaning, prep, and then the new paint will only have to be repainted...again in time. If it's OLD siding make sure it is aluminum and not Galvanized (Test with a strong magnet.) small possibility. Then if it is OLD it may have lead pain...

Just for kicks I went to that firms website, not much in the way of info there. Lots of warm and fuzzy. They stated they had 81 yrs of experience (combined) lets see there are 8 of them listed, somehow that 81 yrs doesn't seem so impressive to me now. I need some help with the code...... how exactl...

Just for kicks I went to that firms website, not much in the way of info there. Lots of warm and fuzzy. They stated they had 81 yrs of experience (combined) lets see there are 8 of them listed, somehow that 81 yrs doesn't seem so impressive to me now. EDIT... Apparently I didn't read the text so wel...

Don't forget to factor in the ER average of the funds the adviser uses and add that to the 1.5% adviser fee. Then compare it to a DIY index fund or ETF ER based AA of low cost index funds.

Never really noticed, so I guess I don't care if it says (insert occupation) or not in the title. Whatever the title, we are all here to share and learn from each other as individual anonymous entities with a common goal, no matter what walk of life or economic level of accomplishment, or size of po...

That's a new one, if you do make sure you plug up the opening or your neighbor may wish he didn't tell you to try it. I'd just close it up and see what happens, you let the field dry out, removed the leaking solar, and have made steps to cut usage. Time will tell if it's enough. At one point we had...

If I wait till age 66 (which is the plan for now at 59) my SS and my spouses (50% of mine) will be 20% more than our current expenses, taking inflation into account as well.
Being frugal is hard to learn, but once learned is hard to stop.

You didn't mention if the pension has a cost of living increase built into it. Is medical insurance taken care of until they turn 65? Is it an option to delay starting the pension for a few years in exchange for higher monthly payouts? If so, they could live off a small part of the lump lump until ...

It's kind of in class of the short-term need. Move a portion to a safer investment wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Brian That was my thinking sort of, although I know I'm within the limits of the aprox 4% withdrawal rule thing, and it would only be for 4 yrs. If the markets took another 2...

So far I am of the mind to start SS at age 66, I am currently 59. As my Pension gets cut aprox in half at age 62 I have to make up some difference in expenses for 4 yrs from my accounts if I don't start SS @ 62. Projections so far are as follows for the added expense of making up for lost Pension du...

This morning marks a week since the tank was pumped out and we had several estimates, two of which were in a hurry to get the job done. So far, so good. Leaking solar panel removed, no more leak there. Unfortunately, in the process, something bit my left foot and I don't know what. At first I thoug...

If a Cricket chirps and no one hears it... is it still creepy?

Newt: they mostly come at night... mostly.

I have done much reading on which caliber is the best, I'm no expert on the issue.
Given any caliber of good size, accuracy is the most important for not only efficiency but for the safety of others as well.
.38, .40, 9mm, .45, etc only as good as the aim and mindset.

As far as clicking on any topic you either don't agree with once you see it, or find personally objectionable... Click on a different one and ignore the other...Simple. No need to make a fuss about it. If you feel it's out of line with the posting guidelines then report it and let the Admins handle ...