Bogleheads.org

I use a grandfathered old-style Amex Blue Cash for everything except where Amex is not accepted. I get 5% on groceries, gas & drugstore, except the first $6,500 each year where the amounts are lower, but I've already passed that mark this year. I got $1,400 cash-back last year.

1511.02

SarahShaw wrote:For me the useful thing in Q2012 vs Q2011 is that Q2012 will automatically update currency exchange rates.

Now that is good news. I am British and have UK bank accounts and investments, so it would be great to get the rates updated automatically.

I use Quicken a lot and am currently using Quicken Premier 2011. I generally upgrade every couple of years. The 2013 version is now out - is anyone using it and do you have any feedback? As I have never used 2012 either, any feedback on new features in that version would be useful (I hear that budge...

German Expat wrote:Just hold the control (ctrl) key down before you click the link and it opens a new tab.

I know - see my original post. I just never remember because this is the only forum I use that does not open a new tab by default.

You can use this Chrome Extension which is officially supported by Google https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fjccknnhdnkbanjilpjddjhmkghmachn/related That did the trick - thank you. No it didn't - with that option every single link you click on opens a new tab, even when just navigating arou...

statsnerd wrote:You can use this Chrome Extension which is officially supported by Google

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fjccknnhdnkbanjilpjddjhmkghmachn/related

That did the trick - thank you.

Sorry, that's not part of the forum software, you'll need to use your browser. In Firefox, Preferences --> Tabs gives you the options. I mostly use Chrome, sometimes IE. I don't see any related options in Chrome. In IE the options suggest that a new tab will be opened, but that is not what happens.

When you click on a link, you are taken to that page, and out of the Boglehead forum. Can we have it such that the link opens in a new tab, leaving the original post in the original tab? Yes, I know I can do it myself by holding Ctrl as I click the link, but I would prefer the new tab to be the defa...

Are you sure about this? I am not a petroleum engineer, but years ago, I asked my father about this (he is one) and he said higher octane allows higher compression ratio. You could put higher octane into your car which runs fine at 87 octane, but you will not get more mpg. While you are correct tha...

I started a thread about medium-sized SUVs, with the Highlander being one that we looked at. We ended up buying a Subaru Outback, V6 version. It drives way better than the Highlander. It doesn't carry as much cargo and does not have a third row of seats. They were not important to us and it sounds a...

Watty wrote:This means that if I stay in Georgia when I retire then I will pay... a couple of hundred dollars a year car registration,

Even that is being eliminated for cars bought after March 1, 2013

I took unlisted option 4 - retire early but keep the wife working. Actually, we have a plan under which she will retire at the same age I did (52). Clearly we made a decent amount of money to be retiring so early, but we have/will turn down the opportunity to make significantly more in favor of enjo...

We are using an approach recommended by Suze Orman (yeah, yeah - don't flame me too badly). There are some chores that must be done as part of being in the family. There is no allowance tied to those. There are then optional chores for which we pay. There is zero unearned allowance. The idea is that...

If she is bringing at least 100K ,Vanguard will do a plan for free. Are you sure it is $100k? It looks from https://personal.vanguard.com/us/whatweoffer/personalservices/flagshipandvoyager?Link=facet as if $50k - $500k gets a "discounted plan", and $500k is needed for a free one. Or is th...

If she is bringing at least 100K ,Vanguard will do a plan for free. Are you sure it is $100k? It looks from https://personal.vanguard.com/us/whatweoffer/personalservices/flagshipandvoyager?Link=facet as if $50k - $500k gets a "discounted plan", and $500k is needed for a free one. Or is th...

Question One: Wife holds on her IRA 5,400 shares of CPA15 REIT, Ameriprise is the custodian. Dividends flow into a Columbia Money Market Fund ((which by the way has not done anything since 2008!) We're leaving them, so: Is there another institution with low fees that will allow us to hold the REIT ...

The original (old) Blue Cash Card was called just that, "Blue Cash." It did not have a fee, but for the first $6500 that you charged on the card annually, you would get reduced rates (and I can't remember what they are). Then once you hit the $6500 you would get 5% on groceries, gas and d...

You are correct - the aforementioned budget assumes no new legislation enacted. As it currently stands, dividend and cap gains tax rates will revert to the same level as ordinary income at the end of 2012. Long term capital gains will not be taxed at ordinary income rates - the rate will increase t...

The poll shows that 38% of people do NOT do the scheduled maintenance on their car. And this forum can afford to do it. Imagine how many regular people do NOT do regular maintenance? 50%+ easily I bet. There's another reason for buying NEW over USED cars. I don't think you understand what the OP me...

Another cash buyer here, but in terms of measuring my expenditure, I only count depreciation as the expense, not the total price. Most of the money is a transfer from my bank account to my vehicle asset. Hence as long as the depreciation doesn't blow my expense budget, I am happy.

No, but just recently Wells Fargo has started charging a $20 fee and immediately refunding it. It's really weird. I think the correct sequence is that they give you the $20 credit before they charge you [I pay attention to details]. It doesn't show up on-line or in your monthly statement, but it do...

No, but just recently Wells Fargo has started charging a $20 fee and immediately refunding it.

I've hired consultants and been a consultant. I side with the people who feel that you are the one coming across as unreasonable. I always signed NDAs in both roles. They are generally no big deal. Is your client a big company? It may be that your contact has screwed up and his corporate rules will ...

And the winner is... Subaru Outback 3.6 Limited. We decided not to try the Acura TSX wagon on discovering that it had significantly less cargo space than the other cars we were considering. The Outback drives well and we were concerned about the negative comments about the Venza on its user forums. ...

The thing I don't like about highlander is that you cannot get a base V6 model on the lot. It must be ordered which will take up to a month. All base highlanders come with tech package and tow which is an extra $3000 I don't want to spend. You cannot even get a 2012 Venza until March. I don't know ...

....and if there is an Acura dealership on the way to that different Subaru dealer I agree with FrugalInvestor that you might like the TSX sportwagon if it fits in your budget. I think it is worth trying. I rejected it originally as there does not seem to be a V6 model, but I now see that the 4 cyl...

....and if there is an Acura dealership on the way to that different Subaru dealer I agree with FrugalInvestor that you might like the TSX sportwagon if it fits in your budget. I think it is worth trying. I rejected it originally as there does not seem to be a V6 model, but I now see that the 4 cyl...

BogleBrit wrote:Aren't there other Subaru dealers close to you that you could go to ? I'm not sure I would go back to the one that had inconvenienced me twice already. That just doesn't seem like a good sign......

There are others within 20 - 40 miles, so that is a possibility.

To the OP maybe you have already bought...I missed this thread but commented about the Venza just the other day on another thread linked below. This was a very timely response, actually - I was sitting in the Toyota dealership when the notification email came through. We have not yet made a decisio...

AmEx Blue Cash

Spent: $65,193
Cash Back: $1,249
Percentage: 1.92%

Sorry but what is the hat in the calculation? It's the caret symbol and is above the 6 key on my keyboard. It means "to the power of". So 4^2 = 4 squared. You can use that symbol in Excel or in Google (and no doubt other places). And how do I do it on a regular keyboard? Shift-6 does it o...

HongKonger wrote:Sorry but what is the hat in the calculation?

It's the caret symbol and is above the 6 key on my keyboard. It means "to the power of". So 4^2 = 4 squared. You can use that symbol in Excel or in Google (and no doubt other places).

yobria wrote:It's also going to overrepresent any married person who reports the combined net worth of both spouses.
Nick

I just realized that I did this using my age. If I had used either my wife's age or our average age, we would have been in a different category.

Specific, for extra tax efficiency. I use direct connect into Quicken, so there is no difficulty keeping track of lots.

1333.

The staff handbook states that money is vested in 6 years, on the same schedule as yours. However, somewhere else there's some fine print that "1 year" is equal to 1000 hours of work. So it actually vests a lot quicker than 6 calendar years for full time employees. If you are thinking tha...

If you are driving 30,000 miles per year of mostly highway miles I'd recommend looking at the Volkswagen TDI stationwagons. I have a jetta sportwagen TDI. It gets 40+ mpg on the highway (30+ in the city) and actually has more trunk space than a lot of the small SUVs (RAV4, Forester and such). If yo...

I'm completely confused as to your needs. Your ID says you live in Atlanta and your text says you want a nice driving SUV or car that holds 3 people that gets good MPG that your wife will like. Do you really need AWD or 4WD No - I stated in a follow-up post that I do not want AWD (and haven't menti...

rrosenkoetter wrote:Sorry about that

Didn't mean to waste your time on a dumb joke...

No problem - if I thught it was a waste of time, I wouldn't have done it.

Smaller than the Highlander? If the RAV4 is acceptable, then also look at the Honda CRV. I've ridden in a friend's several times and it's a nice AWD vehicle. Great for our winter weather (which is happening today through Saturday). Can also look at the Subaru wagons (Outback, Forrester). Neighbor's...

rrosenkoetter wrote:

Opinions on Highlander

There can be only ONE!

I had to use Google before I understood that comment.

I also own the Toyota RAV 4-V6, and it is by far the best vehicle I have ever owned. Again, totally reliable. Also, very, very quick with the V6 while still getting great gas mileage. Handling and overall performance are superb. I highly recommend this vehicle. Perhaps it's too small for you, altho...

Thanks - we will certainly test drive them all, but are also interested in hearing from owners who have had one of the cars for a year or two. That will highlight things that we would not notice in a test drive. A trivial example - in a test drive we would not have noticed that the Lexus cup-holders...

We currently own a 2004 Lexus RX 330 that we want to replace. I have seen several threads here comparing the Lexus RX and Acura MDX, so do not need more information on those. We are also considering Toyota Highlander (both regular and hybrid), Mazda CX-9 and Toyota Venza. The Venza is because we mig...

My wife's 401(k) with Nationwide has a brokerage window. There are no extra up-front or transaction fees, but there is an additional 0.36% annual fee on funds bought through the brokerage window. That still allows her to buy funds with total expenses considerably lower than the mainstream funds offe...

It's in whatever asset(s) proves to be the most overweighted at the time I need the money.

I use Quicken and wouldn't be without it. I use direct connect to my bank, cc and Vanguard, and transactions are downloaded automatically, daily, so I have virtually no manual entry. I just have to set the category, but if the transaction is with a merchant I have used before (which is usually the c...

I throw receipts for consumables away immediately. Big ticket item receipts are filed. Receipts for smaller stuff, like clothes, get tossed in a drawer and purged every few months. I have never had a problem getting a refund/replacement without a receipt (maybe the English accent helps - we're all j...

My company stock is not easy to sell (or I would) so I just ignore it completely for AA purposes. Although it is less than 2% of my portfolio, I don't want to add all of that into my small cap AA.