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Well said, erdoc. Well said.

My vote; get the car repaired, much cheaper than buying new or used. If you don't trust the vehicle for the trip, either before or after repairs, perhaps look into renting similar car for the road trip for the three months. If trip is work related, rental may be tax deductable.

Agree with the idea of paying the $75 for the additional percentage in grocery cash back.
Note: we use the penfed visa for gas only-%5 cash back on fuel.

Thanks for your helpful input bulldawg

I have a 2008 maxima with 3.5l v6 and cvt transmission. The cvt does take some getting used to but I was drawn to it's smooth acceleration and better milage. I routinely get 25mpg overall with the large v6. On this model, you can also slide the shifter over to "manual" and shift/brake with...

Letsgobobby,
Thanks for the info and reference.

Ok, thanks again livesoft.

Livesoft
I found this:
http://iracontributionlimits2010.com/se ... 0/2010/08/

does this jive with what you are suggesting?

Thanks to you both. Livesoft, I will look into the amounts you suggested. our acct. told us that 20% was the max, but he could, and has, been wrong.

Livesoft, Thanks for the idea. In concept, what you say makes sense, but we were told by our accoutant that this year we can only contribute 11k to max out the SEP. Roths and 457 max, i believe, would bring the retiremement contribution total to about 39k, no? Please correct my assumptions if incorr...

Hello all, I have been reading this board for a couple years, learning from the questions and posts and would like to call on the boglehead group knowledge regarding a question my wife and I are facing. Should we pay down the mortgage or, given federal/private college aid formulas, save for college,...

I agree with all who have suggested that you set up a budget and spend less than you take in and I would add plan for that next emergency. While I am not a fan of Dave Ramsey's investment advice (as someone mentioned above) my wife and I ( and kids) are in his "Financial Peace University" ...

The other posters are much nicer then me. You are 35 and couldn't afford the first house (still have the PMI to show for it), have not invested for future retirement, AND now considering buying another house. You need to start thinking about being responsible individuals and develop a well thought ...

Don't overthink this. At 26/27 you are absolutely CRUSHING it in the amount of accumulated retirement savings. I know part of it is inherited, but trust me your bank account does not know the difference. I know 57 years olds that would do anything to have the same portfolio. Even with conservative ...

Hi, Welcome. I am self employed and have been for about 8 years. I set up a SEP (called self employed pension) which sounds like it may be similar to a solo 401k. It's not really a pension plan but a vehicle that you can put up to 20% of your agi away annually into tax diferred savings. The limit is...

Regarding your requested info, we had 3 kids in a 4.5 year span and have had 2 siennas (we are on our second). The first we bought used and drove 200k. On our second, a 2005 and it has 135K and running fine. My wife has been the primary driver of both and she is tough on a vehicle. Agree with all th...

12.3% with allocation of %55 stock, %30 bonds and %15 cash/short term

Thanks to the OP for posting a follow up. We don't get to see the outcomes here to often and I myself don't often post outcomes, but now realize that this is a valuable part of contributing to the board. Thanks. The information is both interesting and for many here including myself, reassuring.

IMHO, if the job in cali is solid and you want the lifestyle change that the move offers, I would move with caveat of not having kids until a solid period of time went by that the cali lifestyle works for you and your wife/family, say at least a year.

Oops, here is the calculator:

http://www.money-zine.com/Calculators/A ... alculator/

We have bought both new and used, although mainly used in the 3 year old certified range. Here is a generic calculator to play around with. I used a scenario we have used over the past 4 cars, buy a 3 year old car and keep it for 10 years vs. buy a new car and keep it for 13 years. Buying used came ...

For my situation, I would vote yes but would have to answer these questions first: are the amounts the same? tax implications (do you get to write off interest paid on student loan)? How this loan/windfall fit into the rest of your portfolio?

Steven Covey says "Begin with the end in Mind", hence the "...til death do you part" stuff, aka the end.
If you are beginning with divorce as the end in mind, perhaps reconsider the start.

amex blue. cost $75 but it's 3%/6% gas/groceries (i forget which). pays for itself in a month. rest is gravey

High COL + High salary = options at retirement

Thanks for the ideas all. To answer, no military background. The self employed payments are all checks, some from private insurers, some from clients and some from govt. institutions.

Hello all bogleheads, Looking forward to some guidance on the following: Been looking online to switch our online checking account to a bank/institution that offers checking with no fees and am a bit anxious about the "online only" banks, although they seem to offer some of the best option...

my wife and i are thinking of refinancing and since you have 30 years left it seems you may have recently financed. We would love to find out where you got that great rate! thanks

thanks all. very helpful as usual.

Hi all,
While I don't post much, I follow and respect the bogleheads daily and am wondering where this group has found the highest cd rates of late?
Thanks

anyone who sells their home for more than asking price most likely had an agent who misjudged the market

I have been with "Lending Club" with the minimum investment ($500) since the start of the year. No defaults or late payments yet. Have 21 loans. One paid off early. No concerns or issues yet, but plan to stay at the minimum for at least a year to see how things go. Stuck with conservative ...

First, congrats on your financial success. As a dad of three who are just a few years older than yours, I also believe that time with your kids now would give you the most satisfaction now and "pay off" later. No way I would trade 40-50 hours per week for about $30/hour if I had your nest ...

Before I offer my two cents, and this might not be appropriate for me to know, as a parent I would want to consider the reason that your child was not accepted last year. Sometimes, the school that declines a student may not feel they are a good fit. Given that they are the "experts" on wh...

back at it eh?
i believe your questions were answered in prior posts, so as to minimize "hot air" I won't answer again.
best of luck

I plugged in the numbers.
on an annualy 1 million $ deposit, need to early 3.52% compounded annually to reach 20 million at year 15.
Couldn't plug in months for some reason. Seems attainable.

Do you happen to know the annual max cash back with this card?

Thanks for the feedback. I think (I will check) that she is focused on the 1-2 year range b/c she is hopeful rates will improve. I would think 2.76%-penalty for w/draw would be better then what she is finding. I have had the risk conversation and she is aware of the risk of not taking risk, but than...

Thanks Carl53.
5 years under 2%? Wow. I haven't looked around, but if that's the best rate for 5 years, after inflation really losing ground.
What about tax free munis? Any thoughts?

Hello all, Been on Boggleheads for a few months and have really come to respect the opinions and advice of the readership and am looking for some assistance for my retired mom. She is a very conservative, retired educator who has a CD coming due at the end of Feb, 2012 in the amount of roughly $50k....

Tough decision. My wife and I have three children and we went through this decision/debate as well. As a clinical consultant to public schools for over 20 years, and one who has maintained a private practice, I have seen the "inside" of the public schools and the "outside" of pri...

We use the VMLTX(Limited Term Tax Exempt) which currently yields .75% with full liquidity. Depends on your income/tax level and need for liquidity over those two years.
2% CD over two years sounds great, even if you have to sacrifice a few months interest to pull out your $ early.

about 28%

Three seperate, lengthy posts filled with ideas. I have nothing more to add except good luck.

whew, a lot of info. I read somewhere in the information that you both agree or you feel there are trust issues in the relationship yet she, a sahm, won't set aside one hour per week for counseling? I don't get it. Not to disrespect sahm/d (i was a sahd for a decade) where we spend our money and tim...

rent. the numbers and potential risk don't seem to work in your favor for this house.

Would like to hear from the original "poster" regarding some of these comments. To answer Jenny's question, happily married for over 15 years with three kids and yes, a therapist by trade. Not sure why the thinly veiled shot at therapists. Agree with several that the original poster and hi...

I think that if you both are are deciding on a budget, which involves facts and figures, then all the facts and figures need to be considered, including the mystery amount your wife receives from her family on a monthly basis. Without this information, an accurate monthly budget could not be determi...

My wife and I have 3 children and save via 529 in state plan (CT=CHET) via her bi-weekly pay. Prior to relatively recent in state tax deduction, we went with Iowa's plan due to low costs. We also save for retirement, although don't max out (about 75% of max). Not sure this is the best, but helps us ...

4.1% including home value.
2.4% not including home value

Return on investment in friends and family..... priceless