Bogleheads.org

Interesting conversation. Thanks for all the BH for chimming in. energy (OP): Hi- I have been receively e-Sense Weekly Summary and had few questions on it. energy: I dont think I have a Samrt Meter installed at my home so was wondering how are estimating my usage adn breaking it down between refirge...

Fidelity, Troweprice both are great. TRowe Price was very pleasant eve if I wanted to transfer the funds to Fidelity.

BH:

Are there any franchise forums or website where I can check out some of the interesting franchises for example nurse next door, jamba juice, etc? Pitfalls, advantages, liabilities, etc..

Thanks,
energy 1808

Sorry been out, will provide answers by tomorrow.

Have you switched to energy efficient bulbs? Yes, this is the first thing we did.. Other than restrooms everywhere we have EE bulbs. Do you have an electric stove, clothes drier, and/or hot water heater? Gas stove, electric clothes drier and hot water heater, this ones runs on gas Do you have a cen...

Hello: We get weekly email about our electricity consumption. We live in townhome built in 2004 and we moved about a year ago. Breakdown of electricty for past week: Base usage- 10%, Usage- 20 kWh Refrigerator- 6%, Usage- 11.5 kWh Heating & Colling- 20%, Usage- 42 kWh Other- 65%, Usage- 136 kWh ...

Thansk everyone. It seems largely a positive experience.

Would there be any reason not to buy a car from rental companies? I understand numerous drivers would have driven the vehicle but I guess rental companies would have maintain them pretty well. I was looking at penfed website where they have some special APR to buy enterprise rental cars. I am lookin...

Another one for Nissan Rogue base model. I got it primarily for the wife and kid. Good decent SUV, gives good mileage about 25 mpg in city traffic. Using it for last couple of years. We compared between CRV, CX-5, Sportage and couple other cars but we found this one to be the best under $20K. I did ...

Nicely done , congrats.
Keep it up, you are an inspiration to lot of junior Bogleheads!

In my 7 years of marriage, I believe it pays to listen to your wife. And it should be her telling you want she wants to do. We can plan as much as we would like!

Good luck,
Energy 2159

I can meet on Sunday...

energy2025

Oops, I had not thought or aware that I can take HEL to lower the payments: Up to 60 Months- 2.49% APR. What I meant by reasonably confident was that I am willing to take this calculated risk. I will have to evaluate whether that risk is worth saving approx $1500. Starting next year, my partner will...

Brian:

The 5/5 ARM is a 30-year amortization. As mentioned earlier, I am reasonably confident to pay-off the loan in 5 yrs or sooner.

Thanks.

[Don't forget right now they are offering a promo to not only pay your closing costs, but pick up the first month's bill. That could easily inflate the total savings over such a short timeframe.quote][/quote]

Thanks for brinign this up.. I forgot to mention this in the blog..

"ten days ago on a 30 year, 3.0%, 3.04 APR, 30 year PenFed refi."

Did u pay closing on it and /or points?

Thanks..

I guess couple of hrs of hassle (as I have all the paper work ready) is worth for $600. But I will think more on it now as you brought it up.

Thanks...

I would be interested in buying from a boglehead..

Let me know..

energy1431

Hello Bogleheads: Loan amount- $190K Home value- $240K Location- Houston, TX Currently, I have locked in with 15 yr fixed mortgage at 3.0% Interest Rate and 3.1% APR. 6 months into the mortgage, the closing was paid by seller when we bought the house in Q3 last year. I am thinking of refinancing it ...

Even I was interested if Houston chapter has any meetings? Would be happy to volunteer..

Energy0817

Ally customer service is great. Penned is also good never used Barclatys other than their credit card.

Thanks for the feedback folks. I went with USEP and selected Age based Moderate growth plan. I reside in Texas but it seems Utah 529 plan has all the ingredients as well as the lowest expense ratio (second to be precise after NY). Other than the webistes provided by Bogleheads, I used morningstar to...

Keith:

I just list them while filing taxes as my personal income as the amount is small. Not tried with any insitutions about opening as the hassle might not be worth in the end.

Regards,
energy0005

What is the criteria for opening a Roth IRA for a 5 year old? His income is few hundred dollars per year via selling his paintings, and his own pictures/carciatures to far off family members...

Regards,
energy0005

I believe you are on the right track. Why would you have 15 yr loan especally when the rates difference is pretty nominal when compared with 30 yr loan? The difference in monthly mortgage can be added to the investments. Especially, if you plan to stay in the same house for long term. Regards, energ...

Where can I compare 529 plans for different states? We are in Texas but it seems we can invest in any other states plan too? Also, what are the benefits to have 529 plan? I have heard mixed reviews and wanted to see BHs views on it? We have a toddler so it is years before we spend on his college Reg...

I was in the same situation a month ago. Then, I had to remind myself that my investment horizon was not 6- 12 months, it more than few years to say the least.

So reinvested everything into a low expension ration funds with AA.

Regards,
energy2214

We are planning to buy a water softener for the house and checked out Costco. But found out that Costco will be sending DuPure (they will sell Ecosystems I guess) to come and talk to us about it. I reached out to Costco as I thought it will be no sales pitch, etc.. We have used DuPure in our earlier...

Is there a way to find out whether worldofwatches.com is a genuine website and the products it sells are not counterfeit? They have steep discounts on all brand watches which sometimes makes it difficult to believe. Nevertheless, I have bought a Nautica watch from this website couple of years ago an...

morningstar does a fair job at rating funds..

bogleheads is something I would not like to live without!

Regards,
energy

Thanks everyone.. There are no boxes or anything in the attice other than some old carpet, I think. We bught this townhome few months ago. Even if it is townhomes, the attics are not shared and that was not the reason for companies to say they dont treat attics. I will try the recommended the chemic...

Did u had to close the vents prior to using the bomb in the attic? I dont think we have any leaks, but it seems we have a moisture issue as we have started putting damp aid bags around and they get easily filled in couple of months. We live in a townhome (mutliplex) and share walls on both sides wit...

Have any of the bogleheads have success in getting rid of the silverfish? It seems they are coming via attic. What is the best way to get rid of these menace in attic? We have sprayed various things in the house (not in the attic), we will see couple (dead ones) here or there for next few days and t...

Speaking from experience, realtors are not worth the emotional hassle they cause while "making a deal" First time when we bought the house, we were referred to a realtor but ended up buying in the wrong part of the town Vs. where we had initally started looking. This was 7 years ago and as...

It says AAII Model stock portoflio has beaten S&P 500 return:
1year: 34.7% Vs 15.1%
3 year: 113.8% Vs 44.5%
10 year: 522.5% Vs. 93.0%

Thanks.

Hi: Every year I getting a reminder in mail to become a member for AAII ( Regular- $29, Plus computerized - $ 49 and Lifetime - $ 290). My question is has anyone found it worthwhile in investing their time to read AAII Journal, guide, etc...It also claims have beaten S&P regulaly over the years....

Thanks for pointing out. I have edited my earlier post with additional information. Appreciate.

Hi everyone, In one of the earlier posts, with help from bogleheads I had concluded to convert my old 401 (K) to roll over IRA with Fidelity as my new 401 (K) is with them. I need to some help to allocate about $70 K USD now. Would prefer to have allocation of stocks between 70-80% for atleast next ...

why "transfer in kind" not available for rollovers?

Just love it. We are mid thirty couple and the best investment we made is buying this Tempurpedic mattress 3 years ago. We brought the Rhapshody model.

What I have noticed is that I sleep more now during the weekends...

Regards,
energy

So I was about to make the move to to do rollover of my 401 (K) (merrill lynch) to traditional IRA (fidelity). I found out that I will have to liquidate most the positions of my old 401 (K) and then cash will be transferred into IRA. In this case, I will be doing a transaction and will lose money if...

Thanks everyone. The article on Nytimes was insightful.

Still unsure, so will just leave it as it for next few weeks if not months.

Regards,
energy 2025

I have been investing some portion in ANZBY (one of the biggest bank from the region) and it been doing well with good DYield. You may want to check this one out.

Regards,
energy2025

Sorry Folks.
The old traditional 401 (K) is with Merrill Lynch and new one is with Fidelity. Fidelity one has lot lot more options than ML.

I am 34 yrs young with about 80K in old 401 (K).

Regards,
energy

Hello:
I have just changed jobs and was wondering should I keep my 401 (k) account separate from last job and new job? Or convert it to IRA.?

Any advice appreciated.

Regards,
Energy

Expense ratio of under 1% for Target fund is pretty low. I guess this should be a good start rather than waiting on making a decision.

I am selling a house for about $50k loss vs the principal amount due to foreclosures, etc. and moving to new community.Is there option on the tax return filing to take this as a loss? I had paid 20% down when I bought the house in 2006 and have equity of about $20k built in the house.

Hi: Has anyone invested in Everbank's Metal Select Unallocated Account? Typically, I just buy gold bar 32 oz and keep it in the locker. Also, I may never want to sell this gold bars as it is not worth more than $10K in todays value. If I have additional $10K to invest with gold/precious metals, shou...

I always wondered why the loan rates for used cars higher than new cars. Can someone explain me this? This is never the case when we are buying a new or used home.

Regards,
energy 2025

If u intent to stay for more than 10 yr you should go for fixed 30 yr option as you take the uncertainty out of the equation and accordingly plan your other investments. I opted for ARM myself as I intend to sell the house within 5 years.

Good luck,
Energy2025