Bogleheads.org

Yes an investment a Hemi Cuda would have to be now days. I probably wouldn't drive one on the road given the price they command. There was a fellow down the road from me growing up (in a small college town) who had a GT40 in Gulf-livery blue. The owner drove it regularly, once in a while one of us ...

Has anyone considered a lab or man made diamond? We are. I can afford the stone she wants in a mined diamond but that makes no sense (to me) other than her satisfaction and enjoyment and I can think of lots of more sensible luxuries that we don't indulge in. I think it is important to her to get a ...

This is simplistic, but say that you had an extra $350k and no house. Would you buy one to rent out before moving overseas? It's not truly as simple as this because there are costs to home acquisition and sale. You presumably know the house well, have a good idea of its condition and the neighborhoo...

I can't drink alcohol, not more than a small sip. I get a horrible allergic reaction of some sort: hives, stomach upset, and extreme jitteriness - worse than having had a pot of coffee. While I enjoy a tiny sip of wine here and there or cooking with alcoholic drinks (as long as it's all cooked off) ...

Barefootgirl wrote:Some things get better with age. The best part is giving little weight to external opinion.

This is absolutely true - though I suppose I am a little more crass in how I phrase it. It's been one of my favorite parts of maturing as a person.

I'm not sure I need to 'prove' anything about life insurance - we now have an existing mortgage and in the worst case scenario the surviving spouse would need the proceeds to pay off the debt. Why? Normally the approach used to look at life insurance needs in the event of a spouse passing is income...

otbricki wrote:$0. My wife thinks engagement rings are a heteronormative paternalistic anachronism.

Same (almost the same wording!).

Our actual wedding bands were both identical, plain white gold. Ostentatious wasn't really our style.

heat pump dryers (electric) would be even more efficient and so the advantage is eroded. I think Siemens is quoting 1.4 kwhr for a dry v. 2.4 for a conventional dryer. They are also much more complex. A gas dryer is an extremely simple device, by comparison, and both the cost of construction and ex...

That's fairly amazing. Are gas dryers uncommon there? Very uncommon. I have heard they can be slow. Odd. In my experience they are not only significantly faster, but far cheaper to run. You may be missing out. :) Electric dryers in the USA are usually 240V appliances and I do not believe they are s...

Whether it beats paying rent depends entirely on the relative costs of renting a home and buying a home. Pretty much, and that all depends on local factors. I just renewed my lease for another year. My rent has been flat in nominal dollars for 7 years now, and with the house we are in being valued ...

d) the adult child has been estranged from the parent for decades and isn't even aware the parent is in a facility (and it doesn't even matter if there was a very valid reason for the estrangement due to behavior of the parent). I worry slightly about this situation, myself. My parents are spendthr...

Valuethinker wrote:* 15% of my household electricity consumption is the dryer, who knew?

That's fairly amazing. Are gas dryers uncommon there?

On a woodworking forum, the administrator just used a list downloaded from somewhere which included the word "birch" in the naughty list. It was an interesting display of word manipulations whenever anyone wanted to talk about a project involving birch wood. Yes, something similar happene...

I'd like to add something here. If this savings is ultimately intended for retirement or close to it, you are not currently maximizing tax-advantaged space, and the tax-advantaged space you have available does not have ridiculously high fees - consider increasing your contributions to "max out&...

In that bracket, you are likely doing considerable savings outside of retirement accounts. If you think it is likely that you will retire "early", there is a very real possibility of drawing down your taxable accounts for living expenses while simultaneously doing Roth conversions in your ...

Instead sign up for CSP for the entire stay/vacation, get bonus 40K (assuming you don't have this card already), and get $400 cash back (probably worse use of these points), or transfer to hotel loyalty programs/airlines FF programs. And then, if you can't justify the annual fee, you can ask Chase ...

I am a very big fan of ABF's "U-Pack" service. Basically, they drive up to your house and drop off a semi-trailer (one small enough to leave parked in most jurisdictions). You then take however much time you need to in order to load it - we did much of our packing for our last interstate m...

I recognized Grabiner from some discussions on Usenet many, many years ago. His presence here was a significant factor in getting me to finally sign up for an account and start posting. "We are sorry, but the number you have dialed is imaginary. Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and try again...

1. On auto insurance, we're being told that if we're not married, both cars can be on one policy (i.e., multi-car discount) only if each car is jointly titled in both our names. We're trying to avoid this because (i) retitling would eat into our annual gift tax exclusions with one another, (ii) a f...

This, again?

What the heck. About 1/4 of my income goes to taxes. Another 1/4 goes to my ex, and I live on about 1/4 and save about 1/4 (depends on how you calculate it). All things considered I think that's not too bad. I don't really try to calculate it any more finely than that.

On the one hand, I'm somewhat cynical about the government really raising tax rates by the time I retire or adding additional fees to 401k's. But on the other hand, I know mathematically I should contribute everything pre-tax if my income stays similar and the lower tax brackets stay similar.... Ar...

Tax Rate : 25% Federal, 8% State ... Contributions 7% to Roth 401k (I am considering making this 10% to standard 401k instead... can't decide if I trust the gov that much over the next 30 years) 10% company match to 401k $5,500 yearly to Roth IRA (also maxing an HSA) I agree with the other posters ...

Some large employers have jobs with no equivalent at other companies. If they have a bad 401K plan, the employee is usually stuck. Honestly, if there is no equivalent at other employers for the work that you currently do (or are best suited to doing) then a bad 401K plan is probably the least of yo...

Diamonds are more easily carried when you flee the Nazis to Switzerland. Gold is darn heavy. Wonder how the price compares to, say, saffron. Not even close. An (avoirdupois) ounce of high-quality Sargol goes for under $100. The key is to avoid buying tiny fancy 1 gram jars in boutique sections of g...

May I ask what you were learning to drive? As I understand it snub braking is used on trucks with pneumatic brakes. The rational is that it requires a higher brake force than continuous braking, and this ensures that all the brakes share the work, whereas at low force only a few (or one) of the bra...

Probably cheaper to replace brakes and pads than fix a broken transmission. But fixing a transmission is a lot cheaper than dealing with the results of a high speed crash due to overheated brakes failing while going down a long grade. It's worth noting that regardless of whatever braking force you ...

brianbooth wrote:And just for the record, I'm not a gold bug or a gun-and-bunker type. I'm just an economist.

Butter instead of bunkers, then?

Capital gains on a 401(k) or IRA are also not taxed. If you are in a 25% bracket, the IRS owns 25% of your 401(k) or IRA and the rest is tax-free; if you die and your heirs are in the same tax bracket, they get the same portion. Can you send a web page that explains that capital gains on an inherit...

Ask yourself what your priorities are. Do you want pots and pans that gleam, or do you want functionality? If you care about functionality over appearance, consider commercial cookware - many pots without an outer stainless steel jacket will work just as well (or better, even) at a fraction of the p...

We're going to need a bigger boat.

I have a 120v electric impact wrench, rated at 240 ft. lbs. of torque. It's the usual imported tool sold at tool discounters (mine is from harborfreight.) It can't break even modestly torqued lug nuts loose, although it does make a lot of noise trying. So I'd be careful to test any 12v impact wrenc...

Very true, Skiffy. I am still paying child support from my divorce, and I am female. It is not always the man who pays Same. I split custody evenly with my ex, and as I am the higher earner I pay about 25% of my gross in child support. While this surprises some people, it makes sense to me on some ...

Everything mentioned here is great - our two kids, ages 10 and 12, love taking daytrips into SF. The exploratorium is truly a don't miss. Absolutely agreed. Also consider the Lawrence Hall of Science across the bay if you go that direction, it's another wonderful interactive science-y place. If you...

Well, as a person who sometimes hires in technology ... I would say go ahead and apply. They'll have time to look at your resume and see your experience. If they think you aren't a fit, they won't interview you in the first place. If they are impressed otherwise, they will bring you in and you shou...

Honestly - you can afford it, I won't argue that point. However, going from a Camry to a Porsche is a bit of a change. If you enjoy driving as I do, you may find that a performance driving class or two will help you to hone your skills in a controlled environment. Plus, I remember it being a heck of...

Mine's over 20% for state+federal / gross, comfortably. Factoring in payroll taxes, almost 25%. This is after maxing out my 401k, taking advantage of FSAs, etc.

AMT hits reasonably well-earning single parents very hard.

What kind of repairs are they? If they're items like rubber hoses, belts, filters, brakes, bearings...it's not uncommon for auto maintenance costs to rise up some when "wear items" get taken care of. You may find that maintenance costs will decrease again after most of these have been chan...

Regarding travel, one thing I've learned (and am still struggling to implement) is that you don't have to get on a plane and go somewhere different to have a "foreign" experience, especially if you live in a good sized city in America. Learning to talk to strangers, explore unfamiliar ven...

Since the funds are not used to improve the house, there may be limits on the amount that is deductible. I haven't looked at this in a long time but you might want to look at Pub 936 (Section II) to make sure you don't run up against the limit in the case of refinancing where the funds do not go in...

Appreciate, I mean really appreciate that you are young and in your prime. I kinda thought I was getting old when I didn't even hit my peak till 41. It's funny. I'm in my late 30s now, with teenaged children - I don't know how people who have them later manage it. I feel like they wring every bit o...

Renting, about 14%. I hope to buy in the next year or two and intend to keep my mortgage+taxes+insurance+projected maintenance at the same figure. I have less disposable income than this figure would indicate due to legal obligations, so it's important to me not to overspend on housing.

I've been in lots of forums over the years back to the network news days, and this forum ranks up there with the most civil and informative forums I have ever particpated in. As a fellow participant in Usenet and a survivor of the September that never ended, I can think of no more ironic thing to s...

As I mentioned in another post, I was once the beneficiary of a life insurance policy from someone who had no other assets, so I always saw it as a necessary part of one's estate, which creditors can't touch. I honestly never thought that one should forgo life insurance given a large enough estate ...

If you will stay in a house long-term and have good reserves, the financials seem good. I'm considering buying and right now I'm paying twice what you are in rent for a house that would sell for four times as much...so they're much less favorable here. Contrary to what you might think, renting is ve...

Owning a 2 family home is no picnic - if the renter doesn't pay, your on the hook for the mortgage payment, utilities, insurance (make sure you get plenty of it in coverage including an umbrella), taxes. Does the utility part vary some by region? I've rented for most of my adult life and utilities ...

ryuns wrote:80 posts and I don't believe I've seen Tapatio mentioned once.

Hey!

interplanetjanet wrote:What, no love for Salsa Valentina, Tapatio or Bufalo?

I like Tapatio, it's got a good clean heat that is well rounded.

$550 a month? I just had the furnace repaired ($800) and the garage door repaired ($280) yesterday. I can't imagine $500 a month goes very far when there is a house to maintain. That would be one of my biggest concerns as well. Houses are, fundamentally, boxes that sit out in the rain and slowly de...

Thanks, Livesoft. All my deductions, except state sales tax, can be shifted from one year to another. Bunching could put me in a higher tax bracket in the off years, though. I'm going to check on whether Turbo Tax has some kind of "2013 Taxes Estimator" so I can play with it. It's importa...

A more prescient attachment would be the The Car of Year Award dated 2013. The MT Car of the Year Award is hardly a guarantee of success: witness the Corvair, Vega, and Renault Alliance. To be fair, the Corvair was hardly a failure - sales stayed over 200,000 units for the first six years of produc...

My tape measure has come in immensely handy every time I'm at a store looking for a specifically sized object, which was quite frequently this year when I was trying to find "accessible" items for a family member. It's funny - maybe I'm weird, but once I stopped growing I measured easily ...