Search found 626 matches

by kazper
Fri Feb 04, 2022 8:34 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Cash out refi, HELOC, or something else to tap equity
Replies: 3
Views: 404

Re: Cash out refi, HELOC, or something else to tap equity

Code: Select all

Sell your current house.
If you still don't have enough for a 20% down payment, rent in the new location until you can afford a house.
If we sold our current house we'd definitely be able to reach the 20% threshold. It would just be a matter of timing.
by kazper
Fri Feb 04, 2022 7:06 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Cash out refi, HELOC, or something else to tap equity
Replies: 3
Views: 404

Cash out refi, HELOC, or something else to tap equity

Morning Bogleheads, I've been away from the forum for some time while keeping true to most of the Boglehead philosophies. TL;DR Considering moving to another state. Wondering best way to increase money for down payment on a new house to remove PMI and looking for recommendations on options. Willing to suffer through PMI if options are too complicated or it is the best choice. Situation A family member is in the final stages of a terminal illness. We are considering moving states to be closer to help out with care and support during and after. We'd stay there after the inevitable for the long term unless things change drastically for my work, which is highly unlikely but not out of the question. Financials 35k in savings 50k down payment, al...
by kazper
Fri Apr 05, 2019 6:30 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Customer Service with Vanguard
Replies: 386
Views: 39973

Vanguard’s subpar customer service strikes again

[Thread merged into here, see below. --admin LadyGeek] Vanguard royally messed up on what should have been a simple rcharecterization. I submitted paperwork to have it done. A month later we receive a call saying the matter is best handled over the phone. We call and walk through the rechacterization with the agent. At this point I think everything is all set. A week later the transaction hits and it is for more than the amount and it is a conversion instead of a recharacterization. We call again to square things up and are told 1. A recharacterization happened as it was supposed to earlier, so why we receive an email/call saying it needed to be handled over the phone is beyond me and 2. They cannot undo the conversion because of the new t...
by kazper
Thu Mar 28, 2019 2:40 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Recharacterize from traditional to roth
Replies: 3
Views: 325

Re: Recharacterize from traditional to roth

Nope. I was waiting to have this all figured out.

As a related aside, I found an IRS source that says pretty much the same thing: https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/ir ... tributions
by kazper
Thu Mar 28, 2019 1:36 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Recharacterize from traditional to roth
Replies: 3
Views: 325

Recharacterize from traditional to roth

Long time board member, but I've been absent for a few years all the while doing the Boglehead approach. I've steadily been putting in the max for my wife's traditional IRA because her work didn't offer any sort of retirement savings option. In 2018 they decided to start one mid year. By that point, I'd already contributed some to her IRA. I stopped contributions to the regular IRA and put all of the remaining contributions into her roth. Unless I want nondeductible contributions (forget the exact term), I need to recharacterize the 2018 contributions from the traditional to the roth. From my understanding, I'd need to pay taxes on the amount that was originally put into the traditional IRA but is now being moved to the roth. I haven't file...
by kazper
Fri Jun 01, 2018 11:17 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Instant pot pressure cooker
Replies: 50
Views: 8756

Re: Instant pot pressure cooker

I'll post my usual warning. They are great when they work (my wife loves hers), but can be quite dangerous if they malfunction. They are supposed to lock when pressurizing and remain sealed until it has fully depressurized. One day my wife was making bone broth in our instant pot. I was upstairs when I heard my 6 year old saying mommy needed help. I ran downstairs (thinking it was something really serious) to discover my wife and kitchen covered completely in steaming hot bone broth. My wife's arm was extremely red/burnt and peeled for weeks later. Apparently she opened it while it was still depressurizing. She had it connected to her phone and it either malfunctioned or said it was ready (I forget which). We later contacted the company who...
by kazper
Fri Jun 01, 2018 11:06 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cheapest ways to watch NBA playoffs
Replies: 37
Views: 4177

Re: Cheapest ways to watch NBA playoffs

Loik098 wrote: Sun May 27, 2018 5:51 pm I listen to it on the radio via my laptop.

Doing so brings back fond memories of listening to sports programming on the radio with my Dad when I was a kid. Also allows me to be productive at the same time (TV does not).


You could do this, or you could go to a restaurant/bar with TVs and order a coke with 10 refills.
Your last line made me laugh. I could so totally picture myself doing this, completely annoying the bartender.
by kazper
Fri Jun 01, 2018 11:03 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best Advice You Never Took
Replies: 100
Views: 17721

Re: Best Advice You Never Took

Probably to invest early.

I'm only mid-30s now so I didn't wait too long, but I could have started putting more money away for retirement when I started my first serious job nearly a decade ago. My balance would look quite a bit different than it does now if I did...
by kazper
Fri Jun 01, 2018 10:59 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Another Car Keep/Buy Question
Replies: 22
Views: 2595

Re: Another Car Keep/Buy Question

Thought I would update. So turns out I am $4k underwater. Carvana will give me $26,200 for my car and if I trade it, I at least don't pay taxes. They have a 2015 Subaru Legacy w/ eyesight w/ 53k miles and are asking $16k. Out the door and delivered I would be at $19k versus the $30k I currently owe. Thoughts? Has anyone used Carvana before? Also I did try dealers and it's just a big waste of time. Many low ball the trade and the prices are more than Carvana. Totally agree about dealers trying to lowball you. I had a much older car in fair/good condition. Dealers wanted me to sell it for less than $500, which was utterly ridiculous. I could have scrapped it and made close to as much. I decided to sell it on Letgo and made an extra 1,200 for...
by kazper
Thu May 31, 2018 2:36 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Used car buying advice!
Replies: 41
Views: 11926

Re: Used car buying advice!

I would strongly advise against buying anything north of 150,000 miles. Simply asking for trouble, and then you might be stuck buying another used car a relatively short period later. If reliability is important, then lower mileage/model year is an important consideration (as are consumer reports/reviews). Either Money or Kiplinger's did a story about this recently. There's a whole generation of used cars missing from the market because people weren't buying all that many new cars during the recession which left a void in the market. Personally, I've bought a few used cars. I only get nervous when they approach anywhere near the 100k mark. As I'm sure you realize, it is typically a trade off between mileage/year vs price. I was in a similar...
by kazper
Tue May 01, 2018 10:58 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Selling a car: how to get paid?
Replies: 69
Views: 10418

Re: Selling a car: how to get paid?

I recently went through this and had many of the same concerns. Problem is, lots of banks aren't open on weekends, so verifying a cashier's check can be rather difficult :oops: I like the idea of meeting at the DMV. That was my plan until I found out that they don't do anything besides renewing licenses on weekends. Instead we met up at a tag and title shop to have everything done right then and there. Title was transferred, they had new temporary plates (Make sure to remove yours!), I had paperwork saying the car was sold as is for such and such amount, and we all walked away happy. Be careful about cancelling the car insurance. I couldn't do that until the tags were officially returned to the DMV. It COULD have led to some sort of fine if...
by kazper
Tue May 01, 2018 10:35 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need help/advice switching contributions from IRA to 401k (not a rollover)
Replies: 11
Views: 908

Re: Need help/advice switching contributions from IRA to 401k (not a rollover)

I'll probably go the returning route. I'll deposit that money directly into the new 401k and pay whatever little was previously earned on the contributions. I was mostly curious if there was a more direct approach, but it doesn't sound like it.

And yes, I'm aware that there's also income limits on IRA contributions for workers with no retirement plan. But it is somewhere in the neighborhood of 200k, which is more than we earn. Thanks for looking out though! :beer
by kazper
Tue May 01, 2018 8:52 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need help/advice switching contributions from IRA to 401k (not a rollover)
Replies: 11
Views: 908

Re: Need help/advice switching contributions from IRA to 401k (not a rollover)

RickBoglehead wrote: Tue May 01, 2018 8:45 am If you haven't made any contributions to the IRA for calendar year 2018, then there is no issue for this calendar year. Rolling over contributions already made, whether for past years or this doesn't change whether they were deductible or not.
We have made 2018 contributions to her IRA, which is where I think the problem lies. For past years, we deducted them as allowed, because she didn't have access to a workplace plan.

Retiredjg is right. I could contribute up to the max of 5500, it simply wouldn't be deductible because we are over the traditional IRA income limits. I think the limit is $121,000 or around that, which we exceed.
by kazper
Tue May 01, 2018 8:27 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need help/advice switching contributions from IRA to 401k (not a rollover)
Replies: 11
Views: 908

Re: Need help/advice switching contributions from IRA to 401k (not a rollover)

Background: Over the past few years, I've been maxing out a traditional IRA for my wife because they did not have any sort of retirement plan set up at her workplace. Well, we just found out that they are now starting one in the next month or so. My question: What is the easiest way to move the traditional IRA contributions I've made this year over to the 401K? Will I need to worry about money earned while it was invested in the traditional IRA? Or doesn't it matter because it will still be placed in a pre-tax 401k arrangement? Any help, guidance, or search terms for further reading you could provide would be appreciated. Thanks! Despite the title of your post, the easiest way to do this would be via rollover. This assumes 1) it is pre-tax...
by kazper
Tue May 01, 2018 7:15 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone else use AmazonSmile?
Replies: 31
Views: 4131

Re: Anyone else use AmazonSmile?

Definitely. My wife works for a small non-profit, which participates in the program. Probably amounts to under $100 per year total for everyone who uses it, if even that much. I'm sure the money we donate out of pocket exceeds the meager amount earned through the smile program.
by kazper
Tue May 01, 2018 7:04 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Amazon to raise Prime membership in US to $119 from $99
Replies: 145
Views: 16803

Re: Amazon to raise Prime membership in US to $119 from $99

Current prime member here, although I've been considering cancelling for years. I heard this announcement yesterday and went to my account to cancel. Turns out I will squeak by with the $100 fee, so they may get 1 more year out of me. Personally, I don't use the music streaming service much, if at all. I maybe watch 10 movies per year through prime, not enough to justify paying for the membership. The free shipping and 5% back is what is keeping me hooked, but after I found out Amazon dropped their price matching guarantee, even on their own purchases, I'm thinking about moving away from them. It is frustrating ordering an item, finding out the price dropped a day or two later, and not being able to do anything about it. Just beware, if you...
by kazper
Tue May 01, 2018 6:55 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need help/advice switching contributions from IRA to 401k (not a rollover)
Replies: 11
Views: 908

Need help/advice switching contributions from IRA to 401k (not a rollover)

Background: Over the past few years, I've been maxing out a traditional IRA for my wife because they did not have any sort of retirement plan set up at her workplace. Well, we just found out that they are now starting one in the next month or so.

My question: What is the easiest way to move the traditional IRA contributions I've made this year over to the 401K? Will I need to worry about money earned while it was invested in the traditional IRA? Or doesn't it matter because it will still be placed in a pre-tax 401k arrangement?

Any help, guidance, or search terms for further reading you could provide would be appreciated.

Thanks!
by kazper
Mon Dec 18, 2017 3:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Windfall and Personal Retirement
Replies: 18
Views: 4243

Re: Windfall and Personal Retirement

TomatoTomahto wrote: Mon Dec 18, 2017 11:23 am There's no embarrassment here.
Totally agree with this. I've asked some of the most basic questions you can, and have never once been made fun of or felt to look stupid. As long as you're willing to try to learn, board members will help!
by kazper
Mon Nov 13, 2017 2:21 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: HSA options
Replies: 7
Views: 1532

Re: HSA options

My first question would be, why do you think you need to invest the HSA money if it isn't a lot? Would it be better to wait? Are you absolutely sure you won't need that money for medical expenses in the short term- roughly 1-4 years?
by kazper
Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:57 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: GEHA HDHP & HSA Questions
Replies: 5
Views: 1135

Re: GEHA HDHP & HSA Questions

I have the GEHA HDHP. 2017 was my third year in it.

My HSA wasn't opened until mid-February. One way you can get around this is to open your own HSA somewhere else even if it will never be used. As luck would have it, we had some large expenses (emergency type things) the first January we made the switch that weren't reimbursable. Quite annoying, especially considering that I called the GEHA help line in November to try and figure out how things would go down at the beginning of the next year.
by kazper
Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Why pay cash for a car?
Replies: 250
Views: 41313

Re: Why pay cash for a car?

bgf wrote: Sun Nov 12, 2017 5:14 pm can you get rates that low on used cars?
Possibly, but it is more difficult to find. Pentagon federal credit union sometimes offers rates around 1.5 to 2%. We actually bought a car through their true car program @ .99%. Truthfully, we found a car and later noticed it was also listed on the Penfed true car site :)

And no, we're not paying it off faster than necessary due to the low rate- although I did strongly consider that possibility.
by kazper
Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:10 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: FEHB open season and Checkbook.org
Replies: 4
Views: 802

Re: FEHB open season and Checkbook.org

Worked for me. Today is the first day it is available. They even sent me a coupon, knocking the price down to $8. Best 8 dollars I'll spend all year!
by kazper
Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:09 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Septic tank - deal killer?
Replies: 47
Views: 6728

Re: Septic tank - deal killer?

I completely understand that concern. We went from living in apartments to owning a home with both a septic system and a well- double score!

It took some adjustment, but really there is not a huge difference. As long as everything is running smoothly, all you need is a periodic cleaning and inspection. Some companies charge one fee to do both- I think ours was between 400 and 500 when I had it done a few years ago. Fairly quick process and I appreciate knowing that everything works correctly.
by kazper
Mon Nov 06, 2017 2:38 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Having almost 90% of investments with Target Retirement account
Replies: 20
Views: 5582

Re: Having almost 90% of investments with Target Retirement account

Big fan of target retirement funds, especially for those who do not want to be as involved in their investing. It literally is the set it and forget it of investing if you can setup an automatic contribution. I recommended one to my sister, who has no investing acumen whatsoever.

I, however, prefer to make things complicated and do a 50-60% target retirement approach mixed with a few oddball index funds just to keep things interesting (and tilt how I want)
by kazper
Mon Nov 06, 2017 2:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Negotiating for a new car purchase
Replies: 86
Views: 13570

Re: Negotiating for a new car purchase

I whole heatedly agree on not giving out your phone number.

We were looking for a used car, but decided to stop in and check out some of the new offers. Big mistake. We visited 3 dealers, the first had the lowest total price. When we went to the 3rd place and told them about the lower offer, they insisted either we were mistaken (not so) or the other dealer made a calculation error. We walked out without buying from either place (bought used), but I had a message on my phone within an hour of us leaving. Plus another 3 the day after, 1 the next day, and for several days to follow. They weren't willing to work with us while we were there, but were more than willing to bug me after I left.
by kazper
Mon Nov 06, 2017 2:23 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Projector Setup in Basement
Replies: 24
Views: 4422

Re: Projector Setup in Basement

schutzk21 wrote: Mon Nov 06, 2017 2:04 pm Thank you all for the helpful responses! Definitely some great advice here. We decided we want to do the projector, but might start with a cheaper one as our budget isn't very big. Can anyone recommend a nice projector at around $450-500? I measured the throw distance we would probably be at and i was wrong when I said 8-10 feet. It is more like 12-13 feet. Is a short throw distance projector necessary?

I have a sound bar and a few speakers attached to that, so we will probably just use that.
That sounds very practical, using what you have. Sounds a lot like my situation. The best part about this approach, you can start off small and decide if it is really worth it to scale up.
by kazper
Mon Nov 06, 2017 2:18 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Car battery?
Replies: 75
Views: 9611

Re: Car battery?

mxs wrote: Thu Nov 02, 2017 9:04 am I happened to be in Walmart yesterday and noticed they had their brand EverStart Maxx with 5 year warranty (3 years free replacement, 2 years prorated) for just under $100. My Group Size 75 is listed as $88.

Compare that to AutoCraft Gold (Advance) with 3 year warranty at $125 - $160 (minus 20% discount, so $100 - $128) Group Size 75 = $138, or $110 after discount.

Walmart may be the place to go for this $$$ wise. I know for motor oil they are hard to beat.
I was considering this route too, but decided against it after reading all sorts of negative reviews for these batteries. I ended up at Pep Boys buying a Bosch with a 3 year warranty.
by kazper
Mon Nov 06, 2017 2:13 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Black Friday Deals/Holiday Gift Ideas
Replies: 57
Views: 10074

Re: Black Friday Deals/Holiday Gift Ideas

Instant pot. I resisted for too long because I'm wary of the " latest fad" . Also, I happen to love cooking, even complex and time consuming recipes, but the Instant Pot still changed my life. Just made vegetable soup. Took 10 minutes for the pot to get to full pressure and less than 8 minutes to make my standard vegetable soup recipe, compared to 2 hours on the cooktop. I simply set the time and walked away. Tasted the same, maybe better than cooking on the cook top Having noted that, there is a learning curve and it won't do "everything" - as some avid Instant pot supporters might claim. It will turn out to be just an unused appliance for some. ..depending on what they cook. I still make time-consuming pies or cakes f...
by kazper
Mon Nov 06, 2017 11:32 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to say goodbye to my last individual stock
Replies: 11
Views: 2058

Re: How to say goodbye to my last individual stock

Some actually prefer to keep things like these around as little reminders when doubt starts to set in. If you start thinking "why didn't I buy facebook, netflix, amazon, XXX when it was only $$$$". Then you'll take a look at that lone stock survivor and go, "oh yeah..."
by kazper
Mon Nov 06, 2017 9:44 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Replace or Repair Car and Replacement Options
Replies: 15
Views: 1985

Re: Replace or Repair Car and Replacement Options

I feel your pain. Coopers were my dream cars (thanks a lot, Italian job!). My parents bought me a used one as a graduation present for completing my master's. Everything was fine and dandy until we took it in for its first oil change- $3,000 in needed maintenance. It only had 30,000 miles on it. Plus, that didn't include about $7,000 that would come up in the next year or 2 depending on how much we drove it.

While the gesture was nice, we promptly returned the car and went with something not nearly as expensive to repair/maintain- on our dime.
by kazper
Mon Nov 06, 2017 9:37 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Projector Setup in Basement
Replies: 24
Views: 4422

Re: Projector Setup in Basement

I agree with others that it depends on your usage. If you think it is something that you'll use every day, spend a bit more. If it is something where you'll lose interest quickly, it isn't worth the added investment. I was in a similar situation about 2 years ago, although my budget was probably much smaller. I wanted it for a man cave and didn't want to spend some huge amount- it seriously can be a never ending money pit. I ended up going with a more low tech version- A 55 inch projector screen, surround sound pioneer stereo (already had), projector from amazon (nothing fancy, no 3-d or 1080 options, which raise the price upwards of 500, closer to 1,000), an xbox360, apple TV, and a blu ray/DVD player. I installed all of it myself, which g...
by kazper
Mon Nov 06, 2017 9:27 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: dishwasher recommendations
Replies: 54
Views: 6939

Re: dishwasher recommendations

I'd avoid LG at all costs. Our house came with all LG products (much to my dismay). The dishwasher gave us tons of trouble. We had a home warranty for several years, and had probably 3 different companies look at the dishwasher and try to replace parts. We kept saying it would be cheaper to replace it than replace most of the insides. No one listened and they easily spent the price of a new dishwasher.

Less than a year after the 3rd major repair it died. A mixed blessing. We went out and purchased a Kitchenaid. It runs circles around the LG!
by kazper
Fri Oct 27, 2017 10:23 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Fix or replace my vehicle
Replies: 33
Views: 2473

Re: Fix or replace my vehicle

It seems like the biggest expense would be the struts. Do you need all 4 replaced? I would guess so based on the amount. Replacing struts/shocks actually isn't all that difficult usually. If you're so inclined, you could learn how to do it relatively quickly and save a ton of money.

Still, given ALL of the other problems with the car, I think its time to put it out to pasture.
by kazper
Wed Oct 04, 2017 7:14 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Are you investing in Emerging Market small caps?
Replies: 25
Views: 3134

Re: Are you investing in Emerging Market small caps?

I've talked to a few money managers in Europe whilst building my AA and learning about finance. One of them suggests having a significant allocation in EM small caps (besides EM large caps) in her model portfolios - her motivation being that the sectors contribution in EM large and EM small are quite different (I checked the MSCI data and indeed there are e.g. much more financials in EM large). For her aggressive AA, she suggests having as much as 10% of the portfolio in a Small cap EM fund. It's the one managed by JP Morgan in case you want to have a look at her suggestion: https://mes-placements.fr/guides-outils/packs I am of course using Etfs and having an AA much closer to global market cap than the one suggested in the link, but I was...
by kazper
Wed Oct 04, 2017 7:05 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Health Savings Account recommendation
Replies: 22
Views: 4612

Re: Health Savings Account recommendation

I found a link a while back that provided a good overview of several options. I'll see if i can dig it up again.
I currently have hsa bank, no investments. They allow vanguard funds and charge around 3 per month for the account. The fee might be waived if you keep a minimum amount in the hsa account.
by kazper
Wed Oct 04, 2017 7:01 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: On the video games path - how to set it up with younger kids
Replies: 36
Views: 3782

Re: On the video games path - how to set it up with younger kids

This may sound strange, but video games sparked my interest in reading. Throughout middle/high school i hated reading. As i played more role playing type games, it required me to read more and improve my comprehension-otherwise you don't know what is going on. Now i read more, either playing games or just for fun.

Aside from that it does improve hand eye coordination and can improve puzzle solving abilities with the right games. I completely agree though that some games are complete time sucks with no real added benefit to the gamer.
by kazper
Fri Sep 01, 2017 12:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Ally or Capital One 360 online savings account?
Replies: 47
Views: 12803

Re: Ally or Capital One 360 online savings account?

I have been with Ally for around 5 years. Over that time, I've had maybe one "hiccup" which dealt with opening a new account for my wife. Something about paperwork being lost or something, but a quick call (seriously, they usually pick up within 2 minutes or fewer) and everything was resolved. They have great rates (over 1% for savings), easily reachable customer service- US based I believe, and free ATMs (they recently set a limit, I think). One of the big selling points for me was the ability to open a subaccount without having to deposit funds. That allows me to distribute money for various purposes (vacation, spending accounts, etc.) fairly easily without having to go somewhere and fill out a bunch of paperwork. If I had to fi...
by kazper
Sat Jul 22, 2017 7:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Debt: pay down student loan or car loan
Replies: 11
Views: 1561

Re: Debt: pay down student loan or car loan

JGoneRiding wrote:I might not pre pay either.

Do you have an ef of 3 months at least? Are you getting at least the match on a 401k? How about a roth? You should at least max a roth before paying down very low int rate loans.

If debt repayment is your goal I would leave the car completely alone and "just pay as agreed " put 100 to 200 extra a month towards the SL. and then max a roth and then consider extra towards sl
Close to 6 mo. Ef. 5% match at work (which I am currently earning). Not yet maxing out Roth.currently stashing away about 8% of salary for tsp/Roth tsp (+ 5% so roughly 13%). Used to be higher, but reduced to pay down wife's sl which was 4% variable and rising.
by kazper
Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:52 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Humid basement
Replies: 39
Views: 4490

Re: Humid basement

yolli71 wrote:Has anyone tried the DampRid Moisture Absorber?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/DampRid-64-o ... /100391308

My coworker swears by this stuff, so I've been thinking of getting a couple for my basement.
It does a little bit, but not enough to be noticeable in a big area like a basement. It does last a long time, but I can't really tell the difference after using them.
by kazper
Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:49 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Humid basement
Replies: 39
Views: 4490

Re: Humid basement

While a dehumidifier does indeed remove humidity, it also releases heat and raises the temperature in the room. I, too, have a basement that gets too humid and hot in the summer, partly from the gas furnace that kicks on to heat our water. I used a dehumidifier for a couple of years, but it made the basement worse in terms of temperature. Instead, I installed a heat pump water heater in the basement. Mine is a GE Hybrid, but there are other brands. It heats the water with a heat pump, pulling heat and humidity out of the basement while heating the water. I have mine set on "heat pump only", and have it circulate the hot water into the furnace hot water holding tank. Overall, it isn't the simplest system, and required buying the h...
by kazper
Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Debt: pay down student loan or car loan
Replies: 11
Views: 1561

Debt: pay down student loan or car loan

We just finished paying off 40k worth of my wife's student loans (yay!). That leaves some money available to start paying down our other remaining debt.

My student loan- about 7k at 3% fixed.

Car payments- 11k at 1%

Which would you start with?

On the one hand the student loan has a higher apr and is not forgiven in case of a bankruptcy. On the other, the car loan interest is not tax deductible, the loan is brand new, and has 36 months left for payoff.

Minimum payment on both is around $150 a month (300 total), so both will slowly decrease. I can put more towards one of them, probably between an extra 250-400 a month. Which would you pick and why?
by kazper
Wed Feb 01, 2017 7:52 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Amazon Smile: John C Bogle Center
Replies: 24
Views: 8032

Re: Amazon Smile: John C Bogle Center

Big fan of amazon smile, but I wish they gave more. My wife's work has an amazon smile account, they are a nonprofit helping people with disabilities. It probably adds a few dollars to their account, but not much.
by kazper
Wed Feb 01, 2017 7:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Free Tax USA Deluxe edition- worth it?
Replies: 6
Views: 4102

Re: Free Tax USA Deluxe edition- worth it?

I think everything is calculating correctly for me. There was a 1 difference with tax act, but I was a little more precise with taxhawk.

My big concern is with no cash donations. It allows for like 80 characters but only shows maybe 15 or fewer on the form. Is that something i,should worry about?
by kazper
Wed Feb 01, 2017 7:23 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: GEICO discount for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders
Replies: 23
Views: 30780

Re: GEICO discount for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders

slbnoob wrote:I told them I own it through Vanguard in a mutual fund (guess which one?). I got the 8% discount.
I did,this last night. Worked like a charm, although it wasn't 8%. Might be because I am a fed and already have other discounts in place. Still, less I have to pay.
by kazper
Wed Feb 01, 2017 7:18 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Student Loan Refinancing - Should I Accept?
Replies: 5
Views: 1627

Re: Student Loan Refinancing - Should I Accept?

Just to provide info,we refinanced with earnest. It was a very easy process, and many of their customer service reps went out of the way to help me with questions. They even paid for a nice meal after we signed the loan, which I thought was a nice (unexpected) perk.

Their payment processing website needs a lot of work. It often bogs down for no reason and causes my browser to nearly close down due to errors. It takes much longer than it should to do simple things like select a payment date. And you can only setup 1 extra payment at a time. In order to cancel, you need to contact customer service. They are pretty quick to respond though.

[OT comment removed by admin LadyGeek]
by kazper
Sun Jan 29, 2017 9:32 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Free Tax USA Deluxe edition- worth it?
Replies: 6
Views: 4102

Free Tax USA Deluxe edition- worth it?

I've read through a few posts and people generally tend to be in favor of the free tax USA software. I'm a recent convert after discovering that TaxAct wanted to charge roughly $40, 25 of which is state.

Has anyone purchased the deluxe edition of free tax usa? Is it worth it- $7? A part of me wants to buy it for peace of mind in case of an audit (although I realize their "assistance" will be limited), but the other part thinks it might be a waste because the only benefits listed are priority support (not likely to use), free amended returns (not likely to use), and audit assistance (hopefully not going to use).
by kazper
Mon Jul 25, 2016 11:45 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What kind of apartment can $1k get you in your city?
Replies: 80
Views: 12987

Re: What kind of apartment can $1k get you in your city?

A topic near and dear to my hear *sigh*

Where I went to college, we rented a nice one bedroom apartment with washer and dryer and about 900 sq ft for under 500 in the rural midwest.

When we moved to the DC area, we gained about 200 sq ft, but it cost 1100 more per month. :oops: Really makes me miss the midwest...
by kazper
Mon Jul 25, 2016 11:09 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best full featured online checking?
Replies: 40
Views: 7717

Re: Best full featured online checking?

It also seems somewhat mid tier...not sure how good customer support is.
I can say that I've only had good experiences the few times I had to call. I'm usually connected to a US rep within a minute, sometimes less. Can't beat that! :beer

Most of the negative reviews I've read about Ally have to do with the waiting period to access funds. It does have somewhat of a lag time, which can be a pain when you REALLY need the money. I usually allow 3 or 4 business days for a transaction to go through (transferring to/from an external account), unless it is internal to Ally, then it takes a matter of seconds.

I've been with Ally for at least 3 years, probably closer to 5. So far, no regrets!
by kazper
Fri Apr 29, 2016 7:04 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: [What TV Show Have You Recently Watched?]
Replies: 5973
Views: 689859

Re: Netflix, Your Current Favorite Show

SpringMan wrote:I can recommend "The Guardian" there are 3 seasons, 22 episodes per season, on Amazon free with Prime. It is about lawyers, almost as good as "The Good Wife" my favorite lawyer show.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285370/
If you like the guardian check out the mentalist. Not available for streaming, but maybe through your library. Stars the same guy. He is an ex "mind reader" after his wife and son are murdered. He is super smart and uses his skills to help the detectives solve crimes and track down the person who killed his family
by kazper
Fri Apr 29, 2016 6:50 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Shipping a small SUV from CA to GA
Replies: 9
Views: 1405

Re: Shipping a small SUV from CA to GA

I used a car transport service to send one from va to mi.the driver was amazingly fast. He picked up the car about 9 or 10 pm one day and had it there the very next day! Wish I could find their info for you, but it was probably lost a while ago.