Bogleheads.org

You might not need all that stuff, but someone who's very dedicated to weightlifting would find that room awesome. I chuckle when I see all the hype about '7 minute workouts' to great health on NYT or other big media. I'm a serious triathlete and have spent a lot of time at all levels trying out wha...

Interestingly, as much as I enjoy hearing about everyone's frugal tactics, at least in my experience, there is one thing that generally trumps all other factors, almost without question. Where you live. You can be a prodigious spender, in fact, profligate and wasteful in terms of indulgences, and st...

I have a $150 pair of Maui Jims. They are phenomenal. Used to buy cheap sunglasses and break or lose them. Have had my MJ's for 5 years now and keep them in their case when not wearing, not a scratch on them. Wore them on my rim-to-rim Grand Canyon hike, also trek to top of Mt Kilimanjaro. Some wic...

A large part of the price differential between the hi-end ($150+) and lower but not bargain-bin end (<$40) is exclusivity and fashion appeal. No different with clothing, where you can pay $400+ for a pair of designer jeans that has the exact same material as a $60 pair of jeans, and which lasts no l...

I did not say the cheapest. Yes a regular bike is cheaper but a electric bike is "faster". Please read the article. The guys main point is the time cost of money. In some cases the car is slightly faster than a bike in actual drive time. BUT if you add back in the time that you have to sp...

As a counterpoint to the above, comment, in COLLEGE (not talking about pre-college) I would actually recommend someone with at least a significant chance of applying to medical school or the allied fields to strongly consider premed or at least be very aware of the premedical requirements for whatev...

Not sure if this link will work, but there was a good article re: cybercrime and it's threats in the New Yorker this week. Eye opening as to how easy and how much damage hackers can do now, even with top security protections online and activated. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/05/20/130520f...

Now if you guys really did your homework you would all see that a " electric bike " is the fastest way to get to work and the cheapest..... See here. http://www.evworld.com/urban.cfm?newsid=38 Bill Actually, a regular bike is the cheapest. Might not be the fastest, but if you're in good s...

Well, since no one mention this as option, let me give it a spin. My main TV is actually a projector while my wife is happy with her plasma which you can get from Costco for under $800, 3D at 55". With a projector, one can sell and upgrade w/o breaking the bank. Would never dream off selling a...

Interestingly, despite being an avid reader, and fan of books in general, both academic and fiction/entertainment, I honestly can't name any books that have changed my life. I grew up hearing so much about how reading the classics would deepen your emotional depth, teach you about people/relationsh...

Interestingly, despite being an avid reader, and fan of books in general, both academic and fiction/entertainment, I honestly can't name any books that have changed my life. I grew up hearing so much about how reading the classics would deepen your emotional depth, teach you about people/relationshi...

We have 2 different deductibles for in-plan and out-of-plan. This is a function of the HDHP really and not a function of the HSA, right? So the out-of-plan expense will apply to the out-of-plan deductible. Ok - that makes sense. So do you still submit all your out of network receipts to your insura...

A family member of mine just paid an out-of-network HSA bill out of pocket by accident. I'm still in the process on figuring out if our HSA allows or disallows this sort of out-of-network expense to count toward the deductible, but curious while I'm waiting to hear back from my insurance, what some ...

Here is the list of large merit awards offered by colleges "automatically" for national merit standings. The 2nd half of the list is for somewhat lesser awards and some that are competitive. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/15297679-post727.html Our daughter applied to one - the Barret...

Getting a National Merit Scholarship can be helpful at some schools or if you work for some corporations. Being a finalist even without getting a scholarship should get her offers from colleges, including some quite good ones, at least it did in my day. Funny - I remember when I was a finalist, say...

As some of the math above, it would be difficult to justify ditching a brand new but less efficient car for mileage alone. However, if the car you're looking to let go if is older, and/or about to be replaced in the near future, you can't neglect the cost or convenience of having a newer, more relia...

Not sure how a 'snipe' outperforms a high final bid price. IN that example above, if you entered as your final bid price $103, the bidding might START at $25, but would only go to $100 as other people jump in. If the sniper jumps in at $100 in the final seconds, it'll automatically ratchet the price...

Just to be clear as well - the payouts for long-term disability are surprisingly high, in terms of both both dollars paid out and in terms of % likelihood you'll need to have the insurance kick in. Most stats when I was purchasing not long ago was over a 30% chance you'd be disabled for 3+months to ...

ALthough you do have to consider that it's highly unlikely that a disability policy for a doctor will pay out for that ankle injury long-term. Most MDs can get by just fine with a complete ankle replacement to do their job amply, which is the main criteria at which point disability pays in. You'd h...

FWIW, I had very few funds to work with as a resident, and ended up not getting the disability insurance then because I simply couldn't afford it. I got it as a new attending 2 years after graduating, and it was MUCH, MUCH more affordable with the increase in income that comes with becoming an atte...

Fair enough. But should I get it right this second or can I afford to wait a year? I don't know-- is the unexpected car crash or degenerative disease you don't expect going to happen in six months, a year, three years or never? You keep asking the question and you keep getting the same answer-- do ...

I'm still relatively young, but I feel I've learned my Bogle philosophy and lessons well. I dont' care one bit about whether the market's up a lot, a little, or not at all anymore, and haven't cared for years. Ok, I cared slightly when the market tanked recently, but I cured myself of that quickly b...

FWIW, I had very few funds to work with as a resident, and ended up not getting the disability insurance then because I simply couldn't afford it. I got it as a new attending 2 years after graduating, and it was MUCH, MUCH more affordable with the increase in income that comes with becoming an atten...

I actually see a good number of these (pretty much on a daily basis, usually multiple times per day) here in Norcal near where Tesla is headquartered. Yes, they're priced at luxury car zone, but they're not insanely priced for what they are. They don't cost much more than the Porsches that might hav...

My biggest complaint was the amount of self-isolation involved in music. Top level players routinely require 2-4 hours of solo practice, every day, for most of their life, when you should be forming social bonds and experiencing other parts of life. Then again, no sacrifice, no glory - same for mos...

FWIW, I took tons of very pricey classical music lessons growing up, competed at the highest levels including music observatory training, and because I knew I wasn't going to be a professional in the field (ever), I view it as largely a big waste of money and effort that consumed a disproportionate ...

The local secret file does not completely solve the problem, but it is an excellent way of adding double authentication to your security. There is no doubt that if activated it substantially increases your chances of being hacked. It adds an entire layer of added security to the password, in differe...

Just an update for everyone that may be following this thread. Microsoft told me you have to have a copy of Windows 8 pro from a distributor to downgrade to 7. I called Dell and they want $99 to upgrade to Pro. I messed around with 8 more and found I can get the "jewels" on the side to po...

I have tried many times to get someone to explain why passwords should be changed. If there's a reason nobody's ever told me what it is. The reason is: it sounds like it my be a good idea to improve IT security. In reality, it's not, but "doing something" makes it look like the IT dept is...

Even safer and better than the recommendation from the comic strip above is to just use Keepass for all things financial or requiring security, and max out all the password generation complexity for the given website. Yes, you're then tied to Keepass to logon to the website, but that's likely good ...

While the idea of saving is always worth it and the books mentioned sound solid, the current idea of 'millionaire' isn't anything that special anymore. I looked up an inflation calculator, and 1mill today was only worth 50% of that in 1990, and 1/3rd o fthat in 1980 by US inflation alone. For someon...

As easy as that quiz was, it's a tragic shame that I'll wager that over 95% of college graduates about to deal with these very issues in their first year of employment, would do terribly on this examination because it's never covered anywhere in typical curricula in high schools or colleges despite ...

Scan'em all. To make it as painless as possible: Get a sheetfeed scanner (not flatbed) scanner like the Fujitsu Scansnap. Well worth it. Tape multiple receipts onto one sheet of white paper. Scan the whole sheet. If you want to be able to search them, set the "OCR" feature on, and let it p...

Even safer and better than the recommendation from the comic strip above is to just use Keepass for all things financial or requiring security, and max out all the password generation complexity for the given website. Yes, you're then tied to Keepass to logon to the website, but that's likely good p...

Just an update for everyone that may be following this thread. Microsoft told me you have to have a copy of Windows 8 pro from a distributor to downgrade to 7. I called Dell and they want $99 to upgrade to Pro. I messed around with 8 more and found I can get the "jewels" on the side to po...

I'm a pretty serious endurance athlete, so my go-to indispensables which are NOT cheap: - Treadmill (Sole F80) - Bike Trainer (makes your bike into a stationary bike) - Computer/DVD setups for each And for strength, even though I used to be a power type lifter in my youth, I'm now more for maintenan...

I live in California and the local market does not seem rational. As someone who does not have a need to own a house yet, I've decided to wait the market out on this one and keep my savings invested in the stock market which has higher expected returns. Worst case I'm wrong and I'll have to buy a m...

Case-Shiller index does show Phoenix up about 25% from Jan 2012-Jan 2013, but it's still take about another 80% increase to get back to the 2006 peak :shock: .- Yeah, you can't look solely at the low point in a market like Phoenix's (or Las Vegas or Florida). Home prices plummeted so much in some m...

The whole marriage factor seems to end up into the luck category with respect to personal finance. No matter how wisely you choose a partner, the future is very unpredictable....I guess this is why I never understood the concept of marrying for money. Of course, there are exceptions. BFG I'm not ad...

Holding the course with investments even through the latest recession. I have more than a few friends who briefly looked like geniuses when they pulled ALL their investments out of the market and avoided losing more than 10% of their stock value - and then promptly looked not so smart when the marke...

Surprised no one has mentioned this yet. I forgot which book I read, but there was a book that showed a chart of salaries for top 10 hedge fund managers, top surgeons, top ceos, and top lawyers. If you want big money, working your way to become a hedge fund manager is the way to do it. Consider thi...

The plateau is a lot closer to $100k, actually in terms of salary. The Silicon Valley rich programmers don't get there because of salary. They get there through stocks and stock options and getting in on ground floor. Software engineers are always being hunted for, but dont' get the crazy notion tha...

I'll echo the importance of not chasing income when finding a job, but that usually does work itself out on its own in college and after. I will chime in from direct observation of my friends/peers, from ivy league college and postgrads what has seemed to played out in general: - Investment banking ...

Actually, the single biggest way to save on food costs is to cut out eating out. Even compared to fast food, it's almost always cheaper to cook your own food - even if you're not skimping on grocery quality. $7-8 for fast food per person is pretty typical nowadays, and $10-$20 for a low-end sitdown ...

I think a lot of folks here are not fairly comparing your bills to theirs - you are including more that just consumable groceries in your bill, and are including household items. Depending on what those household items are, they can really inflate your grocery bill so it looks abnormally large compa...

Um. SUPPLY AND DEMAND? There's a huge supply of houses in metro Phoenix as the area was badly affected by the housing crisis and many people are underwater on their homes. I don't see how demand can ever surpass supply in this market, especially with the weak economy and stagnant income. There are ...

For what it's worth though, even though I rarely spend $100 for two on dinner despite being able to readily afford it, I will say that in my experience with those types of dinners compared with the lesser restaurants, I would much rather spend that amount and more for a lovely quality dinner than no...

Actually, $100 dinner for food alone for a single person is a very steep price - even many top restaurants rarely charge $100 for food alone (the Michelin 1 & 2 stars around here are typically $50 per entree and $20 per appetizer and $20 for dessert.) The wine is what puts it well over the top. ...

REI. Have never had a problem with them, ever. Things they did without even blinking: - REturned a backpack with an infant carrier that was only used once (didn't fit well) a year after I bought it. I felt sheepish bringin it back but they accepted it no questions asked (I had the receipt.) - Return...

Yes, carbon is very structurally sound and efficient but I'm talking mostly about low velocity impact damage (LVID) from falling over, transporting on multi-bike bike racks, etc. The first thing damaged is the carbon fibers on the back-side of impact (aka the inside) which is not visible. The outsi...