Bogleheads.org

Life is too short. We all know folks who worked, waiting like hell for retirement and then, as soon as they were retired, they got cancer and died. Life isn't worth being miserable, not for any amount of time. I worked in a high stress job a while back, but I didnt' make nearly as much as you do. I ...

I don't have a lot to add, but will say congrats on the twins...we just had twins a few months ago.

Jack, Thanks for fighting for the little guy. Folks like you make the world a better place. I can't imagine how many lives you have touched as a result of your leadership, but wow, what a legacy :sharebeer . I know that you have touched my life, the life of my wife and our 4 children and for that I ...

Heck yea, it's an awesome gift! Original, thoughfful, well-intentioned and GENEROUS! I think most people receiving the gift might rather have cash on hand, but the novelty of that gift adds to it's attraction. Hell, nobody is gonna say "oh gosh, this is nice, but I wish I had cash instead"...

I'm still a few weeks away from planting any veggies, as we have late may frosts frequently. But I'll be putting in 3 more varieties of strawberries, as well as all my new fruit frees when the arrive next week. I do have a cover crop of winter rye and clover that is growing nicely though until I dec...

I bought an ariens 3 years ago, looks to be the same one in the link provided. It has worked well, no issues. We moved last year and now, instead of having a 1/2-3/4 acre lawn, I have a full 2 acres. With the ariens, I was spending 3 hrs/week mowing....waayyy to much time sitting on a mower for me. ...

I've found them to be a bit over priced. What I do is get quotes from our local ford dealership, then get prices off of Tirerack.com, which are always quite a bit lower (not counting shipping) and then go have my ford dealership match the price. Usually there is a rebate to boot, so I save quite a b...

I'm in a zone 6 in Montana (yes, Montana has a small banana belt believe it or not :D ). I've got a big garden/orchard area and this year I'm running a high fence, 7' tall woven wire, around the entire perimeter, which is 150' x 60'. We have a big spot for vegetables, and my wife manages that end of...

Save what you can, when you can, even if it seems like it is just a little. Over time, those little bits add up to a lotta bits. At 25 we saved $200/month into Roths, that was a lot of money at the time, but felt like a drop in the bucket in the big scheme of things. We easily could have spent that ...

My challenge is balancing saving a responsible amount for a retirement I can enjoy at 60, versus enjoying life TODAY. This implies that spending more money is a necessary part of enjoying life more. An alternative to this mindset of "deny myself today to save for tomorrow" you can have &q...

Gosh I think this topic is one that most every boglehead contemplates. For many of us, we think about this topic a lot. My wife and I earn decent incomes given our location and we try to save 20-25% of our incomes, but that is VERY hard to do with 2 kids in daycare...not to mention a set of twins in...

If armaggedon hits, these people with all the supplies will be the first one's raided and killed by the armed gangs.

Our twins were born on Friday morning. They are in intensive care for a bit, but are doing well and there are no major issues, just about 5 weeks early is all. They weighed about 5 lbs each, a boy (Trevor) and a girl (Macy). We expect that they may be held for a few weeks. But I finally got a boy! H...

Congrats on the whole list you've got going!

I found the bogleheads in 2003, at the age of 23 and am forever grateful.

They could lower the price by 50k and fix everything -- and I still wouldn't buy it. If you do, this thing will be an albatross for years probably. Maybe not, but you won't know until the time has past. There are many many places to buy. These are exactly my thoughts. Don't buy this house, and if y...

Absolutely, yes. There is no way in heck I would buy a house with the issues you have outlined. If that is what the inspection actually FOUND, you can bet there is a lot more lurking that wasn't found in an afternoon inspection. I have found inspections to be of marginal value, personally as they us...

Personally, I wouldn't accept such a contingency. It gives them way to much opportunity to back out. Like you said, they could just as reasonably rent a condo for a short term if they couldn't find a house they liked right away. It's all a negotiation, so I'd negotiate back and say 'heck no'!

What about getting a plan or some ideas and tackling some of it yourself, if you are worried about costs? A lot of people don't want to mess with landscaping, I get that, but it is one of the easiest things that a person can do themselves. Plumbing, electrical, drywall, laying hardwoods, those are a...

My wife and I did it, saved about 20%. Nobody can even come close to what we pay for insurance now though. We pay $550/6 months for full coverage for 2 vehicles and I rad 6 different carriers this month and closest was $750.

around 20-25% gross, age 32 with 2 kids and twins on the way.

Saving might get knocked down a bit with day care costs over the next few years

I've got a long ways to go till retirement, but I can't imagine just not working or doing a significant amount of volunteer work. I would drive myself crazy. If I don't have something to do to help me manage my time, I turn into a "meh, I'll just do it tomorrow" kind of guy :? I'm hoping w...

Larry, Thanks for the breath of fresh air. It's kinda nice to hear from people with a positive outlook. It's nice to live in a state with an actual surplus (mostly because we aren't afraid to responsibly use our natural resources) :beer 2013 for our household looks very optimistic, going to be addin...

This is a tough one for me. We have 2 kids and I was planning on paying for a significant part of their education. Our plan, as we originally planned, was to have them pay for the first year and then we would pay for the remaining three. We found out we are having twins (due in march), and that chan...

I collected cards, mostly between 89 and 92. I remember, even as a kid, thinking "how can these be worth money if there are so many of them?". Then, about 92, they came out with these cards that had numbers on them (1x, 2x, 10x, 50x). The numbers meant that the card was worth 50x more than...

United Explorer card: 55,000 miles x 2 (both my wife and I signed up)
Barclay's Extra Points Card: $200 signup bonus
Chase: $500 in Amazon gift certificates

Not too bad for our first year. Will likely do better next year.

Here's what I've decided to do in our situation after a lot of thinking and comparing different options. Our alarms are all old and need replacement. We have 2 hard-wired CO detectors and 8 hard-wired ionization alarms. I'd like to add a few photoelectric alarms as well, but don't want the combo ion...

It's a HUGE accomplishment! For many of us working stiffs it is a product of a lot of sacrifice. I'm not there yet, won't be for probably 15+ years, but I work towards that goal every single day and our family makes a lot of sacrifices so that we may one day attain that financial goal and all the be...

I guess I personally don't see anything wrong with someone bringing their own beer or drinks, if they don't drink wine? Some of the other comments that your guests made were rude/ignorant, no doubt, but getting upset at someone bringing beer since they don't drink wine is silly, imo. If I am meetin...

I guess I personally don't see anything wrong with someone bringing their own beer or drinks, if they don't drink wine? Some of the other comments that your guests made were rude/ignorant, no doubt, but getting upset at someone bringing beer since they don't drink wine is silly, imo. I personally do...

I don't think there is much you can honestly do. She obviously doesn't care about her barking dog and its affects on others, otherwise she would have done something about it long ago. My guess is that talking to her at this point will likely only cause her to become more annoyed at you. Seems like y...

As long as you both take the due diligence regarding the process then I see no problem with it. Personally, I see a lot of benefits of buying from someone I know: no hidden surprises someone is trying to hide, more flexible move-in and/or closing schedule, avoiding realtor fees, being able to ask th...

That depends completely on where you want to live, this country is so diverse that it is difficult to answer without knowing location. Yes, it is lots of work, but it can be done. Not sure it can be done on 30 acres, but it can be done. If you raise stock, you'll want to do management intensive graz...

I'm involved with ag, and, but am certainly not knowledgeable with regards to chickens or contract farming in general. I would say, before you decide to do this, look at alternative options to raise stock and/or farm via a means that will provide you more personal enjoyment and maybe equal, or even ...

I would 2nd the documentation part. I guess how I would approach the situation, without knowing all the details, would be to try and talk to the perpetrators individually, if possible. There must be a few of them with whom you have a positive relationship of sorts, at least historically? If so, then...

As soon as the other guy complained about a transaction he didn't make, they would have been able to queue up the video footage and computer audit trail of your transaction and see that the teller had made the mistake. Whether they would have been able to connect it to your account or just "ea...

Similar thing happened to me this spring. I was at the bank, going to transfer about 15K to another institution. So I give the teller my info and before I make the big transfer, I withdraw $500 for a weekend trip. I start filling out the transfer paperwork and then the teller says "Hmm, I don't...

I suppose it depends on a person's political leanings, but unfortunately it is just about impossible to find a news source that doesn't have a significant bias in favor of one political party or another.

From what my buddy tells me (he owns a lumberyard/home improvement store), there are some newer products, I think made of like pvc or something. They are starting to compete with trex as they have some qualities that are favorable over trex. The pvc, as I understand it, doesn't fade and has a longer...

We sold ours in 2011 after I took a job transfer to be closer to family and in a more desirable location. We had it built in 2008 because we moved to a TINY, and ISOLATED town (<2,000 people and 90 miles from a walmart and 200 miles from a city of 50K). When we moved to the town there was zilch for ...

It is great that you posted the opening on the forum, I am sure there are some potential candidates here. If I knew then (in school) what I know now (about investing), I very likely would have taken a different road. I think being a financial planner and actually helping people make wise, bogleheade...

I live in a pretty spectacular place, in the shadow of Glacier NP and the view from my backyard, sitting in my gazebo, is tough to beat anywhere in the world, but I really enjoy going to Alaska.

they moved back to the same small town to raise their children. Because they paid their way through college mainly with scholarships, we were able to save that money and are now retired and don't have to worry about our successful children, or our own financial future. You are an extremely lucky ma...

If they are boys it'll be Dan and Dane, if they are girls it'll be Krissy and Krista; boy and girl: Don and Dawn

Thank you all for taking the time to respond. Your well-wishes are wonderful to hear. I visit a few other forums, but of all the forums I've ever followed this one has by far, the most level-headed and caring people :beer I know it will all be fine....but I think I"m on the 3rd step of the proc...

So my wife and I (32) have two young daughters. We decided to have a 3rd child; i wasn't thrilled, but my wife really wanted a 3rd, so I agreed. Today we find out: twins! What are the chances? Man, life is unpredictable, isn't it? I'm happy and all, just freaked out!!! I mean, I had our financial fu...

Well, I think you answered your own question: My job is demanding as I'm gone from my family for extended periods of time. This year alone I have been gone for nearly six months. Over the next two years not much will change. I will continue to travel. The problem is I hate being away from my family ...

I use WAEPA: http://www.waepa.org/ It's a life insurance group for federal employees. I get much better rates and a significantly lower cost and opt out of FEGLI. I don't find FEGLI to be a very good deal and thus don't use it. Check it out and see if it'll work for you. I have the premiums direct d...

How often are you going to be hauling? How far? Are you in the mtns or flatland? Will you use the truck on a day-to-day basis, or is this a vehicle that will see primary use as a tow vehicle and then very sporadic use as an all around driver? If you aren't going to be hauling huge payloads and are g...

I'm 32 also. My wife and I save 20%+ of our salaries and are on pace to meet our savings/retirement goals...life is short, sometimes toys are worth it! In my case, it's a camper and boat and the enjoyment they bring to our family are well worth the relatively modest costs. You are responsible and ar...

This was several months ago and even though I completely disagreed I realized there was very little money at stake and decided it wasn't worth fighting the battle right now. I think you answered your own questions there. Wait until you are married to interject yourself into her finances. You are th...