Search found 3911 matches

by texasdiver
Mon Mar 18, 2024 8:44 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Check my work: Taking over management of my parent's portfolio
Replies: 23
Views: 3159

Re: Check my work: Taking over management of my parent's portfolio

Also consider: 1) not mirroring the account holdings to have fewer holdings in each account 2) not holding bonds in the Roth IRA 3) holding international in equity only 4) using VOO (S&P 500) rather than VTI (US TSM) in the tax-advantaged accounts to avoid inadvertent wash sales as the Taxable account holds VTI. Suggested portfolio: Portfolio Size : $924,000 Taxable: $275,000 - 30% 2% Vanguard Money Market - consider VUSXX if your parents have a state income tax 28% Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) (ER 0.03%) His Traditional IRA $377,000 - 41% 28% Vanguard Total Bond ETF (BND) (ER 0.03%) 13% Vanguard Total Int'l Stock ETF (VXUS) (ER 0.08%) Her Traditional IRA $135,000 - 14% 10% Vanguard Total Bond ETF (BND) (ER 0.03%) 4% Vanguard ...
by texasdiver
Sat Mar 16, 2024 10:43 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Check my work: Taking over management of my parent's portfolio
Replies: 23
Views: 3159

Re: Check my work: Taking over management of my parent's portfolio

You have it exactly right. I would make (2) minor tweaks: I would move all the bonds from the Roth IRA to the Traditional IRA I would get rid of the international bonds - just use US Bonds (not a huge deal either way though) I'd try to simplify things a touch, maybe just VTSAX in the Roth, you don't have to hold the all the funds in each account Did they have a large capital gains tax bill from liquidating the advisor portfolio and going with your simplified 4 fund portfolio? I was first going to go with Vanguard all-in-one funds and was looking at both of the following: Vanguard Conservative Growth (VSCGX) (ER 0.12%) which is a 60/40 fund composed of the same 4 funds that I used but has 40% of equities in Int'l and 30% of bonds in Int'l. ...
by texasdiver
Thu Mar 14, 2024 10:47 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Check my work: Taking over management of my parent's portfolio
Replies: 23
Views: 3159

Re: Check my work: Taking over management of my parent's portfolio

Seems like you have a good handle on their situation and your plan. Do they have long term care insurance? If not, although almost $1million seems like a lot, at the same time if they both ended up in long term care high cost circumstances, you could find it gets burned through. So to throw an ultra-conservative counter point, rather than continuing to give half the RMD to charity, consider continuing to invest it just in case. With the idea that once you know that is not an issue, that amount would be allocated to their preferred charities rather than inherited. Probably won't make a difference, just an idea to consider. Yes they have very Cadillac long term care policies that they bought decades ago when good policies were still availabl...
by texasdiver
Thu Mar 14, 2024 10:42 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Check my work: Taking over management of my parent's portfolio
Replies: 23
Views: 3159

Re: Check my work: Taking over management of my parent's portfolio

Now is the time to do the POA paperwork, and file it, when they are lucid. Are you setup with Agent Authorization at Vanguard? If not, they will shut you down when they figure out that you are accessing from a different location than your parents. Think about having statements showing their Petworth, in their living situation if care givers have access to their room. I'm set up with limited authority which means that all their accounts show up on my vanguard page when I log into my own accounts and I can trade and manage their finances from within my own Vanguard login. Vanguard charges $25 for paper statements so I'll just print out the annual statements and give them to them. They don't have caregivers. They are in an independent living ...
by texasdiver
Thu Mar 14, 2024 2:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Check my work: Taking over management of my parent's portfolio
Replies: 23
Views: 3159

Re: Check my work: Taking over management of my parent's portfolio

Seems like you have a good handle on their situation and your plan. Do they have long term care insurance? If not, although almost $1million seems like a lot, at the same time if they both ended up in long term care high cost circumstances, you could find it gets burned through. So to throw an ultra-conservative counter point, rather than continuing to give half the RMD to charity, consider continuing to invest it just in case. With the idea that once you know that is not an issue, that amount would be allocated to their preferred charities rather than inherited. Probably won't make a difference, just an idea to consider. Yes they have very Cadillac long term care policies that they bought decades ago when good policies were still availabl...
by texasdiver
Thu Mar 14, 2024 1:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Check my work: Taking over management of my parent's portfolio
Replies: 23
Views: 3159

Re: Check my work: Taking over management of my parent's portfolio

Thanks guys. Some good points to think about. To answer the questions: 1. Yes my two brothers are perfectly comfortable with me managing this. They are both out-of-state and neither of them are particularly financially savvy. They are more likely to depend on this legacy in retirement than me and want me to make sure the money isn't wasted or mis-allocated or eroded away with fees. My wife and I don't need this money or any inheritance and are more or less planning to pass any inheritance down to our children anyway. We had this discussion with my brothers over Christmas and this is what they want me to do. They don't want any outsiders exploiting our parents as they get older. 2. I will think about changing the allocations between the Roth...
by texasdiver
Thu Mar 14, 2024 1:15 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Check my work: Taking over management of my parent's portfolio
Replies: 23
Views: 3159

Check my work: Taking over management of my parent's portfolio

My elderly parents have been using the same financial advisor for the past 30 years or so who is part of their circle and church. But he is retiring and rather than get handed off to someone they don't know, they finally asked me to help them set up and manage their own portfolio through Vanguard. As far as financial advisors go, he was not that bad. Charged them a 0.5% AUM and took care of a lot of details like RMDs and their charitable contributions. But he had them in a bewildering array of stocks and obscure funds that in the end balanced out to a 60/40 portfolio. I counted over 100 different holdings. Details. He is 86 and she is 85. They have no debt and live in an independent living retirement village with a life lease. With their du...
by texasdiver
Thu Mar 14, 2024 12:07 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: College degree worthwhile for marketing?
Replies: 112
Views: 7116

Re: College degree worthwhile for marketing?

I strongly disagree with the myth that in order to be successful, you have to get a college degree. If that were true, then Bill Gates would be a failure. My second oldest nephew graduated from Eau Claire with a BA in Marketing and still cannot find work. Save the money and let your daughter succeed or fail. Bill Gates is the most unrepresentative person you could possibly cite. He came from enormous wealth and privilege. Both his parents were at the very top of Seattle society. Dad was a founding partner of one of the most powerful and prestigious law firms in Seattle and mom was a banker and on the UW Board of Regents. They were both on all kinds of corporate boards and at the very center of power in Seattle. As far as I know, Bill Gates...
by texasdiver
Wed Mar 13, 2024 10:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: College degree worthwhile for marketing?
Replies: 112
Views: 7116

Re: College degree worthwhile for marketing?

One point of data for you. My 25 year old daughter graduated with a communications degree from a SEC school right into the teeth of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. After a year of working at outdoor ski resorts during the lockdown and basically having fun outdoors she landed a marketing job with an LA company that does social media marketing (they manage the online social media profiles of various corporate clients). In the past two years she has risen quickly to a director position with about 10-15 people working under her so is always hiring (and sometimes firing) young account managers. She is already pushing into the 6-figure salary range. I don't think they even interview anyone who doesn't already have a college degree. There are ...
by texasdiver
Wed Mar 13, 2024 12:36 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard: Settlement funds vs. "Available to Trade"
Replies: 3
Views: 628

Vanguard: Settlement funds vs. "Available to Trade"

Looking at my Vanguard brokerage account I see the following:

Settlement fund: $13,093.21
Total credits and debits: $3,458.19
Available balance: $16,551.40
Funds available to trade: $16,551.40
Funds available to withdraw: $0.00

I assume from reading that the credits are for trades that have not completely executed yet.

Questions:

1. Will the credit of $3,458.21 eventually convert to the settlement fund if I do nothing? Or do I have to move it there if I just want it in the money market account?

2. Why does it say I have zero available to withdraw? I assume I can withdraw from my settlement fund at any time. Can I not? Am I just not understanding the terminology here?
by texasdiver
Mon Mar 11, 2024 8:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What's your primary credit card?
Replies: 117
Views: 10242

Re: What's your primary credit card?

Costco Visa.

I could probably squeeze out slightly more benefits by shopping around for the max everything card. But the CitiBank Costco Visa is pretty good.

I don't carry a wallet anymore for day to day stuff. I have my iPhone with a case that has a sliding door that will take two cards. So I have my drivers license and Costco VISA in there and also have the Costco Visa set up for phone tap autopay. My wallet with all my other cards stays zipped in my work backpack

I have found with just those two cards I can get by with 99% of what I do.
by texasdiver
Mon Mar 04, 2024 7:18 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Can I retire?
Replies: 41
Views: 4741

Re: Can I retire?

Seriously?

You know the answer. Why are you asking us?

You need $160,000/yr. to retire assuming no social security. Your $6.8 million portfolio will throw that off with a 2.3% withdrawal rate. At that rate you'll most likely be earning returns faster than you spend them and your portfolio will almost certainly continue to grow.

Yes you can retire. With your current nest egg you can probably safely retire on $300,000/year not $200,000.
by texasdiver
Sun Mar 03, 2024 12:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: When do electric cars stop making sense?
Replies: 210
Views: 16099

Re: When do electric cars stop making sense?

How long do you plan to own the car? 10 years? What do you think gas prices will be like in 2034?

Your electrical prices are astonishingly high though. Here in Vancouver WA our current rate through our local public electrical utility is 8.79 cents per kilowatt-hour.

In your situation I might consider rooftop solar and possibly something like a Plug-in hybrid like the new Prius Prime
by texasdiver
Sun Mar 03, 2024 12:04 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help me understand/untangle my parent's variable annuity
Replies: 11
Views: 2142

Re: Help me understand/untangle my parent's variable annuity

Transferring from an advisor to Vanguard is a 2-part process. We first transfer all the securities to Vanguard. Then decide what to do with them. I'll probably have my dad liquidate all the recently purchase stocks that have shown minimal or no gain immediately. Then work on the others later, perhaps waiting for an inevitable dip in the stock market over the next year while keeping an eye on the tax implications. It is going to be a long process to get it all consolidated. Once again, you're on a good track. On the tax implications of selling the individual stocks, just want to make sure that you recall a couple of tax nuances. In a taxable account, most assets, including individual stocks, have a basis reset at time of death. So if a part...
by texasdiver
Fri Mar 01, 2024 9:36 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help me understand/untangle my parent's variable annuity
Replies: 11
Views: 2142

Re: Help me understand/untangle my parent's variable annuity

Yes. Doing the math I'm starting to see the point. I'm starting the long process of unwinding them from their previous financial advisor who thankfully is retiring and I'm taking that opportunity to put them in Vanguard rather than letting their current guy hand them off to some new guy. Their investment accounts are also a mess. In their taxable account with is much larger, about $300K, he has them in about 35 different stocks plus a half dozen fixed income funds. The whole thing equals out to a basic 60/40 asset allocation but it is incredibly complicated and I'm going to have to unwind all of that after I get it all into Vanguard. I'll suggest he just bite the bullet and cash this annuity out and roll it into their new Vanguard taxable ...
by texasdiver
Wed Feb 28, 2024 9:21 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help me understand/untangle my parent's variable annuity
Replies: 11
Views: 2142

Re: Help me understand/untangle my parent's variable annuity

I think that calling this annuity a "real stinker" is being kind to the annuity :twisted: If there's anything good about the annuity, it's that the fees are less than they could be. The total fees listed on the statement are less than 1% of account value. And then add in maybe another 1% in excess fees on the mutual funds compared to what might be available from a low cost provider like Vanguard or Fidelity. I'm glad that your dad is looking at alternatives. Please do post back if you have further questions as you move through the process. Best to you. Yes. Doing the math I'm starting to see the point. I'm starting the long process of unwinding them from their previous financial advisor who thankfully is retiring and I'm taking t...
by texasdiver
Mon Feb 26, 2024 9:15 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help me understand/untangle my parent's variable annuity
Replies: 11
Views: 2142

Re: Help me understand/untangle my parent's variable annuity

I'm going through my parent's finances which were with an advisor who is retiring. I hope the comments on your post have been useful to you. Please post back if you have questions or other thoughts. Best to you. Thanks Stinky: I think I understand everything you wrote. I'm still learning about these things. I went ahead and scanned the 3-page current statement and whited out all the personal identifying information and account number in case I missed anything and mis-reported anything. And so others can see what these things look like. This whole annuity looks like a real stinker and I'm disappointed that my father was sold it by an advisor that he trusted. On the plus side he was only being charged 0.5% AUM for a bit north of $1 million u...
by texasdiver
Fri Feb 23, 2024 9:34 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Has passive investing broken the market?
Replies: 136
Views: 16402

Re: Has passive investing broken the market?

minimalistmarc wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2024 3:28 am If passive distorts the market then shouldn’t active investors be able to outperform over long time frames?
This.

If passive investing causes market distortions then all those active investors should be cheerleading it so they can then use their superior knowledge to get fabulously rich.
by texasdiver
Fri Feb 23, 2024 8:13 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help me understand/untangle my parent's variable annuity
Replies: 11
Views: 2142

Help me understand/untangle my parent's variable annuity

I'm going through my parent's finances which were with an advisor who is retiring. Instead of getting handed off to some other advisor I've convinced them to transfer all their accounts (traditional IRAs, Roths, and taxable) to Vanguard. But I have discovered they were sold a John Hancock variable annuity. I'm not sure what, if anything, can be done with it. It is in my father's name. He is 87. Details from the statement Owner: My father Annuitant: My father Plan Type: Non Qualified inception date: 09/17/2007 Optional rider selected: Principal Plus for Life Value as of December 30, 2022: $59,324 Value as of December 30, 2023: $59,989 Withdrawals 2022: $5960 Total premiums since inception: $95,969 Total withdrawals since inception: $71,526 S...
by texasdiver
Tue Feb 20, 2024 10:46 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: House purchase questions
Replies: 22
Views: 2454

Re: House purchase questions

If you want to pour more $$$ into the house, I think I'd go with a 15 year mortgage over a 30. It is astonishing how much faster you reduce the principal and build equity that way. You'll have it paid off at age 50 versus 65.
by texasdiver
Sun Feb 18, 2024 2:06 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help me roll my parent's IRAs to Vanguard
Replies: 11
Views: 1263

Re: Help me roll my parent's IRAs to Vanguard

To answer the questions posed here. 1. Yes I have Vanguard accounts and I am very familiar with their web site. My own IRAs, Roths, 529 plans and money market taxable accounts have been with Vanguard for decades. And my 403(b) plan from my former employer was with Vanguard. My wife is with Fidelity but that is because her employer's various retirement plans are with Fidelity. And my daughters are also with Fidelity. But that was mainly because Vanguard's web site was glitching when we opened Roths for them and so we went with Fidelity. Comparing the two, I find Vanguard simpler and easier to navigate. Fidelity feels much more like I'm on TD Ameritrade or E*Trade and I think will be less user-friendly for my parents who aren't particularly o...
by texasdiver
Sun Feb 18, 2024 1:00 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help me roll my parent's IRAs to Vanguard
Replies: 11
Views: 1263

Re: Help me roll my parent's IRAs to Vanguard

placeholder wrote: Sun Feb 18, 2024 12:58 am A minor technical note but you want to transfer the accounts not roll them.
OK, transfer.

What is the difference? Is a rollover from one type of account like a 401(k) into another type of account like a traditional IRA? We are talking just moving their IRAs from one firm to another so I guess that is a transfer.
by texasdiver
Sun Feb 18, 2024 12:54 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help me roll my parent's IRAs to Vanguard
Replies: 11
Views: 1263

Help me roll my parent's IRAs to Vanguard

My elderly parents have a long-time financial advisor who is retiring and instead of being handed off to some other firm that he recommends my parents have finally asked me to help them roll over everything to Vanguard. Their current financial advisor has them with a fund or investment company called LTI (I think) and has them spread out in the typical array of actively managed funds that are roughly 60/40 give or take. And I think he charges the usual 1% fee. Relevant info: Father is 86 and mother is 85. They have a robust teacher pension (Dad) and more modest nursing pension (mom) plus social security so really don't need any income from their IRAs. What they are doing now is basically having their IRA RMDs dumped into a growing taxable a...
by texasdiver
Sat Feb 10, 2024 1:32 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: New article casting doubt on index investing
Replies: 51
Views: 6532

Re: New article casting doubt on index investing

I expect that every single one of the world's 100 or even 500 largest publicly traded companies is global or at least international. The main thing that distinguishes them is where they are based, not what they actually do and where they do business.

Ford vs Toyota
Apple vs Samsung
Twitter vs TikTok
Novartis vs Pfizer
CitiBank vs HSBC
Hershey vs Nestle

shrug....
by texasdiver
Wed Feb 07, 2024 12:05 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Which college?
Replies: 54
Views: 5918

Re: Which college?

Setting aside the Navy vs civilian question.

I'm puzzled why he would major in a STEM field at the Navy (engineering of some sort?) versus finance at UT and not pursue a STEM or Engineering career at UT if that is his interest.

What kind of career does he really want? A STEM/Engineering career? Or a career in finance?

They are very different.
by texasdiver
Fri Jan 12, 2024 10:09 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Family of 4 debating 3 row SUV
Replies: 71
Views: 7647

Re: Family of 4 debating 3 row SUV

Family of 5 here. We have owned both a Toyota Sienna and Toyota Highlander. The Sienna was the far superior family car in every way. EVERY WAY. The only thing the Highlander is better at is driving in the snow. In fact, when we did a trip across country when we still owned both cars, the kids begged to take the Sienna even though it was 10 years older. They liked it so much better in the back. And the Highlander is the limited edition with every bell and whistle. The youngest is now a HS senior so we are past the kid zone. But if we still had little kids I'd get the Sienna again in a heartbeat. My advice? See if you can rent a Sienna or Odyssey and take it for a long weekend road trip. With luggage, strollers, etc. I think you will be sold.
by texasdiver
Sun Jan 07, 2024 3:21 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Real Estate Windfall Amid Family Drama
Replies: 96
Views: 16961

Re: Real Estate Windfall Amid Family Drama

PNWpilot wrote: Sun Jan 07, 2024 10:30 amI speculate the time pressure has to do with taxes accumulating for 2024. He is probably trying to dump them prior to paying taxes on them this year. That's just a guess. He won't answer my calls :oops:
Huge red flag here.

Send him a letter, message, etc. saying that you are unwilling to move forward with this until you can discuss it with him directly because there is too much that you don't understand. And that you hope he contacts you in person to discuss and explain.

That's not a "no" or a "yes". It is simply a "I need to better understand what is going on before I give you an answer"
by texasdiver
Mon Nov 27, 2023 11:32 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Are newer Kindles any faster?
Replies: 52
Views: 7017

Re: Are newer Kindles any faster?

pizzy wrote: Sat Nov 25, 2023 7:08 pm Yes, but why don’t you get an iPad?
Kindle is FAR FAR nicer for reading at night, especially in bed which is where I mostly use mine.

Plus the charge lasts about a month.
by texasdiver
Mon Nov 06, 2023 11:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Merit Scholarships - Advice and Strategies?
Replies: 109
Views: 11894

Re: Merit Scholarships - Advice and Strategies?

To me this is another one of those "dirty little secrets" about college admissions that others have mentioned in this thread. If your kid will not be going to a super-duper, tippy-top competitive school, an excessively difficult HS courseload is more likely to hurt your kid vs help them. As long as your kid is taking college-prep-level classes ("honors" classes in my school system), that's good enough for most schools. The two most important variables are GPA and standardized test scores. As a result, an A in a honors-level, non-AP class is much, much, better than a B in an AP class as the latter will adversely affect the GPA. It's weird, but that's how it actually is. I know that my oldest was pushed into some AP class...
by texasdiver
Sat Nov 04, 2023 5:53 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Merit Scholarships - Advice and Strategies?
Replies: 109
Views: 11894

Re: Merit Scholarships - Advice and Strategies?

Would you consider Midwest liberal arts colleges such as St Olaf, Lawrence or Kalamazoo? Female students often have high GPA/scores, but geographic diversity or special accomplishments may help. If STEM career of interest, or engineering or architecture, definitely investigate Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech). In Chicago, private university, well-regarded but relatively unknown nationally by status-conscious parents. Provides significant merit aid. For a female out-of-state student, may translate into big bucks. I doubt it. She is pretty settled on sticking with Pacific Northwest schools plus Colorado State. I think her final list is more or less: Public Schools: Washington State, Western Washington, Colorado State (Colorad...
by texasdiver
Sat Nov 04, 2023 12:52 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do we have too much long term care insurance?
Replies: 15
Views: 1915

Re: Do we have too much long term care insurance?

You buy insurance for the things you can't afford. Typical nursing home costs are running $100,000 to $150,000/year. So for a seven-year stay that's $700,000 to $1,050,000. While those costs are sobering at first glance. The fact of the matter is that nursing homes are essentially all-expenses paid living situations. If you are in a nursing home then you are not paying rent/mortgage home upkeep, repairs, landscaping etc. utilities groceries property taxes transportation expenses (car) etc. So the relevant question is what is the marginal cost INCREASE to move someone from independent living into a nursing home. It isn't going to be $100,000 per year. It will be $100,000 per year minus the current cost of living for that person. Of course f...
by texasdiver
Thu Nov 02, 2023 9:44 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Merit Scholarships - Advice and Strategies?
Replies: 109
Views: 11894

Re: Merit Scholarships - Advice and Strategies?

er999 wrote: Thu Nov 02, 2023 9:39 pm Texasdiver this thread is three years old — where did your second daughter end up going to school?
University of Washington. She's now a junior, majoring in Biology. Turned out to be an excellent choice for her. She is thriving and loving it. She's worked on 3 different research teams so far as an undergrad and now has a paid position working in the genomics lab. I have a hard time coming up with a single thing she is missing by not paying an extra $50k per year to attend a fancy private school.

Daughter #3 is somewhat less academic and is currently applying to Washington State, Western Washington, Colorado State, and a couple of local privates: University of Puget Sound and Seattle University.
by texasdiver
Thu Nov 02, 2023 8:19 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Merit Scholarships - Advice and Strategies?
Replies: 109
Views: 11894

Re: Merit Scholarships - Advice and Strategies?

I grew up in Portland and was basically paid to attend Oregon State (presidential scholarship plus numerous other one-off scholarships). I would take UW over Reed any day of the week but it probably depends on what your daughter wants to study and whether she wants to be at a large or small school. When was that and were these scholarships merit based or need based? My son is a senior and deep into college app process. He keeps on asking me to fill up FAFSA so he can get scholarships and I pooh pooh it saying that FAFSA estimator says 100% EFC so no point. Wonder if I there is a chance to get some of those one-off scholarships. Won't be the first time I have been blindsided Some schools require FAFSA even for non-need based merit aid, simp...
by texasdiver
Thu Nov 02, 2023 8:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Merit Scholarships - Advice and Strategies?
Replies: 109
Views: 11894

Re: Merit Scholarships - Advice and Strategies?

I'm guessing that 4.0 GPA plus 1400 SAT already gets her admission into most of the places she is considering like UW, UO, Lewis & Clark, Occidental, Santa Clara, etc. Say one kid has 4.0 with pre-calc in senior year and another has 4.0 with Linear algebra and physics C. How can all 4.0 grades be considered same? They aren't. The dirty little secret in selective school admissions is that schools calculate their own internal GPAs for admissions purposes using their own secret sauce. I've been through this process 3 times since I have 3 daughters and the last is applying for college right now. Here is how it works. When you apply to colleges using the common app you don't report your GPA, you provide a detailed report on every single cou...
by texasdiver
Fri Oct 06, 2023 1:32 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What frugal thing did you do today?
Replies: 4524
Views: 617372

Re: What frugal thing did you do today?

Rode my e-bike to work instead of driving (13 miles each way)
by texasdiver
Tue Sep 05, 2023 4:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Designing health and retirement benefits for small remote company?
Replies: 20
Views: 1555

Re: Designing health and retirement benefits for small remote company?

My small, remote, geographically dispersed company does the following: TakeCommandHealth for a very flexible Health Reimbursement Account which allows employees to use the exchange to access a range of insurance carriers administered via TCH. Guideline 401k — very easy to administer and a good range of (mostly Vanguard) funds. Thanks for the recommendations. Take Command looks exactly like what they are looking for in terms of health care. I'll pass on the recommendation. Curious. Are 3rd party providers like Guideline 401K going to be cheaper or better than working with Fidelity or Vanguard directly? How does the cost compare for both the employer and employee? What is the advantage to going through a 3rd party company like this? Do they ...
by texasdiver
Tue Sep 05, 2023 4:42 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Designing health and retirement benefits for small remote company?
Replies: 20
Views: 1555

Re: Designing health and retirement benefits for small remote company?

JBTX wrote: Tue Sep 05, 2023 12:18 am Not sure what area of Texas you are in. In DFW area here are some resources:

https://www.focus401kgroup.com/

https://www.higginbotham.com/
Not in Texas. I created my handle 15 years ago when we were living in Texas.

My daughter lives in Bend Oregon and works remotely for a small company based in Los Angeles that has maybe 20 remote workers scattered about in at least 8-10 states. None of them are mobile workers traveling. Those are just where their various homes are.
by texasdiver
Mon Sep 04, 2023 10:08 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Substitute Teaching in Retirement?
Replies: 22
Views: 4202

Re: Substitute Teaching in Retirement?

I'm a former teacher and semi-retired sub. The answer depends on what state you are in. Here in WA you must be a certified teacher to be a substitute teacher. There may be some shortcuts to certification, but basically that means it is mostly retired teachers and young teachers seeking their first permanent teaching job. And teachers who have moved here from elsewhere who are subbing until they can land a permanent job. Obviously in other states the requirements are less. I don't know how many states require certification. Pay varies by the district. I'm currently on the roster for two different districts which pay about $200/day which goes up to about $220 when you get 30 days in with that district. Unless you are doing long-term assignmen...
by texasdiver
Mon Sep 04, 2023 11:45 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Designing health and retirement benefits for small remote company?
Replies: 20
Views: 1555

Re: Designing health and retirement benefits for small remote company?

First health care which is the biggest looming issue: What would the best way for a small company to provide health benefits when its workers are all scattered across the country working remotely such that probably none are even in the same health care market? Just provide a stipend for employees to use on the ACA exchanges? Is there some best way to structure that? What would be the best practices here? The ACA employer mandate requires employers with more than 50 employees to offer health insurance. But employers with less than 25 employees may qualify for the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit (SHOP) which is generally 50% of the premiums the employer pays if they offer coverage. So this would be a good time to look at employer provi...
by texasdiver
Mon Sep 04, 2023 10:27 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Designing health and retirement benefits for small remote company?
Replies: 20
Views: 1555

Designing health and retirement benefits for small remote company?

Hi all: My 25 year old daughter works for a small media company that is entirely remote. They basically manage social media accounts for small and medium size companies around the country and have maybe 20 employees who are all young and working remotely across a variety of states from coast to coast. The owner lives in LA but doesn't even have an actual office there, just a home office. Every single employee is remote. At present they are paid decent salaries but get no benefits. My daughter has noticed that she and her other young co-workers are all approaching the 26 year old cutoff from parental health insurance and are starting to think about health benefits. And they are also starting to think about retirement benefits since a lot of ...
by texasdiver
Thu Aug 17, 2023 11:49 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Wild Caught vs Farm Raised Fish
Replies: 92
Views: 10573

Re: Wild Caught vs Farm Raised Fish

Jeepergeo wrote: Thu Aug 17, 2023 11:25 pmThe City of Arcata, CA raised salmon and trout in a mixture of domsetic wastewater and seawater.
I believe you are talking about a fish hatchery project where the salmon and trout were released into the wild as part of a salmon stream restoration effort. As opposed to a commercial aquaculture project where they were harvested for the seafood market.
by texasdiver
Thu Aug 17, 2023 10:48 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Wild Caught vs Farm Raised Fish
Replies: 92
Views: 10573

Re: Wild Caught vs Farm Raised Fish

You ABSOULTELY CANNOT generalize. Farm-raise salmon are usually raised in net pens in ocean fjords in Canada, Norway, and Chile. In other words, fresh ocean water is constantly flushing through their pens. This is a salmon farm in a fjord in Norway with net pens that are basically in clean open ocean https://images.thefishsite.com/fish/articles/Norway/kvaroy-aerial-view-credit-AKVA.jpg?width=650&height=0 By contrast, white fish like tilapia and catfish are raised on land in often highly unsanitary freshwater ponds. This is a tilapia farm in China in the middle of a city where the stagnant pond water comes from who knows where. https://www.aquaculturealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/JINLIANGpic1-960x709.jpg My advice after a caree...
by texasdiver
Tue Aug 15, 2023 2:08 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Bicycle Tire Extremely Difficult to Remove
Replies: 22
Views: 2413

Re: Bicycle Tire Extremely Difficult to Remove

The issue you are facing is that you are apparently used to changing old style tires and rims that popped off easily. More modern tires and rims are often designed to be compatible for tubeless use and so that bead and rim fit MUCH tighter. This is especially the case with mountain bike tires. Others have posted youtube tutorials. What I basically do is get as much air out as possible, then lay the wheel down and push sideways on the side of the tire as hard as possible to break the bead loose from the rim. Once you get it broken loose in one place you can work your way around the rim and break it free around the entire circumference and then the tire should easily come off. You run into similar complications when filling the tire back up w...
by texasdiver
Sat Jul 29, 2023 7:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Chasing the Northern Lights: Alaska
Replies: 14
Views: 1711

Re: Chasing the Northern Lights: Alaska

I lived and worked for over 10 years in Alaska. Mostly in Juneau but my job took me all over the state. They rarely came out in Juneau in SE Alaska because it is normally too overcast but once in a blue moon we would have a really beautiful cold clear winter night and they would be spectacular. Photographs do not do them justice because they are constantly pulsing and moving and almost 3-dimensional. To maximize your chances of seeing them you want to go during winter not summer and travel to somewhere in the interior well away from the coast to maximize the chance of having really crystal clear skies. Fairbanks is probably your best bet as it is the only interior city in Alaska with a big airport and such. Also consult the meteorological s...
by texasdiver
Sun Jul 23, 2023 10:43 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best Fidelity fund for savings account?
Replies: 14
Views: 2617

Best Fidelity fund for savings account?

Hi all: I'm trying to help my 20-something daughter set up a decent savings account which will be part emergency fund, part savings for the next car, and part savings for a future down payment on a house. She currently banks with USAA which has good checking options but abysmal interest rates on savings accounts. The only other financial institution where she currently has accounts is Fidelity where she has her Roth IRA in a index fund. She doesn't really want to open up an account with some new institution if she can help it so I'm wondering if there is a decent account that will serve the purpose of a taxable savings account. She is young and can stand a little risk to get a higher potential return but won't want to see her savings evapor...
by texasdiver
Thu Jul 20, 2023 1:12 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Retiring while kid is in college
Replies: 17
Views: 2557

Re: Retiring while kid is in college

Financial aid calculations are always two years behind so if you retire when the child is a sophomore then the reduced income won't affect financial aid calculations for the junior and senior years.

So, for example, your 2021 taxes and AGI determine your financial aid award for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year.

You can write a special pleading to the school but they don't have to do anything with it or change your expected family contribution amount on the FAFSA.
by texasdiver
Mon Jul 10, 2023 9:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Folding Treadmill?
Replies: 9
Views: 809

Re: Folding Treadmill?

running on a treadmill kicks up a LOT of racket.

How sound proof are your floors? You might run into serious disturbance issues with the neighbors around you if you are in an apartment.
by texasdiver
Wed Jul 05, 2023 12:49 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: FIRED with a pension. Asking for an evaluation
Replies: 19
Views: 3868

Re: FIRED with a pension. Asking for an evaluation

So you have a $101K pension with no COLA A portfolio of about $1.6 million (with your wife's funds it is an even $2 million) $580K in real estate Skipping the real estate since you need some place to live, that leaves a $1.6 million portfolio to put a COLA into your pension which seems to be your objective. You haven't give us any other information as to your spending needs. But that seems exceedingly doable. Just for the sake of argument, assume an inflation rate of 5% which would erode your pension by 5% per year. The real value of your pension would be falling as follows: Year 1: $101,000 Year 2: $95,950 (need to make up $5050) Year 3: $91,153 (need to make up $9,848) Year 4: $86,594 (need to make up $14,735) Year 5: $82,265 (need to mak...
by texasdiver
Wed Jun 21, 2023 11:50 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Careful when enrolling with Vanguard Digital Advisor
Replies: 42
Views: 7199

Re: Careful when enrolling with Vanguard Digital Advisor

What exactly does Vanguard Digital Advisor do for you?

Does it simply spit out a recommended allocation or glide path based on information you enter?

Or does it actually MANAGE your money for you by moving your funds around based on your response to a survey?



*I know I can look this up but others reading this might be curious as well.
by texasdiver
Sun Jun 18, 2023 4:12 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How does anyone fly on points anymore? (United especially)
Replies: 115
Views: 12796

Re: How does anyone fly on points anymore? (United especially)

Delta points are (arguably) the only ones still worth anything. It depends on your location. We live on the Pacific coast and have Alaska points. Their program is superb as far as mileage programs ago and if your travel tend to be North-South along the Pacific coast as ours is they work nicely. I never had the slightest problem booking points travel on Alaskan. It is very easy. And they go where we want to go. We use Alaska points to travel between Portland and Costa Rica as well as Portland and Alaska and occasionally for trips to the east coast as well. Never any difficulty. We also sometimes use them for travel to Chile where my wife is from on Alaska partners American or Lan-Chile. That said, while I have an Alaskan Airlines points car...