Search found 856 matches

by tdhg566
Mon Mar 26, 2018 9:14 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Hire an accountant?
Replies: 14
Views: 1660

Re: Hire an accountant?

I am a (second career) Enrolled Agent working for Block Advisors, the division of H&R Block (350 locations) that provides a CPA office type service level compared to the mass market storefront locations (12,000 count). We employ Enrolled Agents, CPAs and attorneys. Even though we prepare business returns (C corps, S corps, partnerships, trusts, estates, etc), as well as personal returns, nevertheless not everyone in my office understands a backdoor Roth. Only those who are more deeply schooled about investments. Even then they may know it simply as a traditional to Roth conversion. So if you use H&R Block, please realize that not only are there two divisions in the company (mass market and Advisors), and that whatever location you v...
by tdhg566
Tue May 02, 2017 9:57 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: HOA vs No-HOA
Replies: 94
Views: 18635

Re: HOA vs No-HOA

These are all great factors. Everyone buying a house should have a list of required and optional requirements. We too had our list when we built six years ago. I would add three things for your consideration, in no particular order: 1) access to medical facilities, which is less important when you are young 2) Inside a gated subdivision, and if so, not too few homes. Our gated subdivision has 82 homes, which is enough to pay the extra maintenance cost of our lake fountains and access control gates. Across the road is another gated subdivision with 29 homes, which is too few to spread the cost across IMO. Having now lived in a gated subdivision, I would never live elsewhere. I now understand why we have such a high percentage of law enforcem...
by tdhg566
Sat Apr 29, 2017 9:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "What Role Should Taxes Play in Your Relocation Decision?"
Replies: 5
Views: 1174

Re: "What Role Should Taxes Play in Your Relocation Decision?"

I've always felt that comparing anything statewide, tax related, except the state income tax rate and which items are taxed or not, was meaningless. In every state there is a wide variation of local taxes and service levels. I could move a few miles away from my current home, to a more rural setting, and reduce my property taxes significantly. Certain service levels would probably drop as well. Point it, neither locations reflect the state overall.
by tdhg566
Sat Apr 29, 2017 8:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: calculating work related mileage as an employee
Replies: 10
Views: 1831

Re: calculating work related mileage as an employee

Big Dog wrote:technically, its only the delta increase that is reimbursable...
not correct at all
Not Law wrote:You are officially done with your employment duties when you leave the post office. So the unreimbursed mileage is 8 to the bank plus 4 more to the post office. The commute from your last duty station to home is not "work" mileage.
Yep. Absolutely correct. I have this discussion frequently with my tax clients. But in 2016, for the unreimbursed mileage to do you any good, your AGI needs to be $81,000 or less (unless you already have other 2% category expenses). 12 miles/day * 250 days * $0.54/mile (2016 business rate) = $1,620, which is 2% of $81,000.
by tdhg566
Tue Apr 18, 2017 2:58 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best cruise
Replies: 50
Views: 6549

Re: Best cruise

Antarctica with Lindblad Expeditions. Nothing beats sitting in the snow next to a wild penguin colony and talking to the birds that walk up to you
by tdhg566
Mon Apr 17, 2017 7:56 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do I owe quarterly taxes if I didn't make money in Q1?
Replies: 8
Views: 1395

Re: Do I owe quarterly taxes if I didn't make money in Q1?

...Will there be any issues NOT paying the amounts evenly? What kind of issues are you trying to avoid? Being labeled a bad person, or paying a penalty at tax time? The IRS doesn't care if you pay or not. They will simply charge you a penalty if you are underpaid at the end of the year. Same as not paying at the end of the year, or not filing. Penalties and/or interest. The IRS computers don't make moral pronouncements about you. They simply crunch the numbers and send you a bill. Works the other way too, but not as favorably. If the IRS holds your refund too long after you file, they will send you interest (and a 1099 at the end of the year). You get "credit" for WHEN you pay as well as HOW MUCH you pay. Paying penalty and/or in...
by tdhg566
Sun Apr 16, 2017 9:50 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Would you ever rent a house to a family member?
Replies: 21
Views: 2454

Re: Would you ever rent a house to a family member?

My $0.02 is to never, ever do business with a family member. If you let your dad move in, then just consider that you've given him the house. If he pays you, great. If he doesn't and never moves out, fine. Don't risk your relationship with your father because of some rent. Remember, if you charge him below market rent and actually put the house on your tax return as a rental, and you're audited, the IRS may require you to include imputed income on your return.
by tdhg566
Sun Apr 16, 2017 9:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Help me decide pension benefits, single life, 50%, 75% and/or 100% survival benefits
Replies: 41
Views: 6098

Re: Help me decide pension benefits, single life, 50%, 75% and/or 100% survival benefits

we had this very decision about 10 years ago. For us it was a no-brainer. 100% option. We didn't even consider the other options. For us it had nothing to do with the math. We did a risk assessment. You can calculate all the longevity estimates you can imagine, but one outlier event, one accident, one illness, one unexpected anything, and all the best laid plans go out the window. Pensions by definition are not risk-free, but with the 100% option at least you don't add to that built-in risk.
by tdhg566
Sat Apr 15, 2017 7:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do you have an umbrella policy?
Replies: 295
Views: 49451

Re: Do you have an umbrella policy?

Yep. Have had an one all my life. Retired now. In this society, where people can sue you, and win, for looking at them sideways, it's pennywise and pound foolish not to have one.
by tdhg566
Fri Apr 14, 2017 8:23 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Physician using Turbotax, owing 30K so far already...
Replies: 65
Views: 9981

Re: Physician using Turbotax, owing 30K so far already...

...Is it normal for earners in that salary range to end up owing that much each year? Is it the norm that earners in that income range must be making estimated payments (or having additional money taken out on W4)? Is the W4 withholding using 1 as number of dependents that inaccurate?... Yep. All of my clients in a similar situation as yours have this "problem". Congratulations! This will only become worse over time as your taxable investments, which I assume will grow, start throwing off dividends and capital gains which your financial advisor won't tell you about until end of year. I recommend getting a process in place to monitor those throughout the year. So you really have three separate problems. One is the size of your inc...
by tdhg566
Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:02 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 1099-B question (date acquired 1/1/1900)
Replies: 22
Views: 2954

Re: 1099-B question (date acquired 1/1/1900)

E*Trade shows basis as $0 because they have no record of the original cost. Doesn't matter. Your records show the basis was $480. And since the shares were transferred in kind, your holding period is not how long E*Trade had them, but how long you personally owned them.
by tdhg566
Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:50 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: DELETE
Replies: 30
Views: 6236

Re: New Home - Design Center Options - making smart choices

Just went through same thinking process a few years ago when we built what will be our last house. I've had a few years to reflect on those same decisions. Agree with dropping #4. I did the surround sound pre-wire and never used it. Ended up putting Sonos in each room. waste of money to pre-wire imo Agree with moving any other pre-wire and behind drywall to the top of the list. I put Ethernet and coax in every room. game room had it on every wall because we couldn't decide which walls would have what electronics. we didn't use coax some years, but other years we did, depending on internet/tv provider agree with pre-wiring for fans, but installing them yourself. we had 3 fans installed by builder, I did remaining four. Undercounter lighting ...
by tdhg566
Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:33 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax preparer charging for past tax PDF's copies
Replies: 49
Views: 7305

Re: Tax preparer charging for past tax PDF's copies

... I don't know why the other preparer does not e-file... Preparers don't e-file because they don't want to acquire an EFIN. Sometimes they don't even sign the return. And by not e-filing they can use inexpensive, i.e. not "professional" level tax software to prepare the files with minimal cost. Like you, I'm an Enrolled Agent, but possibly unlike you, this is a retirement job for me. I work for someone else, but I know of folks similar to me who do a few dozen returns each year from home. They even recruit clients from their former employer. Since they don't have an EFIN, and maybe don't sign the return, there's no proof they "stole" the clients. These folks maintain their EA status and PTIN at minimal cost. Add an in...
by tdhg566
Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:18 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Laundry lifestyle creep
Replies: 84
Views: 18893

Re: Laundry lifestyle creep

I've found that adding 1/2-1 cup of Borax really helps. We use liquid detergent as it's less messy than powder. I also quit obsessing over the cost once I started thinking about the micro-fractional part of our budget that is spent on detergent. We do use perfume/dye free in case relatives/guests have an unanticipated allergy.
by tdhg566
Tue Apr 11, 2017 11:25 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Honda Pilot good 1st vehicle for teen?
Replies: 46
Views: 10150

Re: Honda Pilot good 1st vehicle for teen?

HomerJ wrote:
livesoft wrote:Of course, I wonder why a 16-year old needs their own vehicle at all.
Your kids never had jobs?
Maybe they walked, like my father always said he did right after he was born, down to the stream to wash off. And then to school and to his after school job.

Those were cruel times.
by tdhg566
Tue Apr 11, 2017 11:01 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Honda Pilot good 1st vehicle for teen?
Replies: 46
Views: 10150

Re: Honda Pilot good 1st vehicle for teen?

sunny_socal wrote:...
Plenty of room for friends.
...
IMO, and from my personal experience with our kids and their friends years ago, the BEST thing you can do for a young driver is to prohibit them from having ANYONE except family in the car for as long as possible after they get their license. Absolutely nothing good comes from a group of kids in a car with an inexperienced driver at the helm. This issue is infinitely more important than what kind of car they drive. Can't stress it enough.
by tdhg566
Mon Apr 10, 2017 5:13 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Windows-10 "upgrade" coming April 11. What to disable?
Replies: 25
Views: 4154

Re: Windows-10 "upgrade" coming April 11. What to disable?

I no longer have Windows 10 on my desktop. After 2 separate occasions of software compatibility issues, I decided the OS isn't worth it for me at this time. I'm still using Windows 7. I too run W7 on my bespoke desktop hardware because it's 8 years old now and I don't want to slug through the compatible driver issues. But W7 extended support expires Jan 14, 2020, so I've started testing W10 running inside Parallels on Apple hardware. I have two machines, iMac and MacBookAir, with that configuration. The combination of Time Machine to do the constant backups of MacOS, and SnapShots in Parallels so I can revert back to an earlier W10 configuration if an update fails, is perfect for me. I was waiting for a new release of the Mac Mini, but now...
by tdhg566
Mon Apr 10, 2017 9:17 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Ordering a Weber grill this week
Replies: 164
Views: 21600

Re: Ordering a Weber grill this week

+100 for Weber grills. I also have a cover (bought a replacement when original cover fell apart), and I intended to use it during monsoon storms to keep water from blowing in and accumulating in drip pan. I never seem to do that though. I agree that the cover traps moisture. Also, wasps nest under it. I grill a lot in the summer just to keep the heat out of the house. I have a side burner that I use on occasion. Would not buy a grill without one. I don't have a sear burner. Would use that on occasion (for me) but wouldn't help with wife's food as she likes well done through and through. I never clean the burner grates. Just turn it to HI for 10 minutes and let everything carbonize. I clean the drip tray and replace the foil pan once a year....
by tdhg566
Sun Apr 09, 2017 9:06 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How to find estate lawyer for wills/trust?
Replies: 10
Views: 2195

Re: How to find estate lawyer for wills/trust?

bsteiner wrote:
OhioGozaimas wrote:Here is a resource for finding estate/trust attorneys:

The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA)
That would be a resource to find elder law (Medicaid planning) lawyers, not trusts and estates lawyers.
Not necessarily. I have used an "elder law" registered firm for trust and estate plan preparation as well as Medicaid planning. Unless you have outsized assets, trust and estate document preparation isn't rocket science (yes, my daughter is a lawyer and we've talked about this). After all, Medicaid planning usually involves a Special Needs Trust. Regardless of what documents you want the law firm to prepare, you should always perform due diligence on the firm and the particular attorney.
by tdhg566
Sun Apr 09, 2017 8:51 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cheap, User Friendly Printer
Replies: 34
Views: 22374

Re: Cheap, User Friendly Printer

I'm a long time user of and believer in Brother laser printers. My wife prints a great deal, so we literally wear them out. Currently have an HL-L2340DW. Just replaced the original drum, paired with the 5th toner cartridge. I get my drum and cartridges on Amazon. I calculated my total cost of ownership, including the original purchase price of printer, first replacement drum, all the toner cartridges and all the paper we've bought (we use good quality 24# paper from Sams, Xerox brand, because we like the weight and how well the paper holds up ). $0.035/page (3.5 cents). I strongly recommend learning how to set the Brother laser cartridge to CONTINUOUS mode, so the printer keeps printing until (literally) the cartridge is out of ink, not jus...
by tdhg566
Sun Apr 09, 2017 8:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Donating a low value used car
Replies: 7
Views: 1570

Re: Donating a low value used car

If you intend to put this donation on your Schedule A, you should read the instructions for Form 8283 to make sure you meet the documentation requirements in case you're audited.
by tdhg566
Sun Apr 09, 2017 8:15 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: ADT / Security - dramatically lower rates
Replies: 5
Views: 3617

Re: ADT / Security - dramatically lower rates

ADT monthly rates are almost criminal, along with the proprietary equipment they use. I use Smith-Thompson, a local Texas company with rates and cell connectivity similar to SimpliSafe. No one should pay more than that for home alarm monitoring service.
by tdhg566
Sun Apr 09, 2017 7:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Choosing to put less than 20% down...why is this wrong?
Replies: 51
Views: 7631

Re: Choosing to put less than 20% down...why is this wrong?

I see many of my tax clients burn up huge amounts of money paying PMI. It seems like such a waste just to get "that" house.

And unless the tax code is overhauled, or the deduction for PMI otherwise reinstated, it will not be a deduction when doing 2017 returns next year.

Getting rid of PMI can be difficult, and the process expensive. If there's any downturn in the housing market, you could be stuck with it for a long time (if you're counting on valuation to leverage you out).
by tdhg566
Sun Apr 09, 2017 7:27 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: American Opportunity Tax Credit - General Questions
Replies: 23
Views: 4067

Re: American Opportunity Tax Credit - General Questions

desertbandit442 wrote:You should be good. It is not how many years you attended college, it is if you have completed a four year college undergraduate program; then you can't claim it. The limit on the AOC is that you can only claim it for a total of 4 tax years. Two year community or vocational college is fine as long as it is an eligible education institution and student is at least a 1/2 time student...
Absolutely correct. I probe my tax clients if their kids begin at a local community college. On many occasions it's clear the child may take 5 years to complete a course of study. If that's likely, then it may be best to pay the relatively minimal first year cost for community college out of pocket, and save the four AOTC credits for the last four years.
by tdhg566
Tue Apr 04, 2017 7:43 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax Management in preparation for retirement
Replies: 29
Views: 3129

Re: Tax Management in preparation for retirement

Something that's not talked about a lot is keeping your MAGI under the Medicare limit that triggers IRMAA each year. Because of IRA withdrawals to fund a trip we took in 2015 we were tagged with $4000 of it this year. When making budget projections, consider whether unexpectedly large RMDs risk pushing you over. Much of our income is inflexible (pension, SS, rent from commercial buildings, etc). When RMDs kick in, we will have to scale back our tax business work or else pay IRMAA again. Not the end of the world, just irritating. One of my tax clients had over $100,000 AGI and paid zero tax this year. Everything was qualified dividends, LTCG and Roth income. No taxable Social Security. He's been working toward this for a long time. But he ac...
by tdhg566
Tue Apr 04, 2017 7:20 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Extension of Federal Tax Return
Replies: 12
Views: 1458

Re: Extension of Federal Tax Return

VictoriaF wrote:...
I expect a large amount back. Do I understand it correctly that even if I file my taxes late, I don't need to file for an extension and there will be no penalties?
Victoria
Yes. All penalties and interest charges are computed based on amount due. But as has been said, IRS may ask you to file a return if they want to double check you. Otherwise they will file a substitute return for you which is NEVER a good idea. You only have three years to file and get money back. I'm stressing that with new clients as we can only fix 2013 returns in the client's favor for a few more days
by tdhg566
Mon Apr 03, 2017 11:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Please check my AMT understanding
Replies: 9
Views: 1690

Re: Please check my AMT understanding

House Blend wrote:...
2. It's virtually impossible to owe AMT if you take the standard deduction...
Respectfully, that's not true at all. I have more than a few tax clients who pay AMT with the SD because they have many personal exemptions. It's not the most common reason for AMT, but it's also not rare.
by tdhg566
Mon Apr 03, 2017 11:39 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: House buying- How to think about property taxes?
Replies: 39
Views: 5508

Re: House buying- How to think about property taxes?

Be careful assuming that property taxes are a tax deduction. May not be true if you pay AMT or if your itemized deductions are phased out. Many of my tax clients fall into that category. A house is a lifestyle choice, not a tax dodge.
by tdhg566
Mon Apr 03, 2017 11:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Synology and IP Camera Setup
Replies: 14
Views: 3202

Re: Synology and IP Camera Setup

+1 for Synology. My favorite use for Synology is house wide Time Machine backup for all our Macs. I tried Blue Iris. Great product. Took more fiddling to set up.
by tdhg566
Sun Apr 02, 2017 9:39 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax question
Replies: 18
Views: 2526

Re: Tax question

OP's concern is this However, this lumpsum pushed me into a much higher tax bracket. ... Getting pushed in to higher bracket increases your taxes only *marginally*. I understand if you are computing the taxes from tax table, taxable income going from xxx49 to xxx50 can result in your tax going up from xx01 to xx20 but that is really the extent of being "pushed in to higher tax bracket". So technically, extra $1 increased your taxes by extra $19, so your marginal tax rate can be stated as 1800% :-) Incidentally, this is my pet peeve on this forum. Even some of the BH who otherwise know the tax business cold end up making the similar mistake. You are absolutely correct on both points. To further illustrate, if your taxable income i...
by tdhg566
Sun Apr 02, 2017 9:29 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax question
Replies: 18
Views: 2526

Re: Tax question

It might be possible but I do not know. From what I have learnt from this forum, tax credit can end up a discrete step function in terms of income vs total taxes due. Unfortunately, I have never had any tax credits in decades of doing taxes, so I am not much familiar with it. CTC calculation based on income is not a discrete step function. The phase out of the CTC begins at different points depending on the filing status. It then drops $50 per $1000 of income. But CTC IS a step function based on age. Turn 17 in the tax year and it's gone for that qualifying child. Almost all credits and deductions have a point where they begin phasing out. Some deductions that are really adjustments to income (1040 pg 1, bottom half) may not phase out. Som...
by tdhg566
Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax question
Replies: 18
Views: 2526

Re: Tax question

How can they be deductible if they were paid by the employer? It seems rather obvious to me! Because the reimbursement was added to the W-2. If the reimbursement was not added to his W-2, the amount would be nondeductible. Read the IRS instructions please. Actually, with respect, your are very incorrect and you should read Pub 521 and specifically Table 2. Corporate relocations where everything is paid by the employer and the employee is "kept whole" by the tax assistance or gross up in no way generate a deduction for the employee. Just because it's "in the W-2" means nothing. The employee didn't pay anything, so they can't deduct anything. No "reimbursement" was involved. If the relocation was "partial&q...
by tdhg566
Sat Mar 25, 2017 7:27 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Enrolled Agent or CPA for current issues
Replies: 20
Views: 2444

Re: Enrolled Agent or CPA for current issues

...It seems with using a CPA/EA you would generally commit for them to go all-in rather than 'helping' you fix/amend things (because most many not want to use TaxAct and will either do it themselves from the beginning by hand or via their own software). Actually, the first EA I contacted offered to sit down with me and go through my prior years in TaxAct and do the amendments from there. His rate was slightly lower, but I'm assuming this is because he's "subsidizing" the cost by providing guidance w/ already-inputted information TaxAct versus redoing everything (which seems like what most CPAs/EAs would want to do), etc... +1 for the response from missingdonut. I'm an EA and this time of year I get many calls from people who self...
by tdhg566
Sun Mar 19, 2017 10:31 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: help with my printer problem
Replies: 30
Views: 3598

Re: help with my printer problem

pablolo wrote:Is the $49.99 brother black laser jet printer compatible with Windows 10 and my 2 year old Dell Inspiron small desktop 3646?
I have the 2340 which looks identical and uses the same cartridge and drum. Just a small feature difference I'm sure. I access mine from W7, W10, iOS, latest two versions of MacOS. Can't image there would be an incompatibility. Worse that could happen, and I've never needed to do this, is that you need to download a firmware update from Brother and update your printer. After owning many Brother printers for more years that I can count, I've never needed to update the firmware.
by tdhg566
Mon Mar 13, 2017 10:47 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Experience selling car to Carmax?
Replies: 110
Views: 252165

Re: Experience selling car to Carmax?

I've bought and sold numerous cars at CarMax. You don't get top dollar for your trade-in/sold car, and you don't pay lowest dollar for your purchase. But they make the process easy, so it depends how you value your time, how easy it would be to sell your car, and how much risk you want to take dealing with the public.
by tdhg566
Mon Mar 13, 2017 10:39 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How many pairs of jeans do you own?
Replies: 64
Views: 10718

Re: How many pairs of jeans do you own?

3 pair jeans
3 pair white cargo shorts
three piles of white socks (from Sams): low cut, mid cut, crew
one pile black crew socks, from Sams
one pile shorts
one pile white T-shirts
6-7 stacks of dark synthetic T-shirts, short and long sleeve, to match varying weather conditions
8-10 heavier River shirts from LLBean, different colors
various long sleeve synthetic travel shirts
a few dress shirts
2 pair black dockers
2 pair white mesh running shoes (for summer in Houston)
2 pair heavier dark running shoes (for winter)

all this takes up maybe 15% of the closet. Other 85% is used by the wife :P
by tdhg566
Sun Mar 12, 2017 7:50 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: High End Wrist Watches (Gone Crazy)
Replies: 254
Views: 40443

Re: High End Wrist Watches (Gone Crazy)

stemikger wrote:Don't know anything about luxury watches but two years ago for my 50th birthday my wife bought me a Citizens Eco-Drive (it never needs a battery) ..
+1 for Citizen's Eco-drive. My father bought me one many years ago. Zero maintenance. Zero fiddling. Automatic DST adjust. Most reliable piece of technology I ever owned. Wore it until it didn't work any more (luminous dials faded and couldn't see them at night), then I replaced it with another Eco-drive, tungsten band which I wear 24/7. It's the perpetual calendar model with day of week and date, which is all I need.
by tdhg566
Sun Mar 12, 2017 7:32 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: gratuitous homeownership items
Replies: 218
Views: 26957

Re: gratuitous homeownership items

Sandtrap wrote:Ditto on gas fireplace. Big one. I can hear the money burning to turn it on. Just for looks. Never use it.
We turn the main/central furnace off, turn the gas fireplace on, and the family room remains quite warm even on the coldest evenings (here in Houston). Zero difference in my gas bill. Only two of us so it doesn't matter how cold the other rooms get.
by tdhg566
Sun Mar 12, 2017 7:26 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: gratuitous homeownership items
Replies: 218
Views: 26957

Re: gratuitous homeownership items

When we built this house in 2010, I was careful to wire the family room for surround sound. Meticulous placement of wired electrical boxes, ready for speakers to be added later. Then along came Sonos and I discarded all my wired sound components and just put Sonos in each room.

On the flip side, we are on water and I never tire of the view or the sounds. We also built in a gated community and I am increasingly thankful for that each day. It's not a security gate, but we have virtually no casual car traffic in our subdivision
by tdhg566
Sun Mar 12, 2017 7:58 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What to do with all these passwords ?
Replies: 125
Views: 24063

Re: What to do with all these passwords ?

+1 for 1Password

It eliminated the issue of W and I not keeping each other informed about password changes. She no longer has to ask me if a password she remembers doesn't work. She checks 1Password first.
by tdhg566
Thu Mar 09, 2017 11:13 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: can you recommend good tires
Replies: 50
Views: 5906

Re: can you recommend good tires

last two sets I bought were NEXEN bought at Firestone. They had to order them. The full Firestone warranty applies, the all in cost was less than Discount Tires and I get the tires rotated and alignment checked the same place I get all my other service.
by tdhg566
Thu Mar 09, 2017 11:04 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: On Buying Used Cars and Using a Financial Advisor
Replies: 51
Views: 5696

Re: On Buying Used Cars and Using a Financial Advisor

Random Walker wrote:...It's sort of like answering questions in law school. Doesn't matter which side of the argument you fall on. What matters is that one recognizes all the relevant issues and makes a sound argument from there.
Ahhhhhhh while reading this thread I couldn't put my finger on it but the discourse sounded so familiar. Then after my previous post I saw this one. And it hit me. I could have had this discussion with my daughter (Columbia Law Review, big law, etc etc etc) on any subject where she takes a different position than me, and there are many.

So why did we enter this forest in the first place? To exchange sound arguments? To confirm that all relevant issues have been recognized?
by tdhg566
Thu Mar 09, 2017 10:39 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: On Buying Used Cars and Using a Financial Advisor
Replies: 51
Views: 5696

Re: On Buying Used Cars and Using a Financial Advisor

...First of all, not trying to convince anyone of anything.... maybe convince yourself that you made the right decision? As Aslan told Lucy "you can't ask what would have happened". Who knows how things would have turned out if you had not paid the advisor fee and selected different funds, or a different allocation ratio, or done TLH differently. You're clearly a smart guy. You probably know as much as your advisor. Maybe more. But you see value paying him (or her) to do some of the grunt work. No problem there. I don't mow my lawn any more, or change my oil, or clean the outside windows. I pay someone to do that. I can do it cheaper, but I don't want to. These are just choices we make because the time we spend fiddling with our ...
by tdhg566
Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:58 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How Do You Share Expenses?
Replies: 52
Views: 6110

Re: How Do You Share Expenses?

Doom&Gloom wrote:...Honestly, this sounds like a business partnership more than anything else. Perhaps you really should listen to the "everything in one pot" people. It might actually have some unanticipated benefits for the two of you.

Good luck. I would hate to have to tackle this.
Can't agree more, but OP has been in this relationship for 25 years so it probably won't change. I know I couldn't have done this for even 25 months.
by tdhg566
Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:48 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Total Annual Expenses
Replies: 57
Views: 6677

Re: Total Annual Expenses

CoAndy wrote:Right now, we are probably at about $70,000.
depending how you define things, we're probably at that point too.

Remember once upon a time when "they" said expenses would go down in retirement? I'm still waiting...
by tdhg566
Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:10 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: GEICO auto rates vs. USAA: too good to be true?
Replies: 210
Views: 60138

Re: GEICO auto rates vs. USAA: too good to be true?

Insurance companies set the rates based on how likely a person is to leave them and go to another insurance company. The more likely you are to stay with the company, the more they raise their rates. So instead of rewarding customer loyalty like most businesses do they try to maximize the revenue from their loyal customers. This means that the best way to avoid price increases is to shop around every few years. Here is an NPR article from 2015 describing the practice: http://www.npr.org/2015/05/08/403598235/being-a-loyal-auto-insurance-customer-can-cost-you Actually the article says that some insurance companies engage in this practice. Nevertheless, there's no better example of this than the cable industry. Woe be to the cable subscriber ...
by tdhg566
Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: GEICO auto rates vs. USAA: too good to be true?
Replies: 210
Views: 60138

Re: GEICO auto rates vs. USAA: too good to be true?

... If you've been with USAA for many years, you will qualify for a loyalty discount at Geico... Okay okay okay. I took my own advice and "shopped around". Did an online quote at GEICO with my USAA policy in front of me to make sure there was no difference in coverage. And amazingly I didn't feel like a traitor. Just good business :mrgreen: On the surface the "raw" Geico quote was $300/year cheaper than USAA. Don't know how much the loyalty discount was worth. The online questionnaire only offered 11+ as the biggest number of years with current company. But my two USAA subscriber savings account distributions in 2016 totaled almost $1,200. You're right, I don't know how much of that comes from each of my different polic...
by tdhg566
Thu Mar 09, 2017 12:42 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Owe $4k in taxes / Got $4k room left in IRA contribution limit
Replies: 6
Views: 1369

Re: Owe $4k in taxes / Got $4k room left in IRA contribution limit

I'm always thankful that during our primary working years, my wife insisted that we max out 401K and IRA contributions, her spousal IRA included. It's not like we kept a ledger or monitored what would have happened if we had not, but I'm sure we ended up better off.
by tdhg566
Thu Mar 09, 2017 12:16 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: help with my printer problem
Replies: 30
Views: 3598

Re: help with my printer problem

+1 for Brother laser printers.

Have the 2340

It has a setting, called "continuous", that allows you to continue printing past the "replace toner" message. so you can literally print until the page comes out blank. saves a ton on printer cartridges
by tdhg566
Thu Mar 09, 2017 11:14 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Safest way to encrypt pdf tax documents to send via email?
Replies: 40
Views: 13976

Re: Safest way to encrypt pdf tax documents to send via email?

While most of this has been my experience with this exact issue, it was NOT September of the same year for the refund to be issued. It took approximately 16 months before my mother got her refund. In September of the same year, they did send her a letter saying they agreed with her numbers from her tax return we sent in along with the police report and proof of identity, but the refund still took about a year after that. I'm sorry that happened to your mother. There are always exceptions. I had a tax client this year who got a letter within a week after we filed her return. It asked for copies of all her income documents. She has SS and pension/IRA only on the income side. Nothing strange. No SE. Something happened with her account. Who kn...