Search found 4050 matches

by prudent
Sat Dec 17, 2022 5:41 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Former employer asked if I want to return to work there part-time
Replies: 224
Views: 18192

Re: Former employer asked if I want to return to work there part-time

Topic is locked, OP has decided on a course of action therefore the discussion is exhausted.
by prudent
Thu Dec 15, 2022 6:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Neighborly but Foolish - How to handle
Replies: 25
Views: 5015

Re: Neighborly but Foolish - How to handle

Topic is locked, primarily a legal issue therefore not permitted by forum policy.
by prudent
Sat Dec 10, 2022 10:23 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Helping Surviving Spouse Deal with Finances
Replies: 30
Views: 3744

Re: Helping Surviving Spouse Deal with Finances

My situation mirrors yours. I decided the only outcome that would give me peace of mind was to have an advisor work with her. I can simplify, but I can't make sure she doesn't make a big mistake if I'm gone. Laws and regulations change, she would have no idea. She wouldn't know if an old strategy became a suboptimal one for whatever reason. Plans may need to change as she ages, and fInance is just not her thing at all. We have a tax person already but not someone who can guide on handling the finances.

Not the plan I had hoped to adopt but I had to accept that paying AUM fees will be insurance against her doing something that might cost her much more than the fees.
by prudent
Thu Dec 08, 2022 5:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Financial advice for colleague going through divorce?
Replies: 28
Views: 3980

Re: Financial advice for colleague going through divorce?

Topic is locked, replies would not stay on topic, thread derailed.
by prudent
Wed Dec 07, 2022 11:12 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: January 2023 Kiplinger's includes Bogleheads Conference article
Replies: 20
Views: 2529

Re: January 2023 Kiplinger's includes Bogleheads Conference article

See if your library has online access (with a library card) to the research database Business Source Elite, I was able to read the article that way.
by prudent
Wed Dec 07, 2022 6:26 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Financial advice for colleague going through divorce?
Replies: 28
Views: 3980

Re: Financial advice for colleague going through divorce?

Please keep replies focused on financial issues or the thread will have to be locked. Some posts had to be removed already.
by prudent
Tue Dec 06, 2022 1:18 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Favorite cocktail party retorts
Replies: 11
Views: 1205

Re: Favorite cocktail party retorts

Topic is locked, off-topic for Personal Finance.
by prudent
Fri Dec 02, 2022 10:36 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Target , Walmart - When purchased online price
Replies: 89
Views: 9046

Re: Target , Walmart - When purchased online price

cheese_breath wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 11:27 pm
Nyc10036 wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 4:09 pm ... I might as well buy from Amazon.
I don't know where you live, but the odds are you're closer to a Target or Walmart store than an Amazon store. Might make returning items more convenient than mailing them back.
For people who happen to be near a Kohl's department store, you can take Amazon returns there and drop them off to be sent back. You initiate the return process on the Amazon site, choose the Kohl's drop-off option, then Amazon will email you a QR code that you show to the Kohl's person on your phone. They'll pack/ship for free.
by prudent
Tue Nov 29, 2022 1:03 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Medicare-related phone calls to the elderly?
Replies: 24
Views: 1644

Re: Medicare-related phone calls to the elderly?

We've had some scammy calls during this Medicare "season". Some were wanting to know if I got my "new" Medicare card or if I had the "old" red, white and blue one. That was an attempt to get me to switch insurance plans. Others claim (just like those TV ads) that they want to be sure I'm getting the "extra benefits" I can have if I just give them some information to "confirm my eligibility". It's a minefield.
by prudent
Mon Nov 28, 2022 4:40 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why are goverment bonds taxed this way?
Replies: 6
Views: 1155

Re: Why are goverment bonds taxed this way?

Topic is locked, as discussion of US tax policy is not permitted by forum rules. See rules#rule-4b :
If readers can't do anything with the content of a topic other than argue about it, it does not belong here. Examples include:
- US or world economic, political, tax, health care and climate policies
- conspiracy theories of any type
- discussions of the crimes, shortcomings or stupidity of other people, whether they be political figures, celebrities, CEOs, Fed chairmen, subprime mortgage borrowers, lottery winners, federal "bailout" recipients, poor people, rich people, etc. Of course, you are welcome to talk about the stupid financial things you have done.
by prudent
Fri Nov 11, 2022 7:46 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Original Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage
Replies: 481
Views: 44405

Re: Original Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage

Topic is locked, replies will not stay on topic. Derailed.
by prudent
Thu Nov 10, 2022 12:55 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Original Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage
Replies: 481
Views: 44405

Re: Original Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage

Saying something political while adding that we can't say something political is not working. Let's drop that tangent.
by prudent
Thu Nov 10, 2022 5:18 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Luxury Hotels -- Worth It?
Replies: 101
Views: 10369

Re: Luxury Hotels -- Worth It?

I would also say let her decide. I did it (super-nice hotel on a 4-day vacation) once in an attempt to give her a nice surprise. I wouldn't say it backfired, but she wasn't comfortable with the whole experience. I knew if I had asked her first she would have said no, because she's generally frugal. I didn't anticipate her discomfort.
by prudent
Sat Oct 29, 2022 4:02 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Would you move over kids vandalizing your house and throwing rocks at it?
Replies: 16
Views: 2149

Re: Would you move over kids vandalizing your house and throwing rocks at it?

Topic is locked, does not meet policy for Personal Consumer Issues.

Forum policy states:
This subforum is focused on making informed decisions about consumer goods and services (other than investing or financial).

Acceptable topics include:

- consumer goods and services (e.g., dress shirts, laptops, software)
- home maintenance
- vehicle purchases and maintenance
- leisure and recreational activities: travel, sports, entertainment
by prudent
Sat Oct 29, 2022 2:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Weirdest interview question you’ve been asked?
Replies: 14
Views: 1393

Re: Weirdest interview question you’ve been asked?

Topic is locked (not a personal finance question).
by prudent
Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:18 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Starting to Panic
Replies: 122
Views: 20851

Re: Starting to Panic

Topic is locked (derailed, no longer on topic).
by prudent
Wed Oct 19, 2022 10:08 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Student loan debt relief application now available
Replies: 4
Views: 925

Re: Student loan debt relief application now available

A number of off-topic posts were removed. Political comments are not allowed by forum policy.
by prudent
Tue Oct 18, 2022 1:30 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What if we conjugated the SWR using TIPS?
Replies: 62
Views: 6871

Re: What if we conjugated the SWR using TIPS?

Topic is locked (derailed by off-topic posts).

Update: See below --admin LadyGeek
by prudent
Tue Oct 18, 2022 8:41 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Help understanding doctor bill
Replies: 26
Views: 2383

Re: Help understanding doctor bill

FYI, "MDM" = medical decision-making.
by prudent
Mon Oct 17, 2022 10:34 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Guaranteed Income Fund
Replies: 8
Views: 830

Re: Guaranteed Income Fund

My understanding is that interest from Stable Value funds will lag changes in interest rates. Also, many 401k plans have some restrictions on using Stable Value funds. You generally cannot jump in and out of them to chase returns. You would have to look at your specific plan's rules.
by prudent
Sat Oct 15, 2022 6:07 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: FBALX Help me understand
Replies: 18
Views: 2922

Re: FBALX Help me understand

The fund distributed $1.511 per share in capital gains and $0.094 in dividends yesterday.
by prudent
Fri Oct 14, 2022 9:51 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: ESG investing
Replies: 25
Views: 2187

Re: ESG investing

Topic is locked, derailed into off-topic comments. The OP's question was answered early in the thread.
by prudent
Thu Oct 13, 2022 9:46 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Apparent Social Security and CSRS COLA Increase for 2023
Replies: 3
Views: 762

Re: Apparent Social Security and CSRS COLA Increase for 2023

It has been officially announced so closing this thread. Discussion continues at viewtopic.php?t=388003
by prudent
Mon Oct 10, 2022 6:50 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What to do? [Should I retire?]
Replies: 22
Views: 3846

Re: What to do? [Should I retire?]

Houdini563, this above post was merged into your previous thread as it appears to be the same question again.
by prudent
Thu Sep 29, 2022 9:55 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Full FIRE at 36 & 35?
Replies: 66
Views: 8815

Re: Full FIRE at 36 & 35?

I removed some off-topic posts about FIRE culture and work. Please keep replies focused on the OP's situation.
by prudent
Mon Sep 26, 2022 3:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Vanguard S**kz
Replies: 6
Views: 1657

Re: Vanguard S**kz

This thread has run its course and is locked (not actionable, rant). See: Personal Finance
General comments or complaints about these topics will be locked or removed.
by prudent
Sat Sep 24, 2022 10:00 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Ark Funds
Replies: 198
Views: 33843

Re: Ark Funds

People who've invested in ARKK since its inception could have done worse: https://i.postimg.cc/bY2f2zHz/ARKK.gif The thing is, there is maybe a comparative handful of people who were investing in ARKK at its inception. How many people had even heard of that tiny fund at the start, with less than $200 million under management? Who could have imagined that huge bet on Tesla would have paid off so handsomely, and been clever enough to buy in to ARKK? Today the price is right about where it was in December 2017, when the buzz started. I wouldn't be surprised if the vast majority of holders are in the red, given that in December 2017 the fund was only 20% as large as it is today, and anyone who bought in after December 2017 has lost money if th...
by prudent
Wed Sep 07, 2022 4:23 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard sell mutual fund by dollar amount
Replies: 14
Views: 1358

Re: Vanguard sell mutual fund by dollar amount

I see that option on an account that hasn't transitioned to the brokerage account type, but not on any accounts that have transitioned to brokerage.
by prudent
Sun Sep 04, 2022 5:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Silver coins
Replies: 10
Views: 2128

Re: Silver coins

If you don't care what year, the cheapest you can buy an American Silver Eagle in my area is $30. There are no bargains. Dealers will pay $26.
by prudent
Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:58 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Grill: Go Cheap or Not?
Replies: 71
Views: 6181

Re: Grill: Go Cheap or Not?

Bought a super-cheap first grill in 1989, rusted out in 3 years. Next one lasted 4 years. Then bought* a Weber, and still have it 20+ years later. Replaced a couple parts, but can't argue with results. Only caveat is that who knows if the ones sold today are as rugged.

*Thanks to a short-lived web-based retailer called Value America, which sold things at half-price to new customers as they were trying to get established. That put the Weber in my price range at the time. They IPO'd in 1999 at $55 towards the end of the dot-com boom, a year later stock was under $1.
by prudent
Thu Aug 25, 2022 6:14 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: My lot listed (and sale pending) on Zillow without my knowledge
Replies: 176
Views: 31416

Re: My lot listed on Zillow without my knowledge

Our local news had a report on this just last night. The intended victims are not the owner. Scammers advertise someone's vacant property for sale and hope to attract a buyer. Much easier to pretend to own vacant property than it is to pretend you own a house (when you can't enter and show it to prospective buyers). If someone wants to buy the property, the scammer takes the money and runs.
by prudent
Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Increasing FDIC limit by beneficiary?
Replies: 6
Views: 592

Re: Increasing FDIC limit by beneficiary?

You can use this online tool to model your ideas
https://edie.fdic.gov/
by prudent
Tue Aug 16, 2022 6:48 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 19 month CD terms
Replies: 12
Views: 1513

Re: 19 month CD terms

Those odd terms with surprisingly good rates are offered in the hope that when the CD matures, you'll forget to take any action and they can auto-renew you into a new CD. My bank's CD terms state if you do nothing at maturity they can put you into a new CD with a term as near as possible to the expiring CD. Since by that time there will be no CD being offered with the same exact odd term as the expiring one, you'll get moved into a less-than-optimal non-promotional rate CD.

Look to see how the 19-month rate compares to the rate offered on CDs between 1-2 years. Bet the 19-month is a lot higher.
by prudent
Thu Aug 11, 2022 8:20 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: New iPhone or Wait - Pro or Regular?
Replies: 31
Views: 3309

Re: New iPhone or Wait - Pro or Regular?

T-mobile has a "test drive" offer which worked well for me. Good for 30 days or 30GB data. You download an eSIM and it allows your phone to be on both networks, then you use settings to control which one is active at any given time. I couldn't think of a more realistic way to compare two carriers. It's probably the only way I would have considered using T-mobile. Only potential blind spot is my iphone doesn't have 5G and that's what T-mobile is really pushing right now. I also saw an offer where T-mobile would pay your remaining balance to switch.
by prudent
Sun Aug 07, 2022 2:20 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Spam Bombed in Gmail
Replies: 20
Views: 2884

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Can you make a new folder, move everything from the inbox before today to that folder, then let the spam run for a while. If the emails are coming from all different senders I imagine it will stop before very long.

At that point you can scan your inbox for any legit emails you need to save, then delete all the others.
by prudent
Tue Aug 02, 2022 6:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How to find help with retirement homes
Replies: 32
Views: 3338

Re: How to find help with retirement homes

My relatives looked into having help come in 3 days a week for their elderly father. They live in a rural area. Utilizing all the avenues I could find, we came up with exactly one person willing to do in-home health care, and only because they just happened to live just 2 miles away. Property maintenance had no takers unless it was a big multi-thousand dollar project. Once you get away from denser populated areas, it's going to be difficult to find the kind of situation you're wanting.
by prudent
Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Banking question
Replies: 37
Views: 2573

Re: Banking question

I wonder if the right of offset was a factor in how they applied the payment.
by prudent
Tue Jul 26, 2022 12:36 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Lottery
Replies: 4
Views: 1320

Re: Lottery

Topic is locked (not personal, it's hypothetical). Topics must be personal and actionable, not "what if".
by prudent
Thu Jul 21, 2022 1:26 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Am I overreacting?
Replies: 24
Views: 2230

Re: Am I overreacting?

Topic is locked, below threshold for Personal Consumer Issues.
by prudent
Thu Jul 14, 2022 3:08 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: [Firearms training]
Replies: 62
Views: 5793

Re: [Firearms training]

I removed a few off-topic replies. Stay on topic.
by prudent
Tue Jun 28, 2022 12:09 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Results of Radon Water Test (not good) - Advice Please
Replies: 30
Views: 4417

Re: Results of Radon Water Test (not good) - Advice Please

Please do not discuss health issues, medical advice is not permitted by forum policy. Discussing the radon mitigation is fine.
by prudent
Sat Jun 25, 2022 12:24 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Private debt investing
Replies: 21
Views: 2301

Re: Private debt investing

And also make sure you understand any restrictions on taking your money out.
by prudent
Sun Jun 19, 2022 4:30 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: My ulcers with Hedgefundie and TQQQ.
Replies: 5
Views: 1448

Re: My ulcers with Hedgefundie and TQQQ.

Topic is locked (not actionable). See Non-actionable Topics
by prudent
Sat Jun 18, 2022 9:29 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Ghosted by recruiter: any steps to take?
Replies: 45
Views: 6041

Re: Ghosted by recruiter: any steps to take?

Topic is locked (derailed, replies are no longer focused on OP's personal situation).
by prudent
Wed May 25, 2022 6:18 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Rent to Own
Replies: 8
Views: 1045

Re: Rent to Own

Is $1500 a fair market rent? How much of that amount would be credited towards the rent-to-own?