Search found 1032 matches

by coachz
Thu May 26, 2016 3:51 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Real price for a new car
Replies: 64
Views: 8494

Re: Real price for a new car

TheBestOrNothing wrote:
The Wizard wrote:
TheBestOrNothing wrote:I put over 1,000 miles on the Chrysler 200 during the course of the rental. Was about ready to just abandon it on the side of the freeway and walk home.

What other makes and models have you test driven, if any?
OP is talking about buying a 300, not a 200.
They're different...
Yes, I am aware. Check out Mercedes or Lexus. That's all I have to say. If you go and test drive one, you will forget about the Chrysler 300.
Same price??????
by coachz
Thu May 26, 2016 12:54 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Real price for a new car
Replies: 64
Views: 8494

Re: Real price for a new car

tc101 wrote:Concerning the quality of the Chrysler 300 - Consumer reports gives it a good rating. They say "Chrysler's roomy and luxurious 300 is one of the best large sedans on the market".

Edmonds gives it a "B - good" on an A-F scale.

There will always be people who think a particular car is terrible, but is there any major publication that has anything negative to say about them?
Consumer Reports is such a bad publication. Really aweful information. I just researched washing machines and their picks are a total waste of time imo.
by coachz
Thu May 26, 2016 12:53 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Real price for a new car
Replies: 64
Views: 8494

Re: Real price for a new car

TheBestOrNothing wrote:I frequently rent cars for business trips and was stuck in a Chrysler 200 last time. Total piece of junk. I've known people in sales who work at the Chrysler dealer and said they would never purchase a Chrysler. Please reconsider before making the purchase.

As far as price negotiation, there is definitely some wiggle room at dealers. I spent about 4 hours at the dealer working on bringing the price down. If you can handle that, then it can be worth it. However, Carmax is nice because of the no-haggle policy.
And Jeep.......ackkkkk
by coachz
Thu May 26, 2016 11:55 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Zenni Optical
Replies: 39
Views: 11774

Re: Zenni Optical

Costco rocks for glasses. Even allows returns if you don't like them including prescription lenses. Who else does that ?
by coachz
Thu May 26, 2016 11:53 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Real price for a new car
Replies: 64
Views: 8494

Re: Real price for a new car

you might like this thread too
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=192094&newpost=2919022
by coachz
Thu May 26, 2016 10:38 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: New car buying
Replies: 32
Views: 4025

Re: New car buying

buy a car and am out usually within 2 hours... That's way too long to spend at a dealer. Like many previous replies, similarly we start process early in the month with direct email to dealers (use their online website and offer a price normally about 2k below the "BEST PRICE" of truecar.com but price is often 4k below that price). We create a new email address just for this purpose just for this one purchase (must have done this about 20 or 25 times by now for extended family) and we discard the address upon purchase. ie. mynewmercedes2017sle at gmail dot com We never finance, pay cash and even if we have a trade, do not disclose it at this point (at the very end when we have car ready as the dealer can no longer "hide"...
by coachz
Thu May 26, 2016 10:16 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: New car buying
Replies: 32
Views: 4025

Re: New car buying

My technique has been to call all the dealers on Autotrader.com and ask for the OUT THE DOOR price. This includes everything. I start furthest away and play them off each other saying what the current best price is. By the time I get to my local dealer, I walk in the door and say "I'm driving to X city today to buy this new car for this price with these features. Can you beat it ? They usually will and will get you the car you want at a great price with local perks like free oil changes etc. Also, I do give them my phone number and expect a few days of calls but they know I"m real at that point. Sounds like a great way to "level the playing field". Always good to negotiate from a position of knowledge and multiple optio...
by coachz
Thu May 26, 2016 9:58 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: New car buying
Replies: 32
Views: 4025

Re: New car buying

My technique has been to call all the dealers on Autotrader.com and ask for the OUT THE DOOR price. This includes everything. I start furthest away and play them off each other saying what the current best price is. By the time I get to my local dealer, I walk in the door and say "I'm driving to X city today to buy this new car for this price with these features. Can you beat it ? They usually will and will get you the car you want at a great price with local perks like free oil changes etc.

Also, I do give them my phone number and expect a few days of calls but they know I"m real at that point.
by coachz
Thu May 26, 2016 9:55 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: New car buying
Replies: 32
Views: 4025

Re: New car buying

kenner wrote:This article may be of help:

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/l ... story.html

Looks like an ad for True Car. They are not the best price either for sure.
by coachz
Thu May 26, 2016 7:09 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Sell Car, keep car, lease a car what should I do?
Replies: 17
Views: 2024

Re: Sell Car, keep car, lease a car what should I do?

sell it and buy a Toyota/Honda/Nissan sedan with 50k miles for 7k cash and drive it for 10 more years. I found something that smells better than that new car smell......no payments.
by coachz
Wed May 25, 2016 1:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Expected Social Security Benefit if I Have No Income for Five Years Before Claiming at 70
Replies: 96
Views: 8666

Re: Expected Social Security Benefit if I Have No Income for Five Years Before Claiming at 70

And those 35 highest earnings years are the amounts after they have been indexed.

Hey, can somone wait till 75 or 80 to claim SS benefits or are they required by 70 ?
by coachz
Wed May 25, 2016 12:33 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Expected Social Security Benefit if I Have No Income for Five Years Before Claiming at 70
Replies: 96
Views: 8666

Re: Expected Social Security Benefit if I Have No Income for Five Years Before Claiming at 70

Hi Mike and Artsdoctor, I understand and agree, one can take the output of the Retirement Estimator and using additional knowledge and information that is not presented at the Retirement Estimator webpage, calculate their future benefit based on what the Estimator says it would be if you worked up to a certain date and collected it then. My impression however is that there are many people who think that when they answer the prompt for "What age do you plan to stop working?" that the results which follow all reflect this choice. And this is understandable and a problem, to my thinking, with how the webpage presents itself. Some people are clearly thinking (some posters have even explicitly stated) that their future benefits beginn...
by coachz
Wed May 25, 2016 12:28 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Expected Social Security Benefit if I Have No Income for Five Years Before Claiming at 70
Replies: 96
Views: 8666

Re: Expected Social Security Benefit if I Have No Income for Five Years Before Claiming at 70

I'm pleased to have been pushed to finally use the anypia software. It's annoying but I'm glad I've figured it out, and I also understand your points about how past earnings history for many people can overwhelm any impact the last few years of earnings might have on benefits received at 70, if not for me. :happy Yes, anypia is a pita ( :happy ), but it gives the needed information. Many years ago, as an exercise, I recreated the SS calculations with a spreadsheet. Basically, I created my own version of anypia where it was easy for me to plug in an earnings history and future and make changes to easily. Because I could manipulate the format of the output, it was also thus easy to graph the output Look at the chart below, which represents a...
by coachz
Wed May 25, 2016 12:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Expected Social Security Benefit if I Have No Income for Five Years Before Claiming at 70
Replies: 96
Views: 8666

Re: Expected Social Security Benefit if I Have No Income for Five Years Before Claiming at 70

KlangFool wrote: A) I use anypia

B) I create a spreadsheet with indexing.

From (B), I found the number is around 2 million of taxed social security income.

KlangFool
KlangFool and Angst,

I too have had bad luck with the SS online retirement estimators and also with them by phone. Three times I called and got three different answers.

Is there any chance I could talk you into writing a short how to on using anypia? I'll be glad to go through it and verify it and test it. I have tried anypia before and was overwhelmed. If you can help, I'll help document it.

Thanks ! :sharebeer :sharebeer :sharebeer
by coachz
Wed May 25, 2016 12:08 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Expected Social Security Benefit if I Have No Income for Five Years Before Claiming at 70
Replies: 96
Views: 8666

Re: Expected Social Security Benefit if I Have No Income for Five Years Before Claiming at 70

coachz wrote:
KlangFool wrote: A) I use anypia

B) I create a spreadsheet with indexing.

From (B), I found the number is around 2 million of taxed social security income.

KlangFool
KlangFool and Angst,

I too have had bad luck with the SS online retirement estimators and also with them by phone. Three times I called and got three different answers.

Is there any chance I could talk you into writing a short how to on using anypia? I'll be glad to go through it and verify it and test it. I have tried anypia before and was overwhelmed. If you can help, I'll help document it.

Thanks ! :sharebeer :sharebeer :sharebeer
by coachz
Wed May 25, 2016 11:53 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Expected Social Security Benefit if I Have No Income for Five Years Before Claiming at 70
Replies: 96
Views: 8666

Re: Expected Social Security Benefit if I Have No Income for Five Years Before Claiming at 70

ObliviousInvestor wrote:
Angst wrote:If I do work that last year at 69 y/o I'll still have some more very low earnings years left among the top 35. I wonder, hypothetically, if I lop off one more of those low earnings years when I turn 71, would my PIA be bumped further, or does that door close completely at 70?
Your PIA will continue to be recalculated each year that you have additional earnings, even if those earnings occur after age 70.
So do SS payments increase if you wait after age 70, like deem at 75 and keep working till then?
by coachz
Wed May 25, 2016 11:51 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Expected Social Security Benefit if I Have No Income for Five Years Before Claiming at 70
Replies: 96
Views: 8666

Re: Expected Social Security Benefit if I Have No Income for Five Years Before Claiming at 70

KlangFool wrote: A) I use anypia

B) I create a spreadsheet with indexing.

From (B), I found the number is around 2 million of taxed social security income.

KlangFool
KlangFool,

I too have had bad luck with the SS online retirement estimators and also with them by phone. Three times I called and got three different answers.

Is there any chance I could talk you into writing a short how to on using anypia? I'll be glad to go through it and verify it and test it. I have tried anypia before and was overwhelmed. If you can help, I'll help document it.

Thanks ! :sharebeer :sharebeer :sharebeer
by coachz
Fri May 20, 2016 2:03 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: I got a home loan from Wells Fargo ; should I shop around?
Replies: 20
Views: 2351

Re: I got a home loan from Wells Fargo ; should I shop around?

I'm guessing someone has tried Rocket Mortgage.
by coachz
Fri May 20, 2016 1:34 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How to stop MS loading Windows 10?
Replies: 70
Views: 10332

Re: How to stop MS loading Windows 10?

Win10 patch sneaks in as stealth cumulative update

http://www.infoworld.com/article/307268 ... 21001.html
by coachz
Fri May 20, 2016 6:42 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: New tires for a 10 year old Camry
Replies: 16
Views: 2529

Re: New tires for a 10 year old Camry

randomguy wrote:
coachz wrote:whichever you get, make sure they give a prorated warranty on the tire mileage
Have you ever made a claim on one of those warranties? I have never come close to the numbers (i.e. I am replacing 60k tires are 45k) but have never been able to figure out a way to make the warranty pay off.
Yeah, if you paid $500 for the set of 60k tires (and you do your standard rotations, at like 7k miles and have good alignment) and you only got 30k miles then you would be credited $250 for your next set of tires.
by coachz
Thu May 19, 2016 9:34 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: New tires for a 10 year old Camry
Replies: 16
Views: 2529

Re: New tires for a 10 year old Camry

whichever you get, make sure they give a prorated warranty on the tire mileage
by coachz
Thu May 19, 2016 9:09 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fidelity's Total Bond Fund
Replies: 20
Views: 6176

Re: Fidelity's Total Bond Fund

how long until you retire ?
by coachz
Thu May 19, 2016 7:40 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Age 29 & married, pls help w/ overall portfolio
Replies: 9
Views: 2230

Re: Age 29 & married, pls help w/ overall portfolio

For the next 10 years, I would put 100% in Vanguard Institutional Index Fund Institutional Shares Equities 0.04% The portfolio quoted above is very nice too, but i would nix the bonds 43.43%, Vanguard(R) Institutional Index Fund - Institutional Plus Shares 20.09%, Vanguard(R) Small-Cap Index Fund - Institutional Shares , er = 0.08% 18.04%, International Equity Fund - Index Portfolio , er = 0.20% 18.44%, Vanguard(R) Total Bond Market Index Fund - Institutional Plus Shares, er = 0.05% The thing is, lets assume the market drops 50% and your $28k drops to $14. Do you freak out, lose sleep, stop contributing, pull out or stay the course and keep contributing. Having bonds is meant to reduce risk but even at a 60/40 ratio, there is 60% in stocks ...
by coachz
Wed May 18, 2016 8:40 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: safe alternative to stock market
Replies: 62
Views: 10104

Re: safe alternative to stock market

joebh wrote:
coachz wrote:Buy a building and open a small sandwich shop. Small business and real estate combined.
There is nothing safe about owning a small business.
And real estate hardly meets the "if somebody might need to access the money at any time" requirement.
you got me there.
by coachz
Wed May 18, 2016 8:10 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Overconfident Investors, Predictable Returns, and Excessive Trading
Replies: 10
Views: 2103

Re: Overconfident Investors, Predictable Returns, and Excessive Trading

This happens to me EVERY time I buy individual stocks. Luckily I don't suffer from "self-attribution bias" and I realize I am terrible at picking stocks and have downgraded myself to DONE.

"The stocks that individual investors buy tend to subsequently underperform, and the stocks they sell tend to subsequently outperform."

It seems to me that many people like the 'gambling' aspect of buying/selling stocks. For them it's a game.
by coachz
Wed May 18, 2016 8:02 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any beekeepers out there?
Replies: 35
Views: 4329

Re: Any beekeepers out there?

All hail the new queen ! Such an interesting dynamic going on with bees.
by coachz
Wed May 18, 2016 8:00 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: safe alternative to stock market
Replies: 62
Views: 10104

Re: safe alternative to stock market

Buy a building and open a small sandwich shop. Small business and real estate combined.
by coachz
Wed May 18, 2016 7:41 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Did I uncover a scam?
Replies: 34
Views: 6120

Re: Did I uncover a scam?

joebh wrote:
alex_686 wrote:
joebh wrote:It's not a scam - it's called subcontracting.
It is not a scam, not is it subcontracting. It is about "Information Asymmetry"
There is information asymmetry in most real-world transactions.

But it is indeed subcontracting.
What is "information asymmetry"
by coachz
Wed May 18, 2016 7:41 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Did I uncover a scam?
Replies: 34
Views: 6120

Re: Did I uncover a scam?

cheese_breath wrote:It's not a scam. Businesses are free to charge whatever they want. And customers are free to shop wherever they want. Just like I saved a couple hundred by buying my last fridge online rather than at the local appliance store.
They can charge whatever they want unless they are Martin Shkreli, CEO of New York-based pharmaceutical company Turing.
by coachz
Wed May 18, 2016 6:21 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Jim Cramer doesn’t beat the market
Replies: 96
Views: 22448

Re: Jim Cramer doesn’t beat the market

abuss368 wrote:I read his first book "Confessions of a Street Addict" many years ago. The book was not bad at all and one has to respect the work ethic and determination.

Best.
His work ethic and determination does not mean that any of his advice is of any value.
by coachz
Wed May 18, 2016 6:19 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Jim Cramer doesn’t beat the market
Replies: 96
Views: 22448

Re: Jim Cramer doesn’t beat the market

Leesbro63 wrote:Called the bottom? What bottom? In 2008-9, he said we were headed for below 4000.
That's just it. He calls so many things wrong and people like to only remember the one he called right. :oops: :oops: :oops:
by coachz
Tue May 17, 2016 5:57 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: buying pet food online
Replies: 38
Views: 7768

Re: buying pet food online

Chewy is great and even sends hand written xmas cards
by coachz
Mon May 16, 2016 10:37 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any beekeepers out there?
Replies: 35
Views: 4329

Re: Any beekeepers out there?

very interesting. thanks for the reply. With the horrible shortage of bees I'm just wondering what each of us can do to help. So many bees have been lost.
by coachz
Mon May 16, 2016 10:07 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any beekeepers out there?
Replies: 35
Views: 4329

Re: Any beekeepers out there?

How much work is involved to be a minimal beekeeper at a residence with 2 acres of land ?
by coachz
Mon May 16, 2016 9:55 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Will it hurt my desktop pc if I have it sleep when not in use for 5 minutes?
Replies: 33
Views: 3632

Re: Will it hurt my desktop pc if I have it sleep when not in use for 5 minutes?

on a desktop i prefer to turn off the sleep/hibernate and set the power button to sleep. then when you walk away, hit the power button if you'll be gone for more than 10 or 20 mins. Then to shutdown, do it with the mouse. On laptop I do the same but have 'close lid' set to sleep.
by coachz
Mon May 16, 2016 8:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Evicting a tenant-Hire lawyer?
Replies: 200
Views: 39381

Re: Evicting a tenant-Hire lawyer?

Some crooks are great at cons and know exactly what to say to tell us exactly what we want to hear. Then hope fades and the truth sets in and we see in retrospect how gullible we are to think all humans are descent people like we are. When a man speaks of his honor, make him pay cash. :shock:
by coachz
Mon May 16, 2016 6:18 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to prepare base for Early Retirement 3-5 years out?
Replies: 15
Views: 3836

Re: How to prepare base for Early Retirement 3-5 years out?

SurferLife wrote:
victw wrote: I've read about VPW, LMP even a little about LDI and while interesting in theory I'm not sure what it means to practically implement.
Maybe it's just me, but I have no idea what those acronyms mean. Can you write them out?
VPW = Variable Percentage withdrawal
LMP = liability matching portfolio
LDI = Liability Driven Investment
by coachz
Mon May 16, 2016 6:16 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Jim Cramer doesn’t beat the market
Replies: 96
Views: 22448

Re: Jim Cramer doesn’t beat the market

No, he is truly awful. But he holds people's hands - gives Them declarations onto which to cleave - assumes the mantle of "expert" advisor and prognosticator - which so many people, even on this site, are desperately seeking. Sad snake oil. But then there's a reason why the snake oil salesman never vanishes: they have an annoying tendency to become rich. Agreed. What makes him so dangerous is his lack of accountability and his certainty about day trades while he talks about long term investing. He's too annoying for me to listen to and try to learn anything. I don't need money to be entertaining. Shows like Wealth Track are fine for me but she has little information for middle class people. Most of her show is some guy who manage...
by coachz
Sat May 14, 2016 6:58 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 25x income needs or 25x residual living expenses?
Replies: 24
Views: 7190

Re: 25x income needs or 25x residual living expenses?

What is an income need and a residual living expense?
by coachz
Fri May 13, 2016 7:46 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Jim Cramer doesn’t beat the market
Replies: 96
Views: 22448

Re: Jim Cramer doesn’t beat the market

I tried to watch him but he is too annoying for me. I much prefer Wealth Track and Bloomberg Go
by coachz
Fri May 13, 2016 1:56 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Free afternoon and evening in San Jose, CA
Replies: 36
Views: 3088

Re: Free afternoon and evening in San Jose, CA

http://www.pollstar.com/resultsCity.asp ... jose%2c+ca
That's why they call me "Bad Company", with Joe Walsh !
by coachz
Fri May 13, 2016 12:32 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Can Anything Stop Vanguard?"
Replies: 50
Views: 10534

Re: "CAN ANYTHING STOP VANGUARD?"

TheTimeLord wrote:
coachz wrote:" a system upgrade that corrupts millions of accounts."
Isn't that a risk of every company ?
Even iTunes appeared to have a corrupted database shutting them down a week or two ago
I don't think there is any doubt Vanguard is behind on the technology curve and knows it. They are still trying to combine brokerage and mutual fund accounts. Now their products like mutual funds and ETFs are a different story as they are excellent but no longer have a significant ER advantage over competitors. I think there success and growth has not been well managed over the past decade so more growth is definitely a concern not a reason for optimism in my view.
I"m sure they have backups
by coachz
Fri May 13, 2016 10:24 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Can Anything Stop Vanguard?"
Replies: 50
Views: 10534

Re: "CAN ANYTHING STOP VANGUARD?"

" a system upgrade that corrupts millions of accounts."
Isn't that a risk of every company ?
Even iTunes appeared to have a corrupted database shutting them down a week or two ago
by coachz
Fri May 13, 2016 9:45 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Lock up your valuables
Replies: 20
Views: 2925

Re: Lock up your valuables

1st world problems :-)
by coachz
Fri May 13, 2016 9:33 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: With Guyton Klinger I"m rich
Replies: 8
Views: 2012

Re: With Guyton Klinger I"m rich

Great advice, thanks. Building a floor of safe money always made sense to me and then having other funds to use on top of that.
by coachz
Fri May 13, 2016 9:17 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Can Anything Stop Vanguard?"
Replies: 50
Views: 10534

Re: "CAN ANYTHING STOP VANGUARD?"

Nice article with some strong comments below. Good read.
by coachz
Fri May 13, 2016 9:00 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Lock up your valuables
Replies: 20
Views: 2925

Lock up your valuables

My mother lives in Florida and just fired her maid that my mother in law had been using for a few years and recommending. Turns out my mothers neighbor used her and noticed $30k in jewelry missing. Police said that maid has a record of being arrested for this in the past. Just a not to LOCK up your valuables when strangers are around. Even if you have used them for years, they can still be criminals. I have heard that some criminals will steal from you and then help you look for it. Crazy ! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
My mother has her valuables locked in a safe so was not a victim.
by coachz
Fri May 13, 2016 8:02 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How much do you give your church for your membership?
Replies: 57
Views: 20209

Re: How much do you give your church for your membership?

When my parents went to church they had them pledge in advance what their monthly amount would be through the year.