Search found 120 matches
- Mon Apr 16, 2018 8:00 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Best Couch for Big and Tall Person
- Replies: 17
- Views: 49255
Re: Best Couch for Big and Tall Person
I had stopped at Lay-Z-Boy this past weekend. Spent 15 minutes with a guy who showed me a few models and concluded that I didn't fit well in anything. He was right. My current sofa is a Lay-Z-Boy which I bought for $500 used from a person at work. It was never really comfortable but I was young, che...
- Sun Apr 15, 2018 8:28 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Best Couch for Big and Tall Person
- Replies: 17
- Views: 49255
Re: Best Couch for Big and Tall Person
Reviving this thread for the 2018 edition. After a couple days of going to the local furniture stores, I've only found couple sofa's the I sorta fit in. By sorta, I mean they are soft enough that my upper back pushes the upper portion of the cushion back instead of it pushing my upper back forward. ...
- Fri Apr 13, 2018 1:06 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: How Far is too Far, Commuting?
- Replies: 205
- Views: 10495
Re: Work Commute: How far is too far?
30-35 minutes is where I've landed in my last couple employers. I did do a year and a half of 55 mile/1-1.5 hr each way when I switched jobs before moving. That got tiring after a couple months. By the end, I couldn't wait to move. I've found that I am much more willing to drive longer if there is l...
- Sat Apr 07, 2018 9:10 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Engineering: Quality of school vs. specialized niche degree
- Replies: 52
- Views: 3278
Re: Engineering: Quality of school vs. specialized niche degree
I'll agree that internships/coop's are very much worth it when it comes to getting experience and finding a job. Also, finding a club or organization that provides extra curricular practical engineering experience provides some excellent talking points in a job interview. I will say that a student f...
- Sat Apr 07, 2018 8:48 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: How much cash do you keep at any time on checking?
- Replies: 146
- Views: 9185
Re: How much cash do you keep at any time on checking?
My monthly expenses are a $1600 mortgage and $1500-2000 in other bills. I generally try to keep $5000 in checking. If it gets down around $3000, I'll add to it and when it gets above $7000 or so, I'll pull money out.
- Sat Apr 07, 2018 8:22 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Money Market Funds
- Replies: 13
- Views: 2128
Re: Money Market Funds
I moved most of my Ally savings to Prime MM when it crossed 1.5%. Once it passes 1.75%, I'll be cashing in a no-penalty CD and moving it over.
- Sat Apr 07, 2018 1:09 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Class Action suit against DDD?
- Replies: 13
- Views: 1942
Re: Class Action suit against DDD?
Use them to offset gains when you sell something else. That's what I did with a small amount that I held from a few years ago.
- Thu Apr 05, 2018 7:06 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Asking for a raise/promotion with another offer in hand
- Replies: 103
- Views: 6568
Re: Asking for a raise/promotion with another offer in hand
I've been on both sides of this and agree that you should leave. If your company makes a counteroffer, it's likely going to be less than you've been offered and you'll probably be stuck with low or no raises going forward. Taking the new job and not burning bridges at your current employer allows yo...
- Sat Mar 31, 2018 2:15 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Foreign Tax Credit in Turbotax
- Replies: 8
- Views: 484
Re: Help with Foreign Tax Credit in Turbotax
Ok, I see that. TT seems to want to generate an 1116 either way. It's including my local property tax in the form. If I hit "skip foreign tax credit", it credits me the $2 and doesn't ask for foreign tax paid but if I go into forms, the 1116 is still there with a few fields filled out. If I hit "con...
- Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:55 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Foreign Tax Credit in Turbotax
- Replies: 8
- Views: 484
Re: Help with Foreign Tax Credit in Turbotax
Ok I was able to get into the forms. My 1099-DIV box 6 is correctly showing $2.44. 6a is not checked 6b is blank 6c is forcing me to put an "X" by A, B, or C. It is currently on A. 6d is blank Box 7 says "RIC" as the country and there's an "X" next to the ticker asking if it is from a mutual fund. I...
- Fri Mar 30, 2018 9:15 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Foreign Tax Credit in Turbotax
- Replies: 8
- Views: 484
Re: Help with Foreign Tax Credit in Turbotax
Hmm interesting. It's TT Deluxe for Mac. I'll try switching to form mode.
- Fri Mar 30, 2018 8:56 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Foreign Tax Credit in Turbotax
- Replies: 8
- Views: 484
Re: Help with Foreign Tax Credit in Turbotax
Ace, I did use RIC. I was under the impression that I did not need to complete a 1116 since it was under $300. Huey, TT says that with the $2.44 entered in line 6, I need to either claim it as an itemized deduction or a foreign tax credit. The itemized deduction gives $2 less back to me than the for...
- Fri Mar 30, 2018 7:53 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Foreign Tax Credit in Turbotax
- Replies: 8
- Views: 484
Help with Foreign Tax Credit in Turbotax
Hi all, this is my first year with WVO (Emerging Markets) in my taxable account. I paid a whopping $2.44 in foreign tax and I'm trying to figure out how to handle the foreign tax credit in Turbotax. I'm really using this as a learning experience in taking the tax credit as opposed to taking it as an...
- Thu Mar 29, 2018 2:14 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: TLH With SpecID If Bought Within 30 Days Before Harvesting
- Replies: 20
- Views: 1594
Re: TLH With SpecID If Bought Within 30 Days Before Harvesting
Well darn, I misunderstood the 30 day prior statement too and missed an opportunity to TLH for the first time
. I didn't realize that all I needed to do was sell all shares bought within the last 30 days. Maybe it'll drop again next week and give me a chance 


- Wed Mar 28, 2018 8:33 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: After maxing 401(k): contribute to Before-tax, After-tax, or Taxable?
- Replies: 15
- Views: 2060
Re: After maxing 401(k): contribute to Before-tax, After-tax, or Taxable?
I performed my first Mega Backdoor Roth this year. My employer automatically switched my pre-tax 401k contributions to post-tax once I hit the limit. Then in January, I called Fidelity (my 401k provider) and said I would like to take an in-service distribution and roll it into a Roth IRA. They helpe...
- Wed Mar 28, 2018 8:18 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: LG 75" vs OLED 65" TV or Wait?
- Replies: 44
- Views: 3751
Re: LG 75" vs OLED 65" TV or Wait?
I replaced my 10 year old Sony with an LG OLED 65B7A late last year. Great TV but they do have issues with yellow areas on the screen when certain colors are being displayed. Mine has a couple inch band on the left side of the screen that is noticeable when displaying off white colors like snow. I'v...
- Wed Mar 28, 2018 6:49 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Is it time to dump high yield savings for prime money market?
- Replies: 103
- Views: 14403
- Wed Mar 28, 2018 10:21 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Is it time to dump high yield savings for prime money market?
- Replies: 103
- Views: 14403
Re: Is it time to dump high yield savings for prime money market?
Quick question about Prime MM... does interest accrue daily? I know it pays out monthly but is it accruing daily?
- Tue Mar 20, 2018 7:01 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Is it time to dump high yield savings for prime money market?
- Replies: 103
- Views: 14403
Re: Is it time to dump high yield savings for prime money market?
I still hold some in Ally but I moved most of my online savings account to PMM a couple weeks ago.
- Sat Mar 03, 2018 7:23 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: What was your % pay raise?
- Replies: 179
- Views: 18913
Re: What was your % pay raise?
For me over the past 8 years: Low merit increase: 1.75% High merit increase (not including promotion): 3.1% Promotion adds 3-5% in top Changing companies in same COL area: priceless (~20%) In my industry, you can't keep up with inflation unless you move around. High performers are getting 3-4% raises.
- Fri Mar 02, 2018 7:46 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Citi DoubleCash vs. Paypal (Synchrony)
- Replies: 28
- Views: 3610
Re: Citi DoubleCash vs. Paypal (Synchrony)
I went with the double cash card a couple weeks ago. I did have to try a few times activating it online but I was able to add it to ApplePay quickly and set up my bank account to receive ebills from them without hitch. I've been using it almost exclusively since I received it and have not had any is...
- Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:31 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Changing Settlement Fund
- Replies: 4
- Views: 383
Re: Changing Settlement Fund
Ah, that makes sense. Thanks!
- Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:57 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Changing Settlement Fund
- Replies: 4
- Views: 383
Changing Settlement Fund
All my Vanguard accounts are using the Federal Money Market fund as their settlement fund. How does one change the settlement fund to Prime Money Market? It seems like it should be a simple answer but I have found zero info on it while searching. Thanks!
- Thu Feb 08, 2018 7:52 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Blood in the water- buying?
- Replies: 117
- Views: 16306
- Wed Feb 07, 2018 8:22 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Blood in the water- buying?
- Replies: 117
- Views: 16306
Re: Blood in the water- buying?
Emerging markets made it back down to where it was during the big dip Monday so I put a little more in taxable. Which probably means it'll drop 10% tomorrow 

- Wed Feb 07, 2018 8:15 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: U.S. stocks in freefall
- Replies: 6385
- Views: 1369041
Re: U.S. stocks in freefall
I'd have loved it if grandpa had given me $100 of S&P 500 instead of EE bonds 

- Mon Feb 05, 2018 8:59 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Vanguard site is crashed now?
- Replies: 188
- Views: 15206
Re: Did any other brokerages crash today other than Vanguard?
I was able to place a buy order of VTSAX right after 3pm today from my iPhone app. When was it down?
- Mon Feb 05, 2018 8:05 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: U.S. stocks in freefall
- Replies: 6385
- Views: 1369041
Re: U.S. stocks in freefall
I put a buy order in for VTSAX before the close. Couldn't help myself
. If it continues to drop, I'll buy more 


- Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:00 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: U.S. stocks in freefall
- Replies: 6385
- Views: 1369041
Re: U.S. stocks in freefall
I bumped up my monthly DCA of house-sale funds by a day and put another $10k into TSM in taxable. For the record, I would have been much better off (so far) if I had lump summed it but I am sticking to my monthly DCA plan.
- Tue Jan 30, 2018 8:21 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Should I join Linkedin?
- Replies: 48
- Views: 3686
Re: Should I join Linkedin?
As an engineer, it's extremely useful. I'm not someone who goes in to update my profile every month but I'll update it maybe once a year and keep it current. I let mine read like a resume with maybe a little more detail as you're not limited on length. I probably get one email a week from a head hun...
- Sun Jan 28, 2018 9:21 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Fidelity index with less than 2500 minimum?
- Replies: 13
- Views: 1679
Re: Fidelity index with less than 2500 minimum?
Good timing for this question to pop up. I'm in a somewhat similar position with Fidelity. I mega backdoor'd around $1500 into a newly set up Roth IRA and realized the minimum investments on their mutual funds were $2500. I completely forgot about their commission free ETF's so ITOT sounds like a wi...
- Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:44 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Please recommend an allocation now ( age 31) if retiring in 20 years ?
- Replies: 33
- Views: 2373
Re: Please recommend an allocation now ( age 31) if retiring in 20 years ?
In part, it depends on your willingness to work longer if you don't quite have enough to retire at 50. I'm a few years your elder but with similar objectives. My goal is to be financially independent by 50 in case the job market tanks or I need to get out of megacorp life but I plan to retire comfor...
- Sun Jan 21, 2018 8:41 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Where do you keep your emergency fund?
- Replies: 93
- Views: 10123
Re: Where do you keep your emergency fund?
Ally savings account up is up to 1.35% now.
- Fri Jan 19, 2018 4:11 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Mega Backdoor Roth Questions
- Replies: 6
- Views: 941
Re: Mega Backdoor Roth Questions
Thanks! I was able to get it done today and everything went smoothly.
- Tue Jan 16, 2018 9:15 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Mega Backdoor Roth Questions
- Replies: 6
- Views: 941
Mega Backdoor Roth Questions
I'm getting ready to perform my first mega backdoor roth and want to make sure I understand the process. I ended up with about $1400 in post-tax 401k contributions this year after I hit the $18k pre-tax limit. My understanding is that I'm rolling over the post tax funds into a Roth IRA while paying ...
- Sat Jan 13, 2018 9:45 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Ally Bank 2% 12 month CD expires tomorrow
- Replies: 13
- Views: 2454
Re: Ally Bank 2% 12 month CD expires tomorrow
I guess they make it harder when you don't have a savings account through them. I opened up several 11 month no penalty CD's and a 12 month hi yield CD throughout the month of December. Each was opened and funded from my Ally savings account in about 5 minutes using the web interface. The funds imme...
- Tue Jan 09, 2018 9:58 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: target date fund with cash instead of bonds
- Replies: 8
- Views: 798
Re: target date fund with cash instead of bonds
My 2050 fund with Fidelity is .8% bonds and 6.5% cash. IIRC the Voya equivalent fund was about 5% cash.
- Sat Jan 06, 2018 8:29 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Strategy for doing mega backdoor
- Replies: 3
- Views: 435
Re: Strategy for doing mega backdoor
I've contemplated doing the same thing. Possible downsides are changes to Roth rules and needing to wait until 59 1/2 to withdraw.
- Fri Jan 05, 2018 3:40 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Hitting The Sell Button
- Replies: 226
- Views: 27559
Re: Hitting The Sell Button
Early 30's here and I took the opportunity to rebalance my 6% bonds up to 10%. It'll be back down to single digits soon as I'm DCA-ing the proceeds of the sale of my first house into VTI in taxable. I am likely biased here, but it actually shocks me that someone would put their cold hard cash into ...
- Thu Jan 04, 2018 7:30 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Hitting The Sell Button
- Replies: 226
- Views: 27559
Re: Hitting The Sell Button
Early 30's here and I took the opportunity to rebalance my 6% bonds up to 10%. It'll be back down to single digits soon as I'm DCA-ing the proceeds of the sale of my first house into VTI in taxable.
- Sat Dec 30, 2017 9:46 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Target Net Worth
- Replies: 39
- Views: 4800
Re: Target Net Worth
I built SS into my targeting. Expected SS to provide 25-30% of income in retirement. So any formula such as Desired Ann Income/.035 would need to be adjusted. For example if your target annual income is $150K and your SS is $50K per year, you would need to reach 100000/.035= $2.8 million, not $4.3 ...
- Tue Dec 19, 2017 7:50 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Ally Bank 11 month [No-Penalty CD]
- Replies: 382
- Views: 32926
Re: Ally Bank 1.25% 11 month with no EWP [1.75% and higher]
Dang, I opened a no penalty CD the day they bumped it up to 1.6%. Time to give them a call and see if they'll upgrade it without me having to close the CD.
- Tue Dec 19, 2017 7:47 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Who missed out on maximizing 401k?
- Replies: 62
- Views: 5998
Re: Who missed out on maximizing 401k?
I hit 18k the first week of December. I realized my paystub correctly reflects hitting the max and the rest going into post tax but Fidelity somehow allowed all that money to go into my pre-tax 401k. Still waiting for a call back from them letting me know how they are correcting the situation :oops:
- Tue Dec 19, 2017 7:44 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Florida trip - do rooms on west side get too hot?
- Replies: 16
- Views: 1063
Re: Florida trip - do rooms on west side get too hot?
Yes, rooms on the west and south sides get warmer during the day. Wood frame houses will cool quickly when the sun goes down and concrete block will retain the heat into the night (but heat up slower during the day). It could be an issue in the summer with a weak A/C but I wouldn't worry about it in...
- Sun Dec 03, 2017 1:39 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Investment vs House Down Payment Balance
- Replies: 4
- Views: 489
Re: Investment vs House Down Payment Balance
It sounds like you have enough now if you sell your house. If you don't have that much "stuff" and depending what your toy is, could you put your things in storage, sell now, rent for a while, and have cash in hand for a downpayment? It sounds like you will be selling your current house in a few yea...
- Mon Nov 20, 2017 7:37 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: another refinance question (30 or 15 year?)
- Replies: 11
- Views: 852
Re: another refinance question (30 or 15 year?)
Not sure your credit rating but 4.375% for a 30 yr is a bit high but 3.75% for a 15 yr is HIGH. I refi'd last month with Sebonic at 3.12% APR for a 15yr. Closing costs were around $4700 for a $190k loan including the escrow. I'd shop around a bit on Zillow.
- Fri Nov 03, 2017 9:20 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Regret of selling winning stocks early
- Replies: 64
- Views: 9246
Re: Regret of selling winning stocks early
I made my first foray into investing by putting a couple grand in AAPL back when the iPod was getting big. I rode it up to 700, down to 350, then back up again. I found Bogleheads a couple years ago and realized how risky it was to hold most of my portfolio in one company. I began selling last year ...
- Mon Oct 16, 2017 6:49 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Pay Off or Refinance?
- Replies: 17
- Views: 1813
Re: Pay Off or Refinance?
Ok, I see where your numbers are coming from now. I've been using PITI instead of PI so my payment for the 30yr mortgage is $1275. Anyway, It looks like I had two issues. First, I was double dipping the interest on the mortgage. I was subtracting interest paid from the total but in reality, it's alr...
- Mon Oct 16, 2017 12:51 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Pay Off or Refinance?
- Replies: 17
- Views: 1813
Re: Pay Off or Refinance?
Are you sure you didn’t miss a zero? $2k per month for 15 years with 0% return is $360k
- Mon Oct 16, 2017 11:47 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Pay Off or Refinance?
- Replies: 17
- Views: 1813
Re: Pay Off or Refinance?
I’ll try to put it into a google spreadsheet. It’s in excel right now. This is why I wanted to ask the question. It seems wrong but I’ve never really compared dumping $120k into the market today with small contributions moving forward vs starting at zero but adding $2k a month.