Search found 667 matches

by DoTheMath
Tue Feb 27, 2024 8:37 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Feedback Request on providing a saving incentive
Replies: 13
Views: 1168

Re: Feedback Request on providing a saving incentive

Dufus wrote: Tue Feb 27, 2024 5:42 am Thanks for all the helpful comments. I will remove the restrictions.
You're doing the right thing. I would gently encourage and share information, and have conversations with them when they initiate or when the actively respond to very gentle initiation on your side. That along with a 50% match without further restrictions if you want a tangible incentive.

You don't want your relationship to be one where you're the hectoring relative who comes across as a Scrooge obsessed about money all the time. It is far better that they see you as a positive role model they would like to emulate.

I know your intentions were the best and from love and concern for your nephews, but the initial proposal looks like it was written by Congress :-).
by DoTheMath
Thu Feb 15, 2024 4:12 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What email address is "okay/acceptable" to use then?
Replies: 168
Views: 18032

Re: What email address is "okay/acceptable" to use then?

Halicar wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2024 1:49 pm An interesting question. I have acquaintances that have yahoo and hotmail email addresses and I have to admit they strike me as outdated, even though I'm pretty sure there's no real reason to think there's anything wrong with them. Gmail seems to be the standard now, but I suppose in another 10 or 15 years a gmail address will be seen as hopelessly passe.
Now's the time to snap up those yahoo, aol, and hotmail addresses! Someday they'll be retro, used by a trend-setter of the day, and the kids will clamor for them. Big profits! :-)
by DoTheMath
Sun Feb 11, 2024 1:08 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should my 21-year old nephew fire his financial advisor?
Replies: 99
Views: 10671

Re: Should my 21-year old nephew fire his financial advisor?

The bad news is that $200,000 invested 19 years ago in the S&P 500 would now be worth $1,171,099.71*. The good news is that 21 is ridiculously young in the grand scheme of things. 19 years from now, a well-invested $294,000 should be a substantial sum.


* See https://ofdollarsanddata.com/sp500-calculator/
by DoTheMath
Mon Feb 05, 2024 10:09 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Sleeping struggles with two people one bed
Replies: 71
Views: 6828

Re: Sleeping struggles with two people one bed

We ended up going with a split king (aka two twin-long mattresses), which lets us each have the sheets and blankets just as we like them.
by DoTheMath
Thu Feb 01, 2024 7:57 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best & Worst "Mid-Life Crisis" expenditures
Replies: 129
Views: 24367

Re: Best & Worst "Mid-Life Crisis" expenditures

howard71 wrote: Thu Feb 01, 2024 11:32 am I bought a Trek 520 touring bike and took up bicycle touring. Biggest and toughest ride was from Trenton NJ to Bar Harbor Maine.

@74 now, I think I'm still reaping the benefits.
:beer
by DoTheMath
Thu Feb 01, 2024 7:56 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best & Worst "Mid-Life Crisis" expenditures
Replies: 129
Views: 24367

Re: Best & Worst "Mid-Life Crisis" expenditures

livesoft wrote: Thu Feb 01, 2024 11:28 am I started my "OnlyFans" channel. So far, so good.
That puts your username in a new light! :D
by DoTheMath
Tue Jan 30, 2024 1:43 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: PSA: Cfiresim.com tried to infect my computer
Replies: 13
Views: 1403

Re: PSA: Cfiresim.com tried to infect my computer

I would say it the thread title isn't quite fair. To cover costs and make money, websites serve ads. Those ads come from only a few ad brokers and the website has little control over which ads are served to users. Just ask companies advertising on twitter how they feel about where their ads are placed.... That said, that particular ad is deceptive (if not unusual in its use of dark patterns). Cfiresim does have some responsibility for the ads that appear and they should try harder to not have this sort of ad on their page. On the third hand, I don't know how anyone can stand to be on the internet without aggressive adblocking. This ad is par for the course and the ads on cfiresim are less obnoxious than those on many "reputable" w...
by DoTheMath
Sat Jan 27, 2024 6:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pros and cons of establishing an endowed scholarship
Replies: 15
Views: 1554

Re: Pros and cons of establishing an endowed scholarship

For an endowment, In my experience on the other side, a donation agreement is commonly drawn up that is binding on both sides.

The University development folks will be happy to work with you to structure the donation to fit your needs and requirements. If you'd like to, say, making a binding commitment donate $5k/year for 10 years to take advantage of the match, I'm sure they'd be open to that. Likewise with disbursements, you could make whatever requirements/priorities/preferences you like. Of course, if your requirements are too complicated (or, say, illegal), then they may decline. But it's a negotation/discussion that they're certainly willing to have.
by DoTheMath
Tue Jan 16, 2024 9:50 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best way to be a first-time home buyer if I intend to move in three years?
Replies: 54
Views: 6575

Re: Best way to be a first-time home buyer if I intend to move in three years?

It is reasonable to want to own your home. Two warnings, though. First, it is very easy to underestimate the cost of buying and owning a home. For example, we recently bought a new home. Despite having experience with owning a home and getting a good inspection, we were surprised to learn after some heavy rain that while they look good, the gutters are actually complete garbage. They were not properly installed in various ways. Presumably this will require all new gutters, and repairs in various places, and quite possibly a new roof years before we planned to do it. From experience, we knew to have the money for such possibilities and this is only an annoyance. A first-time buyer who is stretching their budget would find it a budget blowing...
by DoTheMath
Wed Dec 27, 2023 12:20 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best Tips for a Macbook Air?
Replies: 16
Views: 1649

Re: Best Tips for a Macbook Air?

A 2021 M1 Macbook Air should be running flawlessly. If a couple of restarts don't fix the issues, I suggest making an appointment to have the nearest Apple store techs take a look. There is likely a software issue that needs to be addressed. One thing you could try is a reinstall of the OS. You can do this in a way which preserves your own data files on the computer, and that would be worth trying, as well.

P.S. Hopefully you are doing regular backups. Everyone should, but this goes double if you are having issues or have work done on it.
by DoTheMath
Tue Dec 12, 2023 9:48 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Advice on Home Purchase & Cash Offer vs. Mortgage
Replies: 21
Views: 3067

Re: Advice on Home Purchase & Cash Offer vs. Mortgage

I would strongly recommend against buying this house. As you posted, your current housing costs are less than what this house would cost you and that's before you add in maintenance, the inevitable repairs and upgrades needed, etc. Only half-joking, I like to tell first-time home buyers that the actual buying of the house is the cheap part of owning one. In your situation, I would definitely not do an all cash purchase which would lock up almost all your current savings. What happens when you lose your job, have a medical emergency, have to replace the roof of the house, ....? You should not get financially involved with these people. Several red flags strongly suggest they are deliberately taking advantage of your lack of experience. It's ...
by DoTheMath
Mon Nov 27, 2023 8:39 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: UNC System Fidleity to TIAA Conversion
Replies: 25
Views: 2714

Re: UNC System Fidleity to TIAA Conversion

Unsolicited advice: Apparently there is nothing you can do about all this short of quitting your job I suppose. In situations like that, I just sit back and relax without worry. I think this attitude eliminates almost all stress and anxiety in my life which I find useful. Yes and no. I agree with Livesoft that the decision has been made, and spending energy trying to reverse it is fruitless. However, there can be success in changing things on the margin. An employer of mine went from Fidelity/Vanguard/TIAA down to just Fidelity. At first, they were planning to move everything into Fidelity-based "equivalent" funds. After much sturm und drang by employees, they allowed folks to keep their Vanguard and TIAA holdings with Fidelity a...
by DoTheMath
Sun Nov 26, 2023 8:51 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads
Replies: 82
Views: 5672

Re: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads

As for when we would expect to retire, I would say it could be as soon as 6-7 years, and as long as 16-20 years. Probably 10-12 is the most likely range, but that is a guess at this point. My wife and I have a similar time horizon to retirement, and had to make a similar decision re: Vanguard vs. TIAA. What we are doing now is using TIAA Traditional for the fixed income part of our portfolio (90:10 stock:bond). I still have some legacy total bond market in a retirement account and haven't decided whether to roll this over to TIAA Traditional, which I think TIAA allows. I decided on TIAA Traditional over total bond market, because, as user "student" mentioned, their returns are similar but TIAA Traditional is more stable; and beca...
by DoTheMath
Sun Nov 26, 2023 5:14 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads
Replies: 82
Views: 5672

Re: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads

Thanks to everyone for their replies. It gave me some food for thought and a better idea of what information I need to gather when I first stop by HR next month.
by DoTheMath
Sun Nov 26, 2023 5:13 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads
Replies: 82
Views: 5672

Re: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads

does anyone know if it is possible to roll in/out of TIAA? Note that we have to distinguish between 403(b) plans and IRA/Roth IRAs. Because regulation of 403s in moving towards the more permissive rules for 401Ks, some plans let you move one employer's 403(b) to another's. So keep in mind that 403(b) rules tend to be the most restrictive. Not all employers (not TIAA's decision, it's the employer's) allow movement of their plans, and some employers won't allow any withdrawals or rollovers until you are 59.5 AND separated from service. I would expect your rights/freedoms (for movement, not withdrawal of course) to decrease after separation from service. Even if you are still employed, you might not be permitted to roll back and forth. I woul...
by DoTheMath
Sun Nov 26, 2023 5:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads
Replies: 82
Views: 5672

Re: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads

ResearchMed wrote: Sun Nov 26, 2023 3:12 pm Is your wife able to get a dedicated WMA for *her* Employer's TIAA plan?
That should help (emphasis on "should", of course).
Once you get past this particular snafu, hopefully you won't need HR for a while.

...

Can you share a bit more of the specifics of *why* you must go through HR? Is it something like we encountered?
PM me if you prefer.
Thanks RM! I'm glad to hear that in general TIAA has been fine to work with. My experience with HR has been mixed. If I have specific, actionable requests they've been fine. But when I come with more exotic, boglehead-esque questions, they have been uneven at best.

Just to clarify, it was someone else in the thread whose wife had issues.
by DoTheMath
Sun Nov 26, 2023 3:59 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads
Replies: 82
Views: 5672

Re: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads

It really depends on what your TIAA options are. There is great variation among different employers. Mine weren't great when I started my job, but they're pretty good now, with some index funds that have expense ratios comparable to those available from the likes of Vanguard. And I like TIAA Traditional for my fixed income. +1 The University where I worked near the end of my career had 403b options with Fidelity and TIAA. A few years after I started, they dropped Fidelity and you had to use TIAA. Then TIAA (and the University) apparently renegotiated the contract and instituted quarterly fees on my accounts. Needless to say, my experience with TIAA was not real positive, though truthfully it was probably partially the fault of the Universi...
by DoTheMath
Sun Nov 26, 2023 3:51 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads
Replies: 82
Views: 5672

Re: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads

Although I have the largest single portion of my investments in Traditional (RA and GSRA, so some restricted and some unrestricted), I'm honestly not sure how it's performed relative to both inflation and to other fixed income over the many decades I've owned it. I previously held a smaller amount of Real Estate as well, from when it first became available, but don't now and probably won't again. Outside of Traditional I probably wouldn't use TIAA at this point. One minor annoyance is that you may end up with multiple tiny contracts that you can't consolidate, except over 9yrs/1day. So you might end up getting a bunch of little payments of $13/mo for life or something. But I have another annuity and a pension that's paying out similarly (e...
by DoTheMath
Sun Nov 26, 2023 3:43 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads
Replies: 82
Views: 5672

Re: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads

It's a complex decision. You said "mid career", but not your (2) exact ages. I bring that up because thinking about better "annuity"-like products represents an expectation that when you retire, you will 1)Not have enough saved to get enough current income except by annuitizing 2)You don't mind making "a bet on your life" with a big insurance company 3)Your children or other beneficiaries don't need any money from you. But it's perfectly true that even "the new TIAA" is generally a better deal than open-market annuities. (Note that TIAA has some NON-403(b) annuity products that sound like a horrible deal to me, but those never come up on newsboards.) Because so many people on this board are now imagi...
by DoTheMath
Sun Nov 26, 2023 3:11 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads
Replies: 82
Views: 5672

Re: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads

nisiprius wrote: Sat Nov 25, 2023 5:08 pm Finally, my faith in the just-plain-competence of TIAA-CREF was shaken when there began to be widespread reports of data processing errors circa 2006-2007. I never ran into any errors, but I was certainly annoyed and worried when it took seven weeks to perform a transfer from TIAA-CREF to Vanguard, during which time neither firm could tell me where my money was.
Nisiprius, that's certainly alarming! It's a reminder that a lot of our blood and sweat is now nothing more than a few lines of digital ephemera in a database somewhere.
by DoTheMath
Sun Nov 26, 2023 3:07 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads
Replies: 82
Views: 5672

Re: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads

As others have said, TIAA Traditional is a nice option to have for fixed income. Sounds like you don't need it now, but there may come a time where it is useful to you. With interest rates in other fixed income, safe investments hovering around 5%, even if you were interested in fixed income, TIAA Traditional wouldn't really provide that much of an advantage, unless you were planning to annuitize, and then maybe. What I would say is that a few years ago, when interest rates were around zero, and money markets were paying something very low, the TIAA Traditional with a floor of 3% was very nice to have as a place to put part of my fixed income allocation (mine was liquid version, so didn't have the complication of the 10 year thing). And it...
by DoTheMath
Sun Nov 26, 2023 2:56 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads
Replies: 82
Views: 5672

Re: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads

Thanks everyone! I'll reply to some of the specific posts, but the general theme seems to be that the customer service is mediocre to terrible, and the investment options and costs can be good, but probably not better than Fidelity/Vanguard (depending on the employer's plan of course). Requiring people to go through HR is particularly abominable. I've rarely found working with HR to be pleasant or helpful. Since the investment options and costs at TIAA don't seem to be better than what's offered at Fidelity, and I've found Fidelity to be fine to work with, that makes TIAA pretty unappealing. It seems the value of TIAA is mostly in TIAA Traditional as a potential fixed-income option, and in TIAA as a potential source of an annuity in the fut...
by DoTheMath
Sat Nov 25, 2023 4:54 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads
Replies: 82
Views: 5672

A Question for Crefwatch, Oldzey, and other TIAAheads

I am a mid-career, tenured professor at a large state university in the midst of changing employers. For retirement savings, I am in my old employer's defined contribution plan. This plan is handled by Fidelity and has a reasonable range of index funds. The new employer offers something similar through Fidelity, but also offers TIAA. I'm trying to sort out if I should do anything different now that TIAA will be an option. I'd be interested to know peoples' opinions of TIAA these days. I've noticed some posters (e.g., crefwatch) make comments that TIAA isn't what it used to be and maybe they wouldn't recommend it to new investors. But I've seen others remark that TIAA is a good (or maybe even very good) option if one is planning to annuitize...
by DoTheMath
Wed Nov 15, 2023 2:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Coast FI jobs
Replies: 66
Views: 9863

Re: Coast FI jobs

stoptothink wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 2:00 pm There are so many people who think that teaching would be fun after they have earned their money in the corporate world; I'm sure there's some who make it work, but the majority of people are fooling themselves. It's a skill and it can be miserable if it's not really your calling.
+1

I'd suggest to the OP that if they'd like to make an impact, the best way is to do so using existing skills and talents. Maybe doing software development in the NGO space or some other contribution that they're uniquely qualified for.
by DoTheMath
Wed Oct 25, 2023 4:35 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 21 years old. Received $100k. What do i do with it? How do i start investing?
Replies: 21
Views: 3101

Re: 21 years old. Received $100k. What do i do with it? How do i start investing?

Welcome!

The first and best advice is to not rush anything. In the long run, it won't matter if you invest the money this week, or in a month, or in a year. Take your time to figure out your goals and timeline, and then figure out what investments match those. Take some time to read and ask questions here, and then pull the trigger when you're ready to do so.

If you can describe your current situation, your goals, and your timeline, you'll get more helpful advice.
by DoTheMath
Wed Oct 25, 2023 4:30 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best WiFi router for Apple computers/devices?
Replies: 57
Views: 4839

Re: Best WiFi router for Apple computers/devices?

tmhudg wrote: Wed Oct 25, 2023 1:55 pm There's nothing Apple-specific about routers as far as I'm aware.

FWIW, I'm using an Eero mesh setup. I know you hinted that you didn't want/need anything more than a single stand-alone unit but mesh systems certainly seem to have advantages.

I wouldn't over think this. Just find a relatively low cost one with good reviews and go for it.
+1 We upgraded from an Apple router to an Eero mesh and it improved things considerably. It's easy to setup and use, and the mesh aspect improved signal strength and speed in several locations.
by DoTheMath
Wed Oct 25, 2023 2:02 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What's the worst prediction you ever made financially?
Replies: 22
Views: 2182

Re: What's the worst prediction you ever made financially?

It was "obvious" to me at the time of their IPOs that Facebook would quickly fizzle and the Barnes and Noble's online store would be the next Amazon but better thanks to their physical stores.

Keeps me humble :-)
by DoTheMath
Sun Oct 22, 2023 9:33 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Do you "Roomba"? or other robot vacuums? Which is the best? Roomba Tips?
Replies: 117
Views: 14471

Re: Do you "Roomba"? or other robot vacuums? Robot mops? Which is the best?

We've had a couple of models of Neatos. Generally, they worked well, but they tended to scuff up the legs of furniture and the baseboards. Are there current models that are good at avoiding this? We put some pads on the corners of the vacuum, but that didn't completely solve the problem. If you put strips of adhesive felt backing strips, would that solve the scuffing problem completely? Where are you putting the strips? j :D The strips are on the front corners (Neato's are D shaped). That helped, but the real problem now is it can get itself backed up against something (furniture, a a corner) and feel trapped, so it keeps going back and forth trying to free itself. Depending on how it rocks it can be the back or even the bottom that ends u...
by DoTheMath
Sat Oct 21, 2023 11:46 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Do you "Roomba"? or other robot vacuums? Which is the best? Roomba Tips?
Replies: 117
Views: 14471

Re: Do you "Roomba"? or other robot vacuums? Robot mops? Which is the best?

We've had a couple of models of Neatos. Generally, they worked well, but they tended to scuff up the legs of furniture and the baseboards. Are there current models that are good at avoiding this? We put some pads on the corners of the vacuum, but that didn't completely solve the problem.
by DoTheMath
Sat Oct 21, 2023 11:38 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Denton, Texas Inquiry [about best housing options and livability]
Replies: 21
Views: 2777

Re: Denton, Texas Inquiry [about best housing options and livability]

If this is their only job option, then it just a question of where to live. Others have given good suggestions. I personally like Denton and think it would be a nice place to live. It has a nice central square and UNT is a nice campus. DFW is growing fast, and so is UNT. Personally, the big downsides are the heat and the lack of outdoor recreation opportunities. Those are important to me, and Denton scores low on both. On the other hand, if you want to be in a nice college town close to a major city, then it could be a good fit. If they have other options, then that is a separate question. UNT is a good mid-tier state university. It's not UT or Texas A&M, but it's respectable and I imagine most departments have good faculty and draw goo...
by DoTheMath
Thu Oct 12, 2023 7:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How to buy new home before selling current one?
Replies: 38
Views: 4375

Re: How to buy new home before selling current one?

We just bought a new home and will be putting our old home on the market shortly. We had no trouble getting mortgage for the second house. I think the lender was satisfied that we could cover both houses indefinitely. From their point of view, our first house is just one of the liabilities they have to consider. I should mention that we're still working.

The other thing to take note of is that we had to attest that we'd move into the new house within 60 days as our primary residence. My understanding was that otherwise, the rate would be slightly worse as it would have been considered a second home.
by DoTheMath
Wed Sep 27, 2023 11:08 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best space saving bike rack?
Replies: 36
Views: 3550

Re: Best space saving bike rack?

jplee3 wrote: Mon Sep 25, 2023 1:08 pm
DoTheMath wrote: Mon Sep 25, 2023 12:29 pm One option would be a rack that holds your bike flat to the ceiling. If you have the clearance, this could go over your car hood.

https://www.amazon.com/flat-bike-lift-o ... B00MJ26IS0
One of the first links I posted is the same/similar solution (well, not as sturdy) - I don't know that I'd even have the ceiling space for then when I look at our ceiling again lol.
Great minds, etc. :D
by DoTheMath
Wed Sep 27, 2023 11:07 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Explain email 2FA to me like I'm 5 years old
Replies: 10
Views: 1413

Re: Explain email 2FA to me like I'm 5 years old

So if I introduce 2FA to one of my email accounts, that will prevent Apple Mail from logging into it without an extra step, and I'm trying to figure out what that extra step will look like - if it's going to be something quick and easy, or not. You may have a little fiddling to do when it's first set up, but you should be able to establish your phone and computer as trusted devices so that it doesn't ask for 2FA every time you log in. I have 2FA authentication set up on my Gmail account (using a Yubikey, for what its worth). After the 2FA was setup, the first time I had to use the 2FA to log into my Gmail on my phone. However, thereafter it acts just as it did before I enabled 2FA. Emails from my Gmail and other accounts are aggregated tog...
by DoTheMath
Mon Sep 25, 2023 12:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best space saving bike rack?
Replies: 36
Views: 3550

Re: Best space saving bike rack?

One option would be a rack that holds your bike flat to the ceiling. If you have the clearance, this could go over your car hood.

https://www.amazon.com/flat-bike-lift-o ... B00MJ26IS0
by DoTheMath
Thu Aug 24, 2023 2:19 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Efficient proof reading tool/process?
Replies: 55
Views: 3562

Re: Efficient proof reading tool/process?

Since I pay for Grammarly for other reasons, I enabled it in my browser for emails and BH posts. It does a decent job of auto-correcting obvious spelling errors, highlighting grammar issues, and suggesting streamlined prose (I tend to be verbose :-)). I definitely don't always take its suggestions and sometimes flat disagree with them. On the whole, it is helpful. The downside is it is definitely making me less careful in my first draft as I know that it'll catch things. Also, it is far from perfect. You can't lean on it too much. Which, I guess, helps to countervail my previous complaint.
by DoTheMath
Tue Aug 22, 2023 7:08 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Should this Windows User Switch to Mac Laptop?
Replies: 40
Views: 2748

Re: Should this Windows User Switch to Mac Laptop?

You might find using the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store helpful, assuming there is one. When my parents transitioned to Mac, for the first few years my mother would make regular trips to get her questions answered. She found them friendly and patient. Certainly better than trying to Google your way through a vexing problem or having me help remotely.
by DoTheMath
Sun Aug 20, 2023 7:50 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is locking Credit a good idea with this situation
Replies: 15
Views: 1319

Re: Is locking Credit a good idea with this situation

It is straightforward to freeze your credit rating, and I think everyone should do it. It is even easier to unfreeze your credit rating as needed. Typically you can log into your account on their system and unfreeze it for a specified amount of time (say, 1 week) when you know a credit check will be run, and then it will automatically go back to being frozen.
by DoTheMath
Wed Aug 02, 2023 11:52 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How does one figure out how much more to save going forward for retirement?
Replies: 8
Views: 977

Re: How does one figure out how much more to save going forward for retirement?

We're in a similar situation where we're 7-10 years from retirement, depending. Any calculation which assumes a constant rate of return (like the rule of 72) can give you a ballpark idea, but shouldn't be taken seriously. The market very much does not have a constant rate of return. You can use various tools that either use historical data or simulations, and they will give you a more accurate estimate of the range of possibilities. I would (and do) play with these to see the effect of different contributions, timelines, etc. But even that shouldn't be taken too seriously. The returns of the market for the next 7-10 years are completely unknowable. Our plan is to keep aggressively saving with perhaps a modest easing off now that returns are...
by DoTheMath
Thu Jul 27, 2023 10:05 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Did the high rate of return really lead to financial independence?
Replies: 48
Views: 7964

Re: Did the high rate of return really lead to financial independence?

High returns are great. But at what risk? Obviously, everyone wishes they had bought Apple when they started out, but you can't ignore the big drops and doldrums between then and now. Or that Nokia and Cisco looked like better bets for a while there. The paradox is that high returns aren't worth a fistful of beans if you don't already have a sizable nest egg. Living below your means and having the discipline to save necessarily has to come before worrying about the rate of return. Also, if you do the math, time is generally more valuable than modestly higher rates of return. 7%/year for 15 years gives 2.8x, 8%/year for 10 years gives 2.2x. These realizations led me to conclude that Boglehead is The Way. Worry about saving and doing it now r...
by DoTheMath
Tue Jul 25, 2023 1:38 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: 41 and FI, going back to school?
Replies: 31
Views: 4436

Re: 41 and FI, going back to school?

If a 72-year-old member of Congress can go back to school to get a master's in machine learning, https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/28/beyer-student-artificial-intelligence-degree/ , then anyone can. Especially since you'll be doing it out of fun/interest. I know a number of people who've done this for one reason or another. Some took a few classes and stopped; some completed a degree. As KF and others mention, you should take where you are placed seriously and start at an appropriate level. Math, etc., is like a foreign language; if you aren't using it, you lose it. You'll probably have to relearn topics that you had in high school or college. That's okay, and that is true for everyone. Probably you'll discover that when you l...
by DoTheMath
Mon Jul 24, 2023 5:43 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Potential move and looking for advice
Replies: 20
Views: 2003

Re: Potential move and looking for advice

It is natural to have some anxiety about moving far away. And it isn't always easy. You'll be lonely sometimes, miss some favorite foods and other things, miss family and some family events, etc. But you'll also meet interesting new people, new foods and activities, and appreciate your family more with some distance :-). It will expand your horizons more than you can imagine. The secret is to embrace the change. I moved 1200 miles after college, and then similar distances several more times for work. I've also lived abroad a few times for work. It is not great living 1000 miles from my now aging parents and my siblings and their kids, but it's part of the price of my career choice. It is a big, interesting country (and world!). When you're ...
by DoTheMath
Thu Jul 13, 2023 8:52 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is GRE useful for graduate schools that list it as optional?
Replies: 27
Views: 2922

Re: Is GRE useful for graduate schools that list it as optional?

MBB_Boy wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2023 5:57 pm ...If you get a good score, include it. No downside, only upside
Agreed.

I agree that the importance of GRE scores probably depends a great deal on the program in question. My context is PhD programs in STEM. There the main focus is on the potential for doing independent research. The GRE is a poor predictor. I can imagine that it's different for some other grad programs.
by DoTheMath
Wed Jul 12, 2023 11:39 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is GRE useful for graduate schools that list it as optional?
Replies: 27
Views: 2922

Re: Is GRE useful for graduate schools that list it as optional?

The schools list it as optional mostly because even if they decide not to require it, they are happy to have any additional information that may help them evaluate the candidate. In some cases, there may be fellowships or other money that requires a GRE score to nominate the applicant. As mentioned above, there is some useful information if a student has good verbal scores, but the math scores (at least in STEM) don't tell you much. In general, the GRE is a very poor predictor of if someone will do well in graduate school. That's why grad programs are increasingly making them optional (not the reasons implied by an earlier poster). Also, the cost and taking of the exam is a hurdle for applicants, especially international students. Programs ...
by DoTheMath
Wed Jul 05, 2023 9:37 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Singapore Attractions during Flight Layover
Replies: 14
Views: 1348

Re: Singapore Attractions during Flight Layover

When I had half a day free in Singapore, I did a very nice hike at the MacRitchie Reservoir Park. Lots of beautiful flora and a more pleasant way to stretch your legs between flights. It was also a chance to see monkeys in the wild.

https://www.nparks.gov.sg/gardens-parks ... re-reserve
by DoTheMath
Wed Jul 05, 2023 6:57 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: "Smooth Jazz" downtempo podcast/channel
Replies: 15
Views: 1555

Re: "Smooth Jazz" downtempo podcast/channel

heywhoathere wrote: Tue Jul 04, 2023 9:31 am Check out SomaFM (free internet radio stations with no ads), specifically their Groove Salad station. It's not really Smooth Jazz but it's 100% downtempo.

SomaFM is awesome in general, and more people should listen in and support them :D
+1
by DoTheMath
Mon Jul 03, 2023 11:28 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How about a 100-Year CD?
Replies: 61
Views: 7346

Re: How about a 100-Year CD?

Will the bank be around in 100 years? Record keeping? Descendants trying to provide proof of ownership. The estate tax reporting and implications. Best. Tony No, I doubt they'll be around. However, I have moderate confidence that the US government and FDIC insurance will be around in 100 years. Certainly, I would put some weight in favor of this CD over an identical offering from an insurance company or the like. I don't see that record keeping, etc. would be different. My parents own stocks they bought in the 1980s that I imagine I'll eventually inherit and these things get sorted out all the time. I would think that banks (this one and its successors) would have a higher standard for recordkeeping than most financial institutions. Ultima...
by DoTheMath
Mon Jul 03, 2023 11:16 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How many of years is generally accepted to know if a manager has skill over luck?
Replies: 153
Views: 13987

Re: How many of years is generally accepted to know if a manager has skill over luck?

Bernie Madoff had better than market returns for 20 years, for what that's worth.
by DoTheMath
Sun Jul 02, 2023 12:51 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How about a 100-Year CD?
Replies: 61
Views: 7346

Re: How about a 100-Year CD?

hudson wrote: Sun Jul 02, 2023 7:41 am
DoTheMath wrote: Thu Jun 29, 2023 8:12 pm For the Boglehead who fancies themself to be a long-term investor, I present the 100-year CD:

https://www.concordmonitor.com/100-year ... e-51306578
Thanks for sharing! Interesting. It's nice to have options!

Stolen from your signature:
I must break away and get out into the mountains.
me too!
:beer