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spooky105

For home-based access of your financial accounts, you're being too paranoid. A VPN creates an encrypted connection between your computer and the VPN server. This is useful on unsecured WiFi such as at coffee shops, hotels, or airports where the integrity of the network is questionable. The successfu...

spooky105

Regardless of model you go with, below is some recommended reading. Wouldn't be surprised if some of the negative reviews related to cleaning on <insert model> reflect the changes described in this article that folks aren't tracking / haven't adapted to. https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-di...

spooky105

Live in Fort Walton Beach and periodically range from Pensacola / Navarre to Destin / Miramar / Grayton / Seaside... Key to understanding this area is the role hwy 98 plays in transportation -- it's the major east/west road along the coast and can become a chokepoint between communities during touri...

spooky105

Parents purchased a matching set within the past year on my recommendation. Was either 5 or 3 series, just don't have it in front of me. They're very happy with the purchase -- clothes come out clean & dryer works well. No issues and as far as they're concerned. The products perform under real world...

spooky105

For what it's worth, a Kenmore refrigerator is made by Whirlpool, Frigidaire, or LG depending on the exact model. The differences between the Kenmore badged unit and the same unit made by the parent brand boil down to cosmetics (trim, color, shelf arrangement, handle style, etc.) and bells / whistle...

spooky105

A couple of thoughts for your: MORTGAGE LENDER -- Ask a local real estate agent or similar for references in the community. These may be originators (will initially loan you the money and then sell the mortgage on to a big bank like Wells) or folks at actual banks. In either case, it functionally ma...

spooky105

I believe you'll be happy with the purchase in the long term. Mom drove a 240 sedan for 18 years, then an S80 when they updated the lineup in 2000 and now an XC60. I've driven a C30, '12 XC60, and now in a '18 XC90. Electrical-wise, the old 240 boxes (80s / early 90s) would occasionally have issues ...

spooky105

Duckie wrote: ↑
Thu Jun 20, 2019 3:42 pm

Are there other things we should consider?
You could put some of that $30K into paying down the mortgage.

I would also look at this. If student loans are gone in 3.5 years and you are mortgage free then you have an incredible amount of room to maneuver with how you choose to live life.

spooky105

Congrats. Best wishes on many safe miles.

spooky105

We bought a Samsung french door, bottom drawer freezer about 5 years ago. Next time, we will go with LG bc salespeople told us that they receive far more calls about Samsung repair than LG repair. :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: The repair guy who came to diagnose my pain in the $##* Kenmore Elite (a...

spooky105

Is it possible to take the govt matching and convert it to Roth afterwards or is it always traditional until I take the money out? The contributions by the govt are always traditional. TSP does not allow you to convert from Traditional to Roth or vice versa. However, once you separate from service ...

spooky105

I'll try to cover quite a bit of ground here for you. Tried to minimize the re-attacks from other posters, but some are inevitable... BLENDED RETIREMENT SYSTEM Since you're entering the service after 1 Jan, 2018 you will be under the blended retirement system. What this means to you at this stage: 1...

spooky105

Recommend you work your way through the back catalogue of the https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com podcast -- quite a few episodes talk to ways to structure you work/life balance via different employment arrangements. As others have mentioned, best to take the time to study your options and see how att...

spooky105

The Points Guy publishes monthly valuations for points from all the major programs. Use these numbers to see how the value you are getting from using points compares to the dollar cost of subscribing directly. My guess is you are getting a bad deal, and your points could be better used elsewhere. Un...

spooky105

My take on the Volvo reliability discussion after having researched an SPA XC90 over the course of several months and settled on buying a CPO 2018: Volvo moved to a new architecture in MY2016 with the XC90 leading the charge. The 90-series vehicles are built on this architecture, with a similar re-d...

spooky105

If you have a hankering for a good German meal along the drive then Hagerstown, Maryland has the best German Restaurant this side of the pond -- Schmankerle Stube. Otherwise, previous recommendations check with places that jump out in my mind along 81. Just make sure you stop at Sheetz any time you ...

spooky105

Any thoughts on looking at an energy efficient metal roof (raw galvalume or white/light color) instead of shingle? Depending on your situation, going with metal may yield significant savings in the heat of the summer. Your utility may even incentivize the change (mine offers up to $400). Metal roof ...

spooky105

Just put a metal galvalume roof on our house -- NW FL mid century, 1900 sq ft with 1.5:12 pitch. We were limited to rolled asphalt or metal based on shallow pitch & building code. Metal was 2x the price of rolled asphalt, but with a lifespan of 3-5x vs the ~10 years rolled asphalt is good for in the...

spooky105

The "Who this is for" section in the below link has a good primer on when a mesh network is appropriate as well as product recommendations. We've had great success in a long rectangular house with Eero. The previous single router would drop off at the ends of the house. https://thewirecutter.com/rev...

spooky105

You can set up an IRA for yourself and your spouse. With a 2019 contribution limit of $6,000, that means a total combined savings potential of $12,000. Those dollars can be split however you wish between Roth or Traditional IRAs, but the total contributions cannot exceed $6,000. This limit is separa...

spooky105

529 You've got a solid foundation set with each kid receiving your Post 9/11 GI Bill benefit. I would still contribute to 529s. Here's why: 1) Post 9/11 G.I. Bill will effectively cover college at a state school, but it will come up short if you/your kids opt for private school. 2) Can be used for ...

spooky105

Active duty military, age 33. Here's what jumps out at me: CASH You could put your cash into a money market account at Vanguard. It will pay similar interest to a high yield savings account. But a money market account can lose value (this happened in 2008, with significant implications). Instead, op...

spooky105

Second Signal Hill in Saint Johns -- nice walk from the town up the hill and back, with a great view of the harbor. Found a nice coffee shop or two along the way, though the names escape me now.

spooky105

OCC Consent Order: https://www.occ.gov/static/enforcement-actions/ea2019-001.pdf Would be interesting to peak behind the curtain to know what the actual problems are. The above is pretty generic. Giving it a quick read and skimming the cited statues (not a lawyer) I can picture a few [somewhat humor...

spooky105

Security Benefit has the previously mentioned DirectInvest account you can set up. It offers all of the building blocks for an excellent portfolio. Only overhead above and beyond Vanguard's exceptionally low fees is $35 / year for portfolios less than $50k. This is what I set up for my wife -- enrol...

spooky105

Rob, The benefits of investing pre-tax dollars in a 403b outweigh the high expense ratio, provided the account has access to reasonable investment options (not annuities, etc.). That said, I recommend doing a deep dive on every provider you can use in your district, looking at every possible account...

spooky105

Below is how I value the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill benefit. I assume a private school education, with the benefit only covering part of the total tuition expense. DURATION OF BENEFIT 36 Months. This is time actually in school, excluding summer/winter breaks. Better to think of it as covering 4 academic sc...

spooky105

This is not about cost verse sgli, but being able to keep a decent price renewing term policy or similar, past separation. I became disabled which forced me to retire from the Army at age 36. I lost sgli leaving service. Civilian companies would quote me huge rates due to my illness. I was left wit...

spooky105

Some more thoughts: LIFE INSURANCE First off, good on you for looking at term life insurance and skipping whole life. My life insurance setup: ME $400,000 SGLI ($29) -- applies while on active duty $400,000 AAFMAA ($18.15) -- applies until age 50, then tapers to $0 at age 60 $250,000 USAA ($23.53) -...

spooky105

A few years ahead of you, having recently crossed the 9 year mark. A few thoughts: When looking at money market vs high yield savings for your emergency money I think it's worth considering that during the financial crisis there was dislocation in the money markets causing at least one fund to "brea...

spooky105

I use two online savings accounts: 1) Cash reserve for home expenses (insurance deductible, water heater fails, etc.) 2) Surplus cash above and beyond what I need in the checking account to cover regular bills Wouldn't open another account to chase rates as long as your current savings account is co...

spooky105

Speed Queen -- purchased a dryer when ours died and love it. We'll do the same with the washer. Latest model of the washer has some bad press online due to a re-design, but depends on how you want to interpret the situation. Some argue the re-design has resulted in an inferior product, others that t...

spooky105

25% of base pay didn't result in you reaching the $18,500 cap in November, did it? If your Dec contributions couldn't be withheld because you had already reached the cap then no matching contributions would be made for December either. I've come across a few stories of folks getting burned by this, ...

spooky105

We've had great success with Total Wireless (Verizon MVNO). Coverage & speeds are great as expected with Verizon (previous 5 MB speed cap is no more). Four lines w/25 GB data, unlimited talk/text runs us $102.50 per month. Only downsides are I can't turn my iPhone into a hotspot (never used that fea...

spooky105

1. Based on my intent to possibly retire in five years would you prioritize saving 25x expenses or begin paying off the mortgage? At 3.25%, your mortgage interest rate is rock bottom from a historical perspective. I wouldn't rush to pay it off -- you can expect a higher long-term return by keeping ...

spooky105

Researched appliances for several months prior to upgrading about a year ago. Talking to all of the local dealers selling Wolf, Viking, Miele, Sub Zero, etc. as well as researching multiple online forums I found the below: If you care more about cooking than checking the standard boxes for luxury ki...

spooky105

Digitize it. Make yourself a hard-copy if so inclined. Then sell it and invest the proceeds in an index fund. Auction houses to consider: Christie's, Sotheby's, and Bonham's Swann's, Skinner, and Heritage Auctions PBA Galleries All of the above have specialist book departments and hold several aucti...

spooky105

My rule of thumb: anything crossing into the 22% tax bracket (old 25% bracket) or above goes into traditional. Reasoning: you can "make" (earnings, pension, traditional withdrawals, etc.) about $100k in retirement (married, filing jointly) and still be taxed in the 12% bracket (old 15%). ($100k - 24...

spooky105

Contribute to an IRA before the 403b (since there is no employer match). It gives you the greatest control of the money and you can set it up at Vanguard for the lowest fund fees possible. Depending on your current tax situation and future guesstimate of income/career, a Roth IRA may make sense. Any...

spooky105

Have a 10-month old Kitchenaid Fridge (KRFC604FSS) and was looking at SubZero, etc. when we were in the market. Here's what I found through my research: Back in the day, Sub Zero (and others) offered superior build quality and "food preservation" compared to regular brands. Getting into the later......

spooky105

I've had good results with NordVPN -- use it on the road/while deployed for internet access and streaming. Also use it stateside to stream live NFL games via the official NFL Gamepass subscription (you have to be outside of the U.S. to watch games live...stateside you can just watch them after the f...

spooky105

8. Can someone explain in simple terms the two components of why stocks are tax efficient. If I recall correctly, stocks are tax efficient because 1.) most of its dividends (a portion of the profits that the company agrees to pay its stock holders) are less than some threshold which qualifies it to...

spooky105

Not sure if you're tracking these options, but the Mad Fientist blog may be worth exploring further: https://www.madfientist.com/how-to-access-retirement-funds-early/ Another tool to help analyze/visualize your situation is available through Personal Capital. (NOTE: After you set up an account with ...

spooky105

There are businesses local to us that prep, cook, package up, and freeze a week of dinners that customers can pickup on Sundays. Very convenient. Perhaps there is a similar business near you. Same here, though I believe ours deals only in refrigerated meals. Popular among the single folks who are l...

spooky105

I had USAA auto insurance for 18 years and before recently switching to GEICO since the insurance premium was about 50% cheaper. Personally the higher rates were not worth the purported superior customer service. Below is a response from an USAA rep about the different tiers of membership: Since we...

spooky105

Just completed moving the family (4 lines) over to Total Wireless from AT&T. We're using a mix of iPhone SE's and iPhone 6's. No tethering and we have to deal with the old Verizon issue of not being able to talk and access data (except on WiFi) at the same time. Otherwise, LTE data coverage and cell...

spooky105

I regularly take advantage of sign-up bonuses with airline credit cards, Chase, Amex when I have large one-off purchases. Most of these cards I cancel within the first year, effectively paying a small annual fee to get significantly more value in points/cash from the sign-up bonus. The Points Guy is...

spooky105

I've had bottles of the Lagavulin 16, 1996 Distiller's Edition, and 1997 Distiller's Edition. Doing a direct tasting between the 16 and both DEs, I found the '96 to be similar to the 16 but better...like way better (best tasting leather shoe I've ever drank, is how I described it to a friend at the ...

spooky105

Have a Speed Queen dryer and will purchase a top loader here when our washer gives up the ghost / after we tackle a few other capital expenses around the house. Space doesn't support a front load model, otherwise we'd go that direction. SQ makes top-load and front load washer models. Down range they...

spooky105

I've started tracking the KBB value of our 12 Volvo XC60 and 15 BMW 328i... with a previous BMW I noticed a "notch" in the cost to maintain vs KKB value at around 80,000 miles. Once I crossed that, maintenance costs started to ramp up and KBB value started to drop pretty quickly until it bottomed ou...

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