Bogleheads.org

The last time I did it, they sent me a refurbished phone in the mail, and I returned my dead phone back in the same mailer. It was a couple of years ago. Maybe they still do that.

Hah! You want hard... do them the old fashioned way... with paper and pencil and a calculator. They are not that hard but may be confusing at times. I have never, never, trusted tax preparation software. I tried it once ages ago... didn't understand what the software was doing or the results. Why have two black-boxes involved? Get you forms and instructions, understand your forms and which you need and fill the boxes in and do the simple math. SImple. Some of the form interdependencies can be confusing but not really if you follow the instructions. However, each year the forms seems to get more complicated... which schedule do I need: 1, 2, 3, 4, ... N? Hah! It is a challenge. My method: Do them fairly early... let them marinade for a few ...

sport wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 2:55 pm I got to take a short trip on some else's motor home one time. I disliked the experience intensely. I really disliked staying in camp grounds where everyone seemed to go to sleep as soon as it got dark and one had to be very quiet after 8:30 PM. So, no music, no TV. Very boring.

Where was that? My experience in campgrounds has been the exact opposite, wanting to sleep while the people in the next site were having a party.

Nobody has ever stopped me from watching TV inside the motorhome. Frankly, how would they even know I was doing that?

I don’t know anything about this motorhome, or European motorhomes in general, so I can’t comment about that. We’ve owned a small (by US standards) motorhome for the last several years, and spent 3-4 months every year traveling. We’re in the middle of selling it. We’ve been the places we want to go, and my health is not good enough to travel that way anymore. The main pro is that you take your home with you, and can get the wilderness places you want to hike than you can staying in inns. It was nice to be able to wake up right by the trailhead, rather than having to drive to wherever we were going from town. Also, nice to sleep in our own bed and eat our own food. The main con is that motorhomes are not reliable like cars are. You’re always...

I’ve always done taxes myself, even when I was having to file two single returns using the MFS and income splitting rules because we were in a gay marriage in a community property state. And yes, that was as much of a pain as it sounds like. I like doing it myself because it forces me to learn our tax laws and how they relate to our situation, which helps me make better financial decisions. One thing that has helped is that my financial life changes slowly enough that in any given year, there might only be one or two things that are new and have to be researched. I will say, however, that there have been times when I made particular financial decisions because the decision would lead to simpler taxes rather than necessarily paying less. Als...

At your income and asset level I’m pretty sure it doesn’t matter. Personally, I would save the $700k in a money market until you find the house you want, then decide whether to pay cash or finance based on your bank balance and mortgage rates at the time you buy.

You’re fine. The one thing I would be concerned about is I think you’re probably seriously underestimating living expenses going forward, but you have enough cushion that I’m not sure it matters. Stuff happens in life. Some of it, like needing a new roof or a new car, we can predict. Other things, like getting cancer at age 59 and suddenly having $10k in additional medical expenses every year for the rest of our lives, we can’t always predict. The other thing is that you might actually *want* to increase your spending, to do things like travel and hobbies that cost more than what you’re doing now. Forty years of retiring “on the cheap” sounds good before you do it, but may not be so great once you’re five or ten years into it. Just “not wor...

A tile floor, with or without a curb, will look much classier than a shower pan or tub. Same with glass shower walls vs a curtain. If I were going to spend the money to get a new bathroom, there is no way I would cheap out on this. Glass looks better, is easier to clean, and you don’t have a slimy shower curtain trying to stick to you all the time. A tub is harder to step in and out of than a shower. This becomes increasingly important as we mature. Dimmer vs. no dimmer is like a $5 difference. It’s a light switch. Not sure why you would choose no dimmer. Lightning is an aesthetic choice. Not sure anyone can answer that without seeing your room. In a small room, though, I would avoid things sticking out from the walls, except maybe over the...

Is it a flat fee or based on miles driven? Once a system can be put in place that is similar in all states and at the federal level, many of the perceived economic advantages of an EV will start to disappear. cool the house at night or charge the car and be miserable at night. Tough choices We’re not exactly talking about unsolvable problems. My 1929 house had a service panel upgrade, from 80 to 250 amps, back when I wanted to run the AC on my motorhome a few years back. It wasn’t really that big of a deal. If your house was built in 1929 and had an 80A panel it may have been upgraded in its past. I can think of several neighborhoods in our state where many homes have 30A or 60A service and many still use knob and tube wiring. None of them...

If the property isn’t in the name of the trust, it isn’t part of the trust, so the disposition of the property is probably handled by the will. Most people with trusts also have what’s called a pour over will, which says that the trust inherits anything that isn’t part of the trust. But there may be exceptions, and we don’t know what dad’s will says. Regardless, if the real estate is outside the trust, it probably does have to go through probate.

MA charges an annual excise tax for all vehicles, including EVs. Is it a flat fee or based on miles driven? Once a system can be put in place that is similar in all states and at the federal level, many of the perceived economic advantages of an EV will start to disappear. It doesn’t matter how much your total service is, what matters is the amount you’re using at once. Most people charge at night when they’re not using the electricity for other things, so 100A will be enough. ACs are usually humming away down in the South during the summer. cool the house at night or charge the car and be miserable at night. Tough choices We’re not exactly talking about unsolvable problems. My 1929 house had a service panel upgrade, from 80 to 250 amps, b...

Are you talking about real estate? Is the property titled in dad’s name, or in the name of the trust?

Planner01 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 7:29 am We love Costco. We shop at the store every weekend and our cruises and rental cars are always booked from their travel agency. However I’ve priced out generators, kitchff den cabinets, flooring and blinds through them and it’s always significantly more expensive, by at least 20% in all counts.

20% more expensive than what? We haven’t found that to be the case.

MA charges an annual excise tax for all vehicles, including EVs. Is it a flat fee or based on miles driven? Once a system can be put in place that is similar in all states and at the federal level, many of the perceived economic advantages of an EV will start to disappear. It doesn’t matter how much your total service is, what matters is the amount you’re using at once. Most people charge at night when they’re not using the electricity for other things, so 100A will be enough. ACs are usually humming away down in the South during the summer. cool the house at night or charge the car and be miserable at night. Tough choices We’re not exactly talking about unsolvable problems. My 1929 house had a service panel upgrade, from 80 to 250 amps, b...

The subsidiary companies kick money upwards.

CC1E wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 9:21 am Objectively realtors serve little purpose, especially when the market is hot. But the reality is that a buyer’s realtor won’t tell them about FDBO listings since they want to protect themselves. So you’re stuck using a realtor if you want to get a lot of interested buyers.

Given that they do almost zero work, don’t let them charge you the “standard” 6% sale commission. Should be easy to find one who will do it for 4%.

I’ve never had a realtor do “almost zero work”. If that’s your experience, you’re not hiring the right people.

It doesn’t matter how much your total service is, what matters is the amount you’re using at once. Most people charge at night when they’re not using the electricity for other things, so 100A will be enough.

One issue with relying on social security is that you’ve probably made the assumption that you and your will both be alive, still married, and both collecting benefits. This is possible, but not a given. You might want to run the numbers again assuming each spouse has to go solo. Relying entirely on SS is not something I would personally be comfortable with.

ClevrChico wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 10:30 am

rockstar wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 11:52 am Greyhound from rescue.

They’re not small. But they’re the calmest dogs I’ve met.

I agree with this, 100%. I know someone that surrendered their greyhound for being "too calm".

It’s become hard to get a rescue greyhound, because there are few racing greyhounds left in North America. I know that our local rescue, which was handling several hundred greyhounds per year five years ago, has branched out to handle other breeds now, because there are so few greyhounds available.

jj45 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 10:02 am The most important thing I look for in a realtor is their negotiation skills. Everyone thinks they are a good negotiator, just like everyone thinks they are a good driver, but half of us are below average. A skilled realtor has deep experience negotiating real estate deals, has inside info about the realtor on the other side of the table, and knows the state of the market. Using realtors has earned me much more than they cost.

This exactly. Every RE deal I’ve done has had some negotiation at some point in the deal. Having someone who’s good at that is worth every penny.

This is your chance to get what *you* want in a bathroom. Take advantage of that. We remodeled 3 years ago, and already had separate shower and tub, so we kept the same floor plan. We still never use the tub, and in a smaller bathroom, we would consider it a waste of space. We put in a frameless glass shower stall, which is gorgeous and easy to clean. We have smaller tiles going up the wall to about a foot from the ceiling, with a large shower caddy on the wall. We don’t have any issues with cleaning and mildew, but we didn’t before, either. We don’t have a heated floor, because we don’t live in that kind of climate. We have a combo fan electric heater installed above the toilet (Panasonic, I think). It isn’t fancy, but it does the job. The...

My current one is a lightweight ArcTeryx that I got on sale at REI. I agree that if you live somewhere rainy, a good rain jacket is worth every penny.

I would go to REI and talk to the salesperson.

OP, you already chose a house that was a poor fit after not very many years of living in it, and you seem to know nothing about how to actually go about selling a house, or the fact that you don’t need to move out of a house and into a rental before you sell. If anyone is a candidate for getting help, I’d say it’s you. I am curious about this and would like some more of your thoughts on this. It seems to me we have essentially two options: 1. Move out of current home and into a rental to facilitate the sale of the current SFH. (Downsides: have to move things twice, Upsides: get to move sooner and set kids up for new schools with the start of the school year; have more time to search for a new home and find one that works with our budget an...

This is Bogleheads, where everyone discounts expertise, and does it all themselves to save a few bucks, no matter how unqualified they are. I’m sure some people would be doing their own surgery, if there weren’t those pesky licensing requirements.

OP, you already chose a house that was a poor fit after not very many years of living in it, and you seem to know nothing about how to actually go about selling a house, or the fact that you don’t need to move out of a house and into a rental before you sell. If anyone is a candidate for getting help, I’d say it’s you.

An attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client.

Yup. Here too.

I've never understood moving to save income taxes by the exact people who make so much the taxes can't impact their lifestyle. Live wherever you like! You can afford it. For many people getting taxed at around 50 percent of income, How does that NOT impact their lifestyle? If I lived in a lower tax state, I could work less, retire sooner, and retire with less... That seems like an impact to me... In my job at least, it gets progressively harder to make more money, only to see less and less of that money land in my account, so much so that I'll start to work less when it's clear that the effort (post tax) doesn't justify the rewards. When the combined tax rate is > 50%, the government is making more money than I am even though I'm the one w...

tibbitts wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 2:07 pm

Kandinsky wrote: ↑Wed Mar 15, 2023 8:31 pm

hachiko wrote: ↑Wed Mar 15, 2023 8:23 pm Why would you be fine living in South Dakota or Alaska but not Wyoming?

I know I'm stereotyping but Wyoming just sounds boring. Alaska would be preferable out of the three you mentioned just from the views I've seen on the History channel.

I enjoy visiting Alaska but I don't think you're being realistic about living in most parts of the state, especially during the winters and being alone.

When I lived in Washington, I met scads of people who had retired from Alaska to Washington, because they just couldn’t with the Alaska weather and lack of winter daylight anymore. Not a state I would move to without having a very good reason.

JenniferW wrote: ↑Wed Mar 15, 2023 7:26 pm Bought two Emeco Navy 1006 100% brushed aluminum chairs for $50 a piece yesterday -- retail for $720. We got them for the dining room. They are indestructible and I can probably get $100 each for them after 20 years of use. They've already had 20 years of use and feel as good as new -- look it too.

Gorgeous!

I traveled as a solo female for work for 20 years, in multiple countries. Most hotels I stayed in had more effective security than my house. Stronger doors, better locks, no windows at ground level, kept solo women on their own floors, etc. The biggest issue when traveling was always maintaining situational awareness *outside* the hotel. Things like not getting roofied at the bar, not getting hit by a car coming from the “wrong” direction when walking around London jet lagged, having to fend off a male work colleague, in the office, in Israel…that kind of thing. Hotels are the safe zone.

There’s construction going on across the street. This morning, I woke up to the sound of a mockingbird mimicking the jackhammer.

Kandinsky wrote: ↑Wed Mar 15, 2023 8:31 pm

hachiko wrote: ↑Wed Mar 15, 2023 8:23 pm Why would you be fine living in South Dakota or Alaska but not Wyoming?

I know I'm stereotyping but Wyoming just sounds boring. Alaska would be preferable out of the three you mentioned just from the views I've seen on the History channel.

Western Wyoming is one of the most beautiful places on earth. South Dakota, meh.

Regardless, you make $465k. If I were in your shoes, I’d be looking at quality of life, not a puddly $25k in taxes.

When it happened to me…nothing. I continued working for the company, they continued paying me and transferring my contributions to the 401k administrator. When I found another job, I rolled the 401k over. Eventually another company bought the company, and the remaining 401k funds were transferred into that company’s 401k.

Tell them to take a PE class. The freshman 15 is real.

Otherwise, give them a budget and let them sort it out. This is their chance to learn to be an adult.

With your level of ambition and entrepreneurship, I would forget law school and look at a Stanford MBA. The payoff from that is likely to be much better, and the careers that leads to would fit your entrepreneurial mindset better.

As far as the money for your business, either use it to pay for grad school, or if your business is scalable, use it to scale that business up.

I'd go with 4 touchpad devices. I have 4...installed in 2018; I change the 4 AA batteries yearly. I'll never have anything else. My go-to contractor installed 3; I did one. I can check status or lock them from my phone. Schlage options: https://www.schlage.com/en/home/smart-locks/touch.html I think this is the model that I have: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D1M635K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I have two concerns about electronic locks: 1. My doors have a doorknob with lock and a deadbolt. If I install an electronic/smart deadbolt, what do I do with the doorknob lock? Install a separate smartlock for that? Leave it, but just don't use it--that would mean less security for that door? 2. I mainly use two doors ...

We have older, low mileage cars, and live in a dry climate. I’ve never tried the Douglas tires, but I’m sure they would be fine for that. At least they have a warranty, unlike the cheap Chinese brands they sell at the tire shops in the hood. We have the Chinese tires on one of our cars. They’re sturdy, but hard as a rock. When we needed tires for the other car, we went back to Costco, and got what was on sale at the time, which turned out to be Michelins.

I wouldn’t get the Douglas tires, though, if you’re driving in rain or especially snow.

knightrider wrote: ↑Wed Mar 15, 2023 9:37 am

RetiredAL wrote: ↑Tue Mar 14, 2023 8:46 pm Is a $15-$20 air filter worth the risk on damaging a $7k-$10K engine? Same economic concept applies to oil life.

After 10+ years the engine ain't worth $7-10k, more like $700-$1000 tops.. In the lifetime of the car you could easily spend close to that amount on air filter changes ( assuming the dealer does it for you ).. So ironic to spend $700+ to mantain something worth less than that.. I am being a bit tongue in check, but assume you get my drift

After ten years of not changing your air filter, your engine will certainly not be worth anywhere close to what you paid for it. Penny wise, pound foolish. Just like with the skis.

I worked assisting a dog trainer for several years. Every dog needs training. Even the “calm” ones. No dog comes perfectly behaved, or even well behaved, right out of the box. The five year old, calm, easy to train cocker spaniel we adopted would bark at the TV and take flying leaps at every piece of furniture she saw when we first brought her home. Getting a dog you can live with requires agreement and a commitment from every member of the family, and takes a year or more, even for the “easy” ones. For every breed listed in this thread, I’ve seen examples of difficult dogs, and dogs that were made difficult because the family wasn’t doing the work. Some of those ended up back at the shelter or breeder. One, a biting standard poodle, ended ...

SmileyFace wrote: ↑Tue Mar 14, 2023 8:49 pm Looking at breed first, is the best start. And calmer dog breeds do exist. Most people recognize the AKC as being experts on dog breeds - here is one piece they wrote on calm dog breeds: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/dog-b ... og-breeds/
Temperament is key part of a dog breed's characteristics.

I would love an Irish Wolfhound. They are amazing dogs.

Great Danes are quite calm, too, and make great pets. I’m surprised they didn’t make this list. But they’re completely inappropriate for someone who wants a small dog, so I never mentioned them…

Living in a Tiny Home with four people, not working, on $40k per year, for the next 60 years. Never mind he probability of success or failure of the financial plan. If I were your wife, I would be balking right about now. Is your wife really, truly on board with this? Or are you headed for an expensive divorce?

With the way the weather has been this winter, it’s likely that the roads will be closed to most of the mountain locations. Mt St Helen’s and Lassen definitely will be closed. At Crater Lake, you will probably be able to get to the rim and see the view, but not drive around the lake. Still beautiful to see it in the snow, but it’s a pretty quick stop.

If I recall, you’re planning on retiring, with 2 young kids, on $40k. It might work. Forcing yourself to live on that small amount of money doesn’t give you any cushion if something changes. There’s a lot that can and will go wrong in the next 60 years. Inflation, market crashes, illness, disability, divorce, college expenses, drug rehab, car problems, or stuff nobody has even thought of yet. At least some of that is likely to happen.

Retiring in your mid-30’s. Have you worked enough quarters for Social Security and Medicare?

If you really only want to talk about RE investing, you might want to ask the same question on Biggerpockets. This site’s investment expertise is grounded in index funds.

Some options…

As far as breed characteristics, Cavalier King Charles are bred to be lap dogs. They make wonderful pets.

I would skip all of the designer mutts. None of them breed true, and you don’t know what you’re getting until you already have it.

If you’re picking a puppy from a litter, a friend, who chose wrong for his first dog, had this advice. “Choose the one that looks dead.” The lively puppy looks cuter, but the dead one is going to be the calm one.

Also, a lot of shelters and rescues do temperament evaluations of their dogs, and can tell you which ones are the calm ones. We got a five year old cocker spaniel this way. Very calm and confident dog, easy to train. Pretty much the perfect dog.

The idea with life insurance is not to make you instantly independently wealthy, it’s to replace the future income of the person who died, at least until the lower earning spouse can develop an income stream of their own. The amount really depends on the size of the mortgage, number and ages of the kids, and earning potential of the surviving spouse, assuming there is a surviving spouse.

As far as disability, I think the most they’re going to give you is something like 60% of your current income. The most important things are to make sure you have “own occupation” coverage (as opposed to any occupation), and coverage if you can only work part time.

ER2023 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 14, 2023 9:25 am

quantAndHold wrote: ↑Sun Mar 12, 2023 7:40 pm I’m not mathing very well, so I’ll leave that to someone else, but you say you had a stroke and have some permanent damage. Is it possible you might qualify for SSDI?

Actually never thought of SSDI. Probably won't pursue at this time, as I am able to work and would like to continue as long as possible - even if PT. Thanks for the food for thought.

I brought it up because the oncology social worker caught me off guard by suggesting it for me. The main advantage, besides getting more income sooner, is you qualify for Medicare after 2 years on SSDI, and Medicare is a lot cheaper than the ACA plan I’m on now.

dukeblue219 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 12:06 pm

AnnetteLouisan wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:56 am $620/mo for utilities? (Counting gas & electric)

I assume that is gas in the American sense, as in gasoline.

There’s a different $350 line item for gasoline.

At your point in life, we were only saving 2%. A few raises, refinancing the house to lower the payment, ad getting the kids through daycare helped a lot. By the year before retirement, the kids were out of college, and we were saving 45%.

Duplicate

We spent $5k in 2008. We spent the money on the things that were important to us (string quartet, cake, clothes), had it at a very nice but inexpensive venue (public park), and the reception was a catered brunch for about 75 at our house. We were older and had been together for awhile and already had rings. Having it in the morning allowed us to skip the expensive things we didn’t care about (open bar, dancing). It was a time when our entire, large social circle all got married in a four month period, so people were going to multiple weddings per week, so a Sunday morning wedding was welcomed.

IIRC, the honeymoon cost more than the wedding.