Search found 139 matches

by Dendritic Tree
Fri Oct 11, 2019 6:36 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Working in a different city
Replies: 32
Views: 2892

Re: Working in a different city

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I am going to a major international conference next week where I will see colleagues from all over the country including several former mentors. I’m going to take some time to test the waters and think through my options a bit more before I continue down either pathway.
by Dendritic Tree
Thu Oct 10, 2019 9:02 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Ally Savings Rate drops to 1.8%
Replies: 51
Views: 10070

Re: Ally Savings Rate drops to 1.8%

I agree that the Ally rate drop is just part of the tide generally speaking of all banks going back down. They are so convenient that it's still worth it to stay there even if I could get a few extra tenths of a percent elsewhere. Really a great bank.
by Dendritic Tree
Thu Oct 10, 2019 8:53 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Working in a different city
Replies: 32
Views: 2892

Re: Working in a different city

Answering a few more questions: 1. How does my wife feel about it? She's surprisingly open about it and encouraged me to reconsider after I initially shut it down. Her reason is that she wants me to feel professionally satisfied and do what I really want to do. 2. It sounds like you have a good thing going there, why would you seek a different job? Well, I do have a good thing going, but I spent several additional years of fellowship training in this one field I really enjoy, and I'm not using that training currently, nor getting paid for it. I'm doing a more generalized version of my subspecialty - it's sort of the penalty I'm paying for getting to live and work in my dream city. My training is adjacent to what I do, but not fully, and som...
by Dendritic Tree
Thu Oct 10, 2019 6:20 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Working in a different city
Replies: 32
Views: 2892

Re: Working in a different city

livesoft wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2019 6:17 am Why don't you get "the other city" folks to move to "your current city"? Or you could start the business yourself in your own city. They could bankroll your new business.
Unfortunately the nature of my specialty is such that you really can’t just “start your own group”. You really have to have a dedicated ICU of a certain type in a large hospital with certain support staff hired by the hospital as well.
by Dendritic Tree
Thu Oct 10, 2019 6:16 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Working in a different city
Replies: 32
Views: 2892

Re: Working in a different city

Part of my hesitation is that I really do feel like my current group is family, and 2 out of the 7 of us just announced they were moving to a job in a different part of the country, so the 5 remaining of us are going to have quite a hard schedule until we can recruit to replace the 2 that are leaving (recruiting a doctor can take well over a year from start to finish sometimes). If I left too at the same time, the 4 remaining docs will be hopelessly overwhelmed, and I do feel that I owe it to them a little bit not to screw them over at the worst time. I wouldn’t factor your current work situation in to your decision at all. Obviously the 2 who left had no qualms about doing what’s best for themselves, why should you hold yourself back? It ...
by Dendritic Tree
Thu Oct 10, 2019 6:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Working in a different city
Replies: 32
Views: 2892

Re: Working in a different city

To answer a few questions: Moving halfway between the two cities is not an option. Not only do we love where we live (and my wife and kids won’t move), but the new position would require me to live no more than 15 minutes away from the new hospital, because I would need to be immediately available to go into the hospital at night. The hours would be 7am - 7pm, 7 days a week. Usually that 7pm goes a little bit later, possibly 8 or 9pm depending on how sick the patients are and how many new admissions there are. I would also take call from “home” at night and be required to be able to go into work at a moment’s notice at night for emergencies, which happens a few times per week. We’ll call the workweek 90 hours of actual in-hospital work, plu...
by Dendritic Tree
Wed Oct 09, 2019 9:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Working in a different city
Replies: 32
Views: 2892

Working in a different city

I am a physician working in a hospital setting, and I live in our dream city. We’re very happy with our life here. My wife is also a physician and is a partner in an outpatient practice that she loves, and thinks she’ll spend the rest of her career there. My job is “good enough” to be happy staying here. It’s a great group of doctors and colleagues, but I don’t really get to fully utilize my subspecialty training, so I’m not 100% professionally satisfied. Certainly, I have found some fulfillment and I’m not disgruntled, but it’s not perfect. To make extra money and help pay off our mountain of student loans earlier, I’ve done some intermittent moonlighting at a hospital in a major city a little over 2 hours away. This moonlighting gig is in...
by Dendritic Tree
Thu Aug 29, 2019 12:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I purchase a $30k car?
Replies: 112
Views: 9521

Re: Should I purchase a $30k car?

Buy a Tesla model 3... 39k. Look up five year ownership costs. Cheaper than accord or Camry. You live in Cali!! Tax credits. First maintenance in 4 years. This is easy. Appreciating asset. Resale is insane. Get back to me in six months and say thanks. What is the number of miles that one needs to drive in the Tesla to make this math work? Obviously, the gas savings is significant, but it probably wouldn't be cheaper for someone who drives 4-6K miles per year (guessing here). Actually it costs money to run an electric car unless you have a solar system installed at your house. This is especially true in a place where electricity is expensive, e.g., California. An electric car consumes about 26 KWh of electricity for 100 miles. At the Tier 2...
by Dendritic Tree
Thu Aug 29, 2019 12:42 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Educating Spouse on Personal Finance
Replies: 60
Views: 4958

Re: Educating Spouse on Personal Finance

abuss368 wrote: Thu Aug 29, 2019 11:35 am I have family that stopped balancing their checkbook over ten years ago. They just write any checks issued in the log and say everything else is in real time. Personally I have not been able to get to this step yet!
My wife and I review our accounts online almost every day but don’t really have a physical ledger to balance. We write probably only 2 or 3 physical checks per year, though (we’ve never gone through an entire book of checks before - we still have the same starter pack of checks after 13 years!). I would argue that if you’re rigorous about keeping tabs with your electronic accounts in real time, it’s just as good as balancing a checkbook. We’ve caught several discrepancies over the years this way.
by Dendritic Tree
Mon Aug 26, 2019 12:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Giving a Co-Worker’s Teen a “Grant” to Buy a Plug-in-Car?
Replies: 27
Views: 2035

Re: Giving a Co-Worker’s Teen a “Grant” to Buy a Plug-in-Car?

OP here.

Like I said, no further input needed. I am glad for the feedback and completely agree now. No way would I do this.
by Dendritic Tree
Mon Aug 26, 2019 11:15 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Giving a Co-Worker’s Teen a “Grant” to Buy a Plug-in-Car?
Replies: 27
Views: 2035

Re: Giving a Co-Worker’s Teen a “Grant” to Buy a Plug-in-Car?

Message received loud and clear. I appreciate the advice. Perish the thought.
StandingRock wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2019 11:05 amMaybe just focus on getting yourself on track a little bit or something.
Don’t quite get that though. I feel pretty “on track”.
by Dendritic Tree
Mon Aug 26, 2019 10:16 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Giving a Co-Worker’s Teen a “Grant” to Buy a Plug-in-Car?
Replies: 27
Views: 2035

Giving a Co-Worker’s Teen a “Grant” to Buy a Plug-in-Car?

I work with someone who has a 15-year-old daughter that my wife and I know well - she babysits for our 3 and 5-year-old kids a few times per month. She is an old soul, a little too mature and responsible for her age - she’s working several jobs, aggressively saving for her first car (and also for college). We’ve given her rides home after babysitting in our electric vehicles and she’s always seemed interested in them. Her mom is one of my co-workers. As an EV evangelist and active member of a local EV club, I’m always looking for ways to promote the transition to electric driving. Today I was planning on selling our old Siemens Versicharge EVSE (home EV charger that plugs into a dryer outlet) that we no longer use, and then I thought, why d...
by Dendritic Tree
Thu Oct 04, 2018 7:57 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Fall Foliage
Replies: 29
Views: 2963

Re: Fall Foliage

I would recommend the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC/VA/TN. Asheville, Gatlinburg, Johnson City, Boone are all fabulous places to see fall color. The Eastern edge of the Smokies has the longest leaf color season in the world due to the big variability in altitude and more biodiversity than, for example, New England. Also, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the incredible system of trails and hikes in this area lets you get up close and personal with hundred-mile vistas full of color around every corner. Examples of some great fall color hikes near me:

https://ashevilletrails.com/fall-foliag ... mountains/
by Dendritic Tree
Mon Sep 24, 2018 6:34 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Can I buy a Tesla?
Replies: 140
Views: 14356

Re: Can I buy a Tesla?

I’m a relatively new attending (~2 years out) who cancelled my model 3 reservation when I got my invite to configure. But we have a LOT more debt than you and we’re focused on living like residents until it’s gone (never should have made the reservation in the first place - can’t afford any new car right now). We’re working on getting our loan payments to 13,000/mo and expect to be paid off late 2021, at which point I may loosen up a bit and buy the Tesla I’ve craved since 2012. If (when) I need a new car before then I’ll probably buy a used Nissan LEAF for dirt cheap as a placeholder (I can’t ever buy a gas burner again after leasing a first generation EV). That said, I don’t think buying the model 3 was a total bonehead move on your part....
by Dendritic Tree
Mon Jul 02, 2018 5:37 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What is/ was your career and would you recommend it now?
Replies: 517
Views: 76784

Re: What is/ was your career and would you recommend it now?

Zithron wrote: Fri Jun 29, 2018 2:09 am IMPRESSION:

As far as recommending medicine to others, I always say the same thing. If you think medicine is your calling in life, and you think you need the title of "Doctor" in front of your name, then go for it. If you are thinking it's an easy way to make a lot of money, then consider other options.
Of course, clinical correlation is advised. :wink:
by Dendritic Tree
Thu Jun 28, 2018 2:57 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any Reason to Keep My "Landline" Phone?
Replies: 65
Views: 5922

Re: Any Reason to Keep My "Landline" Phone?

I have never had a landline. I have somehow survived into my late 30's without one. Also, I don't personally know anyone with a landline in my circle of friends (who all have kids). I think they're a useless anachronism of a bygone era. Especially for $360/yr.
by Dendritic Tree
Thu Jun 28, 2018 2:10 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What is/ was your career and would you recommend it now?
Replies: 517
Views: 76784

Re: What is/ was your career and would you recommend it now?

Physician here - critical care. I love my job. I wouldn’t recommend it. Not counting residency (where you are technically paid a decent salary, in the $40s-50s to work >80 hrs week), I didn’t have my first real employment until I was 33. Nothing but school, college, med school, internship, residency, and subspecialty fellowship(s) until then. I had friends from high school that were already over halfway towards a great government pension (military officers) by the time I got my first real paycheck. I married a primary care doc (read: lower end of physician pay spectrum), and together we started life (in our early 30s) with over $600k in student loan debt. That’s the main reason I advise against med school - it has just skyrocketed in cost o...
by Dendritic Tree
Sat Jun 09, 2018 3:52 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Are you including SS in your planning model? Are the benefits really that high?
Replies: 148
Views: 15146

Re: Are you including SS in your planning model? Are the benefits really that high?

Definitely not including it. We’re still in our 30s so anything could happen but it seems like there’s too much demographic and political risk over the next 30 years to include it as part of our strategy and assume that there won’t be collapse of the whole system, or more likely some sort of means test or something. If we wind up getting some SS benefits, we will just have to think of it as a “cherry on top” windfall.
by Dendritic Tree
Fri Jun 08, 2018 9:07 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Psychology of Money - A Blog Post
Replies: 164
Views: 24419

Re: The Psychology of Money - A Blog Post

Love the article. It's completely true that behavior is the most important factor in successful investing. His arguments remind me of a great book called Your Money and Your Brain which looks at all the psychological pitfalls hardwired into poor investing decisions. So much of it is related to neurologically hardwired shortcuts that were hugely beneficial to our caveman ancestors (following social trends, overvaluing recency bias, avoidance of fear). Control your behavior (by simplicity, taking emotion out of the equation, automating things) and you eliminate those investing pitfalls emanating from your lizard brain.
by Dendritic Tree
Wed May 23, 2018 8:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Lexus RX 350, Audi Q5, or Volvo XC 60 (update)
Replies: 121
Views: 20015

Re: Lexus RX 350, Audi Q5, or Volvo XC 60

My wife got a used 2012 RX450h that’s still going strong. She hates the 2016 body redesign that looks like the car drove into a razor blade factory, plus we wanted a car in good shape that had already depreciated some. It’s a very plush and comfortable ride and it’s been a great family car for our toddlers. She gets about 30 mpg, less in the hills, more on the highway. It’s FWD which helps with the gas mileage. The premium gas is a minus but that mileage is hard to beat for an SUV; it probably makes up for it. The XC60 is awesome too. Love that car. It also comes in a plug in hybrid version (T8 engine option), but that’s brand new as of 2018 so I doubt you’ll find a used one. Unless you’re actually looking for a brand new car for some reason.
by Dendritic Tree
Wed Mar 28, 2018 7:40 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Healthy eaters -- is this grocery budget normal to you?
Replies: 247
Views: 23169

Re: Healthy eaters -- is this grocery budget normal to you?

Our family of 4 places a high value on eating healthy food that is organic, non-processed, local when possible. We are pretty budget constrained though, and while we love Whole Foods (and its local alternative Earth Fare), we can’t afford to shop there exclusively. Our solution has been to use the ever-expanding and -improving organic offering at our local grocery store. The store brand organic stuff is super cheap and generally pretty high quality. You can pay less than half what you’d pay at Whole Foods. Of course we still go to Whole Foods sometimes, and there are certain items we only get at Whole Foods/Earth Fare, but it’s so much cheaper to get the bulk of our organic and all-natural stuff from the local supermarket. We’ve also found ...
by Dendritic Tree
Tue Mar 13, 2018 3:15 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: New Car: Ever make sense to lease?
Replies: 148
Views: 23452

Re: New Car: Ever make sense to lease?

I agree that leasing an EV may make sense, if only because battery and electric motor technology is so rapidly evolving that an EV is much more rapidly obsolete compared to a similar ICE vehicle. I leased a non-Tesla EV relatively cheaply for 3 years ($300/mo for a fully-loaded Mercedes EV). The car was wonderful to drive, but the range was utterly outmoded by the end of the lease now that the newer generation of EVs has 3x the range. This is all predicated on the idea that there’s a lot of value in driving an EV for you. Of course in absolute terms buying the Boglehead standard used Toyota will have a lower total cost of ownership (although I didn’t pay a cent for fuel or electricity for my EV due to the wide availability of free public ch...
by Dendritic Tree
Thu Feb 22, 2018 10:16 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Boglehead Flashlight?
Replies: 65
Views: 7999

Re: Boglehead Flashlight?

Ive been really happy with all of my Streamlight's, you can find them for reasonable prices on Amazon. They are more along the lines of a penlight. Get one that takes AAA or AA, the batteries last a long time. I carry a single AAA one with me every day and you would be surprised how often it comes in handy. Just a good solid flashlight. The name brand Duracell ones and the like are all good too. Maglite LED ones are also great. I have some surefires and unless you need the whole neighborhood to know your walking the dog it's probably overkill. :mrgreen: They are awesome lights though. I use a Streamlight penlight every day at work. Great light in a tiny package. By the way, this thread epitomizes why I love Bogleheads. You can get a wealth...
by Dendritic Tree
Thu Feb 22, 2018 2:33 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Boglehead Flashlight?
Replies: 65
Views: 7999

Re: Boglehead Flashlight?

Toons wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2018 11:13 am Picked these up from Amazon a few weeks ago.
Superb so far,,one is going traveling with us :mrgreen:


Image


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0744 ... UTF8&psc=1
We’ve got these. Super bright, small but not too small. They’re great.
by Dendritic Tree
Wed Feb 21, 2018 1:09 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: [What UN-frugal thing do you do? What do you splurge on?]
Replies: 785
Views: 84175

Re: What UN-frugal thing do you do?

One thing that’s made in America that I will hopefully be very un-frugal about one day is a Tesla. I first drove a Model S in 2013 and have been pining for one ever since. It’s the best car.
by Dendritic Tree
Wed Feb 21, 2018 6:40 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Sams Club vs Costco
Replies: 78
Views: 10268

Re: Sams Club vs Costco

I’ve been a member at both. For us, the quality of the Costco store brand, Kirkland Signature, keeps us going back there, especially for food items. There are specific items from Costco that we can’t find a better version of anywhere, including premium versions at our local grocery store or gourmet shop. The value is pretty good for these things at Costco, but I would gladly pay more because it’s the best stuff available. The Member’s Mark brand at Sam’s doesn’t come close. Costco wins because of quality.
by Dendritic Tree
Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:10 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Mixing fuel octanes for cars
Replies: 57
Views: 6021

Re: Mixing fuel octanes for cars

Lonestarz wrote: Sat Feb 17, 2018 10:20 am Higher compression engines Electric motors are more efficient. And where companies are moving
Fixed that for you.
by Dendritic Tree
Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:54 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Capital one 360 money market New $500 bonus
Replies: 44
Views: 11013

Re: Capital one 360 money market New $500 bonus

Bank bonuses are definitely easier than CC bonuses, and they don’t involve a credit check (usually just a soft pull). Info about the rare cases where a hard credit check is used is available at Doctor of Credit, so those bonuses are easy to avoid. And the 1099-INT that’s generated by a bank bonus is the same as any other 1099 income. Of course it’s taxed, so it turns free money into a smaller amount of free money. Credit card bonuses are seemingly more lucrative, but it’s not free money like bank bonuses are. It’s discounts on money you’ve already spent, and it’s often in the form of points or miles, which may not be as helpful to you as cash. Using this little hobby, I’ve grown our EF account from 20k to 25k over the last year or so (after...
by Dendritic Tree
Tue Feb 20, 2018 10:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Investing vs student debt
Replies: 13
Views: 981

Re: Investing vs student debt

I feel your pain on the student loans. However, having more time in the market is itself a nice diversification of your assets and accumulation strategy. I think at your student loan interest rates, you really have equipoise to pay them more aggressively or continue investing some as well. Your return on paying off the debt is likely to be similar to that from your retirement savings, though the latter has the benefit of reducing your tax payments now. For this reason, I agree with the others who have recommended a mix of both.

Of the options you provided, I like #1 the best, personally. Pay more on the loans than you are now but keep maxing out your retirement accounts as well.
by Dendritic Tree
Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:42 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How to start a blog and claim the name?
Replies: 44
Views: 11260

Re: How to start a blog and claim the name?

VictoriaF wrote: Thu Aug 10, 2017 5:03 am This was a very informative thread, but I have not followed up because I was busy with other activities. Now, I am revisiting the idea of setting up a website. What are the current recommendations for hosting? When I Google for it, different sites offer different lists of the bests, and many seem to be biased.

Victoria
Victoria, any progress here? Curious to hear what you’re doing.
by Dendritic Tree
Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:50 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: officiate a marriage
Replies: 14
Views: 1752

Re: officiate a marriage

I officiated my brother-in-law’s wedding in Colorado (I live in North Carolina). I got ordained online through the American Marraige Ministries:

https://theamm.org

It was pretty painless. As far as I remember, they’re recognized in all 50 states.
by Dendritic Tree
Tue Feb 06, 2018 9:34 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: U.S. stocks in free fall
Replies: 36221
Views: 4684595

Re: U.S. stocks in freefall

I know that downward blips, corrections, and bears are really frightening for those in or near retirement. Sheepdog's panic thread from Oct 2008 is quite a lesson, and an eye-opener. But for those of us still in the accumulation phase, with decades left to go (and many corrections/bears still to come along the way), this is really exhilarating.

It feels sort of like the middle school kid cheering on the snowstorm because he knows he'll get a day off school and get to play in the snow. But his parents feel entirely differently, because they still have to get to work through treacherous roads. They have opposite motivations.
by Dendritic Tree
Fri Feb 02, 2018 1:06 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room
Replies: 65
Views: 8391

Re: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room

They had this exact scenario on Dave Ramsey I watched on Youtube this week. Basically a carbon copy of 2 doctors and 300K debt. Basically, stop retirement funding for now, rent in a cheap place. Get rid of all your loans, buy cheap cars with cash, live on 50K like 99% of us do, and then pay all of your remaining income into your student loans. Youll be done in a couple years, and you can buy any house you want with your salary. Simple chrismeyers2k1, << Basically, stop retirement funding for now, >> <<Tax Rate: 33% Federal, 5.75% State>> How does this make any sense? Paying 38.75% in taxes in order to save 3% to 7% interest? OP can pay off the loan in a few years with his current plan. So, why should he do anything different? KlangFool Why...
by Dendritic Tree
Fri Feb 02, 2018 1:05 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room
Replies: 65
Views: 8391

Re: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room

Thanks. I was originally looking for advice on how to deal with buying a house. I don’t appreciate the focus on our low salaries. We both had lower salaries in an academic setting before now. I’m not looking for advice on how to make more money in a different geographical location. We live like residents now, so I don’t need that advice either. Actually, when we were residents we subscribed to cable and went out to eat, and we don’t do that now, so we must be living a subhuman lifestyle. I guess having two kids was a giant financial drag, too, but that has tremendously improved our happiness so I think they’ve been a good “purchase”. We can’t put 200k a year towards loans because our net pay (again, after daycare, retirement savings, rent)...
by Dendritic Tree
Fri Feb 02, 2018 12:03 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room
Replies: 65
Views: 8391

Re: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room

Thanks. I was originally looking for advice on how to deal with buying a house. I don’t appreciate the focus on our low salaries. We both had lower salaries in an academic setting before now. I’m not looking for advice on how to make more money in a different geographical location. We live like residents now, so I don’t need that advice either. Actually, when we were residents we subscribed to cable and went out to eat, and we don’t do that now, so we must be living a subhuman lifestyle. I guess having two kids was a giant financial drag, too, but that has tremendously improved our happiness so I think they’ve been a good “purchase”. We can’t put 200k a year towards loans because our net pay (again, after daycare, retirement savings, rent) ...
by Dendritic Tree
Thu Feb 01, 2018 9:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room
Replies: 65
Views: 8391

Re: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room

Having not read the responses, your wife's income is very low but even so, it's not clear why you can't pay off more than $100,000 per year in loans. You make $370,000 as it is. And see if your wife wants to buy a home badly enough that she can work more, pick up some extra shifts, etc, to accelerate the process. Adding: her income is so low, that taking an occasional locums gig in which she flies to another location would be well worth it. Our Family NPs make more than she does, and we don’t live in an extremely expensive part of the country. We pay family locums about $1500 for a 12 hour hospitalist shift. She could do one weekend per month and earn an extra $36,000 per year. Addressed in multiple responses above. TL;DR: She’s not a full...
by Dendritic Tree
Thu Feb 01, 2018 8:44 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room
Replies: 65
Views: 8391

Re: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room

DW has not yet refinanced because she was planning on applying for Public Service Loan Forgiveness after 10 years of qualified payments, but just found at that her current job (which she loves and does not want to leave) does not qualify. $112k income and >300k debt does not work - no matter how noble the calling or enjoyable the job. No different than a public school teacher on 40k with 130k in debt. The math doesn't work. PSLF monthly payment will take household income into account (unless you file separately). They payments could well be high enough that you would pay off in <10 years. There’s no doubt I’m subsidizing her relatively low-earning, high-debt situation by allowing us to pay down her loans with my salary. I guess it’s worth ...
by Dendritic Tree
Wed Jan 31, 2018 10:03 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room
Replies: 65
Views: 8391

Re: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room

Im not trying to be rude, but why does your wife make only 112k ? i know FM and peds are low paying, but as an APN i make 133k which isn't right. can she pick up EM shifts in the rural part of your state? local tenems? urgent care shifts? admission MD/hospitalist shifts? wound care? for example I rounded in school with a FM doc who make 188/hr and 265/hr (bonus pay) on either 12 or 24 hr shifts out in the sticks in a critical access ER. he did these 2-4x a month. A lot of people focusing on DW’s salary. I guess I didn’t mention this in my initial post, but she’s currently 0.6 FTE, not full-time. She is the only physician in a very specialized and innovative clinic (though works with and supervises other AP providers). Currently she expects...
by Dendritic Tree
Tue Jan 30, 2018 7:37 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room
Replies: 65
Views: 8391

Re: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room

Well, it would be simpler if 110k was actually her take home pay. Or if 260k was mine. I would love it if we netted 250k/year. Between taxes, childcare, and retirement contributions, we take home well less than half of our gross pay. And then we pay between 6k-8k/mo in student loans. There’s not much more to cut back on. I guess we could rent a cheaper house way out in the burbs and save some on rent. But being close-ish to the hospital and hospital daycare are pretty important, and that’s a premium we’re willing to pay. Otherwise, we don’t go out to eat, go to theaters, buy cable, etc. I remember doing the basic math as a resident and thinking “Man, I’ll be able to pay off my loans in 2 years when I’m an attending!”. We’re throwing everyth...
by Dendritic Tree
Tue Jan 30, 2018 6:28 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room
Replies: 65
Views: 8391

Re: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room

Yes, congratulations to you and especially to your wife on tackling a daunting situation and putting yourselves on the right track and headed in the right direction. Sounds like it was a bit of a surprise for both of you that you simply could not get a loan for that house but it sounds like the rejection also provided confirmation that you were right to focus on reducing that debt and improving your financial situation as well as an incentive for continuing to do so. Actually, we would have been approved for the loan. But we’d have to cut down to the minimum payment on our student loans, and even then we’d have to make some other concessions like change our childcare situation, cut down even further on discretionary spending, have no wiggl...
by Dendritic Tree
Tue Jan 30, 2018 3:24 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room
Replies: 65
Views: 8391

[Update] Buy a house? But there's a student loan elephant in the room

OP here with a small update. DW and I agreed to rent for now and pay down loans. We decided to stay in this (very lovely) rental house for a few years or until the PERFECT HOUSE that we must consider buying came along. So I was rounding in the ICU the other day when I got a flurry of texts from DW that the PERFECT HOUSE was listed that morning. Quote “I’ll sell my plasma for a down payment if I have to” (I think she’s wonderful, but maybe she overestimates the value of her plasma, even in sarcasm). We’ve stayed the course and continued our current lifestyle, with a few unexpected large medical expenses (kids surgeries, everything is fine now) that stopped us from paying as aggressively as we wanted. DW refinanced her loans and now hers are ...
by Dendritic Tree
Mon Jan 15, 2018 10:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Are land line phones still being supported?
Replies: 60
Views: 5339

Re: Are land line phones still being supported?

just frank wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 10:29 am For all the folks in poor cell reception areas....why not just use 'wifi calling' on their smart phones? Free and digital quality.
That’s an easy answer nowadays, but a Microcell is also a viable solution. I had one for years when I lived in a neighborhood with poor cell reception. As long as you have internet, you have cell coverage.
by Dendritic Tree
Mon Jan 15, 2018 10:03 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: A "Home" cell phone?
Replies: 53
Views: 9481

Re: A "Home" cell phone?

I’ve never had a landline and I don’t really get the point of them. If you’re trying to avoid telemarketers by giving them a landline, don’t you still have to deal with those calls to your landline? If you really want a decoy number you can ignore, why not just give out a fake one? I did live in an area with poor cell reception about 10 years ago, but I got a Microcell to provide my own little cloud of cell coverage and it worked great. My kids don’t even know what a landline is. Even their toy phones are smartphones these days. I do remember my parents had a (cordless) landline when I was a kid, but even they have ditched a landline in retirement and use cell phones only. So why get a spare cell phone for a “home” line? Why not just use yo...
by Dendritic Tree
Thu Dec 21, 2017 9:37 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: iPhone 4 troubleshooting
Replies: 15
Views: 1925

Re: iPhone 4 troubleshooting

My iPhone 4 met the same fate after about 1.75 years. The audio jack trick mentioned above didn’t work for me, though. I actually got some intermittent use out of the earpiece speaker as it was dying for a few days... it would sort of sputter and work on some calls and not on others. I wound up using the speakerphone for a couple of months until the iPhone 5 came out and I upgraded. Strangely enough, the same thing happened to my iPhone 5 (albeit after 5 full years of use). By that point, my iPhone 5 was becoming unusable anyway for daily app purposes (I use a few apps on my phone a lot for work, and I use web browsing a lot for work which was becoming super slow). If you’re still using an iPhone 4, it suggests to me that you probably don’t...
by Dendritic Tree
Mon Dec 18, 2017 12:52 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Synchrony vs Ally
Replies: 49
Views: 17319

Re: Synchrony vs Ally

I used to have my online savings account with Synchrony. I switched to Ally because their website was more user-friendly and outgoing transfers took FOREVER with Synchrony. I have been pretty happy with Ally, though I’m sure both banks would probably meet your needs. Ally is like Apple - “It just works.” My online savings account is currently paying 1.25% at Ally.
by Dendritic Tree
Tue Dec 12, 2017 8:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I file taxes w/o her?
Replies: 54
Views: 5283

Re: Should I file taxes w/o her?

sailaway wrote: Thu Dec 07, 2017 8:53 pm Some deductions are not available for married filing separately. The one I was concerned about when I checked was student loan interest, but it seems unlikely that would be the only one.
They are way beyond phased out of being able to claim the student loan interest deduction. Even individually, if they were to file as single.
by Dendritic Tree
Thu Dec 07, 2017 7:45 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Recommended places to live
Replies: 54
Views: 7796

Re: Recommended places to live

I would suggest somewhere in the Appalachians for 4 seasons, hiking/outdoors, and proximity to water (rivers and lakes, not ocean). These cities come to mind: Chattanooga, TN Asheville, NC Roanoke, VA Charlottesville, VA Pittsburgh, PA Wait, what? Pittsburgh? Hear me out: it’s really an Appalachian town with gorgeous scenery surrounded by mountains, has 4 seasons with an especially gorgeous summer/fall, and is relatively low cost of living for such a metropolitan area. Much smaller town than Dallas, for sure. Agree with many other posters that 4 seasons inherently means allergens, but in my experience these tend to get better with elevation. My asthma and allergies got subjectively better (but not resolved) when I moved from the coast of SC...
by Dendritic Tree
Wed Dec 06, 2017 5:57 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Price of haircut?
Replies: 194
Views: 19688

Re: Price of haircut?

MCOL Southern city. I pay $12 plus $4 tip every 3 months. My wife pays $45 (not sure the tip) at a fancy salon about every 4-6 months.
by Dendritic Tree
Tue Nov 28, 2017 10:18 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Safest roomy luxury suv?
Replies: 58
Views: 8967

Re: Safest roomy luxury suv?

If safety is paramount, then the Tesla Model X is the safest SUV ever created, and the only one ever to get a 5-star crash rating in every NHTSA category:

https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/13/tes ... ty-rating/

I don’t own one, but I’ve driven one, and it is a blast to drive. Makes all other SUVs seem like molasses trucks with steam engines.
by Dendritic Tree
Sun Nov 19, 2017 9:36 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Electric Car (Nissan Leaf) for a teen driver?
Replies: 43
Views: 5816

Re: Electric Car (Nissan Leaf) for a teen driver?

chessknt wrote: Fri Nov 17, 2017 8:34 pmFinally she wont learn how to maintain a ice car (ie oil change intervals, coolant, timing belt, etc).
This statement is going to sound increasingly anachronistic with each passing year, as ICE vehicles become more and more obsolete. Oil changes, coolants, timing belts are not the way of the future. You’d do well to get your daughter started early on what is rapidly becoming the new paradigm.

A raving bipolar lunatic visionary recently said that soon, “driving a gasoline car is going to feel like a steam engine with a side of quiche.”
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... -musk-fast