Bogleheads.org

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Keep it short and have something to say. Would avoid trying to be funny. Better to be heartfelt instead. Leave out all of the stuff about the venue's anniversary or you sharing the same month anniversary as your parents. It's too cute by half and not great material. Thank everyone for coming. Remark...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Your plans are pretty good. There is also a kids museum at Port DIscovery, Inner Harbor. Lived in Baltimore for 6 yeras. The problem with the city for pedestrian tourists is that the "nice" and dangerous neighborhoods aren't well separated. Pockets of good next to pockets of really really bad. And i...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Yes. I occasionally dabble into a stream of thought where I muse at how absurd and radical it is that we've taught ourselves that companies should put shareholders interests first (before employees, the communities they exist in, or society) - but find some solace in the notion that I exist on both ...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

I just opened a Fidelity HSA and initiated a Trustee-to-trustee transfer from my active BenefitWallet HSA where pre-tax contributions go.

My plan is to transfer funds 1-2x per year.

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Why are you senior leaders working so much? Don’t you have teams of people to do the work? Your job should be to make decisions, not to do the work. In the heirarchical org structure most companies use, people get promoted to their level of incompetence. When you excel in a role, you get promoted t...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Getting closer to pulling the trigger. After sleeping on this, I decided to go ahead and make an investment in a piece of winter outerwear that will last me a while and am down to three contenders. Patagonia Powder Bowl has a lifetime warranty, much heavier poly thread than the cheaper Snowshot, tw...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

The biggest implementation barrier would be systems and resources to account for financial assets currently held in off-shore shell companies and other tax avoidance schemes. Easy enough to tax real estate and property - much harder to identify and tax off-shore assets which the tax base in question...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

For me, versatility is key. Unless I'm going on an adventure vacation/safari - I want a travel pant that feels like hiking pants, but that I can wear with a shirt and jacket to dinner. That's how I can get away with only a carry-on for a 10+ day trip. The best I've ever owned are Outlier Slim Dungar...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Some favorites in the Roppongi area are: eat. (Cool hip restaurant with counter seating - good for dining alone) https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1066451-d10402251-Reviews-Eat-Minato_Tokyo_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html Savoy Pizza. (Featured on David Chang's Ugly Delicious - their garlic...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

It's a total no-brainer to turn auto-pay on for the minimum balance. Will prevent the credit-ding, loss of rewards etc. for late payments, and will also send you an email reminder that your payment was made (which serves as an additional reminder to pay your balance in full). As far as your overall ...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

First family trip to Disney World (I was a 10 year old kid). We took an Amtrak Train from CT to Orlando, FL (regular seats, no sleeping car) because it was slightly less expensive than flying and my mother (at the time) had a moderate fear of flying. It's like a 30 hour train trip. When we arrived a...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

A much larger percentage of the US population is aware of how average people felt, how we all think, and what happens during a recession due to forums. Before 08, it was essentially what you read in a book, or saw on TV from a professional. That is more hard to sympathize with and trust than forums...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Other commenters are correct - you need a TPA. Their job will be to help you design a plan that passes compliance testing. My 10-person SMB (consulting) has a 401k eco-system that consists of our TPA, the provider (Fidelity), a Financial Advisor, and our payroll service/PEO. Once you start to accumu...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

LL Bean Boots. Iconic style. Either the 6" or 8" if you're just going to wear them at work.

If Chicago has 12 feet deep puddles of frozen slush at every street corner like NYC does after a snowfall, maybe the 8".

LawyersGunsAndMoney

I'd vote for Park City. Mostly because it is super easy to flyi into to SLC from different parts of the country, and unlike other options which will require a 2+ hour drive once you arrive at airport, you'll be mountainside in 45 minutes. As far as nightlife - DW and I (mid 30s, live in Manhattan) w...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

As a NYC resident (transplant) for the past 11 years the advice that I give people is not to move here unless you have ample savings and at least 1 of the following 3 things:

1. A job lined up
2. A below-market deal on an apartment lined up
3. A really strong network of friends and family in NYC

LawyersGunsAndMoney

The question would be cost of COBRA plan vs. cost of ACA Exchange plan. COBRA cost will be the full, unsubsidized cost of your employer's health-plan. HR should be able to provide this to you. Should also be aware that employer may change health plans or premiums (ours renews Nov 1st for upcoming ye...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Thanks for everyone's thoughtful opinions. I've been on both sides of enough deals to know that we'll pull the trigger and get this one done. It would be expensive and stupid to not close this transaction. All the hard work is done (negotiating, audits, etc) and we're down to pulling together Sched...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Have you considered joining a PEO like TriNet or Justworks? You'll be able to buy insurance at a large group rate. We switched to a PEO a few years ago because we were getting killed on the small group health insurance market in NY, and the cost savings have been dramatic (even accounting for the co...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Owning and operating inherited rental properties with family members. Came into the situation with family issues, effort in management was one-sided, and the situation ended up in a court-ordered partition by sale during a time period between the financial crisis and recovery that was sub optimal. L...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

The percentage of private sector employees with pensions was historically never higher than about one in three. Many people who were near-poor during their working years and didn't save for retirement people continue to work, or take some type of part-time job because they lack sufficient retirement...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

You don't use Zelle to transact with people you don't personally know, as (like Venmo and unlike Paypal) there is no meaningful fraud protection.

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Prior to the existence of shops like Blue Nile, I would say Diamond District all the way over a local jeweler. These days, prices on Blue Nile and DD are comparable (you may even save with Blue Nile). I would recommend soliciting recommendations from friends rather than just wandering the Diamond Di...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Use Google Flights or Kayak to see what flight options are and their prediction about whether fares will rise or fall. If price options are generally comparable, I would choose a direct flight on a major airline that serves your destination frequently over one that only has a few flights to Costa Ri...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

As an "old millennial" (1981) I usually find generational comparisons to be kind of dumb. Show me what Gen X did when they were my age, or Baby Boomers WHEN THEY WERE MY AGE. That's interesting. Survey a few of the 25% of Millennials who are 0% equity and ask them why. Do they even know they are? Ar...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Head east. If you have a few days during the week take the train out to Montauk (or East Hampton or Amangansett if you don't want to go all the way out). If a weekend - avoid the insanity and head to Sag Harbor or maybe the North Fork (Greenport, for example). IMO the beaches starting in East Hampto...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Definitely consider the 401k contribution to be part of total compensation! For the past 5 years my firm has had an 8% (of total comp) profit-sharing contribution to our 401ks and we definitely make the point to communicate it in the total comp package to current employees and new hires. Would also ...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Bit of a contrarian opinion but I see Chromebook // Kids // Long-Term as a "pick two" scenario.

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Several years ago I sold a 16 year old car with just 77,000 miles on it to a private party for $2,000.

Carmax offered me $700.

LawyersGunsAndMoney

I don't have any actual advice for you - but thought I'd share an amusing HOA anecdote while you work this out. When I worked on Capitol Hill years ago, fielding calls from angry constituents complaining about this or that, my boss used to say that people loved to complain about government but when ...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Dear God, no.

LawyersGunsAndMoney

35 minutes is not enough, and definitely not enough during holiday season.

Your plan to fly direct into ORD and drive for 2 hours vs. connecting and driving for an hour sounds like the right decision.

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Definitely not. I actually sometimes go to the gym during work hours - more or less the opposite of napping. If I observed any of my team napping during work hours, I'd definitely have a productive convo with them about their workload, hours and home-life. If someone had worked really late the night...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Our currently sits online at Marcus (formerly Goldman Sachs online bank) and is divided between a true "emergency" fund and things like a fund for expected car maintenance. That said, for the period 2010 until about 2016 when I got married I had the majority of my emergency fund in VTSAX. Thinking a...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

I swear by ASUS routers. If you want reliability and quality for cheap - you can get an ASUS AC1900 refurbished from T-mobile on Amazon for like $50.

LawyersGunsAndMoney

We pay $70 for our cleaning person to clean our 800 sq ft. apartment in Manhattan. It is one of the only things in my life in NYC that I feel is actually pretty reasonably priced.

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Most of ours are what I'd call "strategic lifestyle creep" - living in Manhattan in our 30s, combined income of just under $700k (which has nearly doubled in last 3 years), with plans to try for kids in near future and sowing some wild oats with travel prior to that. Namely: 1. I pay to have my car ...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Mostly because the value you can get from credit cards rewards is directly proportional to the time and effort you put into the redemption process. For people who don't want to deal with it, you can take the cash. For people who want to apply the 1 cent per point rewards miles to travel-related purc...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

I would not count the "eligible for" bonus as part of compensation and instead negotiate on base. If you want to ask a pointed question about the company's bonus practices for the past few years you absolutely should - e.g. have they paid bonuses to employees at your incoming level in past years? As...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

The city of Tokyo in general is a pretty amazing feat of engineering, design and culture. Namely, how you can pack so many people into such a small geographic area and have things function so efficiently. Also, just really damn cool. Adding on to what others have said in terms of physical structures...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

I've been around this carousel a few times without jumping off. I was fortunate to discover (through self-reflection, talking with mentors, and working with an executive coach) that the vast majority of what was contributing to my itch/ennui was my own mindset. Learning how to change that and doing ...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

I've been Keto for the past 2 years. Went from religiously monitoring macronutrient intake to doing essentially a version of "lazy keto"/Slow-carb where I'll occasionally consume legumes and a few other foods that have carbs but low glycemic indices. Eliminating "sugar" is a good thing, but if your ...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Most likely scenario is that HC will continue through end of month, and COBRA docs will either be given to him upon termination or mailed thereafter. Companies can sometimes drag ass on how quickly they mail out COBRA information. Should consider how soon new employer's healthcare will kick in. Fact...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

I would not waste time/money on material gifts, but instead spend some time writing a personal note to every individual co-worker in the office about how much you've enjoyed working with them, a fond memory, and something you learned from them/something you've appreciated about their work. Showing g...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Combination of a lot of things. I can only speak from experience in the SMB world. Historically the Vanguard's and Fidelity's of the world didn't compete in the smaller spaces until very recently. Instead you had a plethora of insurance companies touting their experience working with other SMBs, and...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Yes - it is important to note that taking COBRA and then choosing to cancel it (via non-payment) does not count as a qualifying event if done past 60 days on the ACA exchange, or past 30 for most employer insurances (e.g. being added to a spouse's employer policy). It is also important to note that ...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Garment bags are worthless. Learn how to fold a suit jacket properly for packing in a carry-on and you'll be golden. Strongly recommend Briggs and Riley. DW has the Baseline Domestic Spinner (which hasn't posed a size problem in the US nor in Europe, generally) but the slightly smaller, squatter Int...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Vacations & Travel. DW and I are in our 30s, don't yet have kids, and are fortunate to have high incomes. We have been decidedly un-frugal recently with travel, knowing that once little ones come into the picture it will be quite some time before we're able to take these kinds of trips again. Last y...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

I suspect that how a child is raised and the experiences she has during the first 18 years of life will probably a stronger force of her having a "skin in the game' of her own future than whatever type of college plan you concoct. There is nothing wrong with letting her know she'll be on the hook fo...

LawyersGunsAndMoney

Sorry to hear that. On the one hand, 20 weeks severance plus 6 months company-paid COBRA is a pretty decent package compared to what the average joe would get. On the other hand with a PhD in Mech E you're clearly not the average joe and are likely correct that a job search for a relatively high-lev...

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