Search found 1096 matches

by bampf
Wed Mar 27, 2024 9:08 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: [Retiring] 42: The answer to everything with a lot of help from Bogleheads
Replies: 9
Views: 1206

Re: [Retiring] 42: The answer to everything with a lot of help from Bogleheads

Folks, After 42 years of work I am hanging up my spurs. I will serve my last day on Friday 5 April. I have to tell the folks here that have contributed their wisdom, guidance, benevolence and humor to my financial journey the following: I am forever grateful. I came to this forum knowing very little (most of it wrong). The forum has given me the tools to sleep well at night. I have built out a financial future that exceeds my wildest dreams and far beyond what I thought possible. Thank you. Thank you all. "I find I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain." Apologies in advance to ...
by bampf
Wed Mar 27, 2024 3:07 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Roll Call for the Retirement Class of 2024!
Replies: 142
Views: 44237

Re: Roll Call for the Retirement Class of 2024!

After 42 years I am starting my new journey. I couldn't be happier and I am super grateful to this community for helping me meet my goals.

Please mark me down for being done on 5 April 2024.

:-D

--Bampf
by bampf
Wed Mar 27, 2024 2:12 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: [Retiring] 42: The answer to everything with a lot of help from Bogleheads
Replies: 9
Views: 1206

Re: [Retiring] 42: The answer to everything with a lot of help from Bogleheads

sycamore wrote: Wed Mar 27, 2024 2:05 pm Congratulations!

Take a towel with you and enjoy your next journey :)
Well played!
by bampf
Wed Mar 27, 2024 11:46 am
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: [Retiring] 42: The answer to everything with a lot of help from Bogleheads
Replies: 9
Views: 1206

[Retiring] 42: The answer to everything with a lot of help from Bogleheads

Folks, After 42 years of work I am hanging up my spurs. I will serve my last day on Friday 5 April. I have to tell the folks here that have contributed their wisdom, guidance, benevolence and humor to my financial journey the following: I am forever grateful. I came to this forum knowing very little (most of it wrong). The forum has given me the tools to sleep well at night. I have built out a financial future that exceeds my wildest dreams and far beyond what I thought possible. Thank you. Thank you all. "I find I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain." Apologies in advance to b...
by bampf
Sat Mar 16, 2024 12:21 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Mental health or Money: navigating the OMY question
Replies: 48
Views: 4972

Re: Mental health or Money: navigating the OMY question

I invite myself to go to work every single day now. I have enough. I get more than enough if I go to work. For me, everyday I wake up and decide if I want to go to work. It is a great feeling...
--Bampf
by bampf
Sat Mar 16, 2024 12:07 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Buying an Expensive Car
Replies: 101
Views: 8721

Re: Buying an Expensive Car

If you want the car, get the car. $100K isn't a ton of money in the long term. Yes, its a lot for your current station in life. However, at ~30 and already at 700K I don't think you should be all that worried. Splurge every once in a while as long as you take care of all the things you need to take care of (Retirement, savings, health care etc). It sounds like you are careful. Go nuts. But be careful as well.

--
Bampf
by bampf
Sun Mar 10, 2024 7:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Not filing state return because of zero tax
Replies: 15
Views: 1192

Re: Not filing state return because of zero tax

OP should also file because they may qualify for state funds. For instance in Colorado you get a sales tax refund of $800 regardless of how much money you made….
by bampf
Sun Feb 04, 2024 9:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Bought the wrong house - Sell now or later?
Replies: 67
Views: 8362

Re: Bought the wrong house - Sell now or later?

You don't really say what you don't like that makes it the wrong house and you wanting to move. Please detail the reasons. As I said initially, what's important to me may not be important to you. Also, please don't judge me as to what I should have seen or noticed before we bought it. I'm quite embarrassed that for whatever reason I either missed, looked over, or rationalized what I now don't like. Again, what's done is done so no need to tell me why I should have noticed or seen this or that. - It's a cheaply built 2 story Mcmansion built by one of the country's large volume builders. You can extrapolate what this means. Poor fit and finish, drywall is full of pops, bumps, seams, etc. The cheapest of everything, everywhere. - Built in 200...
by bampf
Tue Jan 23, 2024 9:08 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Kids of wealthy parents, do they work?
Replies: 69
Views: 4917

Re: Kids of wealthy parents, do they work?

This is an interesting discussion. I think there is value in knowing what a truly terrible job is and how lucky people are to not have to work those jobs. I don’t think you can truly understand that until one has that experience. That said, I agree that there is a lot better way to spend your time. My early jobs defined me and helped me feel grateful just to have a great job. On the other hand there is no virtue in practicing to be miserable. I can see both sides of the discussion and both sides have merit. Every kid, family and circumstance is different. All three of my kids have worked and I have had to tell two of them that there are better ways to spend their time. That said, at 16 they largely make their own choices and I support them ...
by bampf
Fri Jan 19, 2024 11:27 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best tours for China?
Replies: 122
Views: 11070

Re: Best tours for China?

I would not try to save money on accomodation in China. Been there many times. Do you have a specific suggestion on a reputable tour group or other options then? Never been there with a tour operator. Was more a general comment that China is not the place where I would want to get into cheap or even mid-tier accomodation. 2nd this. Been many times. Xian was uninteresting when I was there and fairly bland at best. At worst it was a blatant money scam to see some dirty tunnels with the terracotta warriors. The pictures are better. Great Wall is a bucket list item but it was brutal the many times I did it. The locals followed you the entire time either begging or trying to sell you something. We had local people that worked for us that helped...
by bampf
Thu Jan 11, 2024 11:21 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Exploring options for correcting a bad vehicle purchasing decision
Replies: 42
Views: 5644

Re: Exploring options for correcting a bad vehicle purchasing decision

I don't see a significant difference in option 3 (selling and buying). You articulate that you would buy a used vehicle @35K cash. Why not pay the cash towards your current vehicle? Its a known quantity and you have already paid the depreciation on it. 0% loan is pretty good as well. If you have the $35K in cash you can get 5% in a high yield savings account. So, I think it is a function of you sleeping well at night and maybe not liking the vehicle? To sleep well at night you can pay it off (or most of it). If you don't like the vehicle, by all means, sell. --Bampf Pretty sure the cash the OP was referring to was from the sale of their current car that would be used to pay the lower priced used car in full. Not that they have cash current...
by bampf
Thu Jan 11, 2024 10:51 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Exploring options for correcting a bad vehicle purchasing decision
Replies: 42
Views: 5644

Re: Exploring options for correcting a bad vehicle purchasing decision

I don't see a significant difference in option 3 (selling and buying).
You articulate that you would buy a used vehicle @35K cash.
Why not pay the cash towards your current vehicle? Its a known quantity and you have already paid the depreciation on it.

0% loan is pretty good as well. If you have the $35K in cash you can get 5% in a high yield savings account.

So, I think it is a function of you sleeping well at night and maybe not liking the vehicle? To sleep well at night you can pay it off (or most of it).
If you don't like the vehicle, by all means, sell.

--Bampf
by bampf
Sun Dec 17, 2023 12:28 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone Bored in Retirement ??
Replies: 131
Views: 30349

Re: Anyone Bored in Retirement ??

An interesting thought exercise for those that are either bored or fear boredom: Click on the responders to the thread and see when they were last active. Some haven't posted in quite some time and some haven't been active in quite some time. ANDY: I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying. Similarly: RED: I find I'm so excited that I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel. A free man at a start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope. My border? Well its retirement. Its the day ...
by bampf
Thu Dec 14, 2023 12:07 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is my cash in the right places?
Replies: 13
Views: 2242

Re: Is my cash in the right places?

So overall your portfolio will be ~31% cash and that cash portion will cover ~2.4 years of living expenses. Without knowing more specifics that does seem like too large of an amount in cash. But if you think you might be out of work for multiple years then it might be appropriate. At the very least, the bulk of your cash should be earning competitive rates, which are currently over 5%. I disagree that this is too much cash while you're unemployed. Sleep well at night until you are re-employed and then deploy the money back into equities. The cash portion is earning 5.29% if it's in Vanguard Sweep fund. That's not shabby and the beta on the ~50% of it you'll invest (while being unemployed) isn't worth the risk imo Yep. I agree with this. Be...
by bampf
Wed Dec 13, 2023 11:52 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is my cash in the right places?
Replies: 13
Views: 2242

Re: Is my cash in the right places?

This really hard to answer because we don’t know what you are invested in or the likelihood of you being able to get a new job. More details will help.
by bampf
Wed Dec 13, 2023 11:39 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: late career re-balancing and planning
Replies: 10
Views: 2153

Re: late career re-balancing and planning

Yes, I would.
by bampf
Mon Nov 27, 2023 12:49 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: reMarkable electronic notepads
Replies: 13
Views: 2094

Re: reMarkable electronic notepads

onourway wrote: Mon Nov 27, 2023 11:51 am These kind of dedicated devices seem like a pretty tough sell to me

<snip for brevity>

The iPad has been turned into such an excellent digital notebook with multiple fantastic note taking apps that have been proven with long-term support that it's hard to see any of these alternatives not turning into a paper weight within a few years.
I have to agree with this. I use my ipad daily and I think limited use devices are probably not going to fly long term. Additionally, the price is pretty rich for what you get. A fully loaded iPad is about this price and it can do so much more. I would go iPad with pencil.

--Bampf
by bampf
Tue Oct 17, 2023 1:02 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Invoicing for side gig work
Replies: 51
Views: 3238

Re: Invoicing for side gig work

So you probably do want to have an LLC or something. You need a shield from liability and its pretty low overhead. You also need to give them a taxpayer ID so they can report the income stream. That would be the EIN or your SS#. I would bill them and ask them to eft the funds to you.
by bampf
Sun Oct 15, 2023 11:43 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is it time to put this old truck to pasture?
Replies: 45
Views: 4161

Re: Is it time to put this old truck to pasture?

Yes, time to scrap. You can fix it but I doubt it would be reasonable and it is indicative of further issues to come. I think it’s a safety issue right now.
by bampf
Fri Aug 25, 2023 1:32 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Starlink
Replies: 19
Views: 2375

Re: Starlink

I have the rv version of it. I have used it a time or two and it works just fine.
Value is hard to describe. If you need internet access then the value is huge. If you are considering a trade off between that and google fiber, well, your mileage will likely vary...
by bampf
Fri Aug 18, 2023 10:03 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Resignation....how to do it?
Replies: 36
Views: 4708

Re: Resignation....how to do it?

gutrageous wrote: Fri Aug 18, 2023 9:45 pm Thanks for all the responses. I apologize for not being clearer in the original message. I have a great relationship with my boss and would certainly have a "heart to heart" discussion with him about why I was leaving. My guess is that would result in a call from his boss, the CEO of the bank. I'd have the same talk with them.

It seems like I am over valuing the technical aspects (notice period, language in letter which will be asked for) of resigning since I've never done it before.
This. Just tell them exactly what you said in your initial query. That being said, don't kid yourself, you really can't go back.
by bampf
Wed Aug 02, 2023 1:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: WWYD - Car situation
Replies: 59
Views: 5079

Re: WWYD - Car situation

Frequently a firmware upgrade will resolve some of these issues. Your dealer should be able to update your infotainment system to the latest release. You may have already tried that, but worth the ask.

--
Bampf
by bampf
Tue Jun 27, 2023 7:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Considering paying off mortgage, advice?
Replies: 16
Views: 2048

Re: Considering paying off mortgage, advice?

Pay it off. Simplify. But, to be frank, it won't save you a lot of money. You have paid most of the interest already. It feels really great to have a house paid off however. Way more than any money you would save or any money you would make on $38K investment. That's your opinion, and it's not universal. There are plenty of Bogleheads here who could pay off their mortgage today, but choose not to. The whole "sleep at night" business is just a personal feeling not shared by everyone. OP: there's no financial reason to pay off your mortgage. Paying it off might feel good, but then you will realize that you have less money available in case of emergency, job loss, etc. because it is tied up in home equity and inaccessible without us...
by bampf
Tue Jun 20, 2023 6:46 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Work is Dicey - Can I Retire Now?
Replies: 97
Views: 17639

Re: Work is Dicey - Can I Retire Now?

I have a quite modest nest egg; about $470,000. No pension. I'm 60 and my share of expenses all-in (and I mean all-in) will be $40,000. At 62 my current SS benefit would be $2,034. At 64, $2,331, at 67, $2,937. 70 is $3,654. Can I get out now if I have to? At full retirement age of 67 yr your SS is 2937/mo. Take SS at 68.5 yrs. It will be 2937x 1.12 = 3290/mo = 39473/yr = covers your annual expenses from that age. From 60 yrs to 68.5 yrs spend 40K/yr x 8.5 = 340K. You will have a balance of 130K when you start SS. (not counting the returns till the time you spend each of the 40 K ) Doable = Yes. Perfect= No. Pretty much this except you said you have a net worth of about $1MM all in. If you broaden the solution to 4% of $1MM you are fine. S...
by bampf
Mon Jun 12, 2023 7:02 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Considering paying off mortgage, advice?
Replies: 16
Views: 2048

Re: Considering paying off mortgage, advice?

Pay it off. Simplify. But, to be frank, it won't save you a lot of money. You have paid most of the interest already. It feels really great to have a house paid off however. Way more than any money you would save or any money you would make on $38K investment.

Welcome!
by bampf
Sat Apr 15, 2023 3:37 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Would you dump $800k in the market right now?
Replies: 120
Views: 17446

Re: Would you dump $800k in the market right now?

It really matters what you are trying to accomplish. 20 years from now the price you paid for the index fund will be far smaller than it is worth if historical averages continue. If you need it in a year the answer is different.

Hope is a bad strategy, what are you trying to do?
by bampf
Wed Apr 12, 2023 8:39 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard PAS - Feel Like I was Fleeced - Do you Agree?
Replies: 239
Views: 17938

Re: Vanguard PAS - Feel Like I was Fleeced - Do you Agree?

This does raise a question whether PAS should engage in tax loss harvesting when they can't and don't try to do comprehensive tax planning. TLH should come about within a tax plan and not as some sort of generic process that one applies to investments. I do not agree with that. TLH does not need to be part of any comprehensive tax planning. I would expect it be used as a generic process, even where there is no comprehensive tax plan in place (which will be the case with most people most of the time.). That's one piece of actionable advice I think people reading this can benefit from: TLH every time a good opportunity presents itself. And being able to realize a $58,000 loss--I'd call that a good opportunity! It might also be helpful to sto...
by bampf
Mon Apr 10, 2023 6:11 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard PAS - Feel Like I was Fleeced - Do you Agree?
Replies: 239
Views: 17938

Re: Vanguard PAS - Feel Like I was Fleeced - Do you Agree?

Figure out that he sold all of my international stock on my taxable account then purchased US index fund. The figure out he sold us index fund in my IRA and bought intl index fund in my IRA. Well this is another issue outside of tax loss harvesting that could indicate crappy service in my opinion - moving international exposure between taxable and tax deferred accounts will affect the ongoing amount of foreign tax credit that you get, and I think that if they are going to make THAT decision for you, they should either do it with tax consequences in mind or run that by you in advance. I mean, I know all of these brokerage groups say they don't give tax advice but I have honestly never understood what use their service could possibly be with...
by bampf
Mon Apr 10, 2023 6:08 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard PAS - Feel Like I was Fleeced - Do you Agree?
Replies: 239
Views: 17938

Re: Vanguard PAS - Feel Like I was Fleeced - Do you Agree?

Based on OP’s responses regarding the $58K tax loss, I’m not sure he/she fully understands tax loss harvesting I understand it - I was just very upset about the lack of communication which doesn't make any sense to most of the posters here. The surprise of finding out about it in 2023. That was due to my husband not noticing it when he did our taxes - not due to PAS. It sounds like everyone thinks I should be extremely grateful he did it. I don't think he was officially allowed to do it - it seems like he was only allowed to do rebalancing. PAS started offering tax loss harvesting about the time I left the service. Any way, all of these comments are helpful to me. Thanks everyone. I am not sure what "officially allowed to do it" ...
by bampf
Mon Apr 10, 2023 5:53 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard PAS - Feel Like I was Fleeced - Do you Agree?
Replies: 239
Views: 17938

Re: Vanguard PAS - Feel Like I was Fleeced - Do you Agree?

Figure out that he sold all of my international stock on my taxable account then purchased US index fund. The figure out he sold us index fund in my IRA and bought intl index fund in my IRA. Well this is another issue outside of tax loss harvesting that could indicate crappy service in my opinion - moving international exposure between taxable and tax deferred accounts will affect the ongoing amount of foreign tax credit that you get, and I think that if they are going to make THAT decision for you, they should either do it with tax consequences in mind or run that by you in advance. I mean, I know all of these brokerage groups say they don't give tax advice but I have honestly never understood what use their service could possibly be with...
by bampf
Mon Apr 10, 2023 5:34 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard PAS - Feel Like I was Fleeced - Do you Agree?
Replies: 239
Views: 17938

Re: Vanguard PAS - Feel Like I was Fleeced - Do you Agree?

I haven't read the wall of text, but since the $58,000 was a loss realized for tax-loss harvesting purposes, I would think that there was a purchase the same day because that's how tax-loss harvesting works: Sell something for a loss and immediately buy something substantially similar with the proceeds. Example: Sell $500,000 VTI or VTSAX to realize a $58,000 loss and immediately buy $500,000 of VV or VLCAX. That is like not selling at all, but also getting free tax savings. If you do not understand what I just wrote, then I can see why you might think it is a problem. I would think it was a shrewd move on the part of Vanguard PAS that made you some money. That is what happened. But I had to figure it out. I had to go into our transactions...
by bampf
Sat Apr 08, 2023 10:54 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What are good job opportunity for someone without a college degree
Replies: 91
Views: 8435

Re: What are good job opportunity for someone without a college degree

Thanks for all of the suggestions. This person apparently had a hard time in college with some of the teachers. I don't know the full details, but a friend's daughter had the same issue a while back and had to switch colleges. He doesn't have any mental issues. He's been working for a while in his parent's framing business so he probably has some skills with framing, and art restoration, but those might not be high in demand skills. His degree was in music. I am not sure what he wants to do, but is trying to help him with some ideas. The Starbucks idea is actually not too bad, so are retail things like Ace. He doesn't like the idea of retail, but frankly if I was in his shoe I would git and bear it for a few years on jobs I don't like if i...
by bampf
Fri Apr 07, 2023 9:48 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What are good job opportunity for someone without a college degree
Replies: 91
Views: 8435

Re: What are good job opportunity for someone without a college degree

"Someone with the right skills can make 500k working for a big tech company without having a degree." What are the right skills? Please elaborate. I would like to learn these skills too. Not meant to be snarky, but, if you have to ask, you don't have them. And you can't just take a class or two and have them. It is generally a deep and abiding understanding and or passion for technology. Its a little like asking what skills do I need to be a surgeon so I can get $500k. Yes, you don't need a degree. Except you really kind of do unless you are very very good already. You do need a very deep understanding of how things work and the impact on the estate when they don't. On the other hand you can make $100k quite easily with fairly ru...
by bampf
Tue Apr 04, 2023 7:06 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Athletics pathway to college
Replies: 110
Views: 10861

Re: Athletics pathway to college

... While it’s more rare in girl’s than boy’s hockey, a career ending concussion (or often, a series of concussions) is not that unusual. I have seen some “overly driven” parents keep their kids in the sport at a point where “more conservative” parents would opt for a different sport or different level of competition. One of my kids played club hockey in college and still plays occasionally in a men’s league, the other quit the sport entirely. ... I also wanted to address this the other day and just got around to it. Women report more concussions than men for ice hockey. Source Injury patterns differ among various levels of women’s ice hockey. Concussion is consistently the most frequent injury reported in studies of collegiate teams and h...
by bampf
Tue Apr 04, 2023 10:18 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Athletics pathway to college
Replies: 110
Views: 10861

Re: Athletics pathway to college

have seen the statistics saying women's hockey is one of the sports with the greatest chances of getting a college scholarship, so it's already making me debate whether we should get our daughter started in hockey. Does she like hockey? She likes watching her older cousin play and loves competing in sports against her older brother. I feel like most kids CAN like any sport that they're exposed to, its just giving them the opportunity to participate and see what happens. There are 36 Division 1 women's hockey teams . D3 teams can't award scholarships. D1 teams can award 18 scholarships per team. That means there are 648 scholarships. Assuming 1/4th of the team turns over every year, that means there are 162 scholarships nationally every yea...
by bampf
Mon Apr 03, 2023 4:55 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Athletics pathway to college
Replies: 110
Views: 10861

Re: Athletics pathway to college

have seen the statistics saying women's hockey is one of the sports with the greatest chances of getting a college scholarship, so it's already making me debate whether we should get our daughter started in hockey. Does she like hockey? She likes watching her older cousin play and loves competing in sports against her older brother. I feel like most kids CAN like any sport that they're exposed to, its just giving them the opportunity to participate and see what happens. There are 36 Division 1 women's hockey teams . D3 teams can't award scholarships. D1 teams can award 18 scholarships per team. That means there are 648 scholarships. Assuming 1/4th of the team turns over every year, that means there are 162 scholarships nationally every yea...
by bampf
Tue Mar 28, 2023 10:02 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: what makes a satisfying charitable gift?
Replies: 48
Views: 3467

Re: what makes a satisfying charitable gift?

I contribute to charities that help people gain skills to change their situation. That matters a lot to me.
by bampf
Tue Mar 28, 2023 7:54 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Athletics pathway to college
Replies: 110
Views: 10861

Re: Athletics pathway to college

vikvestor wrote: Tue Mar 28, 2023 7:50 pm Actually, I don't know if he is or is not on track for Division 1. There are D2 and D3 levels too right?
You should check out the schedule of a D1 athlete. It can be brutal. I can't imagine having to sort a rough eng degree along with a brutal D1 schedule. It may be different for tennis, but, its rough at the d3 level. Club can be a ton of fun. Things to think about.
by bampf
Mon Mar 27, 2023 5:14 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help us to retire in 10 years
Replies: 27
Views: 4088

Re: Help us to retire in 10 years

dogagility wrote: Mon Mar 27, 2023 4:22 pm
bampf wrote: Mon Mar 27, 2023 11:24 am No wrong answers. I could have done without the anxiety and stress of feeling like I needed $250K per kid. I didn't and neither does anyone else.
Inflation says otherwise for parents of young children wanting to have a plethora of educational options for their spawn.
It really doesn't. There are many options that don't require $250K per kid. Many. Hundreds. A veritable cornucopia of options.

Note that I didn't say there aren't opportunities to spend $250K per kid. Of course you can spend that if you want. I also didn't say it was wrong to fund @ $250K.

Many roads to Dublin. Or Boulder for that matter.
by bampf
Mon Mar 27, 2023 11:24 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help us to retire in 10 years
Replies: 27
Views: 4088

Re: Help us to retire in 10 years

I think $100K will pay a four year degree at a top tier in state university in many places. For example at the University of Colorado School of Engineering each semester is about $7500 right now. Books and room and board at another $10K ($25K a year all in) CU's own estimate is $34k/year for engineering ( https://www.colorado.edu/bursar/undergraduate-costs-by-tier#undergraduate-colorado-resident ). I just checked the University of Washington and the University of Michigan, and they were very similar, to give examples of a couple other state flagships. There is some variation across the country (UNC Chapel Hill is cheaper, UC Berkeley and UVA are more expensive), but you seem to be underestimating cost to residential students at state flags...
by bampf
Sun Mar 26, 2023 9:09 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help us to retire in 10 years
Replies: 27
Views: 4088

Re: Help us to retire in 10 years

Planning to save 200k (100k each) in next 10 years for college using 529 and taxable. If college costs more than this, kids will take loans. We can help them to pay down if our retirement is on track. I am assuming that would be adjusted for inflation. There is no one right answer to how much a parent should pay for college but the idea of having your kids take on student loans when you are retiring in your early 50s might be something to rethink. Instead of putting a dollar value on it an alternate goal to consider might be to be able to pay for tuition, fees, books, and room and board at your state's flagship university. I live a relatively less expensive state and you could not pay for all those at the state flagship university for four...
by bampf
Tue Mar 21, 2023 9:12 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [Keeping more than FDIC insurance limit in one bank?]
Replies: 86
Views: 7967

Re: Do we need to panic about Ally Bank ?

<snip> "The mortgage backed security crisis wouldn't have happened if people didn't look too deeply into these things in 2008. Madoff wouldn't have collapsed if everyone would have just kept agreeing that all was great." Madoff had basically zero dollars left of tens of billions he owed, it was a Ponzi scheme that ran out of money. The MBS crisis firms were at least in as bad of a position, or in some cases owed more money than the market cap of their companies due to ridiculous leverage. SVB had something like 90-95% of the deposits in bonds immediately, and would have had closer to 100% if they could have held the bonds to maturity. An order of magnitude better off than the other scenarios. I think my point, perhaps badly made,...
by bampf
Mon Mar 20, 2023 11:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [Keeping more than FDIC insurance limit in one bank?]
Replies: 86
Views: 7967

Re: Do we need to panic about Ally Bank ?

I disagree. Depositors sought to withdraw 26% of deposits in a single day. I don't think any bank, not even the large ones could handle that. If they had diversified their bond holdings, would they have still failed? I'm willing to bet they would have. This was a good old-fashioned bank run. They took a little extra risk on the bonds but it's not like they were investing it in crypto. Don't take my word for it. A lot of economists and researchers are saying that they took on excessive risk. Taking on that excessive risk caused massive paper losses at the firm. The word got out, cause it does, and then people took their money out. I don't think the 26% withdrawals caused their paper losses, it just forced them to realize them. The paper los...
by bampf
Mon Mar 20, 2023 10:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [Keeping more than FDIC insurance limit in one bank?]
Replies: 86
Views: 7967

Re: Do we need to panic about Ally Bank ?

No, I am obviously not stating that. It is in particular that the word panic is counter-productive, especially in an environment where a) we want people to make rational decisions, not panic, and b) when people panic, they cause real problems, like bank runs I don't think panic causes bank runs. I think badly run banks cause bank runs. SVB got greedy chasing long term yields that were susceptible to interest rate hikes. Had they been in short term, lower yielding instruments, they would have been ok. To be clear they still would have been hurt, but, they would be a going concern. My thoughts, for what they are worth. I disagree. Depositors sought to withdraw 26% of deposits in a single day. I don't think any bank, not even the large ones c...
by bampf
Mon Mar 20, 2023 10:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [Keeping more than FDIC insurance limit in one bank?]
Replies: 86
Views: 7967

Re: Do we need to panic about Ally Bank ?

I honestly think any thread titled “should we panic” should be locked, or at least re-titled to something more mature and measured Just lock every thread if someone uses a word you dislike…? No, I am obviously not stating that. It is in particular that the word panic is counter-productive, especially in an environment where a) we want people to make rational decisions, not panic, and b) when people panic, they cause real problems, like bank runs I don't think panic causes bank runs. I think badly run banks cause bank runs. SVB got greedy chasing long term yields that were susceptible to interest rate hikes. Had they been in short term, lower yielding instruments, they would have been ok. To be clear they still would have been hurt, but, th...
by bampf
Mon Mar 20, 2023 10:17 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [Keeping more than FDIC insurance limit in one bank?]
Replies: 86
Views: 7967

Re: Do we need to panic about Ally Bank ?

I honestly think any thread titled “should we panic” should be locked, or at least re-titled to something more mature and measured Just lock every thread if someone uses a word you dislike…? No, I am obviously not stating that. It is in particular that the word panic is counter-productive, especially in an environment where a) we want people to make rational decisions, not panic, and b) when people panic, they cause real problems, like bank runs I don't think panic causes bank runs. I think badly run banks cause bank runs. SVB got greedy chasing long term yields that were susceptible to interest rate hikes. Had they been in short term, lower yielding instruments, they would have been ok. To be clear they still would have been hurt, but, th...
by bampf
Mon Mar 20, 2023 10:02 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [Keeping more than FDIC insurance limit in one bank?]
Replies: 86
Views: 7967

Re: Do we need to panic about Ally Bank ?

That's what these bank runs are all about. There is nothing to worry about unless a bunch of people panic all at once. Anyone who is involved in that panic is contemptible to me, not too different from the people who refuse to merge on time on the highway and instead wait until the last minute, creating the very traffic delays they are trying to skirt around. You may look at it with contempt, but it's actually an entirely rational decision to try and pull your money out while you still can if you see signs that the bank might be in trouble. Most of SVB's customers weren't VC fat cats, but small businesses whose existence depends on being able to pay bills and salaries ... It is also incredibly rational to merge as late as you possibly can....
by bampf
Wed Mar 15, 2023 8:28 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Hotel Door Alarms (was: Locks?)
Replies: 39
Views: 4270

Re: Hotel Door Locks?

truenorth418 wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 7:35 pm I travel a great deal and mostly stay in hotels.

If the safety and security of a place were so bad that even the various, multiple locks provided on the hotel doors were not enough to protect me, I would not travel to such a place.
The door secondary locks are mostly for show. You can defeat the chain, flap or bar generally with the do not disturb card. Youtube has dozens of videos.

I wouldn't stay in a hotel where I felt like I needed more than those. I agree with you except for the notion that the secondary locks are any good.
by bampf
Wed Mar 15, 2023 6:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Sharing college costs with children
Replies: 142
Views: 12897

Re: Sharing college costs with children

<snip> It is really easy to spend other people's money; that's what it comes down to for a lot of young adults when it comes to college. The cost becomes pretty much irrelevant because it's not coming out of their pocket - it's monopoly money. Maybe actual "skin in the game" in the form of their earned money or debt for them isn't the way to go when you can pay for it, but if it isn't chump change to your family IMO it's sensible to take some measures so the child really understands the cost/benefit analysis. I thought this way as well at the beginning of my journey. It turns out, at least for me, that it ultimately didn't matter whether the kid thought of it as monopoly money at the time or not. A far easier equation was: This i...
by bampf
Wed Mar 15, 2023 3:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Sharing college costs with children
Replies: 142
Views: 12897

Re: Sharing college costs with children

I was worried about this prior to my first one attending school. I wanted them to have skin in the game and learn how to live within their means and all that stuff. I think those are worthy aspirations. I think the difficulty is when you clearly have the means to help them and resort to artificial approaches to put them in a place where they are uncomfortable. They are clearly smart enough to see that for the artifice it is. Ultimately, like KlangFool suggests, pay what you are willing to pay within the constructs of what you can afford. We ended up paying for 4 years at the top tier in-state institution. We essentially asked them to pay for books. We contributed cars, tuition, living expenses. They funded their own fun. One has graduated. ...