Search found 254 matches

by user9532
Sun Mar 17, 2024 11:26 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: funeral preparations
Replies: 16
Views: 1580

Re: funeral preparations

There was a recent article in WSJ about bad actors in the funeral home industry.

"Unethical funeral homes have exploited grieving customers for decades. What consumers don’t know is that many of the industry’s bad actors have been hidden from the public thanks to a sweetheart deal struck between the Federal Trade Commission and the funeral industry more than 25 years ago."

The article also has a list of funeral homes that violated FTC regulations.

https://www.wsj.com/business/how-the-fu ... cle_inline

Not sure whether the article is befind paywall.
by user9532
Fri Mar 15, 2024 12:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: RMD Question?
Replies: 46
Views: 4271

Re: RMD Question?

For somebody who will be taking RMD at age 73, how is the amount calculated? Based on the Distribution Period of 27.4 at 72 or 26.5 at 73?

From IRS Table III:

Code: Select all

Age	 Distribution Period 
72	 27.4 
73	 26.5 

by user9532
Wed Mar 13, 2024 9:15 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Website Provider Recommendation
Replies: 14
Views: 1164

Re: Website Provider Recommendation

If you are signing up with one of the typical providers to set up a custom website, you logon to their server, go to the file explorer and you will see a folder named "public_html". You can create a html file containing your contents, name it "index.html" or "default.html" and upload to public_html. When you go to your website, that file will load and display the contents. You could create a simple html file including a link to your image and upload both the html file (index.html or default.html) and your image. It should work. I would think this approach will work with the cloudfare free service, but I'm not sure. You could do the domain registration at Namecheap and host the website elsewhere, such as cloudfa...
by user9532
Wed Mar 13, 2024 8:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Excel Forumula Help -cumulative percentage growth
Replies: 13
Views: 1237

Re: Excel Forumula Help -cumulative percentage growth

Assume the beginning dollar value of your investments in 2012 is in cell B1, and
the ending dollar value in 2015 is in B2, then

=(B2-B1)/B1 (format the result for percentage).
by user9532
Wed Mar 13, 2024 4:18 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Website Provider Recommendation
Replies: 14
Views: 1164

Re: Website Provider Recommendation

A list of hosting services that costs less than $3 a month:

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/l/best-c ... gLw6PD_BwE

Register the domain first then create the website. You can just create a single page to publish what you have.
by user9532
Mon Feb 05, 2024 4:05 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: CPA needed in CA specializing in:Retirement distribution strategy
Replies: 4
Views: 587

Re: CPA needed in CA specializing in:Retirement distribution strategy

relentless1 wrote: Sun Feb 04, 2024 4:18 pm Mike Piper is unfortunately booked. Our CPA just retired. Need referral in CA for:
Retirement distribution strategy.
Social Security filing date-already tried Mike's site.
Roth conversion analysis. Using New Retirement. It's showing Roth conversions won't work for us.

I'd like to pay for expertise. If you have a good CPA in CA please offer referral. Here of PM me.

Many thanks
You may want to try this:

https://findcpa.calcpa.org/
by user9532
Sun Feb 04, 2024 10:32 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Recently let go from work while pursuing MBA - need advice.
Replies: 26
Views: 3854

Re: Recently let go from work while pursuing MBA - need advice.

By the way, is it just me or is this the third or fourth thread of a Boglehead who got laid off. I don't recall seeing these posts very much in the past. Maybe that's a sign of something, but given the jobs report today and how low unemployment is it's hard to believe you'll really be umemployed long. I think maybe a disconnect between visibility and jobs reports, which is directly on point here, is that media is indeed getting hammered in a period of dislocation. Journalism, digital, television, film: it’s rough out there and in my view (I work in the industry) going to be really rough for at least 2024. Certainly in consolidation, not growth, mode. There's another new Bogleheads thread today about a layoff. "Challenger, Gray & C...
by user9532
Fri Feb 02, 2024 10:57 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What to do when mail is stolen?
Replies: 37
Views: 3393

Re: What to do when mail is stolen?

This isn’t a matter for local police. Contact the Postal Inspectors. Someone was stealing my mail and the USPIS tracked them down and were able to return my stolen mail to me. https://www.uspis.gov/ Yeah, call the USPS. They will just wring their incompetent hands and then laugh atvyour situation over the 4th coffee break of the day. Seriously, the USPS will be of no help whatsoever. The US Postal Inspectors are one of the most respected and effective law enforcement agencies in the country. Someone stole items of *no monetary value* from my mailbox and the USPIS tracked them down and prosecuted the individual. They take mail theft very seriously. In addition to USPSIS, the investigative division of the Office of Inspector General of the U...
by user9532
Mon Jan 29, 2024 11:56 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: CD Strategy
Replies: 15
Views: 1296

Re: CD Strategy

Some of the CDs on Fidelity's CD New Issue Offerrings page have an attribute "SKY" meaning "Blue Sky States". What does that mean in relation to a CD?
by user9532
Fri Jan 26, 2024 11:51 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Payroll miscalculation
Replies: 7
Views: 767

Re: Payroll miscalculation

stocknoob4111 wrote: Fri Jan 26, 2024 11:28 am Not really, my gross total wages for 2023, which is my annual base pay, plus my gross for 2024 (160 hrs) don't add up. I'm not paid in full.
Normally for a salaried employee, a payroll system would calculate an hourly rate based on
Hourly rate = annual salary/2080 hrs, and the system will use that rate for the calculations (based on the p/r systems I have seen).

If this is the case you should have received the full pay.

Find out the year-to-date gross pay on your 12/15 pay stub. Add the gross pay on your 1/5 pay stub. Is the total don’t agree with your agreed annual pay, it is likely you are not paid in full.
by user9532
Fri Jan 26, 2024 11:18 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Payroll miscalculation
Replies: 7
Views: 767

Re: Payroll miscalculation

The 86.67 hours pay periods ended on 12/15/2023. Through 12/15, there were 2000 hours in 2023, and you were paid 23 paychecks based on the 86.67 hr schedule.

2,000/86.67 = 23 (rounded)

The next working day onwards the 80 hr pay periods started.

You were paid on 1/5/24 for 80 hrs for the last two weeks of Dec. Then two pay checks for 80hrs each, totaling for 240 hrs. You are paid in full.
by user9532
Mon Jan 15, 2024 11:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: tracking IBONDs in your portfolio with bogle.tools
Replies: 79
Views: 10118

Re: tracking IBONDs in your portfolio with bogle.tools

- Would it be helpful if each IBOND listed its interest rate? If so, which one? Fixed Rate? Current Composite Rate? Overall rate? I've updated the tool to show fixed rate and current rate for each IBOND purchase. Note: If you already added IBONDs to your account in this tool, you will need to click on "🔃 Quotes" button in any of the views in "Portfolio Tracker" (will likely make it more automatic in future) to have it calculate (lookup) those rates. screenshot of list of IBONDs I did some random testing. You are showing the latest available balances, not the balance as of the current month, as below. Purchase Date Accrued Balance Balance as of 21-Jan 11,928.00 7/1/2024 20-Jan 12,220.00 7/1/2024 19-Jan 12,672.00 7/1/2024...
by user9532
Sun Jan 14, 2024 1:43 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fun Fact: 2006 iBonds Doubling
Replies: 9
Views: 2137

Re: Fun Fact: 2006 iBonds Doubling

Top 10 I bonds in terms of growth (out of all I bonds five years or older): Purchase Date I Bond Value 10K Adjusted for CPI-U 1 May-2000 42,556.00 17,908.00 2 Jun-2000 42,292.00 17,888.00 3 Jul-2000 42,028.00 17,792.00 4 Sep-1998 44,220.00 18,772.00 5 Aug-2000 41,788.00 17,752.00 6 Oct-1998 43,972.00 18,748.00 7 Sep-2000 41,548.00 17,752.00 8 Oct-2000 41,308.00 17,660.00 9 Nov-1998 43,252.00 18,704.00 10 Nov-1999 42,060.00 18,236.00 Bottom 10: Purchase Date I Bond Value 10K Adjusted for CPI-U 1 Feb-2015 12,844.00 13,124.00 2 Mar-2015 12,808.00 13,068.00 3 Apr-2015 12,772.00 12,992.00 4 Oct-2015 12,680.00 12,892.00 5 Jan-2015 12,880.00 13,064.00 6 Sep-2015 12,716.00 12,872.00 7 Mar-2016 12,808.00 12,936.00 8 Apr-2016 12,768.00 12,880.00 9 F...
by user9532
Sun Jan 14, 2024 11:52 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fun Fact: 2006 iBonds Doubling
Replies: 9
Views: 2137

Re: Fun Fact: 2006 iBonds Doubling

Top 10 I bonds in terms of growth (out of all I bonds five years or older): Purchase Date I Bond Value 10K Adjusted for CPI-U 1 May-2000 42,556.00 17,908.00 2 Jun-2000 42,292.00 17,888.00 3 Jul-2000 42,028.00 17,792.00 4 Sep-1998 44,220.00 18,772.00 5 Aug-2000 41,788.00 17,752.00 6 Oct-1998 43,972.00 18,748.00 7 Sep-2000 41,548.00 17,752.00 8 Oct-2000 41,308.00 17,660.00 9 Nov-1998 43,252.00 18,704.00 10 Nov-1999 42,060.00 18,236.00 Bottom 10: Purchase Date I Bond Value 10K Adjusted for CPI-U 1 Feb-2015 12,844.00 13,124.00 2 Mar-2015 12,808.00 13,068.00 3 Apr-2015 12,772.00 12,992.00 4 Oct-2015 12,680.00 12,892.00 5 Jan-2015 12,880.00 13,064.00 6 Sep-2015 12,716.00 12,872.00 7 Mar-2016 12,808.00 12,936.00 8 Apr-2016 12,768.00 12,880.00 9 Fe...
by user9532
Sat Jan 06, 2024 6:33 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Check in mail stolen
Replies: 7
Views: 1809

Re: Check in mail stolen

If you suspect mail theft report to the Postal Inspectors.

https://www.uspis.gov/report
by user9532
Fri Jan 05, 2024 11:30 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Closing a CD at Synchrony Bank is painful
Replies: 7
Views: 1236

Re: Closing a CD at Synchrony Bank is painful

I had a CD with Synchrony Bank. I bought it through my Fidelity account. When it matured the money came back right into my Fidelity account. No Pain.
by user9532
Mon Nov 06, 2023 12:47 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Amazon return policy for electronics
Replies: 12
Views: 2451

Re: Amazon return policy for electronics

I recently returned an Anker USB C Charger, 735 Charger (Nano II 65W). I bought it thinking it was a power band. I opened it and found out it was just a charger. Returned it and got a refund and bought an 'Anker Nano Power Bank, 10K Portable Charger with Built-in USB-C Cable' which is working fine.
by user9532
Mon Oct 23, 2023 12:19 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Overseas text messaging
Replies: 27
Views: 2477

Re: Overseas text messaging

Why not use Whatsapp? I have family members in different parts of the world. We freely use Whatsapp to text and call.
by user9532
Sat Oct 14, 2023 3:03 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)
Replies: 6651
Views: 1202870

Re: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)

Hello group, I purchased $10k I-bonds on 10/1/21 and on 1/1/22. Both state current interest rate 3.38%. If I want to cash these in will the 3 month penalty be at the 3.38%? I know the rates are changing in November. Is it better to sell these two before November 1 to minimize the 3 month penalty? Thanks in advance The rate changes every six months from purchase. As such, the one purchased in October only just started the lower rate. I would wait until Jan 1 to sell. If I need to sell in Dec 2023, I would have penalty of two months at 3.38% and one month of about 7% for the 10/21 purchase? And the one I bought on 1/1/22 what interest rate is that in ‘23 and ‘24? Thanks If you sell your 10/21 purchase in Dec 23, you will lose two months inte...
by user9532
Tue Oct 03, 2023 12:03 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: FEHB Retirees can now delay Medicare B w/o Penalty?
Replies: 10
Views: 1130

Re: FEHB Retirees can now delay Medicare B w/o Penalty?

bsteiner wrote: Tue Oct 03, 2023 11:25 am
user9532 wrote: Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:43 am For Postal Service employees a new retirement plan is coming up. They will get an opportunity to sign up without penalty. Link below.

https://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/pshb/
Will that affect the Mail Handlers Benefit Plan which is open to non-Postal Service people for $52 a year.
Not sure. This might help.
https://liteblue.usps.gov/humanresource ... e/pshb.htm
by user9532
Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:43 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: FEHB Retirees can now delay Medicare B w/o Penalty?
Replies: 10
Views: 1130

Re: FEHB Retirees can now delay Medicare B w/o Penalty?

For Postal Service employees a new retirement plan is coming up. They will get an opportunity to sign up without penalty. Link below.

https://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/pshb/
by user9532
Sun Oct 01, 2023 11:23 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: -----
Replies: 35
Views: 4771

Re: I Bond cash out timing, just checking my math

You started earning interest at 7.12% in the month of purchase.
Interest at 9.62% started in Aug 2022.
Interest at 6.48% started in Feb 2023 and ended on 7/31/2023.
Starting 8/1/2023 you are earning at 3.38%.
If you redeem on 11/1/2023, you will lose interest for three months at 3.38%, which is $96.00.
On 11/1/2023 you will get a net of $11,208.
by user9532
Thu Aug 24, 2023 3:28 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Efficient proof reading tool/process?
Replies: 55
Views: 3562

Re: Efficient proof reading tool/process?

You may find the AP Stylebook useful.

https://www.apstylebook.com/

I used to have online access while working.
by user9532
Tue Aug 08, 2023 5:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Web-Hosting Company in Bulgaria: SiteGround
Replies: 8
Views: 539

Re: Web-Hosting Company in Bulgaria: SiteGround

I volunteer with a small nonprofit organization and build and maintain ther website. We use Siteground for hosting the website and never experienced any issues.
by user9532
Sat Aug 05, 2023 11:14 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)
Replies: 6651
Views: 1202870

Re: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)

Suppose you calculate the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) based on the redemption value for each month starting from the first anniversary of the I bond purchase. Isn't the ideal time to sell when the CAGR is the highest? The example below is $10K I bond purchased in Feb 2022. Date Composite Rate Redemption Value GAGR 3/1/2022 7.12% $0.00 - 4/1/2022 7.12% $0.00 - 5/1/2022 7.12% $0.00 - 6/1/2022 7.12% $10,060.00 1.811 7/1/2022 7.12% $10,116.00 2.807 8/1/2022 7.12% $10,176.00 3.551 9/1/2022 9.62% $10,236.00 4.080 10/1/2022 9.62% $10,296.00 4.473 11/1/2022 9.62% $10,356.00 4.775 12/1/2022 9.62% $10,436.00 5.255 1/1/2023 9.62% $10,520.00 5.686 2/1/2023 9.62% $10,604.00 6.040 3/1/2023 6.48% $10,684.00 6.298 4/1/2023 6.48% $10,768.00 6.548 5...
by user9532
Sun Mar 19, 2023 10:57 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The Economics of Coffee
Replies: 5
Views: 1126

Re: The Economics of Coffee

Is it economics or cost accounting?
by user9532
Wed Mar 08, 2023 9:29 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Underlying obsolescence, depreciation, etc in equity rate of return calculations
Replies: 5
Views: 711

Re: Underlying obsolescence, depreciation, etc in equity rate of return calculations

.... However the depreciation rates that are applied by companies in calculating their individual earnings are probably largely determined by the tax code, rather than by what might be given by true physical depreciation, or perhaps more importantly, technologically- and market-driven rates of commercial obsolescence. My question: might it be that the forces of innovation, new product development, creative destruction, etc., generate a “true” rate of economic depreciation that exceeds that used in the calculation of “E”? ..... The depreciation methodologies used by companies in determining net income will be methodologies based on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), which may not be the same as those in the tax code. Generally...
by user9532
Thu Mar 02, 2023 2:57 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [How do you determine if you are a Millionaire?]
Replies: 124
Views: 10404

Re: [How do you determine if you are a Millionaire?]

It would be accurate to say assets - liabilities > $1MM A perhaps more pertinent question is, what is an asset and what is a liability? Is a valuable skill or talent that has the ability to generate income an asset? Is a commitment or obligation for a future expense a liability? Is my kids 529 an asset? I own it and it is valuable. Is my commitment to pay for my kids education a liability? Is my future retirement a liability? When you calculate assets minus liabilites to arrive at the networth, you may want to take the asset at net realizable value. For example, suppose your house is valued at $1 million, you have a mortgage of $200K outstanding, and if you expect the selling expenses and commission to be $100K, the newtworth portion of yo...
by user9532
Thu Mar 02, 2023 9:03 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [How do you determine if you are a Millionaire?]
Replies: 124
Views: 10404

Re: Millionaire

People in some countries don't count money in millions. For example, in India, they use "lakhs" and "crores".

1 lakh = 100,000
One crore = 100 lakhs
by user9532
Wed Mar 01, 2023 10:12 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Did you take Social Security before 70 and not regret the decision?
Replies: 160
Views: 12303

Re: Did you take Social Security before 70 and not regret the decision?

My original plan was to retire at 62 and take SS at 70. A few months before the planned retirement date I was diagnosed with cancer. Instead of retiring I used my sick leave/FMLA and underwent treatment for about a year and the cancer went away. But my overall health wasn’t good. I retired at 63 and took SS. My govt pension and SS cover my living expenses.

Do I have regrets? Absolutely not. Cancer taught me that a little extra money is not the most important thing in life.
by user9532
Thu Feb 23, 2023 12:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: At what age does it go downhill
Replies: 190
Views: 29086

Re: At what age does it go downhill

beyou wrote: Thu Feb 23, 2023 11:46 am
secondopinion wrote: Thu Feb 23, 2023 11:22 am
beyou wrote: Thu Feb 23, 2023 11:20 am So what does this tell you about when to take Social Security ?
Delay it. Health is only going to get worse the older you get.
Based on the chart posted by nisi, seems few make it to 85. This is the approx breakeven for delaying to 70 ? For me, I am concerned to maximize what I leave my kids, due to one being disabled. Seems to point to starting earlier than usually recommended.
About 75% of people make it to 70. Assume they all take SS at 70. About half of them will die by the time the break-even point reaches.
by user9532
Thu Feb 09, 2023 12:58 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Trading Treasuries (nominal and TIPS)
Replies: 4107
Views: 455500

Re: Trading Treasuries (nominal and TIPS)

There is a 26-wk auction on 2/13/23, CUSIP 912796Z36. Fidelity is showing 'expected yield' 4.677. According to WSJ, 6-mo yield is 4.936. I know the expected yield may not be corrdect, but why such a (big) difference?
by user9532
Sat Jan 28, 2023 7:16 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What is largest T-Bill/ Note have you purchased
Replies: 28
Views: 3353

Re: What is largest T-Bill/ Note have you purchased

8301 wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 6:08 pm If I want to buy T-bills worth $100,000 at auction at Fidelity, do I have to enter 100 or 100,000? Worst come, I don't have $100M :confused
100. It is clearly written on that page.
by user9532
Sat Jan 28, 2023 5:52 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What is largest T-Bill/ Note have you purchased
Replies: 28
Views: 3353

Re: What is largest T-Bill/ Note have you purchased

$100K
The last one I purchased was on 1/19/2023 - a 6 mo T-Bill, amount paid $97,631.47, at Fido.
by user9532
Thu Jan 26, 2023 12:32 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Excel Spreadsheet for Mortgage Payments Interest Compounded Daily
Replies: 19
Views: 1959

Re: Excel Spreadsheet for Mortgage Payments Interest Compounded Daily

choral54 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:06 am Does anyone have a spreadsheet for compounding monthly.on a balloon mortgage that would take into account extra payments of differing amounts on differing days of the month? Or where can I look? I found a calculator on financial-calculators.com but I don't know how to add multiple extra payments of differing amounts for more than the one payment. Can more be added here? Or a different way to do it?
See whether this works:

https://eworkpaper.com/tools.php

Choose the second button
by user9532
Thu Jan 26, 2023 12:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much will you get as Costco Citi reward this year?
Replies: 112
Views: 16437

Re: How much will you get as Costco Citi reward this year?

I also have $600 plus. They say direct deposit is available. They send an email with a link to a video on how their deposit works. I haven't watched the video yet.
by user9532
Sun Jan 22, 2023 3:02 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)
Replies: 6651
Views: 1202870

Re: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)

The fixed yield is what it is, recently 0.4% up from 0.0% and TBD for the near future. You also get inflation indexing, which if represented as a yield is the rate of inflation. That is not known into the future, so a nominal yield for I bonds in the future is not knowable past the currently applied index. There are sites for valuing a current I bond that would imply what return has been earned to date from times some years earlier. Is this what you meant to ask? I like to have a chart where I can see the return of ibond for the past 20 years or so. Ideally, I can use something like portfolio visualizer but they don't cover ibonds. I could also get the data from treasury site and then construct a spreadsheet, but I rather not spend the tim...
by user9532
Sat Jan 21, 2023 9:25 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Treasury Direct- Reconciling 1099 to Quickbooks
Replies: 4
Views: 670

Re: Treasury Direct- Reconciling 1099 to Quickbooks

I assume you are using the cash basis of accounting, meaning you recognize income when it is received rather than earned. So, record the purchases at cost (i.e., the amount you paid) and recognize the interest income when the T-Bills mature.

Example, on 1/19/2023 you purchased a 6-month T-Bill for $100K, but actually paid $97,631.47.

So in January you record the purchase as $97,631.47

Code: Select all

Debit Investments:	$97,631.47
Credit Cash: 				$97,631.47
On 7/20/2023 when the T-Bill matures you make the following entry:

Code: Select all

Debit Cash: 			$100,000.00
Credit Investments: 			$97,631.47
Credit Interest Income: 		$2,368.53
Do this for each security. If you have too many investments this is going to be a lot of work.
by user9532
Fri Jan 20, 2023 9:59 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Does Fidelity's auto-liquidation of non-core money market funds ever fail?
Replies: 30
Views: 6513

Re: Does Fidelity's auto-liquidation of non-core money market funds ever fail?

In the current debt celing scenario is there any potential downside in holding a somewhat large balance in FZDXX?
by user9532
Sun Jan 01, 2023 2:43 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: SoftwareGeek's Guide to Computer Security
Replies: 608
Views: 71425

Re: SoftwareGeek's Guide to Computer Security

Please note, if your password is less than 12 characters, I'm just going to crack it with my desktop computer and a 'rainbow table' I download off the pirate bay. Probably 30 minutes, it's just a snack. I'm confused what you mean. The statement above is referencing the password manager's password? You're stating that if the password to the 'password manager' is less than 12 characters you can crack it and get into the 'password manager'? Not 100%, but probably 50%. Generally, in these situations, when there is a breach, you work from a large sorted flatfile. You hit the highest probability files first. Those are probably ones which include dictionary or substitution words,proper names and so on. Due to compute costs, you aren't going to do...
by user9532
Tue Dec 27, 2022 7:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Toyota Prius C - tire pressure warning
Replies: 35
Views: 2926

Re: Toyota Prius C - tire pressure warning

When the weather is very cold, won't the volume of air in the tire shrink? Can this cause the tire pressure warning light to come on?
by user9532
Sun Dec 25, 2022 10:06 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: SoftwareGeek's Guide to Computer Security
Replies: 608
Views: 71425

Re: SoftwareGeek's Guide to Computer Security

Opinika wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 7:14 pm I haven't heard anyone mention Password Safe.

It wasn't the first password manager, but it's been around. I think I've been using it since 2010. Maybe before?

I use it consistently, but haven't thought about a security critical sort of audit. My wife's eyes roll back into her head whenever I try to initiate talk about computer security.
I think Bruce Schneier (https://www.schneier.com/blog/about/) originally created Password Safe.

https://www.schneier.com/academic/passsafe/

I have used it for a long time before I started using KeePass.
by user9532
Thu Dec 22, 2022 4:23 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: SoftwareGeek's Guide to Computer Security
Replies: 608
Views: 71425

Re: SoftwareGeek's Guide to Computer Security

Very useful info. Thank you.

Web hosting companies allow you to set up email accounts in your domain name if you host a website with them. Are these email accounts secure if you follow the normal security practices, or are there additional risks associated with them?
by user9532
Mon Dec 19, 2022 9:39 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)
Replies: 6651
Views: 1202870

Re: Treasury Direct I-Bonds compounded principal

investmax wrote: Sun Dec 18, 2022 1:59 pm
evelynmanley wrote: Sun Dec 18, 2022 12:57 pm
Does this worksheet answer your question?

https://eworkpaper.com/ibond.php

After you click on "submit query," look at accrued and redemption value.
This link above provides us the "current value" of the bond which is not in most cases the present compounded principal of the bond.
....
Compunded principal is now shown in bold.
by user9532
Sun Dec 18, 2022 3:20 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: submit ?s: Mike Piper on steps for surviving spouses
Replies: 32
Views: 4516

Re: submit ?s: Mike Piper on steps for surviving spouses

Not sure my question falls within the scope of this discussion because, in this case, there will not be a surviving spouse.

What if, in an unlikely event, both spouses die at the same time (for example an accident happens while travelling together). In such a case how can the adult children access parent’s cash to take care of immediate needs, such as funeral arrangements, etc.
by user9532
Tue Dec 06, 2022 10:23 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: I Bond Price History for Quicken and Moneydance
Replies: 2
Views: 646

I Bond Price History for Quicken and Moneydance

Here is a tool to generate I bond price history file for Quicken and Moneydance to track I bonds (link below). Using this tool, you can generate a CSV file containing I bond price history from the month of purchase through the latest date for which price is available. Both Quicken and Moneydance file formats are available. In Quicken or in Moneydance, you can manually track the prices of a security by uploading the security price history in a CSV file. One example of doing this is tracking the TSP share prices in Quicken/Moneydance (there is an ongoing thread on this). But unlike TSP share prices, tracking I bond in Quicken/Moneydance has one particular issue. Suppose you bought a $10K I bond in Feb 2022, and your spouse bought a $10K I bon...
by user9532
Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:09 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Trading Treasuries (nominal and TIPS)
Replies: 4107
Views: 455500

Re: Trading Treasuries (nominal and TIPS)

acegolfer wrote: Wed Nov 23, 2022 8:16 am Q on auto rolling 4-wk T-bill. Is there any gap between maturity and new purchase? Or, maturity and new purchase date are the same?
My 4-wk T-bill set on auto-roll was maturing on 11/29/22. Today I called Fidelity to cancel the autoroll. But they had already placed an order for the 11/23 auction which couldn't be cancelled. So in my case there was no gap.

Thanks Lyrrad and drzzzzz for your responses above. Well, I should have called Fidelity yesterday.
by user9532
Tue Nov 22, 2022 9:06 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Trading Treasuries (nominal and TIPS)
Replies: 4107
Views: 455500

Re: Trading Treasuries (nominal and TIPS)

How do I turn off auto-roll on a T-bill at Fidelity? I want to reinvest it for a different duration.