Bogleheads.org

rennale

Done.

Many thanks to the moderators and the incredibly knowledgeable contributors whose advice and wisdom helps so many of us.

rennale

When I left my FA a few years ago he had me in 2-3 dozen funds. The tax advantaged accounts (IRA/401k) were easy to revamp without any tax implications. They now have 1 fund each (VBTLX/FXNAX). My 3 year-old Roth is a single fund (VFIAX). But getting the taxable accounts (at Fidelity & Vanguard)...

rennale

Easy. Keep it. I had a 1995 540i 6 speed manual that I sold after 17 years with 220,000 miles on the clock. There was some rust, some oil burning and a slipping clutch. Selling it seemed like a good idea at the time. But it was a magnificent machine, an analog joy to drive, and wonderfully built. I'...

rennale

I use Moneydance and find that it does everything I can think of. I like it. I've never tried Quicken but other forum entries mention that the two are similar (with Quicken perhaps providing more features at the cost of more complexity?). Moneydance has a free trial download and a one-time purchase ...

rennale

Yes, I pared two years of living costs to cash from VWIUX in March, when things were looking particularly dire. Just to be extra cautious. I let the funds sit in cash for four months until I decided that I was being dumb and should simply stay the course. So I moved it back. And, of course, lost som...

rennale

Don't forget to try some excellent Allagash White - https://www.allagash.com - from Portland, ME. Apparently available in Southern Cal.

rennale

Given the clear marking on the bottom, I'd guess they are not weighted - I have a couple of pieces that are, and they are marked. I have to say that I'd be very surprised if they were solid - they would have been so expensive! But I only know about English silver and it was almost always weighted. ...

rennale

+1 to The Economist.

Two "approaches" that I (lightheartedly) observe:

- Never read anything with the word "stunning" in the headline.
- Generally avoid anything written in the first person.

rennale

Stainless steel is mere dross compared to silver, there is no comparison. Although it took me half a century to realize. However, it needs to be looked after so isn't really suitable for a hectic family life. And if you don't use it, why have it? American silver ranges greatly in quality. English si...

rennale

I've been happy with Moneydance since I started using it a few years ago. It aggregates Fidelity & Vanguard fine, along with bank accounts and credit cards. All data is kept on your PC/Mac, it does not use a cloud. Password storage is a selectable option. Full history is maintained. I guess it's...

rennale

I hasn't improved my quality of life but I finally broke down and purchased a decent scanner to scan the thousands of old 35mm slides, negatives and photos that I've been meaning to digitize for years/decades. What scanner did you buy? I've been thinking of doing this too. -desiboy I purchased an E...

rennale

I hasn't improved my quality of life but I finally broke down and purchased a decent scanner to scan the thousands of old 35mm slides, negatives and photos that I've been meaning to digitize for years/decades. It's a slow, tedious process, ideal for passing Covid hours, but wow, does it bring back m...

rennale

That managed funds do no better than index funds in bad times. Of course this is accepted BH wisdom and, having learned it, I've been shifting to a 3 fund model for the past few years. LTCG concerns prevented a wholesale shift so I still have some managed funds. Their performance has not been one wh...

rennale

A beehive.

Lots of types to choose from. Could be complex or simple. Bee suppliers will be delivering new broods+queen during April & May.

rennale

A brave post at a tragic time. My deepest condolences to you and your family.

rennale

To select only one is tough when those mentioned so far are in the mix. But for something that I find endlessly fascinating, shining a light on geopolitical intrigues, try Arms Control Wonk "A nuclear weapons, arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation podcast." It's often poorly recor...

rennale

Paying you a huge salary and then expecting you to work ungodly hours is entirely typical of the high tech industry but that doesn't make it right. They shouldn't want you because they want your life, they should want you because they want your skills. $200K for 50 hours/week - $77/hour $350K for 10...

rennale

As a newbie (and, seemingly, destined to be a newbie forever) this thread is a great learning opportunity. But one word that seems to be missing is Tax. Why is that, what am I missing? My FA (no longer used) had quite a lot of my portfolio in high yield bonds, which I dumped during the process of re...

rennale

Six hours from NYC, according to Google, is the Bretton Arms Inn, which is in the grounds of the Mount Washington Hotel. Both are historic, the former being small and more romantic, the latter being grand and impressive. It's just a few minutes walk between them so you can easily use the facilities ...

rennale

Don't forget that Canadian Thanksgiving is in October (Monday 14th this year) so that can impact opening times and prices. And allow you to catch two Thanksgivings.

rennale

Bee keeping. - It was just something that I was always curious about. I started this year. Absolutely fascinating. A hobby that is both easy and difficult at the same time. Hives are simple to install and mostly look after themselves, but, wow, the complexities of keeping the bees alive and healthy ...

rennale

Heck, 31 years. All the old DECcies, I guess. :-) Anyway, the DCU doesn't support Direct Connect - which would allow Quicken etc. to directly access & download financial transactions. But it does support export of transactions into the following file formats: Excel (.csv) OFX Quicken (.qfx) Quic...

rennale

Well, if you decide to completely blow your budget you could try a once-in-a-lifetime night in the Ritz Carlton. The hotel occupies floors 102-118 of the building, with the reception on the 103rd floor and the bar on the 118th.

It's quite the experience.

rennale

As far as I can tell it's just a matter of being able to alter the 90% bend point PIA calculation to a different percentage. With WEP, the 90% number reduces by 5% per year for every year fewer than 30 "substantial earnings" years. So, if you only have 29 substantial earnings years (and a ...

rennale

I'd be interested to know how to modify this excellent spreadsheet to deal with WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision). Such as adding an input cell for the WEP percentage.

rennale

Buy a copy of Excel for Mac for $105. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H4XBM1R Anything else will cause more grief than it's worth.... (and Excel is a good product by any measure) I really don’t want to buy MS products. Is anyone using LibreCalc successfully on a Mac with RPM? Yeah, I didn't either (I'...

rennale

Buy a copy of Excel for Mac for $105.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H4XBM1R

Anything else will cause more grief than it's worth.... (and Excel is a good product by any measure)

rennale

My grandfather would turn off the car engine to free wheel down long hills and save gas. (Long before the days of steering locks!)

rennale

I took the Eurostar train from London to Paris on March 2nd (two weeks ago) and it was perfectly fine, if you don't count the hundreds of young school kids enjoying themselves during the trip (hint: get first class tickets!). I was in Paris for a few days and it too was absolutely fine. I steered cl...

rennale

Take the ferry from from Port Clyde or New Harbor to Monhegan Island and spend the day there. On a nice day it's a little slice of heaven.

rennale

Somewhat tangentially, I believe that there's an additional get-out-of-jail-free card if you retired in 2017/2018 and were over 62 years old. But I have no idea how this is entered on Form 2210. My H&R Block Tax software has no way to select this option as far as I can tell. It also seems to vag...

rennale

Well, per The Clash: Darling you got to let me know Should I stay or should I go? If you say that you are mine I'll be here 'til the end of time So you got to let me know Should I stay or should I go? Perhaps Darling is NYC. :-) You mention that you've been in the US five years and would possibly re...

rennale

This topic would likely be shorter if it discussed inheritances that *did* go as planned. I haven't seen too many. My experiences sum up to: 1/ People don't die in the order that inheritance plans expect them to. 2/ Blood is much much *much* thicker than water. 3/ Blindly considering all children e...

rennale

Oh, and two more:

5/ People fail to update their wills when circumstances change.
6/ If a will can't be found it can't be executed. And if there's only one copy, well, it can mysteriously disappear......

rennale

This topic would likely be shorter if it discussed inheritances that *did* go as planned. I haven't seen too many. My experiences sum up to: 1/ People don't die in the order that inheritance plans expect them to. 2/ Blood is much much *much* thicker than water. 3/ Blindly considering all children eq...

rennale

2599.12

The wisdom of crowds. My quick scan makes this the average so far, ignoring the 10 lowest and 10 highest guesses. 280 guesses.

rennale

How about taking a look at:

"A History of the World in 500 Walks" by Sarah Baxter.

https://www.amazon.com/History-World-50 ... 162686554X

A friend gave it to me for a present and I've been in a crisis of decision ever since.

rennale

Well, here's the thing - I never got the itch. It was the calendar that did for me. For the majority of my career I was doing something that I loved, at least at a strategic level if not always at the day-to-day level. And the vast majority of my friends were at work (not an ideal situation, but it ...

rennale

I'm also struggling with the convert or not convert question because I have a large LTCG. If I convert the LTCG will cross the NIIT threshold. If I don't convert, it won't. So, essentially, the conversion is going to cost an extra 3.8%. Bumping the 12% rate to 15.8% isn't so bad. But bumping the 22%...

rennale

The tradeoff is one of actually enjoying these cities versus visiting as many tourist attractions as possible in them. These are often at odds with each other, just the same as any great American city (NYC, San Francisco, etc). Struggling with a huge crowd to see the Mona Lisa or visiting Harrods ca...

rennale

+1 for Moneydance. I started using it late last year after seeing good reviews here in the forum. I previously used several homegrown spreadsheets of varying complexity. I've never tried Quicken or MS Money (which, at the time, people didn't seem to be too happy with due to cost or support issues) o...

rennale

First, check the weather. If it's raining, stay in the airport. I would keep it very simple. Heathrow Express to Paddington. Then just walk: - Perhaps to Portobello Market and the Notting Hill area. Lots of fun. or: - Down to Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. Then down into Knightsbridge and visit H...

rennale

Re: ....I would appreciate some suggestions for some offbeat things to see or do. Have dinner at Nos Ancêtres les Gaulois at 39 Rue Saint-Louis en l'Île (https://www.nosancetreslesgaulois.com/en) I've been a couple of times, although not for several years, and, yes, it's clearly a tourist & afte...

rennale

For great views of the city (50 floors up) have lunch at the Top of the Hub in the Prudential Center. Amazingly, lunch there doesn't have to be wickedly expensive. For a cheap thrill take the ferry from the Aquarium to Charlestown. Takes under 15 minutes and gives a fun view of the city, especially ...

rennale

I think it's a matter of getting to talk to the right person. Like your wife, I too was missing an entire year of earnings on my SS record, and I had the W2 & Tax return. After initially going to my SS office and handing everything over, several months passed by and nothing happened. I had to go...

rennale

I did this, for the same reasons as you, on perfectly good terms. Simply identify a personal life deadline and tell him you'll be meeting it shortly. In my case I told my FA, several months before I retired, that after I retired I would have the time to manage my portfolio and planned to do so. So w...

rennale

Well, (having not read the entire thread) here are two simple ideas that have served me well: 1/ On the flight out put the airline's blanket all over you prior to the meals, so it acts as a huge napkin. Then, when you've inevitably spilt wine/food all over yourself before you've even got to your des...

rennale

There is a driving school near me that offers a 2 hour lesson for $180. They provide the car. Reviews suggest that at the end of the 2 hours, people feel comfortable enough that they could drive stick now, albeit not perfectly. Would this be a reasonable plan of action? Don't overthink this. Drivin...

rennale

For those of you who have retired within the past year or so, how is it? Have there been any major surprises or adjustments you've had to make. Anything you need help with? Retired last year at 67. How is it? It's very pleasant. I am calmer in myself, kinder to other people, and more interested in ...

rennale

Unless you need Outlook, why not choose Home & Student rather than Home & Business?

Microsoft Office Home and Student for Mac (download) is currently $115 on Amazon. Provides Excel, Word, Powerpoint and OneNote. Full license with no monthly subscription.

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