Search found 123 matches

by doneat53
Thu Jan 18, 2024 12:10 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRS Direct Pay Questions
Replies: 6
Views: 722

Re: IRS Direct Pay Questions

I just pay through directpay, save the receipt (either print to pdf, screenshot, or email copy) and put it in my folder for that tax year. When I file taxes I enter the amount in "estimated taxes paid" (assuming that's the field you selected when paying through directpay). I'm pretty sure Direct pay generates evidence for your tax record that you've paid but, not my problem, I have a receipt if IRS wants to audit. My amounts have never been questioned.
by doneat53
Wed Jan 17, 2024 11:29 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Spousal IRA
Replies: 19
Views: 2452

Re: Spousal IRA

thank you BogleTaxPro

Doneat
by doneat53
Wed Jan 17, 2024 10:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Spousal IRA
Replies: 19
Views: 2452

Re: Spousal IRA

I realize this thread is a year old but.... Just to clarify re non-working spousal IRA contributions for tax year 2023. Lets say my wife makes 10k total in 2023. She decides to contribute full amount to her IRA (she's over 50 so 7,500). My question as the non-working spouse is, can I also make a 7,500 contribution to my IRA? Or is my contribution limited by her total income so I can only contribute 2,500?

Thanks

doneat
by doneat53
Wed Jan 17, 2024 3:56 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Spousal Social Security Rule is Dead [Update - no change]
Replies: 9
Views: 3054

Re: Spousal Social Security Rule is Dead [Update - no change]

Sorry for the confusion everyone. Thank you for the clarification. This article does not refer to the survivor benefit wherein the surviving spouse is able to switch their benefit to the higher of the two SS benefits. Whew! :oops:
by doneat53
Tue Jan 16, 2024 6:48 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Spousal Social Security Rule is Dead [Update - no change]
Replies: 9
Views: 3054

Spousal Social Security Rule is Dead [Update - no change]

[Update - refers to existing rule for filing spouse-only claims while both spouses are alive. See this post for explanation. - moderator Kendall]

Original post
I didn't see this coming, likely because I wasn't looking very hard but this caught me by surprise. Apparently you can't switch to your (more lucrative) spousal social security benefit after their death unless you turned 70 before Jan 1, 2024!

Explanation... spousal switching rule NOT survivorship benefit is dead. Apparently old news, sorry for the confusion.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/social-s ... 23975.html
by doneat53
Thu Dec 14, 2023 6:08 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity free Turbotax 2023
Replies: 435
Views: 156996

Re: Fidelity free Turbotax 2023

Talked with customer care. link suddenly works now.

Sweet Victory!
by doneat53
Thu Dec 14, 2023 1:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity free Turbotax 2023
Replies: 435
Views: 156996

Re: Fidelity free Turbotax 2023

Anyone else getting a download error now? I got the free link from fidelity, purchased the "Premier version with state" for $5.00 and received the link in my intuit account. When I click on "windows download" next to the description with the license key it fails in three different browsers. Long URL and says "site can't be reached" ERR_HTTP2_PROTOCOL_ERROR.

Wondering if this is a new problem or perhaps unique to the "premier with state windows" download?
by doneat53
Wed Oct 25, 2023 2:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Newly Married, looking for a joint credit card
Replies: 4
Views: 765

Re: Newly Married, looking for a joint credit card

Suggest you both get individual CC, even the same product and cash in (2x) on the signup bonuses. I would look at Chase sapphire cards if your credit score is decent. A common misconception is that this will lower your score but it actually has the opposite effect because with two cards you will have more credit and lower utilization which will make your credit score go up.

doneat
by doneat53
Thu Sep 14, 2023 6:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Cost basis of gifted vs inherited house
Replies: 9
Views: 1418

Re: Cost basis of gifted vs inherited house

Thanks for the quick answer exodusNH!

Capital gains will be in the range of 1.5 - 2 million.
If this is their primary home, they have a $500,000 federal exclusion of gains. Has their house really appreciated more than that? (Starting with the purchase price plus any improvements.)
So if they were to gift it to the kids, would each kid also have a 500,000 exclusion of gains? Three children so total exclusion might be 1.5 million? Or is this only true if it is your primary residence?
by doneat53
Thu Sep 14, 2023 6:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Cost basis of gifted vs inherited house
Replies: 9
Views: 1418

Cost basis of gifted vs inherited house

So my in-laws need to move out of their home for physical/age related reasons. They are aware that the capital gains tax will be significant if they sell the house before they die so they are looking for ways to minimize this tax for their children who will inherit, sell and divide the proceeds of the house.

One option they think might work is to gift the house to the kids now (before their death) and let the children sell it for the proceeds. I'm not sure a gift prior to their death resets the cost basis?

Can someone help clarify?

Are their other ways to reset the cost basis of a house prior to the owner's death?

Thanks,

doneat53
by doneat53
Sun Jun 25, 2023 9:46 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Long-term outlook of a career in higher education
Replies: 65
Views: 5148

Re: Long-term outlook of a career in higher education

To add another wrench into things, we have zero interest in moving from our current location, which limits the amount of job openings she can apply to. We live in an area with 100s of colleges around so there are plenty of places here to choose from, but it's still a limitation. ^This may be the biggest problem. Being willing to move initially to get your foot in the door and then subsequently once or twice to establish promotions is a big part of this business and it is often hard to get pay and recognition for your work (especially at larger universities) without the threat of leaving. I think to top it off the smaller universities are really focusing on STEM subjects now and political science and related (history humanities sociology) a...
by doneat53
Mon May 08, 2023 10:59 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Home Ruined by Fire
Replies: 8
Views: 1445

Re: Home Ruined by Fire

Having lost my home to a fire I suggest you be patient and let it play out, even if it takes a year or more. There may be legal county or city ordinances that support clean up within a certain time but why add to the stress of the family that lost their home and memories?
by doneat53
Fri May 05, 2023 11:04 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Seattle airport to [downtown Vancouver BC]
Replies: 66
Views: 6229

Re: Seattle airport to Vancouver downtown

Assume you mean Vancouver BC and not Vancouver, WA.

Vancouver BC would probably be train. You could take light rail from airport to down town train station (5 bucks) and then train to Vancouver. I don't know how much that is but likely it would be cheapest.

Perhaps even better (again assuming BC) would be to see if you can fly into Paine field (Everett) rather than Seatac. Then train from there.

Doneat
by doneat53
Fri May 05, 2023 11:00 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)
Replies: 6658
Views: 1241415

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

I filled out my tax return to receive 5k in I bonds. Unfortunately I didn't double check that TT had filled in form 8888 completely and I now note that line 4 "Amount to be used for bond purchases for yourself (and your spouse if filing jointly) $5000.00
5a "Amount to be used to buy bonds for yourself, your spouse, or someone else.... is blank
5b "Enter the owner's name (First then Last) for the bond registration" is also blank.

Is there a way to easily correct this?
I still would prefer the bonds but I imagine they will just refund the entire amount to my checking account?

Thanks
doneat
by doneat53
Fri Feb 24, 2023 6:18 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cheated by a car rental company
Replies: 76
Views: 10749

Re: Cheated by a car rental company

2. However, if I dispute through the CC company (I don't have AMEX) and I win. Will the Rental Agency go to collections? I'm considering buying a house in the near future, and something like that could cost me more than the ~$1000 excess charge. In the event that it does go to collections, what recourse would I have to remove it from my record? Would it be a lot of hassle? I look at it like this.... I go to the counter or the guy with the hand held receipt machine at the end of the trip and say I'm returning my car... they say that will be an extra 1000 over our contract because we had to tow you etc. .... You say... "I disagree" I'm not willing to pay extra until you prove it was my fault, I think it was a faulty vehicle that yo...
by doneat53
Tue Feb 14, 2023 10:05 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Treasury Direct password limit
Replies: 11
Views: 1567

Re: Treasury Direct password limit

Just entered my 22 character password twice with the dreaded "incorrect password" notice. I imagine I have this same problem. Anyone know how long I need to wait before I try again? I've called in once and it is particularly painful living on the west coast because being the first caller means starting the rapid auto-dial extremely early in the morning.
by doneat53
Thu Feb 09, 2023 2:30 pm
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: ChatGPT implemented thread hiding functionality on bogleheads.org
Replies: 44
Views: 8815

Re: ChatGPT implemented thread hiding functionality on bogleheads.org

This is pretty cool. Thanks for making me aware of "Tampermonkey" and for the script. I've been playing with ChatGPT as well but haven't done anything too productive yet. I do have an R script that scrapes data from fidelity's bond cd page and graphs it. I'm imagining I could build something there. Thanks for taking the time to post and share this.
by doneat53
Thu Dec 15, 2022 9:41 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity free Turbotax 2022
Replies: 473
Views: 58545

Re: Fidelity free Turbotax 2022

pretty bummed about the $5 thing.... oh well..
by doneat53
Sat Oct 08, 2022 10:49 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax implications of House Fire Total loss?
Replies: 6
Views: 1700

Re: Tax implications of House Fire Total loss?

Thanks for the kind words, this has been a devastating loss for me and my family. If at some point down the road you decide to throw in the towel and sell the lot rather than rebuild, you'll need your basis in the lot to calculate any gain/loss. You won't be able to use the part of the purchase price that reflected the house (as it's gone and you've been compensated, so just the portion of the purchase price attributable to the land. You can get a reasonable estimate from how your current assessment is broken out land vs improvements Thank you Mike, I guess I was under the impression that the IRS views this as if I had sold the place to the insurance company and that if I don't rebuild in a certain time frame I would be liable for Capital g...
by doneat53
Thu Sep 29, 2022 3:42 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax implications of House Fire Total loss?
Replies: 6
Views: 1700

Tax implications of House Fire Total loss?

Bogleheads... Our house and its contents burned completely in a forest fire. It was a second home and insured... although in retrospect under insured with today's inflation and supply chain issues. I'm wondering if there are tax implications for the insurance money collection? We plan to rebuild but it may take several years. Are we liable for capital gains, income, etc just as if we had sold the home? Are there time limits for rebuilding and do they start with starting a build or finishing it? Also, the insurance company seems to be pushing back on loss of use and personal property items despite it being clearly stated in the policy. I'm wondering what leverage I have in pushing payout for loss of use. Obviously we have a place to live bec...
by doneat53
Mon Dec 13, 2021 3:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Solar questions and advice for a 20 year old roof
Replies: 46
Views: 3755

Re: Solar questions and advice for a 20 year old roof

Re South facing North facing....

If you haven't already, go to this site and plug in your address and use the defaults on the other settings and you can get the actual photovoltaic watts predicted from your roof. Pretty cool.

https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/pvwatts.php

doneat
by doneat53
Sun Oct 24, 2021 1:20 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Small Business Profit Sharing 401K Salary minimum
Replies: 1
Views: 306

Small Business Profit Sharing 401K Salary minimum

Hello Bogleheads, I have a small business and we have a profit sharing 401K plan. As I understand it, the the contribution limits are set by the IRS as following.... 1) Overall limit is 58,000 for 2021, (with catch-up contribution over 50 yoa = 6,500 so 64,500 if over 50). 2) Employer contributions are also limited to 25% of the Employee's compensation with employee compensation for this calculation capped at 290K. Thus in order to achieve the maximum contribution, it appears to me that an employee must make at least 232,000. (ie .25*232000 =58000, and 232000 + 58000 = 290,000). IRS documentation here... https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-401k-and-profit-sharing-plan-contribution-limits My quest...
by doneat53
Sun Nov 29, 2020 7:42 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Several Questions About Stationary Bicycles
Replies: 5
Views: 667

Re: Several Questions About Stationary Bicycles

I compared NordicTrack and Peloton. Bought the NordicTrack and I love it. I'm still kind of lazy, but when I do ride it, I love it. It has been great during the pandemic because the massive screen + software takes me on rides all over the world.
Curious what you liked better about the NordicTrack?

doneat
by doneat53
Wed Sep 09, 2020 12:59 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Saving on flight schools!
Replies: 20
Views: 2557

Re: Saving on flight schools!

I was in the same place as you a little over a year ago. Check this thread https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=277517 for some good advice. Particularly helpful was SailingTahoe's advice. You can basically take ground school and written before you even start flying. Doing this is a great way to dip your toe in the water and see if you enjoy it. If you are like me it will motivate you to initiate the flight training and find a good CFI. I thought things would go a little more quickly (and they can) but flying with weather in Seattle and Covid now has really slowed things down and getting PPL is all about momentum and flying 2-3 x per week. Any less and you end up repeating stuff that you forgot. Hope this helps. doneat
by doneat53
Wed Jun 17, 2020 9:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRS Check
Replies: 18
Views: 1740

Re: IRS Check

Dealing with Congressman's office and IRS 800 numbers can be a total time sink and headache (especially with everyone working from home and reduced staffs due to SARS-COV19 pandemic). If I were you I'd chalk it up to experience and enter the amount that they owe you (~20k right?) in the box marked "carryover from 2018 taxes" when you submit your 2019 tax return now or on July 15th. I'm assuming that this is an amount agreed upon by the IRS and not 18K plus interest that you've calculated yourself. If you don't have documentation saying that the IRS owes you 20k but only have documentation for the 18k over-payment then use 18k as the amount for this. You may have to talk with your employer if you are still working and have them dis...
by doneat53
Mon May 11, 2020 8:19 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Password vault or generator?
Replies: 110
Views: 9060

Re: Password vault or generator?

Another perhaps unrecognized benefit of password managers is the ability to share your master password with your spouse or next of kin. Alternatively you can share an account. The point being that if you've ever had a parent or loved one die suddenly, sifting through old computer files or postit notes around the computer to try to figure out passwords can be a real headache. With a password manager your spouse or next of kin can simply log in and deal with bills, records, email, etc. Sounds trivial until you actually have to do it.

doneat
by doneat53
Sat Feb 22, 2020 5:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Auto/Umbrella Ins. for child with car in his name?
Replies: 7
Views: 936

Auto/Umbrella Ins. for child with car in his name?

Hey Bogleheads, My son is 22 and is still covered for Auto insurance under our policy. His car is registered on our policy but the car is registered and owned solely by him. His name and his name only is on the title and registration but I've entered the vehicle on our policy and also have an umbrella policy. I called our insurance company and they said he is covered under our policy and that the car didn't need to be co-owned/registered under our names but we have friends who have had a different experience where their insurance company has said that the car must also be under the parent's name for the umbrella and insurance to hold up in the event of liability. Can someone here clear this up for me? Not sure why one ins. company would hav...
by doneat53
Sat Jan 11, 2020 10:01 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Here's what I still don't get with AA
Replies: 48
Views: 5438

Re: Here's what I still don't get with AA

I think a somewhat obvious point that needs to be made here is that a 50% loss in equities is temporary for most.

In other words if you stay the course that 50% loss will turn into a gain within a few years of the drop (sometimes longer but on average a couple years).

So, if you are young and don't need to cash out the money and retire or need it for another expense, the risk of holding a high percentage of equities is reasonable. If you are a few years before retirement and are going to need a portion of that money in equities and the market drops 50% then you will need to sell at a loss and won't be able to take advantage of the rebound coming in the next few years so you hold a higher percentage in bonds cash, etc.
by doneat53
Fri Jan 03, 2020 11:40 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: DOS batch file and FFMPEG question
Replies: 14
Views: 893

Re: DOS batch file and FFMPEG question

start by running the ffmpeg commands by command line. once that works then batch it. Add less flags until it works and then determine which flag is messing you up.

Could be an incompatability with your ffmpeg version.
by doneat53
Thu Jan 02, 2020 6:39 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How do you value bonds prior to maturity?
Replies: 6
Views: 429

Re: How do you value bonds prior to maturity?

HueyLD wrote: Thu Jan 02, 2020 4:10 pm Go to “positions” and download the daily values to a CSV file which can be opened and read by Excel.
Thanks, been doing this a long time, don't know why I didn't think of that.
by doneat53
Thu Jan 02, 2020 3:51 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How do you value bonds prior to maturity?
Replies: 6
Views: 429

Re: How do you value bonds prior to maturity?

dbr wrote: Thu Jan 02, 2020 3:36 pm Why not accept the market price valuation Fidelity has -- as above? After all, if you sold the bonds now that would be the estimate of what you would get.
Yes probably the easiest solution. Do you ... or anyone else know a way to follow a bond's market price daily? With stocks I just enter them in Fidelity as a "watch list" and download the list, prices, change daily and paste it into my spreadsheet. I haven't found a way to follow bond market prices without looking them up and entering each individually. I have probably 30 individual bonds...
by doneat53
Thu Jan 02, 2020 3:02 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How do you value bonds prior to maturity?
Replies: 6
Views: 429

How do you value bonds prior to maturity?

I have a bit of dilemma. I like to follow my investment returns via excel spreadsheet. When I buy brokered bonds I hold them to maturity, I almost never sell before. So I know the price I will sell it for, and I know the interest rate. The problem is most banks (I use Fidelity) value bonds based on the current market value which can vary substantially from par over the course of the bond life. 1. Other than taking the interest rate and compounding over time utilizing coupon payment frequencies does anyone have a better solution for following returns when a portfolio contains multiple individual bonds? My main concern is I have no way of double checking my math to know if the difference between my portfolio balance and the bank's estimate is...
by doneat53
Wed Jan 01, 2020 10:41 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Parents vs. Kids Paying for College
Replies: 171
Views: 9165

Re: Parents vs. Kids Paying for College

Another variable you may not have considered is the feeling parents get when they experience their children making decisions that impact their lives based on the finances. "I don't think I'll go to graduate school because I can't afford it". Granted it's their choice but if you are capable of helping out it becomes a much more tangible struggle. I'd set up 529's and put a little money in them just so you have the work done and a place to send extra funds or a place for grandparents to put gifts if they desire. Then back off and see how your own income profile develops and fund as you are able or as you choose.

doneat
by doneat53
Sat Dec 07, 2019 2:31 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bonds vs. Bond Fund?
Replies: 51
Views: 5151

Re: Bonds vs. Bond Fund?

Kevin M. mentioned...
Regarding the gift thing, my children's grandmother really blew it by not making more gifts up to the annual exclusion limits during her lifetime, which is costing her heirs boatloads of money in estate tax. But she was old school I guess, and didn't feel comfortable making such gifts, other than one year when someone talked her into it.
Wouldn't another approach be to encourage conversion of estate IRA's to ROTH IRA's prior to death... up to a certain acceptable tax bracket? That way the ROTH as I understand it can be inherited directly as a ROTH and continue to acrue capital gains tax free for the heirs.

doneat
by doneat53
Sun Nov 03, 2019 11:20 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Car rental insurance experiences
Replies: 31
Views: 3902

Re: Car rental insurance experiences

I often get told in Hawaii that there is extensive downtime while the car is being fixed because they have to wait for parts to ship from the mainland. I can't believe it takes much longer to ship stuff to Hawaii than anywhere else in the US but I suppose if they shipped it by boat it could take extra time.

Rental counter people state they charge a daily "loss of revenue" fee for each day they are waiting for the repair that they can't rent the car and that many credit card and insurance companies don't cover this cost. I probably should call the CC company and check but this is the one situation that makes me think twice about declining the rental insurance at the counter. I always do though....

doneat
by doneat53
Wed Oct 09, 2019 7:37 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: iPhone question - purchase
Replies: 13
Views: 1965

Re: iPhone question - purchase

The "unlocked" feature mentioned above when buying from Apple is huge if your mom does any traveling. You can swap a sim card in the airport when you get to your destination and for say 20.00 have full phone use for your 10-20 day trip. If your phone is locked you won't be able to do this. Having a phone on a trip is not only great for communication, looking up restaurants etc. but a must for mapping programs if you are renting a car.

doneat
by doneat53
Sun Jul 21, 2019 9:51 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Will Tall Fence Lessen Neighboring Dog Bark Noise?
Replies: 54
Views: 5189

Re: Will Tall Fence Lessen Neighboring Dog Bark Noise?

Might worsen it. My experience is if the dog can't see you they are more excitable.
by doneat53
Sun Jul 14, 2019 9:18 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Health Care Options Until Age 65?
Replies: 25
Views: 4047

Re: Health Care Options Until Age 65?

100% of FPL for 2020 appears to be $12490 for a single person like myself. See the following article for more details on FPL:
Yabut you should use 100% FPL for the previous year for your calculations for current year. ie for 2019 use FPL for 2018
by doneat53
Mon Jun 17, 2019 9:46 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How to avoid high vet bills?
Replies: 128
Views: 13488

Re: How to avoid high vet bills?

Also frustrated with these high costs. In many cases the costs are more than we charge humans....

Yearly boosters aren't always necessary, especially in healthy pets. You can check antibody titers for pretty cheap independently of your vet by mailing a blood sample to several online labs. Of course if you have your vet do it the cost will be more than the booster.

Personally I avoid annual well dog checks unless I'm concerned about something specific.

doneat
by doneat53
Mon Apr 29, 2019 10:18 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Boglehead Pilots...advice
Replies: 72
Views: 9614

Re: Boglehead Pilots...advice

I've used Foreflight in the past, and now use FlyQ.
Thanks, that makes sense.

Can you tell me what you like better about FlyQ since you've used them both?
by doneat53
Sun Apr 28, 2019 1:51 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Boglehead Pilots...advice
Replies: 72
Views: 9614

Re: Boglehead Pilots...advice

Navigation has changed dramatically since the iPad came out, there are several apps for the iPad (ForeFlight, WingX, fltplan.com, Garmin) that make navigation much easier and safer. But they take time to learn to use, so budget for that time and try to do as much on the ground as you can. If you will be flying in busy airspace, learning in a plane that has traffic displayed and learning how to quickly spot the aircraft out the windshield is a good skill. So I decided to go with Kershner's for the time being. I'm enjoying the education which just reaffirms my desire to do this. With respect to the quote above... should I buy ForeFlight now and start exploring it or would it be pointless until I actually start flying? Also SailingTahoe menti...
by doneat53
Mon Apr 22, 2019 10:38 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Getting through a 2008-like crash during retirement
Replies: 38
Views: 5766

Re: Getting through a 2008-like crash during retirement

I highly recommend "Why Bother with Bonds" by Rick Van Ness. It is a short read with good illustrations and will give you a general knowledge of bonds and what affects their yields. I think it is a must read for anyone with bonds in their portfolio (most of us).

doneat
by doneat53
Tue Apr 02, 2019 5:13 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Boglehead Pilots...advice
Replies: 72
Views: 9614

Re: Boglehead Pilots...advice

What is the additional cost of an instrument rating? How many hours of instructor time and is there another written etc just like the private license?

I agree with the plan that instrument rating will likely be necessary. I'm on the coast and weather will keep me on the ground a lot without an instrument rating. I'm taking one step at a time but likely this will be a bit of a slippery slope.
by doneat53
Tue Apr 02, 2019 10:18 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Boglehead Pilots...advice
Replies: 72
Views: 9614

Re: Boglehead Pilots...advice

Wow, thank you everyone for all the tips and information. This is VERY helpful. I sort of thought the response would be generous as my father used to love to talk about flying, give advice to young pilots, and always welcomed them into the "club". I wish he was still around to teach me some basics and for us to experience the shared interest.

doneat
by doneat53
Mon Apr 01, 2019 8:28 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Boglehead Pilots...advice
Replies: 72
Views: 9614

Boglehead Pilots...advice

I'm planning on getting my pilot's license. My father flew and owned a 206 so I'm familiar with and comfortable with small planes. There are several flight schools in my area and with the research I've done I think I can map out a plan but I could use some advice from veteran pilots and those that have recently obtained a license as to the best approach. I've put my name on a wait list to become part of a flying club. The wait may be as long as a year. I'd like to at a minimum complete ground school and possibly even start flight training with another service while I wait. Can folks give me some advice on the following?: 1.) Are online ground schools any better or worse than formal class organized ones? The online course I'm thinking of is ...
by doneat53
Fri Feb 15, 2019 3:01 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Early retirees, how much did you leave on the table?
Replies: 355
Views: 40158

Re: Early retirees, how much did you leave on the table?

I'll confess I haven't read all 7 pages of response to the op's question but perhaps I had a different take on the equation. For me the "done with work" line involved two different balances. 1) As my nest egg grew at some point it becomes apparent that the yearly "income" from dividends and capital gains becomes several times more than the amount I'm able to save from one year's salary. In some markets as much as 5 fold. Then I have to ask myself is working an entire year worth increasing my savings by say 20%? As the nest egg grows this conforms to the law of diminishing returns. 2) Given work was no longer an effort to increase income, or not a very practical way of increasing income, I had to ask myself a more philoso...
by doneat53
Wed Feb 06, 2019 7:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Help me out on paying off Mortgage.....
Replies: 2
Views: 723

Help me out on paying off Mortgage.....

Hey Bogleheads, So I called my mortgage company today (Freedom) to figure out how to close out my mortgage (just a couple thou left). The person was a bit opaque and despite my efforts I really couldn't get a straight answer from him. He states that if I pay the balance off on my account that that isn't necessarily my loan balance and that I need to request a final payment statement. Ok, I sort of expected this so that's why I called. What I don't get is: 1) the final payment must be by wire (not ACH transfer) or cashier's check overnight mail! 2) if I pay the final balance currently indicated on my statement for their account he said it will be sent back to me. Weird, (I have no escrow funds as I pay my taxes and insurance separately). 3) ...