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crockpotinvesting

Bogleheads, Thank you for your past wisdom! We bought a townhouse last year. We had an independent agent shop for a policy, and got a good deal. This year, the policy (through AmGUARD/Berkshire Hathaway) increased 40% for unclear reasons. The independent agent is not currently available, but his co...

crockpotinvesting

I recall reading so many articles on how passive equity investors will get crushed during the next black swan event because they are overweight the mega caps ( amazon, Microsoft, Etc.) and this hasn’t happen in the past because passive investing wasn’t as popular in 2008 etc. Glad to say this has be...

crockpotinvesting

I sold VOO for about $1k loss a few days ago and bought VTI. I waited until after the dividend was paid in VOO to avoid wash sale but I was just reading you can’t buy something for 30 days prior to selling for a loss if your specifying old lots. Is that correct? My dividend reinvestment was for mayb...

crockpotinvesting

I would love to hear Warren and Charlie talk more about this. It’s very interesting.

crockpotinvesting

I'm no energy expert, but as I understand it, the problem with wind and solar is the nighttime (no sun) and the calm days (no wind). Energy needs are far more constant than the sun and wind. So, the next challenge for the energy industry is to figure the best way to "store" or "save ...

crockpotinvesting

It sounds to good to be true...Warren mentioned in his annual newsletter he is able to keep the cost of electric extremely well due to their investment in wind turbines. It sounds like this utility company has renewable energy down to a science. My thoughts are: 1. Why aren’t all utilities followin...

crockpotinvesting

It sounds to good to be true...Warren mentioned in his annual newsletter he is able to keep the cost of electric extremely well due to their investment in wind turbines. It sounds like this utility company has renewable energy down to a science. My thoughts are: 1. Why aren’t all utilities following...

crockpotinvesting

1. Most likely flying into JFK as a family of 4 and want to spend 3 nights in Manhattan and then rent a car for the drive out to Central PA. We will have daughters ages 14 and 17 in tow so hotel rooms means most likely renting 2 rooms versus finding a 2-br AirB&B. I'm assuming the AirB&B rou...

crockpotinvesting

My next goal is to remodel our 12 x 5 bathroom. We live in the northeast ( high labor cost). I don’t want to even speak with a contractor or architect until we have at least 50% of the money saved for the project. Any ballparks on how much you think it will cost? We aren’t changing the design of the...

crockpotinvesting

Hi- I moved into my home about 18 months ago and at the time the insurance company did an inspection. The house is a semi fixer upper so I assumed they would find some issues. They came back with a few things and I had them fixed and that was that...now 18 months later I got s call that they would l...

crockpotinvesting

But if that was the coupon needed to sell the bond it should trade at par. Aren’t you buying the yield not the coupon?

crockpotinvesting

First off congarts. Not sure what your AA is but I treat income like coupon payments. I would review AA and if your comfortable increase equity allocation with the additional funds and use for future consumption.

crockpotinvesting

Can someone please explain why new issue munis trade above par with a 5% coupon? It seems like most munis are currently issued with a 5% coupon and trade above par with about a 1-3% yield. At issue, where does the premium go? Why can’t the municipality offer lower coupons and the bonds trade closer ...

crockpotinvesting

Diy. We got non motorised cellular blinds, and was shocked at the cost of the install. Like 4 holes per window - 6 for the big ones, and they just clip in place. Started looking in late winter, and settled on select blinds when they had a good discount. Ultimately paid half of the next lowest bid. ...

crockpotinvesting

We have a big window, about 120 inches that needs a blind. It’s awkward to get to so we are thinking of getting a motorized shade. We went to The Shade Store we were really impressed but as expected pricey :oops: we got a quote of about $3k plus $450 for installation. The price was about what I was ...

crockpotinvesting

It’s that time of year again...we added a baby to our family this year. For some reason employee plus kids is much cheaper than employee/spouse/kids. Wife and I are thinking about doing employee/ child under my insurance and dw getting her own medical insurance from her employer. We ran the numbers ...

crockpotinvesting

Hi all,

I used all my fsa money this year. I have a few thousand in medical bills left from child birth in 2019. Can I delay payment and use my 2020 flex spending account to Dover these bills? Typically, my fsa provide asks for statements when I submit a claim.

crockpotinvesting

Hi all, I was reading that Roth IRAs could be a better alternative to 529 plans. The reasoning was that you have more flexibility with a Roth and it offers that same tax advantages as a 529 plan. I was thinking I could fund a traditional then do a Roth conversion. In 18 years if I can financially af...

crockpotinvesting

I was curious to know if any boggleheads ( this is the most unbogglehead thing to do :sharebeer ) are into sport fishing, $100k-$2,000,000 boat. Thousands and thousands of dollars in equipment to chase tuna, shark, marlin, etc. When did you feel like you were finaiclly ready to pull the trigger on ...

crockpotinvesting

I was curious to know if any boggleheads ( this is the most unbogglehead thing to do :sharebeer ) are into sport fishing, $100k-$2,000,000 boat. Thousands and thousands of dollars in equipment to chase tuna, shark, marlin, etc. When did you feel like you were finaiclly ready to pull the trigger on a...

crockpotinvesting

There is no better way to value a home than what another party is willing to pay for it. Poor appraisal. You should be fine once you get a second opinion. Hopefully the low appraisal doesn’t scare away the buyers original offer. It’s like an equity analyst, it’s there opinion on the price target but...

crockpotinvesting

If you don’t mind me asking. What credit union is offering that low of a refi rate? I’d like to reach out and see if I can get the same rate.

crockpotinvesting

The child will give you a $2000 tax credit. No to medical deduction, unless you use an FSA or HSA. Are the mortgage and tax deductions new for 2019? How much charity or other deductible expenses? We bought a house last summer so we only captured half a years mortgage and tax deductions so it was le...

crockpotinvesting

Wife and I had our first baby. I added the baby to my health insurance policy today and it recommended I update my withholding allowance ( mine is currently 1/ DW currently does 1). We are both employed with a combined income of around $225k. In 2018 we owed about $4k in federal tax and filed with t...

crockpotinvesting

I HATE mosquitos. I feel like they can ruin a relaxing night on the deck. I’ve tried everything and learned the best solution is getting a massive floor fan from Home Depot. It’s a bit loud and some guests find it annoying but no misquotes! It’s like sitting on your deck during a sunny hurricane haha.

crockpotinvesting

Hi all,

I play the 0% interest credit card game when making purchases. I was wondering if I have debt in my name on a credit card, can my spouse open an account and do a balance transfer to from my card to my spouses card? Has anyone ever done this?

Thanks.

crockpotinvesting

Hi all. Baby coming in the next couple of weeks. Allot of news on bassinets in the news with recalls etc. I wanted to get the boggleheads opinion on the best bassinet. In terms of safety, Quality, and maybe the baby the most happy ( or parents less sleep deprived

)

crockpotinvesting

We’ve been doing allot of work on our house and have been doing everything in brush nickel. Seems to be why’s popular these days but at the end of the day whatever makes you happy.

crockpotinvesting

Somewhat recent experience - when I got near the end of my lease about a year ago, the payoff was looking a little higher than the bluebook for the same car. But then the leasing company offered me a $4000 discount on the payoff, which made it worthwhile to keep the car. I don't know if that occurs...

crockpotinvesting

I was wondering if anyone has every bought their car off the lease before their lease expired. I currently have about 18 months left on a lease and my plan was always to buy the car and not have to lease/buy a new car. I plan on having the car for a minimum of 10 years. I received an offer from my b...

crockpotinvesting

We switched out our black (hot attic in summer) asphalt shingles after a hail storm claim helped fund. We went with steel shingles not the long sheets. Since we have a 7/12 pitch I also added a gutter helmet type of covering on our gutters as my days on the roof have come to a close since the steel...

crockpotinvesting

2 yrs ago I was seriously thinking about metal roof, then my insurance agent talked me out of it due to the higher premiums for ins. Apparently firefighters have a much harder time putting out a fire with a metal roof. So I roofed with asphalt shingle again. Did you get quotes on the difference in ...

crockpotinvesting

When I get my next roof ( probably 1-3 years) I was thinking of getting a metal roof. I’ve always liked the look on certain homes especially with the things that break up snow and ice on them. I’ve read most positive things except for noise during rain storms. Curious to hear if any boggleheads swit...

crockpotinvesting

I’m currently interviewing within my company for a position change which should turn into a raise. I currently work from about 9-5 and this new position is probably going to be more like a 9-6 work day. I’m not sure what the raise will be but I’m guessing at most around $10k (based on what others ha...

crockpotinvesting

I appreciate everyone’s response. I think the conclusion is that one of the most educated forums on the internet ( in my opine) is confused when it comes to this issue. Must be awful for the average family to try and figure out.

crockpotinvesting

Is anyone else offered the fsa plan for childcare at work? I don’t understand the reason for it if it’s not a deductible expense. A Flexible Spending Account (FSA) lets employees take home a larger paycheck by reducing their taxable income. Employees enrolled contribute tax-free dollars into an acc...

crockpotinvesting

Is anyone else offered the fsa plan for childcare at work? I don’t understand the reason for it if it’s not a deductible expense.

crockpotinvesting

Hi, We have our first little one on the way. I live in a HCOL area and it seems like day care is going to be around $20-24k a year. My company offers FSA account for childcare with a maximum contribution of $5k per year. I’m assuming that is the irs maximum allowed. Can I deduct the other $15k on my...

crockpotinvesting

I appreciate everyone’s input. I’m going to forget about switching to a 15 year and focus on increasing our contributions. Maybe I’ll circle back when we are maxing out 401ks.

As always, thanks for your notes.

crockpotinvesting

Two income household. My thought was getting rid of the mortgage would allow us to save a very high rate of our income in 15 years. I know we’re low on our retirement savings rate. We’re trying to improve that. BTW. Both 30 years old.

crockpotinvesting

We wouldn’t be decreasing but we wouldn’t be increasing our savings rate as we get raises until we cover the $10k increase. Right now we’re saving about $30k ( including company matches) for retirement on $190k base and $35k in bonus money. Our goal is to increase this rate as we receive raises unti...

crockpotinvesting

Currently in a 30 fixed year mortgage at 4.25%. Have about $400k outstanding on the loan. Do you think it makes sense to refi into a 15 year @ 3.125? We should have fairly good income growth in the next few years and we plan on staying in the home long term. Unless, our income increases dramatically...

crockpotinvesting

Hi, My current homeowners policy premium is about $2,000 per year with a $2,500 deductible. I’m a fairly new homeowner but can’t think of very many scenarios where I would be submitting a claim for less than $2,500. I was wondering how many increase their deductible to say $5@ and self insure anythi...

crockpotinvesting

I was curious how many boggleheads are chartered finanscial analys, what they do what their designation and if they believe it has positively impacted their career and if/or it has impacted their personal investment discition making process.

crockpotinvesting

First off I want to be clear this this is not maintenance money. For example, new roof, cesspool, etc. we have that tucked away in a money market savings account. I was curious if anyone invests money for short term home improvement goals. For example, we eventually want to reside and landscape our ...

crockpotinvesting

Ive always done my taxes myself via turbo tax. I’m by no means a tax guru but my tax situation is fairly simple and I enjoyed doing them myself. 2018 some changes took place, bought a house mid year. SALT and interest on mortgage is about below the standard deduction of 24k. I have some student loa...

crockpotinvesting

Besides some dividend income/and a few trades ( im young so my taxable portfolio is still relatively small) I’m 99% w2 income.

crockpotinvesting

Ive always done my taxes myself via turbo tax. I’m by no means a tax guru but my tax situation is fairly simple and I enjoyed doing them myself. 2018 some changes took place, bought a house mid year. SALT and interest on mortgage is about below the standard deduction of 24k. I have some student loan...

crockpotinvesting

Can someone please simplify this for me. Let’s use a 3-5 year maturity corporate bond mutual fund as an example. Do these funds actively trade to keep their duration to the 3-5 year maturity. For example, buy bonds maturing in 5 years and sell them when they are 3 years from maturity. Or is the aver...

crockpotinvesting

I understand the expense of buying a home in the northeast. I semi wish I did this so I’m going to recommend it to you. If you buy a fix uppper below your budget I would think about putting 10% down and paying PMI then use the other 10% that you would have put down to fix up the house. Then you can ...

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