Search found 123 matches

by bac
Tue Feb 20, 2024 6:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best place to buy personal domain? Best place to host it? (for email)
Replies: 53
Views: 5303

Re: Best place to buy personal domain? Best place to host it? (for email)

namecheap.com for registration.

I switched to purelymail.com a couple of years ago when my longtime host shut down. It's $10 a year and has been rock solid, despite being billed as in beta. It is a one-man operation but is hosted on AWS.
by bac
Wed Jan 17, 2024 5:18 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard: "Important: We've been unable to reach you by email"
Replies: 129
Views: 15023

Re: Vanguard: "Important: We've been unable to reach you by email"

I've had the problem with both Vanguard and Chase. In both cases, I had changed the unique address I used for each in a subdomain of my own domain (i.e., from qwerty@abc.example.com to qwerty@xyz.example.com). Either way, the mail ends up in the same mailbox. Here's the thing: In addition to postal mail, I got email from both Vanguard and Chase warning me about rejected email. And emails from Vanguard about prospectuses, annual reports and the like continued to flow. In both cases, the problem was that emails telling me that statements had been posted bounced. My best guess is that both Vanguard and Chase use the same contractor to send emails about statements, and that the contractor now doesn't accept email addresses with subdomains. I've...
by bac
Mon Sep 04, 2023 6:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Sell EE bonds paying 4% and buy MM
Replies: 9
Views: 1566

Re: Sell EE bonds paying 4% and buy MM

privateID wrote: Sun Sep 03, 2023 9:57 pm My MIL has about $20K in EE bonds that mature over the next year and half. The rate on these bonds is 4%. Was thinking of selling them and simply putting them into a MM for now. She does live in a state with a 4.4% income tax.
You'll want to keep in mind that savings bond interest typically isn't taxed at the state level, whereas MMF interest typically is (though your state may allow you to subtract a percentage attributed to U.S. government obligations).
by bac
Sat Aug 12, 2023 3:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: NJM Insurance
Replies: 6
Views: 1235

Re: NJM Insurance

Yup. I've been with NJM for a couple of decades for home, auto and umbrella. I haven't compared rates in that time, but premium increases, if any, tend to be modest.

Customer service is unfailingly professional.

I've had only one claim, when a section of stockade fence flew off a truck in front of me on the interstate and hit my car. NJM handled it painlessly.
by bac
Sat Jul 22, 2023 4:32 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: RESOLVED: Bring Verizon optical cable from cellar to first floor?
Replies: 21
Views: 1583

Re: Bring Verizon optical cable from cellar to first floor?

I'd leave the ONT alone, especially if it means disconnecting the fiber cable in order to re-route it. There's a light source at the other end of that fiber that could be hazardous to your vision.
by bac
Fri May 19, 2023 2:01 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best options for calling/data plan for European travel
Replies: 23
Views: 1955

Re: Best options for calling/data plan for European travel

Buy/rent/borrow a Wi-Fi hotspot with appropriate SIM and connect your phones to it?
by bac
Sat Apr 15, 2023 12:46 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: New Jersey taxable or not for federal money market
Replies: 5
Views: 817

Re: New Jersey taxable or not for federal money market

37.79 percent from U.S. government obligations in 2022:

<https://www.vanguard.com/pdf/USGOIN_2023.pdf>
by bac
Fri Mar 24, 2023 4:06 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fidelity advisors keep calling me
Replies: 33
Views: 5494

Re: Fidelity advisors keep calling me

After I advised my sister's Fidelity broker that she had died, he and a colleague each called her home asking for her. I got the calls while I was cleaning out her house and prepping it for sale. I was not amused.
by bac
Tue Jan 10, 2023 3:26 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Market for Old Film Cameras?
Replies: 27
Views: 2517

Re: Market for Old Film Cameras?

I sold a bunch of Nikon film equipment about a year back to an outfit that visited a nearby camera shop for two or three days: usedphotopro.com. Got $750 for two well-used bodies and four lenses in better shape, along with a couple of motor drives.
by bac
Wed Oct 05, 2022 4:40 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: United Airlines flyers (or cc holders): Mileage Plus still valuable?
Replies: 32
Views: 3415

Re: United Airlines flyers (or cc holders): Mileage Plus still valuable?

Jags4186 wrote: Wed Oct 05, 2022 10:15 am Do you know if the Terminal A lounge is beyond security? Because of the way Terminal A is set up if you're not in the right area you'd have to go through security to access it, then through security a 2nd time to get to your flight if you depart from a different spire.
If you mean current Terminal A at EWR, yes, the United Club is beyond security in the center pier. Barely, because after you pass through security, you double-back in the exit aisle to reach the club but without leaving airside.
by bac
Sun Oct 02, 2022 2:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Wifi Antenna for metal building
Replies: 36
Views: 3538

Re: Wifi Antenna for metal building

Situation: We are building an office in a detached metal building. Cell signal is limited or slow at times. Wifi does not reach into the building and setting up some interior wifi mesh type stuff real close to the building still does not work (it has to go through two metal walls). So I expect that I am stuff with some kind of an antenna system. It seems like their are some directional antennas that I can aim from the house to the metal building. Then drill a hole through the metal and install an exterior antenna to receive the signal and wire this into and computers or another router. We are a bit limited in our computer knowledge, curious if anyone else has set up a similar system. What wires and gear is required? Does the product work w...
by bac
Tue Jul 19, 2022 12:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: SSN for Hospital procedures
Replies: 69
Views: 6074

Re: SSN for Hospital procedures

When I had scheduled surgery in 2010, the hospital ran I credit check on me despite my having insurance. And I didn't provide the SSN at that time; the hospital apparently had it from a previous encounter many years earlier when I wasn't as reluctant to give it out.

No evidence that my credit was checked for a surgery at the same hospital in 2020, although being on Medicare (Advantage) then may have been a factor.

The hospital in question provides excellent care, so I'm not going to get my shorts in a knot.

Edit: I refuse to provide it nowadays.
by bac
Tue Mar 22, 2022 2:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Domain name registrar with lowest renewal fees?
Replies: 21
Views: 2154

Re: Domain name registrar with lowest renewal fees?

I've been using mydomain.com, which for my TLD is now $12.99/year for renewals.
by bac
Thu Jan 20, 2022 12:58 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Buying a domain for personal emails questions
Replies: 35
Views: 2824

Re: Buying an domain for personal emails questions

guppyguy wrote: Thu Jan 20, 2022 12:53 pm I'm confused, so the subdomain portion is the "fishy" part after the @?
Yes, "fishy" is in the subdomain position; that was my attempt at humor.
by bac
Thu Jan 20, 2022 12:34 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Buying a domain for personal emails questions
Replies: 35
Views: 2824

Re: Buying an domain for personal emails questions

Depends on your sense of privacy as to whether to use your own name in domain, if it's available at all. I see that guppyguy.com is taken (though web page is a placeholder).

I use a subdomain for random aliases and preserve the main domain (and my address) for friends and family. So, the electric company gets, say, ElectricCo@fishy.example.com. These catch-all emails go to a second mailbox. By using a subdomain for catching all, you're less likely to get junk to addresses like admin@example.com.

Another alternative is to use subaddressing if your email provider allows it: guppyguy+ElectricCo@example.com.
by bac
Fri Jan 07, 2022 12:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Chase Freedom Q1 2022 Ebay 5% bonus issue
Replies: 13
Views: 1503

Re: Chase Freedom Q1 2022 Ebay 5% bonus issue

Yes to Visa, but I did it back in December after first quarter categories were announced and I registered.
by bac
Sat Jan 01, 2022 2:46 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Official Registration For The 2022 Boglehead Contest
Replies: 733
Views: 41543

Re: Official Registration For The 2022 Boglehead Contest

4751

edit: previous guess was taken.
by bac
Wed Sep 29, 2021 5:23 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Podcast Recommendations?
Replies: 70
Views: 8412

Re: Podcast Recommendations?

The Daily (NYT)
Post Reports (WaPo)
Dave Ross Commentary
Pod Save America
Pod Save the World
America Dissected
Relaxing White Noise
The Argument (NYT)
Sway (NYT)
Please, Go On (WaPo)
AvTalk
Bogleheads on Investing
by bac
Sat Sep 04, 2021 5:47 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: type of rental car for Glacier NP
Replies: 21
Views: 1790

Re: type of rental car for Glacier NP

I did a day at Glacier a few years ago, at the very beginning of October. On a trip up the Going to the Sun Road from the Apgar Visitors Center to Logan Pass, I was very glad I took one of the red bus tours; the road is, um, interesting, and the guide was entertaining.
by bac
Sun Aug 08, 2021 6:37 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Disposing of inherited linens and china?
Replies: 96
Views: 10877

Re: Disposing of inherited linens and china?

RickBoglehead wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 6:13 pm Sell china here:

https://www.replacements.com/sell-to-us
When my sister died, after accumulating five sets of china, I jumped through the hoops to get a quote from Replacements.com. It offered to buy a few pieces from two of the sets, at prices that would barely cover the cost of shipping.

One set went to a great-niece for use in her university housing and three sets ended up going to a thrift store that will take almost anything short of hazardous waste. Habitat's local Restore would have take a set or two, but reluctantly.

Five years later, the last set, which was my mother's, is still sitting downstairs because I haven't had the heart to part with it.
by bac
Sun Aug 01, 2021 5:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Secure email provider
Replies: 29
Views: 4567

Re: Secure email provider

Possible budget option for domain email: PurelyMail.com. It's a one-man start-up that's been in beta since its inception a couple of years ago, but in the month or so I've been testing it (more on that below) it's been reliable. Not a lot of bells and whistles, but it professes an emphasis on security, even allowing 2FA authentication with Yubikey. Price is $10 a YEAR, and there's even an option to trim that by opting for pricing based on resources used (storage, transfer, etc.). It's hosted at AWS. I've been using Tuffmail for at least 15 years, but it's shutting down at the end of the year. It's been solid, offers lots of configuration options and was only $3.75 a quarter, so I'm sad to see it go. I found PurelyMail when I went looking fo...
by bac
Sun Jul 25, 2021 3:53 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Use credit card at stores instead of debit?
Replies: 150
Views: 12160

Re: Use credit card at stores instead of debit?

I've locked my debit card in my bank's app. One can also specify spending limits and alerts, and disable its use at different types of merchants at a fairly granular level. I have a note on the card to unlock it on the increasingly rare occasion I need to get cash from an ATM.

I had been using the debit card regularly to hit 10 purchases a month to qualify for interest on my checking account, but when the bank dropped the rate I decided the extra few dollars a month wasn't worth the effort, especially the months when I had to manufacture spending.
by bac
Sat Jul 24, 2021 6:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Joint checking account. What happens when one person dies?
Replies: 16
Views: 2507

Re: Joint checking account. What happens when one person dies?

One thing I haven’t seen mentioned is inheritance tax. My mother and I held a joint account. When she passed, I had to pay inheritance tax on her 50% of the account. This was in Pennsylvania and would depend on the individual state inheritance tax law. In this case it was 4.5% with no exclusion. My sister and I added each other as signers (or so we thought) on our respective checking accounts. When she died, I soon told my bank (a mistake, in hindsight) and it froze half the balance in my checking account because it termed her a co-owner and that money would have been subject to the now-repealed estate tax. Fortunately, I didn't need the money (probably around $13,000) and the account was paying decent interest. I've since added a niece as...
by bac
Tue Jun 01, 2021 4:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Vermont/NH Fall Trip
Replies: 36
Views: 3141

Re: Vermont/NH Fall Trip

Stowe area: Drive (carefully) through Smugglers Notch; hike the Stowe Pinnacle (say hi to Sampson, the golden retriever); Toll Road up Mount Mansfield (or hike the Long Trail); visit The Alchemist brewery, home of Heady Topper; check out Ben & Jerry's factory and Cold Hollow Cider Mill in Waterbury. Choose Burlington over Montpelier, unless state government is your thing. In Burlington, there's the Church Street Marketplace, waterfront, Flynn Theater, more craft breweries, lots of bicycling routes (including up to the Colchester Causeway), good restaurants and bars. South of town there's the Shelburne Museum and Shelburne Farms. A drive south on Route 100 to Granville Gulf will be picturesque. Expect to have LOTS of fellow leaf peepers ...
by bac
Fri May 28, 2021 6:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRS Identity Protection PIN
Replies: 163
Views: 18439

Re: IRS Identity Protection PIN

southerndoc wrote: Fri May 28, 2021 6:48 pm For those that have filed already, did you have success filing your 2020 taxes with the PIN that was issued saying it was your 2021 PIN?

I've filed an extension, so I won't have to file until 10/15. Wanted to make sure the PIN's are accepted (or I'll file with paper).
Yes, 2021 PIN worked on 2020 return. I filed in late February and refund came through 14 days later.
by bac
Fri May 14, 2021 2:33 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: EE Bond Redemption Question
Replies: 21
Views: 1847

Re: EE Bond Redemption Question

All bonds were evenly/equally distributed. No one's inheritance amount was impacted in any way, for what that's worth. The complication is that one recipient of the reissued bonds receives a substantial ACA subsidy that would be all but eliminated next year by this unavoidable bond redemption amount. If the decedent's final tax return paid taxes on the interest up to 2015, the ACA subsidy would not be in as great of jeopardy. The individual's ACA policy premium is $2700/month. You might consider cashing one or two of the bonds this year to reduce the income in 2022. You'd have to run the numbers to see if it would help with the ACA subsidy. Yes, it would hurt to lose what is probably 4 percent interest for a few months, but it might be wor...
by bac
Thu May 13, 2021 12:46 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Hiking solo in the [Smoky] Mountains
Replies: 89
Views: 10797

Re: Hiking solo in the Smoking Mountains

I've run into black bears about 20 times while hiking, and the worst that happened is that my heart raced on a couple of occasions. If you leave them alone (and otherwise don't do anything stupid), they'll leave you alone. Grizzlies are another matter.

Really, I'm more afraid of ticks than bears because a tick may have been responsible for my hospitalization in 2012 (tests were inconclusive).
by bac
Fri May 07, 2021 2:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Exterior Sliding Glass Walls/ Bifold exterior Doors
Replies: 14
Views: 1579

Re: Exterior Sliding Glass Walls/ Bifold exterior Doors

The summer 2021 issue of This Old House magazine has eight pages devoted to multi-panel doors. Pricing seems to begin at $800 a linear foot.
by bac
Fri Mar 26, 2021 8:57 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Homeowners Insurance
Replies: 20
Views: 3127

Re: Homeowners Insurance

aburntoutcase wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 6:59 pm Thank you for the detailed information. I tried to get Allstate and State Farm to match my GEICO car insurance rates a while ago and they were 25% higher. But maybe if I bundle homeowners insurance they will be more competitive. I have heard of NJM from a co-worker who boasted of how they were the cheapest in NJ but never considered them because unfamiliarity with brand and not knowing if they are good at satisfying claims.
I've had NJM for homeowners and auto for at least 20 years and umbrella for at least 15. Service has been excellent. When I switched years ago, NJM was competitive on price but I haven't checked recently.
by bac
Wed Feb 24, 2021 1:05 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best decision(s) in your financial life
Replies: 278
Views: 33064

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

The smart decision that sticks out is converting my traditional IRA to a Roth when the latter was first offered back in 1998, taking advantage of the at-that-time ability to spread the tax hit over four years. That Roth is now worth circa nine times as much, with only three smallish additions.
by bac
Tue Feb 23, 2021 8:22 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: NJ Qualified Investment Funds
Replies: 3
Views: 475

Re: NJ Qualified Investment Funds

My fuzzy understanding, probably from another Bogleheads post, is that the distinction has to do with the taxation of capital gains when you sell fund shares. Supposedly, a gain with a qualified fund would be non-taxable.
by bac
Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:59 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone have "allow lists" for email?
Replies: 3
Views: 378

Re: Anyone have "allow lists" for email?

Yup. I use a couple of subdomains with wildcards so that anything @ subdomain1.example.com works. Then, if an address gets compromised (and several have, including vanguard@) I can block it at my mail host.
by bac
Fri Feb 12, 2021 7:31 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Space X Starlink Internet
Replies: 117
Views: 10361

Re: Space X Starlink Internet

I’m with lightheir. Our primary internet is Fios Gigabit. We paid a good bit to be resilient in the face of a grid outage, but still are vulnerable to a Fios outage (I think we only had one extended outage, but never say never). My wife’s wfh depends on fast internet access, as does our entertainment. It does raise the issue of how to use the second internet line. Before I duplicate our WiFi setup (9 eero nodes in the house, and 3 Orbi nodes in the detached garage/office), I wonder if there’s a handy switch that can automatically, or manually but conveniently, pick which internet source to send along the wire to the access points. I’m sure there’s something, probably not automated, but sufficient. There are routers that accommodate multipl...
by bac
Tue Feb 09, 2021 10:15 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Space X Starlink Internet
Replies: 117
Views: 10361

Re: Space X Starlink Internet

The guy behind AT&T WorldNet back in the dial-up days has a couple of posts about it:

<https://blog.tomevslin.com>
by bac
Tue Jan 26, 2021 5:23 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Advice on Filing for Social Security at Age 70
Replies: 55
Views: 8530

Re: Advice on Filing for Social Security at Age 70

I filed online about just under four months in advance of my birth month (which is in the future). Easy-peasy. Despite putting a note in my application that I wanted my benefit to start when I turned 70, I did get a call from a cordial rep to confirm that I did not want six months of retroactive benefits; it seemed to be procedure. She also provided a rundown on gross payment, Medicare deduction and payment date, and she offered a choice of tax withholding percentage.
by bac
Mon Jan 25, 2021 5:55 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Converting garage space into additional bedroom
Replies: 23
Views: 2209

Re: Converting garage space into additional bedroom

Building code likely requires garage floor to be 4 inches below that of attached living space (I assume as a precaution in the event of a fuel spill). Don't know how this would work if you keep one bay as an active garage.
by bac
Mon Jan 25, 2021 4:27 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Mail to Canada problems
Replies: 9
Views: 772

Re: Mail to Canada problems

I used Fedex to send a check to Canada in April. It got there overnight, at a cost of $52.84. I would have loved to do it electronically but was vetoed.
by bac
Sun Jan 17, 2021 8:24 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Obtain Prior Year IRS PIN
Replies: 6
Views: 598

Re: Obtain Prior Year IRS PIN

I'm also perplexed about PIN years, as I posted here:

<viewtopic.php?p=5736461#p5736461>
My 2020 PIN is missing. Or something.

Prompted by this thread, I just downloaded a PIN for (I hope) my 2020 return. The page says: "Congratulations, your 2021 Identity Protection PIN is: XXXXXX."

The PIN page I downloaded on 1/29/20 for my 2019 return had "2019."

So, I'm left wondering whether the 2021 PIN goes on my 2020 return. Anyone else see the year increment by two?
by bac
Thu Jan 14, 2021 5:05 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRS Identity Protection PIN
Replies: 163
Views: 18439

Re: IRS Identity Protection PIN

My 2020 PIN is missing. Or something.

Prompted by this thread, I just downloaded a PIN for (I hope) my 2020 return. The page says: "Congratulations, your 2021 Identity Protection PIN is: XXXXXX."

The PIN page I downloaded on 1/29/20 for my 2019 return had "2019."

So, I'm left wondering whether the 2021 PIN goes on my 2020 return. Anyone else see the year increment by two?
by bac
Thu Dec 24, 2020 3:17 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: For those who receive monthly bills for Medicare
Replies: 16
Views: 1795

Re: For those who receive monthly bills for Medicare

Mitchell777 wrote: Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:04 pm I'm aware the bills can be handled electronically. I'm wondering if anyone who receives a bill by US mail has gotten one for Jan 2021
Yes, but it was around the middle of December. I had already paid it online by the time it arrived.
by bac
Tue Dec 22, 2020 11:10 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: EE Bonds Maturing in 2022
Replies: 34
Views: 2660

Re: EE Bonds Maturing in 2022

I have three $10,000 savings bonds maturing in 2022, but at least one is going to be redeemed in 2021 to spread out the tax burden. Actually, it's possible one could be redeemed this year as well, depending on what my tax picture looks like. With the 4 percent interest rate in the current environment, I hate to redeem this early, but it might make sense.
by bac
Fri Oct 30, 2020 12:40 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: setting up chemo out of state
Replies: 10
Views: 827

Re: setting up chemo out of state

My late sister was able to arrange chemo 1500 miles from home when she needed to be there for a grandson's birth, eight or 10 years ago. (Her daughter was dealing with a difficult pregnancy and had other children at home.)
by bac
Mon Oct 12, 2020 5:30 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: NJ driver's license renewal by mail - good idea??
Replies: 16
Views: 2651

Re: NJ driver's license renewal by mail - good idea??

I recently renewed my NJ car registration online, and received the paper document within a couple of weeks. I wouldn't go near a Motor Vehicle Commission office right now unless it was required. A Real ID license would be nice, but I'm not going to wait in line for one; TSA is happy to see my passport.
by bac
Thu Aug 20, 2020 2:57 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone having this issue with Steelcase Leap v2
Replies: 2
Views: 1882

Re: Anyone having this issue with Steelcase Leap v2

My experience with the Leap V2 is the same, but then I had the same problem in the previous couple of chairs (think Staples specials). I suspect part of the problem is that I am not, um, well-endowed in the gluteal region.

I had picked up the Leap, with leather/vinyl upholstery, for $70 used, so no great loss.
by bac
Fri Jul 03, 2020 12:01 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Verizon Visa
Replies: 55
Views: 6442

Re: Verizon Visa

After I signed up, VZW rendered my monthly bill showing the usual autopay discount of $5 using the new Verizon Visa.

It also showed a promotional credit of $4.17 ($100 divided by 24 months), but it's offset by a charge of $4.17. No explanation for that. Predicted bill for next month reflects the $4.17 discount.

Code: Select all

CC#xxxx New Card Holder Offer (Month 1 of 24) -$4.17 
CC#xxxx New Card Holder Offer (Month 1 of 24) $4.17 
$5 Autopay and Paper-Free Disc (Jun 29 - Jul 28) -$5.00
The sharp-looking metal card arrived yesterday via Fedex. It was inside a black sleeve inside a black cardboard sleeve inside a 4½-by-7-by-¾-inch black box. Too much.
by bac
Tue May 19, 2020 8:47 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Jeep Cherokee drive-train service
Replies: 9
Views: 709

Re: Jeep Cherokee drive-train service

Thanks for the replies.

My do-it-yourself skills do not lie in the automotive area, so I have been relying on the dealer up to now, having negotiated free scheduled service when I bought the car. That deal has run out, so this may be the time to find a local mechanic. I have a lead on one, with the bonus that his shop is within walking distance (2.5 miles) of my house.

Bruce
by bac
Mon May 18, 2020 1:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Jeep Cherokee drive-train service
Replies: 9
Views: 709

Jeep Cherokee drive-train service

My 2016 Cherokee Limited 4x4 (six-cylinder) has nearly 40,000 miles on it. The dealer has recommended front differential service ($150), rear differential service ($150) and transfer case fluid service ($150), all based on time and mileage rather than as a result of inspection.

I'm trying to figure out whether the dealer is trying to take me for a ride as the manual has no such recommendations. Online searches seem to suggest such service at 60,000 at the earliest. The vehicle has not been subject to off-road or other hard use.

Thanks for any insight provided!
by bac
Sun May 10, 2020 10:47 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: United Airlines miles and bankruptcy
Replies: 46
Views: 4668

Re: United Airlines miles and bankruptcy

Airlines supposedly turn a profit on their frequent-flier programs by selling miles to banks and other third parties.

See <https://thepointsguy.com/2017/03/do-loy ... make-money>.

My guess is our accrued miles are probably safe, though subject to being devalued at any time.
by bac
Fri Mar 27, 2020 5:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How are you going to use your stimulus money?
Replies: 222
Views: 16400

Re: How are you going to use your stimulus money?

It'll go to an organization helping those affected by the coronavirus crisis or directly to out-of-work family members.