Bogleheads.org

Have had auto, homeowners, and umbrella dividend policies with Amica for over 15 years. Always paid the stated dividend. For me, the savings for non-dividend policies did NOT out weigh the dividend policies.

When I disputed a credit card transaction with Citi, they credited my account right away while they investigated. Did they not do this with you?

AnEngineer wrote: ↑Fri Jan 20, 2023 7:00 am

400401402 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 19, 2023 10:15 pm The 6% penalty is levied each year the excess contribution remains in HSA. So this excess contribution of $3 needs to be withdrawn. I don;t believe contributing $3 less next year will correct this mistake.

Reducing the following year's contribution doesn't avoid the initial 6% excise tax, but as i recall it does keep that tax from being assessed year after year, as an alternative to withdrawing the excess contribution.

Personal experience - this is correct.

Not a Citibank credit card apologist but my dispute was resolved in my favor recently. I purchased a discontinued model of remote control from a shady internet dealer using a virtual credit card. Charge hit my card fairly soon and was emailed a shipping date that was about a month away. After the charge posted, I set the virtual credit card max charge to $1. Several weeks later, before the item was scheduled to ship, attempted charges against that virtual credit card lit up my account. They were flagged as fraudulent by Citi, I received emails and texts per my notification settings and I called them to validate the fraud. Everything as expected. After the ship date passed, I was given a link to track the shipment which started in China. It...

Not a Citibank credit card apologist but my dispute was resolved in my favor recently. I purchased a discontinued model of remote control from a shady internet dealer using a virtual credit card. Charge hit my card fairly soon and was emailed a shipping date that was about a month away. After the charge posted, I set the virtual credit card max charge to $1. Several weeks later, before the item was scheduled to ship, attempted charges against that virtual credit card lit up my account. They were flagged as fraudulent by Citi, I received emails and texts per my notification settings and I called them to validate the fraud. Everything as expected. After the ship date passed, I was given a link to track the shipment which started in China. It ...

Now showing as "Currently unavailable" on Amazon. Had the same problems using my amazon chase card as others. Chatted with two agents, no help.

Has anyone tried to buy a gift card and then use it to purchase? Of course, doesn't work if it's unavailable. Hopefully they will fix the glitch.

Yup, long time MM user, now sunset version user. Thanks for letting us know that it still works through Win11

When I bought my house back in 2008, title company asked if I wanted my (in addition to the lenders) own title ins. I shrugged my shoulders and said sure, rolled into the mortgage. The title company and surveyor had the plat recorded upon my purchase. Fast forward 13 years - going to sell the house and guess what the buyers title company finds? Some slip of paper that wasn't noticed before that sold part of the land (less 1/10 of an acre) to a neighbor. This was two owners before me. I handed over my title ins info and got out of the way. Don't know the particulars of how they resolved it. Heard that a search for a previous owner's heirs was done to get signatures for recording at the courthouse. In the end, "they" took care of it...

Wanderingwheelz wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:17 pm

am wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:13 pm

jebmke wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:12 pm If you would not buy them today you should sell.

One of my individual stock picks which has lost like 60-70% (BCLI) has an ALS drug which is being reconsidered by the FDA after the data was analyzed incorrectly at the conclusion of the trials. I’m wondering if it’s worth keeping this one to prevent regret? I bought it as a bet right before the trial results were out.

Congrats on finding the single best way to destroy net worth.

Biotech stocks.

Hah! Didn't destroy my net worth but I struck out three times gambling with biotech stocks. Back to the dugout with that strategy.

Kenkat wrote: ↑Sun Oct 03, 2021 8:21 am Netscape Navigator anyone?

I use Safari on iPadOS and Chrome on Windows, although I’ve been starting to use Edge a bit on Windows as well.

Safari because it is well integrated to the OS; Chrome as an alternative to Internet Explorer when that declined and Edge because I’ve been starting to encounter issues at time with Chrome.

Heh, I used a version of Netscape Navigator for many years after it fell out of favor for my "adult" surfing.

Once you own shares, you can use them to vote against the Board members. Will it matter? Probably not, but small steps. Recently, an activist group got a shareholder resolution that I didn't agree with passed at a company I own shares. I then found out that the activist group had a fund - so I bought a few shares so I could vote against all the Board members. Petty much? Yes, but I still chuckle a bit.

rgs92 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 01, 2020 3:18 pm

bottlecap wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 6:49 am

MotoTrojan wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2020 12:56 pm I honestly had no idea that Netflix still had a DVD business.

LOL! I double checked to make sure this thread wasn’t from 2010. I didn’t know they still did that either.

JT

One big reason for DVDs is all the extra features on DVDs that you can't get with streaming. As far as I know, you can't get the full DVD content streamed. FWIW, when I commit to watching a movie, I really like the extra content.

Not sure that is completely true. I watched most of the Marvel movies on Disney+ and they had quite a bit of the "extras"

They have been closing down the DVD distribution centers over the past few years. I went from overnight deliveries to 3-4 days in VA. The last "nearest" dist center was trenton nj. Netflix is not only ramping down the DVD service but, IMHO, actively discouraging users from keeping it. For over 15 years, I had the DVD rental service with no issues in billing and "suddenly" they couldn't charge my CC. Gave them another, no joy. Another - still a problem. Called in - we can't seem to charge your cards, it seems to be on our end, can you do a gift card? uh no, just cancel everything including streaming. Used the money saved to buy discounted disney+, hulu, and 6month of Starz, already have prime. I'm good for awhile but mayb...

OK, TallBoy28er inspired me to get off my arse and write an email (not that it will matter). BTW, CITI Double Cash gives me 2% cash back, better than the 1% BofA paid me without using those stupid "categories". This is true but two things concern me..... First, Citi also uses Flash to generate the card numbers which is being phased out due to security issues (and perhaps other reasons). Citi is going to need to update their system and may decide to cancel the feature as well. Second, since I specifically use my BofA card for online purchase security I have the 'online shopping' category set to 3% and so get 50% MORE cash back for BofA purchases than using my Citi Double Cash card. I like getting 50% more! They have a downloadable...

Just an update and a hint. I was able to get the Citi Double Cash card, which does have the Virtual Account Number feature (as others have stated). I did initially have a problem getting it working, but after a call to their tech support (1-888-252-8209) it's working fine. I was getting an error message but after they worked on the account that was fixed. I'm not sure what they did, but I did notice that after the call the Double Cash card was shown in my account before the Costco card (the Costco was first before that). As a software engineer, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that it wasn't working because the Costco card was listed first and the software would not allow the VAN because the first card listed didn't have that featur...

Instead of a diamond engagement ring, my wife asked for $10K in AAPL stock. That was 12 yrs ago. She looks at her brokerage statement every month and smiles.

"This sounds familar" "Yeah, they did it in Superman 3"

No. I took the advice of a FA once and paid large fees and lost over half my investment. Decided then to own my future finances - at least when it went bad, it would be my fault. Did my own research, made my own decisions. Had some success, had some failures but now at $1.5million in retirement and fluid funds with 15 yrs to retirement. I've thought about hiring a FA to get some advice as I get closer to retirement and I would use a fixed fee advisor.

I've opened several CD accounts and savings account. Website was a little shaky at first but seems to be working fine now. No problems with deposits or interest payments. Haven't tried withdrawls yet. Prefer it to my Capital One 360 account.

GoldenFinch wrote: ↑Thu Dec 28, 2017 2:55 am A store owner yesterday near my house with a “We Accept Bitcoin” sticker on the window answered my question:

Me: “Do you get many people using bitcoin here?”

Store owner: “Oh, (ha, ha) I still need to take that sign down.”

Exactly! The question everyone should be answering is would YOU accept Bitcoin for a service you provided or a product you were selling?

I'm waiting for my GE stock to join that list. Been bemoaning it watching the price fall over the past year. Checked my records and realized in the two years prior I sold off a bunch to lock in gains - lucky or stupid?

I see this question being posed about every month. The rules are clear. Either you are willing to go to the trouble of saving/scanning receipts and/or using a spreadsheet to keep records of your health expenses OR it's too much a pain in the ass. To each his own. Not even going to tell y'all what I'm doing, cause it doesn't matter to the next guy who has to do his own thing.

Read your first sentence again. Cash out stocks and continue indexing.

I do a mix of both. Nobody knows for sure what the tax rates / laws will be when you retire and / or the retirement years after. Your concerns about the RMD is valid. Having several different pools of money with different tax advantages will give you more flexibility.

Yes, i'm on FB. I've tried to become familiar with all the privacy options on FB. I have schools I attended so I can connect with former classmates - unfortunately, many security questions on other sites ask things like "High school mascot". I have identified where I live in a very general way (i.e. north central PA) rather than my actual town. I hide my birthday (often part of your ID in medical procedures). I have to approve any "tagging" on pics or posting to my wall - though there are some holes in that privacy setting. Lastly, can't stress this enough, I USE A TOTALLY SEPARATE BROWSER for FB. By that I mean I use OPERA for FB (only FB) and FIREFOX for browsing and shopping, etc. This way, FB cannot track where I've ...

I'm taking the buyback. Look to get about $2K less than I paid 30 months ago on my 2014 Passat TDI SEL. I understand I could drive another two years and would probably not exceed the mileage penalty. But I'm done with VW - not pissed off I hate them done, just frustrated disappointed done. So I'll go for the buyback ASAP and move on to another vehicle.

Cash - when I want to hide transactions from the wife....errr, I mean the government.

Funny I almost did too. Coincidently read an article on BBC that said the head of Amazon was invested heavily in a company called General Fusion working on fusion power technology. Couldn't find a ticker symbol though. Must not be publicly traded. I then got bored and did something else. If you have an itch to gamble take 5% of your portfolio or whatever and buy individual stocks. Amazon wouldn't be my first choice though. I think people already know about that one. :happy Many of us here will remember KMS Industries, a great fusion "story stock". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KMS_Fusion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kip_Siegel#KMS_Industries Nuclear fusion as a practical commercial reality has been 50 years away since I first st...

Similar tales as others... Bought the house when it was 3yrs old (for those that think a "new" house won't have problems)... 7K - replacement heat pump package unit for the main floor and smaller Mits unit for the FROG 12K and counting - new septic drain field, grading and landscaping to come 30K - master bathroom, jet tub cracked and leaked into the crawlspace, went to inspect and found the shower pan failed with leaking causing mold problems, had to redo the tub and shower (including subfloor) and decided to put in tile to our liking, new countertop, and sinks. Previous owner/builder was a cabinetry guy and fancied himself a master builder. Bones of the house are good but after 7 yrs in the house, you can tell he went cheap/low ...

Well, first thing a Boglehead would do is take the lump sum - so not $900 million. Probably $500 million?? Stilll nothing to sneeze at. Set up some sort of fund to pay you a nice sum each year. Do something philanthropic?? Travel. Spend time on hobbies? Personally, I'd buy a big farm, lots of property, maybe raise Alpacas. Anonymity sounds good to me too.

Went Sunday night after dinner to the 8pm showing 3D. Walk-up tickets. Wife and I shared the theater with about 10 other people.

I've found my contacts the cheapest at Contact Lens King this year and last after vetting all (visiondirect, 1800 contacts, etc.) and applying all discounts and coupons.

I'd think that the margins on a self driving fuel efficient vehicle will be much less than the $600 iPhone and, therefore, won't be as great a positive effect on the share price. Frankly, they should partner with Toyota on their Prius and Subaru to install a iControl system, that would probably hit most of their audience and let the automakers eat the cost of the car itself. But, likely, given that Apple's design princes are dead set on "redesigning" ugly cars into something that they believe is beautiful, Apple will spend trying to get this project off the ground. Luckily, they have the cash to burn. Or are we here to just cheer on Apple products rather than talk about shareholder value?

Dutch wrote:I use a non-governmental 457(b) because tax deferring an extra $18,000 of income is very attractive.

It's not for everybody and you have to be aware of all the risks and restrictions. It may also depend on your stage of life.

I'm intimately familiar with the financial health of the organization. Early retirement should be within 5 - 10 years and the 457(b) funds will be spent first. That's how I limit the timeline and the associated risk.

Yup, did the same when I was employed by a hospital. Being able to sock away double the 403b limit was very attractive and I was young enough with no big expenses so I could afford it.

i made a lot more money in apple than i ever did, ever with advice on bogleheads. I was able to pay off my house, etc etc. I would consider selling some, but at 10% of your portfolio, and if you can handle the roller coaster, i see no need to sell it. I am against individual stock ownership, but i am not opposed to some exceptions. People will say that you might get lucky with it, but the fact is that apple is an amazing company. I wish i hadn't sold mine off often times. I could have had a second home in aspen by now. Nevertheless, the tried and true axioms of diversification are important and that is what most will say. They are right but... apple is amazing.. People often come in with stories about how they made tons of money on a singl...

Star Trek - Voyage Home in honor of Leonard Nemoy mainly because we wanted a bit of comedy to go with our sci fi.

I agree with fighting it. I'd just like to add some caution. There was a recent series of articles on CNNMoney about Govt debt collectors aggressively going after people with unpaid parking tickets, tolls, even debts they didn't know about. Apparently, these Aholes don't have to follow the typical debt collection rules because they are pursuing Govt debts. Just something to think about in case the State turns the debt over to one of these jokers.

Here's the link to the article:

http://money.cnn.com/interactive/pf/deb ... F_PF_River

In SE VA so we get a few hurricanes /TS and some weird winter storms lately. We have a small 3500w propane generator that we put on a small wheeled dolley to make it easy to push around. Uses the same propane tanks for grills. Bought several long extension cords to plug things into (not recommended so always keep monitoring while running). It's noisy and stinks and have to keep an eye on the oil level. Will run 110v for getting the internet router going, charging cell phones, and run our laptops (you know, the important stuff - thank god!!) and 220v which allows us to run our well pump for water. I bought a couple of inexpensive AC window units to cool things off in the bedrooms which will run off the generator (not at the same time as the ...

Glue traps can seem cruel but if you start to find mice droppings on your countertops or food prep areas, you tend to lose sympathy. Last resort for me.

Cats are a good idea unless they are lazy or disinterested. We have one and it's about 50-50 whether he goes after them.

Snakes - good idea, we had one (black snake) get into our rafters and attic. Had less problems with mice but dang he got big!

Humane Catch and release - you have to take them a LONG way away from your house. Put some food dye on the backs of a couple we released out here in the country and, yes, we ended up catching them again in the house. They can probably find your house better in a blizzard than you can.

four7s wrote:Tipping is essential for helping people to become eventual Bogleheads. Those of us who are fortunate enough to have extra bucks shouldn't begrudge passing along something extra for people who need tips to make ends meet. Think of tipping as a grassroots stimulus program.

Same here. I have a great full time job with benefits and can afford a few extra bucks for folks trying/struggling to make ends meet. I've been there before and am grateful for my good fortune. Paying it forward a little at a time.

Being able to contribute max to 401K and the same max also to the 457b.

Greetings, Just turned 59. I max out on my 401k every year, don't quality for a Roth, can't backdoor a roth due to a rollover. I have a traditional (non-deductible) IRA. I'm wondering should I contribute for 2014 and 2015. I have the cash. I usually also buy ibonds. Is there an advantage for me with this IRA? I'm not retired but plan to retire in the next 3-5 years. Thanks D I believe it all boils down to where you think you will be in taxes when you retire v. where you are now. I contribute the max to a non-deductible IRA because I am very certain I am going to be in a lot lower tax bracket when I retire (I am in the highest now). I also have some "runway" as I am 52 so I think this is the best for me. There is also a little twi...

Yes, I've done this and I'll name names. My employer contributes my HSA funds to Huntington Bank. No investment opportunities there. So a year ago, I opened a HSA account with HSA Bank and did a partial transfer of funds from Huntington to HSA. It went well and I was able to invest through HSA Bank / TD Ameritrade. Perfect - right? Well, went to do it again a month ago, transfer partial funds. Well, this time Huntington decided to transfer ALL my funds and close my account. Got a call from my employer office manager saying my HSA funds were rejected by Huntington because of closed account. Told her the situation and she asked it I wanted them to contribute my HSA funds directly to HSA Bank instead? Asked her if that causes her any heartache...

Gemma Godfrey
@GCGodfrey

fareastwarriors wrote:RewardsGold.
free.

This.

I'm going on a year of free WSJ and just re-upped again. Used a fake name and toss away email. Get access to online premium content. Sometimes get the paper version a day late. Never had a problem with online - quick access on my smartphone or website.

Medical Physicist

Still have an android phone.
Added a Kindle Fire
Don't like Duke either.
Still waiting for my Apple stock to go up.

Android phone
Apple stock

Thanks everybody for the help and suggestions.

I made $5K contributions to my Vanguard tIRA account for 2011 which would be nondeductible. I just ran a prelim on my taxes and find that I may be able to contribute (at least in part) to my Roth (I already have a Vanguard Roth account) instead based on AGI (right around $169K, married filing jointly). Arguments of tIRA vs Roth aside as there are many threads already - can I recharacterize my 2011 contributions as Roth? I don't want to get into a "conversion" as I have a combination of deductible and non-deductible contributions from previous years. I want to simply treat my 2011 contributions as Roth instead of tIRA and move them from one account to the other. Can I do that? Thanks for comments / suggestions as well as any links ...