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johnny

Questions: 1.Knowing that we plan to buy a house within the next year, and that we already have our planned max down payment of 170K in cash, what should we be doing with it now? Is there somewhere better (but still available) than a savings account to put that? I have a similar amount saved up for...

johnny

Turned on the TV yesterday expecting NBR and was confused why I was watching some BBC thing. Sorry to hear of NBRs demise.

I liked hearing about the business issues and trends. Stock movement not very relevant.

johnny

There are a lot of good things about moving to a manager role, especially if you are interested in coaching people and you've run out of challenges in the technical arena. However, commiting to a move and a pay cut in order to get there doesn't make any sense to me. Don't underestimate the challenge...

johnny

2009 Honda Odyssey. 213k miles.

On a recent trip I asked DW which car she wanted to drive, and she picked the Odyssey over our newer vehicle. Purchased new during the Great Recession (so I got a good discount), and I've gotten great value out of it.

johnny

Recently, I read this interesting article by Jonathan Clements on dividends: https://humbledollar.com/2019/11/cash-back/ The example that's referenced in the article of GM's value creation and how it was realized over time in terms of dividends was striking. With the current situation (a number of c...

johnny

RootSki wrote: ↑
Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:44 am
Any Volvo 2008+

+1

Don't give up collision. Normal formulas based on one accident every 10 years don't apply to teens!

johnny

It's good that you're planning. I know this is the biggest item in our family's budget. I set aside monthly portions of my paycheck so at the beginning of the semester I can pay in full. I could use a payment plan as described, but I prefer knowing that I have each semester's tuition up front. My so...

johnny

Understand how your taxes work, at all points in your life with different incomes and what options you can use to legally not pay more taxes than you have to. I find this is a very important one that is often overlooked. Good luck! :sharebeer I agree with this. For too many years I waited until tax...

johnny

Purchased our house 10 years ago and selling this year. Great place to live and raise a family (and great memories). No major renovations. Appreciation amounts to 1.4% per year in our flat real estate market -- probably covers a little more than maintenance and repair.

johnny

Painting the cabinets takes time. Remove the doors, remove the hardware... We had ours repainted last summer. Cost about $1500, but definitely improved the look of the place.

johnny

Thanks for all the input. So here are my takeaways ... 1) In order to make a decision I need to consider the *entire* 10 year term. It's not just this year's monthly budget. Before this thread I actually wasn't considering my cost for group life, because it's relatively cheap and gets deducted prior...

johnny

What is the cost of your 4x group life vs the cost of a 4x level term policy for a 10 year period? Normally the advice would be to not rely on group life for primary insurance coverage. Given your health, your situation might be different. 2x salary is covered by the company, and the 10 year cost f...

johnny

I'm 51 and provide most of the income for my family (youngest just starting college), and am currently re-evaluating my life insurance needs (after procrastinating far too long on the topic). After evaluating DW and my retirement plan, it occurred to me that quite a lot of things could go wrong in t...

johnny

I don't use VeraCrypt, but I do have a Yubikey 4. The Yubikey has two memory "slots" for authentication/secrets. They can be configured to do HOTP, TOTP, crypto key (like PGP), or even just a static password. The last of these works very simply: You press the button and the yubikey "types" your pass...

johnny

You probably should look into whether your computer may have been compromised. (Assuming you may have used both cards on it at some point in time.) If you used both cards at the same web site, it's possible that the site was hacked and now bad guys are running through the set of card numbers that we...

johnny

I literally just did this exact thing. Like you, I got skittish and so I hired a real estate attorney myself in the transaction state, and just sent him a bunch of relevant documents for him to review. He said everything looks fine, it's a common thing, and call him if there is any actual problem, ...

johnny

I've been offered a relocation for my current job and have kicked off the process only to discover that there is a lot of complexity involved. The relo company will actually buy my home from me, then do a same day sale to the new owner. There are lots of legal documents (naturally), and I'm followin...

johnny

I closed my local bank account 18 years ago. Haven't had any problems.

johnny

You need to read the summary plan description, but I would suspect that your ability to get a loan went away when you left your employer. You can however roll the funds to an IRA and there are some ways to make withdrawals, especially for a number of hardship reasons. You might want to check out the...

johnny

My wife convinced me to go to an estate attorney a couple years ago. I was in awe about what he knew about the subject. It was about $1500 to get the will done, but I figure that it will easily pay for itself given the dollars we're talking about here.

johnny

I am a 25+ year USAA member. Use banking and insurance primarily, and for a long time used the investment services. Moved to Vanguard 5 years ago because I wanted to invest in their funds without purchase fees. It's been a good move. Vanguard clearly has a favorable fee schedule compared to USAA. Ev...

johnny

+1 for Moto G5 (my daily phone) and Moto X4 (bought one for my son). Good phones at good prices. For even better deals you can purchase used phones at www.swappa.com I have purchased a number of used phones at Swappa. They have great quality control over the sellers, check serial numbers against the...

johnny

Op Your 140k free cash equity will mean the FASA determine your family should use the cash to pay for college expenses. If you have 457b, 403b, 401k and Roth IRA or traditional those retirement funds are not consider available. I would fund 6 months of emergency debt, pay off auto loan and fund ret...

johnny

With respect to college, i don’t have a strong opinion regarding the student loans so I hope someone else will chime in. My son is attending a small private college that he loves. Are you concerned about the cost? meaning it is way too expensive, regardless of who is paying for it. That would be a ...

johnny

One of many questions on this topic I know, but everyone's life circumstance is different, so I wanted to put my scenario out there to see what considerations I may be missing. Thanks in advance for your input. I'm in my 50's and currently relocating due to job change. DW and I are planning to sell ...

johnny

Talk to the financial institution you are moving *from*. I found that the investment company I was leaving had no requirement for medallion, and Vanguard as the recipient of the funds didn't either.

johnny

I used Quicken for years to track spending, but it never helped me budget. I found out from Dave Ramsey's course that I was doing it all wrong ... Looking backward instead of planning forward. Youneedabudget (YNAB) is a forward-looking budget tool. You only budget money you actually have and "give e...

johnny

Our experience - currently making a bit more than 200k. My son got zero need based aid to the state school. A small private liberal arts college awarded a $5k loan along with a scholarship (assuming $25k/year contribution by the parents). Both of those made sense to me. Then this week he gets accept...

johnny

One thing to keep in mind is the American opportunity tax credit for which you will likely qualify given your income level. 529 distributions can offset your eligibility for the credit, as describe here https://www.forbes.com/sites/troyonink/2015/05/31/coordinating-529-plan-withdrawals-with-the-amer...

johnny

Great topic! I took the Dave Ramsey course a few years ago. I liked his treatment of working with your spouse on financial goals. So that's my #1 for financial peace - being on the same page as my spouse. #2 - having an investment plan and AA that let's me sleep at night and vanquishes "fear of miss...

johnny

I purchased a 2013 Toyota Prius for $15,770. With taxes and fees, it came to $17,049. It has 21,603 miles. I'm doubting my purchase since I purchased it at the sticker price and I've heard you should never buy the sticker price. Please let me know if I was an idiot :) I obviously see an option $24 ...

johnny

Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (VFIAX)

Funded in 2012 with an IRA that had languished in high fee fund for years. Watched it grow, grow, grow (admittedly a great time for the S&P 500). Now finishing the process of moving to a low E/R 3-fund portfolio at Vanguard.

johnny

Thanks for the replies, and thanks for focusing me on the future, instead of the past!

johnny

My wife has a mutual fund traditional IRA that a investment professional sold us some time ago. Unfortunately it has had amazingly poor performance and currently holds an ER of 1.04%. PCGRX - Pioneer Mid Cap Value Fund Class A I've been concerned about it in the past, but we haven't done anything wi...

johnny

Sorry to hear about your situation. Many people experience something like this over the course of a career, so don't lose heart. It could very well be the best thing for you to get into a better situation. I learned from my layoff that layoffs are better than quitting. I managed to retain a prorated...

johnny

Thanks for all the great feedback. I haven't thought about potential health concerns or the pre-Social Security years. Keeping the funds in IRA makes for more flexibility for those situations. Also, while everything is supposed to be insured, I really don't believe it is below my former employer to ...

johnny

I've read through the board a bit on this topic, but I wanted to get the feedback from the crowd on my situation. Currently 50 years old and I'm considering my retirement plans. I had a long stint at a Fortune 500 company that gave me a modest pension. Based on current calculations, if I retire at 6...

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Re: Update to request for portfolio review

Re: After almost 30 years I need a replacement. Where is the best place to get business news on the net that you can wa

Re: switch to manager role with 10% less pay, good idea?

Re: Flaunt Your High-Mileage Car

Article on Dividends (J Clements)

Re: First car for child

Re: How do you get billed for child's college when not enough cash?

Re: What two or three financial things to do to wind up wealthy regardless if you make numerous other financial mistakes

Re: How have your homes as investments done?

Re: Painting Cabinets - Is it that hard ?

Re: Life insurance - how much? group vs individual fixed term

Re: Life insurance - how much? group vs individual fixed term

Life insurance - how much? group vs individual fixed term

Re: YubiKey Setup Questions

Re: Question on compromised credit cards

Re: Working with Relocation Company for move

Working with Relocation Company for move

Re: Should I leave my local bank

Re: Rollover 401k - Can I take a loan from it?

Re: DIY Will and Trust?

Re: USAA

Re: Where to find inexpensive unlocked phone

Re: Proceeds from home sale

Re: Proceeds from home sale

Proceeds from home sale

Re: Transfer to Vanguard and medallion signature guarantee

Re: Budgeting Software

Re: High earners: thoughts on college and aid

Re: Advice with 529 for a single mom

Re: What does financial peace look like to YOU?

Re: Did I do a terrible purchase on a used car?

Re: What was your first Vanguard fund or ETF?

Re: Time to move on?

Time to move on?

Re: Layoff coming in 3-6 months, questions about preparing

Re: Pension vs Lump Sum payment

Pension vs Lump Sum payment