Search found 160 matches

by gch
Sat Mar 16, 2024 7:46 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dumped from PT due to low Medicare reimbursements?
Replies: 59
Views: 4135

Re: Dumped from PT due to low Medicare reimbursements?

Can you do a HITECH waiver and just pay cash? I would be careful throwing around the discrimination word. Yes, Medicare is for older people but it is also full of red tape and questionable reimbursements, things you don't have with someone who is just swiping a CC. It is far more likely that a medical provider has a problem with those two things than the fact that you are older. I cannot pay cash for 2 reasons. The first is that therapists contracted with Medicare are required to bill Medicare when treating a patient with Medicare coverage until Medicare denies coverage or the treatment is for a non-covered service (i.e. PT practices now often offer dry-needling which is not covered by Medicare). The second is financial - this practices ch...
by gch
Fri Mar 15, 2024 9:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Cash or CD's Instead of Bond Funds
Replies: 61
Views: 5678

Re: Cash or CD's Instead of Bond Funds

I have exclusively moved to brokered CD’s in lieu of bond funds. I can choose my own duration and am not forced to rebalance like a fund does. I don’t see the benefit of the bond fund.
by gch
Wed Mar 06, 2024 4:37 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Job Goes Poof
Replies: 23
Views: 4234

Re: Job Goes Poof

Make sure you’re going to keep an HDHP through the end of year. I believe if you do not, then you can only contribute the portion of the year you had an HDHP.
by gch
Tue Mar 05, 2024 8:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: High Salary (>$500,000) careers
Replies: 244
Views: 29140

Re: High Salary (>$500,000) careers

Commodity trader here. Bonuses can be as high as you see in the TV shows, or you can get fired. Degree from an average state school and started in general finance at a large company that was dealing with physical commodities who also traded that commodity. Moved from general finance to risk within the trading group and eventually trading. Then moved from the big physical company to a prop shop that pays a percent of profits.
by gch
Tue Jan 23, 2024 6:36 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Kids of wealthy parents, do they work?
Replies: 69
Views: 4917

Re: Kids of wealthy parents, do they work?

If they’re sitting at home doing nothing all day then they need a job. If they’re doing other things like athletics, music, etc. Which takes up a significant portion of their time then they don’t need to work. I’m not sure how I’d feel about my kid being a door to door sales person. On one hand, developing the necessary skills to be shut down and keep persevering is very helpful for their future. On the other hand, door to door salespeople are extremely annoying and there’s a good chance he just ends up selling to you and your friends and then quits.
by gch
Sun Dec 17, 2023 8:44 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Telling our children about your net worth - pros and cons?
Replies: 181
Views: 27856

Re: Telling our children about your net worth - pros and cons?

I don’t understand people who want to pass along large sums of money to their kids and 1. Don’t want to tell them 2. Don’t want to give them much of anything until they do

Assuming you’re not at risk of needing all the money I would definitely tell my kids (when they’re old enough and responsible like yours appears to be) and would also help them out before I’m dead.
by gch
Thu Dec 07, 2023 11:01 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fractional Real Estate Ownership - Thoughts?
Replies: 95
Views: 12505

Re: Fractional Real Estate Ownership - Thoughts?

There is a market for fractional products but it is the ultra wealthy. If one already has a couple of residences and does not want deal with another property it can make sense. The ones that I like (but do not qualify to buy) include storage of your personal items and a concierge who makes sure that when you arrive your photos are on the wall and your favorite wine is in the unit, etc. They are adding value for people who can afford to pay for the level of service and would have paid for it anyway if they owned a unit but did not have 7 others to share the costs with. They can be at a uniquely well located area (base of a ski run, golf course, etc.) that has a land cost that would make an individual unit very expensive. The combination of ...
by gch
Fri Dec 01, 2023 11:10 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Calling police to report a criminal prank question
Replies: 14
Views: 1921

Re: Calling police to report a criminal prank question

No point in wasting your time. You could have them on video, in the day, with their faces clear and most likely nothing will be done.
by gch
Tue Sep 05, 2023 10:09 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: One Kid Exceptional at Math One Kid Not
Replies: 25
Views: 2165

Re: One Kid Exceptional at Math One Kid Not

SBISD? I talked to a few high school kids who were in their dual language immersion program and it seemed it was fairly common for them to “struggle” in some of the classes that were taught in the non-primary language. However that was in elementary school, and by middle school they were fine, and all highly recommended the program.
by gch
Sat Jul 08, 2023 10:49 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: someone with my name keeps using my email address
Replies: 137
Views: 9249

Re: someone with my name keeps using my email address

It is messed up. You are intentionally causing trouble for people over a minor email mistake. At worst you're violating the spirit of the law for fraudulently accessing someone else's account. Relax and delete the email and move on with your life. The person who put in the wrong address will figure it out eventually and deal with it. Two issues: a) Read the OP. Presumably the same individual keeps making the same error over and over. It is a bit optimistic to think this person to stop making this mistake if you don't take action. b) NOWHERE did I say you should access their account after resetting the password. NOWHERE. I put in caps because you're the 3rd person today making this insinuation I never stated. You have to change the password...
by gch
Tue Jul 04, 2023 10:15 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What allocation did you or are you going into retirement with and why
Replies: 87
Views: 8805

Re: What allocation did you or are you going into retirement with and why

KlangFool wrote: Tue Jul 04, 2023 7:23 am
tvubpwcisla wrote: Tue Jul 04, 2023 7:08 am I am more curious about the allocation that YOU are going into or are in with retirement and why?
But, your question has no meaning without knowing what is the actual portfolio size in terms of the retirement expense.

For example, I keep 3X in cash as my emergency fund outside of my portfolio. My portfolio is 60/40 at 26X. All this is without considering social security benefits. Social security can cover 50% of my retirement expense. So, all the numbers are increase by 2X.

Why 60/40? It gives me 10X in bond with my portfolio at around 25X.

KlangFool
Why do you like 10x bonds (20x when including SS)?
by gch
Mon Jul 03, 2023 12:19 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How many of years is generally accepted to know if a manager has skill over luck?
Replies: 153
Views: 14130

Re: How many of years is generally accepted to know if a manager has skill over luck?

You can’t ever know just by time. You really have to analyze what the manager is doing and if it makes sense long term. I’ve worked with traders that almost exclusively use historical data and feel to trade. It works a lot of the time, but when it doesn’t it fails spectacularly. I wouldn’t say they’re super skilled, but they can have good returns for a number of years. On the other hand, I’ve worked with traders that take (what I consider) very good risk/reward positions that sometimes lose, but when they win they do so very big. I consider them more skilled than luck, but they may lose 2 out of 3 years.
by gch
Tue Jun 13, 2023 8:53 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Using the 60-Day IRA Rollover Rule for a Loan
Replies: 13
Views: 1008

Re: Using the 60-Day IRA Rollover Rule for a Loan

alexbogle wrote: Tue Jun 13, 2023 7:53 pm
gch wrote: Tue Jun 13, 2023 4:29 pm Yes you have it correct. I have done it twice on my vanguard IRAs when between closings on homes and then put the money back in vanguard with no issues.
Were you able to deposit it back into the same account? Or is there some requirement for it to be in a different account?
I was able to deposit it to the same account
by gch
Tue Jun 13, 2023 8:45 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Ice cream containers with no seals
Replies: 28
Views: 4234

Re: Ice cream containers with no seals

My preferred brand, Blue Bell, doesn’t have seals. I think it would be fairly obvious if the fluffy goodness was tampered with.
by gch
Tue Jun 13, 2023 4:29 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Using the 60-Day IRA Rollover Rule for a Loan
Replies: 13
Views: 1008

Re: Using the 60-Day IRA Rollover Rule for a Loan

Yes you have it correct. I have done it twice on my vanguard IRAs when between closings on homes and then put the money back in vanguard with no issues.
by gch
Sun Jun 04, 2023 10:59 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Another Job Offer Posting
Replies: 9
Views: 1164

Re: Another Job Offer Posting

I’m a fairly mathematical person so:
Is 30k + up to 20k in RSU + no travel > no Fridays off + change

I would say yes, especially since you’re 100% remote so the Fridays working aren’t you mindlessly wasting time in a cubicle. Also if your job is a task job vs a service job it seems like you could essentially make yourself into a 4/10 employee since you’re 100% remote.
by gch
Sun Jun 04, 2023 9:48 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should inheritance go to child or grandchild?
Replies: 35
Views: 4598

Re: Should inheritance go to child or grandchild?

Assuming you’ll never pass down more than the estate limit I don’t see many downsides of you inheriting all the money and then gifting it as you see fit vs the downsides of them inheriting it all.
by gch
Mon May 29, 2023 12:35 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Public School Teachers (Investment/Retirement) Strategy
Replies: 22
Views: 2323

Re: Public School Teachers (Investment/Retirement) Strategy

My parents both had pensions through the state and were heavy savers in IRA/457/403. This resulted in them being in a higher tax bracket in retirement than while working. If you are paying into SS and also get a significant percent of your salary for life as a pension then I would caution against putting too much into tax deferred accounts. Certainly not a bad situation to be in, but also paying more tot he government than necessary.
by gch
Sun May 21, 2023 7:01 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 29 y/o bored engineer, career change to finance?
Replies: 113
Views: 10505

Re: 29 y/o bored engineer, career change to finance?

OP, I was in a similar boat doing some basic finance/accounting stuff that would take me a couple days a month to do my monthly process. It was good money, but certainly not something I wanted to do for 30+ years. I ended up getting into trading commodities (natural gas) and love it. If you think you might be interested in something similar, there are a lot of entry level physical schedulers and risk/VaR guys that would probably hire you with an engineering background and your problem solving wants.
by gch
Tue Apr 25, 2023 2:02 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Helping kids buy a home
Replies: 182
Views: 15300

Re: Helping kids buy a home

To add context, Their combined income is around $225k and likely to go up to maybe 300k. They were trying to be responsible by waiting a bit to buy a larger home but between inflation and rising interest they obviously should have just pulled the trigger 2 years ago. When I say not ideal townhomes it’s located between several interstates, great location for getting around town but mostly populated by first time homeowners 35yo and less with no kids. No playgrounds you could walk to or a place to ride a bike. OP, Income = 225K House = 950K House = 4X They will be the Jones (folks that save less than 5% of their incomes) if they buy the house. "They were trying to be responsible by waiting a bit to buy a larger home but between inflatio...
by gch
Mon Apr 24, 2023 6:57 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need help with a financial life decision
Replies: 7
Views: 1484

Re: Need help with a financial life decision

You claim your rental is bringing 36k and you have 750k of equity. That is only a 4.8% return on your 750k plus you likely have other expenses other than your mortgage that bring that 36k lower. Sell that house and buy the house you want.
by gch
Sun Apr 23, 2023 5:30 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Neighbors asked my spouse for money to cut down their trees
Replies: 259
Views: 28078

Re: Neighbors asked my spouse for money to cut down their trees

theplayer11 wrote: Sun Apr 23, 2023 4:42 pm
gch wrote: Sun Apr 23, 2023 4:25 pm Clearly most bogleheads haven’t dealt with tree problems. If that rotted tree falls over and lands on your siding not only will you have to pay for the siding, but you’ll have to pay for the cutting and removing of the tree itself. since you can afford it, I would advise you pay your half and move on.
probably a state thing..and those states that don't hold the tree owner liable are being ridiculous.
It’s like that in pretty much every state. If the owner of the land where the stump sits was responsible for the whole tree, how would he trim the part of a tree that may overhang a neighbor’s fenced backyard? What if the tree roots grow into a neighbor’s sewage pipe?
by gch
Sun Apr 23, 2023 4:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Neighbors asked my spouse for money to cut down their trees
Replies: 259
Views: 28078

Re: Neighbors asked my spouse for money to cut down their trees

Clearly most bogleheads haven’t dealt with tree problems. If that rotted tree falls over and lands on your siding not only will you have to pay for the siding, but you’ll have to pay for the cutting and removing of the tree itself. since you can afford it, I would advise you pay your half and move on.
by gch
Sat Apr 22, 2023 1:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: 7-Seater Car (Minivan or SUV) - Less Bad Options from a Supply Chain / Inventory Perspective?
Replies: 34
Views: 3664

Re: 7-Seater Car (Minivan or SUV) - Less Bad Options from a Supply Chain / Inventory Perspective?

We just got a Suburban for MSRP. Insane how expensive it all is, but we needed the third row with plenty of storage space and my wife just wouldn’t do the van. Buildouts for MSRP+delivery fee were ~2 months. From my shopping around is seems like most vehicles can be had now for MSRP but not less.
by gch
Fri Apr 21, 2023 3:03 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Prepay mortgage vs invest MATH - calculating taxable equivalent yield
Replies: 12
Views: 1132

Re: Prepay mortgage vs invest MATH - calculating taxable equivalent yield

For example, paying down your mortgage by $100,000 avoids paying $4,250 interest (4.25%) every year because you couldn't have deducted that interest anyway (principal in excess of $750k). If you invested that money instead, you would need to earn $8,221 (8.2%) when applying your 51.7% marginal rate to have the equivalent $4,250 earning. Thank you for the response. I think in other words, what you are saying is that since my mortgage is above 750K, my marginal effective interest rate is 4.25%. Although the effective interest rate on the entire balance is 3.69% or 2.69%, it is the marginal effective interest rate that matters when deciding whether to prepay an amount (assuming not paying it ALL off) And thus 4.25%/(1-marginal tax rate) gives...
by gch
Thu Apr 20, 2023 4:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Can we afford a $2M home?
Replies: 70
Views: 11209

Re: Can we afford a $2M home?

Yes you can easily afford it, 625k cash income, 565k of stock income, 750k for a cash down payment, and 300k of equity in your current home. I mean you could pay cash for it if you needed to so anyone saying you can’t afford it is simply lying.

Now whether you should if both don’t agree is a whole other question which only you can answer. Personally I would buy if you can’t find a suitable rental for<$8kish/month
by gch
Thu Apr 20, 2023 4:14 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone used Granite Transformations for kitchen remodel?
Replies: 5
Views: 824

Re: Anyone used Granite Transformations for kitchen remodel?

Yes, we had a good experience. I would say you can tell the difference between natural stone and the transformation (transformation looks much more uniformed), but other than that you can’t tell a difference in my opinion. With
by gch
Thu Apr 20, 2023 12:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: SS maxed and switching jobs - adjusting W4
Replies: 7
Views: 596

Re: SS maxed and switching jobs - adjusting W4

CAsage wrote: Thu Apr 20, 2023 12:13 pm IMO that's completely legal and sensible. I would VERY CAREFULLY estimate your taxes due for 2023, and then periodically calculate the taxes paid from your check to ensure you hit your target. Witholding is fickle, some people find it hard to adjust so you might need to submit more than one adjustment in to your new payroll company.
Thanks, yes I’m a bit anal and normally adjust 2-3 times per year and get my withholdings within $100-200 of my actuals taxes due so I feel comfortable getting the correct numbers, I just wasn’t sure if there were any negatives to doing this to account for overpayment of SS taxes.
by gch
Thu Apr 20, 2023 12:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: SS maxed and switching jobs - adjusting W4
Replies: 7
Views: 596

SS maxed and switching jobs - adjusting W4

Hello all, I am switching jobs and in my previous job I have already maxed out the ~10k in SS taxes for 2023. I am aware there’s no way to have my new employer not withhold employee SS taxes for the balance of the year.

In an effort to not give the IRS an interest free 10k until next April, am I allowed or are there any potential downsides to fill out my W4 in a way in which I will pay ~10k less in federal income tax then what is due so when I do my return next year I will net to zero (or as close as my calculations will allow me) when I get my SS overpayment back?

Thanks for any feedback!
by gch
Sun Apr 16, 2023 8:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Selling 6 figure home and downsizing
Replies: 17
Views: 3513

Re: Selling 6 figure home and downsizing

I think you have to view it as two separate questions:

1. Should you sell your home and downside
2. Should you pay cash for a new home or should you take out a mortgage

For number one I think the answer is yes if you and your kids won’t need the 1MM home. The 70k in commissions/costs is essentially sunk if your kids don’t need the house because they’ll pay it when they sell the house so might as well take the cash and lower insurance/taxes/maintenance.

For number 2 it’s very dependent on your personal situation.
by gch
Sun Apr 16, 2023 5:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Firing a realtor
Replies: 66
Views: 7990

Re: Firing a realtor

OP it seems there are a few things you have complaints about: 1. Getting outbid for houses early last year - in my opinion that’s not your realtors fault. Houses were going for insane values 2. Listing your house in December -although unusual, you got your house sold at asking price in nine days. There are many houses in my area sitting this spring even though spring is typically a better time to sell. I wouldn’t be so certain your house would get better value if you would’ve waited. 3. You got a house that you bid 12% below asking price on - Yes, you may have gotten it for 15% below asking, but you already were upset you missed out on houses for 4-5 months in paragraph 1 so it doesn’t seem like a big deal for 3%. The bigger issue is you do...
by gch
Sat Mar 11, 2023 12:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buying first real estate -- am I taking too much risk?
Replies: 31
Views: 3238

Re: Buying first real estate -- am I taking too much risk?

OP I made a similar decision to you when I was around your age and I’m glad I did so. A few (maybe) key differences in our situations that you should consider: 1. Is your salary likely to go up soon or stay flat. I was very confident mine would go up in a short period of time. 2. Are you going to have any life changes like married, kids, etc soon before you make more money? Spending 40% take home as a single person with no other debt is definitely doable. Doing that with a family would be much harder. 3. Does the house have old HVAC, roof, water heater, or plumbing? Those will be your big ticket items you don’t want to run in before you’ve built back up your emergency fund. Lastly, why buy the house before you get the 200k and take the time...
by gch
Sat Feb 25, 2023 9:45 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: High school choice dilemma
Replies: 78
Views: 5423

Re: High school choice dilemma

Do you have other kids? The reason I ask is we were debating similar to your number 2 or 3 and we chose 2 because we have multiple kids so that 40k/yr private school could have very likely ended up 120k for all 3 kids so moving to a better district was more cost efficient
by gch
Thu Feb 23, 2023 8:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How do you calculate your return on your home after selling? Include interest payments as part of cost of capital?
Replies: 27
Views: 1991

Re: How do you calculate your return on your home after selling? Include interest payments as part of cost of capital?

OP you did not have a positive cash flow. You paid 646,796 (5,319*84+200k) and only netted 500k so in all you lost 146k in cash over those 7 years.

However, I’m not sure what benefit that calculation provides since that 146k in cash provided you a place to live for 7 years.

That’s why most people would say you made 250% (500k/200k) because the general assumption would be your monthly house payments would be similar to your monthly rent payments (although this varies greatly by location).
by gch
Sat Feb 11, 2023 4:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Gifting (no longer) minor child’s inherited IRA to siblings
Replies: 47
Views: 4325

Re: Gifting (no longer) minor child’s inherited IRA to siblings

Isn’t it possible to not claim an inheritance, like those who inherit timeshares? At that point would it then go to the state’s rules which would probably be equally split amongst his surviving children? I know nothing of the rules here, just trying to brainstorm some ways to save taxes.
by gch
Sun May 22, 2022 12:38 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: [Should I sell my XOM stock?]
Replies: 45
Views: 5015

Re: XOM

I would sell:

1. As a boglehead I wouldn’t advise holding individual stock.
2. If you want to be long energy commodity I would do an independent (Oxy, COP, etc), if you want to be long a midstream company I would pick one specifically (Williams, Kinder, etc), if you want to be long refining I would want to pick one specifically (P66, Valero, etc). In my opinion, the days of choosing a major and getting some of all of the above is a losing proposition. Especially as they start to get pressured into renewables (if you’re long renewables then pick a renewable stock).
by gch
Sun May 22, 2022 8:17 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Where My 100% Equities Peeps At?!?
Replies: 387
Views: 54899

Re: Where My 100% Equities Peeps At?!?

Marseille07 wrote: Sat May 21, 2022 11:38 pm Anyone planning to retire with 95%+ in equities? Especially those without pensions / RE.
I’ve been helping my parents with their finances, and that’s the way they’re going. Their pensions + social security are well over what they currently spend so they want their investments to be on their kids and grandkids time tables. I’ve tried to convince them to spend more on things they never did during their “savings” years, but it seems if you’ve saved 50%+ of your income for your whole life it’s not easy to adjust that as you’re nearing retirement.
by gch
Mon Dec 13, 2021 7:47 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Trying to figure out how much to allocate to Roth vs traditional accounts
Replies: 31
Views: 3118

Re: Trying to figure out how much to allocate to Roth vs traditional accounts

OP, since you have access to 403/457 does that mean you also have a pension?

If you have a pension that pays you a significant portion of your current income when you retire then I would lean toward putting the more to your Roth accounts. This is because your pension and RMD’s will likely take up a large chunk of the lower tax brackets in retirement.

If you do not have a pension, I would put an equal amount traditional and Roth. This is more along the lines of being “right” whichever way the tax brackets move and being able to optimize either direction since you’re not clearly at the top or bottom, and likely won’t be in retirement either.
by gch
Mon Jun 21, 2021 6:42 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Job opportunity dilemma (albeit good) - Need advice desperately!!
Replies: 37
Views: 4014

Re: Job opportunity dilemma (albeit good) - Need advice desperately!!

The first clear step is to proceed with #2 until for sure offered #1. I can’t see any downside to doing this unless it hinders your chance at job #1. Then, If offered #1 I would think you have to take it because burning the bridge of US-MX CEO + risk of not getting job #2 doesn’t sound like it would be worth the upside of job #2 over job #1. However, I obviously cannot fully judge that upside since I don’t know the company/jobs, only you can do that.
by gch
Tue Jun 01, 2021 9:16 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What Are People Doing with their Oil and Natural Gas Stocks
Replies: 105
Views: 13593

Re: What Are People Doing with their Oil and Natural Gas Stocks

I think the best long term play (as you mentioned) is NG pipelines. As renewables start making up more of the electric supply, NG will become even more volatile. Companies with those NG assets will be able to capitalize on that volatility. Case in point go look at Kinder Morgan and Energy Transfers Q1 profits from Winter Storm Uri.
by gch
Fri May 28, 2021 4:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Return to Work - How is your company dealing with it?
Replies: 593
Views: 84615

Re: Return to Work - How is your company dealing with it?

Company has been back in the office 100% since early fall. They recently announce a 2 day/week WFH schedule. It seems like most large oil and gas companies I interact with are doing this.
by gch
Wed May 12, 2021 6:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much would you budget for a typical wedding?
Replies: 136
Views: 12562

Re: How much would you budget for a typical wedding?

carloslando wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 6:25 pm
Surfcaster wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 5:53 pm No such thing as a typical wedding.

More info would be required.

Wedding in church with no facility fee or a large
Banquet hall?
Alcohol served? - typically a big adder

Etc.
Assume a private venue and banquet hall. Costs cover wedding+reception. Alcohol served.
For a normal 100-200 person wedding
venue - 5-20k
Food catered - 2-7k
Alcohol - 1-5k
Photographer/videographer- 1-5k
Miscellaneous (DJ, decorations, dress, tuxes, cake, etc.)- 3-15k

So if you don’t do anything yourself/friend discount I’d so low end is 10k top end 50k. If you’re over 50k I’d have to imagine you have a ton of guests or some over the top venue/menu/alcohol selection.
by gch
Sat Mar 20, 2021 10:32 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to think about total net worth when 90% of it is in a private business
Replies: 31
Views: 3515

Re: How to think about total net worth when 90% of it is in a private business

I personally view it like I view non vested RSU’s. They value is there in my net worth, but I do not include it in my asset allocation because I cannot sell them, and they could be worth zero in the future.

If your business’s value ends up significantly declining, you don’t want the rest of your portfolio to lag inflation because you had a very conservative allocation.
by gch
Sun Mar 07, 2021 10:53 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Consumer Math Question
Replies: 32
Views: 2630

Re: Consumer Math Question

I would think that she she could have gotten 2 $200 gift cards for $300. 1. First $200 gift card costs $200 (full price) 2. Second $200 gift card is 50% off so a cost of $100 Total cost: $300 Total Value: $400 This is the only math that makes sense if you have a buy one get one half off deal and you pay a total of $300. If we truly want to go algebraic on it: X + Y = 300 Y = 0.5X X + 0.5X = 300 1.5X = 300 X = 200 Y = 100 With the actual face value of y being 200 before the half off. If you had wanted a “free” $150 in a half off offer then the original face value would need to be $300 so you would’ve had to pay $300 (full price) + $150 (half price) = $450 payment by you to get the $150 (half off) for free. I would simply call the spa and sa...
by gch
Wed Feb 24, 2021 2:42 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Umbrella Policy; Anyone actually made a claim?
Replies: 214
Views: 21717

Re: Umbrella Policy; Anyone actually made a claim?

Do you really think a PI charging $500 is going to be able to hack into bank and brokerage accounts to figure out how much liquid net worth a neighbor has? It was a hypothetical to suggest other ways that information might be obtained without the lawyer collecting it, but we have strong reason to believe that a lot of personal data is already out there for those who know how to obtain it. If we had never heard of financial systems being hacked in the past, than I certainly agree with your point. Do you recall a few years back when the defense department's system was hacked and security clearance information was obtained? Once out of the bottle.... Again, why does it have to be "liquid" net worth? But those systems aren’t hacked b...
by gch
Wed Feb 24, 2021 2:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Umbrella Policy; Anyone actually made a claim?
Replies: 214
Views: 21717

Re: Umbrella Policy; Anyone actually made a claim?

The defendant's finances, insurance or lack thereof is never known unless disclosed by the insurance company (which they typically do to speed along a settlement). So, unless you're Bill Cosby or a Hogan kid, or were driving a McLaren, no one will ever know . Unless your information is otherwise easily obtainable via internet, dark web, etc. Surfing the dark web would violate all sorts of ethics rules , but funnily enough, not the ones you think. Are you referring to the lawyer or the plaintiff? I never suggested that it would be a lawyer gathering this information. Joe's neighbor runs over Joe's prized, one of a kind, prize winning pet. Joe is really upset. He meets with lawyer Frank who says he has a case, but it will cost Joe $50,000 to...
by gch
Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Power company rate spikes - understanding what my risks are
Replies: 33
Views: 3618

Re: Power company rate spikes - understanding what my risks are

So if I know that a winter vortex storm is coming tomorrow, and want to switch, I can execute that switch in a day? Maybe Texas is different, but if I want to switch power companies in my state, there is atleast a week long wait, credit check, a visit from the electric company. And if thousands are people are trying to switch in anticipation of a storm, forget about it. Point being, it’s not a seamless process. If you can switch in a seamless and instantaneous fashion, then the folks that have massive bills have no one to blame but themselves. I had two friends that switched Friday to fixed rate plans.it is seamless and instantaneous. Griddy even told all their customers to do so a week before the storm: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/bu...
by gch
Sun Feb 21, 2021 4:44 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Power company rate spikes - understanding what my risks are
Replies: 33
Views: 3618

Re: Power company rate spikes - understanding what my risks are

I think this is different from variable mortgage rate loans in that there are no caps to the power pricing. Most variable mortgages I’ve ever considered have some sort of cap ERCOT caps at $9k per MW ($9/kW) Thanks for clarifying my erroneous assumption. Wow, that is impressive. So assuming the base rate is $0.09, the cap is 100x the base rate at $9.00? Why even bother to have a cap? That’s impressive gouging. But completely legal. As with all things capitalism, Caveat emptor I don’t think you understand how this all works. If you live in a deregulated state you get to choose whether you want a fixed rate or variable rate or free nights or free off peak or any other of a number of plans. The vast majority choose fixed rate. If you choose v...
by gch
Sun Feb 21, 2021 11:27 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Power company rate spikes - understanding what my risks are
Replies: 33
Views: 3618

Re: Power company rate spikes - understanding what my risks are

eagleeyes wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 10:13 am I think this is different from variable mortgage rate loans in that there are no caps to the power pricing. Most variable mortgages I’ve ever considered have some sort of cap
ERCOT caps at $9k per MW ($9/kW)
by gch
Sun Feb 21, 2021 10:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Power company rate spikes - understanding what my risks are
Replies: 33
Views: 3618

Re: Power company rate spikes - understanding what my risks are

Griddy (the most popular variable rate power company in Texas) sent out notices to all of its users a week in advance saying you should switch because power prices are going to be insane. I had two friends switch to 6 month fixed rate plans the Friday before all of this happened and got rates at 25 cents /kW which is lower than many other states even in the face of the coldest weather in a long time. Normal fixed rate plans in Texas are 9-11 cents/Kw, among the lowest in the nation. The only people that got stuck with large bills are those that had variable plans (uncommon) and those that stuck with them despite the warnings (more uncommon). I equate this to people with variable rate mortgage loans that inevitably will cry when interest rat...