Bogleheads.org

Do you recommend/not recommend a car rental ?
In Santorini
In Mykonos

We are 3, and DW doesn’t like the idea of scooters

A plan for a mid march trip 7 days in Greece.
Arriving from London, tix to Greece are TBD, arrive on a Monday.
Depart Greece from Athens on the following Sunday.

what do the expert Greece connoisseur BH’s recommend?
Options: Santorini, Mykonos, Crete, Athens, other?

Yes cash, start with €100, and refill when it drops below €50. You will need cash in several places. Most Definitely for street vendors who serve some of the most delightful local foods. I don’t imagine a 15 yo will be eating only at places that accept CCs. Amex is commonly refused or declined, but also more commonly accepted at high end places or travel, but I wouldn’t recommend only Amex. Visa was accepted more commonly. Most places use Chip&pin vs US cards that use Chip&sign. Restaurants are familiar with it, but some places are not. I ran into a refusal at large grocery chain store checkout (orange juice and sandwich), but the back office was able to override the transaction with the credit card. A cumbersome process. Check if y...

Plan ahead, and pay attention to ATM conversion fees, in addition to access fees.
I was recently charged an additional 17% USD-EUR conversion fee (no other option available on the ATM), after the disclosure of €4,9 of (refunded) access fee. This was in a touristy location, probably an independent ATM, with no bank in sight, so I had to just do it or Uber back to town for more than that 17%.

If you need to replace the relief valve, it is an easy DYI. Parts from BigBox, they come pre-puttied. I think $18. Watch a couple YouTube videos.

Hints : Relieve pressure by shutting input valve and opening a hot faucet at a lower level. Then unscrew slowly firmly. count the number of rotations you make when you remove one, so you know how many to make when it goes back in.
Source :did both my water heaters, and I’m not a plumber

lstone19 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 23, 2023 9:09 pm

Domadosolo wrote: ↑Thu Feb 23, 2023 9:01 pm Thanks, any special reporting or form to show that there was no benefit? Or just don’t include it?

See my edited response above. No, you do not need to explain it to the IRS.

Thanks

No W-2. Did significant Capital gains sales in 2021. I paid $17K in state taxes in 2022 for TY2021 (was in safe harbor, so no penalty). Did a large conversion to Roth in 2022. Paid approx $18K in estimated State taxes for TY2022. My TY2022 State taxes computes to $15K. I am itemizing deductions in TY2022, and can claim a max of $10K in SALT deductions for State taxes paid (TurboTax says 10K allowed of $17k+$18k=$35K) All good so far. A bummer that I cannot deduct the disallowed $25K Now, I will get a refund of $3K in 2023 state taxes for TY2022. Will I have to report this $3K as income for TY2023 (as I claimed itemized deduction in prior year 2022 and pay federal taxes on this in TY2023? , and Although this wasn’t from within the $10K SALT...

No W-2. Did significant Capital gains sales in 2021. I paid $17K in state taxes in 2022 for TY2021 (was in safe harbor, so no penalty). Did a large conversion to Roth in 2022. Paid approx $18K in estimated State taxes for TY2022. My TY2022 State taxes computes to $15K. I am itemizing deductions in TY2022, and can claim a max of $10K in SALT deductions for State taxes paid (TurboTax says 10K allowed of $17k+$18k=$35K) All good so far. A bummer that I cannot deduct the disallowed $25K Now, I will get a refund of $3K in 2023 state taxes for TY2022. Will I have to report this $3K as income for TY2023 (as I claimed itemized deduction in prior year 2022 and pay federal taxes on this in TY2023? , and Although this wasn’t from within the $10K SALT ...

PSA: The unfortunate answer is that 1Password supports only 1 user on each Mac OS login. That seems to be a reasonable implementation to me given that I would not share my MacOS login with another user. Not just a matter of trust, but also a matter of separating preferences and settings across system and apps. Agreed. My wife and I share a Macbook Air, but we have separate logins (with Fast User Switching enabled) setup. I wouldn't want this any other way, as my messages, calendar (work stuff my wife doesn't need on our personal shared calendars), mail, etc, all sync to my login (and my wife's to hers). OP, why do y'all use the same login when MacOS makes it fairly simple to setup multiple users? We share a login for a lot of common househ...

PSA:
The unfortunate answer is that 1Password supports only 1 user on each Mac OS login.
So a “LOCK” must be Unlocked by the same user.

The alternative is to do a full logout, then renter credentials of User 2, including the long secret code.

1Password says that if you share the MacOS login, there is no need to separate 1Password vaults

Thanks for that. I prefer upright, drive a pickup a fair bit. 6’5” with long torso. On paper at least, the ID4 has more 2” more headroom than the E-tron. I sat in an ID4 today and was really impressed with headroom but my gut says the EQB is even better. Would have to drive 1 hr to a dealer to find out, not excited about buying without local representation (re: service), but such is life I'm surprised by that discrepancy, but the headroom/legroom numbers put out by manufacturers aren't consistent, so I wonder whether (despite being the same parent company) the Audi and VW numbers aren't actually apples to apples. If you can't check out the EQB directly, at least conveniently, the GLB is the same vehicle body and is listed as having the sam...

Thanks for the advice !
Common sense action is recommended.

That income tax bite ! Arghhh!!!
It doesn’t show up as an expense until you have no Income (and no withheld taxes).

Also, pay attention to healthcare (eg below in NC)
- premium costs, ($24K premiums without ACA for 2 @ age 60+/-),
- in-network docs, coverage areas appear to shrink
- and deductibles that appear to inflate when you retire ($7.5k each)

Must have on my next wheels

TT2022 on Mac has a new way of accessing Fidelity and Schwab,
Requiring me to
1) Login to Intuit
2) Enter my credentials on a pop up browser window
3) select forms to import
4) Asks if I want to allow the browser to open the TT app
5) Then imports it into TT

Qn: Do I need to change the password on these Financial Services accounts? As Intuit now has credentials? Am I paranoid?

Mac experts, I have a strange problem.
We are two users who each have our own 1password accounts, and vaults (family edition), but use the same Mac.

If User1 Quits, and User2 wants to login, it requires User1 to re-login and sign out, before User2 can login.
Am I missing something?

Also, my Safari widget just says “use 1 password”. Doesn’t offer any auto fill
Anyone encountered these two problems and have a solution?

Thanks,
Ipassword8 on MacOS

YoungSisyphus wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 6:41 am +1 for 1Password!

I FINALLY made the switch <trim>
It also gave me the opportunity to refresh key passwords and curate custom email addresses for my more important logins (so that if my general use email addresses are ever in a breach they do not have value).

<trim>

Thanks for the details.
Did you create new emails on proton ?

ThankYouJack wrote: ↑Fri Feb 17, 2023 12:54 pm Here's a recent article on it - https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and- ... ords-asap/

Personally I've never been a fan of LastPass so after this latest major breach, I would switch in a heartbeat.

Thank You Jack

I'm a 'Mac+iOS+Windows+Yubikey household' I went with 1password. <snip> Heck with lastpass and using a yubikey - the thieves still obtained our vaults. I guess, in Lastpass, Yubikey was only used as a 2FA for the login process. So it secured the “Normal” login interface. Anyone can steal the vault from the back-end provider, and then they have an infinite amount of time to decrypt it by brute force methods. Am I right to think that this “infinite time to decrypt if stolen” is the same level of risk for 1Password’s vaults or Bitwarden’s vaults? :sharebeer The Lastpass breach was technically two breaches one of the Lastpass development back-end and cloud storage in August of last year, then the parent company GoTo in Dec (I think) both of wh...

I'm a 'Mac+iOS+Windows+Yubikey household' I went with 1password. <snip> Heck with lastpass and using a yubikey - the thieves still obtained our vaults. I guess, in Lastpass, Yubikey was only used as a 2FA for the login process. So it secured the “Normal” login interface. Anyone can steal the vault from the back-end provider, and then they have an infinite amount of time to decrypt it by brute force methods. Am I right to think that this “infinite time to decrypt if stolen” is the same level of risk for 1Password’s vaults or Bitwarden’s vaults? :sharebeer It is NOT the same level of risk. The Last Pass Risk would have been minimal if the entire vault was encrypted like 1password does - it wasn't there are plain text fields in the vault - UR...

I'm a 'Mac+iOS+Windows+Yubikey household' I went with 1password. <snip> Heck with lastpass and using a yubikey - the thieves still obtained our vaults. I guess, in Lastpass, Yubikey was only used as a 2FA for the login process. So it secured the “Normal” login interface. Anyone can steal the vault from the back-end provider, and then they have an infinite amount of time to decrypt it by brute force methods. Am I right to think that this “infinite time to decrypt if stolen” is the same level of risk for 1Password’s vaults or Bitwarden’s vaults? :sharebeer It is NOT the same level of risk. The Last Pass Risk would have been minimal if the entire vault was encrypted like 1password does - it wasn't there are plain text fields in the vault - UR...

rebellovw wrote: ↑Fri Feb 17, 2023 8:31 am I'm a 'Mac+iOS+Windows+Yubikey household'

I went with 1password.
<snip>
Heck with lastpass and using a yubikey - the thieves still obtained our vaults.

I guess, in Lastpass, Yubikey was only used as a 2FA for the login process. So it secured the “Normal” login interface.
Anyone can steal the vault from the back-end provider, and then they have an infinite amount of time to decrypt it by brute force methods.
Am I right to think that this “infinite time to decrypt if stolen” is the same level of risk for 1Password’s vaults or Bitwarden’s vaults?

What are your reasons for not having migrated from Lastpass yet? What’s the best alternative password manager for a Mac+iOS+Windows environment with Yubikey only access? :sharebeer 1Password supports Yubikey or TOTP for 2FA. Their 2FA is different than LastPass in that it’s only required when setting up a new device. Seems to be this way because 1Password generates a long secret key that is also required with the master password to setup a new device. After that it’s just master password to unlock the vault. Their app also supports biometric unlocking on the platforms that you mentioned. I like the 1Password UI much more than LastPass. Much more polished and I find tags to be helpful instead of folders/single category. One of the security ...

tibbitts wrote: ↑Mon Feb 13, 2023 6:14 pm

Domadosolo wrote: ↑Mon Feb 13, 2023 5:58 pm What are your reasons for not having migrated from Lastpass yet?

Inertia, plus the other person I want to be able to have access to my accounts uses it.

How do you measure your risk?

What are your reasons for not having migrated from Lastpass yet?
What’s the best alternative password manager for a Mac+iOS+Windows environment with Yubikey only access?

I haven't read through this entire thread so if this is a repeat I apologize. Whether you move to another password manager or not, you need to change all your sensitive passwords. The hackers obtained a snapshot of your encrypted data and have unlimited time to attempt to decrypt it with dictionary and brute force attacks. Changing your master password will result in your current password data being re-encrypted but doesn't change the fact that they have a static snapshot of your data that they can attack. Myself, I'm tentatively sticking with LastPass for now until I have time for further research. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't . I've changed my master password and my passwords for all sensitive/financial accounts so ...

I’ve been looking at the Mohawk flooring vinyl plank, 100% waterproof with padding, on sale approx $2.4/sq ft at Costco, to be installed over my fairly smooth basement concrete. Any experience with these? Or recommendations for alternatives? Thanks, :sharebeer To OP: 1 How many square feet is your basement. . to be covered with flooring? - 700 2 What is your budget? - not set 3 **You mention Mohawk vinyl plant as 100% waterproof. . . Are there moisture concerns? - none evident, From the cement? - but being in NC, where the humidity is high, I thought the confined space under the floor may cause moisture to trap between the concrete and the floor. Or from how the floor is used? - None 4 Have you gotten on site inspections and estimates from...

I’ve been looking at the Mohawk flooring vinyl plank, 100% waterproof with padding, on sale approx $2.4/sq ft at Costco, to be installed over my fairly smooth basement concrete.

Any experience with these? Or recommendations for alternatives?
Thanks,

Fellow BH’ers

Do you have experience or recommendations for either of these roofing products. Options are from the roofer for a roof replacement due to storm damage. Location NC, 100 miles from the coast, hip roof, ……. not so hip owner

GAF Timerberline HDZ
OR
Certainteed Landmark

I have recently moved to completely irrational usernames which are partially stored in lastpass.
I manually add a unique n-char code to the username and password when actually logging in to the website.

When lastpass reported their breach, I yawned, because with this minor obfuscation, I have bought myself time to figure out what is breached before needing to act.

My printed codes are also useless to a potential break-in hacker.

nyclon wrote: ↑Wed Dec 14, 2022 11:16 pm I can only speak for the Carmax warranty that I purchased. It’s excellent.
We’ve had work done at the dealer and an “in network” shop. About $8k of work across 4 visits . Out of pocket we’ve paid $50.

Good to hear that …. Was it at your local Carmax or on the road?

toddthebod wrote: ↑Wed Dec 14, 2022 8:11 pm

Domadosolo wrote: ↑Wed Dec 14, 2022 8:08 pm If an employee contributes the max to a Mega Roth through a workplace plan, (allowed by in-service rollovers of after-tax contributions to a Roth IRA and, gains and employer match go to Traditional IRA),
Can the employee also contribute an additional non-deductible $6000 to a Traditional IRA, that can be then converted to a Roth IRA?

What is the max overall annual contribution across both ?

TIA

Yes, you can do both. They have independent limits.

Thanks, does the $6k exclude the in-service rollover amount? ($100 ish)

Any experience with using Carmax’s extended warranty?
Is it comparable to manufacturers CPO extended warranty?

Manufacturers CPO is broad and covered at any dealership nationwide, so it usually makes sense if you want to have some de-risking of your purchase for a period of 3-5 years.

Under consideration is a used 3yo mid size AWD SUV for the snowy cold Midwest for a 23yo F. So, safety and reliability is a high priority
Toyota RAV4
Honda CRV
Kia Sorento
Budget $25-$35k

If an employee contributes the max to a Mega Roth through a workplace plan, (allowed by in-service rollovers of after-tax contributions to a Roth IRA and, gains and employer match go to Traditional IRA),
Can the employee also contribute an additional non-deductible $6000 to a Traditional IRA, that can be then converted to a Roth IRA?

What is the max overall annual contribution across both ?

TIA

With 36 inch inseam legs, I often knock my knees (ouch) on the steering column when getting into or exiting most cars/SUVs. I currently drive an 09 Mercedes GL450 (now called GLS). I was looking to replace with an MB GLS, MB GLE, BMW X7, X5, or the Genesis GV80. 60-80k range, new, or used for the larger lux suvs. I want safety and a smooth luxurious ride for a sensitive back, and quiet enough to arrive fresh after a 3 hr ride. But not a floaty float boat .
Long legged Bogleheads, what do you drive, and what do you recommend?

I turn off water at main, and turn the water heaters to vacation (pilot).
I used to turn off the watersoftener, but after the control panel stopped working, I just leave it on. I reckon that in the worst case it will cycle through a regen cycle and do nothing, so I might have one cycle of harder than the softened water.

I think the question should be if a password manager will improve your security. I think the answer for most people is yes. A password manager promotes longer, and more random and unique passwords. If you have a good memory and can remember 40 characters random characters for 50 sites, then good for you, but for the average person the password manger is like a power armor suite. Some people will store password on a spreadsheet on an ecrypted drive. I think that will work, but you will want to be careful to make sure that it does not leak info through temp files. What I don't recommend is using the Excel encryption, which I don't think is particularly secure. Another advantage of password manager is the URL verification. Most password manag...

I found the ride in the CX-5 a bit choppy for a person with a sensitive back, especially on longer drives (30+min).
But the 20s owner loved the sportiness of the driving, and raved about the AWD mountain driving experience on winding roads.
Find a bumpy potholed road, and drive for about 30 minutes to see how it feels. YMMV

Fremdon Ferndock wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 8:31 pm U.S. Bank has the same problem -- not able to use my GV number with them and have to use my carrier number for 2FA. Don't feel it's as secure and it's the only account I have that does this.

""Risk is what’s left over when you think you’ve thought of everything." ~ Morgan Housel"

-True

vaylie wrote: ↑Wed Oct 12, 2022 1:35 am I ran into the same issue with Chase. Texts don't work on my google voice number. But the option to have them call *does*. So if you're willing to use that instead of text, then you can still use your google voice number. I personally just switched to my normal cell phone number because the inconvenience outweighs the additional security for me.

That may be the security vs convenience tradeoff.
Perhaps going to voice call to GV (given that text via GV doesn't work for Chase et al) is the more secure method. But having GV forward calls to a regular cellphone defeats the whole SIM swap exploit, we are trying to avoid.
,
So I agree with the choice you made, but not the choice you had to make

[quote=Domadosolo post_id=6882160 time=1663852320 (deleted) To OP: questions: 1. deckboard: do you have a budget? low, mid, best? >>> settled on the superior (read expensive, but cooler to the touch) Timbertech Azek. Approx $38/sqft installed. 2. heat from reflectivity depends on your house design, etc (picture?) so other than that there are assumptions. does the existing deck reflect heat or absorb heat then reflect it back into your home or home walls? >>>East facing deck, so minor heat issues 4. If your existing decking is wood, (it is) does it have the proper joists spacing for the products you are considering? >>>16” joists. 5. Are you also going to install matching synthetic railings and pickets, etc? >>>4x4 with stainless steel cabl...

I tried asking Chase. No clarity in their response

Carl53 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 05, 2022 8:56 pm

Domadosolo wrote: ↑Wed Oct 05, 2022 7:56 pm What’s the price you have seen? Per sq ft installed?

I had about 55 squft of installed decking and about 20 sqft of matching fascia, 75 total After getting partial credit for a few returns, about $21/sqft for materials and another $11 install but I helped the carpenter and he was way too cheap, but was doing it more as a favor and had previously built kitchen cabinets, furniture pieces and installed doors for me. Due to nature of job there were probably not more than two boards that were cut the same and/or installed the same.

Thanks

I have been tightening down account security, and have read that Cyber experts rank Google voice text messages as a better option for text message 2FA, as compared to Mobile phone SMS.
Because, summarily:
- GV - can be secured to a google account and password protected or security key protected.
- Mobile phone, is susceptible to a SIM swap, Text message delivery is questionable when roaming.

But some banks, like Chase or PNC do not support Google voice for text SMS.
Why do they consider mobile phone SMS acceptable?
What am I missing?

stupidkid wrote: ↑Wed Oct 05, 2022 9:33 pm We had a deck built with moisture shield cedar 8 years ago, 8000 foot elevation south facing deck in Colorado. The sun is brutal. It still looks great and is cool during the day. Friends have all manner of other deck products and I don't think anything looks or wears as well, in my opinion.

Thanks

Sandtrap wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 8:43 pm

bobblershead wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 5:52 pm "dollar cost averaging is only for people who CAN'T time the market" after lamenting not buying more on Friday

It's saying a lot that this teenager can master the concepts and so forth to say something that witty.

Awesome in that aspect alone!

j

+1

What’s the price you have seen? Per sq ft installed?

plutoblackhole wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 1:43 pm I'm not sure if anyone made the suggestion yet, but you can also use a PW manager to store "half" of each password. In other words, let the PW manager autofill your username and password, then add a string of characters not stored in the PW manager to the beginning or end of it. The unique string could be the same across all sites, or maybe something different for each site that you write down somewhere or memorize.

Trust, for a large part.
I like the approach.. so the Password Manager never has your password. This is now compliant with the ToS of the brokerage, i.e. don’t share passwords with anyone.

jebmke wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 3:35 pm

rebellovw wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 3:19 pm Not here to sell you on it - use it or don't.

Security is of extremely high importance to me - therefore I use one. And it is just one aspect of my Security plan which has taken me a while to construct.

I have also used it on and off for non-pw info like “where is the key to the wine cabinet?”

Ah, the wine 2FA - Cab or Merlot?

I am a big proponent of password managers for a few reasons: 1) It encourages users to have unique for each account. No more sharing passwords across multiple platforms, where if your password for the McDonalds app gets hacked, it can then be guessed to use on all of your bank accounts. 2) It encourages users to have secure passwords. Since you don't need to remember/type the passwords in each time with browser extensions and/or apps, you can max out the length of your passwords, with all allowable capitalizations, numbers, special characters, etc that are completely random. 3) Most offer the sharing of accounts with various degrees of giving actual access to passwords. For example, my wife and I have linked password manager accounts and s...