Search found 1625 matches

by gd
Sat Nov 14, 2020 6:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Aging parents - who pays for expenses related to medical care
Replies: 109
Views: 7476

Re: Aging parents - who pays for expenses related to medical care

Haven't carefully read all 2+ pages of posts made within 24 hours, but in my case we got CC numbers or card itself when parent was in hospital, power of attorney on all relevant accounts, and have an ongoing campaign to handle bills, more with each medical issue. Durable medical expenses and specific direct fees for care are put on card or charged to bank account. Time and personal expenses we swallow. If I had a parking fee while taking parent to medical appointment and an easy way to have them pay it (e.g. their CC in hand), they'd pay it. Visiting them in hospital or no easy way to directly charge to them, I'd shrug it off and pay it. As the burden and disruption increases, we tilt towards paying for services-- professional transport to ...
by gd
Wed Nov 11, 2020 5:37 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Foreign Tax Credit Turbotax 2020
Replies: 18
Views: 2016

Re: Foreign Tax Credit Turbotax 2020

Standard caveat to all tax software applies: The software will support it but you have to enter the data correctly. I can't say for sure whether the Interview will handle it entirely for your situation or whether you will also have to review Forms. User interface on any tax software can vary year to year. I can tell you that there are additional check boxes in Forms that are not available in the interview related to foreign tax credit. It may not be completely automated if by that you mean the interview will handle all possible scenarios in an optimal way. I'd plan on looking at the Forms, too. For maybe 5-10 years TT had a sort-of-secret checkbox in one of the general info TT worksheets (not IRS form) to force a 1116 form, and in later ye...
by gd
Tue Nov 10, 2020 5:36 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Foreign Tax Credit Turbotax 2020
Replies: 18
Views: 2016

Re: Foreign Tax Credit Turbotax 2020

For most of the last decade TT form 1116 improved slightly every year; can't tell you if it's over the automation hump this year. I agree with others that if you aren't in the form-exempt category, you probably need to spend some painful time learning the form-- definitely if you actually have something going on out-of-country beyond a US-based fund (e.g. foreign bank accounts or income, passive or otherwise). Unless the IRS has changed things dramatically this year, there are more triggers to requiring the form than simply income amount; they are in the instructions. Hint- once you understand it, take notes for use next year. I use only TT download, and would not assume the online version covers 1116 submissions equally unless you confirm ...
by gd
Mon Nov 09, 2020 3:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Robot vacuum cleaner for hardwood floor?
Replies: 46
Views: 6285

Re: Robot vacuum cleaner for hardwood floor?

Reading these comments, it's not clear to me how well the various designs deal with an older house with small rooms and furniture clutter. They're presented as being able to do entire floors with multiple rooms. Do the smart mapping ones (roomba, roborock, neato) remember different rooms and travel between them when one is done? Can they figure out alleys next to furniture near a corner, and under chairs? How can a random path model (eufy?) do an entire floor of small rooms, covering each room thoroughly before moving on to the next room- and how do they find all the rooms? Or does everyone with these things have newer houses with open floor plans and stylishly sparse or blocky furniture? I've been browsing reviews since seeing this thread,...
by gd
Tue Nov 03, 2020 6:49 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: First time homebuyer. Just got the inspection report on a 100-year-old house. Advice requested...
Replies: 113
Views: 9352

Re: First time homebuyer. Just got the inspection report on a 100-year-old house. Advice requested...

I've got an 80 year old house. If I was selling that and you asked for "concessions" based on condition, I'd suggest you buy new construction and move on to the next prospect.
by gd
Tue Oct 27, 2020 7:24 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Idiot Check: About to spend $6667 on I Bonds
Replies: 39
Views: 4292

Re: Idiot Check: About to spend $6667 on I Bonds

ivgrivchuck wrote: Tue Oct 27, 2020 1:15 am Interest rate are probably going stay pretty low for a long time. If you plan on contributing $10k annually going forward, it may well be worth it in ~10 year time span.

If you think this as a one-time investment, it's probably not worth the trouble.
Agree. I used to buy them yearly for financial diversity, not having anything other than SS that is directly inflation-adjusted. It's turned out to be a pretty inconsequential strategy, but that wasn't at all obvious 15-20 years ago. I'm hoping to be dead in another 20 years. YMMV. Mostly it depends on how you feel about investment clutter.
by gd
Mon Oct 26, 2020 6:39 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Chartering a flight on short notice?
Replies: 39
Views: 4640

Re: Chartering a flight on short notice?

It's nice of you to provide an outlet for a lot of bored people, but... unless you just go with one of the big charters, giving locations would probably have given you more actionable recommendations in the first few posts. My area is full of small and one-person charter operators that operate a lot by word-of-mouth, particularly nowadays when they're both busy and cautious about COVID.
by gd
Mon Oct 26, 2020 6:13 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Torx Screw Ratchet Set
Replies: 56
Views: 3654

Re: Torx Screw Ratchet Set

If the lightbulb is accessed only via Torx screws or otherwise obviously not intended to be accessible by user, it may be permanently attached- soldered in place, not in a socket. I found this a few years ago on a standard-brand microwave purchased 2007. LIve with it or buy a new microwave to get a working light. If you care, check the potential purchase for servicability or LED lighting before purchase. I speculate no newer microwaves allow access to innards.
by gd
Sun Oct 25, 2020 7:16 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Wireless keyboard and mouse
Replies: 22
Views: 1708

Re: Wireless keyboard and mouse

Similar years ago (Microsoft Wireless Keyboard 800, thinking MS would sell stuff that would work with their own OS), solved by replacing just mouse with wired. Intermittent mouse is more frustrating than keyboard, at least for me. I suspected that in my case it was a driver sw problem about the 2 devices into one USB dongle, possibly worse when windows was doing some mysterious background things like update prep. Having spent some years trying to get Windows-based devices to run test instruments robustly, I was never very impressed with that aspect of the product, so was predisposed to that conclusion. The keyboard still seems to drop characters, but finally realized it's because it's a poor key feel requiring hard, deep push and I'm too ch...
by gd
Fri Oct 23, 2020 5:24 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: A bit embarrassing, but I was looking at SS wrong
Replies: 60
Views: 10007

Re: A bit embarrassing, but I was looking at SS wrong

... Social Security and its inflation-protected longevity insurance ... It's one of several resources for me, and this is the role it plays. Taking it later increases that utility. Elegant answer if that fits your plan. And it fits mine, I agree with both of you. If you don't have any money and need it now you don't need longevity insurance, you need next week insurance. If you have needs, those take precedence and this discussion doesn't apply. If you don't, personal preference. Some people's preference is to have cash ASAP, some to optimize a speculative spreadsheet, mine is to optimize extreme-old-age security. If you really truly don't have a preference or can't decide, just let someone else decide and take it standard FRA.
by gd
Thu Oct 22, 2020 6:27 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: A bit embarrassing, but I was looking at SS wrong
Replies: 60
Views: 10007

Re: A bit embarrassing, but I was looking at SS wrong

Beehave wrote: Wed Oct 21, 2020 4:32 pm ... Social Security and its inflation-protected longevity insurance ...
It's one of several resources for me, and this is the role it plays. Taking it later increases that utility.
by gd
Tue Oct 20, 2020 8:53 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Moving from Morgan Stanley to Vanguard
Replies: 15
Views: 3262

Re: Moving from Morgan Stanley to Vanguard

I'm curious if anyone knows how to check what the transaction fees / commissions are at MS without calling their advisor, who always wants to drag me into a long-winded conversation. I only log onto my parents' account with them around and it's pretty awkward poking around the website with them looking over my shoulder asking incessant questions :/. I transferred a trust's accounts from MS to Fidelity recently. My intent was to sell off and transfer cash over several years; the MS broker interrupted my explanation and said "No need to drag this out, I'll sell X and Y that won't transfer, and move that cash and everything else immediately". And he did. I don't even recall any fees. Once he realized I was on the way out, he wanted ...
by gd
Sat Sep 12, 2020 6:50 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Financial advisor
Replies: 45
Views: 10838

Re: Would you fire your financial advisor for this error?

Sounds like a consensus, so I'm curious to throw out an extension to this apparently simple situation-- how much are financial advisors involved in taxes? How can they be unless they do your taxes? How much are tax preparers involved in investment strategies? How can they be unless they're deeply familiar with your financial circumstances? In this case it seems straightforward-- six figure CG gives >20% reduction on stock sale proceeds. But who is expected to be responsible for that? Seems like in the end it's the client who needs to solve the equations, and they're hampered by having abdicated the details of investments and/or taxes. Honest question, I've never understood how this works.
by gd
Thu Sep 10, 2020 8:48 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Saving on flight schools!
Replies: 20
Views: 2533

Re: Saving on flight schools!

Just in case: you almost certainly will not get your certificate in the minimum legal time; schools quoting costs based on this are misleading you. 60-70 hours total flight time is an average target depending on circumstances, plus paid ground instruction. I used to suggest $10k/year, depends on location and circumstances. Soaring or ultralights are cheaper alternatives for some. Interview schools and instructors, find someone willing to work with you to minimize costs by an aggressive ground/home study syllabus, including simulator use and adequate paid ground instruction. Not everyone will, some just want to fly. Then put in work on your own. Keep a notebook, use it after, between and before instructional sessions. See "chair fly&quo...
by gd
Mon Aug 31, 2020 7:30 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Bee keeping
Replies: 69
Views: 5997

Re: Bee keeping

This is a good example of why people should place their location in their post or at least profile. It matters here, issues vary with region and many of the replies already given might have been different- or different emphasis- with location. Standardize on all 8-frame mediums if concerned about weight and with only a few hives, unless you like buying stuff. You don't need to pick up an entire hive, just individual boxes. The only time I pick up an entire full box (it would be 40 lbs or so for 8-frame) is to lift and restack it directly next to the hive during inspections. They usually aren't full of honey. Over 10 years, I've been surprised at how much beekeeping style changed for such a traditional activity. Maybe some of it is real chan...
by gd
Tue Aug 18, 2020 6:01 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Of what use is an obsolete iPad?
Replies: 42
Views: 4463

Re: Of what use is an obsolete iPad?

OP here. Thanks, some interesting suggestions, got me motivated to reconsider as a reader or maybe music player, although my interest in music has diminished with age. Got an old Logitech squeezebox wifi radio I use for pandora, maybe I can use iPad as server like PC for my own mp3s... nope. No interest in spending money for bluetooth speaker to replace that which already works nicely (and with very good sound). So music player out. Key to actually being a *useful* book/pdf reader/exercise bike video player/bedtime wrist exerciser is easy transfer between several iPads, PC, and internet downloads. Already discovered that emailing big pdfs from old iPad is problematic, some files it just... doesn't work. Maybe because some of my email provid...
by gd
Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:49 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Of what use is an obsolete iPad?
Replies: 42
Views: 4463

Of what use is an obsolete iPad?

I'm trying to decide whether to trade in an iPad 3, cellular. Works fine, replaced with newer. It can't upgrade past iOS 9, so won't run lots of apps. Apple offers $30, and a check of eBay shows about $100. I'm not going to sell privately, too much trouble, so it's $30 or put it on my shelf for reasons I can't fathom. The question: do obsolete iPads have any utility worth $30? Why does someone pay $30-100 for an obsolete iPad that literally won't run many apps nowadays? What do they use it for?
by gd
Tue Aug 04, 2020 5:25 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What happens if you run out of money in retirement?
Replies: 175
Views: 18273

Re: What happens if you run out of money in retirement?

averagedude wrote: Tue Aug 04, 2020 4:45 pm There are many 85 year olds with no savings and little income, yet you rarely see one homeless.
They're all dead.
by gd
Tue Aug 04, 2020 5:18 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What happens if you run out of money in retirement?
Replies: 175
Views: 18273

Re: What happens if you run out of money in retirement?

Millions of people live on just bottom-level social security, from life-long low-income jobs or spousal benefits from same. They don't participate here, and probably not many participants know many if any up close. For example, I don't think anyone in my extended middle-class family except me and a cousin who helped run a shelter downtown Detroit has ever had close interaction with anyone in these circumstances. They are heavily dependent on social services for survival, and depending on their fortune with those services will have inadequate nutrition, housing, and health care (physical and mental). The less lucky frequently don't survive very long as a result. And sometimes they do, which can be a worse outcome. I knew one person fairly we...
by gd
Fri Jul 31, 2020 6:51 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Suggestions for Women's light-weight bike
Replies: 19
Views: 1456

Re: Suggestions for Women's light-weight bike

Agree with the bike shop recommendation, additionally you probably want to present it to them as a comprehensive problem-- you need a new bike and rack you can manage. Reconsidering the rack is probably more useful than the bike. Unless you now have something unusually heavy, like a balloon-tire beach bike, focusing on weight is probably not going to succeed-- after a certain point, decreasing weight slightly causes exponential increase in price. Or maybe branch out into upper body exercise.
by gd
Fri Jul 31, 2020 6:37 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Federal Tax Check Not Cashed
Replies: 15
Views: 1364

Re: Federal Tax Check Not Cashed

I mailed one for an institutional account late March, normal mail, never cashed. On advice of tax preparer waited until 2 days before 15 July due date, then submitted a EFTPS payment for the same payment (I'd set up the EFTPS account later). Independently, Fidelity Investments had locked the institutional account I used for payments because of a claimed security breach-- without bothering to tell me. ACH bounced ($25 IRS fee), and I paid the tax the day due via ACH out of my personal account. Hopefully the IRS has permanently lost that original 4-month-gone paper check, because it'll get another $25 bounced payment penalty if they ever cash it since Fidelity closed and renumbered the account due to the "security breach" they refus...
by gd
Mon Jul 27, 2020 6:03 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Driveway On Neighbor's Land
Replies: 139
Views: 6997

Re: Land Border Issues & Aggressive Neighbor - Help Wanted Please

Re: title insurance. I discovered a pre-existing boundary problem years ago caused by an amazingly bad surveying error compounded by overly-casual neighbors. My (new) neighbor and I worked out an amicable solution and invested several thousand in a new survey and deeds. I inspected my title insurance carefully, and I believe consulted with the lawyer we were using for the deed correction paperwork, and the title insurance was useless. I see no use for title insurance beyond saving what used to be a trip to the county records office to ensure ownership is unblemished, and nowadays is a half-hour internet search. It's for the mortgage companies, not you, and it doesn't cost them anything. If anyone has actual evidence that title insurance cov...
by gd
Sun Jul 12, 2020 6:25 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Who has painted their own house?
Replies: 45
Views: 4582

Re: Who has painted their own house?

Proper prep work will determine whether the paint lasts 1 year, 3 years, or 10+. Wrote a long story but this says it faster. I painted my house the same time as several neighbors (some used commercial), this was literally the time scale. There is no payback for a commercial house painter to do a good job on anything even slightly difficult. I've seen someone in my area (besides me) do it once; they were historical restoration specialists. I'd add only quality of paint and using oil base primer, although not sure that's true any more given they're constantly reformulating to detoxify. Edit: since you asked, didn't track costs or hours. Depends on house and condition. It was much cheaper than paying *good* painters or normal painters then do...
by gd
Tue Jun 23, 2020 5:44 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Why Morgan Stanley Says the 60/40 Portfolio Is Doomed
Replies: 107
Views: 13483

Re: Why Morgan Stanley Says the 60/40 Portfolio Is Doomed

Their announcements are exercises in backfill to promote stock trading. If you think their analysis may have value, try accumulating their market and specific stock research for several years and laying it out to track continuity. How did it turn out? Did they acknowledge unforecast outcomes? Did they continue to track a specific condition that had been declared highly relevant recently until it depreciated for acknowledged reasons, or did it just disappear to be replaced by the next highly relevant condition requiring stock trading?
by gd
Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:52 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: I Got Scammed To Send Amazon Gift Cards
Replies: 139
Views: 14976

Re: I Got Scammed To Send Amazon Gift Cards

Back to the OP topic of this stale thread, I just had an event that reminded me of this. Got an email from an officer of a local club to me, another officer, asking to get some gift cards for charity purposes, to be reimbursed. They had customized information in it and the context was so good that I almost fell for at least the first contact, at the last second sending a "is this you" email to the supposed sender (it wasn't, he thinks I'm an idiot now). I am a suspicious person by nature. I assume it was a scammer culling obscure organization web pages by hand for plausible sender/receiver pairs. If it's AI/bot tech, it's gotten a *lot* better lately.
by gd
Thu May 28, 2020 5:58 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard High Dividend Yield Index Funds
Replies: 243
Views: 40805

Re: Vanguard High Dividend Yield Index Fund

JustinR wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 9:39 am
KEotSK66 wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 9:28 am frequently when one invests for dividends/income they don't care about relative performance, they're concerned with positive cash flow
So they're basically kindergarten investors.
Best be sure of your position before sarcasm. I manage a trust. Under some circumstances total taxes on CGs are about 30%, dividends 0%.
by gd
Sat May 23, 2020 9:18 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: CapitalOne Venture would not forgive annual fee
Replies: 37
Views: 6853

Re: CapitalOne Venture would not forgive annual fee

PhillyBird wrote: Sat May 23, 2020 7:34 am Thanks everyone for your replies. In my situation, I opened the Venture card for travel related spend only (especially hotels.com) as I get more lucrative rewards for everyday spend from other cards.
Maybe I'm about to learn something... I'm not aware a Cap1 Venture card gives a premium for accruing points by using it on travel related spending vs. non-travel spending. I thought it accumulates points at the same rate for all charges made, but you can *redeem* the points more favorably by claiming rebates on specifically travel charges, as opposed to, say, asking for cash back. I see no reason to use the card only for travel-related charges- you only need one travel-related charge, and that's when you claim the rebate.
by gd
Sat May 23, 2020 6:09 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: CapitalOne Venture would not forgive annual fee
Replies: 37
Views: 6853

Re: CapitalOne Venture would not forgive annual fee

I buy stuff with their credit card, accumulate points on all purchases at the same rate, and get rebates on any airline ticket purchases when I cash in the points-- which now looks like it'll be next year. I don't get more points for travel-related charges that I am aware of, so the pandemic does nothing except delay my rebate claim. They don't expire. There's no reason for them to waive the annual fee. What do you do differently?
by gd
Fri Apr 17, 2020 8:44 am
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: No need to invest for Europeans?
Replies: 151
Views: 13486

Re: No need to invest for Europeans?

Yes. Average household income in my very diverse county of 1 million people is a shade under $110k and that's below average for the metro area. I could poll my immigrant neighbors about how "third world" this standard of living seems to them. Sheesh. I have not made my point clear. I consider standard of living in Germany equal or better than the US, with emphasis on different things-- quality and consistency of housing over size, and job/health care stability over opportunities for lucrative careers, for example. Our retired German renter worked as a store clerk, no savings I know of, had and continues to have a much nicer life than a comparable person in the US blue-collar town I live in outside a major HCOL city. Most of my sp...
by gd
Wed Apr 15, 2020 7:27 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How to Develop a Relationship with a Local Bank
Replies: 15
Views: 1816

Re: How to Develop a Relationship with a Local Bank

I read the first 2 sentences and had to look at the poster to see if this was a resurrected thread I'd done a decade ago and forgotten about. Seriously, same bank buyouts. Finally moved from BofA to a local savings bank 13 years ago, and every service got better, online and in person. I oversee a relative's BofA account and see nothing better in it. I'm not a business, but have done overseas wires and medallion guarantees, all better than BofA. The local tellers and bank manager know me and my wife by sight. And (pre COVID19) they have coffee and candy, sponsor local works. Keep looking locally.
by gd
Wed Apr 15, 2020 6:53 am
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: No need to invest for Europeans?
Replies: 151
Views: 13486

Re: No need to invest for Europeans?

70% pension sounds great but does it have a cost-of-living or inflation adjustment? If not, I would want some equities growing alongside it to compensate. 50 % of it is covered by the income of my future younger colleagues. 50 % is covered by stock/bond/real estate investments. So it does adapt to inflation theoretically, but there are no guarantees. Not what I meant. Does your annual pension income adjust or is it fixed at the dollar amount of the 1st year? I can only speak of Germany. The answer is "yes, of course". It's the kind of thing that never comes into question there, a basic part of a developed country's society. This kind of discussion with German friends always ends in an incredulous look followed by a head shake. It...
by gd
Mon Apr 13, 2020 7:03 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Good Documentaries on the 1929 Crash?
Replies: 3
Views: 655

Re: Good Documentaries on the 1929 Crash?

Not as passively entertaining, but this classic book is probably more insightful than documentaries you're likely to find:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Crash,_1929
by gd
Mon Apr 13, 2020 6:57 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Hand Truck Tire Replacement
Replies: 19
Views: 1185

Re: Hand Truck Tire Replacement

Not a first world problem at all, that would be "amazon shipping of hand carts is really expensive, should I buy Prime just for this?", followed by "how do I throw this away, it doesn't fit in my trash bag/bin". :D Agree you're half way there, no need to take the rest of the wheel off just replace the tube given the split rim. Your harder problem is probably buying the correct tube, recommend 1) local hardware store 2) Harbor Freight Tools if open, 3) area big-box, 4) mail order. Take the old tube to the local HW store if they haven't been put out of business yet and give them a chance to order one. HF or big box you're at the vagaries of their stock and whoever happens to be walking down the aisle. Amazon you're on your...
by gd
Tue Apr 07, 2020 8:13 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: good books on lawn care for beginners?
Replies: 25
Views: 2058

Re: good books on lawn care for beginners?

There is a, ah, growing movement advocating anything from non-monoculture lawns (e.g. encouraging stuff like clover) to totally non-turf alternatives. It's a religious war; whatever group you are not in may consider your opinions a personal affront to the very core of their lifestyle and value system. Search "alternatives to grass lawn" or any of the thousands of variations, and see where it takes you. Perfect green monoculture lawns are a relatively recent phenomenon, if you're really bored research how that developed.

Our library has been closed for weeks.
by gd
Sun Mar 29, 2020 7:18 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: stove with timed turn-off?
Replies: 13
Views: 1121

Re: stove with timed turn-off?

Cubicle wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2020 6:55 pm My parent's electrically controlled gas oven has an auto off timer.
Do you know the brand and, ideally, model?
by gd
Sun Mar 29, 2020 6:56 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Slash your cell phone bill!
Replies: 43
Views: 8935

Re: Slash your cell phone bill!

I assume the website lack of clarity on multiple lines means those are per line. I'm in the market, unhappy with Comcast xfinity mobile making 1 GB/mo mandatory from their previous 100MB free, upping my 2 lines from $5-6/mo to $16-17. For someone forced to be a Comcast customer for home internet, those aren't competitive for a minimal data user with access to xfinity wifi lots of places.
by gd
Mon Mar 23, 2020 6:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: old (dry) pasta
Replies: 29
Views: 2549

Re: old (dry) pasta

2 years past stamped date for dried pasta is typical for food pantries, I think. I used to volunteer in one and routinely took home food expired past their extended limits, and considered dried pasta immortal if it was not discolored. The stuff that I stopped taking was basically chemical stew; the more chemicals they used, the less it kept. Products like super convenient instant meals got foul far faster-- not so much microbial as chemical, going off taste as the food-like product degraded. I gradually stopped eating that stuff even new mostly from those experiences.

This has some links:
https://www.secondharvestmadison.org/pa ... uct-dating
by gd
Sat Mar 14, 2020 6:54 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How will the crisis affect classic car prices (In USA and Europe)?
Replies: 9
Views: 1141

Re: How will the crisis affect classic car prices (In USA and Europe)?

Wild guess: I'd think that if it's something an upper middle class person might buy, it'll go down. Something very exotic, it'll go up. Moderately wealthy people need to shed expenses, very wealthy people see buying opportunities and want to diversify assets. So probably down, unless someone just wants to fill the parking garage under their 3rd house. Bigger effect will be time on market.
by gd
Thu Mar 05, 2020 6:31 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Lamenting time lost and squandered opportunities
Replies: 31
Views: 3427

Re: Lamenting time lost and squandered opportunities

Does the lamentation and current fear accomplish anything useful? If it doesn't, you might consider working on that as well as the investing. Seriously; some people can use it to provoke action, others just get dragged down in it.
by gd
Thu Mar 05, 2020 6:25 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Differences between Federal and Prime money market funds??
Replies: 25
Views: 2706

Re: Differences between Federal and Prime money market funds??

I used to have Prime, and recall years ago Vanguard informed me I must use Federal as sweep account after a regulation change. I do not recall them asking my opinion, rather that it was a mandatory thing. DIdn't pay much attention since I don't think I was even getting enough interest for a tax form.
by gd
Fri Feb 28, 2020 8:12 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any medical insurance plans reduce predatory billing?
Replies: 1
Views: 287

Any medical insurance plans reduce predatory billing?

I believe it's widely accepted, even by medical people, that many health care organizations game the billing system to maximize revenue. I'm coming up for Medicare eligibility, with many choices. Are there any approaches to insurance (trad. Medicare, low deductable Medicare Advantage, minimalist MA, whatever) that discourage billers from successfully playing me? This might involve either discouraging marginal billing by the provider before it is attempted, or having the insurance whack down marginal claims before I get them. Taken to extremes this would be an insurance avoided by providers. I suppose I'm looking for the balance where it's avoided only by unscrupulous providers. Optional background rant: this is provoked by my still getting ...
by gd
Sun Feb 16, 2020 7:15 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Alternatives to Edward Jones
Replies: 44
Views: 5980

Re: Alternatives to Edward Jones

Thanks all, I may try to attend the presentation next month, and will post a report if so. To repeat, it is a presentation on scams and fraud-- not investing-- given for free at the local senior center. I am not involved in it in any way. This sort of presentation happens all the time, various topics, by all sorts of parties, everywhere. There is no indication EJ is using it deviously, or as a hard sales pitch. They will no doubt make their literature available, and that is reasonable. The risk of their audience losing critical money to scams is greater than what they will likely harvest from them as customers. I'm a supporter of local brick-and-mortar businesses, but the choices for such financial services seem treacherous, and there is ap...
by gd
Sat Feb 15, 2020 6:46 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Alternatives to Edward Jones
Replies: 44
Views: 5980

Re: Alternatives to Edward Jones

Thanks for the replies. It wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. I'll look into the companies mentioned, I don't keep track of this stuff and have little clue what the brokerage world looks like nowadays. I am not involved in the event. These are very common, many businesses provide such genuinely useful seminars in return for (hopefully) discreet advertising. No one else is knocking down doors to do this. There were a few pointers in this direction, but I'm still looking for any consumer organizations giving suggestions about dealing with investment counselors and brokers. E.g. consumer-oriented pamphlets listing stuff like "don't allow brokers to act without your explicit permission", "keep investments few enough so you re...
by gd
Fri Feb 14, 2020 9:26 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Alternatives to Edward Jones
Replies: 44
Views: 5980

Alternatives to Edward Jones

My local senior services organization is sponsoring a seminar on financial fraud. Presented by Edward Jones. Safe to assume there will be mention of and material about their services. Let's skip all the EJ stuff and obvious irony, this thread is looking for specific advice and not an EJ rant. EJ offers a real office people can drive to and walk in, full of pleasant people, to assist in personal finance and investing. They'll have just given what will probably be a genuinely useful seminar. Their audience is people who have concern about money but little interest in the nuts and bolts of investing, and are uneasy about throwing their money into the confusing, scam-filled internet. They aren't going to be competent at sniffing out wanna-be Be...
by gd
Fri Feb 14, 2020 8:24 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity is late with 1099
Replies: 49
Views: 7266

Re: Fidelity is late with 1099

Esoteric funds will often have late reporting, it can easily stretch past February. Other reasons are funds that recharacterize dividends and capital after year's end (not sure of terminology), to play games with income vs. capital. Not an expert, but my understanding is that this has some value to unusual tax situations such as trusts with distinctions between income vs. capital a trustee wishes to circumvent, or grandfathered tax treatments of old trusts that don't play well with modern investing strategies. Off topic, but it can justify an otherwise-high fund fee in some circumstances. I'd guess they're also snapped up by people thinking they're getting something for nothing (seeing high income, not aware of the diminishing capital).
by gd
Fri Feb 14, 2020 8:07 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help Me Break Free From Raymond James
Replies: 47
Views: 18665

Re: Help Me Break Free From Raymond James

CincySkyline wrote: Thu Feb 13, 2020 9:09 pm Folks, Can you buy Vanguard ETFs with money in your RJ Accounts?
You should start a new topic to ask this new question.
by gd
Tue Feb 11, 2020 7:41 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Benefits of buying things secondhand?
Replies: 93
Views: 8878

Re: Benefits of buying things secondhand?

Mimi2 wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:10 am Second had appliance stores are usually freestanding businesses. If they have been I’m business a while the risk is really low. I bought an upright freezer, the compressor died . The shop replaced it. I used it for 10 years. My second one was bought new, just great but no better than the first.
My ever-trusting spouse once bought a washer from a business for what we thought was a short-term rental situation. They told her it was <2 years old, my inspection afterwards indicated more like 10+. It lasted about 3-4 months. They were... uninterested in discussing it. We replaced it with a new unit costing only twice as much, lasted over 15 years. $20 on craigslist, maybe risk it.
by gd
Tue Feb 11, 2020 7:09 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Internet and basic tv options?
Replies: 44
Views: 4087

Re: Internet and basic tv options?

I similarly have no other internet options (including DSL), but don't use TV. To reduce overall media bill, I switched landline from copper to comcast digital voice (cell service at that time unusable at home and we want landline anyway), bought special digital voice modem (no comparable problems with connection) and recently went with xfinity mobile cell phones. The others just reduce the extortion, but xfinity mobile is a genuine good deal. Less so when they start charging for minimum 1GB next month. Our modem rental was quite expensive back when they tried *hard* to discourage user-provided modems; you might make sure you know exactly how much that costs, consider taking a chance and revise that position, buying an approved model new. On...
by gd
Mon Jan 27, 2020 5:08 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Executor of an estate
Replies: 86
Views: 10453

Re: Executor of an estate

cheese_breath wrote: Mon Jan 27, 2020 3:06 pm (snip)
I see two problems here. (1) You asked the wrong person. (2) The FA answered the question instead of deferring to someone with the necessary qualifications.

edit: Fortunately you came here and the right person (Gill) saw your post.
This has been a very useful thread for me-- never had anyone suggest executors and trustees had significant personal liability risks, and I'm going to keep that in mind-- but in the end, we're all anonymous internet posters, even Gill.

Basis of inherited assets seems like something a FA should be able to give basic information about. I'd part company with that one.
by gd
Mon Jan 27, 2020 4:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Amount of cash wedding gift?
Replies: 57
Views: 6192

Re: Amount of cash wedding gift?

8foot7 wrote: Mon Jan 27, 2020 11:13 am You barely know this person and see them once every half decade? Then this is a fishing expedition for a gift. I do not think highly of these types of "invitations" which are clearly sent to solicit gifts and not because my attendance is actually wanted. I might send $50, or perhaps a gift card to Target or something.
No, that was not what was happening. I gotta just stop posting here.