Search found 3606 matches

by JupiterJones
Wed Mar 27, 2024 4:23 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: how to open paper milk carton "cleanly"?
Replies: 25
Views: 1664

Re: how to open paper milk carton "cleanly"?

Maybe something like this would help? http://www.brixdesign.com/422/tiptop-carton-opener Interesting. Thanks, but it's largely (though not exclusively) the second part (of forming the spout) that is the issue. So, the first part of just separating the carton top to begin with can lead to a messy opening already, due to the excess glue cited in OP. By the time I go to form the spout, it can be so hard, especially if the first part did not result in a clean separation. And then when I go tugging on the carton to form the spout, the carton inevitably seems to get frayed and misshapen, which leads to a spout that doesn't have the sturdy triangular design needed to pour effectively. The video doesn't really show it until the end, but it's desig...
by JupiterJones
Wed Mar 27, 2024 4:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Washington DC trip ideas
Replies: 20
Views: 793

Re: Washington DC trip ideas

I'd consider the Udvar-Hazy Center to be worth a visit if you can get out that way.
by JupiterJones
Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:53 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Need Help Finding a Hobby
Replies: 76
Views: 6392

Re: Need Help Finding a Hobby

Music I listen to one album a day. When I was a kid we never had such access to whole albums as YouTube allows you today. My daily dose of listening to one Rock album is so enjoyable. I started doing this around 6 months ago, missing only a handful of days. I listen with headphones, undisturbed and you're correct- it's very enjoyable. Today's album selection was The Grand Illusion by Styx, 1977. Oh man, that is an absolute classic. My favorite Styx is probably Pieces of Eight, but that one is a close second. We don't do it daily, but yes, sitting down and listening--as in doing nothing but actually listening --to an album is wonderful. Our favorites tend to be from the '70s, because the album, as a cohesive art form, was probably at its pe...
by JupiterJones
Thu Mar 07, 2024 1:34 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Wordle [Anyone playing Wordle?]
Replies: 393
Views: 43940

Re: Wordle [Anyone playing Wordle?]

Horologium wrote: Thu Mar 07, 2024 1:09 pm Question for you Wordle folks: Do you consider it "cheating" to use a site like https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/ to see if a word has already been used for a solution for Wordle?
However you enjoy playing it is okay with me. I personally wouldn't do it, but I do use that website to remind myself of the week's answers, since (as I mentioned awhile back) I play Wordle weird. :-)

You are making an assumption that Wordle words will never be re-used. I'd imagine at some point they will.
by JupiterJones
Thu Mar 07, 2024 7:29 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Alaska trip without taking a cruise - help
Replies: 53
Views: 4879

Re: Alaska trip without taking a cruise - help

If you make it up to Fairbanks, you might want to look into staying a night or two at Chena Hot Springs, about an hour or so outside of town. Depending on your luck and when you go, you might catch the Northern Lights!

[Edit: Ah, I see now that the OP is going in July, so the Aurora chances will be pretty slim.]
by JupiterJones
Mon Jan 22, 2024 9:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone Ever Retire With a 6-Month Notice?
Replies: 50
Views: 4682

Re: Anyone Ever Retire With a 6-Month Notice?

Wow, is 6 months really a thing? That's news to me.

I don't get it. If you found a new job, you'd give, what? Two weeks' notice? Maybe four? How is retiring any different?
by JupiterJones
Mon Jan 15, 2024 2:13 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Does Anyone Play GO?
Replies: 20
Views: 2561

Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Have a board, stones, etc., but never play. It's tough to find people to play with, and unless you just do a 9x9 or 13x13 game, it's quite a time commitment.

Maybe I'll get back into it one of these days...
by JupiterJones
Fri Dec 29, 2023 1:57 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing (BOOK)
Replies: 16
Views: 2910

Re: The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing (BOOK)

Funny you should mention it. I've been re-reading (maybe for the third time?) the book over the holidays.

Be nice to have an updated Third Edition one of these days!
by JupiterJones
Thu Dec 21, 2023 10:21 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: how much do you think you need to retire?
Replies: 295
Views: 62311

Re: how much do you think you need to retire?

EnjoyIt wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 7:27 pm the math is right
Thank you. That was the whole point of my post. :sharebeer
by JupiterJones
Thu Dec 21, 2023 5:36 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: how much do you think you need to retire?
Replies: 295
Views: 62311

Re: how much do you think you need to retire?

As a simple example, if you think your expenses will be $50,000 a year in retirement, and assuming that will all be taxed (i.e., it not coming from a Roth IRA or something), and assuming an overall tax rate of, say, 15%, then you'll really need to plan on withdrawing closer to $59,000. The math: expenses divided by (1 - taxrate). So... $50,000/(1-0.15) = $50,000/0.85 = $58,823.53 To confirm: $58,823.53 * 0.15 = $8,823.53 in taxes, leaving you with $50,000. You are not factoring in standard deduction and if married that would be close to $30K. Taxes would be on the 20K and those might be capitol gains. By "overall tax rate" I meant the effective tax rate, after taking into account deductions and everything else. Total taxes divide...
by JupiterJones
Thu Dec 21, 2023 5:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: how much do you think you need to retire?
Replies: 295
Views: 62311

Re: how much do you think you need to retire?

Yes, it needs to be taken into account at some point in your planning. As a simple example, if you think your expenses will be $50,000 a year in retirement, and assuming that will all be taxed (i.e., it not coming from a Roth IRA or something), and assuming an overall tax rate of, say, 15%, then you'll really need to plan on withdrawing closer to $59,000. The math: expenses divided by (1 - taxrate). So... $50,000/(1-0.15) = $50,000/0.85 = $58,823.53 To confirm: $58,823.53 * 0.15 = $8,823.53 in taxes, leaving you with $50,000. Your example is missing too much detail to be of much value. One can live on well over $50k and pay well under 15% in taxes. See above. One can also find themselves in the 22% or 24% tax bracket if they have a large p...
by JupiterJones
Thu Dec 21, 2023 11:16 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What should my withdrawal rate be in retirement?
Replies: 11
Views: 1860

Re: how much do you think you need to retire?

0tacks_fall wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 11:08 am Does your projected expenses include taxes that you would need to pay?
Yes, it needs to be taken into account at some point in your planning.

As a simple example, if you think your expenses will be $50,000 a year in retirement, and assuming that will all be taxed (i.e., it not coming from a Roth IRA or something), and assuming an overall tax rate of, say, 15%, then you'll really need to plan on withdrawing closer to $59,000.

The math: expenses divided by (1 - taxrate). So... $50,000/(1-0.15) = $50,000/0.85 = $58,823.53

To confirm: $58,823.53 * 0.15 = $8,823.53 in taxes, leaving you with $50,000.
by JupiterJones
Thu Dec 21, 2023 11:08 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: how much do you think you need to retire?
Replies: 295
Views: 62311

Re: how much do you think you need to retire?

How much do I think you need to retire? I'll just say a small fraction of what many others here think they'll need. Seriously. I knew that this forum skewed rich, but wow. :shock: Anyway, FWIW, here's how I'm getting our number, which I suppose is more interesting than the number itself: We track our current expenses, so we have a pretty good handle on what we're spending now. This is adjusted based on anticipated changes in retirement. More for travel, a lot more for healthcare, etc. I like to work with nominal values, so those retirement expenses are then converted to future dollars Add more to cover taxes Subtract some to account for SS and maybe a small amount of fun side-hustle work The result is the amount that our investments will n...
by JupiterJones
Thu Dec 21, 2023 10:47 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Wordle [Anyone playing Wordle?]
Replies: 393
Views: 43940

Re: Wordle [Anyone playing Wordle?]

retireIn2020 wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2023 10:43 pm
MidwestMike wrote: Sat Jan 15, 2022 8:48 am Anybody playing Wordle?
Nope, I like Jeopardy!
I like Wordle and Jeopardy!

(And Connections, Redactle, the NYT crossword...)
by JupiterJones
Fri Dec 08, 2023 9:53 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Plan my retirement travel for me!
Replies: 65
Views: 10986

Re: Plan my retirement travel for me!

Would love to see much of Europe and UK, also Japan. NZ and Australia again would be nice. I’d probably want a bit more experience before heading to places a bit more exotic than that. Similar to a great tip from Rick Steves for people new-ish to European travel: When planning your itinerary or a series of vacations, start in the northwest (as in the UK), then proceed roughly south/southeasterly to places like Spain/France/Germany/Italy, and then further into Eastern Europe (Poland, Greece, former Yugoslavian countries, etc.) This takes you from most-to-least "America-like" and eases you into the culture shock. :-) And speaking of Rick Steves, my recommendation would be to watch a bunch of his shows if you haven't already. There ...
by JupiterJones
Thu Nov 30, 2023 9:05 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Learning to fill own taxes
Replies: 33
Views: 4395

Re: Learning to fill own taxes

I learned to do our taxes manually (on paper) and then use tax software to confirm. If the numbers are too far off from each other, I track down the discrepancy and learn from it. I eventually set up a simple spreadsheet that covers our exact tax situation and I still use it to this day. Similar here. Started doing my own taxes back in ye olden days when getting the paper forms from the library and filling everything out at the kitchen table with a calculator by my side was "normal". No software at all. No e-filing. The instructions that come with the forms are actually pretty good at telling you what to do, although they don't really give you the big picture view of why you're doing it. (Something like Mike Piper's inexpensive b...
by JupiterJones
Wed Nov 22, 2023 8:24 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Hey Men, what are you wearing to the gym?
Replies: 123
Views: 17948

Re: Hey Men, what are you wearing to the gym?

Zdex wrote: Wed Nov 22, 2023 7:23 am Another pro tip: when you wash your synthetics/nylon/polyester blends, cold water only and no dryer. Hang air dry only.
livesoft wrote: Wed Nov 22, 2023 7:33 am Pro tip: Wash your nylon, polyester, cotton, blends, and synthetics in hot water. [...] Dry in dryer on anything but hot (gentle or medium is fine).
Well now I'm just confused.
by JupiterJones
Mon Nov 13, 2023 9:12 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Good places to visit in early December
Replies: 12
Views: 1588

Re: Good places to visit in early December

Las Vegas?

Some of the shows will be dark, but you might get some good deals.
by JupiterJones
Thu Nov 09, 2023 5:29 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Best books on personal finance and investing organized into a "curriculum?"
Replies: 43
Views: 5231

Re: Best books on personal finance and investing organized into a "curriculum?"

Target2019 wrote: Thu Nov 09, 2023 5:03 pm As someone else mentioned, actually building a curriculum would mean thinking of learning objectives, and creating simple lesson plans. It doesn't have to be that complicated, and you can focus on one objective at a time.

Edit to Add:
How about this curriculum?
A “Standard” Personal Finance Curriculum is designed as a high school personal finance course...
Reminds me that Khan Academy has a fairly new Financial Literacy course that looks pretty good: https://www.khanacademy.org/college-car ... l-literacy
  • Budgeting and Saving
  • Consumer Credit
  • Financial Goals
  • Loans and Debt
  • Insurance
  • Investments and Retirement
  • Scams and Fraud
  • Careers and Education
  • Taxes and Tax Forms
by JupiterJones
Thu Nov 09, 2023 5:00 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Best books on personal finance and investing organized into a "curriculum?"
Replies: 43
Views: 5231

Re: Best books on personal finance and investing organized into a "curriculum?"

I"ve posted this rec before, and I'll do it again: "Personal Finance for Dummies" by Eric Tyson.

To me, that's the first book in the curriculum. It's the "survey" class, setting the student up for the deeper dives all the other books will get into.

No sense teaching someone about the fine points of investing when they've got credit card debt, don't know how to budget, and don't know how insurance or taxes work. (Although once they do get that all sorted out, the book does cover investing too.)
by JupiterJones
Wed Oct 25, 2023 5:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Building a House -- Review my modular house floor plan
Replies: 53
Views: 6425

Re: Building a House -- Review my modular house floor plan

I'd question going with an open-concept plan: * Apparently, the popularity of it goes back to home reno shows on HGTV . The execs figured out that, to get more men to watch their shows (which had been largely drawing a female audience), it helped to have stuff getting torn down. Preferably with a sledge hammer. So just about every show involved knocking down a wall to "open things up", whether it was really needed or not. * This helped make open concept floor plans super-trendy, and to new homes being designed that way. At first people liked it, claiming that they could "keep an eye on the kids" while fixing dinner and all that, and that they liked to "entertain" from the kitchen, etc. * But then COVID hit. And...
by JupiterJones
Wed Oct 18, 2023 9:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: how to get started exploring viability of business ideas
Replies: 10
Views: 3342

Re: how to get started exploring viability of business ideas

- I'm bilingual, so I could tutor students in my native language - I'm bilingual, so I could offer to do translations in the technical field (I did this for about a year out of school while I was looking for an engineering job) - I play bass in a few bands, and could offer bass lessons This is where I'd start, and in fact I do something similar as a side-hustle. Leveraging your expertise/skills to provide a particular service is easy to start doing, scales as big or as small as you have time/inclination for, and can be easily stopped if you decide you hate it. ...I could sell my design plans I make for hobbyist guitar-builders online ... I design quilting patterns I also do something similar to this, to a very small degree: Create a piece ...
by JupiterJones
Wed Oct 18, 2023 8:43 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How much commute is too much?
Replies: 82
Views: 6817

Re: How much commute is too much?

Currently I spend between 1-3hrs a day in traffic. That would be too much for me. Let's say your average is 2 hours a day. Switching to a job with a commute of 30 minutes a day (about my personal upper limit, honestly) would save you 1.5 hours a day, which is the equivalent of your current boss letting you go home at 3:30 instead of 5:00... permanently! Add it all up, and those extra 90 minutes become 375 hours per year. That's over two weeks of your life spent behind the wheel, every year you work at that job. If you're in your early 30s right now, let's assume, you can expect to have about 3,000 weeks left in your entire remaining lifetime. You gotta spend those weeks like someone who only has $3,000 to their name spends their dollars. :...
by JupiterJones
Mon Sep 25, 2023 6:22 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Full solar ECLIPSE April 2024!
Replies: 80
Views: 9593

Re: Full solar ECLIPSE April 2024!

Closest spot under the path is about 2 hours (normally). 3 hours if we want a longer eclipse time. I figure if we leave at the crack-o'-dawn, that shouldn't be too bad. Then just hang out for a few hours afterward for the traffic to die down. Or maybe stay that night? Update: That last option is what we're now doing (so far anyway). Found an Air B&B for Monday night in a charming town just inside the line. (Absolutely nothing to be had Sunday night). I figure we'll drive up fairly early that morning, giving ourselves plenty of time to get some distance into the path of totality. Afterwards, we'll have to fight some traffic to get back to the Air B&B, but not nearly as much as we would if we had to get all the way back to Nashville....
by JupiterJones
Mon Sep 25, 2023 8:58 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Full solar ECLIPSE April 2024!
Replies: 80
Views: 9593

Re: Full solar ECLIPSE April 2024!

So I guess we're getting up early that morning and driving, with a full tank of gas and plenty of snacks! Depending upon where you'll be driving, you may not be driving very fast or very far. If the previous total eclipse in the USA is any indication, many/most places with any degree of civilization (and some without much!) had serious gridlock. You might not encounter that, but be prepared. Allow a LOT of extra time if you need to drive to get to totality. The difference between totality and "almost totality' is... a big deal. Yeah, for the last one we were lucky to have some relatives about 45 minutes (normally) outside of Nashville who lived pretty much smack-dab under the line of maximum totality. They made a whole party out of it...
by JupiterJones
Sat Sep 23, 2023 3:17 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Full solar ECLIPSE April 2024!
Replies: 80
Views: 9593

Re: Full solar ECLIPSE April 2024!

Well I'm kicking myself for not booking a room as soon as I read this thread. Looks like things are sold out pretty much all throughout the path of totality. One room I did find at a Hampton in on the very edge of the path (so, not nearly as long of a full eclipse) was over $700. :o

So I guess we're getting up early that morning and driving, with a full tank of gas and plenty of snacks!
by JupiterJones
Wed Sep 13, 2023 8:19 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: retirement laptop?
Replies: 146
Views: 14278

Re: retirement laptop?

dak wrote: Tue Sep 12, 2023 2:29 pm
02nz wrote: Tue Sep 12, 2023 9:20 am
JupiterJones wrote: Tue Sep 12, 2023 9:15 am There was a time when there were a lot of differences between MacOS and Windows, and the learning curve was indeed shallow.
I think you mean that the learning curve was steep, not shallow.
JJ had it correct, the common usage is exactly backwards.
Yes, thanks. You can think of your skill/knowledge as being like a stock that you're charting. When it grows slowly, the curve is shallow, and when it grows quickly, the curve is steep.

And yes, I'm well aware that my displaying this sort of annoying pedantry is doing nothing to dispel stereotypes about Mac owners. :-)
by JupiterJones
Tue Sep 12, 2023 9:15 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: retirement laptop?
Replies: 146
Views: 14278

Re: retirement laptop?

There was a time when there were a lot of differences between MacOS and Windows, and the learning curve was indeed shallow.

But nowadays it's more like the difference between driving a Ford and a Toyota. Maybe a few things are in new spots, but the overall driving is pretty much the same.

I still pay the premium for Macs because they're very good computers that have a relatively long useful life. (But iPhones? Not worth it IMHO.)
by JupiterJones
Thu Sep 07, 2023 8:33 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: VBIAX. Why not?
Replies: 70
Views: 11560

Re: VBIAX. Why not?

Just to save any more people from having to look it up:

VBIAX = Vanguard Balanced Index Fund Admiral Shares

"The fund invests roughly 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds by tracking two indexes that represent broad barometers for the U.S. equity and U.S. taxable bond markets."

FBALX = Fidelity Balanced Fund

"Investing approximately 60% of assets in stocks and other equity securities and the remainder in bonds and other debt securities, including lower-quality debt securities, when its outlook is neutral. Investing at least 25% of total assets in fixed-income senior securities (including debt securities and preferred stock.) Engaging in transactions that have a leveraging effect on the fund."
by JupiterJones
Wed Sep 06, 2023 11:03 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 8 year investing anniversary
Replies: 31
Views: 3100

Re: 8 year investing anniversary

tman9940 wrote: Wed Sep 06, 2023 10:47 am When you say Bonds, I’m assuming you mean my small cap allocation, along with my international.
Sorry--I misread your post, but I did mean bonds. So I guess the question now is... why no bonds at all?
International is just to get some exposure to more worldwide companies. I’m of the thinking America is where I want the overwhelmingly majority of my invested money.
Fair enough, but why is that? If you see an advantage to having international exposure, why not take more advantage of it than just a wee sliver? (You might want to check out the wiki on this topic and, among other things, take note of the Efficient Frontier graphs.)
by JupiterJones
Wed Sep 06, 2023 10:52 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: cute small towns
Replies: 100
Views: 13526

Re: cute small towns

abner kravitz wrote: Mon Aug 28, 2023 1:27 pm I do 81 to SC frequently. Staunton VA is my typical layover. Nice small town with some good restaurants.
Another vote for Staunton. We overnighted there (Frederick House) a few years back on our way to DC and loved it!

Probably didn't hurt that we wound up picking a night where there was some sort of downtown festival going on. All the shops were open late, some bands were playing, wine tasting, people strolling about having a good time... really charming.
by JupiterJones
Wed Sep 06, 2023 10:39 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 8 year investing anniversary
Replies: 31
Views: 3100

Re: 8 year investing anniversary

Some questions you might want to think about:

What's your rationale for including bonds, and, given that they're there, why only 3%? I get that lower and lower bond portions are sort of the rage these days, but wow... that's pretty low. [Edited to add: Whoops--misread the post. Yes, there are no bonds there at all, which raises the similar question of "why 0%"?]

Same question about international: Why a scant 2% of equities? What's your goal for having them there, and it it served by such a low allocation?

I'm assuming you don't have a 401k or anything like that available, and that you don't have any debt (or at least high-interest debt).
by JupiterJones
Mon Sep 04, 2023 10:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Emergency Fund
Replies: 32
Views: 4407

Re: Emergency Fund

I see plenty of online sources saying 3-6 months living expenses. What are your thoughts and opinions? An emergency fund is a must-have for anyone in the early and mid-stages of building wealth. (Once you accumulate a ton of money in general, it become less important to earmark specific emergency funds.) Three-to-six months is a common recommendation, and it's not bad. You can always increase it as you get on a more sound financial footing. For example, start with three months (or even one month) while you knock out debt and save up for known impending expenses. Then bump it to six or higher after that. Two things to keep in mind: People often talk about the "emergency" being job loss, and you hear things like "3 months if y...
by JupiterJones
Thu Aug 31, 2023 1:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: "Don't leave home without it" when traveling overseas
Replies: 58
Views: 6062

Re: "Don't leave home without it" when traveling overseas

Depending on where you're going/staying, aspirin and a washcloth.
by JupiterJones
Wed Aug 30, 2023 7:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Question for Excel gurus
Replies: 25
Views: 1968

Re: Question for Excel gurus

Tom_T wrote: Wed Aug 30, 2023 3:00 pm Ok, I've got enough ideas on how to approach this. I may want to learn VBA just for fun, anyway. Thank you all.
And apparently Excel now supports Python, although it sends your code to the cloud for execution, which is kinda weird, but still...
by JupiterJones
Wed Aug 30, 2023 4:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Mom wants to transfer car title to daughter but keep car. Bad idea?
Replies: 30
Views: 4045

Re: Mom wants to transfer car title to daughter but keep car. Bad idea?

Thanks for the replies so far and for the suggestion about TOD (which I didn't know about). Unfortunately, according to nolo.com at least, the Mom's state is not one that allows this. (I'll edit the top post to mention this.)
by JupiterJones
Wed Aug 30, 2023 3:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Mom wants to transfer car title to daughter but keep car. Bad idea?
Replies: 30
Views: 4045

Mom wants to transfer car title to daughter but keep car. Bad idea?

A friend's mom (a retired widow) has heard somewhere that she should put my friend on her (the mom's) car's title. Her rationale being that, if/when she passes away, the car will already belong to the daughter and can be immediately sold or whatever, with no need to wait for probate. That got my Spidey-senses tingling though. Are there any downsides to this maneuver? Does this expose my friend to any liability? What if the car is in an accident? Will she be on the hook for registration fees? Problems with insurance? Also, if the car is worth more than the current tax-free gift limit, which I'm fairly positive it is, would that be a concern? Would that make the excess a taxable event, whereas if the mom kept the title and in the event of her...
by JupiterJones
Wed Aug 30, 2023 2:57 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Question for Excel gurus
Replies: 25
Views: 1968

Re: Question for Excel gurus

Let's be more specific: if, for example, I prompted the user for age and length of retirement, I want another sheet to automatically generate the appropriate number of rows with whatever defaults I deem appropriate, which is iterative. I am not talking about simply using a value in a cell to generate a value in a different cell in a different sheet. That's easy. I might even want something like a Userform to make it more form-like. It doesn't sound like that would require VBA (although it could be used). Even if you want to generate a table, well those are just formulas really. For example, if you have age running down the side of the table, you might have the first cell reference a "current age" cell that the user inputs (on tha...
by JupiterJones
Thu Aug 24, 2023 9:42 am
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Sure would be nice if we could have a multi-quote feature
Replies: 25
Views: 8410

Re: Sure would be nice if we could have a multi-quote feature

22twain wrote: Wed Aug 23, 2023 11:55 am Please trim quoted material so as to show only the points that you are responding to.
Amen. That's been standard nettiquette since the days of USENET.
by JupiterJones
Tue Aug 22, 2023 9:48 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Has anyone ever tried partial FIRE?
Replies: 45
Views: 5641

Re: Has anyone ever tried partial FIRE?

Some believe the acronym FIRE means F inancial I ndependence R emain E mployed. I may be in the FIRO movement. F inancial I ndependence R etire O ld. I aspire to FIDWIP: Financially Independent... Doing What I Please In any case, I think think it's a problem if you want to work a fun, low-stress/effort/responsibility job. The "not working at all" part of the equation doesn't make a difference to me. But if you have to work, then you are by definition not financially independent. The first two letters of the acronym are sort of the whole point. Which is all just semantics of course. Call it what you want, the idea of getting close enough to your FI goal where you can "coast" with a lower-paying job until you get there is...
by JupiterJones
Tue Aug 22, 2023 9:40 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cincinnati to Charlotte
Replies: 28
Views: 2508

Re: Cincinnati to Charlotte

My first thought was "why don't they just take the route Google Maps comes up with?" Then I plugged it in and was surprised to learn that both routes are basically identical! In fact, at the time I'm writing this, Google is estimating identical 7h 26m times for both. And they are similarly mountainous. So yeah, not a cut-and-dried choice. If it's round-trip, I'd do one going and the other coming, just for variety's sake. But for one way, I'd probably go through Tennessee: No tolls A handful of miles shorter Larger, more interesting/option-filled stops along the way for lunch/dinner/breaks (specifically Lexington and Knoxville... there's really not much going on along the WV route except for the smaller-than-you-might-think capitol...
by JupiterJones
Tue Aug 22, 2023 9:17 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Should this Windows User Switch to Mac Laptop?
Replies: 40
Views: 2783

Re: Should this Windows User Switch to Mac Laptop?

The biggest negative with macOS is that full screen sizing of application windows must be done manually unlike Windows where it’s a single click, but that’s really minor. I might be misunderstanding the problem you're describing here, but Macs have had a "full size" button on their windows since day one. I've been using Macs at home for about 30 years and have no immediate plans to switch. But I feel like the Mac OS UI has devolved a bit over the past several years, and Windows has improved, to the point where they're pretty much the same. Main difference being that the Mac menu bar is always at the top of the screen rather than attached to the window (which apparently makes it easier to use ). And I think Macs are still a bit le...
by JupiterJones
Mon Aug 21, 2023 8:59 am
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Sure would be nice if we could have a multi-quote feature
Replies: 25
Views: 8410

Re: Sure would be nice if we could have a multi-quote feature

You can also just manually edit/type/copy/paste the BBCode, with or without the help of the buttons along the top, to get your post to do anything you like. Including put in as many quotes as you want, or split one quote up into pieces for replying differently, etc.
Jean-Luc Picard wrote:Use the Force, Harry Potter!
See? :D
by JupiterJones
Wed Aug 16, 2023 8:52 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best Purchase < $1000?
Replies: 231
Views: 28749

Re: Best Purchase < $1000?

Two fairly cheap kitchen gadgets come to mind:
  • Instant-read digital thermometer
  • Digital kitchen scale
Both eliminate guesswork and help make things more precise/consistent. Unexpected bonus benefit of the scale is how it cuts down on clean-up when you don't have to use measuring cups/spoons.
by JupiterJones
Wed Aug 16, 2023 8:38 am
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Why was thread deleted?
Replies: 7
Views: 5960

Re: Why was thread deleted?

My guess is that the OP requested for it to be deleted. Usually the mods here will lock a thread with an explanation about why. Or they'll edit or remove a particular offensive/off-topic post. I don't think I've seen them ever flat-out delete an entire thread by fiat.
by JupiterJones
Thu Jul 27, 2023 8:39 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Actuary question: how likely is it to outlive your immediate family?
Replies: 25
Views: 2316

Re: Actuary question: how likely is it to outlive your immediate family?

Somewhere I must have caused confusion. I am not worried about whether I will outlive my mother. I am wishing, probably futilely, for statistics about how likely she is to live longer than her immediate family did. Ah, that is a different question. (I mean, since she's alive now and they're not, she has technically already "outlived" them all.) But it's an easier question to answer! As others have mentioned, we can ignore genetics and get a pretty good estimate straight from the Social Security tables. A 91-year-old female has an estimated death probability of 0.163592, which means her probability of not dying within one year is 1 - 0.163592 or 0.836408. Similarly, at 92 the probability of survival is 0.818438, and at 93 it's 0.7...
by JupiterJones
Wed Jul 26, 2023 2:24 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Actuary question: how likely is it to outlive your immediate family?
Replies: 25
Views: 2316

Re: Actuary question: how likely is it to outlive your immediate family?

Depends on how many people are left in your immediate family and what their ages are. But just to give an idea, let's say your mom just had two kids left alive, one son and one daughter, both aged 70 (twins). I whipped up a Python script to do one million Monte Carlo simulations, based on the aforementioned Social Security probabilities. I came up with 1.8% in this case. It should work for any number of sublists in the "fam" list. So if you're Python-savvy, you could run it with more/different family members, using the appropriate numbers for their ages and genders. import random random.seed(8675309) def one_sim(): mom = [0.163592, 0.181562, 0.200724, 0.219958, 0.23946, 0.258975, 0.278225, 0.296912, 0.314727, 0.33361, 0.353627, 0....
by JupiterJones
Wed Jul 26, 2023 9:13 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Maui or Scotland trip with kids?
Replies: 72
Views: 6211

Re: Maui or Scotland trip with kids?

A shame to take the kids to Scotland before they're of whisky-drinking age. :beer