Bogleheads.org

sketchy9

The wife and I have 2 condos. We decided for the umbrella policy. The price is cheap especially in comparison to the risk. We simply used our homeowners insurance company (which is also our auto). The savings of shopping around is probably minimal, especially when you bundle. We also got separate i...

sketchy9

When I was researching refis, I noticed that the traditional B&M banks consistently had worse rates than the online outfits. I ended up using better.com and the experience was extremely smooth. I think application to loan funding was less than 30 days, and part of that delay was because my HOA w...

sketchy9

I have used an umbrella policy and made the decision based on my risk exposure: teenagers in the household, get umbrella coverage. Pool, get umbrella coverage. High crime area, get umbrella coverage. Public exposure of your assets, i.e. windfall wealth, you become a CEO with publicity attendant, et...

sketchy9

Maybe I should actually think about writing my first will. If the virus becomes pandemic, the first thing to worry about is to stay alive. The mortality rate has been 2%. I can't bring myself to say "only" 2%. And for flu it's in the ballpark of 5 per 100,000 so this is hundreds of times ...

sketchy9

Maybe I should actually think about writing my first will. If the virus becomes pandemic, the first thing to worry about is to stay alive. The mortality rate has been 2%. I can't bring myself to say "only" 2%. And for flu it's in the ballpark of 5 per 100,000 so this is hundreds of times ...

sketchy9

https://financial-calculators.com/ultimate-financial-calculator It's a little tricky to understand how to input data, but once you figure it out it's the best one I've seen. You can add single lump sums, multiple lump sums, recurring payments on any schedule you want, and so on (and all simultaneous...

sketchy9

Getting up to 15% savings - that is definitely something I will try harder to work out. Regarding my part-time work lifestyle, I saw an opportunity and I decided to grab it and hold on. In some sense it's like borrowing 1/4 of my future retirement. A lot could be said about having that time now. Wi...

sketchy9

I never knew about the 6 month time limit. What a crock. One more reson to ditch this antiquated payment method IMO.

sketchy9

Two thoughts: 1. The vast majority of actively managed funds are actually mutual funds, not ETFs. This is because ETFs are required to report their holdings daily, which would give away the active manager's strategy. https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/investment-products/etf/types-of-etfs-act...

sketchy9

@sketchy9 - I did a Quick test where I changed the date format on my Windows 10 computer from MM/dd/yyyy to d/M/yyyy. I then opened Quicken and it incorrectly imported the share prices the way you described. Even though the Quicken page states the file must be in M/D/yy format it's ignoring that an...

sketchy9

First of all, thank you for continuing to host the TSP price list. It fills a gaping hole in Quicken. However, I've noticed an issue with formatting: for any date on or before the 12th of every month, the date is being read in Quicken as dd/mm/yyyy. For any date on or after the 13th, it is correctly...

sketchy9

One interesting vehicle is the iShares iBonds (not to be confused with Series I Treasury Bonds): https://www.ishares.com/us/products/308047/ The one I linked is a muni bond ETF and will pay back principal in December 2026 (but other maturity dates exist). There are also corporate bond versions of th...

sketchy9

-4.1% on a time-weighted basis. A bit painful, but I'm still up 6.5% (time-weighted) for the year-- although that's a bit misleading because December was awful so my starting point was lower. A 6 month time-weighted return (which is basically just YTD plus December) is only 0.5%.

sketchy9

By way of background, I didn't work until med school (even though I was paying them, I consider my third year clerkships "work" in almost every respect) except for a couple of summer internships. My opinion is that approaching studies in a serious manner can impart many of the same lessons...

sketchy9

That's right, IMO, re golden handcuffs. However, at least in my case, there were enough opportunities for a healthcare provider to change positions within the VA in the situation of hating one's job. I personally had several positions in my years there. As for bureaucratic, I would certainly agree ...

sketchy9

Do you know how small the employee contributes? Is it a percentage per paycheck? That's complicated due to some changes by Congress to reduce the cost of federal benefits. For a regular FERS, a new federal employee (first started work since 1/1/14) pays 4.4% (agency pays 11.9%) You sound extremely ...

sketchy9

I guess I'll be the contrarian and say that "everyone" does not need umbrella insurance. IMO you need to make an honest assessment of your exposure to liability in your life and make a decision based on that. In my case, I go without because: 1. I drive <4k miles/year. I have maxed out aut...

sketchy9

I agree with others who say that you'll never replicate the channel separation you get with discrete speakers by switching to a soundbar. A soundbar may be good enough but I think it's important to recognize its limitations. The other question is how migrating to a soundbar simplifies anything. You...

sketchy9

I agree with others who say that you'll never replicate the channel separation you get with discrete speakers by switching to a soundbar. A soundbar may be good enough but I think it's important to recognize its limitations. The other question is how migrating to a soundbar simplifies anything. You'...

sketchy9

I'm late to the party but I recently built a gaming PC/HTPC/photo editing rig. It's my all-purpose computer. In addition to the photo editing, I use it to watch and record live TV, Netflix, Hulu, stream movies, use Oculus Rift, and oh yeah game with the latest AAA titles, all in 4k HDR. IMO the bea...

sketchy9

I'm late to the party but I recently built a gaming PC/HTPC/photo editing rig. It's my all-purpose computer. In addition to the photo editing, I use it to watch and record live TV, Netflix, Hulu, stream movies, use Oculus Rift, and oh yeah game with the latest AAA titles, all in 4k HDR. IMO the beau...

sketchy9

I came from a background where I never really experienced debt and was privileged to graduate college debt free. When my future wife told me about her student loans, I had a borderline panic attack. I never in my life thought I would ever owe anybody any number with that many zeroes. I can sympathi...

sketchy9

I just logged in and had the new interface. I'm on a desktop PC-- I refuse to do anything of financial consequence on my smartphone. I hate this interface, as it continues the "smartphone-ization" of the web. It's quite obviously designed for viewing on a smartphone or tablet, and a touch ...

sketchy9

If you have T-Mobile you get free international 2G data, which is good enough for Uber.

EDIT: Nvm, just saw that you have an MVNO

sketchy9

Also bear in mind that if your motivation for going electric is at all environment-related, the "greenest" option is one that does not involve the manufacture of a new car, even if that means driving a gas engine car, simply because the amount of resources consumed and waste created to mak...

sketchy9

I don't cruise so can't comment on that. I never tip in hotel rooms-- my philosophy is that I've exchanged the nightly fare for a room and amenities such as a turndown service. Why would I pay more than the price I've agreed to? Like all tipping, it boils down to whether or not you feel it's your pe...

sketchy9

This whole thing sounds like some C-level suit got a bee in his/her bonnet and decided that something that was never a problem had to be addressed with no thought whatsoever about how to roll it out, how to communicate the change, or what the reaction would be. This would have been the last straw fo...

sketchy9

Hmm.. you sure about that? The average diagnostic radiologist I know pulls in $500-600K. I currently live on less than 1/6th of that quite happily. With the real estate gains and tax benefits I am seeing, I won't need twenty years to reach $10M. However, having $10M in the bank has zero appeal to m...

sketchy9

Hmm.. you sure about that? The average diagnostic radiologist I know pulls in $500-600K. I currently live on less than 1/6th of that quite happily. With the real estate gains and tax benefits I am seeing, I won't need twenty years to reach $10M. However, having $10M in the bank has zero appeal to m...

sketchy9

Fairly silly article with lots of holes. I would agree to be considered truly wealthy $10 million is a logical threshold. While I agree $1 million may not be enough, he ignores impact of social security. $40k swr+$30k SS = $70K is livable, although not at all extravagant. $5 million would give you ...

sketchy9

There's a reason the saying says that you can't avoid death and taxes. As a similarly high-earning W2 employee at one point in my life, I can share that there really aren't a lot of options. Livesoft's list covers them. You can frame the situation in such a way as to make it more palatable, e.g. it'...

sketchy9

Sounds almost like you're buying points, as you would with a mortgage. In this case, the points reduce the interest rate to 0. The thing with points, though, is that they still get factored into the APR, which is not the same as the interest rate. So it seems to me that what you're really asking is ...

sketchy9

If you made $50 then live off of $25k? For a family, you are getting close to a poverty level of expenses. Perhaps if your house was already paid for, and you live frugally in a LCOL area. I imagine some MMM types could do it. But they have a fairly extraordinarily frugal lifestyle. Perhaps some fa...

sketchy9

I put 40% down because, at the time I bought my place, I was working less (with a lower monthly income) so I couldn't afford the monthly payment with a 20% down payment. This is confusing. If you had the money to put down 40%, couldn't you have used that same money to "afford the monthly payme...

sketchy9

Why do you do this? munemaker....You ask a fair question; I shall answer. ... munemaker, I hope this helps. I wanted to answer your question in a way where you'd understand why we did what we did. Thanks for the explanation. Sorry you had to go through all that. Glad you were able to pull yourselve...

sketchy9

Just remember your mortgage including taxes and insurance should be 25% of your net monthly income. That is incredibly conservative and would likely rule out homebuying for a large percentage of the population. OP: I put 40% down because, at the time I bought my place, I was working less (with a lo...

sketchy9

I've always felt that, unless and until you can make one lump sum payment to eliminate the mortgage, you should hold on to extra cash. The bank isn't interested in the fact that you're 12 months ahead of where you should be on your mortgage; your payment is due every month on the 1st. Lose your job?...

sketchy9

I absolutely LOVE it when the market tanks. I generally prefer to sell into market euphoria (sell high) at the tail end of a bull market (like around now), to accumulate cash positions before it tanks. When it stops tanking, I BUY. I buy on a small scale during limited corrections (ie 10%) and go a...

sketchy9

My portfolio value gets updated daily thanks to Quicken. I do virtually nothing with the information. The only time it's useful for me is when I get dividends, as none of my dividends are set to reinvest. I look at which of my investments are furthest away from their targets and buy accordingly. Oth...

sketchy9

Hello darkness my old friend...I wonder if today is a harbinger of sustained losses or more of the same volatility that we've been dealing with this whole year? My IRR (prior to today) was essentially zero for the year on a 70/30 allocation, but I feel like we've had several days of heavy losses (co...

sketchy9

Great TLH opportunity!

sketchy9

Don't discount location in this decision. San Francisco is considerably milder (and more expensive) than Baltimore, for instance. However, your child will be spending the better part of a decade in the city they choose, and that's a long time to be somewhere they don't want to be.

sketchy9

I'm saving for an 8 year horizon and have settled on an equity allocation that is, essentially, the time left minus three years, times 5%, but at least 10%. So, as time marches on, I will slowly wind down my equity portion until it hits 10%. I arrived at this formula after reading a few threads here...

sketchy9

Am not currently using the 2FA. Should probably start. So ... does the code get sent from VG every single time you want to log-in? I download all my transactions and balances every day in Quicken and dread the inconvenience of going through the text message process everyday. Of course, I dread the ...

sketchy9

Brand new kit. I don't understand all the metrics (sorry my bad, haven't yet gone through their website) - but here are screenshots of my performance. 30 minutes each. What does each of them mean ? How am I doing ? Day 1 https://i.imgur.com/iwxvEKB.jpg Day 5 https://i.imgur.com/JRsmLsf.jpg Agree wi...

sketchy9

My Mom uses Edward Jones, in spite of my exhortations. Why does she do it? Because, like many Americans, money/saving/retirement are scary and don't come easy. She thinks if she gives money to a "professional" every month, she is being taken care of and doesn't have to "worry" a...

sketchy9

This article is like an advertisement for index funds. Baron funds are overseen by nine directors. Seven are listed as independent. Four of those seven have served as trustees since Mr. Baron established his first funds 30 years ago. One of them, David A. Silverman, has zero financial experience: He...

sketchy9

It's not clear exactly how CA will deal with the federal cap on SALT deductions. Consider the following: federal schedule A, line 5 is State and local Income or Sales taxes. Line 6 is Real Estate Taxes. Right now, there is no cap on the combined amount but we know that it will be $10k next year. Now...

sketchy9

It's ridiculous and, frankly, a little irresponsible that various tax calculators out there do not include all aspects of the individual tax code, especially one as pervasive as the AMT. In my own case, using frugal professors spreadsheets (which do include the AMT), My taxes will decrease ~$800, o...

sketchy9

Wife and I pay in excess of $80,000 in state, local and property taxes. No kids. We can now only deduct $10,000 of that (perhaps double if filing jointly?). Guessing a small offset to that sizable hike via lower rate but the net is . . . suboptimal. We're fine financially. My primary concern is the...

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