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sadie wess

Three things come to mind when I think of Nisiprius. First, I love his informative graphs. Second, I like that he doesn't just accept opinions even those from distinguished contributors like Larry Swedroe. He will test the assertions from experts using actual funds available to investors. I like th...

sadie wess

100 percent in agreement with Taylor.

Excellent Tax Attorneys and experienced CPAs both comprise "money well spent".

sadie wess

Really, where are you seeing that? To me, it looked like benefits all across the board, except in a few personal circumstances based on living in HCOL areas and how certain business structures are set up. There should be a minimal effect ora tax break for basically all taxpapers speaking in general...

sadie wess

Thanks Nis!

sadie wess

Precisely!

I know my taxes and *almost* every line of the the tax return. I got screwed to the wall because 95 percent of my FED deductions are from the high property taxes that I pay to NJ and the NJ income taxes that also

I pay.

[OT comment removed --moderator triceratop]

Sadie

sadie wess

Favorites Wall Street Journal Bloomberg Radio Yahoo Financials Bogleheads.org Places I don't get my Financial News /Advice Brother-in-law Next Door Neighbor Friends at Christmas Parties I mostly agree. NYTs Business Section maintains high standards and has good writers. And, if you wish to spend th...

sadie wess

I agree most do not know what an emergency is. The concept of "personal business" has evolved with smart phones. I am an employer and we require employees to leave their phones in their locker because of prior abuse and immaturity. Constant texting and looking at that facetalk thing like zombies. I...

sadie wess

:sharebeer :sharebeer If people are relying on AAA to change a tire...you screwed up in life. THat should be a requirement for a drivers license. And if you're a guy a cant change a tire...pfffttt...nuff said. I'm a firm believer in efficient division of labor. I don't expect the tow truck driver to...

sadie wess

My honest advice is to do some reading. Then after doing the basic reading of investing then come on here and ask questions. Without a foundation to ANYTHING it is impossible to be successful. Here are some recs. Easy books: Jack Bogle's edition to the Little Book series (I believe new edition is o...

sadie wess

Hmm, some excellent questions and answers here. I am facing the will/trust/executor issue. I have taken care of my assets held with the brokerage arm of Vanguard, as well my ROTH and t-IRAs, bank CDS, etc. However, I have NO family or savvy financial friends within thousands of miles of where I cur...

sadie wess

Hmm, some excellent questions and answers here. I am facing the will/trust/executor issue. I have taken care of my assets held with the brokerage arm of Vanguard, as well my ROTH and t-IRAs, bank CDS, etc. However, I have NO family or savvy financial friends within thousands of miles of where I curr...

sadie wess

The size of the septic system is usually determined by the number of bedrooms in the house. So you cannot undersize for a larger house just because your parents may not be using all the bedrooms. Usually you need a stamped drawing of the system to present to the township. The stamp is from a licens...

sadie wess

Absolutely.

See bsteiner's remark.

sadie wess

Those employees make virtually nothing compared to what we all make. I tip at all inclusives. Bartenders, maid service, bell hops, the mini fridge guy, and a few bucks for service at each meal. I always get the feeling that it is very much appreciated. More than tips in the US are, that's for sure....

sadie wess

Thanks fishmonger. I agree that the Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredos are overpriced, though I will still be happy if I could find one that is Certified Pre-owned with no more than 25K miles on it. I am trying to stay within a tight budget now and am not hopeful that I can find a Jeep. I do like the Subur...

sadie wess

Trying to replace my 2004 Grand Cherokee Laredo for new or lightly used SUV. I have to have something excellent in snow. I am tired of the process already. I have test driven and ruled out a Toyota Rav4. I have test driven and liked the Suburu Forrester but nothing compares to the Jeep Grand Cheroke...

sadie wess

Obligatory comment about how the Frost poem is actually about how it doesn't matter which road you take, but it's easy to imagine it did, after the fact. Indeed, came here to make this same comment. :D In this case in particular the difference is significant, because I'm not sure there would be a s...

sadie wess

We could spend more on vacations but we have difficulty getting away for long because of elderly relatives that need minding. I don't wash them often because they get dirty just going down the driveway. I would think for general health and hygiene reasons you should wash them daily - even if they d...

sadie wess

There may be some good content in the course, but expect a sales pitch later. From http://www.financialeducatorsnetwork.com/instructors.html : Industry practitioners teach these courses as a way to create awareness, expand their networks in local communities, and grow their advisory practices by de...

sadie wess

How do you explain that? Probably, taking more risk than the S&P 500 and making investments that are less liquid than the S&P 500. You would expect to be compensated for both. Investments that are appropriate for Harvard are probably not appropriate for me. Harvard does not plan to retire at age 65...

sadie wess

Does anyone else find themselves constantly contributing to their taxable account? Besides my 403(b) and Roth IRA, I contribute all "spare" money to my taxable account (total stock market - vtsax). For example - I found $10 on the floor and sent it directly to vanguard. Am I addicted? Anyone else h...

sadie wess

I owned several BMW's. There's lots to like with the styling and the drive experience, but maintenance issues drove me away. Their engines have gotten so hi-tech that they need constant tinkering (especially above 50k miles, i.e., after the warranty runs out), always at $2k to $4k a pop. A simple b...

sadie wess

Americans shrugged off rising mortgage rates and bought existing homes in January at the fastest pace since 2007. That has set off bidding wars that have pushed up prices as the supply of available homes has dwindled to record lows. I'd say this misstates the situation. The reason people have rushe...

sadie wess

sambb wrote:I always wonder in these threads what someone would say if you wrote the same income and NW but Asked if you could afford donating 25k to 50k to a charity.

+1

sadie wess

Nisi. Your post is quite helpful to me. I sometimes make use of a yearly consult with a CFP at Vanguard, and natch, I do not have to agree with them nor follow their formulaic advice. Their position regarding international stocks and international bonds over the past decade has changed quite a bit. ...

sadie wess

Thanks Livesoft and whodidntante. I agree the 5 percent APY was decent. MS called the loan a "liability access loan". I now get how they offered it. Not too bad a deal. I do not have an account with any full service brokerages, though they all want my business because of my assets in Vanguard. ML, M...

sadie wess

A widow friend of mine recently downsized her home and bought a condo. Needing the equity from the home she sold to buy the condo, Morgan Stanley lent her money at 5 percent APY to tide her over until she got her money from the house she sold. I am wondering if this was a good strategy or would it h...

sadie wess

Watty and others, Yes, Phase out and ATM all happening. Also, I am paying 20 percent cap gain rate due to income level I got bumped into. I am diligent paying 100 percent of my EST taxes for 2016, based on earnings of 2015. CPA assured me I do not have to pay for 2016 taxes until April 15, 2017. I h...

sadie wess

Hmmm...municipal bond fund is a possibility. As for EST payments, CPA assured me I do not have to pay the taxes owed until April 15 of 2107. Something about Safe Harbor and it being a onetime merger of the company I had stock in. I meet with a CPF at Vanguard in a few weeks and in the past the CFP w...

sadie wess

Time for me to increase my Bond Portfolio over the next few years. I do not have room in my IRA, so it will have to be in my Taxable accounts. I have a large amount of CASH from a stock merger and the tax consequences are significant. I met with a CPA and he said not to have ANY more taxable investm...

sadie wess

... I'm looking to have a CPA handle my tax return this year. I just talked to one today, and he mentioned that their "base fee" for filing a tax return is $650, which seems crazy high for filing a tax return no matter what is included. .... For what it's worth, the guy was very knowledgeable and t...

sadie wess

Okay, okay. I admit it. I have not rebalanced my portfolio after the last downturn. I know, I know. I am a bad example to my fellow Bogleheads. So I suppose I will be lashed with wet noodles on this forum. My take on rebalancing is that sometimes there is a rebalancing bonus and sometimes there isn...

sadie wess

...was a better investment... Here's the tricky part: conflating a good outcome with a good strategy. From the 1980s until today, NYC real estate (whether a rental property or a primary residence) beat the pants off of investing in a stock market index fund. But, for that matter, buying individual ...

sadie wess

Grt2bOutdoors wrote:
JoinToday wrote:
ETA: Jerry55, with an asset allocation of 80/20, has bigger cashews than I have.
Not so, Jerry55 has a pension, therefore his risk portfolio can be 80/20 when his "floor" is secure.

Exactly! If he had no pension to rely on, then the cashews would be big.

Sadie

sadie wess

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the input.

Sadie

sadie wess

Hi Fellow Bogleheads. I only use 2 credit cards on a regular basis and have I great credit. I opened a 3rd credit card a few years ago with an airline I thought I would use. I never used the airline, nor the MasterCard associated with the airline. The issuing Bank, Barclays, has closed the account b...

sadie wess

LittleOlMe - I don't mean to challenge your post, but if this is accurate, why all the hysteria about LTC rate increases? All of the rate increases (and hysteria) are for pre-2003 policies? None are for post-2003 policies? Nationwide? I'm not disputing your post, but this is new information to me a...

sadie wess

Tools - I tend to collect, and use all the time. Air compressor, top of the line welder, drill press, full complement of air-tools... Lathe or a Mill are coming next - cant wait Do you do a lot of projects? Every project is an excuse to buy a new tool. Her: "Honey, the garbage disposal isn't workin...

sadie wess

Since the source is FOX, why take it seriously? And, due to the font on my computer, the "cl" part of the word "clicks" looks more like a "d". So, you can imagine my double take this morning when I saw what Emergdoc has posted! CL or D...icks, Emergdoc is on the money. No offense taken and no offens...

sadie wess

Thanks for the input Grok. I have been wanting to add TIPS to my fixed income allocation, however, I doubt I will live long enough for 30 year TIPS to be worth it. It is just not in the cards, nor do I have heirs. Any other suggestions? I appreciate your input to this forum and lurk often. My best r...

sadie wess

Very helpful posting indeed.

Thank you.

BTW, what is the book that Emergdoc is talking about?

sadie wess

I went to public schools (we have great public schools where we live) and my wife currently teaches at a public school so I can't really comment on the private school vs. public school discussion, but we do have local Catholic schools that tout great graduation rates, ACT scores, etc. From my wife'...

sadie wess

I am getting ready to appeal on one of my properties right now. Does anyone have a best/easiest way to find comps for sold properties from 9 months ago? Our tax assessor office is required to keep the records that they use to calculate their assessment and to make them available to the public. For ...

sadie wess

+1 and a smile. Thx Bill.

sadie wess

EmergDoc wrote:Happened to my parents a dozen times. They ended up getting primary care in a low income clinic- they were the only folks in town who took Medicare.

Where, pray tell, are your parents seeking medical care?

Sadie

sadie wess

nisiprius wrote:
tetractys wrote:Vanguard is broadening its bond base worldwide to support it's huge and growing clientele. The supply of US bonds is not large enough any more for that clientele. -- Tet
I like it. It's pure guesswork on my part but I think something like this is the real reason.

Very plausible.
+1

sadie wess

I'll second the missing of Mr. Swedroe and Mr. Ferri. It is one of the most unique features of this site that such respected authors drop my and discuss investing with the "regular" folks along with Mr. Roth and Dr. Bernstein. If we can get Mr. Clement to join the crowd then the compilation of grea...

sadie wess

[quote="nisiprius"]There is no objective answer I know of to this. What is disturbing to me is the number of people who seem to think there is, and project their personal risk tolerance onto others and say that someone "should" be more or less risk-tolerant than they think they are. You must decide ...

sadie wess

bsteiner wrote:If you go to the free dinner seminar and you're the one who buys the annuity, the living trust, the timeshare or the bridge, then not only did you pay for your free dinner, but you paid for the free dinners for everyone else in the room.

+1 !!!

sadie wess

The Millionaire Next Door -- Frugality if fine, but the book promotes it at the expense of class, as in "classy." Victoria I loved The Millionaire Next Door but of course I am a super cheapskate. I loved it too. Author, Quentin Crisp, made a tangential support of frugality in his book: " Doing it w...

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