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We spent three weeks in Europe, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and France. We only ran into two occasions where we needed cash every one else took credit card and mostly through apple pay. One bar across from the laundromat in Munich wanted cash for our to go beers (laundry and to go beers are the best), the yogurt stand in the Swiss alps preferred cash. The only other time we needed Euros were for the bathroom at the auto marts / train stations. We used our Charles Schwab debit card to pull euros from an ATM in Italy, Munich and Switzerland (Not euros Francs). No fees and in Munich at the time the exchange rate was better then the dollar! In the end we ended up speeding our left over 40 Euros at the airport... If you do use and ATM look for o...

No, you probably need to take it to their shop. If not familiar with the area just find a couple shops nearby (Google) and call for a quote & time availability ahead of time. Most mechanic shops will do this and the charge depends on how in-depth the inspection is. $25-$100? Definitely worth it. And, if the seller refuses to release the car for a pre-purchase inspection I'd walk away. Im curious if any one has done this with with a used car at a dealership? I have also found this quite difficult in the past due to most mechanic shops being booked out several days / weeks. Many times the sales person goes along on the ride with you... It makes it hard to work with a individual seller as well... Many individuals are willing to let you ta...

I just installed a wired Ring, swapping out the old push button door bell. I went hard wired because it does offer some advantages (in the ring platform). Not having to worry about batteries, pre roll recording, birds eye view, works with existing analog chime...

Here is a kit that does what the previous two posters were mentioning. I like these because there are no moving parts to work when the barrel gets full. https://www.amazon.com/Barrel-Downspout-Diverter-Downspouts-Without/dp/B06Y6BTM3S?th=1 I have used that one in the past and currently have the other one posted: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003E1RJVU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The one you posted worked ok but did get clogged up more so vs the current one I have. Both however will still overflow your rain barrel so you need to plan on the overflow... You must be referring to a different one than what I linked or did the installation wrong because after the barrel is full, it does indeed pass water on down the ...

lthenderson wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 3:32 pm Here is a kit that does what the previous two posters were mentioning. I like these because there are no moving parts to work when the barrel gets full.

https://www.amazon.com/Barrel-Downspout ... BTM3S?th=1

I have used that one in the past and currently have the other one posted: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003E ... UTF8&psc=1

The one you posted worked ok but did get clogged up more so vs the current one I have. Both however will still overflow your rain barrel so you need to plan on the overflow...

Be careful our city had a wild fire break out and burned hundreds of homes to their foundations. Many people found themselves under insured and tried to just abandon their lots after paying off the mortgage. The costs to remediate a lot back to a build-able condition was not inexpensive for some lots $60k to 100K+ in some cases. The city gave the home owners a several years to clean up their lots and ended up suing several. Im not sure the outcome of those lots that could not afford to remediate. I would think eventually they could sell the lots to a developer as real estate prices rose and their lots became worth more then then cleanup costs...

You could also go with I bonds, depending on your AGI you can exclude the interest on the I bond if used for education. Also depending on your AGI you might qualify for the ATOC in which case you will want $16K per child (4K per year) outside of the 529 plan. I used a combination of CDs, Savings and Ibonds for this...

My comp and collision is very cheap $17 to $30 per month my vehicles are old but still would cost $10k or more to replace so I keep it...

Don’t forget to enjoy the last bit of time with them in your house. Things change when they are just coming home to visit, and in many cases they will not have the time to hang out with you much. So a few family vacations and also savoring the simple stuff now is good. This for sure as well, however dont be hurt / disappointed if your child doesnt really want to spend their last summer with you. Many are trying to squeeze out every last minute with their old peer group before they head off to college. Also dont be surprised or hurt if when they do come "home" and do not stay with you. As they become more and more independent (which is what we want) they might come home to see friends and never tell you they are in town. Last tip,...

Sleeping bag on the couch, its the ultimate in portability...

Nicolas wrote: ↑Sat Mar 04, 2023 4:37 pm Scammers are now using AI to simulate grandsons’ voices calling for help. All they need is a snippet of speech from Facebook, Tik Tok, or the like. https://wapo.st/41ZmqG3

As a family when the kids were in their teens we established a family passphrase we can say or txt to each other. You can use anything Green Pickle, or Rubber Duckie.... Something simple and funny so it will stick in everyone minds... This can be used in txt or phone calls when you are doubting the identity of the other party...

Some great advice here! Lord willing both of mine will graduate in this may, its been a long tough road these past 5 years with covid in the mix of it all! I will add the following: Find out if housing will be providing carts / rolling bins for moving stuff in. If not grab a utility cart from costco / harbor freight, it will make a world of difference. If your child has a desktop PC, check to see if it has WIFI, if not get a USB wifi adapter as there is probably not going to be wired internet. Resist the urge on move in day to come into their room and start setting things up. Ask your child what they would like you to do and let them guide you. We put our kids as an authorized user on a credit card for things like book and supplies they wou...

My wife's 401k from previous employer through Fido is getting hit with a 7.50 fee per quarter which is not too bad. Her current 401k not with Fido charges her $68 per quarter and its going up as her balance does. Its highway robbery for holding only a single S&P index fund...

My own 401k through Fido has no fees (everything paid by my employer).


Her current employer is merging with her old employer so we are hoping they will transfer everything over to her old 401k and it becomes the active plan again...

beardsicles wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 10:43 am I observe a lot of peer to peer sales in enthusiast groups I participate in, this would take a ton of the risk out of those transactions. I recently sold a used car, only accepted cash or cashier’s check. I would absolutely have accepted this for that sale.

Count me as tentatively excited.

The devil is in the details... How easy will it be to reverse a payment... If its impossible then ok trade high value goods for fed payment. If they can reverse the payment 5 minutes after they drive away with the click of a button then no go...

Ive seen a youtube video where a thief mistook the drive shaft for the exhaust pipe, cut the drive shaft in 1/2 then went for the catalytic converter. Talk about a double whammy repair bill!

We used to have a huge problem with thieves stealing copper wire from live street light poles in our city. A couple of times the thief paid the ultimate price for that copper wire...

If you purchase a NPCD at Ally and it goes under the next day, what happens to the CD? Not asking about the FDIC-protected deposit, but the 4.75% rate you signed on for. Is it honored or do you start de novo with the new bank? How does a bank closing affect interest accruing on my deposits? The FDIC's insurance coverage includes principal and interest through the date of the bank failure up to applicable insurance limit for each deposit. The accrual of interest ceases on all accounts once the bank is closed. If an open bank acquires deposits from the failed bank, the acquiring bank becomes responsible for re-establishing interest rates and beginning the accrual of interest after the date of the failure of the bank. The acquiring bank may c...

Everything goes onto a rewards credit card, then I pay that from the CC web site via my linked bank account twice per month. Vastly simplified things and I am earning reward miles...

Pushing transactions from the bank make it my problem if the payment never shows up. Pulling from the CC means its their problem as long as I get a confirmation on the transaction. Its instant when the CC is also a bank you have a checking account with...

SmileyFace wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 8:28 am I would call Dealer two and say "you told me Honda doesn't take orders but I found another dealership that says they do and are willing to take my order so I am all set - thanks for your time." - watch how fast they change their story. I don't know why you would hesitate to not just address the inconsistency with the dealers themselves.

When is the last time you employed this tactic? I dont believe the dealers are very hungry right now...

To echo what others have said with only 7 days I would do Rome or Paris and day trips to close by cities.
We did a 21 day trip last fall that was absolutely wonderful. Started in Rome ended in Paris with Florence, Venice, Munich, Lauterbrunnen Swtz, Beaune Fr in between. When in Rome we also did a day trip to Pompeii and Paris we did a day trip to Versailles.

Poll the family, but for food and history I would vote Rome. Its also going to be cheaper hotel and food wise vs Paris.

You could also Fly into Venice, spend one to two days there, then train to Florence, spend two to three days, then train to Rome spend 3 days there, which would be a pretty active trip.

liquidassets wrote: ↑Tue Mar 07, 2023 9:34 am I would use your insurance and let them handle. It shouldn’t affect your rates.

Why do you believe that?

I recall reading somewhere you should retain the following for HSA withdraws. The Bill form the provider, the receipt when you paid, and your explanation of benefits from your insurance company if applicable. I keep hard copies with my tax forms for the years I took withdraws.

Thanks for the reply. I decided to go ahead and break out each TIPS bond by CUSPID as I am syncing with a couple of brokerages and it was causing issues to have them combined. Its better for reporting the realized gains as well.

Question for those buying TIPS and using Quicken. Do you enter each new TIP purchase as its own security or do you use a single Generic Security for all your Tips of a set duration?

Which is better.

I started out Using one entry for each duration of tips (US T Bill [17 wk], US T Bill [26 wk]) however I'm not sure I want to stick with this method and might record each individual bond as its own security...

bosul7ly wrote: ↑Sat Feb 25, 2023 6:14 pm Are there any rules governing when 529 distributions for college related expenses may begin?

Thanks!

I see no problems with your plan. The general rules are that expenses and distributions should occur in the same calendar year. The computer is for college so it qualifies as an expense for 529 and its in the same calendar year...

This request for input was from 2008, its unclear whether rules were created to actually codify this https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2008-01-18/pdf/E8-859.pdf Section 529 is silent regarding whether distributions must be made from a section 529 account in the same tax year as QHEEs were paid or incurred. Concerns have been raised that individuals could allow the account to grow indefinitely on a tax-deferred basis before requesting reimbursement or use distributions in earlier years to pay QHEEs in later years. Accordingly, the IRS and the Treasury Department propose to adopt a rule that, in order for earnings to be excluded from income, any distribution from a section 529 account during a calendar year must be used to pay QHEEs duri...

End of August 2022 we did 6 days in Rome, 2 days in Florence, and 2 days in Venice as a part of a tour that continued onto Germany, Switzerland and France. It was absolutely fantastic. I would have liked to spend more time in Florence and perhaps one more day in Venice. Our trip was 20-21 days in all and it was great. I am longing to go back...

What I did for my son's apartment deposit (all of which would be refunded), is that I paid for the deposit from my own funds and not the 529. It was not a whole lot of money in the grand scheme of college expenses. If you have non refundable deposit expenses you could just treat those as an August 2024 expense and take it from the 529 at that time.

Otherwise you could just take the distribution now and as secondcor521 said return the refunded deposit amount to the 529 in August 2024.

Just keep good notes and receipts of payments in case you need them...

I think it largely depends on the insurance carrier, since you have already opened the claim I would call your insurance company and ask them if a $0 claim will count against you for future rate, if it will be submitted to your CLUE report or against the house's CLUE report Customer service representatives are not trained to answer that question accurately. The best way to find out what's on your CLUE report is to look at it. Like your credit report, you can also get a copy of your insurance report every year. One of the issues that bothers me is there is a CLUE report for your property itself. I have heard reports that people purchasing a property with a significant number of claims found it difficult and expensive to insure. While your C...

You cant un-ring the bell... You have submitted a claim against your home owners policy... This will go on your CLUE report and the house. You insurance may or may not hold it against you and increase you rates (probably not). However if you should have another claim in a short period this is where you can get into problems... As to which would have been better its hard to say... Might have been better to only open against the auto policy. And depending on your insurance carrier notifying them of an accident and formally opening a claim can be two different things... Thank you, I guess this answers my question. Claim of $0 still = Claim :( I think it largely depends on the insurance carrier, since you have already opened the claim I would ...

As someone with the same setup, after a few years you (or your children) will get accustomed to the noise of the garage door opening and closing and seldomly wake up due to it. As far as the chilly room... Well .... space heater and electric blanket...

Warning to others... dont purchase a house with a bedroom above the garage, especially if that bedroom has three outside walls...

Yah... No Im not waiting... My state CO, issues refunds based on over payments of various taxes. These have never been subjected to federal income tax. The state has issued a statement as such as well... You don't have to wait. But the state doesn't decide this one. And if they decide against you, you're the one on the hook, not the IRS, not CO. I expect that 90% chance IRS will agree it's nontaxable, but if they decide otherwise, I don't want to amend so I will probably wait. I'm not too worried the refunds are from sales tax and property tax over payments. I also do not itemize. Additionally the state has been providing these refunds for many many years so a ruling against the state position would cause a huge issue for millions of tax p...

Yah... No Im not waiting... My state CO, issues refunds based on over payments of various taxes. These have never been subjected to federal income tax. The state has issued a statement as such as well...

4. As much as possible, handle your new car purchase online or through email correspondence. While I am a very, very skilled negotiator, I detest the environment of purchasing a car at a typical dealership. So I will look online for vehicles that meet my requirement, then I email the internet sales manager, tell him I'm ready to buy within twenty-four hours and ask for their best out-the-door price. I make it clear that I will be soliciting offers from multiple dealerships for identical models with identical options and will buy from the one who offers the lowest price. No haggling, no playing one off the other. Place your bid, low bidder wins. 5. I then contact the "winning bidder" for my business, set up a convenient time to ta...

alex_686 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 06, 2023 12:35 pm

SimonJester wrote: ↑Mon Feb 06, 2023 12:30 pm

cashmoney wrote: ↑Mon Feb 06, 2023 12:24 pm

alex_686 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 06, 2023 11:39 am Yes. Par value is the maturity amount. You are just seeing daily market fluctuations.

I have a question about the Tbill daily fluctuations i see in my fidelity account where it says daily loss/gain.Is this do to the market value of bond if i sold it that day?

Yes

I can nit-pick. The value seen is what the t-bill has sold for (past tense), not what it will sell for (future tense). The difference should be minor.

Good point and a more correct answer... I suppose if you sell, you get the price at market close for the day?

cashmoney wrote: ↑Mon Feb 06, 2023 12:24 pm

alex_686 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 06, 2023 11:39 am Yes. Par value is the maturity amount. You are just seeing daily market fluctuations.

I have a question about the Tbill daily fluctuations i see in my fidelity account where it says daily loss/gain.Is this do to the market value of bond if i sold it that day?

Yes

You cant un-ring the bell... You have submitted a claim against your home owners policy... This will go on your CLUE report and the house. You insurance may or may not hold it against you and increase you rates (probably not). However if you should have another claim in a short period this is where you can get into problems...

As to which would have been better its hard to say... Might have been better to only open against the auto policy. And depending on your insurance carrier notifying them of an accident and formally opening a claim can be two different things...

I did a mix of taxable and 529 for my kids college. I would suggest you not over fund it. Remember you will want 4K per kid per year outside the 529 if you will qualify for the ATOC. The return on my kids 529s was mediocre because I was quite a but more conservative going to 90% cash when they got to their Junior year in high school. I saved a few hundred a month for 10 or so years for my kids... One thing to keep in mind I suspect college will change quite a lot in the future. With online classes becoming more standard I would hope (perhaps foolishly) that the price will come down. I also think we are in a college cost bubble right now and what is being paid for a 4 year degree is not on par with the benefit (economically speaking)...

I plan to report mine under 1040 Line Item 8 from Schedule 1 Number 8i Other prizes not on Form 1099-MISC. I am afraid if we report this under the Fidelity 1099-MISC it will generate a mismatch as there will be no 1099-MISC filed. I might switch it to interest not reported on 1099 Thoughts? Thank you to those bringing up the tax consideration. I was also surprised to only get a "de minimis" 1099. I put mine under "Add Interest Income without a Form 1099-INT". I wonder if there is a different or a preferred spot to report this... I think either one will work. Its strange that Fidelity considers it 1099-MISC. I have added other non 1099-INT interest income like you are suggesting. I might switch mine to non 1099-INT as we...

I guess it really depends on your risk tolerance. I wanted my kids 529s a lot more conservative and went to mostly cash by the year they graduated high school. Check writing starts for you in 3 years, consider what happens if we have another downturn right as you have to write out that first check... Also consider you will be making 8 to 10 large withdraws over 4-5 years each in August and January.

Last dont forget the AOTC if you can qualify for it, then you need 16K outside the 529...

I plan to report mine under 1040 Line Item 8 from Schedule 1 Number 8i Other prized not on Form 1099-MISC. I am afraid if we report this under the Fidelity 1099-MISC it will generate a mismatch as there will be no 1099-MISC filed. I might switch it to interest not reported on 1099 Thoughts?

I agree with some other posters the Museums might be a lot for a 5 year old just be prepared to bail out if they are not enjoying them.
Try to find times in your day to rest and make sure everyone is fed. Tired and hungry makes for a cranky time adults and children!

One of our most fun days in Paris this last fall was taking a day off and having a picnic in Monceau park. We went to several different fruit / outside market stalls, plus a local grocery store and bought our picnic food.

We caught the early train to Versailles and were the first tour group inside. We toured the castle during the morning then went through the gardens, ate lunch, rowed in a row boat in the Versailles canal, then walked more through the gardens.

So pretty close to the issue from the other mysterious noise thread... From now on the standard Bogglehead response to strange noise in the house will be power off the house and see if it goes away

Yet another vote for Brother, I have a HL-L2360DW it has worked flawlessly for many many years. I use a small canon inkjet for color photo printing and scanning when needed.

Both of my kids graduated college in 2022. I was very happy that I could use up and close out their 529’s because of issues like the ones you are describing. The fact that my kids dealt with complication of moving back home and then back to school (both on and off campus) due the pandemic magnified things for me. I was always surprised at the lack of absolute guidance with 529 plan withdrawals. There are lots of grey area in my opinion. My “guiding light” was this: As long as you don’t remove more from the 529 than what the school provided as it’s cost of education, the chances of being audited are very unlikely. So I removed less than the published amount, put some notes in a file, had the kids use their debit cards for purchases, and cro...

heywhoathere wrote: ↑Wed Jan 18, 2023 6:25 pm

I found a YouTube video where a guy shows that air vents and pipes can make dripping noises due to heat expansion/contraction

I hear a pretty similar sound in my house as well and I've convinced myself that it's this (HVAC duct work expanding). I've been hearing it for 5+ years, so it's either fine or going to be a very expensive problem sooner or later

I have the same issue with an air duct, sounds like a water leak,, tick, tick, tick, drip, drip, drip... Been going on for 23 years and only occurs when the heat is running...

I'm a little curious what exactly were talking about here. For years I've been e-filing online and at the end when I'm ready to finalize my completed return it asks for my PIN. I've been using the same PIN for years (ever since I was first required to create one I guess) and each year I use the same one. It also asks for last years 1040 Adjusted Income (or something like that) off my prior years 1040. I go to last years return, find it and enter that number, and all goes smoothly. So has something changed, or can I just continue doing what I've been doing for years? Did some taxpayers not have a PIN before, so now IRS is mailing random PINs out to those that didn't already use one? You are talking about the self selected E-File PIN that is...

JD2775 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 2:38 pm This, and the post about the guy who found a safe buried in his home are my favorite BH posts of all time.

Good luck OP

Did we ever find out what was in that safe?

I have been mainly a Discount tire person for several years. Free tire repairs for me and the wife's car even though she had not bought any tires from them. They have matched prices for me before etc. They seem to be the only people that will clean off the inside of you wheel mating surface and the drum/disk surface before mounting the new or re balanced tire, hand torque the nuts etc. Last encounter, I had a $$ set of Michelin tires that I wanted balanced. The tech used his cell phone to measure depth and said the LF tire was close to being beyond safe limits. The other 3 tires were acceptable. What is odd is that I had 18K miles on these [70000] tires. He would pro rate that one tire, and said I needed to buy 1 additional tire. The tire ...

Also see if you qualify for the AOTC https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/aotc if so you will want $16k outside the 529, CDs or I-Bonds However you cannot use any funds form the I-Bond interest exclusion for the AOTC. No double dipping. One trick I learned on Bogleheads some years ago: You can use the 529 $$ for the full cost, but adjust downwards the Qualified Expenses by $4,000 (Line 17 (I think) of the 529 worksheet). This results in $4,000 of income on the 1040 but qualifies you for the AOC (without requiring an additional payment of $4,000 by the parent). The $4,000 is not subject to the 10% penalty. Another trick, if you contributed to the 529 in the year you those contributions as a Qualified Higher Education Expenses

Also see if you qualify for the AOTC https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/aotc
if so you will want $16k outside the 529, CDs or I-Bonds However you cannot use any funds form the I-Bond interest exclusion for the AOTC. No double dipping.