Bogleheads.org

SurfCityBill

A man that made a difference in my life and the life of my family. Eternally grateful, Mr. Bogle.

SurfCityBill

CA response here. In order to get a CA permit, a teen must take a course through a certified company either on-line or in a classroom setting. I have one child that did the classroom version and one that did the online version. Online tends to be less expensive and more convenient. Both did about th...

SurfCityBill

Geico acts as an agent for Travelers Insurance for homeowners. At least in Calif. So I was able to "bundle" auto / home and get all the discounts associated with bundling. Maybe just try that and then cut your homeowner ties with this guy for good.

SurfCityBill

Strongly recommend you purchase a book by Richard L. Kaye titled Lease Your Car For Less . This book is only 54 pages but explains very concisely everything you'll need to lease sensibly. https://www.amazon.com/Lease-Your-Car-Less-Consumer/dp/0962364452/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1546636048&sr=8-2&keywo...

SurfCityBill

Stamps have become such a non-issue. Used to use 10 a month, now less than 10 a year, although we do still send a handful of Xmas cards.

SurfCityBill

Accounts at both and no complaints at either end. Schwab primarilly has after-tax accounts except for one small traditional IRA. Vanguard has pre-tax accounts, Roth and former 401K rollovers. Offers a simple general view of the pre-tax/post-tax allocation.

SurfCityBill

Can't speak to anyone else's circumstances, but in our case we have one student at an in-state public university and one at an out of state public university. Never filled out a FAFSA and it has not affected merit scholarships or negatively affected us at all.

SurfCityBill

Better football tickets.

SurfCityBill

Premium seat LA Lakers tickets with Lexus Club access. Cost a small fortune. As my son suggested, it would almost be cheaper to fly to another city and see them as the visiting team.

SurfCityBill

bloom2708 wrote: ↑
Wed Nov 28, 2018 2:13 pm
Everything is relative.

If you are both maxing pre-tax 401k and Roth IRAs and filling up your HSA (if available), then you are fine. Spend the rest.

If you are not doing those things, then $700 on dining out seems too like too much. How much for Groceries/dining in?

Everything is relative.

+1

SurfCityBill

Why are you budgeting? Are you saving for something specific like a house in two years? Are you trying to get out of debt and identify where your money is going? Are you trying to save a specific amount each month for retirement? All good reasons to budget. I don't actually budget but I do broadly t...

SurfCityBill

[quote I have been using LastPass (free version) for a few years now. Not sure why you could not both use the same single (free) account. Could manage his/her specific sites using folders. OTOH, if it's only $50 a year and you'd rather not commingle that is fine too. Just not a lot of money to hand-...

SurfCityBill

When I was a kid I read in my Weekly Reader that in the future something called "Cable TV" was coming, and there would be no commercials because you'd have to pay for it. What a laugh. Ha, ha. I recall that as well. Except when I was told there would be "Pay TV", I was thinking I'd be feeding dimes...

SurfCityBill

Catch the Boise State / Utah State game in Boise. Go Broncos.

SurfCityBill

If you can stop in San Carlos de Bariloche and stay at the Llao Llao en route to Patagonia you won't regret it.
Heading North, after Montevideo, Iguazu Falls is a must, especially for outdoor enthusiasts.

SurfCityBill

Hidden gem slightly outside your geo zone, Clarkson University - Potsdam, NY.

SurfCityBill

I'm in the same boat you are. I see no reason to accelerate the CA prop tax payment due Apr 19 to end Dec 18 anymore. I also do not expect to itemize after doing so for decades.

SurfCityBill

Received a ticket out of state several years ago. Did traffic school on-line, paid the fine and never saw any increase in my insurance rates.

SurfCityBill

Personally I'd cringe at a $1261 car payment but if it's all the same to you then take advantage of the 1.99% rate and invest the funds.

SurfCityBill

If the buyer is reluctant to go to the bank with you, unwilling to get a cashiers check, or in any other way seems hesitant to cooperate, I'd avoid the transaction.

SurfCityBill

If you buy and insure the car in California, are you saying that Geico won't insure it if your daughter is in Idaho with it? She is a resident of California, as she is currently receiving 50% or more support from you. Yes, exactly. Geico will issue a "copy policy" to mimic my policy but the car mus...

SurfCityBill

I've run into an issue that I'm sure many have and I'm hoping there's an easy solution. Currently live in CA. Daughter will be going to college in Idaho and will need a car. Our auto insurer, Geico, was going to write a "copy policy" but advised that if the car is still registered in CA they can't w...

SurfCityBill

As a follow up to the Anthony Bourdain tragedy, it is reported that he left an estate worth $1.2 M which included a large percentage in cash, $425,000, $250,000 in personal property, $500,000 in "intangibles" such as royalties and residuals from TV work and books and a paltry sum in brokerage accoun...

SurfCityBill

There are a number of home remedies for carpenter bees on YouTube. Can't vouch for how well they work but you may want to search them.

SurfCityBill

General thank you to all posters. I'm getting close enough now age-wise that education on these golden year topics, Medicare, SS benefits, etc, is becoming very important. This comparative discussion is extremely valuable to myself and I'm sure many others.

Much appreciated.

SurfCityBill

One of the all-time classic science documentaries often shown in AP Environmental Science classes is about Cane Toads in Australia. The kids are usually shocked into stunned silence. Here it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SBLf1tsoaw Well if anyone says Bogleheads.org is strictly a "financial" ...

SurfCityBill

If it’s real food, I’ll tip $1 at lunch, maybe more like 10% for dinner. I also tip ~10% when we get takeout at sit-down restaurants. For comparison, we tip ~20% for normal dining. I value servers and restaurant staff, I want those jobs to pay a living wage, and we can afford to be decent tippers. ...

SurfCityBill

2 pre-teens / 2 adults / 1 pool / Small yard irrigation Dec 2008 23,510 gallons - 3 MO total usage. $56.43 2 teens / 2 adults / 1 pool / Small yard irrigation June 2018 22,843 gallons - 3 MO total usage. $93.77 2 teens (AWAY From Home) / 2 adults / 1 pool / Small yard irrigation Mar 2018 11,755 gal...

SurfCityBill

Started 529's for 2 children in early 00's. Started with 100% in equity funds since the balances were relatively small and began transitioning to more balance age based accounts. Even with no state tax deduction they have proven to be unqualified winning investments. Tapping both now and about 1/2 t...

SurfCityBill

Victoria - I don't have an answer to your question but are you aware of the two new regular certificate rates at NFCU that went in effect on July 2nd? Their 12-month is now 2.0% APY and their 18-month is now 2.35% APY. There is an uptick in the 3-year variable rate certificate to 2.57% APY but I am...

SurfCityBill

Oh my, so much new stuff to learn. Methinks this will be a mess for awhile.:happy Tax software will handle this just fine. But you're right in that we can't just update the numbers on this year's form from last year's form. I made a reasonable guess as to my 2018 tax liability a while ago and updat...

SurfCityBill

I'm not retired, but if you are looking for moderate, beautiful weather (for a price :twisted: ) consider the central coast of CA. I've visited friends in the San Luis Obispo area in all four seasons and I'll be damned if the weather wasn't the same each time. We don't have seasons in California. W...

SurfCityBill

Victoria - I don't have an answer to your question but are you aware of the two new regular certificate rates at NFCU that went in effect on July 2nd? Their 12-month is now 2.0% APY and their 18-month is now 2.35% APY. There is an uptick in the 3-year variable rate certificate to 2.57% APY but I am...

SurfCityBill

Cruise wrote: ↑
Sat Jun 23, 2018 1:07 pm
Sixth Floor Museum. Gotta see it.

+1

SurfCityBill

The Death of Stalin. Dark comedy.

SurfCityBill

This forum is full of information. I have never heard of rodent damage to a car before and amazed that some have a recurring problem. If it were me, I'd leave a whole bunch of snap traps along the perimeter walls of my garage. Out of the way so I don't step on them. Bait them with a planters peanut,...

SurfCityBill

I finally replaced mine. It worked great except for the sediment that collected at the bottom of the tank and sounded like popcorn popping. Since the tank was in the garage I was not worried about any catastrophic failure ie leaking. The date code was 1989.

SurfCityBill

I appreciate everyone stepping up on this and offering your thoughts. I will chat with my boss first. Unfortunately I don't work for Megacorp where all of this is handled by some HR team. I work for Dinkycorp where there are only a handful of us that even travel for business, so no special agreement...

SurfCityBill

It sounds like hertz is asking you to declare/admit that the vehicle was hail damaged while in your possession. Therefore, I would not fill out the report (which seems to be asking you to admit your fault) as it might be a strategy to collect on something that is, as of now, legally uncollectable. ...

SurfCityBill

I rented a car from Hertz for a business trip using a company supplied credit card. No insurance options were taken. Thanks, Bill I would probbly just fill out the requested report - since you know there was a hail storm. If I had seen the damage I'd be more inclined to fill out the form. But I'm r...

SurfCityBill

I rented a car from Hertz for a business trip using a company supplied credit card. No insurance options were taken. During the week that I had the car there was a hail storm during the night. In the morning I did not notice any apparent damage and drove the car a few more days before returning it t...

SurfCityBill

It is a funny world. If you went out and bought a new huge boat with a big boat loan all your friends/neighbors would want a ride and be all smiles. If you paid off the boat loan, they are jealous. Ah. Good times. Congrats on the mortgage payoff. Now, don't do it again. :wink: :shock: :oops: I reca...

SurfCityBill

Just had a lovely woman knock on the door introducing herself as the local Edward Jones rep. Before she could get too deep into her pitch I told her I was a self managing Boglehead, to which she asked what that is. After explaining the concept of indexing and John Bogles philosophy, she asked who Jo...

SurfCityBill

Did 23&me and yes I was very surprised by the results. Always considered my predominant heritage, Polish and French. The French turned out to be almost non-existent, less than 1.5% with the predominance of that German. What I had no idea I had, was a high degree of Polish, Italian and Palestinian! N...

SurfCityBill

I was not even aware that Chase added this feature to my Visa account. For those with an insatiable desire to know how various life happenings affect their credit score, this simulator is by far the best I've found for showing "what if" scenarios to your credit score. For those without Chase Visa ac...

SurfCityBill

I'm not following what the headache is. My kids' spring semester Bill's were/are always due in December (and I make a single in full payment with a 529 withdrawl). The expense is the year before the kid actually goes to school but this isn't relevant - the expense and payment and withdrawl still al...

SurfCityBill

Alas, I will be abandoning the cc churning game in the near future. Primary reason is opportunity cost but more importantly I want to make executing my estate as simple as possible. I don't want my executor chasing down credit cards to be closed. Imiss the thrill of the bonus chase though. <sigh> I...

SurfCityBill

Pen Fed Auto Loan 0.99%.
Pen Fed 6 mos CD 1.75%.

If the numbers were reversed I'd eliminate the loan.

SurfCityBill

There's more money in the coin holder of my car then in my entire house.

SurfCityBill

Many years ago in NY all my friends parents were filling out applications for TAP (Tuition Assistance Program). Don't know if it still exists. We weren't wealthy but comfortable. I told my dad that he needed to do it too. He just looked at me with a slight smile and shook his head. I thought he was ...

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