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vg55

well over 2mm: and yes mow my own lawn, shovel my own driveway and walk, and wash my own vehicles. hope to keep doing it into my 90's. i also try to shovel my neighbor's driveway apron if it is an especially heavy snow storm. I spent some money this year to get an EGO mower. It is a joy to use. Quie...

vg55

In 2019, I bought a 2016 used chevy Volt. Cash / no debt.

I have solar on the house, so I rarely need to buy gas.

My lifetime mpg is @ 140

next car will be all electric. In 2025, I will buy a used 2021 something to be determined.

vg55

I have often thought about the issue of how to create generational wealth. I dont want to promote the prospect of children, grandchildren great grandchildren, etc. with a privileged mindset. I personally think that the trust fund baby model can go quite badly and dont want that to be my legacy. I al...

vg55

An update on my solar experience. I started this journey in Oct 2017 with 25 panels. Based on my savings calculations, I have saved enough $ in the past 3 years to buy another 11 panels outright. So another 11 panels have now been added to the array. numbers for the number lovers: monthly utility bi...

vg55

Grt2bOutdoors wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:15 pm
ohai wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2019 12:32 pm
Those who say Jack Welch was good, if he was so good he would have never let Immelt get anywhere close to running whole divisions, let alone the entire company.

Jeff Immelt was Jack Welch's biggest mistake. I am thankful that he has exited the company.

vg55

Check out KIVA Like so many of my fellow bogleheads, we give financial support to a number of charities and volunteer at others. But the organization that I give to throughout the year is KIVA. This group does micro-lending to many people and groups throughout the world. If your loan is repaid, you ...

vg55

A $2.5M Traditional balance would result in a $90K first-year RMD. You are really going to get $250K/yr from pension and SSI (SSI or just regular SS?), in order to put you in the 32% tax bracket? Correct. My pension, taxable dividends, and SSI plus wife's SSI will put us in the 32% bracket. I've ne...

vg55

BarbBrooklyn wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2019 8:24 am Is there income from a spouse involved here? Single filer or MFJ? It makes a difference.

MFJ -- no independent income. joint taxable dividends and will have her own SSI.

vg55

A $2.5M Traditional balance would result in a $90K first-year RMD. You are really going to get $250K/yr from pension and SSI (SSI or just regular SS?), in order to put you in the 32% tax bracket? yeah that was one of my questions as well obviously the "assuming 2.5 million in 401k" is one...

vg55

rkhusky wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2019 8:09 am A $2.5M Traditional balance would result in a $90K first-year RMD. You are really going to get $250K/yr from pension and SSI (SSI or just regular SS?), in order to put you in the 32% tax bracket?

Correct. My pension, taxable dividends, and SSI plus wife's SSI will put us in the 32% bracket.

vg55

Thanks in advance for your time, questions and comments. I have @ 90k in an IRA. Given that my pension covers expenses, I do not anticipate withdrawing from the IRA until the RMD mandate at age 70.5 in 2027. Assuming a 2.5 million balance (401k + IRA) in 2027, the IRA value will be @ equivalent to o...

vg55

Update by OP: Vanguard agreed to write me a letter which states that my account had sufficient funds to satisfy the checks on the dates that the checks had posted. However, since my check writing privileges had been revoked 3 weeks prior to the posting, the checks were not honored by Vanguard. I pro...

vg55

Vanguard removed my check writing service and I bounced a check to the Federal and State Tax authorities. Now dealing with the penalties. It appears that I had not written a check on my Vanguard account in more than 3 years. So to "protect" me, Vanguard removed the check writing feature. I...

vg55

Check to see if your employer’s payroll system allows direct deposit into more than one bank account (many do). Thanks -- this piece of advice may have just earned me $400. Yesterday I opened a new savings and checking account at Chase. $200 bonus for the savings account; 300 for the checking accou...

vg55

I bought my own first car when I was a Junior in College. It cost me $25, it had a stubborn will to live and took care of my travel needs for 2 years. We never bought a car for our son. After my son had graduated from college and was starting law school we gifted him our 12 year old Subaru rather th...

vg55

Short answer is no. Although we had discussed post retirement spending ad nauseam, my wife and I somehow ended up on different song sheets. It is as though we had never communicated. It turns out that she wants to spend at a rate that would have us running out of money in our 90's. I want to leave o...

vg55

OP, does your "cost" include the cost of federal, state, and local subsidies and, if not, what are they? It makes sense that you wouldn’t include them as a cost to you in the context of your post, but also makes sense to include them as a cost of the system in evaluating the total real-wo...

vg55

OP - what were your annual electrical costs before installing solar? We considered it back in 2012 it but the payback numbers, based on actual rates and usage over the previous 15 years, weren't all that great. Conservation through energy efficiency and smart use, however, has resulted in halving o...

vg55

I worked 26 years for GE. Jack Welch and his leadership team was terrific. Top quality people. Jeff Immelt and his team, however, was a sea change in culture and for the worst. Unlike Jeff Immelt, I am not a math major; however i figured buying companies for billions and selling them a few years lat...

vg55

In 2017 I participated in a local program by installing a 7kWp solar system on our roof and now have some results that to share. The answers are: 13,746; 15,298; 385; 84.56 and zero. $13,746 was our net investment for the solar system. 15,298 is the pounds of CO2 emissions NOT emitted. 385 is the nu...

vg55

No negotiations to my knowledge/experience. Hence the need to do your homework upfront. I always buy used cars; check them out at several websites like consumer reports for maintenance and safety to find excellent vehicles; test drive them at a dealership; wait for a great price; pay cash; get the c...

vg55

my experience has been mixed and slightly positive. I knew the make, model year and trim of the car that I wanted to buy ( 2016 volt premier) and was looking for a good price. I found that in Carvana. the folks have been very pleasant to deal with, but the first car was delivered with a broken side ...

vg55

Spent a lot of time today, trying to get Intuit to fix a software issue. Absolutely no luck. Our LLC bought and sold a rental property within a 6 month timeframe. bought the property for 373,750 sold the property for 382,000 depreciation: 1,052 sales expenses were 15,000 my math: LOSS 7,802 Turbo ta...

vg55

My DW and I have had a security freeze at the 3 major credit bureaus for a number of years. I have been smugly secure in knowing that without my top-secret multi-digit PINs; no one could unlock our freezes. Or so I thought. Recently I needed to open a new propane service account and they wanted to r...

vg55

I have decided to count all the items that I don't own. I will revert to this posting once I am done. Already way past 1,387 items.

vg55

2004 Honda Accord 209,000 miles with plenty of life left.

I plan on buying a used Chevy Volt in 2019 and will gift the Honda to a car-less friend.

vg55

According to https://www.fueleconomy.gov the chevy volt will save me $ 6,500 / year vs. my 2004 Honda Accord. This has been an enjoyable expenditure / investment for me. $6,500? Perhaps you meant $650? Thanks -- should have read $ 6,500 savings over a 5 year period. https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/...

vg55

For us it was a 17k investment (after all fed / state incentives). In return we save at least $100 / month in utility bills. The way that I look at the 17k investment was another way to diversify my portfolio and to set up additional savings with a plug in hybrid car. Essentially I am getting at lea...

vg55

That's true. But remember, net worth won't make you a cup of tea and some toast when you are sick; won't buy you a great bottle of whiskey on your birthday and drink it with you; and net worth won't take your side in an argument just because they love you. Some things money can't buy. If you find yo...

vg55

I mentioned his status as single because it can be relevant to net worth. IMHO, I think it can be more difficult for a married couple with children to accrue wealth. A spouse and children adds variables. BTW: He has a very nice girlfriend. Great gal. Really like her. Pretty good cribbage player.

vg55

Preparing to return tomorrow to the highly extracting morass that is elder and hospice care which has been incessant since January. It would be nice to say I was preparing for my next scheduled travel adventure this month but all adventures for this year have evaporated in light of this higher prio...

vg55

I also reserved a model 3 with a 1k deposit. After waiting at least a year for delivery, I decided that the price had become too rich for me. So I cancelled my reservation and received a return of my deposit. I am now thinking that a chevy volt would work best for my wife and I. We seem to travel mo...

vg55

Regarding the adjustment to retirement part of the OP question: for me, that was/is tough. It feels as though I went from the position of a guru to a non-entity in a single day. In the work world, I was a go-to person, problem-solver, and decision maker. People from different corners of the earth wo...

vg55

I have been retired for 14 months now. Today, I did some chores around the house (e.g. mowed the lawn, turned the compost, made the coffee, etc.) and then got ready for my habitat for humanity volunteer gig (e.g spray painted shutters for a house). I also went biking to prepare for a biking trip on ...

vg55

My son and I have discussed finances since he was a boy. When he was about 6 years old, I remember taking him to the local bank to get his own savings passbook. Then we would make trips to the bank to make a deposit or post his interest. At times, we would refuse to buy that all-important game or to...

vg55

We paid off our mortgage years ago and kept a HELOC line of credit, if needed. Then when purchasing our beach houses, I used the HELOC to negotiate a cash purchase. Then proceeded to quickly pay off the HELOC balance. We have scaled back to 2 homes and neither carry a mortgage. Not only is the peace...

vg55

I retired April 2017, and thanks to the Boglehead approach to investing and saving, hit my number plus 10%!

Now filling my time with things I want to do.

Many thanks to all those on the forum.

vg55

I have always shared some of my bonus with the folks that primarily support me in my work. However, it comes directly from me to them as a thank you. It is never part of a group gift. In this case, I would take the position that I will provide my gift directly to the folks that work for and with me....

vg55

I am looking for some ideas on what to do with $500,000. I don't post often and my last post was @ 2 years ago. The questions asked on this board and advice given at that time were most appreciated. I am the sole breadwinner in the family and @ 3 years from retirement. Once retired I will benefit fr...

vg55

The job is in CT and the primary residence is in NJ. The commute is 2.5 hours each way so long as I travel at off-peak hours (e.g. 4:30 am leave NJ or 7:00 pm leave CT). It gets to be a long-day. So to minimize the commuting time -- it is best to make the move to CT. I agree it would have been the b...

vg55

Many thanks for the comments and suggestions. Greatly appreciated.

vg55

I would appreciate any insights on this situation. My wife and I have always owned real property. We would buy homes in need of repair, fix them, then sell the house 6 or 7 years later. Each purchase and sale was timed with a company move such that commissions and transfer costs were addressed by my...

vg55

Congratulations on your accomplishment. In recognition of your accomplishment and your willingness to help others. I am making a loan to a struggling business entrepreneur in India via kiva.org. These are 0% micro loans for folks, like yourself, working to pull themselves up by their boot straps. Pe...

vg55

$0 on the engagement ring and $ 50 on the wedding ring. My wife and I have been married for 32 years. Starting out we had almost nothing; a beaten up old car and the clothes on our backs. We were too proud to ask our hard-working parents for help and we weren't going to put the jewelers' kids throug...

vg55

my comment is only about the piggy bank withdrawal requirements (e.g., high school graduation and pre-approval). Saving money is an important life-lesson, and so is learning to spend money wisely. Kids learn from their failures and, as adults, we need to let them fail in a safe fashion. I say, let y...

vg55

Update & a thank you. The ideas presented and questions posed on this thread were very helpful to me. I thank those that participated in this thread and thought that you may wish to know what I chose to do. Thankfully the market had improved considerably while I pondered your responses to the qu...

vg55

First, determine if you need the life insurance for family, business or estate needs. If not, just keep it simple and cash in your policy. ole meph/insurance agent I sincerely appreciate all of the questions and comments. Since I will lose my current employer sponsored insurance at end of employmen...

vg55

Is this annuity within a tax-advantaged cover already? I am guessing not, so then it would likely not be able to be moved to a Roth. If it makes sense to keep an annuity due to tax cost, etc., consider a 1035 exchange to a Vanguard annuity, one of the cheapest available. Are you telling us the exac...

vg55

Please clarify: You pay 18k a year for this policy of which 4k is applied to life insurance and 14k is applied to investments? Could you get a 4k life insurance policy only and take care of your own investments, using a larger choice of investment vehicles instead of what the insurance company offe...

vg55

Like many other lurkers, my thanks to those that have sought and given advice. Not only have I enjoyed reading the posts and learning, my 30 year old son is now also following along. So, thank you. My question concerns whether to stay the course with a Variable Universal Life Insurance Policy or cut...

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