Search found 210 matches

by winglessangel31
Thu Jan 01, 2015 4:12 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 2015 BOGLEHEAD CONTEST REGISTRATION
Replies: 557
Views: 57668

Re: 2015 BOGLEHEAD CONTEST REGISTRATION

Tossing out my SAT score from way way back, 2180! :oops:
by winglessangel31
Thu Jul 24, 2014 1:35 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The ultimate Boglehead exercise
Replies: 30
Views: 5332

Re: The ultimate Boglehead exercise

Lies. The ultimate Boglehead exercise is tightrope-walking.
Because when tightrope-walking, one is perpetually rebalancing. :wink: :beer
by winglessangel31
Thu May 22, 2014 1:42 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: My friend's statement on an engagement ring and wedding
Replies: 32
Views: 4321

My friend's statement on an engagement ring and wedding

She said to her boyfriend: "If you're gonna pay for an engagement ring, I'd rather you pay off my student loans first!"
She said to her parents: "If you're gonna pay for my wedding, I'd rather you pay for my Master's first!"

She's 23. :sharebeer
by winglessangel31
Wed May 07, 2014 12:53 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Skip IRA for 1 year to buy engagement ring
Replies: 194
Views: 23029

Re: Skip IRA for 1 year to buy engagement ring

I hope people will indulge a slightly early Mother's day repost on this topic. I posted this last year, but it was my late mother's favorite story Re: How Much Did You Spend on Your Engagement Ring?? Postby Professor Emeritus » Sat May 11, 2013 10:31 pm Nothing on the stone. When I was 9 years old my mother lost her diamond wedding ring into the garbage at our vacation apartment. On a hot August day I dug through the garbage from 32 apartments, and after a number of hours of digging though crab and fish guts I found the ring. My mother said when I found a girl who would marry me, the girl would get the diamond. When I presented the girl to my mother, My mother slipped the ring off her finger and handed it directly to my future wife. We had...
by winglessangel31
Tue May 06, 2014 2:00 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Skip IRA for 1 year to buy engagement ring
Replies: 194
Views: 23029

Re: Skip IRA for 1 year to buy engagement ring

Is she making Roth contributions? If not, put it in her account! It would always be there for her until she needs it!!! This is actually quite a clever suggestion. It speaks to your values. And it is a sure sign of commitment. At least I would have no qualms about proposing this. She might surprise you and tell you it's the best engagement gift you could have given her. This forum... You guys are so out of touch. A deposit into your fiance's Roth IRA in lieu of engagement ring. Any normal woman, and that normal woman's friends, would be mortified. I am talking about normal society. This would be mocked mercilessly. Print out the debit from Vanguard.com? Put a bow on it and give it your fiance? I'm sure her post to Facebook will get many li...
by winglessangel31
Sun May 04, 2014 2:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: New Car. Finance?
Replies: 9
Views: 1189

Re: New Car. Finance?

jda wrote:I would finance it. Even if you open a money market account at Penfed, you can get 1.5% for 5 years.
Exactly. Although I'd go with Barclays instead (at this very moment) for 2.25% / 60 months. There might be a few other better rates, but those don't hit me as the easiest banks to deal with.
by winglessangel31
Sun May 04, 2014 2:23 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can you contribute $17,500 to a 401a AND 403b?
Replies: 15
Views: 12269

Re: Can you contribute $17,500 to a 401a AND 403b?

I have both options at my work and from my understanding I thought you could max out both at $17.5k each for a total yearly contribution of $35k, and also have no problem maxing out my roth ira at $5,500 in addition to that. Am i wrong? If you really mean 401a, then I'm confused as to why you think the amount $17,500 applies to it. 401a plans are employer-funded, and you generally have no contribution. You probably mean 401k. TL;DR: The yearly limit is for the total across all plans. irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/How-Much-Salary-Can-You-Defer-if-You’re-Eligible-for-More-than-One-Retirement-Plan%3F [just copy this link and paste it into your browser which should be able to handle the www's. I can't believe the IRS used a quote character for an a...
by winglessangel31
Mon Apr 28, 2014 12:03 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: $400 reward to open Chase accounts
Replies: 52
Views: 18284

Re: $400 reward to open Chase accounts

Browser wrote:What's the interest on the savings account? Looks like $200 on $15K is about 1.3%. Think I can get that much elsewhere. $200 on the $1500 checking account sounds a lot more interesting. How soon can I close the thing after collecting the $200?
As mentioned, you need to keep the account for 6 months.
by winglessangel31
Sat Apr 26, 2014 8:40 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Gmail alternative recommendations?
Replies: 81
Views: 22710

Re: Easy

1. Surf to GoDaddy and buy your own domain. Get only a .com. Find a promo code using the Google (irony alert). 2. Mail costs no more than $5/month. Nothing to really set up. Um no. Don't use GoDaddy, they are a pain to deal with and have some pretty annoying policies. After messing with them for a few years I switched to Namecheap. FAR easier to deal with. They also offer email hosting for $10/year. Interesting how some of us still recommend GoDaddy, and hosting your own email. If you don't know what you're doing, you don't know what to do, and you will probably be a sitting duck waiting to be attacked by hackers. Not the same story, but it seems pretty easy to social-hack into a GoDaddy account: https://medium.com/cyber-security/24eb09e02...
by winglessangel31
Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:32 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: POLL: why carry cash?
Replies: 243
Views: 25484

Re: POLL: why carry cash?

Back to the question. Why carry cash? (in no particular order) 1) Most vending machines accept only cash. 2) Most local merchants (bakery, panaderia, etc.) accept only cash on small purchases. 3) Most low cost grocery options - Aldi, UGO, Woodmans - do not accept credit cards. I refuse to pass up on lower food prices to use a card. 4) Most public transportation is cash only. I used to order 10 ride passes but with the last fare increase, there is no cost benefit. 5) Many parking meters are cash only. 6) Most good barber shops are cash only. I refuse to go to those terrible chain hair cutting places just to use a card. 7) Occasional retailers - farm markets, farmers, etc. - do NOT accept credit cards. 8) Paying cash significantly improves y...
by winglessangel31
Sun Apr 20, 2014 6:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: POLL: why carry cash?
Replies: 243
Views: 25484

Re: POLL: why carry cash?

Clearly, the issue isn't with credit card or cash, it's with one's willpower and wisdom. There really exist people like us who are "above average". Junk food hanging near the cash register bought in my life - zero. I'll pass too. In my mind, $5 in cash is the same as a $5 token retrievable for cash a few minutes later. Willpower has never been a problem for me. Spend more to get what perks? If it's a fixed percentage in cash back, it's the same no matter how much you spend. If it's "$150 back after spending $750 in the first 3 months", it's really easy to shift expenses around to hit that mark, and perhaps at the end of 2.89593157814 months you're short by $25 -- it's more rational to pay the extra $25 to get $150 inste...
by winglessangel31
Sun Apr 20, 2014 11:09 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: POLL: why carry cash?
Replies: 243
Views: 25484

Re: POLL: why carry cash?

Behavioral economics experiments show that people behave more honestly and make more prudent decisions when they use cash. An example of the former is that when students were getting cash for completing puzzles they were cheating much less than when they were receiving a token retrievable for cash a few minutes later. An example of the latter is that when people were paying with credit or debit cards in grocery stores they were more likely to pick up some junk food hanging near the cash register than when they were paying with cash. Somehow, it's easier to exercise the willpower when real money is involved. Thus, while credit cards provide many salient benefits, there are less obvious advantages for those paying with old-fashioned bills. V...
by winglessangel31
Thu Apr 17, 2014 1:58 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Barclays CD 60-month at 2.25% APY
Replies: 16
Views: 2570

Re: Barclays CD 60-month at 2.25% APY

Also consider I Bonds, for which your return will be linked to inflation, state tax-free, and Federally tax-deferred. Annual purchase limit is $10K per individual, and you can buy an additional $10K for your living trust. According to another thread, the rate starting May 1 will be in the ballpark of 2%; the exact rate depends on the fixed component, which was 0.2% for the prior six-month period, but had been 0% for quite some time before that. The inflation component is adjusted every six months. Kevin :) Thanks. Kinda out of my depth here as I'm just starting out to look into taxables. :) State tax isn't something I should have to worry about, so perhaps the value proposition of I Bonds are lower for me than for other people. Will still ...
by winglessangel31
Thu Apr 17, 2014 1:54 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Barclays CD 60-month at 2.25% APY
Replies: 16
Views: 2570

Re: Barclays CD 60-month at 2.25% APY

Barclays is easy to work with; I had a couple of CDs with them, and it was easy to do early withdrawals to take advantage of a better deal that came up at PenFed (3% 5-year). Their online savings account rate also usually is among the top rates--currently 0.90%. I looked on the Penfed website awhile back and phoned them when I didn't see any regular CDs. Their phone person told me their CDs are all money markets. PenFed calls their CDs "money market certificates". They are for all intents and purposes the same thing. PenFed CD rates currently are not competitive. They typically have good deals in December/January, then the rates quickly taper off. This last holiday season their rates blew the competition out of the water, and now...
by winglessangel31
Thu Apr 17, 2014 1:02 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Barclays CD 60-month at 2.25% APY
Replies: 16
Views: 2570

Re: Barclays CD 60-month at 2.25% APY

You mention that this money won't be put to use "until late". If that means 20 years or more, and you're relatively confident that you won't have to access the money, what about maxing out on EE bonds, if only for part of the money you're speaking of? Per the wiki section on EE savings bonds, they'll double in value in 20 years, providing a guaranteed 3.5% per years. Interesting. I edited to clarify I was looking at 4--7 years, but EE bonds are new to me. Given the new fixed rate EE bonds, why would anyone get a 5-year-or-longer CD at a lower rate? I can only imagine if one is worried that the treasury will tank. :confused /n00b EE Bonds presently earn only 0.10% per year until they are 20 years old, then there is a balloon payme...
by winglessangel31
Thu Apr 17, 2014 11:20 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Let's say we live for 150 years...
Replies: 20
Views: 4781

Re: Let's say we live for 150 years...

Rick Ferri wrote:How would you invest if you were starting out in your career at age 25 and know you would live until age 150? It probable helps to look at the very long-term return of assets classes and what makes them tick. That's what I took a stab at in this article:

A Million-Mile View Of Investment Value

Rick Ferri
My opinion is that if you live for 150 years, then your life and quality of life is definitely more in the hands of other people (people who will be much younger when you're crusty old) than your own. I'd invest heavily in bonds -- the ones within my family and friends. :beer
by winglessangel31
Thu Apr 17, 2014 11:17 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Barclays CD 60-month at 2.25% APY
Replies: 16
Views: 2570

Re: Barclays CD 60-month at 2.25% APY

Austintatious wrote:You mention that this money won't be put to use "until late". If that means 20 years or more, and you're relatively confident that you won't have to access the money, what about maxing out on EE bonds, if only for part of the money you're speaking of? Per the wiki section on EE savings bonds, they'll double in value in 20 years, providing a guaranteed 3.5% per years.
Interesting. I edited to clarify I was looking at 4--7 years, but EE bonds are new to me. Given the new fixed rate EE bonds, why would anyone get a 5-year-or-longer CD at a lower rate? I can only imagine if one is worried that the treasury will tank. :confused /n00b
by winglessangel31
Thu Apr 17, 2014 1:26 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Barclays CD 60-month at 2.25% APY
Replies: 16
Views: 2570

Barclays CD 60-month at 2.25% APY

I'm 2 weeks late, but Barclays just announced a 2.25% APY 60-month CD with no minimum amount that's FDIC insured and has a 180-day early withdrawal penalty. I know I can do much worse, but can I do much better? :wink: :greedy

I'm maxing out tax-advantaged accounts and have no taxable accounts in the equity/bond markets. I'm not planning on touching that money until late (redefine: somewhere within 4--7 years hopefully) (perhaps for a home/condo downpayment). At this point, that time horizon is undefined. Housing supply is pretty choked. :(

https://www.banking.barclaysus.com/online-cds.html
by winglessangel31
Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:33 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Use credit cards to pay rent: Amex Serve?
Replies: 56
Views: 13095

Re: Use credit cards to pay rent: Amex Serve?

Your assumption is that the landlord is not already receiving $1000 in payments every month. My renters could not assume that as I was already churning with mine - *I* wanted to get the points, not give them away for free to my renters. Hence the use of Paypal (or Serve or Square). I am totally confused by what you are writing. The OP is the renter not the landlord. Good eye. Unless the landlord has a business account (and is paying fees), the landlord will be using a personal account. https://payments.amazon.com/help/Amazon-Simple-Pay/Creating-Managing-Your-Account/Increasing-Your-Sending-Receiving-Limits Personal Accounts Personal Accounts may receive up to $500 per month. The receiving limit may be raised or removed entirely once a cred...
by winglessangel31
Fri Apr 11, 2014 1:50 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: New PenFed CD rates!
Replies: 313
Views: 67276

Re: New PenFed CD rates!

Sheepdog wrote:
nsisson wrote:Looks like they are back down to 1.5% for 5 and 7 years CDs. Was the 3% just a one time thing?
Yes, it was.
According to crowd knowledge, PenFed's rates are the best every December/January. Come back in 8 months!
by winglessangel31
Thu Apr 10, 2014 11:20 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Passport validity: Do I need at least 6 months?
Replies: 59
Views: 6930

Re: Passport validity: Do I need at least 6 months?

dgdevil wrote:
winglessangel31 wrote: I never said it was a US passport. :twisted: The risk was upon reentry...
The rule covers ALL 3rd party nationals.
The risk was the CBP officer not letting me enter this country.
by winglessangel31
Thu Apr 10, 2014 11:14 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Passport validity: Do I need at least 6 months?
Replies: 59
Views: 6930

Re: Passport validity: Do I need at least 6 months?

dgdevil wrote:
winglessangel31 wrote:It's all about risk tolerance. I took the risk and left the US for the Schengen area when my passport had <6 months validity (a renewal did not happen as planned because of paperwork technicalities) and returned on <5 months validity, and did not encounter any trouble. YMMV, and your dice are in your own hands. :sharebeer
You were not exactly risking much. Schengen-area countries (except UK) require only that your passport have 3 months'validity after you exit.
I never said it was a US passport. :twisted: The risk was upon reentry...
by winglessangel31
Thu Apr 10, 2014 11:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Preventing Office Theft of Food and Other Stuff
Replies: 78
Views: 11757

Re: Preventing Office Theft of Food and Other Stuff

dm200 wrote:
rob wrote:http://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/fake-mo ... -lunch-bag - It's a sandwich bag that has fake mold as part of the plastic :-)
I love it!
If it looks moldy (or is ages-ago expired), I throw it out for the greater good, even if it's not mine. ;)
by winglessangel31
Thu Apr 10, 2014 11:06 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Passport validity: Do I need at least 6 months?
Replies: 59
Views: 6930

Re: Passport validity: Do I need at least 6 months?

It's all about risk tolerance. I took the risk and left the US for the Schengen area when my passport had <6 months validity (a renewal did not happen as planned because of paperwork technicalities) and returned on <5 months validity, and did not encounter any trouble. YMMV, and your dice are in your own hands. :sharebeer
by winglessangel31
Mon Apr 07, 2014 11:05 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: I don't want to upgrade XP just yet, is that ok?
Replies: 86
Views: 12752

Re: I don't want to upgrade XP just yet, is that ok?

jackpullo997 wrote:
thebogledude wrote:Total: 427.89
Total research/shopping/assembly hours = 20
Net cost at $100/hr oppty cost = $2427.89
Sorry to burst your bubble, but I think you're way overestimating your opportunity cost. :shock:
by winglessangel31
Sun Mar 16, 2014 3:03 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: I don't want to upgrade XP just yet, is that ok?
Replies: 86
Views: 12752

Re: I don't want to upgrade XP just yet, is that ok?

denovo wrote:I am not a "hacker" who steals information from computers and I know diddly about computer security, but here's my unfounded speculation. I would think that if I were a hacker, ,since this has been in the works for such a long time (termination of XP support), that they would be planning for this for a long time and have plans to wreak havoc on XP machines. I would imagine this would be like Christmas for them, with April 8th being Black Friday.
Exactly. Among the technically informed, we're confident that anyone with an exploit is just holding off until then to release. No point releasing it early and letting Microsoft work on a patch.
by winglessangel31
Sun Mar 16, 2014 3:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: I don't want to upgrade XP just yet, is that ok?
Replies: 86
Views: 12752

Re: I don't want to upgrade XP just yet, is that ok?

People who say they have outdated computers hooked up to the internet that are not infected might not know that their computers are.
Most of the time, if you are infected, it doesn't affect your own computer. You become a botnet host, and become a scourge to everyone else. :annoyed
by winglessangel31
Sat Feb 22, 2014 3:49 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I pay off my auto loan?
Replies: 36
Views: 6298

Re: Should I pay off my auto loan?

Note : You want to leave a "substantial enough" amount on the loan unpaid , because if it's not enough, they might just write off the remaining amount. Having an open loan on your credit history is actually often better than having it closed, counterintuitively. Is this really necessary? If I leave $50 left I doubt they are gonna "write if off". Heck up on to this point (ie getting the loan down to nothing) I have only paid about $50 in interest. Thus if they write off the last $50 they are giving up all the interest they earned off of me. When I said "substantial enough" I meant more along the lines of "don't leave $1 in there". :) I'm pretty sure $50 is fine. I suggested $100 just because. But I ha...
by winglessangel31
Tue Feb 18, 2014 11:42 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: best tips for passwords?
Replies: 141
Views: 19479

Re: best tips for passwords?

I don't use Lastpass as a create-complex-password-then-forget tool because I like to know my passwords and know that I can use any device out there to get to my accounts. But this comic summarizes everything: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/password_strength.png Except don't use "correcthorsebatterystaple" because that's probably easy-to-guess now. :P One could tabulate all permutations of 25,000 common words and crack hashes of a password of this sort in less than 2 weeks, at 350 billion guesses per second with existing technology: http://arstechnica.com/security/2012/12/25-gpu-cluster-cracks-every-standard-windows-password-in-6-hours/ Quote: The technique doesn't apply to online attacks, because, among other reasons, most websites ...
by winglessangel31
Tue Feb 18, 2014 1:19 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: best tips for passwords?
Replies: 141
Views: 19479

Re: best tips for passwords?

I find it really intriguing that people are so comfortable with password managers that they'd trust the password manager to do all the memory work. I find it also really intriguing that people are so comfortable with putting all eggs in one basket. Lose the master password/account, lose everything. That's exactly the argument for having unique passwords across sites---if you have one username/password compromised, the rest are still largely safe. It is far too easy to accidentally the whole password manager account; you could forget, you could lose the encrypted files, you could have something hacked, and so on. The way people leave their hard drives unencrypted (e.g., not using Bitlocker or similar), the way lots of people leave machines u...
by winglessangel31
Tue Feb 18, 2014 1:07 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Advice for computer science student
Replies: 33
Views: 3949

Re: Advice for computer science student

Thanks again, folks! It's a private university ranked Tier 1 by US News (top 150). She definitely has the aptitude but interest wise, maybe just a little. She seems to be enjoying working on her homeworks so who knows? She might really start liking it in the future. She enjoys problem solving and things that make her think, so I don't think she'll have trouble learning this stuff. And did I already mention that she's pretty intelligent? Costs about $3100 per class that I'm currently paying. My goal was to pay for a few classes and then she can find a job and either stop taking classes or pay for them herself. I don't plan on paying the $60K or so total that it will cost. All of her classes are in the evening so it doesn't conflict with wor...
by winglessangel31
Mon Feb 17, 2014 2:39 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I pay off my auto loan?
Replies: 36
Views: 6298

Re: Should I pay off my auto loan?

Thought about what you thought about, except that my credit history is in much better shape, because of all the work I put into it, and no thanks to parents or co-signers. My credit history is barely 2 years old, but because of diligence, I'm on solid ground. The car loan I'm keeping open for the same reason? Yeah, that's so that when I start looking at mortgages, I'll be in perfect condition. What you really really really want to do to make your credit history shine is almost pay it off, leave $100 unpaid, and pay the remaining $100 on the last cycle. If I understand your situation correctly, you should be able to do this without having to pay a minimum payment every month. When I "prepaid" my auto loan, what it did was forward t...
by winglessangel31
Mon Feb 17, 2014 12:54 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: best tips for passwords?
Replies: 141
Views: 19479

Re: best tips for passwords?

I never suggested using the same password everywhere. :) winglessangel31, I think you missed my point. I really like your comic and suggested technic. Actually thought about implementing it until I considered other challenges that I still need to face. Such as... - changing passwords every 90 days - Some sites having very challenging requirements while others don't allow passwords with the same complexity - memory challenged I'm not just looking for more challenging passwords...I also need to remember them. Ah :) if memory is a huge challenge, then really nothing can help... :P but having to change password every 90 days and complexity requirements aren't really arguments I'd buy :) For example, since someone else brought up Chase, and bec...
by winglessangel31
Mon Feb 17, 2014 12:44 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: best tips for passwords?
Replies: 141
Views: 19479

Re: best tips for passwords?

Beezthree wrote:i wish lastpass and the like were practical for me.

i do much of my internetting at work, behind a massive company firewall/filter that won't let me download or use any outside software. makes using lastpass or other similar password generating software impossible.

anyone have any ideas to circumvent this scenario? i'd love to be able to use this technology.
Don't. :) No matter how frustrating, you want to stay on your company's and their IT's good side.
Just create memorable passwords that are hard to crack. libertyGoofballAteMunchkins.
by winglessangel31
Mon Feb 17, 2014 12:43 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I become sole provider for fiance?
Replies: 97
Views: 9649

Re: Should I become sole provider for fiance?

travellight wrote:I didn't even understand the wording of option 4, "No, do not become sole provider, enjoy the generosity while you can." Op should enjoy what generosity?

I am a female and if I were your fiance, I would be grateful for the generosity you have already shown so far and would expect no more. I would not even expect what as been in your current arrangement.
Les parents de la fiancée :)
by winglessangel31
Sun Feb 16, 2014 12:57 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: best tips for passwords?
Replies: 141
Views: 19479

Re: best tips for passwords?

Before this escalates and more people do it, it's always a risk that in a thread asking for password tips people start posting real examples of what they do. Your online identities are not that hard to reconcile. :oops: :!: :!: :shock:
by winglessangel31
Sun Feb 16, 2014 12:12 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: best tips for passwords?
Replies: 141
Views: 19479

Re: best tips for passwords?

I don't use Lastpass as a create-complex-password-then-forget tool because I like to know my passwords and know that I can use any device out there to get to my accounts. But this comic summarizes everything: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/password_strength.png Except don't use "correcthorsebatterystaple" because that's probably easy-to-guess now. :P This works great, except if: - Use this for all of your sites and one of them gets hacked - Use this for all of your sites and one of them requires changing passwords every 90 days - Use this for all of your sites, but one requires numbers, letters & special characters; Another requires numbers and letters, but doesn't work with special characters - One of your sites doesn't allow r...
by winglessangel31
Sun Feb 16, 2014 12:07 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: best tips for passwords?
Replies: 141
Views: 19479

Re: best tips for passwords?

I don't use Lastpass as a create-complex-password-then-forget tool because I like to know my passwords and know that I can use any device out there to get to my accounts. But this comic summarizes everything:
Image
Except don't use "correcthorsebatterystaple" because that's probably easy-to-guess now. :P
by winglessangel31
Sat Feb 15, 2014 6:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I become sole provider for fiance?
Replies: 97
Views: 9649

Re: Should I become sole provider for fiance?

I have been working for the past 5 years and earn a modest income. I am recently engaged and my fiance has 2 more years of school left to go in her graduate program. We do not plan on getting married for at least another year. We'll be a middle class family when it's all said and done most likely. We share a house with a 3rd roommate and her mother has been paying her tuition and her share of the rent and utilities (in addition to her car insurance and phone). I have been and will be continuing to pay for the majority of her other expenses (e.g. groceries, eating out, drinks, odds and ends, etc.). I am wondering if it is time for me to be the sole provider for my fiance and take on her portion of rent, utilities, and groceries? What do you...
by winglessangel31
Sat Feb 15, 2014 6:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Advice for computer science student
Replies: 33
Views: 3949

Re: Advice for computer science student

The gf is back in school getting a Masters degree in CS. She has a BS and MS in English/Education. The program has a prerequisite component. 8 classes that cover the basics (programming, data structures, discrete Math) and then 14 or so classes that are the real MS classes. To give you a bit more background, she currently works as a teacher at a certificate mill/sweatshop. Last year she made $30K gross as an independent contractor (double FICA taxes etc) there working 60+ hours a week when you take lesson planning and grading into account. She also gets no vacation or sick time or any other benefits. As a result, her student loan balance(total of $60K or so) has just been going up for the past several years. I mention all of this because a...
by winglessangel31
Sun Feb 09, 2014 3:45 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: A $1000 lesson on how manipulative salespeople can be?
Replies: 107
Views: 22601

Re: A $1000 lesson on how manipulative salespeople can be?

Thanks everyone! I appreciate your comments. I will watch those movies and remind myself that selling to people who don't want to buy is their job. I will stop carrying my credit card with me so I can only get myself into so much trouble. I'm am thankful I got them down to $1k. It's just that my annual pre-tax salary is ~$51k and my net worth is ~$70k (I don't count my home's equity in there since it is only based on the value going up at this point b/c I had to payoff my ex husband last year) so this is a big lesson for me. The art is nice so if I have no choice but to pay for it I guess I should take it and try to enjoy it. I just don't want those sleazy people to have my money. I know that for me it was the fact that it was supposed to ...
by winglessangel31
Sun Feb 09, 2014 3:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Taxes for F-1 Visa Non-Resident
Replies: 7
Views: 952

Re: Taxes for F-1 Visa Non-Resident

kotonk wrote:Thank you to everyone's reply.

She has been here less than 4 years for college only, so I believe she is classified as a non-resident alien.
It looks like she will be owing Uncle Sam about $500 unless there's something I'm missing because she has no deduction or credits.
Non-resident alien classification is correct based on your description.
Having no deductions, credits, dependents, ... suggests that she should fill out the 1040NR-EZ for convenience.

She gets the personal exemption, but not the personal deduction. Like the commenter below says, you calculated wrongly...
by winglessangel31
Sun Feb 09, 2014 3:36 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Taxes for F-1 Visa Non-Resident
Replies: 7
Views: 952

Re: Taxes for F-1 Visa Non-Resident

There should be a personal deduction of 6,100 and exemption of 3,900. So taxes should really be on $3,000 of the income unless there is something not listed in your post. When I was on an F1, I did the 1040 NR EZ and 8843 - given that it looks like there are no complex scenarios for this person, that should still apply.' If this person has been in the US for greater than 5 years, they may be a resident alien and have to file a 1040 instead. I would check this website to see if this person qualifies for 1040 NR EZ: http://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040nre/ar01.html#d0e22 If yes, fill out the forms and send them off and wait on a tax refund. PS: I am not a tax expert. My understanding is days spent here on a Student Visa do not count toward ...
by winglessangel31
Wed Feb 05, 2014 4:05 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What interest rate did you get on your car loan?
Replies: 71
Views: 8335

Re: What interest rate did you get on your car loan?

sunnyday wrote: Where would I invest the money in the sinking fund and what interest rate could I get for it? If I can't get > 3% guaranteed for it, then a sinking fund doesn't make sense for my situation.

I could set aside $25k for my sinking fund and make say 1% on it. In 5 years, that will grow to $26,275 (even less after taxes). Or I could use that $25k and pay down my mortgage at 3.5%. In 5 years the savings will be $29,692. If I financed a car, I would have the option to pay it off quickly if I chose to do so.

It's not BS, just math :)
jda wrote: 5 year car loan @ 1.49%
5 year CD @ 3.04%

Both from Penfed.
:sharebeer
by winglessangel31
Wed Feb 05, 2014 3:58 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What credit cards do you recommend?
Replies: 85
Views: 41032

Re: What credit cards do you recommend?

by Jack FFR1846 » Tue Feb 04, 2014 6:55 am Be careful with the Amex Blue Cash (non preferred). The rewards are extremely low until you spend $6500 in the calendar year. I used this in the past when I could put business expenses on it. A bunch of airline flights and hotels got me up there quickly. I looked on my January statement and percentages like 0.1% and 0.5% were showing up for purchases that in december were 1% and 5%. I completely agree. With that 6500 spend, I could have racked up 50k points on a new card. I dislike this card and am canceling it. Are you sure this is still the case? I tried searching for it and almost everywhere it states that this was put in practice in 2011 but is no longer true. The AMEX Blue Cash (non preferred...
by winglessangel31
Sun Feb 02, 2014 3:03 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How do you pay your PenFedVisa gas card?
Replies: 19
Views: 1385

Re: How do you pay your PenFedVisa gas card?

Julieta wrote:Cash rewards Visa, with 5% off gas
You get statement credit automatically. No choice. ;)
by winglessangel31
Sun Feb 02, 2014 2:59 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How do you pay your PenFedVisa gas card?
Replies: 19
Views: 1385

Re: How do you pay your PenFedVisa gas card?

Julieta wrote:Got it G, I thought there was a cash back credit option like my Discover card. But alas, only store credit. I'd rather have the cash back on the statement.
To confirm what you're saying, you didn't get the PenFed Platinum Cash Rewards Visa, yes? You got the PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature?
by winglessangel31
Sun Feb 02, 2014 2:48 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What credit cards do you recommend?
Replies: 85
Views: 41032

Re: What credit cards do you recommend?

I'm looking to replace a credit card and many mentioned the Amex Blue Preferred for the 6% grocery discount. Sounded good, but everything I can find shows that card has a $75 annual fee. What about the other cards mentioned? You think it's worth using cards with fees? Thanks. There is a fee and that is it. And *grumble grumble* why don't people read the entire thread? :oops: The grocery card -- SallieMae MC (5% up to a monthly limit of $250 -> pseudo-yearly limit of $3000) if you don't buy that much. If you spend more, add on the AMEX Blue Cash Everyday (3% up to a yearly limit of $6000, no fee). An alternative tool is the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred (6% up to a yearly limit of $6000, $75 annual fee). Let's compare! SallieMae MC plus the AMEX...
by winglessangel31
Sun Feb 02, 2014 2:46 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help for teen with 5-figures to invest
Replies: 16
Views: 1848

Re: Help for teen with 5-figures to invest

stan1 wrote:I would absolutely use this money to pay for college if the alternative is student loans.
I'm not quite sure - don't student loans calculate interest only after graduation? That's 0% for 4 years! :P
by winglessangel31
Sun Feb 02, 2014 1:52 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much financial support should you give your kids?
Replies: 53
Views: 5327

Re: How much financial support should you give your kids?

DualIncomeNoDebt wrote:
matonplayer wrote:The gift would come with caveats, though.
Then it's not a gift.
Along a similar line, if you've raised your children to adulthood and can't honestly trust them to know how to use money wisely, perhaps you need a few more years to impart those values (a much better gift!) before giving the monetary gift.
If you don't find yourself able to trust them honestly even after that, perhaps the money would go further donated to some other people or organizations.

I'm a young adult with no kids and family who plans to follow my own advice when the time comes.