Search found 12059 matches

by sport
Wed Mar 27, 2024 6:23 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: decsion on new job offer
Replies: 12
Views: 1136

Re: decsion on new job offer

leeks wrote: Wed Mar 27, 2024 6:08 pm Can you negotiate for more on the new offer? 45 minutes is a long commute for maybe-but-not-clearly-better compensation.
Or, perhaps 2 days a week instead of 3.
by sport
Wed Mar 27, 2024 3:19 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Why does a discussion of Financial Planning almost always turns into buying Whole life insurance?
Replies: 60
Views: 3322

Re: Why does a discussion of Financial Planning almost always turns into buying Whole life insurance?

We did our estate planning with a law firm that does not sell or manage investments. The big advantage to whole life insurance is the commission for the advisor salesman that sells it to you.
by sport
Wed Mar 27, 2024 2:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Checking account: why?
Replies: 21
Views: 1293

Re: Checking account: why?

I don't write many paper checks. However, I use my bank's bill pay service for many bills where I can't/won't use a credit card. I also use it to pay the credit card bills. I don't believe you can do that with a savings account.
by sport
Tue Mar 26, 2024 1:57 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Our State Farm agent retiring
Replies: 32
Views: 2202

Re: Our State Farm agent retiring

When my SF agent retired, SF moved me to another agent. I stayed with them a number of years, but became unhappy with them. So, I looked for an SF agent closer to home. I went to his office and decided I liked him, so I transferred my accounts to him. We have become friends and his service is impeccable.
by sport
Mon Mar 25, 2024 5:47 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Terrible experiences with Express Scripts
Replies: 12
Views: 1616

Re: Terrible experiences with Express Scripts

I also had a bad experience with Express Scripts. I was receiving my Rx's via mail order. When I used a nasal spray, I could tell something was off. My doctor told me not to use it. I believe it was damaged by heat during shipment. When I contacted ES, they said they would replace it, but only if I paid another copay. When I complained, they said they had no recall information on the Rx and they gave me the phone number of the manufacturer. When I contacted the manufacturer, they said they would replace it if I sent the bad one to them. However, they were not a licensed pharmacy, so the replacement had to be sent to ES so they could sent it to me. ES refused to accommodate this arrangement. So, the manufacturer said they would refund my sec...
by sport
Mon Mar 25, 2024 5:35 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Car Totaled - Insurance Options
Replies: 22
Views: 1456

Re: Car Totaled - Insurance Options

It's 20 years old and has 200K miles. I certainly would not let my child drive it. I would take the $2950 and buy something newer and therefore safer.
by sport
Fri Mar 22, 2024 3:17 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: CD taxes
Replies: 10
Views: 1537

Re: CD taxes

Interest is taxable for the year in which it is disbursed.
by sport
Fri Mar 22, 2024 8:06 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: When brand names matter and when they don't
Replies: 193
Views: 11816

Re: When brand names matter and when they don't

AgentOrange wrote: Thu Mar 21, 2024 11:21 pm
TP - Kirkland is thin, uneconomical stuff. Because of this, you must use more, so it costs no less than Charmin, which I prefer. I never buy any other brand so I don't know about them.
Just an FYI. There are two kinds of Costco Kirkland TP. I can only find the cheap one in the store. However, the other one is available at Costco.com. It is a MUCH better product. https://www.costco.com/kirkland-signatu ... 06004.html
by sport
Wed Mar 20, 2024 9:35 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Moving in retirement.
Replies: 29
Views: 3615

Re: Moving in retirement.

Wannaretireearly wrote: Wed Mar 20, 2024 7:37 am Downstairs bathroom is key.
No stairs is even better. We love having only one floor.
by sport
Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:05 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Yearly AC tune up?
Replies: 14
Views: 2138

Re: Yearly AC tune up?

jacksprat wrote: Sat Mar 16, 2024 8:57 pm Over time, every a/c unit I've had eventually leaked freon/ which affected the cooling efficiency, so this is best repaired by a qualified tech.
If the tech hooks up the pressure gages to the coolant line, there is a loss of freon in the process. If there is no problem, just a routine checkup, they should not hook up the gages, unless they want to sell freon. :moneybag
by sport
Sat Mar 16, 2024 1:53 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Moving in retirement.
Replies: 29
Views: 3615

Re: Moving in retirement.

In our early 60's we moved from a 2-story house with laundry in the basement and a detached garage to a one-floor house with an attached garage and no basement. The HO association cuts the grass, pulls the weeds, trims the bushes and cleans the snow off the drive and walk. We love the new house and don't miss the old one at all. Not having any stairs to climb is wonderful.
by sport
Thu Mar 14, 2024 6:06 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Need Help Finding a Hobby
Replies: 76
Views: 6392

Re: Need Help Finding a Hobby

Duplicate Bridge, in person or on-line. www.acbl.org
by sport
Thu Mar 14, 2024 5:30 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Finding a ticket symbol for 85744W226 in my 401k portfolio
Replies: 5
Views: 571

Re: Finding a ticket symbol for 85744W226 in my 401k portfolio

salilsurendran wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2024 4:59 pm I have a mutual fund that is labelled as '85744W226 - SS US BOND INDX XIV '. I maintain my investments in a google spreadsheet and I can use =GOOGLEFINANCE('ticker',"price") to get the current price of the investment for eg. =GOOGLEFINANCE("AAPL","price") gives the current price of the stock Apple. How, do I find the current ticker price for '85744W226 - SS US BOND INDX XIV '. Searching for '85744W226 - SS US BOND INDX XIV ' gives 'State Street Aggregate Bond Index Fund - Class K' with symbol ' SSFEX' but that is not the same as it's prices is $85 while the price of 85744W226 is $10
Use the value for SSFEX and multiply it by 10/85.
by sport
Wed Mar 13, 2024 9:57 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Election spam texts
Replies: 41
Views: 2594

Re: Election spam texts

I have been getting those texts as well. When I get one, I report it as spam and block the number. The ones I have been getting are related to the presidential race. I do not click on anything in the text. The phone identifies them as spam, but I block the number anyway.
by sport
Wed Mar 13, 2024 8:44 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buying a new house
Replies: 12
Views: 1582

Re: Buying a new house

We had this situation. The old house was paid off. I asked the loan officer at the bank about a bridge loan. He advised that we would do better to get either a mortgage on the old house or on the new one, and then pay it off when the old house sold. We got the mortgage on the new house. We elected a no-fee mortgage with a higher rate because we did not play to keep it very long. We also were able to get a small discount on the mortgage rate by having a checking account at that bank with automatic mortgage payments from that account. When the house sold, we paid off the mortgage. Getting a mortgage on the new house requires that you have a combination of the available assets and the income to support a mortgage to make up the difference bet...
by sport
Wed Mar 13, 2024 6:03 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Be careful - could happen to anyone [fraudulent bank transactions]
Replies: 78
Views: 12775

Re: Be careful - could happen to anyone

anagram wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2024 4:32 pm
beyou wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2024 4:17 pm
Understood but why write checks on the settlement account at all? Why not just move from VUSXX to bank checking and use that?
You cannot write bank checks to make QCDs. So, I keep very little in my IRA settlement fund. I only put in additional money to cover the QCD checks when I write them. For other checks, I use my bank's bill pay almost exclusively. The only personal checks I write are for gifts within my family.
by sport
Wed Mar 13, 2024 11:10 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buying a new house
Replies: 12
Views: 1582

Re: Buying a new house

We had this situation. The old house was paid off. I asked the loan officer at the bank about a bridge loan. He advised that we would do better to get either a mortgage on the old house or on the new one, and then pay it off when the old house sold. We got the mortgage on the new house. We elected a no-fee mortgage with a higher rate because we did not play to keep it very long. We also were able to get a small discount on the mortgage rate by having a checking account at that bank with automatic mortgage payments from that account. When the house sold, we paid off the mortgage.
by sport
Tue Mar 12, 2024 4:14 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard or Fidelity
Replies: 73
Views: 6852

Re: Vanguard or Fidelity

When I first started investing and did not know what I was doing, I invested in a Fidelity fund. It had a front end load of 8.75% :shock:
There are Fidelity funds without loads if you know which funds to avoid. Vanguard does not have funds with loads.
by sport
Mon Mar 11, 2024 4:40 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: choosing CDs
Replies: 9
Views: 1008

Re: choosing CDs

If you are building a CD ladder, avoid callable CDs. If interest rates drop, the bank will call the CD and return your cash. You would not have the CD after that. A non-callable CD will lock in the rate for the specified term.
by sport
Mon Mar 11, 2024 4:16 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard or Fidelity
Replies: 73
Views: 6852

Re: Vanguard or Fidelity

RosebudCO wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2024 12:52 pm ...and will need personal assistance/advice from them as well
If you want investment advice, use Vanguard. Fidelity has some expensive products to sell you. Vanguard does not.
by sport
Sun Mar 10, 2024 8:27 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: MMF FDIC vs CD
Replies: 11
Views: 1018

Re: MMF FDIC vs CD

Geologist wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2024 7:36 pm Non-callable CD's often have lower interest rates. (Banks effectively protect themselves against paying higher interest rates if overall rates fall by issuing callable CD's so they can call them.)

Another thing, though, is that the selection of CD's is likely to be not as good outside market hours. You probably need to check tomorrow when the market is open.
Check later in the day. CD listings often do not update in the morning, especially on Mondays.
by sport
Sun Mar 10, 2024 6:20 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Looking for upright piano in northern / central NJ
Replies: 17
Views: 1277

Re: Looking for upright piano in northern / central NJ

If there is a music school in your area, you could inquire about them selling any pianos. Such schools sometimes like to replace older pianos.
by sport
Fri Mar 08, 2024 5:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: is QCD like a DAF (but better) ?
Replies: 61
Views: 4271

Re: is QCD like a DAF (but better) ?

QCDs are reported on your 1099R as an ordinary distribution along with any other distributions you make. The custodian does not know and does not care whether or not your distribution meets the requirements for a QCD. You enter the total amount on the tax form (IIRC it is line 4a) and then on 4b you enter the taxable amount and write QCD next to that number. That is where the tax benefit occurs.
by sport
Fri Mar 08, 2024 7:42 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Online savings account options
Replies: 11
Views: 989

Re: Online savings account options

The rate for VUSXX is presently 5.28%. Its holdings are all treasury obligations.
by sport
Thu Mar 07, 2024 5:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Know your customer (KYC)
Replies: 22
Views: 2834

Re: Know your customer (KYC)

When the credit card banks ask about net worth or income I just answer "more than $xxxxx. That seems to satisfy them.
by sport
Thu Mar 07, 2024 5:12 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with Mutual Fund/Tax Question
Replies: 3
Views: 473

Re: Help with Mutual Fund/Tax Question

There should be no taxes involved with changing to a different brokerage. However, if these are expensive funds and you want to get into less expensive investments, then any gains you realize would be taxed. The gains would be only the difference between what you paid for the investments and what you received when you sold them. For example, if you paid $10,000 for a holding and sold it for $11,000, only $1000 would be taxable. If you held the investment for at least one year, such gains would receive favorable tax treatment.
by sport
Thu Mar 07, 2024 12:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Transfer Car ownership to daughter or not?
Replies: 41
Views: 5176

Re: Transfer Car ownership to daughter or not?

If the car is intended to be a gift to your adult child, then I would complete the transfer. I understand young folks these days may need economic assistance from their parents after graduation but owning a 6-7 year old car and paying the tax and insurance is a great way to start to adult. Under very, very few circumstances would I carry an adult college graduate on my own auto insurance. Old thread, I know, but I did transfer ownership of the cars to my college senior daughter, but our insurance policy has me as primary and she and rest of family as other insured. My understanding is that liability follows car ownership, not the insurance policy.... I suggest asking your insurance agent if that arrangement is acceptable. I did this, trans...
by sport
Thu Mar 07, 2024 11:25 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Transfer Car ownership to daughter or not?
Replies: 41
Views: 5176

Re: Transfer Car ownership to daughter or not?

boglewannabe wrote: Thu Mar 07, 2024 10:42 am
8foot7 wrote: Wed Jul 06, 2022 2:51 pm If the car is intended to be a gift to your adult child, then I would complete the transfer. I understand young folks these days may need economic assistance from their parents after graduation but owning a 6-7 year old car and paying the tax and insurance is a great way to start to adult. Under very, very few circumstances would I carry an adult college graduate on my own auto insurance.
Old thread, I know, but I did transfer ownership of the cars to my college senior daughter, but our insurance policy has me as primary and she and rest of family as other insured. My understanding is that liability follows car ownership, not the insurance policy....
I suggest asking your insurance agent if that arrangement is acceptable.
by sport
Tue Mar 05, 2024 4:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: QCDs
Replies: 6
Views: 718

Re: QCDs

earlyout wrote: Tue Mar 05, 2024 4:16 pm Using QCDs also lowers the modified agi used to calculate how much of the Social Security benefit is taxable income.
I believe this is true only when the QCDs are part of an RMD.
by sport
Sun Mar 03, 2024 11:26 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much will you get as Costco Citi reward this year?
Replies: 112
Views: 16736

Re: How much will you get as Costco Citi reward this year?

Wannaretireearly wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 7:25 pm Ok, thanks. My math is something like:
1% on Costco purchases (non gas/restaurant/travel) plus 2% exec member bonus = no brainer to use Costco card at Costco.
Costco purchases get 2% on the Costco card. With the exec member bonus, the total is 4%.
by sport
Sat Mar 02, 2024 8:32 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: CD statements and 1099's at banks
Replies: 5
Views: 614

Re: CD statements and 1099's at banks

If you open CDs at your broker, the 1099s come from the broker, not the bank(s). You can have brokered CDs with multiple banks and they all are included in one consolidated 1099 from the broker. Another advantage is that brokered CDs will not automatically renew at a rate which might be lower than you would want.
by sport
Wed Feb 28, 2024 6:18 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best time of year to pull IRA RMD's?
Replies: 13
Views: 1893

Re: Best time of year to pull IRA RMD's?

If she wants to donate money to charity/charities, she should make QCD distributions before she completes her RMD. When done this way, the QCD is part of the RMD, but is tax free. This can also reduce state income taxes, taxes on social security, and IRMAA rates.
by sport
Tue Feb 27, 2024 11:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: RMD Tax Withholding
Replies: 50
Views: 5148

Re: RMD Tax Withholding

Dregob wrote: Tue Feb 27, 2024 10:36 pm
mrsoto wrote: Sun Jan 14, 2024 12:59 pm I was surprised to discover that Schwab and Vanguard do not allow state tax withholding on RMD's. Does not make sense to me since I take Federal tax withholding from my RMD's.
Do you mean for your state? We're in NC and we had Fed and State taxes withheld from an inherited IRA at Vanguard.
Vanguard will withhold taxes for states only if the state requires it. They will not withhold for my state either. :annoyed
by sport
Tue Feb 27, 2024 10:08 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Online Savings Account Recommendation Needed
Replies: 7
Views: 1261

Re: Online Savings Account Recommendation Needed

I use a Vanguard money market fund. Its current yield is 5.28%. I can transfer to/from my bank. Transfers take only a day or two.
by sport
Mon Feb 26, 2024 8:40 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A place which has all mutual funds' tax information?
Replies: 3
Views: 637

Re: A place which has all mutual funds' tax information?

I believe those are all values that are unknown until the end of the year. So, no one would be able to compile the info you want. The best they could do would be last year's numbers which could be very different than this year's.
by sport
Mon Feb 26, 2024 8:08 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Questions for Mel or any one else..i bond questions
Replies: 23
Views: 3850

Re: Questions for Mel or any one else..i bond questions

Mel Lindauer wrote: Sat Feb 24, 2024 11:28 pm As for holding on to the 3% I Bonds for as long as possible, I think that's a no-brainer.
Would this be true even if one would have big "tax bombs" in 2030 and 2031?
by sport
Sat Feb 24, 2024 10:44 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buying CDs - Really this easy?
Replies: 23
Views: 3553

Re: Buying CDs - Really this easy?

I've been looking at 2 Year terms for an IRA. Right now brokered non-callable CDs and treasuries are about the same, 4.7% - but as mentioned the treasury has the advantage on the secondary market. But a local Credit Union is offering 5.13%. It's extra work to open a local account but probably worth the trouble. Last year 2 Year T-bills peaked at around 5.1%, then fell. But they've been going up lately. Buying bank cds in an ira can be tricky because you have to create a new account and when the cd matures you often have a short window to do something with the money and you might end up doing an indirect rollover of the money if the bank sends you a check which is limited to once per 13 month period. In addition, if you miss the window, it ...
by sport
Sat Feb 24, 2024 7:47 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buying CDs - Really this easy?
Replies: 23
Views: 3553

Re: Buying CDs - Really this easy?

NNJBIH1957 wrote: Sat Feb 24, 2024 6:46 pm Conclusion: CDs are generally not as liquid and the ultimate executed buy price is only what someone is willing to pay.
Conclusion #2: Buy brokered CDs only if you expect to hold them to maturity.
by sport
Sat Feb 24, 2024 5:05 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dental crowns
Replies: 61
Views: 8253

Re: Dental crowns

In my experience, dental fees can vary greatly depending on the dentist. Some dentists charge much more than others, even in the same city.
by sport
Fri Feb 23, 2024 9:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Company division is being "Carved-Out"
Replies: 17
Views: 2544

Re: Company division is being "Carved-Out"

An obvious and important question is "what happens to the money in the 401k plan?". I worked for a company that split off the division I was in. In this case, we had to get a new 401k plan because we were no longer employed by the parent company. However, we were not given the ability to take the money out of the plan. It had to be rolled into the new plan. There was also a profit sharing component to the match in the old 401k plan and we split off before the last year's match was made. The company made good on what was owed to each employee in the form of a check for that amount. That amount was part of our salary for the year. We lost out on getting it into the 401k, but they did not cheat us out of it.
by sport
Fri Feb 23, 2024 9:05 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: resources for getting kids interested in investing / personal finance
Replies: 11
Views: 1111

Re: resources for getting kids interested in investing / personal finance

When our kids were young, we told them they could spend their allowance on anything they wanted, other than candy. About age 9, each of them wanted something that would cost about 10 weeks allowance, which seemed like a great deal of money to them. We told them to save up allowance money until they had enough to purchase the desired item. They did save the money and eventually were able to buy the item they wanted. They took VERY good care of that item as they knew the value of it and how hard it would be to replace it. This taught them how to balance immediate wants and longer term goals. It was also a lesson in delayed gratification.
by sport
Fri Feb 23, 2024 8:41 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What inferior good do you love?
Replies: 232
Views: 25965

Re: What inferior good do you love?

Xrayman69 wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2024 7:14 am
almostretired1965 wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2024 10:34 pm
Dottie57 wrote: Mon Feb 19, 2024 11:44 pm
DiploInvestor wrote: Sat Feb 17, 2024 2:24 pm Arby’s roast beef sandwiches. I love those sandwiches. And I can’t get them when I’m living overseas.
They dropped the potato triangles! :(
Ah, hope they have a 5 for 5 deal soon. My family immigrated to the US when I was 10 and my first roast beef sandwich of any kind was at Arby's. To this day I prefer it to the real thing .......
Curious as to what you mean prefer it to the “real thing”…. Arby’s roast beef isn’t real meat?
Many years ago, Arby's had actual large chunks of roast beef that they sliced for sandwiches. Now it is a processed beef product.
by sport
Fri Feb 23, 2024 8:39 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Are IRA tax withholdings considered distributions?
Replies: 13
Views: 1158

Re: Are IRA tax withholdings considered distributions?

If the money withheld is part of the RMD, it will not increase one's taxes.
by sport
Thu Feb 22, 2024 8:37 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Seat Cushion
Replies: 3
Views: 681

Re: Seat Cushion

I found that I need a seat cushion when I am driving. I went to an upholstery store and bought a scrap piece of thick upholstery foam. It is very comfortable and has held up very well. I bought a piece large enough to cut in half so I have one in each car. I think I spent less than $5.
by sport
Wed Feb 21, 2024 11:30 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: CD Compounding
Replies: 5
Views: 1052

Re: CD Compounding

Thank you exodusNH and jeffyscott :beer
by sport
Wed Feb 21, 2024 5:59 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Full solar ECLIPSE April 2024!
Replies: 80
Views: 9594

Re: Full solar ECLIPSE April 2024!

ResearchMed wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2024 11:25 am
And my favorite of the "availables"? There was a motel that looked like a "run down Motel 6" (!), and they were asking $1,500. No, not for 3 nights: PER NIGHT. They'll probably sell all the rooms, at least at the last minute when some clueless show up not realizing they can't travel just then like "any other time".
But still... $1,500 per night for *that*?!?
RM
Perhaps we should rent out our guest bedroom. :mrgreen: