Bogleheads.org

I haven't read all the responses. But I did gather that you are on disability. Have you explored the jobs/gigs you may pursue despite the disability status? I don't know if you'd lose the status if you start working. If that is not that case, there are a number of things you can do from the comfort of your home - tutoring, web design, social media specialist etc. and dictate your work hours.
This may both help you reach your savings goals faster and increase your discretionary spending.

I think ioniq 5 comes with a heat pump and may give you better range in the winter if you live in cold climate ( you may have to confirm this). Thank you. Very helpful context! If the ID.4 does not have a heat pump heater that could be a show stopper in much of North America? If you face winter driving temperatures of say 20F, and that's probably most of N America east of the Rockies?, then the impact on range of running the car heater is quite significant. Even with the HP, my friend who has an Ioniq 5 and a HP heater but who lives in a New England sort of climate, finds it is a big impact on range. I looked at a BMW i3, and even here (England), the "option" to have a heat pump heater didn't seem at all optional to me. It is not...

CletusCaddy wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 9:31 pm

texasdiver wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 9:22 pm

CletusCaddy wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 6:20 pm With a $50k budget I would not buy a Hyundai or a VW.

Instead I'd look at:

Volvo XC40 Recharge
BMW i4 eDrive35
Audi Q4 eTron

Why? Because they are Euro and not Korean?

Or is there some technology they have that is superior?

Luxury brands have nicer finishes and more sound deadening.

They also cover at least the first year's worth of scheduled maintenance.

I can tell you one of the draw backs of buying the ID.4 has been that our other ICE car, that seemed wonderful until 2 months ago, now seems incredibly loud. The ID.4 has great noise reduction. The first 20k miles maintenance is included, even though the perk of an EV is supposed to be no maintenance? Go figure.

We were in the same place 2 months ago and went with the ID.4. I think both cars are similar and appeal to the same audience. Ioniq 5 is more advanced technically. But it depends on your lifestyle and how you plan to use it. If you road trip a lot, the faster peak charging speed (thanks to the 800 V system) and battery preconditioning with Ioniq 5 makes a difference. If you are mostly going to charge at home/work it’s moot. I think ioniq 5 comes with a heat pump and may give you better range in the winter if you live in cold climate ( you may have to confirm this). My husband had a strong preference for the higher seating of the ID.4. It also has a nice sun roof that you don’t get in the Ioniq unless you go to the limited version. Having dr...

If you've purchased a dishwasher from Costco and have been happy with it - cleaning and reliability, I'd love to hear about it. Its time to change our dishwasher of over 15 years and I hear they don't make them like that anymore. I diligently looked up Customer Reports and saw they rate the Bosch highly. Unfortunately, Costco doesn't carry them. I could order those from homedepot/Lowes. Or just acknowledge that most appliances break down more frequently now and buy a model that Costco carries (free installation and haul away and covered for 2 years) and buy the extended warranty they offer for 3 additional years (total of 5 years). We cook a lot and need something that washes well. We just love Costco's customer service and its invariably o...

We recently bought an ID.4 and I got good advice from this forum. We didn't consider a Tesla because it was almost $20K more and it seemed overvalued compared to the options. Now that Teslas are $20K cheaper, I think of them as being valued right now as opposed to being a bargain. Even at this price, we would have picked the ID.4 over it. The idea of owning 3 cars and then selling 2 to buy a new one is rather convoluted. Take your time, test drive / rent cars to make up your mind on what you want and trade in one of your cars for it. Don't let the March 31st deadline drive your decisions. The $3.75K drop, if that is what it ends up being, is smaller than the depreciation hit you will take in these transactions. Having your own reliable char...

Interestingly, the id4 didn’t even come with a level 1 charging cable. Apparently these are new ways to work around the supply shortage. So going to look up setting up l2 charging as quickly as we can for piece of mind. In the end, it is always a personal decision. Enjoy it! If you can't borrow an L1 in the short term, or want to own one as a backup or to carry around in the car, you can just get one for <$200 from amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-Portable-EV-Charger-Batteries/dp/B08PQ42SJ4/ You could also decide you don't like this EVSE and then return it at no cost in January. Oh, and what trim did you get? RWD, FWD or AWD? It is an AWD Pro S. This is the model that is mostly available now and the power from the dual motor is ni...

Major Update: we drove home an ID.4 today. We’ve taken longer to decide the next breakfast cereal to try at times so this went very fast. We cancelled the scheduled test drive for Tesla over the weekend because it seemed like you are mainly paying for the supercharger network which was of no use for us in the foreseeable future. DH had a strong preference for the suv like feel of the id4 vs the hatchback feel of the ioniq 5 and this was his primary car. The decision was between waiting another year and checking out the number of new cars coming out vs buying the ID4 now to take advantage of the tax credit. We found a car in the color we liked and just decided to pull the trigger instead of spending another year reading reviews and checking ...

Op here. We tested drove our first EV today. It was an ID 4 (picked randomly) and there is a dealer close to us selling it at MSRP. The Pro S AWD model would be around $57K out of the door and seems like a decent pick. Buying it before Dec 31 would give us a $7.5k tax credit. Based on our research is seems like a decent mid range car and the reviews indicate some software niggles. We werent blown away but also love that this is much cheaper than th mach e and tesla. Any thoughts on this? I think the ID4 is a good choice for what you are looking for, especially if you like German detailing. The EV fora are blown up all the time about the infotainment bugs, but are mostly early ID4 adopters who are angry that they haven't gotten any software...

So the ID4 we saw last night was sold this morning even before we had the time to review what else is out there. But it seems like its not impossible to find a fully loaded id4 before the end of the year in our area if you really want it. They are selling at MSRP.
We also drove the Iconiq 5 today. I love it. DH prefers ID4. The issue is that it seats pretty low and adults in the backseat do end up feeling like they are on a bench with zero thigh support. Apart from that issue I loved everything about it. Also if we decide to go with the Iconiq we would just wait until it came down to MSRP. This dealer told us that the lowest trim is available but others go 3k to 5k higher right now. With no tax credits for the Iconiq we’re in no rush.

Op here. We tested drove our first EV today. It was an ID 4 (picked randomly) and there is a dealer close to us selling it at MSRP. The Pro S AWD model would be around $57K out of the door and seems like a decent pick. Buying it before Dec 31 would give us a $7.5k tax credit.
Based on our research is seems like a decent mid range car and the reviews indicate some software niggles. We werent blown away but also love that this is much cheaper than th mach e and tesla. Any thoughts on this?

Lots of great feedback, esp on the 300 mile requirement. We're in the mid-atlantic area, so I expect winter range to take a hit. I know battery range deteriorates over time and you are anyway only recommended to charge the car upto 80% under regular circumstances. I therefore assumed with a 300 mile vehicle, I'd get over 200 miles of usable range. While I may only use the car for commuting and local drives, I'd hate to be restrained by this especially say after a few years in when the battery has deteriorated. Maybe I'm over emphasizing the difficulty in stopping for 15 minutes for a quick charge. The hybrid is the either the best of both worlds or the worst of both worlds. In my mind, it's the later. Its twice the equipment with none of th...

Original poster here. We don't qualify for any tax credits next year as our income exceeds the limits.

We are looking for a EV SUV around $65K with range over 300 miles that is reliable and spacious. We don't do a lot of road trips and will likely use our minivan anyway since our parents come along. We have only owned Hondas and Toyota so far and have been impressed by how reliable they have been at half the price. So it will be a bummer to pay this hefty price and not have a reliable car. We don't really care about sportiness but a car that is responsive would be nice. We value a comfy ride and a thoughtful cabin. We can wait about a year but our current car is at 145k miles and the current tesla discount of $3750 makes me wonder if it's better to just buy it and avoid the 150k mile service. Absolutely no issues with the current car. It's a...

[Thread merged into here --admin LadyGeek]

So I tried to buy $20K worth of I bonds ( for me and spouse) as a gift this year but forgot to check the gift checkbox. While the money was debited from my account, I got an email from treasury direct on May 31st that I have exceeded the limits for this year and that I should expect a refund in 8 to 10 weeks. This was on May 31 and it has since been 13 weeks and no refund yet. I've tried calling treasury direct. There are only a million options to chose from and unfortunately none of them are inquiring about my refund or talk to a representative. Its a big chunk of change and I feel like I'm at a dead end. Any ideas on what I can do?

This is an interesting discussion. Say I invest the $100k per my AAP and end up with 30 K in CDs but choose to invest this 30K in paying my mortgage due to the current interest rate difference. Say this continues for the next 5 years and I invest the money thats is to go into CDs/bonds into my mortgage, won't I be 100% equity when I pay off my mortgage? I'm in favor of paying off early in the absence of anything interesting in the fixed income area. I will not be touching my emergenxy funds to do this, so liquidity is not an issue.. I could also go a step further purely from a theoretical perspective and sell total bond market and pay off my mortgage..However, I am struggling to understand the impact of this on my AAP.

We have about $230 K and 8 years left in our mortgage at 2.875%. Most of my debt allocation is in CDs making less than 1%. If I have surplus cash sitting around, about $100K, should I invest it per my AAP or do you recommend I pay off my mortgage and lock the 2.875 gain. From a risk perspective, I'm sleep perfectly well with the mortgage and paying it off early offers me no additional peace of mind.

If you are willing to compromise on the no snow criteria the DC metro area is a good fit. While it's does snow 3-4 times a year, the days are bright and sunny and can trick you until you set foot outside. The schools are great. Plenty of culture and natural beauty. Amazon was on a similar search a couple of years ago and settled on this area after all.

I have about 70K maturing from CDs in the next month. CDs formed a part of my fixed income portfolio. Given the dismal interest rates, I considering not renewing them and investing in the total bond market instead. I have no need for this money in the foreseeable future.
Is this a good idea? Can I expect better returns on the bond market?

I'm in the market for a new phone and with the launch of the s20, the s10 plus is now available for $750 unlocked if I switch to sprint. Should I expect the price to drop further after s20 is in stores or is it a good time to buy now? I've just not followed the Samsung phone pricing before, so looking for inputs from those who have.

TIA

This is a 25 year house. There is no lead or asbestos. An existing house that meets our needs costs about 350K more. Without accounting the hassle in selling. We are finishing the basement because we need the additional space. As I've been reading more about this, I'm wondering if we need an architect for this type of work.

We're looking to finish an unfinished basement, renovate a kitchen and change the flooring in the entire first floor including staircase and paint the entire house. We're entirely new to this kind of work and are not the diy kind at all. Appreciate any advise we can get before we embark on what is going to be a significant expense. Do we need somebody to create a plan for the kitchen before a contractor can come in? I'm hoping a single contractor for the entire work will help us bring down the costs as opposed to finding somebody who specializes in kitchen, basement etc.

Thanks

It helps to remember that Indian home cooking does not resemble what you eat in Indian restaurant. Restaurant food, especially most Indian ones in the US tend to be laden with butter, oil, salt etc. Some the blogs like vahchef are fun to watch and great for an occasional meal but are not great if they form the staple of your diet.. I would recommend you seek out home cooking blogs. I am pleasantly surprised to find onehotstove listed here. I have learnt most of my cooking from there. Although in recent years the blog has veered away from cooking as the main theme.

As somebody who lives in Columbia/Clarksville area and commutes to Baltimore, I can tell you the schools in Howard County are top notch and the commute is doable. A lot of folks from the prestigious institution you are likely referring to, live around here. It is an excellent place to live and raise a family. There are specific schools in Montgomery county that are the best in the country. Those happen to be magnet schools where only the top 3% of the students get in. I wouldn't move there betting on my kids getting into those school.

Thanks to all those who replied. I will attach a statement and do a paper filing. It does not look like Turbo Tax accepts additional statements.

Yes, it was an indirect rollover. Ally bank refused to transfer it to TIA Cref directly for reasons I don't remember anymore.

I took a distribution from my IRA and rolled it into my 401k. I had to take a distribution for this since Ally bank with held m IRA refused to send it directly to TIAA Cref. Now as i file my taxes for this year, TurboTax is not counting this as taxable as it does check for whether it got rolled over into another retirement account. I read this in one of the threads on this forum: SInce there is no 5498 issued by the 401k plan to report receipt of an IRA rollover, you need to include an explanatory statement with your tax return indicating the date and amount of the rollover to the 401k. My question is this necessary or optional? Without this, I am ready to e-file my taxes. I assume, if I have to send a letter along, I will have to mail my t...

Hi,

I have a an account in a foreign country in USD. The interest amount is not taxable in the said country and is only taxable in the US. However I don't get a 1099 from the bank. I have a CD for 4 years and my understanding is that the interest is credited only at the end of 4 years or if the deposit is withdrawn early ( after deducting the early withdrawal penalty). Now, I would like to declare atleast a part of the interest in my tax filing each year, so that I don't have a spike in my tax filings in at the end of 4 years. Is this allowed or does it have to be declared only at the end of 4 years?

Thanks!

Hello,

We will be in St. Louis this weekend with a 17 month old for a wedding on Friday. We'll have Saturday and Sunday to ourselves and have a rental car. I'm looking for places that might hold the interest of the toddler for a few hours each day and welcome any inputs.

Thanks.

I am currently looking for a new job. I recently interviewed with a company but am not very excited about it. I'm still in the early stages of my career and looking to find a place where I can learn and grow. The interview itself was not challenging at all and the job seems to offer limited upside in terms of growth. I might be offered a small pay hike over what I make currently and a good bonus, but that doesn't address my concern about the lack of growth. Now my dilemma is if I should let the HR know that I would like to respectfully withdraw from the process since my long term career goals don't match with what the company offers or if I should wait until they make an offer and then reject it. One the one hand, they have been gracious pe...

Samosa, Pani Puri, Masala Puri, Vada Pav, Gobi Manchurian.
Sigh...I miss home.

Yes, fitting someone between the car seats will be tight, and it will have to be a small woman. Thankfully, I'm married to one. Not doable for a long trip, but perhaps for a quick jaunt to a restaurant? Rear shoulder room is about 1-2 inches better than our Elantra, which we have shoved someone in for a short ride before. You're right that it's no given we'll be able to make this happen. This is not a leading question, but: is there a vehicle out there which meets your needs and is a legitimate 5 seater? Judging by the time you're spending investigating your options, you don't seem like someone who's going to buy another new car in 5 years. I really urge you to think about carpooling and driving kids' friends around, even down the street t...

Do keep in mind that the Nexus 4 being a pure android phone does not have Wi-Fi calling on T Mobile. There is still a workaround to receive calls from Google voice on it but you cannot receive calls to your mobile phone number using Wi-Fi if your cellular network strength is weak.
Now since the Nexus 5 is not out on T Mobile yet, it is not clear if it will support Wi-Fi calling but it does seem unlikely. This is almost a deal breaker for me.
While I was researching this I also read that Google voice is going to be discontinued sometime in 2014. If you are a Google voice user its something to investigate.