Search found 2272 matches

by ram
Thu Mar 07, 2024 7:15 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?
Replies: 156
Views: 9917

Re: Your Original Medicare Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?

Tom_T wrote: Thu Mar 07, 2024 5:17 pm I don't see how waiting for specialists and getting an appointment as a new patient is a problem specific to Medicare. That's an issue for everybody.
Healthcare Facility A: We accept all insurances (with no caps on the proportion of patients with any insurance)
Medicare experience in getting appointments will be no different than for other insurances.

Healthcare Facility B :
We accept all insurances
Small print: No more than 10% of all our patients can have "Medicare" as their insurance. ( This is because medicare pays less than Commercial insurance)
Wait times for Medicare patients will usually be longer than those for commercially insured patients, especially in areas where there are a lot of senior citizens
by ram
Sat Jan 06, 2024 11:36 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Scholarship/FAFSA Experience for Higher Income Families?
Replies: 60
Views: 8435

Re: Scholarship/FAFSA Experience for Higher Income Families?

BuffettsBridgeHomie wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 5:58 am Income: Combined $250-300k annually.

Question: is it worth filling out a FAFSA when the time comes? Aside from loans from the government, did any other families at relatively higher incomes get any useful funding or discounts?

Thanks!
I have sent two kids to college. I have never filled a FAFSA form. Both kids got substantial merit scholarships for undergraduate and medical school. (>300K combined)

As mentioned upstream you need to go to an inferior school than where you can get into to get merit scholarship. In our kids case it was attending Vanderbilt for undergrad and University of Wisconsin, Madison for med school. One child paid the full rate for a Harvard degree.
by ram
Sat Jan 06, 2024 9:36 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: WHAT TO DOOO ? [Minimize taxes from 401k withdrawal]
Replies: 18
Views: 2203

Re: WHAT TO DOOO ? [Minimize taxes from 401k withdrawal]

Antney wrote: Fri Jan 05, 2024 9:15 pm [Title edited for clarity - moderator oldcomputerguy]
I'm about to retire and need advice on how to remove a large sum of money form my 401K account with minimal amount of taxes owed.
Give it to a charity.
by ram
Mon Jan 01, 2024 12:54 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What big hairy audacious goals do you have for 2024?
Replies: 109
Views: 15407

Re: What big hairy audacious goals do you have for 2024?

Cut back from full time to part time at work.
Lose 7 pounds. (without taking a trip to England :happy )
by ram
Mon Jan 01, 2024 12:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Harvard RD Financial Aid
Replies: 19
Views: 3097

Re: Harvard RD Financial Aid

My daughter has a Harvard degree. I recall the cost at about 80K/yr a few years ago. She was not eligible for any financial aid and Harvard does not give merit scholarships.
She did get a full tuition scholarship at her medical school and some of the money saved for that was used for Harvard.
Apartment rent in that area is also high.
by ram
Sun Dec 31, 2023 10:26 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much does health insurance cost in the US when not working?
Replies: 56
Views: 8764

Re: How much does health insurance cost in the US when not working?

alpenglow wrote: Sun Dec 31, 2023 8:12 am
WhitePuma wrote: Sat Dec 30, 2023 10:54 pm Something needs to change. My premium under an employer group plan went from 700/mo last year to 900/mo this year. And this is for a high-deductible (6K), doesn’t cover diddly squat plan.
I pay $10k towards family health insurance and my employer pays another $30k. At least the plan pays out if needed, but $40k is crazy to me. Projecting out the average rate increases (9%) over the next 10-20 years produces premium costs that seem impossibly high ($100k+ premium). Something has to give.
The rate of growth in healthcare spending has been negative (slowing down) for the last many years.
by ram
Sun Dec 31, 2023 9:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much does health insurance cost in the US when not working?
Replies: 56
Views: 8764

Re: How much does health insurance cost in the US when not working?

For me and my wife ( mid to late 50's) I am paying 3K/yr. My employer tells me that they are contributing 16.5 K. Total 19.5 K.
If I resign tomorrow I can keep the same plan on COBRA for 102% of that cost. This is a HDHP with a wide network of doctors. A plan which restricts you to only one network is somewhat cheaper.
by ram
Sun Dec 31, 2023 9:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Would you move midlife because a community doesn’t click
Replies: 63
Views: 14488

Re: Would you move midlife because a community doesn’t click

For 3 years we lived in a house and a locality that was less than ideal for us.
At that time my wife had a job that required 80 hours/week of work including working weekends, holidays and night shifts. The backyard of the house opened onto her employer's property.
After those 3 years her job transitioned into a more normal 40 to 50 hours/week job. We then moved to a better house in a better locality in the same city.
by ram
Mon Dec 25, 2023 11:21 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Can I negotiate a 'new patient' bill from doctor?
Replies: 57
Views: 8320

Re: Can I negotiate a 'new patient' bill from doctor?

cheese_breath wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 9:46 pm If memory serves me, I seem to recall Medicare has separate billing codes for new patients and established patients.
This is a correct statement.
Ram MD
by ram
Sun Dec 17, 2023 5:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: SIL considering a PhD in Engineering, worth it?
Replies: 97
Views: 14273

Re: SIL considering a PhD in Engineering, worth it?

Normchad wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 7:37 am Firstly, he shouldn’t be paying for the PhD. A school should be fully funding it, and he should e getting an additional spend on top of that.
If a school won’t fully fund you, don’t do it.
A nephew is doing an Engineering PhD at a well known University. He pays no tuition and gets an approx $2000/month stipend.
by ram
Sun Dec 17, 2023 5:32 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: SIL considering a PhD in Engineering, worth it?
Replies: 97
Views: 14273

Re: SIL considering a PhD in Engineering, worth it?

livesoft wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 7:56 am Becomes a professor, creates some new things, get patents, forms 3 for 4 companies, consults for others -> Billionaire.

Or not.
This in a nutshell is the life story of the Father in Law of the British Prime Minister. (N R Narayana Murthy)
by ram
Sun Dec 17, 2023 4:34 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: DD just graduated with honors - Need banking/investing advice.
Replies: 33
Views: 4200

Re: DD just graduated with honors - Need banking/investing advice.

My daughter did some tutoring in college and made somewhere between 5K to 10K over 4 years. I matched the money and helped her put it in a Roth account at Vanguard. It was all invested in S&P 500 ( or total market) index fund. She subsequently went to medical school and residency and by the time she started as an attending physician last year the amount had more than doubled. Coincidentally her employer also uses Vanguard for her retirement accounts and I did tell her about putting the maximum amount in her 401K and putting 80% of it in stock index funds. I also told her about backdoor Roth. She will occasionally call me about her investments. My answer usually starts with "The general consensus on bogleheads for such a situation i...
by ram
Sun Dec 17, 2023 4:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: First time job options for a woman in her early 50s
Replies: 49
Views: 10897

Re: First time job options for a woman in her early 50s

Medical transcription is a dying, almost dead job.
There are far more experienced transcriptionists than jobs today and it is very unlikely that anyone will hire an inexperienced transcriptionist.
Ram MD
by ram
Fri Dec 01, 2023 8:00 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Firecalc.com - What is acceptable percentage?
Replies: 77
Views: 9855

Re: Firecalc.com - What is acceptable percentage?

For the circumstances that you mention I will be perfectly fine with a 50% success rate.
I did not check but anticipate that a 5%+ withdrawal rate (50K/yr) would be possible.
( Note that failure in this case would include having to make do with "only" 49K in some years)

Also note that when one plans on 90% success rate in the vast majority of cases one goes to the grave with a lot of money left in the bank.
by ram
Fri Dec 01, 2023 7:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Umbrella quote seems crazy?
Replies: 38
Views: 5790

Re: Umbrella quote seems crazy?

I would consider this as reasonable.
I would anticipate substantial decline in 2- 3 yrs if the new drivers turn out to be safe drivers/accident free.

( I am looking at the ratio of car insurance : umbrella insurance as one of the criteria)
by ram
Mon Nov 20, 2023 9:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone buy a '23 or '24 Lexus RX350h recently?
Replies: 34
Views: 6323

Re: Anyone buy a '23 or '24 Lexus RX350h recently?

hvaclorax wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 9:55 pm
ram wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 9:48 pm Very happy with my Lexus RX 450 hybrid 2022.
3 mo wait. MSRP + $300.
The dealer got 3 of them, sent me an Email and I told him which one I wanted in 1 hour over Email. Picked up that Saturday from the dealer 2 hrs away.
If I might ask, can you elaborate? Or did you just buy it?
I have bought it. Am using it for 15 months and am very happy with it.
by ram
Mon Nov 20, 2023 9:10 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard Flagship Tier still active?
Replies: 71
Views: 10825

Re: Vanguard Flagship Tier still active?

HomerJ wrote: Thu Nov 16, 2023 11:04 am Couldn't we once get a single free consult as part of Flagship Tier?

Does that still exist at Vanguard anywhere? My wife would love for "a professional" to go over our portfolio and reassure her that we are doing as well I tell her we are doing.

But she doesn't want to pay for it... :)
The initial free meeting for PAS may be of interest to you/her.
by ram
Mon Nov 13, 2023 9:48 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone buy a '23 or '24 Lexus RX350h recently?
Replies: 34
Views: 6323

Re: Anyone buy a '23 or '24 Lexus RX350h recently?

Very happy with my Lexus RX 450 hybrid 2022.
3 mo wait. MSRP + $300.
The dealer got 3 of them, sent me an Email and I told him which one I wanted in 1 hour over Email. Picked up that Saturday from the dealer 2 hrs away.
by ram
Mon Nov 13, 2023 6:46 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me
Replies: 42
Views: 8010

Re: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me

dknightd wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 9:40 am Negotiate toward a solution that makes you both happy.
That is the plan
by ram
Mon Nov 13, 2023 6:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me
Replies: 42
Views: 8010

Re: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me

The easement is 1" away from fence. Trail will be about 5 feet away from fence. Where does the property line run. I assume between your fence and the property line. You will probably want to keep a fence. I'd probably try to negotiate for them to replace your fence. If there is only 1" between their easement, and your fence, you might have have to ask them for an easement when your fence needs replacing. 1" is not enough. There is a 2 lane road with minimal traffic. Adjoining the road is a strip of land belonging to the city where the walking trail will be built. Adjoining that is my property. A 5 feet wide strip of my land is behind my fence and the city wants to use this for 1.7 years while they are constructing the trail....
by ram
Sun Nov 12, 2023 10:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Need a car...what to do
Replies: 83
Views: 8335

Re: Need a car...what to do

My fiancée and I just graduated, we've just started working and are making about $165k per year. A year from now, we'll be taking home about $400k a year. We're saving for a wedding in September 2024 ($30k) and have student loans ($160k). No consumer debt. We plan on aggressively tackling our student loans once I start a better job in October 2024, but we've begun repaying now. However, we only have one car at the moment and absolutley need two. I'm not opposed to buying a beater car for about $5k or so, but is this a smart move financially? No I want something safe, reliable, and it'll need to get me to work totaling about 100 miles a day to commute. Are we better off buying a beater car and aggressively paying off our debt? Or, since we'...
by ram
Sun Nov 12, 2023 10:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me
Replies: 42
Views: 8010

Re: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me

Thanks everybody for the excellent suggestions.
by ram
Sun Nov 12, 2023 10:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Amica Dividend Policy - Too Good To Be True?
Replies: 32
Views: 5607

Re: Amica Dividend Policy - Too Good To Be True?

jdbs3 wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 9:43 am Thank you for the replies.

From the research I have done, Amica looks like a good insurance company.

A dividend policy is available in my state. But I am trying to validate the statement one agent made:

"Called an Amica agent the other day and she stated that in the last 17 years (how long she has worked there), the auto and umbrella policy dividends have been 20% every year. And the home dividend every year."

For those of you who have a dividend policy, does this match with what you have received in dividends each year?

Getting this same % every year just seems too good to be true.

thanks
Yes. Amica customer for >15 yrs.
by ram
Fri Nov 10, 2023 7:42 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me
Replies: 42
Views: 8010

Re: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me

Watty wrote: Thu Nov 09, 2023 10:27 pm A couple of things to look into;

1) If you have a mortgage then you may not be able to sell land or grant easements without the lenders approval.

2) Look into your liability. If someone is biking or walking on the trail and gets hurt you could be sued especially if someone on a bike hits your fence which is inches from the trail.

3) Ask a local real estate agent how that would impact your houses value. There is a chance that it could make your house more valuable or hurt it depending on the details.
House is fully paid.

The easement is 1" away from fence. Trail will be about 5 feet away from fence.

Will ask agent. My belief is it will be price neutral or mildly increase value.
by ram
Fri Nov 10, 2023 7:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me
Replies: 42
Views: 8010

Re: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me

But have included another form on which is written: Commitments made: 5 blank lines for me to write . Other matters of interest and owner concerns: 5 blank lines for me to write. Am I right to understand that they do not want to buy any land from me but simply want to use a approx 5 foot wide strip of land at the back 190 foot edge of my lot to put construction material on it for 1.7 years while building the path. Any suggestions/ recommendations are highly appreciated. If the back of your land is adjacent to the new trail? Yes The temporary easement is just for grading and minor disturbances of the land abutting the trail. They will likely do some grading right next to the trail to tie the natural ground to the trail grade, and then resto...
by ram
Thu Nov 09, 2023 9:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me
Replies: 42
Views: 8010

Re: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me

Thanks to everybody for sharing your knowledge with me. The breadth of knowledge on this forum continues to amaze me.
by ram
Thu Nov 09, 2023 8:02 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me
Replies: 42
Views: 8010

Re: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me

I am a retired commercial real estate appraiser, and I appraised several properties that highway departments acquired both permanent and temporary easements on. A temporary easement is often used exactly as you describe - for temporary storage of materials or staging of equipment. The calculation you provided suggests to me that they are valuing the land at $2.60 per SF, with a market rent of $0.26 per year (10 percent of land value). They would pay you for the 1.73 years, at which point you would get use of the land back. I have no idea what the land is worth, but 10 percent is pretty high as annual rent, so that's in your favor. But the resulting dollar amount is minimal, so it probably doesn't matter much what land value or rent percent...
by ram
Thu Nov 09, 2023 8:02 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me
Replies: 42
Views: 8010

Re: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me

I am a retired commercial real estate appraiser, and I appraised several properties that highway departments acquired both permanent and temporary easements on. A temporary easement is often used exactly as you describe - for temporary storage of materials or staging of equipment. The calculation you provided suggests to me that they are valuing the land at $2.60 per SF, with a market rent of $0.26 per year (10 percent of land value). They would pay you for the 1.73 years, at which point you would get use of the land back. I have no idea what the land is worth, but 10 percent is pretty high as annual rent, so that's in your favor. But the resulting dollar amount is minimal, so it probably doesn't matter much what land value or rent percent...
by ram
Wed Nov 08, 2023 8:11 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard is having technical difficulties; Resolved
Replies: 7
Views: 976

Re: Vanguard is having technical difficulties. Resolved

ram wrote: Wed Nov 08, 2023 7:03 pm Today Nov 8 at 8 pm ET I could not sign in. I get a message "Vanguard is having technical difficulties"
8:10 PM ET : Looks like it is resolved.
by ram
Wed Nov 08, 2023 7:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me
Replies: 42
Views: 8010

City wants "Temporary Limited Easement" from me

About a year ago my city asked me and many of my neighbors to a meeting at the city library and announced that the city was planning to build a biking/ walking path and may need us to sell a narrow strip of land at the back of our properties to the city. 2 days ago I got an envelope from a firm employed by the city . This letter says " XXX firm has been hired to act as agents of the city to acquire the needed right of way interests for the project. The acquision involves 875 sq feet of temporary limited easement . They are proposing to pay me 26 cents/ sq foot /per year for 1.73 years for 875 sq feet = $390 for this. It is however described as 875 sq ft x $2.60/sf x 10% x 1.73 yrs with a 3% yearly discount. If somebody knows about this...
by ram
Wed Nov 08, 2023 7:03 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard is having technical difficulties; Resolved
Replies: 7
Views: 976

Vanguard is having technical difficulties; Resolved

Today Nov 8 at 8 pm ET I could not sign in. I get a message "Vanguard is having technical difficulties"

810 pm ET: Resolved
by ram
Mon Oct 23, 2023 10:06 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Gift recommendations - 18th birthday
Replies: 50
Views: 4621

Re: Gift recommendations - 18th birthday

srt7 wrote: Sun Oct 22, 2023 1:19 pm Hey all, my son turns 18 soon and wife and I are at a loss on what to get him for his birthday. He will be off to college next fall and is a good student. Asked him and he said he doesn't want anything except for a car which we are not sure if he would be able to bring to college (1st year mandatory dorm, parking issues etc.) We do have a couple older (~ 8 years) cars and I'm looking to add an SUV to the stable so there's that too.

Anyone go through something similar and have any recommendations?
He wants a car.
I recommend you sign him up for Zipcar and pay the initial 10/20/30 hours.
by ram
Mon Oct 23, 2023 7:55 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Please explain how bonds “recover”
Replies: 68
Views: 7935

Re: Please explain how bonds “recover”

My 529, for my high school sophomore, is currently in a target fund with a glide bath. It’s an aggressive growth fund so sitting at 70/30 now, shifting to 60/40 next year, 50/50 when kid is a senior, and then very conservative allocation through college. It has had disappointing returns since I started investing back in 2015, averaging about 4-5%/year, but I’ve stayed the course! Question: Is if possible for the bond part of the fund to “recover” in the next 2-3 years? Partial recovery: Very likely. Full recovery : Unlikely. I don’t understand bonds at all. The bond portion is invested in Vanguard Total Bond Market II index fund. Not sure what else I would do but I’m curious if investing more into this fund is “throwing good money after ba...
by ram
Mon Oct 23, 2023 7:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Visiting Sedona for 7 days
Replies: 22
Views: 2530

Re: Visiting Sedona for 7 days

Thanks everybody. Keep it coming.
by ram
Sun Oct 22, 2023 10:09 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Visiting Sedona for 7 days
Replies: 22
Views: 2530

Visiting Sedona for 7 days

My wife and I are visiting Sedona for 7 days in about a week. We are staying in one of the resorts and will have a rented SUV picked at Phoenix airport.

I will be working from 7 AM to 1 PM on 6 of those days but after 1 pm we will be free as well as last full day.

We are in our late 50's in good health. We like hiking. Looking for recommendations for hiking, restaurants etc. Thanks.
by ram
Sun Oct 22, 2023 9:55 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medicare-approved amounts
Replies: 22
Views: 2127

Re: Medicare-approved amounts

Yes.
From a hospital's perspective govt insurance tends to be the lowest payor.
However Medicare almost always pays better than medicaid.
by ram
Fri Oct 20, 2023 10:50 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Garage tool storage (shovels and similar)
Replies: 20
Views: 1911

Re: Garage tool storage (shovels and similar)

Kenkat wrote: Fri Oct 20, 2023 10:13 am I have a wooden tool rack with wood pegs and pre-drilled holes so you can move things around to accommodate different tools. It works great but I bought it 25 years ago so I am not sure something like this is still out there and available. It would be pretty easy to create your own if you were somewhat handy. A 2x4 or similar bolted horizontally to the wall about eye level and dow rods and self drilled holes at a slightly upward angle to hold the tools.

Image
I have the rubbermaid version of this.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Rubbermaid-Fas ... 5014169057
by ram
Fri Oct 20, 2023 8:32 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Quality men's leather belt?
Replies: 44
Views: 3693

Re: Quality men's leather belt?

I have one belt bought from Allen Edmonds bought from their downtown Chicago store. It was actually made in Italy but Allen Edmonds brand. They are better known for their shoes. I had gone there to repair my shoes and saw the belt on display.
5 years. Used regularly. Still looks like new. Price at that time was about 160.
by ram
Wed Oct 04, 2023 8:04 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Should I give up on college?
Replies: 77
Views: 8639

Re: Should I give up on college?

If I had a choice between:
having a degree
and
having an income
I know what I would choose.
by ram
Wed Oct 04, 2023 7:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Family Will Be Uninsured in 30 days, Advice Appreciated
Replies: 47
Views: 4732

Re: Family Will Be Uninsured in 30 days, Advice Appreciated

herennow wrote: Mon Oct 02, 2023 4:05 pm Glad to hear your family is in good health.

First of all, it is ok to not have health insurance for a while if you are all in good health. Minute clinics will help tide over the next three months.

Heath insurance marketplace will open up on Nov 1st for next year. Save the date

Research short term limited health policies directly from insurer website if you are so concerned for the next three months. It is a little expensive but not as much as COBRA would cost you.

And this too shall pass
Disagree.
by ram
Sun Oct 01, 2023 2:31 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fidelity Brokerage-link worth it for diversification?
Replies: 17
Views: 1912

Re: Fidelity Brokerage-link worth it for diversification?

For a 100K investment the brokerage link adds 0.1% to the expense ratio (too much).
For a million it adds 0.01% (acceptable)
by ram
Sun Oct 01, 2023 2:23 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Pre-emptive replacement of ceiling CFLs
Replies: 13
Views: 1624

Re: Pre-emptive replacement of ceiling CFLs

Under this scenario I would replace all bulbs in kitchen but keep the working ones to use in other locations where one or 2 bulbs is/are required and are at at easier place to replace. ( garage/basement). I do it for both economic and environmental reasons.
by ram
Sat Sep 30, 2023 10:20 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: 4 runner or Outback or Passport: help me decide new car
Replies: 83
Views: 7543

Re: 4 runner or Outback or Passport: help me decide new car

frugaltigris wrote: Sat Sep 30, 2023 7:21 am
This vehicle should survive 200K miles with little maintenance and should not have costly repairs. Considering only 2 row SUV (like) with large cargo area.

Frugal tigris
Possibly new Toyota land cruiser. (based on reputation of past land cruisers)
by ram
Tue Sep 26, 2023 7:13 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Private school offering no AP courses in high school
Replies: 139
Views: 13679

Re: Private school offering no AP courses in high school

My daughter took about 16 AP courses during high school and scored a 5 on each. She had junior standing on her first day of college. She could therefore get into any course she wanted. She had completed >95% of credits required for graduation in 2.5 years and completed undergrad degree in 3.5 years. During these initial 2.5 years she was able to complete the required classes for med school. She took some courses (s/as biostatistics) generally taken by graduate students during this time. She spent some time in the public health field. Due to this she was able to complete a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree at Harvard in 12 months instead of 18. She used the last 1.5 years of her undergrad time to travel the world, work at medical camps in...
by ram
Mon Sep 25, 2023 9:48 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How fast does the dividend increase in a rising rate environment
Replies: 4
Views: 905

Re: How fast does the dividend increase in a rising rate environment

Seen a lot of questions as to when will my intermediate term bond fund get back to even but I don’t remember seeing anyone comment on how fast the dividend should increase. Over 1 year from 9/22 to 9/23 my million dollar bond fund has increased its monthly payout about $500. Should the rise become quicker as more and more bonds are purchased at the higher rate? Intermediate term bond paying at 3% on a million = 30,000/year Intermediate term bond paying at 3.6% on a million = 36,000/yr or an extra 6000/year or an extra 500/month Intermediate term munis dropped by about 0.6% today or by $6000/million. The extra 6000 interest/dividend noted above was gone in a day. (will come back if held for the duration of about 6 yrs) ( I am looking at VTE...
by ram
Sun Sep 24, 2023 6:44 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Spouse is expecting...and has been offered a big new job
Replies: 18
Views: 3954

Re: Spouse is expecting...and has been offered a big new job

At my large private healthcare employer this would be "leave without pay".
by ram
Sun Sep 24, 2023 6:23 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: My Elderly Parents Can't Resist Answering the Phone
Replies: 127
Views: 38946

Re: My Elderly Parents Can't Resist Answering the Phone

I have an Ooma land line phone (VOIP).
It costs $7/mo basic plan.
I add the premium plan for an extra 120/year. This means they block all phone numbers known to them of nuisance value. Only about 1 to 2 calls per week slip through and if I want I can block them manually.
by ram
Sat Sep 23, 2023 1:53 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Aren't you an above-average investor?
Replies: 169
Views: 17516

Re: Aren't you an above-average investor?

No.
I aspire to be an average investor.

My income is above average.
My saving rate is above average.
My belief is that I will be just fine if I am an average investor.
(My best guess is that the above 3 statements describe most Bogleheads)