Search found 18363 matches

by Jack FFR1846
Mon Mar 18, 2024 5:01 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Has the 401k been a net positive or negative?
Replies: 21
Views: 1125

Re: Has the 401k been a net positive or negative?

401k starts are sort of like what the computer language Basic means. What's talked about now has been adopted along the way and was never originally the intent. From a quick search, focusing on Kodak: The 401(k) has become a standard workplace savings feature, but it actually is a fairly new concept and one that came about almost by accident after a group of high-earning individuals from Kodak approached Congress to allow a part of their salaries to be invested in the stock market and thus be exempt from income. This started with big whigs wanting to shield some of their vast income from taxes. Ironically, this happened way past the high tax years. Like during Eisenhower's terms, the highest Federal income tax reached 93%. Much lower in the...
by Jack FFR1846
Mon Mar 18, 2024 8:00 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: navigation system for car
Replies: 51
Views: 2193

Re: navigation system for car

I've had Garman units that I use as backup for my iPhone running Google maps. I offroad in places around New England where there are zero bars and no input but the Garman keeps on giving me location information.
by Jack FFR1846
Sun Mar 17, 2024 3:34 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Need Help Finding a Hobby
Replies: 76
Views: 5998

Re: Need Help Finding a Hobby

You could do things with guitars. Learning is super easy now with youtube. Try Justinguitar as he's got lots of lessons right from the start into what I'd call intermediate. You can also search youtube for a song name and guitar lesson and you'll likely find something. I took up guitar again after 30 years of leaving it. I did get into a band for about 3 years. But the biggest thing I achieved is I learned a ton about luthier work. I started buying used guitars on craigslist and from what I learned, I would decide what I wanted it to be. From a Clapton active strat though a Mark Knopfler strat to a tele I built for me, for the most part, I stuck with Mexican strats and teles as it allowed me to learn all about them, how to make them better ...
by Jack FFR1846
Sun Mar 17, 2024 11:04 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Caribbean island in January/February
Replies: 19
Views: 1571

Re: Caribbean island in January/February

Aruba when there is not a school vacation. Airfare can go to 2X or even higher during vacation weeks. We've stayed at Costa Linda which is right on Eagle beach. I've gone a dozen or more times and I'm not a beach person so have explored a lot of the island that people never see. Been to the drag strip a couple times. Attend RC car races outside and gone to the skate park behind the bus station. Also have gone on the offroad areas where when you rent a Jeep they circle and say "don't go there". Done those in a Jeep, on a quad and on an offroad motorcycle. The natives in Aruba actually appreciate tourists which is the only island I've ever been to where this is true. Dollars are accepted everywhere and English is understood. The isl...
by Jack FFR1846
Sun Mar 17, 2024 8:51 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Taxing Roth IRA-I need Help
Replies: 13
Views: 1060

Re: Taxing Roth IRA-I need Help

I have zero confidence in H&R Block. DW and I brought estate tax work to them and the person with 20 years working for them seemed to hunt around the software until a number would go in. They insisted that savings bond interest was taxable by the state. We pulled it all from them and had a "real" CPA do the return and he was able to correctly do the taxes with zero savings bond state taxes and he was also able to explain the rest of the tax work clearly to us.
by Jack FFR1846
Sun Mar 17, 2024 8:09 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fired AUM advisor - now what? (portfolio questions)
Replies: 25
Views: 2095

Re: Fired AUM advisor - now what? (portfolio questions)

I would suggest that there are still other things you could do well to learn and focus on. Doing Roth conversions now is greatly to your benefit. The goal is both to get the money into Roths that won't be taxed going forward and to reduce future RMDs. The reason that now is an important time is that you're not on Medicare so you don't have to limit yourself to the IRMAA limit where your premiums quickly jump with income from Roth conversions, interest and dividends. I never realized this until after I retired at 66 and got on Medicare. I projected forward and without doing Roth conversions, social security for both of us plus RMDs for both of us put BOTH of us into IRMAA territory, so we would be looking at several hundred dollars EXTRA on ...
by Jack FFR1846
Sat Mar 16, 2024 5:50 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Moving in retirement.
Replies: 25
Views: 2785

Re: Moving in retirement.

I did extensive research into moving to something a bit smaller and in a lower cost of living area. Doing all the numbers, even with a downgrade of the house and lower cost of living, we'd end up saving nothing. Now, maybe you're not concerned about cost but about the work to keep up your property. I can certainly talk about that. I've got a bit over 13 acres with the house somewhat in the middle of it. It's combined wood forest with white pine, oak, maple, beech, cedar and other random trees. As part of a state program, I only pay 10% of the tax on 12 acres which I forest manage which mostly means harvesting firewood for my own use in our wood furnace. Of that 13 acres, only 6000 square feet is grass and there are some bushes around the ho...
by Jack FFR1846
Sat Mar 16, 2024 3:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: tIRA to Roth IRA in MA (taxes)
Replies: 21
Views: 1049

Re: tIRA to Roth IRA in MA (taxes)

Do you have ANY other tIRAs that ARE untaxed? If you do, you're into the pro-rata rules. I can't help with that, all of my tIRA money is untaxed so I pay ordinary income tax on any conversions.
by Jack FFR1846
Sat Mar 16, 2024 12:57 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Reevaluating social security
Replies: 49
Views: 4181

Re: Reevaluating social security

I don't really understand the advanced features of opensocialsecurity. I ran through it and it said for me to take it at 70 and DW at 62. Then I retired and realized that we have far too much in traditional IRAs which would make RMDs enormous. To counter this, I'm doing the typical thing and Roth converting. If DW, who just turned 62 were to take SS, it would make my plan for Roth conversions up to the IRMAA limit go wrong and also, wouldn't her SS get taxed more? I find opensocialsecurity is just one of the tools needed to plan your retirement strategy. Certainly, if you plan to go back to work, you'd find SS benefits taxed pretty quickly. I'd recommend looking at all of your circumstances before making the decision to start SS. DW and I a...
by Jack FFR1846
Fri Mar 15, 2024 8:28 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Am I Only One Who Hates Having Left Over Pennies
Replies: 53
Views: 4136

Re: Am I Only One Who Hates Having Left Over Pennies

lazynovice wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2024 8:22 pm I thought this was going to be a post about your change jar.
....and how I take my pennies to the grocery store self checkout line, push "cash" for payment and put the pennies into the slot.
by Jack FFR1846
Fri Mar 15, 2024 6:53 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRMAA and year after LCE
Replies: 8
Views: 1178

Re: IRMAA and year after LCE

I, as others filed the form for recalculation and each time, I had to babysit the form and badger SS. I retired last June. First IRMAA was based on 2021 income and so I filed the form based on income under the IRMAA limit. I submitted in person, then called, then went in again and the agent then typed stuff into the system and a week later, I got my granted letter. At the same visit, I gave them my 2024 form. Nothing for months and the letter saying I'd be paying IRMAA. I called and they said it wasn't in the system. I mailed in another form. I then went in person and they didn't have it in the system so I gave them another form. A week later I got my granted letter. So I guess my treatment of SS as a typical teenager and nagging them and r...
by Jack FFR1846
Fri Mar 15, 2024 4:01 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: I will need a new car or repair one
Replies: 46
Views: 1921

Re: I will need a new car or repair one

How many ball joints are we talking? If this is a typical MacPherson strut, that's one in the front. I don't know about your German Ultimate money taking machine, but I did the front 2 on our lowly Subaru because a bushing was cracked and the whole arm with bushings and new ball joint was not any more expensive than buying the tools and bushings. I spent $200 for both fronts which included the ball joints. First time doing this and it took my son and me about an hour per side. Got it aligned afterwards. I think I've been able to retire because since I was 16, I've been DIY'ing repairs, first on my parents' cars then on my own. People get so ripped off. Four grand for ball joints? I hope they're made of gold.
by Jack FFR1846
Fri Mar 15, 2024 11:43 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much should I leave to nieces/nephews vs. siblings vs. charity I'm passionate about?
Replies: 58
Views: 4245

Re: How much should I leave to nieces/nephews vs. siblings vs. charity I'm passionate about?

Simple and easy and requires no complicated legal stuff.

Give each niece and nephew $15k NOW.

In your will, leave to each other and when both of you are gone, 100% goes to the charity you want to support.

Easy
by Jack FFR1846
Fri Mar 15, 2024 8:18 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Do I need to do anymore Roth conversions?
Replies: 14
Views: 1503

Re: Do I need to do anymore Roth conversions?

Roth space is more valuable than any other. In my opinion, you should do Roth conversions but at a much lower level. Below the lowest IRMAA limit. I'm just starting my own conversions and while it might make sense to do second level IRMAA like you have, I'm staying just below the first limit. Which is better? I don't know. The math would have to be run to answer that question.
by Jack FFR1846
Thu Mar 14, 2024 4:55 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Need Help Finding a Hobby
Replies: 76
Views: 5998

Re: Need Help Finding a Hobby

Try offroading. First, buy a Wrangler. Next, join an offroad club. Now you can talk with other members, attend meetings, go on easier runs. As you go along, you'll want modifications for your Jeep. Skid plates, winch, bigger tires and a lift. Lots of modifications are an hour or less to do and there are a gazillion companies that supply parts for Jeeps.
by Jack FFR1846
Thu Mar 14, 2024 3:51 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Extra Low Mileage Drivers: How much do you spend on your car?
Replies: 48
Views: 4199

Re: Extra Low Mileage Drivers: How much do you spend on your car?

My son has a 2004 S2000 that he's been modifying and restoring. I expect he drives 1000 miles a year and probably has spent $60,000 on it over the last year. Thought I'd include opposite world to the typical Boglehead posts.
by Jack FFR1846
Wed Mar 13, 2024 5:09 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Sell relatively expensive fund and generate tax hit?
Replies: 8
Views: 650

Re: Sell relatively expensive fund and generate tax hit?

Why do you think you will be in a lower tax bracket in the future? Do you have any 401k, traditional IRA type pre tax accounts? When do you plan to Roth convert them our spend the money in them? Do you understand the IRMAA penalties on Medicare above the IRMAA limits (there are brackets just like taxes)? I will admit that I always thought that our taxes would drop in retirement. Between interest, dividends and Roth conversions, the bracket is no lower. If it weren't for the IRMAA penalties, we'd be a bracket higher than my highest ever working income bracket because we would Roth convert so much. Not all, but the lower tax brackets, I think up to the top of 24 all increase in 2026 so perhaps you might think about that and sell now with the ...
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Mar 12, 2024 8:39 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Where to take Senior on Caribbean vacation?
Replies: 13
Views: 1020

Re: Where to take Senior on Caribbean vacation?

Aruba and Costa Linda. The island is flat besides hills away from most towns. Certainly walking can easily be done on sidewalks that will be flat for miles. Costa Linda is on Eagle Beach and has a nice pool, poolside restaurant, other side is a breakfast restaurant. The end units go right up to the beach. Mostly a time share but you can either go through Costa Linda to get a unit not being used or go onto the resort website where owners sell weeks. Aruba is the one island I've been to where natives actually want tourists and are friendly and helpful. Safer than most US places. It is a desert island so you're not going to see lush tropical anything. US dollars are accepted everywhere and English is always understood. Lots of Boston connectio...
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Mar 12, 2024 11:29 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Layoff/regisn offer but employer won't share terms
Replies: 20
Views: 2829

Re: Layoff/regisn offer but employer won't share terms

Your answer to your employer is a one word sentence. "No"

Then let them lay you off and go collect unemployment. Do your due diligence looking for a new job to comply with unemployment requirements. The one time I was on unemployment long ago, I remember that although I had to be available for any shift, I didn't have to commute farther than my old job was, which was at the time 4 miles. Every state will be different.
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Mar 12, 2024 10:39 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How is a broker going to make money off me?
Replies: 62
Views: 5786

Re: How is a broker going to make money off me?

Say you own TSLA stock within Fidelity. You do absolutely nothing with the stock and plan to hold it until you've exhausted your IRA and 401k in retirement. All this time, Joe and Bob and Ray all think TSLA is way overpriced and is going to nose dive and they're willing to put their money where their mouth is. So they all Sell Short. This means they're selling now (stock they don't have) and promise to buy it at some certain date. So where does that stock come from? It's borrowed from Fidelity who borrows it from you. The short sellers pay a fee to do this. Vanguard does this. Fidelity does this. Schwab does this. This is one reason Fidelity can offer zero funds (a bunch of stocks) for zero expense ratio. The stocks within these funds are c...
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Mar 12, 2024 7:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How long after death to transfer assets
Replies: 33
Views: 3082

Re: How long after death to transfer assets

Can you go to the actual broker house who holds the accounts? So for example, your financial advisor does trades and transfers but the funds are held at a place like Schwab. Go directly to Schwab who has brick and mortar offices and in person do your own transfers. Be sure to have your paperwork from the court appointing you as executor and the death certificate. With these, you should be able to control the account. While there, you can rescind the ability for the financial advisor to do anything.
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Mar 12, 2024 6:53 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Mouse nest in engine compartment after recent service
Replies: 27
Views: 2122

Re: Mouse nest in engine compartment after recent service

Where exactly was the nest? Mice tend to find very, very hidden locations. Let me tell you about my son's 2004 Honda S2000. It was stored all winter, 5 feet in the air on my 4 post lift. No sign of anything until the spring when we were in the garage and a baby mouse fell onto the car below. We did a thorough exam and inspection and found 2 wires chewed through for the brake fluid level sensor on the master cylinder reservoir. This wasn't near where the mouse fell from, which was in the back of the car. I went through and saw nothing. I used a leave blower and air gun from my compressor and a vacuum cleaner to attempt to get any nest remaining. We saw nothing further until this winter, 2 years later. My son is doing an extensive complete te...
by Jack FFR1846
Mon Mar 11, 2024 9:28 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should I keep Renting or Sell Rental?
Replies: 7
Views: 829

Re: Should I keep Renting or Sell Rental?

thedayisbrave wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2024 6:06 pm $1143 x 12 = $13,716 cash flow per year. On approx $446K in equity, that's about a 3.0% return. You could get more than that just in a HYSA or money market. I would sell.
And taking the 1% rule, the expected rent is half the minimum to make renting make sense. Sell.
by Jack FFR1846
Mon Mar 11, 2024 5:43 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Wisdom of cross-country, one-way RV rental (with a cat)
Replies: 37
Views: 3011

Re: Wisdom of cross-country, one-way RV rental (with a cat)

I only know what Steve Lehto on youtube says about RVs. But we moved our 2 cats from outside Boston to Blacksburg, Virginia and back 2 years later. Each time, they were set up in the hatch area of my Dodge Daytona. I had built a separator so they could not come forward from there. Litter box, water, food and papers under everything with some blankets. By the time we were 20 minutes into this 12 hour trip, they were fast asleep. It's what cats do. And they slept until we got to our new home. Now I get that you have a longer trip and will need hotels. I would expect that you could find hotels who would accept a kitten. And no, cats aren't upset by new areas like a new hotel room. They love to explore. We've had cats for decades. With a rental...
by Jack FFR1846
Mon Mar 11, 2024 11:30 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: The classic dilemma between income and growth... Where should I be?
Replies: 40
Views: 2324

Re: The classic dilemma between income and growth... Where should I be?

There have been several threads with dividends are great vs dividends are evil. The great side tends to like the no effort income. The evil side (including me) realize that dividends are involuntary taxable events. If you take dividends as income, you are reducing the value of that fund by the amount of the dividend. There are many examples of where non-dividend stocks can help you control and reduce income. Say you decide to do lots of Roth conversions in a year. If you have lots of dividend money coming in, you're likely paying in a higher tax bracket. Say you're near the end of the year and can go until January before you'll need more money. With dividends, tough luck, have fun paying this year's taxes. With non-dividend, you can let the...
by Jack FFR1846
Mon Mar 11, 2024 11:15 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Feeling stuck with the mortgage
Replies: 30
Views: 2541

Re: Feeling stuck with the mortgage

I don't know who says a home is forever. When I went to grad school, rents were over 5% per month of the value of the home so we bought. Sold when I finished, less than 2 years later. Made a little money on the sale. In your case, you've been in your home for more than twice that amount. Your ahead. If you sell, the gain is exempt. I see zero downside to sell. You ask about renting. You are clearly neglecting 2 things. 1) your mortgage is for owner occupied. If the mortgage company finds your renting, they can demand immediate full payment. If you do the right thing and refinance it as a rental, expect double or more rate. 2) insurance. You're insured for an owner occupied house. Change to rental and your rate could easily double (mine did ...
by Jack FFR1846
Mon Mar 11, 2024 10:32 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: California housing prices vs net people moving out.
Replies: 17
Views: 1146

Re: California housing prices vs net people moving out.

Doesn't proposition something or other make the state a "Good old boys" heaven. If you've been there, in a house for a while, your property taxes are set at some old, low rate. If you're an outsider and want to come in, you have to pay outrageous property taxes. That's my understanding but I don't live anywhere near California so could be wrong. With this, I'd think the state wants people to stay but anyone new to stay away.
by Jack FFR1846
Mon Mar 11, 2024 10:24 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: No contingency offer on land in 12 hours - how do they do it?
Replies: 22
Views: 2568

Re: No contingency offer on land in 12 hours - how do they do it?

Similar with some differences was a house we bought. I was going to grad school on my company's dime and they gave me a house hunting trip. We landed on Saturday and had contacted a real estate agent. Viewed all they had to offer. Were not impressed and walked into another real estate office and went out and viewed what they had Sunday. Monday, set up with another agent at another agency for an early 8am viewing. We drove to the house and waited as a bus was there. The bus had agents from this agency. They viewed newly listed houses Monday mornings. 8:30 and they left and we went in. 9:00am, we put in an offer. Accepted before noon. Slightly under listed price but this was not a high demand market and people were used to having properties f...
by Jack FFR1846
Mon Mar 11, 2024 7:46 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What's your primary credit card?
Replies: 117
Views: 10242

Re: What's your primary credit card?

cheese_breath wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2024 11:06 pm I have no 'primary'. I use AAA Visa for drug stores, grocery stores and AAA insurances; Costco Visa for gas, restaurants, and Costco purchases; Discover for anything else. Sometimes Discover will offer temporary 5% rebates on some services. If that overlaps the other two cards, then I use the Discover until the 5% expires.

edit: I also have a GM Mastercard. But I only use it for my Geelong AFL club membership, and that only to keep it active in case I need it for emergencies.
I do this too with different cards. Currently, a Comenity Visa for 5% at restaurants, grocery and gas. 2% Fidelity, 2% Wells, 2% double cash. But I sell tradelines so each card sold is used to get at least $10 spent so it reports on the credit report.
by Jack FFR1846
Sun Mar 10, 2024 7:01 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dual majors and non big 50 colleges
Replies: 111
Views: 7178

Re: Dual majors and non big 50 colleges

Look at what is required for a dual major. For Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, there will be a lot of common courses. Of course the math, hard science, Humanities and basic engineering courses and likely a bunch of advanced engineering courses. Are there electives? Any requirements on the electives? When I was in my undergrad EE curriculum, every elective I chose was a computer programming course. For a required project, I taught the Basic language to a high school class for a semester. My co-op was writing DVT code (design verification testing) for a new board being developed for a lab instrument. I had no desire for a double major, just an interest in computer programming. I would think that today, this could still be done. Without ...
by Jack FFR1846
Sun Mar 10, 2024 3:07 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Take lower paying job for less stress
Replies: 14
Views: 994

Re: Take lower paying job for less stress

Long hours and high stress can very well be your own doing. It is a learned skill to limit your working hours. I was lucky in that the most go-getter engineering manager in another group in my company did what you do. Long hours, high stress, everything MUST be completed. Come time when the project was about to finish, the company let her group know that the company was getting out of that business and all were encouraged to find other jobs in the company. The go getter left the company but was very affected. How it affected me is that I realized that even 70 hour a week people are not necessarily going to get where they want to go. I learned to prioritize and keep my time to 40 hours. I was technical helping sales with customers. I'd have ...
by Jack FFR1846
Sat Mar 09, 2024 5:06 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Retirement Investment Advice
Replies: 31
Views: 3127

Re: Retirement Investment Advice

What's the saying? When you learn enough to choose a good financial advisor, you then know enough to not need one.

Increasing your net worth is not that difficult. Live below your means. If you can't do that, you'll become poor. Investments can be quite simple. You can use nothing more than VTI and BND (total US stock and total US bond) and nothing more is needed.

Why do you have garbage like crypto? I would recommend selling all of that junk as soon as possible. Why do you have foreign investments? Consider selling those when they hit their maturity date.
by Jack FFR1846
Fri Mar 08, 2024 8:12 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Adding Bonds with rebalance bands
Replies: 3
Views: 315

Re: Adding Bonds with rebalance bands

I actually just rebalanced 3 minutes ago. I use 5% windows. When my AA goes beyond 5% from target, I rebalance. Nothing to do with adding.
by Jack FFR1846
Thu Mar 07, 2024 8:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Putting in two weeks notice same day as bonus payment
Replies: 25
Views: 2775

Re: Putting in two weeks notice same day as bonus payment

Yes, that's fine.

I put in my retirement notice and my manager told me to delay it because the bonus that quarter was the fiscal year end one that is delayed 2 weeks. I changed my retirement date and delayed it for 3 weeks to be sure. I got the bonus and it was well worth waiting.

If you're concerned that they'll take it back, I don't think that's likely.
by Jack FFR1846
Thu Mar 07, 2024 6:51 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Age 60+ AND retired? What's your asset allocation? What type of bonds/Fixed Inc instruments do you use?
Replies: 57
Views: 8506

Re: Age 60+ AND retired? What's your asset allocation? What type of bonds/Fixed Inc instruments do you use?

Well now. I just looked and I'm at my rebalance window so I'll have to do that tomorrow, I guess.

Me 67, DW, 63 target 50/50 with no international (2 fund, like Jack Bogle recommended)

My "Bonds and fixed income" are composed of the following
FXNAX total US Bond: 69%
US Savings Bonds: 24%
Cash (HYSA, checking): 7%
by Jack FFR1846
Thu Mar 07, 2024 10:31 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I pay down mortgage with 6.5% interest ?
Replies: 111
Views: 12591

Re: Rent or Sell condo - take 2

If your monthly rent is less than 1% of the value of the property, sell. You're at 1/2 of 1% so you're taking a bath. If you want similar returns, you can actually buy an SPIA and get payments monthly without any landlord headaches.
by Jack FFR1846
Thu Mar 07, 2024 8:08 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: When to switch from dealer to independent for service
Replies: 52
Views: 4111

Re: When to switch from dealer to independent for service

Any service center is only as good as its mechanics. I bought a few Subarus from one dealer. Their service center was total garbage. How did I know that? Besides reputation, the sales people told me to go to other dealers for service as they didn't want their service center to mess up my car. Now, I do agree that there can also be garbage independents and I have found them too. Once you do find a good mechanic, stick with them.
by Jack FFR1846
Thu Mar 07, 2024 8:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: selling real estate for passive income
Replies: 9
Views: 1212

Re: selling real estate for passive income

Go do a quote on a single premium immediate annuity (SPIA). This is the only annuity endorsed by Bogleheads as it's sold like a commodity, has low cost and gives you monthly payments with no frills. I did a quote recently for a 47 year old male and with $250k invested, you can get $1500 a month. No renters stopping payments, no stocks giving you dividends but dropping in value and generating tax liability. You will pay tax on a portion of the payments from an SPIA, the gains. I would say that indeed, even dividend producing funds like SCHD is better than what you were getting from your real estate investment where you weren't even collecting 1% of the property value a month which is a minimum guide for either keeping or selling.
by Jack FFR1846
Wed Mar 06, 2024 7:45 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Negotiating Full Size SUV
Replies: 23
Views: 3573

Re: Negotiating Full Size SUV

I would exclude any car buying advice that was based upon pre-2022 experience. Unless the advice explicitly says this worked during or after 2022, I would ignore it as useless garbage. I would be very suspicious of advice from those peddling products or services (eg. CarEdge formerly YAA). I don't care how nice and sweet the old man looks on camera. Absolutely spot on if anyone thinks pre-2022 is of any value. The car market is changing daily now. But with the internet, youtube, dealer websites, you can find out a ton. I wouldn't use the Car Edge paid services myself but do like the trends they point out. To be fair, I see the trends being pointed out on 8 other sites and those who are off base are easy to point out. I will admit that I ma...
by Jack FFR1846
Wed Mar 06, 2024 5:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much car can I afford?
Replies: 114
Views: 9024

Re: How much car can I afford?

I'm leaning towards 911 more and more. I just have to justify the purchase in my mind. :mrgreen: I would recommend, if you could possibly to drive a 911 and a Cayman GTS 4.0. Why? Much better drivetrain layout with the engine in front of the rear axle. ALMS GT class 911's use the Cayman layout and use the excuse that it's for aerodynamics. What? They're using a 911 body. It's because 911's bring huge money compared with a Cayman. I say the GTS 4.0 because it uses the 6 cylinder and is a step below the GT4. You may have to order it though as it's actually the most rare trim level. If you order for European delivery, you can pick the car up in Leipzig where there is a test track that you will get to drive one of Porsche's cars close to yours...
by Jack FFR1846
Wed Mar 06, 2024 3:32 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Lemon used car - Texas
Replies: 3
Views: 497

Re: Lemon used car - Texas

I'm fortunate to be in a state (MA) where even a used car being sold by a private party is covered for 30 days regardless of mileage. There are, however hoops to jump through and if a seller doesn't want to give you your money back (minus 15 cents a mile), then those hoops require proof the seller knew of the problems. I expect this Texas clown sold the car as-is (which we don't even recognize) and you're likely out of luck. If you overpay (you would not overpay as much as you did here) at Car Max, you could also get a warranty and can buy an added, longer time/miles warranty and they will take care of the car when it breaks down. I'm sure your daughter knows the social media review sites. Feel free to send her off to describe all the probl...
by Jack FFR1846
Wed Mar 06, 2024 10:16 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Selling used appliances
Replies: 9
Views: 916

Re: Selling used appliances

I think you're being overly paranoid here.

Put the stuff on craigslist. Let the buyer hand you cash and drive away. In your ad, you can certainly write that you don't know if the pump works or is safe and it's on the buyer to figure that out. Then say, "You can plug it in here and it will run".

Take down the ad as soon as it's been sold.

Make the price low enough that the buyer knows they're getting a bargain.

I've sold literally thousands of things on craigslist. Of them, one buyer of a Stratocaster guitar later found that the switch and volume knob got in the way of his strumming. Too bad.
by Jack FFR1846
Wed Mar 06, 2024 9:12 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How close am I to FIRE?
Replies: 25
Views: 5136

Re: How close am I to FIRE?

I will focus on one thing and think you should assign yourself one task.

Your investment property is a huge loser. From the equity and amount left, it's worth $1M. This means you should bring in AT A MINIMUM $10,000 a month. You're not getting close to that. Buy yourself an SPIA. I just did an estimate on a 47 year old, lifetime payout with $1,000,000 going in and starting next month, doing absolutely nothing, you would get $4866 a month. Of course, this is age based so if you're younger, you get less per month for a lifetime and older, you get more, or you could do a 10 year term and get $9899 a month.
by Jack FFR1846
Wed Mar 06, 2024 6:44 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: AARP/UHC Medigap policies
Replies: 40
Views: 3176

Re: AARP/UHC Medigap policies

I've got the AARP/UHC plan as chosen by the agent who helped me by finding the lowest cost plan in my zip code. No other criteria. In Massachusetts, it's called a 1A plan which is sort of a G plan that's been enhanced. If all plans get more expensive year by year, that doesn't matter to me. I'm still comparing and getting on the cheapest plan. In case you don't know, you have to be an AARP member only the first time you get on their plan, then you can let your AARP membership lapse. That's what I've done.
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Mar 05, 2024 5:23 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: When to switch from dealer to independent for service
Replies: 52
Views: 4111

Re: When to switch from dealer to independent for service

There appears to be a lot of hate or dislike for dealership service departments. I use the dealership and they appear to have done well by my cars. My cars have run well. I wouldn’t know how to evaluate an independent shop. I'm guilty of that. I am not a mechanic but know enough as a DIY'er to see when a mechanic completely blows it. Just from memory: Car had a hard metal ticking noise. Periodic on/off for a while then on. Dealer said it was a loose caliper bolt. Drove it and noise still there. I diagnosed further. It was an unsecured pinion pin in the rear end and the pin was clacking back and fourth. Car in for "service". Tire rotation of directional snow tires, 2 tires faced forward after rotation, 2 faced back. Car in for &qu...
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Mar 05, 2024 4:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medicare: 64 Year Old Eyeing 2025 Medicare
Replies: 168
Views: 11469

Re: Medicare: 64 Year Old Eyeing 2025 Medicare

I admit I don't totally understand this "doughnut hole" thing. And your situation sounds expensive...I'm sorry about that. But if the doughnut hole goes away, it won't affect me in 2025. But back to the original point...just how huge of an out-of-pocket expense might someone on expensive drugs incur? I've never heard of anyone complaining of HUGE out of pocket drug costs...and don't know of anyone who even knows of anyone with this problem. Big out of pocket drug costs are bad; huge bankruptcy costs (like running bare with Part B but no supplement) seem to be a problem at a higher level of magnitude. Jardiance with my drug plan is $750 for 90 days BEFORE the doughnut hole. Eliquis is about the same. At the doughnut hole, both tri...
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Mar 05, 2024 4:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much car can I afford?
Replies: 114
Views: 9024

Re: How much car can I afford?

You're looking at cars seriously into the fun zone. That's fine. I'd love to do the same, also just retired and have about double your savings but no pension and won't take SS for 3 years. Something I would do is look at depreciation. The M4 will depreciate quite a bit. The 911, not so much because between Porsche making limited numbers and them putting cars on ships that sink, for some time they'll hold their value. This is assuming you can get one at MSRP. Other cars to consider might be a Nissan GT-R if you can order one at MSRP. I'd add a Lotus Emira but if they don't come for 2 more years (and they opened ordering 2 years ago), I wouldn't be surprised. Or go used. If you have any inkling for an EV, the Audi eTron GT has dropped out of ...
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Mar 05, 2024 12:22 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What to do?? [Vanguard warning about closing account for calling too frequently]
Replies: 74
Views: 6818

Re: What to do?? [Vanguard warning about closing account for calling too frequently]

The answer to this issue is quite simple. Move everything to either Schwab or Fidelity. Instead of calling and talking to some high school kid doing his algebra homework and half paying attention to you, you'll get a CSR who is actually knowledgeable and able to answer all of your questions and if you come up with something they can't answer, they'll transfer you to someone who can but they'll stay on the line with you until the other person gets on the line.

This is no longer the Jack Bogle Vanguard. Far from it. It has crept more and more to becoming more like Edward Jones.
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Mar 05, 2024 10:14 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Etrade has still not issued 1099-R
Replies: 6
Views: 673

Re: Etrade has still not issued 1099-R

Have you logged into your eTrade account? I closed my account after retiring in June and I was able to log in, go to tax documents and copy the PDF and print it out.
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Mar 05, 2024 7:55 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: When to switch from dealer to independent for service
Replies: 52
Views: 4111

Re: When to switch from dealer to independent for service

Anyway her car only has 38k miles, so we always have been getting the service based on time (1 year/10k miles whichever comes first) as the manual specifies 60k service is new spark plugs, accessory v belt, air filter, cabin filter and oil change. I'd guess the dealership wants 1k or more, unless there is another audicare package available (couldn't find anything) Let's break this down because you have so few miles on the car. Spark plugs. They should be replaced by mileage. Period. Does Audi say "Well, we built this in Germany and it took 3 months for the dealer to get it and it took them 9 months to sell it so you have to get all the 1 year services before you drive away"? No, they don't. Do them at 60k miles. Any independent c...