Bogleheads.org

I’ve been getting repeated calls from fidelity advisors saying they offer free advising. It sounds very shady bc what advisor is completely free? There must be a catch. They said it’s not free only if they do managed funds (which I won’t do). I have a zoom meeting on Tuesday but has anyone else had any experience with this? Apologies, but this really doesn’t make any sense to me. You aren’t shopping for an advisor. You don’t really trust them. You’re annoyed by their frequent sales calls. However, you agreed to do exactly what they want by taking a sales meeting. Why would you do this? Just because a door-to-door solicitor comes by every other week doesn’t mean you should invite them inside one time and read their pamphlet. You don’t even ...

You can get a 2 burner Weber Spirit or under $600 if you don't need much cooking space: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Weber-Spiri ... /203597722
This is what I have - for big parties I break out the Charcoal weber but 95% of the time I am just grilling for a family of 4 and this does the job. I don't need a side burner though - I have those inside.

When you put the 1098-T in Turbo Tax, it uses that, along with other qualified expenses you put in, for the 529 distribution (1099-Q) tax treatment calculations. In my case (as is the OPs) I know I am not getting any tax credits for college payments. So the easiest thing to do if you know all your 529 withdrawls were qualified (and you are over AGI for credits) is simply NOT put any of this into Turbotax. My rule is if something doesn't need to be reported - Turbotax doesn't need to know about it. (I ONLY pull from 529 to reimburse qualified expenses and pay directly to the college - save all the reciepts in case of audit - there is NO reason to waste time putting eveything in Turbotax since none of it needs to be reported). I no longer te...

I don't tip at Starbucks or Dunkin. Mostly because I feel that they're both over-priced for what I get there (coffee). Funny - I feel the opposite especially if I go into a Dunkins in a low population area. You are not just paying for the coffee - you are paying for the cup, the staff and their management, the electricity, the HVAC system, the parking lot maintenance, the property tax, the equipment to make the coffee and its maintence, and so on. $2 seems such a bargain to me. I sat in a Dunkin's once recently with a cup of coffee between meetings and only saw a few people come in to buy coffee over the hour (and a couple of cars in drive thru) - they surely lost money in that hour. In the very back of the parking lot there were a couple ...

I never played any of these silly games with my mortgage - I always made the regular payments but would routinely log into the portal and make an additional Principal-Only payment. Luckily my bank had this as a payment options in their portal and the principal payment was exactly that - an immediate payment that was applied directly to principal. This way there was no confusion and no games of the bank holding the money and applying to some future payment. Some of the rules they have and things they do seem so antiquated. My favorite was when I was ready to pay off the remainder of my mortgage and the bank insisted I couldn't do it through the portal but had to request the payoff amount and send them the cashiers check. I said "fine&qu...

Fidelity called me once many years ago. I said "I am a do it yourself investor, thanks for the call but I am all set. If I need help I will call you. Can you note that I don't want to be called?" Easy - never called me again. No need to block calls or hide.
Yes - they will talk to you for free. I have called a few time and talked to my advisor for help with a few things (like getting money transferred from Vanguard) - they never tried to sell me on anything - very helpful.

With so many Southwest mentions, that seems to be the Bogleheads' airline of choice! I’ll buck the trend I guess. I hate the “cattle call” Not to mention the issues they had with their staffing schedules that screwed thousands of people not long ago. Same. I almost exclusively fly United even though my local airport is both a United hub and Southwest focus city. I never book basic economy or via a third-party and I have a United credit card which keeps me out of the later boarding groups. United's same-day-change policy is better than Southwest's IME. Southwest is usually more expensive out of Denver anyways. I am with you - I avoid Southwest like the plague. I go directly to the airline websites - United or America are my 2 go-to's for US...

We added my name to my elderly Father's bank account so now I use my own login (rather than his) to login and pay all his bills. I login to some of his utilities, etc to check amounts and that stuff cleared.

Yes, it does. I witness my DH order a giant cup at the SB drive thru all the time and it’s $6. I have no idea what coffee costs at DD. You may want to double check. Here's the current prices as of March 2023 for regular coffee: Freshly Brewed Coffee Short 5Cal $2.15 Freshly Brewed Coffee Tall 5Cal $2.25 Freshly Brewed Coffee Grande 5Cal $2.65 Freshly Brewed Coffee Venti 5Cal $2.95 I just looked at the transaction history. You are right. The bill was $6.01, not, $6.00, for a giant Caffe Latte (whatever that is) with soy and 2 packets of Splenda.It looks just like a cup of coffee to me. I understand why you would think it is coffee but FWIW it is expresso and steamed milk or I guess in this case soy milk and if it is from Starbucks it is a V...

I can offer one piece of advice, on the first one, I made a mistake of paying the entire tuition bill from a 529 account for the freshman fall semester. When I received the 1098-T box 1 (qualified education expenses), it was less than the tuition bill, 10-15% less (I think it was in this range, other fees, parking..etc). That difference ended up being taxable plus a 10% penalty. So now I spread the 529 out over the full course of schooling. Alternatively, you can try to contact the school to get the qualified portion that will be reported on the 1098-T of the tuition bill. I have never even looked at 1098-Ts. I have the invoices and receipts which I can use if ever audited. I don't understand why you would have paid taxes on qualified with...

Dunkin's hasn't been the same since they retired the chocolate kruller so I rarely go. I just looked it up - that was 20 years ago :shock: I typically tip at these places if they are freindly and quick with service. Retired the chocolate kruller? I recently had one at a Dunkin in Everett, MA. It wasn’t anywhere near as good as it used to be, but they had them. It was only $1 as an add on bonus to a coffee order. I didn’t tip, though. That was a chocolate stick you bought or a chocolate dipped donut with a Cruller design - not a real Chocalate cruller. They were discontinued because they had to be hand twisted. It's probably good you don't know what you are missing. It was the best thing they had. http://archive.boston.com/ae/food/articles/...

Dunkin's hasn't been the same since they retired the chocolate kruller so I rarely go. I just looked it up - that was 20 years ago :shock: I typically tip at these places if they are freindly and quick with service. Retired the chocolate kruller? I recently had one at a Dunkin in Everett, MA. It wasn’t anywhere near as good as it used to be, but they had them. It was only $1 as an add on bonus to a coffee order. I didn’t tip, though. That was a chocolate stick you bought or a chocolate dipped donut with a Cruller design - not a real Chocalate cruller. They were discontinued because they had to be hand twisted. It's probably good you don't know what you are missing. It was the best thing they had. http://archive.boston.com/ae/food/articles/...

If you want to give them extra money at some point why do you need a separate account for them?
I will peel some funds to help my adult children out at certain points - but will just peel it from my brokerage account.
For college - 529 is the way to go for the taxfree growth.

I consolidated everything to Fidelity. (Had accounts at all three that you mentioned prior). Provides simplicity. I have a separate bank account so not worried if I should ever temporarily lose access - since Fidelity is 24/7 customer service you can at least reach them on the weekend should you have an access problem (which you can't say for Vanguard).

Gort wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 12:48 pm

iamlucky13 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 4:21 pm This is unfortunate. The consistency of their reviews from model-to-model and over the years made them a very useful asset.

Amazon hasn't yet come up with an archival plan" for the site.

I hope they do maintain access to the existing content. I reference it periodically, including when I consider whether an upgrade might be worthwhile over any of my current gear, since they have well-organized specifications and a useful comparison feature.

From the DPR announcement on their website, Amazon (parent company) has no plan to maintain continuing access.

The email I got says access will stay in place until April 10. I am creating my own archive of a few things of interest.

Dunkin's hasn't been the same since they retired the chocolate kruller so I rarely go. I just looked it up - that was 20 years ago
I typically tip at these places if they are freindly and quick with service.

I bought my last TV from bhphotovideo.com. I had great luck over the years buying cameras, lenses, laptops, printers, etc from them and since they had a good price on the TV I wanted I used them for the TV as well. Shipping is fast and potentially free especially if you live in the Northeast.
I am not sure why you would want to ignore price. If ignoring price maybe go local where you can pick it up yourself or get local delivery.

I have never looked at nor considered terms related to transfering ownership of ESPP shares after purchase nor transfering to another brokerage so don't know if there is a restriction. I view what I make on ESPP as simply additonal income always immediately selling. If I would to guess - sounds like your company made a deal with the brokerage to allow them to retain clients.
Sell at the 6 month mark so the transfer restriction does not apply.
Strange they have some kind of variable limitation up to 80 years - seems insane. It's almost like they are encouraging employees to sell. Maybe cut and paste the terms here - curious

It may be simply because their ERs are no longer lowest in the industry and are now on par with many other products so nothing to brag about (at least for index funds/ETFs). Also - not something you really need to see in real time as they change infrequently.

Funny - I have left without my wallet by accident but not without my phone - phone always with me - feel naked without it on me. Also - I use spotify when driving and if my phone doesn't connect to my car I immediately notice (display says "no phone connected").
If you have no tech in car reminding you maybe keep a yellow sticky on the steering wheel that says "phone?" or something. I don't want to ever forget my phone in case a family member has an emergency and needs to reach me.
(Didn't read all replies before responding - forgive redundancies).

Big Dog wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 11:54 am

SmileyFace wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 10:40 am Briggs&Riley maybe?

B&R is still around

I know. Didn't say they were not.

Are you sure you can contribute $40K annually?
My understanding is that IRS limits ESPP programs to $25K annually (and that is pre discount).
I would still participate- max up to the $25K. I don't get the $40K

Briggs&Riley maybe?

When I read your first post I was going to guess it was citibank. I had a horrible time with them blocking stuff as fraudelent (I would switch to Chase or CapOne or BAC with each incident without issue). The final straw was when they blocked something and then it landed on my credit card anyway - - they didn't pay the vendor but charged me - after months of calls with people that had English language challenges and subsequent "investigations" I gave up trying to get that $100 back but vowed I would never do business with them again. It was an airline upgrade charge with United. They always seemed to block anything online airline related (even US based airlines - Delta, United, American). Also other online purchases. For 2% cashbac...

nisiprius wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 6:37 am
A printed piece of paper with Vanguard's own logo on it should be pretty good documentation.

There is no watermark is there? For those of us dumping PDFs is there anything Vanguard (or whomever) would be able to use to say whether the printout was done by Vanguard or Myself? I can print high quality and have the logo as well if needed. I also wonder if there is any encoding in the PDF that can identify origin (versus paper that is easily forged).

Regarding time - even manually - I think I am saving PDFs monthly faster than it was taking me to open an envelope and carry a piece of paper over to an appropriate file.

Lastly - you may have better luck than me with USPS - my mail has been lost in the past or delivered to my neighbors.

Third party bank would proove they took my money for this recent big transaction.
That said - this is like a zombie apocalypse question to me - Don't think it would ever happen given today's data integrity especially if you aren't using some fly-by-night brokerage.

Which version of TurboTax are you buying and are you using the online or download?
I used Premier download - no problems with Roth or many other situations (although I don't do crypto nor small business filings).

I am missing you point I think.
What is actionable here?

I had one per child but as others have said it doesn't much matter since you can shift the money back and forth between the two beneficiaries as needed.

MDfan wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 4:44 pm
Yeah, we have 3 accounts but none are in same household. I was not aware of any policy against it.

Sounds like I am the only one that actually reads the Terms I am agreeing to.

Will this become the new "Stock Market in Free Fall" thread?

Overall YouTube TV is a good product. I have found it better than other competitors such as sling that I've tried in the past. Zero interest in going back to normal cable. YouTube TV allows 3 simultaneous streams from different people (incl different households) and that sharing is above board. Really is a great value if you have 1 (or 2) people to split it with. Here are the current Terms: https://www.youtube.com/t/terms_paidservice Section on households (I added the underline) 5. Shared Accounts Each YouTube TV subscription comes with 5 additional accounts. All shared accounts must be from the same household or family living together, as determined by electronic check-ins every 30-90 days. Subscribers may not share their recordings with ...

Sell both and diversify.
You will have money riding on unvested shares and the next ESPP period - that is enough to let ride - no need to risk vested and purchased amounts.

Overall YouTube TV is a good product. I have found it better than other competitors such as sling that I've tried in the past. Zero interest in going back to normal cable. YouTube TV allows 3 simultaneous streams from different people (incl different households) and that sharing is above board. Really is a great value if you have 1 (or 2) people to split it with. Here are the current Terms: https://www.youtube.com/t/terms_paidservice Section on households (I added the underline) 5. Shared Accounts Each YouTube TV subscription comes with 5 additional accounts. All shared accounts must be from the same household or family living together , as determined by electronic check-ins every 30-90 days. Subscribers may not share their recordings with...

Overall YouTube TV is a good product. I have found it better than other competitors such as sling that I've tried in the past. Zero interest in going back to normal cable. YouTube TV allows 3 simultaneous streams from different people ( incl different households ) and that sharing is above board. Really is a great value if you have 1 (or 2) people to split it with. Do you have a reference for this? My terms specifically state "each family member must primarily live in the same household." We never use more than 2 streams max but every where I read - can't share outside family and household. Maybe the Terms changed since I signed up but I can't find anything (from YouTubeTV) that says outside family or outside household are legit.

I see some folks are okay with some ad supported content. Other than the superbowl - I never watch ads. During football season I start watching an hour after kickoff to skip all ads and just watch football. The same with everything else I watch. In many cases there are like 20 minutes of ads for each hour of TV - I don't want to watch ads - don't have the patience.
I guess what I am saying, for me, all else being equal I am willing to pay up just not to sit through ads.

anil686 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 9:45 pm I don’t understand why those who don’t watch live sports subscribe to these services though - seriously you can find almost everything for less cost….

I like it for live sports. But for others in my household there are junk TV shows on Bravo, MTV, HGTV, etc that they record and watch (individual DVRs is a great uplift over prior hardware based DVRs!). I am not sure where else to get all the same 100+ channels for much less. Enlighten me. I know I am saving quite a bit compared to Xfinity/verizon services. Maybe sling (looks like its missing a bunch of channels I need)? Fubo seems higher.
Found this: https://www.tomsguide.com/opinion/i-cut ... -heres-why

8301 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 9:27 pm From online:
Federal law: Postal regulations provide that "(c)arriers may cross lawns while making deliveries if patrons do not object and there are no particular hazards to the carrier."

In this case it sounds like the patron does object.

Sensor triggered water cannons should do it.

Arabesque wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 3:05 pm Not to enter into a silly fight, but it would be very hard to teach a pointer to herd sheep and as hard to teach a Border collie to point game. Not all breeds are the same. People breed dogs carefully for specific purposes. Hence, some breeds, like retrievers, have “soft mouths” so that they don’t puncture their retrieve. Other breeds, guardians and fighters, have poor bite inhibitions because they are supposed to bite.

This is pretty obvious if you work with breeds.

And there is a reason why certain insurance companies in certain states may not want to insure you (or will increase your rates) if you own certain breeds.

lazydavid wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 1:59 pm

SmileyFace wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 1:41 pm

lazydavid wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 1:38 pm The same email lowered the price of the 4k Plus package from $20 to the formerly-promotional $10 rate. So they found a way to get that money out of me, or at least most of it. I'm not willing to pay $20, but I am willing to (and did during my promo period) pay $10, plus they're raising the base by $8, so they're very likely going to wind up with an extra $18/mo out of me vs. today. Very clever.

Have you compared this new price to other options? (Fubo, sling, or whatever)

I hadn't, but did a cursory comparison just now. Fubo would be about $8 more expensive than the new YTTV prices for comparable service. Sling is cheaper, but fewer channels and features.

Thanks.

lazydavid wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 1:38 pm The same email lowered the price of the 4k Plus package from $20 to the formerly-promotional $10 rate. So they found a way to get that money out of me, or at least most of it. I'm not willing to pay $20, but I am willing to (and did during my promo period) pay $10, plus they're raising the base by $8, so they're very likely going to wind up with an extra $18/mo out of me vs. today. Very clever.

Have you compared this new price to other options? (Fubo, sling, or whatever)

LaurenRose wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 8:20 am
For all those who have complete confidence in lodging door security

I just went back and reread all the posts - I am somehow missing all the posts from people who made a statement about having this "complete confidence".

I always check against BBB ratings and reviews - even if I got several postive known referalls to the person.
Also - the one time I had an issue with a contractor and filed a complaint with BBB (he had gone dark after an incomplete job and several promises to fix it prior). HE was out to fix the problem the next day after months of runarounds. He also gave me a part refund - wanted to do anything for me to sign off that the complaint had been resolved.

Stay in the better hotels they have cameras in the hallways and security personnel. If they are in a major city there also may be no way of getting up to your floor without a key. Nothing is fullproof and perhaps you are traveling to places without decent hotels - but if I need to barricade myself in my room I don't want to be in that city/area anyway (since I would be more likely to be harmed when I left my room anyway).
Carry pepper spray if legal in your location - leave where you can reach it at night.

My opinion as a purebreed dog owner for 10+ years, watching dogs both purebred & mixed at training classes. In general there is no such thing as a "calm dog breed." There is greater variation between individual dogs in a breed than between breeds. Besides a very few number of traits, most behavior is due to individual variation as well as environment & training. If you want a calm dog, find a calm dog (whether puppy or rescue) and work to make them feel secure in their environment and with your care. Patience, consistency, and simply paying attention to what they're communicating. One trainer I worked with described the ideal relationship between dog + handler as parental. You want them to feel securely attached to avoid ...

Does it seem like I'm suggesting skin in the game/incentivizing is a good strategy? I seem to be getting a lot of comments where people disagree with me there but to my eye, I didn't suggest it. No - I didn't read your post that way nor meant to imply I did. I said "different strategies" work meaning you had a fixed allocation per child while I did not. I agree with many strategies working (except those that artificially force skin in the game which neither of us stated we applied to our situations). Me - my parents had no money and I had no concept for money and debt so I went to school on grants and lots of loans which took me many years to pay back. I didn't want to straddle my kids with that kind of debt starting out. No one ...

toddthebod wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 12:31 pm
I always pay my copay when I check in. I have a boring HMO, I haven't received a bill from a doctor's office since switching from a 10% coinsurance plan about a decade ago. That's why I was asking.

I remember having an HMO 20 years ago but haven't had access to one in many years (didn't realize they still existed). Many of us now have High-Deductible plans now that require copays for everything. I get Doctor bills for almost everything. Even the last PPO plan I had came with a deductible and co payments.

Every accident I have ever had (not that many, but more than a couple), I have arranged everything through my own insurance company and had them deal with the other party's insurance. I have never dealt with another party's insurance company ever. Not only that, every time I filed a claim, whether it was my fault or the other party's fault, my insurance company has explicitly instructed me not to talk to the other party, their insurance, or anyone claiming to represent them. I have heard/read that a lot and have pushed on my MA insurance a lot, to no avail. What state are you in? I wonder if it is a state thing.. Live in MA and have done everything through our own insurance company when rear ended BUT was told by our insurer we would have ...

anoop wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 4:04 pm

SmileyFace wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 2:53 pm BE CAREFUL - are you talking to Comcast? They called me with this offer and I am not a customer - it was a scam trying to collect on that 1 year up front. Call the Comcast phone number on your bill and see if they actually have such an offer.

The number they left on voicemail was
1-855-800-4071
which announces itself as an Xfinity number.

But I think I will just pass for now.

Maybe I will look into Fidium Fiber.

If you do look into it call the number on your bill and not the number they left you. Anyone can set up a number and answer the phone pretending they are Xfinity.