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Naismith

This is a first-world problem, literally. I am preparing to leave for 18 months, serving a full-time mission for my church in Southeast Asia. We are not allowed to ship any medications including supplements, because the local post office will either not deliver or charge a bribe. Some of them do not...

Naismith

I usher for the premiere concert venue in our area, which gets me in free for shows. I am not familiar with your particular situation, but based on what I see at my place, it may be a different experience in different parts of the concert hall. Our "upper box" seats do not cost much more than the me...

Naismith

Personally, just given how I am, I would really be uncomfortable if our financial security totally depended on me all of the time. We couldn't have any biological children if my spouse took this approach. I am very ill during pregnancy and not able to hold a paid job during that season. I'm gratefu...

Naismith

But I have a colleague who is from a place where women usually stay at home after marriage. He is still working very hard at 65 because he still has a big mortgage. There is a huge difference between "staying home after marriage" and being at home fulltime for a few years with a young child. I retu...

Naismith

dunno if the above was a typo or if you are indeed confusing spousal and survivors benefits? They are completely different things. Low earner can take spousal or their own benefit for a while, and later switch to survivor benefits when higher earner spouse passes. If the person is born before Jan 2...

Naismith

Reading the replies I don't get the impression they are from people who regularly drive 3-4 hrs at a time in stop & go traffic. But the OP said 3-4 hours AND stop & go traffic. I assumed those were two different tasks: stop & go near campus, and then a 3-4 hour trip on the weekends to get home. And...

Naismith

In addition to using ATMs inside banks, another safe place is inside a shopping mall, where they have an ATM room with an armed guard. The other great thing about the ATM room at a mall is that you can look often look around and see what denominations are being offered, with signs on various machine...

Naismith

A paycheck or other income is only one way of contributing to the family finances. I'm glad that my partner recognizes my other contributions. Because of our differing jobs, I have more ability to save in tax-deferred, since I can contribute to both a 403(b) and 457. So there are times that I got le...

Naismith

I only use All-Clad and my trusty Lodge cast iron for cooking anything. Just use oil or spray and you will be fine. I heartily endorse cast iron for cooking eggs as the OP was asking, and a huge plus is that you can use metal spatulas rather than the wimpy ones for non-stick pans. I love a long met...

Naismith

No catch. We are with Vanguard but I'm considering Schwab, maybe to start with a checking account and brokerage. Their free robo is enticing as well. The service is supposed to be excellent as well. Like many, we have used Vanguard for years, but opened a Schwab checking account for overseas travel...

Naismith

Oh, re Naismith saying "I could be missing something, but your exercise sounds like a chore--I am not hearing any fun there. What are some fun things you could do that also provide exercise?" I hate exercise! But I do it. I feel better. It's no fun for me. I've never experienced an endorphin rush. ...

Naismith

I am currently on: one day weight training (45 minutes+ 15 minutes stretching), next day (40 minutes aerobic-stairmaster and treadmill+15 minutes stretching), then one day off, then repeat. Looking for something on my days off and add variety and intensity to my workout, but still gives my body tim...

Naismith

How's your life insurance and disability insurance situation? If something were to happen to the breadwinner, wife would either need to go back to work or have another source of income.... This is an excellent point. Very important to consider that aspect as well. But depending on the particular si...

Naismith

..... it could be quite a while before she gets back to full-time employment with access to a 401(k). Full-time employment may not be necessary for her to have access to a 401k. I have been able to save over $400,000 in retirement accounts during decades of part-time employment since our youngest e...

Naismith

I also keep $1000 in the local credit union. I use the credit union for notary service and Medallion Signature guarantees. Also, they are one of my oldest accounts (20+ years), which helps my credit score. But it is amazing how many places we need a notary nowadays. School permission slips for field...

Naismith

When we were in Prague a few weeks ago, we did a 22-mile bike ride out to a castle, and it was an English-speaking tour, so folks from Australia, England, as well as USAmerica. We were the oldest of the bunch, being in our early 60s. But we mostly kept up. My husband's bike chain broke, and the guid...

Naismith

One of the topics is wealth and about how (as a general measured principle) you will tend to stay at the same economic level that you come from. You may go down a bucket or up a bucket, but the trend is not to leap upwards several buckets. Okay, but this assumes that buckets stay the same over time...

Naismith

For debit cards, we use CapitalOne360 (no FTF), Schwab (no FTF), and Ally (1% FTF). Our real-life experience in the past 5 years (Iceland, China, Ecuador, Argentina, Indonesia, Italy, Greece) is that the actual cost of using the Ally card is pretty much the same as the others. Schwab supposedly reim...

Naismith

One thing I didn't like about Prague is that I felt the tourist areas were way overdone as super tourist areas. I think it has probably lost some authenticity versus what it might have been like a few decades earlier. Part of that is the geography, that most of the Prague tourist sites are close to...

Naismith

I am also going to be in Prague for three days next month! One of the challenges we hit was that the Dvorak festival is going on for most of September. We were surprised that hotel rates go up after September 1, but that was why. Our first choices were also booked. A top priority for us is doing som...

Naismith

At the Salt Lake City airport on Monday night, we talked to someone who had needed 7 hours to drive from Driggs Idaho (eastern part of state), which is usually 3.5 hours. His family members barely made their flight because he returned the rental car for them. We were in Swan Valley, Idaho, had left ...

Naismith

Most ants live outside, but they wander inside and lay down a pheromone (scent) trail that others follow. So try to see where they are entering the house, and spray both inside and outside with something that will remove the smell. Febreeze or white vinegar. You will have to get rid of those in the ...

Naismith

Part of why this is so hard to discuss is the way we throw around the word "work." When I was a full-time mom, I never thought of myself as "not working." I was not employed, but I certainly had a lot of work to do at the hardest job I have ever held in my life (and I am an Army veteran and did a gr...

Naismith

Credit card coverage is great for us, but look closely at the definition of "immediate family." For both of our cards, that definition does not include elders who do not live with us.

Since we would want to cancel a trip if a parent became ill, we buy insurance for international travel.

Naismith

We are flying over 2,000 miles and then driving a few more hours to Rexburg, Idaho. I had to redo hotel reservations just a few weeks ago and was still able to snag a hotel in Pocatello with points (78 miles from totality). Thankfully we had ordered our glasses a few months ago...they are getting ha...

Naismith

Many 403b products can be rolled over into an IRA when you leave the institution. There may be a penalty for early withdrawal, but not for rolling over if you truly don't need the money until retirement age.

Naismith

How did the 15 point drop in credit score affect your life? It cost 30 minutes of my life, because not initially realizing the reason for the sudden drop, I wanted to check for obvious hacking by running a credit report at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action I was pleased to see that my...

Naismith

one factor in your credit score is utilization. For those with a not so high credit limit it is certainly better to pay the card off before the statement cuts so the credit bureaus see a lower utilization. Yeah, that's an important factor and I was amazed at how quickly this effect can occur. We bo...

Naismith

I can't wear cycling shoes because of custom orthotics. But I do swear by Lock Laces https://www.locklaces.com/ to avoid having a loose shoelace get caught and cause a tumble. (I trim mine much shorter than in the pictures on their website.) I have a friend who spent weeks in the hospital after such...

Naismith

The majority of the books are in the kids' closets in baskets from IKEA. My wife changes the books out a few times a year to mix it up and sub in some books that coincide with the season. This. Only having a certain number of books out at a time will help with interest. I also did this with toys, a...

Naismith

Plus, I tend to order random stuff that Walmart, Home Depot and Lowes might not necessarily stock, or said stores charge too much. +1 I've bought many things at Amazon which were not for sale in the city where I live, which kept stuff alive--much better for the environment. On a thread about bicycl...

Naismith

One thing about the Icelandic tourist infrastructure is that it is a weird infrastructure compared to other places. For example, we stayed at a school that rents out dorm rooms during summer. Yes, bathroom was down the hall. We also saved money by not using their bedding, since we had our sleeping b...

Naismith

Only a few things that are important to me with a bike (sometimes wet weather commuter).... Yes, those extras can make a huge difference. I would add my rear view mirror. We like the https://www.mirrycle.com/ mounted on the handlebar, but some people use helmet mounted. I have never gotten the hang...

Naismith

Just pointing out that this may cause claim issues in the future, if providers keep using the other number or if she recites her number rather than giving what is on the card.

I've had elderly relatives as for help in panic after an insurance denial, and this is a very common problem.

Naismith

Some good advice here, but don't stress or think you must spend a lot. My bicycle is my primary means of transportation: I commute 9 miles a day and we also ride bikes on the weekend for fun. But I don't have a particularly fancy bike. Currently a Fuji Crosstown step-through, which is great for me b...

Naismith

For us, living in a smaller city with no Costco in less than 2 hours drive, the selection at Amazon is a huge plus. And the reliable convenience. Last year we did a bathroom renovation. We had decided on, but not yet bought, some fixtures for the showers. The plumber was booked for a week away. Went...

Naismith

I'm amazed that they shared their documentation status with you...most people keep that pretty private.

Naismith

The nearest Costco is 2 hours away, so not really an option. The selection at Amazon makes our lives so much easier.

We just ordered our protective eyewear for the August eclipse, something that no store in our town is likely to carry.

Naismith

Do you have a Roth balance in the TSP? Currently, RMDs from the TSP include Roth money. It may be worth doing a "partial withdrawal" of everything but the minimum to keep the TSP account open. Roll balances into a Roth and a Traditional IRA, then roll Traditional IRA back to the TSP. The lion's sha...

Naismith

Do you have a Roth balance in the TSP? Currently, RMDs from the TSP include Roth money. It may be worth doing a "partial withdrawal" of everything but the minimum to keep the TSP account open. Roll balances into a Roth and a Traditional IRA, then roll Traditional IRA back to the TSP. The lion's sha...

Naismith

I need to have transcription work done a few times a year, and I use rev.com One of the things that convinced me to use that service over others was that I happened across a chat board of freelancers and they were excited that rev.com was hiring again and very positive about working there. It was go...

Naismith

One of the other caveats about screening colonoscopies is that the type of sedation and what is considered medically necessary isn't obvious to patients. ...... Yes, important point. And keep in mind that most places in the world, they do most of them without sedation at all. I am not sure of the s...

Naismith

I chose my T-Mobile service plan specifically because it has international coverage. Texts are free and I've never paid roaming charges abroad. I have T-Mobile and find the international coverage to be excellent. Perhaps the greatest benefit is that I never have to worry about it - I just know it'l...

Naismith

One of the other caveats about screening colonoscopies is that the type of sedation and what is considered medically necessary isn't obvious to patients. ...... Yes, important point. And keep in mind that most places in the world, they do most of them without sedation at all. I am not sure of the s...

Naismith

I thought you'd like this: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonybradley/2014/04/09/replacing-a-dead-prius-hybrid-battery-doesnt-have-to-cost-thousands-of-dollars/ Replacing A Dead Prius Hybrid Battery Doesn't Have To Cost Thousands Of Dollars - Forbes Thanks for this--I loved that the author referred t...

Naismith

We also have a 2006 Prius. Yes, it seemed like every warning light came on at once. Ours were replaced at 90-something miles, still under warranty. I am embarrassed to admit that we didn't realize there is also a smaller typical car battery that was not replaced at that time. It went out when we wer...

Naismith

This is a report from our vacation trip to Greece in October 2016 which also has some lessons about the balance between frugality and splurge that are a frequent topic on this forum. We are still employed, so every trip is planned with that frustrating balance of trying to do a lot in exactly two we...

Naismith

We just switched our auto, leaving homeowners with the previous company. Lost the multi-line discount but still saved $1000 per year. The agent said that the umbrella always follows the car insurance, since that is where the most claims are. In other words, we needed to get the umbrella from the new...

Naismith

I contacted a CFP with the Garrett planning network that others have mentioned. She offers a one-time "pre-retirement checkup" for less than $700.

We didn't do that--my husband bought and has enjoyed playing with the Pralana calculator--but that seemed reasonable for a second opinion.

Naismith

Edit2: He bought the house years before he remarried. He's been remarried less than 5 years. His spouse also has children from another marriage. So it sounds like he wants to ensure that the house eventually goes to his kids, not her kids, which sometimes happens when a second wife stays in the hou...

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