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MDfan

make sure the spouse can keep FEHB after you are "gone". Why would she not be able to? I've had family coverage for 23 years and that won't change. As far as I know, as long as you opt for the slight reduction with the survivor annuity, she can keep the coverage. Thanks. Our plan figures ...

MDfan

chalet wrote: ↑Wed Dec 23, 2020 3:59 am make sure the spouse can keep FEHB after you are "gone".

Why would she not be able to? I've had family coverage for 23 years and that won't change.

MDfan

I'm turning 60 in October 2021 and plan to retire soon thereafter. For recent FERS retirees, anything I should do to maximize my retirement? I know I should retire before the end of the month, and am going to try to go to December 31st to maximize my annual leave payout. I have about 700 hours of s...

MDfan

I'm about to make my first car purchase and I want to hear what Bogleheads like to drive. I'm looking for a sedan type, and something with good gas mileage and is very reliable. Not looking for anything flashy either. Love my Hyundai Sonata. I've had a Maxima, an Accord and an Altima. The Sonata is...

MDfan

I'm turning 60 in October 2021 and plan to retire soon thereafter. For recent FERS retirees, anything I should do to maximize my retirement? I know I should retire before the end of the month, and am going to try to go to December 31st to maximize my annual leave payout. I have about 700 hours of s...

MDfan

Swee'pea wrote: ↑Tue Dec 22, 2020 9:14 am If you retire at the end of December 2021, your annual leave will be paid to you in early 2022 as earned income. This payout can be used to make an IRA or Roth IRA contribution for 2022.

Congratulations.

Or a really nice vacation.

MDfan

Thanks. I'm just a civilian govt GS-scale employee. Seems like December is the way to go if I have more than 240 hours that I don't plan to use before the end of the year. If I don't have that use or lose, I may stretch it into January. (sorry, edited out the "commissioned corp" part (aft...

MDfan

Thanks. I'm just a civilian govt GS-scale employee. Seems like December is the way to go if I have more than 240 hours that I don't plan to use before the end of the year. If I don't have that use or lose, I may stretch it into January.

MDfan

Thank you. Your advice about taking the AL payout in 2022 when our income will be lower makes sense, but that means I would have to use all of my use or lose in 2021 since you can only carry over 240. So, for example, I could get paid for around 400 hours if I retired before the end of 2021 (assumin...

MDfan

walkabout wrote: ↑Mon Dec 21, 2020 6:41 pm I would go mesh. We have eero and are 100% satisfied.

I second the Eero suggestion. It has really enhanced our wi-fi speeds throughout the house.

MDfan

We hired an advisor for advice only as we near retirement (within one year) for many of the reasons you suggested. We pay him a fixed quarterly fee which is less than what we would pay for Vanguard or Schwab personal advisory services. He came highly recommended and has given us some good advice reg...

MDfan

Check this for the best dates to retire. https://www.myfederalretirement.com/best-dates-retire/ You can add your spouse onto your FEHB. If she loses health coverage due to her retirement or loss of job, that is considered a life event and she can be added immediately without waiting for open season...

MDfan

Congrats on ur upcoming retirement! I retired at 59, best decision ever for me. When I retired, I transferred the Roth portion of my tsp to fidelity so that I can have the asset allocation more aggressive that the money left in tsp pre tax. I also transferred some pre tax tsp funds to a traditional...

MDfan

Does your maximizing annual leave strategy in December include Use-Or-Lose? You would lose that if you went in January, right? I'm carrying over 240 this year and if I have more than 240 by December, I'd definitely retire before losing that balance. Or take a really long trip before I go. Not sure ...

MDfan

I am maxed out on the GS scale and only get whatever raise Congress gives us. Usually not more than 1-2%. Don’t see us getting much of anything the next couple of years. I would think the only reason to go into January is more annual leave, and more weeks of salary, I guess. I’m looking at 12/31 rig...

MDfan

You can find the sick leave conversion chart at this address: https://www.federalretirement.net/sickleavechart.htm The 700 hours would add 4 months of service time to the total used to compute your FERS pension. Every little bit helps. Similar to MichDad, I had 18 months of time added to my pension...

MDfan

Thanks. Yeah I've calculated the difference in waiting until 62 and it is just not worth it to me. I'd rather have the extra time and it would make very little difference to our overall financial plan. No buyouts, unfortunately. And I thought my wife would automatically be covered under my federal h...

MDfan

I'm turning 60 in October 2021 and plan to retire soon thereafter. For recent FERS retirees, anything I should do to maximize my retirement? I know I should retire before the end of the month, and am going to try to go to December 31st to maximize my annual leave payout. I have about 700 hours of si...

MDfan

I am curious about this too. I have cable and have thought about switching to YouTube TV but am not seeing where the savings come from. We have the AT&T U-Verse 200 package (includes hundreds of channels) with 300mps Internet (unlimited data). The service includes HD, DVR with plenty of capacit...

MDfan

$65 + high speed internet adds up to be the same price as cable 5 years ago with the same channels. Is cutting the cord really saving us money? I am curious about this too. I have cable and have thought about switching to YouTube TV but am not seeing where the savings come from. We have the AT&...

MDfan

$65 + high speed internet adds up to be the same price as cable 5 years ago with the same channels. Is cutting the cord really saving us money? I am curious about this too. I have cable and have thought about switching to YouTube TV but am not seeing where the savings come from. We have the AT&...

MDfan

Probably about $10k/mo for expenses (including mortgage). Maybe extra for big trips every year.

MDfan

Good Listener wrote: ↑Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:58 pm Being retired, I have probably watched over 150 hours of content a month on Netflix. Are you kidding me? Id pa 50 a month.

Me too. We pay for Netflix, Hulu, Prime (although we get the student rate), Apple+ and YTTV (w/ Showtime and HBOMax). Still feel like it's worth it.

MDfan

The minute I retire next Fall, I will never think about work again.

MDfan

Love YTTV. Saving me a good bit of money as opposed to the FIOS we used to have. Love the unlimited DVR. I don't mind paying $65 (plus extra for premiums) for TV. Especially now when there's little else to do.

MDfan

NFL games are only five channels, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, and NFL. Almost all cable carriers have an NFL package where you get the NFL channel and the other four channels to allow you to watch and record every single game. I'm guessing though you are wanting the cable cutting version and I don't know ...

MDfan

NFL games are only five channels, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, and NFL. Almost all cable carriers have an NFL package where you get the NFL channel and the other four channels to allow you to watch and record every single game. I'm guessing though you are wanting the cable cutting version and I don't know ...

MDfan

Work as a fed attorney and have only worn a tie when conducting interviews over the last 20 years. So, maybe once a year?

MDfan

Recently completed HBO's Industry (8 Episodes), interesting UK take on J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs. If you're a fan of Margin Call, Billions, or Skins, it's worth a watch. Curious to see what others here think about it. Making trades over the phone seems so archaic. I really enjoyed the first sea...

MDfan

MotoTrojan wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2020 1:56 pm I honestly had no idea that Netflix still had a DVD business.

Same. I don’t think I’ve even watched a DVD in about 3 years.

MDfan

Probably about $2k total on kids (3), wife, me, parents, and nieces and nephews. That's not including charitable donations (probably around $1k) and our house cleaner (usually double her December payment, especially this year).

MDfan

Can you estimate your coffee expenses? how much do you spend on a daily basis and what is your method? Thanks My daily coffee expenses are $0. My method is not drinking the stuff. By your calculations, I have saved $102,930 thus far with my method. :shock: That's me. I am 59 and have never had a cu...

MDfan

Can you find another job, even if it pays quite a bit less? Every way you can reduce taking money out of your savings at your time of life is a win, as money left in there keeps growing. Even if you have to work for half your current pay, if a new job is okay I would accept it. I have had two terri...

MDfan

I'm planning to retire in October. I've been home since March and I hope it continues until at least the summer. October would be even better. I think you will be fine. The vaccination program will be going on through June and beyond. Hope so. I'm a federal employee in DC and was already working at...

MDfan

I'm planning to retire in October. I've been home since March and I hope it continues until at least the summer. October would be even better. I think you will be fine. The vaccination program will be going on through June and beyond. Hope so. I'm a federal employee in DC and was already working at...

MDfan

I'm planning to retire in October. I've been home since March and I hope it continues until at least the summer. October would be even better.

MDfan

Just got a Hydrow last week. Really enjoying it so far. I've never used the Concept 2, but I like the bells and whistles of the Hydrow. Much better overall body workout than the Peloton (I had a Peloton for 2 years and sold it when I started having lower back issues). I like the fact that the Hydrow...

MDfan

Thank you all for the suggestions. I went ahead and purchased the subscription with my normal credit card. 12 months at $4/month I'm going to give the company a chance to do right at the time I call to cancel. If I have any issues with cancelling this time next year, I will keep that in mind for fu...

MDfan

Do you all keep actual bank statements on your computers? What about credit card statements? I honestly don't even look at most of them other than the payment due date and amount to pay in full If a balance seems unusually high, I'll look into the detail. I keep bank statements for one month. Until...

MDfan

Been watching HBOMax on my Samsung TV and Amazon Firestick for months with no issue. Just had to side load it as described in these YouTube videos.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... +firestick

MDfan

About 10%. Still owe about 14 years on mortgage (age 59).

MDfan

Just purchased a Hydrow with Best Buy's Black Friday sale. $600 off total ($250 off, $250 BB gift card, $100 in BB rewards by using credit card).

MDfan

I used to play the credit card churning game and got some great sign up bonuses - mainly in the travel category. I haven't really done much lately due to the having a baby and well, COVID. I figured the hotels and airlines might be hurting and looking for business and wondering if anyone knows of s...

MDfan

Queens Gambit was completed last night. Excellent show and heartwarming end to the show. Makes me want to: 1. Read the book. 2. Learn how to play chess. Ed Agree one of the best shows we have watched in awhile we are not chess players but still loved it. Best original show Netflix has put out by far.

MDfan

I use the Golfshot Pro app on my Iphone. It cost me $29.99 about 8 years ago and it does everything I need. Gives me distances to front, middle and back, as well as bunkers and hazards.

MDfan

chipperd wrote: ↑Mon Nov 02, 2020 4:52 pm "Queens Gambit". Definitely recommend.

Fantastic show.

MDfan

Had similar issue with my daughter's sorority in Tennessee, but we had already signed a lease for an off-campus apartment so she was able to get out of it. They told a bunch of the girls back in the summer that they had to live in the house. We just said no and showed them the lease.

MDfan

stoptothink wrote: ↑Wed Oct 21, 2020 8:22 am Watched "Knives Out" with the wife last night. She liked it, I thought it was silly, unrealistic, and contrived (which was likely the point). It was OK, but not my cup of tea.

Knives Out was a really good, fun movie.

MDfan

Had a Brother all-in-one color printer for about 5 years. Black ink stopped working. Just bought a Brother monochrome laser (don't need color) printer/scanner/copier.

MDfan

My wife is thinking of buying one. I understand that almost everybody loves it for the initial few months. Can anybody who has owned it for >1 year chime in. Most costly exercise equipment is unused by its first anniversary. That is not true for OLED TV. I had mine for about two years. I started ha...

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