Search found 210 matches

by nukewerker
Tue Nov 04, 2014 1:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tough spot, decided to lease a car
Replies: 209
Views: 23307

Re: Tough spot, decided to lease a car

Unfortunately with your income you have a big shovel the banks have let you use to dig a massive hole. I am going to be pretty blunt. You and your wife make over 100k and are flat broke. The fast food worker that makes minimum wage and has saved a dollar is wealthier than you and your wife. I see you have been through a lot but the bottom line is the past doesn't matter and you are where you are. There is a ton of fluff in your budget. It's not easy to hear but you are broke. Broke. Broke. Your wife doesn't get to decide if she wants to be sociable and have starbucks. Why? Because you are broke. Do not lease a car. You have $500/month. Get rid of your cars and buy $500 beaters. If you have to buy a new $500 car every time it breaks down the...
by nukewerker
Fri Oct 31, 2014 2:27 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: A Challenge for Bogleheads - the market has changed
Replies: 53
Views: 9349

Re: A Challenge for Bogleheads - the market has changed

This is simple imo. We are in a new portion of the exponential curve. Since everything today is measured in % change, the growth goes to infinity. What I mean is what would have been a huge numerical magnitude change in the market, of say 10 points on the S&P is now just a normal 1% fluctuation of market. Bogleaedism assumes the growth curve continues and eventually approaches infinity which is reasonable since our gov't measures everything in %s. Its the same reason why people look at historical charts in log scale, can't see anything from the 20's 30's, etc. It amazes me how so many people in America do not understand such a basic concept. What you are seeing, which they refer to as fundamental changes is simply the next log shift up ...
by nukewerker
Wed Oct 29, 2014 2:26 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: how risky is stock investing?
Replies: 16
Views: 1937

Re: how risky is stock investing?

As risky as you want it to be. You can put all your chips on black and buy one stock all the way to buying the whole market though an index fund. The risk from buying one stock is obvious as trading can be halted at any moment and the company declares bankruptcy and you lose all your money. The risk for index investing is prolonged periods of negative or flat returns. There is nothing preventing the market from declining to 10% of its current value and staying there for 60 years. Not exactly a likely scenario but anything can happen. Most hedge this risk through world markets and bonds, cash, cds, etc. If the savings account rate was 6 or 7% you would see probably a lot more people holding money in those. Index investing is a ying and yang....
by nukewerker
Tue Oct 28, 2014 2:41 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How often do you change your car's oil?
Replies: 168
Views: 40021

Re: How often do you change your car's oil?

3000 miles. I don't freak out if its 3001 miles but try to get it before 5000 miles on non-synthetic. Would go 5000 on synthetic. Why change at 3k? Viscosity matters imo and filters don't last forever. For those going up to 10k or more, I suggest changing your own oil. If still ok with it, more power to you. Realize I drive mostly domestic and cheaper imports. If you are driving a Ferrari and the manufacturer suggest 10k miles because you have to remove the engine to change the oil, I'm probably going to stick with that.

On the other hand short blocks are pretty cheap. You could probably save up your oil changing money have have enough for a fresh motor once it craps out.
by nukewerker
Mon Oct 27, 2014 3:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Store or cut up un-needed credit cards?
Replies: 28
Views: 3598

Re: Store or cut up un-needed credit cards?

Unless you are planning on making a large purchase soon I would just cut up the ones you don't need/use. We have one amex that is a 3rd or 4th string last ditch backup for emergencies but that's it. Once you have some savings built up, not really a need to carry them. I have found the promotions are offset by the companies trying to get you into a late payment situation where huge fees are activated. My wife had a victoria secret store card that had lots of free stuff/promotions tied to it but the bill would conveniently come sometimes even 1-2 days before it was due, depending on how the calendar would line up. Since it wasn't part of the regular bill lineup there were a few times when it would sit on a desk for a day or two before anyone ...
by nukewerker
Sun Oct 26, 2014 7:22 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why do Engineers Think They’ll Be Good at Picking Stocks?
Replies: 135
Views: 16386

Re: Why do Engineers Think They’ll Be Good at Picking Stocks

Math has a small part in stock picking. It's useful in looking at stock history and current value but a very poor indicator of the future. Let's take the recent example of Tesco. WB owned a fairly large position. Anyone think he just closed his eyes and picked the stock? Or do you think he and his team of half a dozen or so spent at a minimum days, probably more like weeks or months even before jumping into the position? I'm guessing the latter. This is an isolated case but it could happen with any company at any time. With articles like the one below: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/epic/tsco/11187395/Tesco-shares-hit-11-year-low-as-as-retailer-hit-by-double-whammy.html Now would be the ideal time to evaluate the possibilit...
by nukewerker
Wed Oct 22, 2014 4:17 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why do Engineers Think They’ll Be Good at Picking Stocks?
Replies: 135
Views: 16386

Re: Why do Engineers Think They’ll Be Good at Picking Stocks

Tanelorn wrote:
nukewerker wrote:I still can't for the life of me figure out why people short a stock, only 100% max return and infinite risk if the shares double, triple, etc.
When was the last stock you saw go to infinity? My index fund must have overlooked it, or else I'd be retired by now.
If you shorted Ford when it was at its low of what $1-$1.50 then buying it back at current prices is infinite risk to me. Anytime you lose principle plus is infinite risk to me. Never said a stock would go to infinity.
by nukewerker
Wed Oct 22, 2014 4:03 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why do Engineers Think They’ll Be Good at Picking Stocks?
Replies: 135
Views: 16386

Re: Why do Engineers Think They’ll Be Good at Picking Stocks

I'm an engineer. ... The biggest thing I have learned which is in 100% contrast to boglehead philosophy and what most economists say is that markets are efficient on the macro level and more often than not inefficient on the micro level. There are tons and tons of mispriced individual stocks in my opinion. ... The Efficient Market Hypothesis only says all information (already disseminated, new, or inside, depending on the strength of the form) is already taken into account by other investors. It does not say that you personally can't analyze that data better and more quickly, and act on it sooner, than others. Your statement is not at odds with the EMH. PJW That is a good distinction and a more succinct way of what I am trying to express. ...
by nukewerker
Wed Oct 22, 2014 8:55 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why do Engineers Think They’ll Be Good at Picking Stocks?
Replies: 135
Views: 16386

Re: Why do Engineers Think They’ll Be Good at Picking Stocks

I'm an engineer. Not as number oriented as some. I'm not a fan of complex math as I think it muddies the water for simple efficient solutions. My own personal experience is that I have been trading stocks since 18. Like most 18 year olds I did not much money to play with, sorry invest with so I took a lot of lessons early on. I day traded, week traded, month traded and still have some original holdings. All with mixed results. As an engineer I have a love of learning which is part of why I am here. Up until this year I was 100% hand picked equities. Ok 90%. I have some in a bond fund. But as I have read this board amongst other thing, I can see the beauty in the simplicity of index funds. The biggest thing I have learned which is in 100% co...
by nukewerker
Mon Sep 29, 2014 1:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Those under 35 with a child 5 or under: Costs of child?
Replies: 58
Views: 8400

Re: Those under 35 with a child 5 or under: Costs of child?

I'm responding to this question because if you are asking, then chances are you want to "plan" your having kids. I realize many on this site like to plan things, that's why we are here. However, you just can't plan how, when and how many kids you can have. Its like trying to time the markets...a pointless exercise. I think the best planning you can hope for is to be a couple living below your means you must have health insurance. Beyond that-its Vegas. I'll outline our situation below as an example. We had our first son 2 years ago. Couldn't ask for a better experience. Everything was by the book. Minimal costs due to good health insurance, my wife breastfed him for 18 months, etc. I would guess his actual cost to us was less than...
by nukewerker
Mon Sep 29, 2014 7:15 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Where to start work as an engineering major?
Replies: 32
Views: 4556

Re: Where to start work as an engineering major?

We used to have shirts in engineering school that said something to the effect of as the limit of engineering gpa goes to zero= business. It was in equation form on the shirt though. Anyway though-yes its very common for the wall street folks to pluck talented engineers and lure them away with big salaries and big cities. Nothing wrong with that but part of why I haven't gone that route is the dynamic from the t-shirt. You have some business people who may not have been able to make it in an engineering program as bosses to the smart engineers. Much of this dynamic is in my opinion what caused the crash. Most of the business people could not attempt to explain the algorithms the engineers/mathematicians created and for that reason alone I w...
by nukewerker
Thu Aug 21, 2014 2:24 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Do you know anyone at Castle & Cooke?
Replies: 1
Views: 425

Re: Do you know anyone at Castle & Cooke?

I worked on a project for them on the east coast. Their website has contact info I believe. The guy who owns dole foods used to own it. I guess he still does.
by nukewerker
Sat Aug 16, 2014 5:20 am
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Roll Call for the Retirement Class of 2014!
Replies: 385
Views: 105255

Re: Roll Call for the Retirement Class of 2014!

Nice to see all these retirement stories. Gives me hope. At 32 I have a loooooooooooooong way to go. Face palm.
by nukewerker
Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:22 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: average American eats out 203 times per year
Replies: 105
Views: 11972

Re: average American eats out 203 times per year

I would guess we eat out 365 times. We don't everyday but there are instances where its 2 or even all three meals out in a day which probably average to once a day.
by nukewerker
Thu Jul 31, 2014 7:21 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any engineers? Studying for Civil-Structural PE
Replies: 31
Views: 10603

Re: Any engineers? Studying for Civil-Structural PE

sounds good-best of luck to you. I think a lot of people I talk to still have the college textbook mentality where "you'll never use this again why buy the book" or buy used, etc. At this point this is your chosen profession and I see nothing wrong with a few extra structural books around even in the event you don't use them. They can also be sold used if desired. I've met people who took the test three times and didn't pass. You don't want to be that guy haha.
by nukewerker
Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:35 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any engineers? Studying for Civil-Structural PE
Replies: 31
Views: 10603

Re: Any engineers? Studying for Civil-Structural PE

One of the best parts of the kit is the books provided are thin concise books instead of the all inclusive CERM. The timber you could probably skip as the NDS example book that comes with the code is pretty good. The bridge one was worth 1 or 2 easy answers and you avoid having to buy the bridge code. I took a bridge design class in grad school so I have a portion of an older bridge code though. I may be different but I love having resources. I use the books from that kit all the time in practice and they usually explain it better than my textbooks and provide more examples than the CERM. To be honest the SDRM in my opinion is more geared for the SE exam and not the PE. But my company paid for the class & kit so it was a no brainer for ...
by nukewerker
Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:45 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any engineers? Studying for Civil-Structural PE
Replies: 31
Views: 10603

Re: Any engineers? Studying for Civil-Structural PE

While I commend you on passing the EE PE the first time, Its not the same as the Civil/Structural PE exam. If you look at the volume of references for all the disciplines taking the exam, the civil structural guys are the ones with the suitcases, not because they are over zealous but because there are that many condes/references covered on the exam. The timber NDS code alone is 4 volumes, bridge manual is 700 pages, then you have the building code, masonry, steel, concrete, prestress, transportation, geotech, environmental and hydraulics. The cerm helps reduce the volume of references. Don't get me wrong I am sure there are people out there who pass the first try with no references, that doesn't mean its a good idea. My approach for the fir...
by nukewerker
Wed Jul 30, 2014 6:26 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any engineers? Studying for Civil-Structural PE
Replies: 31
Views: 10603

Re: Any engineers? Studying for Civil-Structural PE

You are in luck I took this in 2011 and passed on what was my 2nd try. My high level thoughts; if you want to pass the first try and not fool around with it. Take the PPI review class, I know its expensive. Get the civil structural kit from PPI. The SDRM and CERM are most of what I used. Don't study, work problems with your references. Studying for this test is like trying to memorize the phone book you are much better off taking the review course which forces you to study by watching the class what you absolutely have to know. Oh and know how to do transportation vertical and horizontal curves. There are 5 or 6 of these on almost every test in various forms-easy if you know how to do them. I like the NCEES sample tests/review books. But do...
by nukewerker
Sun Jul 13, 2014 7:47 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: New Sole Proprietorship Retirement Questions
Replies: 13
Views: 2289

Re: New Sole Proprietorship Retirement Questions

I got this from Fidelity's site. Seems too good to be true. But as I read it with the 401k you can deduct the 17.5k and the 20-25% of profit from your taxable amount. If so this clearly seems to be the way to go for small business owners who are self employed. I don't see where it says SP though so maybe this is for a S-corp "A Self-Employed 401(k) may substantially reduce your current income taxes because generally, you can deduct the entire amount of your plan contributions from your taxable income each year. If your business is unincorporated, you can deduct contributions for yourself from your personal income. If your business is incorporated, you can generally deduct contributions as a business expense. No Plan Self-Employed 401(k...
by nukewerker
Sun Jul 13, 2014 7:28 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: New Sole Proprietorship Retirement Questions
Replies: 13
Views: 2289

Re: New Sole Proprietorship Retirement Questions

OK thanks, Some good info here.

After reading everything I guess it does make sense that everything after the 17.5k will not be tax advantaged space? Since I already will pay 33% or so on profit? But the 17.5k is either pretax or roth eligible right? Also I worked at a company earning wages for the first 3 months of the year. Since my pay was over $5500, I assume I can contribute to a roth IRA as well?
by nukewerker
Sat Jul 12, 2014 5:32 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax/401(k) questions regarding LLCs
Replies: 5
Views: 790

Re: Tax/401(k) questions regarding LLCs

I can help on a few of these. I have a new PLLC and am trying to figure out similar things. 1. According to my CPA you pay quarterly estimated taxes after business expenses, so net profit. In my case she tells me to set aside a third of everything net for taxes. This includes the 15.5% self employment tax which has SS in it I believe. As a SP you pay all of the SS tax but get a credit on half of it. But after you set aside taxes you can take whats called a distribution and this is not taxed again like a salary. Its all yours. Doesn't matter if you leave it in the business checking account or spend it after Uncle Sam gets his cut. 2. You have to fill out a schedule C I believe 3. Most things I have read say no more than 100% so, yes theoreti...
by nukewerker
Sat Jul 12, 2014 5:03 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: New Sole Proprietorship Retirement Questions
Replies: 13
Views: 2289

New Sole Proprietorship Retirement Questions

I just started a new business this year and due to the nature of the profession am required to be a PLLC. Since I have no employees, the tax status is a sole proprietor pass through. I am just now starting to make some money with the company (started in April). I have roughly 25k in business checking. I have yet to pay myself anything and have been living off of savings (have about 10k left). Monthly expenses are about $3500 on the personal side and $500 or so on the business side. I have yet to set anything up for retirement. After reviewing solo 401k and SEP ira I am leaning towards the S401k. I think its getting close to time to pay myself a distribution from the company and as a result I would like to set aside a portion for retirement ...
by nukewerker
Tue Jul 08, 2014 4:06 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Advice for how to fund my wedding
Replies: 54
Views: 4962

Re: Advice for how to fund my wedding

I vote option 1. No need to take a tax hit if you don't have to. Not sure where you live but 50-75k can be a decent down payment on a house around here. On the wedding deal, of course you can do shotgun weddings cheaper but if you want to have what a lot of people consider normal weddings now-it can easily approach 50k. I naively set a budget of 10k for our wedding 4 years ago. By the time we hired a photographer, rented the 70s dated convention center, and got food for 50 people, that budget was blown haha. Its insane. Shotgun wedding around 10k. Average Wedding 25-50k. Extravagant wedding 50k-100k. Even Dave Ramsey will tell you not to cheap out on your wedding. He won't tell you to put it on a cc but thats not what you are doing. I stopp...
by nukewerker
Sat Jul 05, 2014 3:28 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: "Used" car with 32 miles on it?
Replies: 39
Views: 5105

Re: "Used" car with 32 miles on it?

IMO pass unless you get thousands off of invoice. I returned a truck I bought once after owning it a week. Long story short-there was a 4-5 inch wide, 6 ft long streak along the lower side of the truck that did not get the color layer of paint sprayed when the robot painted it. Yep one full swipe was missing. But it got primer/clear coat so the finish was flawless and it fell exactly along the reflection of parking lot lines so you couldn't see it unless you were 15-20ft away from the car with nothing else around or crouched down to see it. The dealer offered to "repaint" the car for me at another manufacturers dealer since they didn't have a paint shop. I had to get the manufacturers corporate quality team involved and after I fo...
by nukewerker
Thu Jul 03, 2014 9:05 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Stick with Vanguard or take Fidelity "special deal"?
Replies: 50
Views: 5278

Re: Stick with Vanguard or take Fidelity "special deal"?

Skip the broker no matter who you use. Its your money-you can set everything up online and fill out the forms, rollover, etc. yourself. I don't use brokers and base my decision solely on online content, ease of data manipulation, etc. I used tdameritrade when they were still just ameritrade. I haven't had any issues with them. I rolled over a 401k to an IRA at fidelity and was not real excited about their layout at first but now that I have used it for a while I may even switch my td accounts over to them. Can't tell you about their customer service as I don't use it, again I just do everything online.
by nukewerker
Tue Jun 24, 2014 3:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "Having the wealth transfer conversation"
Replies: 21
Views: 3705

Re: "Having the wealth transfer conversation"

I expect I will never have it with my dad if his dad is any example. My grandfather died at age 90 from cancer and to this day I don't believe either my dad or my uncle knew how much money he had. It was just never talked about. My grandfather grew up poor and was self made. I think he wanted to give his sons that opportunity as well. My dad still won't say how much he inherited. I have a feeling its in the 5-10 mil range but I only get bits and pieces. Growing up we heard small things from time to time such as he sold his business in the 80s for 1 mil, bought it in the 50s after taking out a 200k loan, he showed me his yahoo finance (lol) portfolio one time and there were single stocks he had since the 50s that were 800k or more, etc., etc...
by nukewerker
Tue Jun 24, 2014 3:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is Medical School Worth it Financially?
Replies: 66
Views: 10262

Re: Is Medical School Worth it Financially?

I could be wrong here but I think one big distinction is whether you work for someone or start your own practice/firm. I can't speak for the medical world but in engineering at least my field of structural engineering if you open your own firm you can charge $150/hr all day long so depending on how busy you are you could make up to 312k or so all by yourself. If you have employees you add leverage and then it becomes very feasible to make many multiples of 100k/yr. But yes if you are an average employed megacorp engineer you are probably somewhere around 100k/yr likely as a median. Its like everything its up to the person as to how much money you can make. But yes theoretically you could channel all that medical school drive into running an...
by nukewerker
Tue Jun 24, 2014 1:16 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cost of car compared to Gross Income
Replies: 138
Views: 19176

Re: Cost of car compared to Gross Income

You can go spartan on a Nissan quest and get it for 23k or so but that doesn't include floor mats (serious). Before the days of the internet, floor mats were seldom standard, and a huge profit center for the dealers (cost $10, sell $100). Remember pin stripes? Undercoating? You may still occasionally come across these old nearly worthless upsells, but these are nickle and dime compared to extended warranties and car alarm systems. Thats a good point. The floor mat option was through the manufacturer website so I think they caught on and claim the $230 for themselves. Same with splash guards and roof racks...yes those are all options not included on a $33k van. As far as the extended warranty junk; I believe she actually said "because ...
by nukewerker
Tue Jun 24, 2014 8:24 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cost of car compared to Gross Income
Replies: 138
Views: 19176

Re: Cost of car compared to Gross Income

Yes-I don't get it. Incomes certainly have gone nowhere and I don't think anyone argues that. And they increase prices every year it seems so I don't know. This graph must be based on the cheapest new car you can buy in America??? You can buy a Versa for $12k new I guess if you just want the "new" car distinction. That probably is a hell of a deal if it lasted 100k or more.
by nukewerker
Tue Jun 24, 2014 5:32 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cost of car compared to Gross Income
Replies: 138
Views: 19176

Re: Cost of car compared to Gross Income

For the most part I don't think its peoples taste in cars that has gone up, its mostly the car prices vs. wages. With wages stagnant of course the % of income will go up since manufacturers keep increasing base prices every year. In 1999 my dream car was a Mustang Cobra. I remember it being about 27k fully loaded. Fast forward to today. I bought a new van that was 27k (33k sticker) and now new cobras are 50K+. Granted they have a lot more stuff (power, braking, airbags, etc.) but I think its insane that minivans today are 30k for a cheap one with few options. You can go spartan on a Nissan quest and get it for 23k or so but that doesn't include floor mats (serious). SUVs are even worse. Something will give. Which reminds me-I need to sell m...
by nukewerker
Fri Jun 13, 2014 12:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: engineers - please help with engineering school selection
Replies: 185
Views: 21643

Re: engineers - please help with engineering school selectio

Given the HS academic record you mention, I honestly think he might not be challenged in Engineering. Might want to consider majoring in Math at an Ivy league school if he is going to go into investment banking. Duke might be a good option for him since he doesn't know what he wants to do yet. Obviously they have a great medical program, but they also have an engineering school and regardless of major many of their graduates have in the past been recruited by investment bankers. If he does decide to do medical or biomedical engineering the RTP is a great place to start out at.
by nukewerker
Fri Jun 13, 2014 7:26 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: engineers - please help with engineering school selection
Replies: 185
Views: 21643

Re: engineers - please help with engineering school selectio

I'll bite. I'm a CE-Structural. 10 years out of school now. I don't know about the other areas in engineering but in civil/structural you will have a hard time finding an employer to talk to you without a masters. Reason being-you barely scratch the surface of structural engineering in undergrad. Also there is a difference in structural design of equipment, parts, machines, etc. vs. building, bridge, road and other infrastructure. I run across a lot of MEs in the nuke world that do not know the difference and feel their degree is interchangeable. They usually figure it out when they try to design something with concrete. As far as the salary-I started out in 05 making 40k/yr, up to 55k by 07, then a job switch to 50k, then laid off, found t...
by nukewerker
Mon Jun 09, 2014 7:14 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?
Replies: 95
Views: 11863

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

The market appears to be acting fairly reasonable. The excitement last year over the momentum stocks has largely died and several valuations are back down 50% from their peak. Stocks get tanked on unfavorable earnings like quicksilver, etc. I agree with others-its been a long time since we had a "normal" market and I don't think many people remember by definition, if you are investing you expect to see returns. That being said the portion of the market with all these new entrepreneurs. venture capitalists, trendy, car sharing, nest, etc. there is a lot of room for consolidation and I would stay away. i.e. for bogleheads I would probably be tilting away from growth and small cap. if you were tilting towards them for any reason but ...
by nukewerker
Sun May 25, 2014 6:49 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Husband just lost job
Replies: 60
Views: 9297

Re: Husband just lost job

Start applying for new jobs now. Those things can take months to get off the ground depending on what you are applying for. Even if he gets his job back the worse that could happen is he finds a new better job.
by nukewerker
Thu May 22, 2014 11:06 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Convince me to choose a Suburban over a Sequoia
Replies: 87
Views: 42290

Re: Convince me to choose a Suburban over a Sequoia

the 02 sequoia has a nasty habit of chunking transmissions at 95-100k miles...gasp...but..but its made in Japan it must be perfect. Oh wait-the suburban gets complaints for the same thing, the same year...now what to do. Anyone ask those people if they changed their transmission fluid ever? All kidding aside, you have to look at the individual car when buying used. Do they have maintenance records? It makes a difference if someone hauled a boat every weekend behind it or if they just took the kids to school in it. You can't always find out what its been used for but that's the line of thinking you want. If the oil burning problem scares you-don't get the suburban or get the 2500 which doesn't have those complaints. We ruled out the suburban...
by nukewerker
Wed May 21, 2014 11:49 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Convince me to choose a Suburban over a Sequoia
Replies: 87
Views: 42290

Re: Convince me to choose a Suburban over a Sequoia

Toyota and foreign cars in general are overrated. You can buy any car, any model and have a chance at getting a lemon or a "I've driven it for XX years and XXXXXX miles and never had a single problem" Cars are made of thousands of parts and can be statistically engineered to break whenever they want them to. Following the KISS method, a Tesla would be the most reliable since it has the fewest parts. On a used car its probably more important what the person who had it before you did with it, i.e. towing, pulling stumps out, rental, etc.
by nukewerker
Wed May 14, 2014 6:01 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Newest, hottest investment fad....
Replies: 31
Views: 6027

Re: Newest, hottest investment fad....

Graham wrote about it in his infamous book. My version is from the 70s so I can't quite tell if it's the same content as his 50s version but yeah the idea is not new nor unique to Bogle. Difference is prior to I'll just say recently if you wanted index fund buying the dow 30 was the way to go.
by nukewerker
Fri May 09, 2014 10:02 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: New Vehicle Pricing Tools/Info
Replies: 13
Views: 1516

Re: New Vehicle Pricing Tools/Info

For what its worth my wife and I bought a van recently (Nissan Quest) and I looked at all the sites you are using first and then emailed 6 or 7 dealers asking for a cash out the door price. About half didn't even send a price and wanted a visit, etc. The other 3 or 4 did provide prices. The best price was slightly below what was on true cars website for what people paid. The dealer was about two hours away so we took the itemized quote to our local dealer and got them to match it and actually ironically ended up buying a car from the dealer 2hrs away which was shipped to our local dealer. I think the sticker was 33k and change. The price before tax tags and fees was 27k and change I think. Out the door price was 29k including tax.
by nukewerker
Tue May 06, 2014 9:39 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: BRK: What am I missing?
Replies: 40
Views: 5551

Re: BRK: What am I missing?

Oh no-you misunderstood me. You are implying I hold the stock forever or some time frame decided by you and not the markets. I have no requirements. The market will always dictate my buying and selling. There is no guarantee I will ever buy BRK. The stock could go up after his death-no one knows. However if it goes on sale I may buy some. Your next question is whats the definition of on sale. Only I know that. Only each person knows that. This is all stuff you already know. No one can time the market. Mr. Market and the Lemmings is what I am looking for. I get its not the boglehead way. I wouldn't waste your time on log charts for me. I doubt you'll change my mind. I don't have facts for you, I don't have 100% guaranteed stock picks, I'm no...
by nukewerker
Mon May 05, 2014 10:06 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: BRK: What am I missing?
Replies: 40
Views: 5551

Re: BRK: What am I missing?

I have been waiting for years and will continue to wait for Warren Buffet to pass. I fully expect a non-rational reaction to his death allowing one to pick up shares of BRK on sale. I plan to put some fresh capital to work in his honor. People will say BRK will crumble, blah blah blah. Mr. Buffett doesn't run the companies BRK owns/ has stock in. He has vetted managers who do. Observe his recent Coke pay position-i.e. hands off. It will be a very Buffett thing to do-buy when everyone else is selling.
by nukewerker
Fri Apr 25, 2014 6:30 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tell Me I'm Stupid To Consider Quitting My Job and Moving
Replies: 163
Views: 50108

Re: Tell Me I'm Stupid To Consider Quitting My Job and Movin

I left a high paid salary job almost a year ago. Frustrated with HR, corporate politics and cronyism-I left. Got up one day and said I need to change something. I still owed 30k for relo expenses that would have vested in 6 months. I found a 3 month contract job that paid double what I was making, left and made enough in 3 months to pay back the relo. 3 months of my life back :) Fast forward a year and I am back in my hometown and started my own engineering company a few months ago. I got a call yesterday to go speak with my salary, corporate company about hiring my company to consult through them. If things work out I could potentially quadruple my salary in revenue. If not, my smaller clients allow me to fund a lifestyle where I can be fa...
by nukewerker
Tue Jan 07, 2014 5:39 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Just returned new laptop with Window 8.1
Replies: 104
Views: 14127

Re: Just returned new laptop with Window 8.1

I picked up a new dell desktop with 8.1 one on it over Christmas. I have been a little slow setting it up but I've been running on it for a few days now. Initial impression-I wanted to throw it in the trash. Few days later-its fine...learning all the nuances with it. It's definitely better than Windows ME back in the day which wouldn't even run for 30 mins without crashing it seemed.
by nukewerker
Tue Nov 26, 2013 6:01 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Venting a roof
Replies: 60
Views: 7763

Re: Venting a roof

Stop watching so many home improvement shows

http://www.energyvanguard.com/blog-buil ... filtration

Hot air does the moving from stack effect in this case. You should read up on it. You want to mix the hot air with cool air as soon as possible to drop the temp (venting) or prevent hot air from reaching the deck (sealing/air barrier). I never said raising the deck won't work; its just a last ditch effort which seems silly in this case.
by nukewerker
Tue Nov 26, 2013 12:16 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Venting a roof
Replies: 60
Views: 7763

Re: Venting a roof

Sure it is- If you add 10 layers off insulation and do not address the local air leaks and or blockage at the ends/insulation you have done nothing to correct the problem except trapped warm air all the way to the highest layer of insulation (there will always be air leaks) unless its new construction and you are taping everything with a vapor barrier etc. Thicker insulation is just assuring hot air gets trapped higher unless you are somehow addressing the leaks from inside the house.

Again-this is not new construction. Unless this house has had an ice dam problem for 100 years I would gather there is a much easier, cheaper solution.
by nukewerker
Mon Nov 25, 2013 8:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Venting a roof
Replies: 60
Views: 7763

Re: Venting a roof

Just two more thoughts... 1) If airflow is being blocked by insulation between the exterior wall top plate and the roof, one option may be to replace the fiberglass insulation there with closed cell spray foam. The latter having 2x the R-value per inch thickness. That may buy you some airflow space, w/o losing, or even possible gaining overall R-value. Spray foam would also seal up the ceiling, not allowing air penetration. Could also do a hybrid with a 1-2" of spray foam to get the air seal, then topped off with either some additional fiberglass or blown-in. 2) You mentioned that the " attic floor is well insulated (we had that job done a few years back) ". By any chance did the ice dams start up around this same time? Woul...
by nukewerker
Mon Nov 25, 2013 8:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Venting a roof
Replies: 60
Views: 7763

Re: Venting a roof

Please don't remove insulation in an effort to prevent ice dams -- ice dams are caused by heat melting the snow that is closest to the roof which then refreezes closer to the eaves or in a valley. You need to get multiple quotes for the same approach. Right now you have one quote for approach 1 and one quote for approach 2. Billy Thats my point-the insulation especially in a vaulted 100 year old ceiling is too close to the roof deck. If for example two inches of the existing insulation was in contact with a sloped roof as you thicken the insulation you are bringing in contact more of the roof with the insulation and bringing the warmer air up higher and higher. Because chances are there is an air gap somewhere in there where warm air has a...
by nukewerker
Mon Nov 25, 2013 6:47 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Venting a roof
Replies: 60
Views: 7763

Re: Venting a roof

Just one last thought. Unless I missed it in your posts, what changed to the house? What I mean is you have a 100 year old house that was presumably functioning for the prior 90 years or so. Surely someone hasn't been replacing shingles every year for the past 30 or 40. I assume it used to be a metal roof at some point in its history. I'm not really sure. We only know it had a new roof when we bought it. I have heard from a neighbor that at one point there was extensive water damage on one side of the house that necessitated a chimney/fireplace to be rebuilt and, according to our neighbor, who tends to exaggerate, the living room ceiling collapsed. This would have been many years ago and was professionally repaired. We can validate that th...
by nukewerker
Mon Nov 25, 2013 3:41 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Venting a roof
Replies: 60
Views: 7763

Re: Venting a roof

Just one last thought. Unless I missed it in your posts, what changed to the house? What I mean is you have a 100 year old house that was presumably functioning for the prior 90 years or so. Surely someone hasn't been replacing shingles every year for the past 30 or 40. I assume it used to be a metal roof at some point in its history.
by nukewerker
Sun Nov 24, 2013 11:44 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Venting a roof
Replies: 60
Views: 7763

Re: Venting a roof

I should add the caveat that most of the stuff I did was not in the extreme northern states but I did stuff for renovations and new construction. As for insulation, without looking at each unique situation the OP house is 100 years old. It could be a huge expense to try and insulate well enough to prevent ice dams. I assume by the roof "failing" prematurely the shingles are curling up. At least that's what I would typically associate a roof which has failed from ventilation issues. Ice and water shield won't prevent dams but it will prevent leaks which is why most people just put it on the high risk areas, eaves, around chimneys, etc. But its cheap enough now I would just put it on the whole roof if it were my house instead of cha...
by nukewerker
Sun Nov 24, 2013 6:24 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Venting a roof
Replies: 60
Views: 7763

Re: Venting a roof

I used to design roofs for a living a while back. Not saying I am an expert or anything but I've looked at this a few times. I would put ice/water shield, peel and stick over the whole roof. Its not that expensive if you live in the North and are concerned about ice dams. Then soffit/ridge vent what you can. You typically don't need as much air as most would believe. I used to have a house with gable vents only (in the south) that worked just fine and the roof was 30 years old when replaced.