Search found 429 matches
- Tue May 25, 2021 8:50 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Tucson versus Sedona
- Replies: 38
- Views: 7330
Re: Tucson versus Sedona
Sedona’s “red rock” scenery is truly spectacular, but the allure of the town quickly wears off after you realize that Sedona is about 95 percent a tourist trap. A beautiful tourist trap, but a tourist trap nevertheless. Clogged roads, over-crowded restaurants, way too many t-shirt shops. It’s fun for a couple of days at best. Tucson has much, much more to offer over Sedona: great hiking in Sabino Canyon, Mount Lemmon, Saguaro National Park east and west, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a world-class zoo, an endless list of great restaurants, the truly unique Pima Air Museum, easy day trips to the Tubac art colony, historic Tombstone, etc. etc. etc. Or you can head up to Sedona, sit in a long, long line of traffic, and buy some t-shirts. This...
- Wed May 19, 2021 12:08 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Is there a reverse wash sale rule?
- Replies: 8
- Views: 1264
Is there a reverse wash sale rule?
I mean if you are in a no income tax state won't it make sense to also harvest capital gains as first 40k are not tax? I know wash sale is for capital losses but does it also apply to capital gains?
I mean for me the equation is a bit different cause of state taxes but if there is no reverse wash sale rule it would even make sense for me. Sell 80k (or whatever needed to get to 40k capital gains) and then just rebuy a few days later or if a reverse wash sale rule 31 days.
I mean for me the equation is a bit different cause of state taxes but if there is no reverse wash sale rule it would even make sense for me. Sell 80k (or whatever needed to get to 40k capital gains) and then just rebuy a few days later or if a reverse wash sale rule 31 days.
- Sun Apr 18, 2021 6:46 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Gift Card to Permanently Closed Business
- Replies: 18
- Views: 3557
Re: Gift Card to Permanently Closed Business
Obviously it depends on the restaurant but to me it seems like they should at least let you use two gifts cards. One is being kinda cheep and low class on their part. They should be confident in their food/service (ie that will encourage you to come back) and not force you to come back because you didn't get to use all your gift cards. I mean heck one time I used 5 gift cards at a restaurant on one order.helloeveryone wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 4:25 pm
I love the costco gift cards. Tricky thing is they only allow you to use one gift card at a time (we like the ones to Ruth Chris) which "forces" two high priced meals. Having said that - when you ask the waiter nicely sometimes they let you use two gift cards in one sitting.
- Mon Apr 12, 2021 3:28 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Gift Card to Permanently Closed Business
- Replies: 18
- Views: 3557
Re: Gift Card to Permanently Closed Business
I am sure I was not the only one taking advantage of it but I am pretty sure when you factor in all things (rent/staff/food/insurance/ect) they lost money on the food I bought with a 33% discount. OTOH, some gift cards never get used or are only partially used. The unspent portion of the cards is "free money" for the issuer. Well yes big picture wise gift cards are a huge money maker for a business. People can spend them years later (decreases purchasing power cause of inflation), never spend them, over spend (get a $20 gift card an then make a $200 purchase they won't have otherwise made), become a long time costumer after being introduced to a place from a gift card they were given. Heck even worse case for the business (ie a g...
- Mon Apr 12, 2021 2:51 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Gift Card to Permanently Closed Business
- Replies: 18
- Views: 3557
Re: Gift Card to Permanently Closed Business
Another reason to dislike gift cards :( Your best option is if you purchased via credit card, you can ask about a chargeback. When COVID first hit last year, I read articles advising us to help our favorite restaurants and shops (which were closed in CA at the time) stay in business by purchasing gift cards. I had compassion for the small business owners who were shuttered by the lockdowns, but I was not about to give them real $ in exchange for fake $ (a gift card) that may or may not be redeemable at a future time. Yeah for the most part I avoid getting gift cards. If I wanted to support restaurant just bought take out food from them. One exception was the double discount though. A local restaurant sells their gift card for 20% off at Co...
- Tue Mar 30, 2021 1:52 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Trust in pensions ?
- Replies: 43
- Views: 3852
Re: Trust in pensions ?
I kinda view my pension the same way I view social security. It is almost a certainty that you will get something (say at least 50% of what your expecting) so I just use that for my calculations.
There are probably millions of people that depend of SS or a pension to live. So I am sure at least part of it will remain intact. And yes if you have a huge pension that would likely be reduced more than a modest one in the event of a catastrophe.
My grandfather has been collecting a pension for 30 years that was insured by the PBGC (factory burned down and company went bankrupt). His overall pension was reduced a bit but over the years he has still collected the vast majority of what he would have collected had the business survived.
There are probably millions of people that depend of SS or a pension to live. So I am sure at least part of it will remain intact. And yes if you have a huge pension that would likely be reduced more than a modest one in the event of a catastrophe.
My grandfather has been collecting a pension for 30 years that was insured by the PBGC (factory burned down and company went bankrupt). His overall pension was reduced a bit but over the years he has still collected the vast majority of what he would have collected had the business survived.
- Fri Mar 26, 2021 8:45 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....
- Replies: 65
- Views: 4596
Re: Thoughts on selling a CD music collection....
Honestly I might do a look to see if you have anything rare and then just donation them.
I mean these are CD after all. You could invest all the time and wait a year (they aren't going to sell over night) and maybe get back a 1k or so (which I am sure is less than you paid for CDs but it is more than nothing). It is just a question if it is worth it or not to you.
Know if you have a collection of old sports cards or pokemon card then yes take your time to resell those don't just donate haha
I mean these are CD after all. You could invest all the time and wait a year (they aren't going to sell over night) and maybe get back a 1k or so (which I am sure is less than you paid for CDs but it is more than nothing). It is just a question if it is worth it or not to you.
Know if you have a collection of old sports cards or pokemon card then yes take your time to resell those don't just donate haha
- Fri Mar 26, 2021 8:42 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: If I can be in equities when I’m in my 20s and 30s why shouldn’t I hold all equities until the day I die?
- Replies: 72
- Views: 7854
Re: If I can be in equities when I’m in my 20s and 30s why shouldn’t I hold all equities until the day I die?
If you are purely investing for yourself then I would say no. If you are investing for future generations or for a charity or something then why not (cause when you die that is not the actual end of the investment timeframe).
- Wed Mar 24, 2021 12:35 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
- Replies: 87
- Views: 12326
Re: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
But they would still be "dependents" so the person can still sue the adults. So they could sue the car insurance company and the parents separately I believe.semperlux wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 12:27 am One related thought is for those who are high net worth who have teenage drivers, and don't mind paying more for insurance, would it be strategic to have them (the teenager) on their own individual policy instead of under their parent's policy? I would imagine some resourceful lawyers would be able to figure out that the teen's parents are high net worth and may be tempted to sue for more, or even to decide to sue, versus advising their client to not bother suing if they find out a teen has no assets and no significant insurance coverage (ie high limits / umbrella).
- Wed Mar 24, 2021 12:32 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
- Replies: 87
- Views: 12326
Re: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
I would never tell an adversary that I had an umbrella policy.
[/quote]
I believe in my state it is required by law to disclose it upon request. I know I was sent a legal document which asked if I had any other insurance (both by my car insurance company and by the other party). My car insurance informed me I had to fill it out.
- Wed Mar 24, 2021 12:29 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
- Replies: 2907
- Views: 515626
Re: Tales from this insane real estate market
Feels a lot like 2007-2008 right? Back then, people were getting mortgages for homes that there was no way they could really afford. That was in part due to loans with a short fixed rate, and then the rate could vary (as in, go up). There was less vetting by lenders. There was no way that was all going to have a good outcome. I don't think that is happening now, or at least, we haven't seen any of it in our area. But yes, many properties are selling incredibly fast, and prices seem crazy. RM I think in many areas this more of a population shift than it was in 08. I live in a HCOL area, make a decent living, but have ZERO ability to buy a single family home in a "nice" area (not now and not 5 years ago and probably not 5 years fro...
- Mon Mar 22, 2021 11:23 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
- Replies: 87
- Views: 12326
Re: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
Thank you for your insight and suggestions. Topic is very interested to me. 6 months ago my daughter (20 y.o, covered under our insurance) rear-ended another car. Damage was not significant (bumpers on all cars, actually our car had more serious damage) but other party behavior is what is concern me. She claimed that she was injured (soft tissue). Insurance offered her some money but she didn't take. Insurance called us recently and told us that they don't understand what she wants. I'm afraid we are getting to similar outcome.. OP - in your case is it your nephew or brother got sued? Is there was damage what theoretically can cause this outraged claim? Guessing that person heard a commercial (or saw a billboard) saying hurt in an auto acc...
- Sun Mar 14, 2021 7:14 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Wife just crashed her car into mine. Tips on handling insurance?
- Replies: 55
- Views: 8215
Re: Wife just crashed her car into mine. Tips on handling insurance?
This exact same situation happened to me. Called insurance and repairs were about $3k. About 2 months later, our insurance renewed at a new rate about $500/6mos higher. Tried to switch insurance but our current insurer had noted this as an at-fault accident and we could only get terrible rates. I switched insurers out of spite. In the end, I essentially payed for the repair plus my deductible after about 3ish years. Car insurance is a joke. Car insurance is good for catastrophic accidents not minor ones. I was in an at fault accident where the total damage (medical claim/pain suffering, car repairs) was around 40k. Even if you assume 20k of the was fluff (ie money to lawyers, inflated claims of body shop, ect) it was still worth it to me. ...
- Sun Mar 14, 2021 11:32 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Wife just crashed her car into mine. Tips on handling insurance?
- Replies: 55
- Views: 8215
Re: Wife just crashed her car into mine. Tips on handling insurance?
With my first car I would go to a mechanic that had a 10% discount for paying cash. Made me strongly suspect they were not reporting all their cash jobs as income (I mean what credit card fees are 3%? so I doubt getting the money sooner is worth a 7% cut in payment). I didn't ask any questions but the drastic cash cut price seemed fishy to me.
But yes paying in cash if going to some non chain body shop/mechanic can get you a reduction in rate.
- Sun Mar 14, 2021 10:07 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Cryptocurrency - Bitcoin Continues to Soar!
- Replies: 692
- Views: 68097
Re: Cryptocurrency - Bitcoin Continues to Soar!
That is a fascinating observation and I can certainly see the correlation, the government is sending out money at the rate of what, a few billion per hour right now? I bet Target will be packed later in the day :shock: Not quite the same, but I remember stopping by a WalMart and grocery supercenter late at night once 2 years back, and there was a huge crowd of people with carts filled up, but not checking out. They waved me ahead, and then as I was leaving, midnight struck and immediately, the shoppers started getting checked out. It was the last day of the month and food stamp cards are refilled at midnight .. Or like in Raising Arizona where the bank is usually dead/doesn't have much cash expect on the day when farmers come to cash their...
- Sun Mar 14, 2021 9:57 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
- Replies: 87
- Views: 12326
Re: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
I was once in an accident and was sued for $75,000. I was served with the lawsuit by a guy dressed in a FedEx uniform. The papers were in a FedEx envelope. I don't understand the arrangement between FedEx and process servers. I was interviewed by telephone by an attorney provided by my insurance company and a deposition was scheduled. Days before the depo I received an email stating that the plaintiff had settled for $50,000 and the suit was dropped. $50,000 just happened to be the liability limit of my insurance policy. Darn for 50k there must have been more than "soft tissue" damage (ie neck pain/back pain that is hard to prove with imaging). Or I guess the other vehicle could have had 5 people in it (then you could still get t...
- Sat Mar 13, 2021 10:49 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
- Replies: 87
- Views: 12326
Re: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
At least in my state I believe it is the choice of the policy holder if they disclosed or not. In my case the other lawyer asked for it. I called my insurance company and they stated they could not advise me to disclose or not disclose my max coverage amount. They stated me disclosing or not disclosing would have no effect on them representing me (ie they would not state their preference). I ended up just disclosing as after some internet research I was pretty confident the final settlement was going to be well below my max policy.
- Sat Mar 13, 2021 10:17 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
- Replies: 87
- Views: 12326
Re: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
There did not appear to be any serious injury. My bother just received summons for a civil claim of $500,000 against him from the other party. Can we just paste this into the threads that ask if it's REALLY necessary to carry a liability umbrella? OP- your insurance company has this. You need not worry. They are going after OP nephews for his policy maximum, ostensibly seeking a settlement for less, well with the regular liability limits. Not a good argument for umbrella. Maybe a decent argument against it! Regardless, I have nothing beneficial to add OP. Let insurance handle it. They are the ones on the hook. Yes it is actually an argument against it. Cause if he also had 500k in umbrella they would be demanding 1 mil instead of 500k. For...
- Sat Mar 13, 2021 10:13 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
- Replies: 87
- Views: 12326
Re: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
I always wondered if you do have dashboard camera and you are the "at fault" party can the other party somehow get that footage? Now granted most dashboard cameras probably loop so it would be easy enough to simply "forget" to pull that footage off the dash camera before it gets recorded over. So by the time lawyers get involved that footage will be long gone.
- Sat Mar 13, 2021 10:09 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
- Replies: 87
- Views: 12326
Re: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
There is an entire industry set up to inflate the effects of these rear end collisions. The "injuries" are soft tissue injuries where it is hard to prove that they exist or don't exist. The claimant has rounds of treatment with chiropractors, and other "medical" experts to build up the amount of medical bills and thus increase the pain and suffering value of the claim which might be between 3 and 5 times these "medical" costs plus any lost wages etc. While there are legitimate whiplash injuries these circumstances suggest possible amplification to magnify an award. The insurance industry's response has been to develop various software models which can illustrate the forces produced in the accident and their li...
- Sat Mar 13, 2021 10:03 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
- Replies: 87
- Views: 12326
Re: Motor vehicle accident; civil lawsuit
Yeah unless I am missing something this is all on the insurance company. As it sounds like the damages will be well under the 500k limit so AAA should take care of everything. The lawyer is just trying to scare the person. A similar thing happened to me (minor at fault accident, medical claimed later, getting all these letters demanding several hundred thousand). It freaked me out initially but in the end I calmed down and let my insurance company deal with it. At the end of the day the other party got like 5% of my max even though the initial letter demanded the max or else we will see you in court. So guessing it is standard practice. Where you really have to worry is say you paralyze someone in a car accident. AAA (or whichever insurance...
- Sat Mar 13, 2021 9:51 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Are we in a housing bubble?
- Replies: 687
- Views: 180671
Re: Are we in a housing bubble?
2008 was about FOMO (about the massive change in expectation of housing prices). I am currently having FOMO also. I live in a HCOL area make decent but not amazing amount of money. The most I can afford (even with a decent down payment) in a nice area is a 1 bed 1 bath condo. Anything more than and I will be eating rice and beans every day and essentially living pay check to pay check for 10 years or so (which is crazy given my income) . If I would have went ALL in 5 years ago when I move here I maybe could have bought a 3 bed 2 bath old house in a nice area and for sure could have at least got a 2 bed 1 bath house in a nice area. Granted I would have missed out on the market increases but that would have been more than made up in my house...
- Sat Mar 13, 2021 9:40 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Are we in a housing bubble?
- Replies: 687
- Views: 180671
Re: Are we in a housing bubble?
It's quite funny that, in this forum, people always say SP500 is not in a bubble or you can't time the market or it is perfectly OK to buy at all time high or just stay the course; but when it comes to the real estate, people say it is clearly a bubble and you just need to wait for the price to go back to sanity... Well the risk is higher with housing because it is a leveraged purchase (ie most people don't put a 100% down payment) and there are far fewer entry points (Ie how many houses are you going to buy in your life). Unless you are talking about a big windfall with regards to the market your contributions are way more steady and occur over a far longer period of time. So yes there will be occasions when you buy right before a crash b...
- Sat Mar 13, 2021 9:34 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Are we in a housing bubble?
- Replies: 687
- Views: 180671
Re: Are we in a housing bubble?
I think for coastal cities it is more the apartments that are stagnant/going down a bit. In part cause of the pandemic (I mean there is a big difference between owning a house, even if it is small, and living in an apartment complex with many other tenants) but also other factors (low interest rate for one). I live in a costal city and the apartment prices have been steady for a least a few years but the housing prices are consistently going up.
- Sun Feb 21, 2021 10:11 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: No Heat Foods?
- Replies: 92
- Views: 6257
Re: No Heat Foods?
Seems like it would be pretty easy to last up to 2 weeks or so. But much longer than that will get tricky
Day 1-2- Raid fridge to eat anything that can be eaten without cooking but is going to spoil
Day 3-14- Can foods (tuna/spam/beans ect ect ect), nuts, and whatever random no perishable stuff I happen to have.
4 water bottles a day (have a couple of cases should would last 20 days) and a multivitamin (as I am sure diet would be lacking in certain areas).
It would be a boring diet but for me very easy to get the calories in for at least a couple of weeks.
Day 1-2- Raid fridge to eat anything that can be eaten without cooking but is going to spoil
Day 3-14- Can foods (tuna/spam/beans ect ect ect), nuts, and whatever random no perishable stuff I happen to have.
4 water bottles a day (have a couple of cases should would last 20 days) and a multivitamin (as I am sure diet would be lacking in certain areas).
It would be a boring diet but for me very easy to get the calories in for at least a couple of weeks.
- Sun Jan 10, 2021 9:43 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Regrets postponing retirement too long?
- Replies: 171
- Views: 19483
Re: Regrets postponing retirement too long?
my children's future is unpredictable (one is currently unemployed and moved back home). (My children's future is probably the main reason). To me that this the only reason to keep working. I am pretty sure you have enough money to live the rest of your life (bogleheads tend to overestimate just how much they need). The question is how much do you want to leave to your kids/future generations. Obviously working another 5-10 years will vastly increase what you can leave behind. But you also lose those 5-10 years of retirement. It also seems to me some people forgot those are probably (in many ways) the best years of retirement. Even if you live a long healthy life and just pass away in you sleep at 100 years old you body is still gonna star...
- Wed Jan 06, 2021 4:23 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Nurse practitioner as primary care provider?
- Replies: 76
- Views: 7939
Re: Nurse practitioner as primary care provider?
Unfortunately, imo, you can't look toward physicians to tell you to trust their NPs/PAs either... the reality is that an NP or PA can make a lot of money for either a physician or a hospital. Just in my own experience in the medical field prior to medical school, I saw PAs and NPs disturbingly independent where they were functioning essentially as independent physicians. And the patients had no clue that these "providers" were not qualified to be doing what they were doing, and some of them ended up disfigured for it. Yep 1. If you run a practice part (or in some cases all) of the goal is to make money. Is obviously cheaper to hire a NP/PA instead of MD. If they are used strategically it can make the practice more money. 2.NP/PA ...
- Wed Jan 06, 2021 2:51 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Nurse practitioner as primary care provider?
- Replies: 76
- Views: 7939
Re: Nurse practitioner as primary care provider?
On average I would say MDs are more knowledgeable and "better" but obviously a good NP is better than a bad MD. It is really just about finding a knowledgeable Provider you can trust.
You just have to be willing to switch Providers if it is not a good fit. In my case I only stick with MD's about 50% of the time for various reasons (lack of knowledge, doing zero physical assessment during an annual physical, dismissive, spending minimal time with pt, ect).
And as others have pointed out a PCP is more like a gateway Provider. They don't (and won't) know everything under the sun they just need to know enough so they refer you to a specialist when necessary.
You just have to be willing to switch Providers if it is not a good fit. In my case I only stick with MD's about 50% of the time for various reasons (lack of knowledge, doing zero physical assessment during an annual physical, dismissive, spending minimal time with pt, ect).
And as others have pointed out a PCP is more like a gateway Provider. They don't (and won't) know everything under the sun they just need to know enough so they refer you to a specialist when necessary.
- Wed Jan 06, 2021 12:53 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: How do lottery winners >$50M pick a CPA/attorney/financial planner?
- Replies: 34
- Views: 4656
Re: How do lottery winners >$50M pick a CPA/attorney/financial planner?
I would personally just keep it simple. Win 50 mil lotto and take lump sum. So maybe 20 mil after taxes and lump sum reduction. 10 mil into total stock market. Even if the market went down 50% the day after I invested the yearly dividend would still be over 100k. The goal of this 10 mil is to always be able to live of the dividend and not touch the principale. between 3-7 mil in real estate. Would want at least two places, up to 4 places. 3 mil is basically the bottom cause my current location would cost 1.5-2 mil for a nice place (not a mansion or anything just a nice house in a nice area). I know this isn't the smartest investment and I know this isn't cheap (ie property tax, maintenance, paying someone to upkeep house when gone for sever...
- Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:59 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Considering going without health insurance for a few days
- Replies: 18
- Views: 1704
Re: Considering going without health insurance for a few days
If you have no assets go ahead an do it. If you have any assets really not worth the risk. Don't get me wrong 99.99% of healthcare you can deal but that other .01% needs immediate attention. If you are having a heart attack or break a leg you can't just wait a week for treatment.
- Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:55 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: did you rebalance portfolio in the past month?
- Replies: 48
- Views: 3438
Re: did you rebalance portfolio in the past month?
I did last Friday. Basically put 40k in the market back when it was DOW 20k and just put the 40k back in the G-fund and restarted my biweekly contributes to G-fund (I drop my contribution allocation down to 0 in the g-fund for the past 7 months). I won't call the rebalance market timing because I am not making any guessing as to what the market will do (I won't be shocked if we see DOW 40k in a year or two or if the market falls 50%). It was more because my allocation was getting out of whack (was like 94% stocks 6% bonds). I prefer to stay in the 80-90 stocks 10-20 bond range.
- Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:47 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Lost desire to increase my portfolio, temporary?
- Replies: 142
- Views: 15249
Re: Lost desire to increase my portfolio, temporary?
I would say it is a perfectly normal feeling. I mean once you reach your number the motivation for saving needs to change. Are you saving to pass along to children, charities, spouse, family, ect ect ect. Obviously you can always increase you own lifestyle (ie go from $20 a plate restaurants to $50 to $100 to $500) to accommodate whatever amount of money you have. But if are 98% as happy having 100k a year to spend compared to having 200k is it really worth the amount of effort/sacrifice to double your portfolio?
- Fri Dec 11, 2020 6:03 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Transitioning from AT&T to MVNO (Mint Mobile?) - Please Critique This Plan
- Replies: 107
- Views: 8044
Re: Transitioning from AT&T to MVNO (Mint Mobile?) - Please Critique This Plan
Coverage is pretty much the only downfall. In my primary location coverage is pretty solid, an occasional drop out but not a huge deal. There are however times when traveling that I have far more dead spots than the people I am traveling with that have a more traditional plan. Other than the time I was on my girlfriends family plan (think to add my line was $15 or $20 a month) it has been by far the best deal when you consider what you actually get. I went from tracfone (cheap but you are literally counting the minutes on your call and data is precious) to freedompop (terrible) to at&t family plan (good for me because only cost 15-20 a month but the person I was piggybacking off of was paying much much more) to mint mobile for past 3+ y...
- Thu Dec 10, 2020 6:34 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: How to Minimize Your Emergency Care Expenses
- Replies: 413
- Views: 233096
Re: How to Minimize Your Emergency Care Expenses
Well if you say any of the keys words the nurse is always going to recommend the ER... Your life is on the line and their license/job is on the line. So of course if you say anything that "might" be serious/critical they will advise ER. The nurse hotline is really more for triage (ie follow up with PCP, go to urgent care, go to ER) so people with a scraped knee don't go to the ER.
- Wed Dec 09, 2020 2:23 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: HDHP vs PPO help calculating (family planning)
- Replies: 51
- Views: 2369
Re: HDHP vs PPO help calculating (family planning)
[quote=anoop
Just remember, unless you have actually used the plan, you may not understand the fine print.
[/quote]
Yes if you end up in an out of network ED you can be in some trouble. But that is true for all plans not just hdhp. And in life saving scenarios (which some ed visits are but not all) I believe they make exceptions. And yes if you have a planned surgery make sure everyone (hospital, surgeon, anesthetics, lab, ect) are in network. But again isnt that an issue all plans have to deal with?
Just remember, unless you have actually used the plan, you may not understand the fine print.
[/quote]
Yes if you end up in an out of network ED you can be in some trouble. But that is true for all plans not just hdhp. And in life saving scenarios (which some ed visits are but not all) I believe they make exceptions. And yes if you have a planned surgery make sure everyone (hospital, surgeon, anesthetics, lab, ect) are in network. But again isnt that an issue all plans have to deal with?
- Wed Dec 09, 2020 1:59 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: HDHP vs PPO help calculating (family planning)
- Replies: 51
- Views: 2369
Re: HDHP vs PPO help calculating (family planning)
If you visit the doctor only once a year HDHP is the way to go. If you have any condition or if you think you may need an ER visit , PPO is the way to go. Personally, I preferred PPO even when I was healthy and didn't need the doctor. The premium is pre-tax money which means you're getting a great discount. When something goes wrong, the last thing one wants is big bills along with whatever health problem one has. Not necessarily true. My HSA deductible is only 1.5k (work for federal government) with max out of pocket of 5k. When you factor in lower premium cost plus the pass through money HSA wins in low usage scenarios (as everyone would expect) but it also wins in high usage rates as my max out of pocket is only 5k. My effective max (pr...
- Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:40 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Do you actually NEED to invest in equities?
- Replies: 69
- Views: 8841
Re: Do you actually NEED to invest in equities?
For my own personal retirement? No. I mean my saving rate is high enough that even just going straight CD's/G-fund would probable leave me enough at the end of the day. But if I wanna leave any sort of inheritance they yes I need to invest in equites.
- Tue Dec 01, 2020 11:40 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: My car insurance rate is $1000/month. HELP
- Replies: 69
- Views: 9902
Re: My car insurance rate is $1000/month. HELP
My experience over the years is 2 tickets + an accident in any 3 year period will cause a massive spike (to the levels referenced by OP) for companies like AAA and GEICO. Progressive, which never seems to have the best rates when I have a better driving record, always provides me with the best rates when I'm in the situation described above. That makes sense. I mean in my case I had an at fault accident with a very minor medical claim. But any medical claim is treated on same level (if the company pays out 1k or 1 mil) at least that is what the Geico rep told me. Progressive was by far the cheapest. So far their risk analysis has worked out. I am 3.5 years out from accident (I believe it stays on record 5 years) and they have made $3,500 o...
- Tue Dec 01, 2020 11:26 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Silliest Investment Mistakes?
- Replies: 176
- Views: 21065
Re: Silliest Investment Mistakes?
Won't necessarily call it a mistake but the most costly choices were choices I made knowing the monetary consequences in advance -Spending about 25k more on a car (15k on purchase price plus estimated 10k in extra lifetime cost ie gas, insurance, repairs) than I needed to back in Nov 2013. It was the first car I bought and I wanted a nice one. Would probably have 30k or so more in investments if I just dropped that 15k into the market in 2013 and contributed an extra $500 or so investments yearly. -Taking 7 months to find a job after graduating college and only working a .6 job my first 13 months. Part of this was slacking off (ie I could have probably found a job a couple months sooner, I could have moved to full time sooner) but also some...
- Fri Nov 27, 2020 11:22 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: My car insurance rate is $1000/month. HELP
- Replies: 69
- Views: 9902
Re: My car insurance rate is $1000/month. HELP
Well 1st step is to obviously get a quote from all the major car insurance companies. After my accident Geico quoted me at 6k a year, most major companies 4k a year, and progressive at 2k a year. Obviously I went with progressive. So just by checking all the major companies you might find something more tolerable.
- Tue Nov 24, 2020 3:42 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Coronavirus (Consumer Issues) How you are preparing?
- Replies: 1800
- Views: 178845
Re: Coronavirus (Consumer Issues) How you are preparing?
ugh yeah not gonna lie I probably use one (when you combine at home/work/restaurants/public places) about every 4 days... So I am pretty much right at that average. But I use way more toilet paper than I need (I am sure I could get by with half the amount-and it would still get the job done- if I absolutely needed to). Just got use to the more generous portions and it cost me what $20 a year in extra toilet paper cost so likely a habit I am not gonna try to force myself to break.
- Tue Nov 24, 2020 3:30 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: When to retire - early, mid, end of year
- Replies: 40
- Views: 4282
Re: When to retire - early, mid, end of year
I would say tax wise early in year right after you made enough to max out your 401k and ira. So could be two weeks or 6 months depending on how much you are making. But tax wise that plan would make the most sense to me.
- Wed Nov 18, 2020 7:54 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Which diet soda pop do you enjoy?
- Replies: 234
- Views: 18413
Re: Which diet soda pop do you enjoy?
For best tasting (or closest to the real thing)
coke zero
diet sunkist
diet canada dry
Personally I liked the ones that add a touch of sugar (so a can has 20-40 calories instead of the standard 140-180) but those don't seem to be too popular.
I switched over to water plus morning coffee about 7 years ago but still have diet soda when on vacation.
coke zero
diet sunkist
diet canada dry
Personally I liked the ones that add a touch of sugar (so a can has 20-40 calories instead of the standard 140-180) but those don't seem to be too popular.
I switched over to water plus morning coffee about 7 years ago but still have diet soda when on vacation.
- Tue Nov 17, 2020 6:50 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Essential kitchen appliances?
- Replies: 55
- Views: 4022
Re: Essential kitchen appliances?
Yeah bought their $20 or whatever it was chef's knife 10 years ago and that is still all I am using haha. I just sharpen it every now and then. Bought a $300 knife set couple of years ago and never bothered opening it cause don't have much counter space and my chef knife gets the job done. I mean if you are skinning/deboning fish or something a chef knife won't work but for the basics it gets most jobs done.
- Tue Nov 17, 2020 6:41 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Essential kitchen appliances?
- Replies: 55
- Views: 4022
Re: Essential kitchen appliances?
That being said, a sous vide device meets my criteria for worthwhile kitchen appliance (small, not too expensive, easy to store, performs novel and useful function) and it allows you to bring proteins to temperature and hold for a bit before a quick finish when you're ready to eat. Seconded. I like to buy like one non essential kitchen appliance a year and my sous vide was one of the better purchases. Don't get me wrong I am not using it everyday (or even every week to be honest) but it does it's job perfectly and greatly simplifies a task (properly cooking proteins). My other non essential appliance recommendation would be a vacuum sealer. Both for its use with sous vide (there are other methods to displace air but this is the easiest and...
- Fri Nov 13, 2020 6:23 pm
- Forum: US Chapters
- Topic: Where is the Munchkin Man?
- Replies: 71
- Views: 26822
Re: Missing Munchkin Man
The Munchkin Man is making me feel old. It has been seven years since the Munchkin Man last posted. It does not feel like it has been seven years. My conclusion is I am getting old.
- Fri Nov 13, 2020 8:25 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Need SAT prep suggestion
- Replies: 36
- Views: 2527
Re: Need SAT prep suggestion
They are headed that way. Might take another 5-10 years though before they are completely ignored by all colleges.tibbitts wrote: ↑Fri Nov 13, 2020 8:22 amI thought standardized tests were now an historical footnote, but I'm not exactly in-touch with college prep. Unfortunately I wasn't that in-tune with it fifty years ago when it might have mattered for me, either.Teague wrote: ↑Thu Nov 12, 2020 4:20 pm Greetings all,
I have a quite bright but slothful student whose grades mean they will need a very good score on the SAT. I need suggestions for a preparation course. I am neither famous, extremely wealthy, nor amoral so I cannot avail myself of various "special" techniques. Thank you.
- Fri Nov 13, 2020 8:24 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Need SAT prep suggestion
- Replies: 36
- Views: 2527
Re: Need SAT prep suggestion
Student is bright; will prob do quite well on SAT without any xtra prep. I would try to work more on the “slothful” aspect of their personality. Why ? 1) Suppose they do SAT prep, maybe get a few xtra points on the SAT, maybe get into a better school, then can’t keep up in college because they are slothful. College requires considerable more effort than high school... Greenie Honestly it is easier to get good grade in college being bright but slothful than in high school. At least from my experience 30-50% of your grade in high school is pure effort (ie do homework which as long as you complete it you are basically going to get a 100%) and 50-70% from knowledge/critical thinking base (test, projects, papers). In college it was more like 10...
- Thu Nov 12, 2020 5:48 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Need SAT prep suggestion
- Replies: 36
- Views: 2527
Re: Need SAT prep suggestion
Well isn't that the point? SAT is kinda like a pseudo IQ test (or at least it use to be). You can hone your IQ a bit (and you can certainly tarnish it significantly) but in many ways it is what it is. So hours and hrs of studying should make modest increases related to you being more comfortable with the test but it is not really going to make your IQ higher so your overall score wont increase much.
- Thu Nov 12, 2020 5:34 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Your experience with making major changes in mid-life?
- Replies: 38
- Views: 4662
Re: Your experience with making major changes in mid-life?
I live in CA. I want to move out. The grass is not greener. You might want to take a look at Long Beach --easy access to Los Angeles but more reasonable housing prices. Most folks either accept the price tag for California and enjoy it, or leave. I do enjoy California much more now that I am retired. It's affordable for retirees with paid-for homes and low taxes due to Prop 13. It's wonderful being able to meet a friend for a walk by the ocean mid-day during the week when it's not crowded. If you're planning on renting, anticipate doing a lot of homework to find a nice place for reasonable rent. Condos similar to mine (a mile and a half from the ocean with bicycle path access, tennis courts, pool/jacuzzi, 1000 square feet, 2 bed/2 bath, on...