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alfaspider

I have a friend who as a challenge in the early 80's took a review course for the bar without having attended law school. Somehow, in his state, he was able to take the bar exam. He passed. Very smart guy with a Wharton MBA who now teaches at a university and consults. If you want the intellectual ...

alfaspider

I’d also check online quote aggregators. Honestly, it kind of amazes me that insurance agents are still a thing in 2021.

alfaspider

Let me also vote for state schools vs ivy-league if money is a concern. My school runs about $21,000 including room and food for anyone in state. (Extra 10K out of state, still a good deal imho.) Ivy league and other expensive private schools are all in the low 70,000s these days, outrageous unless...

alfaspider

An alternative to epoxy is to use racedeck (or equivalent) tiles instead. These are tiles that lock together and can be easily moved or replaced. If you move you can take them with you. No floor prep necessary.

alfaspider

AP classes and dual enrollment classes can be a great cost savings, but realistically you won’t likely be graduating in quicker than 3 years just from these strategies. Nor should someone plan not to save on the assumption that AP classes will take up the slack. Starting at CC can be ok for some stu...

alfaspider

Let me also vote for state schools vs ivy-league if money is a concern. My school runs about $21,000 including room and food for anyone in state. (Extra 10K out of state, still a good deal imho.) Ivy league and other expensive private schools are all in the low 70,000s these days, outrageous unless...

alfaspider

On other cars, the manufacturer has very little interest in leasing, and kills you on residuals (often the case with cars that hold their value very well). Example: my Subaru STI cost $36k new. After 3 years, it was still worth $32k. But Subaru only offered residuals in the 60% range. Total cost to...

alfaspider

As a computer geek, I’ve written my own software to recognize market trends. What I’m seeing, since December, since the new administration, is a significant market sector shift from Tech, Emerging Markets, and Large to Small, Mid Cap, and Financial. What is your opinion on this market shift, and do...

alfaspider

It's worth noting that some cars lease better than others due to how aggressive manufacturers get with residuals. In the lower end luxury sedan market (BMW 3 series, Mercedes C class, Alfa Giulia, Audi A4), manufacturers are often quite aggressive with residuals and a huge portion of buyers lease. A...

alfaspider

What you can “count on” at the end of a lease is one of these two scenarios: 1. The manufacturer underestimated the depreciation, and you ended up paying for only a portion of the car’s value that you “consumed”. You end up better off than someone who bought the car and drove it the same amount. 2....

alfaspider

Not true that you own nothing at the end of a three year lease. That assumes the manufacturer got the forecasted depreciation exactly right, which is rarely the case. People now are selling their leases for thousands of dollars in equity above the payoff It's possible to end up with equity, but not...

alfaspider

You can lease a new Corolla for about $150/mo with about $1800 down. At the end of the 3 years you own nothing. In the buy situation, you own the car outright after 6 years and have a payment of zero. If you do lease, never put money down. Not true that you own nothing at the end of a three year le...

alfaspider

It's amazing to me that they can even sell new timeshares anymore when people are clamoring to give them away for free. "It sells for $1 on ebay" isn't likely to be a great sales pitch during these high pressure sales pitch their suckers/customers sit thru to get a free show/gift card/fre...

alfaspider

Well, obviously you can't really judge the true cost by the payment. I'm assuming those cars had big down payments and/or they're 84 month loans. 2021 Corolla. Excellent credit. $1,160 down. $299/month - 72 months. Toyota Payment Estimator - https://www.toyota.com/payment-estimator You can lease a ...

alfaspider

A $700 car payment is extreme. DD has a 2018 Toyota Highlander and her payment didn't break $400. Other family car is a 2020 Toyota Corolla, less than $300. The Highlander is paid off, the Corolla will be paid off this year. Well, obviously you can't really judge the true cost by the payment. I'm a...

alfaspider

It's amazing to me that they can even sell new timeshares anymore when people are clamoring to give them away for free.

alfaspider

I own a 35 year old "used car", but at this point it's more of a classic than a used car. That car is Theseus' ship, with very little remaining of what came with the car originally- it's new or rebuilt parts on an original chassis (which has also been modified and repainted). Once a car ge...

alfaspider

I'm a happy lawyer married to a (mostly) happy lawyer. I'm an in-house tax attorney who did a 3-year stint at a large firm at the beginning. I'm a bit over 10 years into my career. My current job is mostly interesting, I feel respected, and the hours are quite reasonable. However, I understand I had...

alfaspider

Look on the bright side. With so many hacks in the recent few years all that information was probably already out there in the wild anyways. :twisted: At this point, I I'm pretty certain that the name, address, primary phone number, social security number, credit card, and driver's license number f...

alfaspider

I absolutely love Tesla, but would never envision paying for one yet Three year old Model 3s are selling for about same price as new. New Model 3 Standard Range Plus (263 miles): $35,700 + TTL (with $3,500 CA incentives) Used 2018 Model 3 Mid Range (260 miles): $35,450 + TTL https://shift.com/car/2...

alfaspider

For anything more she absolutely needs to visit a certified physical therapist for evaluation. Gym trainers will overload her with bunch of strange exercises and she will get an injury. Gym trainers are not well trained to deal with middle age to elder folks who never exercised My experience watchi...

alfaspider

Boglegirl81 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 08, 2021 12:04 pm She should join Weight Watchers rather than purchase exercise equipment.

That may help lose weight, but I didn't see weight loss in the list of goals. You can be trim but extremely out of shape. You can also be in pretty good shape with a few extra pounds.

alfaspider

She doesn't need any equipment. If she hasn't exercised for 20 years she may not even be able to do a couple sets of push ups, body weight squats, and sit ups anyway. I'd get her a garmin/fitbit/apple/whatever else there is fitness tracker and have her start by tracking and increasing her steps for...

alfaspider

I’m sure this has been brought up somewhere in the 4 pages so far - but you’ve spent $15k on cars in the last 10 years. Your ‘savings’ in the sales price of each beater is illusory because it must be immediately rolled into the next purchase. I’ve pretty much practiced this our entire life - owned ...

alfaspider

Every time I read threads like this, I am so happy that I don't have an HOA to worry about. Rules governing who can park in my own driveway or how many dogs I can have? I don't care how reasonable the board is about it, that should be nobody's business but mine. Perfectly reasonable reaction, until...

alfaspider

Every time I read threads like this, I am so happy that I don't have an HOA to worry about. Rules governing who can park in my own driveway or how many dogs I can have? I don't care how reasonable the board is about it, that should be nobody's business but mine. Agreed. Which part of the country do...

alfaspider

Thesaints wrote: ↑Wed Apr 07, 2021 4:24 pm Anyone going from one million to two fast enough is probably taking on more risk than they imagine.

What is "fast enough"?

alfaspider

Every time I read threads like this, I am so happy that I don't have an HOA to worry about.

Rules governing who can park in my own driveway or how many dogs I can have? I don't care how reasonable the board is about it, that should be nobody's business but mine.

alfaspider

I think OP's lesson boils down to two things. 1) you must live below your means to build wealth 2) cars are a big ticket item most people are unwilling but, unlike housing, are able to tackle Clearly if the house hold is a 1% earner, a $700/mo car is well within their budget. If a house hold is a 1...

alfaspider

I think OP's lesson boils down to two things. 1) you must live below your means to build wealth 2) cars are a big ticket item most people are unwilling but, unlike housing, are able to tackle Clearly if the house hold is a 1% earner, a $700/mo car is well within their budget. If a house hold is a 1...

alfaspider

If you have ability to home charge, I'd look at a Chevy Bolt. You see used examples going in the $15k range, and given the fuel savings, it is likely to have cheaper total cost of ownership than most $10k vehicles with an internal combustion engine.

alfaspider

I'm in shock someone would waste $500 on a round of golf and $200 on a dinner. I'm guessing most folks who will drop $500 on a round of golf have enough income and/or wealth that a $700 car payment won't be the difference between accumulating wealth or not. I did the cheap car thing until my late 2...

alfaspider

Thanks everyone for all the really thoughtful (and varied) responses. Definitely lots of food for thought. I realize there are more things I could divulge to get more tailored advice (income sources, career stage and progression over time, cash reserves earmarked for purchase, my location, savings ...

alfaspider

I think people are afraid of the risk, and there is certainly a decent bit of junk in the price range. You have to shop very judiciously. My brother did follow this advise to decent success. He bought a Yaris 4 years ago for $2,200. We fixed an exhaust leak (bad gasket) right after he bought it, but...

alfaspider

Basic female (non injury) "fitness", does not have to be "Rocky or super gym guy level. Obviously, nobody must be "super gym guy", but I think women are often sold short by society and the fitness industry and told they can't (or shouldn't) do higher intensity training or s...

alfaspider

I've spent a decent time in Europe for business over the last few years (well, not in the last year due to COVID). These days, it's actually pretty unusual to find someone who DOESN'T speak at least very good English in a major Western European city (especially any educated person under 50). That m...

alfaspider

I don’t think a 5 million NW is near enough to start using Netjet. STARTING at $165k+ for 25hrs, plus FET and fuel charges; yeah, I wouldn't be remotely considering it unless I'm in 8-figures. Again...everyone has their own opinion of what NW they would be comfortable with utilizing their service. ...

alfaspider

I don't think you will ever get perfect data. Besides, what do you even need to know this information for? Comparison is the thief of joy as they say. The average person on the street likely don't even know their net worth. Even on this forum, you find people debating whether "net worth" i...

alfaspider

I lived in Europe for 2 years in my younger life. While it's perfectly possible you are capable of learning multiple foreign languages, the vast majority of adults would take years to become conversational in a single foreign language. Unless you are prepared for many daily hours of study and years...

alfaspider

The main issue that stockholders get to vote on is Executive Compensation and who is on the board. Index funds rubber stamp whatever the board decides to award executives. I think the same could be said for shareholder votes in general, regardless of whether the shareholders are passive or active. ...

alfaspider

I'm an Index investor. 401k is only on low fees index funds. One complain I have is that Index Funds do not advance or advocate for the interest of the inverstor. Funds need to become more vocal about exercising their fiduciary responsibilities. Badly run companies, indolent boards, excessive CEO c...

alfaspider

I’d leave it be unless you are doing the work yourself (would be about 1/4 of that price). The suspension is likely tired, but unless the shocks are completely blown, it’s all functional. If the alternator was bad the car wouldn’t start. Serpentine belt is not a terrible idea as preventative mainten...

alfaspider

I'm always surprised at how many people say their work 401k offerings can't meet their needs. With index investing dominating the personal investing world, I'm shocked that ANY 401k plan would not offer a total market index fund of some sort. It should be required by law to have at least a single l...

alfaspider

There are people for whom the 401k is not a good deal. Primarily, that would include people of low income such that their federal income tax liability is minimal or nonexistent and who only have access to poor plans with high fee investment options. They are likely much better off doing their own th...

alfaspider

[...] They attribute the red hot demand to: ... - Millions of millennials are aging into their prime-homebuying years in their 30s I don't get their comment on this point. "Millennials" is just a made-up grouping; the definitions of what birth year range it covers aren't even consistent. ...

alfaspider

I had a similar-age unit and replaced it while it was still working properly. So that's what I'd do in this case. If it was a high quality unit when purchased, I don't really see the sense in it. I ran the numbers for my 22 year old unit. It was about the highest efficiency unit you could get when ...

alfaspider

Having gotten used to lie flat seats, a cramped coach seat is something I don't want to deal with. For domestic flights traveling as a couple, in addition to the leg room issue, not having someone else sitting next to us is much more pleasant. YMMV. Do I want to fly in coach? Of course not. But its...

alfaspider

Black and Decker is a fairly low end brand as far as battery operated power tools. One thing to consider is whether you may use non-garden tools as well, or if you are confident that you just want garden tools. Greenworks makes good yard tools (for example), but they don't make anything else. Ryobi...

alfaspider

It's even worse in places that don't have basements. Around here, water heaters are often in the attic and can ruin the room below. A water tank leak almost always start off very small. It's typically in a catch basin that drains to the outside and will prevent any interior damage. At least that's ...

alfaspider

I don't think an Ascent makes sense unless she's going to be doing carpool duty with the grandkids on a regular basis. It's a much bigger vehicle with a third row. The Outback is a bit more wagon-y and the forrester is taller and more SUV-like. It's mostly a matter of personal preference. I'd recomm...

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