Search found 2763 matches

by MathIsMyWayr
Fri Feb 19, 2021 2:29 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Diversify away from employer RSUs?
Replies: 17
Views: 1485

Re: Diversify away from employer RSUs?

47yo, working for a tech mega-cap. 1.7M in investments (900K in taxable + 800K in 401K), AA is 70/30 and the stocks are in broad indexes (VTI and similar). 800K in unvested employer RSUs which are scheduled to vest over the next two years. I feel I am too exposed to my employer stock and the tech sector in general which is now dominating the indexes. While I don't think I should change my AA, does it make sense to shift my investments away from tech to reduce the risk of a big loss in case of a tech crash? Or does it make more sense stay the course and resist trying to time the market and making my portfolio more complex? At one point, I did consider that my unvested RSUs do represent a systematic tilt towards technology stocks. To compens...
by MathIsMyWayr
Fri Feb 19, 2021 1:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: No Heat Foods?
Replies: 92
Views: 6325

Re: No Heat Foods?

You may try military rations, MRE, from surplus stores.
by MathIsMyWayr
Fri Feb 19, 2021 12:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Would a 401(k) or Reg. IRA be equal in real money to about 1/3 less than a similar balance in a Roth IRA?
Replies: 8
Views: 683

Re: Would a 401(k) or Reg. IRA be equal in real money to about 1/3 less than a similar balance in a Roth IRA?

It depends on your marginal tax rate. For example, if the full amount of IRA distribution is subject to 24%(fed)+9.3%(CA)=33.3%, it is 1/3 off. If I have a choice, I would take a Roth IRA of 1/3 less over IRA because of potential NIIT and Medicare surcharge and possible tax law change. On the other hand, IRA is better for QCD.
by MathIsMyWayr
Fri Feb 19, 2021 12:46 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: To purchase a California home or move out of state?
Replies: 88
Views: 9537

Re: To purchase a California home or move out of state?

Lexx wrote: Tue Feb 09, 2021 4:27 pm Places like Vancouver/Camas, Washington have no income tax at all. Folks living there can cross the river and shop in Portland thereby avoiding a sales tax. That can be almost a $20k savings for every $100k you earn and spend.
Sorry, you are advocating not a tax avoidance, but a tax evasion. If Washington residents purchase goods in another state that does not have a sales tax or a state with a sales tax lower than Washington’s, they are subject to use tax.
by MathIsMyWayr
Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:26 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: best wristwatch for the price
Replies: 196
Views: 23283

Re: best wristwatch for the price

Casio AL-190W Solar (water resist 50m)
No need for battery replacement
by MathIsMyWayr
Wed Feb 17, 2021 11:51 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Rooftop Solar Plan and Pricing - Feedback?
Replies: 39
Views: 4426

Re: Rooftop Solar Plan and Pricing - Feedback?

1. Get multiple quotes. Minimum of 3. Include Tesla in the mix since they are generally the cheapest. Currently, Tesla quotes ~$2/Watt BEFORE incentives. Use energysage.com as well. I took the lowest quote from energysage and got my preferred local installer to match. https://www.tesla.com/energy/design https://www.energysage.com/ If Tesla is generally the cheapest, is there any reason against going with Tesla? I just got an automated Tesla quote: 8.16 kW Solar Panels $11,774* 8.16 kW Solar Panels $16,400 Cash Price $16,400 Federal Tax Credit -$4,137 Select local utility to see incentives Pacific Gas & Electric Solar Renewable Energy Credit -$490 Price After Incentives $11,774 Anecdotal data shows multiple service complaints during bot...
by MathIsMyWayr
Wed Feb 17, 2021 11:44 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Bonds vs mortgage payoff
Replies: 122
Views: 10916

Re: Bonds vs mortgage payoff

I'm just confused why it is that it's presumed bonds don't have a return? They have a return that is historically less than equities but greater (at least in my case, maybe I'm lucky?) than whatever I'm paying in mortgage interest. Are you aware that the returns from bonds are correlated inversely to interest rates? The interest rates have slumped from 16% in the 80's to 0.1% now. There is no more room to slash them any more. It is a standard disclaimer, but as they say, past performance is no guarantee of future results. With bonds, it is much more true than with stocks. I suppose that the Fed could start negative interest rates, that is the only way any semblance of past returns can repeat. Not likely in my opinion. The average duration ...
by MathIsMyWayr
Wed Feb 17, 2021 9:17 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Rooftop Solar Plan and Pricing - Feedback?
Replies: 39
Views: 4426

Re: Rooftop Solar Plan and Pricing - Feedback?

SmallCityDave wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:59 pm
megabad wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:31 pm
jasonrecite25 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 11:59 am It will offset power that you're currently paying upwards of $0.40/kWh from PG&E.
Wo. $.40/kWh. Just incredible. You could justify driving across state lines just to charge a phone. Pretty sure it would payback to just install a generator and run it 24/7.
I didn't catch that the 1st time our rate is $.08/kWh and buy back is $.0576.
Our PG&E rates/kWh:
Tier 1: $0.24986
Tier 2: $0.31443
Tier 3: about $0.38
by MathIsMyWayr
Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Renew Term Insurance at age 92 or Stop
Replies: 8
Views: 939

Re: Renew Term Insurance at age 92 or Stop

Just numbers: if you invest $763 a year with an annual return of 5%, you will have $9,957 after 10 years.
by MathIsMyWayr
Wed Feb 17, 2021 5:45 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Bonds vs mortgage payoff
Replies: 122
Views: 10916

Re: Bonds vs mortgage payoff

I'm just confused why it is that it's presumed bonds don't have a return? They have a return that is historically less than equities but greater (at least in my case, maybe I'm lucky?) than whatever I'm paying in mortgage interest. Are you aware that the returns from bonds are correlated inversely to interest rates? The interest rates have slumped from 16% in the 80's to 0.1% now. There is no more room to slash them any more. It is a standard disclaimer, but as they say, past performance is no guarantee of future results. With bonds, it is much more true than with stocks. I suppose that the Fed could start negative interest rates, that is the only way any semblance of past returns can repeat. Not likely in my opinion. The average duration ...
by MathIsMyWayr
Wed Feb 17, 2021 4:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Rooftop Solar Plan and Pricing - Feedback?
Replies: 39
Views: 4426

Re: Rooftop Solar Plan and Pricing - Feedback?

mervinj7 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:46 pm 1. Get multiple quotes. Minimum of 3. Include Tesla in the mix since they are generally the cheapest. Currently, Tesla quotes ~$2/Watt BEFORE incentives. Use energysage.com as well. I took the lowest quote from energysage and got my preferred local installer to match.
https://www.tesla.com/energy/design
https://www.energysage.com/
If Tesla is generally the cheapest, is there any reason against going with Tesla?

I just got an automated Tesla quote: 8.16 kW Solar Panels $11,774*
8.16 kW Solar Panels $16,400
Cash Price $16,400
Federal Tax Credit -$4,137
Select local utility to see incentives

Pacific Gas & Electric
Solar Renewable Energy Credit -$490

Price After Incentives $11,774
by MathIsMyWayr
Tue Feb 16, 2021 5:45 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Were You Around During Dotcom Bubble?
Replies: 266
Views: 26996

Re: Were You Around During Dotcom Bubble?

It was a humbling experience, and I never really recovered from it. The PTSD of that experience made has me super conservative. I refused to entertain working at a startup after that. Probably because of that experience my 401k has been in cash since early 2008 because I was always trying to spot the next bubble before it happened and saw the real estate one. I missed the subsequent recovery largely because it was not organic but fed sponsored and I'm missing this next "recovery" as well. I completely understand, but are you saying you aren't invested in equities at all? To quote Mr. Bogle, 'Invest you must!' I am too worried about inflation to not be invested in equities. No equities at all, other than a small position in INTC. ...
by MathIsMyWayr
Tue Feb 16, 2021 4:21 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How should I spend all this money?
Replies: 72
Views: 10715

Re: How should I spend all this money?

You may establish an endowed professorship at your favorite university. Generally speaking, it will cost a minimum of $500,000, about 5 QCD's.
by MathIsMyWayr
Sun Feb 14, 2021 10:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Laptop Decision
Replies: 78
Views: 6261

Re: Laptop Decision

Can't recommend Lenovo, our 3 year old Ideapad 320 screen seems to have a short already when adjusting the screen, displays horizontal lines for a while. Only occasionally but should not be happening. Have better experiences with HP & Dell work laptops. Get the SSD drive for quick startups. Good luck! The Ideapad is their budget lineup, and there are multiple tiers within that brand. Likewise, HP & Dell each have a wide variety of products at different price & quality levels. It's much better to compare apples to apples than to make broad generalizations about the entire product stack. Exactly. The IdeaPad 320 was a budget consumer device, and those are always built to a price point. The poster above noted HP and Dell "wor...
by MathIsMyWayr
Sun Feb 14, 2021 5:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Getting Started with Medicare
Replies: 21
Views: 1762

Re: Getting Started with Medicare

billfromct wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:40 pm First you should sign up for Medicare Part A, hospitalization. There is no cost for this. I signed up for Medicare Part A at age 65 then Medicare Part B & D, 4 years later when I left my job.

I would recommend you contact your State Health Insurance Assistance Program, SHIP (I guess they left out the “A” in the abbreviation).

Google “SHIP Medicare for your state”, & give them a call. They should answer all your questions.

bill
Medicare part A is no cost if you are qualified, but it will make you ineligible for HSA.
by MathIsMyWayr
Thu Feb 04, 2021 4:37 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Does it make sense to buy houses worth $3M and pay almost $50K each year in property taxes
Replies: 61
Views: 9147

Re: Does it make sense to buy houses worth $3M and pay almost $50K each year in property taxes

The house you are looking at is a bargain compared to the median house price of over $6,9 M in Atherton.
by MathIsMyWayr
Thu Feb 04, 2021 3:20 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medigap or Advantage ?
Replies: 43
Views: 3527

Re: Medigap or Advantage ?

From medicare.gov: Medicare Advantage Plans must cover all of the services that Original Medicare covers. However, if you’re in a Medicare Advantage Plan, Original Medicare will still cover the cost for hospice care, some new Medicare benefits, and some costs for clinical research studies. I have used HMOs and now Medicare Advantage PPOs for decades, and have never had services restricted for myself, or any member of my family. And, even though having a PPO means I can easily go out of network, I've never had to do so. The only time I would chose something other than a Medicare Advantage plan would be if I lived in a small town/rural area, as in those cases the network wouldn't be very large. Broken Man 1999 If you are in a life threatenin...
by MathIsMyWayr
Wed Feb 03, 2021 7:16 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Power of Working Longer
Replies: 539
Views: 56556

Re: The Power of Working Longer

If you can, working longer is a much better retirement strategy than playing with all the wacky alphabet soup of retirement withdrawal methods using dubious "math".
by MathIsMyWayr
Wed Feb 03, 2021 6:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Does paying off mortgage really reduce Sequence of Returns Risk?
Replies: 278
Views: 19246

Re: Does paying off mortgage really reduce Sequence of Returns Risk?

No time to go through the postings.

I can think of a common sense. As you reduce your future expenses with some of your fund, you may realize a reduction of the withdrawal rate if you have an adequate amount of fund. The smaller WR, the smaller SRR. It is not a free lunch. It is a tradeoff between SRR and the expected size of your fund in the end. The opposite is also true: leverage. If I borrow $1b, I may end up as a multi-billionaire, but SRR may be intolerable.

A limiting case:
  • Expenses=0
    WR=0
    Therefore, SRR=0
by MathIsMyWayr
Wed Feb 03, 2021 12:18 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: A penny in traditional IRA
Replies: 14
Views: 1954

Re: A penny in traditional IRA

If you have an RMD of $0.01, do you have to take it? If you don't, will IRS impose a penalty of $0.005?
by MathIsMyWayr
Tue Feb 02, 2021 5:58 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Dividends and Capital Gains in retirement
Replies: 16
Views: 2275

Re: Dividends and Capital Gains in retirement

dbr wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 3:05 pm I reinvest all distributions in tax deferred accounts and sell something to take an RMD. Before RMD there were no withdrawals from tax deferred accounts, but if we had needed the money I would have sold something when money was needed. I take the RMD at year end and have total tax payments for the year withheld then and don't need to make estimated tax payments.
Is there a limit on the percentage or amount of withholding? Can you even direct the full amount of distribution to tax withholding?
by MathIsMyWayr
Tue Feb 02, 2021 3:32 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Stay in job or Lose $420k?
Replies: 37
Views: 5656

Re: Stay in job or Lose $420k?

rwt74 wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 3:00 pm My wife and I (late 30s, early 40s) make over $200,000 a year and have a net worth around $750,000. No debts, no house. Regarding the business targets, I give it 50/50 right now.
The combined income and your net worth are irrelevant to the decision. What counts is how your income and the target bonus compare against what you may get at other employers. What kind of harm do you expect to happen to your career if you stay 11 more months? If you are sought after, your prospective employer may compensate for the loss of a bonus. When I had a job interview a while back, the HR asked of unvested stock options and RSU.
by MathIsMyWayr
Tue Feb 02, 2021 11:45 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 401K Contributions. Why a percentage?
Replies: 29
Views: 2705

Re: 401K Contributions. Why a percentage?

I dare say the people in payroll had to decide that, and they decided that works. I’m just glad they let me use it. Everything seems super easy until you actually try to run a system. They get out of hand. firebirdparts, My previous employer uses Fidelity for the 401K. The 401K contribution part is not administered by the payroll folks. KlangFool It doesn't make sense. What happens if the sum of FICA, mandatory and voluntary payroll deduction, 401k contribution, and tax withholding if applicable exceeds your eligible earnings of the period? MathIsMyWayr, I do not know how they make it works but it is the same across multiple of my ex-employers with Fidelity 401K. KlangFool KlangFool, Answer: Payroll has to adjust "manually". This...
by MathIsMyWayr
Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:59 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 401K Contributions. Why a percentage?
Replies: 29
Views: 2705

Re: 401K Contributions. Why a percentage?

KlangFool wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:34 am
firebirdparts wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:29 am I dare say the people in payroll had to decide that, and they decided that works. I’m just glad they let me use it.

Everything seems super easy until you actually try to run a system. They get out of hand.
firebirdparts,

My previous employer uses Fidelity for the 401K. The 401K contribution part is not administered by the payroll folks.


KlangFool
It doesn't make sense. What happens if the sum of FICA, mandatory and voluntary payroll deduction, 401k contribution, and tax withholding if applicable exceeds your eligible earnings of the period?
by MathIsMyWayr
Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:03 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Retirees--Are You Spending Too Much?"
Replies: 46
Views: 7147

Re: "Retirees--Are You Spending Too Much?"

corn18 wrote: Mon Feb 01, 2021 12:35 pm
sailaway wrote: Mon Feb 01, 2021 12:22 pm
MathIsMyWayr wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 10:48 pm How can anyone spend way more than he used to spend unless some big ticket items come up?
My Mom would love to be able to move into a CCRC if Dad were to pass.
Yup. $500k+ buy in and $5k / mo for unassisted living. Assisted living is $12k/mo and full nursing care is $15k / mo. That'll eat through the nest egg fast.
The money is not spent by you, but taken away from you.
by MathIsMyWayr
Mon Feb 01, 2021 9:53 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Retirees--Are You Spending Too Much?"
Replies: 46
Views: 7147

Re: "Retirees--Are You Spending Too Much?"

corn18 wrote: Mon Feb 01, 2021 9:25 am
David Jay wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 11:00 pm
MathIsMyWayr wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 10:48 pm How can anyone spend way more than he used to spend unless some big ticket items come up?
Buy a boat :wink:
And a horse.
Horse driven boat :wink:
by MathIsMyWayr
Sun Jan 31, 2021 9:54 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: When to (finally) replace cartridge for LaserJet printer
Replies: 16
Views: 1030

Re: When to (finally) replace cartridge for LaserJet printer

"Modern" printers refuse to print when cartridge is "empty" and issue an error message.
by MathIsMyWayr
Sun Jan 31, 2021 9:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Can my parents retire?
Replies: 70
Views: 7113

Re: Can my parents retire?

I hate to tell you this but they're going to be very very tight on retirement. They have no where near the kind of assets you need to retire in California. The taxes here and the cost of living will eat up their $25k in no time. God forbid they have an emergency and they'll be in bankruptcy. My advice is if they're adamant about retiring, get out of California. Look for a very low cost of living state. Buy a $200k or less house and invest the rest wisely. They should find some place that does not tax their social security benefits, has low cost of healthcare (this will be a killer in California until they hit 65), and has otherwise low property and income taxes. They need to cut their living expenses to the core, and that means you don't l...
by MathIsMyWayr
Sun Jan 31, 2021 2:52 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Quality Of Life Change After Transitioning To Part Time?
Replies: 28
Views: 2290

Re: Quality Of Life Change After Transitioning To Part Time?

I don't know how do you know you work for 24 or 40 hours a week. Usually you have something to finish, you can do it in 24 hours or 40 hours. My wife's company has unlimited vacation time policy, I do not know anyone who actually takes that advantage and is not retired. I would just work hard and make the most amount of money and retire for good. An unlimited vacation or sick time policy does not mean employees are entitled to an unlimited time away. It only means a fixed amount of time away is not accrued for you each year. An accrued vacation time is also a liability on the company's finance book. Not necessarily. When I worked as an equity analyst the company did not specify any amount of vacation time. We were told we could take as muc...
by MathIsMyWayr
Sun Jan 31, 2021 1:23 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Quality Of Life Change After Transitioning To Part Time?
Replies: 28
Views: 2290

Re: Quality Of Life Change After Transitioning To Part Time?

flyingaway wrote: Sun Jan 31, 2021 12:26 pm I don't know how do you know you work for 24 or 40 hours a week. Usually you have something to finish, you can do it in 24 hours or 40 hours.
My wife's company has unlimited vacation time policy, I do not know anyone who actually takes that advantage and is not retired.
I would just work hard and make the most amount of money and retire for good.
An unlimited vacation or sick time policy does not mean employees are entitled to an unlimited time away. It only means a fixed amount of time away is not accrued for you each year. An accrued vacation time is also a liability on the company's finance book.

ETA: added the missing word "not".
by MathIsMyWayr
Sun Jan 31, 2021 12:48 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Retirees--Are You Spending Too Much?"
Replies: 46
Views: 7147

Re: "Retirees--Are You Spending Too Much?"

flyingaway wrote: Sun Jan 31, 2021 12:37 pm
MikeG62 wrote: Sun Jan 31, 2021 10:42 am
celia wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 7:03 pm They should also ask “Are you spending enough?” That is the issue some Bogleheads have.
:sharebeer
+1.

One of the main reasons I track our retirement spending is to try and ensure we are spending "up to" the level of our means. Don't want to leave experiences on the table out of an abundance of caution. :sharebeer
Yes. I think, after a few years in retirement, one would really try hard to spend money.
Have need of spending money or need to spend money? :confused
by MathIsMyWayr
Sun Jan 31, 2021 12:24 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: $169K into tax advantaged in 2021?
Replies: 23
Views: 3298

Re: $169K into tax advantaged in 2021?

You are forgetting to compound the Roth investment over decades or more if left to heirs. The amount of taxes saved on the contribution is nothing compared to what can be saved on the compounded amount. Saved a nickle to pay $100. You are also taking today's historically low tax rates and assuming they will continue on for decades. I'm skeptical of that. I like removing future hike hikes from the equation. YMMV. I'm in a similar tax bracket and I do all Roth (I eat my own cooking). "Tax rates" at the time of contribution and at the time of withdrawal matter though it is not so simple to get the proper tax rate on withdrawal. aristotelian did not forget anything. You forgot to consider the future value of the tax paid for Roth inv...
by MathIsMyWayr
Sat Jan 30, 2021 11:23 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Retirees--Are You Spending Too Much?"
Replies: 46
Views: 7147

Re: "Retirees--Are You Spending Too Much?"

How can anyone spend way more than he used to spend unless some big ticket items come up? I think that is a matter of personality. I spend the same amount almost regardless of income once my take home income clears a certain (five figure) threshold. It is well-established that many people will spend up to their current income and beyond given the opportunity. Even if you spend on big ticket items, if you buy quality goods you actually like, you'll probably keep them for a really long time over which you can amortize the cost. That probably also factors into this. I buy top-of-the-line phones without much regard for cost, but I only do it once every 3-4 years. For cars I might spend more money than the average person but I'll own them for 1...
by MathIsMyWayr
Sat Jan 30, 2021 10:48 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Retirees--Are You Spending Too Much?"
Replies: 46
Views: 7147

Re: "Retirees--Are You Spending Too Much?"

How can anyone spend way more than he used to spend unless some big ticket items come up?
by MathIsMyWayr
Sat Jan 30, 2021 6:48 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Electric Vehicle Tipping Point
Replies: 94
Views: 6636

Re: Electric Vehicle Tipping Point

slidecreek wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 6:19 pm I think this is a very real concern. I will probably lease my next car, as I am not quite ready to commit to an EV, but certainly see them as the future. I think we will get to the tipping point relatively quick if we see a major spike in oil prices again. Or major subsides for EVs to make them cheaper than gas vehicles.

Of course there will be some exceptions. I could see the gas version of some cars becoming more valuable as they are discontinued. Maybe the Jeep Wrangler or something similar.
I am more concerned with Floria going underwater soon.
by MathIsMyWayr
Sat Jan 30, 2021 6:22 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How to become proficient at Research?
Replies: 68
Views: 5069

Re: How to become proficient at Research?

qwertyjazz wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 6:17 pm
MathIsMyWayr wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 6:11 pm Good papers of yours are yours forever, especially if you are the lead author. Quantity does not matter much. There are so many junk papers even in journals from leading professional societies.
Yet I always seem to sign my rights away to Elsevier. I should really look into their royalty program.
Fame, not fortune, is yours. Many journals require you to sign off your copy right to the publishers as a condition of publication.
by MathIsMyWayr
Sat Jan 30, 2021 6:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How to become proficient at Research?
Replies: 68
Views: 5069

Re: How to become proficient at Research?

Good papers of yours are yours forever, especially if you are the lead author. Quantity does not matter much. There are so many junk papers even in journals from leading professional societies.
by MathIsMyWayr
Sat Jan 30, 2021 6:04 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Paying $45k per year for college
Replies: 26
Views: 4299

Re: Paying $45k per year for college

livesoft wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 8:59 am If you pay the college directly, then I don't think it counts as a gift with regard to reporting it on Form 709.
Only for tuition payment.
Educational exclusion. The gift tax does not apply to an amount you paid on behalf of an individual to a qualifying domestic or foreign educational organization as tuition for the education or training of the individual.
by MathIsMyWayr
Sat Jan 30, 2021 5:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: promotion without salary increase
Replies: 84
Views: 10352

Re: promotion without salary increase

Trying to have the problem fixed may not be worth your time and effort. If it is a small place, it is time to move on. I worked for a small company once and am glad I got out before trying to make me happy.
by MathIsMyWayr
Sat Jan 30, 2021 2:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How to become proficient at Research?
Replies: 68
Views: 5069

Re: How to become proficient at Research?

Open-access in my field means that the authors paid to have their publication open-access. They don't have to do that and then the journal would charge people without subscriptions for access to the PDFs. The open-access charge for my last publication was $1,000 and I had my employer pay it. This thread made me go look, but my article has had almost 6,800 downloads which makes me happy! https://i.imgur.com/6Qw69Fi.png In my field, there is a mixture of both. For one of my publications last year, the fee for open-access was $3,600 (covered by employer) but two others were free and they both had decent impact factors (at least PubMed indexed), and of course are all peer-reviewed. In general, the higher impact the journal, the bigger cost for...
by MathIsMyWayr
Sat Jan 30, 2021 2:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How to become proficient at Research?
Replies: 68
Views: 5069

Re: How to become proficient at Research?

livesoft wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 1:55 pm
MathIsMyWayr wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 1:51 pm The policy of charging authors per page has been in place forever in IEEE, APS, SIAM ,,,.
Page charges are altogether different in my field. Color figures cost more than B&W figures, too.
It is getting more and more weird the way things are going on in life science. I will never understand. :wink:
by MathIsMyWayr
Sat Jan 30, 2021 1:56 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How to become proficient at Research?
Replies: 68
Views: 5069

Re: How to become proficient at Research?

Open-access in my field means that the authors paid to have their publication open-access. They don't have to do that and then the journal would charge people without subscriptions for access to the PDFs. The open-access charge for my last publication was $1,000 and I had my employer pay it. This thread made me go look, but my article has had almost 6,800 downloads which makes me happy! https://i.imgur.com/6Qw69Fi.png In my field, there is a mixture of both. For one of my publications last year, the fee for open-access was $3,600 (covered by employer) but two others were free and they both had decent impact factors (at least PubMed indexed), and of course are all peer-reviewed. In general, the higher impact the journal, the bigger cost for...
by MathIsMyWayr
Sat Jan 30, 2021 1:51 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How to become proficient at Research?
Replies: 68
Views: 5069

Re: How to become proficient at Research?

livesoft wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 1:47 pm Open-access in my field means that the authors paid to have their publication open-access. They don't have to do that and then the journal would charge people without subscriptions for access to the PDFs. The open-access charge for my last publication was $1,000 and I had my employer pay it. This thread made me go look, but my article has had almost 6,800 downloads which makes me happy!

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The policy of charging authors per page has been in place forever in IEEE, APS, SIAM ,,,.
by MathIsMyWayr
Sat Jan 30, 2021 1:38 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How to become proficient at Research?
Replies: 68
Views: 5069

Re: How to become proficient at Research?

Also, never done it, but I've read if you can't access the research for free, you can email the author and state your purpose and the author may share a pdf with you. I've done this. It works. In addition to journal articles, I had someone send me a PDF of a $150 book. This is pretty thin anecdotal evidence, but I think this generosity may be pretty widespread. It's a pretty slim group of people interested in academic research that aren't students or faculty with online access to everything. I don't think it is a very common request to get so the authors are pretty generous. I've emailed PDFs of my publications that are not open access countless times. On the other hand, I'd say I have about a 75% success rate requesting full-text from oth...
by MathIsMyWayr
Fri Jan 29, 2021 7:47 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The Economist print and digital, $99 today
Replies: 26
Views: 3791

Re: The Economist print and digital, $99 today

azanon wrote: Fri Jan 29, 2021 9:00 am The only reason I don't buy these sorts of things (Economist, Wall Street Journal, whatever), is because I have a hard time thinking of any portfolio strategy that would depend on what you read in these sorts of things.

Now if I were in the finance industry, I might subscribe so that I'm up-to-speed on the latest trends. But personally I wouldn't find any of it actionable.
I pay attention to my meager changes because I have to survive, but I would not let them dictate my life.
by MathIsMyWayr
Fri Jan 29, 2021 7:32 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The Economist print and digital, $99 today
Replies: 26
Views: 3791

Re: The Economist print and digital, $99 today

TallBoy29er wrote: Fri Jan 29, 2021 8:45 am
Average Investor wrote: Thu Jan 28, 2021 9:34 pm
random_walker_77 wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 4:06 pm Now even cheaper, at $75 for the combined print+digital subscription. No auto-renewal: https://slickdeals.net/f/14799250-1-yea ... =frontpage

Or $54 for just the print subscription, or for a digital-only subscription.

(note: mind the necessary coupon code)
Great deal, thanks for posting!
Just took this deal as well. Thanks for posting. I had to take a few years off (about 4) of reading news. It'll be nice to pick the habit back up again.
Thank you for the tip. I also subscribed for one year at $53.99. The Economist is a fine periodical and I have been looking for a deal.
by MathIsMyWayr
Fri Jan 29, 2021 6:52 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: All In One Computer?
Replies: 56
Views: 4220

Re: All In One Computer?

Watty wrote: Fri Jan 29, 2021 2:01 pm One problem with having a second computer is that he may end up needing something like a spreadsheet that is on the upstairs computer and if he makes a copy of it then he could have two different versions of the spreadsheets. Once it is up and running he may want to move everything to the new computer.
If you have Windows Pro, can you access the other computer via Windows Remote Desktop Connection?
by MathIsMyWayr
Thu Jan 28, 2021 7:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Got a job offer for $840k/yr. Should I come out of retirement?
Replies: 256
Views: 46537

Re: Got a job offer for $840k/yr. Should I come out of retirement?

If you get a job offer of $840k/yr, you may find a better way to spend time than this board.
by MathIsMyWayr
Thu Jan 28, 2021 7:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Careers - Flagship State vs Top Tier Private
Replies: 163
Views: 11134

Re: Careers - Flagship State vs Top Tier Private

The original 2002 study your link refers to shows students who went to state universities did worse. The original study showed a significant income gain from attending a college with high net tuition. All of the public colleges had a low net tuition and thus were associated with lower earnings. If you look at the total student populations then yes, but if you look at an individual students, as was mentioned in this thread and the article: Here, however, is what was explosive: Dale and Krueger concluded that students, who were accepted into elite schools, but went to less selective institutions, earned salaries just as high as Ivy League grads. The article is wrong and misleading. The original study only included four of the eight Ivies. Th...
by MathIsMyWayr
Thu Jan 28, 2021 7:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Careers - Flagship State vs Top Tier Private
Replies: 163
Views: 11134

Re: Careers - Flagship State vs Top Tier Private

No, not so much: "The median annual earnings for an Ivy League graduate 10 years after starting amount to well over $70,000 a year. For graduates of all other schools, the median is around $34,000. You missed that I was only referring to people that did things like got accepted at an Ivy then went to a state university. I found a link an article about this. https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/the-college-solution/2011/03/01/the-ivy-league-earnings-myth The study and a later follow up study was done by Alan Krueger and Stacy Dale if you want to read more about it. The original 2002 study your link refers to shows students who went to state universities did worse. The original study showed a significant income gain from attending a c...