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TomatoTomahto

I think the only reasonable way out for now is adding a minisplit and be done with it. We installed a mini split over the (detached) garage and could not be happier. It cools and heats two rooms that have become my wife’s COVID office. It is quiet, energy efficient, and thankfully we decided to do ...

TomatoTomahto

A notable exception to the above are high value insurance policies. They offer cashout provisions, where you do not have to rebuild your house or replace your personal property and can still opt to receive a check for their full replacement value. That’s what my agent tells me every time I complain...

TomatoTomahto

Broken Man 1999 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 3:24 pm Unfortunately, some members of each generation must learn for themselves the lessons their parents have already learned, in many areas, investing being one.

And sometimes ...

I was considering investing in ARKK with some play money. My 25 year old son talked me out of it.

TomatoTomahto

Use Roth when your marginal rate is low.

Don’t marry crazy.

Serenity now.

TomatoTomahto

Macro view? I hope to be alive.

In other news: FaceBook and its ilk will ruin whatever is left of civilized discourse and thought.

TomatoTomahto

Why would you have to re-register the car? Don’t registrations work off VIN?

Presumably the color matched well enough to fool the dealer.

TomatoTomahto

samsoes wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 8:46 am I did the same thing for my (20's) niece, matching in an annual lump sum. I told her that if she ever removed any amount, even $1, all future matching funds from me will permanently cease.

I call this the “verbal Crummey letter.” So far, it has worked.

TomatoTomahto

I used the Phillips Hue led lights and they were awesome. Which model of lights? I'm not the OP but I have a Hue system already, and none in the kitchen, so I'm curious. We used Hue lightstrips in a few places in our house, but only reflecting off the ceiling (ie, valence lighting). Hadn’t consider...

TomatoTomahto

If you do a lumpsum payout and she miss manages her finances, can she come back and request more money from you later? Just curious if there would be any benefit in providing the regular allowance vs the lumpsum? IANAL, but I would say definitely not. If there are children involved, there are worka...

TomatoTomahto

If you do a lumpsum payout and she miss manages her finances, can she come back and request more money from you later? Just curious if there would be any benefit in providing the regular allowance vs the lumpsum? IANAL, but I would say definitely not. If there are children involved, there are worka...

TomatoTomahto

To me the most shocking revelations were what an SOB Steve Jobs really was. During the launch of the iPhone he demonstrated how to delete entries from from a contact list by swiping right. During the rehearsals he had just used random names, but during the actual launch, the name he chose to delete...

TomatoTomahto

As others have said, you have to consider how big of a discount are you getting by paying in a lump sum and does that offset both the cost of raising the money and the possibility that your ex gets remarried. If the ex gets remarried, you would not owe alimony. Exes don’t remarry if doing so will e...

TomatoTomahto

Have you tried Art of Problem Solving? They also offer online courses but my son only purchased books, so I have no idea about the usefulness of the classes---or the books because I never looked at them. https://artofproblemsolving.com/store Ding ding ding The books were transformative for my son.

TomatoTomahto

I have heard more good things about RoseH than I would expect for a school of its size.

TomatoTomahto

The goal is to not having to work for money anymore (maybe choosing to do so, but not needing to). Your definition would make me work much longer then needed - that's not winning to me - that actually loosing [sic]. I never prescribed our situation/approach for anyone. My wife works because it grat...

TomatoTomahto

Why are so many Bogleheads so cheap about matters related to college? I’m not sure, but it’s somewhere in religion land, bias land, justification land, etc. just as it is for those of us who fall on the other side of the divide (guilty). You know what they say about opinions being like something el...

TomatoTomahto

[...] I guess if one has an idea of what x is, and is convinced that it's accurate, one can then believe that a proportion between asset classes can be determined in some rational way. I will sit in the back with the bozos and stick to my plan: $3M+ in safe assets, the rest in equities, and figure ...

TomatoTomahto

And yet I see many long time posters said that they don't need a budget, don't care for, or will never do a budget. What happens to control what you can control? If you don't track your spending, don't be surprised that the x got out of control. Guilty. But, if we save a good percentage of our inco...

TomatoTomahto

Once again, I am amazed at the BH posters who can say that they are 15x, 33x, 25x, etc. Am I the only bozo on the bus who doesn't have a sufficiently clear idea of what x is to decide how many of them I have? I can pretty well guess what our spend will be next year. I have some idea of the year aft...

TomatoTomahto

Once again, I am amazed at the BH posters who can say that they are 15x, 33x, 25x, etc. Am I the only bozo on the bus who doesn't have a sufficiently clear idea of what x is to decide how many of them I have? I can pretty well guess what our spend will be next year. I have some idea of the year afte...

TomatoTomahto

I stopped using TD for a while, but I am going to buy I-bonds next month. The interface isn’t that bad, but it’s quirky. You really only need to use it to buy (once per year) and print tax forms (once per year). I think you have to have individual accounts, but you can gift from one account to anoth...

TomatoTomahto

It’s in large part due to Jack that we, a W2 income family, have been able to provide for our future. Amen to that. Even well below average here apparently (saw in another thread where our average NW here is $5M :shock: ) and with an employer plan managed by Fidelity limiting VG access in my main p...

TomatoTomahto

I really enjoyed many episodes of Grand Designs . I chose to not build a retirement house in no small measure because of watching. I just watched Season 18 episode 2 Sevenoaks, Kent . It is a tale of grit and determination, love and selflessness. It made me cry (I’m a pushover, but if you aren’t mov...

TomatoTomahto

If someone has both a liability matching portfolio and a risk portfolio. And If the LMP is enough to cover their expenses so that they don't need to touch the RP, does the RP then avoid sequence of return risk? I guess, although the safe portfolio should probably suffice. I think of our RP as being...

TomatoTomahto

I usually tell my friendly neighbors if I'm selling a house out of courtesy and a possible sale sans realtors. Sometimes a neighbor will want to buy it or have a good lead. I would think that restricting neighbors could be counter productive. There might be “neighbors” who live nearby, have kids in...

TomatoTomahto

I’m not sure you can legally restrict neighbor showings per se, but you can require some kind of mortgage preapproval.

TomatoTomahto

Another set of data points: https://www.levels.fyi/company/Google/salaries/Software-Engineer/L3/. L3 is the fresh-out-of-undergrad level at Google. You can filter by location if you want to see how this varies based on geography. Fascinating. I’ve often heard of Levels, but haven’t spent any time t...

TomatoTomahto

Relax, all that's being said is avoid absolute statements, but you both have points. The average new college grad salary for CS, in california, is 67K. The average new college graduate salary for Stanford CS grads is 127K. (source for both: https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/c ... alifornia/) Fo...

TomatoTomahto

CS salaries are NOT in the high 150s as posted by someone. Its absolutely ridiculous and a giant exaggeration! My child graduated a semester early from CMU in CS, the offers he received were ALL in high 90s and low 100s with a 3.44 CGPA NOBODY is paying 200k to a 21 year old Sorry. It might be far ...

TomatoTomahto

CS salaries are NOT in the high 150s as posted by someone. Its absolutely ridiculous and a giant exaggeration! My child graduated a semester early from CMU in CS, the offers he received were ALL in high 90s and low 100s with a 3.44 CGPA NOBODY is paying 200k to a 21 year old Sorry. It might be far ...

TomatoTomahto

$40K isn't a minor indulgence for me, I am a single mom and earn just $80K a year (seems like a lot of Bogleheads are in the 6 figures category and will have millions upon retirement). But spread out over 4 years with the lower cost of living is something I can live with if it means my daughter get...

TomatoTomahto

TonyDAntonio wrote: ↑Mon Apr 19, 2021 6:17 pm Isaac's had some great fig cookies.

Oh no you didn’t.

TomatoTomahto

off topic a bit, but this fact - that Jack Bogle chose a path to benefit the average investor when he could have made an immense fortune (see Fidelity's founders) - just blows my mind every time it comes up. Warren Buffett put it this way in his letter to shareholders in 2017: "If a statue is ...

TomatoTomahto

TheHiker wrote: ↑Mon Apr 19, 2021 5:00 pm Thanks for correcting me. I should not have made a blanket statement.

You’re not alone in this

The problem, of course, is getting accepted at those schools. Once accepted, most students will be able to graduate debt free and with a moderate strain on their parents’ finances.

TomatoTomahto

With yearly income > 150K your kids won't get need-based aid anywhere. This demonstrably false statement is repeated all the time. Repetition does not make it true. Note: the below is from Yale, which isn’t even the most generous (Princeton probably deserves that honor) https://i.postimg.cc/W4Q42P5...

TomatoTomahto

Just to add my anecdote that my solar system installation outperformed the installer estimated output in the first full year. I've also seen a number of posts on boglehead solar threads of a similar conclusion. So underperformance is certainly not a guarantee Yeah. I thought I had gotten lucky beca...

TomatoTomahto

I don’t know if $200M is where alternative investments begin to play a part, but $20M is too low IMO (unless perhaps if you’re relatively young). What is considered an "alternative investment"? And do we have any data on the return associated with such investments and the return of, say, ...

TomatoTomahto

Picking up nickels in front of a steamroller. Good luck.

TomatoTomahto

Other than SS, a CPI adjusted annuity is almost impossible to buy. Not a big deal lately with low inflations, but for a healthy 41 yo it is huge! I don’t know how to price it.

TomatoTomahto

I guess the people that use the phrase to describe themselves need to give us what that allocation actually is. Is 20/80 "no longer playing the game"? No; not knowing or caring about my percentage based asset allocation is “no longer playing the game.” Goodbye rebalancing. Goodbye sharpen...

TomatoTomahto

I guess the people that use the phrase to describe themselves need to give us what that allocation actually is. Is 20/80 "no longer playing the game"? No; not knowing or caring about my percentage based asset allocation is “no longer playing the game.” Goodbye rebalancing. Goodbye sharpen...

TomatoTomahto

IMO, winning the game means that 0% real is sufficient. Of course we’d rather have real gains, but we could withstand a 50%+decline in equities (our heirs would get less). How does this help? Achieving 0% with risk-free investments now is hardly possible. To me winning is having some number like 10...

TomatoTomahto

Maybe I'm missing something but do all kids graduating get close to a 4.0 GPA? Even with today’s inflated grades, not for un weighted GPA. I guess schools that have 72 valedictorians probably have multiple 4.0s though. https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/06/10/heres-how-my-graduat...

TomatoTomahto

OP, it’s not a bad idea to backdoor when you’re close to the limit. There’s no penalty for an “unnecessary” backdoor and it’s good practice. There is a penalty, it is the pro rata rule. We can't assume someone has a zero balance across all IRA like accounts. Even if someone doesn't have a IRA balan...

TomatoTomahto

In our case, it meant putting $3M in various safe assets (eg, Stable Value fund, TBM, etc). Everything else goes to equities. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but if you need 3% real, you haven’t “won the game.” You’re ahead in the 3rd period :sharebeer IMO, winning the game means that 0% real ...

TomatoTomahto

[snip...] I guess I also fall into the "pitied" group who didn't get to join a frat, party, and drink. As you know, the family is very happy with our son’s college experience. The only down time was when he (briefly) belonged to a fraternity. It was not a positive experience for him, but ...

TomatoTomahto

I wouldn't call $20 million great wealth or ultra wealthy. Index funds should work as well for someone worth $20 million than for someone worth $2 million. Someone with more money may have access to investments that aren't available to someone with less money. Whether that will produce a better or ...

TomatoTomahto

michaeljc70 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 18, 2021 8:45 am It sounds like hiring a well known artist to paint the walls a solid color in your home.

I enjoy a good analogy. Well done Sir (I made that assumption based on your username; if in error, apologies).

TomatoTomahto

Jim Lange can probably run numbers better than I can for some of the variables (expected growth of deferred accounts, taxable accounts, etc). Otoh, he has no better idea than I do about so many of the important variables: How long will I live? How long will my wife live? What will our medical expens...

TomatoTomahto

Finally, for any parents trying to increase college ROI, consider encouraging your kids to make the most efficient use of their educational experience. Are they getting to know their professors and key staff? Are they building a career-oriented network through club leadership or community activitie...

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