Bogleheads.org

chw

Appraisers are trained professionals, and generally will provide a value that is accurate to within 5% to a properties true value. On a purchase transaction, if the appraiser feels the sale price of the home falls within that 5%, he will usually support the sale price on the appraisal. The fact tha...

chw

You are going to be hard pressed to challenge that. This is what happens in markets like this. What is your realtor doing RE: this? A few solutions: 1) Seller drops price 2) You pony up a higher down payment to cover the gap 3) You and seller meet in the middle In our current house, bought 8-years ...

chw

2x10 or 2x12 Douglas Fir boards should work nicely. Avoid PT though some say it is safe. Also consider building a 2’ high fence framed with 2”x2” spruce, and hardware cloth that sit on top of the raised bed frame. We have serious critters in our yard, and without them, anything in the raised beds wo...

chw

Interesting, so it looks like the FDIC actually insures you more if your account beneficiary is your revocable trust: https://www.fdic.gov/deposit/covered/trust.html I have a revocable trust listed as my beneficiary at Ally and I have 4 beneficiaries within that trust. Does that mean I have $1,000,...

chw

I would not, unless I had full FDIC for the money held there (250k limit pp). Last time I looked at the financials of the bank, I believe their financials were mediocre. I would find 3 other HY savings accounts to split the cash. Fortunately this can be accomplished relatively quickly only.

chw

Hawaii > Northern Arizona HCOL vs> LCOL ++++ City vs> Country +++++ Congestion, Traffic, Noise, Stress vs > Quiet > More free range cattle than people ++++ Golf Weather Year Round vs> 4 seasons -- + -- -- -- + White sand beaches vs> Mountains and open range land - - - - - - International / Hawaiian...

chw

With the information known: 1) Roth IRA- since all earnings and growth are tax free, you would invest in equities expected to have maximum growth. Generally a Total Market index fund like VTI would work nicely. 2) Taxable brokerage account- same idea as Roth, though dividends and capital gains may b...

chw

I think this question depends on the type of job/career you work in. I was unable to "coast" into retirement, though if I had the opportunity (and I did mull over if it was possible in some way), I would have considered it. As it worked out, not being able to "coast" likely let m...

chw

Zone 6 here (eastern MA)- started harvesting butternut and red leaf lettuce from a cold frame I built this spring. It’s working nicely with a solar opener to vent excess heat. The lettuce seems to love it so far. Adding a new 8x4 raised bed to the 2 built last year.

chw

Good advice so far. Perhaps determine if estimated taxes are due since I believe this income was 1099 with no withholding. If I recall, if 80% of the tax bill isn’t paid during the year, there may be a penalty due.

chw

60% of my bond allocation is held in a stable value fund in my old 401k plan yielding 2.5-3%. This allocation is usually held in an IT bond fund- I will likely revert to that fund when I see the yield for the IT bond fund for 2 quarters rise above 2.5%. The remainder of my bond allocation is split e...

chw

I don’t think so. Emergencies usually show up when the market is in decline. This fund while conservative, can lose principal during market downturns.

chw

I left CS last year, but when I was with them, my assigned consultant had set up our accounts to waive the fees for purchasing Vanguard mutual finds. This may only be available if the assets held at CS are above a certain level, but it would be worth asking for a waiver. I had an assigned consultant...

chw

I get it from a local garden center. The purchases I made last year (bags) were about 3x more than traditional mulch, but it is way better for the plants I used it with, and does an excellent job with moisture retention in sunny locations. I had some trouble with some shrubs I had planted a few year...

chw

Neither. Organic based mulch (non-wood) is better for the soil and your plants. Cocoa shell husks work very well, though need to be replaced every year, but seasons to a nice dark brown. Wood based mulch sucks nitrogen from the plants, and can actually harm plants where it's used. Agway sells this t...

chw

I own a significant holding in the 2001 vintage bonds which will mature the same year I start RMDs. I will review my projected tax situation about 3-5 years before age 72 to see if it’s worthwhile to start cashing in some of the bonds early to smooth my projected tax rate as I start RMDs at age 72. ...

chw

I “retired” from MC at age 58. For me, the only tangible difference was being able to vest my remaining RSUs over the following 3 years. If I had resigned, it would’ve been assumed I would be working with a competitor, and the RSUs would have evaporated. I strongly encourage you to look through your...

chw

American Century is just trying to make investing your money look complicated (it’s not) to discourage you from doing it yourself. I sat thru a Fidelity presentation by a Private Wealth manager who presented me with something very similar, but even more slices (28 funds!). It was a free review, so d...

chw

Private lending is generally best done by experienced lenders. There are many facets to private lending to consider such as: compliance/disclosure requirements (which if not done properly could nullify the loan), proper underwriting of the loan risk, preparing documentation for the loan, and servici...

chw

The RSUs will become income when they vest. Until then, no taxes owed.

chw

Have you considered an electric self propelled? I picked one up last fall (80V Kobalt) at Lowe’s on an end of season sale for about $300- it was one of those purchases that exceeded expectations, Low noise level, no gas fumes, easy to handle, no gas or oil to deal with, and plenty of charge for my h...

chw

I paid about $3 kw before tax credits (MA) 2.5 years ago, with a break even in about 4.5 years. Your quote seems high. I obtained quotes thru EnergySage, which worked well for me. Others here seem to push Tesla, perhaps give them a shot if you feel they could work out.

chw

If you have the ability to do a reverse rollover with your Trad IRA to your 401k, you can rollover everything but the non- deductible contributions to the 401k. You can then convert the non deductible contributions to your Roth tax free, as well as do a back door Roth contribution tax free. I did ex...

chw

I believe you should be ok, but not sure about the reverse rollover to a self-employed 401k plan- it can be done with a private employer 401k plan. If the reverse rollover is allowable, you should be able to do a direct rollover from Vanguard to the Fidelity 401k. Just make sure you don’t rollover a...

chw

One Con, big gators,,, I’m not kidding either, my parents lived across the street from one of those ponds, and they could not walk outside at night for fear of running into the gators that walked around at night. They were also known to creep into garages that were left open.

chw

Mine was accepted same day within a few hours.

chw

I don’t quite get how you will do the 37k back door Roth rollover after you rollover your 401k to your Trad IRA. Any amount non-deductible amount you are trying to rollover to the Roth will be subject to the pro-rata rule. A few additional thoughts: - if you have good 401K options, don’t be quick to...

chw

Every servicer has their quirks- generally to get some feature (such as bi-weekly payments), there may be a 30 day implementation period to get it set up on the system. Auto-pay is another feature that almost always requires a borrower to make their first payment manually. I would follow their lead,...

chw

For me was 30x+ “base” living expenses, plus the added on amount we wanted available for enjoying our retirement. We expected is there was a severe economic downturn, we might curtail expenses a bit, but wouldn’t likely have to,

chw

Bring to Staples. They will even remove the hard drive for you to destroy at home.

chw

I believe EM is worth holding within an AA to a Total International Fund. I used to be a slice and dicer, but find simplicity is easier to manage, with less volatility. Return difference is negligible over longer periods of time.

chw

Just a thought in addition to the posters- check with your utility to see if you have excess production from your second home, could that excess be applied to the bill on your primary home (if the same utility). I'm pretty certain that can be done in some jurisdictions, and may help with possibly a...

chw

Just a thought in addition to the posters- check with your utility to see if you have excess production from your second home, could that excess be applied to the bill on your primary home (if the same utility). I'm pretty certain that can be done in some jurisdictions, and may help with possibly ad...

chw

8 days Federal
3 days State (MA)

efiled both returns with TT.

chw

We've had LTC insurance for about 9 years (purchased at 54/56. I was able to purchase a plan through work that required no medical exam- I think purchasing through a large mega-bank employer helped defray premiums. We also thought about self-insuring, but decided to purchase a "middle of the ro...

chw

Studies have shown that lump sum works out better than DCA for most long term investors. If the current height of the market concerns you, you could perhaps lump sum 50% now, and pick a time period to DCA the remainder periodically.

chw

I’d be reluctant to reduce the lifetime benefit max- you don’t want to be in a situation where your Dad is using the insurance, is in AL, but his money and benefits are running low. My Mom is currently in AL using her LTC insurance at $8500 mo in a FL facility You say you don’t want a 30 day elimina...

chw

Her college major/minor seem appropriate. I would tell her to see if she can double major/minor in business if possible, or take applicable business related courses. Regarding internships, tell her to work with her advisor to seek out appropriate ones that are available to her, or perhaps tell her t...

chw

Nada. Sounds like a new way to lose money.

chw

BH philosophy discourages: 1) market timing, and 2) use of actively managed funds.

That being said, if are inclined to tilt towards value as part of your AA, use of the appropriate index fund (LC, SC, Int'l) would be indicated.

chw

I had something similar happen to me with my Outback a few years ago, except I had changed the cabin air filter myself the previous week. Fortunately they asked me for preauthorization to put new ones in, after saying they were really filthy. I haven’t gone back to the dealer since except for recall...

chw

Personally, I would ONLY use eBay Global Shipping for transactions going to any place outside of the US, besides Canada. I sell a ton on eBay and I have only tried direct shipping a few times and there were issues in 80% of those. Of course, some people have much better luck. +1 on using Ebays glob...

chw

Just call the boss and quit/give notice. Personally, I would give notice (I had to give 90 days for RSU vesting)- it wasn’t really that bad, and no negative vibe during that time. I rather enjoyed the transition during this time- it allowed me to ease my brain into being done with FT work, and also ...

chw

i tend to agree with the Oracle, but with no where to hide in bonds, the options are CDs, HY MM, Ibonds, EE bonds, etc. Some here may have access to Stable Value Funds in a 401k, which my not have been used widely in the past, but I think are a good option for a large chuck of FI allocation if avail...

chw

I have a 60% slice of my FI in my SVF @ 2.5%-3%. My IPS says to review when BND yield rises to 2.5% for 2 consecutive quarters for reallocating back to the Core Bond Fund in my 401k. At this point, is seems there is greater risk of principal erosion than principal gain with holding a Core Bond fund ...

chw

We are leaving a fixed % to a charity of our choice, with the remainder split to heirs.

chw

I echo some of the responders that you should stick with the Boglehead philosophy. However, in the past year, I have introduced a tilt to ESG in my investments. This type of investing was not widely available years ago as a low cost or passive investment like it is today. I recognize ESG investing i...

chw

Higher then lower.

chw

I downloaded into TT no problem this afternoon. I did have trades during the year in addition to dividends.

chw

It is a no brained. I also live in MA, and did a solar install with an EnergySage installer 2.5 years ago, and everything went as planned. Make sure you get enrolled in the state SMART program which provides additional SREC like payments. I don’t know much about it, as I was enrolled in the SREC pro...

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