Search found 1565 matches

by Iorek
Fri Mar 22, 2024 5:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do you assume legislative cuts in Social Security and other federal benefits?
Replies: 49
Views: 2124

Re: Do you assume legislative cuts in Social Security and other federal benefits?

I don’t. I think if asked to defend it I would say it falls into gray zone that all of our investment returns could be on the low side (that is I am not sure SS being cut 25% would change our retirement outlook more than investment returns being 2%, although certainly both could happen and are probably not independent of each other).

I would say it might be worth investigating that further but at the same time it’s sufficiently uncertain and we saving enough that I don’t think I’d want to increase savings/cut spending specifically to save for that possibility.
by Iorek
Fri Mar 22, 2024 4:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Please recommend a basic Course on Trusts and Estate Planning
Replies: 6
Views: 970

Re: Please recommend a basic Course on Trusts and Estate Planning

I think if you get the Nolo Press Willmaker book (and software) that is a decent introduction (admittedly less than you will get from a course).
by Iorek
Wed Mar 06, 2024 8:57 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Tom Bihn briefcase worth the money? Looking for a quality, lightweight laptop briefcase.
Replies: 21
Views: 2481

Re: Tom Bihn briefcase worth the money? Looking for a quality, lightweight laptop briefcase.

I have two Tom Bihn bags— one I’ve used for commuting for over 20 years and one I’ve used for travel for over 20 years and I love both of them (and they have long outlasted other bags, with little evidence of wear).

When I bought the travel bag I wasn’t sure what size I wanted so I ordered two different bags and when they showed up it was obvious which one was better for me so I just returned the other— was no problem. (Now I think there are a lot more video reviews etc so maybe you can get a better sense without ordering bit I wouldn’t hesitate to buy two and return one if you are on the fence).
by Iorek
Sun Feb 18, 2024 11:53 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Massachusetts taxation of US Government Securities
Replies: 19
Views: 1657

Re: Massachusetts taxation of US Government Securities

Nate79 wrote: Sun Feb 18, 2024 11:52 am
Iorek wrote: Sun Feb 18, 2024 11:49 am Just to confirm, no state is permitted to tax US gov't interest
And yet some states do.
Really? Which states?
by Iorek
Sun Feb 18, 2024 11:53 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Happy Valentine’s Day! What’s your love song?
Replies: 88
Views: 4591

Re: Happy Valentine’s Day! What’s your love song?

Chv396 wrote: Sat Feb 17, 2024 2:05 pm That’s great! :sharebeer

Tom Petty’s song is definitely cool. I’m not familiar with the Dire Straits song.
Iorek wrote: Sat Feb 17, 2024 7:55 am
Chv396 wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2024 11:14 am “Wonderful Tonight”, by Eric Clapton.

Sentimental to us, as this beautiful song was played at our wedding, many years ago. :happy
Same here! 🥰

Another couple songs I have soft spots for are Dire Straits’ Romeo and Juliet and Tom Petty’s Here Comes My Girl
:sharebeer

Here you go if you want (many people have heard the Indigo Girls cover of this but I think the original is better)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4-AIzKkQMY
by Iorek
Sun Feb 18, 2024 11:49 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Massachusetts taxation of US Government Securities
Replies: 19
Views: 1657

Re: Massachusetts taxation of US Government Securities

Just to confirm, no state is permitted to tax US gov't interest
by Iorek
Sat Feb 17, 2024 7:55 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Happy Valentine’s Day! What’s your love song?
Replies: 88
Views: 4591

Re: Happy Valentine’s Day! What’s your love song?

Chv396 wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2024 11:14 am “Wonderful Tonight”, by Eric Clapton.

Sentimental to us, as this beautiful song was played at our wedding, many years ago. :happy
Same here! 🥰

Another couple songs I have soft spots for are Dire Straits’ Romeo and Juliet and Tom Petty’s Here Comes My Girl
by Iorek
Fri Feb 16, 2024 10:56 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Southwest Companion Pass Offer
Replies: 32
Views: 3613

Re: Southwest Companion Pass Offer

You simply designate a companion, buy a ticket and then the companion buys their own ticket and it’s free. I think you can change your companion once or twice in the year? Actually, I think the owner of the companion ticket purchases the companion ticket from their account. I think once the owner buys their ticket, we were able to able to obtain a companion ticket even though no tickets were available for sale on the SW website for the type of ticket the owner purchased. The owner has to pay the fees ($5.60 a couple of years ago) for each trip ticket for the companion. I apologize you are right— the owner of the companion pass is the one who goes back and buys another ticket (I remember being surprised it took two transactions but didn’t r...
by Iorek
Fri Feb 16, 2024 10:32 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Southwest Companion Pass Offer
Replies: 32
Views: 3613

Re: Southwest Companion Pass Offer

If you only fly a few times a year and depending on destinations, it may not be the best option. The companion pass is nice but along with the fee and spend it naturally has a lower bonus, bonus can take two months to post and availability of flights to major destinations (booking early and being flexible helps) may be a issue. The offer is available to anyone, link to SWA/Chase below.... https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/southwest/AEM30kCPPlus224?REF=FULLSITE&CELL=6QMK&src=SRCH_go_cmp-19924081329_adg-150571515289_ad-665012350769_kwd-2444653968_dev-c_ext-_prd-&gad_source=1 Just to clarify for people who may be used to other airlines’ award travel— using the companion pass requires availability as in “there must be a seat on the ...
by Iorek
Thu Feb 15, 2024 7:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Gift Tax?
Replies: 9
Views: 825

Re: Gift Tax?

There are no gift tax issues at all if you either pay the tuition directly to the school or give one person $18,000 or less this year (but note you can give you son $18,000 and his wife $18,000 with triggering any gift tax reporting at all).

If you give a gift and then your son gives you a gift the same rules would apply (no issues as long as it’s under $18,000 a year).

If you loan your son money and he repays you, you would in theory owe tax on the interest he pays each year he pays interest.
by Iorek
Wed Feb 14, 2024 7:28 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Concept 2 rower question [rowing machine]
Replies: 27
Views: 3373

Re: Concept 2 rower question [rowing machine]

I know nothing about you but a 2 min pace for 2000 m is nothing to sneeze at. I would be pretty surprised if most people could sit down and do that without training/experience.
by Iorek
Mon Feb 12, 2024 3:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRS Letter CP2000--529 Issues
Replies: 29
Views: 3130

Re: IRS Letter CP2000--529 Issues

Katietsu wrote: Mon Feb 12, 2024 3:13 pm Have the student go online into their student account. I have dealt with multiple universities. The charges and payments for tuition are always shown. Some are easier to understand than others, but all will have the information you need.
Yep — have asked for that. Thanks
by Iorek
Mon Feb 12, 2024 2:50 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRS Letter CP2000--529 Issues
Replies: 29
Views: 3130

Re: IRS Letter CP2000--529 Issues

Buffetologist wrote: Mon Feb 12, 2024 1:15 pm I bookedmarked a post from 2015 on the same issue that had a professionally prepared letter from KMPG on how to respond.

viewtopic.php?t=159770
Thanks. (Interestingly, my approach was similar to an approach someone reported using years ago as being successful but I will try again with more specific info on costs)
by Iorek
Mon Feb 12, 2024 12:57 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRS Letter CP2000--529 Issues
Replies: 29
Views: 3130

Re: IRS Letter CP2000--529 Issues

I got one of these and I returned it along with the 1098-T showing that my 529 withdrawal was less than the 1098-T for the year-- thinking that was enough, but then I got another letter saying they need a "detailed breakdown with supporting documentation of your expenses".

So do I email them back with the bills from the college? (Do I need actual canceled checks? In our case it was much easier logistically to have the 529 plan disburse to the student and then pay the college so it will be much easier I expect to find invoices than find proof those invoices were paid).
by Iorek
Sun Feb 11, 2024 8:39 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Hybrid Car - Cost Savings?
Replies: 68
Views: 7073

Re: Hybrid Car - Cost Savings?

Tom_T wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 8:33 am EVs were recently in the news because they were having issues in frigid weather. Do weather conditions apply at all to a hybrid, or does the gas engine simply take over if the battery is low?
[Unnecessary comment removed by moderator ClaycordJCA] yes, if a hybrid battery is not performing as well either because of age or cold the gas engine will make up for it.
by Iorek
Sun Feb 11, 2024 8:22 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Utma investment
Replies: 3
Views: 379

Re: Utma investment

My advice, and I apologize for going OT as it were, is not to open a UTMA. IME they are a PITA and rarely are they necessary or the best option. I would focus most of my saving on the 529– the tax-free treatment of earnings is pretty rare. For money you’d like to save outside a 529, I’d just do your preferred index fund in a brokerage account in your name. You can certainly open this in a separate account or just keep a mental accounting. Then when your child is of age you can transfer the funds directly (preferably in a way that avoids gift tax reporting but for most of us that isn’t a problem— 18-36k/year inflation indexed). The advantages of this are that 1) your child won’t have to deal with retitling the account when they are of age; d...
by Iorek
Sun Feb 04, 2024 8:08 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How do you calculate how much term life you should buy?
Replies: 42
Views: 4015

Re: How do you calculate how much term life you should buy?

I think when we were shopping for life insurance we were told it is not a problem to adjust a $1.5 million policy to a $1 million policy, with a proportional reduction in premiums, at a later date. Is that not accurate/common? I ask because it was IIRC slightly to cheaper to buy one large policy than two smaller one yet a number of people in this thread have suggested buying two smaller ones. We did consider buying two separate policies— one with a 20 year term and one with a 30 year term. I think that would have saved money while accomplishing the same goal of having the most coverage while kids were younger and we were accumulating savings but we ended up just going for 30 year policies because the savings wasn’t much and the flexibility ...
by Iorek
Tue Jan 23, 2024 4:45 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Tax Loss Harvesting Question
Replies: 7
Views: 728

Re: Tax Loss Harvesting Question

dorster wrote: Mon Jan 22, 2024 3:25 pm
Iorek wrote: Mon Jan 22, 2024 2:57 pm it can’t possibly be the case
I think it can be the case.

Can you cite any precedent of a declared wash sale other than when the tickers were the exact same? I agree that there's no point in arguing.
livesoft wrote: Mon Jan 22, 2024 2:59 pm I think you meant to write "substantially identical" as substantially similar is fine.
Linguistic wash sale?
:sharebeer
by Iorek
Mon Jan 22, 2024 2:57 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Tax Loss Harvesting Question
Replies: 7
Views: 728

Re: Tax Loss Harvesting Question

dorster wrote: Mon Jan 22, 2024 1:07 pm There's no clear definition of a wash sale, but even by a conservative interpretation, these should be fine.

FWIW I believe that as long as the etf tickers are different you're in the clear.
There’s no point in arguing about this (which admittedly should be the end of my post or a reason not to post at all) but it can’t possibly be the case that just having a different etf ticker is sufficient — that would make the substantially similar language meaningless or nearly so.
by Iorek
Mon Jan 22, 2024 1:46 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: 🎁 🎉Happy 100th Birthday to Taylor Larimore 🎊🎂
Replies: 429
Views: 43345

Re: 🎁 🎉Happy 100th Birthday to Taylor Larimore 🎊🎂

Happy birthday Taylor!

I’ve never had the honor of meeting you but you’ve still made my life better in many ways. Thanks so much and congratulations!
by Iorek
Sun Jan 21, 2024 11:07 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How rental depreciation re-calculated if improvement is done later (say after 5 years)
Replies: 4
Views: 324

Re: How rental depreciation calculated if improvement is done later (say after 5 years)

I haven’t had to do this myself so this advice may be worth what you are paying for it but I would think you would start a new depreciation schedule for tue improvements (so continue with the old schedule and then add in the appropriate fraction of the $25k)
by Iorek
Mon Jan 15, 2024 10:56 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Where does the loyalty to Vanguard come from?
Replies: 72
Views: 6648

Re: Where does the loyalty to Vanguard come from?

I think Vanguard has made a conscious decision that they just don’t think it’s worth trying to retain retail customers.

For me 90% of why I stay is that it’s annoying to move accounts from brokerage to brokerage and 10% is because I like investing in Vanguard mutual funds. But I had a weird issue with my account today and it took a fair bit of time to figure out how to email them and then they said it would take 7-10 days for a response.

One of these days I will get annoyed enough with Vanguard to overcome both inertia and my mental block about monthly DCA into ETFs.
by Iorek
Wed Jan 03, 2024 3:19 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How do you calculate how much term life you should buy?
Replies: 42
Views: 4015

Re: How do you calculate how much term life you should buy?

There are a million calculators and they gave me various answers. Don’t overlook SS benefits in considering available income.

At the end of the day I think this is one place where a rule of thumb of 7-10x income (depending, say, on how material the premiums are to your budget) is a reasonable approach.
by Iorek
Wed Jan 03, 2024 3:07 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Miele OR Bosch Dishwasher?
Replies: 89
Views: 11002

Re: Miele OR Bosch Dishwasher?

I love our miele.

One thing I noticed when shopping for them is that the “entry level” model is expensive but there didn’t seem to be much benefit to getting “higher level” models.
by Iorek
Sat Dec 23, 2023 6:47 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Men's travel pants recommendation.
Replies: 76
Views: 9288

Re: Men's travel pants recommendation.

mrb09 wrote: Sat Dec 23, 2023 3:20 pm Prana Stretch Zion pants. I bought them originally for travel (zippered pockets and fast dry), but they’re so comfortable I wear them all the time now.
+1
by Iorek
Mon Dec 18, 2023 7:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Does ibond interest for education count as investment income?
Replies: 16
Views: 1386

Re: Does ibond interest for education count as investment income?

My view- for whatever it is worth— is that if ibond interest is excluded from income you never get to the question of what kind of income it would be
by Iorek
Sun Dec 10, 2023 9:47 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)
Replies: 6658
Views: 1240882

Re: How to calculate value of my electronic I bonds on Jan 1 last year?

nps wrote: Sat Dec 09, 2023 8:33 pm
duricka wrote: Sat Dec 09, 2023 5:25 pm [duricka's thread has been merged into this on-going discussion. Moderator Pops1860]

Tax folks are interested in my I bonds.
If I bought 10k of bonds on date X, and current value is Y, how can I calculate what was its value on January 1 last year?
I found a few clickbait articles on the web, but wanted to check here too.

Thank you
"Tax folks are interested" - why? I bond interest is tax deferred unless you elect otherwise.
Poster edited to add “home country”
by Iorek
Sun Dec 10, 2023 9:46 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)
Replies: 6658
Views: 1240882

Re: How to calculate value of my electronic I bonds on Jan 1 last year?

ObiQuiet wrote: Sat Dec 09, 2023 6:33 pm https://eyebonds.info/ibonds/index.html
Treasury also has this tool— which they warn is not to be used for electronic bonds but I can’t imagine why it would matter, at least for past values (and maybe assuming you are past the 5 year holding period?).

https://treasurydirect.gov/BC/SBCPrice
by Iorek
Sun Dec 10, 2023 9:38 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Food related travel
Replies: 108
Views: 20474

Re: Food related travel

Not exactly what OP was asking but we have started doing food walking tours the first we get to a city. We find it’s a great way to get some orientation to both the physical geography and the food, and the best ones really give some good history and some good food/restaurant recommendations. Learned and ate a lot on a tour of Old San Juan for example.

Maybe more on topic but if you head to New England you can get great fried seafood at a clam shack and if you are lucky some of the country’s best ice cream for dessert.
by Iorek
Sat Dec 09, 2023 12:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Wine - what are we paying more for … ?
Replies: 185
Views: 33190

Re: Wine - what are we paying more for … ?

I read an interesting article once that talked about how two buck chuck was formulated to be drunk on its own but that as start pairing wine with food you can start to tell the difference with more expensive wines.
by Iorek
Sun Dec 03, 2023 8:47 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: My annual “should I get out of REITs” question?
Replies: 30
Views: 4644

Re: My annual “should I get out of REITs” question?

Thanks to everyone for the responses to this post. My title was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Most of our savings are in target funds so I only check on our balances and rebalance the other funds once a year. Last year I spent about 20 minutes trying to decide whether to drop REITs and decided to keep them and I realized I was probably going to face the same question this year. I don't think this is performance chasing-- if anything I am tempted to keep them until the next bump up, but that does not seem like a particularly good reason to keep them. I do think the fact that 5% of our portfolio is probably taking up as much mental space as the rest of it combined is probably a reason to drop REITs (I already dropped EM for the same reason, :wink...
by Iorek
Tue Oct 31, 2023 4:56 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Redeem Treasury Direct Bond for new fixed rate?
Replies: 14
Views: 2002

Re: Redeem Treasury Direct Bond for new fixed rate?

You should look at the ibonds mega thread— answer is probably there or if not someone will answer it there

viewtopic.php?t=346091
by Iorek
Sat Oct 28, 2023 3:06 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fidelity Emerging Markets Funds: Index or Active?
Replies: 15
Views: 2617

Re: Fidelity Emerging Markets Funds: Index or Active?

My advice would to skip the allocation. 2% is not enough to matter to your portfolio and EM is a roller coaster ride so that 2% may require more iron stomach/hands to stay the course than the rest of your portfolio combined.

YMMV of course!
by Iorek
Thu Oct 12, 2023 7:37 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Long Term Care insurance opinion
Replies: 78
Views: 6516

Re: Long Term Care insurance opinion

Lee_WSP wrote: Wed Oct 11, 2023 11:37 am As I alluded to, I personally don’t see the point of half insuring against an event. Deductibles are how you lower insurance costs.
I got some quotes for LTCI from my agent a couple years ago and when even he said that it didn’t make sense to pay for enough insurance to cover a long nursing home stay— he was just recommending $100/day or so benefit to “take the edge off”— we decided we’d just self-insure 🤞
by Iorek
Mon Sep 25, 2023 8:36 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: My annual “should I get out of REITs” question?
Replies: 30
Views: 4644

My annual “should I get out of REITs” question?

We have a small allocation to REITs in TRREX (T Rowe Price’s Real Estate fund—our only investment there) and I am tossing around whether to keep it or not. It amounts to about 5% of our retirement assets but about 1/3 of our Roth assets. We originally invested in it 20+ years ago for a variety of reasons but basically because it seemed to be an asset class that has decent historical returns with lower correlations with large cap equities (at the time we were trying to decide whether to sell or rent a property we owned so we split the difference by selling and putting some of the proceeds in TRREX, which may or may not have been a sensible approach). We are very much “set it and forget it” investors and since then it feels like we have ridde...
by Iorek
Mon Sep 25, 2023 7:58 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: FERS loss of purchasing power over time
Replies: 26
Views: 3340

Re: FERS loss of purchasing power over time

Kagord wrote: Mon Sep 25, 2023 7:30 am Just curious, is FERS considered a federal pension that would reduce social security?

IE, the SSA annual audit report they send that says "Our records show that your Social Security benefits are affected because you receive a federal, state, or local pension based on your own earnings", and you fill in the date and gross pension amount from any COLA change. Is FERS subject to that?
No— the FERS system was designed as “three legged stool” with the FERS annuity, SS, and TSP. Of course your SS benefit might become taxable as a result of your other income but it won’t be reduced.
by Iorek
Mon Sep 25, 2023 7:53 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 1099 Employee 20% of the time
Replies: 9
Views: 1283

Re: 1099 Employee 20% of the time

I am having a really hard time imagining how this arrangement is legal if the 20% is with the same employer. I wonder if the employer is trying to skirt some obligation that kicks in with a certain number of FTEs.
by Iorek
Sat Aug 19, 2023 10:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Would a new roof structure with solar panels be eligible for the solar tax credit?
Replies: 15
Views: 2849

Re: Would a new roof structure with solar panels be eligible for the solar tax credit?

When I looked into this the solar panel salesmen were very shady and tried to suggest that a lot more eligible for the tax credit than really is (as best I can tell) (of course they tell you it is and then also tell you they can’t really give you advice on it).

I spent some time researching this and I think what the IRS said is if you buy Tesla-like solar roof tiles, where the solar panel is actually part of the roofing material then you can deduct the full cost of the roof tile. However if you have conventional solar panels that sit on top of a roof you can’t deduct any part of the cost of the roof.

Of course I am not your lawyer and this is not legal advice any more than what the solar panel salesmen (or blogs) tell you.
by Iorek
Sun Aug 13, 2023 7:17 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Regret converting mutual funds to etfs at Vanguard?
Replies: 63
Views: 11266

Re: Regret converting mutual funds to etfs at Vanguard?

:beer I still miss the old fashioned mutual funds that I've used most of my life but Vanguard kept pushing us to ETF's with brokerage accounts and lower fees. No advantage to me and the only difference I experience is slower transactions. That said, I switched for the lower fees and it probably made it easier to leave Vanguard last year when I moved to Schwab (w/bonus). Not sure if that was what they hoped would happen. by "fees" do you mean ERs? I don't think the account fees or transaction fees are any different for mutual fund investments vs. ETFs. Exactly, for the longest time it seemed like Vanguard kept the ER the same for the comparable fund vs. ETF. Eventually, Vanguard continued to lower ER for ETF's but didn't match the ...
by Iorek
Fri Aug 11, 2023 9:59 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What Car Should I Buy If Money Were No Object?
Replies: 116
Views: 14131

Re: What Car Should I Buy If Money Were No Object?

I would probably get the electric version of the Jaguar e type. Or a Lucid Air.
by Iorek
Wed Aug 02, 2023 8:52 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much term life should I get?
Replies: 42
Views: 2944

Re: How much term life should I get?

It’s always hard to figure out how much life insurance to buy. Assuming it’s not a financial burden I’d probably get $1 million— you can think of that as spinning off $40,000 a year (which you say is your expenses) for 30 years. Could maybe add some extra to cover college but life insurance won’t be your surviving child’s sole source of income— there will be all your savings, plus SS, plus whatever your partner contributes (plus financial aid). Get a 20 year guaranteed level term policy— takes your kid through to 26 and you to your 50s, at which point your need for life insurance should drop off significantly given your kid will hopefully be capable of self-support and you will have a nest egg for retirement that can become an inheritance (...
by Iorek
Tue Aug 01, 2023 6:11 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Ally Online Savings/Money Market Rate Increases
Replies: 745
Views: 125095

Re: Ally Online Savings/Money Market Rate Increases

bmelikia wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 4:18 pm
Iorek wrote: Fri Jul 28, 2023 4:53 pm
dvvader wrote: Fri Jul 28, 2023 3:56 pm 9 month CD at 5%. Higher than the 11 month NP CD and the 12 month CD.
Very tempted by this
Why would you do the 9 month CD at 5% when 6 month treasuries are around 5.4% and 1 year treasuries are around 5.3%?

Asking because at the moment I've been putting my mom's money into the treasuries so wanted to get your perspective
Just laziness that’s where my money is I guess.

Probably the first time someone’s wanted my perspective on Bogleheads and I’ve got nothing. ;)
by Iorek
Fri Jul 28, 2023 4:53 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Ally Online Savings/Money Market Rate Increases
Replies: 745
Views: 125095

Re: Ally Online Savings/Money Market Rate Increases

dvvader wrote: Fri Jul 28, 2023 3:56 pm 9 month CD at 5%. Higher than the 11 month NP CD and the 12 month CD.
Very tempted by this
by Iorek
Thu Jul 27, 2023 6:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Edinburgh sightseeing ideas
Replies: 18
Views: 1890

Re: Edinburgh sightseeing ideas

Camera Obscura is sort of a museum of optical illusions near the castle— it’s surprisingly fun, esp. with kids.

Second the Fringe festival— you can either just wander into an event or do some advance research— there are all kinds of performances from acrobatic bike riding to improv theater and everything in between.

If they are Harry Potter fans there are lots of sites in Edinburgh. If they are Monty Python fans there is a castle outside Edinburgh that was used in filming the Holy Grail and has an audio tour by the cast.

Also Holyrood palace has tours, including iirc after hours tours.
by Iorek
Tue Jul 25, 2023 5:46 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Am I Over-Paying for Home Insurance??
Replies: 30
Views: 3970

Re: Am I Over-Paying for Home Insurance??

Agree with calling around to get some compare quotes (but sticking to companies with good reputations and not shopping only on price).

We are also in the DC suburbs. My insurance co raised my premium to $5k this year so I shopped around and ended up with Erie— think it’s about $1900 for basic coverage and then we have a water damage rider that adds a fair bit, plus some scheduled personal property.

I also called Amica and I think they were in the same neighborhood of $2400 or so (but Erie offers replacement coverage).
by Iorek
Sat Jul 22, 2023 9:25 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How long does TreasuryDirect take to convert paper I bonds?
Replies: 137
Views: 51008

Re: How long does TreasuryDirect take to convert paper I bonds?

rarechipmunk234 wrote: Fri Jul 21, 2023 7:19 pm Anyone convert EE bonds recently? I'm not looking forward to waiting 20 weeks. That seems ridiculous.
For bonds you should hold 20 years 20 weeks doesn’t seem like a big deal
by Iorek
Mon Jul 17, 2023 8:34 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: DIY Pest Control
Replies: 35
Views: 3950

Re: DIY Pest Control

It's not unlawful in every state and area. "1 Check if Termidor is available for sale in your area. In some regions, Termidor is only sold to pest control professionals who are Termidor Certified. These individuals are trained in how to effectively use this pesticide without risking harm to people, pets or the environment. However, it is available for sale online in some areas, and you may be able to get it shipped to you. Additionally, it's sold in some hardware stores in places without restrictions.[1]" I don’t know what you are quoting but here is a quote from the label — “It is a violation of federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. • For use only by individuals/firms licensed or registered ...
by Iorek
Mon Jul 17, 2023 7:18 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Rip off the bandage [sell fund with large gains?]
Replies: 10
Views: 1475

Re: Rip off the bandage [sell fund with large gains?]

When I had l appreciated equities I didn’t want anymore I dumped them into my DAF but I guess that depends on how big a chunk of your portfolio it is.
by Iorek
Sun Jul 16, 2023 9:52 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: DIY Pest Control
Replies: 35
Views: 3950

Re: DIY Pest Control

an00j wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 2:44 pm
mancich wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 10:24 am Definite DIY. As others have said, consistent barrier treatment will solve most or all of your issues.
As I mentioned above, DIY will just be a 3-foot band of Termidor (Fipronil) around the permieter of the house. With spot treatments as needed.
It is illegal to DIY termidor (assuming you are not properly licensed/certified). I don’t know why that website it selling it but just read the label.
by Iorek
Sat May 06, 2023 9:00 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Schwab - settlement account pays close to nothing heads up
Replies: 48
Views: 11175

Re: Schwab - settlement account pays close to nothing heads up

I opened a Schwab bank account to get free int’l access to cash (I could live with $3 fees but then they started charging 3% on top of that). Was a little disappointed to see the interest rate under 1% but I will just not use it except when travelling internationally.