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HIinvestor

Here’s the pdf TSP put out explaining the upcoming changes in 9/15/2019. I found it easier to read and understand.

https://www.tsp.gov/PDF/formspubs/tspfs10.pdf

HIinvestor

We live 5 minutes from Costco and about 30 minutes from Sam’s. My sister and I share a Sam’s membership that we buy for a year whenever they have an amazing deal (like free membership). It’s good for me when I have meetings in the building right next door to it and can get refreshments there. I do n...

HIinvestor

We have an umbrella policy of about $2mm. The insurer will hire and pay the fees for the attorneys plus any settlement under policy limits. The premiums we’ve paid over they years allow us to sleep well at night and are less than we’d have to pay if they are ever needed, even just to get a frivolous...

HIinvestor

I’ve lived on Oahu all but 6 years of my life. My siblings also live on Oahu, as do my parents. It’s home. I like it because my family all live here and most people are pretty friendly. I don’t like the traffic so I try to minimize my driving during rush hour. Allergens are pretty fierce here for ma...

HIinvestor

Beware — if your older child gets into private U with s nice merit package, younger child may also wish to apply and join older child and may get NO money so you are full pay. This happened to both our family and s good friend. It was a very expensive surprise to both of us! Fortunately both familie...

HIinvestor

The 2% PenFed premium savings on money new to PenFed has just raised the maximum they will give the 2% per acct on from $100k to $250k. They do have some quirks like a max of $10k/day up to $50k/30 day rolling period for ach online transfers but you can use paper checks for greater amounts. We have ...

HIinvestor

I agree that the attorney involved in the case should be able to structure the award so it’s in a special needs trust and will provide lump sums at specified intervals and perhaps an annuity to help support this young person. Good luck!

HIinvestor

We believe we have adequate funds for our needs and most of our wants but who knows how long any of us will need 24/7 skilled nursing care and how much it will cost by the time we need it. We are enjoying traveling and dining out now, while we can and enjoy it. We figure at some point we may not be ...

HIinvestor

We refused to get touch tone for our home landline phone because it would have been an extra charge and pulse was just fine with us. Finally, our local hone company gave us a package deal—touchtone phone, landline, dsl internet and basic cable for one price that was lower than we had been paying for...

HIinvestor

To me, family is very important. I and all my siblings plus our aging parents live in Honolulu. My two kids live in VA and CA for now. I’m not sure where they’ll ultimately end up and I warned them that we will have a long term rental wherever that is. I feel fortunate to be able to live near loved ...

HIinvestor

I’d take a pass on this as well. I would probably look at other lightly used cars, including rentals that i had the mechanic inspect. You can buy a nice new ir gently used car for $23k.

HIinvestor

H worked 45 years for the fed govt and was able to take his family plan into retirement with him. It covers me, him and disabled dependents. H also has Medicare A&B.

We can re-evaluate when I’m eligible for Medicare A&B, but are likely to get it for me as well.

HIinvestor

Well, my kids both graduated from USoCal and are happy alumni. Neither had concerns about their safety while on or near campus, as long as they used regular safety precautions. It’s really a value judgement as to whether you and he believe USC is worth $40k/yr more than UMD. In my mind, it would be ...

HIinvestor

I agree that urgent cares vary considerably. There are two newer urgent care clinics within a few miles of our home. I have visited each of them once. I went to one for what turned out to be a broken fibula and took my elderly relative to another years later for a cough with productive mucus she had...

HIinvestor

When our kids were both in college, we felt fortunate when we didn’t have to deplete our savings further. We have been spending more since H retired and it’s just the two of us home. We eat out a lot and travel more. We still live well below our income, so we are quite satisfied that we will be fine.

HIinvestor

When I was in my 40s I had young kids and private HS and college looming as well as relatively high mortgage and low income. We spent some on travel with our kids and friends but saved as much as we could and aggressively paid down our mortgage. The toys we indulged in were computers for each of us,...

HIinvestor

We have seen both. We have had several loved ones living in CCRCs and seen some “age in place.” There are definitely pros and cons of each, especially as the patients become increasingly frail and need more and more care and resources. CCRCs vary greatly as to cost and quality, whether you pay a sig...

HIinvestor

H retired in mid-2013. We live primarily on his pension. We have other streams of income that we don’t spend but could—real estate rental income, retirement RMDs, dividends and eventually I will get some SSecurity. So far we are mostly happily spending and accumulating. Have not spent down investmen...

HIinvestor

We bought a new car in December. The dealer allowed me to put $5000 on a 2.5% cashback Visa CCard and I paid the balance via personal check when I picked up the car. H and I both have credit frozen. We never completed any loan applications nor unfroze credit nor did wire transfer nor cashier’s check...

HIinvestor

Our kids were both born in Nov. we had to figure out whether to let them to to K before or after they had turned 5. They were 2 years, 5 days apart. The pediatrician, preschool teachers and preschool director all recommended we give the kids an extra year of preschool, so we did for both. They were ...

HIinvestor

Our main card is USAA 2.5% cashback, provided you have at least $1,000/month direct deposit. There is no annual fee. My dad served in the military.

HIinvestor

As long as your progeny’s income can support her lifestyle, sounds like things are working out. Nonprofits range greatly between insurance companies and medical centers where top management make 6-7 figure incomes to small ones who have barely enough to pay annual fees with the Dept of Commerce to s...

HIinvestor

Ymmv, of course but we mentioned to our mechanic and that we were selling our car because we were buying a new one. He told his niece and she was thrilled to buy it at the price the dealer was offering us (we were buying a new car). We were happy and she was thrilled to get a reliable car at a very ...

HIinvestor

I’d opt for Chase Sapphire—preferred or reserve for business. You get points that you can use for any airline or hotel program. They often have a signing bonus of 50-70,000 points as well. For personal, I’d recommend USAA 2.5% cashback, if you qualify. If you don’t, there is Citi doublecash MasterCa...

HIinvestor

Well my folks and all my siblings live in my home state. It has very moderate temperatures and I get hives from being too hot or cold (seriously—weird but true). My H has no intention of ever moving from our home island or indeed our house. We have a great neighborhood and our kids love to visit and...

HIinvestor

Wow @DarthEnol, that’s a good price! Tempting!

HIinvestor

We started taking our kids on 5+ hour plane rides from the time they were 6 months old. We went most years, sometimes twice or more a Year. It wasn’t so much specific places for the kids, it was being together and exploring different things together, as well as seeing loved ones who didn’t live near...

HIinvestor

You have to make some choices once you’ve decided you’re going to replace the bag—wheels or none? Spinner or 2 wheel? We have two styles of 2-wheeled bags: delsey helium and Briggs & Riley 22” roller suitcase. We’ve had many years of excellent trips with both. The Briggs & Riley was at Costc...

HIinvestor

Our ceramic Komodo smoker is older than I am and is still producing excellent smoked dishes. It is finally starting to need a bit of TLC but many decades will eventually catch up with any product. As a half dozen posters and I agree, it makes excellent meats and other grilled foods and doesn’t rust.

HIinvestor

My SS will likely be fairly modest, even if I wait until I’m 70 to claim it. I will likely wait because I will likely live another few decades and would like it as longevity insurance. If I’m lucky, it will cover my Medicare premiums, maybe H’s and if we are really lucky, maybe our medical insurance...

HIinvestor

My H was a 45 year fed employee. We have been thrilled with his medical benefits while he was employed and since he’s been retired. Premiums are partly paid by the fed govt—from the time he started until the rest of his and my life. There are a nice variety of policies to choose among every year and...

HIinvestor

I must be on more courteous flights. I have been on several where folks waited and let those making/missing tight connections deplane 1st. I am pre-boarded because I have lots of medical gear and airlines and I like me to get settled before the rush. I’m always at a window so I don’t trap or trip an...

HIinvestor

That White Coat Investor article was very helpful. I would have to say that predicting deaths is a very dicey business. That’s why you would need a sufficient number of policies to mitigate the risk. For example, I just spoke to a friend. She was mourning the death of her husband—he had been told by...

HIinvestor

I’d carefully read all the plans you’re considering, including the five print. One of the problems with original Medicare is that there is NO limit on out of pocket expenses, so with an expensive hospitalization or regular treatments that can run into a lot of money. Other plans may have some sort o...

HIinvestor

I get some solicitation materials from various med centers where I’ve gotten treatment but none personalized to zero in on my provider. I would be a bit uncomfortable too. It’s orobabky the center’s way of hoping to increase donations via “personalization” and nothing your md has control over.

HIinvestor

Our rates for electricity are north of $.33 KWh, so higher the others are quoting. With that and the state+Fed rebate = 65% of the cost of our 9 panels so our our net cost was $4k or so, it seemed reasonable to us. We get sun most of the year.

HIinvestor

Well our brand new Prius is due back at dealer in May for the “free” 5000 mile oil change. Not sure whether we will have driven a full 5000 miles by then but may be a bit short or over. They provide oil changes for first 2 years.

HIinvestor

Agree that travel and financially assisting loved ones can take up a huge chunk of money. Dining out often in a VHCOL area also takes up a lot of $$$$.

Everything in VHCOL just costs more as well. That’s what makes it VHCOL! When you have visitors, that also adds to costs.

HIinvestor

We got solar because the fed govt was giving a 35% rebate on the system cost and our state was giving 30%, so total 65% discount. We are happy because it protects us from the highest energy rates in the US. We recently bought a plug in hybrid electric car and rarely ever need to buy gas.

HIinvestor

We can all only guess as best we can. We had assumed that our income and tax rate would be lower in retirement than when H was working but fortunately we were wrong. We still contributed as much as we could to tax deferred and advantaged accounts. We were able to roll a nice sum into a Roth IRA when...

HIinvestor

Our state of HI has raised minimum wage to $10+ per hour and I believe it’s going up again.

HIinvestor

An example is, supposed you donate $10,000 to charity x. They agree to pay you $750/yr for life and your CPA calculates the current value of that income stream at $5000, so your deductible tax amount would be $5000. Of course you have to see whether you can even deduct whatever the tax deductible am...

HIinvestor

There are Us that do not require FAFSA or any financial info to be considered for or awarded merit aid. Our Sconly applied to such Us. We figured we would not receive any FAid so we never applied, even though we earned considerably less than the amount you’re talking about. We preferred not to share...

HIinvestor

I have bought extended warranties on our current car and two of my prior cars. The two prior cars needed the transmission repaired under warranty, just before the warranty expired. The new car got us 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty for $2007. We are very concerned that our new car that is a hybrid wi...

HIinvestor

It can be useful to be able to pay in monthly installments instead of a huge lump sum every term--for our kids' U, it was only a small extra charge to be able to have installment payments and allowed us to pay out of salary instead of taking out huge loans. Double-check with your kid's U as to wheth...

HIinvestor

I agree that it varies by location AND rental car company. I'd call the location you're going to be renting from and ask them. We have rented anything from 2nd from smallest through premium, based on price and our needs and have been generally happy.

HIinvestor

As was said before, if the student was exemplary and MAY qualify for merit aid, most of the merit money goes to incoming freshmen and very little is given to transfer students. We had one child who got > 50% tuition due to high grades & test scores. He wouldn't have gotten them if he didn't enro...

HIinvestor

For me, living comfortably means knowing I have the means not to be a financial burden to our kids as we age and need increasing assistance to live our daily lives, in addition to paying all our expenses and living at or above the level we enjoyed pre-retirement. Ideally, sufficient funds would come...

HIinvestor

Our relative went to CC for 3 semesters and then transferred to an out of state, expensive private U. It saved her and her family those 3 semesters of tuition and all but one of the courses did transfer. She got a degree at a lower price and had a positive experience at her instate community college...

HIinvestor

It really is tough choosing gifts for loved ones, especially when we aren’t sure of their tastes and everyone is in a declittering mode. My sister gave me certificates for foot massage and massage but I’m not a fan of either. The gifts she gives me I generally quietly return as they aren’t my taste ...

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