Bogleheads.org

krannerd

This is a superb store. We recently had 2 open in Minneapolis (a market dominated by corner liquor stores with high prices and poor service). Total Wine has great prices on almost everything...and a superb selection. Their staff are generally knowledgeable and willing to help. They offer regular tas...

krannerd

My winter tires do not have TPMS and no dinging after the first...there's an idiot light, but that's it. The wife knows to look for it and is now unconcerned with the lack of TPMS.

krannerd

Age: 37 Years until retirement: 25? 20? Every day. Age 38: Years until retirement: 15-20 I'm not checking every day...but at least monthly and every time I have a "bad day" at work. I don't tinker, but like to see what's in there...and recalculate the % to divert to get to the limit prope...

krannerd

Agree with "The Wizard" If not asked don't answer. I don't even answer if asked -- other than to point to Bogleheads book/site. All downside to giving advice to friends and family. That is excellent advice. In my experience 9 of 10 won't look up the book or visit the website. Sad, but tru...

krannerd

Flexsteel. You will grow tired of looking at it before it wears out. My parents have had Flexsteel sofas last for 30+ years in leather and Herculon. One sofa lasted so long that it became fashionable again.

krannerd

The Shanghai Museum is top notch. Excellent displays of ceramic and jade along with other collections (e.g. furniture). Agree 100%, it is a great museum. Suggest the propaganda museum as well (I visit frequently). I love walking through the French Concession...lot of great architecture. Also, walk ...

krannerd

Thank you for generously making these available at no cost! I look forward to reading them.

krannerd

I had a 20,000 gallon pool in Phoenix (this may be material). I did my own maintenance and total cost as very low. I used 1 bucket of chlorine tabs annually (purchased in the off season) and I used 5-8 gallons of acid annually. Total cost of materials was $100. Time spent weekly was 10 minutes...but...

krannerd

I have also received their catalogs. Have not purchased anything. Seems VERY expensive. I fit the demographic and would like to buy some items...but cannot convince myself of the value. I would like to do bodyweight squats while in the office and not split my seams. It seems as if their pants would ...

krannerd

Suggest considering fellowships that offset tuition. I worked as an RA while getting my MBA and it covered almost all of the tuition plus room and board. Others in my cohort worked 20 hours a week at the career center, admissions, etc. I think that work covered half tuition with a living allowance. ...

krannerd

It's going to be hotter than blazes in August. While in Shanghai, suggest the Shanghai museum (free and very good), the Bund (visit at night), strolls through the French Concession (can stop at historical buildings). Outside of town, there are many "canal villages"...I've visited Tong-Li. ...

krannerd

Moved here 4 years ago from Phoenix. Live in Minneapolis proper. Love it! Met more neighbors in 4 days than in 4 years living in Phoenix. Most of them are darned friendly too (neighbors shoveling each other's walks, mowing each other's lawns, neighborhood BBQs). The lakes in the city are wonderful.....

krannerd

$35k for a bathroom remodel is a little bit more than what we paid to have ours done 2 years ago. It has paid dividends of: --Improving the better half's happiness ($priceless) --Allowing more light into the room and reducing the need for artificial light ($12.50 annually..but improves our mood) If ...

krannerd

I use FSGDX and FSTVX (Fido Global and US total market) for taxable. All fixed income is in advantaged accounts. Still hold some appreciated securities in taxable.

I am moving more of our international allocation to taxable so that I can capture the foreign tax credits.

krannerd

My gym shut down and I had to start doing my own workouts at home. I have done it in the past, and have stayed pretty faithful to it and got in really good shape. I think a pullup bar is necessary. After that, it really depends on what type of training you want to do. If you do not want to get a lo...

krannerd

I just had my 1915 craftsman bungalow insulated (with blown in cellulose) and airsealed. It has made a difference in reduction of drafts and the boiler will now actually shut off during those -10 days (which should translate to lower energy bills). I got a nice rebate from my utility for doing this ...

krannerd

0.11 My 401k cut fees in half last year.

krannerd

I have had a few charges above $1000 on my AMEX. All were resolved with ease. My worst fraud was with PayPal. I had it linked to my bank account (stupid me) and somehow PayPal processed a $2500 charge for wedding photography that pulled money directly from my bank. PayPal eventually took care of thi...

krannerd

Have you considered a rafting trip? I've hiked it once and rafted once....both were amazing trips. We did a raft tour over 5 days in May...the post vacation high lasted 2 days. We put in at Marble Canyon and pulled out at Bar Ten ranch. There were daily side hikes and we covered a lot more canyon th...

krannerd

I have a 100 year old house with mostly original windows. I had them all reglazed and painted 2 years ago (the cost of doing this was very reasonable compared with new windows). They are drafty when compared to new windows. There are several companies that do window restoration in my area (Minneapol...

krannerd

I was hiring in Arizona a while back and interviewed many U of P grads. I do not put much stock in the quality of the credential. If the person had significant experience that matched the needs for the job, I would interview them. IMO, that credential is good for meeting an HR requirement for hiring...

krannerd

I am not a fan of rotating categories nor am I a fan of annual fees. However, the Quicksilver card requires $2400 in annual spend to recoup the annual fee. Think you'll be able to do that? IMO...2 cards are enough (1 AMEX and 1 non-AMEX)...I keep more that are old and less utilized. My situation: AM...

krannerd

I experience the same thing with Fidelity. It does seem to take 2 days to get the contribution to IRA recognized and 2 more days to get the conversion complete (even when executing the transaction on the web). I don't usually worry about it...but I made the mistake of getting $0.01 in interest last ...

krannerd

mhc wrote:Give the foreign money to a kid. My kids love it. I loved it as a kid.

It would make a great stocking stuffer.

I agree with this...whenever I have foreign currency, it goes to the nephew (who loves it).

I also give it away to the in flight charity that accepts all currencies.

krannerd

Hi! I'm in the same boat. These appreciated securities were about 7-8% of my portfolio and are mostly blue-chip companies. I have decide to dispose of these over the next ~5 years as they've lagged the S&P overall and I am trying to simplify my portfolio in case something unpleasant happens (com...

krannerd

I agree with the points above regarding 2-3 years of work experience being necessary for a successful outcome from B-school. My wife and I both did a Top 25 school with 3 engineering internships and 2.5 years of work respectively and it worked out very well for us...but many in our cohort had 0 work...

krannerd

I have a similar situation....a toddler who does not brush well and is resistant to help. One day I offered to "play dentist" with him...he accepted and after he brushes, I come and pretend to be the dentist. This involves me instructing him to open his mouth, talking to him about his teet...

krannerd

Thank you for the opinions and ideas on how to handle this. My takeaways from the responses: 1. Donation is a good idea and can be used to reduce these positions over time. 2. These concentrated positions are not a big deal....but should be reduced over time. As I contribute to the portfolio, this p...

krannerd

Thank you in advance for your collective wisdom on the topic below. I own several appreciated individual equities in a taxable account that is 7.5% of my total portfolio. It looks like collectively these companies have lagged the S&P500 or the last 1, 5 and 10 year periods...and they expose me t...

krannerd

I am in a similar situation right now...but with significantly more travel. My current assignment has me in Shanghai for 3 out of 4 weeks for 3 - 5 months. I have a very understanding wife (also in management) who is at home with our 3 year old son. I am certainly missing out on family time by being...

krannerd

I've never had anything stolen from the work fridge. However, it has been a problem at some places for others. The attempted fix is usually an angrily worded sign with humorous punctuation and misspellings.

krannerd

Airline miles +1.

Wait until the bitter end on offers...they keep getting better.

Did a groupon this year...$50 for a year.

I'll use miles this year...too cheap.

krannerd

No. I operate on the principle that I treat my company's money much like my own. This is about how I do it. I think that I'm allowed $60/day...but I rarely get there. However, if there's something that I'd really like that would push me over the limit...I don't hold back (happens once in a blue moo...

krannerd

We'll be paying with a check today. As it is nobody in their right mind would give me 0% financing because I have poor credit. My credit of late is great, but I'm still paying the piper for past mistakes. Any general recommendations on how much I might be able to get off percentage wise? Do most pe...

krannerd

One tactic that I like is when you're done negotiating the price of the furniture...ask about 0% interest financing. If they offer it, its likely that they are part of a merchant program that gives the store the cash immediately minus a few % in interest. If they agree to 0% financing, I'll offer to...

krannerd

I was not a boglehead during that period, and our portfolio was 100% equities. We didn't sell a thing, and continued monthly contributions to our 401K. I did stop looking at account summaries for a while, because it was too painful. Did the exact same thing. Only started getting really serious abou...

krannerd

Most zombie apocalypse plans involve a lot of looting and are not actual plans. My point to my friends was more that they could spend a little time on retirement planning (which I find to be much more likely to be needed). Dang. I was hoping for some free advice on how to retain wealth during the e...

krannerd

I asked my friend group, "Who has a zombie apocalypse plan?" All raised their hands. I'm interested in this impending zombie apocalypse thing. I've been doing some thinking about possible "disaster" scenarios and how to prepare for them (from having 15 gallons of fresh water in ...

krannerd

Wife has a 2007. It's pretty nice...can take the 3 of us a long vacation with no issues ( and lots of "stuff"). Power is very good...I've not had any issues with it at extra-legal speeds. It handles well for an SUV and I can drive almost 2 miles on battery alone (but not with her in the ca...

krannerd

My wife used care.com. We interviewed several candidates and selected a nanny that we've had for almost 2 years. Recommend their services. We've been very lucky, but think that any of the candidates would have been good for us.

krannerd

Three years ago Paypal 'double deducted" a payment from my bank account. It took just about four (4) months to straighten the matter out----plus LOTS of frustration----with them eventually redepositing the funds fo my account. I will only use the credit card option with them now-----never agai...

krannerd

0.20 Have a few funds in the 401k at 0.27 and 0.40 that are holding me back. Working to reallocate the 0.40 somewhere else.

krannerd

I used them for a 15 year refi in July. They were slow in the underwriting process...but I recommended to friends. 2 people used my recommendation for refis and were very pleased (but noted that underwriting was slow).

krannerd

I'm using this fund for exposure to non-Large US stocks. I thought it would be simpler than having dedicated small cap and mid cap funds. I'm open to suggestions for different funds. Any thoughts on the mechanics of how to achieve better tax efficiency between the 401k and Roth? Thank you for your o...

krannerd

First of all, congrats! I had always heard about 5% being the maximum threshold for a single security. I think that the Fidelity portfolio analyzer also flags anything above 5%. My employer matches contributions to my 401k in company stock. I typically sell all of it every 6 months....too many eggs ...

krannerd

After reading through the wiki about tax efficient fund placement, I've recognized that my funds are not placed optimally (example below with bonds in the Roth when they could be better placed in the 401k). My question is related to how to balance funds between tax advantaged accounts. Is there any ...

krannerd

I count it. My wife and I are vested in our company matches.

krannerd

runner9 wrote:Thanks for the update. Can I ask how they did the part on the roof? Just a ladder and buckets being carried or something more than that?

They set up scaffolding and had a pulley for the buckets. Wheelbarrows to get the stuff from the buckets to the truck.

krannerd

Status update: I had the chimney rebuilt today (started today). Long decision process that weighed the option of an insert vs. full replacement of the chimney. As they've torn it down, they removed several wheelbarrows full of dust (which used to be the mortar holding my chimney together), the flue ...

krannerd

Agree on getting an additional opinion. My boiler is 40 years old and is still in proper working order (after a safety inspection last month). I typically deal with an HVAC company that specializes in hot water systems...based on my extremely limited knowledge of boilers...cleaning the burners is so...

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