Search found 18363 matches

by Jack FFR1846
Tue Mar 05, 2024 6:49 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Let go from Megacorp at 42....can I retire?
Replies: 90
Views: 22212

Re: Let go from Megacorp at 42....can I retire?

Sell the investment property.

Move to a "not stupid expensive" place. While considered HCOL, outside Boston, DW and I didn't spend more than $50k when the kids weren't in college.

Your wife could find a job if you can't and you can stay at home while getting that investment property sold and research where you're going to move.
by Jack FFR1846
Mon Mar 04, 2024 4:21 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Estimating dividends/interest in retirement planning
Replies: 7
Views: 767

Re: Estimating dividends/interest in retirement planning

I've been tracking dividends and interest as I've just retired and the IRMAA dragon has scorched me with his flaming breath. So indeed, going forward, I am carefully keeping track of these so I can Roth convert as much as possible, staying below the IRMAA first limit. I'm trying to reduce my traditional IRA balance so that when RMDs hit, I don't get the double whammy of higher tax and IRMAA penalties. For the time being, I'm actively reducing any dividend producing funds in my taxable account and reducing my interest producing accounts.
by Jack FFR1846
Mon Mar 04, 2024 12:07 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: If/how/how much to financially assist kids that choose not to go to college
Replies: 48
Views: 3794

Re: If/how/how much to financially assist kids that choose not to go to college

We are in similar circumstances but years down the road. Older one went to private, east coast expensive college and attained his Engineering degree and is now working as a structural engineer. Total cost around $300k. Younger one has some learning disabilities and tried a year of community college. Courses of interest like engineering projects, math, science, he'd get an A. Ones of no interest like humanities or English, he failed. Left after one year. Did some work at Amazon, then was flailing. I got him to go to a welding course and paid the $16k for it. (that could be paid with a 529, by the way). Trouble getting a job and went into an HVAC course that I paid $5k for. I'd also give him money to live. He's now in a great job taking care ...
by Jack FFR1846
Mon Mar 04, 2024 6:00 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Retirement update
Replies: 15
Views: 2934

Re: Retirement update

What is your spending number based on? If it's what you spend today, that's sort of irrelevant. Health care costs when not working can be quite expensive, including Medicare. We planned for this when retiring last June and so were ready for our spending to rise by 50%. We don't travel, by the way.
by Jack FFR1846
Mon Mar 04, 2024 5:55 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Getting new car
Replies: 53
Views: 6240

Re: Car Insurance Issues

Here's what I do. In the business office as I set up the down payment and initial all the "NO's" for purified air, helium in the tires, engine paint protection, I give them my insurance agent's telephone number. Before going into the dealer, I called my agent to let them know that I was buying a car and what coverages I would want. The end.
by Jack FFR1846
Sun Mar 03, 2024 3:51 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio Review - about to retire, he is fine right?
Replies: 20
Views: 1788

Re: Portfolio Review - about to retire, he is fine right?

Has he looked into health expenses? Perhaps with his income, his ACA would have subsidies. I don't really know costs with them. Then there will be Medicare which for me was a huge increase in cost over my working plan.
by Jack FFR1846
Sun Mar 03, 2024 2:52 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: security issues in providing docs to tax preparer
Replies: 9
Views: 1115

Re: security issues in providing docs to tax preparer

I print every single doc, put them in a large envelope and send them to my tax preparer. She's free to make copies of everything and store them in an old fashioned filing cabinet if she wants to. Your tax preparer could print a copy or make a copy of the file. If you don't trust them, well, you'll need to do it yourself.
by Jack FFR1846
Sun Mar 03, 2024 2:26 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Tax impact of Gift vs Charity
Replies: 10
Views: 672

Re: Tax impact of Gift vs Charity

You can also just sell, take the cap gain and pay LTCG tax and spend it on something you really want.
by Jack FFR1846
Sun Mar 03, 2024 9:34 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: OK to pay down large chunk of mortgage?
Replies: 35
Views: 2743

Re: OK to pay down large chunk of mortgage?

You could do the complete math to see what you might actually save. Do you get any tax savings on your mortgage payments? Probably not with the large standard deduction these days. I'll assume not. Now for simplicity, I'll say you can get 5% putting the money into a HYSA or CD. Taxes in total might be 2% of that leaving you with a 3% after tax gain. Doesn't look all that cut and dry any more. In this case, what I would do (and did back in the day) would be to pay down the mortgage. In my case, we paid more every mortgage payment and then I cashed stock options on the day they became cashable and used that money to pay the balance. I became completely debt free at 45 years old. I've never been highly paid. Lucky with stock options given to m...
by Jack FFR1846
Sun Mar 03, 2024 6:48 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Keep Vested Company Stock or Withdraw?
Replies: 12
Views: 946

Re: Keep Vested Company Stock or Withdraw?

Anything including RSUs, ESPP, options. The milisecond it is able to be sold, sell it. Then put it into whatever your AA says to put it in. The end.
by Jack FFR1846
Sat Mar 02, 2024 8:32 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Getting new car
Replies: 53
Views: 6240

Re: Getting new car

Car Max is a great idea. Sedans are highly out of favor so their prices used tend to be far better than any SUV. Car Max also has really good extended warranties. Normally, I would only recommend a manufacturer backed one but Car Max is legendary for theirs. They perform repairs. You could look at Car Max's website near the location you're going to and see what they have and what they cost. They don't negotiate so that makes it easier. If a car doesn't sell, they DO lower the price periodically. You will notice that Car Max prices do tend to be a bit higher than other used car dealers where you can also negotiate it lower. But they're pretty stress free for buying.
by Jack FFR1846
Sat Mar 02, 2024 8:12 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Negotiating Full Size SUV
Replies: 23
Views: 3571

Re: Negotiating Full Size SUV

There are tons of resources in youtube channels. I'd start with CarEdge. They recently talked about the state of new and used car sales. Right now is "Tax Refund Time" where people have money and are buying used cars. Dealers have been stocking up for this and have raised prices. Along with this, the channel Car Questions Answered (a used car dealer) has said that they can't even keep with present demand and their small lot with 100 cars sold 40 last week. Back to CarEdge, they were saying for used, wait until early June. New is very dependent on inventory and days on the lot. CarEdge does have tools available to look at these pieces of information. I do know that Ram, Jeep, Dodge is hurtin' for certain with some models where deal...
by Jack FFR1846
Sat Mar 02, 2024 1:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Does healthcare remain a significant concern for retirement before 65, even with a well-planned budget?
Replies: 66
Views: 6330

Re: Even with a well-planned budget, does healthcare remain a significant concern for retirement before 65?

Health care costs beyond the employer plans that cost nearly nothing, comparatively need to be examined carefully. I retired last June. I'm on Medicare. DW and I did extensive research and calculations and for her, Cobra from my old employer was cheaper than ACA for the 2nd half of last year and on to this year. When doing your research, you can't just look at the premiums. Include deductibles, co-pays, any changes in co-pays, what's not covered etc. I'd warn you that thinking that when you get to Medicare age not to just exhale with relief thinking that you'll be paying nothing. Medicare has NO out of pocket max. In addition, many things are not covered for reasons that I can't even imagine. Co-pays start at a certain level and then when M...
by Jack FFR1846
Fri Mar 01, 2024 5:10 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: When do electric cars stop making sense?
Replies: 210
Views: 16094

Re: When do electric cars stop making sense?

At 40 or 50 cents/kWh I can't imagine a solar + battery system won't pay itself off in 5 years maybe less. We have a couple EVs and solar + battery system; both EVs are nearly 100% solar powered. This would seem to be the case at first glance. But without a battery, especially in winter, you get in your EV, drive away in the dark. Work for the day. Drive home and into your garage in the dark. No solar charging benefit at all. With a battery storage system, you can store the daytime energy and then charge your EV when you get home. But how many cycles does the battery last? And I know for sure it's not forever, having worked for several semiconductor companies who sold charger chips. All batteries have a lifetime. When considering an ICE ca...
by Jack FFR1846
Fri Mar 01, 2024 2:18 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Real Stories of College Savings: what was your plan, and what happened?
Replies: 98
Views: 7341

Re: Real Stories of College Savings: what was your plan, and what happened?

From the time my oldest son was 8, I attended numerous College Financial Planning seminars locally. It got me to look at the cost of colleges and be sure we were saving enough. I earmarked $1M to cover my 2 sons up to Bachelors graduation. I did find when going to the seminars that at every one, parents of high school seniors were severely shocked at the costs. Clearly, they had not looked. When my son went, the grandparents helped with random contributions. I did find that they increased the amount after I told them about being able to write a check to the Bursar and that it would not count towards a gift. At the end, Son #1 finished with only about $300k spent. Son #2 did a year of community college, so only $10k plus commuting costs and ...
by Jack FFR1846
Fri Mar 01, 2024 10:43 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Maximize Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP)?
Replies: 13
Views: 1112

Re: Maximize Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP)?

My story on reasons not to ever let it ride. I started a new job and read through the company literature which showed that I was late to get into the ESPP for that 6 month period. I filled in all the forms to get into the ESPP as soon as possible at the max allowed. I then ignored it. 7 months and looked and what's this? I did buy on the last go around at $48 which was 15% off. The price that day? $12. I sold and kicked myself.
by Jack FFR1846
Fri Mar 01, 2024 9:30 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medicare Claim Denials
Replies: 17
Views: 1863

Re: Medicare Claim Denials

Blood sugar test strips. Nope. Has to be another brand. I called Medicare and asked what brands are covered. Their answer was "We don't know. Ask your provider". Wonderful.

Another thing I couldn't believe. Generic insulin is not covered. Only brand name. In my state (MA), to prescribe a brand name, the doctor has to put the brand name on the prescription and the words "no substitution". So brand name for me is $35 a month. Generic, over $100.
by Jack FFR1846
Thu Feb 29, 2024 4:10 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Mini Excavator Question: CAT vs Kubota
Replies: 25
Views: 2650

Re: Mini Excavator Question: CAT vs Kubota

You mention you're on an island so perhaps the availability of used isn't great. For what you're talking about doing, I'd seriously consider going used and possibly doing a large tractor with a bucket and rear mounted excavator. I looked at prices of a new 35-4 and only looked at one online and it was $54k. Locally, there was a used tractor with the bucket and excavator mentioned. It was from the 80's and either a Deere or Cat and they were looking for $10k for it. Much bigger than the 35-4. I'm another Kubota owner but just a little compact tractor with a bucket. They aren't rocket science built things. Quite simple, really. I'd think something old and used but really big would still be serviceable and do way more than that little 35-4 wou...
by Jack FFR1846
Thu Feb 29, 2024 2:04 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How Can I Fix This Mess? - Investment Advice
Replies: 15
Views: 2420

Re: How Can I Fix This Mess? - Investment Advice

Your pension plus social security total $86,400 which is more than the average family of 4 makes in the US. You could have zero saved and live just fine.

All time high. How often do you think that occurs? It's once every 20 days. Look at a market graph starting in like 1960. Has it gone up in general? That's the kind of view you need to focus on.
by Jack FFR1846
Thu Feb 29, 2024 11:37 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Going all in on VYM/SCHD?
Replies: 57
Views: 7510

Re: Going all in on VYM/SCHD?

4. That doesn't sound right - from 1926, 38% of S&P 500 returns are from dividends. Regardless, a dividend payment to you is effectively the same as a forced sale - it is irrelevant to your net worth. It is an important mechanism for companies - it is not important from the perspective of you receiving the dividend except as a behavioral crutch for those investors who don't understand how the market works. certainly respect your views but i don't think its appropriate to call dividends a "behavioral crutch". Don't you think that is a bit hyperbolic? That "behavioral crutch" is earning me 18k/year at 15% tax right now. :sharebeer Dividends are exactly the same as RMDs. People seem to love dividends then hate RMDs. Bo...
by Jack FFR1846
Thu Feb 29, 2024 8:23 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medicare: 64 Year Old Eyeing 2025 Medicare
Replies: 168
Views: 11449

Re: Medicare: 64 Year Old Eyeing 2025 Medicare

Original Medicare is, I think, the only health insurance coverage in the US that doesn't have a maximum out of pocket. If it did, I"d be more inclined to take it. What, might I ask, are you talking about? I’ve known lots of seniors with hugely expensive medical conditions, with Traditional Medicare, an approved Medicare supplement and Part D drug coverage. I don’t know of any who had huge, unlimited out of pocket bills. I don’t even know of anyone who knows anyone with huge bills in this situation. Does anyone here know of anyone with a good Traditional Medicare setup who has huge bills? Talking about Medicare part D, the drug plan, there is NO out of pocket max. How it works is that you're first covered with a low copay and that depe...
by Jack FFR1846
Thu Feb 29, 2024 6:03 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: When do electric cars stop making sense?
Replies: 210
Views: 16094

Re: When do electric cars stop making sense?

At 40 or 50 cents/kWh I can't imagine a solar + battery system won't pay itself off in 5 years maybe less. We have a couple EVs and solar + battery system; both EVs are nearly 100% solar powered. This would seem to be the case at first glance. But without a battery, especially in winter, you get in your EV, drive away in the dark. Work for the day. Drive home and into your garage in the dark. No solar charging benefit at all. With a battery storage system, you can store the daytime energy and then charge your EV when you get home. But how many cycles does the battery last? And I know for sure it's not forever, having worked for several semiconductor companies who sold charger chips. All batteries have a lifetime. When considering an ICE ca...
by Jack FFR1846
Wed Feb 28, 2024 8:34 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: When do electric cars stop making sense?
Replies: 210
Views: 16094

Re: When do electric cars stop making sense?

There are plusses and minuses to EVs. Most of them accelerate much better than gas cars because an electric motor has maximum torque at 0 RPM and a gas car at some thousands of RPM. They can be quieter. But are they cheaper to run? Depends completely on your own costs. I'm in a similar boat with 38 cents a kWh and under $3 a gallon of gas with a 35 mpg car. If looking for total cost, look at insurance, tire life and how repairs can be done (Tesla reference). It's been said on this forum that we don't know if gas is going to suddenly go up. It has near me where 2 months ago, it was $2.69 at the no name station in Westborough and last I drove by, it's now $2.95. That's a 9.7% increase! In the same period, my electricity went from 28 cents a k...
by Jack FFR1846
Wed Feb 28, 2024 4:17 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Contract shall survive the closing, Home purchase FL
Replies: 17
Views: 1652

Re: Contract shall survive the closing, Home purchase FL

Since you have an attorney, why not have him draft the contract? While I have not done that, the contract for the home I'm in, the sellers did exactly that. We had our attorney review it.
by Jack FFR1846
Wed Feb 28, 2024 11:02 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth Conversion or not?
Replies: 13
Views: 1065

Re: Roth Conversion or not?

It's worth doing the math on various strategies. Surprisingly, the 35% tax bracket is the only one that does not change in 2026. Must be where Congressmen's income falls. But other things to consider: Social Security: What percentage gets taxed when RMDs start? Medicare: Where will you fall in the IRMAA scale, especially when RMDs start. What age you are matters as if you're working and below 65, you have time to only have to pay income taxes. Once you get into Medicare, add in IRMAA and when you hit RMDs, add those. It also depends what your strategy is for when you retire. A very common one I see is to stay in the very low tax brackets like 12% (15% in 2026), get ACA supplement or stay well out of Medicare IRMAA and of course pay very lit...
by Jack FFR1846
Wed Feb 28, 2024 8:50 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medicare: 64 Year Old Eyeing 2025 Medicare
Replies: 168
Views: 11449

Re: Medicare: 64 Year Old Eyeing 2025 Medicare

With original Medicare with a supplement, you'll likely be able to use all of your present providers. Once you sign up for Medicare, you can get into Medicare.gov and do your own searches. This is mostly for the supplement and part D drug coverage. The selector guide is pretty good as you put in all of your prescriptions and pharmacies (yes, that matters) and see what costs are of each drug and totals. Note that the way Medicare works is that you are paying a co-pay and Medicare keeps track of what they're paying. Once they pay enough, you go into the infamous "doughnut hole" and your co-pays skyrocket. After enough skyrocket payments, it goes back to normal co-pays. Medicare for me is a big game. I get one prescription from anoth...
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Feb 27, 2024 6:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Where to find franchise opportunities?
Replies: 17
Views: 1875

Re: Where to find franchise opportunities?

I looked into a bunch maybe a decade ago. Go directly to the home site of the franchise. McDonalds, Subway, Music Go Round. They can be extremely helpful. I found Music Go Round to be the most helpful with all expected costs, ability to work with existing franchise owners and a much, much lower cost than others like McDonalds and Subway. I also found that some like Subway require more than one location to get the franchise. I'm not sure if you can buy a single location. I didn't have enough interest in them to go talk with owners. I did find existing franchise locations for sale. To me, in the end, getting a franchise felt like an expensive way to get my own business where I'd have to work 80 hours a week just to get it going. Off the top o...
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Feb 27, 2024 6:09 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: 60K Auto Service
Replies: 3
Views: 810

Re: 60K Auto Service

The first thing I do is to find out exactly what is included in the manufacturers 60k mile service. Not what the dealer will do as they will commonly increase what's done to increase profits. Looking at what Toyota says for this car, it's building on top of mileage to figure out each mileage. Included in the 60; 15k: Oil and filter Check all fluids Tires rotated and balanced (I don't know why they think they need to be re-balanced) Check air filter. Replace if needed 30k: All the above Check fuel filter. Replace if needed. Check brake pads. Replace if needed. Check the suspension and shocks. 60k: All the above Check the battery. Replace if needed. Replace brake fluid Check the brake rotors. Replace if needed. Check coolant. Replace if neede...
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Feb 27, 2024 4:50 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Can I make this retirement work?
Replies: 32
Views: 6871

Re: Can I make this retirement work?

From the mortgage amount and years left, that's one very expensive house. I'd certainly look into a smaller house in a less expensive area with your savings amount. Or you could rent which would reduce your monthly expense. Do you still have kids at home?
by Jack FFR1846
Mon Feb 26, 2024 6:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Advice on Paying for Care of Elderly Uncle
Replies: 62
Views: 6525

Re: Advice on Paying for Care of Elderly Uncle

This is clearly a very tough situation in a number of separate ways. The uncle is unreasonable and expects relatives to take care of him. He likely is unwilling to spend a dime on his own care. He has assets that could pay for his care but is unwilling to use them at all. The mom is strong willed which makes any strategy to actually help the uncle likely impossible. While she is at her wits end taking care of him, she likely won't do anything that the uncle wouldn't like. We are currently in a situation where a relative is in a hospice home because of cancer and the unwillingness to do treatment again (he's 92 and went through treatment several times in the past). Let me describe his behaviors, the family's work, the various costs. He's bee...
by Jack FFR1846
Mon Feb 26, 2024 2:15 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What did I do wrong to trigger the wash sales?
Replies: 22
Views: 2481

Re: What did I do wrong to trigger the wash sales?

I'm not going to go through all of them but you have buy/sell of IVV on oct 2 and 4. Wash. Not sure if you're looking for the amount or something. I always avoid completely any transaction of the same fund/stock within 31 days. I'll tend to do obvious pairing to me. Sell $100k of VTI for a loss and buy $100k of BRK/b, is typical for me.
by Jack FFR1846
Mon Feb 26, 2024 7:12 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Accounting for fees when using the 4% rule
Replies: 19
Views: 2135

Re: Accounting for fees when using the 4% rule

If instead, you make a "retirement spending" list, you can avoid the missed expenses (literally half going by the OP's description). With that list, you can include taxes, AUM thievery, Ourageously high ERs and everything else. Beyond the list, if you then build yourself a simple Excel file with annual spending, income, assets and an expected percentage return on your assets, you can look forward in years and see what your savings will be. If 10 years out, it goes negative, then you really need to address this by either working longer or reducing your spending. And that spending includes taxes, AUM and ERs. I view the 4% rule as nothing more than a guide to "hey, look, you might be ok to retire with what you've got". It'...
by Jack FFR1846
Sun Feb 25, 2024 7:16 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: From stunned, to appalled and terrorized. [Looking for financial advisor]
Replies: 23
Views: 4747

Re: From stunned, to appalled and terrorized. [Looking for financial advisor]

Why does your account need to be managed? This is a serious question. Fidelity did a study of it's own 401k owners. People who forgot they had an account, didn't ever do anything or ignored their account did far better than any other kind of investment owner. I was likely one of those people as I left my account alone, ignoring it through the 2008 downturn and by the time I looked at it, guess how much I lost. Nothing. So indeed, ignoring your investments is a completely valid strategy.

It would not hurt, however to document all of your investments with a cost for each. This can point out things like where you're needlessly paying 1% for an S&P 500 fund when you can get the same elsewhere for 1/20th that pretty easily.
by Jack FFR1846
Sun Feb 25, 2024 10:05 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: REITs vs Residential Real Estate
Replies: 11
Views: 1235

Re: REITs vs Residential Real Estate

If this happened to me, my very first step would be to contact a real estate agent or 3 and get estimates on the expected sale price of these apartments. If you're considering renting them out, take 1% of the expected sale price and see if that can be had for monthly rent. So if an apartment is worth $650k, your minimum rent should be $6500. If you cannot get that, then you should sell. With the stepped up basis, this becomes nearly free money. Yes, you'd pay whatever real estate agent commissions come in but that also drops the basis so you won't pay any capital gains. If you won't sell and can't get 1% in rent, I have to ask why? Another Boglehead pointed out that if you sell the real estate and buy an SPIA, depending on your age, you lik...
by Jack FFR1846
Sat Feb 24, 2024 4:28 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Vehicle damaged and liable party has low coverage limits
Replies: 45
Views: 4028

Re: Vehicle damaged and liable party has low coverage limits

- I called my insurance first, they told me to call their insurance unless I wanted to file a claim under mine. That annoyed me but what can I do? - My insurance has no thoughts on these options when I told them, they pretty much said I can file with them or not. - The car is totaled I can gurantee, so the body shop is pretty much a formality to get the car somewhere it isn’t incurring daily fees - My insurance advised me this is NOT what uninsured/underinsured insurance is for(I carry both). That is only for bodily injury at least in my state, this will be a collision coverage claim thus my premium increasing and being on the hook for deductible Your insurance company or agent is total garbage for telling you to go to the other company. O...
by Jack FFR1846
Sat Feb 24, 2024 4:14 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Questions about Whole Life
Replies: 128
Views: 9629

Re: Questions about Whole Life

Leverage, being able to use the money as a sort of "loan" and that the interest I pay is actually less since the return on the policy is 3-4% so the spread would be about 2% in the current market rate. Do you figure you need to borrow your own money for some reason? You do understand that there would absolutely be fees for taking a loan of your own money here. Hey....if you didn't give this insurance company your money, you'd already have your money and could loan it to yourself at 0% interest. So the quoted rationalization is BS Tax free benefits: being able to pass on my money tax free You know how you also can pass on your money tax free? Buy stock in your Roth or taxable account. When you pass, your heirs get it at with the b...
by Jack FFR1846
Sat Feb 24, 2024 3:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do your intra-company yearly raises keep with inflation?
Replies: 60
Views: 6054

Re: Do your inter-company yearly raises keep with inflation?

Nope.

My last company offered 2% to 3% raises once every 3 years. They did seem to up the RSUs, quarterly bonuses and ESPP matching as my total comp nearly doubled over 8 years.

Previous company where I worked for 4 years: They had the first set of raises in 10 years while I was there. They told me that I was making over what my job description said I should. Not to take into consideration that I took the job for $70k less than my previous job. Zero raise there. So in almost 11 years, total actual raises just added up were 7%.
by Jack FFR1846
Fri Feb 23, 2024 6:29 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Vehicle damaged and liable party has low coverage limits
Replies: 45
Views: 4028

Re: Vehicle damaged and liable party has low coverage limits

Work ONLY with your insurance company.

If you were not at fault at all, your premiums will not go up.

If the other person's insurance does not cover your entire loss, your company will. Worst case, you pay deductible.

If you have chosen a body shop, ask the insurance company if you should have your car towed there or if they can arrange it.

Why people deal with the other person's insurance company is beyond me. If the other driver only has $5k in liability coverage, and your damage is $10k, the other company is only going to give you $5k. If you have a $500 deductible and you go through your insurance, you'll at worst be out $500.
by Jack FFR1846
Fri Feb 23, 2024 5:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Retirement withdrawals
Replies: 9
Views: 2042

Re: Retirement withdrawals

Have you calculated what your RMDs will be? They can push you up in tax brackets and even push your Medicare premiums up if you're over the IRMAA limits, and that applies to both of you. I've done the calculations myself and when both DW and I hit RMD time, we'll be well over the IRMAA limits and high in tax, which goes up in 2026. Our action to reduce this is we're doing Roth conversions up to just under the IRMAA limit.
by Jack FFR1846
Fri Feb 23, 2024 11:11 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Just retired and need opinions/advice on what to do with Lump Sum
Replies: 11
Views: 2233

Re: Just retired and need opinions/advice on what to do with Lump Sum

You really don't need to consider this lump sum to be any different from if you had that amount in your 401k and rolled into a tIRA. Fold it into your AA without drama. No decisions really need to be made. You certainly could look ahead towards Medicare and IRMAA and RMDs and plan to Roth convert some of that yearly. Also remember that in 2026, the tax rates go back up so doing conversions now to the top of the 24% bracket will be cheaper tax wise than if you wait and convert to only the top of today's 22% bracket which is going up to 25%. Later, once you're on Medicare, if your total income, which includes interest, dividends from taxable, any cap gains, social security that's taxable and Roth conversions among possible others needs to sta...
by Jack FFR1846
Thu Feb 22, 2024 8:59 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Punctured tire on Model 3 - WWYD
Replies: 16
Views: 2028

Re: Punctured tire on Model 3 - WWYD

Are there any used tire shops near you? Or junkyards? I know of a couple shops near me and the junkyard I always go to has a complete indoor section. I'd look there for a 3 to 5 /32" tread depth tire and put that on the car. If not, 4 new tires.
by Jack FFR1846
Thu Feb 22, 2024 8:45 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Funding a New Vehicle
Replies: 33
Views: 3295

Re: Funding a New Vehicle

Buy a new car and take dealer financing (or pay an extra $1000 if you want to be stubborn and pay cash). After 4 payments, pay extra. This gives you plenty of time to decide.

Used cars save you nothing today. Heck, I was looking at a 2017 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon. I couldn't pull the trigger at $33,995. What I could have bought this thing originally new for was $35k.
by Jack FFR1846
Thu Feb 22, 2024 8:41 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tech Compensation
Replies: 39
Views: 5178

Re: Tech Compensation

This is by no means a Bay area exclusive thing. My last job (I'm now retired since June) is based in Arizona, makes chips and I worked out of a sales office west of Boston. My RSUs are likely similar to Bay area companies where every quarter, I'm granted more RSUs that vest in 1 to 4 years. So after 8 years in the job, the non-vested shares are hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's the engineer's golden handcuffs. I timed leaving such that the biggest bonus plus RSUs coincided at the end of May (I left June 23rd to be sure). While the Boston area is known to some to be high cost, living below our means, we paid off the house over 20 years ago and easily lived with our paid off house and 4 paid off cars for $50k a year. I'm sure that's not ...
by Jack FFR1846
Wed Feb 21, 2024 3:12 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Car Advice Needed
Replies: 34
Views: 3214

Re: Car Advice Needed

Ok, so let me address the control arms. At this mileage, the bushings are worn out. I don't know on a Civic what it takes to replace the bushings, but I expect not a lot. They're not like a Crosstrek/Impreza/Forester with the stupid horizontal bushing that takes a $700 Snap On bushing tool and $65 for a bushing. But these things are readily available and if they plan to just replace the whole thing which gives you all the bushings and new ball joints then go to Rock Auto. The MOST expensive control arm on their list is $75. The cheapest $33. These parts are NOT rocket science. The sway bar end links, are also wicked cheap. I'll leave the rest to others. I'll mention that my son and I did the lower front control arms on our 200k mile, 11 yea...
by Jack FFR1846
Wed Feb 21, 2024 2:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Who keeps original will?
Replies: 68
Views: 6532

Re: Who keeps original will?

DW was personal representative for her aunt. Her latest will was with her lawyer. Her lawyer died. Nobody in the law firm had any idea where the will was. There was a copy of a previous will in her safe deposit box and that was submitted to the probate court who accepted it. I don't know who the will should go to. DW and I have our originals in a safe in our house.
by Jack FFR1846
Wed Feb 21, 2024 11:19 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Car Advice Needed
Replies: 34
Views: 3214

Re: Car Advice Needed

An 8th gen Civic Si is about the best Honda ever made. If I were to buy a Honda, it would be my first choice. Well, a new NSX or S2000 would be first, but otherwise an 8th gen Si would do it. Something else is being quoted. I can't even add up to that with a new Pro-Alloy all aluminum radiator ($500), clutch kit, flywheel, throw out bearing, pilot bearing, clutch master and slave, timing belt, water pump, tensioner, doing the valve adjustment, spark plugs, coils, valve cover/spark plug seals. All that is maybe $2500. This is still in the generation of "easiest of any car in existence to fix" which makes it great for a newbie DIY mechanic. My first ever timing belt was on a single cam CRX-Si and soon after on a dual cam Integra and...
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Feb 20, 2024 7:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Excluding a young adult driver who no longer lives at home from my insurance policy
Replies: 34
Views: 2528

Re: Excluding a young adult driver who no longer lives at home from my insurance policy

That's not really true. Insurance prices are highly regulated, based on what the insurance company can prove for costs. You might get a slight new customer discount, but not even 10%. Other companies, like State Farm, offer a loyalty bonus. Depends on the state. I'm in Mass and when my older son bought his first car, he shopped around. He ended up with the same company I have (Mapfre through an Independent Agent). The quote he got from Geico was 3 times what Mapfre charges. I'd love if he were able to get Geico as I'm a Berkshire owner. On exclusion, I've done it multiple times. But we both sign the form and we all know very well that if an excluded person ever drives the car and causes a claim, the insurance goes to state minimum which at...
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Feb 20, 2024 5:31 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should I move my inherited IRA to Vanguard?
Replies: 19
Views: 1530

Re: Should I move my inherited IRA to Vanguard?

Schwab also reimburses transfer fees. Even with a small transfer. I retired and transferred $3500 from my work account with eTrade. I called Schwab to see if they would and how to do it. It worked quite well. Good move on their part as I've been simplifying and that's kept my second account at Schwab rather than consolidating everything at Fidelity.
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Feb 20, 2024 8:41 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: When do winter/snow tires make sense? Do you have a second set of wheels?
Replies: 80
Views: 5137

Re: When do winter/snow tires make sense? Do you have a second set of wheels?

I'm sure many people who live in urban snowy areas wonder why anyone needs snow tires as those urban areas are plowed and salted to death before they even get up in the morning to drive the 6 feet from their driveway to the street. We experienced what people without snows found when our kids were small and we had just 6 inches of new, wet snow on our driveway. Our driveway is a good test as it goes about 50 feet, then around a huge oak, so there's no run up before the hill. The hill starts right after the oak. Total distance is about 800 feet with 200 feet being hill. I can't tell you how many 4x4 mini vans, explorers and Suburbans got stuck 1/4 of the way up the hill and called us to come get their son for the play date at the bottom of th...
by Jack FFR1846
Tue Feb 20, 2024 7:57 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Thoughts on buying cheap, used, "intermediate" range EV?
Replies: 168
Views: 13615

Re: Thoughts on buying cheap, used, "intermediate" range EV?

The EV depreciation issue is overblown. How can you say this? Tesla dropped new car prices 4 times last year. The average Ford dealer now has dozens of Mach e's and Lightnings they can't sell. Lucky Lopez (Las Vegas dealer) just did a video about EV values dropping. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkTgpGrdOyU Craig from Flying Wheels picked up a leftover new Audi e Tron GT last year, paying about $100k. Today it's for sale (he's a used car dealer in New Hampshire) with a list price of $83k https://www.flying-wheels.com/details/used-2022-audi-e-tron-gt/100442711 but in his latest video, he says with values dropping, it's only worth $65k. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1sU_-b7TO0&t=5s Ford has stopped producing EVs, having said last ye...