Recent content by deepc

In the spirit of not taxing the rich. Just received my Retiree Account Statement and FITW went up 18 percent from last year based on the new tax rates. $260 monthly to $306. Have not seen a COLA in two years. Sure glad that I could be of service to those rich folks who need the cash.

I'll agree with taking the money out, eating the surrender fee, and moving on with life. Withdrawals 10 pct at a time until some future date will have you calculating time/risk/benefits more than this bunch is worth. It's a big bite proportionately, but in the long term stretch of things your...

It doesn't have to come from China to get you sick. Sam's Club and other discounters purchase meat from immensely large producers; Cargill has been the source of several Sam's Club meat recalls over the past two years. Meat starts to decompose the instant the animal is dead. Do you want Sam's...

One other consideration with the I bond is that the penalty is the LAST three months interest. So if you do have another period of low or no interest (first time I experienced that was the last six months) you can trade a 12-60 month old I bond for essentially no penalty. This would be of...

Never a dime from our folks on either side. Not for college, not for nothing. So grew up a cheap and mean person, now FIREd. Then, from another part of the family we saw another way. The cousin never worked a day in his life. Sponged off Mom and Dad, got married and now his wife supports...

The only thing to ponder beyond the pure mathematics of it is the possibility that the bank won't let you take a penalty and withdraw. I like USAA as much as the next guy, but this line on p. 11 of the Depositary Agreement concerns me: "If Bank consents to an early withdrawal, Bank will...

CDs are probably your best option. Short term rates are awful, but you could put it in a long term running around 4 pct, keep it there 12-18 months, pull it out, and still net more than a short term CD even with the penalty (often 6 months worth of interest). Alternatively to avoid the...

I think I know where you're going with this, but it totally discounts the unanticipated expenses that today's military member (officer or enlisted) accepts as expected. These include tours as a geo-bachelor (very typical today, two households, one BAH), moves at a ridiculous frequency (like...

64. Guess it's just ignorance. Or the fact that I'm retired, under 50 yo, can't buy any more IRAs, may not ever see SS, and no way would touch an annuity. No questions on tax credits for full time students, not interested.

Those PenFed rates do look good now, but if inflation goes where many say it will (I don't necessarily agree that we'll see this) then that long term at 6 pct or so may be a hit to the pocket. I Bonds are an adjunct to a CD ladder to us truly risk averse folks, one that will keep up (somewhat)...

A recurring theme in your post seems to be that creditors or claimants would not be able to touch your assets in case of a claim. So, what if through no fault of your own or negligence someone were to injure themselves on your property? Or you should negligently run into someone with your car...

Look at the last couple years though. Usual routine is to drop interest rates to fight deflation, isn't it? More money available, price of goods stays high? Is it possible that the government has been worried about deflation all along? There are no real estate sales happening here at...

Mostly non-fiction, "Line Upon a Wind" by Noel Mostert about Britain's war at sea from 1793-1815. Also "Stressed Out About Nursing School" by Stephanie Thibeault as I go off to school this fall (and am not really stressed about it, but open to learning anything I can before I get there.)...

Well we're already paying their bad mortgages through the results of this whole mess. Here's a question: Some of the wealthier folks in town here have had notices of foreclosure posted in the local paper on their properties, these are the notices for public auction found in the legal...

Well samclem we're gonna have to agree to disagree. Here's another couple Heinlein quotes for you, he's one of my favorites too: "A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity." "Man is not a rational...