Recent content by hs2inparadise

Thanks for your prompt responses to my question. I do have my credits and will check out the online calculator. I love this forum! Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

I retired 6 years ago at the age of 38. Yesterday I got my statement of benefits from Social Security which has me wondering if I will be eligible for any benefits even if I hadn't worked for over 20 years by the time I reach 62.5. Obviously the rules may change in the future, but I'm wondering...

I live on Kauai and you definitely need to rent a car. The port is at the midpoint of the island so the respective ends of the road are about an hour drive in each direction. Given you only have a day and a half at best (assuming you got an early start the second day), it's a tough call as to...

It seems so odd to me that some place would say they don't rent to people who don't have jobs. Retired people rent all the time. I have not worked for almost 6 years now and have signed three different leases showing assets and it has never been a issue. Sent from my iPhone using Early...

This is a PV of an annuity problem. Plugging the numbers into an online annuity calculator (or spreadsheet) will help you to judge if the decision makes sense. You will have to make some assumptions about the opportunity cost of the 75k you would spend to buy your years now, how long you will...

Making friends is hard work. And many people struggle with it. I wouldn't write anyone off just because they declined an invitation without suggesting a later meeting. Just keep trying until you have lost interest in the effort. Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

I am looking into a VRBO for a trip this fall and was shocked by the HORRIBLE cancellation policy. Each rental varies, but the one I was looking at seemed standard. It costs $160 to cancel any time prior to 60 days before arrival and is non-refundable at any point later than at. So basically you...

Just scanned the responses, so forgive me if this is a repeat, but I would bet that most of that 43% is not individuals, but Wall Street investment funds. Billions have been pooled to buy rentals in depressed markets (Phoenix and Las Vegas come to mind)...

As far as getting the students on the university policy, the fact that they are no longer covered under your old insurance might be a qualifying event which would allow them to enroll at an unusual time of year.

I moved to Kauai about four years ago living in San Diego for about 35 years. Here are some thoughts on what other posts have mentioned. Rain: the annual rain totals are deceptive. The north shore gets about 200 inches a year, but a lot comes at night and it tends to come in big chunks where...

The fact that you can contribute to the 401k with pretax money makes it a great vehicle for saving. Every dollar that goes there is earning an amazing return well above the annoying 6.55% on that student loan just because you are not paying income tax on it. For that reason, the 401k would be my...

I had BCBS of California when I was pregnant and moved to Hawaii. They had something called a travel plan or something like that. It allowed me to become a 'visiting member' of BCBS in Hawaii. I filled out a form and saw doctor's here but the California insurance covered the bills. It worked...

Regarding the different birth years for military vs census records: the draft cards are usually filled out by the individual and often, I've noticed, are off by a year or two to make them less likely to be called for service. Sometimes a young boy would adjust his age upward to make himself...

I found his 'real estate is the key to net worth' arguments overly simplistic, not practical and generally misleading. He assumes that people would never need/want to move. Also he implies that owning a house=free living without considering maintenance or taxes.

I have been researching my tree for over 15 years and now have close to 8000 people in the tree. So yeah, if you have the bug, it can become quite a consuming hobby. I've had a lot of fun connecting with living distant cousins (mostly 3rd cousins now, but some even more distant). In the last...