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  1. Mr Gadget

    Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV)

    Last summer I purchased the top of the line Kia Sportage "Prestige" edition at around $50K without any rebates. Love the car and usually plug in at home or anywhere I can find free or cheap chargers, I'm averaging about 85 to 95 eMPG, but if I never plugged it in, it only gets 26 MPG. My cost to...
  2. Mr Gadget

    The worst present you ever received?

    The gift wasn't so bad as my reaction to it. 6 or so me was gifted a Christmas present by distant relatives that I didn't really know when they visited (I believe they met me previously when I was a toddler), it was a small football. My exact comment when I unwrapped it (that is often repeated...
  3. Mr Gadget

    Home EV charging

    I installed a NeoCharge Smart Splitter 240V on the Dryer plug in the laundry room that is next to the garage. I limited it to 24 Amps on a 30 amp circuit. It also self monitors so I have dual protection from it and the original Circuit Breaker. My plug in charger (A Wallbox, and just completed...
  4. Mr Gadget

    We are living a lie...

    AS always, it depends on the circumstance. The article is a way to draw in people who are interested in beginning financial planning from a bunch of "planners' in UT looking for new "customers." Some good, some blatantly bad advice, like others have mentioned. But I disagree with its title...
  5. Mr Gadget

    Overcoming our fear of the future.

    For me, it was reading Peter DiaMandis book "Abundance." I had been slipping into the prepper mindset after retiring back in 2010, and falling for the fear constantly being [-]sold[/-] promoted on media, specifically social media, which I try to stay away from. That book was instrumental in...
  6. Mr Gadget

    Slim Wallet vs. Tri-Fold Wallet

    I switched to a front wallet at least a decade ago and liked it so much I purchased at least 10 at that time. I had to go back on Amazon and Ebay to find examples like https://www.amazon.com/Zitahli-Wallet-Mens-Wallets-Blocking-Minimalist/dp/B084KJDYKR, but mine are made out of various colors of...
  7. Mr Gadget

    Happy 20th Anniversary to Early-Retirement.org!

    Happy anniversary, so thankful. I joined in 2009 and retired in 2010.
  8. Mr Gadget

    Farthest points

    I guess Denali up north, inside the straight around the southern tip of Chile, but I had 47 countries flags on my retirement plaque. I ended up circumnavigating the planet over 6 months duration, but I flew home after the Persian Gulf 'War' the opposite way my ship had been sent. That was after...
  9. Mr Gadget

    Biggest Worry

    I worry about a lot of things as they grab my attention, then I go do what I can to better personal situations I or my family are in, because most of those 'worries,' I have absolutely no control over. Like "What is the great filter?"
  10. Mr Gadget

    Accepting My Mortality

    I have fortune cookie saying on my rear view mirror that I've had for a few years now. "As one grows to undrstand life less and less, one learns to live life more and more."
  11. Mr Gadget

    Tax strategy for capital gains/ROTH conversions

    Thanks on the wash sale clarification, I think we already have a step up from when the first parent passed several years ago, not sure if we get it again when the second parent passes, but do know my sister (who is the executor of the eventual estate) had some form completed (on the CPA's...
  12. Mr Gadget

    Tax strategy for capital gains/ROTH conversions

    That is the main quandry, all of the beneficiarys are in very different tax brackets and my remaining parent is in a high bracket. The CPA is attempting to see if it makes financial sense to convert more into ROTH now or wait until it has to be split. At least we have a trust we are following...
  13. Mr Gadget

    Tax strategy for capital gains/ROTH conversions

    Yep, plus traditional IRA's which could increase income for up to ten years. Not worried about the portion that is already ROTH. My current pension is not large, but this will push me much higher, and I was hoping to convert my TSP to ROTH during my spouses window of retirement before drawing...
  14. Mr Gadget

    Tax strategy for capital gains/ROTH conversions

    SecondCor521 Thanks on #1. Most definitely not 'banking' on anything. I would be fine without any inheritance and really wasn't planning on it. Would prefer my parents were still here, mentally. But as I said, Alzheimer's really sucks and isn't something anyone really can plan for. I'm just...
  15. Mr Gadget

    Tax strategy for capital gains/ROTH conversions

    Thanks braumeister, will pay attention to state/fed differences. That is exactly what I was asking to watch out for. The inheritance will be below the inheritance tax for my parents estate (unless taxes are changed drastically) because its divided amongst siblings, but it has its own income...
  16. Mr Gadget

    Tax strategy for capital gains/ROTH conversions

    Trying to figure out two confusing tax issues. Acknowledge that we're lucky to have them. Our current financial advisor is still vauge on solutions, so I thought I'd query the group here and see if anyone else had navigated these issues before. Been FIRE'd and living fine on a modest military...
  17. Mr Gadget

    Military retirement

    Wow, memories. Thanks again to Nords, I used your advice on this forum before you wrote the book, and I've sent it to several family and friends in the military since. As I said ten years ago in my very first post, Nords is the man! I fully retired 10 years ago after doing 26 years across two...
  18. Mr Gadget

    I have a gut dislike for authority figures.

    I always felt that most people rose to their level of incompetence. I did, became a manager and realized that I sucked, so I retired early. They've been paying me to stay away ever since, it's nice. ;D
  19. Mr Gadget

    I Voted

    Received my mail in ballot, filled it out, and took it in (first time) to an early drop off location. Received both an email and text that it was being signature verified and then confirmed. I've been voting by mail for decades (military) so this isn't any real change for me.
  20. Mr Gadget

    Best inventions of past 100 years

    Transistor - (which leads to computers/internet/smartphones) Blockchain - (which MAY lead to distributed databases/contracts) DNA - (not actually invented, but actually the knowledge about it and leads to CRISPR)
  21. Mr Gadget

    roth vs tsp

    I thought there was talk about being able to convert funds within TSP to the new ROTH, specifically for Vets that were no longer contributing income. Of course Taxes would still be due.
  22. Mr Gadget

    Happiest States............

    And I can't wait to FIRE and get out of the grey in the Midwest and go back home to the sunny year round sky's of AZ. Everyone has their own paradise, I hope you are enjoying yours or looking forward to which one you prefer. :whistling:
  23. Mr Gadget

    Haiti as a prelude to Armageddon

    Relative newbie here, and I always learn something from perusing these forums, but I'm gonna try to hijack this thread back to the OP's question, but wanted to comment that the next video with Neil drGrasse Tyson had me thinking I need to be able to relocate to the Moon or Pluto. :laugh:Video...
  24. Mr Gadget

    Buying a car... what do you think...

    Parents just traded in a 99 F150 for an Elantra 3 months ago, my father is a frugal man, and he shopped around for a while before deciding. He likes what he's got (the surprise was they really liked the bluetooth interface, but I had to set it up for them). I've driven a few G6 and G5 rental...
  25. Mr Gadget

    Mystery blob

    There is actually a movie about this story, Creepshow 2 came out in 1987, Creepshow 2 (1987) I'm not a fan of horror movies, and I can be sure that my uneasiness in swimming at lakes resulted from seeing this movie.
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