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    "Personal Capital" alternative?

    No problems at all with PC here, but I don’t use Schwab. I use the “free” version.
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    Empower retirement company?

    My 401k, which is still at my employer I retired from a year ago, was with MassMutual for many years until being acquired by Empower in early 2021. I am very pleased with the customer service I receive from Empower. I can’t say how it compares to the old MassMutual, since I never did anything...
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    Questioning the 4% plan in retirement

    I wouldn’t risk it yet. I own a boat and the acronym BOAT for Break Out Another Thousand seems to apply to boats much less expensive than $400K. I’d be counting on breaking out another ten thousand, when it come to a boat of that size.
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    Has Vanguard Lost its way?

    The article at this CNBC link states a partial outage Vanguard is currently experiencing may cause people not to be able to make their RMDs on time. I am not at that age yet, but if that happened to me and I had to go through the hassle of requesting a penalty waiver from the IRS, that would be...
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    FI forums for Simple People

    Simple is Good Money is human happiness in the abstract: he, then, who is no longer capable of enjoying human happiness in the concrete devotes himself utterly to money. - Arthur Schopenhauer
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    What do you take to help you sleep?

    A couple hits on a joint and I’m in La La land.
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    Hello from the Great Lakes - Our ER & FI Plans

    I thank you, Ready2Save! I wish you all the best in meeting your target.
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    Hello from the Great Lakes - Our ER & FI Plans

    Thanks for the kind words RobotMom and pacergal. My plans sound about the same as RobotMom’s. I plan on picking up a lot of the things DW has been doing all along (grocery shopping, cooking, etc.) so she has more free time both during the week and on the weekends. She loves her job and made...
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    Hello from the Great Lakes - Our ER & FI Plans

    Good morning, all. I have continued reading and learning from all of you and it has been much appreciated. Work stress ended up getting the best of me, so I retired on March 31st of this year at age 56 and I thought I’d post a quick update. We have since sold the 2017 new build and bought a...
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    2018 Spending Summary and Analysis

    DW and I live in Midwest and spent a little over $60,000 with no mortgage, no car payments, $5K property tax, $5K vacation. It is what we expect for this stage of our lives, so luckily no surprises. We did decide to drop a cable box costing us $7.50/month today, so we're off to a good start...
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    HSA question

    From what I read so far, it sounds as though I can transfer $7,000 next year (will be 55 ) from my traditional IRA to my HSA and not pay penalty or taxes on it, if used for qualified medical expense. If left in IRA, I would pay taxes when withdrawn. Sounds like the drawback is not getting the...
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    HSA question

    Learned something here, as I thought I could use my HSA to pay for health care coverage while bridging the gap between ER and Medicare. Another thing I learned today is that you can do a once-in-a-lifetime transfer from an IRA to an HSA. Now I need to learn when it would make most sense to do...
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    Marijuana stocks

    I bought MJ ETF today and am hoping for HIGH returns ;)
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    How long do you plan to keep your car?

    Vehicles have been my and DW's week spot, but I am determined to keep my current one for 8 - 10 years. My last 2 and current one have all been GMC Sierra Denali pick-ups of 2008, 2011 and 2017 model years. The 2011 was not so bad... Paid $50K cash, drove it for 6 years and traded in for $25K...
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    Who kept investing heavily through the great recession?

    DW and I were lucky enough to maintain our positions with the same companies throughout that period and stuck to our buy-and-hold plan for the long term. We didn't look at the discouraging balances often but they have been fun watching for the past 10 years. Buying an expensive home at the...
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    Hello from the Great Lakes - Our ER & FI Plans

    Thank you. I pulled my SS estimate but we still need to pull DW's. We, too, take a healthy haircut against it. That's probably why we haven't pulled wife's yet.
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    Hello from the Great Lakes - Our ER & FI Plans

    Thanks, and I hope that is the case. I do need to do the exercise you suggest. I will have a tiny ($200/month) pension (or whatever it's called coming from PBGC) and $2K month SS at 62 (per today's SSA calculation), assuming no raises and I work to age 58 1/2. I am not sure how much DW's SS...
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    Hello from the Great Lakes - Our ER & FI Plans

    Thank you, Rianne! Yes, sinking fast means bought cash ($107K) and what I listed is current combined values based on info I entered in Intuit Mint. Transportation has been our most frivolous spending category for the 11 years we've been together, but that was the last time for that. We plan...
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    Hello from the Great Lakes - Our ER & FI Plans

    I am not sure. Depending on how the markets treat us; it's possible, so we are hopeful. Your assumption is correct. That's the math we're using. We have a lot to learn and have just started getting serious about savings. We are prepared to be flexible, so neither of us gets too bummed out...
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    Hello from the Great Lakes - Our ER & FI Plans

    Hi ERers & FIers, I have been reading this site for a little less than a year now and have learned a lot. I decided to join in hopes that I might be able to give back some day. I am 54 and DW is 47. My goal is to be prepared to ER at the end of 2022, at age 58 1/2. In this scenario DW...
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