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Sorry about the theft, Terry. The vehicles with those Vietnam plates & frames are slowly disappearing from the parking lot at my favorite surf break. If the frame is from a unit or command then their reunion site almost always has someone who either makes the frames or who can put in a bulk...

Well, I’m subscribed to this thread, and I usually stop by every week or so to search for keywords. To be clear, I stopped drinking when I realized that alcohol was a lethal combination with my father’s early-stage Alzheimer’s. When he showed signs of early dementia, he refused all help from...

Clickbait or not, it got the clicks. It's been over a decade since I've had an interview go from a major publication (like the NYT) to the homepage of Yahoo!, after traveling through a bunch of their smaller syndicators. Paula can't share the NYT website details like pageviews, but I got the...

"My drinking days are behind me. Can I get a cup of coffee?" And, if pressed, "I've already drunk my lifetime quota of alcohol, and most of your quota too. Can I have a glass of water?" At the time when my father's Alzheimer's/alcohol crisis convinced me to stop drinking, my daughter was in...

In 2012 (during the early months of taking care of my father’s finances) I came across Paula Span’s “When The Time Comes” book. It was a big help in understanding the emotions & finances of caregiving, as well as a glimpse into what it’s like to be the one who’s cared for. I’ve followed...

"Welcome to the retired side", @Deserat! From over here it looked like you were working because it was challenging & fulfilling. Dover AFB to Ramstein just about every week, unless the active-duty families are on school holidays. Or JBLM & SeaTac to Yokota AB if you're seeking a different...

Your instincts are correct, @Joesxm3. I'm writing as a 63-year-old military retiree with VA disability care, and your stepbrother should sign up for at least Medicare parts A&B. He doesn't need to sign up for Part D (prescription coverage) if he's happy with the VA pharmacy. If he wants to...

Thanks @Bigdawg! Thank you for buying the book, @sheehs1! It was written here on the forum. Please let me know if there are more questions from the book. There's also more niche topics covered at MilitaryFinancialIndependence (my old blog under a new name) and TheMilitaryWallet (under my...

Welcome! PoF posts as "Leif" and is Millionaire Interview #5. He just mentioned a few weeks ago that he's sold his PoF site to a team of other physicians. I don't know whether Jim Dahle is still leading the WCI team or if he's stepping back too. Scott is another military doc on MMM, and...

I understand, Shawn, not every book works for every reader. (We don’t have to get into how I’ve learned that.) If you want a more complete list of reading material then I’d suggest this thread...

A long timer with a good memory! She left that gig over a decade ago. She agreed to be the Interim CEO for precisely six months, and she finished the turnover with the new guy a day before her deadline. She'd seen & done enough. I think everyone associated with that era has moved on. She...

Thanks, @Car-Guy. As Barbra Streisand used to sing, "I'm still heah." I appreciate that people get tired of discussing the same personal-finance questions (see Tess Vigeland's book "Leap") but... not me. I drop by here every weekend to check the keywords "Nords" and "military", or whenever...

1 June 2002, age 41, after 20 years (nearly to the minute) of active duty. That was over 21 years ago, and next April it'll be 8000 days of retirement. At 63 years of age, I'm pretty happy with the first third and the last third of my life so far. During the last two decades that happiness...

@Twirler, I’d encourage you to read sources like Civil Beat, a non-profit journalism project that files more FOIA requests than any other media company in the islands. If you haven’t already read HECO’s regulatory filings, those will become more detailed in the next few quarters. This will be...

As you might suspect, @Bigdawg, I tracked this in the 1980s and 1990s for myself and my (active-duty) spouse. I did the math on our LESs and W-2s and checked that our SS earnings records showed the additional credits. In the mid-1990s we were one of the first to contact DFAS and Social...

I’m cool. It’s been a tradition here for over two decades.

The bank has reduced the rewards (I think from 2% down to 1.50% or even 1.25%). Greater regulation and lower interchange fees have been squeezing those margins for years, but the most annoying part has been their fraud-alert and cancellation policy. I've had the card since 1984 (nearly 40...

I had several bad experiences with PenFed over the years, especially compared to Navy Federal Credit Union and USAA Bank. We quit PenFed CDs in 2015 and ended our last loan with them (a HELOC) in 2017. I think PenFed's higher CD rates came from cutting their customer-service payroll. I'm...

These days I spend most of my writing time at a paid forum hosted by John Nardini, the ESIMoney blogger. Ironically we're still debating how much is enough.

It looks like you're in much better shape than I was. Hopefully the LTC insurer stops dithering, perhaps with the nudges of the state insurance regulator and her neurologist.

You’re welcome! We never talk about these things until we find out that everyone is either dealing with it in their family or knows someone who’s dealing with it. You can check the difference with her neurologist, who’d probably tell you that neurologists can prescribe medication while...

I'm sorry you're going through all this, @harllee. While you're working with the CCRC and the state insurance commissioner, consider hiring a neuropsychologist to do a detailed assessment of your mother's cognition. Many times a person with early-stage dementia can still pass the Mini-Mental...

I don't have any further advice to offer, other than that Genworth is convincing state insurance regulators that they can only afford to pay the claims if they (1) force a higher lapse rate and (2) get more money from the rest of their cohorts to pay new claims. This post links to a research...

Writing as a dual-military retiree, @Kork13, with your pensions, rental-property income, and any VA disability compensation... you might not need to touch your retirement accounts, let alone go through the 72t gantlet. We were ready to withdraw our Roth IRA contributions, and we did plenty of...

Whew. I'm glad the state got back to you-- and with an answer that costs less money! Military families have mentioned that the TSP lost (or didn't transfer over) a lot of historical statements after the May 2022 upgrade. Since the 1099-R didn't document the employer contribution, you'd want...