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Well, my original thread is too old to update, so I've started a new one. The original thread is here-- http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/lifestyle-creep-delays-early-retirement-82147.html It's been about 3 years since my last update. I'm now 47, wife is 43, kids are 6 and 8...

I've been on this board a long time. When I started on the path to FIRE, I was single, and sharing an apartment with a friend. My vision for having enough to FIRE was probably around a million dollars. I met the right woman and we bought a small 3-bedroom house out in the suburbs that...

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/unknown-election-outcome-stocks-big-171139281.html Really, what of significance is going to change for the stock market from the results of this election? No matter what, we will still have divided government. Investment-wise, you couldn't come up with...

I've taken the lead in our investing as a couple. I'm very comfortable with managing our investments, but my wife is less so. If something were to happen to me, I think that she would want a financial planner type to help her with things, even if it meant reducing her returns to pay for the...

My grandmother is planning to sell her house and is considering moving into a 55+ apartment co-op. I'm not very familiar with the terms of these things, but it sounded strange to me. She would pay $70k upfront to buy "shares" of the co-op. She would then pay $1100/month for a very nice two...

Are there any publicly held REITs that purchase large quantities of single-family homes? I look around at home prices, and I think I see good opportunies for investment, but I am way too lazy to buy them directly.

I've noticed that while they are normally reasonably competitive rate-wise, sometime in the last few weeks they've moved up .5-.75 for both their 15-year and 30-year rates on bankrate.com. Any ideas on why they would do that? Too much business and they want to scale back? It's a strange...

I haven't found anything reported that specifies where MF Global was able to attain their massive leverage. I just don't understand who would be willing to take that risk after everthing we've been through in the last few years. Does anyone know who provided that leverage?

I got my cable bill the other day and it had crept up once again to a ridiculous amount (nearly $150). It seems like the folks at Comcast just periodically decide to try to gouge people and hope people are too lazy to call and complain. There may actually be reasoning behind their billing, but...

None of the child-related expenses have been that big of a deal, but now my wife is going back to work and my 6-month old daughter is going to daycare. Ouch! The daycare is the same as my mortgage.

So far, the government shutdown has been pretty painless, but I see no indication that there is going to be a resolution. We've elected a Republican legislature that has drawn a line in the sand that they will not spend more than x, and a Democratic governor that will not spend less than y...

DW's car is on its last legs, and we are car shopping. We are leaning towards the very small SUV/crossover vehicles do to their decent gas milage and ability to carry extra people and cargo when the need arises. The Kia Rondo appears to be way cheaper than the competitors. It looks like I...

I'm at a loss as to why I've never owned this stock before. They are one of four AAA rated companies (along with Microsoft, Exxon, and Johnson&Johnson). Their business is about as stable as they come. As long as people are getting paid for employment, they are going to do well. They have a...

Does anyone know whether it would be ok to sell SPY to buy VTI and take the tax loss? Or are these funds too close to each other to avoid the wash rules? Thanks.

Their earnings looked pretty good to me. They have a PE of 11. This seem like one that people are going to wonder why they let it get this cheap 5 years from now.

Does anyone else find it ironic that the bank bailout preferred stock has a teaser rate?

I just went to the grocery store and bought 60 cans of Campbell's Chunky soup, as it was on-sale for $1.25/can. Now I just need to get that shotgun and stock up on gasoline. ;D

Outside of my normal 401k, I bought a little FAST and a little MCD in an after tax account. Outside of my emergency fund, I have everything in the market and am trying to tighten my belt to buy as much as I can right now.

Today was crazy. I used to own this stock during the tech boom. I think they're pretty conservative, and unlikely to have pulled an AIG-style anal-cranial loopback. I think the market is panicking for no good reason here. I'm tempted to buy one of the steadiest insurers around with a 5.5%+...

I think that the people that have been against paying down a mortgage so that they could invest the difference should re-think things given our liquidity crisis. Patriotic people should pay down their mortgage to free up that capital for banks to lend out. ;D I'm only half joking. I think...

This is perhaps the most foolish intervention into the market that I've ever seen our government perform. I have a few questions that the articles don't seem to answer-- What happens to people who have already shorted these stocks? Are they required to cover within a certain time? Are they...

I love these guys. I've owned their stock since 1990, when my grandfather gave me 3 shares that were trading at about $20/share. Those 3 shares are now 48 shares at $44/share. They'll pry them from my cold, dead hands ;D Anyone who is tired of doom and gloom should read their earnings...

I've owned a little MSFT for years. They've been quietly earning a little more each year, but their stock price has not kept pace. In their earnings report recently, they posted what are IMO pretty strong earnings, but they got hit pretty good. They provided guidance for next year that has...

Are there funds or ETFs that buy MBS without any leverage?

The yields are pretty attractive. I own TCB and USB. Interested in WFC. The yield curve being a little inverted has hurt these guys, but I think that they are solid long-term.