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couple of expenses you don't seem to include. A biggy is car depreciation. I'm guessing you have paid-up cars, because I see detailed car expenses. What about replacing the car when it wears out? And major repairs? Perhaps your HOA covers exterior maintenance, including painting and roofs...

When I made my earlier post on this thread, I assumed that everyone on the forum would instantly see how flawed Jordan Goodman's advice is. And I still think that is the case for most. For for those few who aren't up to speed on the "facts" Goodman mentioned and didn't catch my sarcasm about...

... and then we have this guy My dad suggested I listen to Jordan Goodman who according to his website is: I thought I had heard of all the financial gurus, but apparently I'm lacking because I've never before heard of this "nationally-recognized expert on personal finance". Looking further...

Even though I'm not currently drawing Social Security and have no dependents, I see a current benefit to myself. My parents did very little saving for retirement, being caught up in a money-sucking cult. Right now they are living frugally on SS. If not for SS they'd probably be living off...

There is no direct cap on retiree benefits. However, since the income on which SS tax and upon which benefits is capped, their is an indirect cap. The $2185 is for a retiree at normal retirement age (about 66 for those retiring now) who has earned the maximum taxable income for 35 years...

I have a 2004 Honda Civic DX (cheapest package). When I bought it, I compared its cost against their hybrid offering. For the extra cost of the hybrid version, I estimated I could pay for quite a bit of gas even at $3/gallon. I'm getting mid 30's mpg around town, mid 40's on the highway (if I...

Not an expert on LTC insurance. Still debating whether to get a policy for myself or self insure. But I don't have the option that you do. Here's what I suspect. The price of this policy is somewhere in the middle, underwriter is assuming average health. So if you/DW are below average...

Spanky asked: I'd say it's a mixture of: cheapness impatience with answering a bunch of questions from commercial software (I don't use Quicken or Money either) wanting to understand the nuts and bolts for planning next year's taxesI started out doing my taxes with VisiCalc (dating myself...

I use an Excel spreadsheet I wrote. But I do have to manually transfer the results to the form.

I disagree with most of what you said. You think the principal part of your payment is not a bill? Try not paying it and see what happens. You think it's like a savings account? Try withdrawing your money. Means you have to sell your home to get it. You don't get interest? Well, yes, you...

I paid off my mortgage early several years ago. It took them 3 months to file the release of lien, and I had to keep after them to get it done.

Have you considered a Roth conversion? If some of your 401k contribution wouldn't have been taxed anyway this year, seems sort of a waste to possibly have to pay taxes on it later. Do you have some other tax-deferred funds accessible, either traditional IRA money or 401k money from a prior...

Although single, I'm around your age and have a bit more in savings. I don't feel that I could live quite frugally enough to retire now even though my bare-bones budget isn't tremendously higher than yours. Looking at your budget, I think you should increase it for at least two items. One is...

Agreed, except that I think ExHermit meant to say "between Jan 1, 2008 and April 15, 2008". And would be in the 2008 tax year for any date in 2008. In the case of the OP, I recommend modelling your situation with a spreadsheet, accounting for taxation of SS benefits and capital gains taxes...

When I have a tax question, I go the the IRS web site and type some words in the search box at the top of the page. A search turned up the following for 2008.

That's not the way I read their press release. You can buy $10,000 worth of I-bonds, and $10,000 of EE bonds.

One of the three credit reporting agencies had someone else's credit history mixed up with mine. That person has the same first name, and apparently a social security number that differs by mine in only one digit. No similarities in our last names. Fortunately he was paying his bills, but I...

I've thought that I should periodically make a copy of the really important data and store it in my safe deposit box. A DVD wouldn't fit, but a thumb drive would. This would be a second off-site backup to a primary backup in my home that would be refreshed more often. Now all I have to do is...

From the page homestead linked: While this may have been true in the past, it no longer is. This is true only for those below Normal Retirement Age (66 for those 1943 - 1954). I highly recommend doing your research on the Social Security Administration web site. You may have to hunt through...

My company's vacation Years of Service / Weeks of Vacation 1-4 / 2 5-14 / 3 15-19 / 4 20-29 / 5 30+ / 6

RR: I disagree. If you delay starting SS benefits until age 66, the benefits will be larger. Before starting benefits, you withdraw more from tax-deferred retirement savings and pay taxes at your normal marginal tax rates. After starting benefits, you withdraw from your tax-deferred savings...

Youbet: I had wondered if WEP could apply to me since I cashed out of a government pension. Point now moot since I now have 30 years of "substantial earnings" under SS meaning that WEP does not apply. But I could only find that quote on the page that discussed GPO, and not on the page that...

TT: If you have at least 30 years of "substantial earnings" under Social Security, then the WEP from your state pension won't reduce your SS benefits at all. Which could be the case given the small amount of the pension benefit. Look up Windfall Elimination Provision on Social Security Online.

GPO effects spousal benefits. In this case, the husband's spousal benefit will be offset by his government pension. Likely his spousal benefits will be entirely offset. In this case, the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) can reduce any SS benefit he would be entitled to on his own earnings...

My vote is that it's a scam, similar to this one.