Things you have learned on the forum

[Romer]

I have learned a lot

- Roth Conversions and Tax implications

- Income related to Medicare being two years early than plan year to determine cost

- The window of 60 and 61 years old where you don't get a Social Security COLA, but do get a wage adjustment. Fortunately this time they were close to each other

- Knobs to use on Firecalc to better use the tool

- Other books to read

- The back and forth on complex issues has been helpful even when there isn't a consensus

- Insightful posts on different reasons to retire and what to do once retired

- Lots of interesting reads in the Financial, Health, Technology and Other sections

- A place to ask questions about all that is involved in Life and retirement

And more stuff that I can't clearly articulate at the moment

[Germonico]

I've come to rely on RIP posts for celebrity deaths as I do not follow mainstream news.

[socca]

• EFTPS for paying federal taxes - encountered that suggestion here. The IRS doesn't promote it; don't know why. EFTPS came in very handy when I had to pay my dad's huge estate tax. The computer-generated form letter from the tax return preparer said, "Send a check for <gazillion dollars> to XXX by certified mail before XXX." Yeah, right.

• FEMA reimbursement of funeral expenses for COVID-related deaths. Never even occurred to me. Encountered that suggestion here. Don't know if FEMA is still doing this.

• way back when, I was surprised to encounter a large number of folks hosting the SWR memeplex seemingly unaware that the SWR mental framework for retirement planning runs counter to the old-fashioned notion that a secure retirement involves replacing a healthy percentage of employment income with actual retirement income (not virtual retirement income such as that obtained with the "4% rule").

[RetiredAt49]

OldShooter and others here (and my own personal research + Boogleheads) gave me the confidence to fire our wealth management company and save 1.25%

[Vincenzo Corleone]

Oh my goodness, so many things, and I'm truly grateful. I learned:

• that individual bonds are not such a scary thing to invest in
• about I-Bonds
• why water hammer can be so damaging to a dishwasher intake valve
• about different withdrawal strategies, and the pros and cons of each
• about brokered CDs
• about some of the finer things in life, like Jamon Iberico and Louis XIII cognac

The list can go on and on. Really too many to list them all.

[Tetto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB - Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day

[bigcmagor]

Learned I needed a bigger herd or a smaller hat.

[Graybeard]

I learned about TLH and how it is not as simple as not buying the investment 30 days before or after the sale.

I learned how easy it is to buy T bills and why bond funds are not what I always
read about them.

I thought it was nuts to not reinvest dividends and cap gains back into the fund that generated them, I see there are good reasons why that isn't always a good idea.

CO rises and is not heavier than air! I moved my CO detector 6' off the floor level.

I was amazed at how many people here are introverts, analytical types (engineers or IT people), frugal and LBYM, all traits I have but thought I was an outlier!

[Sue J]

I learned a lot about investing and retirement. But the most life changing thing that I learned about is

PRE COOKED BACON

[38Chevy454]

I learned when to take SS, whether I pay off my mortgage, to use the 4% rule, what 60/40 AA is the one for me, how to take pension or buyout, annuities can be good or bad, and to budget every expense. My income can be a 3 legged stool, 2 legged or single pogo stick. Having different buckets for money, dividends are the answer, and taxes to avoid or pay. You are supposed to go whee when the market goes down. AUM Financial Advisors are not needed if you are on the forum. RMD and Roth conversion, and trusts and wills or probate.

I'm sure there are more.....but I wanted to stay away from the divisive topics

[EastWest Gal]

I learned that I could FIRE in 2014 when I joined. FireCalc gave us 100% success. 4% rule. I do use a FA, but cut our cost considerably and may be able to cut it more, and I'm searching for a fee only FA currently. In 2018 or so I learned about sous vide. The benefits and downsides of trusts (we decided we didn't need one). This year I learned about I-bonds. Many many more things than I can possibly list.

I also learned that this forum is full of really smart, successful, and experienced people, with many different skill sets that they share with others.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbee Feelings override data.

Data overrides feelings.

I don't think I learned that here (I have learned many things here), I think I've known it for a long time.

Flying is safer than driving. Feelings don't change that.
YMM(ay not)V - Facts are facts.

-ERD50

[Markola]

The Rule of 55, which allowed both DW and me to step away from full time work when we were still 54. Thanks Forum!

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Car-Guy I learned this in high school but I practice it everywhere, including here. A smart man only believes half of what he reads or hears; a wise man knows which half to believe. Another wise man once said, "Trust but Verify"

And around that time, I recall this from the song "Heard it Through The Grapevine" (Gladys Knight, Marvin Gaye, CCR):

Quote:

People say believe half of what you see, son And none of what you hear

But researching that, I learned it was fro Edgar Allan Poe:

https://poemuseum.org/did-poe-really-say-that/

I've told my kids: "A smart person learns from their mistakes, a wise person learns from the mistakes of others." I doubt I'm the first on that one.

-ERD50

[UnrealizedPotential]

I have learned that numbers is hard. That if I am not polite and do not keep my posts civil, I cannot learn anything.

[FLSUnFIRE]

No real epiphanies for me on this particular forum as I was well on my FIRE journey when I came here (late 90's Retire Early Homepage/Campfire on TMF is where my online FIRE journey started although I had an FI mindset in my teens albeit without much structure or strategy other than "save and invest"). Lots of nuggets and good explanations here; especially on the mechanics of certain strategies though. I may not have recently bought T-Bills if not for the forum, I didn't learn about them here but recent threads reminded me.


The biggest value to me was probably more encouragement and sense of community. Especially as I neared the end of my working career. We are a very small portion of the population and even most of the FIRE sites are very heavily populated by the aspirational but this community is more balanced with many more inspirational folks that have done it! And the moderators do a great job and cannot be thanked enough!

[Ronstar]

I learned a lot about:

1. Finances - Lots of info on when to/ when not to take SS. How to do a Roth IRA.

2. Decluttering - I never decluttered anything until I found this board.

3. Travel tips

4. How a retired person lives and goes about their day.

[FLSUnFIRE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by UnrealizedPotential I have learned that numbers is hard. That if I am not polite and do not keep my posts civil, I cannot learn anything.

And the mods will take you behind the woodshed and learn you right! This is the most civil corner of the internet because of them!

[jimbee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 Data overrides feelings. I don't think I learned that here (I have learned many things here), I think I've known it for a long time. Flying is safer than driving. Feelings don't change that. YMM(ay not)V - Facts are facts. -ERD50

I agree, but a significant number of people do not.

[Alan]

I've learned so much that I can't really remember what my first questions were.

First thing I discovered today is that from my profile page when I try and find the first post I made it only shows the last 8,000 of my posts, going back to 2019. Rather than dwell on that problem I looked for the first thread I started with a FIRE question and it was a question about SS and spousal SS (this was back in 2005).

Just about everything I know about FIRE, from SS to SWR, to the concept of "backcasting" with FIRECALC, I learned here.

I'm still learning from this site but instead of the firehydrant of information it initially was it is now much more manageable.