Recent content by Anne

Say you pick a parent of two, Sue, at random. You ask for the sex of one of her children. According to your answer, there is a 2/3 chance that the sex of the second child is the opposite of whatever Sue answers. If she says she has a girl, odds are her other child is a boy. If she says she has a...

50/50.

Lindt Lindor Truffles (Milk Chocolate) - INGREDIENTS: Milk Chocolate [Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Milk, Chocolate, Soya Lecithin (Emulsifier), Barley Malt Powder, Vanillin (Artificial Flavoring)], Vegetable Oil (Coconut, Palm Kernel), Sugar, Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Milk, Soya Lecithin (Emulsifier)...

I also read this as suggesting that one have a child in order to save money on taxes, which makes absolutely no sense to me. I agree it's sloppily written. I think the author meant to say:

FWIW, I have been using my Capital One card as my primary card for years and have never had a problem with it.

Cool point. Eating a plant-based diet instead of animal foods would be another example, especially if you eat mostly plants grown locally when possible.

NYT has a great rent/buy calculator. Very easy to use but make sure you fill in ALL the assumptions and get the most accurate figures you can for the sale prices and rent prices. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/business/2007_BUYRENT_GRAPHIC.html?_r=1&oref=slogin#

According to their form 990, in 2006 there were 5 employees who made over $50,000. Their salaries ranged from $57,000-$71,000/year and they worked 32 hours per week.

This is the budget I'm figuring by for after I leave my salary position. These numbers are for one person living in a condo in Chicago: Taxes $265 - assume you mean property tax. $120/month Home Ins $50 - 0 (included in HOA assessment) HOA $150 - $225 Med Ins (Medigap & son's insur $300) -...

I think what Bernanke was suggesting was that it might be more efficient for the banks to reduce principal rather than foreclose. Either way, the mortgagees lose money. The question is how to minimize their losses. (And let's not forget that they made bad loans, so they should be expected to...

I'm from Missouri originally. I think Springfield does sound like a good fit; it is a quietish town, and pretty homogeneous (you mentioned "big box" stores). Even though I live in a Midwestern city now, and you wouldn't think it would be too much different, but when I go home to St. Louis, I...

Thank heavens, no. Although thinking about that makes $115,000 in student loans look pretty reasonable! I've fallen into the finance industry habit of using M for thousands and MM for millions. I hear you about peer pressure to spend. Maybe, when your family starts talking about all the stuff...

I could certainly do this. I do wonder, though, does this still hold if I have a rollover IRA that I won't touch until 60/65? During semi-retirement, I would take out my SWR based only on my taxable account, pretending that my IRA didn't exist. It seems like the consensus that is developing...

@Rich: I'm sorry if I was defensive. I should have pointed out in that post that I am not averse to the idea of doing some kind of work in "retirement"--I guess I should have called it "semi-retirement," although I'd be happy to retire retire if I have the means to. I am pretty burned out on the...

I'm kind of curious about this as it seems to echo some skepticism I've seen elsewhere (i.e., not on a board that supports RE)--and it seems to be based on the assumption that early retirement is an irreversible decision. It's true that when I leave this job, I will probably never have another...