Recent content by madsquopper

No real backup plan at this point other than take SS a bit early. But that wasn't my original plan and there isn't enough reason to do that yet. Probably won't be. I'm hoping for at least some bounce to sell a few etf's that have lots of capital gain, as my spouse has a fair amount of capital...

Thought I was well prepared financially for retirement in early 2019, but things can certainly change. Two huge factors right now, one is obviously the world's problems and how it affects the stock market. The other, unfortunately, is my longtime partner and I recently separated (completely...

Looks like dual fuel is easier to find; that would be fine. Are there any big safety problems with just running the refrigerator off of a heavy gauge extension cord? 25 foot max would easily reach. I wasn't planning on hooking up any actual house circuits; just one or two extension cords...

Doing research online but looking for real world experience with the scenario I'm thinking of. Want the generator to power the fridge and perhaps a light or two, plus charge up the phones. Not intending on running it continuously, maybe a few hours per day to keep the food from spoiling. Also...

Vanguard's website leaves a lot to be desired as opposed to Fidelity's. Trying to locate my spouse's "tax info year-to-date" page where it shows the capital gains, dividends, interest info like Fidelity does. Searched all over and can't find it. Do they even provide this? I suppose we could call...

Pretty sure about this but getting a second (or third) opinion won't hurt. If I have exactly a 50K short term loss and a 50K long term gain during a given year, then they cancel each other out when calculating gross income. Both for tax purposes and the IRMAA limits.

It looks like our deck will either need significant repair work, or else just start from scratch and convert to Trex. Likely to be in the 15 to 20k range. A big chunk of change but not fatal.

For burgers, I cut a large bell pepper in half and then stuff the meat (or impossible burger) in each piece and have two open face sandwiches.

Retired 3 years ago on the Ides of March (tomorrow). So far it's gone pretty much as planned, other than the covid nuisance which has severely cut back traveling, but had the benefit of cutting expected spending. My main concern when I retired was Sequence of Returns Risk, at least for the 5...

No, the downloaded version with free federal file and doing one state, but to file state is not free.

Just a heads-up in case you run into the same problem. When I did the final submit to e-file, I got a popup telling me the software had to update before submitting the return (no idea why, as I already had to update when I opened it). Did that, it restarted, and then I had to re-enter some of...

I snack on a mix of Trader Joes unsalted roasted almonds, unsalted walnut pieces, and unsalted roasted Oregon hazelnuts. Walnuts and almonds have some of the highest health benefits, and hazelnuts are lower carb than cashews or pecans.

Planning a weeklong trip to England in late April and am considering some sort of travel insurance, primarily to cover the situation of testing positive the day before I fly back and having to quarantine for the next 5-10 days before coming back. So it's primarily for the cost of a hotel plus...

No point for us. All we ever do is buy stuff, none of the other add-ons. We always buy enough to qualify for free shipping, and more than half the time we get the product within 3 or 4 days anyhow. Last time I bought chocolate it was late in the afternoon and I got it delivered the next day.

TireRack is great and the website has a ton of useful info.