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My oldest son is starting his Junior year at college, majoring in software engineering. He'll be interviewing for internships this fall and I'm wondering what is appropriate dress. I'm getting ready to take him out suit shopping because that's always been proper interview etiquette as far as...

First some background... DW and I are mid to late 40's and have been planning for FIRE by age 55 (lately it feels like 53 is a better plan). I'd like to say we've lived pretty modestly over the years to be able to put away lots of money for retirement. The home we currently own is below our...

When we built our home 11 years ago, we worked with a landscape company who proposed a design that would not be a ton of work for us to maintain. We were thinking that if we landscaped a good portion of the yard, there was be less grass to mow. We quickly discovered it was exactly what we were...

To be more accurate… driving is a pain in my butt. I’m only 45, but it sure seems like the older I get, the more difficult it is for me to spend much time in the driver’s seat. A couple weekends ago, I drove to a destination only a couple hours away and was really uncomfortable by the time I got...

As I'm sitting here in the sunroom with my laptop, I just noticed a gentle breeze along with the wonderful scent of lilacs from the secret garden outside. It made me think of the thread that comes up from time to time called something like "this weather is awful" and how this day must qualify as...

I woke up this morning to find some extra money in my account! :dance: With Fidelity's delay in providing tax statements, I waited until last Saturday to prepare our taxes. Using TurboTax, I finished them up and submitted them electronically and 6 days later... BOOM... $ back to its rightful...

I somehow managed to miss my semi-annual dental cleaning. I had the wrong time written down on my calendar so I showed up a half hour late and they couldn't get me in. :facepalm: Going every 6 months feels more like going every 3 months but as they say, time flies. I'm not entirely sure why I...

Have any of you looked at auto lease deals lately? I've always deliberately avoided leasing because it's generally more expensive than buying. You know, more money for the middle man means less money for me. My philosophy has been buy gently used and drive the vehicle for as long as possible...

My oldest son is about half way through his junior year in high school and so it's about time for him to get serious about looking at colleges. He's a very good student and really excels at math and science, and just about everything academic. Currently, he is a 4.0 student and last time I...

I really struggling on an issue that I'm hoping talking it through with you fine folks will help. DW and I have been very good about maximizing every opportunity to defer taxes using our 401ks, HSAs, etc. This has allowed us to historically stay around the top of the 15% bracket or not far...

One year closer to FIRE!! I received the annual Happy Birthday wish from this forum today and I really love the message. "If you are not retired yet, you are one year closer and can rejoice." A couple people asked me if birthdays bother me these days and this was precisely my answer. No...

I had a client come in today who uses a program called "MarketRiders" to help manage the passive portion of his portfolio. Here's a link to the website: MarketRiders - Online Portfolio Management Software Apparently, this service tracks an all ETF portfolio that you can establish anywhere...

For anyone that's interested, I read an article in the WSJ Sunday that said Fidelity is offering free Apple gift cards (up to $500) for new deposits to a non-retirement account. The article provides a run-down of offers from other competitors as well (including TD Ameritrade, Schwab and Etrade)...

I found an electric fryer under the Christmas tree today- how fun! But I'm not sure what kind of cooking oil to use. Simple vegetable oil? Vegatable shortening, like Crisco? Peanut oil? Corn oil? Life was so simple until this morning. :) Can you tell me what kind you've had the most success...

As I sit here trying to catch up on work from last week so I'm less buried next week :duh:, I was thinking that the best thing about retirement for me will be that I won't have any more crazy deadlines to worry about. I'm dreaming about how great it'll be when Monday is no different than a...

I read a few older threads on this issue but I think these firms have changed quite a bit over the last few years. The majority of my experience has been with Vanguard and Fidelity. Clearly the advantage with Vanguard remains with their low Exp ratios on their funds. But Fidelity seems to offer...

Hi ER members, After finding this site, I found myself bouncing around from forum to forum reading all kinds of fun, interesting and educational information. I posted a few comments here and there still haven't properly introduce myself. How rude. So here I am, with a belated intro and a...