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My wife is eagerly looking forward to them; she doesn't trust other people's decision-making skills while driving (or otherwise ;-) )... I'm sure how the self driving vehicles will stop people from hitting your car... Me, I never use cruise control... not sure how I feel about handing over the...

I did notice that the coverage and information might differ from specific plan to plan. I was still getting inaccurate information even after I confirmed that I was getting data for my specific plan. I'm happy to hear that you are having better luck than me with "the Blues". Regarding...

Thank you all for your comments... most appreciated. Please allow me to clarify my frustrations and concerns. What I am really looking for is high quality information and competent personnel. I just posted the following on another website which hopefully explains my frustrations: My comment...

My wife and I retired early last year (when I was 55). We know that healthcare costs are going to be the biggest financial expense that we will incur (at least until we are eligible for Medicare). We are financially comfortable, but we are not wealthy; consequently, we can't afford to have...

Very reasonable, sound suggestions

Dollar Cost Averaging is a fine way to "time the market"

My suggestion would be that if you aren't going to closely monitor your portfolio, then you should by equal portions of a total US stock fund, a total international fund, and either a bond fund or a bond ladder. Every month or every paycheck or every quarter just add equal amounts to all...

RDS/B Value Line Safety Rating: 1 Value Line Timeliness Rating: 2 Value Line Financial Strength Rating: A++ Morningstar Discount to Fair Value: 3% Dividend Yield: 5.10% CVX Value Line Safety Rating: 1 Value Line Timeliness Rating: 2 Value Line Financial Strength Rating: A++ Morningstar...

$2M and a $56K annual pension, albeit w/o COLA That's excellent... That annual $56K means you won't have to touch your retail investment accounts... Are any of the stocks dividend payers? Enjoy your retirement!

A friend of mine had about 75% of his assets in CMGI... Needless to say, he's still working today...

Congratulations... It's nice to hear that you were able to weather the 2008 crisis. As you mentioned, it was mainly due to the fact that you have a pension; I presume that if you had to dip into your investments, you wouldn't be as comfortable today. Many people these days don't have pensions...

Many years ago, I went to Aaron Bros. and took advantage of their one cent sale; don't know if they still offer those. It allowed me to get two pictures framed for $400; a lot of money for two, a shload for one.... These days, the Mrs. insisted that we only buy framed art. I like the idea of...

https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2013_california_tax_rates_and_exemptions.shtml https://maps.gis.ca.gov/boe/TaxRates/

thanks

Fair enough.... btw, what's OP?

Completely agree

Perhaps Ms./Mr. FedEx Courier was speaking hyperbolically and meant "has anyone experienced a 20% drop in the value of their portfolio soon after they retired?' I would suspect that anyone who retired during Q1, Q2, or Q3 of 2008 saw such an impact to her/his portfolio. I would think that...

Agreed, Seattle is expensive for all the reasons that you mentioned... But as I mentioned, I was looking north and west of Seattle; quite a ways away... It was far enough that it wasn't convenient for commuters to get to Seattle, and it was still pricey... And yes, the weather is certainly...

Years ago, a friend who often invested heavily in the latest hot stocks, suggested two things: Buy naked calls on Commodore (I didn't buy them, he did, they went belly up) Mortgage the house, put EVERYTHING you have into 3DO Systems. Their first product was released in '94 and they went...

Awesome! I love the idea of living off of the dividends and rental income. While the SFH rental income idea is great, it is not something that I am willing to do. I don't want to be a landlord; I don't want to hire a management company and have them eat into my revenue stream; I don't want to...

Southern California has the weather, but my wife and I have been thinking about relocating because it's too crowded; we'd like to live where there are fewer people, but still have nice weather. We've been thinking about heading north (WA or OR)... we took an exploratory trip to WA (north...

Here's a quote that I like a lot. I think that it is applicable here as people get caught up in irrational exuberance. But to be fair, I do monitor my portfolio quite often too ;-) "… as a bull market continues, almost anything you buy goes up. It makes you feel that investing in stocks is...

Hmmm... well, that's difficult... Taxes are HIGH. Home prices are high, but not as high as SF and the peninsula where the Google, FB, and other silicon valley employees continue to bid up home prices. My best suggestion in So Cal (this advice would apply anywhere) is to buy less than you...

Yup, age is a huge variable here. My wife and I opted for a very high deductible with proportionally lower monthly premiums. We calculated what our expected prescription drug costs and annual preventative medical expenses would be and determined that it made much more (dollars and) sense to...

Cool. I will check that out. David