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Thank you for the responses. I agree that DSTs are daunting and I'm not crazy about the lack of flexibility or the hard-to-determine fee/compensation structure. Will share more as I learn more :-)

My spouse and I own two rental homes that we've been renting out for 10 and 14 years, respectively. We are at a point where we want to sell, but not surprisingly, after so many years of depreciating them for taxes we would have a pretty hefty tax if we sold outright. We don't need the cash...

So far, what's booked is 10 days in San Pancho/PV Mexico in January, Indonesia for a month in the Spring and Cusco/Machu Pichu for 10 days in the Fall. Will likely do lots of three-day things in the PNW over the Summer and a Vegas weekend at some time when it's not blistering hot.

For a couple of years, my spouse has been advocating for us to visit 'the five stans' (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan). While I have other travel destination priorities, I'm thinking this could be something for late next Summer or Fall. We are pretty...

We've fallen in love with San Pancho, Mexico and go every year. It's about 45 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta. We typically throw in 3 days or so in PV at the end. It's a direct flight from Portland to PV and with the Alaska Airlines companion fare, it's a really simple way for us to get our...

PDX Consideration I agree with everything Erkevin is saying and want to point out other benefits I find particularly valuable: 1. They always have great signup bonuses 2. 3X points on travel and restaurant expenses (more if booked through their portal) 3. Priority Pass can be tough to use...

I returned to homebrewing and a little more hiking. And then I got gout. D'oh!

Lots of great answers here and, while I haven't read them all, I agree with everyone that it is about personal fit/style. I would add that where you're traveling is a big consideration. I love light weight tennis shoes with sturdy soles (NB and some Nike) for a lot of my travel, but I am a...

I started to answer this question (with extreme passion) and then it occurred to me that some website password clues are 'what is the first car you owned.' I know it's extreme paranoia, and I'm not usually that way, but I just decided to hold back. I hate being that person :-(

We enjoy Wingspan - beautiful and very playable game for 2 people. Ticket to Ride is fun and we also enjoy Hive. We own Secret Hitler but haven't had enough people over yet to play it.

San Francisco, CA Bellevue, NE (2) McMinnville, OR (2) Okinawa Guam Newport, RI Brussels, Belgium Newberg, OR Evanston, IL Vernon Hills, IL Grayslake, IL Tigard, OR ....and Portland, OR (my current and favorite)

I'm assuming you're talking about a non qualified deferred comp opportunity. If so, the answer will depend a lot on the terms of your plan. Some questions/considerations to think about Is there a match? Is there a pre-elected in-service withdrawal provision? If so, what is the minimum amount...

We booked directly through the management company that rented the apartment. We found them in some TripAdvisor reviews. I think it was called Purple Home, (it was 5 years ago) but when I look online now it doesn't look like they have the same type of inventory, so maybe not. A general google...

FWIW, when we visited Rome we had an outstanding experience staying in an apartment for a week. We were probably only 2 or 3 blocks from Campo de Fiori...a great location from which we were able to walk almost everywhere (granted, we like to walk a lot). The rates were actually very good for a...

I've had Priority Pass through Chase Sapphire Reserve for a little less than a year now. Have used it for 3 or 4 trips. Generally, as a 'free' benefit with the card it definitely has value but, as others have said, results have been mixed for us. In our home airport, Portland OR, there are...

Chase Sapphire Reserve has worked great for us. The annual fee seems steep but once you take into account the credits that come with it, free travel insurance, Priority Pass membership, TSA/Global entry credits, etc, it really pencils out. Plus they have (or had when we signed up), great year...

Ours are processed through a 3rd party called Official Payments. It looks like on their website that you can see which jurisdictions they contract with https://www.officialpayments.com/index.jsp

Great catch. I can pay bi-annually, but there is a slight penalty. The AmEx was one example - I haven't researched all possibilities. Discover, for example, has a card that gives 1.5% and then matches it at the end of the year for an effective 3% (so, $300 not $400). I would have to explore...

I may not be understanding your point re the cd interest. I included it because if I didn't use the card to pay the taxes, the $10,000 would be used to pay the taxes. The thinking is that I now have $10,000 extra to invest for 12 months by using the interest free grace period, I have the...

That's a good question, Bingybear. I can't think of a reason it would be treated like a cash advance, but definitely something to research. It seems odd it would be treated like a cash advance, but definitely a reason to read the fine print :)

There is a fee - it's 2.35%

Thanks. It's not an issue of not being able to pay the taxes and needing to save to pay for them. I have the money - it would be invested in a cd for 12 months to earn interest during the card's interest free period. To me, it was an opportunity to get some credit card cash back (plus a very...

Good points For my other large expenses (i have a few coming up), I was thinking of getting a card with a more generous spend bonus. The $250 is not great, but for an interest free card, it's not bad. So, I'm not sure I would need the card for other large expenses

Would like to get feedback on this idea. I am considering paying our property taxes with a credit card with an interest free grace period. Our property taxes are fairly significant and I would like to find some ways to turn lemons into lemonade. Here is what I'm thinking: Assumed property...

Thanks for the resources, Bamaman! I will check them out. I don't think we have Norwegian Air Shuttle in our neck of the woods but IcelandAir is currently offering $499 flights to 5 cities in Europe - really cheap for us! Ireland is on my list so I will check out tripmasters.com I look...