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I know the House just released the draft, but has anyone done any math or found a good estimator on individual impacts of the plan? Those of us in income tax states not yet retired may be looking at a tax increase with the elimination of the state income tax deduction. Those of you who worked...

I'm not looking to debate best use of money to death again, I promise. I bought a ~1500 sq foot rental property 3.5 years ago and just figured we'd keep it forever, using the rental to supplement retirement income and then passing it on to heirs via our trust. In the mean time we've been...

So DW and I have been scolded for not setting up our legal documentation yet if the worst were to happen to us. We have a good reference now and I'm sure she'll answer most of our questions but does anyone have advice or experience they'd like to share? Our oldest has special needs (Down...

So DW and I are raising three awesome kids, and the oldest has special needs. Between medical/therapy stuff and after school sports/music/theater/etc activities we've been feeling a little ragged. For six years my wife worked part time and those were lovely years. For the last four she's been...

My former coworker retired about 2 years ago. She reminded me Hyacinth Bucket from "Keeping up appearances" (old BBC show) - she would even whisper "black" when referring to someone's race. Anyhow, I can't say I was upset to see her go but felt bad she had to wait until she was 67 - her husband...

So I was on a walk the other night and one of the things I do is calculate account balances and sum up the ol' net worth, calculate when it will double between growth and contributions, etc. It probably makes me a freak but it's meditative in a way. Anyhow I realized I had forgotten about some...

So we are planning on DW retiring at 55 and me stopping earlier for kid raising/housekeeping/increased togetherness time. We'll have two large accounts, her 401k and mine, plus some small IRAs (SEP, Roth, traditional) and a rental property throwing off income. I know tax laws allow her to...

DW and I decided to try out being land lords and bought a ~1400 3bd/2.5 bath townhouse down the street from us (North San Diego) back in 2013. It's in a new complex (our unit was built in 2011) and it hasn't been much trouble, but we are tempted to cash out if it reaches a target price as it's...

I've got a townhouse (3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, two car garage) in a higher end neighborhood that I rent to three young women (they each rent one room). They are great, but juggling all three, cashing checks, dividing utilities, etc. is a bit of work, and I think I'd get more renting the whole house...

Hey everyone, long time member, mostly lurk now. Quick summary, I'm about to turn 41, my wife is 39, and over the last five years our income has ramped up, now we combine for about $300k. We have been plowing the legal max into our 401(k) plans for some time, but just have the basic six months...

So I read a post on this board about someone giving their notice tomorrow, and I think "good for him" and move on, completely forgetting it. Meanwhile, a friend at work gives his notice and everyone is like, "Wow, he's so young! How did he do it!". So today was his last day and I asked, "What's...

Hey everyone. I turned 40 recently (DW just turned 39) and my goal is to retire at 55. Quick snapshot: Wife and I both have climbed our respective ladders about as far as they will go, I'm in negotiations over a Director position in a megacorp and our combined income figures to clock in at...

So after years of thinking about it, my wife and I just went into escrow on a rental property. Wow, the market is CRAZY right now. We competed for units against 12-15 other offers. People are offering no contingency, all cash, 15 day closings, way over asking. Incredible. By way of background...

I work for a reasonably large defense contractor, and we are being threatened with a 20% (one day a week) furlough, or some iteration of that. So far no 30 day notices have gone out, though. I think everyone is holding their breath for a deal I don't see coming. Anyone else impacted? Have plans...

Hey everybody. I figured it's time for a refresher course in LBYM and prep for FIRE. When last we left this hero, I was happily ensconced in middle management as was my wife, and we were enjoying our upper-middle class home in a happy suburb with three awesome kids. But we had fallen off the...

Hi everyone, my name's Laurence and I live in San Diego. I've technically been a member here for quite some time - even moderated for a while - but it's been so long since I've posted, or even lurked, that I'd thought I'd re-introduce myself. I'm 37 (wow, when did that happen?) and I have 3...

So DW and I have worked out a pretty plumb situation. She makes $65/hour for 25-30 hours a week, working one day in the office and the rest from home. So she's essentially a stay at home mom to our 5 and (almost) 3 year old. She gets up at 4 to get work done before they wake up, and stays up a...

So forgive me if this has been covered, but has anyone looked into this? NPR was doing a story on people buying securities for pennies on the dollar, betting that the monthly income would last long enough before everyone in it defaulted. I would think since these things are slices of hundreds...

So I took a bit of a break and have found the board again. Anybody still here that I knew? I thought I'd start a thread here because a lot has changed among my stats, so restating the essentials: 35 year old male, married, two kids 5 and 2.5 years old. Living in North San Diego county. We...

So we've been back from Hawaii two weeks now, but it's been so busy I haven't had a chance to post. We stayed in a beach house on the north shore of Oahu just west of Haleiwa near the Dillingham Air Field with our close friends. It was so much fun! First of all, I have to reccommend VRBO.com...

So our raises were handed out this Friday, and I got a 5% increase which pushed me over the six figure mark - 102k to be exact. I get other compensation/bennies that translate into actual cash in my pocket but my base pay has been 5 figures until now. At 34 years old, it's not spectacular but...

So unemployment is over 10% in the Golden State. I had to fight to get it, but finally got permission to open a req. for a badly needed jr. position in my department. I don't even meet with HR until tomorrow to get it posted and I already have multiple resumes sent to me through word of mouth...

Step right up! Take your shot at being a financial prognosticator! Vote on the poll for a general range and then post your exact number for the bottom of the DOW over the next six months. By choosing six months I am exhibiting some optimism as I think we are near the bottom but to be clear, it...

So I keep hearing that we measure unemployment differently now than during the great depression. I googled and found this amusing visual display: Current Unemployment Rate & Statistics 2009 - Job Layoffs, Loss | Mint.com Blog | Personal Finance News & Advice But it doesn't exactly cite it's...

So we got took by a door to door salesman from Pinnacle Security. The "free" system ended up being really crappy, and when the alarm went off (false) their CONTACT THIS NOW line was busy for 30 minutes. Now the city has cited us. Went to terminate the service and they said, "Sure, just pay us...