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    Marriage and FIRE

    Banker - The above thought made me wonder... Forget for a moment about your assets and her spending. Perhaps you need to approach this from a "compatibility of lifestyle" perspective. What do you want in life? It sounds like you want (1) get to FIRE to eliminate job dependency and (2) to...
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    Turbo Tax - Tax-Exempt Income not added to State Return

    Felix, I can relate. I had the same exact problem, checked the actual forms after finishing 1099-DIV input and found out that tax exempt divs not showing up on state return. TT sucks, but here's what you have to do to make it understand. + Open TT, select Fed taxes and go under "explore on...
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    Do you perceive an inflation generation gap?

    Yes, inflation is a nasty beast. As a kid, I lived through hyperinflation (not in US), something to the tune of 1000%+ per year. From what I recall: + Wages, more of less, kept pace with inflation. + None of the merchandize had price tags. + Coins were not used. + New bills (with added...
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    A question about 401Ks, HSA's and college savings

    Are you trying to spend-down your taxable $ over the next few years in order to qualify for financial aid down the road (on basis of no/low income and no assets other than home/401k/IRA)? If so (and I will not get into whether this is gaming the system or not), by all means make sure you: (1)...
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    Getting pregnant and changing insurance

    I am not an expert here, but can offer my experience. I switched plans mid pregnancy, from one group plan (mine) to another (husbands) without any gap in coverage. I did not run into any issues. There should be no issues moving from one group plan to another - I think HIPAA regulates this...
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    Friends who didn't save . . .

    Oldbabe... My outlook on life mirrors yours in many ways and I hate to say this - I think you're creating a problem here! Personally, it would never cross my mind to distance myself from a friend solely based on different financial choices. I understand your concern and your desire to help...
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    Career Reflections

    Brew - I don't think what you're doing is out of the norm. My DH is in software development and he went through 4 companies and 6 official job changes (requiring resume and interviews) within the last 12 years. He cares little about the actual address of the job and worries less about...
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    Can I Go Live In A Cave Now?

    Brew, I don't get this... If the above is true, how could she possibly be opposed to you having a few hours to yourself? Perhaps you simply crossed signals. She can't be singing away the whole weekend, could you swap out the duties at some point and you can take the evening off? BTW, do you...
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    Buying a house 1500 miles away - need a plan

    I second what others have said... rent for a while, get your bearings, then decide where to go from there. Also, if you can, I would not sell your current home till after a few months of living in Mass, unless you are definitely not staying where you are and are moving somewhere else no matter...
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    Early Mortgage Payoff

    Have you talked with the guy who can actually do one for you? We found out that appraisal places tend to have two price tags, one for banks (in the $400+ range) and one for the little guys (our cost $200) --- same service. To the OP, why not simply toss towards mortgage whatever minimum...
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    How cold do you keep the A/C in your home during summer?

    Wow... you guys have some cheap electricity rates! We're paying $.15/kWh. We're in the mid-Atlantic region and keep AC between 78 and 83 (depending on activity levels); fans are in just about every room. If we're expecting a bunch of people, the setting is lowered to 74 (nothing like a bunch of...
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    RiverSource?

    Yes, that could be the case... most likely, however, they will provide 3% dollar-for-dollar match. Retirement Plans FAQs regarding SIMPLE IRA Plans From IRS website: How much must be contributed for employees participating in a SIMPLE IRA plan? In addition to the employees' salary reduction...
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    RiverSource?

    She may want to find out more about the plan itself... Depending on how the plan is structured, it could be the case that the company will fund SIMPLE IRA for all employees, regardless of their participation. Also, wasn't that a rule that after 2 yrs one can do an in-service rollover, pull out...
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    Young dreamer no more...

    I am very happy for you! Enjoy the ride!
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    questions about starting salary at megacorp

    I do believe that MegaCorp is not out to get you... I am not sure what to make of this: Is the job function listed within the external posting? If you get an offer it will be for a specific job function/grade and that will come with a specific salary range - you cannot get paid less than the...
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    Retired at 30 and Bored!

    It appears to me that food shopping if one of your true passions. Also, you have mentioned previously that you cannot go to supermarket every day - probably because you have no need (once per week is sufficient) and due to the lack of desire to spend additional money. I was thinking... have...
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    What Did you Learn From Doing Your 2009 Taxes?

    There was nothing unexpected on our taxes, but in helping others I have learned... ...if you have a family of 5 and you make less than $23k in income, you will have no tax liability, but (surprisingly) you will also receive another $10k from fed/state govt --- amazing ...one can get a refund...
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    Your Thoughts Pls: Paying for Tax Advice instead of for the Tax Return itself? (LONG)

    Amethyst - Your situation is not simple, but nothing you mentioned is really all that earth shattering (as others have noted as well). It seems that you are interested in learning how to do your own returns, but feel uncomfortable being on your own... I think having your CPA "on call" to help...
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    Hello from India, couple late thirties with 2 kids

    Let me just say that I know very little about India, its market stability and its overall economic stability.... However, if I was you the following would be a big concern of mine... It seems you will have hard time accurately estimating spending (due to overall lifestyle inflation). Also...
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    Are HSA's Really So Good?

    It all depends on plan details... in our case, we will never be worse off with the HSA plan. Among other options we can choose between 2 flavors of the same plan. The traditional plan has no deductible, but higher premiums and out of pocket cost. The HSA version has a deductible, but once it...
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    HSA (logistics)

    Thanks guys! Al, just to make sure I got this right - you save the bill and the actual proof of payment for the said bill. I am assuming IRS is the only party who would ever care about this (as opposed to the HSA administrator). REW, I will take a closer look at the link, lots of good stuff in...
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    HSA (logistics)

    Well... next month we're starting with a medical coverage with an HSA option. The plan is great (with a large employer contribution) and simply too good to pass up. Anyway, I did some searching of existing posts but did not specifically come across answers to the following questions (at times...
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    $1000 kitchen remodel

    Could you elaborate on this? I really dislike the back splash tile in our kitchen, but I thought replacing it would be the only option... How did you prep the surface (did you use the standard primer/latex paint)? I would love to do the same, but I worry that the paint will peal/chip. Oh yeah...
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    why is my paint chipping?

    Wow, you had wallpaper on the ceiling? Our "flakes" are the same size and look a bit like small spider-web cracks... they do seem to be in non-smooth places on the wall. I wonder whether I need to scrape them off since I will be putting a layer of mud all over... Thoughts? Thanks.
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    why is my paint chipping?

    We live in an older home. About 4-5 yrs ago we took down wallpaper in the hall (it looked ancient). Once this was done, the surface was quite damaged (some of the glue did not come off nicely), but we decided to ignore this and simply primed and painted the walls (1 coat each). Recently I have...
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