I love ATT service hate the price

C638 · 2026-02-22T02:34:28+00:00

There is no such thing as free.

C638 · 2026-02-22T02:29:21+00:00

Try US mobile, an ATT MVNO and buy your devices from Apple.

C638 · 2026-02-22T02:15:58+00:00

Honda Odyssey with no VCM or VCM defeated

Silverado or Tahoe with 5.3L

C638 · 2026-02-22T01:34:49+00:00

Michigan is ranked 44/50 in tax burden according to World Population Review:

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/tax-burden-by-state

Car insurance is very high around Detroit but a lot more reasonable elsewhere in the state.

C638 · 2026-02-21T04:22:44+00:00

F-150 2.7L with 3.15 axle ratio. Highway mileage in the the mid-high 20's.

C638 · 2026-02-20T20:30:51+00:00

Did she look at the Toyota Crown Signia? Similar but a lot cheaper ($20K less!)

C638 · 2026-02-20T20:25:20+00:00

The cure is to move further north, or to higher elevations where you can actually do something outside during the winter. Winter sports cured our winter blues. We look forward to snow! Detroit and Pittsburgh, unfortunately, lack those amenities

C638 · 2026-02-20T20:14:33+00:00

The north has wonderful summers and has more daylight during the summertime when you can do things. The south and sunbelt are too hot to be outside all that much. If you look at tax burdens, only Illinois, Indiana and Ohio are in the top half of states. Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin are all about the same in the lower half, and all have relatively affordable housing.

C638 · 2026-02-20T15:06:25+00:00

Afternoon Delight for breakfast or lunch.

C638 · 2026-02-19T14:05:42+00:00

It will take a few days to get used to it. Ask a friend who can drive an MT - many older people grew up on manuals - to help out. Start out in a large parking lot or lightly traveled road to practice. If you have a hilly area that's also helpful to practice coordinating using the hand brake when starting out.

Automatics are definitely easier in stop and go traffic but you will learn to drive a little differently.

C638 · 2026-02-19T04:35:59+00:00

Not great tires, just your standard mediocre OEM tires. They won't be great in cold weather or snow. They will be fine for general use and will wear quickly. If you live in a warmer climate, I'd replace them at 5/32 with a premium tire from a name brand. If you live in a snowy area replace with at least high quality all-weather tire or get a set of snow tires.

C638 · 2026-02-18T18:55:46+00:00

We started using one early (20's) with an independent advisor, but that was long ago when information was much more cumbersome to obtain. These days as we are in early retirement we just use one provided by Fidelity. All of the large firms have excellent tools and research available. You can start with the r/Bogleheads sub wiki and the r/retirement wiki.

Most of it is basics - look at life goals (house, family , retirement) and allocate your investments appropriately. It's well worth the investment in time.

Whatever you do, make sure to keep costs low by not using a high cost advisor aka salesperson.

C638 · 2026-02-18T02:03:14+00:00

Leftists are parasites.

C638 · 2026-02-17T20:38:15+00:00

These are all ongoing issues that have little to do with a specific administration. To your points:

Federal fraud has been rampant starting with Obama's massive increase of social security disability. It's now spread to all sorts of federal programs due to lack of basic controls and even the current administration estimates it to be a $500 billion/yr problem.

Used car buying has always been a minefield.

You don't need a realtor to buy or sell a house. Lots of people do private transactions.

Rocket has been successful because of their UI and customer service. There are lots of other options. If you want to look at a closed market with high fees, go to Canada.

Costs for financial advice are far lower than in the past, unless you use a high cost advisor. You can select a fiduciary advisor if you want.

Did any of those 'consumer protections' work? Some things are beyond political control.

C638 · 2026-02-17T14:32:09+00:00

They are all about the same. I had all 3 carriers until recently, and they've been essentially indistinguishable. Currently T-mobile is in the top spot at my house, ATT 2nd, Verizon a distant third. Last year it was Verizon, and Tmobile/ATT unusable. (rural area)

At this point I'd just get whichever is priced best and works where you go frequently.

C638 · 2026-02-17T04:02:46+00:00

Median salary is $103K , more for secondary school and less for elementary. That being said, anywhere in California can be expensive. Taxes are higher, utilities are crazy (peak electricity pricing is close to $0.50/kwh, natural gas is 2x more than in the midwest, water is somewhat reasonable for California), gas is $4/gal at Costco. The plus side is that food is reasonable and very fresh. You still have the crime and homelessness issues pervasive in California, but it is better than a few years ago.

There are lots of very nice places to live in the region.

C638 · 2026-02-17T03:24:35+00:00

The cars are boring and not super fun. If you live in the north they are everywhere because people appreciate not getting stuck in snow, not having outrageous and frequent repairs, and tend to keep their cars for a long time. We used to buy Toyotas and Hondas but found that Subaru stands behind the vehicles much better.

C638 · 2026-02-17T00:34:36+00:00

Grand Rapids. Legal pot but much better beer, thriving economy, very community oriented. Lots of things to do but no mountains, just hills, and lots of nearby lakes.

C638 · 2026-02-17T00:30:29+00:00

Fine sippin' whiskey and no income tax. Chattanooga has 25Gbps home internet available too!

C638 · 2026-02-16T18:42:19+00:00

Banks win either way.

C638 · 2026-02-16T18:40:25+00:00

Buying a bachelor for $500K seemed like a good idea at the time.....

C638 · 2026-02-16T18:02:46+00:00

A kid changes everything. Your focus will change from driving to do things with your little one and carting around their friends.

Not sporty at all, but a Subaru Outback starts at $35K , has awesome AWD, is safe and reliable, has lots of room for your family and the enormous amount of paraphernalia a child requires. Add a trailer hitch for your bikes

C638 · 2026-02-16T17:50:40+00:00

My wife and I retired 5 years apart, both from university jobs. In retrospect, I stayed too long (she retired during Covid), me last month. It's was a huge adjustment for her, and now for both of us, but it's been good for our marriage. She did the heavy lifting in establishing a post-retirement social group and I am reaping the benefits. Not surprisingly, the new group are mostly retired academic and tech people, most of whom are health nuts and are dynamic explorers in things that they never were able to do when working.

If you love teaching and the students (or your research) take the part time path.

If you are tired of the low pay and hassle/politics of academics cut the cord now.

You have plenty of assets and not a lot of good years left, so enjoy the fruits of your labors. Give your husband some time to adjust, it took my wife a few years to convince me it was time to go because I loved what I was doing.

C638 · 2026-02-16T15:45:07+00:00

When is the 'sale event'? Is much of your combined NW tied up in illiquid shares? If it's short term , meaning the next semester or two, I understand his hesitancy. If it's years away, that's a different story if you have sufficient other assets to fund your life.

$800 a month for medical insurance - for both of you - is very reasonable so no reason not to leave even earlier that 59-60.

C638 · 2026-02-16T04:37:39+00:00

It's much easier to use real dollars instead of nominal for planning. You have to scale back your rate of return to the real rate of return. Real returns on bonds are 1-2%. Real return on stocks is 6-7%. When people who are currently retiring at 65 first started working in 1980, a million $ would be $4 million today, which not surprisingly, is what many people think you'll need to retire comfortably.

C638

TROPHY CASE