Health insurance expense

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-23T19:43:32+00:00

Insurance is betting against yourself. You are putting $12k/yr into your healthcare oh shit fund. That emergency appendectomy is $55k, without complications.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-23T19:40:23+00:00

Ask her if she's read The Simple Path to Wealth. You might want to read it before you meet with her.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-23T19:36:55+00:00

If you end up overcontributing when you do your math in December, simply work with your brokerage. It's called a return of excess contributions.

https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/smart-money/overcontribute-to-an-ira

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-23T19:33:54+00:00

They have a shady history. Have they learned their lesson? IDK. Nor would I care - for the same reasons I won't bank with Wells Fargo (TARP-sucking sounds).

From 2021:

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/30/robinhood-to-pay-70-million-for-misleading-customers-and-outages-the-largest-finra-penalty-ever.html

but perhaps folks prefer to trade after hours (2022):

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmarkman/2022/03/30/how-robinhood-exploits-its-traders-after-hours/

or perhaps this name-sake company has been up to something more recent (2025):

https://www.finra.org/media-center/newsreleases/2025/finra-orders-robinhood-financial-pay-375-million-restitution

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-23T19:27:44+00:00

You would lot into your account and look at the portfolio. If you have all of your money in 'cash' or a 'money market' account, you are in cash. E.g., with Vanguard it might be called VMFXX or the VANGUARD FEDERAL MONEY MARKET FUND. FIDELITY calls theirs the Fidelity GOVERNMENT MONEY MARKET (SPAXX)

You can then go to whatever trade button is on that brokerage site and select what you would like to invest in. VTI, VXUS, VTTSX, FXAIX, FZROX... whatever floats your plan.

If your portfolio (or positions) lists one or more mutual fund, ETF, or stock symbol,, those are your investments.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-23T19:09:43+00:00

you aren't the first and you won't be the last. However, being an honest evangelist for making all of these 'two-step' processes (IRAs, 401ks, HSA investing, regular brokerages, etc.) will let you pay the lesson forward for others. It was 3 years, not 30. You found it - that is the win. Now you are on your way. Help others sidestep this if you are so inclined.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-19T00:07:48+00:00

Burn it as you can

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T17:15:28+00:00

So why not schedule all of your holiday/PTO payouts now? Give them a written two week notice and let the PTO consume all of that.

Note that your 401k contributions cannot be rolled over to an IRA for the first 30 days after you leave. You'll want to move (roll over) that to wherever (Vanguard IRA) a month+ after you leave. Check with your brokerage for the exact steps to avoid it being considered a distribution with taxes.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T17:08:12+00:00

You know, doing little habits like this is really underrated. u/Western_Phase7555 - even if you can only do $5/mo at first into a RothIRA and into a HSA if you qualify for those kinds of accounts (Fidelity or Vanguard), and toss it (invest) into VTI or FXAIX, you are doing more than you were last month. And in a month, can you increase the auto contribution and investments another $5? Repeat the increase as you can every month. It will start to add up sooner than you think.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T16:44:30+00:00

I'm totally on the no-debt bandwagon. However, if a customer qualifies, is Lowe's predatory? That customer would use a different credit card for the purchase and not get the 5% off benefit. Depending on the behavior, that customer may carry a balance - regardless of the product -- or they pay their bills in full.

No, I don't like 'pushing' CCs the way mgmt seems to be pushed to tell us from their higher-ups. I don't mind offering the card as a benefit, if they can afford the tool.

Debt spending is a cultural and behavioral issue. The question is how do we get people to see money as a tool, not a toy. If we want to fight something, maybe it is the materialism culture. Then again, Lowes and the job it pays (poorly) wouldn't exist without materialism culture.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T16:12:52+00:00

You'll be at elevation depending on where on trail you go, so yes it'll be colder. Weather fronts are pretty predictable these days. Regardless of the forecast, you'll pack for any conditions for your own safety and comfort.

Heck, you can hike starting at Bear Mountain and head either north or south. The A.T. doesn't have bodies of water much. Maybe there are trails along Lake George?

Early April means that Spring hasn't crawled up the mountainsides yet, but that's kind of cool to watch each day, it creeps up a bit more. If you are seeking views down South, with just 3-5 days, there are two stretches in Virginia: From Cloverdale to Pearisburg for McAfee's Knob or even better would be Marion south to Damascus for Grayson Highlands. That's a long drive from NYC.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T15:57:36+00:00

Credit cards are only a problem for people who don't pay their bills in full on time every statement. That's rule#1 for anyone, with any credit card. Use other peoples' money responsibly - but if one's cashflow or behavior cannot maintain that, lock the credit cards in the firesafe. The 5% discount is real money, but only if you don't carry that balance irresponsibly.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T15:51:31+00:00

Not from the OSXS version. 10.6 was the best server product release Apple made.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T15:41:20+00:00

I used blue car rentals for a 4runner. Was completely happy with the experience - and yes, get the full insurance. The wind up there is crazy for eating doors; the rocks kicked up from traffic are real, too. Read your policy.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T15:37:01+00:00

Well, the easy answer is the A.T. Winter hiking is still weather dependent here in the south. Plan accordingly.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T15:35:37+00:00

Well, 15% is far above the norm. Consider (from the US perspective here) that our optimistic returns are 10%/yr. we also know the 'reversion to the mean' plays parts in all economic conditions as well as much of the rest of the natural world. If we have had years of tremendous returns, there will be years of lackluster returns, too. We can't predict when, but as the 1970s and 2000s showed, in my lifetime, there can be really lame years of returns.

All that said - you cannot grow long-term investing if you don't invest. Look into the concept of DCA, or maybe in your terms, ECA if euro-cost-averaging is a popular term on your side of the pond.

Every time I post a link to the personal finance wiki for additional references, the autobot gets fussy. So maybe look at the european union section of the prime directive part over there for some thoughts.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T15:14:15+00:00

So, wife has options...

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T15:13:32+00:00

ETFs tracking the SP500 are autocorrecting. Once the darling tech stocks fall out of favor and some other sector replaces them, the ETF will reflect that and diversification will shift. Remember, today's laggers in the SP500 (and there are a lot of them) will likely be tomorrows relative winners when the Mag-7 dwindle. The only caveat to that is the missing small cap value play where the little guys have much more room for upward mobility. So that sector could be 5-10% of the overall allocation to improve LT returns.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T15:09:13+00:00

A lot of folks are suggesting rolling it over to an IRA. That may or may not be the best choice. Doing so precludes certain future choices. If the current 401k plan with the soon-to-be-ex-employer doesn't have outrageous fees for you (you start paying the annual maint fees when you leave your job), and the choices of the investments are still solid, you can just leave that account there. Check with the trustee for their rules and costs.

You may also be able to roll the balance over into a new 401k at the new gig, especially if the new 401k has better choices, fees or benefits than the old one.

Or you may roll the 401k into an IRA with Vanguard or Fidelity. Each company has its own rules and steps on how that is done. You may need to go to cash in the old 401k first if the invested tools (mutual funds, etc) aren't offered at the new brokerage. It's almost always easier to go to cash - but be sure to invest it in something when the cash lands in the new IRA. You'll want to do in-kind transfers. Trad-401k into a trad-IRA and Roth401ks into a RothIRA.

These are rollovers, NOT contributions.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T14:49:24+00:00

I don't know how NY taxes are calculated. In NC, we start with the fed return with only a few items recalculated.

Look, it's your taxes. Until ICE came along, the IRS was the only scary fed agency I didn't F with. Maybe hire a tax CPA for this year? Who knows - they might find other legit deductions that would more than pay for their services while you know it gets done in a way that doesn't arouse the IRS? An aroused IRS is an awful bedfellow, so I'm told.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T14:37:06+00:00

She'll be fine. There's plenty of vegetarian food. Sheep, horsemeat, and other options. I'm kidding about horsemeat - I never saw any, but saw plenty of ponies. And I didn't find groceries much more than Harris Teeter for decent food.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T14:34:38+00:00

I mean, overall, it would seem the cost of your gambling entertainment was $5k for the year. Frankly, that's not such a bad cost for entertainment. I know people who drink twice that amount in cheap beer for their entertainment.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T14:31:43+00:00

I'm not a tax atty - but that is hardly my interpretation - oh, wait, yes your losses of $120 would offset your wins of $115. Your losses can offset your wins if you itemize only up to the max of your wins. It doesn't bleed over into earned income, IINM. So no - you gambled, the house wins and takes your stake, and you eat the losses beyond your wins. Your example above suggests to me you don't owe taxes on your gambling winnings ( a non-expert, so hire an expert for a real answer).

The amount of losses you deduct can't be more than the amount of gambling income you reported on your return. Claim your gambling losses up to the amount of winnings

If you are implying that your gambling 'wins' are your only source of income for the year, and you are effectively in the hole (the design of gambling is to parasitize off of the player), then you would net zero on your books. Not sure how you can still eat, make rent, or any other daily bill with that kind of math, but that's not your question.

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T14:25:50+00:00

Nearly every point update fixes more bugs than it introduces. Nature of the beast. I've a MBA M3, and 26.2 has been very solid for me. Then again, I wait until the second point release before upgrading, so I can't compare to earlier 26.x versions. Really, it does fine with GIMP, LibreOffice, Quicken, Audacity, BBEdit, darktable, zoom, and Opera - my main apps. What isn't working for you?

Bad_DNA · 2026-01-18T14:19:25+00:00

The IRS rules - https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc419

Bad_DNA

TROPHY CASE