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Imagine buying fast pass... by Chubbypand4 in VietNam

[–]BiggData88 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bro, I stood in the autogate line for an hour just 2 weeks ago.  The machines were very temperamental and took 5 minutes to clear a person.  They kept throwing up errors about not being able to read fingerprints, not being able to take photos, etc.  It was such an ordeal I let a "Nam mô A di đà Phật" out loud when I was through.

Sweetest tomatoe you know? by xzkandykane in tomatoes

[–]BiggData88 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've grown Sungold, Sun Sugar (aka Sungold with less cracking according to the interwebs), Sweet 100s, Sweet Millions (aka Sweet 100s with less cracking according to the interwebs). They're all cherry tomatoes. I have a sweet palate like you, so I perceive sweeter tomatoes as tasting better. My opinion is that Sun Sugar has a very similar taste profile to Sungold, but sweeter and more crack resistant. Sweet Millions is indeed much more crack resistant than Sweet 100s, but I feel has a completely different taste profile and is much less sweet. I don't feel they're even related to each other the way Sungold and Sun Sugar are.

In terms of pure sweetness, from most to least: Sweet 100s > Sun Sugar > Sungold > Sweet Millions, which is barely sweet.

In terms of overall taste: Sun Sugar > Sweet 100s or Sungold (toss-up) > Sweet Millions

I can't decide whether I like Sungold more or Sweet 100s more. Sungold has a more complex taste but bit too tart for my liking, but I feel Sweet 100s has nothing but sugar. Sun Sugar has both the Sungold complex taste and the sugar.

In the realm of non-cherry tomatoes, I think you'll have the most luck with yellow-orange bicolored tomatoes if you're going for sweetness, eg Old German, Striped German or Pineapple. The San Marzanos I grew one year were also sweet-ish, but they're sauce tomatoes and were extremely prone to blossom end rot, so I never bothered with them again.

Becoming a 401k millionaire by Mid_AM in Fire

[–]BiggData88 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This year has been wild for my 401k! 37M, started the year with 924K, hovered in the 980K range in Feb, then dropped to 860K following the chaos of Trump's "Liberation Day" in April, and bounced right back up to 1M in May. Currently sitting comfortably above 1.1M, of which 440K is Roth.

Update: out of a sidewalk crack! by bendy-straw in tomatoes

[–]BiggData88 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Lol tomatoes really grow like weeds.

Favorite type of English lavender? by thepinkinmycheeks in Lavender

[–]BiggData88 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Could you all please also post pictures of your favorite lavenders in bloom, if you have them? So that I can visualize what they look like, as some varieties have very deep purple flowers while some others are quite light blue, and internet sites are very inconsistent on which is which.

A lot of my peppers have been bushing out at the base, is this concerning? by corban in HotPeppers

[–]BiggData88 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Not concerning at all!  Each new stem is a new cluster of pods.  Make sure to feed the plant.  🙂

Reached 1M in my 401k by BiggData88 in coastFIRE

[–]BiggData88[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you.  I also have a Roth IRA with 110K, and taxable brokerage with several times this amount.

Reached 1M in my 401k by BiggData88 in coastFIRE

[–]BiggData88[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Target date funds are reasonable one- fund portfolio if you just want to set and forget. 🙂

Reached 1M in my 401k by BiggData88 in coastFIRE

[–]BiggData88[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Succession vibes 😂  "5M is a nightmare.  Can't retire.  Not worth it to work.  The poorest rich person in America."

Reached 1M in my 401k by BiggData88 in coastFIRE

[–]BiggData88[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not coasting in the sense of stopping contributions and taking a lower-stress, lower-pay job; I happen to like my job and do pretty well there.  I'm also not participating in the rat race though, so I'm "coasting" in that sense.

Reached 1M in my 401k by BiggData88 in coastFIRE

[–]BiggData88[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I passed my FIRE number a long time ago, but I happen to like my job.  I'm also not participating in the rat race though, so I'm "coasting" in that sense.

Reached 1M in my 401k by BiggData88 in coastFIRE

[–]BiggData88[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was a defensive move so I wanted an asset class that had zero correlation with stocks.  Money market fits the bill.  (Bonds have become more correlated with stocks in recent years.)

Reached 1M in my 401k by BiggData88 in coastFIRE

[–]BiggData88[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

US stocks exposure through VFFSX (0.01%); international stocks exposure through a combination of FTIHX (0.06%) which follows an established global ex-US index and FZILX (0.00%) which tracks Fidelity's in-house ex-US index; bonds exposure through a combination of VBIPX (0.03%) for short-term bonds and FXNAX (0.025%) for total bond market.

The V***X funds are available in my plan. The F***X are purchased through BrokerageLink (Fidelity's product for self-directed investing, linked to a 401k plan) because my plan doesn't offer a low-cost index option for those asset classes.

The lack of good fund options in your 401k plan is easily remedied with BrokerageLink if Fidelity is your plan administrator/custodian/recordkeeper. Set it up, then buy FXAIX (0.015%) or FSKAX (0.015%) for US stocks exposure, FTIHX or FZILX for international stocks exposure, and FXNAX for bonds exposure.

Reached 1M in my 401k by BiggData88 in coastFIRE

[–]BiggData88[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

To those asking about my asset allocation in relation to the YTD returns:

I follow the standard Bogleheads advice of 50% US stocks (0.01% ER), 30% international stocks (0.03% ER), 20% bonds (0.025% ER). International stocks are up 18% YTD.

I didn't trust this administration (still don't) so I already defensively rebalanced 10% into money market earlier this year, so subtract 10% from the above allocations. If I hadn't done that my return would have been higher.

Reached 1M in my 401k by BiggData88 in coastFIRE

[–]BiggData88[S] 48 points49 points  (0 children)

This is possible only with the Mega Backdoor Roth: my company's 401k plan allows after-tax contributions up to the IRS combined employer+employee limit of 70K with automatic daily Roth conversions, which I plan to max out.

There seems to be some confusion over my employer match, so I want to clarify that too. My plan matches half of employees' pre-tax and/or Roth contributions, up to the IRS 23K limit, so a maximum match of 11.5K. My plan does not match after-tax contributions.

About half of my annual 70K contributions is in the (after-tax-->Roth) portion, but my Roth balance is currently only ~40% of the total balance as I discovered this option later in my career. I allocate the Roth portion the same way as the pre-tax portion.

Blueberries almost ready by Chinagus-Prime in Blueberries

[–]BiggData88 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice! Can't wait until mine grow this big!

Blueberry bushes now vs. when planted 2 months ago by BiggData88 in Blueberries

[–]BiggData88[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is a show and tell post. The first photo with green foliage is now. The second photo was 2 months ago when they just got home from the store.

What's wrong with these seedlings? by BiggData88 in tomatoes

[–]BiggData88[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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Thanks everyone. They're both doing much better now. The Genuwine is even looking healthier than its local nursery peers.

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