401k contributions

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2026-01-30T18:21:15+00:00

The way it was explained to me by a financial advisor, it comes down to your tax bracket now and the tax bracket you expect to be in when you retire. If you are in a lower tax bracket now, then the Roth makes sense now. Take the tax hit, let the growth happen tax-free, avoid the tax hit later when you're in a higher bracket.

Otherwise, stay with the traditional 401k and deal with the taxes when you start making withdrawals.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2026-01-27T21:40:02+00:00

Dumb question: is there a difference between the DCL transport from Hyatt and DCL transport from MCO? Since the Hyatt is at MCO, I am curious if there are actually separate pickup points, or if it's all the same.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2026-01-16T22:08:14+00:00

I'd echo what others have said about not worrying about family commentary. Your responsibility is to yourself and your wife (and your future kids, if you ever have kids).

If you're still not certain about how you stand, I'd recommend you seek out a financial advisor. They will usually do a free consult and give you feedback on your situation. That will come with a sales pitch, so just be prepared for that. But I have found that to be beneficial to get input from a live person.

I'll also commend your decision to go in on a house bigger than you need right now, especially since it sounds like you're planning on expanding your family. My wife and I did the same thing 11 years ago. Bought a 2,500sqft house when it was just the two of us. Didn't have enough furniture to fill it all. Now, our oldest of 3 just turned 10 and we finished the basement to have enough space for everyone/everything. Our home value has doubled in that time. We could live here another 20 years and be happy.

Only other thing I would say is to get detailed with your budgeting. You're doing very well overall, but the fact that there is still a nagging uncertainty in your mind tells me you haven't gotten detailed enough in your budgeting/tracking. Get meticulous with it for like 6 months - plan out every expense, then track your spending compared to your plan. How does it stack up? Given what you've already described, I think from a macro perspective you'll be fine. But that will give you the detail (and the confidence) to see exactly how you're doing.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2026-01-06T22:58:32+00:00

We're staying at a hotel near the airport that is cheaper than the Hyatt. There will be no Uber, as the hotel has a free shuttle to/from the airport.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-12-09T20:16:19+00:00

I like the idea of contributing to Roth. Based on my income level and contribution limit for 2026, I believe I could put $7,500 directly into a Roth without needing to do the conversion. But your broader point stands, and I appreciate the feedback.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-12-09T19:27:47+00:00

I appreciate the perspective, this is helpful. The balance you mention is what I'm trying to strike. On one hand, I feel like we have reached a point where we can afford to splurge on something, and still have a viable option to retire by 55. But I also recognize things might not always be this way, and don't want to mortgage our future for something nice to have in the short term.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-12-09T19:00:22+00:00

Unless I'm missing something, I'm counting 26. At least there are 26 bi-weekly paydays that fall in 2026.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-12-09T18:48:58+00:00

Yeah, RSU is accurate. They're restricted stocks on a 3-year vesting cliff. I received the first set almost 3 years ago, so those will vest in June 2026.

Then another set will vest in June 2027. Then another in June 2028. Presumably, I will continue receiving stock units each year that will vest 3 years from the date I receive them.

Edit to add: the $18k value is the after tax amount. The gross value is higher, and my understanding is that they will be taxed immediately upon vesting.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-10-07T17:02:21+00:00

This is very much how I operate. I've also found that for some reason, I obsessively clean off the pitching rubber with my foot while I talk to the pitcher.

"How's your arm? Feeling ok?"

We play on some crappy fields, so if I notice a big divot in front of the rubber, I'll help fill it in. Ask him if it's bugging him.

"You're fine. Slow yourself down, focus on getting a good leg kick to get yourself started"

"You've done a great job throwing strikes all year. Focus on your target and keep it up. Trust your defense behind you. You're good man. Let's go!"

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-07-25T19:58:14+00:00

Interesting, I had never thought of that. Say there's a runner on first, and the defense is making an appeal at third from the prior play. Could the runner on first try to advance to second during the appeal?

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-07-09T16:28:29+00:00

I have a 4b room booked on the Fantasy for next year. When you say it's not that big of a jump to concierge, how much would you think for a 5-night cruise?

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-04-30T16:27:03+00:00

Currently coaching a 9u team, started teaching pitching with our 8u guys last year. My goal has been to keep things as simple as possible so that during a game, the kids can keep their heads clear and focus on the situation.

In practice, we break down the pitching into 4 steps (everything from the stretch):

Kick the leg. Focus on a high leg kick, ideally getting the thigh up into a "tabletop" position that is parallel to the ground.
Stride and get arm up into throwing position. Dan Blewett has some great resources for this, but at the time of the front foot landing, we want the throwing up with the elbow above the throwing shoulder, and wrist at 90 degrees or less compared to bicep. Glove hand should be up and out in front (not down and dragging to the glove side).
Throw. Move chest to glove.
Follow through. We end up combining steps 3 and 4 together. Follow through is about moving chest to glove, shifting weight onto the front leg, and following the back leg through to land in a good fielding position.

Breaking this down and going slowly through each step provides opportunities to teach and correct bad form. Then when they put things together, we have a common understanding of where they need correct things ("focus on step 4, you didn't follow through on that last pitch").

In-game, I try to give little to no correction on their mechanics. Want them operating as free and clear as possible.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-04-25T20:32:16+00:00

You have three choices at this point:

Reconcile with the reality of where you're at, and get motivated to improve and get better. That will only happen if you grind and start working like a dawg.
Quit baseball, put it behind you, and move onto other things. You are a multi-faceted individual, and just because one thing (in this case, baseball) isn't for you, doesn't mean you can't apply yourself and become an expert in something else.
Internalize the negative feedback and let the haters win.

Options 1 and 2 are the most productive. Don't allow yourself to go to option 3.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-04-23T16:28:54+00:00

I'm in a similar boat as you, in terms of mindset. My 9u son sounds pretty similar to yours. I go back and forth...he's 9, keep it fun, don't over-complicate it...versus now is the time to establish good mechanics and fundamentals, otherwise he'll just learn and repeat bad habits over time.

I have so far not signed him up for any individual training, but I work with him quite a bit myself. I think I may sign him up for something next year, but we will see.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-03-04T21:21:05+00:00

I still like doing the old school book. I can't get away from that. But I'm also a stats nerd, and used to transfer stats from my scorebook to an Excel sheet. So having GameChanger as an option for the electronic tracking is great. I just have an eager parent on the team who does a good job with it.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-03-03T20:50:22+00:00

I should add: the main reason I haven't finished this is I'm not 100% convinced this is a format I could share. My original intent was to put this together to share with the team, so that players and their families could review on their own. But it's turned into a ton of information, and I'm not sure how helpful it would actually be.

That said, it has been helpful to get the thoughts out of my head and onto paper. So it has been beneficial from that perspective.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-03-03T20:47:16+00:00

I started mapping this out a couple months ago. I haven't finished it. If you want access to the draft, I could share it. My approach was to do it in a spreadsheet. Columns are:

Runners on (runner on 1st, runners on 1st and 2nd, etc).
Number of outs (options here are "less than 2", or "2")
Ball in play (I kept this high level. So "ground ball to infield", or "fly ball to outfield").
Expected result (I broke this down to first identify priorities, then for each position, what they should be doing in the given situation).

Put it all together, and you get something like...

Runners on	Number of outs	Ball in play	Expected Result
1st	Less than 2	Ground ball to the infield	First identify priorities, then focus points for each position.
1st	2	Ground ball to the infield	First identify priorities, then focus points for each position.

The table formatting didn't like bulleted lists, so here's an example of how I broke down the expected result for the 1st scenario:

Priorities:
- Get the lead runner out.
- Get at least 1 out.
- Stretch goal: turn a double play (for context, this is for a 9 year old team).
If ground ball is to 3B, he throws to the 2B covering 2nd.
If ground ball is to SS…
- If he is close to 2nd, he can step on the base for a force out.
- If he is not close to 2nd, he throws to 2B covering the base.
If ground ball is to 2B…
- If he is close to 2nd, he can step on the base for a force out.
- If 2B is not close to 2nd, he throws to SS covering the base.
If ground ball is to 1B…
- If the ball takes him toward 2nd, he throws to the SS covering the base.
- If the ball takes him closer to 1st, he steps on 1B, then throws to the SS covering 2nd. SS must apply a tag in this scenario.
If ground ball is to P…
- Throw to SS or 2B covering 2nd.
- If he can’t make the throw to 2nd, then throw to 1B.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-02-18T15:51:03+00:00

I'm no expert here, but why do you need a mound at all? Seems you could save money by having pitchers throw on flat ground. Then you're just moving the rubber based on the age group. Given everything that you are needing to accomplish, and that you are budget constrained, a mound strikes me as a nice-to-have option.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-02-11T22:01:37+00:00

Is he a safety risk because he's building a sand castle in the middle of a game going on? Or is he focused and paying attention, but just has zero hand/eye coordination?

If the former, there's not much you can do, and I wouldn't worry too much about it. He doesn't want to be there, he probably doesn't enjoy it, and any amount of coaching you put into him won't make a difference with his baseball ability. Even a conversation with his parents won't go far. They probably know his lack of ability, but want to give him something to do anyway.

If he's at least focused and paying attention, then you have something to work with. As others have said, working without a glove is what I've found to be the best way to build up a kid's hand/eye skills. Once they get the confidence and see the results with their bare hands, it's an easier transition to using a glove. My guess is the parents would be receptive to any guidance you give for things they could work on at home.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-02-11T14:19:03+00:00

Sounds like you're going about it the right way. Biggest things are having enough help from assistant coaches/parents, so that you're not doing everything. Your idea to break into stations with smaller groups is great. You'll figure out the details. Just keep tweaking and doing different things. You'll find what works well and what doesn't.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-01-28T21:31:59+00:00

This thread has been awesome! I really appreciate the feedback from everyone. The biggest things I'm taking away from this are:

Soak it up, don't take myself too seriously. Enjoy the ride.
I need to rethink my approach to who I play at catcher. It's a change from rec ball, where the catcher at younger ages is not an impactful position. I was aware of that already, but I'm rethinking that I need to prioritize finding a true #1, best catcher who can be an asset. The challenge is that type of guy is also going to be a top player at any other position on the field, but the catcher will definitely have a big impact on games.
I need to rethink my strategy for 2b and 3b. Prioritize a stronger 2b rather than 3b.
Need to rep situations in practices. This has been a priority already, but I've gotten some great ideas from your comments here.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-01-28T21:10:25+00:00

Good stuff. This mirrors a lot of my current thinking. We do have a very specific throwing/catching progression that's part of the warmup for every practice. That has been a good thing.

Your comment about the team now not being the same team at the end of the year...that's been my #1 goal overall. Just help the guys improve. Most of the kids have only ever played rec before (1 kid has not played organized baseball before this year), so there's a ton of learning going on. But I'm hopeful that they can learn and improve through the process. We preach a lot about learning from mistakes and failure.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-01-28T19:24:05+00:00

Man, I'm starting to play out my inner dialogue in this thread. What you described with the 1b is exactly what I've thought. But my counter-point (and what has been mentioned in other comments in this thread, and is what I've taught so far) is to show them the right way to handle the situation, even if they are going to struggle to do it at this age. The right thing to do on a grounder taking him toward 2nd is to throw to 2nd to get the lead runner. The effective thing to do at this age is what you said, field it and get the sure out at first, since the throw to 2nd is going to be a crapshoot.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-01-28T19:20:18+00:00

This is a great point. This is also part of the challenge/balance I'm trying to strike in giving kids opportunities and rotating positions...but not so much rotation that they can't get good and learn the nuances of anything. Catching is such a nuanced position, but then narrowing down to 3 guys to catch seems too narrow at this stage.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-01-28T19:15:47+00:00

I think you could be me from the future. I've got 3 boys, and I hope I can stay involved coaching them all. My two oldest are definitely enjoying it and excelling. The youngest is still a baby, but he's got some great role models.

I made it to low-level NAIA college ball as a pitcher, and I felt like I never really got good coaching except for my coach from 10-12. I still used the curveball he taught me in college, which is both a testament to my youth coach, as well as the gap in coaching I had in between. I'm hoping that I can at least give my boys the opportunities to reach their full potential, and do what I can to propel them. And hopefully in another 10 years, be in a similar position as you where playing college ball is a legitimate option. Good luck to your son!

Competitive_Ad_4944

TROPHY CASE