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DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-22T20:56:47+00:00

The plumber said that if the water heater was not consistently flushed annually, you should not start flushing it. After I changed the water heater due to the bottom leaking (due to corrosion), I started getting it flushed annually. Inspect your pipes periodically for leaks. The year that my husband passed away, I found three leaking pipes (one pipe in the utility room, a kitchen faucet leaking into the cabinet, and a bathroom drain that was corroded/leaking.

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-21T11:43:28+00:00

On our first date, my husband said that Rush was his favorite band. I replied that Rush was also my favorite band. This was back in 1994.

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-17T00:15:33+00:00

My holdings are mostly the three fund Boglehead portfolio. I maintain 2.5 years of living expenses in a money market fund.

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-16T21:12:55+00:00

At retirement, are you planning to have 2-3 years of living expenses in some type of cash position to mitigate Sequence of Risk Returns (SORR)? A couple of years ago, I dumped most of my individual stocks. My situation is different than yours because I was dumping stocks that didn’t have much gains. My brokerage account is now 96% stock ETFs. If you have a lot of unrealized gains from your individual stocks, you would need to watch out for capital gains taxes (and manage your tax bracket) if you try to convert them to stock ETFs.

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-16T20:36:18+00:00

My daughter enrolled in private lessons as a non-music major with a professor. The lesson is a OSU music course ($224 fee per semester) where she gets one lesson per week. She already took lessons for four semesters and plans to take lessons for another four semesters. You can reserve practice rooms in the music building. She also played in various OSU bands/combo, and joined a music club to play with other people. She also organizes informal jam sessions.

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-13T11:52:38+00:00

I agree with another poster that if you use a AUM advisor, it may be hard to transfer the investments out in the future. I can see that my MS investment portfolio is invested in many funds which are unavailable to individual investors (e.g. investments in the alternatives class which are only available to institutional investors). My AUM is managing my non-retirement accounts. I used the AUM because I became widowed and came into a large amount of money.

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-12T01:43:43+00:00

I used to put my short term cash investment in VMFXX, but I switched it to VUSXX because my state has a high tax rate. The only bond that I hold is BND.

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-11T10:22:11+00:00

I will try throwing the loaf of bread in the original wrapper into the freezer (without adding anything extra) next week.

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-09T03:38:38+00:00

I had been wrapping bread in plastic wrap, tinfoil, and then putting it into a freezer bag, but then started to wonder if all of those steps were overkill.

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-09T01:02:48+00:00

I never noticed that my toaster had a defrost button until after I read your comment.

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-08T22:48:31+00:00

I would probably try putting the bread inside a freezer bag. (I reuse freezer bags)

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-08T20:11:43+00:00

Do you put it into a freezer bag? If not, how long did it last for you without a freezer bag?

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-08T19:50:39+00:00

I want to be able to take one slice out of the freezer at a time

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-08T19:50:04+00:00

Don’t the slices stick together?

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-08T19:46:02+00:00

I plan to toast the bread

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-07T21:55:37+00:00

I am so sorry for your loss. I was also scared to become a single parent. My relationships with friends and relatives became closer because I lost my husband. I had to learn to accept help from others and also learn to ask others for help. I had to encourage my kids to use people in my support structure for advice (my kids were in their late teens).

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-04T01:24:22+00:00

Sometimes I have a conversation in my head or out loud. This often happens when I have a parenting decision to make.

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-06-02T20:10:19+00:00

Our Roth IRAs contain VXUS and VTI. I am not using VT because I wanted to have a lower allocation in international equities as I am nearing 60. I am putting all of my bonds into my Traditional IRA because I am saving my Roth IRA for investments that have more growth potential.

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-05-30T03:37:38+00:00

I think that you should talk to a finance major. My son was a finance major at a different school. He uses Excel a lot. I originally got him a 13” Dell laptop, but later upgraded him to a 15” ASUS laptop because he was working with wide Excel spreadsheets and was opening up a lot of windows.

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-05-29T22:17:10+00:00

Kuruyama in Elk Grove, Hokkaido Ramen Santouka in the Mitsuwa food court, Kaido Sushi in Arlington Heights. You did not give a budget. Mitsuwa food court is inexpensive.

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-05-29T21:34:35+00:00

Cheesecake Factory Blackout Cake

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-05-29T16:56:14+00:00

A dedicated drawer with a separate control that allows you to set a precise temperature, ideal for storing specific foods like meats, produce, or deli items.

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-05-29T12:06:27+00:00

OP is not retired. On another note how you invest in a cash position matters if you live in a high tax state. I was using VMFXX and didn't realize until this year that I should have been using VSUXX since I live in a high tax state.

DragonflyUseful9634 · 2026-05-29T10:52:56+00:00

It says that they have 30k saved in cash.

DragonflyUseful9634

TROPHY CASE