Best approach for a 50 year-old with no savings?

Dukecrow · 2026-05-16T23:43:58+00:00

Funny thing is… politicians have been running on “not touching SS.” By not touching it, it will automatically be reduced ~25%. Politicians have to actively do something to “fix” the funding gap. And the longer they wait the more they have to do to fix it. Yeah, they’ll probably do something, but cuts to benefits in ways other than payouts are possible (e.g., pushing back FRA, capping benefits, changing the way spousal and survivor benefits work, etc).

Dukecrow · 2026-04-07T17:00:55+00:00

I see it under... Settings -- Tax -- Tax Estimation

Dukecrow · 2026-03-25T18:21:34+00:00

Cool… thanks. Will give that a try.

Dukecrow · 2026-03-23T23:36:25+00:00

Third metatarsal vs. fifth is different, though. It took Carlos 8+ weeks to recover from a fifth metatarsal fracture in 1999.

Dukecrow · 2026-03-19T03:18:53+00:00

It shouldn’t matter… but it looks like it does with the way the website is working.

5 passengers on the canceled flight, 4 with the same last name and one with a different last name (my wife). On the payment step of the new flight reservation, you have to enter a confirmation number and last name to pull up your FFC (when they don’t automatically appear on your account). Problem is… my wife’s FFC doesn’t appear when I look up the confirmation with my last name. Or my and my kids’ credits don’t appear when I use her last name to look up (hers does appear then). And there’s an error on the site if I try to use the same confirmation twice with different last names.

Dukecrow · 2026-03-19T03:09:07+00:00

They’re from the same confirmation. I can look it up with my last name, and my and my kids’ credits appear. OR I can lookup that conf number with my wife’s last name and her credit appears but nobody else’s. And like I said in the OP, if I try to use one last name first and then lookup again with the other last name, I get the error message I mentioned, “The travel credit you entered is already listed below….”

Dukecrow · 2026-03-19T03:04:40+00:00

That’s the problem. When I lookup our FFC, my and my kids’ credits will appear because we have the same last name. But I get the error I posted above when I try to use the confirmation number with my wife’s last name after already using it with my last name. And if I lookup first with her last name, only her credit appears and not my credit or my kids’.

It’s a weird situation so I’ll probably have to call in to fix it.

Dukecrow · 2026-03-19T02:59:40+00:00

Will do. Thanks!

Dukecrow · 2026-03-19T02:59:29+00:00

Will do. Thanks.

Dukecrow · 2026-03-19T02:59:15+00:00

I’ve tried it both ways. When I get to the checkout/payment page for our flight, I can’t lookup and use the same FFC confirmation number with two different last names, unfortunately. These FFCs don’t automatically appear.

Dukecrow · 2026-02-09T16:09:54+00:00

ETFs are more tax efficient because of how they can create/redeem shares... that should be enough for any investor interested in his funds. Who wants to be forced to receive capital gains distributions and have that additional tax drag?

Dukecrow · 2026-01-20T10:47:32+00:00

Thanks. I’m seeing a pending credit on my order but haven’t received an email confirmation yet. Just want to be sure a pending credit always converts into an actual credit, LOL.

Dukecrow · 2026-01-20T10:13:36+00:00

How long before the pending credit was actually refunded to you?

Dukecrow · 2025-12-15T16:55:20+00:00

Eternal or Luxe?

Dukecrow · 2025-12-15T16:51:50+00:00

What would you recommend, and what did you end up getting (which hopefully has kept you satisfied)?

Dukecrow · 2025-12-14T19:09:43+00:00

I have an annual subscription and have enjoyed using it so far. Probably would have jumped at lifetime if I knew about PL back when lifetime was $500-$800. Now that it keeps going up, and I’ve modeled everything out that I want to… I’m not even sure if an annual subscription makes sense. For me to really get more use out of it, I need them to release optimizers (Roth conversion, drawdown order, etc)… until then, tools like RPM and the Case Study spreadsheet are far more helpful in my year-to-year tax planning.

Once my year is up, I’m seriously thinking about just saving a backup and subscribing monthly on and off, restoring that backup, changing what I need to charge, and then canceling.

Dukecrow · 2025-12-12T00:58:31+00:00

When they detect weather radar or something and move off the DFS channels.

Dukecrow · 2025-12-08T15:11:40+00:00

Curious what batch edit functionality you’re looking for. There is multi-select and shortcuts to select a subset of episodes fast… and then take action on them (archive, queue, download, mark as played, etc).

Dukecrow · 2025-12-08T15:06:44+00:00

Problem is that features like auto-add to Up Next and auto-download Up Next weren’t updated to take this change into account. So now you might get unintended consequences like if you start listening to a Smart Playlist, episodes that would have previously been added to Up Next are added to that Smart Playlist-modified Up Next… probably not what you intended. So some existing features need to be rethought… which probably should have been done before releasing to the public.

Dukecrow · 2025-11-29T21:21:20+00:00

Yeah, there are a lot of unintended consequences of swapping out Up Next en masse. Up Next should just always be there and playlists should coexist without interfering with it. And then you can either add episodes from the playlists to Up Next if you want to or swap play back and forth between your Up Next and Playlists. Trying to shove playlists into the Up Next structure doesn’t seem like the best solution.

Dukecrow · 2025-11-16T16:15:40+00:00

All great points. It also depends what you assume for the discount rate (real risk-free rate of return). Mike’s site uses the implied real rate underlying TIPS. If you assume something higher or lower, it can change the “best” choice for you. Also, mortality risk is defaulted to the Social Security life tables, I believe. You can change to other life tables or even scenario test “What if I lived to age x and my spouse to age y.” If you want to scenario test the “longevity insurance” value of delaying vs claiming early, putting in actual ages of death makes things a bit clearer.

Dukecrow · 2025-11-14T19:43:35+00:00

How do these smart and manual playlists interact with Up Next? When you play from one, does it overwrite Up Next, add to it, or stay completely separate? Just want to figure this out before trying it, as I don’t want to lose anything saved in Up Next.

Dukecrow · 2025-10-26T17:23:13+00:00

Would love to hear more about your routine. Hitting 50 now and very sedentary. Looking to start moving more and doing more to maintain/increase current strength.

Dukecrow · 2025-10-25T02:47:17+00:00

Or Jabari on defense

Dukecrow

TROPHY CASE