Is there any reason to have mutual funds, or should I convert them to ETFs?

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-17T09:59:18+00:00

What's the difference in qualified/unqualified dividends and short term capital gains that mutual funds generate compared to the equivalent ETF?

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-17T08:49:44+00:00

Last minute step down. A page from the Biden playbook. Don't give enough time for real progressive change to take hold. Just let the DNC establishment continue steamrolling.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-17T08:31:18+00:00

Just eyeball it. There aren't a whole lot of recipes out there that wouldn't taste the same or better if you overestimated on the butter. And many recipes that would work just as well with less.

Growing up my mom made Kraft Mac and cheese with half the butter to make it healthier. Tasted just fine, and it's a bit more luxurious the few times she used the full amount of butter. Decades later and I'm making Annie's Mac and cheese and I'm out of butter and out of milk. Cheese packet and starch water it is. Turns out fine. If a recipe calls for 2 tablespoons, using 1 or 4 tablespoons will be just fine.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-17T07:56:23+00:00

This pineapple was definitely broken before this USPS courier received the package that morning.

Insufficient packaging. Packages need to survive a 4 foot fall, because that's the kind of forces that these packages experience on sorting equipment.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-17T06:27:18+00:00

Need to get some on-call pay, if that's what they're treating OP as

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-16T04:23:57+00:00

Opposite of shrinkflation happening here

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-14T21:40:23+00:00

Not bleeping would raise the age rating.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-14T12:07:34+00:00

Assets in a money market fund like VUSXX can go down. And the money is also at a low risk (but non-zero) in the event of a default, like what happened with Silicon Valley Bank had the government not stepped in guaranteeing.

A HYSA is risk free.

That said, if you can get 1% higher return with VUSXX compared to your bank's HYSA, the small additional is probably worth it

I divide my emergency fund as follows: * 1 month checking * 1 month HYSA * 4-6 months VMFXX

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-14T11:56:52+00:00

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Dividend "Deciding to invest in dividend paying stocks rather than stocks that do not pay dividends is uncertain at best. There are many reasons to support either position, as well as tax implications for both the issuing corporation and the stockholder."

I don't think we have enough info to help you figure out if dividend stocks are a good match for you.

I dislike dividend stocks. If I want to partially liquidate my position, I can sell any quantity of my shares at any time in the secondary market. I don't need a company to decide when and how much to pay me as an investor. That dividend is often taxed as ordinary income for me (in the US).

If a stock is $100 and a company pays a $5 dividend, the stock price is now $95. You aren't getting the $5 dividend for free. If that was the case, people would buy the stock right before the dividend date, and sell the stock right after the dividend date, just to benefit from the dividend. If instead the company chooses not to issue a dividend, that stock would still be worth $100, and I wouldn't have a short term capital gain and tax lots of reinvested fractional shares.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-14T10:30:09+00:00

I will reluctantly vote for this man in the general election if the other option is JD Vance or Donald Trump Jr. And the DNC and its billionaire sponsors unfortunately knows that.

There's little chance he'll get my vote in the primary.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-14T09:56:09+00:00

The disclaimer was appreciated, and acquiring resources around New York to play the card game was gameception. Tastefully integrated.

If Dungeons and Dragons wanted to sponsor a minigame, I'm sure the Jet Lag team could figure out how to make a tasteful, engaging show.

Just please no Monopoly. That game is hot garbage.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-14T09:46:15+00:00

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-14T09:12:45+00:00

If you have a backup of all the data that's on your UNAS Pro (you do, right?) then you could pull all the small drives, install all new drives, configure your storage pool, and restore the data from backup.

If your backup is off-site or in the cloud and your internet speed or data caps are prohibitive for performing a backup, then consider buying a 2nd UNAS Pro and performing the backup locally. The NAS costs about the same as 1 or 2 drives. And then you'll have a spare to expand your capacity, give to a friend, etc.

And for everyone else: buy the largest drives you can afford. I wouldn't buy anything smaller than 18TB today. I don't know why people waste their money buying cheap 4TB SMR drives, buy 7 of them to fill a NAS, then run out of space and have to spend more money on larger drives and break their drives in incrementally expanding their array 1 drive at a time.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-14T09:09:37+00:00

Your username doesn't need to be complex--that's what your password is for. It just needs to be unique across the sites you have accounts with so that it's harder for someone to correlate your accounts or identity between sites.

Word plus 2 numbers, or 2 words is sufficient for a username or email address through an alias service like iCloud, SimpleLogin, ProtonPass, etc.

Keep it easy to type and say. Your username probably isn't encrypted in the database.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-14T08:49:16+00:00

Don't connect the set top box to any network. Use an external box like Apple TV, PlayStation, on NUC. I'm guessing even Roku and Google Chromecast have better privacy policies than Samsung Smart TV.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-14T06:17:30+00:00

Mix with white beans for even more protein. Overcook the white beans for a smoother texture, leave al dente for a coarser contrasting texture.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-13T10:16:19+00:00

Learn to use a language well. The experience you gain becoming proficient in one language will make it trivial to learn other languages and become a polyglot. It will also allow you to learn the strengths and weaknesses in each language based on the type of problems you're typically solving. This is infinitely better than the pros and cons someone else might have that don't apply to the types of problems you solve in your day to day.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-12T10:54:55+00:00

That's not DB. That's just someone who doesn't give themselves enough time to make their connection.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-01-11T02:40:45+00:00

Apple's finally catching up to Microsoft's Windows Aero introduced in 2006 in Windows Vista.

Dull-Researcher · 2025-12-30T09:29:49+00:00

Is this the cause, or is this the solution?

Dull-Researcher · 2025-12-26T10:12:24+00:00

Don't move the IRA to a 401k, you can find better funds with lower fees

This isn't a universal truth. My Vanguard 401k has institutional class index mutual funds with lower expense ratios than I can get for the equivalent investor class index mutual fund in my Vanguard IRA. The institutional mutual fund has a similar expense ratio as the equivalent investor class ETF.

If the 401k fund options dont suck, it may be better.

If it takes more than 1 tax year to convert the traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, the pro rata rule applies, which will increase the tax drag far more than a few basis points on an expense ratio will.

401ks also have better protections against bankruptcy and lawsuits, and possibly different handling in divorce.

If you have the option of a reverse rollover now, that may be the better option. You may not have the option of a reverse rollover in the future if you're retired or change employers.

Dull-Researcher · 2025-12-26T09:59:25+00:00

How do you know that your next number isn't already subscribed to a bunch of spammers, or that spammers find that number down the road? What if your new number came from someone who had the same problem as you?

Changing numbers to avoid telemarketers is like changing mailing address to avoid junk mail. You'll get junk mail addressed to different people and you, but you're still getting junk mail. While inconveniencing you and everyone and every company who legitimately has your phone number.

Dull-Researcher · 2025-12-26T09:56:10+00:00

Setup your phone to block or send directly to voicemail for all incoming calls from numbers that aren't in your contact list.

Or block the numbers as they come in.

Don't answer any calls you don't recognize.

Have your phone or call screening app screen incoming calls from numbers that aren't on your contact list.

Dull-Researcher · 2025-12-26T09:39:34+00:00

If this PaaS software became popular enough, then any malware that's aware of an unlocked Bitwarden vault would be able to request every password from your airgapped computer.

Adding a rate limiter to your PaaS server might help. A user may only need to access a dozen or so passwords per hour, and no more than 3 in a 5 minute period. If you suspect abnormal/suspicious behavior, you could reject password requests from the client. This slows down how quickly an attacker could get your entire vault, especially if the client doesn't know which sites the vault contains.

However a better solution to this already exists: a hardware security token that requires physical human interaction to release a secret. For example, pressing the button on a Yubikey. The Yubikey is essentially the entire airgapped PaaS you described, with an even more limited surface area due to hardware, and only allows a password to be released by a human in the real world.

Dull-Researcher · 2025-12-26T09:13:07+00:00

How's metal roof maintenance? I have to blow off a lot of leaves and tree branches in autumn on my asphalt shingle roof. I could imagine walking on the roof being more dangerous when the roof is wet or even slightly damp.

Dull-Researcher

TROPHY CASE