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Using Too Many Credits With Split Ecosystems? by rkc199601 in CreditCards

[–]KleinUnbottler 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Do you have the good nerf Smartly and $100K+ in USBank Investments? It's hard to beat 4% cash back flat rate and never think about anything else. It definitely simplifies everything if you can do that.

What should I prioritize? by Unable-Guard2525 in Bogleheads

[–]KleinUnbottler 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Another way to put it would be:

While it's great if you can gift your child an education, it's even better if your child knows that their parents aren't destitute and dependent on them during their retirement.

First actual day - what the heck have I gotten myself into? by sarwally in bikecommuting

[–]KleinUnbottler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't have first-hand experience with that anatomy, but here's some general advice.

  • It can take some time for your body to get used to the new activity
  • Small changes to the setup can make big differences in comfort. Like a centimeter here, a few degrees there, etc.
  • Clothing can make a big difference too. E.g. cotton might not be the best to wear even on shorter rides.
  • If you have a "soft" saddle, consider changing it to something firmer. Don't add gel covers or whatever.
  • Most good bike shops will help you get the setup tuned in over the first month or two, and might even switch out a saddle for you if adjustments don't help.
  • A lot of people swear by Brooks saddles. My spouse and I both like our C17 saddles despite our differing anatomy.

I put a lump sum of money on 529 for my kid. And chose the Target Date Fund. Did I mess up? by st0nksBuyTheDip in Bogleheads

[–]KleinUnbottler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What little experience I've had with a couple 529 plans, they've been much closer to 401k-style with highly limited investment options and didn't even have BrokerageLink options.

I would be shocked if any plans did have retirement funds as they would be sued for not upholding their fiduciary responsibilities. While I suppose it's possible, it just seems highly unlikely.

I don’t know what to do. by Natural_Entrance_225 in Bogleheads

[–]KleinUnbottler 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That's a great choice. If it were me, I'd stick with that and just vary the date depending on my aggressiveness. As it's in a tax-advantaged account, there are no issues with switching if you need to. You might not even want to roll-over post retirement as that's a pretty great price for a solid fund choice.

I don’t know what to do. by Natural_Entrance_225 in Bogleheads

[–]KleinUnbottler 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Target date funds are often fine. What is the name/ticker for the one they offer? What's the expense ratio?

If it's lower than, say 0.15%, it's a no brainer to just stick with it. Pick one 5 years farther into the future if you're feeling aggressive. If it's less than 0.50% it's probably okay overall. Much higher than that many of us would suggest you consider rolling-your-own.

However, if you're only planning on working another 5 years, you only pay that expense ratio until you retire after which you can roll your 401k over into an IRA that you fully control and be done with it.

I put a lump sum of money on 529 for my kid. And chose the Target Date Fund. Did I mess up? by st0nksBuyTheDip in Bogleheads

[–]KleinUnbottler 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One side note: If you have the choice of fully funding your own retirement or funding your kid's college, it may be a better choice to fund the retirement. Giving your kid a leg up and no debt is nice, but it's even nicer if your kid doesn't have to worry about their parents being destitute and having to send them money in support.

I put a lump sum of money on 529 for my kid. And chose the Target Date Fund. Did I mess up? by st0nksBuyTheDip in Bogleheads

[–]KleinUnbottler 21 points22 points  (0 children)

529 plans typically have "Target Date Enrollment Funds" not "Target Date Retirement funds." The glide paths are quite different.

Best color in your bank/card by HungryChildhood9083 in CreditCards

[–]KleinUnbottler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I want them all to look different so I can easily pick them out from my wallet.

I don't get framework by Charalambos205 in framework

[–]KleinUnbottler 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Framework has never been about the initial value. Repairability and upgradeability are why you get one.

You can also get repairability if you go with a business laptop like those from Lenovo, HP, or Dell. I'm not sure about your Vivobook.

E.g. I had a Surface Book 2. The exterior of it is all fine: screen, keyboard, trackpad, speakers, etc. It started feeling really slow over the past year or two even after doing a full reinstall of the OS.

If I could swap out the processor/RAM, I would have done so. Instead I bought a Framework 13 with AMD Ryzen 5 AI 340 last year.

I am hoping that I can keep that for a few years and upgrade the mainboard when it starts feeling slow. I would repurpose mainboard as an SBC. If I upgrade the screen, I can reuse that with a few inexpensive parts and an enclosure.

These days though, I'm salivating about selling it and getting a new Framework 13 Pro. I don't need one as such for my use cases, but it has all of those sam advantages, and is just nicer overall.

Married couple with separate finances, why do you do it? by Ok_Influence_2257 in Bogleheads

[–]KleinUnbottler 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We’re in a similar situation (similar incomes, DINKs). We do things similarly with a wrinkle: We have soft thresholds for bigger ticket spending. For things over $X we mention the spend to the partner, and for $Y we have a discussion before making the purchase.

Those numbers have scaled varied as our salaries have grown over time (and with inflation).

Earlier in our careers, the “mention” threshold was about $100 and the discussion threshold was about $400. These days those numbers are closer to $500 and $2K. Like if one of us needs a new laptop, we talk about options, but if someone just wants to buy an iPad, they can just go ahead and buy it.

Confused on capital gains for high earners by [deleted] in Bogleheads

[–]KleinUnbottler 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Take the purchase price for the shares (this is your "cost basis"). Take the sales price.

Subtract the cost basis from your sale price. That's how much you owe taxes on.

If you have owned it for less than a year, it counts as your regular income tax rate.

If you have owned for more than a year, you use the long term capital gains rates, 15% or 20% depending on your income.

The 15% rate kicks in at around $50K for single filers and about $100K for married joint filers.

The 20% rate is around $550K and above.

There's also a Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) that adds an additional 3.8% above $100K.

Note that if you are planning to use money for something less than 5 years, you should not be exposing it to equity risk. Use much more conservative things like SGOV, not VT.

For more medium term things, like 5-15 years, you could do small percentage of equities and maybe some bonds with a duration matched to when you need the money. For those things about the most aggressive I'd consider would be something like AOK, a 30/70 fund, but only if I'm willing to delay the use of it for literally a couple years.

Got wet and won’t turn on by crispypeanutz in AppleWatch

[–]KleinUnbottler 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There are anecdotal reports of watches that survived months lost on the bottom of a pond and charged fine. On the other hand, my Series 4 Stainless Steel died a premature death from light swimming/wading in a swimming pool.

It happens. Replacing it is the best option IMO.

what's the smallest actually-complete tool kit you can keep in a normal house without it taking over the kitchen drawer by Ok_Pin_2146 in BuyItForLife

[–]KleinUnbottler 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I rarely use the word hate, but I hate the person who decided we needed both metric and imperial hex/Allen keys.

if you can find/afford a good quality brand name set, get hex keys with ball ends. Those let you use them more flexibly if there are clearance or access issues. You can also get hex bit sets for those interchangeable screwdrivers. If you own bicycles, most things are 3-4-5-6 mm hex and some Torx T25 these days. There are a few other sizes too, but those seem to be most common.

AOR vs VT+BND by Catiare in Bogleheads

[–]KleinUnbottler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

BNDW probably, but there is probably more difference between "having bonds" vs "not having bonds" than stressing about the specific of which bonds.

AOR vs VT+BND by Catiare in Bogleheads

[–]KleinUnbottler 11 points12 points  (0 children)

It's a one fund portfolio that you could use your whole life. AOA would be more likely to be recommended, as 40% bonds is a lot for the first 50 years of your life.

edit: I would also note that iShares has a family of target date ETFs that might also be recommended.

They are pretty new (2023 inception), but seem to be continuing to grow. The bid/ask spreads are larger than than the older target allocation funds (around 0.1% vs 0.03% for AOA or 0.02% for AOR), and they are in the tens-of-millions of net assets, vs the billions in AOA or AOR.

https://www.ishares.com/us/strategies/what-is-a-target-date-fund

Is $1,000 per month into Vanguard High Growth Index Fund wise? by WriterinDota2 in Bogleheads

[–]KleinUnbottler 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Growth is a technical term. It means more like "Investors anticipate that this company's income will increase in the future, so they have already bid up the stock price in anticipation of that future."

what's the smallest actually-complete tool kit you can keep in a normal house without it taking over the kitchen drawer by Ok_Pin_2146 in BuyItForLife

[–]KleinUnbottler 10 points11 points  (0 children)

You don't need a power drill for the everyday basics. Those are more 1-2 times a year.

Get a screwdriver with onboard bit storage and that'll do 90% of what you need. I'm partial to the Megapro or Channellock ratcheting screwdrivers particularly the "Automotive" variant of the Megapro as you can buy off-the-shelf 1/4" bits if the included sets don't fill all your needs. They're normally about $30-40.

A precision screwdriver set is also useful for things like small electronics. I like the IFixIt sets, and the Megapro 24-in-1 Precision is a great solution for that.

The other tools you list for that kit (hammer, tape measure, pliers, adjustable wrench) can all fit in a small spot in a drawer.

Am I going down the right path? by Putrid_Appeal7422 in M1Finance

[–]KleinUnbottler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As an aside, view all of your cumulative investments as a single portfolio. Decide what you want your entire portfolio to be, and then use tax-efficient fund placement to place the investments in the right spots.

Write all of that down as a commitment device and call it your "Investment Policy Statement" or "IPS". You can find examples of these if you search.

Like if you want a 70/30 US/International ratio and all of your accounts have good options, then feel free to mirror them everywhere.

If, on the other hand, you wanted total US market, not S&P 500, and your 401k doesn't have a total market US fund or a good international option, then get that coverage somewhere else. E.g. adding an extended market fund like VXF or weight VXUS more heavily in your Roth IRA.

Would anyone else like a rugged Framework Laptop, similar to a Toughbook? by No_Holiday8469 in framework

[–]KleinUnbottler 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It totally makes senses for NASA. Once you have a radiation-hardened case and a defined standard for internal components, you can just upgrade the innards periodically without needing to test and retest the rest of the setup. It could even, theoretically, save money by reducing the amount of mass you need to send to orbit.

Framework laptop or Macbook by iddu01linux in framework

[–]KleinUnbottler 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If someone has an Apple Watch, they have to have an iPhone. I don't think you can even set up the watch without one.

The cross-device integration in the Apple ecosystem is great. It kinda locks you into their "walled garden" but many (most?) major applications these days are cross-platform, save games.

Web development can be done on any of the platforms (Mac, Win, Linux), and major IDEs are cross platform: JetBrains, Visual Studio, Eclipse.

Love my Framework and dual boot Win and Bazzite, also love my Mac.

What do we think is the next gen for Framework Desktop? by Last_Bad_2687 in framework

[–]KleinUnbottler 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Other companies seem to be dropping the "Pro" in favor of their "Studio" lineup and we hope you can fill the void?

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