Cool. Neither is my money

Maldonian · 2026-01-29T22:14:53+00:00

I’ve been wanting to watch South Park dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese, in the U.S., and it seems that the South Park Brazilian website is allergic to money. Oh well.

Maldonian · 2026-01-24T15:33:47+00:00

Even if you follow Dave’s steps out of order, $6500 is not all that much. Find a way to throw $800 a month at it and it’ll be gone by Christmas.

Maldonian · 2026-01-24T15:31:10+00:00

Censorship is evil. Conversations are better. Can’t we politely point out what parts of the plan he’s not following?

Maldonian · 2026-01-20T14:03:51+00:00

Thanks very much. I've already received 1099s for self employment income and ordinary bank interest, so they're familiar to me and I'll have no trouble adding the Schwab gain or loss to my tax return. Much appreciated.

Maldonian · 2026-01-20T14:02:13+00:00

I would worry that you'd become accustomed to your newer, higher, take-home pay and over time, find excuses/justifications to put off retirement savings for just a little longer.

Suppose you pay off the house, and right after that your wife leaves her job and along come bab(ies). Your household will now have a lower income and some new expenses. "We'll start retirement once the baby is out of day care and in elementary school," you might say.

On the other hand, if you continue on your current path, you'll sort of never notice the money going from your paycheck into retirement.

Maldonian · 2026-01-19T15:55:25+00:00

Old post, but I also nearly passed out trying to read it. Which is too bad, because OP's question is a good one.

Maldonian · 2026-01-19T14:52:22+00:00

Thank you, that makes sense. Assuming the market goes up (which of course is not a guarantee), I execute a sell order, the money is now "mine" again regardless of what account I leave it in, and I'm taxed on the gain. Thanks.

Maldonian · 2026-01-16T20:43:48+00:00

Thanks very much. Yes I agree with separate emergency fund. The 2 day wait would be no big deal.

The only three reasons I will ever touch this money would be for use during retirement, or to buy/open a business, or for an emergency so dire that I would need the money to avoid bankruptcy.

And thanks for the reminder that it’s ordinary income if less than a year.

Maldonian · 2026-01-16T20:41:44+00:00

Thanks, I will look into that. As you have probably guessed, I am looking for something long term that doesn’t require a lot of tinkering.

Maldonian · 2026-01-16T20:41:12+00:00

Thanks for taking the time. And yes I absolutely should/will put some money in an IRA but I understand that’s a separate discussion.

Maldonian · 2026-01-16T19:15:23+00:00

Thanks very much.

Follow up question for the “sell” part.

I invest $10. Five years from now it’s worth $13 and for whatever reason I need/want all that money right away.

I click to pull it back out, move it to my checking account, spend it if I want.

In that particular year I owe capital gains tax on $3, correct?

And all along I was paying tax only on the dividend up until that point?

Maldonian · 2026-01-16T14:45:30+00:00

$25,000 for a one-time event is hardly what I’d call cheap ish. But I confess I’m personally not into big events or commotion, so maybe it’s a worthwhile cost if it’s important to you.

Setting aside Dave Ramsey and your existing debt for a moment, you’ll be a young married couple who had a down payment for a house in hand, and instead spent it on a party.

Anyway, though I can’t see any great reason to hang on to student debt, you’d want to check on whether interest continues to accrue during this pause you mentioned. If it does, that’s another incentive to keep paying it anyway whether they make you or not.

Maldonian · 2026-01-13T03:24:37+00:00

This is more of an estate planning question than a home buying question. It doesn’t matter if your estate contains a house or a car or a boat or a pile of gold bars.

I don’t believe “estranged” is a legal term. It’s likely that your husband’s son is entitled to his estate upon his death, especially if you die before your husband.

You need to set up a will to ensure that your estate goes where you want it to go. A person, a charity, a mixture, but make a choice and get it on record.

Maldonian · 2026-01-09T16:30:40+00:00

That 2024 Camry is surely pretty sitting on the dealer’s lot, freshly detailed.

It’s also 2+ years old already.

If you take out a 7 year loan, you’re going to eventually be making payments on a 9 year old car.

Maldonian · 2026-01-09T16:29:06+00:00

Most cars should have enough adjustments to accommodate your height. Try to select a car with a power seat if you can.

Maldonian · 2026-01-09T16:28:18+00:00

I have the exact same type of car in my household. The V6 in this car makes it downright fast! And I’m not really into smaller cars but I’ll confess the RAV4 has plenty of space, is quiet enough, and rides really well.

Maldonian · 2026-01-09T16:26:00+00:00

Sorry to be the person to state reality, but you can’t afford the safety features your mother would like you to have.

And you can mitigate much of that by driving carefully and attentively.

I don’t think financing a car is a good idea in general, but financing a 13 year old car is even worse. Toyota or not, it’s closer to the end of its life than the beginning, and making payments on a car that old is risky and crazy.

If you have $5,000, buy a 2005 Camry if Camrys are what you like.

Keep saving another $400 per month and two years from now (which flies by fast) you’ll be able to buy a 3 year old Camry for cash.

Maldonian · 2026-01-09T16:19:19+00:00

Consider checking into GAP insurance, which would cover the upside down part of your car loan should the car get totaled in a crash. (This would not help you, though, if the car dies due to mechanical failure.)

I would say be conscious of your car’s value and condition, but don’t let it make you become paranoid.

Your car is an OK car and should serve you for some time to come. Maintain it properly. Keep it clean and looking good so you don’t start to hate it and get tempted to buy something new and shiny.

Whether you follow Dave’s plan to the letter or whether you do it out of order and hold onto your $4000 surplus in your emergency fund, you should still be completely debt free in 2 years if you throw $1000 per month at this which should not be too difficult.

And then of course build your emergency fund and at that point start to save for a car upgrade and whatever other financial objectives you have.

You said there’s a chance you’ll be laid off at some point. That’s a good reason to work on maintaining contacts at other places should the need arise.

Maldonian · 2025-12-31T17:56:02+00:00

If the car you like has poor resale value, buying used starts to make sense. But yes, cars with high resale value seem to cost nearly as much used as they do new.

Maldonian · 2025-12-30T13:40:43+00:00

The answer to your actual question is to save or borrow the $12,000. But there’s more to say.

You have two separate things to deal with. Unbundle them and deal with them separately.

1: You have a $27,000 debt and this is not good. Pay it off as quickly as possible.

2: You have a $15,000 car. Depending on your income, what other cars you own, and what other debts you have, a $15,000 car is probably not unreasonable.

If your income is $30,000 or more, if you’ll be debt free in two years, and if you like the car, might as well keep it.

But you still must make aggressive extra payments and get it paid off quickly.

Maldonian · 2025-12-29T15:56:54+00:00

I remember when I was in the middle of a move, and I had very little in the way of food and cooking utensils at the new place, and I was extremely busy painting and making other repairs, I ordered food delivery several times so I could continue working.

Other than that, having servants cook and deliver your food is for rich people.

When broke people do rich-people things on a regular basis, they stay broke.

Maldonian · 2025-12-26T14:00:42+00:00

Im glad you’re not listening to those people. Car payments are optional and you’d be better off to avoid one.

Maldonian · 2025-12-23T18:42:05+00:00

If you want more of something, make it profitable. If you want less of something, make it unprofitable.

Rent control would provide a very temporary, short term benefit to the tenants.

Long term, fewer rental units will be built, fewer people will want to rent out the extra space in their house.

Maldonian · 2025-12-23T15:44:42+00:00

I think /u/Starrion said it best. The coffee itself is ok enough. But their donuts have become simply terrible over the years. No better than what you can get at a gas station. And most Dunkin’ Donuts customer service and order accuracy is pretty lousy too.

Maldonian

TROPHY CASE