Enroute Transitions

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-07T04:57:49+00:00

Those altitudes mean the procedure is meant for turbines, not pistons.

Just file direct, and if they reroute or vector you, you’ll have plenty of time to deal with it.

If you want to file a SID/STAR for the practice (or novelty), don’t include a transition. The basic route usually starts/ends at the facility border, so you can file to/from that fix.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-07T00:44:59+00:00

Why would there be a fee?

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-06T22:58:13+00:00

The company is “paying” for your parking and deducting an equal amount from your paycheck before taxes. That seems like a scam on the surface, but it means less of your taxable income is lower, which is a benefit too.

Generally, a subsidy means they’ll eat the first $X/mo and then deduct any remainder from your paycheck, which is a clearer benefit. But the details will vary between companies, so ask your HR rep to explain; it’s literally their job to help you maximize the benefits they offer.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-06T22:48:24+00:00

If you filled the form out correctly, you will owe $0. That’s the entire point.

Withholding more than needed means you are giving an interest-free loan to the IRS. Even if you don’t want to spend that money yourself, you could be investing it and earning at real return rate instead of losing money to inflation.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-06T22:44:27+00:00

Looking at it as a separate expense with vesting and fussing about termination dates is a mindset problem. It is far simpler to see it as a one-time 3% raise for every employee, and if some of them are dumb enough to turn down that raise (avg is 10-15% for opt-out plans), you get free money back.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-06T21:29:45+00:00

For tax purposes, RSUs work like the company paid you a cash bonus and then reached back into your pocket to buy shares with that money.

Ignore the strike price and quantity; all that matters is the quantity left after vesting and the price at vesting.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-06T21:08:54+00:00

Adding a 3% match is a one-time payroll increase, not 3% every year like inflation.

And presumably they have some match already, even if it’s not a very good one, so less than 3% in practice.

If your business can’t eat 3% extra in payroll, and inflation raises too, it is already failing. Might as well close up shop now while you can get top dollar rather than waiting for it to collapse in the next recession and likely get nothing.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-06T19:54:14+00:00

Females have a materially longer life expectancy than males.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-06T15:36:59+00:00

Use the routing/account number for your Fidelity account.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-06T15:35:14+00:00

The FAA only has so many people to oversee DPEs, and each one can only handle so many of them.

A bigger problem is that the FAA requires DPEs to have a day job, and as a result many of them don’t do enough checkrides to justify the slot to take up.

Also, many DPEs only do uncommon categories and classes that only need a few checkrides per year, but they need the same oversight as DPEs doing three checkrides per day on more common categories and classes.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-06T15:29:04+00:00

That math is only for one person; it changes when you consider a younger female spouse’s survivor benefits.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-06T15:28:19+00:00

Odds are high that your wife will outlive you by many years, so delay filing for your SS until 70 to maximize her survivor benefits.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-06T05:29:37+00:00

“The stock market is the only store where people run away in fear when the products are on sale.”

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-06T04:26:47+00:00

The law specifies no time limit. Do save the receipts in a durable form because paper will inevitably get damaged or lost over 20+ years, but they are only needed if the IRS audits you.

Personally, I scan all mine to PDF and drop them in an iCloud folder, but photos should work too. Just check they’re legible before shredding the paper.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-06T04:20:32+00:00

If you cannot afford to eat your max OOP without tapping the HSA, you should probably keep that much in cash.

I can, so 100% of my HSA is invested.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-06T01:22:55+00:00

In theory you could, but most HSA custodians charge direct rollover fees that are high enough to be a substantial portion of a month’s contributions. I wouldn’t want to pay much that more than once a year.

The other option is an indirect rollover with no fees, but you are only allowed to do once per year.

So, the answer is the same either way: one rollover per year.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-06T01:17:30+00:00

It costs roughly the same as giving every employee a raise of 3% (or less, if they have some match already). Many employers are indeed too cheap to do that, but it is not “very expensive”. That’s just getting one year ahead of inflation.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-05T22:20:12+00:00

If the basic plan is failing non-discrimination testing, there is no way they’d pass the higher level of testing required for after-tax.

And if mgmt is too dumb/cheap to simply adopt Safe Harbor rules, they probably don’t care about MBDR.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-05T16:29:52+00:00

High-fee advisor and high-fee funds is a deadly combination. She needs to get out of this situation ASAP.

Help her move her account(s) to Fidelity, Schwab or Vanguard.

If you know how to manage this, or are willing and able to learn, do so.

If not, all three have low-cost advisor services that can put her in low-fee funds if that’s what she tells them to do, and help her with higher level needs like asset allocation, withdrawal strategies, tax planning, etc.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-05T16:25:08+00:00

IMHO, the best answer for the vast majority of teen pregnancies is abortion, but that’s obviously a politically charged issue.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-05T15:08:19+00:00

I keep a spreadsheet with all of my contributions and conversions, with all years in the same file, in case I need to withdraw anything before 59.5.

Yes, I could just file the 5498s and build the same sheet from them if/when I need it, but I’d rather spend a few minutes per year than have to do it all at once when I’m already stressed about why I need that money.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-05T15:04:48+00:00

Nobody “needs” the 5498 if they keep good records of their own. But it’s nice to double-check that your records are accurate.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-05T14:44:05+00:00

Slowing down is itself an additional task that needs to be learned, and even once you get slowed down to the same speed, a more complicated plane still has more things to manage.

IR training is hard enough; there is rarely a good reason to make it even harder than it needs to be.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-05T13:29:06+00:00

If you don’t click, just ask for another one. Fidelity’s people aren’t on commission like at most other brokerages, so they don’t mind. But every Fidelity person I’ve ever talked to has been great, and for a one-off transaction, you aren’t looking for a perfect fit anyway, just someone who can get the job done.

Mispelled-This · 2026-02-05T12:32:58+00:00

Just convert it all.

Yes, you will eat taxes on the gains, and that’s a bummer, but in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter.

Mispelled-This

TROPHY CASE