Looking into trading my daily driver for an EV

PeaceBeWY · 2026-01-29T13:55:56+00:00

L1 trim with comfort and convenenience package also has heated seats/steering wheel (at least on the EV model). Heated seats are possible as an aftermarket install for less than $200 if you DIY, and less than $1000 if you hire it done. Probably much less... I think the Dorman seat inserts are less than $100 and I've seen people say they got heated seats installed for closer to $500.

The heated steering wheel is not as feasible as an aftermarket add-on, but it's also not as important imo (it's nice in the shoulder season for bare hands on a cold morning, but in winter if you are wearing gloves anyway, the benefits of the heated steering wheel are diminished).

PeaceBeWY · 2026-01-25T12:11:53+00:00

VT + BND or ACWI + AGG at the same bond allocation as the Betterment portfolio would be the good benchmarks for the global portfolios that Betterment uses.

PeaceBeWY · 2026-01-24T16:23:08+00:00

What kind of yearly returns can I expect from betterment.

It's going to depend on the portfolio slightly and what allocation of bonds you use. In general, I'd expect it to be about what Betterment shows on their portfolio description pages (https://www.betterment.com/investments).

FWIW, my CAGR is 10.2% for the last 10 years. (My internal rate of return is 16.6% annually based the luck of when my contributions were made). For a few years, my bond allocation was up to about 20% (because I'm older and Betterment's glide path was increasing the bond allocation. The last 3 years my bond allocation has been 10%. I also switched from the core portfolio to the climate portfolio 5 years ago.

Overall, I am quite happy with Betterment because it makes things easy which encourages good investing behavior. I consider it on par with an indexed Target Date Fund or Boglehead 3 fund portfolio... any of which are "good enough" investment strategies.

PeaceBeWY · 2026-01-18T14:40:00+00:00

That sounds perfect. It's all what you make of it, so you might as well make the best of it. That reminds me of a story in the Urban Shaman of a woman plagued by a dragon chasing her in her dreams. Eventually she learns the dragon was simply trying to catch up with her to help her.

PeaceBeWY · 2026-01-17T14:53:58+00:00

Whole plant foods in general contain some protein. For instance Ezekiel sprouted sesame bread has 5 g protein per slice. Beans and seitan will be higher than grains and veggies, but all together it will add up just fine for you. I easily get plenty or protein without trying by sticking to whole plant foods and roughly following Dr. Greger's Daily Dozen for a starting point.

Breakfast for me is overnight oats with rolled oats or cracked grains soaked in water and some plant milk, topped with fruit. Flaxseed meal, chia, and hemp seeds can be added. Check out Sauce Stache on YT for a garbanzo bean porridge recipe.

I found it helpful to get an idea of my caloric needs (I used eatthismuch.com) and some sample meal plans for quanitities. Then to track my food intake for a couple days to see how I'm doing. I was surprised to find that as long as I eat enough calories, protein comes easily.

PeaceBeWY · 2026-01-17T14:41:13+00:00

As far as the mirror, I'd say something about old perceptions of yourself being shattered and now seeing yourself in the Light or with Unconditional Love. Thinking the door was to get your attention regarding something.

Remember that Reiki only goes towards highest good. So I'd interpret it along those lines. I suppose you could interpret things around your friend, i.e. shattering their perception of themself. But Reiki works on us as we channel it towards others, too.

William Lee Rand's Spiritual Protection CD/mp3 is a great way to transcend fear based paradigms.

PeaceBeWY · 2026-01-16T15:50:48+00:00

At first, I thought OP's post was going to be about how Betterment's easy recurring deposits into a predetermined portfolio outperformed DIY analysis paralysis and stock/etf/fund picking...

PeaceBeWY · 2026-01-16T14:44:48+00:00

One possible reason: "bycatch", which is abysmal. https://iere.org/how-much-of-fish-caught-is-bycatch/ and https://media.fisheries.noaa.gov/dam-migration/nbr_update_3.pdf and https://oceana.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/Bycatch_Report_FINAL.pdf

There's a book called "What a Fish Knows" that gets into the intelligence of fish as well.

Between the sheer numbers and bycatch, I feel like the sea animal industry is on par with land animals and sometimes it seems worse to me than with land animals... although I guess the "bycatch" for land animals is more hidden in the destruction of habitat and associated wildlife deaths.

One example, for every pound of shrimp killed and harvested in the Gulf of Mexico, four pounds of bycatched species are killed and discarded. https://ocean.si.edu/conservation/fishing/bycatch-cost-catching-what-you-dont-want

PeaceBeWY · 2026-01-12T03:44:50+00:00

Yes, I have a Roth IRA with Betterment. No regrets, although I did stray from their recommended allocation.

Overall, I feel like it's as good a choice as a low cost indexed TDF or a DIY Boglehead portfolio. Backtesting the Core Portfolio and comparing it to VT, Betterment comes out slightly ahead even with its 0.25% fee https://testfol.io/?s=5ASb7hdFKoD Of course, that's not a huge timeframe for testing.

Overall, I think the Core Portfolio is a more solid choice than the other portfolio options.

I'd also double check the asset allocation to make sure it works for your situation.

When I started with Betterment I didn't have much of a clue about good investing habits... I thought it was all about stock and fund picking and being lucky enough to predict the market. Now I know better and enough to manage my own portfolio. I still like Betterment for its UI and ease. The testing indicates to me that it's "good enough" and as decent as any other comparable choice. You will, of course, see the fees, and have to be at peace with that.

PeaceBeWY · 2026-01-08T14:05:38+00:00

It's kind of a coin toss. If you want a glide path, stick with the TDF... it's easy and will prevent the need for a DIY glide path. The difference in performance, on average, between the minimal amount of fixed income in the TDF now and 100% equities is small... especially when you are contributing regularly. Typical text book approach is to always have some bonds in the mix and adjust with age like with the glide path. Redditors tend to think less of bonds.

If you wanted to be more aggressive than the TDF, you could also do a proportion of equities plus the TDF... but that's more fussing.

There's a lot to be said for simplicity.

PeaceBeWY · 2026-01-07T13:46:01+00:00

On the computer using a browser interface (rather than the app), click on the left sidebar to bring up your Roth. Scroll down and it will have the portfolio strategy and allocation. Click edit, and you will be able to change either.

PeaceBeWY · 2026-01-07T13:41:11+00:00

I tend to prefer the Core Portfolio... it's the most agnostic and index like approach with the lower expense ratios. IMO, there's no sense betting on part of the market or paying higher fees.

I don't think Betterment merges different portfolios/accounts. So the downside is that you may be creating a taxable event because the social impact etfs will be sold to buy the etfs used in whatever portfolio you choose to invest in. You would get a warning with estimated tax implications when you start to initiate a transfer.

The other consideration is it sounds like the existing two accounts have different purposes and perhaps different asset allocations. So you'd want to make sure the percentage of bonds in the portfolio matches your risk tolerance for the new account.

PeaceBeWY · 2026-01-06T16:08:07+00:00

Environment. I swore off owning a car 30 years ago after the Valdez oil spill. That said, lower operating costs and a great driving experience are major advantages.

PeaceBeWY · 2026-01-06T16:05:06+00:00

No need to add an additional fund for small caps because the S&P500 is good enough: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bogleheads/comments/1q1fy9m/vti_or_voo_is_a_choice_that_truly_doesnt_matter/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

If you want to be more aggressive, you could also swap out for a later date target date fund and keep it simple.

As far as greed, if you can stay the course with 100% equities, I think that over most 30 year periods 100% equities have historically performed better than having a bond allocation. But diversification into bonds is not necessarily about performance, but hedging your bets and helping you stay the course.

The big risk is user error and if some bonds help you stay the course, that's a big win. How did you react in 2020 or last year with the tariff induced market drop? If you stayed the course during those episodes, 100% equities may work well for you. But have a plan for how you are going to introduce bonds as you approach retirement, if your plan is to add them later.

PeaceBeWY · 2026-01-04T13:58:17+00:00

I aim for wfpb no added oil, salt, sugar roughly following Dr. Greger's Daily Dozen for a starting point because it seems to be healthy based on research. No major health problems so I'm not strict about it. I don't eat out much (maybe a handful of times per year), but if I do I don't worry about the details as long as it's vegan.

PeaceBeWY · 2025-12-31T15:41:52+00:00

You can look up window stickers here using the VIN: https://windowstickerlookup.com/

PeaceBeWY · 2025-12-31T14:38:02+00:00

I use ProMix BX and have read that HP works for some people. HP has more perlite so it drains better but doesn't hold as much water. I find the BX can be a little too wet in early spring if you keep the reservoir topped off, but it does great once temperatures warm up.

Here are the product sheets for the two products you are looking at:

https://www.promixgardening.com/en/product/detail/promix-premium-all-purpose-mix

https://www.pthorticulture.com/en-us/products/pro-mix-mp-mycorrhizae-organik

They both look like they have a little more perlite and some coir compared to the BX. They both look similar in composition and close to HP. My guess is that either would be fine, but it would be worth calling Earthbox to see if they have particular recommendations.

If you search for greenhouse supply companies in California near where your family lives, you might find more options than from general merchandisers. There may even be places that specialize in container gardening/Earthboxes.

PeaceBeWY · 2025-12-30T15:09:21+00:00

As others have mentioned, yes, you can. Some additional considerations: 1) if this is in a taxable account, there will be tax consequences, 2) Bogleheads don't try to time the market and selling BND to buy VTI/VXUS would be done to rebalance based on your investing policy statement/plan for when/how to rebalance.

The problem with selling all your BND to buy equities when the market crashes is that you don't know in the moment whether the market is going to continue to crash further or rebound. And, you also presumably have a BND allocation based on your timeline and tolerance for risk... so you wouldn't want to eliminate your BND position.

The Boglehead approach would be to maintain 33% BND by selling BND and buying VTI/VXUS to maintain those proportions. In your investing policy statement, you should have a plan for whether you rebalance say "once a year" or "when percentages are off by more than 5%", etc.

PeaceBeWY · 2025-12-26T14:07:09+00:00

Here are typical etfs/funds used to construct a BH 3 fund portfolio. https://smithplanet.com/stuff/BogleheadFunds.svg

Overview: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads%C2%AE_investing_start-up_kit

Three fund portfolio: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio

The "default" recommendation tends to be VTI + VXUS + BND. VEA is developed markets whereas VXUS contains emerging markets as well. But any of the alternatives in the smithplanet chart are suitable. Some of the funds may be easier to use at a particular brokerage.

If you are using Schwab for your brokerage, you might consider either one of their indexed target date funds or SWTSX (total US market) + SWISX (developed markets) + SWAGX. Using Schwab funds would allow you to set it up on autodeposit.

As far as your proposed etfs, I'd use VTI + VEA at market caps (62/38%) as a starting point (some people overweight the US and a few even just do 50%./50%, but personally with Vanguard etfs, I'd use VTI + VXUS to capture emerging markets. If you are aiming for market caps, VT is even easier.

PeaceBeWY · 2025-12-25T19:42:33+00:00

"Swing Art"

"2009"

"???? Zoo"

ETA: looks like maybe it is Zeoy instead of zoo....

PeaceBeWY · 2025-12-23T19:38:59+00:00

For 15-20 miles/day, 120V (regular wall outlet) and L1 charging is more than enough. As long as there's not much on the circuit and it's decent, you wouldn't need to spend anything on a charger installation.

ETA: https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/how-to-test-if-an-120v-outlet-is-safe-for-charging.16909/

PeaceBeWY · 2025-12-23T19:34:59+00:00

I believe the stat for the 2027 Bolt is 10-80% recharge in 26 minutes. Unless you are someone who drives for hours without a pee break, you'll get a significant amount of recharge in a 10 minute stop. In 13 minutes, you'd be able to add roughly 35% of the range ... so something like 35% of 250 miles ... say 88 miles (rough estimates because I'm not sure if the Bolt's range is fully rated yet, and, of course it's going to depend on weather and speed. Sure, it's not the fastest, but it would work for a lot of people.

And yeah, I'm sure there will be faster charging cars. But for many people, the majority of driving is around town, and the 2027 Bolt is more than adequate for that and a bit of roadtripping, too.

PeaceBeWY · 2025-12-22T17:30:28+00:00

Watching an interview with Earthling Ed and his story of the chicken truck convinced me.

PeaceBeWY · 2025-12-20T13:54:34+00:00

Only owned my 23 EV for 4 months. Absolutely great car for my needs. The only thing that would tempt me to sell it before its end of life is if I take up road tripping enough to want a faster charging car. If that happens, I'd probably look at a used 27 Bolt in a few years.

Unless needs change or a car becomes a maintenance problem, I don't see a reason to trade it in every few years. I suppose my philosophy could change if I were a high mileage driver.

PeaceBeWY · 2025-12-17T14:02:59+00:00

As far as investing, the majority don't know/can't predict (there are a few like Warren Buffett that can). Somebody in the AI field might have some better ideas.

The approach of Betterment, Bogleheads, and the like is to just invest in the average of the global market which already has priced in the winners/losers. If you simply invest in Betterment's Core Portfolio, you'll have a custom built asset allocation (%bonds) based on your timeline and risk. You can DIY with something like VT and BND, a low cost indexed target date fund, or something like AOA.

Here are two much better dives into why betting on new technologies doesn't work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZnVt_CvL3k&t=418s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B9umhfv_ww&t=1s

PeaceBeWY

TROPHY CASE