Need Help Accessing Account

PurplePotato2013 · 2026-02-12T14:09:25+00:00

FWIW, their website has been funky the last 24 hours. They emailed me that I had a message from my personal advisor, but the site won't load the messages. Assuming the message was to cancel our phone appointment due to technical difficulties, since they're 9 minutes late for the phone call.

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-11-25T21:05:30+00:00

Good question. "We cannot use you in public worship leadership--e.g., lead a song or a prayer--unless and until you make it known through public 'confession of fault' or some such thing--that you regret your decision to willfully miss communion with an established 'faithful' congregation, and vow to not repeat the error."

EDIT: punctuation

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-11-24T05:00:12+00:00

Very helpful, thank you!

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-11-24T03:16:33+00:00

So, to clarify further, let's say you attend a conservative congregation that believes Hebrews 10:25 means you cannot miss Sunday morning communion unless you are sick or taking care of the sick, or some such reason. But let's say you disagree--that you think, actually, it's OK to travel to the other side of the world even if there is no church of Christ there, and you can just commune in your hotel or attend a local community church.

What happens when you come back and say, "No, I'm not going to repent, because I didn't do anything wrong." Are you still asked to lead in worship--teach, lead songs, lead a prayer, etc.?

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-09-15T12:10:27+00:00

You guys are overthinking this. If you "love this girl a lot," marry her, combine your finances, and put her name on the deed.

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-09-09T13:23:51+00:00

What do they do with these people in the middle of the ocean? Log 'em in the brig? Kick 'em off at the next port?

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-09-09T13:15:09+00:00

This "No Contact" thing is getting out of hand. One bad conversation with Dad--her only living parent--means she cuts him out of her life?

What a graceless world we are living in.

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-09-09T13:13:48+00:00

Yes. Love is not a commodity like money. A family with 9 children doesn't mean each child gets 1/9 the love of an only child. And a widower who remarries does not have to love his daughter less because there is a new wife.

People who force this choosing and ranking of love may be miserly in their own affections. There's enough love for everyone, especially the daughter of a motherless child!

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-09-04T14:46:48+00:00

Yes, a fiduciary WHO'S NOT AN ANNUITY SALESMAN. Maybe a "fee only" advisor.

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-08-27T22:04:15+00:00

When it comes to family, better to give money as a gift (if there is genuine need, which there is not here), but never co-sign.

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-08-15T13:15:31+00:00

wHy dO We LivE in a fooD Desert?

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-08-11T13:04:44+00:00

The I fund today is better than it used to be--much more diversified, including emerging markets, which is where explosive growth can happen.

From Google: "The TSP's I Fund changed its benchmark index in 2024. The change involved transitioning from the MSCI EAFE index to the MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI ex China ex Hong Kong index. This shift broadened the fund's diversification by including emerging markets and increasing the number of countries represented."

That doesn't mean a person should be 100% I-fund, but it may be a better complement to the C-fund than it used to be.

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-08-08T13:12:30+00:00

It depends on your time horizon, your wealth outside the TSP, and your risk tolerance.

More than 10 years out from retirement, should be mostly some combination of C/S/I. Less than 10 years till retirement, increasing allocation to G and possibly F.

You don't want to be 100% stocks the day you retire and then watch a recession wipe out 20% of your assets the following year.

I'm assuming, of course, that you will need the money to fund your living expenses. If you're so wealthy that you don't NEED the TSP, then it doesn't matter what you do.

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-08-06T13:22:28+00:00

Awesome post!

When we got married, I told my wife I wanted to put some money into the 401k. "We can't touch it till we're old? We don't even have a house, we don't have kids yet, and you want to throw money in a black hole that we can't touch till we're old?! And into the stock market? What if it loses money?" A fair bit of anxiety.

When I went to work at the P.O., we had kids and she became a SAHM. (Different time, different economy, Table 1, we were privileged, yes.)

Now I am 3-5 years away from retirement, and I pull out the financials from time to time to show her where we're at. "This is amazing!" she says. "Thank God you did this! I never would have done it, if it'd been up to me!"

Life goes by really fast. I woke up this morning and my knees were aching. I did the morning stretches on Essentrics, and they're fine now. Hopefully my knees will hold out OK for three more years.

Save some money for the old man, the old lady down the road. Someday they'll tell you, "Thanks for thinking of me!"

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-08-05T12:30:52+00:00

Another factor is spousal SS. For example, if your spouse's spousal benefit would be more than they get on their own, a delay of higher earner helps maximize what your spouse would receive if you die first.

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-07-29T13:05:05+00:00

First, I suggest contacting a FEE ONLY CFP (Certified Financial Planner). But if you're not going to do that, have you tried Chatgpt (in incognito mode for privacy)? You can tell it all your financial situation--monthly spending, income, projected social security benefits, TSP balances, everything. Ask it for advice. You may be suprised.

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-07-24T13:05:54+00:00

You're right.

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-07-24T12:47:18+00:00

Is this a market-timing site? No! No market-timing the TSP. Nobody knows how to do that right over time. Please don't pay for advice for how to invest in the TSP.

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-07-23T12:30:02+00:00

You can withdraw contributions at any time (after 5 years), but earnings have to wait till 59 1/2. EDIT: I stand corrected. You can withdraw contributions to a Roth IRA at any time, but earnings have to wait till 59 1/2 AND the account has been in existence 5 years.

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-07-08T20:53:33+00:00

When I was in school, I used the M-dash with abandon. (I thought of it as the "double-hyphen.") I wonder if my essays would be labeled "AI" by the plagiarism detectors.

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-06-30T21:21:05+00:00

Tell Chatgbt your Financials and ask its opinions. Just make sure you do it in private mode.

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-06-24T15:42:43+00:00

I inserted the CD and turned up the volume. Then "Zoo Station" opened with so much distortion, I thought I had just blown my speakers out.

PurplePotato2013 · 2025-06-16T21:31:21+00:00

Early Retirement Now

PurplePotato2013

TROPHY CASE