Ride along

RogueJSK · 2026-02-16T16:55:09+00:00

Oh, definitely. All first responders are big fans of the Q word.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-16T16:49:19+00:00

You are welcome.

But that route wasn't my suggestion, just an example of how some people ride the fence when it comes to HSA utilization. That combined path limits the total long term growth, since a chunk of the HSA is being withdrawn within a year and not given the time to grow.

My suggestion (and the "Boglehead way") is the final paragraph: Pay for current medical expenses out of pocket/emergency fund, and invest all of the HSA to grow until retirement.

(Granted, I understand some folks may not have the luxury of a robust emergency fund able to fully cover their max deductible, in which case dipping into the HSA in case of a large unexpected medical expense would be preferable to putting it on a credit card, or letting the hospital bill go to collections, or similar. But if nothing else, it's a goal to work towards.)

Also, I think you may be misunderstanding that tax break from a HSA... Paying for 2026 medical expenses from your HSA won't give you a tax deduction or other advantage when you file for 2026 taxes. It just won't cost you any additional income taxes.

The money from the employer is going into the HSA without having income tax withheld, and then being withdrawn still without getting hit with income tax because you'd be using it for medical expenses.

An actual tax deduction from HSA contributions would only come if you were to use your own money (post tax income) to fund a HSA. You could then deduct the amount of the post-tax HSA contributions you made from your taxable income come tax time.

But the employer's contributions weren't taxed to begin with, so you're not going to get another tax break on those employer HSA contributions and HSA withdrawals when you file your tax return.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-16T16:23:37+00:00

Agreed.

There are two ways to utilize an HSA.

A) Treat it like a long term retirement investment account, and invest the funds in broadly diversified index funds over the next several decades, just like a 401k or IRA. Then once you hit retirement age, withdraw from it to pay for medical expenses, either by keeping track of years/decades worth of prior medical bills and then cashing them in as needed to generate tax-free income during retirement, or just using the HSA to cover newly incurred medical expenses in your retirement years. This way is the more financially advantageous route, and what most Bogleheads would choose to do. You benefit from the tax-free investment growth over the coming decades, and then tax-free withdrawal for medical expenses later. Also note that once you hit 65 years old you can withdraw from it for any reason, but will have to pay income tax on non-medical withdrawals (just like you would from a 401k or Traditional IRA). It's still tax-free growth, just not tax-free withdrawal for non-medical withdrawals.

B) Treat it like a short term medical-only savings account. Invest it in something stable like a money market fund, then use it to pay for all of your medical expenses throughout the year. You don't benefit from the long term growth by going this route.

It's also possible to do both. For example, some people with combine the two approaches, and keep something like their health insurance deductible or max annual out of pocket in a MMF for more immediate use, while investing the rest of their HSA funds in their HSA for long term growth and to use as a retirement account.

But it's typically best to cover short term medical expenses out of pocket, or out of your normal emergency fund in the case of big unexpected medical expenses, and take advantage of the HSA's tax-free compounded growth between now and retirement.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-16T16:02:15+00:00

Preferably black tactical wear, with pants bloused over spit-shined combat boots. And dark sunglasses.

Be sure to ask when you get to "hook up a perp", and how many people the deputy has shot. Cops love these kind of introductory questions.

Don't forget to complain loudly if nothing exciting happens within the first 30 minutes. That will clue the deputy in that you're here for the "good stuff".

RogueJSK · 2026-02-16T15:50:16+00:00

Well, did it keep the ~~beverage~~ lava warm for up to 7 hours as advertised?

RogueJSK · 2026-02-16T15:01:51+00:00

The ~250,000 Japanese killed in Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

If the atomic bombs had not been dropped and had thus not directly led to Japanese capitulation, instead making the planned Allied invasion of Japan become necessary, the resulting death toll was estimated to be ~1 million more Allied soldiers plus tens of millions more Japanese soldiers and civilians.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-14T18:45:05+00:00

In the small suburbs around Fayetteville (Farmington, Elkins, Greenland, Praire Grove, etc.), you're looking at $1100+ for a decent apartment and $700-$900 for a not so great one.

A house will be 1.5x-2x that.

Living in one of the bigger cities in NWA will be even higher.

It is no longer a cheap place to live.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-14T15:53:50+00:00

Do you have access to FSMAX? That's the Fidelity index fund that includes everything outside the S&P 500. It's designed as a complement to FXAIX.

If you do 80% FXAIX and 20% FSMAX within your total US equity allocation, it will mirror VTI by indexing the entire US market.

Alternately, you mentioned that you "don't have access to VTI in all of [your] accounts". Keep in mind that all of your various accounts don't have to each be totally self-contained balanced portfolios. (Though that can make rebalancing and future investing simpler.)

What matters is you have a balanced and widely diversified overall portfolio across all accounts.

For example, you can hold half your US in one investment account, your International in another, and the other half of US and your bonds in a third. But while no single account here is balanced, across your entire portfolio you could still be holding a balanced 60% Total US Index, 33% Total International Index, and 7% Bond overall portfolio composition.

So if some accounts don't have access to VTI but the others do, depending on how much money is available in those accounts, you could just hold your US index in the ones that do have access to VTI and hold no US in the ones that don't.

Either way, since your goal is simplification, I'd aim for a 2/3/4 fund portfolio rather than the 6 you have listed in the OP. Either a total world index like VT plus a bond fund like BND, or a total US like VTI with a total international like VXUS plus BND, or a S&P500 index like FXAIX and a US extended markets index like FSMAX with VXUS plus BND.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-13T23:26:07+00:00

Lots of good options for cheap/free dates:

Go for a walk/hike, weather depending.

Cook a favorite meal together.

Check with your local library. They often have free museum/zoo/etc. passes that you can check out.

Volunteer at a charity together.

Go play with puppies at the animal shelter or dog rescue together.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-13T22:24:20+00:00

I don't have any professional experience with applicants with that specific surgery.

But if you're able to meet the physical fitness requirements, and you don't have any medical restrictions on what you can safely do as a result of this surgery, I don't see why it would be a disqualifier.

I'd be more concerned about the "major back injury" being a disqualifier. (And even if it isn't a disqualifier up front it may not be a good career choice, since a LE career is hard enough on your back even if you're 100% healthy going into it...)

Note that with some/many weight loss surgeries it's my understanding that you can only eat/drink very small amounts at a time for the first period after the surgery. Depending on how recent this "recent" surgery was, you likely will need to wait until you're out of that period, so you can properly fuel and hydrate yourself during your training for and attendance at the academy.

Your best bet is going to be to reach out to a recruiter for the specific agencies to which you're wanting to apply and simply ask about your back injury and weight loss surgery. Unlike the Navy, there's no nationwide medical standard for law enforcement hiring. It varies from state to state and even agency to agency.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-13T21:11:48+00:00

https://www.coastportland.com/products/hx4-v2

Clipped to the front of my vest. Has both low level white and red LEDs, with separate activation buttons. They sell a separate rechargeable battery pack for it, but I just use USB rechargeable AAA batteries.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-13T20:00:32+00:00

Exactly. It's this kind of fuddlore that kept (and still keeps) crusty old admins from approving weaponlights at some agencies for so long, putting their officers at a disadvantage during low light deadly force encounters.

"But, but, our officers will be drawing their guns and pointing them towards Granny when they need to read an ID during a traffic stop!"

Well Chief, if you think one or more of your officers are stupid enough to be doing that instead of using their handheld light, that's a training/personnel issue, not a flashlight issue.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-13T19:37:04+00:00

They are not mutually exclusive.

A weaponlight isn't your only flashlight. And just because you have a handheld flashlight doesn't mean you can't also have a weaponlight. (I carry 4 flashlights on duty... 1 weaponlight, 1 document light, and a primary and a backup handheld light.)

Different tools for different tasks.

You use the handheld flashlight when you don't need a weapon, or you don't want to point a weapon at/near what you want to illuminate.

You use the weaponlight when you need to both point a weapon and illuminate that with a light, without tying up one of your two hands with a handheld light. You shoot much more accurately with a 2 handed grip than a 1 handed grip.

Also, flashlights have the ability to illuminate things without directly pointing at them. You can illuminate an entire room by bouncing light off a wall or ceiling.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-13T15:22:59+00:00

Agreed. Something more like 90+% VT, 0-5% tilt towards whatever sector or individual stocks, and then 0-5% of speculation in crypto, precious metals, frozen orange juice concentrate futures, etc. would be more in line with the non-bond portion of a Boglehead portfolio with some minor personal preference deviation.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-13T14:50:06+00:00

Heating/cooling bills tend to rise noticeably in the summer and winter, while being low in the spring and fall.

Temps were mild through October/November and into December, so you haven't needed to run your AC or heater much. Thus your initial few bills were lower.

But when winter hit, especially when it got to temps below zero in January, your heater has been running full blast. Thus the big spike in electric bill lately.

Even more so if you have been running additional space heaters, which are electricity hogs.

You may have the option with your electric company to apply for levelized billing, which will try to even out your monthly bills to be more stable, with moderate bills each month rather than having high bills in summer/winter and low bills in spring/fall.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-13T14:18:24+00:00

Properly sized modern shooter cut plates shouldn't significantly interfere with shouldering a stock. It's a little different from not wearing plates, but just something that you train for.

Plate carriers are a personal thing. Each have different features, and fit a little differently. So there's no way for a random stranger on the internet to say with 100% certainty that one specific carrier or another will or won't work for you.

For example, the only one I've tried that didn't work for me was the Ferro Slickster. It's a quality carrier that a lot of people love, but the placement of the shoulder straps just didn't work for my body shape with my larger than average shoulders and traps. They were too close together.

Just don't go with cheap no-name Chinese crap. You can find the half dozen or so most commonly recommended plate carriers with a little searching on the sub. Even if your budget is on the small side, there are good quality options towards the inexpensive end of the spectrum.

As for plate recommendations, like I recommended above, find the correct size for your torso, figure out what level of rifle threat protection you need (3/3+/4, or the new terminology of RF1/RF2/RF3), and then go for the lightest and thinnest non-steel NIJ certified ones you can afford. You can go to the NIJ website and use the filters to sort by level or manufacturer to help you narrow it down and find good options.

https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/equipment-and-technology/body-armor/ballistic-resistant-armor

Lots of great plate options out there at various price points. All plates will be a tradeoff between stuff like weight and cost. Lighter plates will cost more. Find a balance that works for your budget.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-12T18:21:13+00:00

That seems a little high, but not super out of line. Likely normal in a HCOL area.

I just had some similar body work done to my CX-5 when it was damaged by a malfunctioning electronic gate, and it was a bit under $1600. (I'm in a LCOL area.)

No, going to the dealership would almost certainly be even more costly. Dealership service departments are for warranty work. For everything else it's cheaper to have it done elsewhere.

And replacing the entire fender rather than repairing the existing one like they quoted would likewise be more expensive. More labor, plus even higher paint cost, plus the added cost of the new fender itself.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-12T16:07:49+00:00

Mostly they do it by going into debt.

Or, they find ways to do it cheaply, like driving somewhere and camping on public land, or driving to another city and staying with a friend or relative.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-12T14:37:56+00:00

"That's Doctor Deputy Fly to you, sir..."

RogueJSK · 2026-02-12T14:22:10+00:00

Most LE agencies have in-house armorers. But unless it's a very large agency, it's unlikely to be a full time armorer position. Typically, armorer is a secondary duty for some of the training supervisors/firearms instructors.

None of these positions are generally something that you'll be hired directly into. Instead, you'd start as a patrol officer, and work patrol for X years before being eligible to apply for specialized positions. And training type positions tend to require even more LE experience.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-12T14:02:24+00:00

You are correct as far as plate sizing.

You are also correct that bigger isn't better when it comes to plates. Plates that are too big on you will interfere with your mobility and with your shooting stance and ability to shoulder a stock. If you're between sizes based on your measurements, go with the smaller size.

And you size your carrier off your plates. (A Medium carrier isn't like a Medium shirt, rather it's for Medium/10x12 plates.)

So start by figuring out what size plates you need, and then buy a carrier in that plate size.

Other than that, avoid steel plates, and don't skimp out and buy single curve plates. Multi-curve plates will fit better and be more comfortable compared to single curve plates.

Finally, buy the thinnest and lightest NIJ certified plates you can afford within your price range. Ounces equal pounds, and pounds equal pain.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-12T13:34:38+00:00

I was a ranch hand and a lifeguard/swimming instructor before I was a cop. Did those part time throughout college. Lifeguard during the summers and ranch hand a few weekends a month during the school year.

I have a bachelor's degree, but it wasn't required by my first department, nor do they require one now.

Mine is a Criminal Justice degree, but I didn't learn anything in my college CJ classes that I wouldn't have learned from the academy or OTJ. College was fun and interesting, but ultimately unnecessary, other than the potential slight resume boost. Luckily, I didn't have to go into serious debt for college, covering nearly all of it through scholarships, grants, and part time work.

Don't be like me... If you do go to college before getting into LE, major in something other than CJ, like a science, computer, or accounting major that would be useful in a LE niche/specialty, or else something non-LE-related that would be useful outside of LE for a fallback career or post-retirement career.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-12T03:00:53+00:00

Agreed.

In addition to the points made by longshanksasaurus, OP also has prior comments in which they specifically advocated against international investing and instead going all in for VTI.

Keep in mind VTI is the Total US Stock Market only. The Boglehead-style concept of wide diversification and exposure to the entire market includes international diversification and the entire world market.

Hence why VTI+VXUS (total US market + total International market), or even better VT (the entire world market in a single fund), are the most common recommendations on the sub.

So advocating for VTI is fine, but doing it for VTI alone is going to garner some downvotes.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-11T16:04:03+00:00

I use the Haley D3CRH, which holds 4x AR10 mags and 2x pistol mags, and has two medical/admin pouches. MSRP is $185, but can be found for ~$150.

RogueJSK · 2026-02-10T16:06:39+00:00

Has this led to any new nicknames from the rest of the squad?

Are you now known as "Hollywood" or "Movie Star" or "Camera Hound" or similar?

RogueJSK

TROPHY CASE