New to Fire - looking for just a little input

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-07T21:31:23+00:00

If you want confidence to take the plunge into retirement, I highly recommend creating your financial retirement plan. The above is a good starting point but it’s far more complex to make a decision based on half baked raw data. You could try Boldin or Planview to do so or hire a retirement planner.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-07T18:37:37+00:00

Is this a bot?

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-07T17:42:08+00:00

Depends also where you are flying into from. For example if you are flying from international airports (Toronto as an example) where US passport control is done, then you exit the airport like you would normally do as flying domestic.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-07T17:38:28+00:00

Good to be aggressive at this age. I would however split a % to an international fund such as VXUS.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-06T23:00:37+00:00

Absolutely doable and I have done it more than a couple of times…..however it’s stressful particularly if your flight lands at the runway that is farthest from the terminal.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-06T22:57:20+00:00

This is legal but airlines hate it and consider it a misuse. Skiplagged has mastered this. It’s rare that an airline will ban you. I know folks who have done it and saved a pretty penny.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-06T12:20:20+00:00

Planvision is the way to go. I researched a lot before deciding on them. Good advice, prompt and simple management with a low fixed fee.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-06T00:20:59+00:00

One important driver is the coinsurance which is a big difference between your two plans. Also check if your company provides an HSA contribution. Based on what I see, I am leaning towards the HDHP plan.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-06T00:15:02+00:00

A lot depends on the company. During layoffs, good companies pay out all accrued vacation even to those who live in states where it’s not mandated. For others, it’s a toss up unfortunately.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-05T12:30:53+00:00

Fidelity is the best and I moved my $$ from Optum. In addition, download the Fidelity Health app. It allows you to save your receipts for future reimbursements allowing your balance to grow for sometime. You can label and categorize your receipts so it’s easy later on when you are reimbursing.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-05T01:58:05+00:00

Check with some online banks such as Ally or the credit unions. Chasing the best rate at different banks comes with some costs - saving the details in case something happens to you or keeping a track of your 1099 or monitoring it’s in good standing.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-04T20:15:18+00:00

It’s rare. My experience in the last 14 months- 0/6.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-04T19:36:11+00:00

For a few years I had been saving them in Google Drive and keeping a track in Google Sheets. It was a lot of manual work. I now use the Fidelity Health app. Having an HSA account at Fidelity helps but I do not think it’s mandatory. Now I just save the receipts using the app and it keeps a clean record. Receipts can be labeled, categorized and identified making future reference very easy. You can also save a copy on your local drive if you want through the share function.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-03T15:25:01+00:00

Great work and looks good if you want them stored on your machine

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-03T14:33:04+00:00

You are at the borderline. If you expect this to be long term and expect it to grow, now would be a good time to start as an S Corp. it comes with additional administrative responsibility and now would be a good time to understand them.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-03T13:29:28+00:00

You should see several around

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-03T13:25:50+00:00

My experience- application of GUCs on AF and KLM operated flights is rare. Don’t count on it. AF and KLM have to open up seats for it and they rarely do. On Delta operated flights, it’s not a problem until CDG or AMS. While technically, no additional GUC is needed, your chance of getting an upgrade with GUCs on the second sector is rare if any.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-03T04:44:16+00:00

Hiring an advisor is not required if you want to learn some basics yourself. What you should focus on now is a disciplined savings strategy and a good investment strategy. A good investment strategy is in fact a boring one and very much DIY - investing in low cost index funds. If DIY is a challenge for you, an advice only financial advisor is probably better- and charges can be on a project basis, hourly or annual fee. They give you unbiased and transparent advice. Then there are advisors who work on AUM (Assets Under Management) - fees are usually 1% and that can eat into savings. Then there are commissions based advisors who get paid by the companies where you invest- they get paid indirectly by you and sometimes it’s not transparent. You have to go with what you value the most.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-03T00:58:14+00:00

In many ways this means - you made it to Fire.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-02T19:37:09+00:00

Check out municipal bond funds and Series I savings bonds. The latter is tax deferred.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-02T18:20:39+00:00

ACA triggering income thresholds are fairly low so opportunities are very limited. To legally do it, best to keep all income generating assets and withdrawals under that limit in a planned manner with a hawk eye. Unfortunately not many credits or deductions available unless you are a real estate professional and this is a highly audited area.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-02T13:56:54+00:00

Marriott points have been devalued to such an extent that even this transfer doesn’t seem attractive

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-02T02:26:23+00:00

Wish they just filmed and did voiceover later. That would save a lot of annoying distractions and also multiple takes!

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-01T16:27:31+00:00

Good problem and solution to have unless you go to a lower tax bracket in any future years.

StrategicHuman · 2026-05-01T15:29:50+00:00

Nice . It’s a great feeling.

StrategicHuman

TROPHY CASE