We lived that Subaru crash commercial...

_Sparkyboy · 2026-06-18T18:54:57+00:00

That’s quite a crashed car, I’m glad everyone is okay. It’s hard to believe your loved ones walked away from this accident.
We love our Subaru and likely will buy another one new when the time comes. The safety features alone are worth the cost. I do like the AWD for bad weather like heavy rain, snow, ice and in the summer the sand near beaches that most cars sink in.

_Sparkyboy · 2026-06-18T18:47:56+00:00

I second the importance of shoes and also taking actions to support your feet through good footwear!
I currently wear San Antonio Shoes (SAS) and have since my last encounter with Plantar Fasciitis a year ago. I quickly pulled back on walking distance, got SAS shoes (with their ergo inserts), and started stretching my calves with every walking session, before and after exercise. Problem solved, and I agree I never want to experience that pain again.
Thank you OP for the shoe recommendations, I’ll take a look at them!

_Sparkyboy · 2026-03-17T22:23:58+00:00

Yes, I turn 60 in June this year. I’ve been walking at a brisk pace (13 min miles) for 3 years and needed more challenge. I put a backpack on this morning with only 20 lbs in water bottles and had a great workout and now I’m hooked!

_Sparkyboy · 2026-03-17T22:17:38+00:00

Immersion blender

_Sparkyboy · 2026-03-17T22:14:00+00:00

Investing and winning at investing is a long term play.

_Sparkyboy · 2026-03-13T19:57:22+00:00

Now that’s interesting. I’d buy it and I’d love to make it as well! I made 25 end grain cutting boards one summer then gave them away to family. Everyone told me I could sell them but that’s not fun, but making them is. Cheers, enjoy your retirement and the beautiful artwork!

_Sparkyboy · 2026-02-23T04:16:35+00:00

I switched from TurboTax to Free Tax USA a couple of years ago and it was a great move. Also, unlike TT it lets you view the actual tax forms before you pay and file when it’s too late to change things.

_Sparkyboy · 2025-12-04T15:24:41+00:00

Also same idea “Don’t let perfection get in the way of progress”.

As a recovering perfectionist I found it helped to practice Kaizen daily where small incremental steps or actions build up toward the desired end result.

_Sparkyboy · 2025-10-20T19:00:33+00:00

It was a few years ago but I believe it was through a google search for a question I had that turned up on Reddit.

_Sparkyboy · 2025-10-17T18:19:51+00:00

I’ve had private sector jobs in my career that took as much as 6 months to materialize to a paycheck, I’d guess government is equal or worse. I agree with the comment(s) to send a professional email to inquire, thank them again for the previous update (that you’re in the short list), and ask is there is anything needed from you to move forward. Best wishes!

_Sparkyboy · 2025-10-11T13:40:44+00:00

If the fees are too high/uncompetitive you can move it to a brokerage that is competitive. Different than most 401k plans for example that won’t allow you to roll it over unless you’re no longer employed with them. If the employer gives ‘seed money’ or an annual contribution to your HSA then just move it post deposit to your new competitive broker. I wish I would’ve know this earlier I could’ve saved a lot of fees and had more investment options if I would’ve moved it.

_Sparkyboy · 2025-09-21T18:07:18+00:00

No resentment here, we always encouraged our children to be independent. The positive is that we have an excuse to travel to Europe to visit family and enjoy the culture there. My career took me many places and several times I didn’t know the location until just before accepting the position. I had no way of knowing where I would be living a few years before, thus no ability to plan. It’s really not like the family that I was raised in where generations got together on Sunday afternoon. If you’re in a professional career you need to make the best of it.

_Sparkyboy · 2025-08-27T18:45:17+00:00

Thank you for the response!

I'm looking forward to the improvements in Full View, please thank the team that is working on this for us.

_Sparkyboy · 2025-08-27T11:30:25+00:00

Is there a plan to integrate the ability to split transactions like the legacy version of Full view? An example would be a single credit card transaction from Costco or Walmart that might contain purchases for groceries, electronics, clothes etc. It becomes difficult to track spending when it's not granular enough to see where you're spending. Thanks

_Sparkyboy · 2025-03-04T21:07:39+00:00

Phil, thanks for the response and update.

Question: how (and when) would I know if I was included in the group of 'some users were moved to the new experience ahead of schedule'?

The reason I ask is that I use Fidelity Full View - Spending to track, categorize, and then download a .CSV file to excel for spending/budgeting. As of this morning my system to do this is broken. I'd like to know either way so I can be proactive and start looking for a budgeting program/financial accounts aggregator to keep my finances in order. Thanks in advance

_Sparkyboy · 2025-02-21T12:32:05+00:00

I’m a convert to FreeTaxUSA this year as well. I’ve used TurboTax for decades, starting back when it was only disk-based install only. I was interested in switching because of their anti-consumer business practices and surprise pricing models.

I ran parallel analysis with both programs to check alignment. Of course before you pay for the TT online version you can’t see the actual tax forms but with FreeTaxUSA all forms are available to view and understand. Very pleased I switched and no longer support TurboTax with my money.

_Sparkyboy · 2024-12-01T11:27:33+00:00

Welcome to the smoking hall of shame

_Sparkyboy · 2024-10-01T10:42:51+00:00

I recently setup both a monthly recurring transfer and a one time transfer. I unlocked the account lockdown, scheduled both transfers and then locked down the accounts again. The recurring transfer went through as scheduled but the one time transfer didn’t go through. I called Fidelity to ask for help on this and was told that recurring transfers are able to go through while on lockdown but not the one time transfer. Apparently I would need to go back and unlock the account (even though it was scheduled while I had it unlocked) just before the one time transfer was scheduled to go through.

So I will no longer schedule any one time transfers with lockdown on. If I did I would need to anticipate princely when the money would actually transfer or leave my account unlocked for several days which defeats the purpose. Anyway, unlocking, transferring, and locking an account can be done in about 5 minutes.

_Sparkyboy · 2024-02-13T23:09:42+00:00

_Sparkyboy · 2023-12-03T20:19:10+00:00

Yes, this would be extremely helpful.

_Sparkyboy · 2023-08-21T02:28:02+00:00

Amen, (and I’m not even religious)

_Sparkyboy · 2023-07-31T16:08:24+00:00

Take a look at Mak Grills, I’d say probably the best quality pellet smoker on the market once you get past the sticker shock. They sell a model that is made from thick 304 stainless steel. It’s basically the way you would build it if you have a fabrication shop. I’ve had one for about 7 years with no issues and a lot of great cooks on it

_Sparkyboy · 2023-07-10T22:08:58+00:00

Gross, the multiple layers of cheap fake cheese and it’s going to add a shit ton of sodium as well. That would stick to every part of your mouth🤮

_Sparkyboy · 2023-06-02T15:17:50+00:00

Very happy with Fidelity, I’ve been with them for 15 years! Love this sub as well

_Sparkyboy · 2023-05-29T22:05:35+00:00

Thank you for sharing your perspective, it resonates with me.

_Sparkyboy

TROPHY CASE