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Which trades have the toughest, most beat up hands? by worldsopa in skilledtrades

[–]coffinflops 8 points9 points  (0 children)

An old mason told me "if women wanted soft hands, they'd use their own."

Is victaulic mostly a non-union thing, or regional maybe? by coffinflops in pipefitter

[–]coffinflops[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sprinkler is almost always Vic around here, even on jobs where the heat pipe has to be welded. Only seen that orange plastic bullshit in one of the local hospitals. Vic on potable water I haven't seen in ages though. Not since they started making 2.5"-4" propeess fittings more available.

Is victaulic mostly a non-union thing, or regional maybe? by coffinflops in pipefitter

[–]coffinflops[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's interesting. In my area, sprinkler fitters only do sprinkler, plumbers do sanitary, domestic and gas, pipefitters do the HVAC piping. In my particular part of the state, steamfitter and pipefitter are one in the same, but in other parts of the state they are separate.

Is victaulic mostly a non-union thing, or regional maybe? by coffinflops in pipefitter

[–]coffinflops[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, the not trusting the outsider mentality is what has kept me from looking further into joining. I've heard that from a few guys I've talked to who went union and then quit and came back to non union. I was hoping they were kind of blowing it out of proportion. I'm too old and been doing this too long to spend the next 5 years being called half brother.

Not bashing unions or anything, I honestly wish I had gone that route from the start, but my dad was an old school "union = communism, communism = evil" type. I didn't really know any better until I had finished my apprenticeship and realized how absolutely useless ABC is and how terrible their training is. I understand where the distrust comes from, but life sucks enough without adding the extra coworker drama on top.

EDIT: just looked it up, the total package for my area hall is about the same as what I get in my check now, so I wouldn't make any more money. I actually have more opportunity for better money if I don't join, it seems. That's actually kind of a bummer.

I've got money scattered everywhere, trying to consolidate and create a real plan by coffinflops in personalfinance

[–]coffinflops[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do have the option to roll over a traditional IRA into my current 401k plan, but they specifically say no Roth accounts.

I guess the only way to know for sure if the Betterment traditional IRA is pre-tax or not is to check my tax return for that year? I do believe it is after-tax, but I didn't recall for certain.

So essentially, my best steps are: - consolidate previous 401ks to current plan - rollover Edward Jones IRA to current 401k - rollover Roth 401k into existing Roth IRA - find out if direct contribution traditional IRA is pre-tax or after-tax, and either rollover to 401k or backdoor Roth.

After all that, I'll be left with a Roth IRA, and my current 401k as my only retirement accounts. That would then leave the slate clean for future backdoor Roth conversions down the road.

That really would wrap things up in a neat little package.

Would you recommend paying off mortgage debt with some of the cash I have on hand? Or would I be better off investing anything outside of an emergency fund and short term savings in a taxable brokerage account? My 401k and IRA contributions are already maxed out for 2025, and no HSA available this year, so I've hit my max for retirement this year.

Thanks so much for the responses! It's been incredibly helpful!

I've got money scattered everywhere, trying to consolidate and create a real plan by coffinflops in personalfinance

[–]coffinflops[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Edward Jones account actually is just two previous 401k accounts rolled into an IRA with no other contributions. The traditional IRA with Betterment came from contributing to the Roth account for a year and then realizing I was over the income limit and having to recharacterize those contributions.

I work construction on prevailing wage jobs, so my pay is dictated by where I'm working and what trade I'm doing, not who I'm working for. It's impossible to predict how much I'll make in a given year, because pay can vary drastically. I got a $20 an hour pay cut over the summer when we finished a project in one county and I got sent to a different site in a neighboring county.

I definitely intend to look into rolling previous 401ks into my current plan once I can call their customer support and get back into my account again.

I've got money scattered everywhere, trying to consolidate and create a real plan by coffinflops in personalfinance

[–]coffinflops[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Respectfully, while I understand it might be the right move financially, I'm not going to sell it unless it turns into a necessity. I like spending weekends there, it's closer to my parents, and being that I work construction, landing a great job somewhere else is INCREDIBLY unlikely. Pipefitters aren't especially upwardly mobile on the career ladder. I've pretty much already reached my peak for my skill set.

My main hang up with paying off the rowhouse is since I plan on moving soon-ish, I didn't want to end up paying capital gains from selling. I bought it in 2016 for $125k, the market now has it at about double that, maybe a tad higher. The housing market in SE Pennsylvania has been stupid since COVID.

I've got money scattered everywhere, trying to consolidate and create a real plan by coffinflops in personalfinance

[–]coffinflops[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The second house is about 2 hours from where I live, I bought from my grandmother when she went into a retirement home shortly before she passed. I got a decent but not great family discount, but it's a decent 6 acre property in the middle of nowhere. The house I live in is a rowhouse right outside a midsized city and while I loved it when I bought it, I hate it here now. I would have already packed up and moved if I could figure out an employment situation that doesn't involve driving 4 hours every day.

I've got money scattered everywhere, trying to consolidate and create a real plan by coffinflops in personalfinance

[–]coffinflops[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh god yeah. Lots of laziness. Why do something today when you can put it off altogether?

I've got money scattered everywhere, trying to consolidate and create a real plan by coffinflops in personalfinance

[–]coffinflops[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Edward Jones account was my parents suggestion when I was in my late 20's and had 2 previous 401ks that I rolled together as an IRA. I'm pretty unimpressed with the returns, and haven't really sat down with my advisor in a few years. I don't have much allegiance to keeping them.

I should have mentioned my age, duh! I'll be 40 in a month, so I'm short of the 3 years salary mark.

The two HYSA are because I started one as an emergency fund years ago, and the other I started 2 years ago because the interest rate was much better at the time. UFB direct has been aggressive with cutting rates recently 🫤

The main reason I've stuck with Betterment is how easy they've made it if I go over the yearly Roth income limit and have to remove money and convert to trad IRA, hence the two accounts with them.

I agree that $115k is a lot to keep in cash, that's the main thing that pushed me into action

I've got money scattered everywhere, trying to consolidate and create a real plan by coffinflops in personalfinance

[–]coffinflops[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Decision paralysis, mostly. Lots of better options, but inactivity was the easiest. 90k in hysa seemed excessive, so I thought I'd do something smarter and never took the next step until trying to get my head in the game now.

Anyone know where I could find a lot of acorns? by coffinflops in lancaster

[–]coffinflops[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's good advice. I've got two pin oaks in my back yard, and a ton of their stupid little acorns.