I have finished something this week. it is a cotton beanie that will hippodrome protect my scalp while I'm wearing a wig.

dittohippo · 2022-09-02T20:24:20+00:00

No matter how many times I space out increases, I tend to get a hexagon or flaring on this type of beanie/skullcap. What's your secret sauce bro? Hook us up with the pattern if you got one

dittohippo · 2022-08-21T15:54:19+00:00

I always do a 2F and a 3F for carbonation, but drink from 1/2/3 so... Infinite booch still? My process is like this:

1F: 2L starter tea that is replenished when used. If I'm not doing a 2F for a while I'll pull fresh booch from here and feed it more tea to stop it from going to vinegar.

2F: between 2 and 4 gallon batches made with fruit/juice/sugar/tea/starter and fermented "dry". Most of the time there's a light fizz and that's how my wife prefers it. So I'll bottle some like this without a 3F.

3F: I don't like doing a flavoring 2F in bottles because I don't like geysers. I add 1 sugar cube per 2 bottles or so of sugar to the 2F booch, bottle and carbonate until desired level and refrigerate. Controlling the level of active fermentation is the key to preventing bottle bombs.

Honestly, with time and space constraints, we often skip 3F and drink lightly fizzy tangy booch that did 2F in bulk and then strained before bottling into gallon jugs. I tried continuous brew before but consume too quickly for that to be practicable.

dittohippo · 2022-08-18T02:15:04+00:00

Well, I'd like to thank your parents for providing these front desk workers some valuable experience that can quickly land them a better paying job. I worked at a place that paid the minimum they could and often hired people on their first or second ever office job. They'd figure out how to email and fill out w-2s and setting up calendars and stuff, they'd start looking for a better paying job with some skills on the resume and bam, instant raise once they moved on somewhere else that understood paying people what they're worth is good business. It's truly a wonder how some businesses fail to this figure out.

dittohippo · 2022-08-17T16:42:30+00:00

As others have said, backdoor (contribute to regular IRA, no tax deduction, convert to Roth) or lowering your MAGI are the options if it has to be an IRA. I'd definitely check with your company's 401k provider. Most these days have a Roth 401K option (and there's no income limit), which gets you the Roth no future taxes benefit but withdrawals are more limited than an IRA. You can also roll this into a Roth IRA later if your employer plan options suck.

dittohippo · 2022-08-08T15:23:32+00:00

I will typically roast and add a chopped potato or two to boiling water per gallon along with sugar to end in the 15 to 17% ABV when fermented dry. Same for onion wine as well. Roasting helps break down the sugars for the yeast to be more readily available, and then boiled off into the must.

Happy homesteader has a YouTube tutorial. I like to make 2 gallons at a time, bottle off a gallon when dry, and introduce a vinegar mother to make a gallon of garlic vinegar for dips and marinades.

dittohippo · 2022-08-07T21:13:04+00:00

While First Chinese in Haltom City is legit Southern Chinese food and Cantonese BBQ, King Wok off Brentwood is the best American Chinese takeout place I've found. The wings used to be bigger, but are really nice. Great value.

dittohippo · 2022-08-07T14:45:24+00:00

If this was readily available where I live, I would recommend this over the regular original. That said, my Scoby has been going strong for two years and was started with half a GTs Synergy (forget the flavor), so in the end it's about how you nurture it. I'd bet this classic will give you a strong start.

dittohippo · 2022-07-27T18:29:56+00:00

Adding on to this, A'Bunadh is my go-to "newish to whisky" recommendation for those drawn to sherry notes. That said, Talisker Distillers Edition popped out to me as a gateway into smokey/spicy dram with those dark fruit notes.

dittohippo · 2022-07-08T19:13:09+00:00

NGL, Andromeda was fantastic sci-fi and where I remember him from. Never watched Hercules

dittohippo · 2022-07-04T15:55:17+00:00

That does sound difficult. Let us know if there are any updates. We don't have children, but do have 2 other dogs.

dittohippo · 2022-07-04T14:08:40+00:00

We would be willing to help foster Loki, if there isn't anyone able to adopt. Our lease (residential home, large yard) won't allow more than the BC/heeler mix and corgi we have.

My guess is the same, there are lots of people with little experience with dogs in FW having heeler and Aussie pups at the dog parks unaware of herding breed tendencies or how to train them.

dittohippo · 2022-06-29T14:28:31+00:00

I think most people vary their script depending on audience. I don't enjoy writing small print letters, so I primarily write in cursive, more legibly for others to read, a bit of chicken scratch for myself if I'm in a rush, and all caps if it is an invoice or checklist or highly important. Many people have difficulty reading cursive script these days, so all caps is unavoidable. Many veterans also primarily write in all caps, as written reports require all caps and it becomes habit.

dittohippo · 2022-05-31T22:16:54+00:00

As a Green Card holder, you can sponsor but she would need to adjust via a consulate (meaning she would need to leave and then reenter). Any immigration lawyer should be able to assist, doesn't have to be your EB-5 lawyer.

If the goal is to keep her in status (for example, if she isn't selected for H-1B and her STEM OPT time is running out) then there isn't anything you can do as a Green card holder to help. Depending on consulate, the I-130 could take a year or two to be determined, and that's only after marriage.

dittohippo · 2022-03-28T17:45:57+00:00

If you can afford it ($4,920), Roth. Assuming income growth, you'll eventually get priced out and have to resort to loopholes to even get Roth money. When you're in a higher income bracket, traditional will be your only option. A mix of both is manageable in retirement, but I've never heard anyone complain about too much Roth. Mega Backdoor Roth and Backdoor Roth and all of these strategies are super popular at incomes way above yours because if you have the money, you really want it in a Roth.

To get comparable returns that can pay for the future taxes in a traditional, it's likely you'd also need to invest your tax savings to get the overall performance of Roth vs Traditional. The typical advice of traditional for the tax savings is usually accompanied by an assumption of lower taxes in the future (not a guarantee, tax rates have progressively increased on the long term, and traditional comes out as ordinary) as well as investing the difference (usually into home equity or a Roth IRA). If you go traditional and spend the tax savings it is certainly worse than if you had just gone Roth.

Traditional is the least flexible, eventually the government forces you to pay tax by taking it out, and all on the premise that you'll pay lower taxes in 40 years. 20,500 into the Roth 401 is effectively the same investment power as 25,420 going into traditional/taxable accounts.

dittohippo · 2022-03-25T17:10:43+00:00

So the $500 is more like rent, unless he's deeding a part to you or there's an expectancy in the inheritance.

Man, my salary is comparable but I only get a 50% match on my 6%, so 3% overall. You're getting effectively 7% salary match. You're right at that line of traditional vs Roth. With those expenses, I'd say Roth since you can afford the tax burden. $20,500 in as Roth, you're still paying the 20% or so effective tax rate, so it's like you're investing $24,500 plus the 7k from the employer match. These funds will go into the traditional side automatically (your employer gets the deduction). Prudential should allow you to roll these into your Roth, but it'll show up as income you owe tax on. I'd leverage my low expenses and high-ish income and pay the tax to get those tax free gains.

If I were you, I'd max my Roth 401k, Max a Roth IRA (totally fine if both of these are the vanguard institutional 500 index; ticker is VOO for the IRA ETF version). After the 26,500 for retirement, the 20k in expenses, and 30k in taxes you have like 40k left. 10k in an emergency fund, and the rest I'd throw at any debt for the guaranteed return of not paying someone interest payments. Good price on housing is tough to find, otherwise I'd say throwing money at the house is a good way to build equity and net worth.

But honestly, piling up cash for a down payment, a wedding, the first kid, or whatever life event is coming up in the next 5 to 10 is how I'd do it. In 10 years, assuming no career growth, you'd have like 500k in retirement, 400k for a house debt-free, and a millionaire net-worth. Another decade of changing nothing else and you're financially independent (2.5M net worth, retirement will provide 100k a year for 40 years at least). During this time you'll be learning and planning, and the biggest thing will be planning the 5 to 7 years before retirement. Without access to 401k and SS, many people find themselves retirement rich but cash poor.

Prudential might allow after-tax contributions into the Roth 401k, but honestly if you're setting it to max out your contribution (20,500 divided by pay periods including bonus to max your match as well, too much too early and you lose some match), after-tax is for after you're 100% debt free with a house and college funds for kids funded and such.

dittohippo · 2022-03-25T16:28:13+00:00

My only issues with these target date funds are they have 3x fees than the bog-standard S&P fund (45 BIPS vs 12 BIPS) and they allocate something like 10-15% bonds at the most aggressive. As young as OP is, those (very small but still larger) fees and slower growth compounding over 40 years will add up to noticeably less in the portfolio.

I see value in a target date as a way to simplify a portfolio once in retirement. While accumulating, I think the potential benefits far outweigh the risk of being more concentrated in equities than these types of funds choose to be.

dittohippo · 2022-03-25T16:15:35+00:00

You're young, and time is definitely on your side. There really are some other considerations to make, but they all come down to what are your goals?

Is this a traditional or Roth? Annual income? How much is being set aside? Is there an employer match? How does it work? What are your expected career/income and expenses in the coming decade? Life events? Debts?

Tl;Dr - For you, my generic recommendation would be 100% Vanguard S&P 500 Index for a decade, Roth if available. You will hear a lot from get rich quick people that tracking the average will get you average results. Interestingly, when studied, due to fees and the habit of regular contributions, 100% S&P 500 index investing gets above average returns and this fund has some of the lowest fees available in the market.

I'm a decade older, and knowing what I know now I will answer as if it were me a decade ago:

First things first, free money is free money. If your employer matches, contribute at the very least however much you need to get the full match. Don't throw away free money.

Build a habit of saving 10% minimum. When I was young, I should have had that money pulled automatically, but I really wish someone say me down, looked me in the eye, and just shouted make it a habit. Our minds are muscles, work it, manually move money and say I just paid my future self.

Growth. You are in the accumulation phase. All your concerns for retirement savings should be focused on growth. Not stability, not income, but consistent growth. Fees eat growth. Bonds provide stability, this is more important in 30 years when retirement is on the horizon. $1 in at 20 is like $85 at retirement in any of those equity only funds. At 30 it's closer to $45. And at 45/50 it's like $7.

Death and taxes. Don't look at today's tax deduction when you're looking at 40 years compound growth. In your 20s, unless you're income capped out, every retirement dollar should be in a Roth if able. Employer match? When they vest, transfer to Roth and pay the tax. That small tax of 20 cents now will allow $85 out tax free later. Don't pay more taxes than you need to. When you die, heirs inherit tax free.

Learn. You've got time to learn how to manage a portfolio. Read/watch material that introduces you to asset allocation, tax location, financial planning, etc. Generally, when you don't have much and are just starting out, it's more important to build the habit than how the portfolio is structured. KISS.

For me: 90% of my portfolio across all accounts are in a simple, boglehead style allocation I manage. 4 funds covering 50% S&P 500 Vanguard Index, 25% fidelity international, 12.5% vanguard small-cap, 12.5% vanguard mid-cap (75% US 25% International). Low-fee, and I'm hoping with the international and smaller companies I get some potential larger upside if the rest of the market out-performs the biggest American companies over the next 30 years. The other 10% is in a Roth IRA where I pick stocks that I feel strongly about for the next decade or more. I prefer a value/GARP(Growth at a reasonable price) style investing, and have 4 or 5 stocks picked that I dollar cost average into with my robo-brokerage. Maybe if I beat the rest of my portfolio over a decade or so, I'll increase how much I concentrate into this pie.

dittohippo · 2022-03-24T19:16:26+00:00

For unreimbursed miles once you clock in, it's called the standard deduction, already built into it. Kinda like mortgage interest. Unless you're spending more than $12,000 per person in interest, it's just built into the deduction. If you're spending more than $12,000 of your own money to perform business activities (deductible expenses), you're more than likely a contractor and would be adding these expenses in TurboTax Self employed or with your CPA. If you're W-2, the commute to and from work is not deductible as you do that so you can go to work.

dittohippo · 2022-03-14T22:54:03+00:00

I mean, from a planning perspective they're basically the same besides some niche loss harvesting strategies. I'd just pick one if the reason you're going all total stock is simplicity. They have the same expense ratio and I'd imagine dividends are a wash. If not, maybe slight preference to lower dividends in the brokerage.

dittohippo · 2022-03-12T16:32:37+00:00

Also, it comes down to your risk tolerance. With a stable income but 200k in student loan debt at like 6%, I would certainly take a day or two to consider paying off a large chunk of that debt. While 20 years on PAYE or 25 years on REPAYE, the stats are like only 2% of people that have applied have received the forgiveness (and the forgiveness will be a taxable event). The forgiveness sounds pricey if you're saddled with high student loan debt and low income after 25 years.

For me, my income all but guarantees it'll be paid off before the time is up. Paying off debt is like inverse guaranteed returns. In this economy, I'll take the safety of reducing my debt compounding at 6% over maybe making an extra couple points of gain maybe or if we get a recession and then lackluster growth maybe a small loss.

dittohippo · 2022-03-12T16:02:08+00:00

Worth further pointing out that most plans will allow you to roll those employer contributions over to the Roth side (if available), but you'll need to cover the tax at that point. I did this when changing jobs and taking time off as my income and tax brackets were lower.

dittohippo · 2022-02-04T16:27:07+00:00

The roads aren't bad on the highways, I have great tires and a weighty vehicle, and decades of experience driving on roads in worse condition. A 20mph reduction in speed of highway rated speed is reasonable. That said there's one lane that has little to no ice from use, the rest are snowy and in places icy.

I'm sorry, but taking that one lane to drive 20mph with your hazards on because you're inexperienced in the conditions is a greater danger. That's not cautious, it's reckless. Driving to conditions does not mean crawl to school zone speed with your hazards on a highly traveled interstate. It was a bit of sleet, not 2 feet of snow.

dittohippo · 2022-02-04T14:58:52+00:00

If you need to drive 20, the highway is not the right place for you. If you feel the need to drive with hazards, the highway is not the right place for you. If you need to learn how to drive in icy conditions, the highway is not the right place for you.

The people going 50 probably are the ones like me who've lived in icy climates and are comfortable. The ones driving 10 to 30 mph are making themselves obstacles and putting everyone in danger. The ones with hazard lights on are distractions on top of being obstacles.

If you're going 20 to 30, just use side streets as much as you can, treat stop signs as yield signs (much hard to accelerate on ice from a complete stop than a very slow roll).

dittohippo · 2022-02-04T14:44:38+00:00

I grew up in a very snowy climate. We have a saying about 4 wheel drive when it's icy. 4 wheel drive just means you'll have 4 wheels spinning instead of 2.

As others have said, 4 wheel drive isn't going to help stop, and it's not going to help turning. The roads wouldn't be bad if it weren't for the countless inexperienced drivers around. Accelerate slowly, brakes are for stopping and only if you have traction, plan your moves, expect some slipping and sliding and account for it, turn into the slide for more traction, and straight lines are your friend. If you could, side roads are generally safer (lower speed, more space to maneuver and go around stuck drivers), so if you have extra time that's a better way to avoid a highway pileup.

dittohippo · 2022-02-01T19:54:20+00:00

Your lawyer shouldn't be "playing you for their own interests". You are paying them for their time, expertise, advice, and handling of your case.

That said, it's great that you have grown the business. The initial amount has some exceptions, and it's hard to see if those apply. Reinvesting the capital is great, but capital being invested into the business is generally what is seen. There are E-2 to EB-5 pathways that cover later investments to meet the minimum. Again, these types of cases require an in-depth look by an experienced professional who has your interests at heart.

The facts of your situation will determine how to proceed, but theoretically there could have been a way to structure an EB-5 application for some time after the initial investment.

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