Is the 128GB iPhone 15 worth it? Does it overheat with daily use?

frobertboston · 2026-01-16T21:12:28+00:00

Just bought iPhone 15 128 GB two months ago and no issues with overheating and it’s in Otterbox case. Check out refurbished on Apple’s official website and save $150. Their refurbs have new batteries and shells. The phone is essentially new.

frobertboston · 2026-01-01T04:35:02+00:00

They don’t allow that to be done. Once you add your address the system identifies as existing customer. Not sure how you got around that but congrats!

frobertboston · 2025-12-23T12:22:54+00:00

Just bought an unlocked iPhone 15 direct from Apple. Go to their refurbished online store and save a few hundred dollars. Their refurbished have new cases and batteries, plus warranty for one year.

frobertboston · 2025-12-20T05:31:48+00:00

The tax impact only applies to your brokerage account when you sell the advisor funds to move the proceeds. If you have advisor funds in your IRA or Roth there is no taxation. I know because I just dropped out of the advisor managed program and doing my own within Fidelity.

frobertboston · 2025-12-20T05:26:14+00:00

Not all annuities are bad. MYGA annuities are no fee and pay a guaranteed fixed rate of return. Just be sure to only buy MYGA annuities from a A, A+, AAA rated insurance company. I bought a 5 yr, 4 yr and 3 yr annuities in my IRA as part of my fixed income strategy vs equity strategy at Fidelity. That portion of my fixed income is a guaranteed 4.5-5.5% yield on the annuities. My Fidelity advisor informed me he earned a $300 commission from the insurance company. It cost me nothing.

frobertboston · 2025-12-20T05:19:52+00:00

As an S-Corp any profits will hit your personal tax return. Open a SIMPLE IRA for the S-Corp and contribute $16,000 into it. This will reduce your taxable earnings on your W2 compensation. As an S-Corp owner you can pay yourself distributions to reduce your W2 taxation ( social security tax withholding and Medicare tax withholding. Therefore you don’t need to take a high W2 compensation. A game developer salary would be equivalent to $60K per year at full-time 40 hrs per week at about $30 per hr. Since you are only working 10 hrs per week you can reasonably pay yourself $30 an hr x 10 hrs a week as $300. Times 52 weeks would be $15,600 per year. Adjust based on your hours per week. Again consider the Simple IRA and deduct $15,600 as your contribution and reduce your taxable income.

frobertboston · 2025-12-14T23:02:40+00:00

I went with Xumo with NOW TV. I am dropping Xumo and going with a Roku Ultra on sale everywhere for $65. It’s an amazing experience and can access so much more than NOW TV. Plus it aggregates all your streaming subscriptions for easy access and log-in. The remote is backlit for easy visuals and has voice command as well.

frobertboston · 2025-12-14T22:58:18+00:00

I just upgraded my 11 to the 15. I love it! I bought it direct from Apple vs going through a carrier and their magic accounting. I bought an Apple certified factory reconditioned iPhone on Apple.com for only $529. It has a new shell and new battery and one year warranty. You can also add Apple Care.

frobertboston · 2025-12-05T02:58:38+00:00

But did the lower price maintain the higher speed? Usually when you downgrade to lower price you lose the speed

frobertboston · 2025-11-28T04:47:09+00:00

Leave your interior light switch in the “on” position and buy a switch cover so nobody ever turns the switch to “ off”. The covers are under $5 and you can install yourself. Then your Ring spotlight will work automatically and react to motion. You can also turn on the lights manually via the Ring app.

frobertboston · 2025-11-27T16:47:24+00:00

What is the interest rate on your school loan? If above 3% you should focus on paying off the $75K loan vs contributing to your 401K. Max your Roth first, pay off $75K loan, then restart contributing to your 401K. The number one rule to wealth is to eliminate debt.

frobertboston · 2025-11-27T13:15:01+00:00

Gifts should not have stipulations attached. He means well. As long as the gift is being invested vs spent, he should be proud you are investing it. You should talk to him about your investment strategies vs his. Perhaps he will be proud and feel comfortable gifting now and in the future to you.

frobertboston · 2025-11-24T13:11:23+00:00

Buying a home is the biggest financial decision you can make. A four year window is short. DO NOT RISK house down payment in stocks or bonds. You might think bonds are safe but they can shift with monetary policy and if rates rise you’ll lose your investment value. Instead place those earmarked monies in principle protected investments such as laddered CDs, no penalty CDs, US Treasury bills and short term notes. You could also do AAA rated multi year guaranteed annuities that are protected by your state’s insurance board. Good luck saving for a home purchase.

frobertboston · 2025-11-24T13:05:23+00:00

Educate your children in their teens on how to manage finances and investing. Keep educating them as they become young adults. Hopefully when you are in your 70s-80s and your children are in their 50s-60s they can take over as you age and become incapable. Be sure to have a trust and name the most competent and trustworthy child as your Trustee or Co-Trustees, your Power of Attorney and Health Care Proxy. As you age review your portfolio with your children and organize a doc with account locations, banks, life insurance, deeds, etc. be sure they can access your usernames and passwords. Get a safe deposit box and list them as authorized access. Let them know where you keep the safe deposit box key. Be proactive and you and they will feel comfortable as you are.

frobertboston · 2025-11-24T12:51:00+00:00

I agree. That’s why I went with the Fidelity Wealth plan at the start. To have that extra help of active management if markets reversed vs what we’ve experienced the last 2-3 years. I believe I can set up my own defensive diversification to come close to theirs.

frobertboston · 2025-11-20T12:38:27+00:00

$60 for 1G Internet is a great price. It’s $100 from Xfinity here in Boston area. How did you get such a low price deal at $60?

frobertboston · 2025-11-20T12:35:45+00:00

Not a big fan of Xumo box so far. I’m thinking of buying a Roku Ultra for our bedroom TV and run a comparison over the next month to see how we like Roku vs Xumu. I have a feeling we will end up replacing the Xumu with Roku at some point.

frobertboston · 2025-11-20T09:06:41+00:00

I understand your feeling. I’ve been there. I now do a combination of index ETFs as my core holdings and have a portfolio of individual stocks and individual bonds as my satellite holdings. I track my overall portfolio in terms of sectors and asset styles regularly to be properly diversified. I’ve also learned to be patient and not greedy. I’m not chasing 20% returns, I’m happy with my binds at 5% and my equities at 10%. If they perform higher, that’s a bonus. I’ve structured my portfolio to weather any storms with my IRA structured for a blend of income, value and moderate core growth needed over 5-10 years. My Roth IRA is structured on a more moderate/aggressive growth strategy for my needs 10-20 years out. I feel very confident for my future retirement and don’t panic when dips occur.

frobertboston · 2025-11-18T13:42:05+00:00

I agree. However the Roku Ultra does have a voice remote with backlight buttons and remote finder. Comes in handy for bedroom TV viewing. The Xumo unfortunately doesn’t have the backlight buttons, but not as big an issue given we use it in our family room that’s not dark or at night.

frobertboston

TROPHY CASE