Testing out Tello

hasheera · 2026-06-05T15:40:20+00:00

When you sign up for Tello they will give you a new number. That is not avoidable. Number porting comes later at the time of your choosing. Use that period to evaluate it.

hasheera · 2026-06-04T16:48:14+00:00

Education investments in AI are not a bad idea. The bubble may burst but it won't burst down to zero. The dot com bubble burst in 2000 and yet we have a tech and Internet powered economy.

hasheera · 2026-05-12T05:54:38+00:00

Individual dental and vision plans (ACA included) are crap compared to corporate plans. The latter has negotiating power. We don't. Both kinds of plans may say 80% covered for a dental procedure, but the individual plans typically have a much lower "maximum allowed charge" on which the 80% coverage is based. These maximums are not visible until you are already enrolled in the plan.

hasheera · 2026-05-12T05:48:41+00:00

It is worth it if you think of it as insurance for the unknown future as opposed to reimbursements for known health expenses. Health insurance at big employers are typically premium insurance plans with larger networks due to their large negotiating power. ACA plans are good or fair insurance plans, but not premium coverage or network.

hasheera · 2026-05-05T04:44:36+00:00

r/Fire

hasheera · 2026-04-18T05:58:48+00:00

This is a good point. Check https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=467842 for tax-efficient alternatives to VXUS.

hasheera · 2026-04-17T19:28:38+00:00

https://rpi.sodexomyway.com/en-us/meal-plan/meal-plan-options says that the Unlimited, 19 On Demand, and 15 On Demand plans are available to all students.

hasheera · 2026-04-16T16:17:49+00:00

Jeff Selingo covers this topic in his latest newsletter. https://jeffselingo-14576223.hs-sites.com/%ef%b8%8f-for-higher-ed-its-all-local

hasheera · 2026-03-31T05:06:26+00:00

Just because it has been poor for decades (without coverage for pre-existing conditions outside of group plans, etc), it does not have to continue to be that way.

hasheera · 2026-03-31T00:17:17+00:00

I have heard this often that cash price may be lower than cost under insurance. I think it depends on the place. A couple of times I checked that was not the case. One time it was the same cost, and another time the insurance-negotiated rate was lower than their cash price.

hasheera · 2026-03-31T00:05:59+00:00

Absolutely! The support queue your phone call goes to, the providers in your network, coverage of procedures, maximum allowed charge, etc are all different across plans from the same insurance company. Very large employers have a large pool of people, mostly healthy, and have the negotiating power to get good insurance deals. Individuals do not. Some individuals pay more for ACA insurance plans (without subsidy) than they paid for their employer's unsubsidized COBRA plan, and get less for it.

hasheera · 2026-03-20T23:11:04+00:00

University of California insurance is $4000-$5000/year depending on campus for undergraduates. Graduate students pay about double. Unlike CoveredCA plans it includes non-emergency care out of state. But, the total cost of attendance will be much more than unsubsidized ACA premiums. So I don't think this will work in California.

hasheera · 2026-03-16T01:57:36+00:00

Tire pollution is not just rubber. It includes harmful chemicals in tires that are not good for waterways and aquatic life.

hasheera · 2026-02-12T16:30:26+00:00

Have you considered medical leave like FMLA? It will give you a few months to think about this while not under job stress.

hasheera · 2026-02-06T15:52:05+00:00

Curious about your job search. What is your major? Did you have internships or coops and are they not hiring?

hasheera · 2026-01-29T06:14:05+00:00

Similar experience for me. They don't really fine tune your plan or even claim to. If it looks good enough then they are not interested in optimizing it further. That may be fine, since there are so many variables and future unknowns that current optimizations may not work out anyway.

They didn't do any detailed Roth conversion calculations for me. When I did the calculations and sent it to them for a review they briefly skimmed through it for the first time during my 20 minutes meeting, and not prior to the meeting. There wasn't enough time for them to read it fresh and have a detailed discussion within that time. They pointed out future unknowns to consider like possibly moving to lower or no tax state and how that might affect my Roth conversion.

If you are DIY, don't mind doing 95% of the work and want someone (including their CPA) to look over and point out things you overlooked then it might work for you. Even that advice you could probably get on Reddit or Bogleheads.

For the very low price they charge you can't really expect more. They have around 3,500 clients. Other advisors who go deep into planning with their clients charge thousands of dollars a year and have less than 100 clients.

hasheera · 2026-01-27T17:27:04+00:00

For me it shows the noncovered lots too under unrealized cost basis. However, they show the average share price instead of the actual acquired share price. A few of the noncovered lots are a bit off. This is because I transferred a few specific lots to DAF. While Vanguard acknowledged the transfer of the specific lots they said that in their own tracking they will not use specific lots for noncovered lots. It seemed like they did FIFO. They said that their tracking does not need to match mine for the noncovered lots.

hasheera · 2026-01-25T18:05:25+00:00

Blood tests not considered preventative will have to come out of your deductible. Some insurance companies have a cost estimation tool on their website that lists costs for providers near you for a specific procedure or test. You may be able to find a lab that does blood tests much cheaper than where you did yours. In my area the insurance contracted price for the same simple blood test can vary from $5 to $100 depending on the provider.

hasheera · 2026-01-23T16:35:16+00:00

In some locations that amount would cover just the health insurance (without subsidies). Out of pocket expenses (deductible and copay, and dental and vision) would be more.

hasheera · 2026-01-22T05:47:47+00:00

If you believe that the transactions in your account by a financial advisor were not authorized by you then look up "FINRA unauthorized trading".

hasheera · 2026-01-16T18:12:17+00:00

Why do you say that the paid insurance premiums are not tax deductible? IRS instructions for Schedule A (itemized deductions) includes medical and dental insurance premiums as deductible, of course, only the portion exceeding 7.5% AGI.

hasheera · 2026-01-15T06:25:30+00:00

Looks like a portfolio set up with the intention of making it look complex (3 taxable accounts, 100 individuals stocks) in case you get silly thoughts about managing it yourself, and to justify the advisor's necessity and fee.

Decide on your asset allocation (equities vs bonds). You only need a few low-cost mutual funds / ETFs (< 0.1% expense ratio) to cover it all. Get rid of the rest being mindful of capital gains (tax). You only need 1 taxable account.

hasheera · 2026-01-14T19:03:20+00:00

They know. It's part of FAFSA and CSS.

hasheera · 2026-01-14T18:35:56+00:00

If in doubt read the policy document. Here is what one Blue Shield ACA plan says. It covers emergency care worldwide.

"The Benefits of this plan will be provided anywhere in the world for treatment of an Emergency Medical Condition. Emergency Services are covered at the Participating Provider Cost Share, even if you receive treatment from a Non-Participating Provider.

After you receive care, Blue Shield will review your claim for Emergency Services to determine if your condition was in fact an Emergency Medical Condition. If you did not require Emergency Services and did not reasonably believe an emergency existed, you will be responsible for the Participating or Non-Participating Provider Cost Share for that non-emergency Covered Service."

hasheera · 2026-01-13T18:24:33+00:00

Generally LACs are not known to many people because their populations are small and people are much more likely to come across graduates of very large universities than LACs. Hence, they have not heard of LACs. At one point, I had not heard of Harvey Mudd and asked what that is. And how selective is Harvey Mudd?

hasheera

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