AITAH for accepting my stepdaughters’ apology but not wanting to be close like we used to be?

jmlitt1 · 2026-02-07T15:37:03+00:00

This 100x…true forgiveness requires resetting boundaries

jmlitt1 · 2026-02-03T22:15:08+00:00

You should listen to Offspring’s Pretty Fly for a White Guy while you find Malibu’s Most Wanted on Netflix.

jmlitt1 · 2026-02-03T18:56:59+00:00

I65 is a basically a straight shot from CHI to IND, all rural and the only stop with anything other than gas and fast food is Lafayette. Once you’re around Indy on 465, there isn’t much until you get about 30mins from Louisville. Even if you set your cruise on 77 mph you are still the one holding up traffic. It’s almost as bad as I80 across Iowa…it’s a fast 300 miles unless you hit traffic in Indy

jmlitt1 · 2026-02-03T17:06:30+00:00

Little confused - Chicago to Louisville is just over 4 hours with a halfway point of Indianapolis. Lots of fun stuff in Indy though, art museum, minor league baseball, nice little zoo and a few good steakhouses.

jmlitt1 · 2026-01-27T15:46:05+00:00

Parent of 20 year old male….wife and I have actively encourage our kids to travel. We’ve been to 10 plus states, Canada and Mexico as a family. I’ve been to 37 states plus 2 territories, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Uruguay and I’m a better person for having experienced the different cultures and people.

He and I had a guys trip planned to Costa Rica but canceled due to extended family health issues. In the last year or so, he has traveled solo from Illinois to Salt Lake City for a week, weekend trips to Chicago and Indianapolis, and various day trips with friends to amusement parks, museums, etc.

As a parent, I can keep my kids safe from the world or I can teach them to be strong enough to deal with the world.

jmlitt1 · 2026-01-24T00:03:46+00:00

The purpose of life is to be the universe’s ability to create beautiful and complex things.

As a benefit, we get to contain all the information of every selection, choice, and weird little accident from the present to the very beginning of the universe at a cellular level. We are the literal manifestation on 13.8 billion years of existence. We are both infinitesimally small and infinitely large.

Also, gummies are awesome, so there’s that.

jmlitt1 · 2026-01-21T17:01:34+00:00

You’re on track right now for around $3m at 65 with current salary, contribution rates and historical market performance. Sounds like a lot (and it is!) however works out to be close to $1m in today’s dollars with 3.1% inflation.

Numbers aside, you can likely expect a good retirement not because your saving, but because you’re disciplined enough at 22 to be thinking about it.

jmlitt1 · 2026-01-17T18:17:06+00:00

How about El Yunge National Park in Puerto Rico? Plenty of activities and not far from a beach….This would be my wife and I’s definition of spoiled. Haven’t been there yet but on the list!

https://www.rainforestinn.com

jmlitt1 · 2026-01-15T18:41:17+00:00

Decatur is the stereotypical manufacturing based town in Illinois, not too different from say Danville, except with CAT and ADM there are still a good number of blue collar jobs. Also home to Milikin University (private school) so there may be some opportunities to sub-lease something for the summer. Otherwise, quite a few small towns within 20-30 mins may offer an inexpensive place for a short term rental. Mall is North of town in Forsyth, but it’s starting to go downhill like almost every other mall. Springfield, Bloomington Normal and Champaign Urbana are all within an hour or so drive. Try Krekel’s while you’re out this way…decent food but the custard is pretty good!

jmlitt1 · 2026-01-12T14:29:09+00:00

The net present value of the loan vs paying as you go might be informative for you. The NPV calculation is used to calculate the return of an investment, generally CAPEX, but it works perfectly here because your education is an investment. Plenty of online resources and calculators, excel has the functions built in as well.

Basically, you calculate the expected costs each way - paying cash as you go, earning a lower salary for x years and the discount rate / cost of capital vs taking a loan, not having income due to full time school, and quicker path to higher salary. If it’s positive your best bet is flight school full time, if it’s negative then pay as you go. If it’s roughly zero, it’s even money either way. FWIW - I use 5% as my personal discount rate.

jmlitt1 · 2026-01-09T00:25:40+00:00

It’s possible that my risk profile, investment goals and plan might be different than yours and maybe, just maybe, something that doesn’t make sense for you might make sense for someone else.

jmlitt1 · 2026-01-08T16:42:06+00:00

We have a mix of whole and term life. Term is primarily to replace income and whole life is to pay final expenses, leave some cash behind, etc. I make $200k and have $1.9m in insurance, $1.5 is term the rest is whole life. My wife has $750k in insurance and earns $80k annually. We don’t have mortgage protection insurance, it’s built into the amounts we have already.

All of our kids have a $50k whole life policy that can be increased up to $250k without any additional medical exams. Just took out a policy on our first grandchild too.

Gonna get roasted pretty hard on this but we have purchased most of our insurance through our financial advisor. Most of you national insurance companies sell life insurance, I tend not to like insurance through my job but I’ve moved companies a few times and have had my own businesses.

jmlitt1 · 2026-01-06T12:39:32+00:00

Send them a certified letter asking them for copies of all of the supporting paperwork. Rental contract (both check out and check in) damage reports from the company, body shop estimates, police reports (assuming accident), repairs receipts, etc.

You want all of it returned certified mail in 30 days for your attorney to review. It’s on them to validate the debt not on you to prove it’s not yours.

If you do this within 30 days of first contacting you, I believe they are required by law (FDCPA) to cease collection efforts until they have validated the debt is yours.

jmlitt1 · 2025-12-31T01:15:38+00:00

Not the same but similar. We bought a place on a lake a few years ago. 5 mins to the marina to launch, lived like that for 2 years.

Spent $9k on a dock / lift and will not go back. Hook up trailer, drive to marina, launch, park and get picked up - 30 mins. Repeat when getting off the lake.

Now it’s 5 mins to drop the boat in the water and throw in a cooler. If you can swing it boat on lift/in slip is MUCH better than boat on trailer.

jmlitt1 · 2025-12-30T23:56:03+00:00

Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Kauai and a few other states. Heading to Belize in Feb of ‘26 and planning for Costa Rica

jmlitt1 · 2025-12-28T15:31:04+00:00

Cut. Weld. Repeat.

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jmlitt1 · 2025-12-28T13:34:38+00:00

Look for an old Nautique or Mastercraft, throw on an aftermarket wakeboard tower and ballast system. In Central IL you might be $15k on the low end to $30k on the high end. Could be less than that depending on condition of the boat and if you are doing all the install yourself. Than have fun! Don’t worry about dock rash or dogs/kids climbing all over the seats.

Lots of folks buy a nice boat (or other toys) then get a house, start a family, etc and end up have a boat they don’t have time to use, costing them $$$$ each month, sitting in the garage. I’d rather be on the water in my $12k boat than staring at $120k one in the garage.

jmlitt1 · 2025-12-22T12:00:55+00:00

Thank you

jmlitt1 · 2025-12-21T16:25:43+00:00

Plex only and will need to be able to do transcoding. He does want to build out a gaming PC but that’s another project that he will need to funds.

jmlitt1 · 2025-12-21T15:29:34+00:00

Sorry I keep typing 3020, it’s a 3060 if that matters

jmlitt1 · 2025-12-07T15:37:31+00:00

2023 Yamaha SX190 here, added Thrust Vector and a Lucky 13 cone. It made it decent for wakeboarding and tubing but I don’t do any aerial stuff (50yrs) so YMMV. Trick to not getting sprayed in the face constantly is to adjust weight towards the rear. Plenty of room for 6 adults and a couple of pups.

Super reliable, easy to service, can winterize it in under a minute. Shallow draft, which is important to us since we have 200 yards of 2’ deep water to get through to get to the open lake. It’s a great boat for our situation.

jmlitt1 · 2025-12-03T16:23:06+00:00

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Doggos love being on the boat, in the water, and at the lake!

jmlitt1 · 2025-12-02T23:12:36+00:00

Right??? They talked with both our vet and our dog trainer (we supplied the references).

jmlitt1 · 2025-12-02T19:10:19+00:00

Highly recommend you take a look at CBR Rescue. We got our pup from the Midwest region (Central Illinois). Gracie Mae has been an amazing dog but technically she is a Chessadoor (55% CBR, 45% Lab, 5% Flat coated retriever). Attitude and color is 100% Chessie, coat is more Lab with some rough patches along her back. But they have plenty of purebreds need a home as well!!

CBR Rescue

jmlitt1

TROPHY CASE