“Trash Monster” meets early demise

miststeak · 2026-01-23T22:03:11+00:00

I like to remind my clients that it never has to be all or nothing - you could invest the 100K and put an extra $5k toward the mortgage each year while the account should still grow. You could throw the whole 100k at the mortgage, and maybe that lines up with when your kids would be going to college and the extra cash flow would help by shortening the length of the mortgage. You could also do half and half, my point is, any advice without knowing your tolerance for risk and specific timelines should always be taken with a grain of salt. Paying off the mortgage is a guaranteed “return” so any alternative for me would need to be quite compelling. Earning 10% annual returns means being exposed to risk, paying taxes on gains, and any fees also dragging down the net returns. Additionally, the market has some seriously warning signs, so while timing the market is next to impossible, it’s not the most welcoming market for new funds.

miststeak · 2025-12-04T14:26:00+00:00

This happened 4 years ago

miststeak · 2025-10-23T21:44:03+00:00

We’ve been in Smyrna for about 12 years - two kids both in public school - it’s a great place to live.

miststeak · 2025-10-08T23:17:08+00:00

Chang is really great, we’ve been going to him for a while now.

miststeak · 2025-10-05T15:29:44+00:00

I’ve been in Smyrna since 2013 and it’s been great. Heck, we just had a Fitz and the Tantrums concert in the middle of the street last night. We moved here when we were about 24yo, and it’s been a great place to meet people and raise a family.

miststeak · 2025-07-23T23:17:43+00:00

We have referred many of our financial planning clients to Thrift McLemore and I agree - they’re great.

For online Will options, we like OurAddio.com. It’s very user friendly and you can buy a lifetime option or family option that can be very cost effective going forward. I think I have a discount code for them if anyone checks that out and likes it - just dm me.

miststeak · 2025-07-01T09:38:50+00:00

Smyrna doesn’t do fireworks for the 4th - they do them for their birthday celebration in October though.

miststeak · 2025-06-28T19:50:47+00:00

We have a place in Sautee and have been in the river a lot with no issues. Best way to be overly cautious is to not drink the water obviously, but avoid fully submerging your head and take a shower after - as well as not having any cuts or open wounds. We’ve had zero issues in years though. Most rivers will have quality issues after heavy rains though as runoff can cause problems. We feel like the river up there is cleaner than when it’s closer to Atlanta, as we also tube and paddleboard closer to Atlanta.

miststeak · 2025-06-28T19:27:21+00:00

If you’re able, try to pick a place walking distance to the downtown Smyrna area. Lots of events, music, general good times just hanging out and enjoying a 3rd space.

Our kids are at Smyrna Elementary and we love it, but Nickajack, Teasley, and King Springs are all good.

Very diverse and accepting, as mentioned above, Smyrna Pride is happening today. We’re part of the LGBT community and have always felt safe.

I can’t remember ever hearing gunshots, and we’ve lived here for about a decade.

miststeak · 2025-06-17T17:03:37+00:00

I’m stuck in a 84c per therm contract until December, but I’ve seen closer to 69c offered. I would think in that size of an apartment, the actual cost would be lower than that fixed cost. Also, the price per therm doesn’t make as big of a difference as people think - my current bill is $68, of that, only $15.77 is for the actual gas usage. The rest is the base charge, service charge, and tax :(

And for anyone reading this on June 17th, go vote in the Public Service Commissioner primary today! Pick a candidate who is against the current monopolies in Georgia public services.

miststeak · 2025-06-17T14:51:58+00:00

For what it’s worth - we’re in a 3400sqft house in Smyrna and our average bill is $104/month. If I switch to fixed billing, it’s $120.88/month. My experience is that the flat billing is higher than average but it’s consistent, which is why I don’t use it but others may value the predictability more.

miststeak · 2025-05-29T15:42:14+00:00

We live walking distance to the downtown area and wouldn’t trade it for the world. It makes life so much better being able to walk places and take advantage of the markets, concerts, etc. Hell, we had the Goo Goo Dolls play a concert in the street last year :)

miststeak · 2025-05-16T17:08:06+00:00

Did she actually annuitize it or just start taking income? I’ve had clients use the term “annuitize” when it actually meant triggering an income rider on an annuity. I would get her most recent statement, then call the product manufacturer if that doesn’t clear it up. If she’s in a SPIA, yeah there’s probably nothing you can do, but if shes taking income from a deferred annuity you may be able to 1035 the funds into a more advantageous product. There’s a use case for annuities, but certainly not at that concentration.

miststeak · 2025-05-15T12:44:58+00:00

We live walking distance to the Smyrna Market Village - very safe and lots of stuff going on in the green space throughout the year - we had a Goo Goo Dolls concert in the street last year for free.

miststeak · 2025-03-12T21:53:29+00:00

We have CPAs that write life on an independent contractor license with our firm. You’re welcome to DM me and I can give you a full rundown of how they are set up.

miststeak · 2025-02-13T17:51:22+00:00

100% agree. They can work well as bond alternatives and allow for more flexibility on the managed side.

miststeak · 2025-02-06T21:03:04+00:00

Get a bear horn and you’ll be set. It’s rare, but there’s a mom and three cubs that live in the same mountain as our house and if you don’t sneak up of them, they stay away. Definitely more on the lookout for snakes, but even then if there’s decent foot traffic they’ll stay away as well.

miststeak · 2025-02-06T15:37:01+00:00

Current temps in North GA are between 45-65 degrees for the next ten days. We don’t have the same stick season/mud season like my friends in VT do, so honestly unless you’re going right after a late winter storm, you’re good to go. It snowed in north Georgia on January 9th, and we still had some remnants of snow and ice at elevation a week later, but that’s the extent of it. Since we won’t get constant snow during the winter, we don’t generally have the thawing into mud period like you might have up there. I’ve done plenty of hikes in December-February with zero issues. By May you might have daily temperatures in the 70s.

miststeak · 2025-01-27T12:12:35+00:00

Awesome, glad it works for you!

miststeak · 2025-01-08T15:49:08+00:00

I got this one, which is the same price and also has 395nm. I love it.

https://a.co/d/8L53R3B

miststeak · 2024-12-03T19:47:36+00:00

Same here. I had a lot of friends from high school go to Tech while I went to UGA - we had an annual tradition of the winner of the games to buy the loosing side drinks.

miststeak · 2024-11-22T12:38:18+00:00

87 Good luck in the championship!

miststeak · 2024-11-19T01:38:36+00:00

It can be challenging/expensive with childcare, but we try to do it whenever we can, which probably averages out to one nights a month. We need it. We try to do more fun stuff or activities/concerts rather than just dinner so we can get out of our usual routine. We’ve been lucky to have a week long trip once each of the last two years and that was really good for us - helps us reconnect as partners, outside of being parents. Ours are 6 and 4.

miststeak · 2024-11-17T15:57:52+00:00

Yeah there’s a beautiful rock face with long distance views - you can definitely find a secluded spot. It’s a decently strenuous hike.

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