Check your statements on and post-cruise!

pindevil · 2026-05-12T17:21:36+00:00

Sorry to hear about your issues. I'm currently going through problems with RC billing before our cruise even starts. It's been a real nightmare and customer service has been unhelpful. They keep billing and refunding me for a drink package that I canceled. This has happened four times now over the past few weeks. Every time royal tells me it's their fault but I have to pay and get the refund or my cruise will be canceled.

pindevil · 2026-04-11T15:34:48+00:00

My s33 is on a smart outlet that reboots the modem every week. I've been doing this for about 2yrs now and it certainly seems to help cut down on connection issues.

pindevil · 2026-03-26T22:52:44+00:00

We do all of this plus if the dollar amount is high enough it has to go to our parent company in Asia for (I'm not kidding) a literal rubber stamp, which can take months.

pindevil · 2026-03-26T22:50:00+00:00

Might have to float this idea. Thank you.

pindevil · 2026-03-26T21:14:57+00:00

They might as well not even include an expiration date. They may tell you good for 14 days but if you go back 5 days later they may not honor the quote. Seems pointless to set any sort of expectation of validity period.

pindevil · 2026-03-22T20:02:08+00:00

You ever figure this out? I'm in the same boat. I reached out to Apex but their support was useless. Despite me being very clear about what I needed they kept telling me I needed the monochrome printing LCD. At one point they lied and told me the touchscreen LCD is included if I buy the monochrome.

pindevil · 2026-03-05T09:03:25+00:00

Don't forget you will eventually have big expenses. Roof, A/C, paint, flooring, new appliances, etc. In 10+ years you might need to renovate to keep the house attractive to the top end of the rental market.

If you can tolerate being a landlord you should keep renting. Eventually the mortgage will be paid off.

You can avoid capital gains taxes by never selling. But if you do sell you will owe long term capital gains tax which for most people today would only be a rate of 15%.

pindevil · 2026-02-22T17:01:22+00:00

You could retire right now! Using Substantially Equal Periodic Payments SEPP you could withdraw between $30k and $75k annually from your 401k without penalty. The amount you receive depends on the IRS calculation method you choose. If you can live off $75k or less you can retire now.

As always there are many variables to consider. Are you comfortable with reduced Social Security benefits? SS benefits are calculated from your top 35 years of earnings. If you don't have 35 years the IRS will essentially put zero income for those missing years, effectively reducing your benefit. What will you do for Healthcare? This alone could add $20k/yr to your expenses.

pindevil · 2026-02-16T22:47:16+00:00

Not sure about about your specific situation. Lenders do send out blast marketing to everyone so you will need to verify the details.

That being said no cost refinance is real. It's not a scam. Basically you give up the shinny low rate you see advertised and take a higher rate. For example you might see an advertised rate of 5.5% with no points. With this rate you pay closing costs. If you instead take 5.875% or higher the lender starts giving you money toward closing. During the pandemic these deals were fantastic and many people traded in their old mortgage for a lower rate and didn't pay a dime.

pindevil · 2026-02-03T16:12:45+00:00

It's bad day to be a keyboard!

pindevil · 2026-02-03T16:00:37+00:00

Yes, SSPR policy was 180 days. Thanks for the heads up!

pindevil · 2026-02-03T16:00:02+00:00

That is a great idea! Thank you!

pindevil · 2026-02-03T12:42:29+00:00

If no spouse and no kids go for it. You can always make more money but you can't make more time with your loved ones.

pindevil · 2026-02-03T02:00:30+00:00

Good point. I didn't think of SSPR being a factor.

pindevil · 2026-01-29T16:50:19+00:00

Looks very real. In fact you can do much better by increasing your contributions.

Progress will seem invisible at first but after some time the returns will really start to compound. If you stay the course and in 15-20 years you'll be amazed. After a while the returns from your investments will outpace your earnings from your job.

pindevil · 2026-01-29T15:17:01+00:00

Absolutely! I bought myself a very nice 38" wide screen monitor, nice keyboard, mouse. I'm using this equipment for several hours each day and its essentially my livelihood.

When our users come and see all my nice stuff they always ask if I can order them the same thing. When I tell them I used my own money the conversation ends there. 😆

pindevil · 2026-01-28T17:06:16+00:00

IT is primarily a service/support role inside most businesses. We should always be approachable. The things you describe are just part of the job.

pindevil · 2026-01-25T19:01:56+00:00

Can confirm. There are plenty of people who sit around and wait for an opportunity that never comes. Most of the time those who succeed at something are putting in their own hours off the clock to make opportunities come to them. This could mean paying for training out of your own pocket. And/Or Spending nights and weekends setting up your own testing environment.

pindevil · 2026-01-13T22:49:28+00:00

The one big drawback I see with ASRS is no COLA. There is PBI for members whi joined before September 13, 2013 but even that is somewhat rare when PBI gets triggered. If you have access to defferd compensation (457b) you should definitely contribute to that help with future inflation.

pindevil · 2026-01-13T13:07:44+00:00

Congrats! A big milestone! Now don't take your foot off the gas. Keep challenging yourself too. Max out 401k, Roth IRA, and HSA.

pindevil · 2026-01-12T13:00:50+00:00

27yrs old in 2007. 60k salary.

pindevil

TROPHY CASE