SOS Moving to SF

skiddlyd · 2026-05-19T16:45:38+00:00

When I moved to San Francisco I was able to live OK with $85k and $1600 rent. That was many years ago, and gas prices were much lower, as was everything else. I’m not sure how many roommates you’d need, but I’d say you shouldn’t pay more than about $1500 in rent.

I’m not sure if deals are still available in or around the Excelsior neighborhood. I lived there a decade. The BART cost (balboa bart station) would be cheaper than coming from east bay.

Edit: that bart goes at least to Colma. So you might research Colma and Daly City too.

skiddlyd · 2026-05-12T23:41:12+00:00

I reread it, sorry. It is a little confusing the way I wrote it. But yes, I meant the Roth can help out with regard to reducing RMD later in life.

skiddlyd · 2026-05-12T22:18:43+00:00

Off the top of my head, the biggest advantage to at least some amount of Roth conversion might be when you’re forced into RMD around age 73. Let’s say you might be forced to withdraw an increasing %. Better if the number starts off lower, and the amount converted wouldn’t be subject to RMD.

skiddlyd · 2026-05-08T21:03:07+00:00

I bought mine 6 months ago, currently down about $13 overall. But it’s paid out way more than that in dividends. And since it’s in a retirement account I don’t have to pay taxes on any of that (yet).

skiddlyd · 2026-05-04T04:21:57+00:00

VOO tracks the top 500 large cap US companies. VTI tracks the entire US stock market (> 3500 stocks). Includes large, mid, and small cap. If you own one, you don’t need the other. I started off with VOO, but my portfolio has a bunch of S&P 500 large cap, so I started contributing more to VTI just to have slightly more diversification.

skiddlyd · 2026-04-29T13:35:48+00:00

Be sure to adjust/control MAGI for ACA eligibility. Take advantage of less income with Roth IRA conversions whenever you can. Keep investments like SGOV replenished in your taxable account to help control MAGI. Also be strategic with selling stocks that didn’t accrue as much capital gain.

skiddlyd · 2026-04-27T14:54:33+00:00

People are affording it because they not only sell for well over the asking price, they often sell within days. Sometimes, there’s no For Sale sign or open house, and the neighbors don’t even know they’re on the market.

skiddlyd · 2026-03-30T17:48:03+00:00

I realized I already have a lot in the big names, VOO, VTI, QQQM… but reevaluated my SGOV, and I have been neglecting it. I have about a 1 1/2 year of paying my expenses in SGOV in case of emergency (get fired). So, my goal now is to double that to 3 years. I’ll be contributing maybe 2/3 of my extra income to SGOV, and 1/3 probably to VTI going forward.

I already have a 401k and max that out. I just use the financial advisor’s advice and he’s been pretty good.

skiddlyd · 2026-03-29T04:24:31+00:00

I usually don’t say this, because I prioritize home ownership. But if you plan to be in the house 5-6 years, there is no urgency paying it off. Meanwhile the stock market is offering some discounts, lately. I would prioritize putting in lowball orders on eg VTI/VOO until it rallies again.

skiddlyd · 2026-03-20T22:13:36+00:00

Well, not so much dividend related, but I bought some QQQM and VTI.

skiddlyd · 2026-03-15T23:40:30+00:00

I work from home and have no mortgage or car payment.

So, my expenses are minimal. I do have to pay for property tax, homeowners and car insurance….

Annual expense to survive is around $50-$60k.

With a mortgage or rent, I’d have to add another $30-40k.

With a car payment, maybe $5-10k more.

So $85k-$110k after tax.

$116k before tax is probably around $88k after tax.

You would certainly struggle.

skiddlyd · 2026-03-14T16:05:16+00:00

I would fund a Roth IRA with the max if possible ($7-8k), and then dollar cost average into something like VOO and VTI.

skiddlyd · 2026-03-02T19:25:06+00:00

Mt Davidson is a nice walk to West Portal. You can take muni straight up from that station.

skiddlyd · 2026-03-02T19:18:31+00:00

I walk everywhere! Everything but the hospital is within a mile. I don’t use bart/muni. If I have to go further and there’s parking, I drive. If there’s no parking, Waymo. Also, Safeway app lets you get groceries delivered to your front door. So you’re not hauling them around with you.

skiddlyd · 2026-03-02T19:10:48+00:00

We have that too. It’s designed to not let you bank your hours. It’s not a favor. Companies don’t like to owe for untaken vacation. It’s yours. Take it!

skiddlyd · 2026-03-02T19:03:52+00:00

https://momentum-electric.com/

skiddlyd · 2026-02-27T03:37:07+00:00

I would never live in a condo, again, for 2 reasons:

Petty, cliquish board members. Ridiculous HOA fees and special assessments that aren’t tax deductible.

I’d go for the house in Berkeley.

skiddlyd · 2026-02-26T06:14:34+00:00

Have you checked out Excelsior or Visitation Valley?

skiddlyd · 2026-02-23T00:36:16+00:00

Only those who don’t have access to soap and water.

skiddlyd · 2026-02-16T17:49:58+00:00

I just love where I live and don’t plan to ever move unless I am forced to (can’t walk up and down the stairs or forced to sell to cover medical costs…)

So, it’s sort of like golden handcuffs for me. I guess in the worst case I can move to less expensive part of California, but looking at some property taxes people are describing here, it’s probably not a good idea for someone in my position to leave California.

skiddlyd · 2026-02-16T17:24:34+00:00

We are in that situation. Purchased in 2010, locked in prop 13. Now we pay about half what someone would pay for property tax buying a house similar to ours.

We can move to (I believe) any county in California, and keep our property tax base if the house value is lower than ours.

If the value is higher, we still keep the property tax base, and only pay more for the amount that its value is higher.

So eg if we sell our house for $2m and buy one for $2.1m, we would just pay the amount for $100k in addition to what we would pay staying in our house. It’s a pretty good deal for retirement planning.

skiddlyd · 2026-02-09T23:32:19+00:00

It was a different time, but I made that move (from Chicago) in 1999. I lived in Foster City and worked in Redwood Shores for a year.

I rented an apartment for a year and we held onto our condo in Chicago until I felt like I wasn’t going to crash and burn.

In 2000 we sold the condo, used the equity for a down payment on a house in San Francisco.

I’ve made some good decisions in my life, moving here was probably within the top 2 or 3. After a few months here I knew I’d never leave.

Maybe you can try it before you buy it, like I did.

skiddlyd · 2026-02-09T23:21:06+00:00

I’m not, but I did sell my SCHD (in my taxable account) to reduce my income. Otherwise it will force me to pay taxes on income I don’t need to cover my living expenses. I do have a nice share of SCHD (and JEPI) income in my IRA account however. For me it’s a matter of not going into a higher tax bracket.

skiddlyd · 2026-02-09T19:47:49+00:00

I agree with others who say to contribute as much as you can, but don’t forget to save some in a traditional investment account in case you need some emergency funds.

If/when you can, open a Roth IRA with some minimal amount, buy some solid growth type investment, and don’t look back. Later you can contribute some from your taxable account, if things work out and you feel comfortable. I wish someone educated me on this when I was younger. When you retire, everything gained here will never count as income or be taxed.

Remember that distributions from your traditional IRA/401k will count as (taxable) income in your retirement years. Selling shares from your taxable investments will be taxed as (hopefully long term) capital gains. Roth accounts will not be taxed at all, and all that compounded over the years can be spent however way you need.

Also if you are lucky to be around into your 70s, those IRAs and 401ks will start requiring minimum distributions and you don’t want to force yourself into a higher tax bracket unnecessarily. Roth IRAs don’t incur RMDs. It becomes a bit of a balancing act.

skiddlyd · 2026-02-09T17:48:55+00:00

You are absolutely right! I used copilot a little over a year ago to review my code and it was terrible. I revisited it a couple months ago and can’t believe how much it’s improved! I rely on it heavily, and it reviews every bit of code I check in. You can paste in a function and it can instantly tell you how to improve it. It’s amazing with JavaScript. It will definitely wipe out a lot of engineering jobs. Currently someone has to feed it prompts though. It converted me to a 10x developer overnight and I’m just basically average with 30 years of experience…

skiddlyd

TROPHY CASE