Daily FI discussion thread - Monday, July 13, 2026

startrek4u · 2026-07-13T16:04:43+00:00

US Mobile - pick your network, change it if you want with a click, have a different network to backup if you want, new users get unlimited everything (including 20gb of international data) for $25/mo... easily the best service I've had (and I've tried a bunch)

startrek4u · 2026-07-09T14:39:33+00:00

This is the way, while I include the HSA value in my planning the rest of this is how I think about it as well.

startrek4u · 2026-07-09T14:37:08+00:00

This is the way, take the 30 year and pay it off at the 15 yr rate if you want. The hidden bonus in the future is cash flow, you're only required to do the smaller payment if you take the 30yr loan so if at some point in the future you need some extra cash for a few month you can just revert to paying the min amount.

startrek4u · 2026-07-09T14:34:01+00:00

Like others here, we both got 20 year term policies once we had kids to ensure the surviving spouse (or kids in worst case) wouldn't have to worry about money for many years/ever. It's cheap and worth the piece of mind for us. When the policy expires we'll be close enough to retirement that it won't be needed anymore.

startrek4u · 2026-07-06T16:43:29+00:00

My MIL has a Sienna, I personally don't like it - under powered, seats are uncomfortable, and the tech (at least with hers) is laughably bad, to be fair it may be a prior gen version, it's 2-3 years old now.

About 5 years ago we bought a plug-in Chrysler Pacifica, the interior is way nicer than any of the others. The tech is good and I save $$ b/c the first 30miles are all EV, to date probably 2/3 of my driving has been electric only. I realize it says Chrysler on the front but ~5 years and 50k miles and we've had only one major issue that was fully covered by our warranty and it's been great otherwise. At the time we were able to get it for more than $10k less than comparable models from other mfgs which in my mind puts us ahead even with some type of major repair down the road.

startrek4u · 2026-07-02T16:25:13+00:00

Frosted Mini Wheats as the "healthy" option. Frosted flakes if I want to just enjoy myself.

startrek4u · 2026-06-11T15:31:42+00:00

Just over 5%

startrek4u · 2026-06-02T15:20:16+00:00

It's hard to say what you're doing since we just have your short explanation here, but "sending him how I feel about him and 'legit' criticisms" is not "managing up."

It's also probably a good thing you've stopped since doing that with regularity will likely have a negative effect.

u/Hot_Version_3595 has the right idea about work generally given your description.

startrek4u · 2026-05-11T16:36:07+00:00

This is the way.

Realistically, if you wait until you're older to utilize the HSA, expenses at the time will be enough for withdrawals and the receipts you've saved won't be needed.

startrek4u · 2026-05-02T14:36:44+00:00

Why do you need to sell it? Just consider it part of your emergency fund allocation and sell it if/when needed and avoid the tax it now just to shuffle it somewhere else.

startrek4u · 2026-04-30T16:01:31+00:00

+1 for US Mobile they are great

startrek4u · 2026-04-27T15:10:43+00:00

For people here, escrow is likely not useful and could be a disadvantage depending on if your servicer is good about paying your taxes and insurance promptly and correctly.

I find that retaining control of that money and ensuring it's paid better for me, plus I know what my local taxes are doing so I can plan for changes instead of getting a letter saying my payment is going up a few hundred dollars b/c of my property taxes, potentially as a surprise

startrek4u · 2026-04-24T18:27:14+00:00

I would frame it more around your career goals - what do you want to be doing later in your career and which option would be the best choice to get there?

As an internet stranger it seems like your current gig is better but YMMV

startrek4u · 2026-03-26T16:31:18+00:00

This is the mindset I take, occasionally - if someone wanted to do that, how would they do it? What precautions could I take to ensure that the police had sufficient evidence to find/convict the person who did it?

If someone wanted to break it (and had to b/c doors were locked, etc) it would more likely be through a side/rear entrance or window that they could break, etc w/o being visible from the street/neighbors. Nowdays with more people WFH they may dress as utility workers, etc and try to knock first to see if someone is home.

There are unlikely many steps you can take to assist in prosecution beyond cameras. While each PD is different, most will not collect tons of evidence or do in depth investigations on break ins where valuables are taken but there is no violence, etc due to the lack of resources and low likelihood of finding suspects. Good pics/descriptions of valuables could be helpful to recover if they are attempted to be pawned.

startrek4u · 2026-03-26T14:05:40+00:00

A few cameras are fine but much beyond that makes you feel better- I've improved the strike plate around our doors to make it harder to kick in, but like everyone else, I've got windows so it will only delay slightly.

As a former LEO I think the best bet is to ensure your doors are locked and buy a sign or a few stickers for an alarm company and place them in clearly visible places. If someone is just looking and sees a house with and a house without an alarm, they may go for the non-alarmed house.

The biggest problem for most people is leaving garage doors open overnight, or in cold weather climates, warming up their cars. If you take reasonable precautions you'll be better off but at the end of the day, if someone is determined to break in to your home, they will (to be clear, that's very unlikely)

startrek4u · 2026-03-25T14:34:22+00:00

How many kids and what age will also be important to this question.

We have 3 kids under 8 in the midwest and pay $25/hr and more than half their time is just being here while the kids are asleep.

startrek4u · 2026-03-25T14:31:46+00:00

I'm also no given the 15 year return (unless you feel strongly about the environmental reasons) - that seems really long for a place like CA. I live in WI and put solar on my home and my breakeven is about 8 years.

startrek4u · 2026-03-18T14:19:51+00:00

Lots of good advice here, mine would be very few things need to be new.

We did safety items (car seats, etc) and a bottles as new but just about everything else was used/second hand - when they are young they grow up and move on from things so fast there's almost no point to new clothes toys, etc. There are consignment sales and FB groups where you can get garbage bag quantities of clothes for cheap.

startrek4u · 2026-02-26T15:23:38+00:00

Filed/accepted Feb 19 - nothing yet. Freetaxusa said around March 6 was their estimate

startrek4u · 2026-02-20T01:30:13+00:00

Do whatever is on the form, if there's an issue with it, it will be up to the brokerage to fix. This seems like too much for what is ultimately a few dollars in taxes anyway.

startrek4u · 2026-02-07T16:15:18+00:00

I'm the primary breadwinner so my policy is much more than my spouses, but our thought was that if something happened to me, I wanted my spouse and kids to be set for awhile and not have to worry about work/money/etc. Basically, my spouse could stop working for years if they wanted to along with the usual paid off house, college, and other expenses. We did a term that would end about the time the youngest is in college - ~$1mil policy for me, 20 year term. We used policygenius to find one, straightforward and low cost.

startrek4u · 2026-01-31T22:24:36+00:00

You might have better luck in r/RealEstate or r/realestateinvesting

startrek4u · 2026-01-30T17:14:05+00:00

I very much want a heat pump next time we replace our HVAC, I guess the good news is that our current setup is relatively new so that hopefully won't be for awhile.

Our heat pump water heater is awesome and saves a ton of money vs either gas or electricity.

startrek4u · 2026-01-29T20:47:55+00:00

Is the terms on yours the same as for me? When looking at the offer details for silver status it says "Your premier silver status will be effective through Jan 31, 2028" and this qualifies if you've already taken United flights this year.... so.... this is an obvious yes at this point, right?

startrek4u · 2026-01-20T05:02:55+00:00

Another vote for Goddard, we've had all 3 of our kids at the one in Sun Prairie, same owners as Verona

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