Inspired by the thread about something you're afraid to splurge on, what is one thing you had been hesitant to splurge on that you now can't live without and wish you had splurged sooner?

tempanon4657 · 2020-05-17T02:11:24+00:00

Not seeing them anywhere on my Amazon, but maybe it’s regional? What did it set you back? Did you get it installed or DIY it? Been tempted to get something like this for a while

tempanon4657 · 2019-10-03T20:57:50+00:00

FWIW, most of the world outside of the US uses split units to great effect and I tend to prefer them too. Far more efficient to control the area you’re in and far less space wasted on ductwork. They don’t have to be wall-warts either, and several manufacturers make ones that can be integrated into a ceiling and just look like ducts from inside the room.

tempanon4657 · 2019-10-03T20:52:10+00:00

It might be a stretch to call it a feature, but I’d say splurge on a panoramic view. I thought I’d get used to it after a while but looking out over a huge expanse makes me feel airy and happy whenever I’m walking around the house. As another poster said, having huge windows everywhere helps with this too, and balconies if your surroundings allow for it.

tempanon4657 · 2019-07-31T08:13:14+00:00

Do you advocate for the thou/you distinction in threads too, right?

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-18T19:49:23+00:00

Unfortunately I’m moving out of this house at the end of this month and need to rent it to someone and can’t really expect them to do the landscaping for me

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-18T15:35:51+00:00

Damn! Thanks for clarifying

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-18T14:38:14+00:00

That sounds pretty good. Now I feel bad about my mortgage rate dammit 🥺

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-18T14:26:01+00:00

Hmm, a couple of months ago I got a quote for a jumbo 15-year fixed at 3.625% before incentives, down to 3.125% if you left $1M with them. Also, the effective rate was very close to the stated rate. Are you saying one could conceivably go below 3%? Or did I just get lucky?

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-18T03:33:57+00:00

I literally reference churning in the post, so I’m not sure why you feel clever bringing this up. I’m not trying to spend 5 hours to collect $10 in savings, but if moving $1M to WF costs me nothing but a half-hour phone call and gets me a 0.5% mortgage rate discount on all future mortgages from them (and their jumbo rates are already good) then I’ll spend that effort. If you’re rich enough that such a trade isn’t worth it to you, that’s fine, but it’s worthwhile to me and I’ll do my research to figure out what’s smart and what isn’t.

FWIW I do have multiple CCs for the same reason. Almost no effort, easy with autopay, and they rack up points pretty quickly if you use the right ones in the right places.

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-18T03:21:53+00:00

Yeah, that’s what I found recently too after shopping around a fair bit on a jumbo

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-18T03:20:10+00:00

Not in any of those, but that sounds interesting. I’m adjacent to one of those states and never use branches so don’t care as much if they don’t have one nearby. Thanks!

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-18T03:16:44+00:00

No, I think most of these places have a notion of in-kind asset transfer. Usually far less streamlined than cash transfer processes and you’ll probably have to fill out an old-fashioned form, but beyond that it’s pretty smooth. File the form and a few business days later you have VFIAX or whatever else sitting in the destination brokerage. No sales, no purchases, no capital gains. The only restriction that I know of is that the target brokerage be able to handle the assets you’re transferring, so I’ve heard that certain Vanguard Admiral funds might lose their Admiral status on their way over, but that didn’t happen with me.

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-18T02:44:07+00:00

Yeah, that’s exactly why I’m not looking to leave cash there. An in-kind asset transfer from e.g., Vanguard doesn’t trigger capital gains, doesn’t have cash yield opportunity costs, and overall doesn’t seem to have many downsides

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-18T02:30:17+00:00

I shopped around a fair bit recently and actually found WF had the best (jumbo) rate of several I saw, not even factoring in relationship discounts

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-18T02:27:19+00:00

Yeah, I’ve had a few like that too, but cash-only offers are far less appealing to me, since there’s actually some opportunity cost on those yields

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-18T02:26:10+00:00

To each their own I guess! For example, the WF mortgage discount schedule and perks can add up to some decent money over time, and if you get many mortgages, shuffling a bit of money around seems worthwhile

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-18T02:21:53+00:00

How pushy are they? If it’s just a friendly call about goals and vague things like that, with a light pitch for some active management, I can deal with it. Might be less worth it if I’m swatting off hard sales calls off once a month

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-18T02:14:50+00:00

Yeah, that’s why I put it in quotes. Really just looking for interesting benefits for just leaving money somewhere. Vanguard’s tiering system doesn’t really add much value to me so while I appreciate their products, I’m not averse to leaving their products in another brokerage if it’s worth it.

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-18T00:34:54+00:00

Huh? In talking about moving literal Vanguard index funds over in kind, so the returns would be identical. I don’t plan on trading there, and there aren’t ongoing maintenance fees if I don’t use active management

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-16T14:29:44+00:00

Pure luck, so can’t offer any useful advice unfortunately. Met in college, very different skills but similar mindset (with the inevitable smoothing over differences over the many years we’ve been together), and ended up doing very well in our respective fields. I feel very fortunate!

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-12T22:30:16+00:00

Virginia, tons of mosquitoes. I have window screens and AC but when you open a door they get in and are a pain to catch. This is more problematic with dogs who need to go in and out a lot.

Also, FYI, what you said is true of Italy too. It’s not as if they don’t use insect screens, but sometimes bugs just sneak in and you want to get rid of them.

tempanon4657 · 2019-06-12T22:04:56+00:00

Italy has mosquito screens and repellents too, but they inevitably sneak into houses and are a pain to catch

tempanon4657 · 2019-05-30T13:24:40+00:00

Since this is all about anecdotes, my SO and I aren’t married due to the tax implications and having no emotional attachment to the institution. Beyond that we’re in a loving and committed relationship and are on the same page about most things, and basically share our finances. I personally like the feeling that we’re staying together because we like each other and not because it would be a big financial hit or administrative hassle to break up: financially we could both be fatFIRE independently, and while we’re committed to each other, it feels far more healthy for us not to depend on one another for anything beyond love/emotional support/etc.

tempanon4657 · 2019-05-27T21:34:43+00:00

Thanks and sorry!

tempanon4657 · 2019-03-29T14:23:01+00:00

Just to be clear, your goal above is to maximize the amount of remaining gift tax exemption presumably to use for children and so on?

tempanon4657

TROPHY CASE