Recent content by rmcelwee

We had the exact same problem you had. It was especially bad because I spent most of my time in that room. I solved the problem (the first time) but spending $50 at Home Depot on a round fan that fit inside 6" duct work. I bought some flexible ducting, knocked a hole in the closet that was in...

Go to the link below. VERY helpful to me when quickly figuring out taxes. IRS & State Tax Calculator | 2005 -- 2024

Search for zero LTCG. There are a ton of articles on it that explain much better than I can. Here is an example: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/14/how-much-you-can-make-in-2024-and-still-pay-0percent-capital-gains-taxes.html

HSA does not have to come through your j*b. In fact, I opted out of the one my company offered and transferred all the money to another one. I also dropped a $7500 lump sum in one even after I FIRED. It has absolutely nothing to do with them. You could drop $8300+ in one today if you wanted.

I'm a little late with my reply, but this could be a hidden benefit. I'm in the camp that wishes they didn't put so much into their 401K. I'd much rather have my money in a Roth, HSA, and brokerage accts. There are many tax benefits with these other accts that you don't get with a 401K. I w*rked...

We just claimed HSA money for medical expenses that were 15 years old. You do not lose it.

You didn't say what your spending requirement was or if you had any other income. If you can live off that $198K, just sell the entire fund for a $0 federal tax. Pretty easy stuff. We are trying to build a house so we have a huge income requirement. I'm leaving all my big LTCG stocks (we have a...

I'd love to see $500 bills brought back (never seen $1000). I buy a car or something big with cash from time to time and carrying $20,000 in 100's, counting it, then waiting for the seller to count it is such a PITA. FWIW, I only carry $100's in my wallet and have never once had a single...

Smart! I agree and because of this I never tell people to buy an international fund. You are already doing some of that with the S&P.

I'm a huge believer in investing in the S&P500. We always say "If the S&P is down 10 years from now we have a lot more to worry about than money". Because of this, we do quite a bit of investing in UPRO (and other 2x or 3X S&P investments). 1Y returns as today - UPRO 56.51% vs S&P 21.53% Yes...

I was only 15 years old. How much did you invest in gold at that age? ;D

I passed on bitcoin at $8. EDIT: This was back before anyone had ever heard of it. I would have sold it months later at $16 and doubled my money (probably a $15K gain). Then for the rest of my life I would have been crushed that I sold early. So, in a way I'm actually thankful I didn't buy any...

I could have bought Apple - the company. A third share of the company sold for $800 a few years earlier.

Real world example: I bought 500 ounces of silver bars back in 1982 @ $8.86 per ounce. It is $23 per ounce today. That is a 150% gain in 42 years. One of the worst investments I have ever made. Could I trade the silver bars for food if SHTF? Probably not! FWIW, I have purchased guns and...

For me, the difference between FIRE at 54 and 364 days and FIRE one day later at 55 was around $140,000. I made a spreadsheet that took this into account and would look at it quite often. It would tell me things like "you have 8 days left to work and are getting paid $1275 per hour" (due to the...