Thanks I will do this!

They desperately need them!

That said, I did adjust my playstyle to support the PS5's lack of back buttons; I'm no longer hitting triggers with index fingers. I moved the trigger inputs to the bumpers and I keep index fingers permanently on bumpers with middle fingers on triggers. It's not as effective as claw for button access but it's pretty darn good. Also, bumpers are actually better triggers anyway due to less travel distance.

I am 100% on board with DIY indexing but the comparison needs to be made with the front load fund vs a an advisor management fee of 1-2%, not just the fund expense of .04.

That's fair :)

I'm even lower than your amount! All of the "emergencies" I've ever had I could float with a credit card (paying off by end of month) or I anticipated them (e.g. replacing roof, which I had time to prepare for). Any large purchases I just cover by selling stocks.

If the economy went tits up and all my credit lines got cut and I didn't want to sell stocks, I'd have to rely on income. If I lost one income we can live indefinitely on the other person's income, so really the only way my plan doesn't work is: 1) Credit gone, 2) Stock market goes to hell, 3) we both lose jobs

it's somewhat risky but it's been working for over twenty years. Last March when the economy looked real iffy I cash advanced $20k @ 3% up front and put into a savings account. Not a large amount of money to be able to stay invested. Savings accounts just return so little that significant savings accounts have a really substantial opportunity cost.

For what it's worth let's compare a 10% annual return on two funds, one with 5.5% up front and no ongoing fees with another, such as VTSAX, which has no up front cost but expense ratio of .04%. Assume $15k invested each year. https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/mutual-fund-calculator

Fund 1: $14,175 is actually invested each year @ 10% return = $2,564,873 after 30 years.

Fund 2: $15,000 invested each year @ 10%, with ongoing .04% leeching from it = $2,714,151 after 30 years

That's a $160k difference. If we do same over 20 years the difference is $945k vs $893k.

Certainly for somebody utterly lost and who cannot find somebody to ask (internet or somebody in personal life) a smartvestor will give better returns for them than most people, who invest little to nothing in the market.

I chuckled.

You’re asking us instead of her because you don’t trust her answer...I would just straight up ask what the heck it is.

Why not try a different job before accepting a 65% paycut at a new job? What you're proposing is fairly common but ideally it's done when you've socked enough money away in retirement that you can go without further contributions--socalled "Coast FIRE".

1) Ignoring 401k match until out of debt

2) Encouraging use of daylight-robbery front-loaded mutual funds

3) Advising no credit. I didn't realize until a moment ago that a significant portion of employers actually run credit checks: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/credit-score-employer-checking

This forum is highly repetitive on all topics. Don't search for the word "balance", for example, i bet it will blow the server up. :)

I just checked. Looks like I have a bunch local also now...

I certainly don't think tech is for everyone, but I'm baffled by all the downvotes you're getting. Your post represents a very plausible path for some people.

15 in stock and more on the way.

Surprised! My local one wanted a months lead time and I saw another guy yesterday who got on online (different city/state) also with a multi-month lead time.

I strongly considered the prime. I went a different route on my phev due to timing, but the prime hits so many checkboxes. Great on gas, runs on pure electric for 40 miles, very fast, great utility, toyota quality. There's really little not to like about it.

Many in America want to deny this. It is beyond question. Pew research (you can google) has in the past years surveyed muslims for their view on terrorism. Significantly percentages of US-based muslims support it. This is just a fact. Many americans have this nihilistic view of religion--generally the secular ones, who think the religions are all the same. They absolutely are not.

Quick note re. the Rav4 prime. If you want to pick one up this year you need to put a deposit down today. They are in high demand.

You are clearly looking for approval of this plan. It is unequivocally un-David approved. Loan for car = no go, period, end of story.

With that said, I personally (for what it's worth!) think it's not a terrible plan. The rav4 prime is a nice car for sure, although your huge driving distance means you'll be driving almost all miles on gas, and a rav4 hybrid may be significantly cheaper.

Your home plan is fine because it's over a year off so you can change that when the time comes. If you do the first time homebuyer just make sure you are not married to it. I know a couple that wanted to move and "couldn't" in new york because they were stuck under such a similar plan. That seemed pennywise pound foolish to me.

I do think you're looking for excuses to replace your car, though. I keyed into that when you said its poor transmission was also a contributor to its lack of comfort. I get it may drive like hell, but that tells me you're stretching. You may be able to find a way to get better lumbar support. That said, I had a 2010 prius and it also lacked lumbar support and I could not get comfortable in that car. If you absolutely cannot get your car to make you comfortable, I fully endorse replacing it for one that is, given all the driving you do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman

There's 14.6 million square miles of land on the moon (I googled it).

Dude does kind of have a point...

It's because a certain level of wisdom is required for one to realize how little one really knows.

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I once saw a guy who turned an undeveloped piece of land into a 3500 square foot, completed house in a weekend. He dug the entire foundation by shovel, framed it, plumbed it, ran the wiring, the drywall, all the finishing touches. I asked him how he had built an entire 3500 square foot house in a weekend, when it normally takes a builder several months to do and heavy equipment for the foundation.

"You just have to want it bad enough.", he told me.

We all have limitations. My body is physiologically incapable of performing an ironman in under 8 hours. It's an impossibility and no amount of training would change that. There are physical and intellectual limits on what people can do.

Agree with this. Case in point I have a coworker who keeps emailing me, after several months, about how to get an import process to work. I wrote the process and I swear it is as dumbed down as possible. The instructions are shockingly simple. They truly are. But this person still struggles literally renaming a single file, even with screen shots, and keeps asking why the process isn't working. This person just lacks the intellect to ever have been a software developer, no matter how much they had tried.