u/Low-Computer8293

Looking ahead toward retirement planning, I see where I have the option of either taking a cash payout for my pension or taking it as a monthly payment for life. I believe that cash payout is most popular, but curious how people run the numbers and what decisions they make?

Looking for me, it looks like the monthly payment is about equivalent to a 6% ROI, if I live 20 years after retirement. If I live longer, then the ROI equivalent is down a bit, and of course, if I live shorter, it's a bit higher than 6%.

For me, since VTI has done better than 6% on average, I think I would prefer to invest it in VTI than to take the monthly payment.

(Note: I'm able to take risk in retirement based on our financial position. I don't need to go conversative with this money.)

Just curious what decisions others have come up with though.

Voting closes at noon on Friday. It's electronic, so someone at 12:01pm could open a link and see the results. But the tellers have to certify the vote before it's released. Any idea when the tellers are meeting and when the vote results will be released?

After completing my 5th and final degree (a PhD), I wanted to do something with the graduation tassels that I received over the years. I decided to have a local framer create a shadowbox for them, and the picture below is what they look like. I figure this is less stuffy than trying to frame one or more of my diplomas (I don't care for the appearance of framed diplomas) and something that artistically looks a bit more pleasing than anything else that I could think of.

I included my high school graduation tassel, for a total of six tassels.

https://preview.redd.it/yt9gf1f7xc5h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=6ba52c9ed00c64ba191d857ea1718444101efefc

I'm looking at partially retiring (unlikley, but want to consider). I am curious how a partial retirement would impact my future net worth at age 65. How do others calculate this?

I think the most accurate way is to project how much I would save per year with full employment versus partial employment, along with current net worth, and key that info into FireCalc.com, and use the Monte Carlo simulation results to compare full versus partial retirement.

Is this a sound method? I think so, but curious what others think.

Hi,

Does anyone know if it is possible to setup automatic sales of investments? I have one account that I would like to liquidate 0.5% of the account each month. It's my "fun money fund" and I plan to spend the proceeds.

I used to invest in high dividend stocks, and spent the dividends, but recently switched to VTI. Thus, I need to liquidate a portion of the account to represent typical gains. I was thinking 0.5% per month would be a good amount of account liquidation, while generally not touching the principle. However, it does not appear that Fidelity has an account feature that allows for automated liquidation.

I was wondering if another brokerage house offers this feature? Or if there are any options with Fidelity to make this happen? I don't wish to manually do this each month/quarter.

I've attended AIAA SciTech and other conference for many years now. I enjoy going to them, however, I don't own a suit. I've tried dressing nicely with dress pants and formal shirts, but many of the people attending wear suits and ties.

I'm looking at purchasing a suit and tie, but they are rather expensive and I wouldn't wear it except for the conferences.

At my megacorp (major aerospace employer), the suits have disappeared even at the executive level. Curious if anyone had any guesses as to whether suits will disappear at aerospace conferences as well.

Thanks!

I have an event next January that I might need to get a suit for. It's a professional event, not a event where two people become an item, etc. I am wondering where a good place is to rent or buy a suit. It's probably one time use, so renting probably makes more sense than buying.

I looked at Men's Warehouse but all of the models are like 23 years old, or roughly 1/2 my age. I wasn't sure if the fashions that they rent/sell are applicable to all ages or more for the younger crowd.

I've never had to rent/buy a suit in my life, so I am a little like a fish out water in this regard. Thank you.

My wife received a donation from a non-profit organization to travel to a work conference. They needed her to fill out a IRS form to document her social security number for her to get reimbursed. Does this mean that the donation value will be taxable? She is turning in receipts and they are issuing a check made payable to her for the amount of travel expenses.

Hi,

I'm curious how people estimate future performance of target date funds. While the exact numbers can be argued, VTI can be estimated at 8-10% based on past performance. However, target date funds become increasingly conservative as they approach their target date. How does one estimate future value of these funds?

Hi,

After reviewing all of the comments about potential generator theft, I think that it makes the most sense to run my portable generator in the backyard. However, I had the power inlet installed on the backside of the electric meter near the front of the house.

In order to hook up the generator to the backyard, I would need to run a 75' power inlet cable. I am looking at one on Amazon made from 6/3 + 8/1 wire. Is there a downside to this long of run, besides cost of cable and weight of cable?

I was looking at this cable: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FLSTR846/ref=twister_B0D3XTJYZH?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

The other alternative is I could have the power inlet installed on the back side of the house. I don't like this for aesthetics of the house and I'd be running probably 125' of 6 gauge wire instead of 75' feet. Also that would cost a lot.

Thoughts?

We just replaced our non-functioning air conditioner with a heat pump. The installers decided to reuse the hole in the wall for the refrigerant lines, which meant that about 2-3 feet of line is exposed. Wife is unhappy with how this looks. She wishes they would have drilled another hole in the wall and hid the lines in the wall for aesthetics. I asked the installers afterwards, and they insisted that it's better to reuse holes rather than create new holes in the house.

Question - is she or the installers right?

Is there anything reasonable that I can do to improve the look of this installation?

Does it look correct to the folks here?

https://preview.redd.it/cf2treeygxzg1.jpg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=58f51cd08e1f39887fca92774f1151abc4f9380e

We are interested in using a portable generator during power outages to power the house, however, it's concerning that it might get stolen.

Curious what effective measures we can take to prevent this. The generator we are looking at weights 213 pounds so it wouldn't be easy to hoist into the back of a truck or car, but maybe that wouldn't stop thieves.

The ideal area to setup the generator is our front driveway.

Thanks.

The electrical panel at my house is maxed out. I have had to make two unfortunate changes to the electrical panel in the last 10 years:

1. In order to install the air conditioner, I had to disconnect the electric dryer 240v circuit breaker because there was no room for an air conditioner breaker

2. In order to install a power inlet (used to connect a portable generator in times of power outage), I have had to move the whole house surge protector to the subpanel, which is not ideal because it won't protect the main panel circuits well.

I'm considering if I should upgrade to a larger panel ($6,000) in order to restore these two circuit breakers and give space for future expansion (such as a electric vehicle charger, for example).

Thoughts?

How do you decide what the right amount of umbrella insurance is to carry?

I live in a single family home community with each lot about 8,000 SF. I just got a portable bluetooth speaker, and set it up to listen to music in my backyard while I do computer work on our patio table.

Wife is unsure. She is timid about annoying neighbors. It's not loud and probably barely audible at other homes, but probably a little bit audible at adjacent homes .

I listen to their lawnmowers, weed trimmers, which are quite loud.

What is the etiquette regarding listening to music in one's own backyard?

I am curious how important it is to keep a generator 20' away from a house when running, to prevent carbon monoxide.

I have space between a fence and my house near the panel, that is reasonably secure if I pile all of my garbage cans between the generator and the street. It's next to my house. No windows that can open, and the side door to the garage is sealed when closed. Is it okay to run the generator there?

If I need to keep 20' feet from the house, it'll be on my driveway which isn't ideal because someone might steal the generator at night while I'm sleeping. Sad but it happens.

I have a 3680 square foot house. I'm having a power inlet installed on our house next week, for me to use hook up a portable generator and provide basic power during outages. Primary concern is our four fish tanks and two refrigerators. My wife worries about the fish tanks and it's annoying when our food spoils. Secondary is power to furnance. Third priority is lights, computers, and modem. No AC or heat pump or other heavy needs.

1. I am considering whether to use gasoline or natural gas as the fuel. Natural gas is clearly cleaner and simpler to use during power outages. It provides less electricity though (I think 7kw on the 12.5 kw Genearc).

The alternative is gasoline, but then I need to store 20 gallons of gas or so at my house which I am not as keen about.

I haven't tried using natural gas in a generator before. Thoughts, comments, etc?

2. How many kw would be good for our situation? I'm thinking 7kw would be sufficient what our needs described above. I'll bullet point those again to make reading easier:

• 4 fish tanks (heaters + filter pumps)
• 2 refrigerators
• 1 gas furnace
• 1 computer
• 10-15 LED lights
• Misceallenous electricity (phone chargers, power bricks still plugged in, cable modem, etc)

How do you decide what the right amount is to save for retirement each year?

We're saving a lot, but if I rejigger our retirement contributions, we could squeeze out another 10% in tax advantaged retirement accounts. I'm trying to decide if that is something that makes sense for us.

I sort of feel that we are already saving enough, and enjoying the 10% today makes the most sense.

For this thread, I'm curious how others made the decision on what the right amount of retirement savings is for their family.