Recent content by PWMDMD

At 47, I'm the youngest of three siblings. My brother is five years older than I am, and my sister, who passed away at 44, was nine years older. She was born when my parents were both just 16 years old. My family has long struggled with the effects of my father's alcoholism and my mother's...

I bought the Kia Soul at Wagner Kia in Shrewsbury in 2022. At the time, they were actually really easy to deal with and no shenanigans.

That'll prolly buff out...

My one rule in life is I will never beg an AD to take my money. Not going to buy anything else to get on a wait list either.

Hamilton makes a nice watch.

Nice watch! I inherited a 1987 Rolex 36mm two-tone "Thunderbirds"Datejust from my FIL. When I received it, it was in rough condition. Sent it into Rolex for service, they also replaced the crystal, and recommended a new jubilee bracelet, which I declined. Watch looks like new, runs +/- 2...

Valvoline Restore and Protect. If it will clean deposits when they build up, it will prevent it from building up.

Just tightening up this argument a little. As you know, every worker directly pay 7.65% in FICA, and their employers pay another 7.65%. Economists generally recognize that the employer portion is largely borne by workers through lower compensation, so discussing the combined 15.3% burden is...

It's one of the major reasons I bough it - it was for the kids but I'm 6'5" (and they are all over 6') and still wanted the option of being comfortable even if it wasn't my daily driver. At my height and with the seat back straight up, I have a solid 3" of extra headroom (base model with no sun...

I'm a big fan of my 2022 Kia Soul. It was cheap to buy, it's cheap to maintain (other than replacing the key fob, I've been shocked how reasonable prices are even at the dealership), regular maintenance is simple, and it's been cheap to make repairs. It's also simple enough that when the head...

My 2022 Kia Soul was $22,500 in 2022 which is equivalent to $13,500 in 2000. That Sentra looks like a lot more car for the same inflation-adjusted price.

Gon, this is what sub $400k gets you here. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1202-Wachusett-St-Jefferson-MA-01522/57596507_zpid/

My interest rate is low, even for when I graduated. Half my class were Mormons from Utah and they all knew about a state/non-profit called the Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority (UHEAA). At the time they where underwriting education consolidation loans for about ⅓ of what the federal...

That's a solid plan but just to make the point about how different it is now, with my interest rate where it is, paying off that debt was the LAST thing I wanted to do. That freed up a ton as far as cash flow. There is a very big difference in lifestyle with $180K @ 0.625% vs $500K @ 8.5%.

Interest rates are also VERY different now too. My education debt is at 0.625% and interest last year was just $331.81. I have an associate who is 10 years younger and who went to Boston College undergrad, Tufts for dental school, and she paid $33k in interest last year. It's REALLY hard to...