agilitydawg

If I was in this scenario of 3 million and retiring at 45, I would have to consider putting 400 to 500K in a very safe investment to protect from market ups and downs and weather a multi year downturn. I would then have about 2.5 million to invest more aggressively and keep the safer funds topped off.

Assuming this is for a couple, 30 years down the road if someone needs memory care or other assisted living, I would personally be uncomfortable with this as my asset base including an assumption of a paid for house.

We will not have a pension or long-term care policies, so I would rather have a bigger nest egg that is harder to scramble if we hit a rough patch on investments or if one or both of us need long-term assisted living. I don't want to have to hesitate that we have the resources to choose the best options, which is why we opted not to pay for a LTC policy because I think we can outrun it with assets.

For myself, the 3 million at 45 would leave more risk in the equation than I would prefer for our houshold.

We just bought a replacement Toyota Sienna after the wife had a fender bender on her 2011. Paid cash in 2014 for the 2011 and paid cash in 2025 for the 2020 model (last model with V6 non-hybrid with 60K miles).

If you need a replacement vehicle, get one, but get what you can afford vs. what your wife always wanted. If you do that enough, the two will eventually merge.

Also, you might save some maintenance costs if you can learn to wrench a little and pay attention to things like worn brake pads to avoid replacing them, as well as rotors.

I was in Scotland for a convention about 10 years ago and had to show ID and wait for assistance from a clerk to buy a pair of scissors at an office supply store. It looked like a nanny state even then.

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Yet Obama was a tariff guy who was blasted on this board for doing it by some of the same people now supporting tariffs.

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Well, if he had used his policies for the good of the U.S., maybe he, too, could have increased manufacturing jobs.

As others have said, we seem to have survived this trade war this time.

I don't disagree, but your insistence that the U.S. will lose on all fronts on this matter seems disingenuous.

Back of the napkin math, my company receives 15% of its revenue by providing services to Colombians. It seemed evident to me that Colombia had been blustering from the beginning, and frankly, even if I have to shift to provide services for other clients from other countries, it is a small price to pay to control our borders.

I am not sure what your motivations in the argument are. Still, I cannot imagine what you view as a negative of this exchange given the resolution in a matter of hours and a broader audience of countries taking notes not to play games. China refused repatriation flights under Binden. I wonder how they are going to act now?

I am trying to work through these conversations with my 29-year-old niece, who is just getting established in her career and starting to make money. She has a lot of free cash flow and is interested in guidance.

I like the detailed math conversations and compounding interest, etc. But the more challenging part of the conversation for me is how to guide her while she sets her goals. Car expenses, possible house, currently returned for her second Master's, etc.

While at 58, I feel like I can see the future, from her 29-year-old perspective, she has to value the concept of having money to retire, buy a house, etc.

The conversation starts with getting anyone to the point where they can see many of the more significant financial decisions they will face in their lifetime. Then, they can begin to prioritize them. It is tough to provide appropriate guidance without clarity about their time horizons or what the investment or money is earmarked for.

For example, a conversation about keeping your cash flow needs lower while increasing income and how that affects your emergency fund or even what is an emergency vs. need that can be handled by free cash flow is a longer-term multi-conversation topic.

You might work on finding material that helps him better understand addressing specific or pathway needs like Retirement, Emergency funds, possibly real estate investments, living within one's means, etc.

I am sharing details about the decisions that have worked for me and why, including retirement investing, emergency funds, vehicles, etc, but doing it in a way that leaves her with the decision about how she wants to approach it for her circumstances.

I don't see her too often, but in the year, she has shuffled some non-interest-earning savings into an HYS account and re-prioritized some spending choices (she wants to travel, but her budget seemed a little high compared to other needs she has). She has learned how much she had in a prior retirement account and has started saving 20% in her current employer's 401 k, so she is taking some essential steps, including becoming organized and informed about what she really does and does not have in place.

Keep in mind that if this conversation with your son lasts a year while he begins to learn about these topics and makes decisions that will help him 40 years from now when he is 59, it will be of amazing benefit to him.

If you don't already have them put a ceiling fan in every bedroom.

My Dad was diagnosed and treated about three years ago at 80. Check out Cyberknife treatment—they place gold markers and use those as reference points to irradicate very targeted areas with higher doses of radiation. I believe seven treatments over 3 weeks. 2-3 times per week. There is no surgery other than to place the markers and possibly a biopsy simultaneously. Because they are using higher doses that are more targeted it is done in a shorter time span with fewer treatment days.

I think he only felt tired on the day of the last treatment, although they told us to expect fatigue to hit him on the third or fourth. He did not experience nausea either.

My Dad is doing great. He followed all recommendations, including about 6 months of testosterone blockers.

He has also been treated successfully for lung cancer using the same system. There are dozens of YouTube videos available. Here is a short one: Cyberknife

He will be fine, particularly if they catch it early.

It is worth checking your insurance policy. I do not believe it counts as a claim like an accident, and it might cost $100 for a new windshield, which might be better than the hit you will get for any little issue.

I did not major in rocket surgery but check out the rivet lines on the nose. Not even good enough for a hollywood prop.