My credit union has an alert about this on their website. There are significant delays apparently.

I’m not sure what you mean not knowing where it will get you? Run some math in excel. Also do you have left over money to invest in a taxable brokerage?

Listen, if you can withdraw 2.5-3.5% per year and cover your expenses, you can likely retire. Remember to plan for things like Social Security, and pensions, and healthcare, and you’ll be just fine. Don’t overcomplicate this. EJ advisors are just salesmen.

This is good advice for broke people.

So I don't know if the $4k and 1 year of payments left on our minivan means:

1.) I have $4k left on the minivan and it'll take me 1 year to pay it off; or

2.) I have $4k left (on something else) and ,in addition to that, 1 year of payments ($352/month) left on the minivan.

Once you've got the monthly minivan payment paid off, take that $352 and put it in you vacation fund; house remodel fund; kids' activities fund; 529 fund; activities for adults fund, etc. Ditto with the $3.1k childcare fund. When one kid needs less it, move it over to one of the above mentioned funds or another. Ex.: So when the 5-year-old's after-school care costs go down from $1k/month to $500/month, move the $500 to 1-2 fund or more.

As others have stated, I would not give up that flexibility with young kids. Update your resume every six months, so when they're in middle school, you can pursue a job with less flexibility and more money.

Damn I completely forgot about the chip thing. It's been so long since I heard anything about I'd assumed it was resolved

I wouldn't be shocked if there were some supply chain issues tied to the EMV chips that all modern cards have. They're the kind of low grade semiconductor that ends up being made in China so lockdowns + outbreak could be a big issue. Also, chip manufacturing requires neon and the largest world supplier of neon was Ukraine.

https://www.pcbb.com/bid/2022-07-19-what-the-lingering-chip-shortage-means-for-cfis suggests that this might be a big part of it.

You still save more tax by offsetting ordinary income because the ordinary tax rates are higher than long term gain tax rates. However, if you make more than the NII tax MAGI threshold (not indexed to inflation), there's another 3.8% to consider.

We have three kids as well, and what we’ve found works is having one parent focus on earnings and one on flexibility. The flexibility really is invaluable, especially if a new role would likely mean travel. If he wants to bring more money in, that’s on him—and I’m saying that as the higher earner.

My mom took out a credit card at Lowes to get my dad a few things for Christmas. This was mid December and she still hasn't gotten it yet. They said the same thing.

So what’s the problem?

Average out your expenses over a couple years, inflate by 1.5% per year, multiply by 25, aim to save that amount by retirement.

Okay, so it’s not that easy, but it’s really damn close.

Start tracking your expenses and identify what you need to save for retirement. Whatever you do, don’t give the con artists at EJ 2% to do it.

It's pretty silly to not take full advantage of the tax savings for something that your tax software will track for you even if you are too lazy to look at last year's tax return yourself.

EJ or similar is fine for some people. maybe not ideal, but there are people who need more guidance and hand-holding. at least to start.

if that's what it takes to get you investing, investing with higher fees is better than no investing.

there is some data showing people with an advisor have superior long-term results of up to 3%/year. it's not from the advisor recommending any specific fund or investment, it's from behavioral coaching: don't panic when the market crashes, stick with the plan. don't put too much money in the hot trend of the moment (Tesla, bitcoin), just stick to the plan. https://advisors.vanguard.com/insights/article/IWE_ResPuttingAValueOnValue

That’s the trick - you don’t hold your money, you hold other people’s money.

I rather not have to track it. I rather sell something at a gain and buy back right away.

Fidelity was having problem shipping debit cards as well. I ordered a replacement in November because the chip on mine broke. I just received it.

When I went to the ordering page again, they have put up a notice about supply shortages of cards.

This is more or less what I did. While my now husband and I were dating, I went ahead and bought the townhouse; he really wasn't involved much at all. I bought it, he moved in, we got engaged, and now married. To me paying the mortgage is just like any other bill with my name on it, neither of us really care that only one of us is on the mortgage. (We split all expenses and monthly savings goals by income, I think I saw in a previous comment you do something similar).

I found the whole process a lot easier than I was expecting. I've owned my place for almost 4 years, and have barely had to do anything aside from buying a new washer. I went the condo/townhouse route and a lot of things are taken care of, which has been great for us because we've spent the last few years focusing on grad school, career stuff, starting a family, etc.

Had that occur with the WF Autograph Visa, approved on 12/11, called a week later and was told there'd been delays, shipped 12/26 and arrived today. Doesn't help but yes you are not alone.

My Chase Disney was delayed too and I only even got it for the merchandise/dining cardholder discount on a trip that’s already over 😂

So you aren’t alone

If I were you I’d probably not change. I’m kind of in the same boat, small company unlimited over time, basically leave whenever I want and still get paid. Could I make way more? Probably but at the same time the stress level is so low and Im pretty comfortable so it’s a basically a no brainer for me.

> We plan on getting married after we buy a house/condo.

No.

Every month there is somebody who got into a big financial commitment before getting married, the marriage got called off, and now it's a cluster-fuck

Wait until you are married if you plan on putting both your names on the property.

Find out the most hassle free way to get it. With Ford, if you can get X-Plan, you bypass all of the dealership games and markups and get it for just over the invoice price. My dad got his F-150 during peak pandemic pricing for around $12,000 below MSRP because of X-Plan pricing.

[removed]

I’m in a similar position. My job is so flexible, I work 100% from home and have been able to keep my kid home with me so far (we did move my mom down so she can watch him when I need as he’s getting older). I do travel regularly, but I have excellent benefits and good pay. Could I make more? Absolutely, but it’d require far more responsibility, almost definitely I’d have to be in the office, etc. It’s a tough spot, but right now I choose the benefits and flexibility

Tax loss harvesting pushes taxes down the road by lowering your cost basis. You pay less taxes now due to the loss offsetting gains and up to $3,000 of income. However your lower basis will result in more capital gains taxes layer when you sell the shares you buy while the market is down. This can be mitigated in two ways. The first is if you have a low income in the future and are in the 0% capital gains tax bracket. Then you can sell the low basis shares without having to pay taxes on them. The second is donating them if your are charitably inclined. That allows you to deduct the fair market value of the low basis shares (if you itemize) and get rid of them without paying the capital gains tax.