beancounter77

their modus operandi, but I had never seen it in action. Thanks for posting!

Just finishing up Scott Anderson’s 2025 book “King of Kings” about the Shah of Iran. Fascinating back story of how the CIA installed his father, Reza Pahlavi in 1953, all the way through the 1979 revolution and how Nixon, Kissinger and Carter dealt with Iran and set the groundwork for what’s going in today. Excellent very engaging history.

Not an appetizing sight, and they were mid-range priced tubesteaks at the time. I’d hate to see what’s allowed in low end dogs today, but I still enjoy them at costco. Then again, I ate the sausage at waffle house last week and I’m sure that’s nasty. But like the discussions here earlier this month, I survived 3 years of Owens mystery meat in the late 70’s!

Spent morning at the market with wifey,(okay, I enjoyed it as well: sat in a $250,000 Lucent Sapphire that does 0-60 in 1.8) freeing me up for whole (unsupervised ) afternoon at the museum. Get there, trudge all the way up to the base of the tower: “sorry sir, the museum closes early in 30 min today for a private function…..”. Womp womp.. spent 30 min in the gift shop and a small display of artillery shells remaining in farmland to this day, and out the door. Dang. Ravens better win tomorrow!!!

In town for the ravens game tomorrow and thought this looked like a fun thing to do today? @Chris Coleman

Each chapter is progressively more incredulous than the prior. What an evil company. I hope this book gets a lot of exposure.

before, so it was a great way to quickly see a lot of the sights. It was part of an optional package we bought for the Ravens game in London. We had a bus tour in Paris that gave us time at the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, boat ride on the seine, and lunch in the shopping district). Great way to touch some of the highlights.

Even if you already have a work-related Roth, or 401(k), you can open a new Roth IRA and "contribute" to it as long as your total contributions to all Roths are under $7,500 and your income is under $146,000. Assuming you qualify (see above), I recommend opening a new separate Roth IRA at Fidelity, call it your "Play Money Roth" benefits: 1)Fidelity accounts do not have annual fees, with no minimal balance or contribution amounts 2) you can invest in practically anything you want, and your spare uninvested cash balance is automatically invested in their money market account, currently paying a little over 4%. 3) With a Roth IRA, whatever you contribute each year is withdrawable, anytime, penalty free and tax free. 4) Say goodbye to worrying about the tax implications of your gains and income: it's in a Roth - it will never be taxed! 5) Roth's have some 5 year rules that really won't impact you until you are 59 1/2 years old, but its good to open one now and start that 5 year clock. 6) Fidelity has great investment education information and has an app so you can do all your investing on your phone if that's what you like to do. Not Benefits: 1) unlike your contributions (see above, always withdrawable) any gains / earnings must stay in the account until you are at least 59 1/2 years old (with some exceptions). So if you invest $1,000 in Nebius or whatever you want and double your money to $2,000, then again to $4,000, you will always be limited to only being able to take out your original $1,000 and the remaining gains/income are stuck in the account until your turn 59 1/2. But.... See above: All these gains/income will never be taxed.

You offhandedly mentioned it here months ago as the best book you've read about WWI. I've never read anything about that time period, so I added the book to my list. I finally got around to starting it last month. 500 pages down, 100 to go. Awesome recommendation - I've learned so much... what an incredible waste of humanity. Thanks for the tip!

my geology class in '78! loved that class - wouldn't have survived if I had to take Chem or Bio. Was just in Joshua Tree a few weeks ago.... was recalling that geology class big time while observing the stunning geography of the area.

Thanks for the reminder and noodge - just bot 2 in Section S row 20 on Stubhub.

across the street at the Homewood Suites.

libraries have it, but it is not reservable, whatever that means. I did check ebay and there is a complete 11 dvd set on there for $20 plus a few bucks shipping.

deduct from income on your tax return. Very easy

have to use your employer’s HSA provider. I had similar experience as you, but my employer provider allowed us to make investment choices among a select group of funds. Not bad, but still charged a fee.

Then I retired and learned you can open an HSA wherever you like, and contribute more if eligible, or just transfer your balances from the old custodian to the new custodian.

I opened an HSA at Fidelity and did just that. Now I can invest in whatever I like and make withdrawals whenever I want to. Note, there is nothing magical about getting permission for withdrawals - you just have to keep good records supporting the eligibility of the expense, but only if you ever get audited.

One more cool thing about HSA: there is no time limit on when you can withdraw the expense reimbursement. Thus, (I do this) I contribute the max every year, invest well, and never take money out so as to increase the investment income. I pay for any eligible medical expenses out of pocket, then keep a file of the receipts. At any time in the future that I need free, tax free cash, I’ll be able to tally up those receipts and withdraw the funds to use for whatever cash emergency arises. In the meantime, the account continues to grow, tax free. It truly is the best retirement deal out there.

That thing is even more valuable than a Roth because you get the contribution deduction (like a normal 401k) and if withdrawn for medical expenses it’s not taxable (like a roth). Its the best of both worlds.