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Besides possibly paying a mortgage, the cost and stress of maintaining a house can adversely affect one's quality of life. Which contractors can you trust? What is a fair price for repairs? How long will it take for the kids to repair and sell my house when I am gone? Why not sell now and get on...

Within a two hour drive of Omaha or Des Moines are rural communities in South Dakota (no income tax), Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska. Somebody might find a very inexpensive house to buy and still be fairly near Omaha or Des Moines.

Finding a "landing spot" with "easy walk and decent public transit" might be a challenge. I live in an inexpensive large midwestern city and, within 6-8 blocks, can walk to Kroger, Walmart, Walgreens, my doctor (GP), my dentist, multiple bus stops, Barnes & Noble, lots of restaurants (Five Guys...

There are lots of rural "midwestern" communities (in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, etc.) that are losing population, where one can buy houses in small communities quite cheaply and where the weather is more moderate than North Dakota or Montana or Minnesota. Some of these communities even...

The reduced benefit amount I would have collected between 63 and 69 is larger than your numbers but much less than I will receive from SS if I live to 90. One can view SS as "longevity insurance." You don't care once you are dead but you do care if you live to 95 and have run out of money; a...

I just started receiving my SS benefit this year, when I turned 69. The increase of my monthly SS benefit in 2024 will be 3.75% larger than my monthly 2023 benefit. This is because the SSA "discounts" one's benefits in the first year (unless one waits until age 70 to claim benefits) and provides...

The CPI-W data from 07/2022, 08/2022 and 09/2022 were 292.219, 291.629 and 291.854 respectively. The sum of these three numbers is 875.702. The CPI-W data from 07/2023, 08/2023 and 09/2023 were 299.899, 301.551 and 302.257 respectively. The sum of these three numbers is 903.707. The SS COLA...

The Consumer Price Index for September 2023 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, October 12, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. (ET). link I will post the calculation for 2024 SS COLA next Thursday morning. I don't know if they (SSA) "fudge" the COLA calculation.

My training does not allow me to ignore the misuse of statistics, even though I often find the humor in this.

This COLA Estimate for 2024 is 3.2% Senior Citizens League article estimates a 3.2% SS COLA increase for 2024. It is easy to create a (very short) spreadsheet into which one can input the cpi-w values for July, August & September and determine the upcoming SS COLA. When I guessed September's...

Fox 8 News had an article titled Proposed Social Security cuts: The impact on Baby boomers and Gen X-ers with Wealth of Geeks as the origin. Here is an article by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College which discusses the proposal. Here is a Yahoo Finance article on the proposal.

This article, Proposed Social Security Cuts Could Cause Retirement Turmoil, discusses a proposal to eliminate the SS COLA, means test (in some manner) benefits and raise the full retirement age. It offers suggestions like work longer, downsize (dwelling/house), diversify assets, create a budget...

I have been on Medical Advantage for four years. I weighed a supplemental program, ordinary Medicare and Medicare Advantage before I turned 65 and picked MA because of the cost savings (i.e. free (after paying the usual monthly medicare bill)) and enhanced coverage over normal Medicare. I did...

My sister had mitral valve "failure" (very severe mitral valve regurgitation) and had to be airlifted to SF for emergency open heart surgery a few years ago. She is now doing fantastically now. I also have mild mitral valve prolapse but my cardiologist says to just monitor it (an echocardiogram...

I wonder what "affordable housing" in the Las Vegas metro area will cost. Will one have to buy Raiders tickets as well? ;)

The discussion here is valuable. Bluetti employees answer some questions. We will test the Bluetti repeatedly before depending on it.

The problems mentioned in the video do not concern me TOO MUCH although I intend to power my cpap machine with it and a power cutoff would be an issue. I'm not British and so the kettle problem is of no concern; I do not intend to power anything using my AC300/B300 which exceeds its standard...

I'm actually asking about testing data or summaries of ruggedness tests on the Bluetti pairs (AC300+B300). What percentage of these pairs failed or had reduced performance because of "vibrations and sudden impacts"? My hope is 0% under reasonable vibrations; I would expect that dropping the pair...

AC200? I can't find an AC2000. AC200P or AC200MAX?

I bought the Bluetti AC300+B300 combination on Amazon Prime Day (July 11, 2023) after watching Bob Well's videos Choosing the Right Power Station for Van Life! and Cheap Deals on Power Stations During Amazon Prime Sale Days July 11-12, 2023 among other videos. I got a great deal and everything...