CharlesUFarley
| Favorite team: | Auburn |
| Location: | Daphne, AL |
| Biography: | |
| Interests: | |
| Occupation: | Drives and PLC Guy (Mechanical Engineer) |
| Number of Posts: | 1128 |
| Registered on: | 1/13/2022 |
| Online Status: | Not Online |
Recent Posts
Message
re: Pentagon demonstrates laser weapons for Hegseth
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 6/23/26 at 3:17 pm to Swamp Angel
quote:
I reckon these energy weapons are pretty cool, but they lose a bit of their awe-inspiring appeal when one realizes that they are "line-of-sight" weapons that cannot engage a target that is over the horizon from their view.
I would suspect most priority targets are airborne targets, like missiles and drones, or possibly even artillery shells. Ground targets would probably be a lower priority.
re: Mike Johnson is a clown
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 6/20/26 at 12:13 am to SallysHuman
quote:
It wasn’t meant to last 20-30years.
It eats 12.4% of your income over your entire working life, for most people. In 1937, it was 2% of your first $3000.
You shouldn't ever talk about what it was to do without talking about how much it eats now vs what it ate in 1937.
Everyone would be better off if that money went into an IRA.
re: What does the U.S. get for $3.8 Billion to Israel?
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 6/19/26 at 10:14 am to hawgfaninc
Field testing of our weapons in actual combat.
re: For the people who want to seize and redistribute wealth from billionaires and ….
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 6/16/26 at 11:16 am to rltiger
A related question: Why don't Socialists love Indexed Funds?
re: Does the 1980 October surprise story being validated change your views of Reagan?
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 6/12/26 at 5:02 pm to Powerman
Now do Roosevelt and Pearl Harbor.
re: Midway Atoll Today - site of Battle of Midway - June 4-6, 1942 - pics
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 6/6/26 at 12:35 pm to Penrod
Japan did not have the fuel or the supply lines to bring the war any further than Midway. Even if they had destroyed our carriers there, they probably wouldn't have been able to resupply the island, and even at that time of the war, couldn't replace lost air crews. They would have certainly lost many of their air crews even it they occupied Midway.
The Navy that destroyed Japan was appropriated by Congress in 1940, before the US was at war with Japan. They couldn't stop it and they knew it. Midway was a last ditch effort to make the US negotiate peace after a decisive victory. It wouldn't have happened.
What would have changed is the War in Europe. The US would have stopped supplying Europe and sent more resources to the Pacific.
The Navy that destroyed Japan was appropriated by Congress in 1940, before the US was at war with Japan. They couldn't stop it and they knew it. Midway was a last ditch effort to make the US negotiate peace after a decisive victory. It wouldn't have happened.
What would have changed is the War in Europe. The US would have stopped supplying Europe and sent more resources to the Pacific.
re: Converting IRA to Roth
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 5/29/26 at 12:57 pm to TorchtheFlyingTiger
If still working, the tax rate on all conversion strategies is likely the same except in the case that you contribute to trad 401K, which kind of defeats the purpose.
Math works better if you can live on zero income for a few years after retirement and convert as much as possible then, but sometimes it is reasonable to just have a number in mind for how much Roth you want. It's not always about the best math.
Math works better if you can live on zero income for a few years after retirement and convert as much as possible then, but sometimes it is reasonable to just have a number in mind for how much Roth you want. It's not always about the best math.
re: Converting IRA to Roth
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 5/29/26 at 12:39 pm to Daygo85
If you are still working, convert an amount each month and adjust your state and fed tax withholding at work to pay the taxes on it. A consistently executed plan probably wins this game.
If not working, maybe put off SS for a few years, maybe withdraw a little more from your IRA's some years and a little less the next to leave room for conversions, if you can make the math work.
If you are over 59.5 and still working and have a Roth 401K, maybe max that out and draw down your trad IRA accounts. It's the same math as a conversion.
If not working, maybe put off SS for a few years, maybe withdraw a little more from your IRA's some years and a little less the next to leave room for conversions, if you can make the math work.
If you are over 59.5 and still working and have a Roth 401K, maybe max that out and draw down your trad IRA accounts. It's the same math as a conversion.
re: Stand-by Generator for home. Worth it?
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 5/29/26 at 12:12 pm to hassan whiteside
I bought one for my mother's house. I won't do iit again. The electronics in the transfer switch got fried and she wouldn't pay to fix it and ants took over the generator. Now it is useless. She couldn't work it if I wasn't there anyway.
You are better off to get a manual transfer switch and a couple of portables. Get one tri-fuel that can run most of the house, and another high quality portable to back it up sized for just essentials, but make sure it has a minimal amount of electronics on it. Also, even with a battery minder on them, the batteries go dead. Make sure you can pull start it.
Get portable air conditioners. Move them from room to room if you have an extended outage.
You are better off to get a manual transfer switch and a couple of portables. Get one tri-fuel that can run most of the house, and another high quality portable to back it up sized for just essentials, but make sure it has a minimal amount of electronics on it. Also, even with a battery minder on them, the batteries go dead. Make sure you can pull start it.
Get portable air conditioners. Move them from room to room if you have an extended outage.
re: Home closing tomorrow and dryer goes out today - how would you proceed?
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 5/25/26 at 9:41 pm to rpg37
quote:
The house is a rental with a long-term tenant inside.
Aren't these the type you want to take care of? I would do that first, but I don't own rental property and don't want to.
re: Roth Conversions: Breakeven Tax Rate (BETR)
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 5/25/26 at 9:36 pm to TorchtheFlyingTiger
quote:
But saying frick it I'll just pick a random percentage is probably far from optimal.
I'm going to have to disagree with you on that. I think if you do the basic math on the typical 401K investor who maybe only does the max that the employer will match, a typical 3:1 ratio between deferred and Roth is probably within a small percentage of what you'd arrive at after many hours of calculations. Note that I said "typical". This is the typical person earning typical wages using the typical 4% rule and typical assumptions about growth.
Other situations would vary depending on how far away or how close retirement is, and what your situation is, how much you were investing, etc, but the truth is that no recommendation is going to match what is ideal in the future, it just lays a foundation for you to build on.
Most people don't think about this as much as we do and don't want to.
re: Roth Conversions: Breakeven Tax Rate (BETR)
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 5/25/26 at 8:52 am to armsdealer
I think that is a good ratio for many people. I didn't have the Roth option for most of my career but that is about what I would have done.
re: Why doesn’t Trump intervene in Haiti?
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 5/24/26 at 1:46 pm to Jimmy Hold the Mayo
quote:
Why doesn’t Trump intervene in Haiti?
Maybe he's trying to keep the virus contained
re: Roth Conversions: Breakeven Tax Rate (BETR)
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 5/23/26 at 4:53 pm to RoyalWe
It really is a case by case situation, and sometimes it just really depends on what you want to do.
I am contributing to Roth 401K even though cautious math (say future growth is low, <3%) points to trad beating Roth, I still want more Roth. I am also doing some conversions even though I will be doing them at 24% and will probably only be at 22% when I need the money. I want more Roth.
Every situation is different and there just isn't a one size fits all answer to Roth Conversions.
I am contributing to Roth 401K even though cautious math (say future growth is low, <3%) points to trad beating Roth, I still want more Roth. I am also doing some conversions even though I will be doing them at 24% and will probably only be at 22% when I need the money. I want more Roth.
Every situation is different and there just isn't a one size fits all answer to Roth Conversions.
re: Roth Conversions: Breakeven Tax Rate (BETR)
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 5/23/26 at 1:00 pm to Everyday Is Saturday
My first impression is that the Vanguard calculation uses the tax free results of the Roth Conversion but compares it to the after tax result of the alternative, which is investing the money that would have paid the conversion taxes in a taxable account in this case. They don't compare those outcomes to a very valid real world scenario: many people who are working also have the option of putting those conversion taxes in their tax deferred 401K instead of a taxable account. So a real world comparison for many would be something like converting $10K to Roth vs adding say $2.7K to your trad 401K in addition to the $10K that you would have converted. In that case, if your future tax bracket is lower, trad wins, usually. If they are the same, the math works out the same: do what you want. If you've got all 401K avenues maxed, the Vanguard analysis holds water.
However, there are many other ways of looking at this, and the benefits of Roth go beyond just the math.
However, there are many other ways of looking at this, and the benefits of Roth go beyond just the math.
re: Adam Schiff Can't Even Give Tulsi Gabbard News 24H Before Showing His A$$
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 5/23/26 at 11:44 am to VoxDawg
quote:
She politicized intelligence
yeah, that NEVER happened when the DEMS were in charge:
quote:
But when, in 2009, the Department of Homeland Security reported that white supremacy is the US’s biggest threat for domestic terror, it was met with harsh criticism.
LINK
re: Omar actually makes a statement that's true
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 5/23/26 at 11:06 am to Zach
quote:
eternally grateful
I don't believe this part
re: Am I Essentially Doomed To Weight Loss/Diabetes Medicine?
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 5/21/26 at 10:19 pm to TheMagicMan
Look into Keto or low carb. This approach to eating tends to make your appetite mechanism work better. IF you stick to it, you don't get hungry as often and your hunger is less acute: you know you need to eat, but you can wait, it's not so urgent that you can't wait to get the right food.
However, you will absolutely miss a lot of really good food. If you stick to it, food noise is low. If you occasionally cheat, food noise will overwhelm you.
One thing to remember: in all those years of medical school, a doctor gets bout 40 hours of instruction on nutrition, and it is based on science from the 1950's.
Side note: Two of my sisters had thyroid cancer. I can't take the GLP-1's. I have under active thyroid, so I am facing a tremendous headwind. You may be lucky you have that option.
However, you will absolutely miss a lot of really good food. If you stick to it, food noise is low. If you occasionally cheat, food noise will overwhelm you.
One thing to remember: in all those years of medical school, a doctor gets bout 40 hours of instruction on nutrition, and it is based on science from the 1950's.
Side note: Two of my sisters had thyroid cancer. I can't take the GLP-1's. I have under active thyroid, so I am facing a tremendous headwind. You may be lucky you have that option.
re: “Trump told you to vote Massie out”
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 5/21/26 at 5:56 pm to DeBoar
quote:
It is the reality that the modern Republican Party is an authoritarian cult.
Joel Lieberman is holding on line 2.
re: .
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 5/21/26 at 2:16 pm to Gee Grenouille
China.
They never stopped making or using any of it
They never stopped making or using any of it
re: Jeff Bezos...the conservative?
Posted by CharlesUFarley on 5/20/26 at 1:43 pm to stout
He should state how much of that $12000 is Federal and how much is state and local.
A single person making $75K and taking the standard deduction only pays about $7K Federal. If he's including SS, State and Local in his 12K he's being dishonest.
A single person making $75K and taking the standard deduction only pays about $7K Federal. If he's including SS, State and Local in his 12K he's being dishonest.
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