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Re: Dying without a will - 8 years ago

You guys are right. I think it's better for me to keep my experiences and opinions to myself. Thanks for pointing that out.

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Dying without a will - 8 years ago

Even if your friend had a will, all his bikes will still have to be probated. Every state has a streamlined probate process for surviving spouses, so it should be very straightforward unless other parties are fighting over his stuff that or the title isn't clear, ie. jointly held with friends or lots of liens. Lots of people die intestate (without a will). If you have something valuable that s

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Porting Landline to GV and Obihai - 8 years ago

Quotesilvarios Quotespace-time OOMA is proprietary indeed and they also charge $40 number porting fee, but I have had OOMA for 5 years and it rocks. I have the older model without taxes or fees. even with tax, it is only $3.xx/month, about 10x cheaper than your current plan. Around here, it is almost $5 a month ($4.96 last time I checked). Definitely depends on locale. Luckily Ooma has a nice c

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Porting Landline to GV and Obihai - 8 years ago

In a nutshell: U-verse rate jumped 200% so I just switched to TimeWarner Cable for Internet. So far, service has been great, ie. low pings, minimal packet loss, good throughput. Since I'm not dependent on my landline for U-verse, it's time to me and AT&T to "take a break". My plan: 1) Port my landline to Page Plus (I have an old Verizon phone sitting around), 2) get an Obihai uni

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Gift Tax Question - 8 years ago

Quotemjgkramer All her assets are in savings and checking accounts in the bank on which I am a signer and in investment accounts for which I am able to make decisions. Are these accounts Joint tenant with the right of Survivorship? If so then they are yours, unencumbered without probate, when she passes. If they are Tenant in Common then her half will pass to her estate if no beneficiary is des

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Gift Tax Question - 8 years ago

One last thing... If there are funds in an IRA, remember that income taxes will be due. At age 98, I'm guessing she's pretty much exhausted those from the RMD but if all that $400k is in an IRA, she could face a pretty hefty income tax. However, there are ways around this that I won't bore you with.

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Gift Tax Question - 8 years ago

I'm not sure what state you are in, but it is possible her estate will need to go through probate. That could be a real PITA as well as costly. If she owns her house and it is not in a revocable trust, it will almost surely need to be probated). It's really a shame that your mom can't leave it all for you and have you donate half to charity. You'd be able to write off ~$200k and give the other $2

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Going from U-verse to Cable. First-timer's questions - 8 years ago

Thanks for the tips. QuoteFilliam H. Muffman You don't put a modem in bridge mode. Why do you say that? For modems that support it, I've always put them in bridge mode. I use open source routers with good, fast DHCP. I also don't want the extra hop to the modem's router, any potential double NAT, or to use the crap gateways that most off-the-shelf modems use. It also seems a lot easier t

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Going from U-verse to Cable. First-timer's questions - 8 years ago

AT&T U-verse monthly service charge recently jumped from $14.95 to $42. Hence, I'm looking to switch providers. TimeWarner Cable has a non-promotional $14.95/mo plan for the same 3Mbps. That bandwidth is fine for my needs; however, with 2 adolescents in the house and a potential to "cut the cord" as well as use VOIP, I can envision needing more bandwidth in the near future. U-ver

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Is this Trek 930 a good deal? - 8 years ago

Follow up Chain, frame and rear derailleur hanger all looked good. Not really much hard riding on this bike as the paint on the underside of the frame near the crank looked very clean. The tires are barely worn. Suntour x-1 components, as predicted by Black. I was able to ride it for a bit and even though it probably needs work it felt a lot better than my Rockhopper of the same era. The shift

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Is this Trek 930 a good deal? - 8 years ago

thanks all. I very much appreciate all the opinions. I'm going to look at it and if it checks out, I'll get it. It is for casual beach cruises and riding along paths. if it's not a perfect fit or my wife decideds she wants something else, I figure I can resell and not lose too much. I won't have a steel tape to measure the chain, so I'll try to look for hooked teeth and an over worn chain,

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Is this Trek 930 a good deal? - 8 years ago

Normally I would agree with you but this person didn't specifically say he bought it new. A lot of bike shops in this area sell used steel-framed bikes because they can sell them for $300+ because new Aluminum hybrids run around $600 and mountain bikes are $1k.

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Is this Trek 930 a good deal? - 8 years ago

I'm looking for a bike for my wife. She's 5'5" and it looks like this size might be just at the top of her range but my daughter will probably be taller and can ride it in a few years. How does this used Trek 930 for $125 look? The person claims they bought it in 2011, but I'm guessing this is from the 90's. Here's what I'm planning on inspecting: - rust (this is in a beach area),

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Today's Irrational Business Idea: A Museum - 8 years ago

Quotechopper Anyone ever been down this road? IT would be a business, not a charity. First, it's great that you have an idea of something. The best thing you can do is write a business plan. It doesn't have to be a fancy document (or even one with proper spelling and grammar). Just write down all the start-up costs, operating costs and create some revenue models based on your projections. W

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

MBP going in for service. What to do with existing non-sensitive data? - 8 years ago

My MBP is having video issues that are well-documented, so I've made an appointment with the Genius at my local Apple store for service. Anyway, I've done the following prior to my visit tomorrow: 1) Backed up my HD to a bootable external HD and verified that I can boot from it, and 2) Created a "Apple Guest" account so the techs can easily get to the finder if needed. What

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Financial Advisor advice - 8 years ago

Quotemrbigstuff thanks, all. I have been doing it myself so far, and may continue down that path, but I just feel that I don't know enough. of course, over 5 years, my few investments have returned something like 60% so I'm doing something right. still... need to diversify and maybe I'll research REITs and some decent bond index funds (the one I have owned the last 10 years is a stinker). Great

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Financial Advisor advice - 8 years ago

DIY if you have an interest in it. It's not that hard and you really should understand the basics of compounding, finance, risk and taxes. You don't need any math higher than algebra. I'm always amazed how complicated some people make things. Remember, there are people out there trying to confuse you with jargon so you will throw your hands up in the air and hand your money over. Frankly, the mos

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: was there ever in Intel iMac in Plastic? - 8 years ago

Both my kids have white 17" C2D imacs and they use them daily for itunes, OpenOffice, Netflix, Minecraft, etc. They are still fine for browsing if you use flash and ad blockers. I've had them for 5+ years. It's been the best $100 I've spent on technology. If the screens die, I'll turn them into HTPC or servers. They consume about 10 watts with the screens off.

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: will DDR3 1600 RAM work in Early 2011 MBP? - 8 years ago

Thanks all.

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

will DDR3 1600 RAM work in Early 2011 MBP? - 8 years ago

I'm seeing a few deals on 8GB sticks of DDR3 1600 RAM, 1.35V, Cas Latency 11. Will this work in an Early 2011 MBP? I don't see much 1333 mhz/PC3-10600 Ram around. With the trend toward soldered ram in MBPs, I'm not sure I'm going to be "future proofing" much by going with the 1600mhz, but if it'll work and it's the same price, why not?

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: finally set-up 529 education plans - 8 years ago

Quoterobfilms QuoteWailer Quoterobfilms i wanted the 529s more for the federal/state deductions and less for the long-term investment opportunities. ymmv Does your state allow for federal and state deduction of 529 contributions? If so, that is a nice plan and definitely contrary to my state. . yes, my home state-new york-allows both federal and state deductions. Wait. I misspoke wh

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: finally set-up 529 education plans - 8 years ago

Quoterobfilms ii wanted the 529s more for the federal/state deductions and less for the long-term investment opportunities. ymmv I'm confused. Does your state allow for federal and state deduction of 529 contributions? If so, that is a nice plan and definitely contrary to my state. If you don't get to deduct all or a portion of your contribution and you only have, say, 2 or 3 years of

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Making an offer on a bulk lot of gear - what % of retail should I offer? - 9 years ago

Quotemattkime how badly do they want to get rid of the stuff? how many other people would be likely to take it? I think 10% of retail value is a decent starting point. you might consider reasons to go lower as well. This. What are they going to do with it if you don't buy it or no one else does? Is the person who is making the decision going to directly benefit from the sale (ie, he's

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Advice: Android or iPhone? - 9 years ago

You can get rid all the bloatware and stuff you don't need with a custom rom, like Cyangenmod, and rooting it. Since it's an older phone, you really have nothing to risk. I'm guessing you'll see much better performance and battery life. I use pageplus with 10mb/mo on a Moto G (I had a droid 2 before and a PalmPIxi before that), so I've always disabled data. I can turn it on/off easily with a w

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Moto G Phone 4.5'' Quad Core (GSM version) No-Contract $100 - 9 years ago

Great phone. I have the CDMA version of this phone, which can be found for ~$60. I'm using it on the PagePlus $12/mo plan (250 mins, 250 texts, 10MB) so I get Verizon coverage. I supplement with 1GB of freedom pop 4G data. Kitkat is fast and stable. I rooted mine so I could install Greenify. I can easily get 5+ days of battery life if I use the phone under an hour a day. I keep wifi off whe

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Possible Spoilers: I don't understand this baseball game. How can the scores be so nuts!! - 9 years ago

I don't view it as pitcher vs pitcher but rather pitcher vs batter. It is less of a team sport than football or basketball because not every player is involved in every play, but it still depends on all players sticking with their roles over long periods of time (games, series, seasons). Games can get lop-sided because, as stated, the situation changes with every development and with each p

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: The Video That Inspired A Million Lives - 9 years ago

Great. Now there's water in my keyboard.

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Chrome Book - 9 years ago

I got a refurb similar to this (slick)deal for $117 a few months ago. I see them frequently for $130 and most people report that they appear brand new. Mine still had the screen cover, 100GB of google drive, and 12 free Gogo in-Air internet passes. They have a 16gb SSD drive, which is what my DM9 had. It also has USB3, HDMI, SD card slot, and camera. Don't let the processor and 2GB of ram fool

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Chrome Book - 9 years ago

QuotePaul F. The school I work for has 60 of them, and we can't buy more fast enough. As long as you go in knowing what a Chrombook IS, and what is IS NOT, they're great tools. They are NOT A LAPTOP, per se. They are a Google Apps Machine. You can web browse, you can use Google Apps, and you can use Apps in Google's App Store. Other than that, nothing. You MUST have a Google account t

by Wailer - Tips and Deals

Re: Flat screen recommendation? - 9 years ago

Quoterz One thing I noticed with the TOSLINK out though, was that there was a very slight, but noticeable delay compared to the built-in speakers. If I took the TOSLINK out from my satellite dish directly into my receiver, I didn't notice any delay. But when I take it from the TV, the delay is there. Somthing to think about. Out of curiosity, why would you go TOSLINK to your TV? Why not ju

by Wailer - Tips and Deals