RobDeer 45

Ooof that Fox Sports news is not great. For me, being in MN, it's not a deal breaker, but it is very unfortunate. I do like watching Twins games, and now that won't be possible. I'm hoping they get something done. I feel like they will, but they will have to play some hardball (pun intended).

I agree on the Pizza Hut thin crust pizza. It can really hit the spot. My knock on it is I feel there is a slim margin between it being good and average. If it's overdone or you get it cold, it can be so average. When it's hot with warm melty cheese, it's really good. Another pizza place that's a chain, but not one of the main ones, is Jet's Pizza. If you haven't given it a try, I highly recommend. You have to get their eight corner pizza. It's very similar look to a Rocky's slice and has a great buttery crust like Pizza Hut deep dish. When we lived in Cincinnati, we couldn't find a good local pizza place, and this became our go to. I actually just had it last night and it was delicious as always. For the record, I'm not a deep dish pizza fan usually, but their eight corner is awesome!

LouisEly - Rocky's! I haven't had that in so long but it sounds glorious right now. Speaking of pizza places, when heading to Milwaukee a few weeks ago I saw a Pizza Pit in Lake Mills. There used to be one in Eau Claire that we'd order from when I was young. I had no idea Pizza Pit was still alive. I don't think the pizza is very good but it was a fun blast from the past for me.

Ha! No worries. Yes pretty spot on. Awesome to hear you are a Balistreri's fan too! I always go to the one on 68th but have been to the one on Bluemound. It's a family tradition that we go there every time we are in town. Yes Sammy's in EC but is also in Green Bay and Neenah (used to be in Cumberland as well and several in MN). I mentioned I found out some have the family recipe and some maybe go off on their own a bit, so the one in Neenah didn't meet my expectations. Still solid. Zad, I agree Cranky Pat's is solid too!

AK - great post! I agree, there is finally some country artist coming out again that are legit. Musicians making music, not trying to be famous. I don't listen to much new music anymore. There is so much music out there, you can just keep digging deeper and deeper in to an artist, genre, or time period. I've been doing that with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead over the last 3 or 4 years and it's been so cool.

This post isn't very current, because the finale was awhile ago, but man The Americans final season was so great! I posted earlier that I love this show, but the final season, and finale were home runs. The finale effected me all day yesterday. So much open for you to finish with your own mind. I know a lot of people dislike this type of ending, but I prefer it. Leaves a lot up to your thoughts and feelings. Makes me want to go back and watch the whole thing again! Someday.

Yes, add me to the list of people that are pumped for Ghostbusters 3! Can't wait.

I started watching Grace and Frankie with because my wife was always laughing so hard at it. I find it really funny so far.

A majority of FA aren't trying to beat the street every day like traders. They are offering a service. Trying to help their clients understand and invest wisely and properly plan for the future. A lot of people don't have the time or the ability to understand how to invest properly, so that's why the service is needed. I don't think too many advisors are saying they will make you rich, but that they will come up with plan to help meet your goals. I think if you can find a good and fair financial advisor, that goes above and beyond, and truly understands what they are doing, you hold on to them and pay for their service. Unfortunately the best ones typically only deal with big money. The other unfortunate part is there are a lot of FAs that aren't worth paying. Like a good accountant and mechanic, they can be great to have.

Just because a fund is front loaded (pay to get in), does not mean it's bad advice. So don't think the person is a bad advisor. Advisors have to get paid for what they do. They get it one way or another, and they should. The problem is when they lead someone to an investment that doesn't make any sense, just for a higher commission. I was in the FA industry for a few years out of college, so I know just enough about the industry to get an idea what an advisor is going for. You could always ask that advisor if there is a possibility to buy the same funds in a managed account, where you just pay an annual fee (maybe around 1%) and not have to pay a front load fee. This is an ideal type of an account for someone who would be pretty active with your investments, because you wouldn't get charged for buying and selling. A front loaded fund makes more sense if you were to invest, and probably just let it sit for years (not be too active in trading). Remember, inside a mutual fund, the fund managers are buying and selling stocks to meet the objective of the fund, so you don't really need to buy and sell funds themselves, too often. Typically only if they underperform their peers for a couple years in a row and if their rating goes down.

You didn't do anything wrong (at least to my knowledge) in posting this. I do think JosephC was just saying, that's a big chunk of money, and she probably is better off talking with someone. My advice however, is there are a lot of sharks that will want that money to invest, and may not offer great advice. So I think it's always good to meet with multiple people, or have someone you trust, take a look at what is recommended, to make sure it's legit. I think the average investor can do a decent job, just by doing proper generic allocations, looking at fund ratings and expenses. Because this will be in a taxable account (I assume), I think this is where an advisor could really help. Help manage the investments with regards to taxes. Again, this is where you have to be careful, because some insurance or investment people may try to get you to invest in something long term like an annuity or life insurance, and it may not be the best move. Always ask an advisor why they are advising an investment and what their take is. I think people on here generally try to help and look out for each other on here. So what is her long term plan for this money? What if something happens and she needs it sooner than 10 years or more? Would she use part of it for a big purchase, ie. downpayment on a house? All things you have to think about. A lot of times we have great intentions, but you'd hate to have a situation where you invest it all in mutual funds, the market tanks and it's only worth half, and you are forced to take it out and lock in a big loss. edit: I just went back and skimmed earlier posts that I hadn't read. You also want to make sure you are diversifying by cap size and growth vs value stocks. So within domestic and international ratio, you want to make sure you are touching on all those areas. Usually in a fund analysis, it will have a dot in a tic tac toe looking grid, on where the fund lands. Large, mid, or small cap and also a growth or value fund. Ideally you have a foot in each area. Large cap funds tend to be the safest equity investments, so most people have a much higher percentage there. You can do more research on this to see what is appropriate for your goals (risk/reward).

Watched that a few times. I still love watching an episode of COPS here and there. So is this show really live or just made to look live? Always wanted to know....or maybe I don't want to know if it's the wrong answer.

FVBrewerfan- I forgot Fargo!!! Is there any news on season 4? That show is so good.

I'm not watching a ton right now, but the ones I am watching, I really enjoy. Homeland - Going to start the new season any day here now. So intense! The Americans - I really enjoy this and it seems like they've gotten in to their stride again the last few years. Spying, Russia, 80s, what more could you ask for? Game of Thrones - Who's not watching it? I really think I'd enjoy Superstore and believe you've brought it up a few times in the past. I'll have to get on it. I need a few comedies in my life! I started watching re-runs of the office because I've been too lazy to find something else. I want to start watching: Silicone Valley Stranger Things

Retirement and income is different for every person, so if you feel comfortable with that amount annually, then that's cool. I do think you want to have cushion when possible. Couple thoughts on your plan * As another poster said, you may want to reconsider paying off your house so quickly. For some people, not having a payment is a huge relief, so you can't put a price tag on that. With the lower rate on your insurance compared to what you should get for return on investment, a lot of times you are better off not paying off your house. Also understanding Time Value of Money is important when deciding saving now vs later. * Would you consider getting part time jobs now to save more money, since you are already putting off having kids? That could set you up really nice, working hard now so you can retire early. * Would you consider working part time jobs in early retirement, so you didn't have to touch your retirement money until later, so you don't have penalties? If you could go part time and make enough to live off o,f and not add more to retirement, or take any out, you'd let that money grow even more! Just some thoughts. Future value calculators are really fun to play around with.

Wow that is a good saying! I guess I'm a duchshund as well. I think Stearns is taking the known here, for the unknown. Could we end up losing some great players? Yes. But we are getting rewarded with a great player and less risk. I don't claim to be well versed in players the minors, where I can offer strong opinions, but I know I like what we got.

NeedMoreFans - Yes, a lot of letters of recommendation come from people you no longer work with. A lot of scenarios, it's tough to ask for a recommendation letter from your current employer. I would imagine, in your scenario, a current administrator would likely be happy to help you though.

My two best investments have been Anacott Steel and Farrow Tech.

DHonks - great point on getting conservative close to retirement. I'm of the belief that when you retire, you hopefully have 20, 30, 40 more years to have your money working for you. It's smart to get a little more conservative, but you definitely don't want to put everything in to bonds when you retire.

Simple way to look at it is if you invest properly in equity based mutual funds/ETFs, you can typically bank on ***7-10% returns over a 10 year period (also assuming this is in your retirement account so you aren't paying taxes on gains). That will fluctuate from year to year, so you need to remember this is long term. Compare that to the interest rate you are paying on your loan. If it's close, it's probably up for debate. If one is quite a bit higher, that will tell you where to put your money. I guess you should also figure in the fact that money that would go towards your loan would be taxed as income. Money going in to your 401k would not get taxed. Added benefit to saving for retirement. You also get to write off your student loan interest amount. I was lucky to consolidate my loans right out of college at an extremely low rate. Rates were super low. I've decided my money is better off invested in retirement as apposed to paying off my loan. Higher interest rate loans/credit cards should always take precedence over the retirement money, in my opinion. Just my two cents. ***I didn't have the time to double check that figure. I used to be in the financial planning industry and I believe that was the figure that was usually thrown around. You could ask a financial planner or probably get that online, but I believe that to be the number roughly when looking at what the market has returned on average.

I've always thought the best way to figure out the stock market a bit is to pick a company or industry you already know something about. Like if you are in to video games. Which company do you think is coming out with content ahead of its time. Take that company and start researching it more. Than compare it to some other companies and figure out which one has the best long term potential. If you already know a lot about the topic, it's much easier to start to figure out which companies might be good stocks to target. I would highly suggest that your first purchase (or couple) should be companies that you want to own longer term. It's much more complicated to go in with the mindset that you are only looking to buy and then sell a week later for a profit. Look for something you can hold for a couple years because you think their long term potential is there. Next bit of advice is don't overreact to news once you own the stock. If you sell every time a bit of bad news comes out, you will lose. If the main reasons you picked the stock in the first place, haven't changed, you should continue to believe in that company. Just my two cents, but I think diving in to something you already enjoy and have some opinion on, can make this very enjoyable.

Hey that sounds like you made the right decision. I think it sounds like you are in a solid situation and there is room for you to grow there. Enjoying your job and the people around you is more important than a little extra money. That is always nice but it wears off after a short time and then you are left with day to day frustration (if you take a job just for more money). Some day an opportunity might come a long that is worth the risk, but doesn't seem like this one was. Good luck.

Yes, I think that is somewhat the norm these days. Part of the reason they do it is to make sure they don't have someone who can talk a big game, but doesn't have the ability to back it up. As a recruiter, I always tell the people I work with, if you like your job but are underpaid, ask for a raise. I'm sure most companies have policy on this, how often you can do that, but maybe this would be a good time. Make a case for why you feel you are underpaid for your skill set and the worst they can do is say no.

Congrats Game05! Glad it is finally working out!

High risk high reward. If you think you will always regret not going, then go. If you think it will be out of your mind in a few months, then stay.