Always Go to the Funeral
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 8:42 PM on April 7, 2008

Another negative: you get a double tax whammy. The money you put in originally was pre-tax, but you'll be paying back your loan, plus interest, with after tax money. When you withdraw that money later in retirement, you'll pay taxes on it again. If you're in the 25% tax bracket, that's like taking out a loan at 33% interest (25% plus whatever the loan interest is, probably 7% - 8%). Your credit cards, bad as they are, probably aren't charging you that much.
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 1:18 PM on April 1, 2008

Not to derail, but I'm pretty sure about being doubly taxed. Let's say you take a loan for $1000 (ignore fees, etc). You buy $1000 worth of hookers and blow. You now have $30 a month deducted from your paycheck for the next 3 years to pay back the loan (you don't have a choice about that, that's how the loans work). That deduction is not a pre-tax deduction though, so you have to earn $40 less your 25% tax to pay back the 30 you owe each month.

Only if you take the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 7:27 PM on April 1, 2008

tachikaze, you're correct that there's no difference in the balance in your accounts, but you're still missing the double taxation. I agree that it has nothing to do with the interest rate.

In case A, when you retire and withdraw that $1000 you didn't borrow from your 401k, it gets taxed at whatever your tax bracket is. It's never been taxed before, having gone into the plan pre-tax, so you end up paying tax on it once.

In case B however, you... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 5:24 AM on April 2, 2008

There is another surgery that's cheaper than TPLO, where they use suture material to reinforce the joint. From what I remember it's not as effective as TPLO, and the dog will likely suffer earlier onset of arthritis in the joint, but it was about 1/2 the cost at the time we looked into it.

We had a pound-rescue pit mix who had a TPLO and promptly blew out the other leg just after fully recovering from the first surgery. Then a second TPLO. We opted for the more... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 1:32 PM on April 1, 2008

As someone who's been in your boat, I think outsourcing is the way to go. Once you have employees there are many additional issues to consider beyond payroll: benefits, worker's comp insurance, local, state and federal labor laws, etc.

I've used Gevity in the past for my company, as well as several of the other co-employment providers. They've all done a pretty good job for me, but they come with some pluses and minuses. On the plus side, you get a complete benefits... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 4:17 AM on March 22, 2008

This only applies if you're building, not buying an existing house, but: don't scrimp on the little stuff. You might think $50 seems like a lot to add an extra outlet in a room, or put in an ethernet or cable drop, but that's peanuts to what you'll pay to do it after the walls are up, and the difference even a couple thousand dollars of those add-ons won't make a huge difference in your monthly payment. Put cable drop drops and ethernet on most walls, it's hard to predict how you'll end up... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 10:40 AM on December 12, 2007

I use GreenFax.
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 8:58 AM on October 16, 2007

I'll put in a plug for Mvelopes, which I've been using for a couple of years. It's more proactive than Quicken, and it can download your transactions to simplify data entry.

I also use Yodlee Moneycenter mentioned by Mr. Gunn, and while it's a great product, I like the proactive features of Mvelopes better for budget and cash-flow management.
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 1:32 PM on October 4, 2007

As paulsc says, employee leasing, also known commonly now as co-employment, is a quick and easy way to get a company up an running with a full benefits package and minimum hassle. I've used it on and off (more on than off), for 13 years in my business.

You and your employees are lumped in with all the other employees of the co-employer, which lets them buy coverage on a larger group of people and offer a wider range of benefits. They handle your payroll, tax payments... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 6:07 PM on September 7, 2007

If you have the time and even a little bit of year space, you should consider growing your own veggies and herbs. Carrots, onions, lettuce, basil, peppers, etc. all take very little offort to grow on a small scale.

Plus, there's nothing like the feeling of satisfaction from chomping down on something pulled fresh from your garden. You just don't get that bringing veggies home from the store.
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 8:54 AM on July 26, 2007

The police will probably ask you to get serial numbers for whatever was taken that might have one. When we were broken into about 7 years ago, the druggies who did it had pawned everything within an hour, and the police were able to use the serial numbers to catch them.
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 6:23 AM on July 17, 2007

I still have this one hanging around my library. Now that I think about it, I've been carting it from place to place for nearly 30 years. Wow.
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 9:58 PM on July 6, 2007

Something like MyFamily.com? I'm sure there are similar sites as well. I remember signing up for some web 2.0 family sharing site about a year ago to check it out, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was now.
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 7:25 PM on June 22, 2007

Awesome, thanks. And of course now that you've posted it I don't know how I missed it in my earlier browsing. Must be similar to change blindness.
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 3:21 AM on June 20, 2007

You might search Global Eco-Village Network for a place near you. Lots of intentional communities and gatherings of people looking to live a more sustainable life.
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 7:11 AM on June 18, 2007

There is a pilot project here in Orlando right now testing buses that burn hydrogen directly.
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 6:00 PM on June 14, 2007

Coincidentally, I took my 5yo ASD son to see a neurologist this morning, and her comment in answer to this question was: "be prepared to fight for any services you want to get from the school system."

She felt that services for ASD in this area weren't very good, and related that she had had more than one client relocate to the northesat (NY, NJ) area because their services were much better.

Counter to the comment by... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 11:08 AM on May 7, 2007

This sounds a lot like what my wife and I did for our honeymoon. We flew into Dublin, and stayed a couple of days doing the tourist sights there. We then spent about 7 days driving to the west coast and then looped down around the coast from west to east back to Dublin.

If we had it to do over again, we would have tried to pick a few choice places and spend more than one day in each, rather than spending a good chunk of each day driving from one B&B to the next.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 2:39 PM on April 26, 2007

If you like the "wiki on a stick" idea, you might also check out TiddlyWiki, another self-contained wiki which can handle plugins and tagging. It comes in various flavors that people have adapted with specific plugins; I use the MonkeyPirateTiddlyWiki (that's the best link I can find to it right now).
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 9:15 AM on February 26, 2007

For something less theme-parky and more nature oriented, you could try the Disney Wilderness Preserve, run by the Nature Conservancy. There's an interesting nature walk; you'll see plenty of cypress trees, longleaf pine, and enough palmetto bush to last a lifetime. There are usually wild turkey and sand hill cranes, and if you're lucky, perhaps a scrub jay or a bald eagle.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 8:24 PM on February 13, 2007

Chiming in late here, but my suggestion is... have a second child. By the time your second one gets to the stage your first is in now, you will have done it all once already, and discovered that nearly everything you fretted so much about with your first child was really no big deal. When baby Betty picks up a cheerio (or something worse) off the floor and stuffs it in her mouth, you'll remember that baby Adam did the same thing at that and and it didn't hurt him one bit. You'll learn to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 11:13 AM on January 26, 2007

I'll not harp on the therapy angle, but it sounds from your post like you have several eminantly fixable problems, but lack the will and/or motivation to get started on them. You feel trapped by your business and debt, and it's hard to see a way out, but it can be done.

I agree with the previous comments that expecting to "get your act together" all at once is more than anyone could possibly expect. Use your perfectionism to your advantage by putting it to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 10:08 PM on January 17, 2007

What about some Footy Pajamas? I'm getting some for my always-cold wife for xmas.
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 8:57 AM on November 28, 2006

To add another anecdotal data point, my son is 4 going on 5, and while it did take him a while to "get it", he is now a wiz at Mario DS on the Nintendo DS. He also has no problem with the touch screen.
I never gave him any instruction, he just enjoyed making Mario run around, and then he figured out how to climb trees, and so on and so forth, until he figured out that he has to collect the star to finish the level. While he isn't able to finish all the levels, he's... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 1:51 PM on November 10, 2006

Check out FolderShare.
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 1:50 PM on July 21, 2006

Check out FIRECalc, it can give you a good picture using historical data of how likely your money will be to last as long as you need.

The Early Retirement Forum is a great resource too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by JohnYaYa at 7:41 AM on June 23, 2006