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poniedziałek, 23 kwietnia 2012

Reader Mailbag: Mowing

33comments ShareApril 16, 2012 @ 8:00 am - Written by Trent
Categories: Reader Mailbag
Bookmarks: del.icio.us, reddit

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to five word summaries. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. Dried versus fresh produce
2. Gencon
3. Emergency fund planning
4. Figuring out primary focus
5. Baseball on the cheap
6. Spending excess savings
7. Major lifestyle change
8. Boys or girls night out
9. Overspending for work parties
10. Refinance or cash in investments?

One of the surest signs that spring is here to stay is the emergence of rapidly growing green grass.

Few things mark the passing of the seasons quite like pulling out the lawnmower, replacing the gas and oil, and firing it up for some laps around the yard.

Q1: Dried versus fresh produce
My husband and I have recently begun purchasing freeze-dried produce instead of fresh because we never seem to be able to use up our fresh produce before it goes bad. I was wondering if you would be willing to do the math to see if we are actually saving any money doing it this way. The great thing about freeze-dried produce is that it comes pre-washed and pre-cut, so the preparation time is basically zero and the produce lasts for years (instead of days). We’ve had great success using these ingredients in place of fresh vegetables in nearly all of the dishes we’ve made, but I wanted to get an idea of how much extra money this strategy may cost (or perhaps, save!).
- Kelly

This is a comparison that’s extremely hard to quantify because of the wide variability in prices. You will likely be able to find specific instances where dried fruits and vegetables are at an equal cost to fresh and other instances where the difference between the two is enormous.

I prefer using fresh produce, for several reasons. The biggest reason is that fresh produce is generally more nutrient-rich than dried produce, which is something I look out for. Most of the time, I find it to be less expensive as well, and the flavors are sharper.

However, I certainly see value in having dried produce on hand as a backup option. We have several examples of dried produce in our home, from dried tomatoes to raisins, and we certainly use them.

Q2: Gencon
You’ve said many times that one of your splurges is a trip to Gencon with some of your friends. What is Gencon? I read about it online but I don’t get it.
- Andy

Gencon is an annual non-electronic gaming convention, held each August in Indianapolis. Last year, 36,000 people attended. There were people there of all ages, from little kids to college students to parents to elderly couples. It’s mostly just a giant convention center filled with people playing non-electronic games of all varieties – board games, card games, and so on.

I typically drive out there the day before with a friend or two and usually stay in a hotel room with several friends and it becomes very much a “summer camp” type of atmosphere, with lots of joking and talking about what we did that day. I also tend to run into people that I know there from the events of previous years, so there’s a lot of socializing.

In a few years, I plan on taking my son to Gencon with me, and my wife has expressed mild interest in going for at least one year (she’s much more in favor of playing games with friends she already has rather than building new friendships).

It ends up being pretty inexpensive for the time I spend there and the enjoyment I get out of it.

Q3: Emergency fund planning
I was wondering what your thoughts are on when to grow an emergency fund to 4-6 months and when to pay off debt. Our example: My wife and I have a take home pay of $70,000. We both contribute effectively 9% (including employer match) to our 401k. We have 45k of student loans at about 5%, two car loans, both of which are about half-way home, one at 6% and one at 4.4%. We just bought a house, conventional loan, with 7.5% down, and got the sellers to pay the PMI buy-out. That is at 3.75% fixed. We have 5k in the bank and no credit debt.

We are both in our mid-twenties. Our mininum monthly expenses on these loans, plus utilities and necessities, and insurance, is about $3,000/month. We are bringing in about $5,800/month. We spend about 4,400/month realistically. I am confident we could cut that to $3,500 in an emergency. Last year, 2011, we saved $20,000 for the house down payment. I know you wouldn’t recommend it but that also doubled as our emergency fund. We never tapped into it.

Now, it’s time to make a real emergency fund for emergencies only. But, is what we already have enough (5k), and we should tackle debt now, or should we save up to $20,000 again before we tackle these secured debts?
- Danielle

Given that you don’t have any high interest debt, if I were you, I would establish an emergency fund equal to four months of your shared expenses. How much do you spend, together, on everything over a period of four months? That’s the emergency fund I would shoot for in this situation.

Once you have that, I would start knocking down the debts in order of interest, starting with the highest. IN this case, it looks like your highest debt is 7.5%, so I’d start there.

As for your retirement, I’d consider contributing a little more. The generally accepted range is between 10 and 15%. One good way for you to do this would be to open your own Roth IRA and contribute 3% (or so) of your income to it each year.

Q4: Figuring out primary focus
I’m 23, graduated in May 2011 with about $35K in student loans; I have been at my current job for 6 months now making 40K. I recently consolidated my student loans so I have two: a Direct loan for $25K at 6% fixed, and a private loan for 9K at 4.25% currently, variable up to 25%. I just signed up through my company’s 403B plan to contribute 6% of my paycheck, which will max out their matching at 3%, so 9% of my salary will go towards that. I also opened up a Roth IRA with $50 but haven’t done anything with that yet. I have no savings (yet). I have about $1200/month left over after living expenses and other “needs”. What is the best way to use this money?

I don’t know what is more “important” as far as what to pay down or save for first. I was thinking of putting most of it towards my private student loan since the interest rate is variable, but it’s been at 4.25% since 2008 when I got it and I just read on your blog you recommend paying down the loan with the current highest interest rate first. So should I put that towards my Direct Loan? Or should I pay the minimums on both and max out my Roth IRA? Also, I have no emergency savings at all, so should I focus on that first? I don’t know what I should be focusing on.
- Lucy

Since none of your loans are what I would call high interest, I would focus on making an emergency fund first, so you can handle things like an unexpected job loss. I would funnel my spare money into a savings account until I had two months of living expenses stored up (I usually suggest two months of emergency fund per dependent).

After that, I would start hammering away at the debts. I would pay down the debts in order of their current interest rate, starting with the highets. Don’t worry yourself about what they might do. The only time I would worry about it is if a major adjustment were imminent, one that would shift the order of your debts.

I would suggest contributing between 1% and 3% of your annual income to your Roth IRA, starting today. That way, your total retirement savings is between 10% and 12%, which is a good number given that you’re starting relatively young.

Q5: Baseball on the cheap
You’ve talked many times about how you’re a big baseball fan. How do you follow games without spending a ton of money on a big TV package?
- Donald

I usually listen to games on the radio rather than watching them. I find that when I watch baseball, I usually end up in a stupor after staring at the television for that long. If I listen on the radio while doing something, I can follow the game pretty well and still accomplish some things.

The only way I enjoy watching a game is at a ballpark, and there is nothing that compares to that. If I lived anywhere in the Chicagoland area, I’d probably own Cubs season tickets.

My primary way of following the game is through statistics. Yeah, I’m one of those stat-heads. I love looking at stats like WHIP and win shares and such to evaluate players.

Q6: Spending excess savings
My husband and I have nearly $48K in savings. We only need $18K for our 6 month emergency fund, leaving about $30,000 to “play” with. The only debts we have are students loans: mine – $33K @ 6%, his – $1,900 @ 4.5%. However, I recently joined my company’s pension and realized I need to pay back a $20K for the years I should have joined (I know, I know). And of course, being a young couple in our early thirties, we want to have a baby (fertility permitting) next year and save for a home (purchase within 3-5 years). What are your suggestions about what to do? Pay off the pension debt? Loans? Save like crazy for baby? Continue growing the house fund?
- Nina

The biggest reason you would need to save for a baby is if you’re planning on quitting your job when the baby arrives. If you’re simply going to take maternity leave and return to work after the baby’s arrival, you don’t need to save up that much. What will happen instead is a lifestyle change, one that you’ll simply have to adjust to, where you don’t go out as much both for financial reasons and because of the child.

Assuming that you’re returning to work, I would pay off the pension debt before anything else. You need to secure your retirement, and that’s probably the best way for you to do so.

Once the pension debt is repaid, tackle his student loan first. This goes against the usual “pay in order of interest rate” advice, but his balance is really low and with a baby on the way you’ll be glad to have one less required payment to worry about.

Q7: Major lifestyle change
I am 31 and work in a mid level executive position in a firm. I enjoy my job to an extent, but the hours and pressure of the new job are tremendous. Also I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur and that constantly lingers in my brain each day.

My issue is – should I leave my current setup, and move to another city entirely where our Corp HQ (and my boss) is located?

The PROS of moving -
1 – Far more visibility in the job..also will make things easier because of face to face interactions with crucial people.
2 – Very free lifestyle in terms of not having to think of the whole household but just us 3.

The CONS -
1 – Higher expenses – for .e.g I will pay rentals in the most expensive city in India..while I’ve never paid a rent before.
2 – My wife won’t have much to do – we may explore job options but as a Physiotherapist we may choose to look after the kid rather than burn hours at a low paying job.

I know I haven’t done a good job of this question.. there’s a lot of other things at play here..for e.g. the need of my wife and I to live a ‘nuclear’ lifestyle for a while because our marriage is a bit of a rocky one and staying with parents hasn’t remedied that… the fact that we suffered financial losses early in our marriage and I have finally reached a point where I have some ‘extra fun’ money.. or the fact that we haven’t had a ‘couple only’ vacation after our honeymoon in 6 yrs of marriage.. you get the point.
- Roger

I think that this potential career move is secondary to whatever you need to do to get your marriage on firm ground. In our life, any career move that either one of us would make is secondary to the strength of our marriage, because without each other, everything in life would be much harder.

Which avenue is best for your marriage? Which avenue would make your wife happier with the situation? You need to sit down together and talk about this.

You can earn all the money in the world, but none of it is worth much if you had to sacrifice most of what you personally held dear to achieve it.

Q8: Boys or girls night out
Do you think it’s appropriate for members of a couple to spend an evening or two a week out with the “gals” or the “guys”?
- Alice

If both members are happy with it, I think it’s completely fine.

My wife has been involved in quite a few shorter-term projects that have taken her out of the house one night a week (and sometimes two nights). These things tend to come and go – singing groups and so on.

I have one night a week where I get together with two close friends of mine and play board games. We play at the home of the one friend who is a bachelor. Imagine a “guy’s poker night” and you’re probably roughly in the ballpark.

We both value these nights out and we both value how much it means to our partner to have that night of freedom. I know that Sarah really enjoys her singing groups, and she knows that I enjoy playing games with the boys. It works well for both of us.

Q9: Overspending for work parties
I’m an American currently living in Japan teaching English as an Assistant Teacher through the JET Program. Just for background information, the program places participants in rural areas of Japan and we teach English at the local schools (from elementary to high school). My contract is with my city’s local Board of Education (BOE) and I rotate between 5 schools throughout the month teaching English. This job is temporary and my contract will end in Summer of 2013.

My job has many formal work social events. There’s a End of the Year party in December, New Years Party in January, Staff Trip in February (traveling to a nearby prefecture in Japan), Farewell Party for leaving staff in March, Welcome Party for new staff in April, and other various smaller scale parties throughout the year. Each of the formal events costs significant amount of money because it’s usually unlimited alcohol and at expensive hotels or restaurants. It is encouraged (but mandatory if you’re Japanese) to attend these parties because this is how the Japanese bond with their colleagues. But the expenses for these parties add up. I spent about $225.00 (with the current exchange rate) in the past two weeks going to three parties. While I want to participate, I have a hard time justifying the costs. I don’t drink so I don’t benefit from the unlimited alcohol (my coworkers love to drink!) and because there’s so much mingling and talking I don’t get a chance to actually eat the expensive food I’m paying for.

So my question is this: Is it worth attending these parties just to bond with my coworkers? These work parties let me experience Japanese work culture and I’m grateful that they even invite me. But I spend so much on these parties. I want to save the money I make here so that I can enroll into graduate school when I come home. Yet I am also worried my work relations will be negatively affected if I refuse to go to the parties. There are still parties that I already gave a verbal rsvp to and I’m regretting it now.
- Kelly

For me, the question would be whether or not I was developing a career-long relationship with these people. Are you going to be continuing the relationships you are building here in ten years? Twenty?

If you’re doing this just for the culture of the situation, then it sounds like you’ve already absorbed your fill of it and there’s no reason for you to go for that reason.

In other words, I’d drop out of this party scene if you know that your contract is ending in 2013 and you’re sure that you’re going to return to the United States and you know that these relationships are not career-lasting. If you’re hoping to stay long term and build career-length relationships, I would look at the party cost as being an expense of your career.

Q10: Refinance or cash in investments?
I am sending my second son to college this coming fall so I will have two kids in college. Neither child received much financial aid because I have $267K that I inherited 12 years ago. I put this money in Vanguard and it has been growing. I am wondering if I should take money out to pay for college, which will be about $30K for the next two years and then $20K for the next year or two after or should I refinance my home and take some money out that way? Currently my gross salary is $54K and I owe $69K on my mortgage. I contribute to my Roth IRA and have 15% taken out of my salary for retirement which won’t be for another 20 years. I have about 7 years left on my mortgage which is at an interest rate of 3.875% and no other debt. Thank you.
- Connie

Given your low interest rate, I don’t think refinancing will help you very much. If I were you, I would withdraw what is needed to pay for their education from the Vanguard account and, when they’re done with school, use the remainder of that money to pay off the mortgage.

In truth, this comes down to how you want to spend that money. Do you want to cover their full education? If you do, then make sure it’s covered.

I would not do anything to add to my debt load if I had that much money sitting in the bank, particularly given that you’ve also got healthy retirement savings.

Got any questions? Email them to me or leave them in the comments and I’ll attempt to answer them in a future mailbag (which, by way of full disclosure, may also get re-posted on other websites that pick up my blog). However, I do receive hundreds of questions per week, so I may not necessarily be able to answer yours.

Related Posts
Some Thoughts on Comparative Advantage
The Fundamental Ingredients for Financial Success
The Simple Dollar Weekly Roundup: Two Reader Mailbags Per Week (?) Edition
The Lawn Care Dilemma: How Much Time And Effort Should You Spend?
Saving Pennies or Dollars? Electric and Gas Lawnmowing
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Comments #1 Todd @ 8:12 am April 16th, 2012

If you’re using WHIP as your statistic of evidence to support calling yourself a Stat Head, then you’re not really a stat head.

#2 Johanna @ 8:23 am April 16th, 2012

Q8: Yes, absolutely it’s appropriate…

#3 Johanna @ 8:24 am April 16th, 2012

…and if your partner’s not happy with it…

#4 Johanna @ 8:25 am April 16th, 2012

…I’d ask why. Trying to control…

#5 Johanna @ 8:25 am April 16th, 2012

…your partner’s outside friendships is a…

#6 Johanna @ 8:26 am April 16th, 2012

…sign of an unhealthy relationship.

#7 Johanna @ 8:27 am April 16th, 2012

Just make sure you’re not going out so much…

#8 Johanna @ 8:27 am April 16th, 2012

…that you’re shouldering your partner with an…

#9 Johanna @ 8:30 am April 16th, 2012

…unfair share of work at home.

#10 Riki @ 8:37 am April 16th, 2012

If a relationship requires you . . .

#11 Riki @ 8:58 am April 16th, 2012

. . . to give up your entire life . . .

#12 Riki @ 9:04 am April 16th, 2012

. . . then it isn’t a healthy relationship.

#13 Izabelle @ 9:40 am April 16th, 2012

Time apart is essential. It keeps each partner interesting and interested.

#14 Laura in ATL @ 9:48 am April 16th, 2012

@Johanna and @Riki? Im just curious . . . are you posting in multiple posts on purpose? Or is Trnt’ssite doing that? Not a criticism, just curious, is all.

#15 Riki @ 10:00 am April 16th, 2012

Short posts seem to be the only way to get through moderation. Nothing else goes through.

#16 Steven @ 10:11 am April 16th, 2012

If you have to ask permission to have a life outside of your relationship, it’s probably time to get out of that relationship.

#17 Laura in ATL @ 10:27 am April 16th, 2012

Thanks, Riki . . . That is what I thought, but I wasn’t sure. Traffic has slowed to a CRAWL here. Quite sad.

#18 Evita @ 10:38 am April 16th, 2012

#9 Can you space out the parties ? attend one in three ?

#19 Evita @ 10:39 am April 16th, 2012

#9 If you quit suddenly, your colleagues might feel insulted.

#20 Jackson @ 11:24 am April 16th, 2012

Iowa Cubs (and other minor league teams)…

#21 Jackson @ 11:27 am April 16th, 2012

…frugal alternative to MLB…

#22 Jackson @ 11:28 am April 16th, 2012

…can you imagine Trent bringing his home brew to Wrigley…

#23 Jackson @ 11:30 am April 16th, 2012

…the beer vendors need to make money, too…urban bean pickers.

#24 jim @ 11:35 am April 16th, 2012

Why not just buy frozen veggies? Freeze dried has to be more expensive than frozen.

#25 Kelly @ 11:38 am April 16th, 2012

I agree, Jim.

#26 jim @ 12:04 pm April 16th, 2012

Pair of season tickets for Cubs would run >$3000.

#27 jim @ 12:07 pm April 16th, 2012

Why would going out 1-2 times a week be a problem?

#28 MARIA @ 12:36 pm April 16th, 2012

Leaving 9 four word comments is a sign of an unhealthy relationship also.

#29 K @ 2:17 pm April 16th, 2012

since we are all here, why does having a paperless filing system make me save money- it is a big jump to no paper record clutter to saving money.

#30 Tracy @ 2:31 pm April 16th, 2012

@K
I’ve thought the entire ‘eliminating clutter saves money’ series has been a huge stretch.

#31 Katie @ 2:42 pm April 16th, 2012

I guess you save on printer cartridges and paper but yeah, kind of a stretch.

#32 Katie @ 2:43 pm April 16th, 2012

Also, you can tell Trent lives in a low COL area; in D.C., I cannot afford extra space for possessions full stop.

#33 Teresa @ 9:35 pm April 16th, 2012

Q7-If you are referring to your child as “the kid” and raising him or her as “looking after” then you may want to focus more on centering your life around your wife and child rather than moving and taking on more stress beyond your current situation. You can make all the money in the world, but it won’t matter if you aren’t a good father and husband.

niedziela, 22 kwietnia 2012

Reader Mailbag: Listening

23comments ShareApril 19, 2012 @ 8:00 am - Written by Trent
Categories: Reader Mailbag
Bookmarks: del.icio.us, reddit

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to five word summaries. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. Handling surprise bonus
2. Reporting suspected crimes
3. Car purchase difficulties
4. Diversification question
5. Protein in diet
6. Investing in vintage sports cards
7. Roth TSP?
8. Recovery in multiple ways
9. How to start selling items
10. Great dryer sheet tactic

Have you ever entered a conversation where your only goal is to listen and completely understand what the other person is saying?

I made a conscious effort to practice this skill quite often this week. I mostly did it by simply listening to what they were saying and then either rewording it in my own words to make sure I understood or ask a clarifying question.

What I found was that people loved to talk to me and they often felt like we had bonded after our conversation.

People yearn to be listened to.

Q1: Handling surprise bonus
My wife recently got a letter saying that she will be receiving a bonus of about $500 after taxes. This was not budgeted into our plan.

My question is this: We have been following a budget for the last several months and have categories built for most of our expenses (We just celebrated our first year of marriage, and didn’t combine our planning etc. until recently as we both have careers mine for the last 12 years.)

We are on a 4 year plan to pay off our c/c debt as well as most of a student loan, and have started an emergency fund. We are renting within our budget about 925 per month. Food costs are pretty reasonable. (we’re Vegan, and have found that eating this way is not only cheaper, but far more energy boosting and sustainable for our local area) Car we paid for in Cash.

Should we take the funds and fund our Emergency fund quicker? Put the extra funds towards paying down a card a bit faster? Or invest in Food/Silver/Gold for the coming Collapse (a bit tongue in cheek, but I am worried about the state of our fiat currency system.) We live in a City and have connected with a community and are learning how to garden etc.
- Alex

If you don’t have an adequate emergency fund, I’d put that money into your emergency fund. You’ll be incredibly glad to have it the next time an emergency happens and you don’t have to bring on additional debt to make it happen.

How much of an emergency fund should you have? I’d target having one that equals two months of living expenses for each dependent in your home once you have your high-interest debts paid off. Before that, I’d have an emergency fund of about $1,000.

I have mixed feelings about the food and gold investments. Gold is a very volatile investment. If you buy it, you’ll probably get some return on your money, but it’s going to be a very bumpy ride as long as you hold it. I personally would not buy gold while I was holding significant debt.

Q2: Reporting suspected crimes
A few days ago, I witnessed what appeared to be the tail end of an armed robbery. I considered calling the police, but I didn’t for a variety of reasons (I was in a hurry, I didn’t know for sure what was going on, etc.). Since then, I’ve been troubled by the whole thing. Is it my obligation to always report anything like that? What would you do?
- Angela

My rule of thumb is that I will report crimes in which someone or someone’s property is being damaged without their consent. No one deserves to be hurt or to be stolen from. I generally won’t report crimes in which everyone involved is consenting in the behavior. In that case, I just don’t view it as anything I need to pay any attention to. People should be left alone.

The tricky area is when someone is engaging in a behavior that could easily lead to damage of someone or someone’s property without their consent, such as drunk driving. I would lean toward reporting these situations, but it’s often a gut call.

In the chaos of the moment, like this one, I think it’s hard to criticize someone’s snap decision to report or to not report something when they’re an innocent bystander. It’s incredibly hard to tell what someone is interpreting in the heat of the moment. In other words, I really don’t think you did anything wrong.

Q3: Car purchase difficulties
My wife and I currently share a car (a wonderful 2007 Honda Civic with 110k miles), but I’ll soon be starting a job where I’ll need a car, rather than being able to rely on DC’s excellent public transit system. We’re currently considering small SUVs (e.g., Subaru Outback, Toyota Rav-4). We’re looking at cars of this size because we’re planning on starting a family in the relatively near future, and need the space when we take long drives (say from DC to Massachusetts) with a child, a 40lbs dog, and a cat (in a carrier). What’s frustrating is that we’ll only need a car that size for, at most, 40 hours of driving per year; the rest of the time, we could get by with a sedan that costs less and gets better gas mileage (Camry, Optima, etc.). Is there a way to get around this, such as renting a small SUV for the long trips, or are we stuck getting a bigger car than we need most of the time?
- John

It depends entirely on how frequent the trips are and whether you’d really use the vehicle at other times.

For example, if you travel twice a year on a long trip and you won’t use the vehicle for much else, the total cost of just renting will probably be cheaper compared to the cost of buying a big SUV versus a tiny economy car. On the other hand, if you travel once a month and will use the size for other purposes, then you’re likely better owning your own SUV.

Your first step is to really figure out how you’re going to be using it, in other words. The more frequently you use it, the more I’d lean toward ownership.

Q4: Diversification question
I am a budget junkie and like to run all sorts of numbers on my monthly expenses and savings. Recently I started looking at the big picture of my investments and am concerned that either I am not too diversified (have too much in stocks) or have too much cash on hand that is earning no interest and decreasing in value over time with inflation.

I am 32 with a single income family. I save 10% of my gross income in 401K and of save approx. 25% of my monthly take home pay each month. Over time I have been able to save about $114K in various investments with no debt. My diversification so far is,
Cash – $31K – 27% – Earning no interest, sitting in bank
FD/CD – $9K – 8% – Earning 10% interest, off-shore account with Tax implications
401K – $42K – 37% – Invested in a Target 2040 retirement fund, mix of traditional 401K and Roth 401K
Stocks – $32K – 28% – Invested in Stocks & ETF

As you can see almost 65% of my money is tied to the stock market directly through individual investments and indirectly through 401K and I almost have a year’s worth of emergency funds easily accessible in cash. How should I further diversify my money or how should I rebalance so I have the right mix.
- Charlie

I wouldn’t consider my 401(k) in this analysis, as it’s invested in a target retirement fund and will essentially diversify by itself.

As for the rest of it, I would spend some time evaluating your goals. What are you wanting to do with this money? Buy a house? Start a small business? Retire really early? Figure out your goal, then diversify based on that goal. If it’s far away, be heavily into stocks. If it’s close, slide things more into cash.

Also, if you’re truly getting 0% for your cash, consider a different bank. You should be at least getting 0.5% for that cash.

Q5: Protein in diet
How do you get enough protein on a vegan or vegetarian diet? You’ve been on both. How do you get your protein?
- Emily

Beans.

That’s the simple answer, anyway. I ate a lot of beans when I was vegan – at least once per day, on average. Chili. Bean soup. Tacos or burritos.

If you’re vegetarian, you have lots of sources for protein because milk and eggs are available to you.

Q6: Investing in vintage sports cards
I’m 70 years old. One of my most treasured possessions is a box of baseball cards I have from my childhood with some of my favorite players on the cards. My favorite players were the big sluggers like Ted Kluszewski and Roger Maris.

I know that the really old baseball cards like these have held their value over a long period of time so that they’re fairly good investments. I just retired in January and my wife passed away recently and so now I have more money than I know what to do with but I do want to leave something of value behind for my kids and grandkids.

I’ve been thinking about investing some of my money into other baseball cards. They would bring me some personal enjoyment now and would hold their value until I pass away and then my kids could sell them. What do you think of this as a plan?
- Larry

Collectibles are a reasonable thing to invest in provided you’re okay with losing your shirt completely on the investment. Quite often, people invest in collectibles because there is additional personal value from that investment, as with the baseball cards in your case.

I would not invest a dime that you would regret not having if you lived another fifteen years. The market for any collectible rests heavily on the presence of willing buyers, and that’s always fraught with some uncertainty. If you are absolutely sure that you have excess money, then use only that excess money to buy.

Given my own experience, I would stick with investing only in professionally graded cards, where the condition of the cards has been professionally certified. Condition is often a big metric in the value of sports cards. I would also stick with vintage cards – the older, the better. I used to collect Goudy Gum cards from the 1930s, for example.

Q7: Roth TSP?
I work for the federal government, so I have access to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). Not too long from now they will be introducing a Roth TSP option, which looks to me like the basic TSP with after-tax contribution. Would you agree that this option is enticing? Would I be in any way better off choosing to stick with my normal TSP or by choosing a traditional Roth IRA (assuming that rates are higher when I retire and that I stay with the Government for a while)

For a bit of background, I’m a 24-year-old, fresh out of college, making about 55k/year pre-tax. I currently put 5% (matched) into my TSP, am building an emergency fund, and am paying off about 30k in student loans. I’ve managed to pay off all other debt :)
- Jeffrey

I agree that a Roth TSP is a great option for federal employees. More choices are always a good thing.

From what I’ve read, matching funds that you receive from your employer will go into the traditional TSP, not the Roth TSP. If that’s the case, I would probably fund the Roth TSP fully for the foreseeable future.

Why? I think it’s a good idea to balance Roth and regular TSP money. At this point, Jeff has money already in his TSP and his matching money will continue to go into his TSP. Thus, if he’s trying to balance things, he should put his money into the Roth.

Q8: Recovery in multiple ways
Two years ago, I became a drug addict. I tried something at a party and soon I felt like I couldn’t live without it. I destroyed my marriage. I lost my kids. I lost pretty much every possession I ever owned.

I’m now 29 years old and living with my parents. I’ve been clean for three months, but now I’m starting over financially and emotionally and in every other way. I’ve pretty much bombed my career path, too.

I’ve read a lot of advice books on where to go from here but I still feel lost. What do I do to get my career restarted again? What steps can I take to start a financial recovery?
- Margaret

Get your life right, first and foremost. Don’t worry about your career yet. Instead, make sure your health – physical, mental, and emotional – is as strong as you can get it.

Your options moving forward depend on a lot of things. Do you have a criminal record now? If you’ve been convicted of a felony, you may want to ask for some help in moving forward in the workplace. Is your credit still in good shape? I’d check my credit report (use annualcreditreport.com which is the free site provided by the federal government) and make sure everything on there is legitimate.

If you really burnt bridges in your previous career and can’t draw on references there, you may want to consider a new career path. This may involve going to trade school or going back to college, depending on what you want.

I’d also invest a lot of time in building a completely new social circle. I have had friends that have gone through a similar crisis as you and the best thing they did was ditching virtually all of their old circle and finding new people to associate with. Look in different places than you were looking before. If I were you, I’d think about things that interest you and seek out social opportunities related to those things.

Q9: How to start selling items
I am drowning in clutter. I want to sell things on Amazon, Craigs List and Ebay. But where and how do you start. I literally have one room filled to the rim with stuff. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
- Linda

Your best bet would be to head to your local library and look for some basic books on selling on Craigslist and eBay and Amazon Marketplace. Most libraries will have some wonderful beginner books on the topic that explain, step by step, how to do it.

I’d also start slow. Don’t start out by listing 100 items or you’ll be overwhelmed. Take it slow and list just a few items at a time.

I’d also not get stressed out about the return you expect to get on the items. Many people expect to get maximum dollar for every item, and that’s simply not going to happen. Make sure that your cost of shipping is covered and that you’re earning a bit more, too, and be happy with that. Sinking many hours into a sale just to get $2 more is not worth it, especially when a big part of the goal is decluttering.

Q10: Great dryer sheet tactic
I re-use my used dryer sheets to clean out the bathroom sink, or cut soapy scum in the shower – they are amazing for that easy chore. Try it – you’ll like it.
- Lee

I did try it. I used a pair of old dryer sheets to clean out some soap scum in my shower – and it worked really well.

Obviously, these weren’t as durable as using a scrubber or something like that, but considering that these dryer sheets would otherwise get thrown away, it’s a really good tool.

I’ve started tossing old dryer sheets back into an empty dryer sheet box. I might as well use them for yet another task before I toss them!

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Comments #1 Tracy @ 8:20 am April 19th, 2012

Q2 “In other words, I really don’t think you did anything wrong.”

I’d say *Angela* feels like she made the wrong choice – that’s why she’s guilty today. Which, if you feel like you probably should have reported it, you probably should have. But you can’t go back and change the past, so let go of the guilt and resolve what you will do in the future.

#2 Johanna @ 8:22 am April 19th, 2012

Any interest in listening to your readers?

#3 Andrew @ 8:30 am April 19th, 2012

Small SUV vs. mid-size sedan, NOT large SUV vs. tiny economy car! Do you even read the questions?

#4 Evita @ 8:57 am April 19th, 2012

Commenters yearn to be listened to.

#5 Kevin @ 9:02 am April 19th, 2012

Readers have been crying to be heard for weeks.

#6 Andrew @ 9:26 am April 19th, 2012

If a blog fails, and there’s no one around to comment, does it make any difference?

#7 Andrew @ 9:29 am April 19th, 2012

Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang.

#8 Evita @ 10:05 am April 19th, 2012

#2 Angela: Trent did not understand your question.

#9 Evita @ 10:10 am April 19th, 2012

20 words in moderation! dang!

#10 Evita @ 10:11 am April 19th, 2012

# call police if you can help them.

#11 Evita @ 10:14 am April 19th, 2012

Q1 $500 too little for anything but emergency fund.

#12 Kevin @ 12:14 pm April 19th, 2012

9 word comment in moderation

#13 Nick @ 12:50 pm April 19th, 2012

The differences between this site after sale and get rich slowly after sale are astonishing.

#14 Laura in ATL @ 12:51 pm April 19th, 2012

@Nick, I agree – 100%

#15 Tom @ 1:06 pm April 19th, 2012

I also agree with Nick

#16 Troy @ 1:13 pm April 19th, 2012

@Nick, it illustrates the differences between the writers as well.

#17 Evita @ 1:14 pm April 19th, 2012

6-word comment in moderation!

#18 DannyD @ 2:03 pm April 19th, 2012

Q3: Take the time to really look at & sit in, check actual space in small hatchback or wagon vs. a small SUV. You may find the SUV’s in the size range you mention have no more useable space than a hatch or wagon. I traveled with twins for their first 4 years in a small 4 door hatchback. Only upsized when #3 was on the way. Cargo carrier for the rood is an option too to give you more space when needed.

#19 kc @ 3:18 pm April 19th, 2012

Trent couldn’t negotiate with a can of stewed tomatoes and come out on top; J.D. did a great job, and took care to ensure that his site wouldn’t be trashed.

#20 BirdDog @ 5:45 pm April 19th, 2012

I thought the title might imply that Trent was doing just that. Obviously not.

#21 Sandy @ 12:53 am April 20th, 2012

I agree with Tom who agrees with Nick…

#22 Kevin @ 6:07 am April 20th, 2012

What’s the point in even commenting anymore.

#23 Tammy @ 8:42 am April 20th, 2012

I think I will try the dryer sheet idea.