I haven't built a computer from scratch in 10 years. My wife wants a really good gaming rig so she can play first person shooters because it helps her relax and happy wife happy life. I could buy a pre-built rig, but buying parts individually would be cheaper. I ask two gamer friends what which parts to used based on a budget and they deliver.

This saves me from information paralysis and is good enough for what I need. I don't really need to know why this version of the nvidia card differs from another, or why an AMD is preferable over an Intel. If I ran into a post where people debate the merits of Apple v PC, Vim v Emacs, AMD v Intel, I would probably tune out since it's a matter of personal preference and it won't make a difference.

Relying on someone who knows better than you is a great shortcut and saves time. Your friend gave you some advice Aaron W and I disagreed with. We tried to present as much rationale as possible for why. Your argument was mainly my friend is an insider and it worked without explaining why. Had you said something like, this particular vendor does not like newly opened accounts because they perceive it as a credit risk but will overlook closed accounts, or some other explanation we would be more receptive.

Pretty much you're saying, I trust him and I don't need to know the nuances because it's not worth my time and it's pointless. The context from what I understand was mortgages. That's the biggest purchase most people will make in their lifetime. That's a helluva bet to make on one person without knowing the why.

Thinking about this more, if I were skydiving or put in position where I was forced to pilot a plane because the pilot is incapacitated, I would just do what I was told from the instructor or air traffic control. Just trust your source.

Sick brag.

You can be a little more creative and probably guess better, but let's run with one of those.

The fact that there may be vendors that will overlook closed accounts should give you pause when you state that vendors will notice closed accounts.

Maybe my friend's company uses Wild Bill's Yee Haw Credit Agency because the two CEOs are childhood buddies. Maybe the credit cards I canceled were issued by Indian banks and I wanted to borrow from a Pakistani bank and they were like whoa whoa whoa **** that ****.

When you add up all the exceptions, most everyone ends up being special in some way. Your poker winnings cause a problem because a lender doesn't know what your true income is; your ex wife ran up your cards before she filed for divorce; you're looking for a house out in Discovery Bay even though you work in downtown San Francisco, etc. Almost nobody is "standard," everyone is "special."

This is why I made - and still make - a big deal about trusting people who know you.

On the contrary, I'll put this forward: it's exactly the big, infrequent purchases where you need the most trust.

If you build a computer and **** it up, you basically immediately try again. It is quite possible for you personally to do enough of these in a lifetime that you'd reach "the long run," meaning you personally get to see some rare/exceptional cases.

When you buy a house, it's a low frequency event. You may only buy 1 or 2 in your life. You won't have the experience - ever - to identify unusual situations or corner cases. You'll probably never know whether your application was run of yhe mill, or a slam dunk, or a charity case that the manager approved because your loan agent had big boobs.

And if you don't have options, then you don't have options - you read what you can online, make your best moves, then look up the 1-800 number on the website and cold call it. I'm not knocking that at all.

Finally e-mailed HR per their request, a time frame I am available in the near future for an in-person interview with one of the largest hedge funds in the USA and possibly my dream firm to ever work for.

The salary should be about the same as my current occupation but the growth potential should be much larger at the hedge fund I am interviewing with.

Serious Questions:
1). How much money am I throwing away from Stock Bonuses and 401k employee match that has yet to fully vest?

NOTE: I have worked at my current job for 2 years now. Last annual review/bonus, my stock bonus was 14.5% of salary. Cash bonus was about 12.7% of my salary. 401k employee match is up to 10% of annual salary and 100% of what I contribute monthly up to max.

2). How much salary raise or starting bonus should I expect to receive from the new dream firm taking into account the vesting money I am losing?

3). How much health insurance benefits should I be expecting from the new dream firm I am interviewing with?

NOTE 2: Through the insurance the company I currently work for offers, I currently pay about $30 a month that covers my wife and I for health, dental, and vision insurance. Both my wife and I are in great health and she can get her own health insurance at one of the big 4 account firms she currently works at for about $40 a month.

I'd just prorate it. Say your salary is $100k/year. Then 401k match would be capped at $10k for 2018 for you. We're about 6 months into 2018, so I'd say the loss is approximately $5k for you if you were to quit.

But is the matching at the end of the year or are you seeing it on every paycheck? If it's on every paycheck, I think this means it's already deposited into your 401k account (vested).

If you log into your accounts, it should list the vested and unvested amounts IMO

Thanks.

For example, I maximize employee match every year by contributing at least 10% of salary per month for total of 10%+ of annual salary.

With vesting, even if employer matched your 401k contribution up to 10% of salary, their employer match isn't realized until approximately 6 years.

In turn, my 401k will take a hit no matter what so I just came to accept I'll take the job most likely assuming the salary offer+bonuses are solid since growth potential I'd insanely high if I can maintain a career in a cutthroat industry.

6 years? Da phuck... I guess they're counting on people not being around that long.

I guess I'd still claim it as prorated for purposes of compensation evaluation. I.e., if you were there 2 years, I'd prorate the first year's match at 33% and the second year's at 1/6.

Thanks will do IF I get offer.

Bombed in person interview so will know next week if I got 3rd round interview. Didn't help market went nuts per Tariffs and promised managers and directors were too busy to interview with this week.

OT: Life is still phenomenal since Japan won vs Columbia that day I bombed interview.

Didn't get offer.

Interviewing on no sleep was a bad bad idea but semi-glad since work is starting to become acceptable after taking a week off work with my wife.

SERIOUS QUESTION:
My wife got a promotion in which she will be traveling a lot more for work and I need to buy a car for her.

New/Used/Lease?

Listed below are projected ranking of new/used cars being considered by my wife and I. Any feedback would be highly appreciated since I'm just going to skim US News, post on the last 3 pages of this thread, some other review sites later this week but I know nothing about cars.

Buick (her older sister recommendation)
Honda Acura
Subaru Impreza
Hyundai Elantra
Honda Civic
Toyota Corolla

If you're going to go used, look up the car you're interested in buying in Consumer Reports. Even the best cars have off years, though an off year in a reliable car is likely better than the best year of a bad one. Used makes a ton of financial sense for most people.



There has to be a component of her needs in this. No matter what anyone says, if it doesn't meet her needs, it isn't a good car.


I have a Subaru and they're great cars, however, you're paying a premium for AWD. If you need all weather excellence, great choice. If you don't, why pay for it?


Guessing the Corolla is the most reliable used car, you pay a small name premium. Likely one of the Honda's might be close enough to make you make a value decision.


Leasing is lighting money on fire. It could make sense in some business arrangements where you don't want the business to have an asset, so the car is 100% expense. Basically, the more complicated the arrangement, the less likely it is in your favor.

+1

What do her coworkers drive?

This is a work car, so function takes precedence.

You can't lease, unless you're planning on buying out the car at lease end and want a lower payment in the meantime. Otherwise, the excessive miles will be too expensive.

For the most part, Acura is just a more expensive Honda. Wrt some amenities, Honda actually has more options than it's counterpart. The Honda/Acura relationship is more backwards ass than any of the other Japanese brands w their respective luxury counterparts. So I wouldn't bother w an Acura.

If she's driving lots of miles, even if they are highway miles, I wouldn't purchase a vehicle with 50k+ miles, unless the service history and Carfax are impeccable. Most vehicles require a major service at 60k. Still, you'd be better off w a 62k car that has had this service, than a 55k car that hasn't - financially and from a safety perspective.

But I also wouldn't "waste" extra money on a new car that is going to be driven a ton. The cars on your list are very common. When it comes time to trade this car in, a 5 yr old Civic w 100k miles is just about the least desirable product for a dealership to try and re-sell and their appraisal will reflect that.

To me, the choice would be something along the lines of a '14-'16 Civic or Corolla, 30-40k miles (so the 30k service should have been done), good Carfax 1 owner, and not the inaugural year of a body style. Frequently takes manufacturers a year to fine-tune any software or mechanical issues that often come w a new body style. Car serviced at the same place it was bought new is usually a positive sign for various reasons. Idk enough about Buick other than they've improved their line over the last few years, but reliability has always been an issue w domestic sedans. And reliability seems pretty important in your scenario.

Ime if you show the average buyer two '15 Civic LX w 35k mi and a similar Carfax/service history, they will have trouble recognizing the minor differences which make one the better buy. Properly buying a used car takes more work. Once you identify the year/make/model/trim/mileage you guys have decided on, ask the questions that won't be answered on the Carfax, such as, "Can you tell me about the previous owner's driving habits? Are these 35k highway miles or was he delivering pizza in the city? Why did they require new brakes/tires/whatever so early into ownership?"

Things to avoid, if possible: Carfax showing anything more than a "minor accident" (it differentiates between levels of accident based on damage and the "minor accident" notation is usually nothing to worry about and can possibly give you some bargaining leverage); more than 1 owner in short time span; previously bought at auction to be re-sold for profit; lack of any service records (dealership service dept and some others report to Carfax, but many independent mechanics don't, which is fine as long as the service records have been kept, usually in the glove compartment); service records that indicate an usual issue for ex transmission work at 35k. Former leases, rental cars, or cars that were used as demos by managers of the dealership or manufacturer executives - their mindset is much more likely to be, "I'll only be driving this thing for a short time, so I won't bother trying to figure out why the rear brakes are starting to squeal."

She might need to test drive different brands and models as a first step. It's often the random things like rear/side mirror placement, how the seats feel, where the cupholders are located, etc that can help you rule out some cars.

I think above all else, if it's your wife and she's going to be spending a lot of time in this car, make sure it is safe and comfortable, in that order. gl

Thank you very much for this as well as everyone else. My wife still has 2 months until she changes to new team so thankfully can take time to decide.

She's preferring the Buick the most because of her older sister but I prefer a Civic or a Corolla myself. We live in Chicago so prefer a Subaru impress for the AWD but up to my wife to decide at the end of the day but will research further.

Thanks again for recommendations everyone

I'm guessing CR will hate the Buick and love your choices.

You are right on the money w the Impreza. New or 35-40k, w an avg of no more than 15k/yr from the original registration date listed on Carfax (not the model year) imo.

My other general advice still applies, but I mistakenly thought you lived in warm weather. Anybody planning to buy a compact sedan and put on lots of miles for work in bad weather really needs AWD.

Subaru and Audi are the manufacturers who have concentrated on AWD vehicles, almost exclusively. Subaru started making 1 RWD sporty car recently and I think it's a bust. They've been finetuning their AWD system for 40 years. The Impreza has been a longstanding success.

Their competitors make great cars, but they are basically outfitting FWD sedans w in-house aftermarket optional AWD drivetrains and marking up the price. Subaru has done the opposite. It costs Subaru more to stray from their standard AWD and make a RWD car.

The sentra/civic/corolla barely have any trim levels that include AWD. Your wife's needs are pretty specific and Impreza fits really well, on paper.

If you go used, there is one other quirk about Subaru owners that may work in your favor. Many Subaru owners are brand loyalists and they usually perform all scheduled maintenance. The other side of that coin is that there are fewer Impreza in the pre-owned market, relative to their competitors. gl

My Outback is amazing in snow, even being old enough not to have all the fancy traction control. The guy I bought it from replaced it with an Audi A4. I think the Subaru is usually a better value than an Audi, but he remarked that the A4 was even better in the snow. Since these cars were owned to drive to his ski house in Winter Park, he's driving snow every weekend in the winter.



The guy I bought mine from hit all the things Macau Bound said about Subaru owners. He didn't drive 5 miles past scheduled maintenance without doing it.

If your wife is a lesbian, Subaru is the perfect choice.

https://priceonomics.com/how-an-ad-c...-in-love-with/

I almost always find the stuff in Aaron W.'s posts well thought out and on point.

So, went by the Subaru dealer to look at Outbacks. Their read "total fishcakes". They went back, sharpened their pencils, and came back with $1000 more than the no haggle place down the street.



Re-reading all of MacauBound's posts in this thread, well worth the time for the next visit to one of these places.

What??? Shocking. Subaru's "Love Promise" doesnt say anything about making money off their customers. They only mention the environment and stuff, nothing about profit.

But at least you didn't catch the finance managers whooping it up and doing choreographed TD dances after your deal was done. They somehow convinced this guy, who is not dumb, to pay thousands for an extended warranty on a 3 yr/30k lease on a '19 Acura TLX.

His first mistake was mentioning he was friends w the owner, as that indicates there would likely be no price-shopping. Below the price printout, they underline in big letters "authorized by (name of owner)", as if to give the impression they would never do this deal without the owner's consent. Made him feel pretty special in front of his wife . . . until he called a nearby store, who offered him the same car for 3,500 less lol. So he leaves and is convinced to come back, where they honor the front-end price and croak him in the back.

"I just figured they had a football game on or something. But when I peeked around the corner into their blacked out office, I didnt see any tv."

LOLOL.

So one day I drop by the Toyota dealership in the morning and there's an SUV I'm checking out in the back by the fleet managers' desks and such. Anyway, they call a big meeting of all the salesmen and they're going through their monthly RAH RAH dance and the head sales guy is recognizing Manuel and such who sold 30 cars, and Johnny who is new and sold 7 cars in 2 days. Etc. etc.

Anyway, I'm standing behind them looking at the SUV and folding down seats and such, and the head guy is talking about how to convince customers that the Pilot sucks because of XYZ and why the Highlander is better, and all the usual sales strategy. He calls Johnny up and starts talking about how Johnny is "getting it done", how he "never takes a lunch break because that's when the customers come in", how he "stays late and greets people as soon as they come into the parking lot", and basically how Johnny is kicking ass.

So after about 15 minutes of this, the salesmen start getting more and more pumped, head guy shouts "are we ready to SELL!" "YESSS!", "are we going to hit our numbers?!?!?!!!" "YESSS!", "OK LET'S GO KICK SOME ASS!!!", and the guys start cheering.

"DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS...????"

I quietly stand up behind the throng of salesman and say, "Hi, I'd like to buy a car today, can anyone help me?"

Love your stories.

It was just jarring. We'd checked with the no haggle shop on the internet via phone, so went in knowing that price.

The saleslady who showed us around started with the "You'd be the first sale in the whole lot this month. We're super motivated to make a great deal and I'll do anything to get the first sale on the lot." All I wanted to do was drive one of the CV transmission cars and see how the cool EyeSight electronics was, in person. So she and her sales manager go in to their song and dance about being in the small town = lower prices. We get their price. And their dealer fee. And all the other fees. Their base "best" price is almost $2k higher than the no haggle guys in the big town.

We don't have a final number for the no haggle place, so my wife emails them while the small town dealership is playing the "we don't want to give you back the key on your trade in" game, because they want us to walk out with a great car and will make the deal work. Then we get the no haggle place's final number and the local place has $600 more in fees. At this point I'm wondering if I could even talk them down to the no haggle place's final number. I always assumed that you paid a premium there, just to avoid these games.
Can totally picture you doing this.