we bought a new house, and got a bad roof job about 3 months ago, what do we do?

[Micky]

Hilarious.

[philo]

ike that.

So far that's pretty much been my experience as well.

I had to go to court (did not hire a lawyer) to get my own insurance company to pay a $400 bill for a work-related sprained leg.

Though as soon as we got to the hearing they agreed to pay, I refused to settle until I took it to as many subsequent hearings and trial as was possible.

I am sure they spent thousands because of that.

After it was all over, the judge (who seemed to be a pretty nice guy)

sat around and talked about how rotten insurance companies are.

[philo]

Bugs the hell out of my wife , when we are driving she has to remind me where we are going right in the middle of some story I'm telling her that took place when I was three years old.

[DerbyDad03]

If the money for the roof and other repairs are still in the 401(k)/IRA, you might want to look at the tax advantages of taking a little bit out each year to limit your tax exposure. If you are near the top of a tax bracket each year you may pay more tax on that "lump sum" distribution if you take it out all in one year.

You can always reinvest it outside of the qualified account if you still want to try for some growth.

[DerbyDad03]

I am really surprised at the "vandalizing" charge.

Based on my experience...err...I mean...from what I've heard, the typical "reduction" is based on vehicle condition or driver action, not on some unrelated incident.

I...err...I mean...people I know have been "reduced" to a noisy muffler (on a brand new rental car), an obstructed license plate (which was covered with *clear* plexiglas) and "failure to obey a traffic control device" (which, from what I understand, is the most common reduction since that is actually what I...err...I mean...the offending driver did).

[Ed Pawlowski]

Yes, a woman at work has lived in rentals her entire life. Next year she will retire and intends to go into senior housing subsidized by the state. Not what I aspire to, but she seems to be happy with her choice.

[philo]

I'm not in any high tax bracket as my wife and I are both on Social Security, I'm only pulling a small amount out of my 401k

I have enough in there that if I need to withdraw $10k or so, it won't make much of an impact .

[philo]

All they cared about was their money, they just charged me with something that had the same fine. That was over five years ago and I'm sure my record's been cleared by now

[DerbyDad03]

I choose not to include my agent or even my Ins Co in your "all".

As I mentioned in my earlier post, my agent called me to tell me that my Ins Co was going to increase my coverage while reducing my annual rate by ~40%. I've been with my agent for over 30 years. Maybe having a long term relationship matters.

My agent has always been extremely helpful, especially during the time when I was asking for multiple quotes as we tried to determine which cars the girls should take back to college with them. When you factor in age, driving experience, vehicle year/model and location, matching the correct driver to the right vehicle can make a huge difference in the cost.

Having an independent agent that is willing to work hard to help determine the best option and explain the details really beats calling some 8xx number and talking to a complete stranger. When there was an issue with an insurance document while I was at the DMV last year, my agent faxed a corrected document directly to the DMV office and also emailed a copy to my smartphone just in case there was a problem with the fax. I'd probably

*still* be on the phone with an 8xx rep trying to get it straightened out.

[philo]

Since we were talking about roof replacement I decided to check to see how old my roof actually is since I don't have any repair receipts going back longer than 15 or 20 years.

Went on-line to city records and found all the permits pulled for this house going back to 1932 but saw nothing for the roof.

I personally know the contractor to be a proper kind of a guy so checked the rules and regulations and see that for simply adding shingles to a roof, no permit is necessary.

In checking, I see that Milwaukee is just nuts about rules and a permit is needed for just about everything...including a photo shoot...but no requirement for a roof, unless rafters are replaced.

Incredibly...no permit is required for asbestos abatement if a single family home. Very odd

[hubops]

For asbestos - I wonder if the bylaw states anything about " certified / licensed / approved asbestos company " ? And / or whether State or Federal legislation rules ? John T.

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[DerbyDad03]

It's not about a "high" tax bracket, it's about any given tax bracket. This is rough, but it explains the issue I am talking about.

Let's say your annual AGI is $5K lower than the top of the 15% bracket. Right now, all of your income is taxed at 15%. Now let's say that you estimate that you will need a roof in 3 years to the tune of $15K.

(To keep the numbers simple, let's ignore the fact that you need to take out more than $15K to *net* $15K after taxes by assuming you have other cash with which to pay the taxes.)

If you withdraw that $15K out in one year, $5K is going to be taxed in the 15% bracket, but the remaining $10K is going to be taxed at 25%.

However, if you withdraw $5K extra per year for the next 3 years, the entire $15K will be taxed at 15% because you didn't bump yourself into a higher bracket in any given year. In the long run, you'll save yourself $1000 in taxes.

Maybe not an impact on your "savings" but it may cost you more in taxes.

[philo]

Ok thanks for the advice...

I better start saving up now

[philo]

I am quite sure that asbestos abatement must be done by a company certified to do so etc

[clare]

Ir if the roof was "stapled" - particularly if the wrong staples were used, or the decking was chipboard. Staples don't hold worth stink in chipboard sheathing. (they are bad enough in plywood)

[Tekkie®]

DerbyDad03 posted for all of us...

How are potential gains affected by this?

[clare]

Particularly since the average roof, installed PROPERLY is totally worn out before the "anticipated end of life" arrived at from their "warranty" numbers.

[clare]

A bit like my experience, but in reverse (sorta). I was driving a 1949 VW bug in Livingston Zambia back in about '73 or '74. The muffler had deteriorated to the point there was virtually nothing left, and it was NOISY - but no new parts were available. I got pulled over and charged with driving with a defective muffler. The fine was rediculous - something like Kw75 - and a Kwatch back then was about $1.65.

I went down to the "boma" to look after the fine and asked to see the schedule of fines/offences and noticed "no muffler installed" was only Kw15, so I told the clerk they had charged me with the wrong offense, as there was no muffler on my car. They went out and looked - and not being able to find any sign of a muffler, reluctantly took my Kw15 and reminded me I needed to get the muffler replaced - so I headed back to the shop at the school and made one from an old driveshaft, a landrover gas filler pipe and some plumbing fittings.

[Tony Hwang]

I thought personal financial matters are confidential ans private. Is this a contest for I am richer than you or I know more than you do? What an argument!

[Tony Hwang]

For one's own good.