Doug M

Not in terms of the number of yards, in which case the answer is clearly 99 yards. I'm not sure if penalties count as plays; I don't think they do. Feel free to answer with the longest drive for which you have documentation!

If you visit www.zillow.com and look at the "Heat Map" for price-per-square-foot values in Colorado, you'll see a sharp, north to south line at the boundary between Cold Creek County and Jefferson County, west of Denver. In Cold Creek County, the average per-square-foot prices are in the $150-$200 range, but just across the line in Jefferson County, they're in the $300-$400 range.

What gives?

I'm 35 now and plan to retire around 40 or 41. I'm not exorbitantly rich, though; I've just saved enough to support my expenses and will do what I want instead of going to work every day.

What I don't have a good handle on are my options for health insurance (before reaching age 65 and Medicare, or whatever age at which Medicare will be available in 30-40 years). Are there any in the industry who have seen similar situations and have suggestions about what to expect?

Thanks,

Doug

I'm not looking for the results from Google Maps or Yahoo or Mapquest. There are multiple options for getting from NY to VT (roads, bridges, ferries) and I'm looking for suggestions about the best route to take (speed, ease of travel, aesthetics).

My financial advisor has suggested I invest with Curian Capital to take advantage of tax harvesting -- something I'd never heard of before. I'm 35, heavily invested in tax-deferred accounts (401k and Roth), but want to retire long before 59.5 and need to invest such that I'll have funds before 59.5 (I know about 72(t) payments, but they're not enough to get me there).

The expense ratios on the account he had in mind are 2-2.5%, but he says the returns are good enough (when you consider tax harvesting) to make up for it. It's a pretty complicated concept, which is why I'm asking for help. Is this actually better than a low-ER fund through Vanguard? I'm in a moderate tax bracket (100k or so).

My financial advisor suggested that, having plenty invested in my 401k and Roth, that I invest with Curian Captial in order to take advantage of tax harvesting. Given the higher expense ratios, is this truly of much benefit over a straigtforward index stock fund? I'm single and earn about $105k per year, so my tax bracket isn't obscenely high.

I have a new home with baseboard heaters (the kind that run along the bottom of the walls, have lots of little fins that give off heat because there's a closed-system of hot water running through them). They work fine, but give off a loud, metallic pinging sound when they're active. The sound is a quick pinging that gradually slows down, until it stops (for a while).

What causes this and how can I make it stop?

Pingpingpingping-ping-ping--ping . ping . .ping . . . ping . . . . . ping . . . . . . . . ping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ping

Thanks,

Doug

I own an IBM Thinkpad A31. The Li-ion battery was nothing special, giving me about an hour's worth of life, so I usually kept the computer plugged in, next to my chair in the living room. I've owned the computer for about a year and a half.

Over the past month, I've noticed that the battery would loose its charge a little faster than in the past -- but nothing to be overly concerned with. Then this weekend, I noticed that the battery gauge on my computer wasn't going above about 80% (this is with the laptop still plugged in, which would normally give me a 100% reading). So I figured I'd unplug the laptop, let the battery drain, then recharge -- but as soon as I unplugged, the laptop switched off. It's as if the battery isn't even connected (I checked the connection; visually, it looks solid).

Any ideas or similar experiences?

I'm 35, have $300,000 in a 401(k), $30,000 in a Roth, $350,000 in an ordinary Vanguard stock fund, $60,000 of equity in my home, and $80,000 in a cash balance pension plan that I can roll over to an IRA at retirement.

I make about $106,000 per year and my expenses are about $40,000 (not including income and payroll taxes). I'd like to retire as soon as my net worth can support my current lifestyle, with inflation, until I'm 85 or 90 years old.

The problem is that I'm too heavy in tax-deferred accounts -- I'd be on track to retire in 6-7 years, except that my Vanguard account can't "bridge the gap" between my age at retirement (42) and the age I can tap into my 401(k) and Roth (59.5). So I have to work longer, making my 59.5-age accounts much larger than they need to be when I'm older.

Any ideas for rearranging things so I can break loose from the desk as soon as possible?

Thanks,

Doug