Countdown To #retirement - Day 36 - 35 ( #thanksgiving and #blackfriday prep )

In this video, I talk through the activities I undertook today as I work toward my retirement. • Day 36 Today we calculated the #funds we believe will need in our #taxableaccounts for 2026 We then determined the #excessfunds amount We shopped online for the best #cdrates and #tbillrates We thought we were going to move funds into a #cd with #synchrony, but I confused this with #synovus which is a local bank; Synchrony had a 14-month CD for 4.10% #apr but I don’t want to put my money into an #onlineonlybank Several other local banks with a #physicalpresence had options of #4percent or better; We ended up splitting our excess #cash between a #bank and a #creditunion both with a 4.00 % APY; one for #7months and 1 for #12months to #ladder the funds in case we miscalculated and should need some of the funds We spent over 3 hours in the #branches to open the CDs We will continue to leverage T-bills in our #taxdeferred or #taxfree accounts for #shorttermmoney (less than 1 year) We will also leverage short term t-bills (less than or equal to 13 weeks) in our #taxablebrokerageaccounts for our household #workingcapital I helped a buddy of mine transition from #tmobile over to #visible by #verizon He will save over $1200 a year by doing so with the #blackfridaysale going on now with Visible • Day 35 (I want to wish each of you a very Happy #thanksgiving, full of good #food, and happy new #memoriestocherish) This year I decided to try something new for Thanksgiving; to #sousvide a #turkeybreast to 162 degrees and then finish it in the over on 325 for 15 minutes to brown the outside skin The goal was to make it moist while still being cooked through It worked. The breast meat was not dried out Then I sent out Happy Thanksgiving messages via text to all my #friends and #family Then I spent the remainder of the day researching Black Friday deals on #pc #desktops and #monitors and comparing them to simply upgrading my existing #desktop It’s amazing how much time it takes I started by asking #grok the following question: I have a Micro Electronics #PowerSpec G703 with an #amd #ryzen7 2700 #8coreprocessor running at 3.20 GHz. It has 16 GB of #ram at 1333 MHz. It has an #nvidia #geforce GTX 1070 Ti with 8 GB. It has 466 GB of #storage. Its running #windows11pro version 25H2 , OS Build 26200.7171. Additionally, it has #intel #wireless #bluetooth, a #realtec #pcie GbE #ethernet #port , Intel #dualbandwireless AC-3168 for #wifi , and Realtec #hdaudio. I want this computer to be able to #edit #4Kvideo using #filmora, edit #highresolutionphotos , perform general office tasks using #microsoftoffice365 , and use #ai #chatbots like Grok, #gemini , #chatGPT , and #perplexity. Can this unit be upgraded and if so, what upgrades would be recommended to get #optimalperformance from this machine for the tasks identified. Also, what #externalmonitors would you recommend to pair with the computer. Currently the computer is paired with 2 #dell #uU2415 #monitors . I reviewed and priced out Grok’s suggestions and then I started comparing them to new build computers I narrowed it down between the #msi #codexz2 B8NVM-441US Gaming PC and the #powerspec #g731 #gamingpc For #monitors , I am looking to go with the #alienware AW2725QF 27" 4K #uhd (3840 x 2160) 180Hz #gamingmonitor; It can work with my existing 24” Dell Monitors in a daisy chain so I can have 3 monitors shared across my desktop, with the primary monitor supporting 4K. It’s on sale for $399.99; List price is $599.99 So, if I pull the trigger on this tomorrow, it will cost me $1,518.34 for the new computer with all the upgrades additions and $399.99 for the new monitor for a total cost of $1,918.33 plus tax of $115.10 or $2,033.43 out the door I had budgeted $3K to replace both my wife’s computer and my own before #retiring. It looks like I will be able to stay under budget and still have a couple of hundred bucks left for upgrades my wife may want now that she has used her new laptop for a couple of days. ======================================================== DISCLAIMER: NOTHING CONTAINED IN THIS VIDEO SHOULD BE CONSTRUED AS ADVICE OR AS A RECOMMENDATION. NO ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN BASED ON THE COMMENTS MADE IN THIS VIDEO. THIS VIDEO WAS CREATED FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS MY STORY AND THE ITEMS DISCUSSED WITHIN THIS VIDEO ARE SPECIFIC TO ME. YOU NEED TO DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND WORK WITH A LICENSED PROFESSIONAL BEFORE MAKING ANY HEALTH OR TRAVEL OR INVESTMENT DECISIONS.