About schala

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  I need to roll over a 401k into an IRA. What's the best IRA out there? Where should I go to get one?

  1 0 I would strongly recommend Vanguard, as would virtually any economist (not that I am one). Why? Two main reasons. First, Vanguard is the credit union of investment management companies. Vanguard Group is owned by its member funds, and in turn, each fund is owned by everyone who invests in it (just like all mutual funds). Thus, unlike traditional for-profit companies like Fidelity or Schwab, there is no shareholder profit taken out of your earnings; they go straight back into the fund. Second, Vanguard is a pioneer of index funds. (Its founder, John Bogle, pretty much invented index funds). Unlike traditional actively-managed funds, index funds simply pick a stock index, such as the S&P 500, and match their allocation to the index. This means that you save a ton of money, since you don't have to pay a fund manager big bucks to make investment decisions (which often turn out worse than the index anyway!). Between these two, Vanguard offers the lowest expense ratios in the business, which is another way of saying that Vanguard takes way less of your money than any of its competitors. schala answered in Personal Finance 9 months ago Answer, comment & read 4 more answers »

• Follow Following 1 Where can I find engagement rings with lab-created stones in Seattle? schala asked in Other - Style & Beauty 9 months ago 1 Answer by Charles B…

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  Is it better to get 8 hours of sleep or to wake up between sleep cycles?

  8 0 I strongly recommend that you read "The Promise of Sleep" by William Dement. It's pretty much the best layperson's guide to sleep science that you'll find anywhere. As far as your specific question goes, your basic intuition is right, but unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. The average sleep cycle length is 90 minutes, but for different people, it can be as low as 80 or as high as 120. And often, sleep cycles increase in length during the night. However, there's a much more important concept, which is sleep debt. For every two hours (approximately) that you're awake, you incur an hour (approximately) of sleep debt. Normally, you repay your sleep debt each night, but in our chronically underslept society, there's a good chance that you're carrying around weeks/months/years of debt. So my real recommendation is this: Give yourself time for 9 hours of sleep each night. For a while, you'll probably sleep the full 9 hours, because you need it. Gradually, you may find yourself waking up after 7.5 or 8 or 8.5 hours and not feeling tired at all... in which case, congratulations, you've found out how much sleep you need! Another note: If you snore, or ever feel tired during the day, get yourself to a sleep medicine clinic. Sleep apnea affects between 5-20% of American adults. Treatment is simple, but untreated apnea can shave 10-20 years off your life. If you're feeling groggy in the mornings -- especially if you have a dry mouth, sore throat, or headache -- you should investigate this ASAP. schala answered in Other Health & Fitness 9 months ago Answer, comment & read 2 more answers »

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  How miserable is riding coach on a transcontinental Amtrak run?

  1 0 I have done this, although I broke it up into two segments (spent a night in North Dakota). It's worth doing at least once. You get to see a lot of the country. There are some surprisingly pretty parts on Montana. On the other hand, you will not sleep well, so make sure you have a few days to catch up on sleep once you get back. schala answered in Long Distance Travel 10 months ago Answer, comment & read 5 more answers »

• Comment on Emily Steed's answer…

  0 0 In fact, the 545 makes a special stop on Capitol Hill, because of the crazy number of MSFT commuters. schala commented 11 months ago

• Comment on Timmytee's answer…

  0 0 Hopefully they're smoking American Spirits, since they're the only major cigarette brand that's vegan. schala commented 11 months ago

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  Do you automatically associate "vegan" with being healthy and/or gross?

  1 0 I'm lactose-intolerant, and just generally don't like dairy foods. So for me, vegan means "yay, I can actually eat this!" In contrast, I try to stay away from anything marked "vegetarian". At least in Seattle, which is pretty vegan-conscious, vegetarian tends to mean "yes dairy", so no good. To be honest, chances are that at least one of your coworkers is lactose-intolerant, even if they don't know it. So they're not just jackasses, they're actually hurting themselves. schala answered in Food & Drink 11 months ago Answer, comment & read 15 more answers »

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  Is there a better resource for rental HOUSE hunting than Craigslist?

  2 0 I like PadMapper. It combines Craigslist with Google Maps, so you can look at the areas you want to live and see what's available. schala answered in Renting 11 months ago Answer, comment & read 3 more answers »

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  Easy Vegan recipes?

  1 0 My girlfriend and I are following this meal plan: http://www.21daykickstart.org/index_menu_texas.cfm There are tons of great, easy recipes here. schala answered in Feeding the Family 11 months ago Answer, comment & read 6 more answers »

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  Where is the best authentic Japanese Karaoke?

  0 0 There's also Enkore in the U-District. It feels much more "modern" than SBK, and the karaoke system they have is much more reliable. In SBK, I've occasionally entered in numbers from the book and had completely unrelated songs turn up. Also, the Japanese and English songs at SBK are on two completely different systems, so you don't want to build up a big queue unless you're only singing in one language. On the other hand, Enkore's selection is more limited (though by no means small). So if that's your main criterion, it's probably not the best choice. schala answered in Whatever about 1 year ago Answer, comment & read 3 more answers »

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