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My son is still in school but will be 26 this Fall and thus too old for our insurance policy, so we are starting to look for options. We just want a basic catastrophic type coverage, if that's the right terminology. In other words, we won't mind covering an occasional doctor visit but want insurance...

[Thread merged into this one. See my post below. --admin LadyGeek] http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/05/06/warren-buffett-federal-reserve-stocks-bonds-heinz/2138403/ From the article: "Buffett said on CNBC financial news network Monday that bonds are a "terrible" inve...

> If one cube is $100 million and there appear to two cubes to a stack ($200 million), then the first five stacks in the first row should equal one billion dollars. (A billion is one thousand millions, right?) Just the first five stacks doesn't look to be one thousandth of the whole floor load. A tr...

I share your concern and there have been several posts about having "too much" in one financial institution.

My only hope is that if something like that actually occurred, the financial institution would be able to trace what happened and make it good.

Can someone explain why in the 21st century there is still an issue with fractional shares? Can't computers handle 85.234 shares as easily as 85 shares?

From the tax tables, I believed I knew the marginal tax bracket I was in. But after going through the preparation of my 2012 taxes using Turbo Tax, I decided to directly calculate my marginal tax rate by adding $100 to my W-2 Box 1 amount and seeing what happened. To my surprise, my refund was reduc...

> ...what about the deduction hit at tax time? An 18K interest deduction would go down and significantly impact (increases) your taxes. It's not beneficial to pay more interest just to get a higher deduction. If you pay, say, $x more interest in one scenario vs. another, you get the approximately $x...

> Since dividends from out-of-state interest are taxable, you need to exclude the income for in-state dividends for the national muni bond funds. Turbotax requires you to create a separate 1099-DIV for each of the out-of-state and in-state portions of the total. If you don't find the information on ...

Thank you grabiner. You seem to have a grasp of the situation but after reading your reply several times I still have some confusion, especially over the implication of whether or not PA tax is withheld, so please bear with me a bit further. Here's the crux of the situation I think - for TurboTax to...

I thought in the past that Inuit had a forum on their web site. Now it seems to be that you post a question and hope someone answers. A lot of questions that I checked have gone unanswered, so I thought I'd try here. I live in PA and work in DE. My employer gives me a W-2 with two entries for Box 16...

Here is more IRS' guidelines: Q12. Who is an eligible student for the American opportunity tax credit? A. For the American opportunity tax credit, an eligible student is a student who: (1) is enrolled in a program leading toward a degree, certificate or other recognized post-secondary educational c...

As others have stated, as long as the bank is FDIC insured you don't have to worry about losing anything, only some possible delay or inconvenience in retrieving your funds if the worst happens. I've had several CD's through Vanguard's brokerage with banks that failed. The funds showed up in my swee...

One of our children is in the last year of a five-year program (due to co-ops in earlier years) and is considered by the school to be a senior. The AO credit was only used three times previously for this child. In Pub 970 (Tax Benefits for Education) the IRS says in one place says "Available ON...

SwampDonkey: We have a similar situation now with a big tree that fell down. The quotes we are getting are significantly higher than the $1k you mention. To compare, can you estimate the size of the tree that fell on your property? Also, did the $1k include the stump grinding?

Thanks.

I've been in a couple of accidents the past few years - both were the other guy's fault. I contacted my insurance company right away, just to get it on the record. It was a bit confusing as to which way to go but I decided to file the claim with my company and let them duke it out with the other com...

I believe you only have to actually file the form 8606 once - for the tax year that the non-deductible contribution was made. That was the case with my wife one year. I've made a note of it on my tax cheat sheet that I add to and move into each successive year's tax folder. Maybe "cheat" i...

> An American opportunity or lifetime learning credit (education credit) can be claimed in the same year the beneficiary takes a tax-free distribution from a QTP, as long as the same expenses are not used for both benefits. This means that after the beneficiary reduces qualified education expenses b...

Two things - Also check the insurance coverage from your car's policy. Usually the rental car insurance is not necessary. Go with the agent to inspect the car when you pick it up, noting all problems including what you may think are minor scratches etc., both inside and outside the car. When you ret...

Thanks for the responses. Just curious - for those that indicate there is nothing to worry about, do you not keep records of your accounts? And to return to my original query, would such records (printouts or computer files of account balances) have any legal standing in the event of a dispute? Than...

Being somewhat paranoid by having had to deal with my share of mistakes on the part of large companies, I have wondered how one could prove the existence of an account in this day of electronic record keeping. What I mean is, suppose through some computer bug, programming error or cosmic ray event y...

I've been using a console humidifier for several years. It has two water containers, almost 3 gallons each, and an evaporative wick. I turned it on at the end of December when my humidifier gauge was showing off scale. The humidifier brings it up to 35%, based on the settings I use. I don't want it ...

Become a vegan.

Yes, she meets those criteria. Thanks.

Thats correct - only one person is entitled to claim Educations Credits and its usually the person who claims the student as a dependent. Also remember no one can claim a credit for any expenses paid from 529 funds, scholarships, etc. You can still file amended returns (back to Tax Year 2009) to co...

It seems to me that if you and your child each have $10,000 and there is a $10,000 bill to pay, you can choose to pay it with your money or her money. Similarly, if the bill is initially $20,000 but later is reduced to $10,000, you can choose to pay the net $10,000 bill with your money or her money...

>Generally, qualified education expenses paid on behalf of the student by someone other than the student (such as a relative) are treated as paid by the student. However, qualified edu- cation expenses paid (or treated as paid) by a student who is claimed as a dependent on your tax return are treate...

I took a look at Pub 970 and it does not seem to answer my particular question about how to apportion the refund between two people that paid tuition.

This year (Fall 2012), I paid a portion of my (dependent) daughter's tuition expense and the remainder was paid from a 529 account in her name. The school sends one bill in the fall for the entire year's tuition. Her housing is separately paid off campus using funds from a non-529 account in her nam...

Just wanted to thank you for this very interesting post. I had always thought in terms of f/stop, not the absolute physical size of the lens aperture. Do you have a reference? Sounds like something from Merklinger. And, to be technical, don't you mean the size of the entrance pupil, not the physica...

Personally, the RX1 seems too limiting to me by having only a fixed 35mm lens and therefore to me seems priced a bit high. On the other hand, it sounds like it is almost perfect for the type of photos you usually take and meets your needs well. Consider this - this is your hobby, the camera seems ap...

nedsaid: I would not be doing a conversion, but a rollover (of before tax 401K money to my regular IRA and after tax 401K money to my Roth IRA). Not a taxable event if done correctly.

livesoft: I don't have the exact numbers, but the stable value fund represents a very large % of my entire portfolio, hence the concern. Also, my company (a component in the Dow Jones 30) runs the stable value fund - the same managers that run the company's pension fund. Padlin: The 401K has a bond ...

I am of the age that I can withdraw from my 401K without any penalty. The contents of the 401K are largely devoted to the fixed income part of my portfolio, in the form of a stable value fund. I have been thinking of rolling over a portion of the 401K to my Vanguard Roth and regular IRA accounts as ...

I've gone back and forth with this in the past. You can hear arguments on both sides. My conclusion was that while Macs were relatively immune from these issues in the past, they may not be now or they may not be in the near future. After a bit of research, I decided to install the free Sophos Anti-...

I'm also considering this but am usually dissuaded by the reviews I read on places like Amazon.

$200 is a little more than 2x what I pay a local company that does siding, windows etc. I have a two story house on a sloping lawn so the back is probably more like a three story house - pretty high up.

Several years ago, when PA deregulated I went with an alternate supplier. After not too long, I got a letter from them informing me that they were exiting the market. So I tried another...same result. I think after my third one I gave up and just went back to PECO. I find the offers confusing as rat...

Okay, thanks all. We were discussing this at work today and our assumptions were confirmed.

My payroll dept. has just confirmed that HSA payroll deductions are not subject to social security or Medicare taxes (nor of course federal/state taxes). That would argue in favor or doing a payroll deduction vs. a lump sum contribution using outside funds unless those taxes are somehow reimbursed w...

These credit reporting agencies have assumed too much power in people's lives. Why should canceling a credit card hurt your credit score? There are many reasons why someone might want to cancel, none of which should have anything to do with their creditworthiness. Personally, as I am not too concern...

Well, one negative is that you will have to give them personal information (social security #, etc.) in order to get the loan so they can do a credit check. That may or may not be a factor for you.

To my understanding, the rules changed a few years ago regarding the value of donated cars. It used to be you would set the value when itemizing deductions, but no longer. You get notified by the charity of the price the car sold for and that is what you use for income tax deduction purposes. I dona...

I again called Equifax today, to see what they would say. I was again told that the credit freeze is permanent. I asked whether this depended on which state you lived in and was told no. I asked if the permanent duration was in effect at the other credit bureaus and was told it was. Yes, PA Act 163 ...

> Called back Equifax and they insisted it's unlocked but dealer said it's not. I had also called Equifax and was told the file was open but the inquiring party said they couldn't get in. I had been told that only Equifax would need to be open, but that could have been incorrect advice. I think thei...

> However, I just checked the Experian web site, which stated that if you moved to a different address, even within the same state, you would have to submit NEW documentation to them including a new drivers license with your new address and a new utility bill/bank statement. Far be it for me to come...

> I actually tried online to unfreeze temporarily, but the car dealer could still not check. That's interesting. I unfroze one bureau recently and was told by the inquiring party that they couldn't check it. An Equifax rep told me over the phone that it could take anywhere from 15 minutes to up to 3...

> Take a look at the link I posted above and then look at the states of Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and South Dakota. In those states, a credit freeze automatically expires after 7 years. Okay, I looked at Act 163 (PA) and found the following: (d) Duration of freeze.--A security freeze shall remain in p...

Me again - well what do you know? I got to talk with someone at Equifax and they said the freeze is permanent. TransUnion's web site has for duration "until you choose to lift it permanently or temporarily." I couldn't find anything specific on Experian's web site about the duration. Even ...

> Hopefully the credit bureaus will notify you. Keep us posted. It won't happen until 2014 but I was just wondering if I needed to keep on top of the exact date or whether they would notify me. > Would you ever need to unfreeze it? Seems likely. Would that not start the clock again? My understanding...

I understand that, at least in my state, this can only be done for 7 years. Does anyone know whether at the end of this time the credit bureau is supposed to notify you that the freeze is about to end or has ended? Somehow I think that if they are not required to do it they won't, as it is not in th...