Bogleheads.org

f you make a change that turns out to be less than wonderful down the road, you could have serious problems within your family Sage advice, and that was my original thinking, until I started to think that making no changes was also a form of neglect, but I'm actually delighted to know that this is ...

By my recollection (2-4 years or so old) these particular IRAs were taxable should they pass to heirs, whereas the annuity principles (not earnings) were not. Does that make (more) sense?

What a wealth of information, folks. Really, I appreciate your careful consideration and thoughtful advice. I’m picking up very valuable information, and in particular I grasp now what I should have figured out before, ourbrook’s point that if I tried to do some sort of conversion to a bond fund or ...

Thanks again for all your help, folks. I’ll provide a heap more information below, but perhaps better still, I wonder how forum users would respond if the question were framed as the following multiple choice: a) annuities are probably not as good for your mom and your family as other options b) the...

Thanks. Very interesting! I hadn’t realized that heirs of a stock or bond fund would not have to pay taxes on either principle or gains. Big difference. Unfortunately, my dad and I never discussed any of the investments I would manage in the event of his death, so I don’t know the reasoning behind h...

Mom already has an estate attorney and a tax man who has kept her from paying any taxes at all. And I do work with these people, but I guess before I talk to these people I’m trying to find out whether I’m right to be suspicious of advice that points toward annuities and whether the bond market is i...

My mom is in a nursing home and unable to make any decisions, so I handle her investments. Since my dad’s death in 2007 I have stayed the course with his decision to use annuities to accomplish some important goals: Preservation of principle Availability of funds to someone in a nursing home (as Mom...