Search found 1231 matches

by IowaFarmBoy
Mon Mar 18, 2024 7:27 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medigappers: which plan do you have and why
Replies: 21
Views: 1735

Re: Medigappers: which plan do you have and why

We are both on Plan G. DW uses quite a bit of medical so the high deductible plan didn't make sense for her. I'm currently not using much medical care so I considered the HD plan but ultimately decided against it for a couple of reasons. One is that the company she went with (she is older than me so signed up first) offered a household discount but they didn't offer a HD plan. Second is that my former employer funds an HRA that we can use to pay supplement premiums and the amount should cover regular plan G well into our 80s. Given that, I decided that going with the regular plan G made the most sense for me too.
by IowaFarmBoy
Sun Mar 17, 2024 5:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Extra Low Mileage Drivers: How much do you spend on your car?
Replies: 48
Views: 4187

Re: Extra Low Mileage Drivers: How much do you spend on your car?

If you're a low mileage driver, you might want to look into one of the insurance programs that tracks your driving. We're with State Farm on the Drive Safe and Save program and get a pretty good discount on our low mileage (3k/yr) car. I think the majority of the discount is due to the low mileage. Previously, we got a reduced rate for driving less than 7.5k miles but this is better. I think there are some insurance companies that charge by the mile but I have never looked into them.
by IowaFarmBoy
Sat Mar 16, 2024 10:02 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: “Bellys” on sewer scope for new house
Replies: 41
Views: 2344

Re: “Bellys” on sewer scope for new house

I'm not a plumber but worked as a homebuilder/remodeler for a number of years. It's hard to imagine a situation where there isn't some shifting/settling of soil after 30 years that would result in a few dips. I'd look into how deep and severe are the dips are. If they only have a inch of water it might be very different than if they were full and extended for long distances. You want the waste to generally keep moving as it flows to the sewer so that solids don't settle out and build up blocking the line. The link from the city of Tacoma looks like a good reference. I like the idea of having the sellers disclose if they have any problems. Here's something to muse about , the plumbing system in a house is required to be full of "dips&qu...
by IowaFarmBoy
Thu Mar 14, 2024 8:57 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Reducing Large Inherited Holding of a Single Stock
Replies: 18
Views: 1988

Re: Reducing Large Inherited Holding of a Single Stock

If you have a large gain and want give to charity, another option is to donate shares to a charity. You don't have to pay the capital gains on shares that are donated and can still claim them as itemized deductions. You can either donate directly to the charity or do it through a donor advised fund (DAF). If you don't have enough deductions to itemize, you could "bunch" several years of donations together with the DAF fund and then grant the money to the charities over several years.
by IowaFarmBoy
Wed Mar 13, 2024 3:37 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Tax loss harvesting and buying like funds
Replies: 12
Views: 894

Re: Tax loss harvesting and buying like funds

rkhusky wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2024 10:08 am Make sure that you or your spouse don’t have SPY in any of your other accounts. And then, also watch out for VTI in your other accounts too.
A small clarification. Simply having them in your other accounts isn't a problem but you need to make sure that you don't buy it another account within the time frame, both before and after the harvesting sale. This includes automatic reinvestment of dividends.
by IowaFarmBoy
Mon Mar 11, 2024 8:22 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?
Replies: 156
Views: 9911

Re: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?

We're original Medicare with plan g supplement and a part d drug plan. DW has been on this for a year, about 6 months for me. Coverage with Medicare and the supplement has been very good. Only issue has been a couple of bills that somehow didn't automatically get sent by Medicare to the supplement company. I don't know where the failure was. Resolving this was a little challenging in that the clinic couldn't figure out how to bill the supplement company- I think they were trying to bill as regular insurance instead of Medicare. The broker we used (Boomer Benefits) has a good customer service team that got involved by contacting the clinic and got it straightened out and it was paid. Part D is the craziness. Our base meds are all either free...
by IowaFarmBoy
Mon Mar 11, 2024 6:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How Much Cash Do You Keep In Your Home?
Replies: 207
Views: 14906

Re: How Much Cash Do You Keep In Your Home?

We keep $100-200 in our wallets. This pretty much is only used for tips and for garage sales.

I also have an envelope where I keep a few hundred dollars, a spare (rarely used) credit card and our US National Parks Golden Eagle pass. This envelope gets hidden somewhere in the car when we take off on trips in the event I loose my wallet or there is some kind of power failure. Gives us a backup credit card and some emergency cash. The Golden Eagle pass is there so I remember it in case we stumble upon a national monument or something.
by IowaFarmBoy
Fri Mar 08, 2024 5:27 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Drop Homeowner Ins- Self Insure
Replies: 63
Views: 4438

Re: Drop Homeowner Ins- Self Insure

Homeowners covers much more than just the repair/replacement of your home. As several others have mentioned, there is liability, demolition/cleanup and contents at replacement cost. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is loss of use- it generally pays for temporary housing while the repair/rebuild is underway.
by IowaFarmBoy
Sun Feb 18, 2024 10:53 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: DD1's summer internship in NYC - Suggestions for short-term rental options?
Replies: 29
Views: 1616

Re: DD1's summer internship in NYC - Suggestions for short-term rental options?

Mathematicus wrote: Sun Feb 18, 2024 7:00 pm Maybe look into summer housing programs at NYC universities. It looks like NYU has one (https://housing.nyu.edu/summer/). Good way to live with other young folks and no issues with short term leases!
This is a good suggestion. Our daughter interned in nyc about fifteen years ago and stayed in Columbia University student housing. They ran a program for interns. She stayed in a four bedroom student apartment with three others.
by IowaFarmBoy
Mon Feb 12, 2024 10:15 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Boulder CO in late September?
Replies: 22
Views: 1793

Re: Boulder CO in late September?

We've been out in Summit County (Breck, Copper Mtn, Keystone) a lot in early Sept and also late May/early June. Early Sept has always been great, maybe a little cooler than peak summer but still very nice. We've seen a late overnight snow in the late May/early June- maybe 2" that melts off by noon. Boulder is about 5400 ft, Summit is about 9000+ so Boulder weather should be better.
by IowaFarmBoy
Thu Feb 08, 2024 11:54 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone download 2023 1099 from Social Security?
Replies: 5
Views: 725

Re: Anyone download 2023 1099 from Social Security?

Thanks guys. That is strange. Ours (technically my wife's) could be complicated in that she started Medicare this year so for most of the year she didn't get a check because Part B took up all of her very small benefit but I'm pretty sure that is still taxable income income.

ETA: 2022 and prior are available for download but no 2023.
by IowaFarmBoy
Thu Feb 08, 2024 10:33 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone download 2023 1099 from Social Security?
Replies: 5
Views: 725

Anyone download 2023 1099 from Social Security?

Quick question- It doesn't look like the 2023 form is available online yet, at least in our account. Most sources say it should be available online by 2/1. I'm wanting to make sure I'm not doing something wrong- is anyone's available online? Thanks! (I'm looking at the "download a replacement copy" page.)

ETA: 2022 and prior are available for download but no 2023.
by IowaFarmBoy
Thu Feb 01, 2024 5:03 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Love my job, told re-lo for RTO or no advancement [Return To Office]
Replies: 128
Views: 9758

Re: Love my job, told re-lo for RTO or no advancement

I don't know your company and how it has functioned in the past but when I worked in IT for a megacorp, even pre-covid, the pendulum was always swinging between "you can work from anywhere" to "you need to be in one of our facilities" to "you need to be in the home office". Many times, each policy change only lasted a year or two. So, it may be worth just hunkering down for a while and see how it sorts out.
by IowaFarmBoy
Wed Jan 31, 2024 10:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do Informed Bogleheads Consider My Old Subaru A Cost Effective Gift?
Replies: 20
Views: 1424

Re: Do Informed Bogleheads Consider My Old Subaru A Cost Effective Gift?

So my advice: Give the car and don't worry about the timing belt now. If something does happen and the timing belt breaks, then give that money later. Pessismist: Timing belt will break. Optimist: There is no way the timing belt will be a problem. In general, I think this is very bad advice. If the timing belt fails in an interference engine like a 2011 Outback, the pistons will destroy the valves. Your engine will fail. Your car will be dead. A rubber timing belt has a predictable lifespan. Given the time and labor involved in the repair, $2000 isn’t unreasonable. Water pump, clutch, and other related items may be done at the same time. Earlier Subarus had non-interference engines, so if the timing belt failed, you just had to replace the...
by IowaFarmBoy
Thu Jan 25, 2024 1:24 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is having insulation blown into the walls of an old house worth it?
Replies: 35
Views: 4231

Re: Is having insulation blown into the walls of an old house worth it?

We bought a mid-60s ranch that had no insulation in the sidewalls. It had wood siding with a piece of trim that covered the joint between the siding and the soffit. I removed that piece of trim, used a hole saw to make holes just under the soffit that were big enough for the insulation blower I rented, blew the walls full of cellulose, and then installed a piece of trim wide enough to cover the holes. For the spaces under the windows (since they were all up to the top of the wall), I drilled the holes below the window framing and blew those full. I covered those holes with a round plastic plug/cap that I bought at Menards. I also added quite a bit of insulation to the attic. I don't really have any idea of how much it saved us in utilities ...
by IowaFarmBoy
Thu Jan 25, 2024 1:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Comparing Car insurance coverage
Replies: 13
Views: 1429

Re: Comparing Car insurance coverage

The only difference I see is that Progressive has $300k in combined BI and PD liability coverage. Geico has $300k BI and $50k PD for a total of $350k. As Candor pointed out (with much candor), $50k is kind of light for PD coverage. There a lots of vehicles out there with more than that and also the possibility of causing damage to multiple vehicles.
by IowaFarmBoy
Thu Jan 25, 2024 7:08 am
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: 🎁 🎉Happy 100th Birthday to Taylor Larimore 🎊🎂
Replies: 429
Views: 41915

Re: 🎁 🎉Happy 100th Birthday to Taylor Larimore 🎊🎂

Happy birthday, Taylor! And thanks for all you do and have done.
by IowaFarmBoy
Mon Jan 15, 2024 5:13 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: AAII
Replies: 3
Views: 644

Re: AAII

I've been a lifetime member for years. For me, they are a good source of tax information/strategies and good explanations of investments. I appreciate that they try to be objective without a lot of hype and have an academic feel to their articles. The down side is that they seem to lean toward market timing and stock picking in the model portfolios. I really liked them before I found Bogleheads- now I feel like I have moved past some of their articles.
by IowaFarmBoy
Fri Jan 12, 2024 1:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How does Medicare supplement receive bills?
Replies: 67
Views: 6759

Re: How does Medicare supplement receive bills?

We're about a year into Medicare and most claims have flowed smoothly- the provider submits, Medicare pays their 80% and then kicks it over to the supplement who pays their 20%. We've had three claims out of maybe 30 where the system broke down and Medicare didn't send them on to the supplement. At least, that is what it appeared happened- the supplement company had no info about that claim. The weird thing about this is that two of the three were a hospital's bill for a procedure for which the bills for the physician's services through their clinic flowed on through but I'm sure they are separate billing departments. I talked to the clinic's billing department and they tried to submit the claims directly to my supplement, but their compute...
by IowaFarmBoy
Fri Jan 12, 2024 9:43 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Social Security claiming questions
Replies: 10
Views: 1458

Re: Social Security claiming questions

I'm confused by the question since you have both reached FRA why does your income matter? Per the social security website..."Beginning with the month you reach full retirement age, your earnings no longer reduce your benefits, no matter how much you earn." or am I getting this wrong I had dinner last night with a friend who is 75 telling me about how they keep reducing his social security benefit because he makes so much each year so maybe I just don't know how this works? There are two sides to the income question: you are thinking about benefits potentially being reduced if a person continues to work after starting SS and you are right about this side. The second side is calculating the PIA amount which is based on the highest ...
by IowaFarmBoy
Mon Jan 08, 2024 8:26 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: “You’ll know when the right time is to retire”
Replies: 69
Views: 9217

Re: “You’ll know when the right time is to retire”

I worked in IT- the last 27 years for a large insurance company. I had always thought I would probably retire at 64-65 to maximize pension, etc. About a year before I retired, my department started changing how they would manage projects and I just didn't think the new approach would work very well and I really didn't want to go through the pain of finding out. This caused me to take a careful look at our financial situation and I realized that we had plenty. Another couple of years would add more but we didn't need the extra. Also, I had been looking into a volunteer gig for after retirement and decided that it would be better to start that at 61 instead of 65 so I pulled the trigger. No regrets after about 3.5 years.
by IowaFarmBoy
Mon Jan 01, 2024 11:18 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Conduit Replacement from outside Main Box?
Replies: 5
Views: 657

Re: Conduit Replacement from outside Main Box?

How big is the conduit and can you tell what kind of wires run through it? Is your power feed overhead or underground?

If it is 2" PVC, several large wires run through it and your power feed is underground, as another poster said, it is most likely the main power feed from the transformer to the house. You won't be able to disconnect this yourself and will either need something like the IPEX repair kit or will need to hire an electrician.

If it is small, like 1/2" or 3/4" and one single wire runs through it and it connects to a ground rod, it is likely the ground wire. This still requires either the IPEX or a pro as disconnecting the ground temporarily can have bad consequences.
by IowaFarmBoy
Sat Dec 23, 2023 7:32 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: did you get an inheritance / gift -- impact?
Replies: 52
Views: 5721

Re: did you get an inheritance / gift -- impact?

My last parent passed away when we were 45 and we inherited enough to finish paying off our house (LCOL area) and max out my 401k for a year or two. After that, the lack of house payment allowed us to increase my 401k contributions. When my MIL passed away, we were 55 and inherited a larger amount that we just rolled over into our portfolio. The biggest impact of the first inheritance was it allowed us ramp up our savings rate. The biggest impact of the second inheritance is that I think it gave me the confidence to retire at 62 instead of working till 65 or so. At one point I put together a spreadsheet estimating the present value of these inheritances- it indicated that they probably added 40% to our net worth. I think we would have been ...
by IowaFarmBoy
Mon Dec 18, 2023 8:00 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: YoLink Smart Wireless Freezer Temp Alarm
Replies: 9
Views: 1121

Re: YoLink Smart Wireless Freezer Temp Alarm

We've got a YoLink system but not the freezer sensor. I wasn't aware they had that. We've got water sensors at several likely failure points- washing machine, main meter entrance (where there have also been some groundwater issues) and the water heater. We've also got a garage door sensor which is a game changer with the perennial question "Did you shut the garage door?" when we're a few blocks away from home. I can just check my phone. The system has generally worked great. It caught a leak coming into our basement when we got a 100 year rain a few years back. We've got the alarm and it is very loud. The only thing that has been less than optimal is the garage door sensor doesn't say the door is "open", it says that the...
by IowaFarmBoy
Sun Dec 17, 2023 6:36 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Dental and vision insurance
Replies: 35
Views: 5967

Re: Dental and vision insurance

Before I retired from a megacorp, we had decent dental and vision plans that pretty much worked like you stated- basically they were a prepaid plan without much coverage for work outside of routine checkups and care. But being able to pay for them with pre-tax dollars made them worthwhile. So, if you can find a plan that works with your doctors and can deduct it, I think it would be a good move. Now that we are retired, I don't see much point in signing up for the normal dental and vision plans. Since retiring, I am using a plan my dentist put together- basically I pay for two exams and cleanings at the time of the first visit in the year and save maybe $50 for the year. My eye doctor is able to submit much of my exam (but not refraction) t...
by IowaFarmBoy
Sat Dec 09, 2023 6:39 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Electrical Question - 20 Amp Circuit Breaker with White Romex 14 Gauge Wiring
Replies: 20
Views: 2544

Re: Electrical Question - 20 Amp Circuit Breaker with White Romex 14 Gauge Wiring

fullham wrote: Fri Dec 08, 2023 6:14 pm Thanks. Looking at the wires coming out of the panel there are some white ones that say 12/2 on them. I believe they left the original wire for the dishwasher in place which must have been an old white 12 gauge.
Back when I worked as an electrician (30+) years ago, the wire wasn't color coded. Most Romex 10 gauge or smaller was white but there may have been some brands that were grey. I think the color coding started in about 2001.
by IowaFarmBoy
Tue Dec 05, 2023 10:02 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay down car loan or get CDs?
Replies: 13
Views: 1777

Re: Pay down car loan or get CDs?

If I understand your original post, if you are able to find a cd paying 6%, you will net .18% (6%- 5.82%). If you apply that to the entire $49k remaining, you would net about $88 in a year ($49k * .0018).

I'm not sure that is worth it for the loss of liquidity. It depends on your total situation.
by IowaFarmBoy
Sat Dec 02, 2023 12:50 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Question on How the Stock Market Actually Works
Replies: 38
Views: 4116

Re: Question on How the Stock Market Actually Works

abs9986 wrote: Sat Dec 02, 2023 12:18 pm

1. How does stock actually increase in value and can it do so perpetually?
One thing to consider is retained earnings. A company may plateau in terms of the volume it can sell but if it is profitable and retains the earnings, the company can still grow in value because of the cash they are adding to their balance sheet.
by IowaFarmBoy
Wed Nov 29, 2023 8:05 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Personal print and use of laptop at work
Replies: 42
Views: 5538

Re: Personal print and use of laptop at work

When I worked for a megacorp (70k) employees, I think they kept a log of web activity but I never heard of anything happening with it other than someone going to inappropriate sites (like porn but maybe others) and people were fired for inappropriate sites. My assumption was that they had software that flagged inappropriate sites and escalated those but the other logging was there in case something became a concern, like spending too much time on non-work websites. In the days before the internet was commonly available and Windows was 2.0 (very early 90s), a previous employer tracked the amount of time someone spent on external phone calls. I saw a report once that I had a high volume of external calls, but one of my responsibilities was su...
by IowaFarmBoy
Tue Nov 21, 2023 3:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Questions on Spousal Social Security
Replies: 17
Views: 1878

Re: Questions on Spousal Social Security

My understanding is that the way the spousal works is that she gets her benefit plus the difference between half of your PIA and her PIA as the spousal benefit. So the portion that is her benefit will be reduced by the 43% since it started early. The spousal portion will not be reduced.

Not sure how clearly I am explained that- maybe someone else can do so more clearly.
by IowaFarmBoy
Tue Nov 21, 2023 3:17 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Visiting Madison WI-- trip ideas?
Replies: 24
Views: 2103

Re: Visiting Madison WI-- trip ideas?

Lots of good suggestions above. I don't think this probably fits the demographic of families with kids but Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesen is only about an hour away at Spring Green. There is also a pretty good children's museum on the capital square and the zoo is nice.
by IowaFarmBoy
Tue Nov 21, 2023 7:28 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Advice for a budding electrical engineer
Replies: 134
Views: 16912

Re: Advice for a budding electrical engineer

DD #2 completed a BS in computer engineering which was within the same department as EE about 10 years ago. She was able to complete it in four years. She went to a flagship state school that was focused more on the liberal arts and their engineering college was smaller than many of the other flagship schools in the mid-west (1000 students in engineering vs 5000). I think this smaller engineering program worked out really well for her- I think she might have felt lost in a much larger program but she was able to build relationships with profs and the engineering office and worked as a student ambassador most of her time there. She had several good internships and ended up with a very good job working for a software company. Her work has inv...
by IowaFarmBoy
Mon Nov 20, 2023 2:59 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Do you rebalance with new money, or do you stick with set percentage based contribution?
Replies: 16
Views: 1079

Re: Do you rebalance with new money, or do you stick with set percentage based contribution?

pizzy wrote: Mon Nov 20, 2023 1:41 pm We rebalance with new money for the contributions that aren't automated.
This what we did when we were contributing (before retirement). It kept us close. As time has passed I have realized that "close" is as good as "exact" when it comes to re-balancing.
by IowaFarmBoy
Mon Nov 20, 2023 11:54 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: HVAC comparison quote
Replies: 21
Views: 1951

Re: HVAC comparison quote

We had our HVAC replaced about 25-30 years ago by an independent guy who used the Comfortmaker brand and it is still going strong. I believe Comfortmaker is owned by Carrier and is a line the local supply house carries for sale to independent installers. His price was really good, especially when compared to the name brand installers.

I'm pretty sure our guy is retired now but I plan to look for someone similar when we are due for a replacement. Sounds like your option #3.
by IowaFarmBoy
Thu Nov 16, 2023 3:09 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Are you satisfied with your past/current Roth conversions ? Why, or why not, or simply no look-back?
Replies: 37
Views: 3995

Re: Are you satisfied with your past/current Roth conversions ? Why, or why not, or simply no look-back?

I'm satisfied with all that I did at 12 or 15% marginal rate. I did some at 22% because our state government was talking about starting to tax retirement withdrawals (they are still untaxed) so I went a bit into the 22% bracket. Looking back, I shouldn't have given in to this fear and waited and I could do them at 12% now. I think we are about done with Roth conversions, we've got about 65% of our portfolio in Roth IRAs and think we will be able to use up the rest of our traditional IRAs with QCDs. We've got a few more years before SS so we could do more but I don't think we need to.
by IowaFarmBoy
Tue Nov 14, 2023 1:56 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Roth conversions: Now with Quiz #4
Replies: 82
Views: 7738

Re: Roth conversions: Care to take my pop quiz?

keljo wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 12:24 am In short, if the tax brackets are the same, it doesn't matter when you pay the taxes because multiplication is commutative.

(1 - taxrate) * growth_factor * principal = growth_factor * (1 - taxrate) * principal
0.78 * 17.5 * 100k = 17.5 * 0.78 * 100k = 1.365M final after-tax balance, either way.
This. keljo beat me to it!
by IowaFarmBoy
Fri Nov 03, 2023 10:54 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Open Enrollment Time - Life Insurance Questions
Replies: 11
Views: 644

Re: Open Enrollment Time - Life Insurance Questions

Leading does not equal only. If you need life insurance, you need it for all causes of death. Additionally, you may want to look into buying insurance to meet your needs that is not tied to your employment. You don't want to need to change jobs but you have become uninsurable due to a new medical condition. Do you currently have any other life insurance? Like term life policies? ETA: Sorry, I missed your comment about having $1M in term already. When I was employed, I had term life independent of my employment, my employer provide coverage of 2x salary and I bought the employer AD&D because it was cheap and I cycled a lot so I thought my chances of an accidental injury were much higher than average. I had a base of insurance that wasn't...
by IowaFarmBoy
Thu Nov 02, 2023 2:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Donor Advised Fund - is non-cash funding converted to cash?
Replies: 13
Views: 1024

Re: Donor Advised Fund - is non-cash funding converted to cash?

They convert it to cash. At least our DAF at Fidelity does. They have a choice of several different investments pools you can use but it has to be one of those pools- you can't own shares of an individual stock or a mutual fund that isn't one of the pools. The pools are generally different than their retail funds and ETFs. I took a quick look at Vanguard and they appear to work the same.
by IowaFarmBoy
Wed Nov 01, 2023 1:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medicare question about "outpatient" procedure
Replies: 10
Views: 1055

Re: Medicare question about "outpatient" procedure

jebmke wrote: Wed Nov 01, 2023 1:33 pm I've found that the billing departments at the facilities can often clarify what is happening. In a few cases they simply re-submitted the claim or found a wrong code that had to be corrected prior to resubmission. If you haven't contacted the provide, I'd start there since that is where the claim originated.
I think they have submitted properly. Medicare has paid their 80%, the breakdown seems to be Medicare routing it to the Medigap supplement company.
by IowaFarmBoy
Wed Nov 01, 2023 1:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medicare question about "outpatient" procedure
Replies: 10
Views: 1055

Re: Medicare question about "outpatient" procedure

bradinsky wrote: Wed Nov 01, 2023 1:36 pm Have you paid your part B deductible for 2023? Other than that, I can’t imagine you would owe anything. Since being on Medicare & plan G, I have had 3 surgeries, many physical therapy sessions, outpatient visits & the only bills I have had to pay are the ones that satisfy the part B deductible.
Part B deductible has been paid. Thanks for your experience, that is what I was expecting, too.
by IowaFarmBoy
Wed Nov 01, 2023 1:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medicare question about "outpatient" procedure
Replies: 10
Views: 1055

Medicare question about "outpatient" procedure

I'm relatively new to Medicare and have a question. Background: I started Medicare on 8/1. I have a Plan G Medigap from AARP United Healthcare. I fulfilled my Part B deductible before incurring the claim in question. On 8/22 I had a procedure done by in a clinic that is part of a hospital. This generated two bills that Medicare has paid. One was for the doctor and medicare.gov labels the claim as "Part B" and has paid their 80% and the supplement has paid their 20%. No problems with this one. There is also a bill from the hospital for the use of their facilities/services that medicare.gov labels as "Outpatient". Medicare has paid their 80% but this claim doesn't appear on the United Healthcare site and they haven't paid....
by IowaFarmBoy
Thu Oct 19, 2023 3:42 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Retired, Unretired, Retired Again - Lessons Learned?
Replies: 37
Views: 7068

Re: Retired, Unretired, Retired Again - Lessons Learned?

I've seen a lot of people (especially guys) go into a "retirement frenzy" for the first six months or so- catching up on home projects like finishing the basement, traveling, etc. but then become kind of lost when the big things were done. I had plans to do some volunteer work but gave myself 6 months to decompress and not worry much about anything before picking up a 10 hr/wk volunteer gig. I didn't really worry about staying busy or doing anything other than whatever seemed good at the time during those six months. I'm really happy I did that- I kept myself entertained and I think set my self up better for ongoing retirement later. The first six months were during the Covid shutdown in the second half of 2020 and I got through t...
by IowaFarmBoy
Wed Oct 11, 2023 9:49 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medicare A,B,C, D and Medigap ...
Replies: 42
Views: 4095

Re: Medicare A,B,C, D and Medigap ...

Some good advice here, especially nisiprius's summary. Selecting Plan D feels like a crapshoot. The advice we got from pretty much everyone is to just pick whatever is cheapest on the meds you know you will be taking. The others are just too uncertain. Here's an example. DW had a new prescription that our Part D was going to bill at $600 at a preferred pharmacy (Walgreens). I learned this by adding it to her list on medicare.gov and checking pricing. GoodRX had it at $120 at Walgreens and about $50 at a grocery store pharmacy so we had the prescription sent there. The tech there found a coupon in their system that priced it at about $37. So it pays to be proactive in pricing. You can do a pretty good job of shopping around between medicare....
by IowaFarmBoy
Fri Oct 06, 2023 5:06 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Shopping car insurance rates
Replies: 10
Views: 1937

Re: Shopping car insurance rates

1) aggregator sites (such as The Zebra) that "shop" multiple companies without using your identity and suggest several companies and approximate rates. I've also read that these are ballparks, may not be entirely accurate, and may not have exposure to all, or enough, companies. I think this concern about the accuracy of the aggregators is very true. Auto insurance can include so many factors (like driving record, age, vehicle, location, credit, etc.) that are then evaluated by the company, frequently with a proprietary mathematical pricing model that the aggregators probably don't have access to. Also, I doubt they are able to handle bundling of your various types of insurance well, which is where some the companies offer substan...
by IowaFarmBoy
Thu Oct 05, 2023 3:20 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: No tie shoe laces
Replies: 19
Views: 1973

Re: No tie shoe laces

I've used a product called "Lock Laces" that I got on Amazon but I'd guess they are available elsewhere. I use them in my running shoes that I wear for everyday use around town. They work great, even on multi-mile walks and make the shoes very easy to slip on and off.
by IowaFarmBoy
Wed Oct 04, 2023 3:04 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Sad News - LadyGeek's Mom has passed
Replies: 158
Views: 37379

Re: Sad News - LadyGeek's Mom has passed

So sorry for your loss. Thanks for all you do.
by IowaFarmBoy
Mon Sep 25, 2023 9:02 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Renting vs. buying in current situation
Replies: 12
Views: 1761

Re: Renting vs. buying in current situation

FlaLove wrote: Mon Sep 25, 2023 8:33 am My wife and I are currently renting a nicely remodeled condo 15-20 min from my job at $3.2K/mo that would cost well over $4500/mo to buy even after putting down $100K.
This jumped out at me- do you anticipate being able to have this good of deal on rent long-term? Or is this an unusual situation that is likely to change or go away? I seems like there isn't much financial incentive for the landlord to keep leasing the property at this rate vs cashing it out.
by IowaFarmBoy
Tue Sep 19, 2023 11:43 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Tire Question
Replies: 30
Views: 2721

Re: Tire Question

Another thought, I've had some issues with alloy (aluminum) rims corroding and the tire not sealing well at the bead. I just noticed your car is a 2021 so not too likely- usually this happens on older rims. And if you don't have alloy rims, you can ignore this.
by IowaFarmBoy
Mon Sep 18, 2023 2:03 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Please help me validate my DAF calculation for 2023
Replies: 7
Views: 579

Re: Please help me validate my DAF calculation for 2023

If you are in the 24% tax bracket, wouldn't most of the additional deduction be offsetting income with a marginal tax rate of 24 and/or 22%? My assumption was that your net savings rate would equal whatever your effective tax rate is. My effective tax rate should end up somewhere around 15% after I bring my AGI down from the itemized deductions. If so, then you would use the effective rate to calculate savings since that's what you ended up paying, right? That's a genuine question, I'm not confident that's how it would work. I guess I would need to add in state tax savings too, so another 4.95% for IL, brining the total effective savings to around 20%. I think you would want to use the marginal rate. You are reducing income in your highest...
by IowaFarmBoy
Mon Sep 18, 2023 1:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Please help me validate my DAF calculation for 2023
Replies: 7
Views: 579

Re: Please help me validate my DAF calculation for 2023

If you are in the 24% tax bracket, wouldn't most of the additional deduction be offsetting income with a marginal tax rate of 24 or 22%?