Search found 1464 matches

by bikechuck
Wed Mar 13, 2024 9:33 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is Raymond James beating the SP500? That's what they are claiming.
Replies: 59
Views: 4608

Re: Is Raymond James beating the SP500? That's what they are claiming.

student wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2024 8:03 am
fvaldes wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2024 8:00 am
southernlucky wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2024 7:49 am If you can provide the ticker of the RJ fund a comparison can be done.
I think this "report" is for actively picking stocks.. and conveniently only reports the results from 1993 to 2002. And of course, no mention of fees.
If they recommend one to buy different stocks regularly, there will be high turnover and the taxes........
Taxes are not an issue if the fund is held in pretax funds. High turnover can increase trading costs but the yields should be net of those costs so perhaps they had a good run.

That said I am an index investor for life.
by bikechuck
Fri Mar 08, 2024 8:34 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I bonds selling
Replies: 26
Views: 3819

Re: I bonds selling

z3r0c00l wrote: Fri Mar 08, 2024 8:21 am Unless you can get 10% of your net worth or more in there, I wouldn't bother personally. A big advocate for simplifying your finances.
My plan had been to save a targeted amount in iBonds for each of my three granddaughters to put a dent in their college costs when the time comes.

I have read posts that you can move them to a 529 in your name and then change the beneficiary to your grandchild. That said I will likely not be able to take advantage of the interest exclusion due to the income phase out.

So perhaps you are right that I should just redeem them and reinvest the proceeds in an alternate investment.
by bikechuck
Fri Mar 08, 2024 8:02 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I bonds selling
Replies: 26
Views: 3819

Re: I bonds selling

I assume “my daughters are the bonds beneficiaries” means half of the bonds has daughter #1 as beneficiary and the other half has daughter #2 No, in my case my wife is the beneficiary and my daughters are named as 50/50 contingent beneficiaries in my will. I don't think that Treasury Direct allows you to name contingent beneficiaries. Ah, I see. No need to redeem the bond. Your daughters would inherit them 50/50 and can have them reissuued in their name. Then there is the option of having taxes accrued charged to the estate, or to the beneficiary. Might be my lack of imagination but I still do not understand. For simplicity let's assume there is only one $10K IBond that has been accruing interest. Daughter A wants to redeem it as it comes ...
by bikechuck
Mon Mar 04, 2024 8:46 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Moving to San Diego from Sleepy Low Cost Area
Replies: 64
Views: 6192

Re: Moving to San Diego from Sleepy Low Cost Area

JustGotScammed wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 11:02 pm
randybobandy wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 8:58 pm
JustGotScammed wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 8:02 pm I've gotten board where I live and am thinking about moving to San Diego. It looks like a fun, healthier lifestyle. Is this affordable at all? Any idea for how to navigate costs, and what annual income would be necessary to live a "middle class" lifestyle, would be appreciated. I am thinking of the Little italy area, assuming it can all work out.
Bored*
Out of all the things you could have commented on...SMDH.
SMDH ?????
by bikechuck
Mon Mar 04, 2024 8:04 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I bonds selling
Replies: 26
Views: 3819

Re: I bonds selling

Thesaints wrote: Mon Mar 04, 2024 1:09 am I assume “my daughters are the bonds beneficiaries” means half of the bonds has daughter #1 as beneficiary and the other half has daughter #2
No, in my case my wife is the beneficiary and my daughters are named as 50/50 contingent beneficiaries in my will. I don't think that Treasury Direct allows you to name contingent beneficiaries.
by bikechuck
Sun Mar 03, 2024 5:33 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I bonds selling
Replies: 26
Views: 3819

Re: I bonds selling

Thesaints wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 5:04 pm
bikechuck wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 3:10 pm If my wife and I die before my daughters who are 50/50 secondary beneficiaries inherit my portfolio would the IBonds need to be liquidated before they are distributed. If so that strategy would not work.
Your daughters are beneficiaries on death listed on your savings bonds ? Why would they need to be liquidated ?
If they are not liquidated how are they distributed half and half?
by bikechuck
Sun Mar 03, 2024 3:10 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I bonds selling
Replies: 26
Views: 3819

Re: I bonds selling

toddthebod wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 2:11 pm
bikechuck wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 1:58 pm
cat_guy wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 10:24 am They could be used tax free for education, so if there’s a. Chance that might happen, could hold onto them.
Sadly, my understanding is that they cannot be used tax free to help fund a grandchild's education.
You can open a 529 with yourself or your child as beneficiary, then change the beneficiary to the grandchild.
Thanks, I might give that a whirl if my wife and or I are still kicking when the time comes.

If my wife and I die before my daughters who are 50/50 secondary beneficiaries inherit my portfolio would the IBonds need to be liquidated before they are distributed. If so that strategy would not work.
by bikechuck
Sun Mar 03, 2024 1:58 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I bonds selling
Replies: 26
Views: 3819

Re: I bonds selling

cat_guy wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 10:24 am They could be used tax free for education, so if there’s a. Chance that might happen, could hold onto them.
Sadly, my understanding is that they cannot be used tax free to help fund a grandchild's education.
by bikechuck
Fri Mar 01, 2024 2:27 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Favorite calculator(s) to estimate how many years portfolio will potentially last...
Replies: 51
Views: 8681

Re: Favorite calculator(s) to estimate how many years portfolio will potentially last...

mhc wrote: Mon Nov 20, 2023 9:48 am I like firecalc and cfiresim. The Fidelity retirement planner is good too. I think the tools should be simple to use, which firecalc and cfiresim are. I think complex tools can give a false sense of accuracy when planning out many decades.
Agreed, any analysis that requires piling assumptions on top of assumptions requires a lot of work, presents more opportunities for input errors and in my judgement adds limited to no incremental value compared to firecalc or cfiresim.
by bikechuck
Sat Feb 24, 2024 6:47 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Help with washer, dryer, dishwasher that are 25 years old and never used
Replies: 22
Views: 2969

Re: Help with washer, dryer, dishwasher that are 25 years old and never used

prd1982 wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2024 8:17 pm My wife and I vote to replace all the hoses with stainless steel mesh hoses. Then run the appliances empty to check them out for problems
After having a supply hose rupture I too replaced them with stainless steel mesh.

Do the stainless mesh hoses need to be replaced after a period of time for preventative maintenance or should they last a lifetime?
by bikechuck
Sat Feb 24, 2024 1:30 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Heavy Value Tilt Away from Mag 7 stocks
Replies: 221
Views: 13740

Re: Heavy Value Tilt Away from Mag 7 stocks

When I retired seven years ago I decided to allocate 70% of my equities to a total US index fund, 20% to a total international index fund and 10% to a small cap value index fund.

This hopefully mitigates some of the risk associated with the concentration of the magnificent 7 in my total U.S. fund. I have not rebalanced so my percentages in international and SCV have declined a bit. If the pundits and prognosticators are right they will grow back and perhaps some day exceed the allocation that I chose 7 years ago. If not so be it because I don't plan to tinker with my equities they will drift where they drift and I am OK with that.
by bikechuck
Sat Feb 24, 2024 1:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Handling Inheritance In A Marriage
Replies: 49
Views: 5498

Re: Handling Inheritance In A Marriage

All families are different. My wife and I have been married nearly 45 years and from day one everything we had was no longer yours and mine but ours. Anything else would seem wierd to both of us.

Neither of us inherited large sums of money so our situation is different from the OP's. That said, we are self insured for Long term care so even if we had large inheritances we would likely continue to name each other as primary beneficiaries for all of our accounts with our daughters as secondary.
by bikechuck
Thu Feb 22, 2024 4:44 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Just for fun, what single stock do you think will see huge growth
Replies: 174
Views: 27389

Re: Just for fun, what single stock do you think will see huge growth

anthonypals wrote: Sat Aug 26, 2023 5:09 pm Just for fun, if you had to bet your money on one stock to have huge returns over the next 5+ years what would it be and why?

I’ll start it off with “LLY” mainly because mounjaro is making people lose weight and the demand for it.
I worked too hard building my portfolio to bet/gamble away money on any individual stock in my deaccumulation years. I am far more comfortable investing in passive index funds, in my case for equities 70% Total US, 20% total international index and 10% small cap value.
by bikechuck
Thu Feb 22, 2024 4:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Can a company claw back a bonus if there is no contractual claw back provision?
Replies: 10
Views: 1023

Re: Can a company claw back a bonus if there is no contractual claw back provision?

Beensabu wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2024 4:31 pm I have no answer to your question, but I sure wouldn't quit until March rolled around and I got to keep my health insurance for that whole month.
Doesn't always work that way. At my former employer health care coverage ended on an employee's last day at work.
by bikechuck
Tue Feb 20, 2024 10:27 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Windshield Chip - Insurance claim or Self Fund
Replies: 61
Views: 5550

Windshield Chip - Insurance claim or Self Fund

I have a windshield chip that Safelite will repair for $191 & change. It is covered with no deductible through State Farm. My agent tells me that submitting the claim will not impact whether we would be dropped or not but can be considered going forward in conjunction with any other claims for possible rate increases.

Is this something that we should just pay out of pocket or is it something that we should submit to our Insurance Co. ?
by bikechuck
Fri Feb 16, 2024 8:24 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Traditional: SECURE 2.0 makes annuitization even MORE attractive
Replies: 38
Views: 7110

Re: TIAA Traditional: SECURE 2.0 makes annuitization even MORE attractive

Right, although for me I expect SS to be that income stream. And if so well off, so "cushioned" I would not see the need for the satisfaction of another income stream that I will not outlive. Especially when I consider that while I can't outlive the income stream if I die earlier I will not see the value of the asset that created the income stream. Yes, I won't care all that much at that stage of life (death). I'd rather enrich my heirs than TIAA and think there's a better chance of that by investing the TIAA asset rather than annuitizing it. I had at least two thoughts whilst reading your post. 1) The future of SS is decidedly cloudy and TIAA annuity payments might be more secure/dependable. 2) If you annuitize a portion of your...
by bikechuck
Thu Feb 15, 2024 1:42 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Half-baked fixed income plan incl TIAA traditional
Replies: 18
Views: 2367

Re: Half-baked fixed income plan incl TIAA traditional

Thanks for the elaboration, pointers, etc. regarding annuities. As noted by folkher0, what may have gotten lost in the thread, is that we were only talking about annuitizing my TIAA Traditional which represents about 15% of total assets. BUT, I am trying to advance my annuities knowledge, as I think it would be a good addition to our asset mix within the next 5-10 years. What piqued my shorter term interest was the possibility that since interest rates are higher now than for the past several years, maybe I should "rush" into grabbing some annuity sooner. Hi PerfectName. I am 70.5 and my wife is 69.5 years old we have two daughters and three granddaughters. . I have an older TIAA a/c from a former employer accounting for 16% of o...
by bikechuck
Mon Feb 12, 2024 7:46 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What happens to a TIPs ladder in IRA when you die?
Replies: 13
Views: 1809

Re: What happens to a TIPs ladder in IRA when you die?

All IRA balances must be withdrawn by beneficiaries within 10 years of inheritance, except some beneficiaries are exempted from the 10-year rule. This exemption includes: A surviving spouse A disabled or chronically ill person A child who hasn't reached the age of majority A person not more than 10 years younger than the IRA account owner If the line of beneficiaries might eventually include a non-exempted beneficiary, a TIPs ladder would have to be liquidated by that beneficiary within 10 years in order to meet the 10-year rule. It's possible to envision that being the case after a spousal beneficiary passes away. Thank you for your post. I am not at all concerned about my wife inheriting the TIPS ladder in my IRA but the issues for my da...
by bikechuck
Sun Feb 11, 2024 1:26 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Confused about IRMAA
Replies: 5
Views: 847

Re: Confused about IRMAA

retiredjg wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 12:55 pm They look at your joint income. Nothing changes when spouse goes on Medicare other than now each of you will pay a Medicare premium....still based on your joint income.
Are you sure that is the case for couples that choose married filing separately? Whilst working we always saved a ton of money on our state taxes in Ohio by filing separately.
by bikechuck
Fri Feb 09, 2024 9:12 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How do you buy a mattress?
Replies: 47
Views: 3748

Re: How do you buy a mattress?

AllMostThere wrote: Thu Feb 08, 2024 8:27 pm Costco's return policy is your friend here. Buy the size of your choice using the best reviews. Try it & keep or try it & return.
If you return it do they come and get it or do you have to somehow someway figure out a way to take it to your nearest Costco store?
by bikechuck
Wed Feb 07, 2024 12:43 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Hit a rebalancing band, so IPS says must rebalance!
Replies: 65
Views: 6049

Re: Hit a rebalancing band, so IPS says must rebalance!

rebellovw wrote: Thu Jun 15, 2023 9:49 am Thank you - the idea of the TIPS ladder seems very opposite to the Bogleheads idea of simplicity.
Other than the half hour that it took to set up my TIPS ladder it is pretty simple. I just need to reinvest or spend the money that shows up in my settlement fund twice a year.
by bikechuck
Tue Feb 06, 2024 2:14 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Are any BH's not wealthy?
Replies: 165
Views: 25660

Re: Are any BH's not wealthy?

broadstone wrote: Tue Feb 06, 2024 9:47 am This isn't a woe is me post but sometimes reading this forum makes me depressed as to how far financially I seem to be behind most of the people who post here. I know we are all responsible for our path in life. But...

I read many "I have $1.5m in a Roth IRA and no debt and my HOI is $200k per year" posts.

Are any BH's here not wealthy? Just normal middle or lower class people?

It would be nice to know I'm not alone, that's all.
What is an HOI?
by bikechuck
Tue Feb 06, 2024 11:25 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 2023 Tax Year - First Big Roth Conversion - Triage Summary
Replies: 165
Views: 11174

Re: 2023 Tax Year - First Big Roth Conversion - Triage Summary

murrays wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2024 8:59 am
Skyway wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2024 8:38 am murrays ,
See my reply in the other thread, it think it is indeed 31.5%, 26.5% and 24%.
In that case, why not simply do a withdrawal from the tIRA if I believe my future tax bracket will be 24% and I don't have sufficient funds in my taxable account? I'll save 7.5% in taxes, correct?
Thank you for posting this comment.

I have been doing conversions while staying below the first IRMAA Tier but I do not have a big after tax account and have had to fund the taxes from additional withdrawals from my IRA. I will need to consider if I would be better off just doing IRA withdrawals and leaving the unneeded funds in my after tax brokerage account. For some reason that thought had not occurred to me.
by bikechuck
Sun Jan 28, 2024 11:41 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can Vanguard track outside investments?
Replies: 28
Views: 2248

Re: Can Vanguard track outside investments?

gallootjs wrote: Sun Jan 28, 2024 11:03 am @livesoft - if you don't provide creds to other institutions, do you manually track your investments? The only alternative I see is to use Quicken with their auto import option, but Quicken seems a lot less trustworthy than another financial institution. Anyway, I'm just trying to see how others handle this...
Like Livesoft I will not provide login credentials from financial institution A to Financial institution B or anyone else for that matter. If there is fraudulent access to my accounts at financial institution A would it reduce my chances of being reimbursed if I have shared my login credentials to a third party?

I do manually track my investments which is not too difficult (takes 20 minutes or less once or twice a month).
by bikechuck
Fri Jan 26, 2024 12:47 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Online Roth Conversion at Major Brokerages?
Replies: 15
Views: 968

Re: Online Roth Conversion at Major Brokerages?

With the 12% drop in Tesla stock yesterday, I wanted to take advantage and convert some shares in my wife's rollover IRA to her Roth IRA at Schwab. I previously did this before for her at TD Ameritrade before it was acquired by Schwab and it was a beautiful, easy online experience. I was surprised to see that I did not have the ability to do this at Schwab. I had to download a form (22 pages!!!), fill out 5 pages, get my wife to sign it, and re-scan it back to my computer to upload it to Schwab. What a step backwards! As I do not think we will be staying with Schwab, I wanted to get a sense of which major online brokerages allow Roth conversions online. I have my work 401K (including a 401K Roth) at Fidelity but haven't tried a conversion ...
by bikechuck
Wed Jan 24, 2024 2:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Traditional for 100% of fixed income?
Replies: 27
Views: 1989

Re: TIAA Traditional for 100% of fixed income?

I only worked for a university for a few years in my early career. Contributed about 50/50 to TIAA traditional and CERF stock fund. It just sat there for 30 + years until I joined the Boglehead community. Rolled the Stock fund (CERF) to my IRA a few years ago and will be taking the traditional as an annuity. I always included the TIAA traditional with my bond allocation since it wasnt a stock. Made up less than a tenth of my assets. My situation is a close parallel to yours. Through historical accident approximately 16% of my total portfolio is in TIAA Traditional with half in an RA and half in an SRA. At the age of 70 I have been taking interest only payments from my RA for the past 5 years. Recently I annuitized (joint annuity with 20 ye...
by bikechuck
Wed Jan 24, 2024 11:16 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone intend on SS@70, now thinking 68 or 69?
Replies: 86
Views: 8243

Re: Anyone intend on SS@70, now thinking 68 or 69?

nostresshere wrote: Wed Jan 24, 2024 9:51 am My best friend was going to wait until 70.

He died at 66 and never got a penny.
I waited until 70 understanding that I could suffer the fate of your friend. I concluded that if that happened to me I would not be in a position to regret it and if I lived to the age of my life expectancy or beyond I would value the longevity insurance.

In my case I am married and my spouse is likely to outlive me so I wanted her to have the highest possible surviver benefit as she is not as comfortable as I am with financial management.
by bikechuck
Wed Jan 24, 2024 10:57 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Is a 100% TIPS portfolio a perpetual inflation-adjusted withdrawal?
Replies: 36
Views: 3170

Re: Is a 100% TIPS portfolio a perpetual inflation-adjusted withdrawal?

If I wanted to see how the distributions varied for an existing fund in the past, how would I do that in portfolio visualizer? I see where it will tell me the overall yield for the period but not the individual distributions per year. I'd recommend developing an understanding of how TIPS funds work and react to various interest rate and inflation scenarios rather than focusing on past performance. There are a lot of recent posts from people who are very unhappy with their bond funds because they had relied on past performance without understanding how bonds and funds work. I understand that a TIPS fund with 2.5 year duration will drop effectively 2.5% for every 1% increase in interest rates. Panic selling is not a concern here. What I'm lo...
by bikechuck
Tue Jan 23, 2024 10:34 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How to decide to move from IC to manager?
Replies: 15
Views: 1327

Re: How to decide to move from IC to manager?

rage_phish wrote: Tue Jan 23, 2024 9:06 am Anyone here ever regretted making the move from IC to manager?

I’m at an experience level where it’s the obvious next step. However, I enjoy the IC work I do and the fact that I really only need to worry about my own work
What is an IC ???
by bikechuck
Mon Jan 22, 2024 6:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone Ever Retire With a 6-Month Notice?
Replies: 50
Views: 4592

Re: Anyone Ever Retire With a 6-Month Notice?

My boss asked if I would give him three years notice and I did. When the three years were up he asked if I would stay an extra 6 months to act as a mentor for my successor so I did.

We had worked together for over 20 years and had an excellent relationship with mutual respect and trust. If that was not the case I would likely have given approximately 6 months notice. I liked my employer and coworkers and wanted the transition to be a smooth one.
by bikechuck
Mon Jan 22, 2024 10:19 am
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: 🎁 🎉Happy 100th Birthday to Taylor Larimore 🎊🎂
Replies: 429
Views: 41938

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

Happy Birthday Taylor and THANK YOU for everything you have done and continue to do for the Boglehead's community!
by bikechuck
Fri Jan 19, 2024 3:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 20% Short-Term TIPS in Rollover But Not Roth?
Replies: 7
Views: 486

Re: 20% Short-Term TIPS in Rollover But Not Roth?

Go back to basics: what are your spending needs and how much is covered by your Social Security benefits? I think if SS covers, say, 50% or more of your spending you don't need much if any in TIPS. Wouldn't hurt to have more inflation adjusted assets but may not help much either. This is great. Thanks. Probably 80% of my expenses with be covered by SS. So this is a great way to look at it. Given the very real possibility of the SS Trust Fund being exhausted with a resulting drop in SS benefits I have built a TIPS ladder to provide more inflation protected income. My ladder currently goes through 2034 (age 80 for me), is composed entirely of ten year TIPS that mature in January each year. Each year I can decide to spend or reinvest the fund...
by bikechuck
Fri Jan 19, 2024 10:31 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help needed from a cowardly investor
Replies: 22
Views: 2868

Re: Help needed from a cowardly investor

After reading Bogleheads book, I want to get started but I am a early retiree and I am afraid that my stock will cut into half in a year or two into my retirement. On high level, I have 40 time my annual yearly expenses with enough insurance to take care of health emergency and with no debts. May I know if anyone have similar fear like me? And how you overcome it? I am not comfortable to buy lump sum for a 50/50 portfolio at current market high. If I use DCA, may I know how long is the optimal period? DCA Every month for a year, two years or three years? So much fear to get started at current market high. Shiller PE of 32, 😱 My father grew up during the depression and on multiple occasions told me "I just don't have the guts to play t...
by bikechuck
Fri Jan 19, 2024 10:22 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Insurance co. Refuses to pay assisted living facility
Replies: 24
Views: 2906

Re: Insurance co. Refuses to pay assisted living facility

JBSjr wrote: Fri Jan 19, 2024 10:14 am My MIL recently moved to an assisted living facility. She bought an insurance policy in 1987 to cover in case she ever needed it. Anyway,we filed a claim to cover her expenses and after supplying the insurance company with all sorts of requests for information, the claim was denied. I've contacted several local elder care lawyers and they haven't been much help.
Has anyone on here had this experience?
Did they say why it was denied? It would be helpful to know that if you are comfortable sharing that information.
by bikechuck
Thu Jan 18, 2024 5:17 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: My Social Security Timing "Aha" Moment (hint: It's Insurance, not an Investment)
Replies: 67
Views: 7004

Re: My Social Security Timing "Aha" Moment (hint: It's Insurance, not an Investment)

I reached the age of 70 in 2023 and began my SS payments. I wanted my wife, who claimed at 64, to be able to step up to my benefit should she outlive me. Being born in 1953 I enjoyed a spousal benefit equal to 1/2 of my wife's PIA whilst waiting.

It is nice to be able to read this reoccurring discussion for entertainment purposes only going forward!
by bikechuck
Tue Jan 16, 2024 2:11 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Annuity – Why or Why Not?
Replies: 98
Views: 12723

Re: TIAA Annuity – Why or Why Not?

This has been an interesting thread as I have reached the age of 70 (my spouse is 69). Through historical accident I have some TIAA Traditional, half in an RA and half in an SRA, and I have been taking interest only payments from my RA to supplement my SS. My interest only payments at 4.6% from my RA are approx $11K per year and their purchasing power is slowly melting away each year due to inflation. If I annuitize my RA my annual 7.8% payout will be approximately $18.5K and its purchasing power will likewise slowly melt away due to inflation. It will take longer for $18.5K to melt than $11K so I am leaning heavily towards annuitizing the RA. To help with inflation I have 45% of my portfolio in equities and I have a ten year TIPS ladder. I...
by bikechuck
Wed Jan 10, 2024 10:45 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Tips Ladder vs 30 year treasury
Replies: 5
Views: 1186

Re: Tips Ladder vs 30 year treasury

So I went to tipsladder.com and built a ladder for 20K a year income. The principal needed was 438K and if I understand this correctly after 30 years both principal and interest would be 0. https://www.tipsladder.com/build?incomeRequirementKind=Avg&firstYear=2025&income=20000&yearCount=29&bondChoiceForGap=NearestBond&bondChoiceWithinYear=BestYield Now if I put money same 438K in 30 year treasury at 4.25% that 18600 a year just interest almost same as the tipsladder but after 30 years still the original 438K premium is intact and stays as is. Yes 30 years is not inflation adjusted but trying to understand the tips 20K a year is inflation adjusted right ? Unfortunately with some real $ numbers its hard to understand, is t...
by bikechuck
Wed Jan 10, 2024 9:58 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: If You Are Retiring/Retired: How are you estimating your real annual returns going forward?
Replies: 141
Views: 21241

Re: If You Are Retiring/Retired: How are you estimating your real annual returns going forward?

I'm amazed at how many people don't even try to estimate it. How can you realistically plan without a guess? Sure, make it conservative. Sure, use Monte carlo simulations. But do something. I disagree ... I think that any models that require inputs like this will likely prove to be unreliable so I do not spend time trying to estimate annual real returns going forward. That does not mean the absence of a realistic plan. My spouse and I planned for retirement by 1) Choosing a SS claiming strategy where the top earner waited until the age of 70 to begin benefits. 2) Building a ladder of individual TIPS with a portion of our fixed income guaranteeing a rate of return in excess of inflation for that slice of our portfolio. 3) Comfortably living...
by bikechuck
Tue Jan 09, 2024 1:28 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Announcement vs Auction vs Settlement dates for TIPS Auction
Replies: 2
Views: 635

Announcement vs Auction vs Settlement dates for TIPS Auction

I plan to buy some ten year TIPS at auction this month on the Schwab platform. Since I use Schwab I keep my settlement account which has a yield of diddly squat (a technical term) at or near zero. Do I need to move cash to my settlement account on the day that I place my order which is a day or two before the Auction date or can I leave the funds invested until a day or two prior to the Settlement date?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience or understanding.
by bikechuck
Sun Jan 07, 2024 9:36 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: ID.me - I surrendered
Replies: 29
Views: 6529

ID.me - I surrendered

This morning I tried to sign on to the IRS.GOV site and noticed that I could no longer do so using my old sign on credentials. I had been an ID.me holdout as I figure the smaller my electronic footprint the safer I would be. However I want to be able to sign on to this and other Federal sites to use their full functionality so I capitulated and set up my account this morning.

I will say that the process was fairly easy, the step by step instructions were reasonably clear and I was able to create my account in ten minutes or less. I do hope that they are never hacked and that my information is not compromised going forward!
by bikechuck
Sat Jan 06, 2024 8:04 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Apple ... stay the course or scale back?
Replies: 155
Views: 27371

Re: Apple ... stay the course or scale back?

When I retired 6.5 years ago I decided to get rid of my only individual stock holding which I had acquired in an employee benefit plan from a previous employer.

Since then that stock has slowly but steadily increased in value at a rate faster than my total stock market index funds. That said I still think that I made the right decision in selling it because it is one less thing to fret about and my simplified portfolio is easier to manage.
by bikechuck
Fri Jan 05, 2024 9:23 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIPS:Individual bonds vs. bond fund
Replies: 41
Views: 5680

Re: TIPS:Individual bonds vs. bond fund

oysterboy wrote: Fri Jan 05, 2024 12:07 pm I'm 76 years old and invested in an intermediate term TIPS fund, duration ~6.6 years. I'm not sure I want to spend the time creating and maintaining a TIPS ladder, but am interested in increasing my understanding of the pros and cons of using a fund vs. individual bonds. Many thanks in advance.
I prefer a TIPS ladder to a fund because I never want to have to withdraw money from the fund in a down year.

It did take me some time (less than two hours) to create my ten year ladder but it does not require any maintenance other than spending or reinvesting each rung as it matures.

I am 70 years old and hold my TIPS in an IRA.
by bikechuck
Fri Jan 05, 2024 1:02 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: The Traditional vs. Roth Split Decision: As Insanely Complex as It Seems?
Replies: 156
Views: 21547

Re: The Traditional vs. Roth Split Decision: As Insanely Complex as It Seems?

Earlier last year, I posted this thread to learn about how to decide on the best split between Traditional and Roth Solo 401(k) contributions. In the course of posting in and reading that thread, as well as reading many other articles and watching videos on the subject, I gradually realized more and more why I was finding this decision so confusing. From all I’ve now researched, it appears that this really is among the most confusing decisions imaginable. I think that you are correct that this is enormously complex which is the reason that I have not tried to model my situation. I am a married, retired 70 year old and over the past few years I have been doing Roth conversions at a level that keeps me just below the first IRMAA tier. I will...
by bikechuck
Wed Jan 03, 2024 9:49 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)
Replies: 6651
Views: 1203432

Re: What is a good month to sell old I Bonds?

I sold all mine that were purchased from 2020 to 2022. I waited an extra month to redeem my March and September bonds to delay taxes a year. I might replace them in April, depending on market conditions. We did something similar, sold our 2021 and 2022 I Bonds in Nov/Dec 2023 and sold our 2020 I Bonds today. We will also sell our 2023 I Bonds (0.4% fixed) in April 2024. We bought 1.3% fixed I Bonds via gift box in Nov 2023. We are keeping all the proceeds in T-Bills (5.4%+) that mature before the end of April 2024 or treasury only money market funds yielding over 5%. We will likely buy 4 years worth of I Bonds via gift box in April 2024 to lock in the 1.3% fixed rate. May not buy more I Bonds after for a few years. Why wait until April? Ju...
by bikechuck
Wed Jan 03, 2024 8:35 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Won the Game Question
Replies: 77
Views: 14906

Re: Won the Game Question

TheTimeLord wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 8:29 pm
bikechuck wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 8:03 pm
Avidswimmer wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 7:29 pm Nursing homes can run $15k a month today, and are not covered by Medicare. 24 hour in home care surprisingly is not cheaper. What are we guessing they will cost in 10-20 years? My point is the game isn’t over until it’s over. I’m not declaring victory early based on an unknowable X.
I was about to post something very similar. We are self insured for Long Term Care and being self insured for Long term care means never having to say that you have won the game.
From my perspective that is a very different definition of "the game" than Bernstein's.
How so? Not saying you are wrong but I would be interested in understanding your thinking.
by bikechuck
Wed Jan 03, 2024 8:03 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Won the Game Question
Replies: 77
Views: 14906

Re: Won the Game Question

Avidswimmer wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 7:29 pm Nursing homes can run $15k a month today, and are not covered by Medicare. 24 hour in home care surprisingly is not cheaper. What are we guessing they will cost in 10-20 years? My point is the game isn’t over until it’s over. I’m not declaring victory early based on an unknowable X.
I was about to post something very similar. We are self insured for Long Term Care and being self insured for Long term care means never having to say that you have won the game.
by bikechuck
Thu Dec 28, 2023 10:47 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Exchanging ibonds?
Replies: 4
Views: 682

Re: Exchanging ibonds?

My wife and I plan to sell and repurchase $20K of our IBonds with a 0% interest rate in January. We will need to eat a 3 month penalty because the are not yet five year olds. We need to wait until January 2024 because we already purchased $20K in January of 2023.

That said we built a ten year TIPS ladder this year in pre tax a/c s so I am kind of sort of thinking about selling all of our IBonds and reinvesting the proceeds in munis.
by bikechuck
Wed Dec 27, 2023 9:14 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best tips for simplifying your financial life
Replies: 28
Views: 4683

Re: Best tips for simplifying your financial life

Olemiss540 wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2023 7:30 pm Target Retirement fund and dun.
I don't like the fact that Target Date Retirement Funds keep changing their allocation as someone ages. Perhaps this is not as big a problem for pre-retirees but I am 70, using a reverse glide path and will soon reach and remain at 50/50 stocks and fixed income for life. I also have a TIPS ladder and some guaranteed funds that I want to retain so TDFs are not for me.
by bikechuck
Wed Dec 27, 2023 8:31 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Investment account for weak-willed child?
Replies: 23
Views: 4114

Re: Investment account for weak-willed child?

firebirdparts wrote: Mon Dec 25, 2023 9:14 pm Retirement accounts are the best I ever saw. You can’t blow it until you are 59 and a half.
You certainly can blow a retirement account prior to 59 and a half.
by bikechuck
Tue Dec 26, 2023 12:57 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Replace Bonds With International Stocks?
Replies: 210
Views: 25051

Re: Replace Bonds With International Stocks?

I listened to the podcast, and I can accept the premise that bonds can get wiped out severely by inflation, which can imperil a plan. Yes, bonds are doomed by inflation. Doomed doomed doomed. What a pity there isn't such a thing as, what would you call it, an "inflation-protected security," issued by the US Treasury but instead of paying out a fixed amount, it paid out an amount indexed to the CPI. I know, I know what you are going to say. "Dreamer! Get your head out of the clouds!" Well a feller can dream , can't he? TIPS are covered in the podcast. TIPS have reinvestment risk, and not all investors desire to reach 30 years with $0 left. The equity portfolio had better outcomes in terms of failure rates and bequest amo...