Search found 1122 matches

by downshiftme
Wed Jun 02, 2021 1:20 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit
Replies: 1772
Views: 194813

Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

From this I understand that if I work for three years after 1/1/2022 and retire, I should qualify for benefits.
If you work for three years, and then you retire, you need to use the long term care benefit during the next three years. After that you no longer qualify as paying in three of the last six years. So of you need long term care almost immediately, you might be able to claim a benefit. Otherwise, you need to pay in for the full ten years to qualify for benefits.
by downshiftme
Tue May 18, 2021 11:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit
Replies: 1772
Views: 194813

Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Why are you no longer qualified to buy a policy? I had a recent hospitalization. I'm fully recovered and expect no long term health impact, but I have been told (by several different carriers) that my application for any LTC policy will be denied until two years have passed. This will make it impossible to have any policy in place before November unless I can find an actual near-zero benefit policy that doesn't do medical underwriting. For example, I'm willing to buy a policy with a two year (or ten year!) elimination period, but so far have not been able to find any company that is willing to accept me for any LTC policy. There are life insurance policies with LTC riders and I can buy those, but I do not need additional life insurance so ...
by downshiftme
Tue May 18, 2021 10:52 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit
Replies: 1772
Views: 194813

Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

After an extensive review of LTC policies and options a few years ago, I elected to self insure. I'm less than 10 years from retiring, so if I start paying this tax I will never qualify for the benefit before I retire. Less than 10 years paying in means no benefit. Any tax I pay is guaranteed to give no benefit to my account. > There is money to be made in Frank's Discount LTCI ($10 a year, $1 year in benefits up to the $2 maximum.) I would happily enroll in this or any similar inexpensive LTC insurance, since I don't intend to use the benefit, ever. Sadly, all these policies seem to require medical underwriting, so even though I do not want to use the benefit, and would be willing to agree to zero benefits, I am no longer qualified to buy ...
by downshiftme
Sun May 02, 2021 4:39 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Who will install non-OEM parts I bought for my car?
Replies: 51
Views: 4605

Re: Who will install non-OEM parts I bought for my car?

I attempted to make exactly this replacement on a truck I owned. Everything went well until I got to a step that required an exotic kind of twisty screwdriver with an unusual head on it. I was stuck. I went to my local repair shop to ask if they could help me out, and they completed the job for free in less than 5 minutes. I thanked them with a lavish tip. But I got very close to being able to install the part myself. You might be able to do yours.
by downshiftme
Sat May 01, 2021 5:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit
Replies: 1772
Views: 194813

Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

As I understand this, WA passed a law for universal iLTC that charges upper income earners more than the plan is worth, while charging those at the lower end of income spectrum less than the plan is worth. It's more complicated than that. Many "participants" will have no hope of ever meeting the qualifications for any benefits. Anyone less than 10 years from retirement will get no benefits. Anyone who moves out of state will get no benefits. Washington state constitution prohibits an income tax. This is one of the test cases currently being enacted to determine the limits of that prohibition. In this case, the tax is explicitly a wage tax. In the other test case (a capital gains tax on gains above a $250,000 exemption) there are ...
by downshiftme
Thu Mar 04, 2021 2:48 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Does anyone use travelers checks any more?
Replies: 110
Views: 8515

Re: Does anyone use travelers checks any more?

I used them for travel up until about a decade ago. Traveling in Europe two years ago, I was advised by the bank not to bring any, as it has become difficult to find anyplace that will accept them. Even banks and hotels where I was did not accept, and would not cash, them. If I had any, I would have had to search out a bank or American Express office that would still honor them. They used to be a convenience. Now they are obsolete.
by downshiftme
Mon Jan 11, 2021 1:26 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Eye glasses question
Replies: 20
Views: 1742

Re: Eye glasses question

My prescriptions are much stronger than yours, but I have been most comfortable with a progressive bifocal pair for ordinary activities and a separate short distance only pair for computer work. I found it was bothersome to only have best focus through part of the lens when spending a long time working on computer (all day, some days) so it was a lot easier on my neck and posture to have a full field of vision in focus when doing computer work. I also had good luck with getting quality glasses through Zenni, and I saved enough money that I bought a spare pair of computer glasses that I keep at my desk, and a spare pair of progressive glasses that I keep in my car. Even if I make a mistake and don't change glasses when doing one activity or ...
by downshiftme
Mon Dec 14, 2020 5:57 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Lost my job - COBRA question
Replies: 46
Views: 4840

Re: Lost my job - COBRA question

There will be another open enrollment program coming again next year. You can enroll in COBRA now, then drop COBRA next Jan 1 if you have more time to research the available plans and pick what's best for you.
by downshiftme
Thu Dec 10, 2020 11:55 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: When are annual bonuses usually paid?
Replies: 42
Views: 8599

Re: When are annual bonuses usually paid?

Years ago, we got our year end bonus in late December. Then it moved to January. Then gradually pushed back from there. Now we get the annual bonus from 2020 paid between March 15 2021 and April 15 2021, date to be decided by corporate but isn't yet published. Bonus for the year is ONLY paid to employees who are still employed on the bonus date (which is about 3 months after the end of the year it accrued).
by downshiftme
Mon Nov 23, 2020 11:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Help! Employer-subsizided COBRA (but only for a few months) vs an ACA Marketplace policy
Replies: 13
Views: 1125

Re: Help! Employer-subsizided COBRA (but only for a few months) vs an ACA Marketplace policy

The health insurance policy on the exchange I am looking at is a BCBS Pathway X HMO policy This sounds like good news. My employer BCBS plan had a very large network, as had several other employer BCBS plans I've had in the past. When I looked at BCBS plans in my state (it is state dependent) the plans had similar names, but the networks had slightly different names. I confirmed with both the BCBS insurance provider and my doctors, that ALL of them were covered in the employer version of the plan networks, but NONE of them were in-network on the ACA plan. Again, I've verified that this is set up for each state, so lucky you to live in a place with better coverage than my state. Unless I want to lose decades of continuity with doctors, I'm ...
by downshiftme
Mon Nov 23, 2020 7:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Suggestions for provider who sends bills that were paid by insurance
Replies: 9
Views: 1033

Re: Suggestions for provider who sends bills that were paid by insurance

I'm not yet Medicare age, but I see these kinds of billing errors (never in my favor) all the time when I have used any significant medical service. I am fully convinced that the billing departments are creatively incompetent because some percentage of people may just pay the bill. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I bring it to their attention, they still make the same mistakes and send me extra bills repeatedly. I would very much like to learn if there is any equivalent law protecting consumers from this kind of creative "mistake" so I don't have to fight them endlessly. So far, I mostly win by being aware of the games they will play and cross checking everything, but it wastes so much of my time and they never see any do...
by downshiftme
Mon Nov 23, 2020 7:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Help! Employer-subsizided COBRA (but only for a few months) vs an ACA Marketplace policy
Replies: 13
Views: 1125

Re: Help! Employer-subsizided COBRA (but only for a few months) vs an ACA Marketplace policy

You will also need to be careful that the ACA policies that you compare are really comparable to the COBRA policy you are being offered. Many COBRA policies, since they are simply continuation of the employer base policy, have relatively strong networks of providers who are eligible for in-network coverage and pricing. Many ACA policies, even those offered by the SAME CARRIER as the COBRA policy have very (sometimes astonishingly) limited networks of in-network providers and very poor coverage out of network. It's usually not a simple apple to apple comparison, where price is a factor. You need to much more fully understand what doctors will be covered and may need to actually check because simply being a plan by a well known carrier means ...
by downshiftme
Sat Nov 21, 2020 8:12 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Is this Vanguard "transition" e-mail legit?
Replies: 29
Views: 4594

Re: Is this Vanguard "transition" e-mail legit?

Please log on to vanguard.com and complete a 3-step transition to our new investment platform. It only takes a few minutes. I've gotten a lot of these communications over the years and finally decided a few months ago to make the transition. I don't know about the "only takes a few minutes" claim since my conversion took over 8 days. I was able to initiate the start of the process online in a few minutes, but there were numerous problems with having a "regular" mutual fund account and IRA accounts. The process would not finish as expected and my accounts were left in a locked but indeterminate state until I called a rep to assist. Doing everything the rep suggested it still took four phone calls on four separate days an...
by downshiftme
Wed Nov 18, 2020 5:08 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Unsolicited offer on real estate
Replies: 41
Views: 5014

Re: Unsolicited offer on real estate

Go knock on their door and say something like…
Are people really trying "knock on their door" approaches in the middle of a pandemic lockdown? I can hardly think of anything that would make me less interested in dealing with such people.
by downshiftme
Tue Nov 17, 2020 10:01 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Daughter ready to buy car on her own. Decent fico, not long history, pre-approval rate is high.
Replies: 65
Views: 4436

Re: Daughter ready to buy car on her own. Decent fico, not long history, pre-approval rate is high.

I am an experienced adult, not a fresh college grad shopping for my first car, but the dealers still do many many more new car transactions than I do, and they had lots of tricks to get me to pay more than I should have. Financing is not your only issue to beware of. Also, expect there will be several rounds of price negotiation and they may try variations of the manager will/won't approve that, or add various fees and unwanted extras (undercoat, extra warranty, document fee, dealer fee, tire treatments, etc) to the price. I actually had terms previously agreed to become changed when the paperwork was out of sight, and they were so "surprised" at the mistakes that happened in their favor when I wasn't looking. It's terrible that y...
by downshiftme
Tue Nov 17, 2020 9:46 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Lost my job - COBRA question
Replies: 46
Views: 4840

Re: Lost my job - COBRA question

i've heard in ny you can extend another 18 months beyond the original 18 months- i.e. get 36 months or 3 years in total. anyone have any experience with that? This is a state by state option, that some states allow and some do not. Often it is called "mini-COBRA" but it effectively allows the original 18 month COBRA policy to continue for an additional 18 months (36 months in total) if you live in a state that supports it. Don't overlook the breadth of networks and prescription drug formularies. In most states, health plans sold to individuals are narrow HMO/EPO networks with correspondingly narrow formularies. There is no coverage for out of network care. This is a major factor in my state ACA plans. The available doctor network...
by downshiftme
Tue Nov 03, 2020 3:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Lost my job - COBRA question
Replies: 46
Views: 4840

Re: Lost my job - COBRA question

When I utilized COBRA coverage, I did not experience any change in the way my claims were processed by the insurer.
This also matched my experience. However, my ex-employer HR was quite terrible at providing the materials I needed to sign up for COBRA on a timely basis and some claims had to be processed retroactively since all the COBRA paperwork was not completed before the coverage started (but still before the actual final deadline). Expect you may have to go the extra mile on your own to stay on top of any deadlines and complete any required enrollment. Your ex-employer HR may not be especially helpful at making this easy for you.
by downshiftme
Tue Oct 20, 2020 10:57 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: CalPers offers MetLife Legal Plan
Replies: 8
Views: 1615

Re: CalPers offers MetLife Legal Plan

I used it through my employers offering. Since I was due to update my will anyway, the approx $240 annual cost was going to pay for itself. I immediately found in my area that only very small one lawyer shops were on the plan. There were plenty to choose from, but my idea to choose a larger shop for continuity and future work was a complete non-starter. Only one lawyer outfits were available to me. So I chose one that seemed reasonable and started getting a will set up. What they never explicitly said, but I found out later, is that the MetLife plan pays a fixed set amount to the lawyer for each will and it's peanuts. To be a successful practice at all, the lawyer needs to get more out of this than just the MetLife fee for a simple will. Wh...
by downshiftme
Tue Oct 20, 2020 3:43 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: WSJ Case Study on Retirement
Replies: 48
Views: 6885

Re: WSJ Case Study on Retirement

About the only useful information to take away from this article is that the Wall Street Journal is so desperate for content that they will publish anything. The text of this article has clearly not been reviewed by anyone. No competent editor (even from my high school student paper) would have allowed this level of writing to be published. Since even the language is so unprofessional, all of the supposed content of the article is similarly suspect and can be given no serious consideration. If anything this looks like some kind of machine translation experiment, an unsupervised machine assembled article, or some other experiment in ultra low cost "content" generation. It probably isn't an unedited piece by a non-native English wri...
by downshiftme
Tue Oct 20, 2020 1:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: do doctors/hospitals HATE Medicare Advantage (as payers)
Replies: 126
Views: 12905

Re: do doctors/hospitals HATE Medicare Advantage (as payers)

Sorry, I have no direct experience to add to this discussion, but I do have a concern about Medicare Advantage plans. I'm still on a traditional workplace health insurance and I have recently had to have some significant medical care. In theory everything about the care i received should be covered, but in practice I am still fighting billing issues six months after the fact. My plan has a difference for in-network and out of network care, and even though my doctor is in-network and all the facilities were in-network, it seems that randomly assistants, technicians, or other specialists turn out to be out of network and I get stuck with direct bills from them about 10 times the going rate after insurance refuses to pay. I've also been dinged...
by downshiftme
Sun Oct 11, 2020 10:10 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Investing using HELOC money
Replies: 22
Views: 2002

Re: Investing using HELOC money

And it may even be illegal because you probably signed something that said you would not use that money for investing. And puts your home at risk.
All of my HELOC lines over the years have included specific language in the loan documents explicitly prohibiting using the funds for investing. Your line may be different, but all the lines I have ever opened on my principal residences included this restriction.
by downshiftme
Sat Oct 10, 2020 12:02 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay Reduction - What Happens if Layoff Occurs Afterwards?
Replies: 12
Views: 2467

Re: Pay Reduction - What Happens if Layoff Occurs Afterwards?

My guess (and it's only a guess) is the wording would indicate that a cut of 40% is temporary with an anticipated stated term (duration). And by being temporary it would seem unlikely that the company, if they decided to terminate you due to a reduction in force during the time you were on this temporary pay reduction, would intend to pay out your severance at the new lower temporary rate This is such an optimistic outlook, but not at all realistic when dealing with real companies in the real world. Having lived through a very similar situation where the temporary reduction was at company request, they took advantage of the opportunity to recalculate numerous company perks, using the temporarily lower salary numbers. Converted from a pensi...
by downshiftme
Sun Aug 23, 2020 3:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Can any people who shop/deliver for Instacart give me a shoppers-eye view...
Replies: 17
Views: 2719

Re: Can any InstaCart shoppers give me a shoppers-eye view...

I am trying to avoid InstaCart shopping because all my experiences with them, and similar services, have been unacceptably bad. There is no way to know if any particular items will be in stock or not. If an item is out of stock (or the shopper just chooses not to pick it) cannot be known in advance and you cannot plan around it. Substitutions made by the shopper sometimes do not make any sense, or are the priciest option available. Shoppers making substitutions may or may not send any notification that a substitution is being made. When I gave up on substitutions and specified instead "NO SUBSTITUTIONS" both by choosing the no substitutions option and by explicit instructions to not make substitutions, the shoppers made substituti...
by downshiftme
Wed Aug 12, 2020 9:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Mouse for Arthritis
Replies: 13
Views: 1335

Re: Mouse for Arthritis

I know someone with limited hand mobility who had good luck with a large trackball mouse. The one he uses was originally marketed for kids, but they have adult versions too:

https://www.amazon.com/BIGtrack-2-0-Tra ... 0006ZM7VY/
by downshiftme
Sat Aug 08, 2020 11:24 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Suggestions for Dealing with Father-in-Law's Medical Issues
Replies: 39
Views: 4407

Re: Suggestions for Dealing with Father-in-Law's Medical Issues

Each situation is different, and my family had a very good experience with NH that was paid for by Medicaid. It was, in fact, the same private pay NH/rehab facility our family member was in for the first 2 years of their NH residency, and the only difference between private pay and Medicaid-covered was semi-private vs private room. If I understand the process, a nursing home in which you are already resident as private pay may elect to continue to serve you with the same quality of care (and some adjustments such as semi-private room) when you exhaust your assets and become covered by Medicaid. Typically at that point they accept the lower Medicaid reimbursement for services. However if you are a new patient looking to get accepted into a ...
by downshiftme
Sat Aug 08, 2020 2:15 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Charitable giving in an estate will/trust
Replies: 12
Views: 1056

Re: Charitable giving in an estate will/trust

If your estate is going to be large enough to be subject to estate tax, then an integrated estate plan with competent legal advice seems warranted. It may be that actions you can take in your estate plan regarding charitable donations might reduce your estate tax owed more than any value a charitable tax deduction might have for your heirs. Tax deductions for charitable donations are not as valuable as they once were, and are highly dependent on the tax status of the heir, and the size of the donation. There may be limited or no tax advantage to certain heirs depending on their level of income and other donations already planned.
by downshiftme
Fri Aug 07, 2020 9:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Charitable giving in an estate will/trust
Replies: 12
Views: 1056

Re: Charitable giving in an estate will/trust

You cannot legally require your heirs to donate part of what you leave them to charity. You can leave a non-binding letter of instructions and make your wishes known in it.

I've also heard that wills that leave x% to charity can lead to protracted probate as the charity lawyers may want to make sure the estate is managed to preserve their interest. It may be worth talking to a qualified estate attorney to make sure you have the best chance of actually accomplishing whatever it is you want for your estate.
by downshiftme
Fri Jul 31, 2020 2:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Crazy question - can two couples co-own a primary home?
Replies: 11
Views: 1471

Re: Crazy question - can two couples co-own a primary home?

I don't see a problem with doing that, but each person doesn't own 100% of the house, so if you are thinking of deductions and such you'd have to treat it as each owning a part of a house.

If two couples rented opposite sides of a duplex, each could claim it as their residence.
by downshiftme
Mon Apr 20, 2020 2:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Laid off!!
Replies: 96
Views: 18122

Re: Laid off!!

Thank you for such an open and honest post about your layoff experience. With something like 22 million unemployment claims in the last 4 weeks, you can be sure that many other people are experiencing similar situations. It hurts to think that management has lied to employees, and even more so that specific individuals you thought you had a good relationship with, either hid this situation, or outright lied about it to you. Unfortunately this is very common in business. Companies encourage secrecy when planning layoffs and virtually all of them will tell outright falsehoods in the interest of preserving that secrecy. This is so common that you will need to work on getting over your upset. It won't help you, except if you use it for motivati...
by downshiftme
Sun Apr 19, 2020 5:17 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Coronavirus (Consumer Issues) How you are preparing?
Replies: 1800
Views: 178835

Re: Coronavirus (Consumer Issues) How you are preparing?

Tried grocery delivery from a nearby large chain grocery store and it was a massive failure. It was difficult to order and took several days trying at odd hours to even get a delivery slot. There was supposed to be a feedback system to identify substitutions, but they didn't use it and merely noted changes on the receipt when the delivery was made. What was delivered included several badly damaged cans that should have been obvious to the person picking them, but since they are delivered we don't get to inspect until long after the delivery person has left. Now, they never seem to answer their phone or email so clearly there is no way to correct problems. On top of that, all the perishable items with expiration dates expired on the day of d...
by downshiftme
Thu Apr 16, 2020 5:09 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Retirees: what are you doing with all the home equity?
Replies: 117
Views: 9385

Re: Retirees: what are you doing with all the home equity?

Not retired yet, but I plan to have a fully paid off home when I do. Then I plan to simply live in it as long as I can. I am NOT planning to spend down any part of my house, but if all my other plans fall apart or some completely unexpected expense outside of my plans happens, then I will sell or reverse mortgage and use that equity as the safety net of last resort.

None of my heirs have any interest in keeping the house, so my estate will sell and split the proceeds.
by downshiftme
Tue Mar 31, 2020 7:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: JL Collins investment advise
Replies: 10
Views: 1365

Re: JL Collins investment advise

He's an eminently sensible guy who writes in a direct open style that many people find accessible. I don't think he's in this to make money although he does sell his book, but he also gives pretty much all the same advice for free on his website. My young adult children found his writing to be easy to read and absorb the basics of sensible investing. I'm glad he's around and he's been very helpful to my kids.
by downshiftme
Sat Mar 28, 2020 5:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Some IRS webpages Still Show RMD Age 70.5
Replies: 13
Views: 795

Re: Some IRS webpages Still Show RMD Age 70.5

The SECURE act went into force Jan 1, 2020. Perhaps you are confusing it with the recent coronavirus legislation.
The SECURE Act became law on Dec. 20, 2019.
by downshiftme
Fri Mar 27, 2020 4:42 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Are you still going to the grocery store or using a delivery service? Which?
Replies: 329
Views: 30581

Re: Are you still going to the grocery store or using a delivery service? Which?

bleach kills nasty germs and viruses. I mix this with a cleaner I got from Dollar Tree BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT THIS. Mixing cleaning products can be fatal. Never mix ammonia and bleach! One of the most common hazards occurs when chlorine bleach is mixed with ammonia or acids. The combination of ammonia and bleach produces dangerous chlorine gas, which in small doses can cause irritation to the eyes, skin and respiratory tract. In large doses, it can kill. Chlorine gas, also known as mustard gas, was actually used in WWI & WWII. One way this occurs is when people disinfect an area with bleach before cleaning. For example, you could use bleach to disinfect the sink area, then wash the dishes with an antibacterial dish soap which contains a...
by downshiftme
Mon Mar 16, 2020 11:11 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Preparing family as a single guy
Replies: 5
Views: 1165

Re: Preparing family as a single guy

In past difficult times, big industry slowdown and possible company failure in the future, I have cut back on investing and piled up additional cash. Once I even took a draw from a HELOC and simply parked the proceeds in a CD for possible later use. Despite these precautions, I hustled like crazy, cut my personal expenses, and was able to find a new job quickly shortly after my employer did finally fail. I never did use that CD except to repay the HELOC. The extra cash I had collected turned out not to be needed (I was lucky in finding employment) and I plunked it back into the market at bargain basement prices when the emergency had passed. In retrospect my normal emergency fund was enough and would have been adequate for all the difficult...
by downshiftme
Thu Mar 12, 2020 2:39 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Coronavirus (Consumer Issues) How you are preparing?
Replies: 1800
Views: 178835

Re: Coronavirus (Consumer Issues) How you are preparing?

Outside of clinical settings, we have been told repeatedly that masks do not help. Even if they did, they are more or less unobtainable and I haven't got any. But I do have a "mask" that I made for home use to practice not touching my face. I've been really surprised by how often I do so without thinking, and it is a useful training aid to wear a fake mask while I try to develop the skill of not touching my face.
by downshiftme
Sat Feb 29, 2020 9:26 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Coronavirus (Consumer Issues) How you are preparing?
Replies: 1800
Views: 178835

Re: Coronavirus (Consumer Issues) How you are preparing?

Saw a guy in my local grocery store tonight with an entire cart filled to the top with packages of pasta. I think the panic buying has started here.
by downshiftme
Wed Feb 26, 2020 12:22 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Calm Post - Stay the course thread.
Replies: 540
Views: 66858

Re: The Calm Post - Stay the course thread.

I have enough to worry about as I contemplate retirement in a few years that I don't need any extra stress of trying to out guess market gyrations. I slightly dialed back my equity percentage about a year ago in anticipation of sleeping better while thinking about when exactly to retire. I'm glad I did. Writing a detailed IPS helped to keep everything in perspective and it is comforting to know that the bond/cash position I'm holding will allow me to sit tight and stay the course however long this takes to work itself out. My kids (adults in the early accumulation phase) are experiencing their first significant pullback and happily buying more equity on sale. I guess I am too as my regular 401k and other automated investing continue to oper...
by downshiftme
Tue Feb 18, 2020 4:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Merit Scholarships - Advice and Strategies?
Replies: 109
Views: 11894

Re: Merit Scholarships - Advice and Strategies?

Daughter #2 is extremely bright but not competitive in the way that one needs to be to put together an application portfolio for the Ivy League or Stanford. You may have an unrealistic idea of how much effort is required to apply to top schools vs other schools. In my experience the application process for almost all good to excellent schools is significant, but not correlated so higher ranked schools are no higher effort applications than other very good schools. One consideration I haven't seen mentioned yet, is that in college a student has an opportunity to be exposed to all sorts of fields of study that they likely have no exposure to in high school. My own kids found possible majors in fields that didn't exist when I was in school an...
by downshiftme
Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: creating a will
Replies: 25
Views: 2772

Re: creating a will

One of the big advantages to doing a will with a lawyer is that whatever steps your state requires to make the will legal and in force will be known to the lawyer and they will include the signing and witnessing or whatever is required. If you draft your own will using online forms and then fail to properly sign, witness, or whatever is required, your draft will will have no effect and will not be enforceable.
by downshiftme
Thu Feb 13, 2020 2:29 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Hand raising with impending layoffs
Replies: 21
Views: 4334

Re: Hand raising with impending layoffs

So much depends on your manager and corporate culture. When we were conducting layoffs, I always appreciated folks who volunteered because that was one less person I had to involuntarily layoff. I had a good team and didn't want to let anyone go, so there was no pruning deadwood. Every cut was going to hurt, but forcing out one less person who didn't want to be laid off was welcome.

In other companies, I have seen managers who not only didn't layoff people who volunteered, they treated them like disloyal pariahs after the layoff, gave them the least attractive assignments and eventually forced them out when there was no incentive pay or severance. In unhealthy companies, volunteering can lead to unhealthy results.
by downshiftme
Fri Feb 07, 2020 3:27 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Looking for a cheap and accurate BP monitor.......
Replies: 23
Views: 2580

Re: Looking for a cheap and accurate BP monitor.......

For home use an automated blood pressure measurement taken with an arm cuff device seems more reliable and repeatable than one taken with a wrist cuff device. Any new device you get should be tested and checked against a second source of measurement at least at first.
by downshiftme
Fri Feb 07, 2020 1:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Money Matters for Family
Replies: 1
Views: 590

Re: Money Matters for Family

Children savings accounts at these ages are mostly useful for giving the kids the idea that they can save some or all of gift money they receive and that banks are good safe places to have such accounts. This is more of a teaching situation than a financial one, so a thousand dollars or so is a fine ceiling. Sweep the rest into investments or 529 as you will. Requirements for wills to be notarized or filed with a county are strictly local regulations. You will need to determine the requirements for your state. What is common is that wills need to be signed and witnessed according to the local rules and this is a step that many people fail to complete properly. An unsigned will is not in force. Don't go through all the work of creating a wil...
by downshiftme
Fri Feb 07, 2020 12:28 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: long term care insurance versus self-insuring
Replies: 110
Views: 9270

Re: long term care insurance versus self-insuring

This policy protects you from AT MOST $144k of long term care expenses. If you need longer or more expensive care, the policy provides only very limited help (at most $144k) while the actual costs could be many many times that. At your level of assets, the risk of having to spend an unexpected $144k on long term care is not such a big deal. What you might want to protect against is a longer or more expensive care scenario, and this policy does not help with that. At best, this policy is a side bet where you get part of the $144k if you need specifically time limited care, but lose if you either don't need care or need more, or more expensive, care. Why bother? I'd want nothing to do with this policy. Also, remember that actually getting LTC...
by downshiftme
Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:38 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: High fee 401k
Replies: 7
Views: 870

Re: High fee 401k

Paying the high fees for a year or two, or even several, will not have much effect on your portfolio and the tax benefits will still outweigh the performance drag of the fees. If you expect to work for this employer for a limited time, or believe that the employer can be educated or influenced to improve the fund selections in the 401k, then contributing to the maximum allowed will usually be the best choice. If this is a job you expect to keep for a decade or more, and you think the employer will never improve the 401k, then you might consider if you have better investment options. A pattern of long term employment with institutionally bad 401k options is very unusual in most fields, as long term employees will feel the pressure of the emp...
by downshiftme
Wed Jan 08, 2020 2:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Employer not enforcing HCE provision in 401(k) plan
Replies: 28
Views: 2896

Re: Employer not enforcing HCE provision in 401(k) plan

Years ago when I worked for a company that didn't have a Safe Harbor 401k plan, I also was over the HCE limits and was allowed to contribute to the 401k as much as I wanted. Then the following year, after the annual plan internal review, my excess contributions were returned to me as income in the year returned, the plan balance was adjusted as if those contributions had not been made, and the plan was back in compliance with HCE rules. If you over contributed in 2019, you might see the excess returned to you sometime in 2020 with associated tax issues.
by downshiftme
Mon Jan 06, 2020 12:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Renting without income
Replies: 31
Views: 4400

Re: Renting without income

Offering to pay 6 months to a year rent in advance gives landlords all sorts of problems if they need to evict you, plus it fits the profile of drug house or meth lab. If you offer, you may find it impossible to get the landlords to talk to you.

Better to either use recent income from a previous job or show systematic deposits into an account (even in they are transfers from another one of your accounts). We have successfully rented places using both ways to show "income" sufficient to pay rent. Once we offered to pay in advance and the landlord would no longer accept our calls. It's a huge red flag to landlord to pay in advance.
by downshiftme
Sun Jan 05, 2020 4:04 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Jumper cables
Replies: 83
Views: 7170

Re: Jumper cables

I really like the newer battery jumper kits. Small, hold their charge well and no need to monkey with positioning the second car close enough for cables to reach. Prices have dropped quite a bit and they seem like the better option now.