Bogleheads.org

I was just researching this topic and came across this: https://jsevy.com/wordpress/index.php/finance-and-retirement/annual-or-monthly-withdrawal/ The author says that monthly usually has better outcomes, but he notes that an "adaptive" withdrawal scheme works best in markets "in which there’s actually a negative annualized inflation-adjusted return over the first decade" (this may be the market we're currently in, but who can know?): "The two example scenarios show that the difference in balance grows over the course of the retirement period, with the monthly withdrawal scheme being ahead almost always, and quite significantly under good market conditions." The article referenced seems to base its conclusion,...

Is there any advantage into moving a currently losing fund into a fund that is currently losing less, or does it make sense just to ride it out until it recovers and then move it? What say you? There is no advantage, because there is really no telling how the two funds will perform going forward. That said, I would suggest one of two things: Exchange FSMAX for FSKAX and do not look at the performance of FSMAX until you've completely forgotten what you paid for it or when you bought it. You can even put in the order with Fidelity tonight and it will execute on Monday evening. Continue to hold FSMAX until you break even, but direct all new contributions to FSKAX and FTIHX. Once FSMAX arrives back at your cost basis, exchange it for FSKAX. In...

I had a similar situation with shares in one fund in my Vanguard Brokerage Account, where I thought I had selected Specific ID as cost basis but in reality I had forgotten to so they selected Average Cost by default. By the time I realized this, with 5-10 lots over two years, they would not let me change the method for those lots, even though I hadn’t sold any shares. So I just changed to Specific ID for all lots from then onwards. I read the IRS regulations and there was some ambiguity in what the dealer is required to do after that sort of timeframe and it was clear Vanguard wasn’t going to budge. Of course one could correct the Basis on their 1099 for the year of sale of shares, but it would seem high risk for an audit as they are cover...

I am not sure I understand how IRMAA works. For 2023 the IRMAA threshold MAGI is 194,000 for a married couple filing a joint return meaning if our 2021 income was over 194,000 we would be subject to the penalty (higher premium for Part B). It wasn't. We are doing Roth conversions potentially up to the top of the 22% bracket which is 190,750 for 2023. If for example I made a mistake and our 2023 income was 195,000 the relevant lookback would be from 2025. Are IRMAAs inflation adjusted? They weren't and they currently are but I don't know if that is written into law. If the IRMAA for 2025 was adjusted for inflation up to 200,000 then my look back to 2023 of 195,000 would not subject us to the IRMAA penalty? Is that how it works? I hope that ...

I've done conversions at Fidelity but never chose to take taxes out so I wasn't aware of having to call them, sorry. I have never done this either and wasn't aware that it was an option. Serves me right for reading the fine print :-). At Fidelity (and others too), they require you call IF you are having tax withheld as part of the conversion. It's so the account owner understands the difference between "gross" and "net". If you don't have taxes withheld as part of that transaction, you can do it all online. Fidelity allows a on-line withdrawal (separate from the conversion) where you can withhold taxes. I use that each December to adjust my overall withholding from my IRA monthly distributions + periodic conversion(s), ...

The most important things to consider are: * What the tax rates could be when one of you dies and the other has to still take all the RMDs while filing as Single. The space in each tax bracket is half as much for Singles compared to the space MFJ has. That’s why the Single taxpayer can be pushed into higher tax brackets later on. * Consider all the tax-deferred accounts that each of you own and think of the joint total values instead of just your IRA. How much do those accounts grow in total each year, not counting new contributions? As long as the accounts grow more than what is withdrawn each year, the balance will continue to grow. * Consider your Asset Allocation, in particular what is in tax-deferred. If you have any stock funds or in...

Leesbro63 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 8:18 am

MrJedi wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 7:48 am

Leesbro63 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 7:41 am FWIW, I have been pleasantly surprised to find that Fidelity ACH transfers show up in my checking account ON THE SAME DAY. I usually do my stuff in the morning, so I'm not sure if this is still the case for transfers initiated later in the day. But Fidelity has been recently consistently transferring money from my Fido account to my bank account ON THE SAME DAY. (If they can do it, it makes me wonder why Vanguard and the others can't/won't/don't).

Vanguard does the same thing.

That's not been my experience.

My experience matches LeesBro63's. Morning transfers show as pending that afternoon at the bank. Afternoon transfers show as pending the following morning.

AF_Engineer wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 8:06 pm Hello, we’re looking for some advice on things to think about for an Owner Financed home sale – we’ve read articles on the generic pro’s & con’s, but our situation may drive a few other factors we haven’t considered yet.


What are we missing, and how would you advise? Thanks very much in advance.

You might end up getting it back.

Many years ago, my Dad bought a defunct vineyard for speculation. A year later, he sold it with him financing it to a buyer who wanted to re-develop it back into a functioning vineyard. The new buyer ran into money issues 2+ years later. My Dad got it back, got to keep the new buyer's payments, then sold it again for more than he originally paid. He did not do the financing for the second buyer.

Marseille07 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 5:45 pm

JDave wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 5:30 pm Emergency fund = cash you can access within 24 hours that you KNOW will be there, no matter what.

Which scenario do you have in mind that might test your 24-hour time limit? Even if I have to fly to Europe tonight, I don't think I need cash access as I simply charge my CC.

While I have some liquidity within 24 hours, I also have other safe assets that could be made available within 5~7 days.

I concur!

For the kinds of people who frequent this site, the thinking/planning that one would be needing large amounts of cash within mere hrs is just absurd.

I agree, I don't love it being soley in their name. If I opened an account in my name, for "their" money, how can I transition it to them later in life? Won't there by negatives with this route as well? When you create a UTMA, you can designate a backup custodian. In fact, it's wise to. Depending on the state, you can delay the age of transfer to 21, otherwise the child gets the account at 18. The transfer requires the child to re-title the account to their name only. This is the child's money. The custodian can withdraw money for paying for special life enhancements. The custodian should not withdraw to pay for normal child raising expenses. A UTMA is a more modern replacement to a UGMA. I believe that one state did not implemen...

OldSport wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 9:04 am Well that's that. I was able to successfully submit a buy order for TTTXX today. Confirmed ME really does restrict orders to business hours.

Merrill Lynch the classic old style broker system. Their brokers would only be placing orders during market hours, so it does not surprise me that their computer systems were designed around that and that the self-service ME bolt-on operates that way too.

stilllurking wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 3:51 pm Open an ME account at BoA. Invest in a money market fund there like TMCXX for 4.6% yield.

+1

OP, do check out the ME route.

I'm managing an account at Wells Fargo Bank that use Wells Trade as the brokerage. This Wells Trade account currently holds TOIXX (FEDERATED HERMES TREASURY) and VMRXX (VANGUARD FEDERAL MONEY MARKET -Admiral). Due their agreements with Wells Fargo, they are available at a much lower minimum investment than available directly at Federated or Vanguard.

HappyPappy wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 8:42 pm I use TurboTax home and business. Probably more out of inertia than anything else. It’s what I started with and I only do taxes once a year and I never feel excited to try and learn a new program.

IMO, it is important to use what you are comfortable with. Knowing how to use it is a big part of that comfort factor.

20+ years ago, I started with TT. When it got to be what I considered too expensive, I switched to TaxAct. A few years ago, I switched to HRBlock, as it does 5 Fed efiles, and I do the 2 grandkids tax returns -- UTMA Accounts.

This is our second (spare) car. We don’t drive it very much. 8 months ago a local mechanic changed its front brake pads and rotors (I paid $360 for that job), today I noticed a metal friction noise comes from the front wheels (usually the noise when the pads are completely worn out). Since I changed the brakes, we only drived 2800 miles! If is very common for surface rust to form on the rotors, especially on a not-daily driver car. This sounds like scraping metal until it rubs off. It's worse in areas where salt is used, where it can rust overnight. Go drive the car and make several moderate stops from 40mph or so. This will wipe the rust off. I live in CA and have seen this with a car only driven once a week. First stop sign it sounds ter...

Shooting4Sixty wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 1:42 am

cubfan wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:00 pm Way too many funds in my opinion. Course I would get rid of all the active funds go strictly index. I am 53. Never even had a bond until I was 50. That's a personal risk decision you'll have to make. At 53 I'm 80/20. I don't ever plan on having more than 30% bonds because I have passive income to count on. At your age I had 60% total index 20% international index 10% small cat value 10% real estate index. 4 funds

I concur, no need for that many funds.

It's part of the illusion they try to maintain -- "that investing his difficult, so you need us to do it for you".

Groundhog wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 2:29 pm Per the Treasury…

TREASURY IS RESCHEDULING COMPETITIVE CLOSING TIMES FOR TODAY'S 4-WEEK AND 8-WEEK BILL AUCTIONS DUE TO A SYSTEM ISSUE

https://www.treasurydirect.gov/instit/a ... 0316_2.pdf

Their printing presses broke?

I did not over save, but with the money influx from my Dad's Estate, we have more that we'll ever need.

Are current plan is to yearly give money to each of our kids.

MrJedi wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 12:03 pm Unfortunately this is very common for banks to play games like this and get you on a terrible auto renewal. I punch back by playing their games to earn their sign up bonuses and close accounts after getting the bonus.

+1

In dealing with my Dad's Estate, I've have visited a banker at my local Wells Fargo several times the last 6 months. When I saw him just weeks ago, he mentioned that their CD rates were pretty good right now. I did not nibble!

At home, I checked, and yes they had a promo CD with a 4+% rate, for 9 months. Then it would auto rollover to the current normal rate of .05%.

I'll continue having those estate $ in the WFA brokerage account remain in money Treasury Market funds, until disbursement.

It's certainly a grey area, but the banks seem to understand. Many have buried in their terms of use, that if you give someone your logon access, it's as if you made the transaction. How are you dealing with two-factor? Informal password sharing like this is, partly, exactly what it's designed to frustrate. For my Dad, 2-factor for the most part was not turned on. During his last 3 years, he did no computer access, so my cell phone and computer got registered on all of those accounts. For the record, I was POA/Trustee/Joint on everything and had been so for many years before I had to assume full responsibility for his affairs. I never had to deal with SS or his Military Retirement Pay as those automatically went to his checking. For DW, fu...

Technically, I think you’re committing fraud by using someone else’s username and password, even with their permission. I don't think so. Fraud is defined as "wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain." The OP is not wrongfully or criminally deceiving anyone, and certainly not for financial or personal gain. It's certainly a grey area, but the banks seem to understand. Many have buried in their terms of use, that if you give someone your logon access, it's as if you made the transaction. I was Joint/POA for my Dad. A few months before he passed, I needed to change the address on his checking account at his very large bank for ordering new checks. The local banker asked if I knew his logon, as...

Everything I read says to change air filter because a clogged one will reduce gas mileage. I've never noticed any change in my gas mileage despite changing filters every 30k miles. Seems it is recommended to change every year or 12-15,000 miles.. Today's closed-loop ECU systems means the engine will adjust fuel/air ratio, thus you will not see a significant drop in fuel economy. This contrasts to an old carburetor systems where a plugged air filter would cause the engine to run fuel rich, thus poorer economy. That said, dirty air filter passes less air, so an ECU engine will still produce less power due to having less air available. Personally, I think it is foolish to not change the air filter somewhat compliant with the recommendation of...

Last summer, I opened an additional card account with my mega-bank for use only as bill pays. I've used this bank for 50 years. They started the card with a measly $4K limit, like I was someone new walking of off the street to no relationship or history to go by. I had to short-cycle the payment a few times in the first 4 months before they raised the limit to $6K, which was at least manageable within my bill paying process. No issues with my short-cycling, but they are not known for having displeasure when this is done.

gnujoe2001 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 6:23 pm Probably not. Our SpeedQueen TC5 is the most basic unit from a couple years ago and its electronics & firmware equipped. Other than not being able to jump the cycle to rinse only like you could on a true mechanical knob control it's performant. My guess is the requirement for drum e-brake when lid is opened practically mandates a microcontroller system.

My old electro-mechanical timer washer has drum braking.

Washer/Dryer units have gone to microprocessor electronics because a control system using a computer chip and solid state relays is cheaper than the old style electro-mechanical timer.

Yes they do, but your power and water bill will almost certainly go up. What do you think all those computer chips in there are meant to do, anyway? Scare the heck out of people who believe technology reached its apex with the so-reliable 1970 Chevrolets and American style why-care-about-resources-and-our-environment washers common 50 years ago. There also is the energy, materials, and monetary cost associated with producing a large metal appliance with a 7-year life expectancy. How long does it take for the energy savings to pay back the energy debt of building something that last 7 years vs 20 years? Why buy a 7 year appliance? Buy a modern appliance with a 20+ year life expectancy AND make sure it is an efficient product that is easy on...

I'm retired now, so this kind of record keeping is a mute point to me, but I had always filed those kinds of records (Roth, tIRA, 401K, ect) with my tax return documents. I have the tax return documents back to the 70's. Additionally, I maintained a spreadsheet of all of the Roth and tIRA contributions for DW and I.

When DW filed for SS, we needed records showing the few years of part-time work she did for a school, that had a non-SS retirement system contributions, were of an amount was so small that WEP did not affect her SS amount.

My question is why did people all of the sudden need to rush to get money out. Do they have a liquidity problem? On a day to day bases people should not need all the money. This are not individual account holders. This are business owners who need to do payrolls and pay bills asap. That’s only part of it. The accelerated collapse was due to VC backers telling companies there were problems at the bank and to move their money now. Created the classic panic for a run on the bank. I have no idea what to believe in some of the other reports I see in the more tech focused circles, but some people have indicated there were some noticeable issues leading up to this which ultimately led to the VC call to move funds. I’ve also seen reports that some...

If your 401(k) is at Fidelity, you should also have the option to rollover directly to a Fidelity IRA (which they would create the first time) with the full range of investment choices at that point. My rather vague memory says they claimed it would be faster than between institutions. My experience was it was instantaneous via journal entries. Account / Rollover paperwork was pre-processed and in place. Most of my 401K was in CIT's, so I sold them the day before. Sometime during the night they settled as cash within the 401K. Next morning I called the roll-over person, who after confirming $ to which roll-over accounts, she journal'd the roll-overs -- pre-tax to IRA, post-tax to Roth. A refresh of my browser screen (already logged on into...

VartAndelay wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 9:45 pm

arcticpineapplecorp. wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 7:16 pm only two questions are:
1. Is your bank FDIC or NCUA (if credit union) insured? If you don't know, what bank is it? We can find the answer simply online if you tell us the bank name.
2. do you have more than $250,000 in your bank?

1. Yes, it is FDIC insured.
2. Yes, I have more than $250,000 in this bank. But I set it up as a POD account with 4 beneficiaries. Shouldn't that mean $1,000,000 of FDIC insurance?

Yes

The real question why do you have $250K+ in a bank getting their piddly bank rate when you can be in a brokerage Money Market Fund at 4+% or Treasuries at 5+%.

Shopping for submersible pump that can remove as much water from pool. Pool has flat level bottom. Need more power pump, such as 1.5HP pump that can pump water out quicker. Any pump with lowest intake to remove as much water from bottom as possible? Thank you. Pool pumps are typically piped to draw both from the skimmer and the pool bottom. Plugging the skimmer line, or shutting off via a valve if so equipped, will allow the pool pump's higher capacity to be used to quickly empty the pool. The float valve in the skimmer may or may not adequately seal the skimmer line. Finish the last little bit with a submersible or hose driven siphon pump. Do not run the pool pump dry, regardless of the water level left in the pool, as it will quickly dam...

Shopping for submersible pump that can remove as much water from pool. Pool has flat level bottom. Need more power pump, such as 1.5HP pump that can pump water out quicker. Any pump with lowest intake to remove as much water from bottom as possible? Thank you. Pool pumps are typically piped to draw both from the skimmer and the pool bottom. Plugging the skimmer line, or shutting off via a valve if so equipped, will allow the pool pump's higher capacity to be used to quickly empty the pool. The float valve in the skimmer may or may not adequately seal the skimmer line. Finish the last little bit with a submersible or hose driven siphon pump. Do not run the pool pump dry, regardless of the water level left in the pool, as it will quickly dam...

We've been saving for a downpayment on a home (>500K) in Bay Area, and hence have it parked it the highest yielding savings account we could find - PNC High Yield Savings. Obviously knowing that the money is only FDIC insured up to 250K. Given the banking scare right now, we're wondering whether to reduce exposure to a single bank and park elsewhere. Stayed away from treasuries,CDs because we could lose on them if we pull out before maturity. What would you do if you wanted to keep dry powder handy, but you don't know the timeline of buying a house - we may act if we find the right house where we don't feel like we're overpaying by much. Could be 1 month, 3 month, or end of year - no rush. You used the term we've , which could be important...

whodidntante wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 9:06 am

novolog wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 7:01 am down 60% pre-market

Probably they will be acquired under gunpoint if anyone is able to take their balance sheet. Typically these deals are pretty sweet for the acquiring bank.

I'll wager other banks today may be gun-shy about taking over a failing institution such as SVB.

In the 2008-2009 financial crisis several large banks who were not in crisis, virtually a gun point by the Fed, were forced to assume failing ones. Then the regulators fined these banks who took over the failing ones, to the tune of many billions, relating to the practices of institutions they were forced to absorb. The 'sweet deals' largely went poof!

We recently became more involved in my parents' finances at my Dad's request. We met with their financial advisor at Schwab and now we are wondering if my parents need to dial down the risk of their current 60/40 asset allocation and simplify their portfolio holdings. They are currently in the Schwab Intelligent Portfolio program for 5 accounts and 1 account is in a managed account with Thomas Partners. Parents: Age 87 and 85 $100,000 annual income from pensions and Social Security $60,000 annual expenses. No debt. I say 60/40 or even 70/30. Reason: Your parents are unlikely to need much of their investments, so invest for the future Gen with a 10+ year outlook. As others have said, what is in what type of account is wrong. Bond stuff shou...

I'd also like to provide another data point. I left my job--I was actually the primary wage earner--when our oldest was born. I never went back. Life intervened--we had secondary infertility. We wanted 4 kids, and we had them, eventually, over a 10-year span. We have a child with special needs who may never launch. There have been hard times, for sure, but we muddled through. Our general approach has been, he makes the money, I save the money. We rarely eat out, and shop secondhand sources for most things. OTOH, DH's career has been fine. We've had to move twice for his work--no problem, no worries about me finding another job, and I could spearhead the moves. In general, I've been able to handle most stuff that he never even thinks about....

gavinsiu wrote: ↑Tue Mar 07, 2023 1:03 am She will get really frustrated because it would take her 1 minute to write a check and put it into the envelope while paying online will probably take an hour because she still hasn't figure out that you have click in the field to type in values.

Gavinsiu --

I can relate. In my case, it's my DW. I have forewarned my local Son that he will have to deal with this when I'm gone.

I've automated money flow from IRA to Taxable to Checking as much as possible, where she's likely pay many bills via checks. I've set some bills to auto-pay and likely will do more, but I'm concerned she may not follow checking balance enough to even know she needs to move extra money.

For the first time in my career I am unable to directly deposit funds into a Roth IRA. As such, I'm considering contributing via backdoor, however, I'm worried about the pro-rata implications as I have about $100K in a traditional IRA account. If I understand correctly, pro-rata doesn't matter if I have a zero balance in the traditional IRA account, so my question is the following; is it possible to move funds out of my traditional IRA account without creating any tax implications now? For instance, is it possible to rollover those funds into my Company's 401(k)? My guess is no, and no. I'm 40 y.o. so taking a distribution is out of the question, and I'd rather not convert it all to Roth now. Thanks in advance. Option to consider if you st...

DaMama wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 8:47 pm
Would a target date fund make sense here, where I would pick the fund based its asset allocation rather than pay attention to the target date? Or something that kicks off dividends? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

If you go the target date route, make sure the fund has INDEX in its name. Fidelity has both regular (higher ER) and INDEX (lower ER) target date funds.

DW is retiring in May She has a 401K at Fidelity with both pretax dollars and Roth dollars The Roth dollars started in 2019, so they meet the 5 year requirement in 2024 She has 3 Roth IRAs that are over ten years old, the one at Vanguard we have been contributing yearly to over the last few years in addition to her Roth 401K. I talked to Fidelity today and they said that no matter what, a new 5 year requirement starts when any of the Roth 401K is rolled over to any Roth IRA, even if that IRA has already meet the 5 year requirement. I may have mis understood what Fidelity was saying, but I tried to state what our situation was. In my reading, the 5 year requirement does not apply when you already have established and funded Roth IRAs that a...

I finally convinced my dad to move away from Wells Fargo Advisor account to a self service brokerage and am thinking about Schwab since there is one close by. In terms of transition does anybody know if its possible to do in-kind transfer to limit any selling of equities? Also since my parents aren't really tech savvy does Schwab allow power user or multiple logins to the same account (probably open a trust account)? And any other suggestions I should be looking into to make the transition as painless as possible. Thanks in advance. For your information, Wells Fargo also offers a self service brokerage account separate from any managed Wells Fargo advisor account. There are no fees associated with the account, and it can be linked to your ...

Our main has been Wells Fargo for the last 48 years. I do have a local CU account I've used for car loans plus a AmEx Savings account.

My recently passed Father has WF Banking and WF Advisors (not managed) accounts which I now oversee.

placeholder wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 3:49 pm The receiving custodian is motivated to make things happen so coordinate with them to make sure the accounts are registered properly possibly with a copy of a recent statement and the assets get transferred.

+1

boogiehead wrote: ↑Tue Feb 28, 2023 11:23 pm And any other suggestions I should be looking into to make the transition as painless as possible. Thanks in advance.

OP, my experience was the Schwab Local Office people were very welcoming and helpful in getting a WFA IRA Account moved over to them.

Doctor Rhythm wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 2:04 pm
I usually book a refundable reservation early on, and check back for price drops, which are pretty much to be expected around 2 weeks out.

+1. I do that too!

I took mine at FRA of 66 along with entering retirement. Now 72. No regrets.

My choice was to delay SS and spend IRA $, or to take SS and let the IRA $ grow. I decided to let the IRA $ grow. Today, in the midst of the current market slump, I'm ahead having let the IRA grow.

ssel wrote: ↑Sun Feb 26, 2023 2:57 pm Suppose I move all cash into a MM fund like FDLXX, then some time later I want to use these funds to make a stock purchase. The "cash available to trade" amount does include the MM balance. Do I need to sell the MM fund before the settlement date, or will Fidelity sell it automatically to cover the sale?

I have a huge pile in FDZXX and only a few K's in SPAAX in one account. Available to trade shows the sum of both.

I have no first hand experience with FDLXX, but my understanding was Fidelity assumes their MM's, in additions to the "core", is available to trade or withdraw.

OP here. I am in the process of doing the backdoor Roth and could use a hand. Moved 6500 cash to etrade TIRA as cash. TIRA balance is now 6500.02 eTrade Roth conversion online form asks me to specify amount to convert. Will convert the full balance of 6500.02 Form also asks me to specify percentage for fed tax withholding. Does this only apply to the .02 or the full amount I convert? Wasn't sure what I should designate here in terms of percentage. The conversion form does not know if the IRA source $ are pre-tax or non-deducted, so it asks. Being generic, it can handle that you are converting a piece of large pre-tax IRA where you might want tax withheld. If you answer yes, it will consider your $6500 is pre-tax and will withhold your inpu...

This post is a year old but I wanted to ask for advice as I just received a 1099 for my son and daughter. My Father in Law opened a UTMA for both son and daughter. They are 8/5. All of the $$ for each is in VOO, S&P 500 Vanguard ETF. They received about $900 in dividend income, which as I understand it is below the $1100 amount that is tax free. My question: when this exceeds the $1100, probably next year in dividends, who is responsible for the taxes? The custodian of the account is my wife (we file jointly), the owner is my kid(s). who is respnsible for paying the taxes on the dividends when they exceed the amount? me(mywife) or my father in law who opened it? For 2022, under $1150 un-earned requires no filing. For 2023, its $1250. A...

Please help me understand, how can this be a relief valve issue? are you saying if the relief valve was working properly, the water would never come out of the pipe (i.e. the pipe is another "fail safe" ?) Unfortunately also the water heater is infact in the house. Luckily the drain pan also has an outflow pipe that should discharge water if it gets too full. For now the drip has stopped and water is receding out of the drain pan. Under normal conditions, the valve should never open. The pipe is only to direct the water down so as to not spray you. Good that there is a draining catch pan under the heater. This prevents damage to the floor. The valve is designed to open and relieve pressure if: 1. The pressure is too high. 2. The ...

armeliusc wrote: ↑Thu Feb 23, 2023 5:27 pm Thank you for the responses. Unfortunately I am also out-of-town ... so is this something that could wait ~2 days (while letting my family have hot water ) ??

Is this just relief valve + pipe issue, or a whole water heater replacement?

Most likely the relief valve.

If this was in the garage, fix-it timeline would not be as critical as being in the house. At 6 years of, another burp could make it worse, or is may stay the same for days/weeks/months. Key is containing what's dripping from damaging the floor, even it gets worse.

That is the "pressure/temp" relief valve. It's obviously failing. It should to be addressed quickly, otherwise you risk a flood.

Shut off the water supply valve to the heater AND the gas temp control to "off" or "pilot". Since it may still dribble with the water turned off, put a catch pan under it.

This site: https://www.ltcshop.com/ will provide quotes by email after providing basic demographic data. Wrench I know a year old thread but I'm now curious about LTCi. I went to the site. I'll be 61 this year, DW will be 57. Excellent health, and still working. This is what I got. Now I don't know if this is good bad or indifferent. But thought I'd post it here. Thank you for your interest in long-term care insurance and for allowing us to assist you with this important decision. Long-term care insurance is VERY flexible. There are hundreds of ways to design your policy. Here's one example of how we can design your long-term care policy. You and your spouse could share a policy that starts off with a Lifetime Maximum of $372,300. That mea...