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I'm aware of how I have to do the withdrawals from previous questions here and a very useful Morningstar article. My only question was the actual process of doing the withdrawal. Do I just make the withdrawals and then submit paperwork to the IRS next April? Or do I need to do something else?

This year I will have to start RMDs on inherited accounts from my father. I'm just starting retirement (might work ~6 months this year but we'll see) and have never needed to do RMDs previously. I believe I understand what amount I need to remove from the inherited accounts. My question is there anything special I have to do to notify someone (brokerage, IRS) that I have completed the RMDs? In my case all of the money is now located at Fidelity. My plan is to take the correct amount based on the divisor from each of the accounts (multiple accounts since my father had accounts at a couple of brokerages before I consolidated them at Fidelity). Do I just transfer the money out and into my personal account and then next tax season submit docume...

Personally unless you are extremely wealthy I can't see how or why you'd ever want more than the FDIC limit in one bank. I had large amount due to the sale of a home and once it was wired into my bank, I quickly split it up into a couple of other banks, both to get more interest and to stay under the insurance limits. And if it was a very large amount I would put it into treasuries.

I do recall somewhere that you could put the money and it was automatically put into a number of FDIC banks for you to stay within insurance limits. Can't recall where I saw that since it was a while ago.

You don’t need to get a UK phone. You could… Get an inexpensive phone here in the US and get a UK SIM and number. or If your current phone supports eSIM you could get a UK eSIM and number for that or move your US number to the eSIM and get a physical UK SIM for the now vacant slot. A good place to get a physical UK SIM and number is from GiffGaff as they will mail a SIM to you in the US. GiffGaff are a UK cell phone service provider. I’ve been using them for years first with a dual SIM phone now with a dedicated phone. You will have to add pay as you go credit to pay for calls from the UK but there would be no need to add a monthly plan. https://www.giffgaff.com/ If you go the eSIM route there are lots of places to get a UK number eSIM. Do...

We had no need to trade in phones so I didn't have to deal with that process. The switching of carriers from Verizon and AT&T went much easier than I expected with no waiting on hold to talk to people. Also our phone numbers got transferred within 2 hrs on one number and within 5 minutes on the other one.

Of course when you are a business ideally you want to make sure you accept new customers easily. The importance of customer service for existing customers might be another story. Hopefully I won't need it anytime soon.

Once you get to a certain amount of savings/investments I don't see any point of an emergency fund. As long as your money isn't tied up due to some kind of strange commitments I don't see any point of an emergency fund. You can easily sell stocks, bonds, treasuries, etc. and get cash quickly. Unless you have some money in CDs that can't be cashed early easily or have most of your assets in something like real estate, most everything can be sold and money accessed quickly. Keep some cash available for same day emergencies.

Although in my life I can't recall any same day/next day cash emergencies. I suppose if you needed bail but I avoid those troubles

I realize this is an older thread but I just switched from AT&T to the over 55 TMobile Plan that runs $90 for 2 lines. I switched over first and next my wife will move over from Verizon. Before we were paying about $150 per month so this will save $60 per month or $720 a year. Also we are getting a $400 credit so over $1000 savings the first year. So far for my use it works as well as AT&T although like any of these provides it depends on where you live and where the towers are located. I called TMobile up and set up the accounts and I had the option of using an eSIM or receiving a physical SIM. I had previously used an eSIM when I used TMobile's free 3 plan trail so I was familiar with that but the guy recommended the physical SIM ...

student wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 7:45 am I like Chase Sapphire Reserve customer service. I no longer have the card. When it was came out, one of its feature was no phone tree. For AMEX, I would assume that level of CS depends on the card. I imagine that platinum card CS is better.

I would agree that was true for a while but I'm not sure if it still is true. I haven't had to call in a while but I thought the last time I did, things were not as easy.

arf1410 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 8:01 pm found some great mixed class fares on ITA matrix, that cant be booked with the usual websites, or the airline website. No way to select mixed classes. Not really clear how to book. do "real" travel agents even exist to book an airfare?

Yes they do. You might want to check with someone like the Cranky Flier. They provide a lot of different services for various fees including monitoring flights and helping rebook in the event of flight issues. (I've used them in the past to do various things for me and have been happy with the service.)

aren't most MBS bought by the Fed, so yes, they are worth less but if those assets are on the Fed's balance sheet then it does not matter since the Fed can take that hit without consequence The FED owns about 30% of MBS. https://www.msci.com/research-and-insights/insights-gallery/mbs-owned-by-the-federal-reserve I'm sure the bank, if it still holds the mortgage would like you to refinance with a higher rate but also just because rates are now higher doesn't mean they won't drop down the road. When I've had mortgages, except for a credit union, they almost always were sold at least once. It seemed like most issuers don't keep the mortgage but maybe I'm wrong there. I'd be surprised that any bank, unless it is really small, would offer a dea...

I haven't done taxes for a while now for a few reasons. At one point I had to do taxes for multiple states and didn't want to deal with that. Then I had a rental property for a number of years. Once we move into our retirement home, and I'm fully retired, I'll go back and do them myself. I found a CPA that does them for a pretty reasonable amount so I'm not paying that much to avoid the hassle.

I read somewhere that companies like Quicken spend a lot of money lobbying politicians to keep things convoluted in order to keep their sales up. Figures.

I've mentioned elsewhere I'm a big believer in diversify accounts to minimize inconveniences. Some may think the risk is low but in my lifetime I've had issues either with my accounts or relative accounts so I think the risk is high enough to take preventive measures. I know people who live with a single credit card, single bank account, etc. but that is too risky to me. In the past I've had my bank account breifly show it was zero due to a WF mishap. Fortunately by the time I woke up it was resolved but for people out and using their ATM/Debit card and couldn't access money, it would have been annoying. Like many here, I've had credit cards that were temporarily frozen due to suspicious activity. In one case because I was living in one sta...

Haven't had this issue but a few things.

Are you sure the files are spreadsheets? You can also go to the terminal window and navigate to where the files are and type "file filename.xlsx" and it should tell you the type of file.

Can you open the file using Apple's built in spreadsheet, i.e., Numbers?

As someone else asked, can you open Excel itself? Is it possible you have 2 versions of Excel and it is trying to use the older version to open the file?

I'm a big believer in diversifying my money. I've seen enough problems where I want to mitigate the risk. I was probably a teenager when their was a S&L issue and one relative lost access to some money for nearly a year but eventually got it all. That has stuck with me.

While some will say it complicates things, it really doesn't make things hard IMO. Set up some links between accounts and you can always move money around. In my case I want to have 2 brokerages plus my TSP account and around 3 bank accounts. Usually one is the prime account and money is moved as needed.

When I moved some inherited money from Vanguard there were no issues.

I had YouTubeTV for a year or so and while I enjoyed it, including the recording function, I got tired of the price hikes. At this point in my life I don't need sports and "live" tv. I prefer a variety of streaming services which allows us to watch a ton of shows w/o commercials. I can also get some live tv with an indoor antenna but that seldom matters to me. Obviously it just depends on your budgets and preferences. There are some people out there that never watch tv and others, like my uncle, who is older and couldn't live w/o his live sports and watching live tv, even though it is often older things he could stream but I don't think he understands that or cares to at his point in life (80s). I'll have to check on what freebies...

I just wanted to clarify a few items in this thread. (Note minimum retirement age anyone born in 1970+ is 57, for those born in 1953-1964 inclusive it is 56 and in between it increases by 2 months per year and if you were born before 1953 hopefully you are already retired or in CSRS). Note this is for the vast majority of federal workers, there are some jobs that do allow something more similar to a military retirement after 20 years of service. 1. Retirement requirements for immediate pension and health insurance continuation w/o penalties A. MRA+30 years of service B. 60 + 20 C. 62 + 5 years 2. Early retirement applies for people at MRA and at least 10 years of service who retire before age 62. Pension is permanently reduced by 5% per yea...

I ran into the death certificate issue when my father passed away in 2021. Around that time the state of Maryland's Health Department was hacked and that put a halt to all death certificates for weeks (6?). I did get a letter from the funeral home and sometimes that worked. If you aren't in a big hurry I would just wait it out.

Good Luck.

I honestly try to avoid using Windows but a few years ago I took a Windows Forensics class and also passed the exam for the certification. All that class did was add further evidence to how many places Windows store various history information. Anything from all of the access points (wifi) you've connected to along with information about them to temporary files, files recently opened, etc.

Back to your question, you might want to do a google search on it since it appears that -
https://www.easeus.com/backup-recovery/ ... tored.html

Since I haven't touched windows at home in a while I'm a bit out of date. At work I do a lot of stuff but not so much with Windows 10.

good luck,

Personally I would always install grab bars in the shower. It is easy to slip in a shower and most tubs/floors aren't kind to the head/body. And I have to admit I prefer shower curtains to shower doors for ease of cleaning and you can throw them away and get new ones relatively cheaply. The doors can look nice at times but having had both, I actually prefer the curtains. This might be amusing to some here but the bathroom is one place where I want a noisy fan. Helps to cover up other sounds :) I also prefer both brighter lighting and dimmer lights. If I have to get up at night to use the bathroom I don't want to be blinded by bright lights as I usually am when in a hotel room. Personally I seldom need a bright light but I know others prefer...

Real inflation is likely twice as high as tips and ibonds pay out so not too bad of a deal for government after all. 😀 This. They can manipulate the inflation number. Twice as high? Manipulation? Is there published research on this? I could believe that there might be a timing difference in the reported figure/adjusted figure, but twice as high seems hyperbolic. The " Shadow Stats " websites has published inflation data using the same methodology as was used in prior years that can be compared to the government data that has changed methodologies. The ShadowStats site has been shown to contain false data and calculations by a number of economic/science researchers. I wouldn't trust their info at all. In one case they took one err...

Personally I consider condos as a poor investment. Owning a home means no rent increases. As a sinlge guy most of my life I always bought in a good location with good schools even if that meant my house was a fixer upper or smaller than the neighbors sinceit made reselling it easier and at a better price.

I've rented the last couple of years only because this move was temporary due to a parent aging and passing away. Looking forward to buying my own place shortly despite not missing maintenance issues. Renting comes with its own issues and moving ranks up at the top in terms of stress.

I know someone at another forum who used them for a while for part of their money but wasn't impressed and moved it back under his own control.
The fees add up for largely doing something you can do yourself.

Just as an addendum to my retirement note. My last day was 1/31, so it has been about 6 weeks. I did get a couple of job offers and most likely will start one job in a few weeks. We'll see if I last long. It will be at a better location and I will try to keep my hours closer to 32 than 40. I figure the extra money (higher salary than my government job) will basically cover my first year of "retirement" expenses if I stick with it for about 6 months. Retirement itself hasn't really set in. We've done a few overnight trips but nothing major. A little boredom but I spend a ton of time on the computer and then we watch a lot of streaming stuff. Also have been exploring some restaurants that we hadn't gotten to before due to being a bi...

Don't know how efficient it was but as a single guy living in a multi-story decent sized home, I put a window unit in my bedroom. I did so because I like to sleep at a cooler temperature and saw no pointing in cooling the entire house just for one upstairs bedroom. Worked well. I would turn it on when I got home from work, and turn it off after I got up.

You can still buy treasuries, especially on the secondary market. You don't have to tie it up for 6 months or a year. Durations can easily be only a month. I would either buy treasuries in short duration or HYSA. Generally you won't need the money for about a month after finding a house to buy. I've been doing this for a while now. In my case I don't mind throwing 10% or so into the market but I realize that may not be the safest thing to do but treasuries should be fine.

We are looking for a retirement home and I always get concerned when I see a home not far from a highway due to noise issues. I found a web site that gives you a SoundScore if you type in a location. Has anyone used it? Found it to be accurate? https://howloud.com/ I typed in a few addresses of homes I've been looking at and then compared it to a location (same state) where I had lived previously and it said my previous location was louder than the 2 homes I was looking at. I found that surprising since my previous home was near a busy secondary street, maybe a hundred yards or so (we were in a court and there was 2 houses next to mine, then a grassy median/wall and the road. The homes I looked at were near a highway which I would have tho...

FB01 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 08, 2023 6:48 pm

rich126 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 08, 2023 6:46 pm Personally I prefer buying treasuries via my brokerage account and rarely use my Treasury Direct account (originally set up decades ago when I bought eight $100 bonds). It might have some advantages like for I-bonds but for treasuries I find it easier to use my brokerage.

Can you explain more about it as to why you say it is easier?

You just have more options to use your cash, Treasuries, CDs, etc. You can buy new issues or on the secondary market. The TD web site is a bit annoying and I see very few advantages in buying directly from them, except (I think) I-bonds which I think got a bit too much hype.

There's this popular notion that European trips need to be 1mo+ long to "experience" a place. You'll need to settle in a small town, take out a lease, and volunteer labor at the local bakery to really say you've been there. It's a nice idea, but people have real world constraints like work and school and other commitments that compete for time and money. Some people just need a sample. We live in Europe and most of our trips are short and of the extended-weekend types, too. I appreciate its a longer and more expensive trip from across the ocean, but 7 days is better than 0 days. A lot of stuff on these boards are just unrealistic to the vast majority of people out there. My first European vacation didn't really occur until I was ...

Although this could be location dependent, most places I'm familiar with you are best off with a SFH, then a townhouse and a distant 3rd, a condo.

Personally I prefer buying treasuries via my brokerage account and rarely use my Treasury Direct account (originally set up decades ago when I bought eight $100 bonds). It might have some advantages like for I-bonds but for treasuries I find it easier to use my brokerage.

We are looking for a retirement home and I always get concerned when I see a home not far from a highway due to noise issues. I found a web site that gives you a SoundScore if you type in a location. Has anyone used it? Found it to be accurate? https://howloud.com/ I typed in a few addresses of homes I've been looking at and then compared it to a location (same state) where I had lived previously and it said my previous location was louder than the 2 homes I was looking at. I found that surprising since my previous home was near a busy secondary street, maybe a hundred yards or so (we were in a court and there was 2 houses next to mine, then a grassy median/wall and the road. The homes I looked at were near a highway which I would have thou...

I have two 3 yr MYGAs with one maturing later this year and the other in April of 2024. I think for me, I probably won't do them again. I think I like the freedom of having money at a brokerage/bank and not have to deal with an insurance company. With rates about double what I'm getting it might pay to absorb the penalties and just cash out but I don't want to deal with that hassle and will just wait them out and move them into Schwab or Fidelity. The tax deferral thing is nice but I'm a low hassle/red tape type of person and I'm hoping moving them once they mature will be easy (American and North American annuity companies). I'll stick with CDs and treasuries as my fixed income and avoid MYGAs and bond funds in retirement. Hopefully most w...

Depending on the state you live in, they may have information on CCRCs as well. I just did a search on Maryland and they have information for consumers as well as a list of CCRCs in the state. They also have a FAQ worksheet for people looking at a CCRC, it might be helpful - https://aging.maryland.gov/SiteAssets/Lists/CCRC%20General%20Information/EditForm/CCRC%20FAQ%20Worksheet.pdf I wasn't familiar with the CCRC term but many years ago, 20 (?), my parents moved into a retirement community (considered a CCRC). They moved out of their SFH they had lived in for over 35 years. Their house was not good for seniors with a ton of steps and my mother started having health issues in her early 60s. They were young compared to most residents who tend...

This is all useful for a few reasons. First we will most likely relocate elsewhere and most states don't have an inheritance tax (I saw MD as one of six states having it). So if we don't kick the bucket early, this won't be a big issue. Secondly, it will still be a problem since my brother and I (and maybe others) are likely to inherit money from an uncle and he will remain in Maryland.

People have gotten spoiled with low/decreasing rates for about 20 years. If you are young I don't see any need for bonds, once you get closer to retirement I would prefer just buying treasuries, especially right now. It is similar to a comment on another thread where someone was saying mortgage rates are high now. Historically they are about average but too many people got used to very low, abnormally low rates for about 20 years.

I found out that Maryland is one of 6 states that has a 10% inheritance tax if you are not an immediate family member It is currently only imposed on collateral heirs like a niece, nephew or friend. Certain heirs, like parents, grandparents, children, stepchildren, children’s spouses, brothers or sisters, are not currently taxed, although they have been taxed in the past. So if you are a Maryland resident at the time of your death but the beneficiary is a resident of another state, does that mean they are exempt from it? I assume so. I will have to check that. We plan to move eventually. And then there is the issue of inheriting an IRA which seems to require distribution within 10 years except for spouses and a few other situations. Thanks.

Are there significant differences in terms of taxes when someone is a beneficiary of retirement accounts or other assets if they are:
1. Sibling
2. Niece or Nephew

I just had to go through this as a child inheriting money from a parent I understand how that works but are things significantly different in the cases above? Does age matter?

My wife and I are working on legal documents and neither of us have any children so siblings, nieces, nephews and charities are in play.

Any good links?

Here is another link to a variety of things to check.
https://www.macobserver.com/tips/how-to ... -charging/

I wonder if Ventura is doing something to protect the battery for some reason.

We ordered a car back in late 2021 where there were almost zero cars on lots. While we visited different dealerships we ended up wanting a Hyundai and stopped at several dealerships. You had various levels of pressure. Some were really trying to take advantage of people and some were not. One tried to tell us "Sure other dealerships will take a deposit but you'll never see the car". We went with a dealer I used before who had a set price (lower than most everyone), with a fully 100% refundable deposit (I think it was $500) and told us it could take 6 months. We got the car within 2 months and had no issues. Just went in and paid the remainder of what we owed. We had a copy of the sales agreement with the final price (at that time ...

I find 2FA so annoying that I just want to turn it off even though it helps some with security. Lately everytime I reboot my computer all of my google accounts want me to go to my phone and click on their app to confirm it is me logging in. Now they have added a number to enter. With multiple email accounts it gets tedious quickly, not to mention brokerage accounts. A hardware token is a good idea but my path with testing it didn't go far since so many banks/financial institutions still don't support something like Yubikey and I really don't want to have something that works maybe 50% of the time. I honestly don't know what should be done but passwords and 2FA just is painful. I had a friend who had his phone confiscated due to carrying it ...

I don't spend much on cars but the two most enjoyable cars I've own were the Toyota MR2 (had it 10 years, 150K+ miles and it was even stolen once and recovered that same night in a police chase) and the Acura RSX hatchback. I would have bought a second RSX but Acura stupidly stopped making them. That car had the deepest hatchback of any car I've own, was fun to drive and a lot more practical than the MR2.

I always get bored with cardio and usually try to do a recumbent bike for about 20-25 minutes. Walking I don't mind at all and we used to walk 2-4 miles around town but then I hurt my foot last May and it still hasn't healed. Now I'm going the surgical route to remove a broken bone and recovery could be 6 months

My wife is avoiding the hills due to some hip and knee issues but a treadmill seems to be ok for her. After I stopped walking she was trying to walk outside for about 4 miles before her issues occurred.

I finally moved on from lastpass to 1password although TBH I'm not a fan of 1password. Lots of annoying issues using it on an iphone/ipad unless you use the fingerprint/faceID which I prefer not to. It just seems to constantly ask me for the masterpassword. Might be easier to go with Apple's keyring. I download my lastpass info and then changed the masterpassword and apparently forgot it. It was interesting how easy it was to delete my account w/o knowing the password. All you need is access to the email account attached to the account. You enter your email address, it sends you a link and once you click on it, it asks for confirmation and boom, the account is deleted (at least supposedly). I guess it has to be this easy otherwise how do yo...

I'm still waiting on this as well although I prefer TD. Probably because I have used it longest despite its quirks. Since it is inevitable I wish it would just get done soon.

I just opened a Roth IRA at Fidelity and Plaid was an option but I declined using it. I'm not a fan of using these tools. Feels like a security risk. Declining to use it just meant funding my account will take a bit longer but that doesn't bother me.

I have to admit I'm clueless (or maybe just lazy) when it comes to IRA accounts. I'm very familiar with the typical 401K plans (and HSA) with employers but I've never contributed to an IRA. I think mostly due to income limits when I was single. Anyhow do I understand this correctly? As a married person, over 50 we can contribute $7,000 (under 50 it would be $6,000) for calendar year 2022 per certain limitations ? Since our AGI modified income (married, filing jointly) was over $129,000 and we were covered by a retirement plan at work we would get no deduction but if our modified AGI is under $204,000 we could put the $7,000 into a Roth IRA? Over $214,000 you could not contribute anything and between 204,000 and 214,000 you could make a part...

Not sure if they still do this but I know when we were in France we happened to visit Versaille on a day where there was no entrance fee (a Sunday?). You might want to check to see what the hours are for each place you want to see.

Personally I'm not fond of Paris, I think the countryside would be much nicer. London I've been to a number of times and enjoy it although the countryside is often more scenic, calmer and cleaner.

I had grandparents that lived in Florida back when Disneyworld first opened. I was elementary school age. Always had fond memories of Disney but my biggest complaint, more than the cost which is outrageous, are the crowds. The last time we went (pre-covid) we tried to schedule it later in the year for one of the supposedly slowest weeks and it was just a zoo. We ended up paying for tickets for an after park closing event which was nice, both for the event and for the fact that their were no lines for the rides that were open. We ate at one place that required reservations but it turned out to be an expensive (over priced) buffet. After that we just stuck with grabbing fast food type stuff. I don't have kids and I'm not sure I could handle d...

This site was useful when I used it a few years ago. https://www.seat61.com/european-train-t ... online.htm

Rail passes have pros andcons. Often point to point tickets are cheapest.

Fidelity or Schwab.