Search found 899 matches

by MarkBarb
Mon Mar 04, 2024 11:05 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity free Turbotax 2023
Replies: 435
Views: 157001

Re: Fidelity free Turbotax 2023

I know some folks go after the download version to file multiple (federal) returns -- up to 5. Tho the state files are extra. Fine. For some reason, I prefer online. Yeah I'm the customer, but.... Let's say that I want to start filing my folks returns at they enter their last years. No better way to get an idea of what accounts are where while they are still alive. Can this be done using a *second* login and using the same "free turbotax" offer? I know you can do that with the download version, but I don't think you can with the online version. Well, you can do everything with a new login online for free except file or print your return. Before I switched to the download version, I would sometimes do a mid-year test of my expecte...
by MarkBarb
Mon Mar 04, 2024 7:53 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TurboTax Form 8615 Issues
Replies: 8
Views: 1034

Re: TurboTax Form 8615 Issues

Maybe the child’s net unearned income (NUI), which is taxed at the parents’ tax rates and then the additional Kiddie tax is reported on the child’s return, consists of LTCG and QDivds and is pushing the parent's plus the child’s NUI capital gains into a higher capital gains bracket (say from 0% to the 15% bracket). Yes, the parent does include their Sch D info on Form 8615 so that the correct Kiddie tax can be computed on the NUI. I don't see any scenario with the Kiddie Tax where the child's tax could be more than their income. But it doesn't matter whether it is possible, because I found that this is indeed a TurboTax bug. Sounds like you filled it out wrong to me Nope. I had it right. It was TT that had it wrong. To quote a support page...
by MarkBarb
Sun Mar 03, 2024 4:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TurboTax Form 8615 Issues
Replies: 8
Views: 1034

Re: TurboTax Form 8615 Issues

Seems to be working right for my kids. Using desktop Mac version. Now I did get a Rejection when trying to efile with this message: There is an issue to Form 8615.....This issue will be resolved in a product release scheduled for March 8, 2024. Thanks. I'll give it a rest for a week and see if the problem gets resolved. I've tracked it down the "Family's Aggregate Line 9 Schedule D Tax Calculations" worksheet. Above the threshold value, Line 44 drops from $1 to $0 and gets left blank. That leaves Line 45 blank. Line 47, which is the final number for calculating Form 8615 Line 9, takes the lesser of lines 46 and 45. Because Line 45 is blank, it should use $0 for Line 47. Instead, it just sticks with Line 46 and so he gets erroneou...
by MarkBarb
Sun Mar 03, 2024 4:10 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TurboTax Form 8615 Issues
Replies: 8
Views: 1034

Re: TurboTax Form 8615 Issues

When I'm on the "Parents' Capital Gains" page in TurboTax, it says "If the parents of xxx had capital gains or losses, enter any amounts that appear on their 2023 Schedule D, the Qualified Divident/Capital Gain Tax Worksheet line 3, and Form 4952. In then has places for my Schedule D line 7, 15, 18, and 19. When I enter MY capital gains from MY Schedule D Line 15, his taxes increase. I can't understand why. I tried playing with different numbers for my Schedule D Line 15 on his taxes. When I put in a value up $45.484 or higher, his taxes jump from $132 to $6,421. That happens if I put in a value of $45,484 or a value of $1,000,000. Anytime I cross the threshold of $45,484 or higher, his taxes increase by $6,289. Even stranger...
by MarkBarb
Sun Mar 03, 2024 1:17 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TurboTax Form 8615 Issues
Replies: 8
Views: 1034

TurboTax Form 8615 Issues

Has anyone using TurboTax filled out a return for a dependent child with unearned income? It's Form 8615 Tax for Certain Children Who
Have Unearned Income. I'm doing it, and it is resulting in my child being taxed for more than his entire income. I know that my tax rate is less than 100%, so this seems wrong.

Is anyone else seeing this issue or did it work for them? It seems like the problem is on their "Family’s Aggregate Line 9 Schedule D Tax Calculation". It's taxing him on my income rather than his. I think it should be taxing him on his income at my rate.
by MarkBarb
Thu Dec 28, 2023 11:29 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How much to spend on single vacation?
Replies: 108
Views: 26927

Re: How much to spend on single vacation?

ThankYouJack wrote: Wed Dec 27, 2023 1:31 pm ...I also get a little concerned about "vacation style" creep.
Spending extra on vacations is one area where "creep" doesn't worry me. If you spend a lot of money on a more expensive house or car, you're stuck with extra costs for years and you can't easily go lean during bad years. Vacations, on the other hand, don't raise your expenses outside of the vacation. I try to keep my base running costs lean and am much more generous with my discretionary costs. Then again, it won't crush me to give up European vacations for a few years in favor of camping trips if our finances call for it.

Worry a lot about creep that is hard to undo. Don't worry about creep that is easy to throttle back.
by MarkBarb
Sat May 06, 2023 8:30 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Auto insurance, full coverage vs liability?
Replies: 23
Views: 2514

Re: Auto insurance, full coverage vs liability?

Math would say $33/month, $396 per year to potentially save you $3,500 out of pocket is worth it. Wouldn't it depend on the odds of the $3,500 expense occurring? If it is a near certainty, spending the $396 would be an obvious choice. If it was a 1 in a million chance, it would be a foolish choice. I would assume that the insurance companies know the odds reasonably well, and the income from the premiums is more than the expected payouts, so buying the insurance will be a money losing decision on average. I think that what makes the insurance valuable (or not) is the extent to which paying $3,500 out of pocket will be a burden. If that is going to cause a huge problem for the OP, he should buy the insurance. If he will hardly notice the ex...
by MarkBarb
Tue Apr 18, 2023 4:54 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: No plans to sell equities in retirement to meet planned expenses
Replies: 81
Views: 7920

Re: No plans to sell equities in retirement to meet planned expenses

Nah. Rather than trying to time the market, I'm just sticking with my asset allocation and selling proportionally as needed.
by MarkBarb
Wed Apr 12, 2023 7:14 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What video games are you currently playing?
Replies: 529
Views: 88376

Re: What video games are you currently playing?

Mostly just Animal Crossing. I go in a few minutes each morning to keep my island tidy, look for interesting new stuff, and work on completing my art collection.

I did play a few characters through Diablo II Resurrected recently.
by MarkBarb
Wed Apr 12, 2023 12:15 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Android phones: do you use an encrypted texting app?
Replies: 55
Views: 5203

Re: Android phones: do you use an encrypted texting app?

Having spent my career in tech, I have mostly techy friends. All of them, regardless of whether they are Android or iPhone users use Signal and their primary texting app. In fact, it is so common in my community that even non-techy people in groups with techy people have started using it. When I get something in Google Messages, it is almost always a non-personal message. It's similar to the way people used to use email and then that evolved to be a primary non-personal medium with person communication migrating to texts.
by MarkBarb
Tue Apr 11, 2023 5:23 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Tesla master plan 3 and suitability as an investment.
Replies: 93
Views: 11450

Re: Tesla master plan 3 and suitability as an investment.

4nursebee wrote: Tue Apr 11, 2023 3:09 pm
These are all well and good to consider. However, the question is to evaluate the third plan as it pertains to investing.
If one is to consider MP 2, the price in July 2016 as about $15. Today it is about $188. Seems to deserve a better grade than a D.

I'm not sure someone selling indicates a lack of confidence. Surely there are some BH that sold off some SP500 funds to live this year, yet they remain with more in their portfolio?
The fact that they didn't accomplish any of the things they listed in MP2 is enough to make most people very skeptical about MP3. On the other hand, I think that PT Barnum predicted that Tesla could gain a new investor every minute, so who knows how high the stock might go.
by MarkBarb
Mon Apr 10, 2023 5:28 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fidelity is eliminating security questions
Replies: 13
Views: 3486

Re: Fidelity is eliminating security questions

It is troublesome when once in a blue moon you get asked to give an answer to these questions over the phone, even when you know the correct password. This happened to me recently. I had my wife call Vanguard about her account and then pass the phone to me as we always do, after she gives the operator permission. Then she was challenged for the answer to a secret question, even though we were able to log in, that’s not why we called. I had set up her security questions months earlier and I had used 20-digit strings of gibberish including numbers and special chars. I had these gibberish strings saved in the Notes section of our password manager. Well she wasn’t going to read that off to the operator. And the operator could see the gibberish...
by MarkBarb
Wed Apr 05, 2023 4:35 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Home Plotter?
Replies: 19
Views: 2218

Re: Home Plotter?

I have a 24" large format photo printer. Similar, but not quite the same. These things don't like intermittent use. If left alone for a couple of months, you risk head failures and other issues. Newer ones (at least in the Canon line) are a little smarter and wake themselves up from time to time and blow a little ink through the lines. In that case, you're trading wasted ink for major repairs. And repairs are ridiculous, with Canon wanting $1,500 for just about any repairs. For a plotter, I imagine that the ink would last a really long time. For photo use, you risk color shifts with older ink cartridges. The ink is relatively cheap (compared to other printer ink, not compared to things like perfume or Champaign) if you buy large cartri...
by MarkBarb
Sun Apr 02, 2023 6:23 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: So how long will I live? How long do I plan for?
Replies: 117
Views: 13562

Re: So how long will I live? How long do I plan for?

I use the maximum age of my oldest relative plus a few years for margin. For me, that's 97 and for my wife, that's 102. I'll revisit those numbers once I'm 65.
by MarkBarb
Wed Mar 22, 2023 5:23 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why not follow Buffett’s mantra?
Replies: 134
Views: 13585

Re: Why not follow Buffet’s mantra?

You can. The trick is knowing when the market is irrationally fearful rather than rationally concerned. I'm not that smart, so I just stick to plain old boring total market funds.
by MarkBarb
Wed Mar 22, 2023 5:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Which Retailer to buy a TV, ignoring price
Replies: 38
Views: 3250

Re: Which Retailer to buy a TV, ignoring price

Why on earth would you ignore price? I guess if you have a local AV specialist retailer that provides full support for selection, delivery, configuration, warranty service, etc that would work. The price could be pretty high. The add a lot of value vs the big box shops which leave you to figure it all out. Do they really add value? I tried going with well regarded local home theater expert and they started speccing things boutique amps with very questionable value propositions. What really soured me was when they tried to explain why their $75 HDMI cables were a better option than much cheaper cables. I concluded that, whoever you hire, you need to do your own research. And if you are going to do that, why pay the premium unless you want t...
by MarkBarb
Wed Mar 22, 2023 4:55 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Would you buy a house for 615k if you were us? UPDATE: under contract
Replies: 99
Views: 11033

Re: Would you buy a house for 615k if you were us?

I'd do it. When our kids were young, we lived in houses that were 2,400; 1,700; 3,000; and 3,300 sq ft. I much preferred having the extra space in the larger houses.

But it's not just that. A lot of people here will disagree, but we definitely saw a correlation in the quality of our neighbors improve with the cost of the houses in the neighborhood. And the quality of the schools.

I'd do it in a heartbeat if I were you. If not to that house, at least to something in the 2,500+ sq ft range in a nice neighborhood.
by MarkBarb
Wed Mar 22, 2023 1:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone replaced an iPhone battery?
Replies: 26
Views: 2388

Re: Anyone replaced an iPhone battery?

I just want to point out how pathetic it is that we went from easily swappable batteries on phones to systems that require days for battery replacement. It's pathetic and I think it is deliberately designed to discourage repairs.
by MarkBarb
Wed Mar 22, 2023 1:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How many retirement accounts do I need?
Replies: 19
Views: 2223

Re: How many retirement accounts do I need?

I would consolidate. I have all of mine at one firm. There are still many different accounts. My wife and I each have IRA, Roth IRA, and HSA accounts plus 529 accounts for the kids, plus taxable accounts. I do keep a small amount at a bank as well to have liquidity in case there is a problem with my broker.
by MarkBarb
Wed Mar 22, 2023 1:14 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Sightseeing in Japan - Tokyo north to Sendai
Replies: 12
Views: 1152

Re: Sightseeing in Japan - Tokyo north to Sendai

My family liked the Zaō Fox Village near Shiroishi.
by MarkBarb
Mon Mar 20, 2023 9:33 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Doing taxes each year is really hard, is it for you?
Replies: 127
Views: 10534

Re: Doing taxes each year is really hard, is it for you?

Mine are reasonably simple. The only complexity is with college stuff.

I've found it useful, after doing everything in TurboTax, to go back through and figure out how every number on my 1040 gets calculated from my input documents. It helps me understand what is happening and what impact changes will have.
by MarkBarb
Mon Mar 20, 2023 8:41 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How do you search for plane tickets? (tired of budget airline gimmicks)
Replies: 79
Views: 11363

Re: How do you search for plane tickets? (tired of budget airline gimmicks)

I hate them all, so I find it a question of what is the least bad option. I definitely agree with trying to do you final booking directly with the airline. I find that it is sometimes cheaper to book the legs separately. It is usually the opposite, but sometimes it is much cheaper to fly from here (Houston) to LA or SF and then book another flight to Tokyo. But I would only do this with a 1-2 day stay in between flights in case of delays. This generally only works if you have the time and interest to spend a day in the layover city. You can sometimes save a lot of money by flying from a nearby city. In can be infuriating when you see that you'll save $400/ticket by driving 3 hours to another airport and then flying back through your own air...
by MarkBarb
Mon Mar 20, 2023 8:26 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: RSU question
Replies: 3
Views: 419

Re: RSU question

I usually always vote for selling. My main reason is that my financial fate was already closely tied to the success of my employer and I wanted to diversify from that. But the simplest measure is - if you had the cash, would you buy it? If no, then why keep it?
by MarkBarb
Mon Mar 20, 2023 8:21 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Choosing colleges
Replies: 146
Views: 10348

Re: Choosing colleges

Jags4186 wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 7:37 am IMO these are regional schools. Where does he intend to live after graduating? If he wants to be in the northeast he should consider SUNY, if he wants to be in the Midwest he should consider UMN, if he wants to be on the west coast he should consider ASU.
This. Most companies recruit regionally. People often fall in love in college and opt to live in the region of their true love.
by MarkBarb
Mon Mar 20, 2023 8:12 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is my 3% mortgage worth less to the bank now?
Replies: 17
Views: 2159

Re: Is my 3% mortgage worth less to the bank now?

I don't think this is likely to be a thing because of adverse selection. The people most interested in selling their mortgage would be the ones who intend prepay their mortgage because they are moving or refinancing. Those are the people whose mortgages the banks are least interested in buying.
by MarkBarb
Fri Mar 17, 2023 8:53 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: [Bank failure discussion mega-thread]
Replies: 2482
Views: 214097

Re: [Bank failure discussion mega-thread]

alex_686 wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 8:21 am
Chief_Engineer wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 8:10 am
nisiprius wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 6:33 am Indeed, one of the things I've wondered about is "whatever happened to the distinction between time deposits and demand deposits?" The high inflation and interest rates of circa 1980 led to a lot of changes, of course.

Before then, it was illegal to pay interest on a checking account.

Nowadays most people believe they have an absolute right to make early withdrawals from CDs.
As a millennial I have never heard of time or demand deposits.
Technical term. Demand is anything that can be pulled out at any time. Checking, savings, money markets.

Time has a time element. CDs are the most common retail type.
Savings accounts are a hybrid. Most have limits on the number (but not amount) of withdrawals in a month.
by MarkBarb
Fri Mar 17, 2023 8:43 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Doing it yourself vs. paying someone else
Replies: 60
Views: 4637

Re: Doing it yourself vs. paying someone else

I only do things myself if they are easy, safe, and I don't mind doing them. For anything else, I ask my wife to do it.
by MarkBarb
Thu Mar 16, 2023 5:58 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Suggestions for visit to japan
Replies: 38
Views: 2914

Re: Suggestions for visit to japan

We went to Japan pre-pandemic (2019), but we didn't use a travel agent, so I cannot recommend one. We had no problems despite not knowing almost any Japanese. Google Maps was sufficient for getting around. We just said where we wanted to go and it told us where to walk, what station to go to, what platform to get on, what train or bus to take, and at what stop we should get off. It was amazingly useful. A Japan Rail pass was great for traveling around the country. It eliminated the need to do a lot of detailed planning. All the major hotel reservation services and AirBnB worked great. It was no harder to find a place to stay in Japan than it is in the US. If you prefer tours and travel agents, I don't want to dissuade you, but don't feel li...
by MarkBarb
Thu Mar 16, 2023 5:50 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Ben Felix: International Diversification.
Replies: 475
Views: 28578

Re: Ben Felix: International Diversification.

The problem with your analogy is Apple has many competitors and you’re assuming that the mass of those competitors will outperform Apple. In any given year I’m sure many many countries outperform the US stock market…so what? No one can guess which of those countries will outperform the US. But history has shown us that the totality of those countries have not outperformed the US over any substantial length of time in modern history in our lifetimes. You could use the same logic that since AAPL has had returns of 23% per year for 36 years (the entirety of its existence) that must mean we should expect the same going forward? Why should we bother investing in any of Apple's competitors - no one can guess which of those competitors will outpe...
by MarkBarb
Thu Mar 16, 2023 4:05 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I move to a state with no income tax to save on taxes?
Replies: 220
Views: 21672

Re: Should I move to a state with no income tax to save on taxes?

All states tax their residents, generally by a combination of income, sales, and property taxes. If you're income is unusually high relative to your local spending and property ownership, your strategy might make some economic sense. But I wouldn't even think about it until looking at the estimated cost of all the taxes combined. You should also factor in cost of living differences. And personalize that. If you like to go skiing a lot, the CO income tax might seem much smaller compared to flying back and forth from Dallas for frequent ski trips. Also, given the cost of moving, you should risk weight the chances of an upcoming state income tax. Nobody knows the future, but I would imagine that the odds for some currently non-income tax state...
by MarkBarb
Thu Mar 16, 2023 11:07 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Hotel Door Alarms (was: Locks?)
Replies: 39
Views: 4270

Re: Hotel Door Locks?

It's hard to lock out hotel staff or savvy invaders. The old style room key locks (the ones where you put your key in a slot) are known to be extremely easy to hack. The swing bars aren't any better. We tried to check into a room recently and couldn't get the door open because the swing bar was somehow already in place. Someone from the front desk came up with a tool and unlatched the swing bar in 2 seconds. I once returned to my hotel feeling sick and without my wallet or room key (both of which I had left in my room). It was easy to convince the desk staff to give me a key to my room. That was almost 20 years ago, but I'm sure that social engineering still works. I once had photography equipment stolen from inside a cabinet in the inner r...
by MarkBarb
Thu Mar 16, 2023 10:45 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Ben Felix: International Diversification.
Replies: 475
Views: 28578

Re: Ben Felix: International Diversification.

Random Poster wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 10:08 pm Regarding International (sub) performance, perhaps someone can help me figure this math problem out:

...

As in, if VTSAX and VFWAX were two cars in a 500 mile race, is it possible that at lap 142, VFWAX is so far behind VTSAX that, barring a complete meltdown of VTSAX, VFWAX will never be able to beat VTSAX at the finish line?
That's a compelling argument for which of those I should invest in if I suddenly find myself back in 2007. I don't see how it is relevant to making a decision on which to invest in today. By the same logic, AMZN/AAPL/TSLA have so outperformed VTSAX that you would take ages to catch up investing in VTSAX, yet here I am eschewing those stocks for a broad market index.
by MarkBarb
Mon Mar 13, 2023 3:03 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do you regret spending money on your wedding?
Replies: 229
Views: 23270

Re: Do you regret spending money on your wedding?

Ours was parentally funded. We spent about $2,500, which would be a little over $5,000 now that 30 years have passed. I don't think my wife or I regret spending the money, but we would have been just as happy with something more modest. I'm glad that we had a ceremony and our friends and relatives were there.
by MarkBarb
Tue Mar 07, 2023 12:04 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: recommendation for CO hiking trip this month
Replies: 28
Views: 1610

Re: recommendation for CO hiking trip this month

Wait for someone who is living up there to make suggestions.

From my experience as a visitor, stuff up in the mountains this time of year (and it has been a snowy year) is typically in deep snow. There are probably a lot of hikes available in the foothills, but they could get covered in snow at any time, so it's hard to make plans.

Snowshoeing is fun, but adjust your mileage expectations down significantly. Between the altitude and the extra work, it isn't easy to go far.

If it were me, I'd set aside the hiking and going skiing or snowboarding instead.
by MarkBarb
Tue Mar 07, 2023 12:01 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Accounts keep switching to paperless
Replies: 49
Views: 5049

Re: Accounts keep switching to paperless

How about giving her a stack of addressed and stamped envelopes. You don't have to use the ones they send. Put the dates on your calendar and each month send her a reminder to go online and get her balance.
by MarkBarb
Tue Mar 07, 2023 11:57 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: recommendation for CO hiking trip this month
Replies: 28
Views: 1610

Re: recommendation for CO hiking trip this month

Do you want to do only "boots on the ground" hiking or are you interested in snowshoeing?
by MarkBarb
Sat Mar 04, 2023 6:25 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: CPI-W and Actual Inflation for 65 Year Olds
Replies: 3
Views: 535

Re: CPI-W and Actual Inflation for 65 Year Olds

C-CPI-W would be a better general measure of inflation than CPI-W, because it considers changes in purchasing behavior related to price changes. R-CPI-E is focused on in prices for a basket of goods consumed by people 62 and over, but it is not chained, so you should expect it to slightly overstate the rate of inflation.
by MarkBarb
Sat Mar 04, 2023 2:58 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Can we retire in Bay Area?
Replies: 39
Views: 7230

Re: Can we retire in Bay Area?

Keep in mind that you could save $25 a year on Turbo Tax state filing fees if you moved to a state with no income tax.
by MarkBarb
Tue Feb 28, 2023 9:45 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Protecting cars on driveway
Replies: 176
Views: 16506

Re: Protecting cars on driveway

Car and street parking break ins are one of the most common crimes in my suburb. Most are simple crimes of opportunity, with people testing for unlocked cars. Where they get more serious is with unlocked cars that have garage door openers in the car or built into the car. These are sometimes used to get access to the garage and even to the house itself.
by MarkBarb
Mon Feb 27, 2023 1:32 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: The job was okay. The money was nice. But you retired anyway. How did it go?
Replies: 173
Views: 25454

Re: The job was okay. The money was nice. But you retired anyway. How did it go?

In my case, I enjoyed my job and the money was nice. I retired because my company was sold and my new employer offered me an incentive to leave. If I could have kept the status quo and hadn't been tempted by the payout, I would have been happy staying where I was. I was only 54, but I didn't need the money anymore and I didn't want to start all over again. Plus, my wife was a SAHM and the last of our children was heading off to college. She was very ready for me to retire so we could travel. So far, it's going great. We walk every morning. We play a lot of disc golf. We do volunteer work that we enjoy. We travel. We pursue lots of hobbies. There are occasional times when I feel a little bored, but there are far more days when I feel like I'...
by MarkBarb
Fri Feb 24, 2023 10:39 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What methods do you use to make sure you are fair when gifting to an adult child?
Replies: 130
Views: 10971

Re: What methods do you use to make sure you are fair when gifting to an adult child?

I don't think "equal" is always the same as "fair" and I don't think you should obsess too much over it. For example, my parents have helped some of my siblings when they had financial difficulties. I've had the good fortune of not having similar financial difficulties, so I haven't gotten the same help. I don't believe my parents have any intent to "true up" their gifts in their will or anything like that. It would feel awkward if they did given that I'm in a much better financial situation than some of my siblings. Another example is with travel. We did a lot more traveling than my siblings. Often, my parents would rent a place in a vacation spot and we would go visit them. Many years, some or all of my sibli...
by MarkBarb
Tue Feb 21, 2023 3:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 1st Time Backdoor Roth - Plz Check My Plan
Replies: 11
Views: 774

Re: 1st Time Backdoor Roth - Plz Check My Plan

Clarice wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 1:33 pm
MarkBarb wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 1:29 pm Are you certain that both current 401(k)s will accept the transfers in from an IRA?
No, actually. Assuming. If I’m Fidelity I want more money to manage, so I would have built that into plan. My thinking.
Please confirm it before you start taking actions. I worked at a company with a 401(k) that I think was at Fidelity and they would allow direct 401(k) to 401(k) transfers, but not transfers in from an IRA.

The plan documents vary from employer to employer. For example, some are set up to allow megabackdoor Roths and others aren't.
by MarkBarb
Tue Feb 21, 2023 3:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is [car's] blind spot monitor worth while?
Replies: 180
Views: 12339

Re: Is blind spot monitor worth while?

H-Town wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 3:03 pm
Youtube video on HUD unit on a Genesis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RLQeoCIQVQ
Yep. That's it. You can see the blind spot warning come on in the HUD at around 0:51 in the video.
by MarkBarb
Tue Feb 21, 2023 3:24 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is [car's] blind spot monitor worth while?
Replies: 180
Views: 12339

Re: Is blind spot monitor worth while?

How do you like your Genesis? I find their styling sooooooo nice but I don't trust their reliability. Yes. Thus is purely bias on my part as I remember the 80s when Hyundai cars were horrible. I'm happy with it so far. We've had it for about 2 years and have put about 48,000 miles on it. It's very quiet and comfortable for highway cruising, which is why I bought it. I think their reliability has improved a lot. It's not Toyota level reliability, but I think Toyota does that by being really cautious with new tech. If I were buying something similar again, it would still be one of my top picks. I might go with the Acura MDX. I didn't like the Lexus RX, but they just updated it, so maybe. But I think I have another decade or two of aging befo...
by MarkBarb
Tue Feb 21, 2023 1:29 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 1st Time Backdoor Roth - Plz Check My Plan
Replies: 11
Views: 774

Re: 1st Time Backdoor Roth - Plz Check My Plan

Are you certain that both current 401(k)s will accept the transfers in from an IRA?
by MarkBarb
Tue Feb 21, 2023 1:27 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is [car's] blind spot monitor worth while?
Replies: 180
Views: 12339

Re: Is blind spot monitor worth while?

student wrote: Sun Feb 19, 2023 6:36 pm "it shows the location of cars around me on the heads up display" wow. Do you have a Tesla? So high tech.
No. My car is almost entirely used as a long-trip vehicle, so I didn't think an EV made sense for that car. And, I don't really like the "everything is controlled from the touchscreen" interface of the Tesla's I've ridden in. Maybe I'm just old fashion, but I prefer things like volume knobs and latches on my glove box.

Starbase wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 12:11 am Kia?
Close. Genesis. My assumption is that all Hyundai/Kia/Genesis vehicles with HUDs probably use the same tech.
by MarkBarb
Sun Feb 19, 2023 6:33 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is [car's] blind spot monitor worth while?
Replies: 180
Views: 12339

Re: Is blind spot monitor worth while?

My car has a blind spot monitor and it shows the location of cars around me on the heads up display. Also, when I turn on the turn signal, my dash shows me a video feed of that side of the car. You'd think all that stuff would be really useful, but I still look over my shoulder and then watch my mirror. I think I'm too old to learn new things. But my kids have blind spot monitoring lights in their cars and love them.
by MarkBarb
Sat Feb 18, 2023 7:19 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: camera for Grand Canyon raft trip
Replies: 84
Views: 7214

Re: camera for Grand Canyon raft trip

My wife and I took a 17 day dory trip through the canyon in October. We each brought a GoPro (10 Black and 9 Black) and our cell phones. A couple of people in the group brought DSLRs. For batteries, we brought a lot of extra GoPro batteries. Way too many. For the phones, we brought 26,000 mAh chargers. They were great. I much preferred that solution to bringing smaller chargers and using solar. If I had to do it again, I would have brought fewer GoPro batteries and relied on the chargers to recharge the batteries I did bring. For a phone, power management is the key. Stay in airplane mode so that you don't waste energy trying to communicate with cell towers you won't be able to reach anyway. Set your screen brightness relatively low. A mode...
by MarkBarb
Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:32 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: TIPS vs nominal bonds during persistent inflation
Replies: 45
Views: 3849

Re: TIPS vs nominal bonds during persistent inflation

I would expect TIPS to outperform nominal bonds when inflation is higher than expected. The opposite would be true whenever inflation was lower than expected. When inflation meets the market's expectations, there should be very little difference. It doesn't matter whether inflation is persistent. All that matters is how it differs from expectations. Assuming that you don't think you can predict inflation better than the market, which you choose depends on other factors like tax treatment and how inflation impacts you. For example, I worked in the oil industry, which usually outperforms during periods of high inflation, so I didn't have much fear of inflation. It made more sense for me to by nominal bonds rather than TIPS. You may work in an...
by MarkBarb
Tue Feb 14, 2023 9:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: The impact of the ACA Premium Tax Credit on refundable credits
Replies: 4
Views: 1312

Re: The impact of the ACA Premium Tax Credit on refundable credits

This appears to be the case that excess premiums are added to tax before the credits. This really isn’t something that can be rigged. For aca advanced credits you needed to agree to accurately report income, and they ask for verification. Misrepresenting income could lead to problems. In my case, I don't know how much my income will be. I get my income from selling investments in my taxable account. How much of that is taxable depends on how the market performs and what shares I decide to sell. It's a total swag. There is no way to accurately represent it a year in advance because I don't know it very far in advance. For working people, they face similar issues. My bonus used to vary by several multiples between years and I wouldn't know w...