Bogleheads.org

The lawyers seem to be confident about what the beneficiaries are entitled to, Security Benefit will not, however, put it in writing (in terms of a statement). Everyone also seems to agree that this is fine and dandy, even though it seems absurd to me. So, SB and the estate lawyers agree that each o...

When others in our family passed away, we've had no trouble moving funds from an inherited account into an IRA-BDA to alleviate the tax impact of funds where the proceeds were not immediately needed. My wife's father recently passed away, and he had two annuity contracts as part of an IRA with Secur...

The situation muddies. China has denied my visa request. (No real surprise, but I absolutely admit to naivete in assuming that telling the truth is the best policy). Called G3, they cannot help me either. So, we're back to subterfuge, which bothers me a bit...but, apparently that's the game to be pl...

Not necessarily.

If the consul declines my application (they appear to still be mulling it over...but who can tell ), I can certainly give G3 a chance. Thanks for the advice.

We go Chicago to NYC to Shanghai to Chengdu to Lhasa, all on one ticket. These are not technically "stopovers" as there's no more than a couple hours between flights. If I were spending a night in one of the pre-Lhasa cities, I could have submitted a request for a visa showing the Chinese that city ...

Apparently there are some unusual specifications around obtaining a visa for China when Tibet is on your itinerary. Before going for our visa, I had read that some travelers advise that one not include Tibet on one's visa request, but I'm not comfortable lying (plus, my travel has us flying into Lha...

This is a weird one, please bear with my explanation, and let me know if you have any advice. Know up front that I have zero financial or familial stake in this. I'm posting here because I was asked the question by the family involved and I am interested in board commentary. Background: Family patri...

I'm using the desktop home and business version. Can't figure out how your TT was calculating at 85%. I literally filed my taxes on 3/17, and TT calculated a penalty for me based on 90% math on line 5 of form 2210 (and, yes, TT had auto-updated before I filed), which I paid. After the law change was...

If an accountant says "Hey...you're right. I apologize. Let me correct that for you, and here's a discount to my rates because I steered you wrong and you corrected me" then I'm happy to continue working with them. If I call up the accountant, point out the error and he/she tells me "Yeah...someone ...

I agree with this comment. The math on the calculation of the penalty does not change. The math to determine if one is subject to the penalty does change. Let's say that I withheld 88% of the required amount during 2018. TT said I owed a tax even before last Friday's changes, calculated it and put i...

As you may be aware, the tax law threshold for under reporting penalties was changed from 85% to 80% last Friday. When I filed, TT computed an under reporting penalty for me automatically, so I went back to see if the threshold change would benefit my filing. I expected the most recent TT update to ...

Thanks for all the fantastic ideas. I had an irrational fear that I'd be mercilessly mocked for this one. Appreciate being taken seriously. Will investigate several of these options.

Based on the recent activities in the UK around Brexit, I'm expecting a generational opportunity to take on pound sterling. Note, this is not an investment request, I'm aware of several funds/ETF's that give exposure to the pound for my investment accounts. I'm talking about cold hard cash to be use...

May I suggest liberal use of crak-stix and then sealant. I was just sealing for years and the asphalt was getting to the point where I considered full replacement. Tried crak-stix and about 10 propane canisters and it's literally like new. I spent last year doing an hour a day when the weather was n...

Did Iceland last year while WOW was still flying from Chicago. Suggestions: - Drive the circle route yourself. If you can rent a car in <your home town> you can rent a car in Iceland. - Consider adding the undercarriage/windscreen damage coverage. About half the roads will likely be gravel. - Take e...

Only one specific problem noted with my Nest thermostat, and it's a silly one (yet one that has no current fix). If you run a Google Home Hub, it changes from Fahrenheit to Celsius. So, if you want to tell Google to change the temperature, you've got to do it in Celsius. How it is that Nest (or Goog...

Recommend that you investigate SimpliSafe. Super easy to install yourself. Works well while you are home and away. Only issue we've had with this service is that the dogs set off motion sensors, even on the lowest sensitivity and mounted high (according to Simplisafe recommendations). The good news ...

Many state high school organizations are in dire need of officials. During the spring, I can make ~$1000 a week, working 6 days officiating track and field for middle and high schools. Pass an open book on-line test on the rules, buy yourself a gun and some rudimentary equipment (whistle, etc...), a...

What worked for me is, when they called, I told them I am a Certified Financial Planner.

They ended the call so quickly, it made me laugh.