Bogleheads.org

Minnesota has a web page for recording a sale. Easy as can be.

We had one here in Minnesota. I never cared for it but my wife used it regularly year round for several years. Snow was a bit of an issue, but more serious was the the waterlogging of the cover, necessitating replacements. I don't think we paid a great deal for it and ran it on 110V. We did have an issue with mice nesting in the nice warm area under he tub, requiring a yearly cleanout.

Just got a report from camelcamelcamel on an Amazon price watch I had set. It shows how the price has changed over the last several months, which pretty much accords with my recollection of past years. Might be useful for planning next year.



Don't want to get sucked into that Dec. lull.

Two notes. No, QCDs cannot be anonymous. They send you a check to forward to the charity. Also, I found this year that Vanguard is instituting a $250 fee for a DAF with a balance less than $25,000, so I am bailing. (just hope I can keep that value until they assess the fee at the end of January). I have also found other services that do anonymous donations, such as Paypal, if that concerns you.

I'm partial to Vasque, which I get at REI. Waterproof and long-wearing sole. I like the tread in the snow, but would be good in rain too. I do fine without wool socks even here in Minnesota. Whatever you get, don't lace too tight or it cuts off circulation. When I ran I always 'clenched' my foot before lacing.

We use Doordash regularly. Sure it's expensive, but I don't like to drive in the dark and snow, so am willing to pay the fee. I think concern about cost can be overdone. Personally, I saved all those years to be able to spend a bit now in retirement.

I bought a Lexus ES Hybrid this summer. We paid MSRP and the dealer was able to search nationally for just the car we wanted. Apparently they engage in swaps to find what is needed. There was no trade-in in this case.

I had a 60/40 allocation for a time, but retirement and the 2008 financial meltdown convinced me that 40/60 was more comfortable. Still there.

I don't mind the occasional survey but bail out of the overly-long or poorly designed ones. Sometimes it's an opportunity to vent.

I think more interesting than spending timed directly to dividends is the case of people, like my brother-in-law, who treat dividends as a steady income stream. So between a pension and dividends he meets his expenses. Same mode of thinking.

I had some of the same fears before I made some fairly large QCDs. To my surprise, I was not deluged by solicitations at all. Actually I as a bit disappointed their thanks were not more effusive. YMMV but I had no problem. Do be sure to keep any receipt from the charity as Vanguard does no record keeping.

I second the idea of making your own spreadsheet to track investments. Everyone's needs are different so you can make it specific to what you want to accomplish. Does not have to be complicated. The trickiest thing I use is 'Google Finance' to keep values up to date, so I have to do very little maintenance. If you need budgeting, that is a different issue. .

My university had a pretty generous 401 and I added my own savings. Comfortably retired at 75.

I have a nephew and a niece who will inherit a tidy sum from us, some of 'old' family money, some of it newer. I've been open about what they should expect. And it seemed to me that they could make better use of at least some of it now rather than 20 years down the road. They did not object. So they get a 'Christmas bonus' of cash each year. Only seems sensible to me. Also like the idea of warm hands.

My main interest is seeing amounts invested by fund and then by category (equity vs. fixed) so I can make appropriate withdrawals or re- balancing. I find very useful the GoogleFinance function in Google sheets. By entering just my number of shares owned I can keep continuous tabs on the total value of my holdings for that fund, because the function calls up the latest price. No ongoing data entry needed unless there is a trade. Excel has a similar function.

We have 1" gravel under our shrubs. So far no maintenance, though perhaps you don't care for the appearance.

When I started working in the 70s TIAA/CREF was the only option. It formed the core of my investments for many years and with the guaranteed rate in TIAA it was a useful anchor. When I reached age 59 I moved the CREF portion into my IRA but kept the Traditional, tapping the interest income as a bridge to SS at age 70. Eventually the interest was not enough to cover the RMD so I switched to an RMD. It is not now a large part of my portfolio but the income is useful and I have no regrets. An annuity would sure be a good option too.

I retired in 2009 when there was talk of ten years of recession. I held the course, even reallocating into the teeth of the decline. It was a tense time, but I had an inherited annuity as a bridge to Social Security and subsidized health care til Medicare. You sound well set. But of course, no one knows the future.

I too value my anonymity and use my DAF when I can. Paypal Giving also offers this feature for small amounts. I would add that when I did a QCD (which cannot be anonymous) I was surprised by the muted response of the recipients, even for gifts of thousands of dollars. I doubt that mailings are any worse than before.

I check my spreadsheet weekly, so that gives me a measure of investments. With no debt the only other items are the house and personal property. I sometimes do a quick mental calculation of investments+house but have never actually totaled everything. That's for my estate executor to figure out.

I use the Kindle app on my Samsung tablet. It works fine, though I get the impression that battery life is better with an E-Reader.

I retired in 2009 at 60/40. Talk about uncertain and turbulent times. As a result I went to a more conservative 40/60 and things have turned out just fine, even enabling me to generously gift children and charities. Stay the course.

My parents went into assisted living at age 88 in a fairly pricey place. In the end they basically spent their house equity before passing away. I too like plan B.

I found the QCD easy enough, though having to forward the check is an added step. Also, lacks the possibility of anonymity that my DAF affords. But I used both last year.

A question for those more savvy on this topic. I have an Amex card that pays 3% on grocery expenses, up to a generous maximum. Now I have an offer from Citi for 5% on the top spending category each month, up to $500 spent. If I use the card exclusively for groceries could I get 5% back each month?

Really enjoy the airport lounge that comes with FC for layovers.

Retired 12 years. I don't keep a budget or track transactions but find it useful to have a spreadsheet to track balances and allocation of multiple funds across 7 accounts. It's fueled by the google function that pulls fund prices for the previous day's close and only needs to be updated quarterly to catch the drift in accounts that reinvest. I don't know how I would be able to re-balance or sell assets for major purchases without it, but YMMV.

People have mentioned the difficulty of spending their excess income. I have upped my charitable giving as a result of my good fortune-- great fun.

I am interested in DiploInvestor's observation that he gives his master password once a day and is set to go. I am still shopping. Is this the usual functionality?

My age and portfolio are similar to OP. I got a little spooked last March as the pandemic took hold and moved a year's expenditures into cash, but normally rely on bonds, as others have mentioned. Not a great difference between cash and short-term bonds anyhow.

My main focus is asset allocation and re-balancing. Desired allocation (in % and $) for each fund is on the left, then I show balances for each of nine funds in each of seven accounts, and then actual allocation per fund on the right. I pay most attention to the percentage allocation in equities vs fixed income, re-balancing as needed. The actual fund allocations guide me on which specific funds to adjust.

As retirement proceeds I make an effort to spend less time on investments. Weekly I check my spreadsheet that gives me values of the 10 or so funds I have in 7 accounts, though that rarely requires action. Every quarter I update share holdings for accounts where I reinvest. With RMDs set there is little to do unless things drift too far. Only when I need money for a major purchase do I need to spend time adjusting things.

I've had good luck with two Bosch dishwashers (in different houses). Bad experience with Kitchenaid refrigerator. I think the lifetime of appliances is declining.

I second the importance of personal preference. I am sure Nike makes very fine shoes but they are all wrong for my feet. I stumbled onto Saucony which suited me well and I went through many pairs through the years, including marathon training on paved roads.
Give them a good test and check on the return policy. If you have a treadmill you might be able test them without too much wear.

TIAA Traditional since 1973, Now taking RMD.

It seems to me that companies like Vanguard are becoming such dominant investors that to behave passively just concentrates the power into the hands of a small number of other very interested parties. Sitting on the sidelines seems irresponsible. I think Vanguard should consult the real owners of those shares -- namely us.

Just finished 'Project Hail Mary', by Andy Weir. If you liked 'The Martian' or like science-based science fiction I would recommend it. Even my wife, who is not a great SciFi fan, is enjoying it.

Interesting question. Although I try to keep each of my four stock funds near their target percentages and keep the overall equities/bonds ratio fixed, I don't pay much attention to the details of the bond allocations. This is partly because I have no bonds in the tax-sheltered portion, so any rebalancing into bonds grows the tax exempt fund in my taxable account. As was pointed out, the differences between bond funds is so small that I mostly let them drift, making a seat of the pants decision on using short term vs intermediate bond for RMD, while the inflation protected fund just sits there. Not strictly kosher I suppose, but works for me.

I have 9 funds spread over 7 accounts. Google sheets, with the function to look up prices, works just fine to keep track of allocations and point to re-balancing when necessary. Also helps me plan appropriate withdrawals. Share totals can drift a bit, but I find quarterly checks of Vanguard values keep me on track.

I endorse the withholding approach. Only wish I could have my state tax withheld as well.

Yes, my understanding is that some of the problem in Texas was pipes running through outside walls. Avoiding that should not be expensive, though builders will skimp to get every penny.

I'm retired and at 10% TIAA Trad. I take the income as an RMD rather than annuity since that seems to me the better value,

I would agree that rodents are a recurring problem, and the lids getting heavy and needing replacement were my greatest ongoing expenses (live in Minnesota). On the other hand, we had an existing patio to place it on and I installed a dedicated 120V line for it, so installation cost was minimal. My wife used it regularly but eventually got tired of it. The shop that sold it to us arranged delivery and eventual disposal, though I am sure we paid for that in hidden ways.

For me it comes down to who offers the most restaurants and Doordash wins hands down. Quality of drivers varies. We have had meals left in the driveway of the wrong house and left on our porch without knocking (in January!) but overall has been satisfactory. In my experience most restaurants don't do delivery, but I'm in outer-ring suburb

I think the missing element here is age. I was fine with mowing and shoveling up to age 70 or so, but now glad to pay for someone else to do the chores.

The importance of sharing my good fortune with those less fortunate.

I have a Gerry. Don't know the model but it is quite warm even at 10 degrees, which is about my limit for my daily one hour walk.

We are so close to 2021 I would consider putting off some of your sales to then. What level of income do you anticipate next year? HRBlock has a tax estimator that help you do some scenarios.

I'm no expert but it seems to me that unlike, say, a war-torn country, the physical plant is in place, the human capital is there, and there is money to invest (looks like another stimulus check is in the works). I wouldn't bet against a surge.

As someone who received a sizeable inheritance at age 66, when I really didn't need it, I am in favor of some early gifting. I also have made a point of telling the recipients roughly how much they will eventually receive. I trust them to use it wisely.