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[Thread merged into here --admin LadyGeek] This is concerning, especially Citi. https://awealthofcommonsense.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Screenshot-2023-03-16-141842.png https://awealthofcommonsense.com/ This is a an incomplete, one sided and imbalanced graphic and would even go to say an irrlevant one. Because deposits - insured or uninsured are on the liability side of a bank balance sheet. Few banks failed over last couple weeks because of asset issues, specifically not managing their asset duration risk. Banks such as Citi don't have all their assets tied up in long duration assets (against short term on demand deposits), are regulated more stringently and have a very well diversified asset mix (credit cards, treasuries, mortgages, ...

We spent $7K I believe many years ago (less than a decade) in a VHCOL. Almost all of it on great high end food (oyster bar, appetizers, open bar and 3 courses)for around 45 guests. We DIYed everything else. My wife made flowers for each table and bouquets (with peonies ordered in bulk from PA for $200), I made favors, created music playlists etc. $650 of this 7K was for photography where a prof. photographer was hired for 3 hours. Most guests said it was the best wedding they have been to that year and had a $30K wedding vibe. You will be surprised how cheap weddings are if you hire a restaurant venue (for venue and food) and do everything else DIY. We never regretted this - because of the value we extracted from $7K and the memories it cre...

This is such a general question that needs unpacking. The following is not a comment on the above mentioned institution specifically because that will speculation, but a general guide. If one has a deposit with the bank side one is insured upto FDIC limits (they will get it back). Federal regulators / US Treasury dept may extend this protection above the FDIC limits on a case to ccase basis (as they have done yesterday with the other bank yesterday) If one has a brokerage account, they are insured upto SIPC limits. But unlike banking where liquidity is an issue if all ask their deposits back (fractional system), brokerages don't have this issue as one's assets are invested/held in cash, so this situation happens only if brokerage engages in...

Have healthcare costs been factored in ?

We as a family (all US Citizens) were returning from Europe 3 months ago and while standing in the US Customs line at Dulles Airport, my wife noticed orange peel in her bag. Turns out my toddler son ate an orange on the flight and promptly dumped the peel in my wife's bag without our knowledge :oops: We declared that we had food (orange peel, no other food) to the US CBP officer and told her the story. She smiled (almost facepalmed) and took us to the secondary inspection area. Wait in the secondary was not long (5-10 mins) and the CBP officers there undertood the circumstance, advised us to be careful next time and let us enter with no penalties or fines. But I did notice that my passport was the one on record (from when the original CBP o...

The 6% penalty is levied each year the excess contribution remains in HSA. So this excess contribution of $3 needs to be withdrawn. I don;t believe contributing $3 less next year will correct this mistake.

Please don't consider this a legal/financial advice.

We (family of 3) are going to Azores (Sao Miguel island) for 4 days and Lisbon for 3 days, the week of Veteran's day this year. We booked the flights 4 days ago (we always prefer to book flights a month in advance than a year in advance). Hotels are yet to be booked. We have a 3 year old and we are not planning to rent a car on Sao Miguel island. Instead we plan to take full day mini bus trips for 2 days on Sao Miguel with a tour company called Pure Azores (they provide car seats for the 3 year old on the mini bus). Lisbon has great public transportation and we will take public transit in Lisbon. Some questions we have are: 1. If I go ahead and buy trip insurance today without booking hotels, can I add the estimated hotel expenses in the a...

Driving in sao Miguel is extremely easy and gives you a lot more freedom. The weather there can change a lot during the day and variable in different parts of the island on the same day. You'll want to see certain things when it's not cloudy. We used Azores Easy Rent for an automatic car and it was reasonably priced. Not sure what prices are like now though. Your chase Sapphire reserve should serve as primary car rental insurance with I believe $75000 coverage with no deductible. You shouldn't need anything else Thank you. Will look up prices on Azores easy rental webpage. Chase Sapphire Reserve ofcourse covers if something happens to the car (equivalent of CDW/LDW). But does it cover liability insurance too ? (if something were to happen ...

We (family of 3) are going to Azores (Sao Miguel island) for 4 days and Lisbon for 3 days, the week of Veteran's day this year. We booked the flights 4 days ago (we always prefer to book flights a month in advance than a year in advance). Hotels are yet to be booked. We have a 3 year old and we are not planning to rent a car on Sao Miguel island. Instead we plan to take full day mini bus trips for 2 days on Sao Miguel with a tour company called Pure Azores (they provide car seats for the 3 year old on the mini bus). Lisbon has great public transportation and we will take public transit in Lisbon. Some questions we have are: 1. If I go ahead and buy trip insurance today without booking hotels, can I add the estimated hotel expenses in the am...

You are thinking about this the wrong way. The recommended approach is (I am keeping this usper simple)
1. Estimate your annual expenses in retirement
2. Work towards creating a corpus 25 to 30X number in Step 1 by the time you retire
3. Draw down the number in Step 2 based on safe withdrawal strategies.

Based on this, one may need to save 20% of current income, other may need to save 50% of current income if the person starts saving later in life or when they intend to retire.

I don’t know if I’m all alone or not, but I don’t find any of this at all concerning. i don’t like losing 20% this year, but I wasn’t complaining when I made 25% last year. The economy doesn’t bother me. Inflation doesn’t worry me. I know there is war and uncertainty in Europe, but how is that worse than the past. There is always a war someplace. Genocide in Africa, famines, etc. anybody remember India and Pakistan getting ready to Niue each other? What’s going in now is for sure awful and it matters. But our rose colored glasses can deceive us. When exactly in the past haven’t there been really bad things going on? When the markets are high, people are scared about sky high valuations. When they come back down, people are paralyzed with f...

When I buy the market (I say market because my currency is VTI), I buy it for perpetuity. As they say in bond markets, why look at the numbers if you buy and hold something for perpetuity ?
Alternatively, any one fearing drops should zoom out and see the market over 100 years. There is always somehting going on and everyone at that point in time thinks world is coming to an end. It doesn't. If one's worry is about world coming to an end, then there are other important things to care of, markets are the least of your worries.

A retiree in 70s had 2 IRAs (both inherited from spouse). One with WF and other with Schwab. In December 2021, a new IRA was opened at Fidelity and both WF and Schwab assets transferred/consolidated into the new Fidelity IRA. The transfer request was placed on Fidelity and no withdrawal was made from WF or Schwab. Does the one IRA to IRA rollover per year rule (IRS rule) apply in this case ? Web articles on this don't clarify much. If the assets were transferred directly from one administrator to the other, than the rule does not apply. The rule only applies if the retiree gets a check made out to themselves, and then deposits the equivalent amount in the new IRA. Thank you. Yes- the asset transfer was requested from receiving institution ...

A retiree in 70s had 2 IRAs (both inherited from spouse). One with WF and other with Schwab. In December 2021, a new IRA was opened at Fidelity and both WF and Schwab assets transferred/consolidated into the new Fidelity IRA. The transfer request was placed on Fidelity and no withdrawal was made from WF or Schwab. Does the one IRA to IRA rollover per year rule (IRS rule) apply in this case ? Web articles on this don't clarify much. If the assets were transferred directly from one administrator to the other, than the rule does not apply. The rule only applies if the retiree gets a check made out to themselves, and then deposits the equivalent amount in the new IRA. Thank you. Yes- the asset transfer was requested from receiving institution ...

A retiree in 70s had 2 IRAs (both inherited from spouse). One with WF and other with Schwab. In December 2021, a new IRA was opened at Fidelity and both WF and Schwab assets transferred/consolidated into the new Fidelity IRA. The transfer request was placed on Fidelity and no withdrawal was made from WF or Schwab.

Does the one IRA to IRA rollover per year rule (IRS rule) apply in this case ? Web articles on this don't clarify much.

I don't know what's worse - Taking stock picking advice from TV entertainers or putting hard earned money in crypto stocks !

Asking on behalf of a relative- Situation at the beginning of 2021: 1. An IRA @ Wells Fargo Advisors - Approx. $480K+ [Account A] 2. A 401K at Fidelity with Approx $44K [Account B] 3. An IRA @ Charles Schwab with Approx. $90K [Account C] During 2021 4. An IRA was opened @ Fidelity [Account D] in November 2021 and assets in accounts A,B and C above were all moved to this new IRA at Fidelity mid December. On Dec 31, 2021: 5. IRA @ Fidelity (Account D above) had approx. $594K 6. IRA @ Wells Fargo [Account A] above had approx. $16K. Holdouts that Fidelity did not accept during transfer. These assets were later liquidated in January 2022 and moved to Fidelity as cash In July 2022: 7. Only Fidelity IRA [Account D] has assets. All other IRAs and 4...

I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice. Just few observations. 1. OP and fiancee may have to merge their finances to an extent to show that theirs is a bonafide marriage. USCIS has pretty comprehensive checks to prevent green card related marriage fraud and looks at merged finances, cohabitation and totality of circumstances (designated as beneficiary, on each other's health insurance etc) to determine that OP's fiancee's permanent residency application (green card) is legitimate. OP and fiancee's green card application may not be rejected for not merging finances but raises suspicions at USCIS- a good immigration attorney and a watertight application is needed and there could be potential multiple interviews and checks leading t...

My Wife and Sister-in-law are helping their mom (my MIL) who is in her early 70s with her portfolio. MIL is healthy, fit and manages her finances - help here is limited to advice (and she takes her daughters' advice , both of who follow bogleheads approach) MIL had all her portfolio with a high fee advisor who charged 1%. The investments were all in mutual funds with high fees. Last December on my wife's advice, MIL moved all of her portfolio (little over $1mn) to Fidelity and consolidated it into two accounts - an IRA and a post tax account. The target AA was to be 50/50 - MIL only takes RMDs from this portfolio and needs only around 9K annually to support her expenses from this portfolio (rest of her expenses are met by SS and pension). T...

In my state, it is illegal for a potential employer to ask a potential hire about how much latter is getting paid now. Such laws may exist in several states.

I am planning to a purchase similar to OP on Fidelity - a 1-2 year secondary treasury purchase with some of the emergency funds.
This would be first ever treasury purchase outside iBonds.
I understand bond concepts well - from accrued interest to yield.
My question is - If the secondary purchase is made on Fidelity, from tax reporting/filing perspective, Do I receive everything I need on 1099 from Fidelity ? I prefer tax filing to not be a big project next year for the 3% interest on 15-20K.

I faced a similar situation few years ago. The indian condo was purchased with the intention of being the pirmary residence many years ago but moving back to India never happened. It was also never rented due to significant investment needed in furnishing it. The mortgage was a waste of money/expense.
Ended up selling it once the decision to not move back to India was made. The proceeds net of costs (no taxes as there was no capital gain) became part of my desired AA.

The important thing to take notice is you are classified as NRI and the process of selling is complicated for an NRI; so be prepared for that.

Thanks.

We are Massachusetts residents. I don't hold the target funds in question, but the target funds are my spouse's main holding in their 401k (no target fund holdings in post tax accounts).

I understand that this settlement definitively applies to fund's share holders who held the funds in post tax accounts and were hit by substantial capital gains tax distribution. What I am trying to understand is the impact on fund shareholders who held these funds in tax advantaged accounts ! I understand there was no capital gains tax impact but is there any other way this could have impacted fund value ?

Visiting the UK (arrived earlier today). I am old school and like collecting entry stamps as souvenirs. Was made to stand in eGates line at Heathrow by default by airport personnel based on my US Passport. While nearing the eGates, I requested an airport staffer if I can be inspected by officer and get a stamp instead of eGates. He asked me to exit the eGates line and join the line where a UK border officer inspects eGate rejections. UK Border Officer scanned my passport, verified identity, asked the usual questions about purpose of visit and said I am all set. I asked if I could get a stamp - he said they don't stamp for US visitors anymore (unless one is visiting for work). Was disappointed, but I guess the world has moved on from stamps...

Visiting the UK (arrived earlier today). I am old school and like collecting entry stamps as souvenirs. Was made to stand in eGates line at Heathrow by default by airport personnel based on my US Passport. While nearing the eGates, I requested an airport staffer if I can be inspected by officer and get a stamp instead of eGates. He asked me to exit the eGates line and join the line where a UK border officer inspects eGate rejections. UK Border Officer scanned my passport, verified identity, asked the usual questions about purpose of visit and said I am all set. I asked if I could get a stamp - he said they don't stamp for US visitors anymore (unless one is visiting for work). Was disappointed, but I guess the world has moved on from stamps....

The inflation rate for May has increased by 8.6% compared to last May. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. dollar jumped higher against other currencies as a result: The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against a basket of 16 currencies, increased over 0.7% to around 96.73. The U.S. Dollar Index, another gauge investors track, gained nearly 1.0%. What is the explanation for the increase in the USD currency? Does this mean that higher inflation is actually a good thing for dollar-based investments? Simple reason : There is no other investment that can beat US Treasury or USD fixed income from a risk perspective on the planet. Higher inflation means higher interest rates. So investors around the world don't need to chase...

9. Clothing, toys etc. - We buy clothes infrequently. This doesn't mean we live poor. I buy brooks brothers or J Crew for dress shirts and pants, but they last 6 years atleast for me (possibly even more with reduced usage during pandemic). I buy tee shirts from TJ Maxx and they last 7-10 years. My dress shoes are 6 years old. Sneakers are replaced every two years, but keep that expense to $150 max. Our town has a great freecycling program through library and we usually get all toys from there and return when done There's a difference between being frugal and flat out cheap. I've never had a sneaker last more than 6 months, let alone 2 years and your spouse bikes to work everyday so they are much much more active than me. Your feet will fee...

Have been a Boglehead for 7 years. Have seen first hand the benefits of Boglehead investing principles. But over the last few months we (family of 3) are also seeing the benefits of Boglehead lifestyle in general, especially on Inflation. Being a boglehead is not just about investing in a certain way, but also leading a certain lifestyle (this may vary a bit by person according to their needs). Inflation/Deflation at its core is- tracking prices of a basket of goods /services, and Boglehead lifestyle + some planning to convert variable costs to fixed costs will insulate one from macro economic factors such as Inflation (control costs or make them fixed) or economic stagnation/Deflation (saving, emergency fund etc.) on the other end of spect...

Event tickets and flight tickets were purchased using a major US credit card.
I need to look into event refund policy. But the event tickets are a fraction of over all cost - Flights and Hotels, flights being the majority of cost. So event refund policy may not help much, which is why I am looking for options to cover my whole trip with a weather linked insurance policy - may be such a thing does not exist and I need to assume this risk myself ?

What are the options for a US Citizen/US resident to buy an insurance policy that covers cancellation of outdoor sporting events due to rain/weather ?
The event is in Europe in June for 3-4 days.
Flight tickets are booked and tickets for the event have been purchased. Travel insurance will cover trip interruption, cancellation and medical needs - no questions here.
The sporting event is outdoors across multiple days and is susceptible to rain cancellation/interruption. Is there an insurance policy one can purchase to cover event cancellation due to weather, because the whole purpose of this trip is to watch the event ? I see event insurers online but they target event organizers, not spectators.

Thanks.

We got a mohu leaf antenna 5 years ago for $25 and we get 20+ HD channels and several other non HD Channels.
Watching Olympics right now in HD on NBC.
And regularly watch everything from jeopardy to NFL. Best $25 ever spent.

We (U.S Citizens / U.S Residents) own a condo outright (no mortgage) in Asia. Parents (Non U.S Persons) live in that condo and they don't pay any rent to us. The fair market value of this condo if it were rented, is lower than annual gift tax exclusion (in fact a fraction of annual gift tax exclusion).

My assumption is that nothing needs to be done from tax perspective on this:
No Income to be declared because no rent is collected . Any presumed far market value is way below annual gift tax exclusion; so no Gift tax form is required too. Is this correct ?

Note: We don't claim any deductions on tax return for this house (property taxes etc.)

A few things regarding your 1099-G for 2017. You said you paid the correct state tax with the 2017 amended return but included too much interest so the state refunded some of the interest. In that case the refund you received should not be a state tax refund thus not reported on a 1099-G. My guess is the state coded the payment as the correct amount of interest but too much tax paid, which generated the 1099-G. The 2021 Form 1099-G shows a tax refund FOR tax year 2017. But in your case, the tax was actually PAID in tax year 2021. A state tax refund is taxable in the year received to the extent it was paid and deducted in a prior year and the deduction produced a tax benefit. So your standard deduction in 2017 is not really relevant since t...

We (married filing jointly) amended 2017 tax year returns in March 2021 as it came to our attention that 401K deferrals exceeded the limit for 2017 (due to multiple employers that year). So the 2017 amendment done in March 2021 resulted in tax due which was paid and 2017 amended return processing by IRS is complete. This naturally also led to amendment of state tax return (again for 2017 tax year in March 2021) and taxes due to state were also paid. But turns out I overpaid the State tax due (I overestimated the interest component); so state refunded the excess promptly after state return was processed in April 2021. Yesterday, I received two 1099-G forms from State Dept. of Revenue - Both say the are "2021 Form 1099-G" but one is...

VTI is a separate entity (Investment Company to be precise) organized as per the Investment Companies Act of 1940. Vanguard acts as the Investment Advisor to this Investment Company called "VTI". Sure Vanguard may have seeded the original capital when VTI was originally founded, but their role is one of a fiduciary (Investment adviser) to VTI. If one holds VTI, they are shareholders of the Investment Company VTI. Shareholders own VTI and are represented by the board of the Investment Company. If vanguard closes (assuming the OP meant that the investment adviser closes), VTI, the investment company has few options: 1. Find another Investment adviser/fiduciary. 2. Merge with another investment company that already has an investment ...

hotscot wrote: ↑Sat Nov 20, 2021 3:04 pm Just learning here.

Why an EIN rather than a SS?
Is there an IRS condition?

IRS makes EIN mandatory for certain forms. In my case above for form 720, which I use to pay excise tax on premium paid to foreign insurer . For some silly reason this excise tax on foreign insurer premiums is on a form 720 that has several other unrelated business taxes. So even an individual needs to get EIN to file 720 though they are paying tax on a personal insurance premium and no business is involved. In my case while applying for SS-4 my tax lawyer selected sole proprietor and selected the reason as "To file excise tax form 720".

Around 1 million to be allocated with 50-50 or 60-40. 650K out of 1 mil in IRAs. 300K in taxable brokerage. 100K in checking/savings, that will be continued to be kept as EF. Plan is to have the equity portion across Total US stock market and Total international stock market (ex us) in a 80-20 ratio. Unclear about bond portfolio. Questions: 1. For the bond allocation, does a simple BND make sense ? Or a more active approach with some munis (MUB), Treasuries etc. is required ? Specifically, do munis increase the returns. 2. Should all bonds be in IRA for tax efficiency ? RMDs currently total around 23K and around $15K from these RMDs will be invested back in taxable (Only 8K in income required from above portfolio net of SS and pension to me...

I am close to your MIL's age and have always handled my own investments. How involved has your MIL been with her investments? Has she communicated frequently with her investment advisors, or do the statements just land in a pile on her desk? Why is she asking you and your wife to take over, after ten years of widowhood? What are her goals going forward? Before making any big decisions, I would want to have a clear understanding of her expectations. To consolidate accounts at Fidelity, you can let Fidelity handle the transactions -- no need to liquidate the accounts beforehand. There may be dividends or cap gains that get distributed after the initial consolidation, and Fidelity will handle moving those as well. I would focus on the WF IRA ...

My wife and I are helping my mother in law who is in her early-mid 70s to sort out finances/ consolidate her accounts and also fine tune her asset allocation. 2. IRA 1 (Wells Fargo) - $480K, originally belonged to FIL, but now in MIL's name after his passing . Invested across 20 high expense mutual funds (average expense ratio of 0.75%) and 20+ stocks (large cap, mid and penny stocks). Controlled by a Wells Fargo advisor (i wouldn't call them fiducairies); not sure how much this advisor charges. I noticed Wells Fargo charges $7 for stock transactions as commissions. 3. IRA 2 (Charles Schwab) - $90K. Invested across 4 different high expense ratio mutual funds. Originally belonged to FIL, but now in MIL's name. C. New Asset Allocation: Liqui...

The plan to consolidate assets and invest in low-cost funds make sense. Unless MIL can get a fee waiver for using Vanguard LifeStrategy funds at Fidelity, consider using a 2- or 3-fund portfolio with Fidelity funds or a Fidelity Freedom Index Fund. If MIL is open to an additional account or two, she can look into I-Bonds or MYGAs for some return on her fixed income investments. Check into the fees for selling the undesired funds. It might be easier/cheaper to sell at the current brokerages and transfer cash to Fidelity for the IRAs. What is MIL’s current asset allocation? IMO a 70/30 or 60/40 asset allocation seems a bit risky for a 70-something retiree who is relying on the portfolio for a portion of annual expenses and perhaps future lon...

Situation My wife and I are helping my mother in law who is in her early-mid 70s to sort out finances/ consolidate her accounts and also fine tune her asset allocation. FIL passed away almost a decade ago. My wife and I are Bogleheads and we follow this community's recommendations with our own finances, and we are both financially literate; but wanted to run my MIL's situation and plan of action by this wonderful community and get feedback. MIL's Annual Expenses: $41500 (includes everything from groceries to LTC insurance to property taxes) MIL's Annual Income: Retired. Social security - $29600, Pension from FIL's previous employer - 4800, RMDs from IRAs/401ks - $23000 (in 2021) Current allocation: 1. Checking/Savings - $350K 2. IRA 1 (Wel...

I regularly file IRS form 720 and pay the necessary excise tax on premium paid to foreign insurer. Its a quirky requirement where one has to file form 720 excise return if they pay premium to foreign insurer (I happen to have a term policy from ages ago when I was resident outside US; I want to continue the policy in the near future and that's not the question here).

I had to get a EIN solely to file form 720, as excise tax payment needs form 720 and form 720 needs EIN.

I was wondering if IRS also expects a income tax return or any other return for this EIN. There is no income or expense or operational business associated with EIN. EIN solely exists to file form 720 and pay excise tax on premium pad to foreign insurer.

I have always purchased Dell XPS series. Highly recommended.
I also always buy them certified refurbished from Dell directly. My current one is going on for 4.5 years now

"Free Guy"
Fun movie.

I used bitcoin.tax few years ago. I will recommend that.
For a small fee, it can pull transactions from most crypto exchanges, work on tax lots and finally produce IRS capital gain (8949) formatted page.
You can also elect FIFO, LIFO etc and scrub transactions if you like.

Is there a criteria that TD goes by to decide whether medallion signature is required or not ?

I have been putting off opening a TD account and purchasing I bonds with some of the emergency funds lying around, largely due to the negative experiences I've been hearing. But last night, after dinner, I took the leap. It took less than 7 minutes to open a TD account (linking bank account was part of the account opening form) and purchase $10,000 worth of I bonds. I am not at all exaggerating, it was less than 7 minutes. I was expecting I would have to go to my bank, get medallion signature etc. None of that was required. It was faster than opening a brokerage account. I logged into TD account this morning around 8:45AM and I already had I bonds in my account ! Just wanted to share my experience and encourage some of the bogleheads who ma...

Federal Electric vehicle credit needs to be claimed when tax returns for 2021 are filed, which will be next year. It's a tax credit, so simply put it can only be claimed when you account for taxes for 2021.

Some states though offer a rebate - a fixed amount of cash as an incentive for electric vehicles. Example - MA offers such benefit.
Such rebate can be claimed right away if your state offers this. This benefit is unrelated to federal tax credit

Since the pandemic, patience is key in regards to dealing with IRS. There is a huge backlog of paper returns to be processed.
Our experience:
An amended return for 2018 (resulting in a refund) paper filed in August 2020 was processed in July 2021 and refund check received in early August 2021.

I have a Specialized Roubaix / Shimano 105 / NON Disc brake / All carbon fiber , that was purchased in Feb 2017 for around $2K.
I have not been keeping track of bike prices since, and may be they increased of late due to bike shortages. Maybe I could be wrong, but you may get a carbon fiber Shimano 105 for $2K if you wish to upgrade from Aluminum.