Bogleheads.org

My goal is to get her a permanent home that is private and/or shared close to my home if needed down the road. How do I know which homes are good for her? This would be to assist her with daily activities and dementia. Medicare.gov has ratings, but they seem to change often. I suggest paying them surprise visits to see how they do when they're not expecting you. Visit nursing home after my mother is admitted? Both before and after. Surprise visit before to see how they treat the patients when nobody is watching. Regular visits after to ensure she's being cared for properly, and to provide a little cheer in her life by your presence. When my uncle was there. He had dementia. We had to sign in at the front desk to see him everyone. This is t...

prd1982 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 12:36 pm

cheese_breath wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 12:27 pm

Squirrel208 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 12:08 pm This recent AP article on Medicaid-funded long-term care appears to be on topic:
In nursing homes, impoverished live final days on pennies

Thank you for that article Squirrel. Something everyone who's contemplating putting a loved one om Medicaid should read.

I don't see how this is related to being on long term care Medicaid. Can't the family still give the person money?

The answer to that varies depending on each state's Medicaid rules, and the purpose and amount of the gifts. See this article for a general discussion on the topic, including an overview of state-by-state rules: Risks of Giving Money to Families on Medicaid

This recent AP article on Medicaid-funded long-term care appears to be on topic:
In nursing homes, impoverished live final days on pennies

Fellow Boglehead and CPA Mike Piper just released a new book on this topic last week, titled
More than Enough: A Brief Guide to the Questions That Arise After Realizing You Have More Than You Need

Mike also authors a great investing blog: Oblivious Investor.

Most homeowners policies that don't specifically exclude wind damage will cover wind-related damage to well-maintained fences under the "other structures" coverage.

TheHiker wrote: ↑Wed Mar 15, 2023 3:07 pm It is an old (many decades old from the looks of it) fence which was in need of replacement anyway.
Several wooden posts snapped and wooden boards flew all over the backyard. Does not look fixable in a durable way and a new fence is in order.

This was obviously not a well-maintained fence, so is not likely to be covered.

I and my spouse would like to give each other access to accounts under a respective single login. This isn't possible. Fidelity account profiles are intentionally unique to individual people. Sharing your unique login credentials with your spouse, or vice-versa, is another thing. Fidelity appears to be only requiring a notarized signature for PoA, so I am just thinking of doing full authorization and it doesn't seem to make much difference in comparison. https://www.fidelity.com/customer-service/account-access-rights-overview. Am I missing something? It depends on what you want your spouse to be able to do to your account with their own login. If you want them to have full authority to manage your account in the event you die or otherwise ...

Disclaimer: I'm not a tax professional, and I urge you to seek counsel from one before taking any action. That said, I have researched this quite a bit in anticipation of doing something similar for my own aging mother in the not-so-distant future. Assuming you were paid $2600 or more in 2023 (or $2400 in 2022,) you will likely need to pay federal and possibly state income tax on the money earned as an independent caregiver employed by your parent's household. Most independent caregivers are classified as employees, rather than independent contractors, due to the typical nature of the work required. However, independent caregivers are also considered to be independent contractors in some situations. It appears that you likely received the i...

How did you make the transfer? EFT? Bank wire? Check?

My experiences with Fidelity has been that EFT transfers into Fidelity generally take 1 to 3 business days to execute, depending on the EFT-connected source account. (E.g. 3 days from Ally Bank HYSA into Fidelity vs. 1 day from US Bank checking or savings.) Once the EFT transfer into Fidelity is complete, the funds are immediately available to trade or buy securities.

I believe there are no standard tests for the contents of bottled water? It's a completely free market as to what they do, and what they claim? This is correct to my knowledge. Please permit me to expand your knowledge. (I worked in this industry for many years, both as a plant-level and corporate engineer. ) The EPA regulates safe drinking water standards for municipal and other public water sources (a.k.a. tap water.) On the other hand, bottled water is considered to be a packaged food product and is regulated accordingly by the FDA. However, like with other food products, the FDA requires that bottled water products meet very specific quality standards. This includes compliance with, and regular testing for, the same contaminants as the...

seawolf21 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 26, 2023 6:05 pm +1

Wouldn't surprise me more than 100 years ago detractors made the same "no demonstrated health benefit" argument on building the municipal water infrastructure we (some of us) have today.

https://archive.epa.gov/water/archive/w ... r_hist.pdf

Thanks for sharing that. I'm a product of the 60s and I can't help but note how so much has become known and changed in this field just during my own lifetime. As our environment, knowledge, and technology continue to evolve it seems inevitable that there are many more changes to come.

A hundred years ago or so people used to die from things like typhoid propagated by untreated water. Then, in one of the great public health accomplishments, we developed municipal water systems that to this day provide safe water to virtually everyone. And now we live long enough to earn enough money to spend it on things with no demonstrated health benefit, based on paranoia pushed by, let's be honest, those who are after financial gain, rather like the commissioned brokers despised on this site. I continue to drink tap water although I will occasionally buy bottled water on a hot day when driving. I keep the plastic bottle and refill it with tap water sometimes. Good for you if you're connected to a regulated community water system. But...

Your Culligan RO system should be connected similarly to the image below from the user manual. (I added the arrow pointing to the drain line for emphasis.) https://i.servimg.com/u/f91/19/19/22/19/2023-014.jpg Ah! I see it. Since I don't have the Culligan faucet, things are a little different. The line coming from the manifold labeled "to Faucet Air Gap" goes, from the upper right, to the garbage disposal unit via that Y-shaped white plastic fixture. The other branch of the Y looks to be the "air gap." Here is a picture: (Things are pretty busy in there!) I have something that looks like the "post filter," but don't see anything like a "monitor" or "monitor sensor." Perhaps that kind of stuf...

Spring water where possible, mineral water, then purified water, then filtered tap, then tap. I think clean water is really important. I think clean water is really important too, which is why I don't necessarily trust bottled water as the most reliable source for it. My cynicism is derived in part from a 30 career year in food & beverage processing and packaging, mostly in plant-level engineering roles. I spent 10 of those years managing factory automation systems for a well-known F&B company that is currently one of the top 3 producers of bottled water products worldwide. I'm not implying that bottled water products aren't generally safe to drink, because in most cases they are. At least as far as FDA regulation, compliance, and ...

Reverse osmosis generates a tremendous amount of waste water, usually 3 to 20 times the water produced. In parts of the country where there's a drought, RO wouldn't be a good idea. Can you explain? We have a Culligan under-the-sink RO system, and I don't see any wastewater output to the drain. I think it is entirely a pass-through system. There are 3 filters that get changed about once a year. They are much darker at the end of the year. The filtered water we get is just what comes out of the the pressurized tank. It is set up to go to the refrigerator's ice maker and ice-water tap. (We don't use the supplied faucet.) I assume if that tank runs out, we don't get RO water until the tank fills again. I think I was told this takes 20 to 30 mi...

My next thought is to set up a new joint brokerage account with child B as contingent beneficiary and fund it with an equal amount. The account would be invested in an index fund and child B will get the investment results (positive or negative). Should we ever gift child B money, it would come from this account first. Should child B ever be gifted more than child A, then we would switch the beneficiary. We would still have a piece of paper in the safe that shows the accounting. At this point in time, we don’t want to just gift money to both children at the same time. We want the gifts to be for specific purposes. That may change down the road. My parents gifted my sibling and I the same amount a couple of times and we may do that someday ...

So are we left with just guessing? Retiring with 5X or 1X expenses is fine, or going with 5X and 100% bonds is fine, because the data or new-fangled computer programs don’t know anything? This seems a little like throwing the baby out with the bath water. Surely there are some things to take away from past data and simulations. We are not living in a world of darkness I think that we pretty much are living in a world of darkness. As least in this context anyway. None of the financial gurus or their newfangled computer programs have proven capable of predicting the unanticipated major historical events that ultimately moved the needle significantly in global economies, their associated markets, and the performance of individual portfolios. ...

Thank you for sharing this.

I think your intuition is good. "This climate" is what it is, and nobody knows which way the markets will move next. And if we did know, the future would already be priced into current valuations.

The Vanguard white paper linked below quantifies how time in the market beats timing the market the majority of the time.

Invest now or temporarily hold your cash?

My parents were EJ clients for many years. This mostly because, like your mother, they too were smitten with the confident, friendly and professional personality of the EJ advisor. They believed she was looking out for their best financial interests because she looked them square in the eye and assured them that indeed she was. After eventually meeting her for myself I'm certain that she believes this too. She has been with EJ for many years, and I have never said a word about it one way out the other. But now she is literally asking me to mind her business. My mother, now 82, felt similarly about me minding her financial business after my father passed away several years ago. (He was the financial manager in their marriage.) That's what le...

Roth retirement accounts are typically most desirable due to their tax-free growth and absence of Required Minimum Distributions later in life. If the employer offers a Roth 401k option the decision to continue contributing there after getting the match, rather than funding an individual Roth IRA instead, would probably be determined based on the 401k investment options and fees etc. At 22 years old in 2023 she can contribute a maximum of $25,000 to her 401k (not counting any employer match) and up to $6500 to an individual IRA. So assuming a 5% employer match she could theoretically contribute as much as $34,000 a year to her retirement accounts. I believe that the maximum 2023 401k contribution is $22,500 for someone under age 50, up fro...

Good luck if you go down the 72t SEPP IRA path. Been there, done that last year at age 57, and only because my 401k plan didn't allow Rule of 55 distributions. Be aware that it's not as simple as funding a dedicated IRA labeled for 72t SEPP use and defining your desired annual distribution. Basically you'll need to do the following: - Determine your desired annual fixed distribution amount. - Create a SEPP Distribution Plan using one of the 3 IRS-approved distribution methods. (Minimum Distribution Method, Amortization Method or the Annuitization Method.) - Based on the selected distribution method, choose the applicable interest rate, life expectancy, or distribution period etc. - Using the above criteria and formulas supplied by the IRS d...

Roth retirement accounts are typically most desirable due to their tax-free growth and absence of Required Minimum Distributions later in life.

If the employer offers a Roth 401k option the decision to continue contributing there after getting the match, rather than funding an individual Roth IRA instead, would probably be determined based on the 401k investment options and fees etc.

At 22 years old in 2023 she can contribute a maximum of $22,500 to her 401k (not counting any employer match) and up to $6500 to an individual IRA.

So assuming a 5% employer match she could theoretically contribute as much as $34,000 a year to her retirement accounts.

95% of Fidelity reps are mediocre and unable to be very helpful I think the unsubstantiated speculation above is unrealistic and will likely lead you to be disappointed with whomever you ultimately interact with at Fidelity. I've been a Fidelity client for many years and the vast majority of my interactions with customer service have been helpful and productive. Those that weren't were easily resolved by requesting redirection or escalation to a more qualified rep for the task at hand. That said, as a Fidelity Private Client Group client for the past several years I do recognize and appreciate the incremental convenience of dedicated email and phone contacts, shorter phone wait times, and free access to a fiduciary CFP when I need it. Base...

tev9876 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 12:17 pm The VIN will not be assigned until the vehicle is in production at the assembly plant. As noted by others they should be able to provide you with an order number and details of what was ordered.

This has been my experience too, with 3 different vehicles from 3 different manufacturers and dealerships. (None were Subaru like the OP though.)

However, I do think that your $3M under management at Fidelity deserves more attention than the experience you've reported here though. If it were me I'd Hang Up and Call Again (HUCA) until got someone who was willing to give me their name and hold themselves accountable for retaining, or losing, my $3M+ business. And I'd be clear that retention of my business was on the line as an outcome of the discussion. I don't think that "under management" is the appropriate term to use for self-managed assets at Fidelity. It would refer to assets that Fidelity is managing for you under the Wealth Management program. I agree. I struggled to find the right term too when I wrote that post. I almost referred to Fidelity as the custodian of my ...

... Instead, you need to request to be added to the Fidelity Private Client Group, which is a customer service program (not a wealth management or advisory service.) It seems that Fidelity PCG is available only upon request, and come at no incremental cost to customers with $1M+ under management at Fidelity. This program includes access to a customer service team led by a "Financial Consultant", whose photo and team contact info will be prominently displayed on the main banner of your Portfolio and Account Positions when logged into the Fidelity website. ... Minor point, the photo of the financial consultant does not always show in interface when in Fidelity Private Client Group. Been in it for 20+ years and it has never shown a ...

Thanks for the reply. I actually called the number for the Private Client Group — we've had access to this since we consolidate our investments at Fidelity — and told them I was looking to have a "Financial Consultant" (*not* and financial or wealth advisor) assigned to my account. They told me I should go to the nearest local office (50+ miles away)... I (politely) protested and they transferred me somewhere else where they said my options were to go to a local office, or they could sign me up for the wealth management program over the phone. I again attempted to describe what I was looking for but the dude was intent on pairing me up with a "wealth advisor." I'm really not sure what more I could have done to get my po...

That is a fair point. A lingering illness that drains our resources followed by her passing without life insurance may result in a bad financial situation. What sort of term would be appropriate to look into? 20 year covering to age 60? Life insurance is essentially income replacement insurance, payable upon death of the policyholder. So choose whatever term you calculate that you'll depend on her income to fund your lifestyle and retirement savings. For example, if your financial plan is dependent upon her income between now and when she retires at age 65, then a 25 year term policy would probably be appropriate. In a traditional working situation, where households are continuously growing their retirement nest eggs during their working y...

feh wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 7:51 pm Ally has checking accounts.

Thanks for the head-up and nudge. I just looked into that a bit and their available services for checking, mobile deposit, and online bill pay have improved considerably since we set up our HYSA there a few years ago. Definitely worth considering now.

feh wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 7:51 pm Transfers are instantaneous.

They haven't been for us, and Ally has never promised us otherwise. There's always been a 3-day lag in EFT transfers, and they've never arrived sooner. For example, last month we moved $40K from Ally HYSA to our US Bank checking account. We initiated the transfer on 12/18 and the funds arrived on 12/20, as promised.

Regardless, Ally isn't a "standard bank" by any stretch of the generally accepted definition.

With even standard bank savings hitting over 3%... LOL, please tell us more about these 3%+ savings rates at standard banks. Last I looked the FDIC's Jan 17 report indicates that savings account rates are currently averaging around 0.33%, and Bankrate's Jan. 25 weekly survey last tallied them at 0.23%. The big brick-and-mortar banks likes Wells Fargo, Chase, BOA, US Bank are all even lower at a dismal 0.01% All the major online banks (Ally, Synchrony, Marcus, etc) are paying 3.x% and have been for months. Yes, I understand that. I have cash stored in an Ally HYSA, but only because the standard banks with brick-and-mortar branches, ATMs, bill pay capabilities, checking accounts, loan services, and safe deposit boxes etc. all offer paltry ra...

Lynx310650 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 2:37 pm With even standard bank savings hitting over 3%...

LOL, please tell us more about these 3%+ savings rates at standard banks. Last I looked the FDIC's Jan 17 report indicates that savings account rates are currently averaging around 0.33%, and Bankrate's Jan. 25 weekly survey last tallied them at 0.23%. The big brick-and-mortar banks likes Wells Fargo, Chase, BOA, US Bank are all even lower at a dismal 0.01%

This helpful Boglehead Wiki article discusses how funds can be combined in order to mimic the composition of the U.S. stock market.

Quick recap: We’ve been told that we need a “financial consultant” to be eligible for the free TurboTax offer. When we first transferred our assets over, we had one that would call periodically and I would politely let him know that we’d let him know if we need anything. He apparently left Fidelity and we weren’t assigned a new rep. I was told to call their Investment Solutions Group to have a consultant assigned so we would qualify. I just tried doing so and wound up speaking to someone who wanted to assign us a local advisor as part of their wealth management program (which comes with a 0.35% management fee). I don’t need a “local” (nearest office is 50+ miles away) advisor and I’m not interested in having our money managed. So what’s th...

[Inappropriate comment that was quoted from a previous post has been deleted. Moderator Pops1860] No doubt the author, a career reporter with 10 years experience writing for Kiplinger and CNBC, is incentivized and remunerated based on the number of times his articles are viewed. That would also understandably explain his enthusiasm for generating prolific prose. Because that's his job. I read the linked article twice and saw nothing that appears to be "clickbait". I.e. the practice of writing sensationalized or misleading headlines in order to attract clicks on a piece of content. Instead this appears to be a well-written blog post on a financial topic that's pertinent to this group and cites insightful references from a well-res...

Just looking at this from the perspective of "what could possibly go wrong here?" or "what would I do differently?" The spouse's continued income is obviously key to success of this plan and her time horizon to retirement and taking Social Security is significant at 25-30 years. Possible disruptions to that income and necessary adjustments should be figured into the plan. Possible employment scenarios that come to mind include termination, layoffs, or unexpected life events that leave her unable to work and/or unable to access affordable healthcare. Employer-sponsored short-term and long-term disability insurance policies typically only pay 40-70% of income and often have significant waiting periods before they kick in. ...

I've been retired for a couple of years now. I've lost count how many times I've been asked similar questions by well-meaning and curious friends, family, and casual acquaintances. The question is certainly reasonable and relevant, but much more so to ourselves (the retirees) than to satisfy the curiosity of those around us. It's arguably not important whether others know how we plan to spend our time, engage our minds and keep our aging bodies healthy. However it's essential that we know the answers ourselves, or at least that we have a plan to find and fund them before embarking on this phase of our lives. Countless studies have shown that having a sense of purpose in retirement is key to maintaining physical and mental fitness as well as...

albireo13 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 6:52 pm Congress will raid Social security to fund other projects.
Too many still think of social security as a hand out.

This is not likely, if not impossible, to occur. SS has never been part of the fed's general fund. SS revenues, collected via payroll taxes, are invested in Treasury securities by law. IMHO opinion the greater concern is that the financial demands on the program will eventually exceed the funds collected. More hands held out vs fewer coins into the coffer and all that.

This thread appears to be ripe for closure after wandering into the proverbial weeds. The original question posed was inquiry regarding Vanguard Flagship service vs. competitive offerings.

On even-numbered days I worry about not having enough money to match my lifespan.

On odd-numbered days I worry about not having enough lifespan to enjoy my money.

If you need to cover all of the seats (front and rear) you can get a full set of decent leather seat covers for $250 or so. Here's one example I found with a quick search on Amazon.

If you just need to cover the rear bench seat there are many pet-specific options available for less than $50. Like this rear seat cover, or this one. My sister uses something like this with good results to transport her 3 pups in her Toyota Highlander SUV.

I have no experience with Vanguard Flagship.. However I've had great experience with Fidelity's Private Client Group program, which I believe is available at no charge on request for clients with $1M+ under management at Fidelity. (Ironically the vast majority of my portfolio at Fidelity is invested in Vanguard funds.) My particular PCG team is led by a VP-level CFP Financial Planner based in a regional corporate office. His name, photo, and contact info are prominently displayed on the main Fidelity landing page when I log in. From there I can easily schedule appointments, call, or email he or his team. His PCG team also generally reaches out to me at least a couple of times a year to schedule a portfolio review and/or answer any questions...

You can bone up on this topic by reading any or all of the myriad Boglehead forum threads discussing DCA vs.lump sum investing.

I'm in the camp that lump sum investing is the way to go if you have the funds on hand. DCA is great for slow-and-steady contributions via consistent periodic contributions ala payroll deductions etc.

Regarding potential volatility over the next x months: We have no idea what the future will bring, and if we did the anticipated results (negative or positive) would already be priced into the market.

Morgan Housel offers some great insight into trying to predict the future in his blog post Never Saw It Coming.

The blower (fan) motor is probably the most common component to fail in any HVAC system. This because its near-constant rotating operation generates friction which wears both bearings and brushes in the motor. If one component of the blower has failed, or is near failure, the other(s) may not be far behind. An air-source heat pump system also includes a compressor in the outdoor unit, which contains moving parts that also operate near constantly when the heat pump is running. After the blower, the compressor is the most likely component to fail in your system. After that it's probably the fan that blows air through the coils in the outdoor unit. Most heat pump systems are designed to last 10, 12, or 15 years depending on manufacturer and mo...

Cruise wrote: ↑Tue Jan 17, 2023 2:08 am

Squirrel208 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 2:46 pm

Cruise wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 1:33 pm Can you please share what you did to unenroll from Amazon? Thanks.

Go to "Your Account" settings, scroll to the bottom and find the "Shopping programs and rentals" sub-category and select "Shop with Points".

That will land you a page that shows any eligible or already-enrolled award accounts based on the payment methods you have set up for your account.

Or, if you're already logged into your Amazon account, this Amazon URL should take you directly there.

Thank you, but how does one disable the option?

If you see one of your payment methods listed under Your Enrolled Rewards Accounts, then you click on the UnEnroll button next to it.

[An off-topic exchange was removed - moderator ClaycordJCA]

Anyway... my original point for the OP was that the consumer healthcare experience, available providers, treatment options, and facilities (especially assisted living) are decidedly less attractive for those on Medicaid vs. Medicare or private insurance. [Off-topic comment removed - moderator ClaycordJCA.]

CaptainT wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 8:04 am Also you are at leastc12 years from social security. Things could change in those 12 years and might require more years of work or pay a smaller amount or start later. There is a lot that can happen in 12+years. If you look at life expectancy you can expect an average of 30 more years but that could easy be 40 or 50

Yes, and it's also worth noting that the future of social security remains uncertain as funding for the program is currently expected to run out around that 12 year mark.

Nobody knows now what the future will hold to keep the SS program funded beyond 2034 benefits, but some options currently being discussed include raising the full retirement age, cutting benefits, and reducing annual cost of living adjustments.

Cruise wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 1:33 pm Can you please share what you did to unenroll from Amazon? Thanks.

Go to "Your Account" settings, scroll to the bottom and find the "Shopping programs and rentals" sub-category and select "Shop with Points".

That will land you a page that shows any eligible or already-enrolled award accounts based on the payment methods you have set up for your account.

Or, if you're already logged into your Amazon account, this Amazon URL should take you directly there.

I get your point, but being presented with multiple payment options during checkout is hardly "harassment", even if all of available payment methods aren't offered on equally favorable terms. I'd argue that paying with points is no less financially irresponsible than paying with credit cards at all, rather than using debit cards and other bank-linked payment methods like PayPal etc. This because the average APR on new credit card offers in the U.S. is currently over 22% and the average consumer credit card debt is over $5,000. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau the average family spends $1,000 per year on credit card finance charges. I haven't paid credit card finance charges in decades. Meanwhile I receive lot...

How close are you to your $600k goal? The market is forecasted to drop even further to somewhere around 3000 spx.. that could happen, another 20% drop. Exposing yourself to sequence risk when we are in the midst of it is not prudent in my opinion. I would wait until the dust settles with this bear market. I've never seen the dust settle on the market. Either we're in a bull market with high valuations (ripe for a correction), or we're in a bear market following a drop that is primed to drop further. A 20% correction is always possible. That's the nature of equity investing. Listening to market forecasts is completely counterproductive IMO, but it is important to understand the general risks associated with various forms of investing. No do...

I get your point, but being presented with multiple payment options during checkout is hardly "harassment", even if all of available payment methods aren't offered on equally favorable terms.

I'd argue that paying with points is no less financially irresponsible than paying with credit cards at all, rather than using debit cards and other bank-linked payment methods like PayPal etc. This because the average APR on new credit card offers in the U.S. is currently over 22% and the average consumer credit card debt is over $5,000. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau the average family spends $1,000 per year on credit card finance charges.