Search found 89 matches

by oyster99
Mon May 23, 2022 9:20 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone have/had pinball machines in your house?
Replies: 26
Views: 3045

Re: Anyone have/had pinball machines in your house?

G-J-H wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 8:25 pm Prices were crazy high at that auction!
I'm guessing these were among the best specimens available for a lot of these machines, and they were all professionally maintained. So, prices on the higher end of the range of recent sales wouldn't be unexpected. Plus you had the 18% auction premium tacked on too.
by oyster99
Mon May 23, 2022 5:51 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone have/had pinball machines in your house?
Replies: 26
Views: 3045

Re: Anyone have/had pinball machines in your house?

Too bad I wasn't looking last fall.
The "Museum of Pinball" in Banning, CA shut down last year and auctioned over 600 pinball machines and over 900 arcade games.
Auction results available here: https://www.pinballnews.com/site/2021/0 ... ioned-off/
by oyster99
Sun May 22, 2022 8:41 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone have/had pinball machines in your house?
Replies: 26
Views: 3045

Re: Anyone have/had pinball machines in your house?

Thanks for the responses. Glad to hear a 20 amp retrofit circuit wouldn't be necessary for my situation. You've given me a few additional things to consider as well.

I found this really interesting video of high-speed slow-motion close-up photography of a pinball game and the various electro-mechanical interactions as the game is being played. It's worth watching in full screen mode. Even if you've played pinball for decades I bet you'll have a couple "oh wow" moments during this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmg5WOvPKpU titled "How a Pinball Machine works in Slow Motion - The Slow Mo Guys"
by oyster99
Fri May 20, 2022 11:12 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone have/had pinball machines in your house?
Replies: 26
Views: 3045

Anyone have/had pinball machines in your house?

I'm thinking about getting a couple pinball machines, and probably swapping them out for different machines every year or two. There is space in the room for 3 machines so three is a future possibility. I have a 15 amp circuit in the room they'd go in. All the outlets in that room plus 2 outlets in the adjacent hall (which are generally unused) are on that circuit. Would I be advised to rewire the room for a dedicated 20 amp circuit (fairly costly/messy) or would the present 15 amp circuit be adequate? If you have/had pinball machines, how many have you run on a 15 amp circuit with no breaker-tripping issues while playing 2 or more simultaneously? I'm guessing the issue is the number being played simultaneously, not the number that just hav...
by oyster99
Sat Mar 05, 2022 9:06 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Inherited shares: 1099B says LT box D, tax software tags as ST box A.
Replies: 12
Views: 897

Re: Inherited shares: 1099B says LT box D, tax software tags as ST box A.

Thanks for all the replies (I am entering the 1099 info manually).

I have it working now, essentially following the steps laid out by anita bahth a couple posts back. I'm not sure what I answered wrong during the initial Q&A entry for this 1099B, but these transactions are now showing up in the way I was expecting.
by oyster99
Fri Mar 04, 2022 7:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Inherited shares: 1099B says LT box D, tax software tags as ST box A.
Replies: 12
Views: 897

Re: Inherited shares: 1099B says LT box D, tax software tags as ST box A.

Thanks livesoft. A curious thing happened. I went back to the "date acquired" field for each of the inherited mutual funds, I typed the letter I, and it auto-filled INH. So I hit enter and it says that's not valid and it gives me a couple choices so I entered the word inherit (it wouldn't accept inherited; it would just keep deleting the "ed" on the end). Anyway, I changed the date acquired to "inherit" for each of these funds, and then I went back and checked form 8949. Three of these mutual funds are bond funds and they had a small loss, and it left them as Short term, Box A . One fund is a stock fund and it has a small gain, and it did change that to Long term Box D . So it appears I can't force the ones wit...
by oyster99
Fri Mar 04, 2022 6:03 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Inherited shares: 1099B says LT box D, tax software tags as ST box A.
Replies: 12
Views: 897

Inherited shares: 1099B says LT box D, tax software tags as ST box A.

I inherited some mutual funds from my deceased mom (passed away in 2021) via TOD. I sold them shortly after the TOD transfers were complete in 2021, and the capital gains/losses were minimal. On the 1099B from the brokerage, it shows the date acquired as the date of my mom's death (I was expecting it to be the date of the completion of the TOD transfer but I presume the brokerage knows what it's doing), and the date sold as a couple months later. The 1099B from the brokerage shows these sale transactions as Long Term, report in Box D, but my tax software is logging them as Short Term, Box A. Again I presume the brokerage knows what it's doing and Long term Box D is correct (since the basis was stepped up due to death, and the original acqui...
by oyster99
Sun Feb 06, 2022 5:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fun with 1041 [Tax Return for Estates and Trusts]
Replies: 13
Views: 1547

Re: Fun with 1041 [Tax Return for Estates and Trusts]

I haven't looked at this in many years, though that's my recollection as well, that if "substantially all" of the assets are distributed, the estate is treated as terminated. Otherwise you would have an endless loop since you would always need to reserve some money to cover the cost of the final year's income tax returns. But I can't seem to find anything on this other than Treas. Reg. § 1.641(b)-3(a), https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/26/1.641(b)-3, which doesn't go into much detail. The IRS' historical concern was to prevent taxpayers from unduly prolonging estates to take advantage of the run up the brackets before 1987 when estates were taxed at the married filing separately rates, but that hasn't been an issue since then....
by oyster99
Thu Feb 03, 2022 5:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 1099R for inherited IRA RMD
Replies: 11
Views: 1185

Re: 1099R for inherited IRA RMD

Thanks for the replies. All very helpful.
by oyster99
Thu Feb 03, 2022 2:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 1099R for inherited IRA RMD
Replies: 11
Views: 1185

1099R for inherited IRA RMD

I inherited an IRA from my deceased mom, who was over RMD age but did not take her 2021 RMD prior to her passing last year. I took a distribution to cover her RMD later in 2021 and had 10% federal tax withheld (not sure if I should have done that but too late now). Anyway, I received a 1099R from the brokerage firm, to my SSN, and it has the following entries: Box1 (gross distribution) = box2a (taxable amount) = the gross (pre-tax) amount of the RMD I took as a distribution in 2021. Box2b (taxable amount not determined) is checked. Box 4 (federal income tax withheld) has 10% of the gross distribution amount since I elected that. Box 7 (distribution code) has code 4 (death), and the IRA/SEP/SIMPLE box is checked. All other numbered boxes are...
by oyster99
Wed Jan 26, 2022 10:05 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: revocable living trust stepped up basis for house
Replies: 24
Views: 2363

Re: revocable living trust stepped up basis for house

Here's an alternate scenario to consider: If: you were sole free-and-clear owner of the house and you set up a living revocable trust just in your name and you then titled your house in the name of the trust and the trust named your daughter as sole beneficiary of the house, then: when you pass away, and assuming your daughter sold the house shortly after your death, the cost basis of the house for trust income tax purposes becomes the sale price of the house. Your daughter would receive the full net proceeds as an inheritance, and the final form 1041 for the trust would cause a distribution of a capital loss equal to the selling expenses (realtor commission, title company fees, etc) via a schedule K-1 to your daughter. Maybe some of the fo...
by oyster99
Sat Aug 07, 2021 10:22 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Trust distribution structure
Replies: 14
Views: 1585

Re: Trust distribution structure

Ideally would make one distribution to beneficiaries and dissolve the trust, though several of the beneficiaries are not fiscally responsible and the grantor would like the benefits to last as long as possible to help them cover living expenses and health insurance etc . Will look into creating multiple accounts within brokerage account if that is possible. The difficult part is definitely the ongoing management and dealing with people that are not necessarily responsible, having an automated monthly distribution from individual buckets until all assets are distributed would be helpful frisbeeaddict, if you don't mind posting it, I'd like to see the exact language from the trust dealing with "the grantor would like the benefits to las...
by oyster99
Mon Aug 02, 2021 9:53 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Father intends to have no will. He will use named beneficiaries on accounts to distribute assets to heirs. Is this wise?
Replies: 147
Views: 15587

Re: Father intends to have no will. He will use named beneficiaries on accounts to distribute assets to heirs. Is this w

Luckywon wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 9:34 am
oyster99 wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 8:43 am
NO. They absolutely DO NOT proactively lock accounts once the name appears in the SS death register.
Not according to my experience. I have seen Bank of America do this for two different family members, with no notice.
Interesting, and thanks for the additional data point on BofA. Was there anything special or out-of-the-ordinary about these accounts or how they were titled, or were these just general individual checking accounts? Was this fairly recently?
When you say "with no notice" I presume you mean with no notice of the death given to BofA by anyone except the SS death file, but did the account holder at least receive notice of account locking at their address of record, from BoA?
by oyster99
Mon Aug 02, 2021 8:43 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Father intends to have no will. He will use named beneficiaries on accounts to distribute assets to heirs. Is this wise?
Replies: 147
Views: 15587

Re: Father intends to have no will. He will use named beneficiaries on accounts to distribute assets to heirs. Is this w

What's wrong with that? I'm actually in the process of having a new estate plan drawn up in my current state as opposed to the state where the current plan was drawn up. I'm securely providing my 1Password Emergency Kit to my new estate attorney to give to my sister, who is the executor of my will and primary beneficiary of my Trust, if I get hit by a truck or something so that she can access all of my accounts (2FA issue notwithstanding; need to look into a Yubikey). Issue is that, once the bank/ credit union/ brokerage firm knows you are dead (they scan the social security list of dead people, your funeral home or hospital where you died is obligated to inform SS), they lock the accounts . To be opened only to estate executors. Your user...
by oyster99
Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:50 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Updating will & trust; lawyer retired
Replies: 11
Views: 1584

Re: Updating will & trust; lawyer retired

If they're 150 pages, I would share your concern as to how they were generated. I generally prefer to do a new Will than a Codicil (or an amended and restated revocable trust rather than an amendment to a revocable trust). That calls less attention to the changes. It ensures that everything else is current and makes sense. It also avoids the possibility that when you change one thing, it requires something else to be changed, but you missed the other thing. However, if all you're changing is executors and trustees, and if the changes in the bequests are minor, you could probably do it by Codicil to the Will and by amendment to the revocable trust. But in this case, given your concern as to how they were generated, you might want to conside...
by oyster99
Sun Aug 01, 2021 5:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Updating will & trust; lawyer retired
Replies: 11
Views: 1584

Updating will & trust; lawyer retired

I had a will, living revocable trust, and financial+medical POA prepared by an estate attorney about 6 years ago, about 150 printed pages total. The estate attorney has retired and relocated to a different state, but I really did not have any contact with him after I signed the original document package. By my estimation, the vast majority of those 150 pages will never be relevant to me (I believe the attorney generates these document packages with a software package with a state-specific election). Anyway, I need to make some changes. I have 2 layers of questions about this. First, I want to change the beneficiaries and successor executor/trustee in the next month or so. My understanding is estate lawyers generally don't like working with ...
by oyster99
Sat Jul 31, 2021 2:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity "FidSafe" Free online storage of documents - is this safe?
Replies: 63
Views: 18734

Re: Fidelity "FidSafe" Free online storage of documents - is this safe?

Some FidSafe questions: I found an FAQ that answered some of my questions below, so I've filled in the answers Is FidSafe only for Fidelity (after-tax) brokerage customers? I have my retirement account from work with Fidelity but have not heard about this before and don't see it mentioned anywhere in the user interface I see as a retirement-account-only customer. Earlier in this thread, someone implied you had to paste your info as text into a text window to upload it. Does that mean I cannot upload e.g. docx and xlsx files that are password encrypted? (Currently I'm mailing those back and forth with my executor using a secure USB, so FidSafe seems it would be a more convenient way to handle that but I'd prefer to keep the password encrypti...
by oyster99
Mon Jul 26, 2021 9:15 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Helping mom get bank statements from account closed before bank sale
Replies: 4
Views: 740

Re: Helping mom get bank statements from account closed before bank sale

US Bank will have the bank statements from State Farm Bank. All your mom has to do is call 800-890-2233 and she can request copies of prior statements. As mentioned, there may be a fee involved which appears to be $6.00 per statement. If she can't call and you have a POA for your mom already on file with them, you could call for her. Otherwise, you'll need to take the POA to the US Bank branch and see if they can help. Good point, raising POA. In my limited experience on POA transfers from one firm to an acquiring firm, the POA won't transfer and you have to re-initiate the POA at the acquiring firm, and they may have their own form that has to be notarized and signed by the OP's mom. This would be another thing for the OP to check into wh...
by oyster99
Sun Jul 25, 2021 8:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Helping mom get bank statements from account closed before bank sale
Replies: 4
Views: 740

Re: Helping mom get bank statements from account closed before bank sale

I can't imagine they don't have all the records of the bank they acquired, and I can't imagine State Farm Bank would have purged records of recently closed accounts before the acquisition was complete. You may have to pay for the statement copies, and may have to jump through some hoops to authenticate your mom (but you having an account there surely helps). But you're really not asking for anything complicated, so it will mainly come down to the person you end up dealing with.
by oyster99
Fri Jul 23, 2021 9:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Joint checking account. What happens when one person dies?
Replies: 16
Views: 2507

Re: Joint checking account. What happens when one person dies?

Depends what the bank records say about the account. I think it's safe to say that generally speaking, two-person joint accounts (in the most general case, non-spouses) have rights of survivorship for the surviving joint owner. In that case, the survivor has more than just access to the money, it will become their money after they inform the bank of the death and produce a death certificate and whatever else the bank requires. Do the monthly statements for the account list both names and say anything about right of survivorship (there may be an acronym JTWROS listed on the statements)? In some (most?) states, state law presumes a joint bank account has rights of survivorship unless it is explicitly disclaimed in the T&C (terms & con...
by oyster99
Wed Jul 21, 2021 10:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How Do You Transfer Larger Amount Funds Between Institutions?
Replies: 33
Views: 6375

Re: How Do You Transfer Larger Amount Funds Between Institutions?

nordsteve wrote: Thu Jul 01, 2021 5:15 pm I recently closed on a house sale, and in chatting with the closer found out that they are no longer accepting incoming wires from buyers. A couple of their buyers had their down payments stolen by fraudsters pretending to be the closing company.
How come wire transfers don't do the initial few cents trial deposit like they do when you set up ACH transfers? I'm not exactly sure how fraudsters pretended to be the title company, but wouldn't a mutual, up-front trial wire transfer of a few pennies, confirmed by each side, make it so this sort of fraud can't happen?

How would this type of fraud work?
Can random people create transient routing numbers for wire transfers, or is there a registry of validated wire transfer routing numbers?
by oyster99
Sun Jul 18, 2021 11:33 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRA inherited by children-grandchildren, MRDs, and taxes thereon
Replies: 9
Views: 1897

Re: IRA inherited by children-grandchildren, MRDs, and taxes thereon

Hmmm, I think it would be better to take the RMD from his account Before it is combined with yours. The paper trail would be much clearer. Hi, that's not allowed after account holder death. Plus at this point there would be no online access to the account via Schwab online to even try, so you'd have to call Schwab deceased accounts division to ask them to do it on your behalf and they would decline, saying it becomes the beneficiary responsibility once the death occurs and the current year RMD had not been previously taken. I suspect, if you had logged into the Schwab account post-death (but before notifying Schwab of the death) and clicked their RMD button to take the current year RMD, they would reverse it once they were made aware of th...
by oyster99
Thu Jul 08, 2021 9:36 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Appraisers know offer price?
Replies: 28
Views: 4286

Re: Appraisers know offer price?

There are multiple layers of "funny numbers" floating around in real estate transactions. We just recently sold my deceased mom's house, which was 50 years old and had never had a major remodel and everything was in, let's call it "tired" condition inside and out. It was definitely not move-in ready like nearly all other listed homes, and was the type of home that we thought would only appeal to someone who wanted to gut it and do major renovations. Before selling, the zillow zestimate was, we all thought, ridiculously high (given the current market, it might have sold for that if the interior and exterior were all recently refreshed). The Redfin estimate was a fair bit lower, but we still thought it was a bit high. It s...
by oyster99
Sat Jul 03, 2021 4:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Closing an estate: accounting for possibility of surprise medical bills?
Replies: 21
Views: 2444

Re: Closing an estate: accounting for possibility of surprise medical bills?

Gill wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 4:06 pm
That’s correct, but following the state mandated procedures will bar enforcement of the debts by creditors if there are any outstanding.
Gill
Maybe you've not read the whole thread but earlier I noted the only official creditor notification form/process requires a probate case number and the name of the court-appointed rep. We have neither since no probate, so we could not file that form.
Apparently Washington is the only state with a statute to address nonprobate creditor notification. So we don't seem to have a path to reach an official creditor deadline.
by oyster99
Sat Jul 03, 2021 4:03 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Closing an estate: accounting for possibility of surprise medical bills?
Replies: 21
Views: 2444

Re: Closing an estate: accounting for possibility of surprise medical bills?

bsteiner wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 3:35 pm
Probating the Will is generally a small part of the legal work involved in an estate administration.

Executors generally pay the decedent's debts in the same way that most living persons pay their debts.
I don't know how that is responsive to the problem we have. There were no probate assets. You can't pay debts if you don't know they exist.
by oyster99
Sat Jul 03, 2021 9:52 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Closing an estate: accounting for possibility of surprise medical bills?
Replies: 21
Views: 2444

Re: Closing an estate: accounting for possibility of surprise medical bills?

Yes, at least in Washington State, there is a "Non-Probate Notice to Creditors". Interesting, and kudos to Washington for codifying this process. It appears Washington state may be unique in this regard. I only find references to Washington when I search for non-probate notice to creditors. So in any other state without such a codified process, even if you hire an attorney (which defeats the purpose of probate-avoidance), none of the actions they might take are enforceable under any citeable statute, so any deadline to creditors is also not enforceable under any law. So you'd spend a couple/few thousand bucks for attorney hourly fees but still don't have the official, enforceable deadline you're after. Edit: FYI here's an example...
by oyster99
Fri Jul 02, 2021 7:17 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Closing an estate: accounting for possibility of surprise medical bills?
Replies: 21
Views: 2444

Re: Closing an estate: accounting for possibility of surprise medical bills?

I believe that if you don't go through probate, you still want to publish notice to start that clock. Yes, there were no assets needing probate so no probate proceeding was opened. The official state notice to creditors is a very brief, probate-oriented form, which we could not fill out because there was no probate case number for the form, and no court-appointed representative to list (that's the information a creditor would use from the brief form to make a claim, but it would have been blank in our case). So it seems, once again, that probate-avoidance is a bit of a myth (out at the margins anyway). We could not meet the only officially-recognized way to notify creditors, so what were we supposed to do? An obituary was published online ...
by oyster99
Fri Jul 02, 2021 4:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Closing an estate: accounting for possibility of surprise medical bills?
Replies: 21
Views: 2444

Closing an estate: accounting for possibility of surprise medical bills?

As we close out my deceased mom's estate (trust containing just the house; no probate) and distribute most of the funds (leaving some TBD amount in reserve), how exactly does one plan for the possibility that there might be some late-arriving medical bills where thousands of dollars are claimed to not be covered by insurance or other medical service provider where e.g. a hospital uses a 3rd party but we are not aware of that relationship nor how to contact them? Some portion of the distribution to beneficiaries will be held back temporarily, in case such a thing were to happen, and some estimated amount to cover 2021 income taxes. But arriving at the amount to hold in reserve seems like a guess. How long do medical providers have after the ...
by oyster99
Tue Jun 29, 2021 12:16 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Help with Excel number formatting
Replies: 3
Views: 595

Re: Help with Excel number formatting

Thanks Wabbit! that does seem to work for my example 10^3 case. Over the years I've wanted to do this sort of user-selected exponent (both positive and negative exponents) at various times but never could figure out how to do it. Unfortunately that 0.0#####,"E3" formatting is specific to the 10^3 case. Adding a second comma seems to make it work for the 10^6 case but that seem as far as it can be extended (i.e. 0.0#######,,"E+06"). Post #10 in that link you listed gives a way to format exponents more generally, but it uses the TEXT() function so the numbers are in text format and you can't use them in further calculations. That might be OK as a fallback approach, but I'd like to figure out how to do user/custom number fo...
by oyster99
Tue Jun 29, 2021 10:32 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Help with Excel number formatting
Replies: 3
Views: 595

Help with Excel number formatting

I'm wanting to format an entire column of data in scientific notation but I want every cell to be formatted relative to the same, constant exponent format like 10^3

So for example my desired cell formatting of some numbers in this column formatted as everything times 10 to the 3rd power might look like:
.0013E+03
1.7500E+03
232.0000E+03
.
.
.
5184.5000E+03

I'll have to use custom number formatting for this, but I can't figure out how to get it to work, and I'm not having any luck searching for an answer. Excel seems to want to auto-calculate what exponent to use in each cell depending on the size of the number, and I want to override that behavior using a fixed 10^3.
Any help appreciated.
by oyster99
Sun Jun 27, 2021 3:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Zillow cash offer as-is but with disclosure statement
Replies: 5
Views: 1487

Re: Zillow cash offer as-is but with disclosure statement

As Big Dog noted, a Seller Disclosure Statement is often required under state law. Google it for your state and you can probably find the form. I believe in some states, every home sale is considered "as-is" but also includes provisions for 'except for,' so I wouldn't read much into that. There are also lead paint disclosure statements the seller has to sign, and various other things that vary by state like certifying there are no outstanding leases, no mineral or water rights, no homeowners association assessments or other special assessments (title company does the legwork on most of this but still a form to sign), and if the house is in an area with higher Radon levels than the EPA threshold, the buyer can get a test and if abo...
by oyster99
Wed Jun 23, 2021 6:08 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Health Insurance Options for retiring before age 65
Replies: 20
Views: 3300

Re: Health Insurance Options for retiring before age 65

What income lookback period is used to determine ACA subsidy eligibility?
For example, say you retired from a 6-figure job in Feb 2021 and have had no W2 income since, can you project your 2021 annual income thru december 2021, or do you have to use the last calendar year (and some number from line x of your 2020 W2?), when you'd have received a significant annual salary?
by oyster99
Sun Jun 20, 2021 10:39 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Modifying 70% flippers rule for when you also plan to live there
Replies: 14
Views: 2007

Re: Modifying 70% flippers rule for when you also plan to live there

I don't know if you all have seen the news stories about the vandalized house in Colorado going on the market and getting multiple cash offers above the listing price in spite of its condition, but I think it says, in the current market anyway, the "70% flipper's rule" is unlikely to win you the house.

See story: https://www.fox21news.com/top-stories/l ... n-dollars/

And note that in the Redfin listing, it's had over 800k views (that must be a record): https://www.redfin.com/CO/Colorado-Spri ... e/34515765
by oyster99
Sun Jun 20, 2021 9:51 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: So now you're dead -- how does your executor find all your accounts & bills?
Replies: 184
Views: 41489

Re: So now you're dead -- how does your executor find all your accounts & bills?

[...] Maybe this is more complicated for single people, but then who are their dependents that immediately need control of their assets? Thanks for adding some perspective on interpreting your comments. Yes, with joint accounts and a surviving spouse, it can be fairly painless and everything settles almost automatically (with the standard caveat that state laws may vary). Still, it’s not zero pain, and an elderly/disabled surviving spouse will probably need help, especially if they had little involvement in financial and insurance matters. But the passing of the last surviving spouse, and then the offspring as trustee is left trying to close out all accounts and prep and sell the house…that’s a whole different story. It turned out to be wa...
by oyster99
Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:40 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: So now you're dead -- how does your executor find all your accounts & bills?
Replies: 184
Views: 41489

Re: So now you're dead -- how does your executor find all your accounts & bills?

Your executor or next-of-kin should not impersonate you after your death by logging into your accounts. They should instead contact the institution, send a copy of the death certificate or whatever, and let the institution follow its processes as required by law, regulation, etc. to properly transfer control. So this should not be an issue that requires a solution. I am shocked to see almost everyone in this thread describing their method for giving away credentials to their email and financial accounts. You've apparently not had to deal with this situation in real life. This statement: "They should instead contact the institution, send a copy of the death certificate or whatever, and let the institution follow its processes as requir...
by oyster99
Sat Jun 19, 2021 9:05 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: So now you're dead -- how does your executor find all your accounts & bills?
Replies: 184
Views: 41489

Re: So now you're dead -- how does your executor find all your accounts & bills?

...I can document my usernames and passwords, but I foresee them logging onto a website and getting the message "You are logging on from an unrecognized device . To verify your identity, please enter the code sent to your email." So now they need access to my email account...but to do that they need access to my phone for yet another security code... This is a problem I'm encountering too (the issue with a financial/insurance website not recognizing the device doing the login and needing to send an authorization code in order to permit login), and I don't have a solution for it yet. It’s a problem that didn’t exist ~5 years ago when I last updated my documents on this subject. It came into being due to the recent push for multi-f...
by oyster99
Fri Jun 18, 2021 10:37 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Can I get a mortgage based on my investments instead of salary?
Replies: 27
Views: 4799

Re: Can I get a mortgage based on my investments instead of salary?

I am interested in learning about this as well. Hopefully it's OK if I add some questions. Is there an online resource for locating the apparently small number of lenders who will do asset-based mortgage qualification (e.g. something like depositaccoutns.com but for asset-based mortgages)? Is it the case that for example, wells fargo branch #x (just picking WF as random example) might originate an asset-based loan but WF branch #y (even potentially in the same city) will not? Equally useful would be a list of major lenders/banks who will not consider asset-based mortgages (i.e. don't waste time contacting them). Can asset-based mortgages get sold after origination, like a regular mortgage loan, or will they generally stay with the originati...
by oyster99
Wed Jun 16, 2021 10:36 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best month to retire
Replies: 54
Views: 7708

Re: Best month to retire

Like nearly everything in finances, there isn't a one-size-fits-all answer. It depends mainly on the various programs or bonuses you are or will be eligible for at your company, and possibly your age and years of service could trigger some other dates to consider. So even within a given company, there isn't a one-size-fits-all answer. If your company is large enough that it has some retiree programs where retirees gather and discuss things, that might be a good resource. Or if there have been a number of folks who announced their retirement this year (often they include a post-retirement email to get in touch with them) at your company, you might reach out to them, even if you didn't know them. Many of them will be happy to share their expe...
by oyster99
Sat May 29, 2021 9:27 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Settling an estate: who pays inherited furniture moving costs?
Replies: 8
Views: 2736

Settling an estate: who pays inherited furniture moving costs?

Is it correct that (unless the will/trust states differently) the beneficiaries are expected to pay any/all inherited furniture moving costs out-of-pocket? In other words, these costs would not/should not be paid out of estate funds, even if the executor/trustee is also a beneficiary?
by oyster99
Sat Apr 24, 2021 5:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Tool for precise 90 degree cut with utility knife blade?
Replies: 36
Views: 4619

Re: Tool for precise 90 degree cut with utility knife blade?

Knife-edge jigsaw blade: https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-T313AW3-3- ... B001J0U1HC
with the jigsaw's base run along a clamped guide for straightness of cut. Maybe put a piece of styrofoam sheet under your rubber material (so it lays flat) during the cut, and cut thru both materials. Either that or a couple pieces of 4' wide plywood with about 1/8" gap between them, and clamp those in place, then align your material and saw clamp so your guided cut line is down the 1/8" gap.
by oyster99
Thu Apr 08, 2021 9:45 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone else see drastic increase in Zillow value today?
Replies: 140
Views: 19216

Re: Anyone else see drastic increase in Zillow value today?

A reason to care is that your real estate taxes will probably rise proportionally in the future. Not always true, but often times is the case. My state provides protection or limits rise to taxable assessment...Higher property tax is not a concern at all. This paper titled "The Connection Between House Price Appreciation and Property Tax Revenues" by Byron F. Lutz, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Research Division...might be of interest. https://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2008/200848/200848pap.pdf ABSTRACT This paper explores two aspects of the connection between property tax revenues and house prices. First, I estimate the elasticity of property tax revenues with respect to house prices. This elasticity does not necess...
by oyster99
Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone else see drastic increase in Zillow value today?
Replies: 140
Views: 19216

Re: Anyone else see drastic increase in Zillow value today?

Yes, it went up in proportion to the number of TV commercials from new companies wanting to buy everybody's house. That must be a no-cost business to get in to, or at least these new companies must think so. I see a couple new company ads what seems like every day.
by oyster99
Thu Mar 25, 2021 5:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax implications of selling house in revocable trust after death of grantor
Replies: 13
Views: 1202

Re: Tax implications of selling house in revocable trust after death of grantor

If you sell close to the basis value and have escrow and realtor fees, it would often be some loss going to each beneficiary. I didn't think individuals could claim a capital loss from real estate sales, but I guess the trust transfer of it makes it different. So this must get converted to a category-agnostic capital loss during its transfer from the trust to the individual beneficiaries, so that the beneficiaries can claim it on their personal taxes. This raises a few questions for me (let's assume there would be a capital loss after accounting for selling fees): What IRS form do beneficiaries receive (from the trustee?) for this long term capital loss on the sale of the house in the trust? Is this also on a K1 form? Can this cap loss be ...
by oyster99
Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:55 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax implications of selling house in revocable trust after death of grantor
Replies: 13
Views: 1202

Re: Tax implications of selling house in revocable trust after death of grantor

Gill wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:41 pm Yes, it would be a capital gain in the hands of the beneficiaries. You shouldn’t have a capital gain however. Use the sales price as your basis and you should have a loss after selling expenses.
Gill
Thanks Gill
by oyster99
Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:28 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax implications of selling house in revocable trust after death of grantor
Replies: 13
Views: 1202

Re: Tax implications of selling house in revocable trust after death of grantor

bsteiner wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 6:59 pm If there's a gain in the final year of the trust it will pass through to the beneficiaries.
Interesting; wasn't aware of that. I thought the trust would have to pay it (which would make distributing the remainder in equal parts a lot easier).

Does it pass through as a capital gain at the same rate to all the beneficiaries, or does it become income to the beneficiaries (potentially taxed at quite different rates for different beneficiaries, and therefore hard to get an equal split)?
by oyster99
Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:19 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax implications of selling house in revocable trust after death of grantor
Replies: 13
Views: 1202

Re: Tax implications of selling house in revocable trust after death of grantor

If sold as-is, don't expect a bidding war; those usually happen for a house that is move-in ready and has been staged. >> I would have thought that too, but the ongoing "insane real estate market" thread says otherwise But I disagree with your market opinion using Zillow or Redfin or other online broker. Contact several real estate agents and ask them how best to show your house and in their opinion, is the house worth $100k more today than it was in January (6-8 weeks prior). I can almost assure you that the answer is, 'No'. >> It was just a hypothetical, not a market opinion. It was intended to make it easy for someone to offer a cap gain tax amount on $100k since I wasn't sure of the percentage for a trust. I seriously doubt a...
by oyster99
Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:10 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax implications of selling house in revocable trust after death of grantor
Replies: 13
Views: 1202

Re: Tax implications of selling house in revocable trust after death of grantor

SuzBanyan wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 6:35 pm
Generally, the IRS will accept the actual sales price as the date of death value if the house is sold within reasonable time after death. So a capital gain is unlikely.
Interesting; thanks. Is there an official IRS definition of 'reasonable time' after death? Or let me ask it this way: is 6 months generally going to fall within that reasonable time?
by oyster99
Wed Mar 24, 2021 6:18 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax implications of selling house in revocable trust after death of grantor
Replies: 13
Views: 1202

Tax implications of selling house in revocable trust after death of grantor

My mom passed in January, and her house was titled in her living revocable trust. My siblings and I will be putting the house on the market soon (to be sold as-is; no renovations), and the net sale proceeds will be distributed among the siblings. Other BH threads indicate massive premiums being paid for houses in the current market. If the date-of-death value of the house (using zillow) was $450k, and let's say hypothetically we got a cash offer for $550k, does that mean that $450k (the cost basis) of the $550k could be distributed to the siblings right away, but the remaining $100k would have to be held back because it's subject to capital gains tax in the 2021 form 1041 filed by the trust (not sure of the tax rate), and that tax amount wo...
by oyster99
Wed Mar 24, 2021 2:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
Replies: 2905
Views: 515327

Re: Tales from this insane real estate market

We will be selling a deceased relative's 50-yr-old house soon. Zillow lists the estimated value at about $500k. It's livable but I'd consider it a fixer-upper property.

Are you all saying that in the current market, even these fixer-upper properties (where most buyers would want to sink $100-150k into improvements to the outdated floor plan) are bringing sight-unseen, no-inspection cash offers $100k or more above zillow estimates?

Or are these premiums just for homes that are truly move-in ready?