Bogleheads.org

I bonds, as others have noted, provide both good inflation protection and also in the short term behave like T-bills. This versatility, tho, comes at a price, namely the current low yield, the low purchase limits, and the hassle of dealing with TD. I shudder at the thought of my heirs having to deal with them, let alone locate the account. After you've suffered from a decade of dementia, your kids will still likely be able to locate your brokerage statements somewhere in your house. Good luck with finding a trace of your TD account. To reprise what I wrote in the piece, your TIPS aren't part of your investment portfolio; they're a somewhat imperfect complement to your SS payments. Your stock/bond portfolio is external to it. Yikes! I wish ...

What's is all about, really? None reminisced about the jobs they had performed. The nappies changed, houses built, essays marked, budgets prepared, businesses founded, or lines of code written. Beyond their former professions being a token of identity, they barely rated a mention at all. None reflected on the things they had bought or experiences they had purchased. Cars. Holidays. Houses. Concerts given or attended. Sporting events witnessed or participated in. All irrelevant. Fleeting. Fun, in the moment. But hardly noteworthy. None discussed educational attainment, career ambitions realised, or net worth accumulated. Those things that seemed so important while living became mere trivialities when dying. https://indeedably.com/ministratio...

technovelist wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 12:44 am

McQ wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 10:05 pm Gold: a deep out-of-the-money put?

...
It is very, very difficult to self-clear a put option against civilization. Even with gold in hand.

That's not the purpose of gold in planning for the breakdown of civil order.
You don't try to spend it during the interregnum because of exactly those scenarios you depict.
For that you have junk silver dimes and quarters, or maybe .22 LR ammo.
Gold is for capital purchases after a new societal organization has arisen and has adopted a new monetary system, which history says will be based on gold.

Really?

My father was a strong introvert and my mother was one of the most successful extraverts of all time who made friends wherever she went. He lived to 65 and my mother just passed away at 105.

secondopinion wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 4:38 pm

gotoparks wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 4:30 pm Introverted people don't need the same amount of social interaction that extroverted need. It depends on personality type.

Right. I feel a stronger pull to introspection and adding my thoughts to society's grand book.

I'm an introvert, but I think it's a mistake to assume that introverts are unable to build strong, meaningful relationships. It's easier for introverts to keep to themselves and not socialize, I'll admit. But with the benefit of hindsight, I now realize that it was a mistake to not put more effort into building a meaningful social network. Just as important as the time I've spent figuring out how to accumulate more money.

Financial success is one thing, but happiness is another. And we/me need to be reminded that it is critical to invest in relationships. Wish I had done. Well, at least I probably don't need to worry about longevity planning to age 100. :oops: The main takeaway from the 80+ years of the Harvard Study of Adult Development is that good relationships can make us healthier and happier. The authors of the book explain: People who are more connected to family, to friends, and to community, are happier and physically healthier than people who are less well connected. People who are more isolated than they want to be find their health declining sooner than people who feel connected to others. Lonely people also live shorter lives. The people who wer...

I'm seriously thinking about gold but not as a "diversifier" or anything like that. I think gold is a great asset that is date-dependent. I'm thinking the date is arriving soon and I'd like to put some gold under my pillow in case I'm right.

If I were in this position, I would view annuitization even more favorably. You have a guaranteed stream of income as long as you live, so it's much harder to irreparably squander it (either due to your own confused actions, or actions by an untrustworthy POA). Very good point and actionable. Take some percentage of money off the " accessable table ". How much and when becomes the new challenge after the POA is official. I have a lot of trouble with this recommendation -- i.e. annuitize *just* to make the money "safer." What if that is simply the wrong financial move? You are mostly just taking money from your heirs, in a very likely vain attempt to protect your money. If you really can't find someone to act as POA that...

If you have enough have you considered a full service CCRC where you can live amongst others with full care including memory care? A CCRC would help significantly with your physical needs, but their staff won’t manage your finances or pay your bills. The bank trust department that managed my mother’s investments took over her bill-paying the last year or so of her life. The bills were her CCRC fee, her medical bills, and a couple newspaper subscriptions. One of the first signs of her dementia was that she was no longer about to fill out a check properly. True. But I'd assume after the buy in, the monthly fee will automatically deducted and if OP signed up for the full meal plan or every option available, the $10K or whatever comes out auto...

Depending on criteria chosen, one can "prove" that one should include gold, and one can "prove" that one should not. Just curious: Do proponents of gold tend to favor gold stocks/ETFs, owning the physical metal in a bank safety deposit box or other 3rd party location, or owning the physical metal at home? I know there will different preferences but, as a general rule, what does “including gold” tend to mean? iShares Physical Gold ETC or SPDR Gold.. Good enough for Bridgewater and George Soros. I think tradability is extremely important. I like to rebalance on large, short-term moves, and put it into things like TIPS and stocks. Gold's general volatility and resilience feels like a regular supply of free capital to keep ...

At any rate, statistics for 65 year-olds mean nothing to someone who is 75 or 80 years old. Back to the topic, if I'm in an older cohort what is the probability I'll need long term care? Anybody have those statistics?

If you have enough have you considered a full service CCRC where you can live amongst others with full care including memory care? A CCRC would help significantly with your physical needs, but their staff won’t manage your finances or pay your bills. The bank trust department that managed my mother’s investments took over her bill-paying the last year or so of her life. The bills were her CCRC fee, her medical bills, and a couple newspaper subscriptions. One of the first signs of her dementia was that she was no longer about to fill out a check properly. True. But I'd assume after the buy in, the monthly fee will automatically deducted and if OP signed up for the full meal plan or every option available, the $10K or whatever comes out auto...

Dottie57 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 12:27 pm

Fremdon Ferndock wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 12:19 pm

Longdog wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 12:02 pm

Fremdon Ferndock wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 11:51 am Aren't they all 100% insured now?

Not by the FDIC.

I knew that, but it seems irrelevant.

In what way irrelevant?

You are familiar with SVB?

More than one charity I support is pretty small and probably pretty unsophisticated. Should I assume they know the correct language for an acknowledgement or provide them with something?

The problem is that someone first needs to recognize that you need help or are slowly losing cognitive functions in case you don’t recognize it yourself. Cognitive loss can be very gradual that the people you see often don’t recognize it. We had this case with an aunt for which I was the successor trustee. I asked her one day to pick up our kids from school and to take them to her condo (DH and I both had somewhere to go) and she couldn’t find her way home. The kids told me about this and I just asked if she was driving safely. She was. But this was a red flag I hadn’t noticed. Another one was when she said she would write checks for her bills but not mail them right away. She said she wanted to double check them a few days later. That’s w...

Longdog wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 12:02 pm

Fremdon Ferndock wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 11:51 am Aren't they all 100% insured now?

Not by the FDIC.

I knew that, but it seems irrelevant.

If you or your custodian send a check to a charity, it may not meet the requirements for a QCD. You could have bought something from the charity. Perhaps someone else donated a vehicle to the charity and the charity sold it to you. To qualify for a QCD, the letter from the charity must state that nothing of value was provided in exchange for the payment. So, you must always have a proper letter of acknowledgement from the charity. If my return was audited, I would surely want such a letter. Accordingly, it does not seem that a proper QCD can be made anonymously. Do you have access to a draft of a proper letter of acknowledgement? It would seem to me that it might be advisable to send something along to the charity that they can fill in the...

Aren't they all 100% insured now?

Looking at gold returns since the currency decoupling in 1972, I have found that - unlike stocks - the longer you hold gold the less benefit it provides. It is a great short-term holding if you happen to know which short-term to hold it. Timing is everything.

[Thread merged into here --admin LadyGeek]

This is concerning, especially Citi.



https://awealthofcommonsense.com/

Unfortunately, I continue to grow older with only a distant nephew as my closest relative and no tight friendship circle. Walking on thin ice, I'm quite concerned about what happens if I become cognitively impaired and can no longer manage my financial affairs. Is there a solution to this dilemma? How can I arrange for some trusted entity to handle these matters for me, to whom I should grant a POA? I'm sure there are others out there who have faced or are facing the same issue. Would appreciate your thoughts.

As a novice making QCDs, I made a few via an IRA at TIAA-CREF. They send the check directly to the charity. I was able to determine that TIAA did not provide any address information to the charity, which resulted in my not receiving any evidence of my contribution in the form of acknowledgement from the charity. I'm concerned that I might need that documentation if the IRS comes calling. I've subsequently opened an IRA at Vanguard for the purpose of QCDs. My understanding is that they will send the checks to me and then I can forward them to the charities, along with my letter identifying the fact the check is a QCD and asking for acknowledgement. Do I have a problem with the TIAA QCDs? If so, why does TIAA do it this way? If you receive a...

As a novice making QCDs, I made a few via an IRA at TIAA-CREF. They send the check directly to the charity. I was able to determine that TIAA did not provide any address information to the charity, which resulted in my not receiving any evidence of my contribution in the form of acknowledgement from the charity. I'm concerned that I might need that documentation if the IRS comes calling. I've subsequently opened an IRA at Vanguard for the purpose of QCDs. My understanding is that they will send the checks to me and then I can forward them to the charities, along with my letter identifying the fact the check is a QCD and asking for acknowledgement. Do I have a problem with the TIAA QCDs? If so, why does TIAA do it this way?

The catch for me is that I need to speak to some credible person at Fidelity regarding my attorney-prepared DPOA in order to receive assurances and certification that they will indeed accept and honor my attorney-prepared DPOA. Without this, I have no reason to transfer from Vanguard. So, unfortunately, the on-line method probably won't be adequate. Is there any reason you don't want to just submit the Fidelity POA form? Many/Most/All brokerages and banks seem to have their own form these days and just won't accept a attorney-prepared DPOA due to liability reasons. Even if you get someone at Fidelity to accept the attorney-prepared DPOA, there is no guarantee when the time comes to use it, they'll actually honor it. I went through this wit...

The catch for me is that I need to speak to some credible person at Fidelity regarding my attorney-prepared DPOA in order to receive assurances and certification that they will indeed accept and honor my attorney-prepared DPOA. Without this, I have no reason to transfer from Vanguard. So, unfortunately, the on-line method probably won't be adequate.

I am reluctantly considering transferring my Roth IRA from Vanguard to Fidelity, due to the fact that Vanguard will not accept my attorney-prepared DPOA and in general the level of service from Vanguard. The off-putting aspect of this is that my on-line investigation of Fidelity indicates that I have to do this via an appointment with a Fidelity financial advisor. I don't want or need the services of a financial advisor. I'd like to know just how this plays out with Fidelity from someone who has gone through the process. Can you provide info and advise?

Thanks Bill. Just what I was looking for. I downloaded Kindle version immediately and looking forward to the read. Thanks to Mike for the book.

We have an Audi Q7. We've been very happy with the car. No problems. Our last car was a Honda CRV which we hated. We will never buy another Honda. We would buy another Audi. What year CRV and what didn't you like? It was a 2012 I think. It had terrible seats making road trips a painful experience. The foot wells were narrow and cramped. It would make a grinding noise when starting that the dealer could never diagnose. Just a crap car. Yes. That model year CRV was terrible. The seats were uncomfortable, the road noise and NVH was terrible, and it was very slow to accelerate. It was a utilitarian transportation appliance. It was also really hard to get deals on them back at a time deals were common. We ended up getting a deal on what was the...

Here's Morgan Housel's take:

So many investors say, “higher risk means higher reward.” They view it as black and white. If I take more risk, I’ll get more reward.

But that’s not how it works at all. Most of the time, taking more risk means you are most likely to earn lower returns, [my emphasis] with a smaller chance that you will earn fantastic returns to compensate.

https://collabfund.com/blog/psychologic ... sistance/

Or as Ed Easterling puts it:

Risk is not the fertilizer in your garden, it’s the weeds.

student wrote: ↑Sun Mar 12, 2023 7:55 am

aristotelian wrote: ↑Sun Mar 12, 2023 7:49 am If only there was such a thing as 24/7 customer service.

This is the reason why I don't have an account at Vanguard anymore. I don't need customer service often but for situation like this,......

Where do you have an account now and why?

Journeyman510 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 11, 2023 1:00 pm We have an Audi Q7. We've been very happy with the car. No problems. Our last car was a Honda CRV which we hated. We will never buy another Honda. We would buy another Audi.

What year CRV and what didn't you like?

BolderBoy wrote: ↑Mon Feb 27, 2023 8:40 pm The Humble Dollar had an article about CGAs five days ago: https://humbledollar.com/2023/02/better-than-cake/

Thanks. That article is what motivated my post. Wondering how "safe" a CGA would actually be, and how to pick an organization to sign up with.

My understanding is that another option is to open a CGA with a non-profit public or community foundation, and that they will administer the annuity payments to the donor and the distribution of the at-death residual to the charities selected by the donor. How does this work and what guarantees are there that the foundation will manage things responsibly?

Alan S. wrote: ↑Mon Feb 27, 2023 4:38 pm Your RMDs are proportionate to the prior year end account balances.

For example, if you have 300k in the 403b at the end of 2023, an assumed RMD % of 4% for 2024 would result in a 12k RMD from the 403b.
And if you have 100k left in your IRA, your RMD would be 4,000. That would limit your QCDs to 4000 if you wanted QCDs to offset RMD taxes as much as possible.

You might use this example to substitute your actual assumed balances at the end of 2023 after the rollover to determine your RMD/QCD situation in 2024.

Yes, I see that I need to consider the impact of rolling money back into the 403(b) which would increase my non-QCD RMD amount for 2024. There's a trade-off here that you are making me aware that I need to consider.

My understanding is that a CGA can be established with a non-profit charitable organization that will pay a life annuity to the donor with the balance going to the charitable organization upon death. I have a number of questions about this option and would like to learn more from anyone who's done this or has information about resources I can access.

Alan S. wrote: ↑Mon Feb 27, 2023 4:01 pm Correct.
Remember that if you want to make QCDs in the future, you cannot from a 403b.

Are you still working with the 403b provider and doing this rollover to further defer RMDs?

No, my intention is to roll some money back into TIAA Traditional at a higher rate than when I rolled it out to an IRA. I may or may not do this when I've reached the 180-day point, depending on what the rates are then and if I want to mess with it. Other than that, I'm using the IRAs just for QCDs. I wanted to be clear on how to do this without messing up. Don't particularly want to do all the QCDs before I roll, but looks like that's the precondition I'll have to meet if I do it. Appreciate the help.

Alan S. wrote: ↑Mon Feb 27, 2023 2:02 pm No.
I was referring to a non reportable transfer between IRA accounts. You are instead planning a direct rollover to a qualified plan.

A direct rollover between an IRA and qualified plan is not a non reportable IRA to IRA transfer. It is treated as a reportable distribution and rollover (aka direct rollover). You will get a 1099R coded G. You cannot do this before completing your QCD/RMD without creating multiple violations.

Thanks Alan. I did the reverse -- a direct rollover from the 401(k) to IRA in 2022 and did receive a 1099R for it with code G, so this seems to agree with what you are saying. It would seem that I'll need to do the QCD/RMD prior to any direct rollovers the other way, from IRA to 403(b).

The first $10,000 out of any IRA is your RMD. --vtMaps So, if I want all of that $10K to be a QCD I will need to do a $10K QCD from my source IRA before taking anything else from either IRA? correct :happy --vtMaps edit: but if you are going to take out MORE than the RMD, the money is fungible, you can take the QCD from whichever account you want whenever you want. Just make sure your total of all distributions (including QCDs) is greater than your $10,000 RMD. I'm actually concerned about making a rollover from one of my TIRAs, not a cash distribution. As I recall, you can't do a rollover until you have taken your RMD since that would be considered a re-investment of the RMD into a tax-deferred account which is not allowed. In this case, ...

The first $10,000 out of any IRA is your RMD. --vtMaps So, if I want all of that $10K to be a QCD I will need to do a $10K QCD from my source IRA before taking anything else from either IRA? correct :happy --vtMaps edit: but if you are going to take out MORE than the RMD, the money is fungible, you can take the QCD from whichever account you want whenever you want. Just make sure your total of all distributions (including QCDs) is greater than your $10,000 RMD. I'm actually concerned about making a rollover from one of my TIRAs, not a cash distribution. As I recall, you can't do a rollover until you have taken your RMD since that would be considered a re-investment of the RMD into a tax-deferred account which is not allowed. In this case, ...

vtMaps wrote: ↑Mon Feb 27, 2023 12:12 pm The first $10,000 out of any IRA is your RMD. --vtMaps

So, if I want all of that $10K to be a QCD I will need to do a $10K QCD from my source IRA before taking anything else from either IRA?

I have two TIRA accounts. My intention is to satisfy my total 2023 RMD for both accounts by taking that amount from one of the TIRA accounts (TIRA #1) as a QCD. Do I need to do this before I can take any ordinary distributions from TIRA #2? In other words, if my total RMD across both accounts is $10,000, do I need to take the entire $10,000 from TIRA #1 before I can take any ordinary distributions from TIRA #2? Or can I take ordinary distributions from TIRA #2 immediately and then satisfy my total 2023 RMD by taking $10,000 from TIRA #1 as a QCD later in the year?

Like most anomalies, benefitting from the small cap effect depends on when you start, how much and how frequently you put money in and take money out. The luck effect is woefully underestimated and underconsidered. What's really important is "staying the course" with whatever your equity allocation decision is. That will be the major determinant of how it all turns out. If investing in equities turns out to have been a good idea at all, then I think we'll be happy whether we invested in small caps or didn't. Let's agree to meet here in 20 years for coffee and look back on how well, or not well, investing in small caps turned out. The fact that nobody ever does this in real life is interesting.

Speaking to the period of adjustment to hearing aids, when I first used them the sound was annoying especially at the high frequencies. I had a terrible time dealing with this. I really felt that things were better without the hearing aids - sounds seemed much more natural and not so shrill. Over time without being aware of any changes, my hearing with the aids now seems the opposite. Now when I don't have them in, words seem too muted and indistinct; I can't wait to get them in so I can hear clearly. They don't seem too shrill anymore. Evidently, my brain has adjusted to the high frequencies where my hearing was lacking and the aids were correcting. This can take considerable time, but apparently it does eventually materialize. In retrospe...

I just read an article in the NY Times regarding the "greying" of Asian countries. Japan, China, and S. Korea have the most significant aging populations in the world. I was somewhat surprised to learn that Japan also has the largest percentage of elders with dementia. I stereotypically thought that the dietary and lifestyle habits of the Japanese resulted in better quality of life for elders, but apparently not. Confirms what we hear about this in the U.S. A longer life means a greater risk of losing marbles, so along with financial planning for age 95-100 it seems wise to plan for dealing with dementia as a part of that.

Do you actually see an option to send the code by mail when you try to login on Chase's web site, or are you talking about forwarding text to email via Google Voice? Yes, Chase gives me three options to send one-time code: - Text me: GV-number - Call me: GV-number - Email me: email In settings for an email, I see following services: - Online security - Account Alerts - Marketing email preferences And for a separate email, the only service is Zelle For Zelle I use custom emails of the following form: <bankname>@starr.com, so for Chase, it is chase@starr.com. Check Profile & Settings/Personal details/Email and make sure that the "Online security" option is selected. Yes, Chase gives me the 3 options to send the code at login al...

Actually, Chase does support Google Voice for 2FA and alerts. Chase also offers email for 2FA. How do you enable email for 2FA at Chase? I see no such option, and it doesn't offer that for code delivery when I try to log in. This activates 2FA text code to your phone number - GV number works: Select Main Menu (the sandwich at upper left of screen) Select Security & Privacy from dropdown menu Under Resources tap "Add extra security when you sign in using a browser" Toggle the slider to "On" I just tried adding a GV number and using it for code delivery. Doesn't work, neither text nor voice. Chase currently is my only online account that forces me to use a carrier number. If there is an option to send the code to emai...

Eno Deb wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 12:12 pm

VictorStarr wrote: ↑Fri Feb 17, 2023 10:46 amActually, Chase does support Google Voice for 2FA and alerts.
Chase also offers email for 2FA.

How do you enable email for 2FA at Chase? I see no such option, and it doesn't offer that for code delivery when I try to log in.

This activates 2FA text code to your phone number - GV number works:

Select Main Menu (the sandwich at upper left of screen)
Select Security & Privacy from dropdown menu
Under Resources tap "Add extra security when you sign in using a browser"
Toggle the slider to "On"

The FinanceBuff:

Some places refuse to send security codes to Google Voice numbers. I would avoid using them if they send security codes by SMS text message but they don’t support Google Voice numbers. That’s one reason I closed my account with Ally Bank.

https://thefinancebuff.com/security-har ... uard.html

The next thing to worry about is the number of nursing homes that are downsizing the number of patient rooms or closing altogether because they aren't generating enough revenue. We're heading toward a future in which LTC might be tilted much more toward private-pay for-profit facilities that will be quite expensive (as if they aren't already expensive). I'm guessing this is also going to affect the finances of CCRCs, so it's critical to evaluate that when choosing one. We'll see many of them dissolving their CCRC status or folding altogether. Tough times a-coming.

HA usually come with a 30-day trial, so you could go to an audiologist to be fitted for good ones, and compare those to fitted HA from Costco or your OTC hearing aides. Then keep whatever works best. This is a better strategy for people who are experienced HA wearers, because it takes some time to adjust your brain to them to be able to discern differences in HAs. Be sure to test them out in demanding, noisy environments such as restaurants. That's where the wheat gets separated from the chaff.