Bogleheads.org

TomatoTomahto

I volunteer the information that I would warn them in advance if our annual gifting might be curtailed, whether because of exorbitant expenses, legal changes, or disastrous market performance. I have told them it is unlikely, but my advice was to use the gifts as investment opportunities and not to bolster a lifestyle. I would imagine that the annual gifting in and of itself "tells" them a lot, although certainly not the entire picture. They know I’m conservative financially, so they should know that I’m not gifting them our last nickel. I imagine some people must have gotten themselves in trouble by being overly aggressive in gifting. It would be beyond embarrassing to have to go back to them with an outstretched cup :D I know t...

TomatoTomahto

I see a lot of parents spend large sums of money thinking they will come out ahead with a full ride. My son is in 7th grade and plays competitive lacrosse. We spend maybe 15k a year on club team fees, private coaching, travel, gear, etc. He is pretty good but we have zero expectation that he will get a scholarship or play college lacrosse. We are just supporting his passion. The parents who are in it for the scholarship are frequently irrational and would be better off saving all that money. Ditto. I spent 2yrs working at a world famous athletic training facility that trains professional athletes in pretty much every sport (focusing primarily on NFL and NBA combines), and we would get parents calling every day asking about training their 6...

TomatoTomahto

If it were me, first port of call would be an Estate Attorney; whether or not you have children, you'd want some means to provide for your GF in the event of your death. They can direct you to additional resources. What questions or things would you propose to the estate attorney? What would you be looking to accomplish? Just curious how others think - - would you want to protect assets before marriage for yourself in the event of divorce? - provide some level of security to your future spouse in case something happened to you? - How much would you allocate to her/him in the event of your death? - How would you structure taking care of potential future kids? Obviously these are very personal questions but I often hear people say, oh talk t...

TomatoTomahto

I volunteer the information that I would warn them in advance if our annual gifting might be curtailed, whether because of exorbitant expenses, legal changes, or disastrous market performance. I have told them it is unlikely, but my advice was to use the gifts as investment opportunities and not to bolster a lifestyle. I would imagine that the annual gifting in and of itself "tells" them a lot, although certainly not the entire picture. They know I’m conservative financially, so they should know that I’m not gifting them our last nickel. I imagine some people must have gotten themselves in trouble by being overly aggressive in gifting. It would be beyond embarrassing to have to go back to them with an outstretched cup :D

TomatoTomahto

stoptothink wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 2:56 pm
vbdoug wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 5:18 pm "Sherlock", my favorite Netflix show of all time, is currently available on Prime. It is not available on Netflix.

"Extraordinary Attorney Woo" from South Korea is on Netflix.
It is excellent.

Kudos forever to "The Big Bang". On reruns everywhere.

I am both amused and entertained by shows with mildly autistic characters.
As someone with high-functioning autism, IMO "The Big Bang" is darn near unwatchable. I have no clue what the appeal of that show is. "Sherlock" is fantastic though.

I have watched a few minutes of The Big Bang. No idea why it was so popular, except perhaps for the combination of eye candy and disdain for science. Unwatchable except for a few minutes.

TomatoTomahto

ruralavalon wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 1:52 pm My daughter who is just one year younger than her ex-husband and recently divorced will inherit his IRA and 401k account because of the beneficiary designations.

Is there reason not to rollover his IRA and 401k account into her IRA, rather than maintaining a separate inherited IRA?

IANYL, but keeping accounts separate is preferable. I’m pretty sure that most brokerages will not let you commingle them anyway.

TomatoTomahto

harikaried wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 1:25 pm
windaar wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 9:08 pm
harikaried wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 10:14 amWe've taken both our Teslas with friends on 1500+ mile road trips as it was much preferred over driving ICE.
I’ve heard tortured (and unconvincing) arguments that an EV is “as good” as ICE for a road trip, but preferable? By what stretch? This assertion needs a LOT of explanation.
Maybe the road trips we take are different from yours, but quite literally our friends have asked to drive our Tesla for multiple road trips instead of driving their relatively new ICE vehicle.

I’d better not let my friends know that I have free lifetime charging on my Tesla. I still charge 99% at home, but it’s nice.

TomatoTomahto

For local news (eg, weather and traffic) on the rare occasions that I’m interested, I just use an antenna.

TomatoTomahto

BBC Select is a BBC streaming service available to stream on Amazon Prime Video Channels, the Apple TV app or The Roku Channel. You can try BBC Select for free for 7 days. After the free trial, the subscription price is just $4.99 per month.

TomatoTomahto

livesoft wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 12:52 pm I tell them anything they want to know. So far, they don't want to know anything.

I volunteer the information that I would warn them in advance if our annual gifting might be curtailed, whether because of exorbitant expenses, legal changes, or disastrous market performance. I have told them it is unlikely, but my advice was to use the gifts as investment opportunities and not to bolster a lifestyle.

Our one child who will handle the investment decisions if we can’t, knows more but we also know more about his finances as we enjoy discussing the topic.

TomatoTomahto

Call_Me_Op wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 8:21 am
TomatoTomahto wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 8:15 am But, according to the insurance company, there's no way to "under insure" our home in the state of Massachusetts. If it did burn down, we would get a check for the replacement value and can build (or not) whatever we like.
One could certainly under-insure by foregoing insurance altogether (not recommended). I have an elderly uncle in Mass who is doing just that.

True enough, but I would not forego liability insurance under any circumstances. I don't think my insurer would write policies for the cars and umbrella without the house.

TomatoTomahto

I am a Male. 7+ years of relationship (her age is not mentioned) and her net worth is still <100K and dependent on you. So, from a pure practical purpose, why get married and worry about all these ? Do you plan on having kids? That is the ice breaker / deal braker in these type of relationships She wants children. I know that I want kids by 40-42. Regardless, if I do not get married but have kids - what kind of attorney should I speak to? Family Law, Divorce Attorney, Estate Planning attorney, anyone else? So many options - having some guidance would be appreciated. If it were me, first port of call would be an Estate Attorney; whether or not you have children, you'd want some means to provide for your GF in the event of your death. They c...

TomatoTomahto

If you have no plans to rebuild in the event of total loss, and there is substantially more value in the lot (land) than in the home structure, would it make sense to underinsure the dwelling coverage to reduce premiums? Especially given the relatively low likelihood of a total loss? Thoughts? Thanks. I'm not sure your insurance company would allow it. We have been forced to overinsure our home, because of the insane amount it would cost to rebuild it to the same standard. In real life, in the event it would burn to the ground (do fieldstone houses ever do that?), we would build another structure using modern materials and modern building techniques. I'm not even sure that most masons would take on the job if it happened. But, according to...

TomatoTomahto

If I had more than $10 million in today's dollars I wouldn't stop investing in stocks, but would probably make things like gold and real estate a sizable part of the portfolio. Because I wouldn't need the high return anymore as much as I'd need the non-correlation. That will never happen. I don't see any other game in town better for me than stocks. What you said about not being able to access/control your portfolio was interesting. If that were the case I too would not want the investment. Same would apply to bank accounts that started limiting my abilities, I'd find some other way to store the value. There are thousands of things that hold their value with time. To give an random example, plant a bunch of black walnut trees and you'll st...

TomatoTomahto

If I had more than $10 million in today's dollars I wouldn't stop investing in stocks, but would probably make things like gold and real estate a sizable part of the portfolio. Because I wouldn't need the high return anymore as much as I'd need the non-correlation. That will never happen. I don't see any other game in town better for me than stocks. What you said about not being able to access/control your portfolio was interesting. If that were the case I too would not want the investment. Same would apply to bank accounts that started limiting my abilities, I'd find some other way to store the value. There are thousands of things that hold their value with time. To give an random example, plant a bunch of black walnut trees and you'll st...

TomatoTomahto

Florida Orange wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 10:59 am Don't take unnecessary chances.

Or to continue the sports metaphor, "you've won the game, the league won't register a win until time runs out, so for God's sake don't pull your goalie."

TomatoTomahto

I make burgers via sous vide. I then sear them on the stove top.

Condiments are whatever the guests prefer. I usually don't use a bun.

TomatoTomahto

I tell my kids, whose personal capital is larger than their financial capital, that there's no reason to invest in bonds at this point in their lives, but 10% or 20% isn't that big a deal. Given that I'm in my mid-20s and pursuing FIRE, would it make sense to invest around 15% in bonds with the hope of retiring around my mid-40s? Since my understanding is that you want to invest more in bonds the closer you are to retiring? Or does this guideline not apply to FIRE? It's okay to do so, and there are technical reasons why some bonds can increase returns without raising volatility (or some such effect of the efficient frontier, Google it). Bonds and equities are more correlated than they have been in my recollection, but in any case 15% bonds...

TomatoTomahto

TomatoTomahto wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 12:06 pm
I'm going to discuss with my wife tonight. She should be primed for the conversation, as she has spent the day, so far, cleaning out last year's bird boxes, which entails a lot of moving them, emptying contents, bleaching, hosing, moving them back, etc. God bless her. She'd probably get a chuckle out of driving a UTC.

Timing is everything. I mentioned buying one of these to my wife as she started winding down from her chores that she's been at for around 4 hours.

Her response? "Cheaper than buying a second home."

TomatoTomahto

NauticalRounder wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 12:01 pm Those who do not see the general utility of a “golf cart” (or equivalent) with dump cart probably don’t have continuous property maintenance requirements. Properties needing moving items around (ie feed, gravel, soil, firewood, branches, etc) require more than a wheelbarrow and a strong back. Best purchase I’ve made in a long time. I’ll never be without one

I'm going to discuss with my wife tonight. She should be primed for the conversation, as she has spent the day, so far, cleaning out last year's bird boxes, which entails a lot of moving them, emptying contents, bleaching, hosing, moving them back, etc. God bless her. She'd probably get a chuckle out of driving a UTC.

TomatoTomahto

As to the suggestion of a Deere Gator in another post, my previous neighbor had one for years. That thing must have been a workhorse. I noticed last night in a cursory search that Deere now has an electric version, but it retails for about 15k. Intriguing--pricey but not as expensive as I would have thought. I like to throw work to the various handy-persons, gardeners, snow plow drivers, etc. because they are salt of the earth hard workers. But, I also feel like I should do more myself because it will help fight off aging. However, I'd have a hard time looking at $15k in my garage and not thinking "should have given that money to _____." I assume they probably haven't been around long enough to have a used market. I don't know wh...

TomatoTomahto

+1 for UTV over golf cart Not intending to hijack OP’s thread, but I think we might be looking for the same thing. We still enjoy our 1/4 mile walk to the mailbox, as does our little dog, but there are times when moving heavy items is more time/energy consuming than I’d like. For example, lugging firewood from where it was split to the woodshed requires going up a pretty steep hill and if I’m being honest, I’m as likely to put it off until the landscaper comes by with his equipment rather than dumping split firewood into a wheelbarrow, trudging up the hill, and re-stacking it in the woodshed. Are there affordable electric UTVs? I don’t know what affordable means, but I would feel awkward spending more than a 4 digit amount. I don’t have mu...

TomatoTomahto

My wife seems to have signed up for FIRM: Financially Independent, Retire Maybe.

TomatoTomahto

I enjoy Audio Video Science forum (www.AVSforum.com). People there tend to skew younger than me, and over-emphasize bass in their setups, but it’s a fun site.

TomatoTomahto

Ok I will chime in on the original issue. I have a child who chose a more “prestigious” school for his major despite not truly feeling it. He liked it but he really loved his other choice but his other choice wasn’t “name brand” - it was in the top 100 privates - chosen school was top 10. He originally thought he could grow to love his school and he tried so hard it almost did him in. He was miserable but didn’t show it to anyone until the end of sophomore year when he came home for break and lost it; couldn’t get out of bed and looked terrible. Finally fessed up that he was truly miserable and felt guilty on top of that. His grades were dropping as was his motivation. Long story short - he spent a year at home “regrouping” and taking on l...

TomatoTomahto

Correcting "AA mistakes" in tax advantaged accounts doesn't have a tax cost. It might have a market cost.

I can't speak to international vs US equities. There are dozens of threads on the topic. I personally believe in buying the haystack, not just the US haystack.

I tell my kids, whose personal capital is larger than their financial capital, that there's no reason to invest in bonds at this point in their lives, but 10% or 20% isn't that big a deal.

TomatoTomahto

Let me say that I am not one who will advise that "the IRS will never catch up to you, don't file a 709." Or, "nobody files 709s."

I am also someone who pays his estate attorney annually to file a 709 even though his gifts are under the annual reporting exclusion.

All that said, unless you think the gift amount totals might be material in your state (eg, MA) by the time you die, I would file a 709 for the amount of $70k. It is not an unreasonable reporting position.

Again, not a lawyer or CPA, advice is worth only what you've paid for it, but it is what I'd do in your circumstances.

TomatoTomahto

kojima wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 4:09 am Seems like you would fill out a form with 100k and your daughter would fill out a form for 30k

I am not a CPA or lawyer, so take this for what it's worth: I think you have a reasonable reporting position that your gift to her was $70k since:

The exchange took place in one calendar year.
It turned out that you didn't have $100k available for gift giving purposes after all, so $30k was returned to you, not as a separate gift from your daughter but directly related to a miscalculation on your part as to your ability to gift $100k. For that $30k portion, it wasn't a gift since there were "strings attached."

TomatoTomahto

My wife recently got her passport renewed and was surprised that they did not return the old passport; in the past, the old passport would be returned with a hole punched in it. She inquired (there was a needed visa in the old passport) and was told that the old passport would arrive under separate cover. It would have been more efficient to mail old and new passport in one mailing, but the old passport did arrive a week or two later. Note the return addresses. The old passport is usually sent from a separate office than the passport centers that create passports. Sending them together to you would require additional steps and first mailing them to one consolidated shipping office first. Too late to check (no longer have envelopes), but th...

TomatoTomahto

This isn't very helpful, but multiple states is the sole reason that we have a CPA. If it were just the federal return, I would do it myself.

TomatoTomahto

I’m not sure I understand the OP situation, but my wife’s family had all the siblings chip in financially to make the “residential” sibling whole after they made changes to their home to accommodate my MIL.

It’s not a job anyone else was well placed to perform, and while it was done out of love, it just felt wrong that they’d be out of pocket for it.

RTA: as mega317 said, it’s not your bequest to worry about.

TomatoTomahto

stan1 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 25, 2023 8:49 am There are a few people who seem to have high income, high taxable account contributions, and expect high capital gains in the future such as from sale of a home with over $500K of gains who are fans. Even still, replacing 3 basis point index funds with 40 basis point management is a hurdle, and you are right that the account will be come a mess with thousands of tax lots and a 50+ page 1099-B each year.

High income

high taxable account contributions

High capital gains in the future

Still not a fan. It would turn my taxable account into a dog's breakfast. I can do (relatively limited) TLH without direct indexing.

TomatoTomahto

Asyouwish wrote: ↑Sat Mar 25, 2023 11:04 am Are you viewing your account transcript? What codes do you see?

A code 570 is a refund hold. If it is not released with a 571, the credit balance will sit forever.

Either a phone call is warranted, or print out the transcript and attach a letter requesting the refund be released.

When you send a payment for no reason, the IRS will put a refund freeze code on the account. This prevents the computer from issuing an erroneous refund. The IRS thinks you may be amending and will owe $7. Therefore they freeze the credit balance waiting for you to provide paperwork or a reason for sending them a payment.

I try to learn something every day, and this plausible explanation fits the bill, and just before noon to boot!

TomatoTomahto

beyou wrote: ↑Sat Mar 25, 2023 10:52 am
Self study that people generally perform cover a small fraction of what is covered in a CS degree. You are equating programming to computer science, they are not the same. Someone who has NOT studied CS has no clue what they missed, lacks fundamental theory behind the practice.

+1000

I had a successful career as a developer/programmer, with more than a rudimentary knowledge of the theory behind it. I was deemed/titled a Computer Scientist in the old days when nobody knew what it meant, and they enjoyed asking me where my lab coat was. Still, I made bank.

Having seen what my son studied recently (ie, 5-9 years ago) for his degrees in CS, I know that I would not have had a chance in those classes.

TomatoTomahto

If I had more than $10 million in today's dollars I wouldn't stop investing in stocks, but would probably make things like gold and real estate a sizable part of the portfolio. Because I wouldn't need the high return anymore as much as I'd need the non-correlation. That will never happen. I don't see any other game in town better for me than stocks. What you said about not being able to access/control your portfolio was interesting. If that were the case I too would not want the investment. Same would apply to bank accounts that started limiting my abilities, I'd find some other way to store the value. There are thousands of things that hold their value with time. To give an random example, plant a bunch of black walnut trees and you'll st...

TomatoTomahto

My wife recently got her passport renewed and was surprised that they did not return the old passport; in the past, the old passport would be returned with a hole punched in it. She inquired (there was a needed visa in the old passport) and was told that the old passport would arrive under separate cover.

It would have been more efficient to mail old and new passport in one mailing, but the old passport did arrive a week or two later.

TomatoTomahto

I get the sense that you’re much younger than 70.5, but just in case you’re approaching that age and have tax deferred accounts, it is much better to donate using Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD). You can donate $100k annually, have the QCD amount not affect your income that year, and continue taking the Standard Deduction.

Rather than starting a DAF, I waited for 70.5.

I wouldn’t use a DAF for miscellaneous charitable donations unless the amounts were sufficient to make bundling itemized deductions worth it. Just my 2 cents.

ETA: I think the QCD amount will be inflation adjusted as of 2026, but not sure.

TomatoTomahto

adamthesmythe wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 11:33 am 3. To stay safER be thoughtful about WHEN and WHERE you drive. How MUCH you drive is much less important.

As an extreme example, good luck trying to catch me driving on New Year's Eve or shortly after.

TomatoTomahto

Guy has nearly $5mm net worth and over $1mm annual income at age 34. I think you can buy a $90k car and not worry much about it. This thread is ridiculous. Unless I missed it, OP’s gender has not been established. I do, fwiw, often miss a lot. Not sure if you missed it, but you seem to have missed the part where “guy” can refer to a person of unknown gender, a group of multiple genders, or a single gender. You’ve never said “that guy cut me off” without knowing the gender of the person doing the cutting off? You’ve never referred to a group of people as “guys”, even if the group had women, or was exclusively female? Perhaps you haven’t, but doesn’t mean others don’t. True enough, I'll sometimes say "hey guys" to a mixed gender gr...

TomatoTomahto

Jags4186 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:54 am Guy has nearly $5mm net worth and over $1mm annual income at age 34. I think you can buy a $90k car and not worry much about it. This thread is ridiculous.

Unless I missed it, OP’s gender has not been established. I do, fwiw, often miss a lot.

TomatoTomahto

William Bernstein has a piece, in another thread today, about buying Long Term TIPS bonds-- he's bought one that will mature when he is 104. Huge volatility, but I think he makes a good point that we should look through that and see what our real long term risk is: 1). outliving our savings 2). loss of buying power due to inflation. Could you talk me in target with this thread? I’d like to understand his thoughts, and read his words. Thank you in advance, Whitecap https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7184923#p7184923 Thanks Tomato! BTW, love your avatar. That picture is from a “Little feet” my dad’s album that he used to listen to with me, many years ago. Your father raised you well! Great band, RIP to many fine musicians. :beer

TomatoTomahto

Whitecap wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 8:24 am
William Bernstein has a piece, in another thread today, about buying Long Term TIPS bonds-- he's bought one that will mature when he is 104. Huge volatility, but I think he makes a good point that we should look through that and see what our real long term risk is: 1). outliving our savings 2). loss of buying power due to inflation.
Could you talk me in target with this thread? I’d like to understand his thoughts, and read his words.

Thank you in advance,
Whitecap

viewtopic.php?p=7184923#p7184923

TomatoTomahto

Don’t give up on the appreciated shares yet. I found a third-party reference to our member White Coat Investor But since many colleges, medical schools, and even private grade schools are technically 501(c)3s, which don't pay capital gains taxes when selling the appreciated shares you gave to them (as a tuition payment), it's really the same thing as giving the shares to your church or a favorite international aid charity. Better than a 529? Probably not, but certainly a great way to flush the low-basis shares out of your portfolio. So the next time you pay tuition, rather than using your cash on hand, (or worse, liquidating low-basis shares to use cash for the payment), contact the school to see if you can pay the bill with a transfer of s...

TomatoTomahto

I know it's not a mature thing to do, but Optum's various PITA impediments to having transparency on my accounts have made me decide to empty my account by reimbursing myself for every little bill that shows up until it's empty. It's just not worth it for the favorable tax treatment if the end result is raising my blood pressure, which works against the "Health Savings."

A pox on them.

TomatoTomahto

My favorite quote:

He earned about $50,000 a year from his factory job and always aimed to save at least 20% of his income, largely by keeping his expenses low. He wears his clothes for decades and rarely purchases new ones, though he treated himself to some new socks last July.

“I get buyer’s remorse real quick,” he said.

Must be a BH

TomatoTomahto

I don't think Deutsche Bank would be allowed to "go under," but there might be all sorts of collateral damage. I can't speak to the ETFs.

TomatoTomahto

stoptothink wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 6:41 am
You're not familiar with "Think and Grown Rich" or "Rich Dad, Poor Dad"?

I have heard of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," but didn't know the author's name. I guess they are better than a stick in the eye.

TomatoTomahto

OP, I am one who is probably regarded on this forum as obsessed with car safety; I bought Volvos for my kids precisely for that reason and made it clear that the gifts were for MY peace of mind. That said, we could easily afford the cars and the only issue was making sure that the kids did not feel entitled. Fwiw, they never got into accidents and are good drivers. But, we can't guarantee that all drivers they share the road with will drive responsibly.

There are many safe vehicles other than the Model Y. I don't follow car news enough to make a suggestion, and you haven't disclosed enough financials to say whether you can afford a new car or to assess the likelihood of your being laid off.

Good luck; I feel you.

TomatoTomahto

This crosses Personal Finance and Personal Consumer Issues, but I recommend the recent segment from Last Week Tonight on timeshares and timeshare "exit" scams (warning: some salty language): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd2bbHoVQSM I've seen a number of threads on these issues before, but this is an eye-opening watch. It's worth the 25 minutes, including for the absolute evisceration of Dave Ramsey and his endorsement of a timeshare exit company which later turned out to be a total scam (and then his bizarre doubling down). I had actually seen that endorsement mentioned in a few bogleheads threads. I absolutely loved it. Dave Ramsey is the worst kind of person, like other fake gurus. My list of pariah financial "experts&q...

TomatoTomahto

muffins14 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 12:11 pm [snip...]

If I had >= 50x expenses, I could probably go to 100% TIPs and be completely "safe", but I'd want to keep some equities then to just accumulate more and potentially donate more upon death, or fund some initiative

Assuming some of the equities are in taxable, converting to 100% TIPS would probably be very expensive via LTCG.

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