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goshenBogle

No success - no one ever responded. Interested in starting one?

goshenBogle

Spoke to my Flagship rep at Vanguard. He said that Vanguard instituted the new methods because many folks have answers to secret questions that could be easily found from social media accounts, online databases, etc. We have nonsense answers to our questions that no one could guess. The problem with...

goshenBogle

We activated two factor authentication with our vanguard account. When we logon, we receive a 6 digit code via our landline phone. However we notice that one of three secret questions are no longer asked. Have we just substituted one authenticaion (code via phone) for another (secret questions)? How...

goshenBogle

We will be purchasing a new refrigerator. Is a surge protector recommended?

goshenBogle

Go to IRS.gov, click on "Get yor tax record", then click on "Get transcript by Mail". IRS requires only your SS number, birth date, & address. SS numbers are probably not hard to obtain for criminals. Would you consider this poor security? Is there any way IRS could increase the security of the tran...

goshenBogle

I agree! But I don't know how to attrack others. Do you?????

goshenBogle

I am confused. As soon as the Fed announced late this afternoon that they were raising interest rates, the market (DOW) dropped. Why did it drop? The Fed announcement was not a surprise; we all knew it was coming.
Can someone help me understand why the drop?

goshenBogle

When we sell our house, we want to do the sale ourselves in conjunction with our lawyer rather than use a real estate agent (savings approx. $12K).

I would appreciate comments by folks who did execute a 'sale by owner' and the problems / pitfalls they encountered.

Thank you.

goshenBogle

We have been slowly moving our portfolio to more index funds and less actively managed funds. For our next move, we are trying to decide between the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (VTSAX) and 500 Index (VFIAX). Their returns over the last 10 years are very similar. What rationale would we apply t...

goshenBogle

Some of our double hung windows are difficult to open & close. The windowsframes & jambs are vinyl. I cleaned the jambs with diluted vinegar in water. Removed some dirt but did not make the windows easier to open/close. Can I use a lubricant on the jambs & spiral balance rod? If so, what type of lub...

goshenBogle

I will be blunt!! Use an attorney who specializes in estate planning. Do not trust the web-based products. This issue is too important. Make a mistake now and you will regret it.
We used a lawyer for our estate planning and the total legal cost was < $2000. Definitely worth it.

goshenBogle

I have a basic Tracfone flip phone. It has a browser but I find that I cannot connect to the Uber & Lyft web sites to request a ride. Tracfone customer service tells me that this phone's browser is not compatible with Uber & Lyft. How can I determine which 'basic' phone (not a smartphone) will work ...

goshenBogle

A WSJ article on 3.29.18 discussed the ongoing customer service and administrative problems faced by Vanguard customers. We have had some problems in the last 2 years, but until I read the article I did not realize the problems we faced were widespread. Article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-vangu...

goshenBogle

Sorry, I should have stated that I do not yet have a smartphone. Trying to decide which one to get since it will be used for email, directions, lyft & uber.
Our everyday phone is landline using VOIP.

goshenBogle

The Lyft web site says that "iOS 10 and Android 7 or higher are necessary for smooth operation of the Lyft app". There are lots of good smartphones that are running Android 6.x so I am quite surprised that Lyft requires Android 7 or higher. Would appredciate feedback from users of Lyft who are using...

goshenBogle

I am a VG Flagship client and have been with VG for over 25 years. Over the last 3-4 years there has been a noticeable decrease in the quality of their customer service. Last year I had a long talk with the manager of VG customer service who promised to improve their service. This has not happened. ...

goshenBogle

Thank you all for correcting my mistake. Transfering from tax deferred to taxable is not harvesting.

goshenBogle

I am reading "Living Off Your Money" by Michael McClung. His strategy is quite intriguing and I will adopt it for my retirement portfolio (I am currently retired). However I am not clear on how to use the Prime Harvesting Strategy for RMDs. I do not need most of the RMDs for living expenses and will...

goshenBogle

What strategy other than the items below should I use in deciding from which IRAs to take RMDs? (1) Is my portfolio in need of rebalancing? (2) Which IRA investments do I feel will do the best / worst in the coming year? [Yes, this is market timing but how else do you make the decision?] Also where ...

goshenBogle

Thank you all for your replies. I also create Excel spreadsheets for all worksheets that I need for my federal tax and use these from year to year. I like this method because I have good backup for my calculations. Don't know why the fed doesn't create spreadsheets... As to the supposed error I foun...

goshenBogle

I am retired and need to compute estimated tax for 2018. I will use the IRS publication 2018 Form 1040-ES, "Estimated Tax for Individuals" (dated Feb 28, 2018). The "2018 Estimated Tax Worksheet" is on page 8 of the 1040-ES document and is fairly easy to use. BUT - unless I am missing something, the...

goshenBogle

We are seniors and want recommendation for cell phone service and phone. We currently have a basic pay-as-you-go Tracfone that is not a Smartphone. We want to buy a Smartphone for occasional use only so we do not want a very expensive phone; ideally less than $150. We want the phone for texting, sim...

goshenBogle

Listening to the news reports can be quite unsettling and frightening. All we hear - even from NPR who should know better - is how the market drop of 2.5.18 was the largest one day point drop in history. This type of reporting is alarmist and displays short term thinking. The real news is that the m...

goshenBogle

I recently had an epiphany that I want to share with others. My guess is that this is nothing new to many Bogleheads. But since it helped me I want to share it. I am retired & tend to worry about whether I will have enough money to last another 30 years or so. I have a sizable portfolio but I still ...

goshenBogle

Would appreciate comments on my portfolio. We are retired in late 60s. Portfolio is approx. $4.1 million. Income needs are met by social security + 1% of portfolio. Below is portfolio showing % for each fund in portfolio plus split of each fund between taxable portion of portfolio & tax deferred (IR...

goshenBogle

Our house and joint assets (e.g.: mutual funds) are in a revocable, pass-through family trust. We are the trustees & beneficiaries of the trust. This coming year is the first where we will be filing our taxes with this trust so we will consult a tax accountant to make sure we understand the IRS pape...

goshenBogle

We fought hard and won - Vanguard agreed to keep our joint accounts as legacy - not brokerage - accounts since we have been with Vanguard over 30 years and have millions with them. We do not like the way Vanguard handles brokerage accounts. We had one brokerage account and every quarter the account ...

goshenBogle

I am not being petty. I should have said in my post that we may not replace the damaged mattress. In my opinion, we are under no obligation to replace the mattress. Comments?

goshenBogle

Recently moved to new location in same city - a local move. Our mattress (3 years old) was damaged - the bottom was torn. The mattress is still usable but the tear nullifies the mattress warranty. So we filed a claim and did receive a check for the cost of a replacement mattress minus the insurance ...

goshenBogle

What strategy during the year should be used as to when RMDs should be taken? I start taking RMDs in 2018. I do not need RMDs for living expenses. Federal taxes will be paid from RMDs with the remaining RMDs invested in the same fund but in an existing taxable account. (1) Should RMDs be taken all a...

goshenBogle

"keeping annual statement is a no-cost insurance policy" - Excellent thought, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!! I decided to keep my statements. :happy What about either scanning the statements into one's computer or taking pictures & storing the pictures on the computer? Is this a good idea or does this presen...

goshenBogle

What mutual fund account records should I keep so that I can calculate cost basis when I sell shares? For each mutual fund account, I keep the end of year statement. After 30 years of investing, I have a ton of paper records. I would like to get rid of most of the end of year statements. But I am wa...

goshenBogle

The two methods are mathematically equivalent. The IRS rules go against common sense. There is no difference between the two methods as long as there are no extenuating circumstances (spouses more than 10 years apart, etc.). I just tried the two methods with my IRAs. The calculated RMDs were exactly...

goshenBogle

In the Vanguard newsletter "In The Vanguard" for Summer 2017, Maria Bruno makes the following statement: "For IRAs, RMDs must be calculated separately for each account, but the amounts can be added together and distributed by any one of the IRAs." Wait a minute - A simpler method is to add all of my...

goshenBogle

This may seem like a silly question but I am not sure how to answer it in a convincing way. About 80% of our $4.5 million portfolio is invested in Vanguard funds. My wife feels that we should invest no more, that maybe 80% concentrated in one mutual fund company is too much. I feel that Vanguard is ...

goshenBogle

Some of our mutual funds we have had for over 20 years. I keep the end of year statement for each. This is lot of paper. I also record in a spreadsheet at the end of year dividends, interest, capital gains, beginning and end of year shares & share price. If I record the summary data in a spreadsheet...

goshenBogle

Just bought a condo. The condo association's finances appear to me to be sound but am curious what others think. The current condo assoc. budget is: $340K / year divided among 92 condos = $308/month per condo Operating reserves = $245K Of the $340K approx. $80K is transferred to operating reserves T...

goshenBogle

On the surface this might seem like a simplistic question. However I have always had trouble spending money (my wife calls me 'cheap' :-) ). I am trying hard to overcome my stinginess. So, I think we could safely spend up to 8%-10% of portfolio on a new house. Note that we would not finance but woul...

goshenBogle

We have been long time Vanguard investors. Most of our retirement is with Vanguard. Spoke to our Flagship rep the other day and was told that new accounts with Vanguard will be brokerage accounts. There are no more 'regular' (that is, non-brokerage) accounts. I find this disappointing. With the exce...

goshenBogle

Buying condo for cash, not financing. Condo built 2008 and has had only one owner since its construction.
Do I need title insurance? Or am I being cheap? Anything else I should consider?
Thanks!!!

goshenBogle

We signed an exclusive 3 month contract with a local RE agent. She gave us access to the local MLS so that we can see all houses (except for sale by owner) for sale in area. At the beginning of the relationship she showed us several houses, none of which we liked. During the remainder of the 3 month...

goshenBogle

We are looking at house plans and notice that most have 9 foot ceilings. My guess is that going from 8 foot to 9 foot ceilings would add substantially to the building price because standard building products (dry wall, lumber, etc.) come in 8 foot lengths. Am I correct about this? We have lived in b...

goshenBogle

I have always wondered if states can automatically get federal tax information from the IRS so that the states can compare the individual's state tax return with the federal tax return. Does anyone know if this is being done?
Thanks.

goshenBogle

An interesting presentation from Joe Davis, Vanguard's global chief economist. See URL below.

Comments anyone?

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/insigh ... /3652-Exc1

goshenBogle

I am in a quandary as to whether to do a ROTH conversion. My situation: Late 60's, retired, 25% tax bracket Projecting my RMDs into the future & assuming tax brackets do not change, I will be in 25% tax bracket when taking my RMDs regardless of whether I do a conversion now or not. So - Should I do ...

goshenBogle

Thank you for the quick response!! I just found the same information. Since we are both trustee & grantor for our trust, we just report the trust income on our 1040 and nothing changes.

goshenBogle

A lawyer is creating for us a revocable trust which will be active in 2017. We have always done our own tax returns and we would like to do the tax return for the trust. Is there a good guide on how to complete the federal tax return for revocable trusts?
Thank you.

goshenBogle

I notice many homes in my area (Roanoke, VA) with some kind of green growth on vinyl siding. Is this algae, mildew or something else? Why does it appear on some siding and not others - is this a function of the siding type and manufacturer? Is there a way to prevent this growth? What is best way to ...

goshenBogle

The link below is to an interesting article from American Century (mutual fund company) on why they are decreasing their allocation in stocks and increasing bonds. From the article: "...key unknown relates to the emergence of populist, anti-globalization politicians in the U.S. and Europe, who threa...

goshenBogle

Oops - sorry ---- My dyslexia comes through again.

I meant VHDYX and not VHYDX

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