Bogleheads.org

I think a lot of cash is sitting in banks at low rates simply because rates were low for so long and many depositers have not yet woken up to the current interest rate environment. It may not be in the best interest of banks to wake their customers up to the availability of higher rates since deposits could flee.

A potentially helpful link https://www.alameda.courts.ca.gov/divisions/probate

Perhaps the biggest advantage of DAFs is the ability to donate appreciated securities. You don't pay the capital gains tax on the securities you transfer to the DAF account and the full current value of the securities counts as the amount donated for tax purposes.

I sometimes watch movies to appreciate the cinematography, special effects, set decoration, or elements not related to the actors, characters, or plot.

That said I recently watched Triangle of Sadness and Babylon and found both of them utter wastes of time. They have been portrayed as dark/black comedies but I found little of interest in them. They both utilized a particularly obnoxious effect of characters vomiting. Maybe that would be entertaining if you were 9 years old. Enough said.

Immediately stop existing automatic reinvestment of dividends and direct dividends toward new desired holdings.

With the market down trend over the last couple of years you may be able to harvest losses or sell at small gains for at least some holdings and free up cash for desired holdings at perhaps not much of a cost in taxes. If you cease dividend reinvestment before starting to sell you are less likely to run into wash sale situations.

Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms generally need batteries changed once a year.

One of the most damaging things in a home is water. It's important to stay alert for leaks, drips, puddles, and the smell of moisture (wet plaster). If something is wet find out why and decide whether some corrective action is needed. Water leaks can involve the pressurized supply lines as well as drainage/sewer plumbing.

Navillus1968 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 9:49 pm ...A 10% raise that lasts forever sounds pretty good...

It would depend on how long her "forever" turns out to be.

I'm of the crowd that thinks you're not yet in the 1% needing coverage and even then it could be some kind of joint policy that pays off on second-to-die. But with that much in assets there's some likelihood that the true person who will benefit most from the policy could be a surviving secondary spouse of one of you, which could make it an unattractive option.

Probate records are public records and, depending on the state and county, you may be able to find a lot of information about court proceedings online. If on-line records are insufficient you can call or visit the courthouse involved to see what the status of a probate proceeding is and see what records are available for your inspection. Probate records generally include a copy of the will and a listing of the assets of the estate. The handling of trust assets would generally be separate from the probate proceeding.

Why would the employer accept such a condition in a custodian agreement which could disadvantage many employees?

How would that be consistent with their fiduciary responsibilities?

There can be a wide range of employees that participate in a 401k plan, including many who may lack even a high-school education.

I agree. This is common. Such a "stable" value fund often comes with this type of restrictions. It is like buying a 5-year CD. If you break it, there is a penalty. Now the question is whether such a restriction was disclosed. I think that it is extremely likely that it was disclosed in one of the many many pages of legal documents that the OP received when the account was opened. It was the action of the employer that triggered the invocation of the 5 year restriction, otherwise there was no restriction on the stable fund. Why should the employees be punished for an action by their employer which they could not control? The employer could have initiated a campaign prior to the switch to advise employees of the potential consequen...

..."Requests for Full Withdrawals Withdrawals from the Voya Fixed Plus Account III fund are allowed to pay benefits to participants at any time. However, if the plan, as the Contract Holder, requests a full withdrawal of all participant accounts held in the Voya Fixed Plus Account III, VRIAC will pay amounts in the Voya Fixed Plus Account III, with interest, in five annual payments that will be equal to: ... The individual plan participants have no control over the decision of their employer to change plan providers. Since it was the action of the employer (to change plan providers) that has restricted access by the employees to their funds the employer has effectively barred employees from effectively managing some of their investmen...

The IRS does not consider gifts received as taxable income. Many other organizations follow the IRS guideline but different government and private programs (including financial organizations) may have their own definition of income and it could differ from the IRS.

So, would the person who bought the right to receive the royalties be, solely because of such purchase , running a business, required to file a business tax return (Schedule C, etc.) and pay payroll taxes? If not, why does the OP need to file a Schedule C and pay payroll taxes if he does not have an on-going business? A purchaser of the royalty stream would not be running a business because the royalty stream is not represent compensation for services that they personally performed. The OP needs to file a Schedule C and pay payroll taxes because he still has a business as long as he receives royalties for his past business work. Society may decide that he is no longer in business when it no longer finds value in the works/products he creat...

You're still in business but just not producing new product. The royalty payments you receive are continuing payments for sales of your intellectual inventory/works/rights and according schedule "C" is the way to report them. That's fundamental cash basis accounting.

You could close the business by selling the rights to receive the royalties to someone else. Simple disposal of business assets.

The beds in college dorms and residence halls are usually TWIN XL (extra long). You should confirm the size with the dorm/residence halls or it may be indicated on their welcome materials. They're about 4 inches longer than the normal residential twin bed. So if the dorm requires the student to provide their own sheets regular twin fitted sheets will be too short for twin XL, they won't fit. Just something to be mindful of.

For your spouse to be eligible for a wife's benefit (while you are alive) there is a one year duration of marriage requirement. For you spouse to be eligible for a widow's benefit there is a 9 month duration of marriage requirement. HOWEVER one of the exceptions to the duration of marriage requirements, for both wife's and widow's benefits is if your new wife was entitled to benefits as a divorced spouse for the month before your marriage. The reference for widow's benefits exception is 1.a.8 in https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0300207001#a

The benefit she receives as an ex-spouse will end with the month of remarriage.

If she could be entitled to an additional benefit as a spouse on your record the one-year duration of marriage requirement will not apply because of her entitlement to benefits as an divorced spouse for the month prior to your marriage to her. The exception is listed as B.5.c in https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0300202001

Is the son under 18 or over 18?

Regulation D investments are private placements that can be difficult to price and difficult to exit from or liquidate to comply with RMD requirements. I don't know if there is a regulatory compliance issue for the custodian if the account holder, your son, is not a qualified investor.

Edited to add:
Some additional information might generate more specific advice:

How many different individual investment holdings are in the IRA?
What is the range in value of the individual holdings?
What is the estimated total current value of the IRA?
Are the holdings focused on any particular area (i.e. California, Florida, Virginia, etc?)
Over what period of time were the present holdings acquired?

somewhatentertained wrote: ↑Tue Mar 14, 2023 12:42 pm ...Unexpectedly, she received a check for a pro-rated reimbusement of the quarterly fee this week. I wasn't aware they removed the quarterly fees at the beginning of the quarter instead of the end...

She should be able to return the funds to the IRA using the once-a-year 60-day rollover rule (rollover to the same account). The funds could be returned as a rollover (assuming the IRA account is not identified as an "inherited" IRA). As long as the account is identified as simply her IRA then rollover should be possible.

The FDIC has a page that identifies the kind of things it does NOT insure:https://www.fdic.gov/resources/deposit- ... t-insured/

Most "wealth management" services hold the assets in segregated custodial brokerage accounts that are insured by the SIPC.

Generally the purpose of life insurance is to compensate for the loss of an income stream due to a death. Many people use a ballpark estimate of 5 - 10 times the annual earnings of the insured. So an individual with annual earnings of $200K might reasonably have life insurance of $1M - $2M. But things can vary widely depending on ages of dependent children and mortgage/expenses for their dependent survivor. It's possible that some individuals don't need life insurance.

What is the annual earnings the life insurance is needed to compensate for and the ages of the dependents?

A thread that addresses the topic, there are others viewtopic.php?t=380922

We've had Comcast for 20+ years and never received an offer that involved prepaying for a year. You should be able to confirm the offer by calling Comcast directly. It could be a scam by someone who just wants your credit card info to facilitate the prepayment.

SVB was a bank for businesses. It did not offer products to consumers.

If businesses did not do their necessary "due diligence" on the business partner "SVB" they deserve the consequences. No different than any other business partner failing.

Regulators should likely focus there efforts on protecting consumers. There is a certain expectation that businesses should be able to protect themselves since they seem to abhor regulation.

Bitzer wrote: ↑Sat Mar 11, 2023 9:35 am Yes, there are some differences if you work for a smaller employer (which you do). Search "Medicare 20 employees" or something like that and you will see the differences.

+1 An excellent point. Here's a link to some material https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coordinati ... -Exception

It would seem that exceptions are on a case-by-case basis with advance approval required.

Edited to add:
Which makes we wonder if the terms of the healthcare insurance policy allow "Medicare 20 employees" exceptions and if there is an impact on premiums to the employer. Like many Medicare issues the more you think about them the more complicated they seem to become.

tACKJAYE wrote: ↑Sat Mar 11, 2023 12:00 pm ...Also, I am wondering if giving full authorization and/or PoA to a spouse creates any tax and/or other complications/implications...

I think the primary authority that POA would grant beyond Fidelity Full Authorization might be add/change/delete of account beneficiaries.https://www.fidelity.com/customer-servi ... s-overview so that could cause problems in some blended family situations.

Fidelity & Schwab have brick & mortar branch offices in the Phoenix area, but I wouldn't send her in there alone. Regards, +1 Anyone who walks in alone to a brokerage firm, or even a bank, these days is going to be "guided" toward an advisor-fee arrangement. Bank tellers often steer cash-rich customers to that desk in the lobby occupied by their annuity/brokerage salesperson. I have helped relatives in similar situations and the following worked out pretty well. She can open an account with Fidelity and establish you or your spouse as her agent. The agent can then log on to Fidelity website and do whatever transactions are necessary after discussions with her. She could call Fidelity for assistance but usually a "bro...

Depending on how complete advance estate planning was you, or the widow, may be able to transfer assets on a DIY basis. The procedures vary by state and the source for DIY legal guidance frequently cited is Nolo Press https://www.nolo.com/ They often have materials and instructions geared to the individual states. It all depends on how knowledgeable you are about the assets and how best to transfer or dispose of them.

I've helped a number of older relatives and family friends with their portfolios and many have always been 100% fixed income CDs and/or treasuries for the last 30+ years. They don't want any stock market risk so they are essentially oblivious to what the stock market does, it's like something that happens on a different planet for them. You don't have to take any stock market risk if you don't want to.

A 100% fixed income portfolio is far too risky for my taste (due to inflation etc) but if you're assisting others you have to respect their situation.

We accept a range in our asset allocation so we have used limit orders in the past with very good results. We had significant "dry powder" in accounts at the time so some limit orders were set with low trigger prices and we maintained them for quite awhile in hopes that there would be another "flash crash" and we would cash in. Then March 2020 came along and they executed/filled. Due to the rapid market decline they were filled at prices significantly below the limit prices on downside market opens. The downside to our limit orders was that the market continued to drop further so we didn't have enough dry powder to capture all the further declines.

teaman wrote: ↑Tue Mar 07, 2023 12:09 pm We moved into a new build less than a year ago...

If this is a tract you may want to ask your neighbors with the same floor plan if they've got squeaks in the same area. Maybe they've resolved theirs or maybe their just living with it. Of course different choices in flooring could give different results.

teaman wrote: ↑Tue Mar 07, 2023 12:09 pm ...they replaced the subfloor OSBs in the affected area (applied adhesive and drilled holes to secure the subfloors to the joists underneath). Surprisingly that did not fix the issue either, and it actually worsened some...

I agree that the problem likely involves the joists. Did the floor people explore from below as well? May need to identify squeak locations from below if possible, this could involve removing some of the downstairs ceiling drywall under the squeaks. Of course there could be joist interaction between adjacent walls.

Possible things to explore. Search youtube.com for "fix floor squeaks" (without quotes).

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/b_QOMUBV-Eg

Nyc10036 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 06, 2023 3:26 pm ...The Eureka Might Mite seems the smallest that I can find that still uses bags...

We have a Eureka Mighty Mite that over 35 years old and it is still going strong. I don't know if the new ones are as durable. It's not fancy but it's lightweight, easy to carry, and easy to use.

Buys and sells within a Roth account do not have any tax reporting or tax consequence.

slalom wrote: ↑Mon Mar 06, 2023 4:31 am ...I myself bought a new construction 3 br/2 bath house in 2012 for ~$450k (worth about $850k now) which will be paid off in 2 years...

... My partner wants us to move to a place with more privacy and quiet,...

Since you are partners, without the long-term potential (financial) entanglements of marriage, tell them to buy the house of their dreams (by themselves), and, if its convenient, you'll visit.

student wrote: ↑Mon Mar 06, 2023 10:48 am DC has a good subway system so most tourist areas are accessible. I like Embassy Suites. In your case, one suite maybe enough. Free breakfast in the morning and free drinks at night. One time I stayed https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/wascce ... on-center/

+1 We stayed at Embassy Suites Georgetown for a one week family trip and found the location ideal and very walkable (or Metro). In planning your trip be aware that hotel rates are often much lower (sometimes more than 50%) when Congress is in recess.

The healthcare benefit that comes from a retirement plan will generally provide no greater benefit than what the employee received as an employee and it's often much less. With government pensions healthcare benefits can include the retiree and spouse. If the spouse is not covered immediately by Medicare the cost of healthcare can be high. Sometimes the healthcare benefit will reimburse the basic Medicare premiums deducted from monthly benefits but every plan may vary in that regard. The reimbursement of Medicare premiums, if provided by the plan, can be a significant amount over a number of years.

bawaso wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 4:09 pm Late 30s. Why do you pay 50% of value over time?..

The assets under management fees, commissions, and mark-ups will take 1% - 3% of your assets every year. With an investment horizon of 40 years it's not hard to see how that will erode your growth over time. But it occurs slowly so maybe you won't mind, maybe you'll even feel good about it, because the advisor tells you how well you're doing and how lucky you are to have found him/her.

If you look at the advisor fees and expenses as a percentage of the annual portfolio return it can be 10% - 50%+. If the portfolio gains 7% in a year and your fees/commissions are 2% that ends up being over 28% of return going to the advisor.

How old is the investor and how much of their assets are they willing to lose to cover the advisor fees over their remaining lifetime? An investor under 50 could pay over 50% of their portfolio value in advisor fees over their lifetime. An investor age 70 could still pay over 30% of their portfolio toward fees. Of course some advisors charge higher fees. Regardless of account value you have to realize that you will likely get a "robo" of some kind managing the account. The financial advisor will match you with a template and the computers will take over. Of course the financial advisor will tell you that you're getting a custom account and he's carefully picking the investments. If you were running a financial firm with hundred/th...

URSnshn wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 3:22 pm ... I tested another burner in the same eye and sure enough the repairman appears to be correct - the substitute burner emitted no odor...

Maybe it's just easier to get a permanent replacement burner for the eye. Depending on the stove the cost of a replacement burner might be under $20 but it would vary.

If all you want is stability of principal you can get that with CD's or treasuries. Treasuries are exempt from state income tax, that can make a difference in states with income taxes. Fidelity has a very good auto-rollover on treasuries. The brokered CD's tend to give better rates than local banks. If you want more security than Fidelity or another brokerage you can get an account with TreasuryDirect.gov The treasury direct website is not as easy to use to buy and hold treasuries as a brokerage site like Fidelity.

investingyoung wrote: ↑Sat Mar 04, 2023 3:25 pm ... I would appreciate any guidance and opinion on non-equity options to deploy this capital or alternatively if you think equity is a good option here in my position?...

I would use a High Yield Savings Account (HYSA) at some place like Ally Bank. If you have a taxable brokerage account you can likely buy 6 month treasury bills at auction that yield over 4 1/2%.

You can immediately transition in IRA accounts because buys and sells in them do not have any current tax consequence. You should direct new investments toward your desired holdings. You should stop all dividend re-investments in individual stocks and invest dividend proceeds toward your desired holdings. Consider the tax consequences of your existing holdings before you liquidate them. Depending on how long you have held things your gain/loss on individual holdings may differ widely.

You may save considerable money by renting. If you buy in the VEC and find out in a year or two that you'd rather live somewhere else 24/7 it's a whole lot cheaper to have rented for a couple of years then the buy/sell costs and risks.

Candor wrote: ↑Sat Mar 04, 2023 2:26 pm I do. They make it so convenient I can't resist.

It is so much easier to click then to look for an envelope and find stamps etc.

I believe during the pandemic they had massive problems with organized and disorganized shoplifting that no one really wanted to deal with (bystanders, employees, security, police) so things got weird. At least that was the San Francisco experience at my local Walgreens. Things have remained weird. Now I actively try to avoid Walgreens due to the weirdness. On both of my recent ventures into a Walgreens a homeless-type person decided to skip the cashier line (no one in it) and simply walk out with beer/wine and munchies. Apparently its a routine thing, nobody gets excited, it doesn't raise an eyebrow among staff. Maybe they give video surveillance to the police but maybe not if the culprit is a regular. But the new way of doing business ha...

We used to have everything at Schwab, now about 70% of it is at Fidelity. We moved accounts to Fidelity for better options on handling cash/settlement accounts and better reinvestment handling with treasuries. The accounts we have left at Schwab have been 100% invested so its okay to just let them sit there. I think Schwab became less desirable when they started to reduce the yield on cash in settlement accounts when they converted them to Schwab Bank. I used to tell friends to use Schwab but now my recommendation is Fidelity.

I enjoyed lawn care at the beginning but then business travel started to get in the way. Started to use a lawn service and it's became too convenient to stop.

...Insurance seems to want to issue check in their names (for global settlement) (I assume) allowing them to them pay hospital and doctors...and helicopter...and everyone else.. The insurance company likely wants to do this to simplify things for them and to potentially complicate things for those injured. It's likely a good idea to consult with an attorney who knows the state law and court precedents on similar situations (they won't be the first). There's a mix of hands out for the proceeds, those in the accident with potentially permanent injuries or limitations, property damage repair costs, and medical care providers. I wouldn't be in a rush to pay medical providers if the injured were covered by health insurance. The attorney should ...