Search found 211 matches

by Ready3Retire
Tue Mar 05, 2024 8:55 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Flying to London - Delta or British Airways
Replies: 58
Views: 5432

Re: Flying to London - Delta or British Airways

Check flights from Toronto too. They may be even less expensive than Chicago.
by Ready3Retire
Sun Feb 25, 2024 9:34 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: [On-going Scams - Post them here]
Replies: 1372
Views: 165324

Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

My 92 year old FIL was almost duped out of $10k. He got a phone call saying his granddaughter was in jail and needed $10k for bail. They even put a young crying person on the phone to pretend to be granddaughter. FIL goes to his bank and thankfully told teller what money was for. Teller sent him over to talk to manager who saw the scam. FIL was too embarrassed to tell his kids but bank notified CCRC who told us. BTW, FIL was an Ivy League MBA graduate so no dummy.
by Ready3Retire
Wed Feb 21, 2024 10:24 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Inherited IRA account requirement?
Replies: 14
Views: 846

Re: Inherited IRA account requirement?

In my case, the original IRA was being "managed" by an investment advisor but held at Fidelity. I have no interest in continuing on with the advisor. The inherited IRA was opened at Fidelity and the advisor is currently listed as managing it. Once it gets funded, I plan to remove the advisor from the account. I talked to Fidelity and they said I just need to call them and they can remove the advisor.
by Ready3Retire
Wed Feb 21, 2024 9:53 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Inherited IRA account requirement?
Replies: 14
Views: 846

Re: Inherited IRA account requirement?

That is what I had to do recently (with Fidelity). I currently have accounts at Fidelity and am fine with keeping it there. My brother had to do the same but plans on transferring it to another brokerage once it gets funded.
by Ready3Retire
Mon Jan 29, 2024 1:24 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Thinking of moving to Denver
Replies: 59
Views: 6672

Re: Thinking of moving to Denver

Lived in the Seattle area for 15years - getting depressed every winter due to lack of sunshine. I’ll take sunny 20F I’ve cloud 45F. Just need to put a thick jacket on. :-)
This is exactly why we moved to Colorado recently from northern Michigan. We moved to the "western slope" (west of the continental divide). Since we've been here 4 months now, it has only been cloudy a handful of days. We like it very much so far.
by Ready3Retire
Sun Jan 28, 2024 3:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Distributing assets to beneficiaries after death - Trusts/IRA
Replies: 21
Views: 1205

Re: Distributing assets to beneficiaries after death - Trusts/IRA

Thanks everyone for the condolences and advise. I'll suggest to my older sister/executor that we get a taxation/estate attorney to review next steps. I'll also request her to notify the financial planner to not make any changes going forward.

bsteiner - thank you for the advice to see if we can file an "estate tax return and elect QTIP for the credit shelter trust now. That would throw the assets into the mother's estate". We will ask the tax/estate attorney if that is possible with my fathers trust.

Again, thanks to everyone for the advice!
by Ready3Retire
Sun Jan 28, 2024 1:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Distributing assets to beneficiaries after death - Trusts/IRA
Replies: 21
Views: 1205

Re: Distributing assets to beneficiaries after death

Still, the standard approach is for the current IRA institution to set up inherited IRAs for each beneficiary. Each beneficiary can leave the IRA there or arrange to have it transferred elsewhere and can also decide what to do with the investments. The RMDs, assuming timely setup of the inherited IRAs, will depend on each beneficiary's age. (In addition, for most beneficiaries, the inherited IRA will have to be emptied in 10 years). It is not likely that the executor (or you or the financial planner) can direct the investments in the IRA be sold now because the IRA passes outside the will. Thanks. So is the financial planner legally prevented from taking direction from the executor/trustee to sell holdings prior to distributing the two tru...
by Ready3Retire
Sun Jan 28, 2024 12:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Distributing assets to beneficiaries after death - Trusts/IRA
Replies: 21
Views: 1205

Re: Distributing assets to beneficiaries after death

Parkinglotracer wrote: Sun Jan 28, 2024 12:37 pm Why would one trust have step up basis and the other not? I am learning more about trusts. I’ve been an executor but trusts were not involved.
My understanding is my fathers trust got the stepped up basis back in 2019 when he passed away. So, it doesn't get it now with my mothers passing.
by Ready3Retire
Sun Jan 28, 2024 12:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Distributing assets to beneficiaries after death - Trusts/IRA
Replies: 21
Views: 1205

Re: Distributing assets to beneficiaries after death

Geologist wrote: Sun Jan 28, 2024 12:16 pm My condolences on your loss.

Can I assume you are the executor?

Did the IRA name all five siblings as beneficiaries? If that is the case, then the IRA institution can set up inherited IRA's for the beneficiaries, divide the holdings, and you (as executor) have no role to play.
No, my older sister is the executor. I am trustee on my Mom's trust however. Yes, all 5 are listed as beneficiaries on the IRA. We all get along very well. I am the most financially literate among all the siblings so am looking for the best option to propose to them vs just leaving it up to the financial planner. The financial planner invested in a lot of his firm funds (high cost, not great performance) so I am looking to propose the best option to all.
by Ready3Retire
Sun Jan 28, 2024 12:07 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Distributing assets to beneficiaries after death - Trusts/IRA
Replies: 21
Views: 1205

Distributing assets to beneficiaries after death - Trusts/IRA

My 92 year old mother recently passed away. Her assets include a trust from my father who passed away in 2019 ($2.2M), her IRA ($400k), and her trust ($1.5M). All of these are currently held within Fidelity but managed by a financial planner who charges 80 basis points on AUM (not my preference but done to keep family harmony). The investments include a variety of stocks and mutual funds. These assets will be distributed to me and my 4 sisters. All of us live/lived in states with about a 4% income tax rate. I'd appreciate feedback on how best to distribute her assets. Here are my thoughts: Her Trust ($1.5M): Since her trust gets stepped up basis, sell all stocks/mutual funds and distribute the cash to 5 beneficiaries. Her IRA ($400K): Sell ...
by Ready3Retire
Wed Jan 24, 2024 2:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: VUSXX = 80.6% U.S. Treasury for 2023
Replies: 67
Views: 9738

Re: VUSXX = 80.6% U.S. Treasury for 2023

runr wrote: Wed Jan 24, 2024 12:46 pm These are the % that's state tax exempt and what I held held: VUSXX 80.06%, VMFXX 49.37%, VFIAX 0.41%, VTSAX 0.06%, so when I use Cash App Taxes or FreeTaxUSA when doing the my CA. return, I would put in the dollar amount of dividend earned for VUSXX and also put in that 80.06% is state tax exempt, and repeat the process for other 3 funds?
Where do I find the 49.37% for VMFXX? I don't see it on my 1099. I've got a little over $35K of dividends from VMFXX and a 4% state tax rate so want to make sure I don't pay $700 more in taxes than required. Thanks.
by Ready3Retire
Mon Jan 22, 2024 8:48 am
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: 🎁 🎉Happy 100th Birthday to Taylor Larimore 🎊🎂
Replies: 429
Views: 41882

Re: 🎁 🎉Happy 100th Birthday to Taylor Larimore 🎊🎂

Kathleen - Wow, what a great tribute to Taylor! I too use to sail Lightning sailboats with my father. I believe they are built in Fenton, Michigan (at least that was one manufacturing site).

Happy Birthday Taylor!!!! I always make sure to read your posts that are consistently filled with great advice. Thanks for all you do!
by Ready3Retire
Wed Jan 10, 2024 3:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 3 weeks in Italy - how much cash?
Replies: 14
Views: 1738

Re: 3 weeks in Italy - how much cash?

No reason to do anything different in my view. How have you used the US cash on previous trips? I've always just used the Schwab debit card for Euros and the no transaction fee credit card whereover they take credit cards.
by Ready3Retire
Tue Jan 09, 2024 9:20 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need help rejiggering uber-conservative portfolio
Replies: 27
Views: 4745

Re: Need help rejiggering uber-conservative $3.3M portfolio

Suggest starting by writing out an Investment Policy Statement.

Also, I'm not sure going into ETFs with the idea that they are easier to trade vs mutual funds is a good reason given you should be "staying the course". This is especially relevant since you are making such a dramatic asset allocation change from 95%+ FI to 45% FI.

You may want to consider a slightly more gradual AA change (i.e. 25%/75%, then 6 months later 55%/45%) to make sure you can sleep well at night with the higher stock allocation. You could write this plan in your IPS. Good luck.
by Ready3Retire
Wed Nov 29, 2023 10:17 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Banks with no foreign transaction fees and ATM refunds (that aren’t Schwab or Fidelity)?
Replies: 43
Views: 4323

Re: Banks with no foreign transaction fees and ATM refunds (that aren’t Schwab or Fidelity)?

One more pet peeve with Schwab. I recently did an ACH transfer from a financial institution to Schwab checking. They put a 5-7 business day hold until funds "cleared". I understand holds with checks but never experienced a hold with an ACH transfer.
by Ready3Retire
Fri Aug 18, 2023 11:10 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Continuing Care facilities
Replies: 48
Views: 5368

Re: Continuing Care facilities

As noted above, some CCRCs may have a mid 6 figure entrance fee. However, at least some return 90% of the fee to the heirs after the resident passes. My spouse recently experienced this with a parent who passed after living in a CCRC for 9 years (which they very much enjoyed).
by Ready3Retire
Sun Jun 25, 2023 6:37 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Michigan Vacation Ideas (driving from Chicago to Mackinac Island)
Replies: 51
Views: 4414

Re: Michigan Vacation Ideas (driving from Chicago to Mackinac Island)

Consider Sleeping Bear Dunes National lakeshore. Beautiful dunes and beach.
by Ready3Retire
Thu Jun 22, 2023 5:55 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cheated out of advance seat assignments?
Replies: 124
Views: 13861

Re: Cheated out of advance seat assignments?

I had a somewhat similar experience for my RT flight booked to ZRH this past January for a ski camp trip. I booked it thru United but the eastbound transatlantic leg happened to be a Swissair flight. After booking, I could select my seats for the 3 United legs but not the Swissair leg. I wasn’t worried about luggage because I had just got the Chase United Quest card for 2 free check bags. I thought it was odd that I couldn’t select a seat on the Swissair flight so called them and paid the $35 ( I believe) and wrote it off as a Swissair thing. P.S. the other irritating thing is Swissair didn’t get my skis to me until end of ski day 1. Neither Swissair or Chase Sapphire travel insurance would pay for the cost of the rental skis (carried on m...
by Ready3Retire
Thu Jun 22, 2023 8:58 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cheated out of advance seat assignments?
Replies: 124
Views: 13861

Re: Cheated out of advance seat assignments?

I had a somewhat similar experience for my RT flight booked to ZRH this past January for a ski camp trip. I booked it thru United but the eastbound transatlantic leg happened to be a Swissair flight. After booking, I could select my seats for the 3 United legs but not the Swissair leg. I wasn’t worried about luggage because I had just got the Chase United Quest card for 2 free check bags. I thought it was odd that I couldn’t select a seat on the Swissair flight so called them and paid the $35 ( I believe) and wrote it off as a Swissair thing. P.S. the other irritating thing is Swissair didn’t get my skis to me until end of ski day 1. Neither Swissair or Chase Sapphire travel insurance would pay for the cost of the rental skis (carried on m...
by Ready3Retire
Tue Jun 20, 2023 8:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cheated out of advance seat assignments?
Replies: 124
Views: 13861

Re: Cheated out of advance seat assignments?

I had a somewhat similar experience for my RT flight booked to ZRH this past January for a ski camp trip. I booked it thru United but the eastbound transatlantic leg happened to be a Swissair flight. After booking, I could select my seats for the 3 United legs but not the Swissair leg. I wasn’t worried about luggage because I had just got the Chase United Quest card for 2 free check bags. I thought it was odd that I couldn’t select a seat on the Swissair flight so called them and paid the $35 ( I believe) and wrote it off as a Swissair thing. P.S. the other irritating thing is Swissair didn’t get my skis to me until end of ski day 1. Neither Swissair or Chase Sapphire travel insurance would pay for the cost of the rental skis (carried on my...
by Ready3Retire
Fri Apr 28, 2023 10:45 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Low hanging fruit to lower travel costs?
Replies: 48
Views: 5612

Re: Low hanging fruit to lower travel costs?

Get a Chase Sapphire VISA card and get the current 80k sign up bonus. After you meet $4K spend, this will give you $800 minimum and possibly much more if you transfer points and/or book travel thru Chase travel portal.
by Ready3Retire
Thu Mar 30, 2023 8:27 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Harvesting at zero % capital gains and carryover losses
Replies: 13
Views: 970

Re: Harvesting at zero % capital gains and carryover losses

PizzaEater wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 8:05 am More explicit example:
Assume 12% marginal tax bracket, 0% LTCG, $6,000 in cap losses.
Thanks for the detailed explanation PizzaEater! Much clearer now.
by Ready3Retire
Thu Mar 30, 2023 7:44 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Harvesting at zero % capital gains and carryover losses
Replies: 13
Views: 970

Re: Harvesting at zero % capital gains and carryover losses

funkysi wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 7:26 am Yes our taxable income will be below the 83k ish limit for mfj so we can tax gain harvest at 0% up to that limit. We have carryover losses of around 14k from 22 so I guess my question is, can we use those losses from 22 towards ordinary income if we harvest no more gains this year?
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the 0% tax on capital gains and carry forward losses situation too. I’m in this situation this year as well. My understanding is in your case, if you had $20k of capital gain space that could be at 0% tax, you would need to generate $14k+$20k=$34k of gains this year to take advantage of 0% tax on the $20k. Anyone who has a better understanding of taxes, please correct me if this is incorrect.
by Ready3Retire
Mon Mar 20, 2023 9:17 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: House Buying Question
Replies: 11
Views: 1287

Re: House Buying Question

stan1 wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 7:57 am
Ready3Retire wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 7:47 am
adamthesmythe wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 1:01 pm Most places the typical total commission is 5%.

In order to get your 2.5%, you need to either convince the seller to drop the price OR you need to convince the seller's agent to alter his agreement with the seller.

Give it a try and let us know how it works.
I think the commission varies by state and price. I sold my house in Michigan 2 years ago and it was 6%. Thanks.
Another option for you might be a rebating agent if that's legal in your state. You'd use a realtor of your choosing who does this (it is not common) and you'd get 1-2% back at close of sale.
Thanks, I’ll look into that.
by Ready3Retire
Mon Mar 20, 2023 7:48 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: House Buying Question
Replies: 11
Views: 1287

Re: House Buying Question

Sho wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 2:39 pm I tried , it doesn’t work as I thought it would
No Realtor wanted to give half of their commission towards
The price

Some of them , immediately sent their partners for viewing quoting their fiduciary duty

Some of them tried to sneak in buyer’s contract with the offer

Good luck to you
Thanks.
by Ready3Retire
Mon Mar 20, 2023 7:47 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: House Buying Question
Replies: 11
Views: 1287

Re: House Buying Question

adamthesmythe wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 1:01 pm Most places the typical total commission is 5%.

In order to get your 2.5%, you need to either convince the seller to drop the price OR you need to convince the seller's agent to alter his agreement with the seller.

Give it a try and let us know how it works.
I think the commission varies by state and price. I sold my house in Michigan 2 years ago and it was 6%. Thanks.
by Ready3Retire
Mon Mar 20, 2023 7:43 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: House Buying Question
Replies: 11
Views: 1287

Re: House Buying Question

In this scenario, seems like you'd approach the listing (seller's) agent, have that agent show you the property, and if you like it start negotiating the price and sales commission. Tell the seller's agent you do not have a realtor; they will know what you are doing if they have any experience. You or your attorney would be working with the listing agent not the seller. As you say, the price for a house listed with a realtor will already have the buyer agent's commission priced into it with their contract to the realtor, so you'll need to convince the seller to give you the 2.5% or 3% back. Some sellers will be willing to give you all of it, some will give you none, and others will want to split it. The seller cannot do a unilateral modifi...
by Ready3Retire
Mon Mar 20, 2023 6:41 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Title of ownership to a newly built house
Replies: 5
Views: 806

Re: Title of ownership to a newly built house

Check with the building department for the city or county where the property is located. They will have information on required permits and issuing what is often called Certificate of Occupancy. They should be able to explain how/when you get the title.
by Ready3Retire
Sun Mar 19, 2023 11:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: House Buying Question
Replies: 11
Views: 1287

House Buying Question

Question for real estate agents/attorneys or anyone that has real estate experience on purchasing a house without using a buyer’s real estate agent. I’m planning to find a house on my own using Zillow, etc. I would make an all-cash offer using a real estate attorney in lieu of using a buyer agent. The offer could specify that it is ~3% lower than otherwise and that I would not be using a buyer’s real estate agent but rather a real estate attorney. I would obviously pay the attorney out of pocket. This would ensure that the attorney is looking out for my best interests vs a buyer agent who is motivated for the deal to go thru so they get paid. I figure with a 3% savings (e.g., $24K on $800K house), I could pay a real estate attorney and stil...
by Ready3Retire
Sun Mar 12, 2023 7:57 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Trying to understand dividends
Replies: 19
Views: 2161

Re: Trying to understand dividends

In short, I've been wondering if advisors getting paid for 'assets under management', in aggregate, drives down the price of quality, dividend bearing stocks (hence often making them a value purchase). At least in the client accumulation phase, anyone charging based on AUM would be incentivized away from dividends (e.g. if the market cap of your portfolio is 1 m, and your manager charges 50 basis points, they get get 5k / year. But if the market cap of your portfolio is 900k and you get 100k in dividends, they get paid 4,500 / year.). Perhaps this is a structural/behavioral reason for DIY investors to overweight dividend/value stocks? Perhaps you are not understanding that even if the dividends are not reinvested and sweep into a money mar...
by Ready3Retire
Sat Mar 11, 2023 6:17 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Lawyer fee to settle estate
Replies: 61
Views: 7207

Re: Lawyer fee to settle estate

Sorry for your loss. Based on a recent similar situation, that fee seems way excessive. The situation I am familiar with involves a $3M estate with a trust and probate (some accounts were not linked to trust). The lawyer fees for the first 7 months have been $8k. Expect $2k more before fully settled. So, nowhere near 2%/$60k.
by Ready3Retire
Sun Mar 05, 2023 8:10 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best way to get a new smart phone
Replies: 60
Views: 5485

Re: Best way to get a new smart phone

uaeebs86 wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 6:44 pm
Kenkat wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 6:08 pm
uaeebs86 wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 6:02 pm
Ready3Retire wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 5:57 pm Agree with prior Verizon advice to check on line. Also, I was recently offered a $20 monthly discount off my Verizon bill for being over 55 years old. I was delighted the nice agent offered this to me. I wish I knew about this 7 years ago when I turned 55. 😠 You may want to inquire about this.
I think this is only available if you live in Florida.
I am receiving this discount and I live in Ohio.

Is it something different than this?

https://www.verizon.com/plans/55plus/#planEligible
Yes, yours appears to be a Florida only discount.
by Ready3Retire
Sat Mar 04, 2023 8:18 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best way to get a new smart phone
Replies: 60
Views: 5485

Re: Best way to get a new smart phone

uaeebs86 wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 6:02 pm
Ready3Retire wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 5:57 pm Agree with prior Verizon advice to check on line. Also, I was recently offered a $20 monthly discount off my Verizon bill for being over 55 years old. I was delighted the nice agent offered this to me. I wish I knew about this 7 years ago when I turned 55. 😠 You may want to inquire about this.
I think this is only available if you live in Florida.
I live in Michigan.
by Ready3Retire
Sat Mar 04, 2023 5:57 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best way to get a new smart phone
Replies: 60
Views: 5485

Re: Best way to get a new smart phone

Agree with prior Verizon advice to check on line. Also, I was recently offered a $20 monthly discount off my Verizon bill for being over 55 years old. I was delighted the nice agent offered this to me. I wish I knew about this 7 years ago when I turned 55. 😠 You may want to inquire about this.
by Ready3Retire
Tue Jan 31, 2023 12:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pension and Roth confusion
Replies: 6
Views: 707

Re: Pension and Roth confusion

I looked at my 2022 CY pension 1099-R and there is an amount in box 5. It represents the non taxable portion of my yearly pension. While working, I paid a monthly after-tax amount to the pension (i.e. contributory). The amount in box 5 is just the difference between Box 1 and box 2. Not sure if this helps you but your post caused me to look at my 1099-R.

While I was working and earned too much to contribute to a Roth IRA, I did contribute to the Roth 401K. Perhaps that is what the $90K represents. If so, you should be able to roll it over to a Roth IRA.
by Ready3Retire
Mon Mar 28, 2022 4:39 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: At Long Last, My Tax-Loss Harvesting Opportunity Has Arrived
Replies: 34
Views: 4768

Re: At Long Last, My Tax-Loss Harvesting Opportunity Has Arrived

You could use VTEAX (Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index) instead of a MM for 31 days.
by Ready3Retire
Mon Mar 28, 2022 4:23 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Are There Any Practical Benefits to Paying Off a Mortgage Before Selling?
Replies: 16
Views: 2144

Re: Are There Any Practical Benefits to Paying Off a Mortgage Before Selling?

I did this last year prior to selling my house. No issues. If you do this, suggest doing it at least 2-3 months prior to sale. This will allow time for your lender to send the lien release to your city/county to show you own the house outright. You’ll also want to request a Discharge of Mortgage document from your Register of Deeds for your records.
by Ready3Retire
Fri Feb 11, 2022 2:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How should we negotiate a possible all-cash offer for our home before it is listed?
Replies: 29
Views: 3639

Re: How should we negotiate a possible all-cash offer for our home before it is listed?

Unless the realtor is offering to drop their commission to 3% or less, there is no advantage to forego the bidding process. We sold our house last July and got 3 offers in 3 days ranging from $10k-$20k over ask. We sold for $495k.

BTW, don’t accept offers until a week or so after the showing begins. This way, you’ll likely have multiple offers and will know the market price. May want to also state in listing that escalation clauses will not be accepted. This will draw out best and final offers.
by Ready3Retire
Wed Jan 19, 2022 6:37 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Your favorite restaurants in New Orleans?
Replies: 28
Views: 2470

Re: Your favorite restaurants in New Orleans?

Shaya on Magazine St was our favorite when we were there over Christmas. It's Mediterranean with a southern influence.
by Ready3Retire
Thu Jan 06, 2022 4:58 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Living off 401k distributions in early retirement and NOT doing ROTH conversions.
Replies: 21
Views: 2000

Re: Living off 401k distributions in early retirement and NOT doing ROTH conversions.

It would be interesting to see the two scenarios run out using one of the online tools. It sure seems like it wouldn’t be that radically more expensive if you keep all your tax efficient funds in after tax (e.g. 99% qualified dividends Total Stock Index), and all your tax inefficient funds like bonds in IRA/401K as you draw it down.
by Ready3Retire
Mon Jan 03, 2022 5:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Things to look for in Dental Insurance when retired
Replies: 40
Views: 4537

Re: Things to look for in Dental Insurance when retired

2. If you are retired/self-employed, budget a set amount each year for your dental needs. Pay out of pocket -- most dentists have a cash discount. I recommend having a budget of $2000/yr if you are over 50 for your dental needs. Thanks for the advice pappupager! I recently concluded the same thing after reviewing my 2022 dental coverage ($360 annual premium, $75 deductible, and only $750 max coverage per year). Dental insurance is arguably just a prepaid discount program. The only benefit to the patient I see is the lower negotiated rate the dentist agrees to with the insurance companies (e.g. $370 charge for service X but agrees to do for $170 negotiated rate). BTW, the same situation exists with Vision plans as well. I'm paying for both ...
by Ready3Retire
Thu Oct 07, 2021 5:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What is your cell phone bill for a family of 4 grown-ups?
Replies: 118
Views: 11309

Re: What is your cell phone bill for a family of 4 grown-ups?

Our bill for 4 lines unlimited talk/text/data with Verizon is $147 net of device payments. Total bill is currenlty $225 but the 3 device payments will drop off in the next several months dropping the bill to the $147.
by Ready3Retire
Fri Jul 23, 2021 3:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Seller’s Title Insurance Palm Bch Cty Florida
Replies: 12
Views: 1038

Re: Seller’s Title Insurance Palm Bch Cty Florida

I believe the purpose of title insurance is to warrant that the title is free and clear of any liens, etc. It was likely part of the Purchase Agreement from the prospective buyer that the seller pay for this while they pay the lenders title insurance. I'm in the process of selling a house and my agent was moving forward with their "in house" title insurer. There is the title policy cost (mine was ~$3K), and also a cost for facilitating the closing (mine was $525). I saw on line that there is often a discount if you use the insurer who previously issued the title policy to you. So, I found my old paperwork and called the company that I originally purchased title insurance from 23 yrs ago. They explained that in my state, the cost ...
by Ready3Retire
Fri Jul 23, 2021 7:59 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Seller’s Title Insurance Palm Bch Cty Florida
Replies: 12
Views: 1038

Re: Seller’s Title Insurance Palm Bch Cty Florida

I believe the purpose of title insurance is to warrant that the title is free and clear of any liens, etc. It was likely part of the Purchase Agreement from the prospective buyer that the seller pay for this while they pay the lenders title insurance. I'm in the process of selling a house and my agent was moving forward with their "in house" title insurer. There is the title policy cost (mine was ~$3K), and also a cost for facilitating the closing (mine was $525). I saw on line that there is often a discount if you use the insurer who previously issued the title policy to you. So, I found my old paperwork and called the company that I originally purchased title insurance from 23 yrs ago. They explained that in my state, the cost o...
by Ready3Retire
Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:54 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What to do with Bonds?
Replies: 26
Views: 2271

Re: What to do with Bonds?

My US Bond Index Fund (Fido FXNAX) is at an 8 month low right now. When I rebalanced, since my Asset Allocation was off by 2%, the result was I bought a good amount of bonds (~$70K) at yesterday's close.
by Ready3Retire
Thu Dec 24, 2020 8:47 am
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Roll Call for the Retirement Class of 2020!
Replies: 318
Views: 70839

Re: Roll Call for the Retirement Class of 2020!

Well, I've been jealously watching these Roll Call threads the last several years and now I can finally post! I'm planning to retire Dec 31, 2020 from MegaCorp after 32 1/2 years there. I'll be just over 60 years old. My wife plans to stop working at the same time as I do. Our plan is to then move out west where I hope to be a ski bum for a season. After that, if we like it, we'll stay. If not, we'll head back to the Mid West. I wrote this post a year and a half ago. Since that time, I changed my plan and decided to work One More Year... until my MegaCorp offered a package to encourage retirement elgible people to leave this year (75% pay for 2021). That was enough for me to revert to my original plan of retiring this year. Today is my fir...