Search found 425 matches

by Dantes
Tue Feb 27, 2024 7:59 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Pinot Noir on the lower end?
Replies: 96
Views: 10213

Re: Pinot Noir on the lower end?

I like pinot noir as well, but find Cote Du Rhone just as agreeable. Right now Trader Joe has Famille Perrin Cote Du Rhone for something like $8, and I really like it; I prefer to over the kirkland pinot ( and merlot which is also quite good) which cost dollars more. So I guess drinking it is the "frugal thing I am doing today".
by Dantes
Mon Feb 19, 2024 10:25 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Should I exclude LMP/TIPS ladder from portfolio tracking?
Replies: 43
Views: 2546

Re: Should I exclude LMP/TIPS ladder from portfolio tracking?

If I have a LMP/TIPS ladder should I track the value of my portfolio as a whole or should treat the LMP/TIPS ladder like SS and just track the Risk Portfolio and its AA? I ask because if held to maturity, which is the plan with a LMP, the ladder will just throw off X today's dollars at maturity so I know what I am going to get and all the variation in value in real terms will be in the Risk Portfolio. I hope the question makes sense. I suppose you could go either way, track it, or not. Since the fluctuation in value of your holdings will presumably be driven by the risk portfolio I would imagine that would become apparent if you split it out. Tracking the LMP seems like you'd be tracking inflation, no? Regards, Should be, which means it wi...
by Dantes
Thu Feb 15, 2024 8:58 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: H&R Block 2023 SSA/1099 Withholding?
Replies: 19
Views: 2916

Re: H&R Block 2023 SSA/1099 Withholding?

Meanwhile, I switched to freetaxusa. It handles Estate K-1's with box 14 code I, REIT dividends, it now supports allocating a portion of the dividends to IBonds, and in general seemed to flow pretty well. No obvious issues like the 1099B issue reported above. I haven't pushed the button to submit yet but so far so good.
by Dantes
Thu Feb 08, 2024 10:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: H&R Block 2023 SSA/1099 Withholding?
Replies: 19
Views: 2916

Re: H&R Block 2023 SSA/1099 Withholding?

I see the same as well. Hard to imagine how that could not be a really basic error. Combined with popup windows that will not relinquish focus, and the handling of K1s, I am seriously thinking of using different software.

There is an update due Feb 9th.
by Dantes
Wed Feb 07, 2024 8:24 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Section 199A Dividends
Replies: 30
Views: 3284

Re: Section 199A Dividends

Use tax software. It is much more accurate than asking random strangers on the internet. This. And if you have any minor complexity in your investments such as section 199A dividends, you just enter the 1099 as received as the tax software does the rest such as it including 8995 without any additional action on your part. I am amazed how many people want to do it all by hand spending hours that a mere $50 investment in tax software will save them and do it more accurately. The reason for my question is that the tax software - H&R Block Deluxe - does not handle the case of a K1 reporting Section 199A dividends via an entry in Box 14 Code I. You entered amounts in Box 14 with Code I. This code reports info for the qualified business inco...
by Dantes
Tue Feb 06, 2024 6:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Section 199A Dividends
Replies: 30
Views: 3284

Re: Section 199A Dividends

Another year and the same issue with H&R Block not handling Section 199A income reported in a K1, box 14, Code I. I have overpaid my taxes this year so we can get a 5K IBond with our tax refund, and I do not want to make an error that will mess that up because of a $48 of REIT dividends reported in a statement accompanying the K1. The form 8995 that the software has generated has a small amount of business income from two Schedule C's that I filled out. On Line 6 of the 8995 it contains the sum of section 199a dividends reported on our 1099-DIVs. This amount has nothing to do with the schedule C income. I suppose I can, as others have indicated, create a dummy 1099-DIV using $48 for Total Dividends and for 199A dividends, but seems like...
by Dantes
Sat Feb 03, 2024 10:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is Everyone's Info Really on the Dark Web?
Replies: 25
Views: 3359

Re: Is Everyone's Info Really on the Dark Web?

What difference does it make if some monitoring service tells you your information is or is not on the "dark web"? It's reasonable and prudent to assume that information about you is available, or will be some day, and take steps to lock down your accounts.

Most warnings come from sources that want you to pay them to provide some vague services. I wonder how money lost to the "dark web" compares to the money spent on what passes for protective services.
by Dantes
Fri Feb 02, 2024 1:52 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: First time Amtrak train ride. Is there anything I should know?
Replies: 36
Views: 4966

Re: First time Amtrak train ride. Is there anything I should know?

I just got off the Southwest Chief. Some comments posted I can not understand. The food was very good, and for us there was too much of it, not too little. We were a few hours late into LA from Chicago, no big deal for us, but difficult for those who had connections to make. Upper bunks feel confined to me. In sections the tracks cause noise and swaying - there are places where you have to be careful walking on the trains. In a family room you will only have reason to go to the diner car and the observation car, which have always been close to the sleepers in the four or five times I have made that trip. The behavior of your fellow travels is luck-of-the-draw. Staff has always been acceptable, but some teams work together better than others...
by Dantes
Thu Jan 25, 2024 11:23 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA account help me understand
Replies: 8
Views: 782

Re: TIAA account help me understand

TIAA offers various types of annuities - that is very likely to be what they are referring to. You can annuitize all, some, or none, all at once or staggered. As annuities go theirs are pretty good. I have never known annuitizing to be compulsory, but their terms do vary by employer contract. You can also, at least after separation, roll over liquid portions into accounts at other investment companies.
by Dantes
Wed Jan 24, 2024 4:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Just got laid off
Replies: 120
Views: 15989

Re: Just got laid off

If you have interaction with any other departments make sure they know you are being laid off - I was in higher ed, and in the two universities where I worked it was fairly common for other groups to pick up laid off workers - very institution-specific of course, and it was because they had domain knowledge. The advice to get a copy of your HR file is good.

I can't believe two weeks - at some point you should let the world know what institution this is, I sure wouldn't want to work there.
by Dantes
Fri Jan 12, 2024 4:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Traditional Annuity Payment Increases (Decreases)
Replies: 9
Views: 1206

Re: TIAA Traditional Annuity Payment Increases (Decreases)

I believe they had general announcements of 5% for 2022 and 3% for 2023. Which is what DW got with her annuity. I have always assumed they were consistent across annuities, but this is a good question - I am not certain.

Looking at or records, with 2015 the first complete year receiving the annuity:
In 2016 +0.91%
In 2017 no change
In 2018 +1.19%
In 2019 no change
In 2020 +1.05%
In 2021 no change
In 2022 + 5%
in 2023 + 3%.
In 2024 no change

If someone experienced different changes - particularly since 2020 - that would provide some kind of answer.
by Dantes
Wed Jan 03, 2024 5:10 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: To those of you who slice and dice your bond allocation, what do you like other than BND?
Replies: 55
Views: 15923

Re: To those of you who slice and dice your bond allocation, what do you like other than BND?

I am about 50% total bond fund. I also use individual TIPS, which I plan to add to year by year for the next few years, and FCBFX, Fidelity Corporate Bond Fund, an active fund with an expense ration of 0.45%, which earns its keep.
by Dantes
Sat Dec 30, 2023 6:37 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TIAA Increases, How Does This Work
Replies: 46
Views: 4685

Re: TIAA Increases, How Does This Work

Leesbro63 wrote: Sat Dec 30, 2023 6:09 am I’m the original poster reviving this thread. My mom’s January payment posted to her bank account today and it’s the same amount as before. I see no increase. Yet I read stuff where TIAA was proclaiming an historically high 8.2% payout and the increase is greater than the 3% from last year.

What going on here?
The 8.2% is for people annuitizing in 2024. For people with an existing TIAA annuity based on TIAA Traditional there is no change for 2024 - which is a bit of a disappointment since the last two years saw increases of 5% and 3% in DW's annuity.
by Dantes
Tue Dec 26, 2023 6:58 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What are you listening to now
Replies: 5802
Views: 574800

Re: What are you listening to now

Mal Waldron - a great jazz pianist and composer. I have just two of his albums - First Encounter ( with Gary Peacock on bass and Hiroshi Murakami on drums. and Mal 81 , different lineup, both trios, and excellent. We have listened to these at least half a dozen times each over the last week. He had a hundred releases as leader, so I have a long way to go.
by Dantes
Thu Dec 14, 2023 4:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Selling portion taxable portfolio to pay off mortgage
Replies: 11
Views: 1593

Re: Selling portion taxable portfolio to pay off mortgage

If the balance is 2% of your portfolio then just use dividends to pay it off. If dividends are already spoken for then look at your investment allocations, the potential for capital gains, and your taxes. Bus as has been said, it doesn't really matter, because its a small percentage. Thanks for your reply. Can you please point me where I can read about how to consider these "your investment allocations, the potential for capital gains, and your taxes"? For instance, by investment allocation do you mean % bonds vs. % equities? Also, how do I elucidate capital gains by reading the statement directly? I work with my CPA for the tax question but wanted to have an idea before meeting with her. Yes by allocation I meant % bonds - % equ...
by Dantes
Tue Dec 12, 2023 4:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Selling portion taxable portfolio to pay off mortgage
Replies: 11
Views: 1593

Re: Selling portion taxable portfolio to pay off mortgage

If the balance is 2% of your portfolio then just use dividends to pay it off. If dividends are already spoken for then look at your investment allocations, the potential for capital gains, and your taxes. Bus as has been said, it doesn't really matter, because its a small percentage.
by Dantes
Sun Dec 10, 2023 11:08 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What Tactical action steps before retiring you suggest?
Replies: 33
Views: 2838

Re: What Tactical action steps before retiring you suggest?

eugeneD wrote: Sun Dec 10, 2023 9:21 am
4. Anything else I should consider before terminating my relationship with my employer?
Where I worked, working one day into a month got me one more month of employee benefits - including health insurance and a month's accrual of vacation time, which I then got compensation for. Obviously employer-specific, but worth checking on.
by Dantes
Mon Nov 27, 2023 7:20 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: RMD and IRMAA
Replies: 37
Views: 4147

Re: RMD and IRMAA

Dufus wrote: Mon Nov 27, 2023 7:05 am Don't forget that IRMAA calculations are based on returns for 2 years prior (sometimes 3). So if you go on Medicare next year, IRMAA will be based on last years MAGI.

Does anyone know if the tax-exempt interest used to calculate IRMAA includes ROTH interest?
What happens in the Roth account stays in the Roth account. It does not impact reported income.
by Dantes
Thu Oct 26, 2023 6:29 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What's the mechanism for paying Roth conversion taxes from the conversion itself?
Replies: 12
Views: 1620

Re: What's the mechanism for paying Roth conversion taxes from the conversion itself?

Like another poster above, when I did Roth conversions at Fidelity - a few years ago - tax withholding was part of the process.

In any case there is going to be a final screen to confirm or cancel the conversion. So it should be easy to review the entire process.
by Dantes
Fri Oct 20, 2023 6:56 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Quality men's leather belt?
Replies: 44
Views: 3693

Re: Quality men's leather belt?

I get leather belts from LL Bean - like the "Men's Chino Belt " - around $50. I tend to wear the same belt every day and they last for years - certainly at least five years.
by Dantes
Sun Oct 15, 2023 7:39 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Blackrock Retirement Income Guide
Replies: 48
Views: 8098

Re: Blackrock Retirement Income Guide

While I am sure it would depend on the specifics, as a general matter wouldn't taking the funds that would have been used for the SPIA in this study and buying a TIPs ladder serve the same purpose but with a better result, in most cases? I have read that a TIPs ladder is essentially like an SPIA that is set up by the individual, rather than bought from a life insurance company, in the sense that it does provide a guaranteed income stream. Assuming you are alive at the end of the ladder, you reinvest (some risk on income, I guess, but you eliminate the risk of insurance company failure) and if you die early the assets are still available for your heirs. Not mentioned by Blackrock but why would that strategy not be better in most cases? Thes...
by Dantes
Sun Oct 01, 2023 8:00 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Expected return for holding TIPS as a portfolio asset
Replies: 65
Views: 12675

Re: Projecting the nominal return on your TIPS purchase

I would have thought the point of the original post was to assess the chances of TIPS having returns in the same range as equity. And looking at inflation results in the rolling periods is interesting and makes it seem possible. Looking at it from the opposite side, according to https://www.worlddata.info/america/usa/inflation-rates.php#:~:text=During%20the%20observation%20period%20from,year%20inflation%20rate%20was%203.7%25. the average inflation rate in the US from 1960 to 2020 was 3.8%. Add a couple of percent and you're getting within striking distance. So it doesn't seem absurd. As for the Fed not having a target of 2% until the nineties - did they want a higher rate? Was it achievable but they chose to work to keep inflation higher?
by Dantes
Mon Sep 18, 2023 4:46 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Looking for Tall T-Shirts
Replies: 20
Views: 1906

Re: Looking for Tall T-Shirts

I need tall sizes, and have used LL Bean's for decades. For white T-Shirts (undershirts) Jockey Tall work for me.
by Dantes
Wed Sep 06, 2023 6:21 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best way to store physical gold Jewellary
Replies: 28
Views: 2683

Re: Best way to store physical gold Jewellary

If you have a lot of books then hollowing out the inside of a book is a good choice for accessible storage. And you can amuse yourself by picking appropriate titles.
by Dantes
Wed Aug 30, 2023 5:06 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How Best To Buy TIPS As A 40 Year Old
Replies: 46
Views: 4355

Re: How Best To Buy TIPS As A 40 Year Old

Individual TIPS are more convenient in tax deferred; when held in taxable I believe there are issues with the interest that accrues due to inflation adjustments - you don't receive it but you owe taxes on it.
by Dantes
Wed Aug 30, 2023 6:48 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Who is your favorite classical composer?
Replies: 156
Views: 13347

Re: Who is your favorite classical composer?

The word "favorite" does not seem quite right, but the composers I have been most intensely interested in have varied over time. Brahms, in earlier days, because his works seemed dense and perfect - characteristics that I am not as interested in now. Liszt - an extremely varied composer. His sonata, particularly, achieves so much using so little. There is a fascinating 3 volume biography of him by Alan Walker. I think Alfred Brendel, in response to an interviewer's question, said that Liszt was the composer he would most like to have dinner with. Shostakovich. And to add another book recommendation, "Shostakovich - A Life Remembered", by Elizabeth Wilson - its basically a collection of reminiscences by Shostakovich's con...
by Dantes
Tue Jul 18, 2023 6:20 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRS Form 709 question when paying off mortgage
Replies: 4
Views: 617

Re: IRS Form 709 question when paying off mortgage

fourwheelcycle wrote: Mon Jul 17, 2023 8:15 am I'll say you are fine w/o submitting any 709 forms. Let's see if others say I am wrong.

I think the IRS says gifts by spouses from joint accounts are considered joint gifts. So if you wrote one $50K check to the bank from your joint account, to pay-off a jointly held mortgage, you gave two people gifts of $25K each, which is less than the annual exclusion of $34K for joint gifts by spouses to a single individual. I do not think you need to submit Form 709 for gifts that are less than or equal to the annual exclusion.
Thank you. I think that would indicate that a check from a joint account was already divided between the two donors without a formal consent to split. Which certainly seems reasonable to me.
by Dantes
Mon Jul 17, 2023 7:46 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRS Form 709 question when paying off mortgage
Replies: 4
Views: 617

IRS Form 709 question when paying off mortgage

Earlier this year DW and I paid off a family member's mortgage - $50,000 - with a check from our joint checking account. The mortgage was held jointly by the family member and their spouse. We wrote one check to the bank holding the mortgage. 1. Because the mortgage was held jointly, can or must this gift be reported as if it was gifts of $25,000 each to the two mortgage holders? 2. If DW and I split the gift and report it as half to family member and half to spouse, then it is essentialy four gifts of $12,500 each. I believe if that is the case then only I need file a 709, which DW signs as spouse consenting to split? I think this would fall under Exception 1 of "When the consenting spouse must also file a gift return": Only one ...
by Dantes
Fri Jul 14, 2023 6:06 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Stocks, Bonds, Taxable, and Tax Deferred Accounts
Replies: 5
Views: 630

Re: Stocks, Bonds, Taxable, and Tax Deferred Accounts

I think it would be relatively unusual for all stocks to be in taxable and all bonds in tax-deferred. There are plenty of people who have only tax-deferred investments, and so al their investments are tax-deferred. If your asset allocation was 60% stocks and 40% bonds, and 60% of your investments were taxable and 40% tax deferred then you could be all stocks in taxable and all bonds in tax deferred if you wanted to. I would not do that myself. Many people emphasize bonds in tax deferred because they want to have at least some bonds and they have to go somewhere; they expect bonds to have slower growth than stocks, and they would prefer growth to be concentrated on taxable; that reduces their eventual required minimum distributions. I would ...
by Dantes
Sun Jun 25, 2023 5:26 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Traditional- TPA (Transfer Payout Annuity) Questions
Replies: 25
Views: 2563

Re: TIAA Traditional- TPA (Transfer Payout Annuity) Questions

There are many small variations in employer contracts with TIAA. However, I will note that I converted all my non-Traditional investments at TIAA into a money market fund and then rolled that over to an outside IRA without particular difficulty other than TIAA insisting at the time that it be pushed by TIAA rather than pulled by Fidelity. This included CREF and the real estate fund. And I think they required a letter from Fidelity before they (TIAA) would push. This was probably 2016.I have found dealings with TIAA to be greatly improved the past few years. The only investment that required the 10 year payout was Traditional. I am in my eighth year; my rough calculations show about a 4% interest rate being paid on the balance.I direct the ...
by Dantes
Sat Jun 24, 2023 1:35 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Traditional- TPA (Transfer Payout Annuity) Questions
Replies: 25
Views: 2563

Re: TIAA Traditional- TPA (Transfer Payout Annuity) Questions

There are many small variations in employer contracts with TIAA. However, I will note that I converted all my non-Traditional investments at TIAA into a money market fund and then rolled that over to an outside IRA without particular difficulty other than TIAA insisting at the time that it be pushed by TIAA rather than pulled by Fidelity. This included CREF and the real estate fund. And I think they required a letter from Fidelity before they (TIAA) would push. This was probably 2016.I have found dealings with TIAA to be greatly improved the past few years. The only investment that required the 10 year payout was Traditional. I am in my eighth year; my rough calculations show about a 4% interest rate being paid on the balance.I direct the f...
by Dantes
Fri Jun 16, 2023 7:24 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Capital gains tax confusion.
Replies: 30
Views: 2382

Re: Capital gains tax confusion.

Any capital gains when depend upon when you purchased it (or otherwise obtained it). It is currently lower than it was in 2018, so , as an example, if you had purchased in 2018 capital gains would not be mostly non-existent. You should start by finding out what your cost basis is.

Bu the way, I see that has a very hefty front-load expense. Now that will help with capital gains!
by Dantes
Sun May 21, 2023 6:35 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Where do I find realized 2023 capital gains on Vanguard’s website?
Replies: 2
Views: 810

Re: Where do I find realized 2023 capital gains on Vanguard’s website?

For a summarized view: 1. Click on "My Accounts" 2. Click on "Tax Forms and Information" 3" Click on "Your year-to-date tax activity".

For a more detailed view: 1. Click on"My Accounts 2: Click on "Dividends & Capital Gains" in the "Gains & Losses" Column. My default view on this screen is the current quarter, but it can be set to year to date.
by Dantes
Wed Apr 05, 2023 4:40 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Metal wine racks?
Replies: 13
Views: 1381

Re: Metal wine racks?

I just got a 72-bottle wooden wine wrack - pieces are interlocking. It was a bit over $100. Made by Decomil, 8 tier, I got it at Amazon. Very sturdy, wood is probably bamboo. Cost works out of about 1.50 a bottle. The more bottles you go through the more economical the rack becomes. Cool. Are they stackable to any custom height? 41" is too low for me. I have an 80" ceiling. Could I stack an 8-tier 41" plus a 7-tier on top of it? This assumes I secure it to the wall for stability. I'm not sure. They fit together, the pieces are slotted, so in a sense they are infinitely stackable. Each row is two side pieces and two cross pieces, so I don't think they could be secured to a wall. If I wanted to double up, I would put two study...
by Dantes
Tue Apr 04, 2023 2:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Metal wine racks?
Replies: 13
Views: 1381

Re: Metal wine racks?

I just got a 72-bottle wooden wine wrack - pieces are interlocking. It was a bit over $100. Made by Decomil, 8 tier, I got it at Amazon. Very sturdy, wood is probably bamboo. Cost works out of about 1.50 a bottle. The more bottles you go through the more economical the rack becomes.
by Dantes
Thu Mar 09, 2023 6:59 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What Movie Have You Recently Watched?
Replies: 11037
Views: 2066497

Re: What Movie Have You Recently Watched?

A couple of weeks ago, I watched The Palm Beach Story on TCM with Mary Astor, Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea and Rudy Vallee. I'm not a big fan of "screwball comedies" of that era but this one was cute and had a surprise ending. I'd had a hard day and it was fun. It's #77 in the American Film Institute's top 100 laughs. Try the other Preston Sturges films of the early 1940s. Think: Woody Allen's later comedy films - if Allen had been raised in Middle America during the early 1900's. He had an astonishing streak of 5 or 6 bright flicks that are unlike anything else in Hollywood at the time; only one a "clunker" - "The Great Moment" (about the discovery of anesthesia. :oops: Well, everybody's allowed a miss ...)...
by Dantes
Sun Jan 29, 2023 8:40 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What’s Your 2023 Budget?
Replies: 201
Views: 26117

Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Retired, marriedm MCOL area, house paid for, one car also paid for.

Monthly budget $5950. That includes hefty allocations for bumpy expenses - travel, automobile, gifts, and so on.

Social Security, if only medicare was withheld, would be $6115. Why oh why did I ever save?
by Dantes
Fri Jan 27, 2023 6:07 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Performance of TIPS ETFs
Replies: 12
Views: 1093

Re: Performance of TIPS ETFs

So the answer to the OP's question is: no you can not expect a TIP ETF to keep up with inflation. The best you can say for VTIP is that it did a bit better than an intermediate-term TIP fund (such as iShares TIPS), and quite a bit better than a long-term tip fund. And, over that period a bit better than BND as well. All that is as of this particular moment in time.

If you had bought an actual 10-year TIP and kept it for its duration, however, you would have kept up with inflation.
by Dantes
Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:03 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Performance of TIPS ETFs
Replies: 12
Views: 1093

Re: Performance of TIPS ETFs

dbr wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 4:53 pm

A TIPS fund is at term risk meaning it is possible to lose money, nominal or real after any particular rise in yields. This is the same as for any marketable bonds and funds of marketable bonds. To minimize term risk one buys the shortest duration available, but that is not a guarantee. To have no term risk one buys a bond that is not marketable, namely I bonds, which recently offered 0.4% real, up from 0.0% real. If the purchase limits are too restrictive then there is nothing else at hand.
But TIPS have such a low coupon, and the range of rates is so narrow.
by Dantes
Thu Jan 26, 2023 4:53 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Performance of TIPS ETFs
Replies: 12
Views: 1093

Re: Performance of TIPS ETFs

This seems like a good question. I don't know the answer.

The best I could do was look for a 10 year tip that is about to mature. Fidelity has
CUSIP 912828VM9 Issued 7/31/2013, maturing 7/15/2023.

It has an adjusted price on the Fidelity site of 127.325888. I don't know if it originally sold for par or not. It has a coupon of 0.375%, and it looks as if it pretty much did keep up with inflation.

And it looks like VTIP did not. The Morningstar backtest site from 2012 to the present shows VTIP turned 10,000 into 11,372 with dividends reinvested. I assume I'm missing something.
by Dantes
Fri Jan 06, 2023 10:13 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How to handle greedy dealer
Replies: 53
Views: 6290

Re: How to handle greedy dealer

You won't know the why of the price difference until you ask him. If the dealer regularly has interesting books, and describes condition well, I would see no reason to stop dealings just because of a mispriced book; the twenty emails is troubling, though. I think the meaning of that varies depending on the nature of the dealer's business. Perhaps they are trying to make amends because you are an important customer.

As for thinking you are rich: anyone who is been around the antiquarian book business will know of a few people who are not rich, and who regularly buy $500 books - but they are usually a pretty recognizable type.
by Dantes
Sun Dec 25, 2022 6:49 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: FIPDX Huge Drop?
Replies: 18
Views: 2309

Re: FIPDX Huge Drop?

It was a large dividend. It showed up in my account under Activity on the 22nd. And yes, 80 cents per share.
by Dantes
Fri Dec 16, 2022 1:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRA withdrawal to fund Roth?
Replies: 9
Views: 596

Re: IRA withdrawal to fund Roth?

deleted, double post.
by Dantes
Fri Dec 16, 2022 1:29 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRA withdrawal to fund Roth?
Replies: 9
Views: 596

Re: IRA withdrawal to fund Roth?

okie745 wrote: Fri Dec 16, 2022 1:27 pm Hi,

I have a hypothetical, that I can't seem to find a good answer to on Google.

Say I am 72, not working, have social security and have $2 million in my IRA. I take my 3.91% RMD of $78,200.

Can I take $7,000 of that money and put into a Roth IRA? Does the IRA's RMD count as earned income for Roth purposes?

The idea being to slowly shift money over to the Roth to get its benefits without taking any extra tax hits from a full on conversion.

thanks
The RMD does not count as earned income. But you can role over any amount you like into a Roth account after you take the RMD. You have to pay taxes on the amount withdrawn, no way to avoid the tax hit,
by Dantes
Wed Dec 14, 2022 5:55 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Capital gains realized by a probated estate
Replies: 7
Views: 814

Re: Capital gains realized by a probated estate

Joey Jo Jo Jr wrote: Tue Dec 13, 2022 10:16 pm Could the estate pay enough fiduciary and professional fees in the same year as an offset?
A good question, thank you. I think it's time to fill out a dummy 1041 for 2022 and see what it looks like.
by Dantes
Tue Dec 13, 2022 8:29 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Capital gains realized by a probated estate
Replies: 7
Views: 814

Re: Capital gains realized by a probated estate

These replies are helpful, thank you. This is for an estate where DW is executor. The value of the stocks - half a dozen different companies, held at Computershare - is not large. Seems like maybe it's worth the trouble to get the shares over to a brokerage and divided among the beneficiaries rather than liquidating them.
by Dantes
Tue Dec 13, 2022 5:01 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Capital gains realized by a probated estate
Replies: 7
Views: 814

Capital gains realized by a probated estate

If an estate holds some stocks through Computershare, and has Computershare sell them, realizing a few thousand dollars in capital gains, what happens to those gains? Do they apply to the estate - or are the passed along proportionately to the heirs?
by Dantes
Thu Dec 08, 2022 3:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity Nov Statement???
Replies: 4
Views: 576

Re: Fidelity Nov Statement???

My Fidelity statement is posted.
by Dantes
Thu Dec 08, 2022 2:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Mild Work Ethical dilemma
Replies: 29
Views: 2649

Re: Mild Work Ethical dilemma

TomatoTomahto wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 2:27 pm I wouldn't recuse myself. If the facts are as presented, the "bias" in your opinion is based on your experience with his behavior. And, he clearly is not savvy about protocol.

If you recuse yourself, it's like not voting. If you don't like who gets elected, you have no grounds to discuss it.
I was in a similar situation, and recused myself. But thats not like not voting; it was enough to keep the person from getting a job offer. Its not like saying you are neutral.
by Dantes
Mon Dec 05, 2022 4:20 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Can a Roth conversion be reasonable at a 35% tax rate ?
Replies: 14
Views: 1738

Re: Can a Roth conversion be reasonable at a 35% tax rate ?

There are other reasons for Roth Conversions than tax-rate-now vs. tax-rate-later. A driver for me was wanting more money to be available for spending without tax consequences; almost all of our savings had been in tax-deferred accounts. We have yet to actually spend any of it, but its there.