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SpideyIndexer

This is related to switching , for example from Plan F to Plan G: I would like to fully understand Medicare deductibles. Let's start with the Part B deductible. It is my understanding the Part B has a deductible per calendar year, currently $183. If I enroll in Medicare partway through the year, I w...

SpideyIndexer

Does anyone have an estimate of what investment management fees might be for a typical firm and for Vanguard? My spouse belongs to a nonprofit organization which has an endowment fund. For years it has been investing only in CDs, I don't know that an outside manager would be all that beneficial, tho...

SpideyIndexer

I'd like to expand this to switching between Medigap in general. As I understand it, one can switch Medigap with guaranteed issue rights two different ways: 1. Within one's 6 month enrollment window, from any plan/any carrier to any other. ....... 2. Certain states such as California and Oregon hav...

SpideyIndexer

Spoke to the SSA on the phone and their answer was #1, which is the best case for a taxpayer. The rep also stated that there is no issue or penalty due to having actual current year income turning out to be much higher than one's SSA-44 estimate.

SpideyIndexer

Here are more specifics. Hours were (and income) reduced in 2017 and reduced further 2018. I am one tier lower in 2017 and two tiers lower in 2018 if don't do a huge Roth conversion this year. If I submit low estimated MAGI for this year and instead it becomes much higher than the estimate what will...

SpideyIndexer

If one's current year income is higher than the SSA-44 estimate, I suppose SSA will get later get the tax return data from the IRS and the IRMAA based on the income estimate will be later corrected? I imagine this must happen fairly often. Is there any problem with this scenario? I may not yet have ...

SpideyIndexer

I'd like to expand this to switching between Medigap in general. As I understand it, one can switch Medigap with guaranteed issue rights two different ways: 1. Within one's 6 month enrollment window, from any plan/any carrier to any other. This is mentioned on the Medicare.gov site. 2. Certain state...

SpideyIndexer

I am trying to understand the year of Medicare premiums to which an SSA-44 would apply, since there is no field for that. I am guessing it would be the year for which I received an IRMAA notice within 60 days of the submission. Also, just to clarify, if I had a life-changing event which lowered my i...

SpideyIndexer

Soon my spouse and I will split our medical insurance between an HDHP and individual coverage. Currently both of us are on an HDHP and contribute to an HSA which I own. I will transition to Medicare. After than, can I still make contributions based on my spouse's HDHP coverage (prorated monthly of c...

SpideyIndexer

RPM seems to make a stronger case for conversions than I-ORP for me.

I-ORP keeps the AA per account which is not ideal and can cause risk to vary a lot when balances shift in each account. This does not show up in a nominal return simulation; it would require Monte Carlo to see it.

SpideyIndexer

Thanks. While my 2017 income is settled, it would be good to wait a bit for the optional entries for estimated 2018 income.

CMS was very prompt in billing me however!

SpideyIndexer

It depends. My mother in law's income was low and she was in Kaiser MA and paid under $100 per month, so I had thought Medicare was almost free. Now I am learning about IRMAA, will go with Traditional + Supplement and will probably pay approx. $600 per month, more than my retiree plan. But it will d...

SpideyIndexer

I am trying to understand if there is any particular deadline for submitting the SSA-44 form as a new Medicare recipient. The SS rep was very vague about that but implied I should submit it ASAP. If they rule in my favor, will it only reduce my future premiums or will premiums already paid be reduce...

SpideyIndexer

Thanks. I just found that button a few hours ago!

When all is said and done, massive Roth conversions seemed to make little difference (within 1%). Both for the single run and for the Monte Carlo average and average minus 2 std deviations. This is for tax rates held constant.

SpideyIndexer

An old thread...but how does one get I-ORP to consider Roth conversions?

SpideyIndexer

I agree it is complicated and there is no universal answer. The Roth benefit is not just eliminating taxes on RMDs. If one's entire retirement nest egg were in a Roth, then one would pay zero taxes on retirement income, except perhaps Social Security. A difficulty is that to figure the value of a Ro...

SpideyIndexer

I believe that IRMAA is reasonably small potatoes compared to the potential savings on taxes on tIRA RMDs due to Roth conversions. Please correct me if I am wrong. I am planning getting myself into IRMAA territory by doing Roth conversions in the near future so I'll be crunching the numbers.

SpideyIndexer

Is there any data anywhere on how premiums have varied over time for guaranteed-issue Medicare supplements from United Healthcare (community-rated but with initial 10-12 yr discount) vs "good" attained-age rated issuers such as Aetna and Mutual of Omaha? It seems quite hard to find. Aetna has a link...

SpideyIndexer

SpideyIndexer wrote: ↑Sat Jun 30, 2018 2:37 pm And many costs due to aging are not covered by Medicare if they are not curative so these would not cause a carrier to raise premiums. What's this? Anything not medically necessary in order to cure a illness or heal an injury, for example long term car...

SpideyIndexer

Actually I found the premium data vs attained age, for Continental Life Insurance, through Aetna's site. Actually their premiums consistently increase by approx. 3.9% per year of age between the ages of 65-75. After that it there the rate of increase per year of age actually drops, for example incre...

SpideyIndexer

I received some more information from United Healthcare. They stated that they allow unrestricted switching between their Medigap plans without underwriting but that may change in the future. They said it could be related to the retiring of plans F and C. In that case it would be interesting to see ...

SpideyIndexer

It is nothing sexy but FIBAX, Intermediate Term Treasuries, is nice for ballast.

SpideyIndexer

So now both a broker and a United Healthcare customer service rep told me it is a simple telephone procedure to switch between AARP/UH Medigap plans from month to month without loosing their guaranteed issue rate. It can require 10-15 days for the change to take effect. But it can't find any written...

SpideyIndexer

Yes, I realize the surcharges are based on one's MAGI two years ago. But as mentioned in one reply the "two years ago" part is not hard and fast if one's MAGI was unusually high then. So it seems an appeal is worth a shot. Thanks the reminder to think about this when timing Roth conversions. Also on...

SpideyIndexer

Going into Medicare and seems my "torpedo" will be a fairly large one for the first couple of years. However, I believe I experienced "life-changing events" that permit me to appeal though the picture is complicated. In 2016 and 2017 I had been self-employed and did indeed reduce my hours from the p...

SpideyIndexer

I noticed something odd on the Vanguard 2018 outlook. On page 30, there is a bar graph which shows that saving more gives about a 18% higher probability of success while spending less gives only about a 4% higher probability of success. I would have expected "saving more" and "spending less" to be t...

SpideyIndexer

Guess no one did it at Fido.

SpideyIndexer

Guess no one did it at Fido.

SpideyIndexer

Yes, it was CA. Does that make a difference? Yes state taxes have already been paid on the gains at the sale. I am not sure how well we were served by our attorney regarding when the fees could be paid. (Although it seems the probate court needed to approve the amount of the fees in the accounting.)...

SpideyIndexer

My spouse was the executor of a parent's estate. The parent's home was sold the following year at a gain over the (stepped up) assessed value so that year there was a large tax liability. However the probate court did not allow payments of executor and attorney fees until the year following the home...

SpideyIndexer

I see the following on Fidelity's site: PONAX is NTF but has a 3.75% front end load with a 2.5K minimum to invest. PIMIX has a $50 TF, no load, with a 100K minimum to invest. Share class conversions usually require a discussion with a rep and may require further communication between Fidelity and PI...

SpideyIndexer

I have had a fairly small percentage of my bond allocation invested in PONDX (PIMCO income fund D class) in a couple of retirement accounts at Fido. PIMCO has done away with D class so these were converted to A class which has a slightly high ER. I would like to convert the holdings to PIMIX, the in...

SpideyIndexer

Thanks, Gill. Unfortunately the distributed excess deductions can only be used by beneficiaries up to 2% of their AGI. I have a related question regarding the election of estate expenses on which they can be either deductions for the estate income tax or for estate tax. For most cases it is preferre...

SpideyIndexer

Actually I think since executor and probate attorney fees are administrative costs of an estate rather than business expenses, they will not qualify as an NOL. AM I correct?

SpideyIndexer

Is it possible to carryback a NOL of a decedent's estate? In this case the estate had income in 2016, mainly due to a home sale, but a large loss in 2017.

SpideyIndexer

BogleNamedSue, Yes, indeed, in my 2017 income summary which includes numbers for 2017 and 2016, TT had added my reported taxable interest to the tax-exempt interest dividends when populating the 2016 interest. Thanks very much for your post! I'm curious how you discovered this quirk, as I cannot eas...

SpideyIndexer

I am almost ready to file when double checking the tax history and two year comparison when I noticed the interest for 2016 is way off from reality, as in almost double. I guess I need to double check everthing else such was carry-overs etc. Has anyone else ever noticed this sort of thing and been a...

SpideyIndexer

And I think I figured the main reason, namely my state income tax deduction was higher in 2017. But this deduction is not taken in the AMT tax calculations. You can see the tax deductions added back into your taxable income on form 6251 line 3.

SpideyIndexer

Our AGI was considerably lower in 2017 compared to 2016, so I was surprised that according to TurboTax that the AMT due came out higher in 2017. Comments? Not much happened in our investment picture last year and mainly our self-employment income was reduced. It is probably an illusion since the "AM...

SpideyIndexer

I suppose you are not interested in making backdoor Roth contributions. If you are, basically you'll want to zero out your TD IRAs, including the SEP. Since Fidelity's SE-401(k) plans accept rollovers, you could roll over your Vanguard SEP IRA(s) into a Fidelity account(s) which will allow annual ta...

SpideyIndexer

It is difficult to answer the question without having a perfect crystal ball wrt to future income tax rates and brackets and expenses. Look up the threads on Roth conversion strategy in the early years of retirement prior to age 70 1/2 when RMDs must be taken; the same issues apply there.

SpideyIndexer

I am amending a prior year return. For whatever reason, when I change my self-employed health insurance deduction by x dollars, it shows up in the form 1040X as x + 1 dollars change in most of the line items. It is likely due to a rounding difference. Is this anything to worry about? I could overrid...

SpideyIndexer

I decided that I "need" it. But there is no right or wrong answer.

SpideyIndexer

My concern is deducting premiums, and proving they were paid for an unsubsidized plan. I have bank statements, and check images where necessary.

SpideyIndexer

Does anyone have suggestions on what proof is required of health insurance paid for health insurance deductions? My situation is further complicated in that the plan is offered by a previous employer, totally unsubsidized and administered by a third party (not the provider.) So far the third party i...

SpideyIndexer

Yes, I agree Roth contributions to a one participant 401(k) might be a good idea in this situation. But research this carefully. The last time I checked, Vanguard allows Roth contributions to their plan but does not accept tIRA rollovers. On a different tangent, has anyone used TT Home and Business ...

SpideyIndexer

Ok, I believe Turbo Tax is correct. IRS Pub 535 provides more details than the 1040 instructions which are so simplified to be misleading. Worksheet 6A, Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction Worksheet, says to subtract the line 28 amount attributable to the same trade or business under which the ...

SpideyIndexer

deleted double post

Seems that Turbo Tax considers at only the SE income of the policy holder against the deduction. Though this is not spelled out very clearly in the 1040 instructions.

SpideyIndexer

It's not as gloomy for me as it may have seemed, as for most years my SE income was large enough that a maxed out deferred plan did not interfere with the SE health insurance deduction, except for 2017. Just to make sure I am understanding the line 29 worksheet correctly in the case of married filin...

SpideyIndexer

Thanks, Spirit Rider. FYI corrected the wording of my original post from "credit" to "deduction." I noticed the other thread which discussed "Form 1040 Line 29 <= Form 1040 Line 12 - Line 27 - Line 28" which may not be totally user friendly in TurboTax. This raises the issue on how best to allocate ...

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