Bogleheads.org

Interesting, I wonder what is the minimum requirement. I am thinking that in the old days prior to internet access, we only get quarterly statements. On the other hand, I assume that they need to provide up-to-date info when one calls even prior to internet. Of course, I am not a securities lawyer. But for the first 20-25 years, the Unit Values of the CREF Variable Annuities were only set once a month . Read that again! That value was used until the next valuation was done! Setting aside the issue of rules and regulation, if someone has the ability to SELL something today, their record-keeper should be responsible for telling them what their holding of that asset is WORTH today, don't you think? Would you place a sell order for something y...

If you have a contact at the employer or former employer, I would make a complaint that a product that has daily crediting (as it, in fact does) is not being updated daily by the school's Record Keeper, Fidelity is providing inaccurate information, and should be sanctioned. I don't mean that in a nasty, 1-Star Flame way, just that this is a regulated line of business , and they should not be delaying your information. (It would also be interesting if Fidelity's reply was [I'm making this up, but it's sadly plausible] "TIAA's interface with us does not provide that information!") Interesting, I wonder what is the minimum requirement. I am thinking that in the old days prior to internet access, we only get quarterly statements. On ...

anon_investor wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2023 6:58 am If you have an Amazon Prime membership it includes unlimited photo storage with Amazon Photos. You can have your photos automatically backed up from your phone if you install the app. It works with iPhones or Android phones.

+1.

+1 for using an ATM card from Schwab, Fidelity or other place that pays for or reimburses for ATM fees. Easy to find BANK ATMs in airports when you land. I prefer bank ATM in airport over money exchange ATMs. Fidelity charges a 1% foreign transaction fee according to the fine print. A) no foreign transaction fee on ATM withdrawal B) all ATM fees are reimbursed with CMA and possibly regular brokerage too. At least for me I regularly use it when I travel. Big fidelity fan The 1% is built into the exchange rate from card network. See last sentence of footnote 2: https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/atm-debit-card Also 4th paragraph under “Are there any fees…?”: https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/faqs-atm-debit-card The keyword here ...

As a follow up, I tried Fidelity once again, and they really tried to help. Unfortunately they had no idea how to answer my questions. They were not familiar with the TIAA product and certainly could not help with the nuances I brought up. Hopefully it all works out! I guess you can compute the interest rate for the contribution by comparing the values of two consecutive days. Sorry, not understanding this recommendation I assume you want to see what interest rate you are getting on the contribution that you just made, that is, are you getting the current 5.25% or the old rate. TIAA Traditional compounds daily and it updates every business day. So if on Day 1, you have $X and Day 2, you have $Y. You can use them to check whether you are ge...

The awkward thing is that I can’t check vintages or any other granular details since fidelity holds this TIAA product and I have no account with TIAA. Really wish I had more control of the information but I very much appreciate your help! Other people have commented on limited access to TIAA information due to an employer plan held elsewhere, but I don't remember anyone finding a solution. As a follow up, I tried Fidelity once again, and they really tried to help. Unfortunately they had no idea how to answer my questions. They were not familiar with the TIAA product and certainly could not help with the nuances I brought up. Hopefully it all works out! I guess you can compute the interest rate for the contribution by comparing the values o...

The awkward thing is that I can’t check vintages or any other granular details since fidelity holds this TIAA product and I have no account with TIAA. Really wish I had more control of the information but I very much appreciate your help! Other people have commented on limited access to TIAA information due to an employer plan held elsewhere, but I don't remember anyone finding a solution. As a follow up, I tried Fidelity once again, and they really tried to help. Unfortunately they had no idea how to answer my questions. They were not familiar with the TIAA product and certainly could not help with the nuances I brought up. Hopefully it all works out! I guess you can compute the interest rate for the contribution by comparing the values o...

nedsaid wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 8:24 pm Congratulations. You are taking a bold step here. You will learn an awful lot. I wish you the best in your venture.

+1.

fullham wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 4:42 pm

EagertoLearnMore wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 4:17 pm +1 for using an ATM card from Schwab, Fidelity or other place that pays for or reimburses for ATM fees. Easy to find BANK ATMs in airports when you land. I prefer bank ATM in airport over money exchange ATMs.

Fidelity charges a 1% foreign transaction fee according to the fine print.

I think it says "may." In my experience, there was no 1% foreign transaction fee on top of VISA exchange rate. Other users have reported the same experience.

When I was in Italy, I went to an ATM near the hotel. I used Fidelity CMA ATM card. No fees.

neilpilot wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:27 pm

student wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:20 pm I agree the medical insurance is important. I use GeoBlue.

Have you ever called them for medical assistance while traveling and, if so, how responsive have they been? I’m a new customer of theirs.

We’re currently in Spain and when I called them for assistance it seemed to take 24-36 hours before they replied with a meaningful response.

Oh. I have never called them. Sorry.

I agree the medical insurance is important. I use GeoBlue.

I encountered something similar over 20 years ago. I called the IRS and the lady that I spoke to said they don't care if I paid too much and not file an amended return.

20+ years.

I was able to on a few minutes ago. I agree with the previous poster's recommendation.

Thanks for the update.

Here is my experience. viewtopic.php?t=396561

OP: Did you call their "tax" department or regular number? I was told to call 1-877-921-2434 but they are only marginally better.

Last year I switched to Verizon 55 + as they said exact same plan. It was with 1 big issue for me- no hotspot and could not even pay to add it. I need it on occasion when traveling and need to do stuff on laptop and we were leaving for Florida do a month. So I switched back but my old plan had been grandfathered and no longer existed. So if you ever need a hotspot- make sure it is now available. I am contemplating switching to T Mobile but issues on time lad porting over like mentioned with some plans scare me. I have only ever had Verizon as work paid for a chunk before I retired and Verizon worked where I traveled too. Now retired a year so need to look at stuff. Tmobile old geezer plan has mobile hotspot. When I ported to Tmobile (regul...

BayouBoy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 12:59 am I have had retirement funds invested in various TIAA plans, all within the same 403(b). Under the rules of my GRA plan, I was able to use TIAA-traditional to buy a fixed-period annuity, with five years being the shortest period. By contrast, TIAA-trad funds held in my RA plan were not eligible for a fixed-period annuity, and the Total Payout Annuity (more-or-less equal payments over 9 years and 1 day) was the fastest payout option.

I guess TIAA does not want a loophole for people to get out of the illiquid version in less than 9 years and 1 day but it is interesting that it does not allow fixed-period annuity that is longer than that. Thanks for the info.

BogleFan510 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 7:01 pm

student wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 6:47 am

BogleFan510 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 25, 2023 11:26 pm To not duplicate previous posts, I've found that Schwab is very good at free estate advice related help, such as planning tips from an expert, or transfers of assets among heirs after a death.

Is this from their complimentary plan? https://www.schwab.com/financial-planning/schwab-plan Or is it from other units for their more important clients?

Thanks.

Not sure if it requires a minimum balance, but I expect it does.

Thanks for replying.

Since your update, I see that you have a wife. Perhaps you can do the $25k in a combination of interest-free loans and gifts. $25k/2 is $12.5k. Each of you loan $9k to family member with no interest and give $3.5k as a gift. See https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/fami ... ve-it-away regarding interest-free loan that I mentioned up thread. This way even if the loan turns into a gift, the total is still $12.5 and there is no need for paperwork.

A bridge loan? https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bridgeloan.asp

anonenigma wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 4:33 pm

Mel Lindauer wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 3:53 pm If you're married, you can double the FDIC coverage if you buy one and your wife buys one, with each of them being for $250k or less.

Would it be covered if it's a joint account under $500,000?

I think so. FDIC deposit insurance covers the balance of each depositor's account, dollar-for-dollar, up to the insurance limit, including principal and any accrued interest through the date of the insured bank's closing. See table under joint accounts. $250,000 per co-owner

Call_Me_Op wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 3:53 pm

student wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 3:01 pm I think it would be wise to stay under the FDIC limit including interest.

Interest is not reinvested in brokered CDs.

But it is accrued, right? If someone purchased $200k CD, then if there is an issue, one gets $200k plus accrued interest under FIDC. If the CD is $250k, then there is no room for accrued interest. https://www.fdic.gov/resources/deposit- ... -a-glance/ "FDIC deposit insurance covers the balance of each depositor's account, dollar-for-dollar, up to the insurance limit, including principal and any accrued interest through the date of the insured bank's closing."

I think it would be wise to stay under the FDIC limit including interest.

Just be careful with some an arrangement unless you know the person really well especially if you are in states such as California. https://home.howstuffworks.com/real-est ... friend.htm

I have a family member in India who needs a fairly substantial loan in the near future and is asking for my help. Let's say for argument that I am going to agree to loan them the money. I am based in the U.S. The loan will be money sent from a U.S. bank to a bank in India (not via Bitcoin (I think)). The loan amount will be anywhere from $9k to $25k. A bunch of questions: 1. Do I just walk into my local bank (Wells Fargo) and do a wire transfer? What is the preferred way to do this? 2. Is using a wire transfer company a less expensive way to do this (get a better exchange rate). Are they safe for this amount of money? 3. I understand that transfers of more than $10k will require filling out an IRS form. What about multiple transfers made t...

20cm wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 9:52 am Call protected brokered CDs are paying more than this for both 9 and 12 month terms.

+1.

Seems to be more expensive than the T-mobile version. https://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans/unlimited-55-senior-discount-plans Yes it is by quite a bit. OP should check into this. We just switched over to the T Mobile Magenta Max 55+ plan with 2 lines for $90 (all in). I figured we'd start with the high end plan and can always downgrade it later. Previously we were on separate Verizon and AT&T plans. I was under an old ex-employer's plan but it started going up in price. If Verizon had offered something to my wife I might have switched to them but instead they quoted one price to high and then back tracked and told her that wasn't right so she was annoyed and wanted to leave. The process of switching actually was easy. This was my ...

Seems to be more expensive than the T-mobile version. https://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-pla ... ount-plans

enad wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 6:10 pm If within 30 days, I would just return it and buy something else i.e. TP-Link AC1750 Smart WiFi Router Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Internet Router | Amazon.com which actually costs less and works great in a large ranch style home.

Thanks. We have indeed just decided to return it.

I think this shortage of people to do home repairs is nation wide. I suspect it isn't so much a shortage of handyman rather than a shortage of what people are willing to pay a handyman more or the same as what they could earn doing something else. ^this. For whatever reason people do not want to pay over what materials cost. They want people to work for free. I know multiple people with this mindset. If you're not willing to pay up then you'll need to watch some youtube videos and diy. Prices are sky high for contractors and will remain so moving forward. Get used to it, never have anything repaired, or diy. Those are you options. This does not seem to be the case for OP. The concrete person did not even send OP an estimate.

One of my siblings has a one person household with internet speed about 100Mbps. Due to the old router exhibiting issues, it is replaced by https://www.amazon.com/Linksys-Tri-Band-Max-Stream-MU-MIMO-Wireless/dp/B06X9CPC45/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=rVSoB&content-id=amzn1.sym.bc5f3394-3b4c-4031-8ac0-18107ac75816&pf_rd_p=bc5f3394-3b4c-4031-8ac0-18107ac75816&pf_rd_r=Q9R17D7XTGE08DQBBHFJ&pd_rd_wg=tPI1G&pd_rd_r=11d484eb-805c-4a00-b8cc-4cd00673e421&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m&th=1 We used separate SSIDs, one for 2.4GHz and one for 5.0GHz as we used the same SSID and password from the old routers to avoid having to setup various gadgets. (Some clients can only use 2.4GHz.) We encountered one issue right away, the 5.0...

delamer wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 11:09 am And, to be completely honest, if I see a post from a 38 year-old with a household income of $1 million, I don’t respond to it.

I don't respond either as I figure that my poor man perspective would not be relevant, and I have no experience in whatever they are describing.

NotWhoYouThink wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 10:28 am I offered $20/day (there were 2 cats), the mom insisted they couldn't accept more than $10/day, and we settled on $15/day. That was for a week.

For longer trips, I insist on $20/day, it seems to work fine.

Awesome. Everybody are nice and reasonable. (Much better than the usual stories from AITA thread on reddit.)

The phone call started out friendly, and then all of a sudden the call center rep accused me of making a math error. :D I was like, "No, $7,000 * .006 = $42. Not $420. If I am going to owe $420 every year from now on, please let me know." :shock: :shock: :shock: :D One of the scenarios I went over in my head was the Verizon Math thing if you remember that from a few years ago. Based on the experience I just had though, although they do understand math I think IRS call reps must have an internal policy that they should avoid ever admitting a mistake, as clearly whoever did the data entry had put in an extra zero. The only way you owe $420 in FUTA as an employer paying unemployment taxes to the State of Florida is if you have 10 em...

I check transactions but I do not look at the arithmetic.

financeperchance wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 6:54 am The phone call started out friendly, and then all of a sudden the call center rep accused me of making a math error. I was like, "No, $7,000 * .006 = $42. Not $420. If I am going to owe $420 every year from now on, please let me know."

Leesbro63 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 25, 2023 5:22 pm I have an HP 8600 color printer. A few years ago, I bought a cheap Brother B&W laser printer so that I’d only have to use the HP occasionally for color. But even at that, it seems that the ink either had serious shrinkflation, or maybe the cartridges “time out”. And the prices are crazy high for a set of 3 color and 1 black.

Am I missing something? Is there a cheaper way? Off-brand cartridges didn’t work for me in the past (runny, sometimes the machine wouldn’t recognize them, etc).

Sorry. No recommendation. But it fits what you said in another thread, you buy a new Lexus every 3 years but will spend time to save money elsewhere.

This is lower than Vanguard and Fidelity... I am talking about pure cash interest in Interactive Brokers.. not what you get in the money market funds. How much interest Vanguard and Fidelity pay on Cash.. without having to roll it into a money market instrument? At Fidelity, they will auto-liquidate any of their MMKT funds to make a transfer. However, any money coming in goes to the 'core sweep' account, so to get it to a MMKT fund, you have to do a buy. Will that morning sell/transfer of a MMKT fund be a today transfer, or would it always be over-night since a sell is involved, I don't know, I've never done one that way. Money coming in will go directly to a money market fund at Fidelity without making a buy order, if you have chosen a mo...

BogleFan510 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 25, 2023 11:26 pm To not duplicate previous posts, I've found that Schwab is very good at free estate advice related help, such as planning tips from an expert, or transfers of assets among heirs after a death.

Is this from their complimentary plan? https://www.schwab.com/financial-planning/schwab-plan Or is it from other units for their more important clients?

Thanks.

yatesd wrote: ↑Sat Mar 25, 2023 2:59 pm The idea of using a robo investor for auto rebalancing is intriguing to me. For $360 a year (and a cash equivalent allocation of approximately 7% which currently earns 4.08%), I get a managed account with access to a CFP whenever I need with an annual checkup. For my account balance and scenario, it is cheaper than Vanguard's .30% fee since my personal allocation goal of bonds/cash is around 20% which aligns pretty closely.

Be careful about auto rebalancing if there are tradings (whether by you or robo advisor) in other accounts as it may create wash sales.

It was in this thread. viewtopic.php?p=7157117

This is lower than Vanguard and Fidelity... I am talking about pure cash interest in Interactive Brokers.. not what you get in the money market funds. How much interest Vanguard and Fidelity pay on Cash.. without having to roll it into a money market instrument? I'm not concerned with the distinction between "cash" and "money market" sweeps--I consider them to be equivalent if they can be used to fund purchases or withdrawals, instantly, and without any pre-planning or manual selling. Fidelity pays ~4.3% and Vanguard pays ~4.6% on cash (currently). I double you can find something better than Vanguard for this purpose among the big and established players. Vanguard would be perfect, but it doesn't offer Bill Pay, and doe...

exodusNH wrote: ↑Sat Mar 25, 2023 4:52 pm

msj16 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 25, 2023 3:31 pm Thanks very much! If anyone has gone to a passport agency regarding "urgent within 14 day travel" if you can estimate how long of a wait in line and how long to get a passport that would be appreciated.

I used RushMyPassport.com. It wasn't cheap -- almost $700 -- but I got mine in 10 calendar days, better than what had been promised.

Finding a place to take my passport photo was more difficult. While supposedly Rite Aid, CVS, and Walgreens do it, the individual stores often don't want to take the time and so lie that their machines are broken. I had to go to 3 different locations before I found a place that was willing/able to do it.

For pictures, I go to the post office.

Interactive Brokers pay 4.33 % for cash . They pay fed funds rate minus 50 basis points and reflect new rate the day after the fed action. No settlement fund or sweeping needed. But need minimum 100k equity in the account and first 10k cash get no interest. This is lower than Vanguard and Fidelity... I am talking about pure cash interest in Interactive Brokers.. not what you get in the money market funds. How much interest Vanguard and Fidelity pay on Cash.. without having to roll it into a money market instrument? I'm not concerned with the distinction between "cash" and "money market" sweeps--I consider them to be equivalent if they can be used to fund purchases or withdrawals, instantly, and without any pre-planning ...

I am assuming that the parents will be paying for the $100,000 for home improvement. If the two siblings are not living in the same city, this means the person who the parents are staying with will be taking care of them. So I would say that the cost should not be considered an inheritance. Regarding food and utilities, it depends on everyone's finances.

twh wrote: ↑Sat Mar 25, 2023 12:17 pm Sometimes when I have a printing problem, it is fixed by downloading the document to the computer and then printing from there using native Adobe Reader rather than a web browser plug-in.

+1. On my mac, sometimes preview has issues for some pdf files and it "clogs" my printer queue. I have to use acrobat reader.

Vanguard?

- Fidelity does charge 1% fee on ATM international withdrawals despite many claiming to the contrary. I asked a Fidelity employee directly and was told this, and Fidelity employee's themselves have reported the 1% charge for international ATM withdrawals is true: https://www.reddit.com/r/fidelityinvestments/comments/1201kvc/for_atm_transactions_i_understand_that_any_atm/ If Fidelity says it charges a fee, but people are not actually being charged a fee, does that mean there is a fee? I don't think Fidelity says it will charge a fee, the response said "may." When the poster asked further, the reply was "For international merchant purchases, the Visa currency conversion rate includes a 1% foreign transaction fee. This fee is a...