Search found 1521 matches

by cadreamer2015
Mon Mar 18, 2024 11:23 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Financial implications of long jury duty
Replies: 24
Views: 1803

Re: Financial implications of long jury duty

When I was on jury duty someone told the judge that their employer would only pay for 2 days of jury service or something like that. The judge asked where they worked. When they answered, the judge replied that he knew the General Counsel of that company and would call them up and request that the employer pay the prospective juror their regular pay for the entire length of the trial. I can imagine that the General Counsel would not want to piss off a judge, though I don't know exactly how that was settled.
by cadreamer2015
Mon Mar 18, 2024 10:28 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buying a Home: Am I Required to retain Escrow Services?
Replies: 14
Views: 808

Re: Buying a Home: Am I Required to retain Escrow Services?

There is no law that requires you to use an escrow service. But there is no law that requires a lender to loan you money, with or without an escrow service, if you don't meet the lender's requirements. So this is something to talk to the mortgage provider/broker about. It used to be that if your loan was above 80% of the value of the property, the lender would require an escrow service to pay for insurance and property taxes. There have been threads about how to get rid of escrow service once the loan has been paid down enough or the property value increases enough. In my experience there is no explicit charge for the escrow service provided by the lender, but there is the hassle of making sure they do in fact pay the bills and the opportun...
by cadreamer2015
Sun Mar 17, 2024 9:28 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cameras, Binoculars and Jackets for Alaska Cruise
Replies: 21
Views: 1271

Re: Cameras, Binoculars and Jackets for Alaska Cruise

Primarily to take photos of people with backgrounds, some nature shots of glaciers etc, not looking for too many wild-life photos that need high zoom etc (I figure I can get far better ones off NatGeo :wink: )
Your phone camera, if it is a relatively recent model, is perfect for this use case.
by cadreamer2015
Wed Mar 13, 2024 2:00 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What Platforms are DIY Investors Using to Manage Portfolio
Replies: 26
Views: 2549

Re: What Platforms are DIY Investors Using to Manage Portfolio

I'm curious about what platforms investors are using to self-manage their portfolios
If you subscribe to the Bogleheads investment philosophy of a simple 2-4 fund portfolio there is very little to manage. We have virtually all our retirement and taxable assets in Vanguard mutual funds at Vanguard. So not much management to do.
by cadreamer2015
Tue Mar 12, 2024 3:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Letter to heir - what would you include?
Replies: 90
Views: 7246

Re: Letter to heir - what would you include?

Consider taking an extended leave of absence / sabbatical.
Unless you expect your heirs to never want or need to work again I would not include this. Taking 6 months or a year off can derail a career path.
by cadreamer2015
Mon Mar 11, 2024 10:37 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: California housing prices vs net people moving out.
Replies: 17
Views: 1146

Re: California housing prices vs net people moving out.

In 2020 and 2021, the average gross income of taxpayers who moved from California to another state was about $137,000. This is up from $75,000 in 2015 and 2016. If this statistic is accurate, then the average income of those leaving California is only slightly higher than the average income of all Californians. According to the Census Bureau, the average household income of Californians in 2022 was $130,718. My anecdotal evidence is that most of the folks leaving California for economic reasons are middle income. They can't buy a house in California on a household income of $137,000, but can buy a house with that income elsewhere. The housing market in California, especially in coastal/urban areas, is not driven by first-time homebuyers wi...
by cadreamer2015
Mon Mar 11, 2024 9:15 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Want to leave the California bay area. Where to live?
Replies: 63
Views: 5615

Re: Want to leave the California bay area. Where to live?

If climate is #1, then yeah, your only real choice is southern Europe some where on the med. Definitely nothing in the USA.
What about San Diego. Probably the best climate in the United States.
by cadreamer2015
Sun Mar 10, 2024 6:10 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Looking for upright piano in northern / central NJ
Replies: 17
Views: 1240

Looking for upright piano in northern / central NJ

My son is looking for an upright piano in northern / central New Jersey. Not looking to purchase a Steinway. Maybe a used Yamaha upright. I know some people can't get rid of a used piano, but he'd like a good quality piano that he can keep and play for decades. Any thoughts?
by cadreamer2015
Fri Mar 08, 2024 3:57 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Time to convert mutual funds to ETF?
Replies: 28
Views: 2295

Re: Time to convert mutual funds to ETF?

Tax efficiency is the same. The difference in expense ratios is too trivial to matter.

If you have other reasons to switch to ETFs, fine, but so far nothing that you mentioned matters.

I understand there are some differences in automatic investments, maybe in buying partial shares (or maybe that went away). And the buying process is different if that matters to you.

If you just like ETFs, that's a reason to switch. Or if you are going to move your money to another brokerage, that is a good reason to switch.
+1

And, as someone else mentioned, there is the bid/ask spread for ETFs.
by cadreamer2015
Fri Mar 08, 2024 1:46 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?
Replies: 156
Views: 9924

Re: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?

My wife and I have been on Original Medicare with a Plan G and Part D drug supplements for the past 6 or 7 years. It certainly hasn't been a nightmare. I wouldn't call it sublime, either. It works as expected, especially when I had 2 emergency abdominal surgeries on a cross country road trip 3 years ago. You probably should be shopping your Part D drug plan every year, which we have done. I think it is pretty ridiculous that our Medicare system essentially expects 90+ year olds (we are a long way away) to be going on-line and shopping the drug plan every year. But it works as designed.
by cadreamer2015
Thu Mar 07, 2024 7:55 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: selling real estate for passive income
Replies: 9
Views: 1212

Re: selling real estate for passive income

So you are trying to find a "good dividend stock" with a 7.2% dividend yield ($18,000 annual income for investment of $250,000). This will be hard to do. For reference, the Vanguard High Dividend Yield Index Fund has a dividend yield of 3%, and you are looking for something paying more than twice that. A company paying a 7.2% yield in this market is not one that I would call "good," it is likely to be pretty speculative and/or in bad financial shape, plus being undiversified by definition.
by cadreamer2015
Tue Mar 05, 2024 9:24 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Crypto appraisal needed for 2023 donations
Replies: 19
Views: 1906

Re: Crypto appraisal needed for 2023 donations

Yet another reason to avoid crypto.
by cadreamer2015
Tue Mar 05, 2024 9:20 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Giving (unequal) money to adult children
Replies: 90
Views: 8263

Re: Giving (unequal) money to adult children

We have always given equal amounts of money to our adult children. When my parents offered to loan us some money decades ago, they made the same loan offer (amount and interest rate) to my siblings. You could always loan money to your less well off child and make the same loan offer to your other children - they may not actually want to borrow the money from you. I have some experience (in my DW's case) when a loan to one child had not been paid off at the parent's death. My DW was her mother's executor, and the will's instructions were specific that the loan be repaid from the estate proceeds before the rest of the estate was divided. My DW of course followed the will instructions. This caused some hard feelings between my DW and her sibli...
by cadreamer2015
Sun Mar 03, 2024 8:30 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Moving to San Diego from Sleepy Low Cost Area
Replies: 64
Views: 6192

Re: Moving to San Diego from Sleepy Low Cost Area

According to rentcafe.com (who I can’t necessarily vouch for) average rent in Little Italy is about $3,000 per month. https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-m ... san-diego/

Is $3,000 er month for apartment rental affordable for you? If you use the rule of thumb that rent should be no more than 30% of your income, you’d need to be making at least $120,000 per year for the rent to be affordable.
by cadreamer2015
Sun Mar 03, 2024 6:10 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Home voltage irregularity
Replies: 22
Views: 2770

Re: Home voltage irregularity

Re reading all of this, your answer is likely the closest to what the problem is.
Glad to be of help! What a mystery, on the way to being solved.
by cadreamer2015
Tue Feb 27, 2024 3:15 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Cancer Diagnosis Hubby
Replies: 36
Views: 4543

Re: Cancer Diagnosis Hubby

Dear Joelly,

I'm so sorry to hear about your husband's diagnosis. This is certainly a very stressful time for you and your family. My heart goes out to you.

As far as diet goes, I think you should check with your husband's physician. We can't give medical advice on this forum, and your husband's physician is the best source for this information.

Yes, you should speak with an estate attorney soon. Your husband needs a will and most probably a durable power of attorney for healthcare and durable power of attorney (for financial matters). You need these documents for yourself, as well.

If you have specific financial concerns, you can post them here on the Bogleheads forum and I'm sure you will get good advice.
by cadreamer2015
Mon Feb 26, 2024 10:04 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Financial advisor recommendation--beyond the usual suspects?
Replies: 58
Views: 5224

Re: Financial advisor recommendation--beyond the usual suspects?

Ok. Ok. You all convince me to give the forum a try. I'm putting together a portfolio post and will post shortly. Thanks, all. I have used both Rick Ferri and Jon Luskin in the past to gain confidence that I'm not missing anything important in my DIY Boglehead-ish approach to our investments and financial advice. I also wanted to introduce my DW to a trusted financial advisor should I become incapacitated or hit by the proverbial bus. If you have read this forum for a while and invest in a Boglehead way, you may hear that there is not anything major you should change, but you may also learn some more detail about asset placement etc. I don't regret spending the money. If you have trouble finding another advisor, I would sign up with Rick o...
by cadreamer2015
Mon Feb 26, 2024 9:39 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best water heater with solar
Replies: 55
Views: 5249

Re: Best water heater with solar

Do you know how much (if anything) you will be paid for any excess power generation? For my utility I am literally paid nothing for my excess generation unless the payment would be more than $100 per year, so in that case any excess generation is literally free if I were to use it somewhere else. Even if I reach the $100 threshold I'm only paid about $0.06 per kilowatt hour.

If your situation is similar I would definitely go with option 1 and install a conventional electric water heater. If you are paid $0.40 per kilowatt hour for excess generation, then it might make sense to run the economics of a heat pump water heater, but I suspect it still might make sense to go with option 1.
by cadreamer2015
Sun Feb 25, 2024 10:24 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Turbotax Print "all worksheets" does not include all forms..
Replies: 14
Views: 1201

Re: Turbotax Print "all worksheets" does not include all forms..

This sounds like it is the on-line version of TurboTax. My downloaded version saves the entire return. I haven’t tried printing it out for my records yet as I am waiting for 1099s and K1s
by cadreamer2015
Sat Feb 24, 2024 4:57 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: In the event of an untimely death, what is the best way for family members to have immediate access to funds?
Replies: 53
Views: 5158

Re: In the event of an untimely death, what is the best way for family members to have immediate access to funds?

When you designate 'beneficiary', then the transfer should be quick and easy. You just need to let the beneficiaries know that they are the beneficiaries, so they know to contact the bank when you suddenly pass away.
In Hawaii death certificates take 6 to 8 weeks. So TOD or POD accounts would be frozen until the death certificate could be produced, so not necessarily quick. Much simpler to have a modest sum in a joint account for immediate expenses.

As others have written, perhaps more important is DPOA and durable power for healthcare.
by cadreamer2015
Sat Feb 24, 2024 12:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Handling Inheritance In A Marriage
Replies: 49
Views: 5498

Re: Handling Inheritance In A Marriage

Why not disclaim and allow to pass straight to your daughter now.
I don't think you can disclaim now for a future inheritance.
by cadreamer2015
Fri Feb 23, 2024 6:21 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Inherited accounts adjustments
Replies: 28
Views: 3531

Re: Inherited accounts adjustments

I would sell off anything that I didn't intend to hold for the long term, especially if I could get out of a stock or fund with little to no tax cost.
+1
by cadreamer2015
Fri Feb 23, 2024 6:20 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Handling Inheritance In A Marriage
Replies: 49
Views: 5498

Re: Handling Inheritance In A Marriage

Or grandmother leaves inheritance to granddaughter who gets married, commingles assets, gets divorced and loses half of inheritance.
This is why it might be wise to leave the assets to granddaughter in trust.
by cadreamer2015
Fri Feb 23, 2024 3:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Handling Inheritance In A Marriage
Replies: 49
Views: 5498

Re: Handling Inheritance In A Marriage

OP never expressed any desire to disclaim or to ask parents to change wills to leave inheritance to OP's daughter.
True, but the OP might not be aware of other relevant and probably advisable possibilities.
by cadreamer2015
Fri Feb 23, 2024 1:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Handling Inheritance In A Marriage
Replies: 49
Views: 5498

Re: Handling Inheritance In A Marriage

If you and your wife have more than enough for the rest of your life you might consider disclaiming the anticipated inheritance when it happens, in which case it might (depending on the terms of your parents' estate plans) go directly to your daughter. As others have written, it might be wise for any eventual inheritance to go to you or your daughter in trust rather than outright. This is something to discuss with your mother(s) and probably their estate planning attorneys.
by cadreamer2015
Fri Feb 23, 2024 10:29 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TurboTax not doing form 5695 (Residential Energy Credits) properly?
Replies: 4
Views: 752

Re: TurboTax not doing form 5695 (Residential Energy Credits) properly?

Now TT admits in the step-by-step that the form is not working for secondary homes and to please check back for updates.
I entered the secondary home info directly on the 5695 form in forms mode. It then calculated the credit correctly. Perhaps by the time I file the interview portion of the program will be working. But I don't expect to get my K-1s until late March in any case.
by cadreamer2015
Thu Feb 22, 2024 6:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TurboTax not doing form 5695 (Residential Energy Credits) properly?
Replies: 4
Views: 752

Re: TurboTax not doing form 5695 (Residential Energy Credits) properly?

This form now seems to be working correctly. Another reason not to rush to file. I'm waiting for K-1s and 1099s anyway. My return with TurboTax now shows the $2,000 credit I expected.
by cadreamer2015
Wed Feb 21, 2024 1:57 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Qualified dividends on trust 1099
Replies: 2
Views: 285

Qualified dividends on trust 1099

I've got a question about the 1099 I just got for my late mother's trust. She had a revocable living trust, of which I was the trustee. She passed away in early 2023. I notified the brokerage, obtained an EIN for the trust and provided the EIN to the brokerage. About 4 months after she passed away the brokerage set up a new account number and transferred all the assets from the old trust account to the new trust account. About 3 months later I distributed the trust assets, which were all either Vanguard mutual funds (which the trust had owned for many years) or shares in a money market fund. I recently got the 1099 for the trust account that the brokerage set up in May, 2023. It shows the total dividends that I expected but shows 0 for qual...
by cadreamer2015
Mon Feb 19, 2024 11:56 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Question about timing of estimated taxes
Replies: 7
Views: 611

Re: Question about timing of estimated taxes

Yes, it is true. Downside: You might die beforehand and your heirs will have to deal with it.
+1
by cadreamer2015
Sun Feb 18, 2024 9:32 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [2023 TurboTax Desktop now requires account login to activate]
Replies: 126
Views: 64518

Re: TurboTax 2023 Potential Issues

If you are using the download or CD version of TurboTax (not the online version) the only thing registering the software with Intuit does is facilitate the downloading of program updates, which you definitely want to do. You can file by paper return if you really want to, or transmit your return via TurboTax. As far as I know they don’t save your return info on some Intuit servers.

The same, of course, cannot be said about the online version of TurboTax.
by cadreamer2015
Fri Feb 16, 2024 12:15 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What email address is "okay/acceptable" to use then?
Replies: 168
Views: 18036

Re: What email address is "okay/acceptable" to use then?

AOL - used to think you’re a rube. But it’s been so long now, maybe it’s actually becoming retro cool.
I hope this is true. Since I don't have a business and am not looking for a job (retired now) I don't really care. I have a gmail address but find it too useful to have 20+ years of email history available on my aol account, so I don't really use gmail much.
by cadreamer2015
Fri Feb 16, 2024 9:37 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paying Taxes for an Irrevocable Trust
Replies: 6
Views: 564

Re: Paying Taxes for an Irrevocable Trust

If substantially all of the trust assets are distributed to the trust beneficiaries during 2024, then the 2024 trust tax return will be a final-year return and there will be no tax liability for the trust to pay because all trust income and capital gains will pass-through to the beneficiaries and the associated tax will be paid on the individuals' 2024 income tax returns.
+1

Who is the current trustee of the trust? If you are the trustee, the brokerage should follow your instructions.
by cadreamer2015
Thu Feb 15, 2024 11:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Job title for PhD Economist Daughter
Replies: 36
Views: 3979

Re: Job title for PhD Economist Daughter

I would go with Director, Economics for consistency with her colleagues’ job titles. She will be directing the economic research of the organization. Agree that Chief Economist is over the top for a small non profit with no direct reports.

She should consider joining the National Association for Business Economics - the professional association for economists in her position.
by cadreamer2015
Thu Feb 15, 2024 12:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Taxes on estate disbursements
Replies: 9
Views: 662

Re: Taxes on estate disbursements

It should reflect the value on the date of death, so any gains or losses would be computed from date of death until the date you sold your shares.
This is usually the case but not in all circumstances.
by cadreamer2015
Thu Feb 15, 2024 12:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Taxes on estate disbursements
Replies: 9
Views: 662

Re: Taxes on estate disbursements

I'm not sure what a Vanguard OEF is. OEF is the ticker for an iShares S&P 100 ETF. Generally speaking most assets in a decedent's estate are stepped up in value to the value as of the date of death. There are some exceptions, especially if the assets were held in an irrevocable trust or the executor has selected an alternate valuation date, but these are relatively uncommon. You should ask the executor or the estate attorney who is handling the estate. It is likely that both the financial assets and the house will get a basis that is stepped up to the value on the date of death, but anonymous internet answers cannot definitely answer the question in your specific circumstances. Also, you can't necessarily rely on Vanguard to correctly s...
by cadreamer2015
Tue Feb 13, 2024 1:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Distribution of living parent's estate: which bucket first?
Replies: 17
Views: 1345

Re: Distribution of living parent's estate: which bucket first?

I think I want to keep the trust for funding mom, and started distributing the rest. Starting with $100,000 total to my brother and me.
This is not your money to distribute, it is your mom's. If she has capacity, she can decide to gift money to you and your brother. If she doesn't have capacity, your fiduciary duty is to your mom. It would probably be a breach of that fiduciary duty to gift assets, and your POA might prohibit such gifts to yourself.
by cadreamer2015
Mon Feb 12, 2024 9:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Just lost my father (age 60). Questions to begin helping my Mom (age 61).
Replies: 22
Views: 3781

Re: Just lost my father (age 60). Questions to begin helping my Mom (age 61).

I'm so sorry for your loss. It is really good that you are able to help your Mom. It's probably a good idea not to make major financial or other life moves immediately. The wiki counsels this after a windfall and it is probably just as important after the death of a spouse. Be aware that many/most "financial advisors" are really salespeople who are likely to pitch things like annuities, life insurance or other high fee financial products. You may need to speak to whoever is managing the existing investments to understand the workings of any beneficiary designations, etc. But I would only take serious financial advice from a fee-only financial advisor. It would be very good if you could go with your Mom to any in-person meetings or...
by cadreamer2015
Fri Feb 09, 2024 12:57 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TurboTax not doing form 5695 (Residential Energy Credits) properly?
Replies: 4
Views: 752

TurboTax not doing form 5695 (Residential Energy Credits) properly?

I installed a heat pump system (mini-split) at our vacation home last summer. I understood that I would be able to claim a Residential Energy Credit) for this. The form 5695 has a credit for Residential Energy Property Expenditures (lines 21 through 29), which does not require that the the energy property expenditure take place at your primary home - it only asks if the home located in the United States. But TurboTax in the interview process asks if the energy expenditure was at your main home. When I answer no, it says I am not eligible for the credit. If I override the cell on line 32 of form 5695 it says I can't file electronically. Anyone else run into this and have a solution?
by cadreamer2015
Mon Feb 05, 2024 10:07 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: MAGI over limit for Roth contribution - what to do?
Replies: 6
Views: 705

Re: MAGI over limit for Roth contribution - what to do?

Many thanks to all who responded. I never ran into this problem myself so had little experience to provide my son. I'm grateful for the wide-ranging experience of the BH community.
by cadreamer2015
Sun Feb 04, 2024 9:28 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: MAGI over limit for Roth contribution - what to do?
Replies: 6
Views: 705

Re: MAGI over limit for Roth contribution - what to do?

$10 k is above the ira limit.
My bad. Could they make a $5,000 contribution each to a traditional IRA, which would bring their MAGI down by $10,000 and lift the prohibition on making a Roth IRA contribution?
by cadreamer2015
Sun Feb 04, 2024 9:24 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fed Chair Jerome Powell: The 2024 60 Minutes Interview
Replies: 14
Views: 2014

Re: Fed Chair Jerome Powell: The 2024 60 Minutes Interview

But it still hurts to pay so much more without any raise
If you haven't gotten a pay raise since 2019 you are pretty unusual. National average data show that Average Hourly Earnings have gone up 28.2% since January 2019, which is significantly more than prices have increased as measured by the CPI.
by cadreamer2015
Sun Feb 04, 2024 9:08 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fed Chair Jerome Powell: The 2024 60 Minutes Interview
Replies: 14
Views: 2014

Re: Fed Chair Jerome Powell: The 2024 60 Minutes Interview

But why do want to cut rates when everything around me seems so expensive Prices of things are certainly higher, in general, than they were in 2019. The CPI in December 2023 was 21.9% higher than in January 2019. But inflation has come down significantly. The rate of inflation in the past 6 months has been about 1% (the CPI in December 2023 was 0.5% higher than in June 2023).The Fed has a mandate from Congress to control current inflation, not to reverse inflation that happened in the past 5 years. Their other mandate from Congress is "maximum employment." It's hard to imagine that you could get prices (and wages) to fall by 22%, which is what it would take to get us back to the CPI in January 2019, without a massive increase in ...
by cadreamer2015
Sun Feb 04, 2024 9:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: MAGI over limit for Roth contribution - what to do?
Replies: 6
Views: 705

MAGI over limit for Roth contribution - what to do?

I'm asking this question for my son and daughter-in-law. They have been making Roth IRA contributions in recent years and their salary, interest & dividend income has been well below the $228,000 (2023) limit for making a Roth contribution. But last year they bought a house and had to sell quite a bit of mutual funds to raise cash for the down payment. As it turns out, their MAGI for 2023 is about $228,000, with $180,000 of salary, interest and dividends and $48,000 of capital gains. Their salary income will go up in 2024, but the capital gains will not recur. Before calculating their 2023 taxes, they each made a ~$3,000 contribution to their Roth IRAs. So the question is: what options do they have to come into compliance with the IRS r...
by cadreamer2015
Sat Feb 03, 2024 10:28 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Proposed alternative to Turbotax's clunky nominee process (for deceased Mom's final 1040, related to 1099-DIV)?
Replies: 22
Views: 1804

Re: Proposed alternative to Turbotax's clunky nominee process (for deceased Mom's final 1040, related to 1099-DIV)?

Did you notify the brokerage of your Mom's death immediately? Did they set up an estate account under an EIN that had been obtained? If so, then then the 1099s should flow to the correct taxpayer (your Mom's 1040 or the estate's 1041).
by cadreamer2015
Sat Feb 03, 2024 10:21 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Vanguard's website - [helping an] older individual investor
Replies: 16
Views: 1531

Re: Vanguard's website - [helping an] older individual investor

<t>When I took over as the trustee of my mother's revocable living trust when she was about age 95 she turned over all financial affairs to me. I was joint on her regular checking account and paid her bills from that account. I made transfers from her brokerage account cash position to the checking account when necessary to pay her monthly bills. I did send her copies of her monthly statements for a while until her vision completely deteriorated. I basically told her every month that she was in fine financial shape, which she was. I would never have tried to go over a website with her, even if that had been possible.<br/> <br/> So I guess my question is, how much information does your older relative want? If they have turned over all financ...
by cadreamer2015
Thu Feb 01, 2024 1:55 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How can I tell if Solar Panels are working effectively?
Replies: 21
Views: 1892

Re: How can I tell if Solar Panels are working effectively?

Was 2021 a great year for solar energy?
We added solar panels on 3/1/2021 so I don't have a full year for comparison. For March-December 2022 was up about 3% from 2021. For those 10 months 2023 was down about 8% from 2022. Most of the negative delta was in the first 5 months of the year 2023 (probably because of rain/clouds).
by cadreamer2015
Thu Feb 01, 2024 1:24 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How can I tell if Solar Panels are working effectively?
Replies: 21
Views: 1892

Re: How can I tell if Solar Panels are working effectively?

Our solar panels generated ~8% less in 2023 than in 2022. Early 2023 was very wet - we finally broke the drought. I’m in San Diego county.
by cadreamer2015
Thu Feb 01, 2024 10:20 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Filling out dreaded Schedule AI of form 2210 is easy with FFFF
Replies: 1
Views: 313

Re: Filling out dreaded Schedule AI of form 2210 is easy with FFFF

The software did not allow schedule AI.
Which tax software did not allow schedule AI? Sounds like tax software to avoid.