Search found 2626 matches

by curmudgeon
Tue Nov 22, 2022 9:25 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Taxation of Treasury bills, notes and bonds
Replies: 1078
Views: 157326

Re: Selling T Bill before maturity tax implications

It is one reason I like to buy Bills at Auction and hold to maturity. Easy peasey. After running into some of this tax messiness one year, I decided to limit my holdings on the taxable side to CDs, tbills, and funds which have simpler tax reporting. I buy secondary market bonds only in tax deferred accounts. This requires a bit of adjustment in how I manage our holdings, but it makes tax filing easier. Since this thread is intended to help people with their tax reporting, would you mind sharing the tax reporting difficulties you encountered? It is not an issue for bills bought on secondary if you hold to maturity--all accrued acquisition discount (aka interest) is reported in box 3 of 1099-INT. There are only complications if you sell befo...
by curmudgeon
Tue Nov 22, 2022 5:58 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Last Social Security Check Deposit
Replies: 4
Views: 873

Re: Last Social Security Check Deposit

My experiences acting as executor several times were that SS (and the bank) generally futzed around a bit, but generally got it right in that time. We didn't hit this particular situation, though. The VA, on the other hand, pushed and pulled funds several times before finally getting things right (possibly because we notified them immediately and their process was more built around the delayed notification coming through the mortuary and SS). I agree that the phone trees in dealing with this stuff can be awful. Just recently I was helping someone try to cancel the ipad cellular data plan for a deceased husband (but billed to her credit card) in AT&T. It was on the "prepaid" side of AT&T mobile, and so far this side of the ...
by curmudgeon
Tue Nov 22, 2022 5:32 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Taxation of Treasury bills, notes and bonds
Replies: 1078
Views: 157326

Re: Selling T Bill before maturity tax implications

Tubes wrote: Tue Nov 22, 2022 12:32 pm It is one reason I like to buy Bills at Auction and hold to maturity. Easy peasey.
After running into some of this tax messiness one year, I decided to limit my holdings on the taxable side to CDs, tbills, and funds which have simpler tax reporting. I buy secondary market bonds only in tax deferred accounts. This requires a bit of adjustment in how I manage our holdings, but it makes tax filing easier.
by curmudgeon
Tue Nov 22, 2022 12:53 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How To Select a Cruise (Mediterranean, Spring/Fall 2023)
Replies: 20
Views: 1320

Re: How To Select a Cruise (Mediterranean, Spring/Fall 2023)

Thank you all for these great recommendations and observations. I did look at Vacations To Go (vacationstogo.com) and my question is - are these discounts for real? They are often 50% of more. Just wondering - what's the catch? If something's too good to be true, it's probably not true, right? Thanks again! Cruise pricing is full of marketing spin. It also has substantial commissions built in for the selling agency. The terms and conditions on the ticket contract will make you cringe. But the product is pretty good value for the money. I don't think anybody pays "list price", but people who want a very specific unusual cruise and/or cabin will likely end up paying closer to list price than someone who is more flexible. There's al...
by curmudgeon
Wed Nov 16, 2022 5:46 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Spending Christmas in Europe with kids (not this year)
Replies: 9
Views: 1015

Re: Spending Christmas in Europe with kids (not this year)

We did a trip of that nature a few years ago, though the kids were young adults. With younger kids it might be a bit more tricky. I think ours would have been OK with it from age 10-12 on, but any younger they might have been dismayed about missing the traditional home Christmas. We were coming from the west coast, so dealing with perhaps longer flights and more time change (part of the reason for doing the London stop). We also stretched to more like three weeks, so I would trim down if trying to fit into two. 1. Flew to London. Spent three days there doing some bits of sightseeing, a couple of shows, some shopping in Oxford St and the big dept stores, went to the races at Ascot (winter steeplechase). We get to London every couple of years...
by curmudgeon
Mon Nov 14, 2022 5:26 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Lisbon and South of France (Nice) or Lisbon and Spain (Barcelona or Madrid)?
Replies: 51
Views: 4964

Re: Lisbon and South of France (Nice) or Lisbon and Spain (Barcelona or Madrid)?

To my mind, the south of France is better visited with a car; a lot of interesting places are just too spread out to conveniently visit with public transportation. Keeping things simple and not renting a car would make me vote for Lisbon plus either Barcelona or Madrid. Each has not only the city itself, but also some good day trip options to nearby spots that don't require a car.

Lots to see in all three cities, but I think picking two is a good option for this length of trip. I'd probably choose Lisbon and Barcelona for myself, but I can understand why some would opt for Madrid (or Seville or Valencia or Granada).
by curmudgeon
Mon Nov 14, 2022 4:55 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 2023: Roth conversion vs ACA subsidies
Replies: 38
Views: 8209

Re: 2023: Roth conversion vs ACA subsidies

OP here...as I thought, this calculation is not straight forward, and the results depend partially on subsequent investment returns, which is just a guess... For somebody in the 12% bracket, is it worth the effort? Are we talking about a few hundred dollars here, or thousands? Suppose you had a $500K IRA, and could get it all converted over a number of years at 12%, as opposed to taking it later as RMDs after you have started taking SS and maybe a pension and would be in the 22% bracket. That's a 10% tax savings or $50K. But suppose you add an 8% cost of lost subsidies, so you actually convert at 20%. That's a 2% savings on $500K or $10K. If you are converting in the 12% federal bracket, the majority of your conversions are likely going to...
by curmudgeon
Mon Nov 07, 2022 5:13 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Constant Surveys Annoying
Replies: 35
Views: 2715

Re: Constant Surveys Annoying

I agree that this has gotten pretty annoying. And sometimes they make more than one request for the same thing. Most of the better ones do have a "unsubscribe from surveys" option. If I'm in a bad mood, I'll take the survey, give them a mediocre rating, and then add that the reason is because they are pestering me.
by curmudgeon
Fri Oct 21, 2022 8:40 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Keep trying to sell or rent?
Replies: 36
Views: 3739

Re: Keep trying to sell or rent?

If you don't need (all) the cash from the sale right now, one possibility might be to offer to take back a second mortgage as part of the listing. It's a technique from previous days when even higher mortgage rates made real estate sales difficult. It's a bit tricky and requires careful thought, but it might help. Biggest potential challenge that is if you needed to get the rest of the cash, you might have to sell the mortgage at a big discount (both because of interest rates and being a private mortgage).
by curmudgeon
Fri Oct 07, 2022 4:26 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Worst. Bond. Market. Ever.
Replies: 73
Views: 11926

Re: Worst. Bond. Market. Ever.

The scary part is that there could still be a lot more pain ahead. For the past few years I've regarded the risk/reward of long and intermediate bonds as way out of whack. The massive QE in particular felt like kids playing with dynamite. Long term rates are still quite low from an inflation-fighting historical perspective; if the 10-year has to get up to the 8% range of the past, that would be another big hit to bond principal. The bond markets seem to be pricing a fairly quick return to sub-2% inflation. That may happen, but there's still a lot of additional risk for long bonds if it doesn't. For myself, I've been down at ~1 year duration for my fixed income since QE. That's cost me some in interest rate return, and saved me a lot in prin...
by curmudgeon
Fri Oct 07, 2022 3:58 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: iphone music player without subscription
Replies: 11
Views: 1114

Re: iphone music player without subscription

It looks like I may have to bite the bullet and add itunes to the windows PC to move the files to the iphone. I have vague memories of itunes being pretty heavy-handed in the past, but that was a long time ago when I was moving stuff to an ipod; hopefully I can keep it from messing things up too much for my other uses (and I have backups in any case). I’m a PC user but do have an iPhone. I grudgingly use iTunes to sync my phone to my PC and get all my ripped CD’s to play through the default Music app. I don’t find the whole experience of syncing my music through iTunes to be intuitive and with all the updates that need to take place to keep iTunes up to date, it never is a short process. I hate doing it. Friends already in the Apple enviro...
by curmudgeon
Fri Oct 07, 2022 10:06 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: iphone music player without subscription
Replies: 11
Views: 1114

Re: iphone music player without subscription

It looks like I may have to bite the bullet and add itunes to the windows PC to move the files to the iphone. I have vague memories of itunes being pretty heavy-handed in the past, but that was a long time ago when I was moving stuff to an ipod; hopefully I can keep it from messing things up too much for my other uses (and I have backups in any case).
by curmudgeon
Thu Oct 06, 2022 10:23 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: iphone music player without subscription
Replies: 11
Views: 1114

iphone music player without subscription

I have my music managed on my android phone without much issue, but my wife is an iphone/ipad user in recent years. She hasn't kept music on them, but would like to be able to play music through noise-cancelling headphones for flights in particular (so the music needs to be stored on her phone). Apple seems to be all about selling you again the music that you already own. I've already got a bunch of cds ripped to my pc with music sufficient for travel purposes. I really dislike subscriptions, and we try hard to keep our cell data usage down. It seems like she'll need a music player app from the app store, and them some mechanism for transferring the mp3s onto the phone (I'd rather not put itunes on the PC, but could if necessary). There are...
by curmudgeon
Sat Oct 01, 2022 12:34 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Euro cruise in June 2023
Replies: 37
Views: 2612

Re: Euro cruise in June 2023

A few random thoughts: 1) Costco is a decent option, and tends to have fairly good value. Vacations-to-Go is another big agency that may have slightly better search tools. 2) Spending 2-3 days in your start and end ports is a good way to see a little more in depth. The regular port stopovers can be a little short. 3) Getting lunch or dinner ashore is a good part of your destination experience - don't worry about missing the "free" lunch included on the cruise. 4) Cabins for 4 can be pretty tight, but alternately most lines won't let you book the kids in their own cabin. There are some connecting cabins, but availability can be a challenge, so booking somewhat early is a good idea. 5) Family pricing can be weird - a good agent can ...
by curmudgeon
Mon Sep 26, 2022 7:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: World Cruise 2023
Replies: 42
Views: 3636

Re: World Cruise 2023

On a side note, cruise pricing can be all over the map. Many of the mainstream lines publish a "brochure price" when they release a cruise date that serves purely as a marker for "discounts"; they don't actually sell any cabins at brochure price because they are always running some sale or other. If you look closely at sales, a lot of time very different sounding sale terms end up with similar net costs in the end. If cabins are selling slower or faster than expected, the lines may sweeten the deal a bit (or the reverse). Cruises are one travel item where there are still substantial commissions to travel agents. Enough so that some travel agents will effectively rebate part of the commission, either in cash or in credits...
by curmudgeon
Sun Sep 25, 2022 11:22 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: World Cruise 2023
Replies: 42
Views: 3636

Re: World Cruise 2023

Being retired, we've been drifting into doing slightly longer cruises, in part to make the travel hassles worthwhile. We tend to be more oriented to the ports than to the ships. While having some sea days is good for a break, we've been a bit concerned about getting bored with too many of them.

For now we are a long ways from doing multi-month cruises. My wife gets itchy to see the grandkids (and her friends) if we are traveling much more than a month. Right now our longer trips tend to be two weeks on a ship, along with two weeks on land. The round-the-world cruises look interesting on paper, though.
by curmudgeon
Thu Sep 22, 2022 12:42 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: [Burton Malkiel: Don’t Give Up on the Stock Market]
Replies: 23
Views: 3083

Re: [Burton Malkiel: Don’t Give Up on the Stock Market]

I have felt that Malkiel has been somewhat "captured" by the industry. Not terribly surprising given that he makes a living from it, but I thought that even later editions of the classic Random Walk had a drift back towards stock picking. Maybe it's more towards the "Nifty Fifty", or a Wellington/Wellesley mindset.

I'm not exactly a 3-fund purist myself, but I haven't been especially convinced by his later work either.
by curmudgeon
Sun Sep 18, 2022 10:15 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Lyft vs Uber
Replies: 41
Views: 4455

Re: Lyft vs Uber

I have found them both to be more expensive and somewhat less reliable/consistent than a few years ago, but still definitely better than taxi service was in our area. Uber in particular seems to go into "surge" pricing at 2X or 3X normal for trips home from the airport, so I lean towards using lyft for that.
by curmudgeon
Mon Sep 12, 2022 8:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Est Taxes - Retired, Roth conversions, small div, cap gains only income
Replies: 13
Views: 1254

Re: Est Taxes - Retired, Roth conversions, small div, cap gains only income

Will have to run through another schedule to see. Have Federal Jury Duty starting tomorrow at 8 a.m. (and it's at least a 2 hr drive to the courthouse!) On call for 3 weeks. Likely to get on a trial so may be out of touch for a few days - they take your phone when you enter the courthouse, don't get it back until you leave at night so no way to check or respond. Thanks for suggestions and will try again once I get back to regular life! With an inherited IRA, one technique that can help is making the inherited IRA RMD (or possibly a larger withdrawal from the inherited IRA than just the RMD), and having the whole amount withheld for taxes between federal and state as needed. The withdrawal is taxable income, but the withholding amount is co...
by curmudgeon
Tue Sep 06, 2022 6:00 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Recasting Social Security income as a portfolio asset
Replies: 199
Views: 15824

Re: Recasting Social Security income as a portfolio asset

This topic hasn't come up lately, but it does get discussed here on occasion, though rarely with as much detail. It can be difficult to find the references because the likely search terms will have too many hits.

I agree to a large degree with the general premise, and I've seen references to Jack Bogle comments that referred to counting SS in your fixed income allocation. Others prefer to keep income streams separate from investments. You can apply similar considerations to an owned residence. Proponents for each way of looking at things tend to talk past each other. I don't use specific asset allocation percentages, so I mostly watch from a distance.
by curmudgeon
Mon Sep 05, 2022 10:55 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: RSU selling pressure
Replies: 10
Views: 1958

Re: RSU selling pressure

phantom0308 wrote: Mon Sep 05, 2022 4:29 am The stock just happened to drop 10% the day that ESPP became available wiping out a lot of the 15% discount before they could be sold so I was curious. RSUs will also be starting to vest soon and we’re at close to a 1 year low now. Feels like I got into tech a few years late but plan says to sell on vest so have to stay disciplined.
Depending on the size of the company, nature of the ESPP, and normal trading volumes, I felt like some of my employer stocks had distinct downward bumps on ESPP day. I avoided auto-sell because of that, but would usually sell within a week or two. RSUs and options were a different matter and had their own decision process.
by curmudgeon
Sun Sep 04, 2022 9:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cruise Line Preferences and Comparisons
Replies: 41
Views: 5202

Re: Cruise Line Preferences and Comparisons

I will throw one cruise-line-specific "gotcha" that we ran across a few years ago:

Norwegian often pitches their cruises with various "free" included packages that may include specialty dining and drinks. The catch is that they charge a mandatory 20% gratuity on the inflated "list price" of the drinks package. So your "free" drinks actually cost you $20 per person per day, whether you use them or not.
by curmudgeon
Sun Sep 04, 2022 9:18 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: When to Collect Social Security (Pension Involved)
Replies: 20
Views: 2263

Re: When to Collect Social Security (Pension Involved)

Have you tried plugging your numbers into opensocialsecurity.com ? I hadn't tried this one before. Thanks, I'll check it out. I like that tool, but your circumstances may be far enough into the corner cases so as to reduce the relevance. In general, I'd say you are about ten years ahead of yourself in digging into this one. It will likely be a relatively small part of your retirement resources in any case, and there are various factors that may well change benefits from current projections (some of which are in current law, some of which are off-topic proposals floating around congress). Without the survivor benefit in consideration, I'd say that your SS delay choices are pretty much actuarily neutral. Living off other funds while delaying...
by curmudgeon
Wed Aug 31, 2022 6:58 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cruise Line Preferences and Comparisons
Replies: 41
Views: 5202

Re: Cruise Line Preferences and Comparisons

We've tried a number of cruise lines over the past few years, and have enjoyed ourselves on all the cruises, but we have started to settle into some definite preferences. We prefer interesting ports over go-kart tracks and climbing walls, so we lean towards smaller ships with less generic itineraries. We do like live music and some level of entertainment on board though, which is usually more limited on those smaller ships. We don't book fancy suites or such, but we aren't super constrained on cost either. Thoughts on some of the lines we've tried: Celebrity - They did a pretty good job on the cruise we took with them. Live music and entertainment were pretty good, main dining room food was pretty good (buffet was poor, though). Ship was a ...
by curmudgeon
Wed Aug 31, 2022 12:53 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cruise Line Preferences and Comparisons
Replies: 41
Views: 5202

Re: Cruise Line Preferences and Comparisons

I'll start with a very nice surprise on HAL (Holland America): They have a small chamber concert arrangement on (some? all?) ships, with Lincoln Center (yes, NYC). We were surprised and delighted on our one HAL cruise that the quartet was really excellent. The only downside was that the audience space was much too small. Not only was there no tiered seating (not a surprise) and the "stage" not raised high, but there just weren't enough seats. There was always a small mob crowding out the back trying to hear and see. Yes, nice problem as problems go, I suppose. (I used to arrive early with a book and get front row seats. We *love* classical music so this was a real treat for us, especially being so close to the performers.) Our ex...
by curmudgeon
Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:06 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: AGH! Yellowjackets! need Boglehead wisdom!
Replies: 59
Views: 5436

Re: AGH! Yellowjackets! need Boglehead wisdom!

I've used the hanging plastic bag traps (with attractant) for yellowjackets and had good results. Pretty much only get yellowjackets, not honeybees or other insects. It can take a week or two, but really thins them down which makes eating on the back patio much more enjoyable.
by curmudgeon
Mon Aug 22, 2022 9:52 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Greece June 2023
Replies: 17
Views: 2163

Re: Greece June 2023

A few random thoughts:

To me, Santorini and Mykonos felt like "Beverly Hills goes to Greece". Yes they were cute towns, and Santorini was quite scenic, but they aren't on my list for a return visit. But sometimes it can be fun to be in the hip locale; depends on what you are looking for. With limited time, I might pick one or the other.

An island without an airport (or at least without jet service) will have a whole different vibe, much more laid back and slower paced. Lots of options. I'd try to fit one in if possible.

Athens is not an especially attractive city, and traffic is choked. But the Acropolis is well worth seeing, and some of the other sites as well.
by curmudgeon
Sat Aug 20, 2022 11:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Smartwatches for seniors to Detect Falls
Replies: 93
Views: 10118

Re: Smartwatches for seniors to Detect Falls

oxothuk wrote: Sat Aug 20, 2022 10:25 pm
curmudgeon wrote: Sat Aug 20, 2022 9:57 pm It seems like both the Apple and Samsung options have pretty poor battery life - 24 hours at best.
I get 24 hours AT WORST on my Apple Watch Series 6. I usually charge every other night (I don’t wear the watch while sleeping).

Fall detection is pretty reliable, although many non-falls can trigger the alert.
That's helpful information. Though for fall detection, I think wearing the watch at night is an important part of the coverage.
by curmudgeon
Sat Aug 20, 2022 9:57 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Smartwatches for seniors to Detect Falls
Replies: 93
Views: 10118

Re: Smartwatches for seniors to Detect Falls

I've been considering this topic as well. A useful smartwatch seems much more likely to be regularly used than a pendant. It seems like both the Apple and Samsung options have pretty poor battery life - 24 hours at best. I'd really like it to have several days of battery life so the downtime for charging is less. Experience with the older Apple watch (with no fall detection) has shown it to be useful, but not consistently worn (especially when the daily routine is varying). Garmin seems to be a potential option with better battery life, but I think you lose some of the touch-screen functionality with those, so the smart watch features like sending texts may be less available. I'll be interested in what else may be an option. I've got a Fitb...
by curmudgeon
Sat Aug 20, 2022 8:38 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: recommendations regarding travel around Italy for group of 4 adults (train, rental car, car service, etc.)?
Replies: 19
Views: 1762

Re: recommendations regarding travel around Italy for group of 4 adults (train, rental car, car service, etc.)?

Lots of good comments already. We all have different preferences, but I'll throw a few comments from my own experiences. Venice requires several days to appreciate, staying somewhere well into the older part of the city away from the train/bus station area (and definitely not commuting from a mainland suburb like Mestre). Late October can be getting into more potential for "Aqua Alta", or high tide flooding - not usually a huge deal, but definitely inconvenient for getting around. You may be able to find a prediction calendar for this year with some searching. The fast trains are definitely a good way to get from point A to B in Italy. There's often discount tickets for advance purchase. See the website seat61.com for good train a...
by curmudgeon
Thu Aug 18, 2022 2:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: ACA insurance, managing income, CSRs, Medicare
Replies: 6
Views: 704

Re: ACA insurance, managing income, CSRs, Medicare

MrsBDG wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 12:13 am @Curmudgeon,is that comparison tools on each state exchange?

This seems like one more government plan where things are not quite set up to act the way they were intended, but then subsidies were also not intended for early retirees, per se.
I think this calculator should work fairly well, though I normally use the one from our state-specific marketplace.

https://www.kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/
by curmudgeon
Thu Aug 18, 2022 12:10 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: ACA insurance, managing income, CSRs, Medicare
Replies: 6
Views: 704

Re: ACA insurance, managing income, CSRs, Medicare

The general answer is that yes, with a household size of two, when one goes on Medicare and the other is still on ACA, the subsidy is significantly lower for the one remaining on ACA. Like most things ACA, the degree and form of how costs will be impacted are likely to vary widely depending on location, exact income level, and the specific ACA insurance selected.

This may have partial impact in the year one of them goes on Medicare, and larger impact in following years. Generally comparison tools will let you get cost estimates for the cases where one is on Medicare the whole year, but not the transition year. You need to specify the household size as two, but only one needing insurance.
by curmudgeon
Sun Aug 14, 2022 7:38 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: River cruises and low water levels
Replies: 16
Views: 3131

Re: River cruises and low water levels

We are booked on a one-week Rhine River cruise in about a month on Viking. The drought in Europe has caused the water level in the Rhine to drop precipitously and barge operators are reducing the weight of cargo they carry to compensate. While I have seen numerous web articles about the impact on barge commerce, I’ve seen virtually nothing about the impact on river cruise ships. I know nature will take its course and there either will or won’t be enough water for the cruise to operate normally when the time comes. This is very much an issue, and happens from to high of water levels (can't fit under the bridges) as well as too low. Some good storm systems can bring things back in a hurry, but I think you are right to be concerned. The Cruis...
by curmudgeon
Sun Aug 14, 2022 1:04 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: using inherited IRA to pay tax on Roth conversion?
Replies: 16
Views: 1135

Re: using inherited IRA to pay tax on Roth conversion?

Using withdrawals from an inherited IRA can be a convenient way to pay taxes on Roth conversion of your personal IRA. It's not a big deal, but it has a few small advantages. It needs to be planned in the context of your overall taxable income and tax brackets, as the withdrawals will count as additional ordinary income.

Probably the most convenient factor is that withholding done in the inherited IRA withdrawal counts as if it was paid evenly throughout the year, regardless of when it was actually done, and so it can remove the need to make quarterly estimated tax payments (I've run into the case where the online form only allowed me to designate 99% as the withholding for tax, not 100%, but that's a minor nit).
by curmudgeon
Sun Aug 07, 2022 6:13 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Reducing balances of tax deferred accounts before RMDs
Replies: 50
Views: 5500

Re: Reducing balances of tax deferred accounts before RMDs

Managing to avoid taxation of SS benefits for relatively high earners may be a valuable strategy, but it's pretty difficult to achieve in practice. I was aiming toward that goal, but the effects of the current inflation, especially if sustained for a few years, may close the window. In my case I took the "bird in hand" (ACA subsidies) rather than push big Roth conversions the last few years, which may well have been less optimal in the long term. This gives a limited number of years for larger conversions after age 65 and before SS/RMD. I keep in mind that just like the current inflation, future tax law changes may significantly tilt the playing field outside of my control. For the next few years I'm willing to take the risk of &q...
by curmudgeon
Thu Aug 04, 2022 5:06 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Using interest from Fixed Income to pay taxes on Roth conversions.
Replies: 4
Views: 506

Re: Using interest from Fixed Income to pay taxes on Roth conversions.

I will suggest one alternative that might be relevant for some of us. If you have an inherited IRA, with the faster payout requirement under the new tax laws, using those withdrawals to pay the taxes on Roth conversions of your personal IRA can be a good option. You can do the withdrawal in Nov/Dec with all or nearly all withheld for taxes and possibly avoid the nuisance of needing to make estimated payments during the year.

You have the additional taxable income of the Inherited IRA withdrawal, but presumably that has to fit into the broader time period in any case.
by curmudgeon
Thu Aug 04, 2022 1:41 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: hearing aids
Replies: 49
Views: 4746

Re: hearing aids

I have a hearing aid that I like OK, but it is so small I am afraid I will eventually loose it. Several times it has got caught on my covid mask and almost got lost. Also the batteries are more difficult to replace as my vision gets worse and my fingers get clumsier. I might like to get a larger hearing aid. Something the size of computer head phones. Do they make these? The size can be a real challenge. Modern electronics can be packed very small, and the manufacturers try to make the HA unobtrusive. But many of the new ones require manual dexterity that can be a problem with age. I help an elderly relative (age 97) who has a hard time putting on her hearing aids because they are so small. She's also had a problem with losing them. It see...
by curmudgeon
Wed Jul 20, 2022 3:21 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What is a "Cadillac Health Plan"?
Replies: 19
Views: 2629

Re: What is a "Cadillac Health Plan"?

I don't think it's an exact term, but I think of two (somewhat related) definitions: 1: Health plans that were supposed to be subject to extra taxes under ACA because they were "too generous" or something along those lines. My understanding is that this was unpopular with various politically influential groups and was quietly delayed and then dumped after serving it's purpose of making the projected budget numbers look better. Typically these had minimal co-pays and were often part of union deals where they took a lower raise in return for more generous health coverage. 2: Any health plan with a broad network and/or good out-of-network coverage and modest co-pays. Common in government benefits, and some megacorp plans. These days ...
by curmudgeon
Wed Jul 20, 2022 11:43 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: confirm opensocialsecurity.com results ??
Replies: 10
Views: 1144

Re: confirm opensocialsecurity.com results ??

That's not especially uncommon. It depends on what you assign as the value of money today vs in the future, which is a return rate that is available to tweak in the entries (the default is derived from some financial rates and moves around over time).

What can be useful is to look at the color charts further down the page that show the expected range of outcomes across various claiming dates. In this case, I expect you will find that there is very little difference in the expected outcomes across a range of claiming dates for the spouse with the lower PIA benefit. I personally view any differences in the 2-3% range as not meaningful; I would use other considerations (doing Roth conversions, need for current cash flow) as more important.
by curmudgeon
Sun Jul 17, 2022 9:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Mail Problems
Replies: 70
Views: 6725

Re: Mail Problems

Our mail delivery is fine. Once in a while something seems to take 2-3 days longer than I would have expected for delivery. We drop outgoing mail at a box (in a visible/monitored area) or the post office. We don't depend on forwarding, though. I could see how that could be more problematic.

We pay a lot of regular bills several months in advance. I prefer that to setting up autopay and giving them direct access to our checking account.
by curmudgeon
Thu Jul 14, 2022 4:08 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: CPU cooler clearance, desktop case
Replies: 3
Views: 763

Re: CPU cooler clearance, desktop case

When ordering a desktop PC case so that a particular CPU cooler will fit, how many millimeters is the minimum safe clearance margin? If all the claimed measurements are to believed, I suppose 1mm of margin is safe. But motherboard standoff heights, board thicknesses, CPU socket thicknesses, and processor thicknesses can't all be the same, so there must be some margin in the numbers. For example, would 2mm of difference between claimed 158mm cooler height and 160mm max height per the case manufacturer be best to avoid (maybe shoot for at least 5mm clearance)? I'm not really into the gamer/overclocking PC space, but I have worked with a variety of chip cooling issues on various critical infrastructure systems over the years. You want both cl...
by curmudgeon
Tue Jul 12, 2022 5:26 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: A question about long term capital gains tax
Replies: 28
Views: 2067

Re: A question about long term capital gains tax

I find this tool really useful for doing "what if" calculations of federal taxes. I generally try to do some estimates of last year, current year, and projections of what things may look like after certain significant changes (SS, RMDs, etc). It handles the messy phase-in of SS taxation nicely, as well as various short-term, long-term, dividends etc, though it doesn't do IRMAA or state taxes.

https://www.mortgagecalculator.org/calc ... ulator.php

Occasionally I may fire up last year's TurboTax to do some analysis, but I find that much more awkward because of the way it wants supporting worksheets filled out before it does the calculations.
by curmudgeon
Mon Jul 04, 2022 8:12 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Survey Question: For Retired or Those Close to Retirement, What Withdrawal Method are You Using?
Replies: 240
Views: 19388

Re: Survey Question: For Retired or Those Close to Retirement, What Withdrawal Method are You Using?

Ad Hoc with a rising equity AA. That would apply to us as well. It's made easier by the fact that we've "over-saved" in traditional retirement terms. Retired 5 years ago in late 50's. Planning to delay my SS until age 70. No pensions. Using ACA subsidies to reduce health insurance costs by managing taxable income and limiting Roth conversions until age 65. I do have some rough guardrails in the back of my mind relative to potential scenarios. They aren't something that I actively evaluate, but if I'm feeling uncomfortable about the situation, it's what I would pull out for guidance. When we hit SS, I'll probably reformulate. It goes something like this: 1. If the 12-month rolling average value of our investments drops down to $X,...
by curmudgeon
Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:00 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Carnival Corporation - Cancel December Cruise or Go?
Replies: 79
Views: 9192

Re: Carnival Corporation - Cancel December Cruise or Go?

I would have some definite hesitation in investing in Carnival or another cruise line/conglomerate, but I wouldn't fret too much about near term cruises. I wouldn't be keen on booking a year or more in advance, at least not if it involved a large deposit. If I had a cruise cancelled out from under me, I'd also require a direct full refund rather than taking "Future Cruise Credits", even if the FCC was for a boosted face value. Deposits and payments directly for a cruise not delivered would have significantly better standing in credit card chargeback than FCC. I view FCC as essentially turning you into an unsecured lender to the cruise line. I agree that the cruise lines have had to take on a ton of debt to get through Covid, but t...
by curmudgeon
Wed Jun 29, 2022 3:31 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Taking SS at 70, liability matching and FRA.
Replies: 27
Views: 2740

Re: Taking SS at 70, liability matching and FRA.

Yeah, something like that :D

I'm actually a little less conservative on this specific point. I roughly liability match some approximation of our projected SS benefits for the time between now and when we expect to claim (70). Claiming earlier (FRA or so) is a fallback, but not part of actual planning.

The age 70 SS benefit (and a paid-off house) give a reasonably comfortable baseline lifestyle for us. I'm comfortable treating everything else (in terms of both savings and expenses) as discretionary and drawing from it with whatever WR I choose (it doesn't have to be "safe"). It's pretty much all equities. The house serves as the deep reserve for long-term care or other more extreme need.
by curmudgeon
Sat Jun 25, 2022 12:37 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Drip irrigation: reducing pressure
Replies: 9
Views: 1349

Re: Drip irrigation: reducing pressure

Pressure reducers - normally placed at the stub from the pvc pipe to the 5/8" poly. You can also adjust the flow down at the valve.

After many years of dealing with drip stuff in landscaping, I've shifted pretty much completely away from individual emitters, and only use the small tubing with inline drippers at the plantings. I get a 50' roll, and cut chunks to put in as needed, trying to make sure there are at least two emitters per plant. When I start to get too many failures (after 10 years or so) I pull it all out and replace all the flex tubing stuff.
by curmudgeon
Fri Jun 24, 2022 5:34 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Duty free wine in European airport with connection in US
Replies: 25
Views: 3292

Re: Duty free wine in European airport with connection in US

The duty-free shops have these special security seal bags for this purpose, so I think it can be done, but I don't remember the exact process (I don't normally bother with wine/liquor that way). Good luck with Newark...
by curmudgeon
Wed Jun 22, 2022 10:51 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone used Costsaver tour (part of Trafalgar)?
Replies: 12
Views: 3009

Re: Anyone used Costsaver tour (part of Trafalgar)?

Haven't used them, but often a significant difference is that the more expensive version of the tour will be staying in a much more central hotel, where you can walk and enjoy the location in the evening, while the cheaper version will have you in a hotel stuck out in an office park somewhere. You also need to learn to interpret bus-tour-speak; often "seeing" someplace means "look at it out the windows as the bus drives by". While that may be all you really have time to do, it's good to parse the descriptions closely so you aren't disappointed.
by curmudgeon
Tue Jun 21, 2022 11:51 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: “Plastic” for someone with Alzheimer’s
Replies: 26
Views: 3172

Re: “Plastic” for someone with Alzheimer’s

I'm not a debit card user, but this seems to be a good case for one. Dealing with gift cards and recharging them would be a hassle.

I would set up a separate account with a modest amount of money and no "overdraft" or "auto-transfer" mechanisms enabled and a debit card. Treat that as the "walking around money" account, and periodically transfer over another hundred or two. Probably set it up for text or email alerts, either on every use, or whenever there is an overdraft attempt.

Depending on the circumstances, I'd probably put $500 or so in the account as needed so it doesn't require frequent tending.
by curmudgeon
Sun Jun 19, 2022 11:23 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Discount Business Class Travel Agent Experience - Skylux
Replies: 17
Views: 2763

Re: Discount Business Class Travel Agent Experience - Skylux

Thanks for the report. I've been aware that sometimes package tickets that include a hotel stay can be discounted below what you can otherwise find, but still be legitimate tickets (as opposed to what I think of as grey market tickets from resale of miles/points which are against the airline rules). This is a good reminder to check that model again on our next long haul trip. The push for selling add-ons makes me think that that might be the real profit point for the agency.