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niagara_guy

I think if your complaint is honest it won't be an issue (I am not a lawyer). FINRA and the SEC are there to protect investors.

niagara_guy

If you PM me (I think I know how to get a PM message but not sure) I will tell you about my computer career.

niagara_guy

I had some after tax contributions that I made a long time ago, didn't know I had to file 8606. So, about 5 years ago I filed 8606s for all the years I missed (I used copies of one tax year 8606 for all years) and added a cover letter. Now I include an 8606 each time I file (I am converting to Roth ...

niagara_guy

I had POA for a friend and I took the highest dollar offer for his house because I felt that was my obligation. When we reviewed the offer with the seller he decided (and he was competent then) to take an offer for less money based upon their letter. I am glad he got to make the final decision.

niagara_guy

It might be time to write a letter to the president of the company.

niagara_guy

I am sorry for your sister's and your loss. I assume the life insurance will pay promptly and then it can be used to pay for any urgent bills. I don't think it's necessary to make decisions about the 401k in the short term. I am a fan of Vanguard (I have not used PAS but it might be an option for he...

niagara_guy

+1 small claims court. you can also contact the government body that regulates the utility. That might be better.

niagara_guy

I too am sorry for your loss. I didn't read all the posts (glad lots of people chiming in) but I wanted to give you my input. There are lots of financial people who will want to 'help' you but are really going to take 1% to 2% of your assets every year if you let them, and they will probably provide...

niagara_guy

I contributed both before tax and after tax money to a 401k; when I retired I moved the before tax (which also included the earnings from after tax) to a tira and the after tax money to a Roth.

niagara_guy

Thank you for your replies.

niagara_guy

I have made many financial decisions that in hindsight I didn't look very bright. I try to learn from these mistakes. And, I will continue to make a few bad financial decisions (but most decisions will be good). Warren Buffet always talks about his bad decisions in his annual report (maybe reading s...

niagara_guy

here is one tool for modelling ss: https://opensocialsecurity.com/ I have not used it. I did get the book " Get What's Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security." It was helpful and I believe has a whole chapter on divorced couples. I also bought the modelling tool at https://m...

niagara_guy

I have VFIAX (Vanguard 500 index fund) which pays dividends 4 times per year (every quarter). I also have SWPPX (Schwab 500 index fund) which evidently only pays dividends in December. I also checked FXAIX (Fidelity 500 index fund) and it pays 4x/year. It seems to me that getting dividends every qua...

niagara_guy

I think there is an advantage to working part of a year (instead of retiring at the end of the year). Your income taxes for the part of the year will be much lower (assuming you are not getting a lot of pension/ss/...). You can sign up for a large fsa if offered, spend the whole amount early in the ...

niagara_guy

I retired the day I turned 65. There were several benefits of substantial value that I would have lost if I left earlier. Make sure you know what your benefits are.

niagara_guy

I have an RV, so I use a cigarette lighter inverter that I plug my laptop into. I use my laptop frequently using the inverter but the RV has big batteries. If you are using a car with a small 12v battery the inverter may run the battery down in a few hours if the car isn't running. I just checked, m...

niagara_guy

I am going to add a second post. I like Galveston as a tourist. I like tourist towns and the ocean and have visited Galveston many times with my RV. After the 1900 hurricane they raised the east end of the island about 20 feet so a deadly storm is now unlikely (and weather prediction gives several d...

niagara_guy

google this: galveston hurricane 1900. Worst natural disaster in USA. Weather there is cooler that inland because of the gulf (may only get into high 80s). Lots of tropical storms even if they aren't hurricanes with lots of rain. I would not own a house on the island because of hurricane risk. Gulf ...

niagara_guy

I convinced my employer to let me work 20 hours per week and did that for almost a year before I fully retired. I did lots of math to determine if I had enough money to fully retire. I should have worked half time for several years instead of one.

niagara_guy

If I were in your shoes I would ask the financial institution to provide an itemized list of all charges (including but not limited to AUM fees, 12-1b fees, load fees, ...) for the last year in writing. They may decline to provide this but I think if they do it will help you make a decision of wheth...

niagara_guy

consider working for a few months in 2022. you will probably be in a lower tax bracket. and, if you contribute to a fsa (flex spending account) in 2022 you can spend the whole year's amount in January. try to understand your company's benefits beforehand so you don't miss out on benefits (my bonus w...

niagara_guy

Here is a link for it:

https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/2020ar/2020ar.pdf

niagara_guy

Use the search box on bogleheads and type in voya. Also google 'voya sucks.' Lots of bad comments. Are you getting a company match? Fees are high, service is terrible. You probably won't be able to get your money out until you leave the job. If no match, use an ira instead (either Roth or traditiona...

niagara_guy

at 40 we didn't have 2 nickels to rub together. started saving, stayed frugal, today comfortably retired with enough. You are doing great. I made lots of mistakes early on and learned from some of them (some mistakes I had to make multiple times).

niagara_guy

I have chosen a college. I own this stock directly, not through a broker. The stock is held here: shareholderonline.com which I assume is not a broker in the traditional sense. The college accepts stocks (they show DTC information on their website, whatever that means). I don't have the cost basis f...

niagara_guy

I have about $1,000 of Comcast stock that is in an account at shareholderonline.com. I want to donate it to a college, what is the most cost effective way to do this?

niagara_guy

My understanding is that your cost basis is the stock price on the day the person died that you inherited the stock from, not that person's cost basis. And, if you are in the 15% tax bracket your taxes if this is a long term gain (not sure how LT gain is determined when you inherit stock) then your ...

niagara_guy

More than 10 years ago I needed a mover to go 1,000 miles. I used U-Pack (part of ABF trucking). They dropped off a 28 foot trailer, I had 3 days to load it, they delivered it to the destination and I had 2 days to unload. I paid by the linear foot and the price was similar to what I would have paid...

niagara_guy

I know someone who is a student at a 'work college,' where the student works a few hours a week and pays very little to no tuition. There are about 8 of them in the US, here is their website: https://workcolleges.org/. This has worked very well for this student and he probably wouldn't be in college...

niagara_guy

The National Music Museum is a stunning museum. Not sure if they would be interested or not.

http://nmmusd.org/

niagara_guy

I also bought Michelins at Costco. Great tires. a few pointers: at 5-6 years old the tires are no longer safe. Make sure the tires you buy are no more than 6 months old. Here is a link that shows how to determine when the tire was made: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11 ...

niagara_guy

Thanks everyone for your help. This makes me appreciate more the other financial houses (Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab) that I have a relationship with.

niagara_guy

My wife still has her small 403b at Voya Financial. She just got a letter from Voya saying the IRS requires a RMD by April 1st 2021. I thought that her first RMD would be in 2022, but Voya says otherwise in this letter. Didn't the Secure Act change the RMD date to the year you turn 72 for those born...

niagara_guy

I had a friend in ALF and I was a POA. We hired a fiduciary to help with his finances (great guy!). He knew how to negotiate with ALF and was able to reduce friend's bill. I believe it more than paid for his fees (We hired him for other financial reasons).

niagara_guy

I also used ABF freight (aka u-pack) and it worked great. They give you an empty trailer, you put your stuff in at the front and you pay by the foot. They don't serve every zip code so it may not work for you. The truck rides harder than a moving van, so use plenty of blankets. I think I had 3 days ...

niagara_guy

if it's not under warranty, you can try booting from a usb thumb drive. here is a link to build a linux thumb drive:

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/linux/c ... -easy-way/

you will have to change bios to boot from it. if it boots up it's probably a ssd issue.

niagara_guy

At both Vanguard and Fidelity I have had them stop disbursements. I believe they will require a medallion signature to remove this. I also blocked web access at both (they said most fraud comes in via web). I sleep better.

niagara_guy

and, what are the government backing limits for the institution where the cd is? is 500k covered?

niagara_guy

check the cd early withdrawal penalty. Some are only 90 days of interest, so if interest rates go up it might be cost effective to take the penalty. keep a copy of the rules when you buy the cd.

niagara_guy

open office is a free alternative to MS office. It does not do everything perfectly (and may not read all MS files) but it's good enough for me. I have used it for about 10 years.

niagara_guy

6 people in my family have used Republic Wireless for 5+ years, they are great. my plan with 1gb/mo of data is $20/mo and includes unlimited talk and text. I did try to help a person bring an iphone to Republic and it did not go well (I have a motorola phone from Republic that cost me $150 to buy). ...

niagara_guy

I converted some dollars to Roth in March of 2020 (I got lucky, converted at close to the bottom of the market drop). I model my taxes using the prior year's tax software, so I only convert enough to keep my taxes low (best to model fed and state taxes).

niagara_guy

I sent a letter to Vanguard several years ago to turn off internet access and to stop any redemptions. I believe I will have to send Vanguard a medallion signature guarantee to reverse the redemption stop; it will be several years before I need to do this so I am not sure of the details for the meda...

niagara_guy

Get what's yours, the secrets to maxing out your social security is a book I have. I also used their modelling tool (cost maybe $30) to model before I retired. Also had Fidelity run their model, they were very close.

niagara_guy

I converted some money to a Roth from a tira before I retired and in hindsight I think it was a mistake, because I am in a very low tax bracket now (waiting to take ss at 70). In 2020 I converted just enough to have to pay a small amount in fed taxes and will continue to do so. I use last year's tax...

niagara_guy

I put in a Kohler shower faucet about 15 years ago. It failed a month ago, I called Kohler. They were able to identify the model and send me parts at no charge to fix it. The downside is that it took the parts 2 weeks to arrive. I now have spare parts for this faucet.

niagara_guy

I did this a few years ago. My company allowed after-tax contributions to the 401k (but did not have a 401k roth). I contributed pretax and after tax money to my 401k, when I quit I rolled over the pretax amount and all the gains to a pretax ira and the after tax contributions to a Roth IRA. ( I bel...

niagara_guy

I used U pack about 10 years ago for a long move, worked very well and was about the same as a rental truck for cost but I didn't have to spend days driving, including meals and rooms. The truck does not ride as well as a moving van, so it can scratch items. use plenty of blankets for padding. They ...

niagara_guy

1. Kruger Park (South Africa)
2. Australia (3 times, thinking about 4th)
3. Alaska, including almost every ferry
4. Niagara Falls (couldn't resist!)

niagara_guy

I didn't read all the replies; I recommend this book: Get What's Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security. It has a chapter on divorce. I believe the authors also have a modelling tool that I used before making a decision (Fidelity has a modelling tool too, the two models agreed).

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