Bogleheads.org

GerryL

I focus on having ENOUGH rather than having MORE.
Do I have or am I on track to have ENOUGH to live the life I want? Yes. John Bogle wrote a little book titled "Enough."

Ironically, by focusing on enough, I ended up with more than enough.

GerryL

I visualize my investments in roughly equal "blocks" or parts: IRA to Roth to Taxable looks like 4 : 1 : 2. The Roth amount is what I was able to get into it in the limited number of years I had to max it out. I started putting $$ in as soon as the Roth became available and had to stop in ...

GerryL

Recently saw that "Amazon Day", where orders can be bundled for a single delivery on a specific day is a thing, and apparently while going through the motions of an order, set my day to Wednesday. Chatting with a rep, found out that once selected, you can't undo having an Amazon Day, just...

GerryL

OP, I'm a person who was pretty much like you described. Didn't settle down into a "serious" job until I was into my 40s, although I had managed to sock a few thousand away in retirement vehicles in the previous half decade. I didn't know anything about active versus passive investing at t...

GerryL

You've probably seen those commercials for newly released movies where someone is (ostensibly) interviewing people as they come out of the theater. Of course, these folks are gushing about how great the film is. Producers skip previewing a disappointing film for critics when they know it will likely...

GerryL

I have two tiny pensions that together account for <20% of my stable income stream, the rest of which is SS. They are non-COLAed, so over time they will account for a shrinking portion. But having the extra income is far better than a sharp stick in the eye, as my dad would have said. The smaller of...

GerryL

Do these balanced funds in taxable generate a lot of taxes? Some taxes on the quarterly dividends. It's not onerous. Almost half of the quarterly dividends last year were counted as classified. I started investing in the balanced fund before I learned about the the tax consequences of having bonds ...

GerryL

I've long had Balanced Index fund as my only fund in taxable. Keeps life simple since I intend to maintain a 60/40 AA. I only need to rebalance in IRA and Roth.

GerryL

I maintain appointments/meetings on my desktop and mail them to my iphone. (They used to be synced up, but that inexplicably stopped). Also, on the side of my fridge, and visible from where I often sit perched at my counter, is a sort of 2-week calendar where I post sticky notes for upcoming activit...

GerryL

Maybe reading a book will help. Some folks got value out of reading the book What Color Is My Parachute For Retirement? It is not really about the financial side of retirement, but about the emotional side of retirement. There are plenty of other books about the financial side, and I believe you ve...

GerryL

I had been planning my retirement for several years but ended up retiring a year early thanks to an offer with severance that almost completely covered the last year. It was a few months before my 66th birthday. I figured that it would take me a few weeks to settle into my new life. No such thing. I...

GerryL

If I have ended up with any "buckets," it's cash and everything else. I probably keep more in cash than many, but as my cash stash grows (from dividends and RMDs), I move excess into a balanced mutual fund in my taxable account, thereby increasing the next round of dividends. Isn't a bala...

GerryL

I looked at the bucket approach as a way to simplify money management in retirement. But then I realized that after setting up the buckets I would still have to manage moving funds to keep the buckets at the appropriate level. Found it more confusing than clarifying. It does seem hard to imagine ho...

GerryL

I looked at the bucket approach as a way to simplify money management in retirement. But then I realized that after setting up the buckets I would still have to manage moving funds to keep the buckets at the appropriate level. Found it more confusing than clarifying. If I have ended up with any &quo...

GerryL

In my 30s? Ha. I started my 30s going to college on the GI bill. Then worked at low pay teaching English in Japan. By the time I hit my 40th birthday, I was back in the US in a "serious" job and was able to start an IRA, which at that time was a max of $2000/year. I knew nothing about inve...

GerryL

If you have kept a record of all the lots (sale dates and price paid), you should be able to tell the IRS which lots you sold and what their cost basis was. Pain in the wazoo, but if you have records, it's in your hands. My company stock got moved around a bit before I understood the concept of cost...

GerryL

I avoid participating in fund-raising drives like "Giving Tuesday" because you are asked to pay extra for processing fees. Charities may get extra $$ "awards" for having the most individual donations or other such competitions, but then you end up paying a flat fee on a minimal g...

GerryL

AAA wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 2:23 pm
cheese_breath wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 1:27 pm You can choose to take, or not take any amount. Maybe you should make your title non-RMD specific.
Huh?

I've been referring to 2020 withdrawals from my IRA as an un-RMD. (Since the "R" stands for "required," and it's not.)

GerryL

I executed my QCDs early in the year, before the RMD holiday was announced. Decided to keep those as-is rather than paying them back from other funds and claiming the donations as a charitable deduction. (As I noted elsewhere) I was planning to run some scenarios to see how much I should possibly ta...

GerryL

I've been getting messages from my ISP indicating that they have blocked emails supposedly coming though my account "Considered UNSOLICITED BULK EMAIL or SPAM apparently coming from you." Actually, happening on several of my email address (same ISP). I figure that as long as their system i...

GerryL

If you buy Russian-language discs, you're going to have to buy new a player, also - one that supports Region C. See region codes here: https://www.ursinus.edu/live/image/gid/81/width/680/height/315/8430_br_region.rev.1442498681.png You might also be able to find region-free discs, in which case you...

GerryL

Already did my planned QCDs for the year. While we wait for rules about undoing distributions during this RMD holiday, I am going to run some scenarios, including one that would have me redepositing money (from my cash stash) into my IRA and claiming the former QCDs as charitable deductions. I inte...

GerryL

Thanks for the responses, much appreciated! Slowly beginning to understand Medicare better... Might be worth your while to get a copy of Medicare for Dummies. Great guide for understanding the complexities of this complicated program. What I like most about it is that it doesn't just reprint the te...

GerryL

If she is " paying copays of many hundreds of dollars per prescription for many of these medications " she's most likely (1) enrolled in the wrong plan, (2) insisting on the brand name when a generic in available, (3) using a non-participating pharmacy, or (4) some combination of the othe...

GerryL

Advise your friend to seek help from her state SHIP program (see https://www.medicare.gov/contacts). The volunteers there can offer objective advice to navigate her choices. And, from what I understand, they will help run the Part D search for her when open enrollment opens if she is not comfortable...

GerryL

One thing signing up for Medicare Part A does is make you ineligible to fund an HSA (Health Savings Account) if your employer health insurance is a qualifying high-deductible plan.

GerryL

I feel all annuity investing is a mistake. A SPIA is the exception to that rule since it is in essence like buying a pension. Sorry, i do not agree. Only person a SPIA or any Annuity is good for is the insurance company that holds it and the salesman that sold it to you. Terrible investment. An ann...

GerryL

I just got a new computer last week and am gradually getting it set up the way I want it. I opted for an HP all-in-one to replace my 10-year-old HP all-in-one. I ordered it directly from HP and, despite warnings about delays, it arrived in less than a week. It's good to understand what programs you ...

GerryL

1) People around here who have FiOS are happy with it. (I happen to use a different provider). 2) It might be worth keeping faintly in the back of your mind that Verizon has been deemphasizing this part of their business since about 2015. I wouldn't factor it into provider choice, but do be aware t...

GerryL

I opted to take two tiny pensions as annuities instead of lump sums. I took the first when I retired (age 66) because it would not grow. I waited until age 69.5 to take the second because it continued to increase. Together they add up to less that $700/mo, but they are a welcome supplement to the SS...

GerryL

I focus on having Enough rather than having More. Ironically, by doing that and ignoring FOMO, I have ended up with More than Enough.

GerryL

I pay my USAA auto insurance twice a year. They are providing COVID-19 discounts, so I keep getting emails notifying me that my account has been credited for rather tiny amounts. I don't drive that much even in non-pandemic years, usually logging ~7k miles on my car annually. And in retirement, mile...

GerryL

Except for some employer stock, my taxable account is in a 60/40 balanced index fund. I started adding money many years ago before I learned about why I might not want to have bonds in a taxable account. I have only added to it and not taken anything out (except for dividends at some times), and now...

GerryL

I don't have teenagers yet, but I think it may be impossible to convince them that saving money now for when they're 65 is worthwhile. If they think 30 is old, how do you think they feel about 65? Yes, I know they can withdraw contributions before that, but that's not a practice I want to encourage...

GerryL

I have Roku. I understand that there is a lot of overlap between the two. I got a Roku because it has apps for several streaming services I wanted to be able to access on my TV. Most or all may also be on Firestick, too, but I didn't bother to check very deeply. I find that once you move past the we...

GerryL

You made the offer. He takes you up on it or he doesn't. You don't really need to negotiate. Try again next year.

GerryL

I used VRBO/HomeAway once 5 years ago. It was a little scary since it my my first such rental. A few glitches, but I learned how to do it going forward. Since then I have used AirBnB several times in US and France without any problems. Sometimes a place to myself and sometimes with the host. I stick...

GerryL

A few years ago I decided to finally shop around for a new auto insurer after repeated, no-cause increases in the premium at Farmers. I opted to go with USAA. But when I asked about bundling my homeowners insurance, I found that it would cost me more because at Farmers I am grandfathered in on their...

GerryL

One trick I discovered esp when traveling, is that I download all the books i want to read and set my kindle into "airplane mode" so that the book wont disappear from the kindle when it expires. They usually expires in 14 days. You may be able to adjust your checkout period. I use Libby t...

GerryL

71yo and >6 years into retirement. I have a spending "target" that was used to evaluate my retirement plan. (It does not include taxes and goes up each year for inflation.) So far I have never actually hit the target, and I keep a running tab of how much I fall short each year. That will b...

GerryL

She told me that the online tool for requesting an RMD (if you have not set up auto distributions) has recently been updated to make it easier to request QCDs. That's great news and I confirmed that it works for my case. Doesn't it still work even if Automatic RMD Distributions are set up? If it do...

GerryL

I see it every time I start up Quicken. I do like seeing it. Once a year, I print out a screen shot of it and put it in the filing cabinet. If I croak unexpectedly, hopefully somebody will see it and think “oh, there’s another $50k over there in some account I didn’t know we had”. Same here. I open...

GerryL

My long-time dentist hates insurance. He'll work with some insurance companies, but only grudgingly. I pre-pay for a year of preventative care, which includes discounts for other types of dental needs. I penciled out the costs for Delta Dental-type insurance coverage and his offer and it made sense ...

GerryL

I gave many years of notice - talked about it with co-workers all the time. I think most people were interested in learning about the details of the process since they'd be doing it to some day. Except for the exact day, my retirement was driven by vesting rules, and I retired the month I vested. A...

GerryL

You could use it as a music player - basically an oversized iPod Touch. This is essentially how I use my old iPhone 5c. I set it in a docking station and stream podcasts and foreign radio stations. (Although I also use it as a "container" for my French SIM and take it to Europe in non-Cov...

GerryL

Winning the Game: Living the life I choose to live, there is very little (if any) chance I will run out of money. This encompasses not just day-to-day spending, but also infrequent large expenses (e.g., car, new roof) and unexpected major expenses that can be somewhat mitigated by insurance. That, f...

GerryL

My accounts are with Vanguard. At the time I opened my DAF (2014) I still had a 401k at Fidelity. I went with the Fidelity Charitable DAF for 2 reasons: 1) the lower minimum contributions and grants and 2) the marketing material was much more "accessible," that is, easier to understand. Th...

GerryL

I retired about 6 years ago, but I prepped myself in the preceding years. Once I knew that my finances were in order, I focused on being mentally ready. I read up on living in retirement from various perspectives. I interviewed retired friends whose circumstances were similar to mine. I started a li...

GerryL

hulburt1 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 11, 2020 6:35 pm Heritage Wealth planning.
Have 150 videos'. A lot of good information
no trying to sell you something.

I tried watching those for a while. Found the presenter too hard to take. Nice guy, probably, but not a skilled presenter.

GerryL

In the evenings I usually plop down in front of the TV and check out what YouTube is recommending for me. Sometimes I change up the recommendations with a search. And if there is a channel that I want to keep my eye on, I may subscribe. My subscriptions generally cover travel/cruising (Tips for Trav...

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