Recent content by AlmostThoreau

Yes, by bonds I meant TIPS.

That again assumes bonds are risky/volatile. I have a liability matching TIPS ladder. More stocks means more risk, in a linear fashion.

Yeah, it depends on how you measure risk. If you buy individual TIPS and hold to maturity, there is no risk/volatility. I think that chart is using stock and bond mutual funds with rebalancing. While I proposed all bonds as an idea, I think in practice it's a better idea to have more than one...

TPAW shows $118K/year for 0/100 using a liability matched TIPS portfolio yielding 2.3% real over 50 years, and I suspect it's more accurate, since it's not using historical backtests but mathematically certain yields as of today, with the one caveat that since you can only buy TIPS out 30 years...

Ah, it might be that I just didn't look closely enough for the 100% bond folks here. Interesting how FIRECalc and TPAW arrived at such different conclusions for 75/25 vs 0/100. I assume it's because I was only using a 40 year horizon from TPAW, it uses TIPS at current rates, and it uses a...

I'm a 50 year old recent retiree, and my asset allocation is around 75% stocks, 25% bonds. I figure by accepting more stock risk I can *probably* enjoy a higher standard of living in retirement. Maybe not. The excellent TPAW retirement planner (https://tpawplanner.com/) shows, with a...

Can you provide a bit more detail here? Thanks.

Eh. There's a lot doctors don't know. None of them thought to check my B12, which was incredibly low (when I finally found a doc who did think of this). And I have to get the stuff illegally from Canada, as docs here aren't allowed to prescribe the dosage I need. And 90% of MDs don't even know...

Right, I was thinking more of the deductibles and OOP maximums. At $25k MAGI, my deductible is $1k/year. At $30k, it's $9k. So in a year I consumed a large amount of HC, I might keep my income at $25k, otherwise sell some stocks at the end of the year (which I'll have to do eventually) and bump...

Hi All. I'm an early retiree, signing up for ACA healthcare next year, and I know I need to report my estimated MAGI. That might be $25k (if I live primarily off my after tax savings) or more like $50k (if I sell some stocks). Is there any harm in estimating $25k each year, then paying back any...

Absolutely terrible advice. If you do an annuity at all, start one at 80+ if in good health.

If there were anything magic about dividends, high dividend stocks would outperform. They don't. Total return, as many others have said, is all the matters.

ACA healthcare can add 10-30% to one's "tax bracket" before Medicare kicks in. Worth considering when deciding on Roth conversions while working, even if your tax bracket is higher.

I use Vanguard. With the for-profit boys, it's you vs them. I'm picky with who I trust my life savings to. Mutual funds are complex things.

I don't know anyone who voluntarily pays more in taxes, or for health care, than they have to due to some "moral code". We have rules/laws, and you should do the best you can within those rules/laws. Everyone else will be.