Recent content by El Magnifico Loco

Did you ever follow up with your insurance company to find out why they would not honor a doctor's Rx? I wonder if they would have covered it if the doctor's office would have called and appealed? I also wonder how much the cost of medicine in this country has increased due to the doctors...

I have NO experience with CBD oil, but have heard of its benefits. One person with whom I spoke told me she got off all of her anti anxiety and pain meds, and just takes CBD oil. She says she feels like a normal person now. It's great to hear your wife seems to have had the same results.

I worked for a pharma company who used to manufacture opiate medications. I think the meds themselves are both a godsend as well as a scourge, depending upon the doctor prescribing and the patient taking. Many docs do not know how to prescribe. A few are unscrupulous who would prescribe any...

We actually had both, a rescue golden retriever who was also a breeder, before the rescue organization got her. She passed away a couple of years ago, and we are now considering getting another rescue golden from the same place. We just "dog sat" a golden puppy for a week. Lots of energy...

Agreed. I too doubt the Fed will unwind their balance sheet anytime soon. As soon as there is a hint of an economic slowdown, I believe they will stop and, depending upon the slowdown's severity, increase their holdings again. Does anyone know how the US Fed's holdings compare to the ECB's...

Wow. Older than 5 years and still going. You are truly blessed. I never had a laptop last more than 4 years. To be fair, I used them for work and traveled a lot. So lots of bumps and bruises. I am not a techy and am not qualified to respond to your technical questions. But from a...

Yes. As I recall, we did not truly recover from the 2000 bear until after we experienced the 2007 bear. But I think on average, from peak to peak, it's 3 years. Another interesting question is whether we are still in a secular bull, or at the beginning of a secular bear.

Which I guess is why people say you should have 3 years worth of expenses stashed away as cash. Re: where the bottom is, I think we should keep in mind the straight P/E is around 18 today and the CAPE is >25. I think we have further to go . . . .

I realize those with HSA plans can withdraw their HSA savings tax free as long as the withdrawals are supported by receipts of qualified medical expenses that were incurred while the HSA plan was in force. Even if those withdrawals occur many years into the future. But what about after the HSA...

I'm 63 and married, and have a cash flow model that goes out for 30 years (optimistic (pessimistic?), I know). We're in also in the 22% tax bracket and we are planning to take SS at age 70. In our case, I find it makes sense to make ROTH conversions (a) even AFTER considering IRMAA charges...

I'm not sure you can assume the house will offer the same returns as an investment-grade bond. From what I've read, one should assume your home's appreciation will match inflation, which is always lower than a (non-gov't) bond's interest rate. Also, your home's eventual sale probably...

Well of course, no one truly knows. If this is a severe bear market (as opposed to a correction or worse, a run-of-the-mill-bear), we could see a P/E of 7, before it truly bottoms out. We're now at a P/E of 18. So that's another 60% decline, or in terms of the Dow, another decline of 13K (if...

I agree that converting funds now before RMD's take effect is the smart move, particularly as the market comes down from its euphoric high. The earlier comment about RMD's being taxed at the higher Single vs Married Filed Jointly tax rate is huge. In our case, when one of us passes, the...

Good point re: retracement. Even after retracing, the S&P has a P/E of 18-19, which is above historical levels. I believe the WORST bear markets have ended with a P/E of ~7. And we haven't had one of those in a while. Personally, I'm keeping my powder dry until the S&P hits 12. But I've...

I am not Medicare eligible yet (15 more months to go), but I started doing some research. Several years ago, I had heard Advantage plans were horrible as they (a) were too restrictive in terms of what physicians one could see and (b) what procedures they would cover. But in talking with my...