Recent content by Ted_Shepherd

Age almost 80, financially independent and retired with no more jobs since age 53. 33% in tax deferred accounts of my own, not yet considering my new spouse's IRA or taxable account as part of our retirement assets. Our income taxes come to about 0.5% of my retirement stash while inflation is...

C. Set aside a certain amount of your SWR to "save up" for them. Just bought a fine new Cadillac for cash. I have more cash than I planned. First, an irresistible offer came for part of the family farm. Then, a few years later, I sold one of my stocks when an acquisition gave me no real choice...

Nearly 80 now, I retired at 53 in 1993. These years in retirement have been quite wonderful for me with the obvious drawbacks: people I loved have died off, and my health is deteriorating. I'm glad I didn't work any longer. There have been no financial problems for me, these 26 years later. I...

Looking at LinkedIn reminded me of grim days, 1960 to 1993, holding on to a job or looking for the next one. I deleted my LinkedIn account. Good riddance.

I'm 77 now. Careful attention to diet and exercise allow me to pass for a youth of 76. No problem. With my aging face and hairless scalp, no one is surprised that I have retired. I had spent over thirty years in the American defense effort. When people ask what I did for a living before...

I, as seller, paid for title insurance I sold two houses in California. In both cases, I as seller had to pay for title insurance. Supposedly, that is the custom or maybe even the law in California. I didn't research it; I just paid.

Avoid Capital Gains Tax if Feasible I do not willingly pay any tax I can legally postpone. So, as some others have advised, I hold most of my financial assets in index funds (S&P 500 and Total Stock Market, no bonds, no foreign assets) and a couple of individual stocks that I inherited. I kept...

I retired in 1993 at age 53. The difficult parts of retirement are the deaths of people I loved and my own health problems at age 77. Otherwise, retirement has been wonderful. I have managed my retirement assets as if my life expectancy is to age 100 without reducing the purchasing power of the...

Staying away from Facebook I agree with you. Some years back, I had an account at facebook. I left because I found it a complete waste of time. Since then, I have heard about facebook manipulating information it permits users to see, and facebook being a political force for statism. I won't...

My Revocable Living Trust holds only my family homes My revocable living trust has only my two family houses. (They are our residences. Neither of them is a rental property. Neither them has ever had a mortgage. My aversion to debt has had a calculable cost: while my new house has appreciated...

My pet peeve today is internet sites that require people to log in at Facebook before commenting on articles. I refuse to do business with Facebook. When I find that I cannot comment on some articles, I leave those sites.

JTROS accounts just for my short term needs: gifts I agree with you. I use my three JTROS accounts just for the short-term pupose of convenient transfer of funds as current gifts. I fully expect the co-owners to drain the accounts to zero each month. This allows me to get funds to these three...

Yes, MSN, May Their Tribe Diminish Yes, you recognize the reader-hostile style of that site. The article has this title: "The American Greed Report: How to control your money, even after you die"

An article online today has this: "Another way to seamlessly transfer wealth is to designate loved ones such as adult children as co-owners on investment accounts. Through an arrangement known as a transfer on death agreement, ownership will automatically transfer to your loved one when you...

My revocable living trust is technically the owner of both of my houses. I am the sole owner of that trust, so I think of the houses as mine. Neither house has ever had a mortgage since I bought them. (Their total value is not a large part of my estate, say 12%, but they save me paying mortgage...