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We have just converted the last of our IRAs to Roth IRAs a week ago. Our plan was to convert some each year to minimize taxes. This year, I got tired of messing and converted the last amount. After Covid-19 upending our family's lives, it is the right time for us. We are 68.5 in age. In...

When I first started at E-R.org, my two fears were would I have enough, and how to minimize my taxes. I had/have enough. I thought that the plan for taxes was good, to top out and max my tax bracket with conversions each year. FWIW, about $120K per year was the place we ended up. Optimal...

Retirement is vastly under rated.

We don't have a safety deposit box. We had one, but our bank was flooded (as was our home). When we needed emergency money, We were barred from getting it for 18 months. As was our bank account. The bank did pay to clean our title/deed/documents etc to the house, however. We have two...

I follow Keynes economics. I do much better in my investments than I did in the past because of that switch. Until I see otherwise, I will stick with what works for me. Retirement CPI is different than the general CPI. The government uses the general CPI because it is cheaper. Our paid off...

We voted last week, and the website to check has our ballots marked as received. There were some mess ups with other mail, a flatpack was mailed in state and after 2 months was returned. The address was clear and correct. We sent the pack by UPS and it was there in a few days. After that, I...

Like others, we are also using our free_from_tax space by converting to Roths, and have been doing so every year. We will be 100% Roth before applying for SS. We still get to pay only minimal taxes, but also are ensuring that we won't have to pay income taxes in the future for our IRAs. Not...

I vote other. I went to a new balance of equities a few years ago, 20/80. I was getting hammered by various tariff/trade wars on internationals, and that was also hitting my US equities. I don't consider that normal market risk, so with highs in the market, I reduced my AA. The 20% in...

I will absolutely not risk my family's safety after everything opens up, but my state never closed except in a few limited areas. If I see a risk, I am not going in, much less spending money. Period. I am in near total isolation by circumstance and my best effort to respond well. We are a...

We bought a van and outfitted it with van camping gear and camping gear. Getting to a remote place without crowds is priceless to us. Unload, and its an everyday vehicle. After a few of weeks of our version of minimalist camping, we are ready for home comforts. A pair of solar panels, a...

Now, I look to Ted's talk, Smithsonian documentaries and documentaries in general, and restricted members web sites. There are a few science related reddits that I enjoy. I look for that stimulation online.

I live in a rural area with exponentially increasing of known CV-19. It's clear that there are many more infected people walking around. We also have 3 high risk people in our household. All precautions including cloth with HEPA filter masks, isolating, gloves, alcohol cleaning and subsequent...

The CDC has fundamentally changed under the Trump administration. I do not feel comfortable relying on complicated algorithms that have political spins and in this case, am not confident that the algorithms are not massaged. There was no CV-18, so l am using previous years as a control and...

I do not trust published stats to be accurate. The surge in total deaths and barriers in testing suggests that the stats are under counted and this would be primarily in younger victims. The places that are at greatest risk are places with close contacts between people. Prisons, detention...

We have been converting $100K+ per year from TIRA to Roths since retirement. The goal was to keep taxes low, and that strategy has been working as planned. We are close enough that at Jan of next year, we will have converted the bulk of our tIRAs and be near $100K left in tIRA. Then we can...

I consider one investing component is risk management. One investment in 2008 changed my view. I read that an industrial commodity had the bottom drop out, mines were closing because prices were so low. A few were in areas so rich in ore that operating costs were so low that the could still be...

I do bloodletting on a regular basis. Call me Nick. Seriously, I've cut my own hair for years. Some tips. My hair grows in a whorl. Cutting against the growth pattern makes a more even cut. I overlap and cut in 45° angles right and left to the main cut. I use an array of guards, from...

I do bloodletting on a regular basis. Call me Nick. Seriously, I've cut my own hair for years. Here is my cutting tip. My hair grows in a whorl. Cutting against the growth pattern makes for a better and more even cut. The hardest part to cut for me is the neck hollow on either side below...

I guess that I am the outlier again. I volunteer. I and DW went every day to our grandkids school to help the kindegartners learn to read.. I volunteer for helping with political candidates locally. That was mainly schools and school boards. The call came out for census workers. Decent pay...

I am writing from Iowa. Our infection rates are probably in the tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands at this moment. Our family and our daughter's family have isolated. We get groceries when we must, and do it in the safest way possible, gloves, masks, social distancing to an...

I don't know anyone, but we have a couple of people with major risks in our family. We've locked down and have already been isolated for two weeks. We use masks, gloves, are washing often, and CV19 is just starting in our area. Our extended family is proactive too. A trip to the grocery...

Get the money, spend it or donate it to someone who needs it and will spend it. Consumer spending is what will keep the economy going and recharge the economy too. Those profits will in turn allow others to be paid, and pay taxes. After several iterations, the Government is making the money...

I lost money repeatedly with the series of tariffs and trade wars. I do not consider unprovoked trade wars as normal market risk. The tax windfall was a panacea to prop a weakening economy and felt desperate. Volatility led me to believe that one big hit and the market would tumble. We moved...

For us, putting off Social Security means that there is a slight risk until we reach 70.5 yrs old.

I will throw in an alternate opinion. We sold one home and did buy our current home outright shortly before retirement. Emotionally, it felt reassuring, but in hindsight, we would have been money ahead by waiting. Math over emotions is how I would approach it if there were a do-over.