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A little confused on this topic and trying to avoid having to pay any interest or a penalty. When my CPA filed my Federal and State Taxes last year I owed a small amount in interest/penalty as I had not paid enough during each quarterly period. This year I did a huge Roth Conversion in the...

Before I ask my question, please understand I am NOT trying to start yet another mask verus non-mask debate. What I am trying to do is UNDERSTAND how certain masks can help in preventing Covid. It is my understanding that only an N-95 mask is effective in filtering out the Covid virus due to...

Here is the scenario: Wife and I are both retired and We are contemplating a larger than usual Roth Conversion this year as I will apply for MEdicare in 2024 and don't want to be hit with the MEdicare IRRMA surcharges for my 2022 MAGI going forward. That is one issue. The second issue is the...

As I am sure most know, the future may hold a change in the tax code eliminating the step up in cost basis for inherited assets. This would obviously affect any heirs inheriting those assets. In our case our children. Wonder how one might prepare or change one's portfolio to preserve this...

Quick question on Roth Conversions. With equities depressed; this may be an ideal time to do roth conversions. I realize there are income limitations for Roth contributions. My question is on Roth Conversions. I can convert as much as I want from a TRad. IRA to a Roth Ira? Correct? Whether the...

My wife and I made the max Roth Ira contributions in 2019 ( $7,000 each). It now looks as if we will be over the income limits for filing a joint return. The phase out for income limit starts at $193,000 up to $203,000 for 2019. It looks like we will be either above the $203,000 mark or...

THis post correlates with another one recently written here "Dirty MArket Timer." I am at 46/39/15 ……..equities/ bonds/ cash (MMF). I have been rebalancing all along and want to trim another $100,000 from a small cap fund I have that has been doing very well ( currently at all time...

Since the market drop off starting in Oct. my AA has shifted from 50/50 (equities/fixed income) to 46/54. I know I should rebalance to get back to 50/50 but have not yet. It was so much easier to rebalance the past 7 years from equities to fixed income during this bull market run...

My state has a healthcare exchange where you can shop for plans. One thing that is confusing is when you have met the deductible under a family plan. As an example say a Gold plan has a $2000 (Individual)/ $4,000 (Family) deductible. Does this mean - if I have a Family plan for myself and...

I was wondering if anyone else plans to or has sold their primary residence with the intention of renting simply because renting give you a little more freedom and fewer headaches. I know there are pros and cons to both and with renting...Yes... you could have noisy neighbors but that is also...

When do you actually "know" that sequence of return risk may impact a portfolio? Sequence of return risk is probably the number one factor which worries me about the "health" of my retirement portfolio. My question is : when does one know or realize that sequence of return risk is taking place...

LAst year in April, I purchased a Tax Managed Balanced Fund from one of the big brokerage houses , in my taxable account. This fund invest about 52% in munis and 48% in large and mid cap stocks. I noticed that the 3 quarterly dividend payouts in 2017 were all listed as "non taxable." So...

I am sure I am not alone here. In the past I would usually need to re-balance about once a year. Last year I re-balanced 3 times and this afternoon I just trimmed my equity position by another 2% to get me back to 50/50 AA. I keep telling myself that i am NOT timing the market but I think I...

Tried to do a search on this topic but didn't find much. What I am considering, after doing a few years of ROTH conversions, is to begin withdrawing from our Trad. IRA's at age 60 and delay Social Security benefits until age 70. This will maximize our SS benefits and reduce RMD's from the...

I have noticed a trend in a few posts where some take offense to strategies used to shelter money, utilize loopholes in the tax code , etc. These include millionaires manipulating income to qualify for an ACA subsidy (Guilty!!!) or transferring assets to children to eventually qualify for...

I know this has been discussed numerous times , but I just want to be sure. Let's assume I have $1 million in a taxable account invested in a 60/40 balanced fund. I currently DO NOT reinvest the dividends as these are taxed either way....so dividends (assume at 2%) are directed to my bank...

Would appreciate input from those in a similar situation. We currently have investable assets at $4.5M , house is worth about $ 250,000....no debt....so net worth approaching the $5 M mark. We currently have an umbrella policy for $ 4M. The maximum my insurance will cover with an umbrella...

I know that there have been numerous threads on how to possibly avoid the SS torpedo tax ( having the maximum .....85% of SS benefits taxed.... while still years away from claiming SS benefits. Some have included: 1) Perform Roth conversions to minimize RMD's from a Trad IRA beginning at...

A little background. I am 57. My wife is 56. I am retired. My wife still works but will retire in about 3 years when we will have 5 year health insurance at current employer rates. SO this should take us to Medicare eligibility. We own our home ($250,000).No mortgage. No debt of any kind...

This is about leaving a legacy to children/grandchildren. It looks like the IRS will soon require any non spouse inherited Traditional IRA's to be liquidated by the beneficiary either as a lump sum or under the 5 year rule....no more stretch IRA's where the beneficiary could "stretch" the...

Recently, the Senate Finance Committee voted 26-0 to do away with the option for non-spouse beneficiaries of a Traditional IRA to stretch the payments over their lifetime using the Single Life Expectancy Table. Chances are very good this will become law in 2017 or 2018 and the only remaining...

Here is my situation. I currently have a large position in an intermediate muni bond fund in my taxable account which I plan to keep forever. The monthly dividends are swept into my bank account. Even if interest rates rise, I plan to keep this fund indefinitely so no worries. I have a mutual...

I am referring to "income streams" specifically from investments. This eliminates things like rental income, income from a side business, annuity income, pensions and /or social security. Where are you looking or better yet "generating" income from your investment portfolio. Stocks were...

I know the discussion of Roth conversions usually center on converting to the top of the 15% bracket and not beyond to keep taxes on any qualified dividends and LT capital gains at a rate of $0......but what about converting to the top of the 25% bracket and even into the 28% bracket? I had...

I have been reading up on this and have found that most experts agree that the first 5-7 years of retirement.....especially early retirement where one is living off investments until pensions and social security are taken in later years.... is the period where poor market returns could devastate...