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Thanks again for this! I was just working on 2024 and remembered that you always did a post, so I searched and found it quickly. So nice to have it all in one place! Now I will have it for 2025. Just curious...does anyone know why the LTCG 15% tax always kicks in about $250 shy of the 22% tax...

NCBill, Do you do this through the company you are doing the conversion or do you file a form with the IRS and pay at the time of conversion?

Yes, our pensions with a 1% cost of living adjustment are going to be in the hole quickly if inflation stays like this! Not good at all. What a way to start retirement?*♀️

But in reality while it may not be a problem for a married couple, when one enters the single bracket after losing a loved one, the RMDs can have a huge impact on taxes and IRMMA to name a few. And you don’t have to be “wealthy” for that to happen. A pension plus SS with RMDs and suddenly you...

Yes this is what I was talking about. Saw it when running numbers in open socialsecurity.com! I just got the % wrong. I had always thought the survivor only got the higher of the two Social Security amounts when spouses were concerned, but this bumps it up if your spouse takes it early.

Where does the survivor benefit for widows come into play? Isn’t it the survivor benefit is around 81% of the deceased spouses SS amount at FRA even if they collected early on their own record? I believe this is called the widow’s benefit or something to that affect. Helps females whose spouse...

Scuba, would you be willing to share the brand etc?

What about those of us who hold bond funds through our Target retirement funds? Are using TR funds still a good option for those who want a simple portfolio? Many years ago I watched Suze Orman and then moved on to learning more through this site and Bogleheads as she was so focused on debt...

Pension capped at 1% here. I’d love 3%! It was changed in 2013 from a COLA to a benefit adjustment. Contribute 9% of pay so takes a huge chunk of the 15% you are supposed to try and save. And they can take the 1% away at any time ( and have all state employees in an uproar)…wonder if they have...

Did you ever find out about vaccinated first, then breakthrough case immunity? That’s 5 of us in my family, three different vaccines.

Just curious what happens to your annual income when there is one surviving spouse? If only 8400 is pension and that carries on, is one of your SS significantly higher than the other so the survivor won’t take a big hit?

Does anyone have difficulty staying hydrated doing IF or even meal spacing? I have also been trying to wait 4-5 hours between meals but often find I haven’t had much to drink in between. And except for morning herbal tea and maybe 6-8 ounces of almond or oat milk, I basically only drink water...

Will it be halved or would it be the higher of the two SS amounts? I guess halved if their SS is the same.

Thanks for these links on long COVID. I hope I am just slow recovering. We will see how I am at the 2 month mark.

So does anyone know the recommendation for a booster when you had the vaccine first and had a breakthrough case? Moderna second shot was March 1. Breakthrough case July 20. Still low energy and some breathlessness when exercising so for me it wasn’t just a little cold! Had been walking 3 miles...

We would use our savings during the years we delayed SS to supplement our pension income.

On some retirement calculators you can input a start year and stop year for SS. I play around with this to see what happens if one SS stops after X number of years. I usually do this for the early years between 62-72. I am hoping I can convince spouse for us to take mine at 62 and for him to...

Well it would be interesting to know her favorite brands/designers? She may actually not be buying a lot of clothes but what she buys is $$$$.

Agree Gumby! I’ve always used annual but wanted to verify because if someone reads the post on the forum where I saw the monthly comment there might be others who aren’t familiar with FireCalc who see it. So thanks to the experts!

Yes I never thought monthly either since spending is annual, along with SS. When I read the directions in that section and it didn’t state explicitly, I wanted to verify that I have been doing it correctly and also know that if I replied on the other forum I was giving correct information...

So I just read a comment on another forum where the person says that the pension income that you input is supposed to be a monthly amount. Said their results were skewed because when the yearly amount they used was assumed to be monthly by Firecalc, they were having a very high success rate with...

Sunset, you are so right about the surviving spouse and taxes. And the IRMMA kicks in at about $88k for the surviving spouse. So along with the much higher taxes they will also pay more for Medicare. And we aren’t talking about people with a 6 figure income!

We both have state pensions. Before 2013 it was a full COLA. In 2013 that changed to a 1% yearly benefit adjustment that could also be taken away later from the legislature. It does make a huge difference not having a full COLA so just be aware that it could change in the future.

Thanks. Didn’t realize this. I knew it worked that way for the increase to the next tax bracket but thought all gains would become taxable. It’s not a whole lot, but if I can avoid a few hundred extra in taxes it’s a win!

Thanks RunningBum and Audreyh1. I’ve got some calculating to do. Very close to the cut off of not having to pay Cap gains tax. If it is expected to be more than last year I need to adjust our deferred Comp holdings now for taking effect in December to keep us there.