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Agree, something to consider as well with both increased tax rates but also more interest deduction ability. Fortunately, $150k mortgage vs payoff is not a huge amount either way. I'm probably overthinking

Yes, Roth conversations in my plan for future as well, after mortgage. My total expenses, tax included is around $100k/yr so will always have around $20k +/- to top of 12 % bracket. For some reason, I have a mental block about drifting into the 22% bracket and losing that extra 10%.

Retired in 2022 (age 56) and built a house at end of COVID. House ended up being $150k more due to materials and labor increases. Since my $ at this stage is all tax deferred, I took out a mortgage to defer sequence of return risk (20 yr at 5.8%). I live about $15-20k below the top of the...

Agree that maybe it's not necessary but I think I like the separation of the active spending account and the active investment account. However it's really just a mental accounting thing for me I think. Thanks all for the input. Really helps me think through things from different perspectives...

That is logical - I did a chat with Fidelity rep who said there is no liability for fraudulent charges against debit - but would take some time to resolve. Am thinking that maybe the best way to go is to manually move money vs the automatic overdraft. Not as efficient but adds an additional...

Thanks - yes maybe this would give me that extra peace of mind- will need to investigate if Fidelity has that feature. The CMA gives me the checks/debit cards and the reimbursement of ATM fees which is why I wanted that separate account (plus the option to sever the link between the two...

Heading into retirement - I'm looking at closing local credit union checking/savings and consolidating to Fidelity Cash Mgmt Acct. Will be moving out of state, so seems like a good time to get this going. Fidelity has the option to keep $0 in the CMA and then automatically transfers from...

Interesting big picture approach! Thanks for the feedback and new ways to evaluate. That is an easy calc to add into my spreadsheet for a macro look at things. I really appreciate all the input on this thread and the various ways to analyze. I'm not worried about having enough - just...

Just for clarification - how are you doing this in FIRECALC? revising your spending on the manual entry worksheet?

yes - but I don't want spending reduced till age 70. However, after playing around some with my spreadsheets and FIRECALC - i came to the conclusion that my real driver may account minimum balances, not WD rates. That is, if I never want account balances to drop below say, $1M for example...

Thanks all for the replies. I have used all of the various calculators but will rethink how I'm using them. I'm not really looking to get one spend number, rather one number for 57-70 and one for remainder. I guess I could play around with fire calc manual entries for expenditures to model...

Trying to sort out withdrawal rates between age 57 and 70 (anticipated start of social security). I understand sequence of return risk and of course should there be significant down markets during that time frame expenses would need to be curtailed back. However, my anticipated WR at age 70...

This is roughly my plan as well. Somewhere in the 5% range till age 70, then social security kicks in and my WD ratio will drop to less than 1%. One advantage of doing it this way is your reducing your future RMDs while increasing your social security benefit.

70. Mostly to maximize spousal benefits should I pass. If I were single, I'd probably go 62.

Also live in this area - $340k ish value $4,500 property tax $2200 homeowners ($1k deduct) - though I did get $15k roof and gutters 100% replaced due to hail storm this year

Have you run various scenarios through https://opensocialsecurity.com/ ? enter your data to get optimal - then scroll all the way to bottom of page and you can customize dates to see the impact to alternative claiming dates. Should be able to answer your questions quantitatively that way.

DW and I got our second shingrix shot yesterday. First shot, we just had the typical mild flu-like symptoms for a day or so. Woke up middle of the night with the same general not feeling well feeling. Overall, just feel a bit sluggish. However, I'm going to ride this excuse through today so I...

When I smoke brisket I'm primarily looking to do burnt ends so for me the point is more valued than the flat. I have found a grocery store who will sell just the point which is not a normal request as they typically sell just the flat or a full packer. Regardless I prefer my horizontal offset...

This is what I generally do. I separate the point and flat down the fat seam, smoke at the same time and then I turn the point into burnt ends. It worked pretty good and saves a little time to boot. However there are some really good remote thermometers out there with four probes so you can...

I used to buy from Sweet Maria's however didn't like paying shipping costs as well which is why I started asking local roasters in my area if they would just sell me the green beans. I have several independent roasters in my area where I live that will sell me the green beans. They won't...

Yes I roast coffee. I started off with the popcorn pop method and have moved to the bread maker with a heat gun method. I had to modify the bread maker and move the thermal fuse because I was tripping it. But works great now. I typically do about a half pound each time on my deck. I'm partial to...

With both of our sons, we gave them each $xx and said they could use it to help with the wedding or pay for their honeymoon. When our daughter got married, we set up a joint checking account deposited the amount we were going to pay for the wedding, and told them they could spend all of on the...

I think my biggest win was probably 15 years ago at a charity golf event. I happen to get lucky and win the closest to pin on a par 3. I'm not a great golfer, usually hit mid to high '90s, but dropped the shot about one foot from the pin. Prize was a round trip airfare on Southwest airlines...

Watched 3 seasons of Jeff Daniels "Newsroom" on HBOMax. Was one of the best series I'd seen in a while. I wish some of the real newsrooms operated like they tried to in the series. Hard to watch the Sunday morning news shows in the same light now! Highly recommend.

So the pension survivor portion should I pass is 50%. I had initially thought about your idea I'm buying term life and not doing the survivor benefit however there is spousal health insurance that is part of the pension benefit. So in some respects I don't have much choice there as I want to...