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I didn't market time. I still don't market time. Some here do, although I think most of those have a band they stay within and adjust based on what they view as common sense conclusions about market expectations. I buy and hold basically forever. I sell about 1/12 of 1% of my FIRE stash...

The custodian will adjust their basis records once you notify them of the death (usually with a copy of the death certificate). They need to know the date of death (and the residence states of the couple, I suppose) to do the step up properly. Technically, the beneficiary taxpayers could do it...

I agree. On a short term basis like a few months, I can imagine that the tax benefit of deferring can outweigh the arbitrage cost. When I was listing my reasons, I mostly was responding to the notion of borrowing on a longer term basis of multiple years.

I think some people here have an open HELOC and do manage things tactically to shift spending forward a tax year on a big item like a car or a roof replacement or something. But for me and as a general rule, no, I wouldn't do that. Three reasons: 1. Even at relatively low rates (people tend...

Not an expert at all. But they're sort of both right I think. If your wife is eligible for SS, then you are or will be eligible for spousal SS on her record as long as you've been married long enough (where long enough is pretty short for spousal SS). Your benefit is something like half her...

First, I think you have to decide what you think about historical calculators like FIREcalc in terms of how much you can or want to rely on the future being no worse than the past. My decision is to think that the historical calculators are the best approach we have (compared to Monte Carlo and...

I also think you should have received a letter by now, but that's out of your control. You can also go to IRS.gov, log in to your account, then download copies of your tax transcripts. You should be able to figure out at least which number(s) the IRS changed by looking at the transcripts...

Also not eligible for rollover, as I suspected: "Distributions not eligible for rollover. Amounts that must be distributed (required minimum distributions) during a particular year aren't normally eligible for rollover treatment." From IRS Pub 590-B where it talks about RMDs (page 6 in the...

Besides the 1099 and taxes, I'm sure funds withdrawn for RMD purposes are not eligible for rollover contribution in January. I'm not sure offhand what the penalties are for that. As a secondary issue, RMDs are an increasing percentage of the account balance, so even if you could put money...

It would be my daily driver. Yes, but I didn't need input on those. Thus this sentence in the OP, emphasis added: "Setting aside all the other factors, there is the key question of how much I could spend / want to spend on this car." The Lexus I drive now, by the way, was a hand-me-down...

Quick check says more than a Honda, less than a Maclaren. :)

I hope y'all don't think me obnoxious for these kinds of threads, but the process of initially posting, reading all the responses, writing a follow-up clarification post, and then thinking about it helps me sort it out in my mind. I read every single comment and post and think about them, and...

I'm looking for reasonable rules of thumb for how much car one can afford if one is FIRE and financially comfortable. When FIRE, the notion of a percentage of income doesn't make sense. I'll pay cash, so the idea of a car payment that is an "affordable" portion of income also doesn't make...

Hi all. I'm driving a 1993 Lexus GS300. It's a nice car, paid off, reliable, inexpensive to insure and maintain. But it's getting long in the tooth - the paint clear coat is failing, there are various would-be-challenging-to-fix cosmetic defects on the exterior and interior, and being 30+...

All my less volatile investments are in my IRA already. I'm in the zombie apocalypse / asteroid hitting Earth planning zone. Age 55 with 1% WR. Mostly Roth conversions are now in the "might as well for the kids' benefit" camp. "But yeah, things really could go bad and if that happens you...

The FIRE term was first coined on a Motley Fool message board - I think it might have been the "Retire Early Home Page" board, which was run by John Greaney, AKA intercst, who has the OG FIRE website at retireearlyhomepage.com. At some point after "FIRE" was coined, the Motley Fool decided to...

I haven't. I like @youbet's idea of running sensitivity analyses in FIREcalc. You can put in an extra expense of $X starting in year Y on the second tab, so you could explore scenarios. My Dad is 88 with mixed type dementia and living in memory care now. No LTC but he has assets and SS and a...

You're correct that future returns aren't the only factor. I think the asymmetric risk argument still applies even if tax rates change (as they are set to do in a few years as we both know). I probably didn't articulate the idea very well. Let me try again with hopefully better clarity on my...

The way you write this, it sounds like you are thinking that there is a 50-50 chance of these two outcomes. Two things to think about: 1. The historical likelihood of a +6% 5 year period compared to a -6% 5 year period is probably more like 90-10 or even 100-0 if you include interest and...

My pleasure. If you want to, you can view your low WR% and budget flexibility as your SORR defense rather than bonds. If you hit a downturn before 59.5 and keep bonds in your IRA (as I do), you can sell stocks in taxable to fund your expenses then reallocate from bonds to stocks in your IRA...

55M single retired at 46. Here's how I approached the question: Zeroth, I figured out my goals and priorities. For me it was (a) FIRE more or less as soon as I didn't like my job, (b) then have a safe WR, then a few other goals such as (c) legacy for my kids and (d) financial simplicity...

Not @jebmke, but I think they're referring to this: "Offset of QCDs by amounts contributed after age701/2. Beginning in tax years after December 31, 2019,the amount of QCDs that you can exclude from income is reduced by the excess of the aggregate amount of IRA contributions you deducted for...

I think it's definitely impossible. See posts #51 and #52 for several reasons why the custodian can't do it. Yes, in most cases they could, but definitely not in all cases. It's really up to the taxpayer (and their preparer) to make the proper determination.

Not to mention that it is the taxpayer's responsibility, not the custodian's, to ensure that the QCD recipient is a 501(c)(3) organization and that the taxpayer receives the proper acknowledgment letter and that no goods or services were received in exchange for the donation.

I've only been on two river cruises, but I liked both of them. Both were in Europe; one was Grand Circle and the other was Viking. Viking has approximately a jillion European river cruises - different rivers, different countries, different destinations, different lengths, different times of...