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I'm confused by the language describing the IRMAA cut-offs. I understand that if my wife and I go over the $176K cut-off in 2021, that we will pay a surcharge on our 2023 medicare premium. But is the comparison made to my 2021 income or my 2019 income? i.e. if my income in 2021 exceeds 176K...

How is this possible? My mind can't even comprehend how you could get yourself into such a jam. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/im-58-no-retirement-savings-143318388.html

2019 is turning out to be my best year ever! I attribute most of this to the shift in market preferences from growth stocks to value stocks which I have noticed taking place all year long. I am heavily invested in dividend stocks (which are mostly considered value) and individual bonds. My...

I am currently 66 and I am collecting spousal benefits from my wife's social security account. When I turn 70, I will switch over to collect an augmented benefit from my own account. At that point, can my wife switch over and collect spousal benefits from my account? I seem to remember there...

Unfortunately, the new tax bill will probably end up hiking taxes for people who itemize heavily and some people with large families. (due to the loss of exemptions) Especially vulnerable are those who make between $150K and about $400K. That includes me and I'm sure a large number of other...

Has anyone here actually filed a restricted social security application for spousal benefits? My wife and I are the same age – about to turn 65 early next year. She is already collecting social security. I intend to collect my full benefit five years from now when I turn 70. But I intend to...

This weekend, my God Son got into a conversation with me about investing. I was shocked by his lack of knowledge. He's 36, newly married, and has a family income that's probably around $130K. I was appalled to learn that he wanted advice on how to invest $5,000. I began talking about index...

Can someone please remind me why we're not supposed to time investments? As of today, my portfolio of individual dividend stocks and bonds has reached a return of 10.7% for the year to date period. Meanwhile, I believe that many of my holdings are wildly over-priced. e.g. Realty Income Corp at...

The last time he visited the forum was November 8, 2012. I hope everything's okay. Online friendships can be difficult. There's no way of knowing if someone lost interest in the forum or something more serious happened.

Last August, I made a prediction about a market slump that I thought was going to happen because of the squabble in Congress over the debt ceiling. I was severely taken to task because of the fervency of my prediction and the general belief that you can’t time the market. We did suffer some...

Has anyone here used www.socialsecuritysolutions.com? Supposedly, their program does an analysis of your social security benefits (and those of your spouse) and makes recommendations of how you can max out on benefits. Are their recommendations worth the $20 they cost??

Over the years, I've learned the hard way that it's really hard to time the market. As a result, I do have the discipline to stay put when things start getting volatile. However, I can't help thinking that the ongoing battle over the debt ceiling offers a unique opportunity to earn some extra...

Hi everyone! Long time no post. Thought I would drop a line to let everyone know how I’ve fared over the past year. You may recall that I ER’ed from a very stressful job at MegaCorp at the end of August last year at the age of 55. September 2007 was my first month of freedom and I was on...

That's right! I'm taking the plunge - and three months ahead of time at that! But there IS a catch though. I didn't fully reach my financial goals and I have chosen not to ratchet back my lifestyle. So I will be doing an ESR Bob sort of retirement for a few years. I will either consult for four...

Yet another article on how people WANT to work after reaching retirement age. (Or at least that's what people who aren't ready financially try to convince themselves of.) Appeal of early retirement fades, and industries take note - MarketWatch This article got me thinking though. I...

New edition of Fortune Magazine, (Special Retirement Edition) features a retiree who's details are extremely reminiscent of a certain commentator on this board. Nords, this has got to be you! What other early retiree that you know is also a 46 year old former naval submarine officer who loves to...

If you receive more than $1,000 of taxable income from MLP's in a qualified tax deferred account, you'll incur a tax on unrelated taxable income. Does anyone know of any exceptions or other ways to get around this tax? Since most of my investable funds are in my 401K, this tax effectively...

Has the long awaited correction in REIT's finally arrived? My REIT index fund at Vanguard (VGSIX) is flat for the year (Currently 25.48 vs 25.44 at Y.E. with a 15 cent dividend along the way) even though earlier in the year it was up almost 14% at one point. Anyone care to speculate?

I am thinking about placing more of my portfolio in dividend stocks in lieu of my current slice and dice strategy... (Hear that UncleMic? You're rubbing off!) When I think back to the bear market of a few years ago, I remember my dividend stocks holding up fairly well. No dividends were skipped...

Pundits continue to kick around the concept of a bubble in the U.S. market. Intellectually, my thoughts on this are that at this point this is being overblown. But since I am planning to get out this year, this is the absolute worse possible time for a crash for me personally. With asset classes...

This past Saturday, I went to a retirement party for a friend who had successfully retired from MegaCorp after a 34 year tenure. The affair was really very nice. About a hundred of his close friends and family sat down to dine on a choice of chicken marsala, glazed salmon, or filet mignon in a...

Has anyone had any experiences trying to hedge their portfolio by buying OEX puts? Where on the internet can you get quotes for OEX calls and puts?

I try to charge as much as I can to my U.S. Air Visa card; I get one frequent flyer mile for every dollar I charge. What's your opinion on who has the best credit card spending bonuses? Is opting for frequent flyer miles the most efficient use of your credit card spending or should one opt for a...

It's quite likely that part-time employment will be a component of my actual ER later this year. I'm just wondering... have many of you found part-time employment that if not enjoyable, at least doesn't suck? ::) ::) ::)

Ran into this portfolio on MarketWatch. Didn't seem like a bad alternative for someone who can't deal with enormous dips in the market. This will have dips, mind you, but IMO it's unlikely you would see a major decline in one year. A major benefit is that even during declines, the portfolio...