I used H&R Block exclusively for many years. But, a couple years ago, I found that there is an ongoing bug in it: the software did not allow HSA catch-up-contribution for over age 50 if you are retired and do not have a W2. I found a way to do a work-around so that my tax liability and credits would equal out, but, found it odd that HR Block has been aware of this issue for years and, to my knowledge, has taken no action to fix it. (Upon searching, I found numerous posts by others describing this issue going back years). I informed them about it in multiple ways - they wanted ME to write everything up in detail - essentially, to do their job (Sure, I'm going to pay for software and then debug it for free...). So, I just left and went to Turbotax. It left a sour taste in that, I wonder what other bugs they are aware of but do not fix...
Mutual funds are just easier on my brain. So, if a mutual fund is low cost I would rather use it in traditional and roth accounts. But, I think the tax advantages of ETFs in taxable accounts are worth the annoyance of trading them. So, almost all my funds in taxable are ETFs, the exception being some mutual funds that were from long ago, have some large capital gains, and are not eligible to be convertible to ETFs.
"It’s okay to follow the news, but we need to recognize that writers—especially headline writers—tend to have a bias. To grab readers’ attention, they need to make statements that sound like big news. So always ask, what’s the denominator?" I don't much watch the evening news anymore, mostly because of this reason. Whenever there is a "storm" in the east US, where I am, inevitably the commentator will start the news with something like "Breaking news, monster storm in the northeast US, 100 million people at risk". I am one of those people - I end up getting 7 drops of rain and a breeze that wouldn't stop a mosquito. Hmmmm... Kind of dulls the senses after a while.
I used to work fairly closely with someone with someone for years. We each had wildly different opinions on just about every subject. Partly because of this, I think we annoyed the heck out of each other. And yet, over time, because this person always had such a different perspective on every issue we had to deal with, I came to value his opinion. So much so that even when I was working on something that he had no involvement in, I would often solicit his opinion because, while I would not always agree with it, I knew it would be given from a perspective that I did not have, indeed, from a perspective that I could not have. If you are a boss, you would want to make sure there is at always least one of these people in the room when you are making an important decision. As has been said before in different ways, if there are 5 people in a room responsible for making a decision and they all agree, 4 of them are redundant.
You are perceptive. To an engineer, there is always a way to make something better. So, left to an engineer only, a project will never get done since it is always undergoing improvement. We also like things to be yes or no, black or white, 0 or 1. Sometimes it takes us a long time to realize that while many things can be quantified that way - people can not.
"I put DIY in the same category as spreadsheets and budgets – stay as far away as possible."You're cracking me up!!!Some of us (perhaps engineers mostly?, it seems) relax by doing spreadsheets and budgets !
I have been examining this issue and running the numbers as best I can for several years. I came to the conclusion that Roth conversions were almost always the best course of action for my wife and I, for all the reasons stated in your linked articles. So much so that we have even decided to delay medicare for at least 2 years and take the penalty in increased medicare costs for life. But by doing so, I think we can substantially reduce our IRMAA penalties starting at my RMD age of 75. The conversions have also pushed us into higher tax brackets (2 brackets higher) for the time being, but when I looked at projected investment earnings (even being conservative with equity returns) the numbers still point to doing the conversions. Also, I think the death of a spouse is also underappreciated by many in the sense that the survivor gets hit with a higher tax bracket and basically the same combined RMDs. While it seems a bit counter-intuitive to hand over so money in taxes now to the IRS and my state, when I look at the "tax drag" (a term I first heard Mike Piper use in one of the Boglehead event videos) on all taxable and tax-deferred accounts, I think "Rothing" is the superior course of action when looking at the whole financial situation 10 years out or more.
I have followed your postings on CCRCs for some time - I applaud your diligence and thoroughness in the evaluation of CCRCs, as well as your candid and well-thought responses to questions raised in this forum. However, while I realize this is off-topic, I must disagree with your assessment of the Covid pandemic as a "black swan event". Based on the incredibly tightly woven systems regarding world trade and personal travel that have increased perhaps exponentially in the last 20-30 years, many epidemiologists had been expecting a pandemic such as that for quite some time - I had been reading about the potential for it for perhaps 10 years prior to Covid. And, unfortunately, as these pandemic events have no real statistical correlation with each other (since not too much in prevention has changed), I believe it is just as likely the world will experience another. The apparent recent dismantling of the US side of epidemiological research activities and data tracking can only increase those odds, albeit all the while obscuring what might be happening in real time. This comment does in no way negate your overall point - with the numbers cited in the WSJ article, it is a failure rate of <1% over several years. Not bad by most accounts - unless of course if one is in that 1%. Buyer beware applies, yet, it is hard for many folks who are at an advanced age and who also may not be as financially sophisticated to even know what questions to ask. So, generally, in any situation like that, they can (and likely will) become prey.
I had seen this also. It is quite the read - I think there are quite a few "take-aways" in it, especially, in my view, how pursuit of LTC reimbursement can potentially become almost a full time job.
In my state, a hospital group that includes about half the hospitals in the area finally just "gave up" in trying to negotiate with UHC (United Health Care) due to the low reimbursement and ridiculous pre-authorizations ("need a bandaid? you'll have to get the MA (Medicare Advantage) plan to authorize that, that could take a while") and dropped MA altogether. Hmmm.... So, perhaps there is some hope for real change when the providers stop providing. Yes it is unfair to the MA plan members who are caught in the middle, but it should be a clear warning to anyone else considering an MA plan.
Comments
I used H&R Block exclusively for many years. But, a couple years ago, I found that there is an ongoing bug in it: the software did not allow HSA catch-up-contribution for over age 50 if you are retired and do not have a W2. I found a way to do a work-around so that my tax liability and credits would equal out, but, found it odd that HR Block has been aware of this issue for years and, to my knowledge, has taken no action to fix it. (Upon searching, I found numerous posts by others describing this issue going back years). I informed them about it in multiple ways - they wanted ME to write everything up in detail - essentially, to do their job (Sure, I'm going to pay for software and then debug it for free...). So, I just left and went to Turbotax. It left a sour taste in that, I wonder what other bugs they are aware of but do not fix...
Post: Heads-up for TurboTax Desktop Users (& 2025 Tax Planning)
Link to comment from October 24, 2025
Mutual funds are just easier on my brain. So, if a mutual fund is low cost I would rather use it in traditional and roth accounts. But, I think the tax advantages of ETFs in taxable accounts are worth the annoyance of trading them. So, almost all my funds in taxable are ETFs, the exception being some mutual funds that were from long ago, have some large capital gains, and are not eligible to be convertible to ETFs.
Post: Mutual Funds Vs. ETFs Which do you prefer and Why?
Link to comment from October 23, 2025
"It’s okay to follow the news, but we need to recognize that writers—especially headline writers—tend to have a bias. To grab readers’ attention, they need to make statements that sound like big news. So always ask, what’s the denominator?" I don't much watch the evening news anymore, mostly because of this reason. Whenever there is a "storm" in the east US, where I am, inevitably the commentator will start the news with something like "Breaking news, monster storm in the northeast US, 100 million people at risk". I am one of those people - I end up getting 7 drops of rain and a breeze that wouldn't stop a mosquito. Hmmmm... Kind of dulls the senses after a while.
Post: How Not To Invest
Link to comment from October 11, 2025
I used to work fairly closely with someone with someone for years. We each had wildly different opinions on just about every subject. Partly because of this, I think we annoyed the heck out of each other. And yet, over time, because this person always had such a different perspective on every issue we had to deal with, I came to value his opinion. So much so that even when I was working on something that he had no involvement in, I would often solicit his opinion because, while I would not always agree with it, I knew it would be given from a perspective that I did not have, indeed, from a perspective that I could not have. If you are a boss, you would want to make sure there is at always least one of these people in the room when you are making an important decision. As has been said before in different ways, if there are 5 people in a room responsible for making a decision and they all agree, 4 of them are redundant.
Post: Under Pressure
Link to comment from July 19, 2025
You are perceptive. To an engineer, there is always a way to make something better. So, left to an engineer only, a project will never get done since it is always undergoing improvement. We also like things to be yes or no, black or white, 0 or 1. Sometimes it takes us a long time to realize that while many things can be quantified that way - people can not.
Post: DIY
Link to comment from July 18, 2025
"I put DIY in the same category as spreadsheets and budgets – stay as far away as possible." You're cracking me up!!! Some of us (perhaps engineers mostly?, it seems) relax by doing spreadsheets and budgets !
Post: DIY
Link to comment from July 18, 2025
I have been examining this issue and running the numbers as best I can for several years. I came to the conclusion that Roth conversions were almost always the best course of action for my wife and I, for all the reasons stated in your linked articles. So much so that we have even decided to delay medicare for at least 2 years and take the penalty in increased medicare costs for life. But by doing so, I think we can substantially reduce our IRMAA penalties starting at my RMD age of 75. The conversions have also pushed us into higher tax brackets (2 brackets higher) for the time being, but when I looked at projected investment earnings (even being conservative with equity returns) the numbers still point to doing the conversions. Also, I think the death of a spouse is also underappreciated by many in the sense that the survivor gets hit with a higher tax bracket and basically the same combined RMDs. While it seems a bit counter-intuitive to hand over so money in taxes now to the IRS and my state, when I look at the "tax drag" (a term I first heard Mike Piper use in one of the Boglehead event videos) on all taxable and tax-deferred accounts, I think "Rothing" is the superior course of action when looking at the whole financial situation 10 years out or more.
Post: Roth conversion opportunities extended
Link to comment from July 10, 2025
I have followed your postings on CCRCs for some time - I applaud your diligence and thoroughness in the evaluation of CCRCs, as well as your candid and well-thought responses to questions raised in this forum. However, while I realize this is off-topic, I must disagree with your assessment of the Covid pandemic as a "black swan event". Based on the incredibly tightly woven systems regarding world trade and personal travel that have increased perhaps exponentially in the last 20-30 years, many epidemiologists had been expecting a pandemic such as that for quite some time - I had been reading about the potential for it for perhaps 10 years prior to Covid. And, unfortunately, as these pandemic events have no real statistical correlation with each other (since not too much in prevention has changed), I believe it is just as likely the world will experience another. The apparent recent dismantling of the US side of epidemiological research activities and data tracking can only increase those odds, albeit all the while obscuring what might be happening in real time. This comment does in no way negate your overall point - with the numbers cited in the WSJ article, it is a failure rate of <1% over several years. Not bad by most accounts - unless of course if one is in that 1%. Buyer beware applies, yet, it is hard for many folks who are at an advanced age and who also may not be as financially sophisticated to even know what questions to ask. So, generally, in any situation like that, they can (and likely will) become prey.
Post: Bankruptcies in continuing care
Link to comment from July 7, 2025
I had seen this also. It is quite the read - I think there are quite a few "take-aways" in it, especially, in my view, how pursuit of LTC reimbursement can potentially become almost a full time job.
Post: Interesting White Coat Investor on Lessons Learned Dealing with a LTC Company
Link to comment from June 18, 2025
In my state, a hospital group that includes about half the hospitals in the area finally just "gave up" in trying to negotiate with UHC (United Health Care) due to the low reimbursement and ridiculous pre-authorizations ("need a bandaid? you'll have to get the MA (Medicare Advantage) plan to authorize that, that could take a while") and dropped MA altogether. Hmmm.... So, perhaps there is some hope for real change when the providers stop providing. Yes it is unfair to the MA plan members who are caught in the middle, but it should be a clear warning to anyone else considering an MA plan.
Post: Author of Medicare Advantage Speaks Out
Link to comment from June 18, 2025