I agree with Bill Bernstein that folks need to do the actual math for their situation. While tax may rise, expenses will go down, so the maneuvering to avoid future taxes by paying more taxes now on Roth conversions, or the expense of insurance products sold by fear mongering advisors may be unnecessary.
That's great! I worked in banking as a lender for several decades, and it was challenging for some retirees to sometimes obtain financing for loan requests due to living on a lower income than working years. I think the OP would need a fairly large loan for a home purchase (rather than a modest HELOC), which was why I thought a securities loan could be an option. Anyways, good luck with your project in the future!
I somewhat agree with your general observations about Costco. I do have a membership, but rarely go in. I buy online from them, as I live 1.5 hours away from the closest warehouse. I buy some everyday items that I need (such as rental cars, coffee, clothing, food, etc). The items I buy in the course of a year easily offset the cost of membership (usually from the low rental cars rates). I would suggest checking their website for goods and services you wouldn’t associate them with. I purchased high end blinds from them online at a terrific discount from what we were quoted locally for the same product. If I didn’t use them for rental cars, I would likely just pay the 5% surcharge for non-member pricing on the goods I buy, though usually I make a large purchase during the year that offsets the membership fee.
I'm assuming you're retired, and income verification for a loan may be challenging with some lenders for a HELOC or bridge loan. A thought might be to see if the institution where you hold your retirement accounts may offer securities lending. I would only leverage up to or around 50% of the assets you may secure the loan with (assuming you are paying the loan back in the near future when selling the property you are in?). It's my understanding the institution could liquidate assets should there be a market correction of some sort. I've been meaning to look into a LOC from my institution since my HELOC recently expired. I'd be hesitant to liquidate the Roth IRA given it's tax benefits, but life is short, and if it's the only option to get you to your goal of spending more time with your family, might be worth considering. Question- what % of your Roth are you liquidating? Some folks hold large Roths, and maybe your thought isn't so bad...
Mark, for 3 weeks a year, I would simply buy a few window rattlers to cool a bedroom or two, and for more luxury a unit for a living room/family room. We live in an area that until 15 years ago only needed AC a few weeks a year, and even then, generally would cool down at night. The window AC units were a good intermediate solution at a modest cost. We did finally install central AC 8 years ago, and it's nice to have cool air throughout the house. For us, it wasn't so much the temps, but the humidity- especially at night.
I held VNQ for about 17 years, but dropped it in 2020 as was concerned about impacts from COVID work from home mandates, and its impact on commercial real estate. Since then have worked towards simplicity, and reducing funds, and allocations to specialty sectors.
Dennis, great post as usual, and thoughtful replies. I would add that it may be useful for you to listen to a recent podcast by Christine Benz with Harry Margolies on the Long View (sorry- don't know how to link it, but Google should find it easily for you). Harry discussed the stages of retirement, and mentioned that age 75 was generally the age when one should start to evaluate their housing/living arrangements for their future years. I believe he generally thought aging in place wasn't favorable if one has the resources to look at more senior friendly options such as Independent/Assisted Living (possibly within a CCRC). He also mentioned some seniors with more modest budgets are also finding some alternatives to CCRCs/ALFs, such as senior apartment communities that are set up with residents needing to offer a service to the community in return for living in it. The service they provide helps offset the cost the folks pay for such services in traditional retirement communities. Some are also moving back to or near city centers and renting apartments or buying condos near where their daily needs can be met with minimal travel needed by auto. Some of the buildings they move to may lean to more senior occupancy, but not necessarily restricted by age. Anyways, I feel any of the above options could give a senior a better quality of life vs. aging in place- especially from an ease of living and socialization standpoint. The main takeaway from the podcast for me was that around age 75 seems to be a good age to consider a change in lifestyle while one can still do so somewhat easily physically. Once one ages much beyond 75-80 years old, they tend to age in place due to the dependence on others to facilitate a change.
I too went through a bit of this with a claim I filed for a parent. There seems to be some pain in the initial process of qualifying- usually getting agreement that a certain # of assistance with daily living needs have been met. You can usually file an appeal with the insurance company, and if you still feel the claimant should be getting paid, you can file a complaint with the state insurance board that oversees LTC providers. I did have to go thru an appeal process with my parent's claim, which ended up working. Once the claim was approved, it was only subject to an annual review.
We are a bit of 2 options- LTC insurance and self funding. I purchased LTC through a group plan with my employer when I was in my mid 50s (this seems to be a good age to purchase if one is inclined to). At the time we didn't know if we could self fund, but thought purchasing a plan with a modest daily benefit was perhaps worthwhile while also keeping premiums somewhat modest. We are now approaching 70, and it appears we could probably easily self fund, but will retain the LTC policies, as they provide a nice financial backstop should one of us need LTC. Premiums have increased (non-inflation related) a few times, but not hugely so. I don't know if this is a function of our state regulator holding down increases, but so far so good. I will add that in spite of the negative press LTC insurance receives, it is a useful product. One of my parents had a policy in place for about 15 years before needing it in the last 3 years of life. Self funding the care could have been done, but if the care extended much beyond 5 years, or if memory care was needed, it may have stretched the assets for the surviving spouse who also may have needed the assets for their care. As it worked out 3 years of Assisted Living expenses were fully covered, which the spouse also received as they shared the ALF apartment with the spouse that had filed the claim. The claim paid out nearly $10,000 a month for care.
32% USTotal Mkt Index
5% US SCV
13% Total International Index
20% Short term Treasuries and CDs (1-3 years)
20% TIPs (1-5 years) and IBonds
10% Total Bond Index Fund Currently retired, holding a 50/50 asset allocation. Planning to glide to a 60/40 allocation in a few years when take SS at age 70. Holding small amount in cash to meet 3-4 months expenses.
Comments
I agree with Bill Bernstein that folks need to do the actual math for their situation. While tax may rise, expenses will go down, so the maneuvering to avoid future taxes by paying more taxes now on Roth conversions, or the expense of insurance products sold by fear mongering advisors may be unnecessary.
Post: Will Your Death Double Your Spouse’s Tax Bill?
Link to comment from July 16, 2026
That's great! I worked in banking as a lender for several decades, and it was challenging for some retirees to sometimes obtain financing for loan requests due to living on a lower income than working years. I think the OP would need a fairly large loan for a home purchase (rather than a modest HELOC), which was why I thought a securities loan could be an option. Anyways, good luck with your project in the future!
Post: Thinking of a possible reason to tap Roth earlier then planned
Link to comment from July 9, 2026
I somewhat agree with your general observations about Costco. I do have a membership, but rarely go in. I buy online from them, as I live 1.5 hours away from the closest warehouse. I buy some everyday items that I need (such as rental cars, coffee, clothing, food, etc). The items I buy in the course of a year easily offset the cost of membership (usually from the low rental cars rates). I would suggest checking their website for goods and services you wouldn’t associate them with. I purchased high end blinds from them online at a terrific discount from what we were quoted locally for the same product. If I didn’t use them for rental cars, I would likely just pay the 5% surcharge for non-member pricing on the goods I buy, though usually I make a large purchase during the year that offsets the membership fee.
Post: Frittering away Frugality
Link to comment from July 9, 2026
I'm assuming you're retired, and income verification for a loan may be challenging with some lenders for a HELOC or bridge loan. A thought might be to see if the institution where you hold your retirement accounts may offer securities lending. I would only leverage up to or around 50% of the assets you may secure the loan with (assuming you are paying the loan back in the near future when selling the property you are in?). It's my understanding the institution could liquidate assets should there be a market correction of some sort. I've been meaning to look into a LOC from my institution since my HELOC recently expired. I'd be hesitant to liquidate the Roth IRA given it's tax benefits, but life is short, and if it's the only option to get you to your goal of spending more time with your family, might be worth considering. Question- what % of your Roth are you liquidating? Some folks hold large Roths, and maybe your thought isn't so bad...
Post: Thinking of a possible reason to tap Roth earlier then planned
Link to comment from July 8, 2026
Mark, for 3 weeks a year, I would simply buy a few window rattlers to cool a bedroom or two, and for more luxury a unit for a living room/family room. We live in an area that until 15 years ago only needed AC a few weeks a year, and even then, generally would cool down at night. The window AC units were a good intermediate solution at a modest cost. We did finally install central AC 8 years ago, and it's nice to have cool air throughout the house. For us, it wasn't so much the temps, but the humidity- especially at night.
Post: The Price of a Cool Pillow
Link to comment from June 26, 2026
I held VNQ for about 17 years, but dropped it in 2020 as was concerned about impacts from COVID work from home mandates, and its impact on commercial real estate. Since then have worked towards simplicity, and reducing funds, and allocations to specialty sectors.
Post: What’s in your portfolio ?
Link to comment from June 25, 2026
Dennis, great post as usual, and thoughtful replies. I would add that it may be useful for you to listen to a recent podcast by Christine Benz with Harry Margolies on the Long View (sorry- don't know how to link it, but Google should find it easily for you). Harry discussed the stages of retirement, and mentioned that age 75 was generally the age when one should start to evaluate their housing/living arrangements for their future years. I believe he generally thought aging in place wasn't favorable if one has the resources to look at more senior friendly options such as Independent/Assisted Living (possibly within a CCRC). He also mentioned some seniors with more modest budgets are also finding some alternatives to CCRCs/ALFs, such as senior apartment communities that are set up with residents needing to offer a service to the community in return for living in it. The service they provide helps offset the cost the folks pay for such services in traditional retirement communities. Some are also moving back to or near city centers and renting apartments or buying condos near where their daily needs can be met with minimal travel needed by auto. Some of the buildings they move to may lean to more senior occupancy, but not necessarily restricted by age. Anyways, I feel any of the above options could give a senior a better quality of life vs. aging in place- especially from an ease of living and socialization standpoint. The main takeaway from the podcast for me was that around age 75 seems to be a good age to consider a change in lifestyle while one can still do so somewhat easily physically. Once one ages much beyond 75-80 years old, they tend to age in place due to the dependence on others to facilitate a change.
Post: Close to Everything I Need
Link to comment from June 22, 2026
I too went through a bit of this with a claim I filed for a parent. There seems to be some pain in the initial process of qualifying- usually getting agreement that a certain # of assistance with daily living needs have been met. You can usually file an appeal with the insurance company, and if you still feel the claimant should be getting paid, you can file a complaint with the state insurance board that oversees LTC providers. I did have to go thru an appeal process with my parent's claim, which ended up working. Once the claim was approved, it was only subject to an annual review.
Post: How do you prepare for the long term care cost as retiree?
Link to comment from June 22, 2026
We are a bit of 2 options- LTC insurance and self funding. I purchased LTC through a group plan with my employer when I was in my mid 50s (this seems to be a good age to purchase if one is inclined to). At the time we didn't know if we could self fund, but thought purchasing a plan with a modest daily benefit was perhaps worthwhile while also keeping premiums somewhat modest. We are now approaching 70, and it appears we could probably easily self fund, but will retain the LTC policies, as they provide a nice financial backstop should one of us need LTC. Premiums have increased (non-inflation related) a few times, but not hugely so. I don't know if this is a function of our state regulator holding down increases, but so far so good. I will add that in spite of the negative press LTC insurance receives, it is a useful product. One of my parents had a policy in place for about 15 years before needing it in the last 3 years of life. Self funding the care could have been done, but if the care extended much beyond 5 years, or if memory care was needed, it may have stretched the assets for the surviving spouse who also may have needed the assets for their care. As it worked out 3 years of Assisted Living expenses were fully covered, which the spouse also received as they shared the ALF apartment with the spouse that had filed the claim. The claim paid out nearly $10,000 a month for care.
Post: How do you prepare for the long term care cost as retiree?
Link to comment from June 22, 2026
32% USTotal Mkt Index 5% US SCV 13% Total International Index 20% Short term Treasuries and CDs (1-3 years) 20% TIPs (1-5 years) and IBonds 10% Total Bond Index Fund Currently retired, holding a 50/50 asset allocation. Planning to glide to a 60/40 allocation in a few years when take SS at age 70. Holding small amount in cash to meet 3-4 months expenses.
Post: What’s in your portfolio ?
Link to comment from June 13, 2026