Bill Minter

Comments

• Rick, In re: "I like to understand what the assumptions are and how conservative they are, and to see a margin of safety in the result." I have found that toggling the discount rate down even lower than the current 10-year TIPS yield has helped me feel even better about my "projected balance sheet"... especially when I have set my mortal demise at the avg. 84yr life span, and my 6.5-yr younger spouse spouse moving to SS survivor benefits, living to 100, and spending 100K/yr (today's $) in long term care for her last 20 yrs.

  Post: Funded Ratio vs Monte Carlo – Different Routes to Get to the Same Destination (or not)?

  Link to comment from May 20, 2025

• Rick, I would especially be grateful to know what your perspective is on this concept as it applies to personal finance given the experiences you have shared that have been valuable to me. My understanding that this concept is what is used in the pension and insurance industries.

  Post: Funded Ratio vs Monte Carlo – Different Routes to Get to the Same Destination (or not)?

  Link to comment from May 19, 2025

• This topic is of utmost importance to my spouse and me as we begin our transition into retirement (while each doing some part-time work for the reasons Jonathon highlighted in today's article). We are blessed knowing we are on course to meet our financial needs for the rest of our lives while also being generous to others. We have always tithed our income to our church and given it to organizations that align with our values and interests-- mostly based on our budget. Now we are at a stage where we are developing a giving plan to be incorporated into a retirement fund withdrawal strategy. This is what we are considering for our situation: 1) Apply many of the concepts we have read in Mike Piper's book, "More Than Enough--- A Brief Guide to the Questions That Arise After Realizing You Have More Than You Need" (2023). 2) Using a modified RMD annual withdrawal rate (RMD x 1.24) based on the "Safe Withdrawal Strategy" work of Dr, Wade Pfau, et al. At the beginning of each year, we will be able to calculate the amount that is "more than enough" for our budgeted spending needs and develop our giving plan for the coming year. This will include giving to our kids while we are alive. 3) I was blessed to do "moonlighting" consulting work one day a month for a local non-profit organization during my entire 33-year career. That extra pay filled in a budget gap as we raised a family on the household's one-and-a-quarter FT incomes. Now that we are empty nesters and have a secure financial future, we plan to gift back the entire income I received from them. In my faith tradition, we call this "mutual aid sharing". Keep the conversation going. The HD community likely has a lot to contribute to each other in the way of experiences on this topic--- and likely financially to society at large.

  Post: Give It Away Already

  Link to comment from January 25, 2025

• Yes, I am aware of that as I use that for one of my "above the line" business expenses. But I was questioning the accuracy of Michael1's statement inferring that you could take a distribution from your traditional IRA to use to pay your LTCI premium and not have to pay income taxes on that distribution.

  Post: Retirement Realignment by Ken Cutler

  Link to comment from January 14, 2025

• "I know LTC premiums can be paid from an IRA without paying tax on the amount,..." Assuming you are referring to a traditional IRA, that's news to me. Can you provide a source for that? I am aware you can use an annuity tax-free transfer to pay for LTCI premiums.

  Post: Retirement Realignment by Ken Cutler

  Link to comment from January 14, 2025

• Good insight, David. Though I am currently active in my Roth conversion sweet spot (two more years before taking SS at 70), I realize I might have some conversion opportunities after that. And what you suggested makes sense when looking at the bigger sphere of the financial account triad. Sounds like you view the world like Mike Piper!

  Post: An Inherited Roth IRA… Now What?

  Link to comment from January 13, 2025

• Thanks for your IRA-specific response, Michael1. I don't expect to have any specific need for those funds post-withdrawal (and at least 10 years after) so, considering some of your IRA strategies is helpful.

  Post: An Inherited Roth IRA… Now What?

  Link to comment from January 13, 2025

• Thanks, Jeff. I will duly note that for my spouse on the financial affairs crib sheet I have set up for her.

  Post: An Inherited Roth IRA… Now What?

  Link to comment from January 13, 2025

• I concur, John. The challenge is that I lose my Roth status with this inherited account after ten years. I don't want to risk cashing out at year 10 when the sequence-of-returns monster showed up for the previous few years. It seems, with Jo Bo's suggestion, that I could at least ride out the effects of a down market by doing an in-kind (non-cash) distribution, allowing me to transfer my stock into a taxable account and giving them more time to recover.

  Post: An Inherited Roth IRA… Now What?

  Link to comment from January 13, 2025

• Thanks for this suggestion. If I understand you correctly, if I see holding these funds for a longer timeframe (say a total of 20 years), I might keep fully invested in stocks for the initial 10-year period. Then there is a financially-legal mechanism that would allow me to keep my stock assets and move them into a taxable account. This would eliminate the need to cash out my stocks in the Roth IRA and then purchase stocks in a taxable account.

  Post: An Inherited Roth IRA… Now What?

  Link to comment from January 13, 2025