booch221

Comments:

• Jonathan, Will you be able to switch your health insurance policy to an ACA Platinum plan or something more comprehensive during the next open enrollment?

  Post: Turned Upside Down

  Link to comment from October 5, 2024

• Jonathan, I've been reading your work since your WSJ days. You're like an old friend. I'm going to miss you.

  Post: On the Clock

  Link to comment from August 17, 2024

• nearly three-quarters of actively managed bond funds beat their benchmarks over the past year

  That's a pretty short time frame to base a conclusion on. How have actively managed bond funds done over the last 10 years compared to their benchmarks? How much better did they perform?

  Post: Question of Interest

  Link to comment from August 10, 2024

• You can indeed live on 66% of your salary provided you have no mortgage payment. I know someone who lives on 45% in the DC suburbs of Maryland, and says she doesn't have to skimp.

  Post: Quinn relents. Apparently you can live on 66% of pre-retirement income. 😉😉

  Link to comment from July 20, 2024

• Nothing wrong with using credit cards for rewards unless you start buying things you don't need just to earn the reward points.

  Post: Paid in Full

  Link to comment from June 19, 2024

• I put every expense I can on a credit card so I can get the reward points and then pay off the entire balance each month. I like the Chase Amazon credit card because there's no annual fee and you can redeem the points for cash. I also pay cash for my cars and carry no mortgage. If a company charges an additional fee for accepting credit cards, I pay cash.

  Post: Paid in Full

  Link to comment from June 19, 2024

• When we buy stocks, we’re ultimately buying a slice of future earnings. Companies distribute a portion of these earnings to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. 

  I've often wondered, how does a buy and hold investor make money on a stock that doesn't pay dividends? If the share price rises but you never sell it, then you never make money on it.

  Post: Invested in My Opinion

  Link to comment from June 15, 2024

• Thank you for all that you've done over the years. I'm going to miss you.

  Post: The C Word

  Link to comment from June 15, 2024

• Three years later, when I drove down to Key West with my sister, the Keys were back to business as usual.

  Really? The Florida home owners insurance market is in a crisis. "Since 2017, eleven property and casualty companies that offered homeowners insurance in Florida liquidated."  It's getting so expensive to insure a home in Florida that people are leaving the state.

  Post: Not Scared of Bears

  Link to comment from April 27, 2024

• First, the government also makes mistakes, and they will likely be mistakes or omissions that the taxpayer won’t catch (or won’t bother to check).

  Taxpayers also make mistakes when using TurboTax, H&R Block and other software. Even if you have H&R Block prepare your return in-office they still make mistakes. We had them prepare an amended return and it was missing Schedule A. That delayed the refund for nearly a year. When the IRS finally processed it they sent us our refund plus interest because of the delay.

  Second, it will lead more taxpayers to become even more ignorant about the tax code and how those buttons and levers in the tax code work.

  There is nothing that will prevent you from creating your spread sheets and taking a deep dive into the tax code. Most taxpayers don't want to do this.

  Third, the burden of proof will shift – right now, the taxpayer is presumptively right when he or she signs that return and sends it in. 

  Even if this were true, it doesn't matter. If the taxpayer makes a mistake the IRS will fix it. As you pointed out they will, "even send me money after finding an error I made where I penalized myself." There is nothing "dangerous" about Direct File, but I can see why Intuit, H&R Block, and others see it as a threat to their bottom line.

  Post: Fox in the Henhouse

  Link to comment from March 27, 2024