Doug K

Comments:

• Excellent ! thank you for doing this.. should I live so long as to retire, this sounds like a volunteer job I could do. Though, I only have degrees in mathematics, philosophy, and computer science, it might not be enough to manage the US tax code.. ha.

  Post: Many Unhappy Returns

  Link to comment from July 12, 2024

• I applaud your planning and good intentions. But it needs to be said - the 'power of compounding' only works if the market is yielding positive returns after inflation and investment costs. There's no reason to believe this will continue. "past performance is no guarantee of future results", as every mutual fund will tell you. So I rather disbelieve in the power of compounding, which only works in an abstract mathematical sense, or as long as number go up. My experience with saving lots before the age of 30: the S. African stock market had negative return over fifteen years, while inflation ran in double digits and the currency devalued. This utterly wiped out ten years of retirement savings. I should have bought a sports car instead. With reasonable maintenance it would still have been worth a couple of thousand, and I'd have had all the fun of driving it. The power of compounding works in reverse too, when the markets are going down. The concept which is mathematically sound, unfortunately breaks down on the assumptions that are required - low inflation, steadily increasing market indexes, skillful stock picking/mutual fund picking. These may not happen.. But, it's the only game in town, and we have to play it, with our hearts in our mouths for decades on end..

  Post: Go Big Early

  Link to comment from July 12, 2024

• I like this idea, though in a qualified way. Free tax prep software is a good idea but I'd prefer to do it the way most other countries do - IRS sends you a pre-filled form which you can sign and send back, or correct if needed.  See, https://www.propublica.org/article/filing-taxes-could-be-free-simple-hr-block-intuit-lobbying-against-it The for-profit tax software is uniformly awful. Note I have a graduate degree in computer science and nearly fifty years work experience in IT. Software is one of the few things in life I feel I do have some understanding of. I used to do my taxes down at the public library, which had all the tax forms and regulations handily available. Then life and taxes got more complicated..  First program I used was TaxAct, which in its early iterations had good help pages which explained what the software was up to. It got steadily worse until it was just a series of forms to be filled out, with links to the IRS documents, and no explanations. Tried TurboTax but their politics are detestable (see link above), also it made several mistakes that I caught and one that I didn't. Tried HR Block these last three years, it has also made mistakes each year. At least the mistakes were different ;-) so our tax software is learning I guess.  My protocol is to do the taxes with the horrible software, then print out all the forms and check them against the regulations: scribble on the forms and go back to the software to correct its mistakes. Soon I'll have to break down and get an accountant to do my taxes, as I've started to make mistakes too. 

  Post: Fox in the Henhouse

  Link to comment from April 1, 2024

• the other problem with Medicare Advantage is the way the insurance companies overcharge the taxpayer.. it's much more expensive for government (which means you and me paying taxes) than traditional. See, https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/11/11/1054281885/medicare-advantage-overcharges-exploding

  Post: What Advantage?

  Link to comment from April 1, 2024

• "we’re committed to ensuring none of our children ends up with student debt." good for you, I think that is what we should do if at all possible. My father took on debt of $3000 to pay my undergrad college, back in the 80s.. postgrad I paid for myself as I was working then. Another calculation I hadn't made until it was too late - if you can get two or more in college at the same time, your FAFSA expected contribution remains the same as for one. This can be helpful. The FAFSA calculator says that paying over half your annual income in college fees is normal and expected. We discussed getting divorced, as that could enormously reduce the cost of college for our family, but decided not to play that game. Our second boy was in the 0.75% and just missed out on National Merit, much to our chagrin.. it is indeed the best deal in college these days, maybe an investment in PSAT coaching classes is the best ROI ;-)

  Post: A Real Education

  Link to comment from March 11, 2024

• we immigrated, arrived in the US aged 30 with $2000 and a suitcase. We had to beg the bank manager for a credit card and pledge part of that $2000 as surety to get it.. We bought a canoe instead of furniture so the canoe upside-down in the apartment served us as both dining and coffee table.. (would do again). Saved money for two years, then took a year off and lived out of our van while travelling from New Mexico to Alaska and back again. Started again with nearly $3000 woo-hoo ! and we had the van, so knew we could always live out that if we had to. Now we are technically millionaires, but not sure there is any such thing as 'comfortably retired' .. we are still at the mercy of healthcare, interest rates, and the vagaries of the markets.

  Post: Fearing Nothing

  Link to comment from March 11, 2024

• I have noticed the same things - the arithmetic simply doesn't work on all the FIRE blogs I've looked at..

  Post: Fire Meets Ice

  Link to comment from February 16, 2024

• what really freaks me out, is the AARP has seminars on applying for jobs.. funny notion of retirement. But this does go to your point, a lot of retired people don't have a choice, they have to work..

  Post: Fire Meets Ice

  Link to comment from February 16, 2024

• my wife has made it very clear, once I am retired while she is still working, cooking and cleaning become my province ;-)

  Post: Fire Meets Ice

  Link to comment from February 15, 2024

• thank you, I think this is a valuable idea. Problem is, currently there are vanishingly few employers willing to hire old people to work part-time. Most of those jobs are penurious - Walmart greeter, etc. So the only realistic option is some kind of entrepreneurship, which is difficult enough when young and sprightly. Remodeling society to support ICE will be a long road. FIRE is already a perfect fit for late stage capitalism. Currently working 40-60 hour weeks age 64, and I am very tired. The German branch of our company offers a graded retirement, work 4 days a week, then 3, etc. That's a perfect ICE fit and one I'd dearly love to have. But in Germany there are social pensions and healthcare, which in our case we do not have. Also it's important to preserve an idle retirement for those workers whose jobs are necessarily physical - nurses, trash collection, farm workers, etc. They deserve an idle retirement so they can have time to think for once. We just met with our financial planner and she told us, spend your money ! (well some of it anyway), because she has seen so many people retire at 67 then get sick or dead at 68. I have a very hard time spending money ;-)

  Post: Fire Meets Ice

  Link to comment from February 15, 2024