I came of age right around the 07-08 financial crisis, and most of the messaging I had gotten about investing during my formative years had been negative and/or made it sound like a casino. However, watching my parents struggle financially and personally due to a combination of poor decision making and lack of planning gave me a strong drive to seek out financial stability. Once I finally began full-time employment, I started doing basic online research about how to approach budgeting, saving, debt, etc. I work in a public library, and one day, I was sorting through a pile of returned items, when I stumbled across Bogle's Little Book of Common Sense Investing. I can't recall exactly what drew me to pick it up, but that book changed my life. It showed me a vision of investing that is simple, practical, and effective. I feel like I started my financial journey later than most, but that book helped me start it on the right foot.
I'm sorry about the poor netiquette you've received from this blogger, and for the record, I agree with your critique of the FIRE movement, particularly its penchant for selling early retirement advice to fund early retirement. However, I did find an answer to this question in his most recent December post. He mentions using a Roth IRA conversion ladder (explanation) to access tax deferred accounts early without penalty. Essentially just doing Roth IRA conversions in annual chunks to later be withdrawn as contributions without penalty. The main catch is that you have to wait 5 years for each converted amount to be considered a contribution eligible for withdrawal.
The clearest summation I've heard for the various dividend investing strategies is that they offer a form of naive factor exposure. So, by focusing on some aspect of dividend policy (appreciation, high yield, etc.) a given strategy might be indirectly tilting toward value companies or toward companies that have higher relative profitability. However, they are ignoring all non-dividend paying stocks in whatever potential pool of stocks they're pulling from. That said, from my limited perspective, the world of passive/index funds that claim to be incorporating factors like profitability or investment irrespective of dividends seems to be relatively new and prone to marketing departments attempting to capitalize on buzz words (e.g. multifactor, smart beta, etc).
Berkshire does not pay dividends to it's shareholders, but some of the underlying companies/stocks it owns do pay dividends to BRK which are then reallocated internally to other investments instead of being distributed to BRK shareholders. Also, BRK often buys back its own shares if the managers feel BRK stock is currently selling below its intrinsic value (a popular alternative to issuing a dividend that still returns value to shareholders through increased share price). In theory, it all comes down to the managers' assessment of where capital can be most profitably deployed. Even Buffet himself has mentioned that BRK could end up paying a dividend at some point in the future if it's managers determine that there are no available investments within BRK that are profitable enough to justify retaining excess capital.
I hate that Americans are still required to fill out their own tax returns from scratch (or pay a 3rd party for the service) when the IRS already has enough data from income/tax reporting requirements to generate a simple tax return for many citizens. This basic form could be pre-filled by the IRS and sent to each taxpayer for review, allowing the opportunity for amendments and documentation to be submitted for any unreported/delayed changes that might affect the tax outcome (e.g. tax-deductible IRA contributions made after the tax year but before the filing deadline).
Not all losses are losses, because unrealized losses in the current value of a retained asset are not the same as realized losses on the sale of an asset at that current value. If you retain an asset that is currently down in value, you also retain the opportunity to benefit from any future increases in value. You don't have that same opportunity when you sell at a loss, regardless of whether you're comparing the sale price to the original cost of the investment or to any point in time when it was valued at a higher price.
I'm not sure what this poster's particular situation is, but many members of healthcare sharing ministries negotiate directly with hospitals and medical providers. Since these plans are not actual health insurance, my understanding is that their members often present as self-pay, negotiate their costs individually, and then apply for reimbursement through the ministry. I'm personally not a fan of these plans, but it's just another possible reason why someone might negotiate medical bills directly.
It's worth remembering that there are different types of freedom. The U.S. system may theoretically give an individual some freedom of choice on healthcare insurer and the ability to comparison shop different plans, but its accompanying patchwork of in/out of network providers and varying plan terms can cause ER patients to either A) fret over billing when they should be focused on properly addressing an acute health concern, or B) face the stress of large medical bills later. In a gov't based health insurance system like what OP alluded to, you might not have the freedom to choose insurer/plan/premium rate, but you might gain the freedom to just go to whichever ER is best for your healthcare without worrying about billing issues or even the potential for medical bankruptcy.
I found this answer on the AARP website. While the initial scenario is not the same as the one you laid out, I believe the answer ends up covering your situation as well. By my reading, it sounds like the SS survivor's benefit is calculated using the standard SS formula and would not be affected by WEP. However, because your wife is collecting a pension from a non-SS job, the survivor's benefit from your passing may be subject to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) which would reduce the SS survivor's benefit by 2/3 of the amount of her public pension. The AARP article above links to more info on the GPO (like an IRS fact sheet) that would be worth checking out to see if it applies to your situation.
Comments:
I came of age right around the 07-08 financial crisis, and most of the messaging I had gotten about investing during my formative years had been negative and/or made it sound like a casino. However, watching my parents struggle financially and personally due to a combination of poor decision making and lack of planning gave me a strong drive to seek out financial stability. Once I finally began full-time employment, I started doing basic online research about how to approach budgeting, saving, debt, etc. I work in a public library, and one day, I was sorting through a pile of returned items, when I stumbled across Bogle's Little Book of Common Sense Investing. I can't recall exactly what drew me to pick it up, but that book changed my life. It showed me a vision of investing that is simple, practical, and effective. I feel like I started my financial journey later than most, but that book helped me start it on the right foot.
Post: What got you interested in investing?
Link to comment from July 20, 2024
I'm sorry about the poor netiquette you've received from this blogger, and for the record, I agree with your critique of the FIRE movement, particularly its penchant for selling early retirement advice to fund early retirement. However, I did find an answer to this question in his most recent December post. He mentions using a Roth IRA conversion ladder (explanation) to access tax deferred accounts early without penalty. Essentially just doing Roth IRA conversions in annual chunks to later be withdrawn as contributions without penalty. The main catch is that you have to wait 5 years for each converted amount to be considered a contribution eligible for withdrawal.
Post: My First 2023 Rant
Link to comment from January 18, 2023
The clearest summation I've heard for the various dividend investing strategies is that they offer a form of naive factor exposure. So, by focusing on some aspect of dividend policy (appreciation, high yield, etc.) a given strategy might be indirectly tilting toward value companies or toward companies that have higher relative profitability. However, they are ignoring all non-dividend paying stocks in whatever potential pool of stocks they're pulling from. That said, from my limited perspective, the world of passive/index funds that claim to be incorporating factors like profitability or investment irrespective of dividends seems to be relatively new and prone to marketing departments attempting to capitalize on buzz words (e.g. multifactor, smart beta, etc).
Post: Death to Dividends
Link to comment from January 14, 2023
Berkshire does not pay dividends to it's shareholders, but some of the underlying companies/stocks it owns do pay dividends to BRK which are then reallocated internally to other investments instead of being distributed to BRK shareholders. Also, BRK often buys back its own shares if the managers feel BRK stock is currently selling below its intrinsic value (a popular alternative to issuing a dividend that still returns value to shareholders through increased share price). In theory, it all comes down to the managers' assessment of where capital can be most profitably deployed. Even Buffet himself has mentioned that BRK could end up paying a dividend at some point in the future if it's managers determine that there are no available investments within BRK that are profitable enough to justify retaining excess capital.
Post: Death to Dividends
Link to comment from January 14, 2023
I hate that Americans are still required to fill out their own tax returns from scratch (or pay a 3rd party for the service) when the IRS already has enough data from income/tax reporting requirements to generate a simple tax return for many citizens. This basic form could be pre-filled by the IRS and sent to each taxpayer for review, allowing the opportunity for amendments and documentation to be submitted for any unreported/delayed changes that might affect the tax outcome (e.g. tax-deductible IRA contributions made after the tax year but before the filing deadline).
Post: Which aspect of the tax code do you hate the most?
Link to comment from October 29, 2022
Not all losses are losses, because unrealized losses in the current value of a retained asset are not the same as realized losses on the sale of an asset at that current value. If you retain an asset that is currently down in value, you also retain the opportunity to benefit from any future increases in value. You don't have that same opportunity when you sell at a loss, regardless of whether you're comparing the sale price to the original cost of the investment or to any point in time when it was valued at a higher price.
Post: Carrying On
Link to comment from October 12, 2022
I'm not sure what this poster's particular situation is, but many members of healthcare sharing ministries negotiate directly with hospitals and medical providers. Since these plans are not actual health insurance, my understanding is that their members often present as self-pay, negotiate their costs individually, and then apply for reimbursement through the ministry. I'm personally not a fan of these plans, but it's just another possible reason why someone might negotiate medical bills directly.
Post: My $6,100 Surgery
Link to comment from August 4, 2022
It's worth remembering that there are different types of freedom. The U.S. system may theoretically give an individual some freedom of choice on healthcare insurer and the ability to comparison shop different plans, but its accompanying patchwork of in/out of network providers and varying plan terms can cause ER patients to either A) fret over billing when they should be focused on properly addressing an acute health concern, or B) face the stress of large medical bills later. In a gov't based health insurance system like what OP alluded to, you might not have the freedom to choose insurer/plan/premium rate, but you might gain the freedom to just go to whichever ER is best for your healthcare without worrying about billing issues or even the potential for medical bankruptcy.
Post: When It’s Urgent
Link to comment from June 22, 2022
I found this answer on the AARP website. While the initial scenario is not the same as the one you laid out, I believe the answer ends up covering your situation as well. By my reading, it sounds like the SS survivor's benefit is calculated using the standard SS formula and would not be affected by WEP. However, because your wife is collecting a pension from a non-SS job, the survivor's benefit from your passing may be subject to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) which would reduce the SS survivor's benefit by 2/3 of the amount of her public pension. The AARP article above links to more info on the GPO (like an IRS fact sheet) that would be worth checking out to see if it applies to your situation.
Post: Left Alone
Link to comment from August 15, 2021