AUTHOR: Concerned on 4/11/2026 FIRST: Elaine M. Clements on 4/11 | RECENT: Dan Smith on 6/23
Comments
I was truly blessed to have a profession, primary internal medicine that I loved and that my patients told me I was very good at. I joined Buffett in “ tap dancing into work”. I never made more than even the average salary but my wife loved working so she had our health insurance. We didn't mind a cheap house or cheap,cars and vacations saving our money for our kids education. The only thing wrong with this picture is my practice was all consuming and my style of medicine dis not allow it to be part time. So when i was forced to spend four hours a day i
putting data into a computer I had no alternative but to retire. Retirement gives me free time to catch up on ll my medical journals and other reading, get more exercise volunteer. I would like to help friends with their medical issues, but without a practice or insurance, that is impossible. Some states like Wisconsin apparently let you practice medicine immune from suits if you only do charity work, but not mine.
This sounds like NY state. My father retired in 1990 but had his premiums reimbursed for years by NY state, as far as I know until he died in 2012. When he asked them they claimed it was his unused sick time and vacation time. For 22 years? he did the math and called them several times but they never agreed with his calculations and kept paying.
My mother died in 2021 and we were due a significant refund on 2020 taxes due to medical expenses. We filed on time but it took two years and mutiple phone calls to resolve it. This was before the Trump cuts. Nothing moved until Biden pumped $80 million more into their budget. Before they woukd not even answer the phone. my only advice is to call every 2 months, take names and badge numbers and if no result call again. one agent told me they had everything they needed but nothing happened. Two months later calling back I wastold they needed X form and the lady stood by the fax machine when I faxed it. The refund arrived in two weeks. oh and keep a joint bank acvout open with mom so they can send the money there even if she passes and you can withdraw it
We paid for our kids basic expemses. Tuition room and board and books. no car. Why? You can live on campus. Certainly no “party expenses”. If you want to party get a job. they were there to get an education, not to get a lot of other things. I dont know what we would have done if they brought home less than A’s, but I would not have continued paying for sub par preformance. I do not think college is so difficult that it is impossible to get a 3.5 GPA, if you are in the library every night till 10 PM. if you can’t handle that get a real
job and see how you like it.
I have read lots of Roth’s stuff, especially his TIPS ladder. I don’t know if you read one of his most moving articles recently about his major health scare with what sounds like an aortic dissection that required major surgery. He has great ideas and I was thinking of talking to him but I am a bit concerned about small firms and who steps up if he cannot anymore. Something to look at for sure.
Thank you Elaine and best wishes. I have read JC’s stuff since his early WSJ days. He was always a great help! I soured on Vanguard a few years ago when they made multiple mistakes in account statements and their technology seemed to fail. Are they better? Do they help with RMDs and the like? I also asked them for a proposal for our finances but they said, while they would be able to custody our existing stocks ( with sig embedded capital gains) they would ignore them in their recommendations and asset allocations. This seemed contradictory.
I have been enough impressed with Claude to pay $17 a month. I have used it to examine several of my Mutual fund postions and compare them. You only get publicly avalible data and there are inaccuracies, but the reports are impressive and save a huge amount of time. I would be careful and limit any identifications. Claude says they save your downloads for training but do not access anything on the computer. Maybe I believe him. My daughter wrote a spreadsheet with RMDs and IRRMAs on it. It is pretty complicated so I will ask Claude to give it a try.
I agree. The new Yearly fee for Quicken seems cheap, given how dependent I am on it. The categories and payees lists remain clunky, but if guess if I spent An afternoon I could clean them up and eliminate all the unuse dones from 15 or 20 years ago!
Comments
I was truly blessed to have a profession, primary internal medicine that I loved and that my patients told me I was very good at. I joined Buffett in “ tap dancing into work”. I never made more than even the average salary but my wife loved working so she had our health insurance. We didn't mind a cheap house or cheap,cars and vacations saving our money for our kids education. The only thing wrong with this picture is my practice was all consuming and my style of medicine dis not allow it to be part time. So when i was forced to spend four hours a day i putting data into a computer I had no alternative but to retire. Retirement gives me free time to catch up on ll my medical journals and other reading, get more exercise volunteer. I would like to help friends with their medical issues, but without a practice or insurance, that is impossible. Some states like Wisconsin apparently let you practice medicine immune from suits if you only do charity work, but not mine.
Post: What I Retired To
Link to comment from August 1, 2026
This sounds like NY state. My father retired in 1990 but had his premiums reimbursed for years by NY state, as far as I know until he died in 2012. When he asked them they claimed it was his unused sick time and vacation time. For 22 years? he did the math and called them several times but they never agreed with his calculations and kept paying.
Post: The reality of Social Security and Medicare- My real life experience.
Link to comment from May 23, 2026
My mother died in 2021 and we were due a significant refund on 2020 taxes due to medical expenses. We filed on time but it took two years and mutiple phone calls to resolve it. This was before the Trump cuts. Nothing moved until Biden pumped $80 million more into their budget. Before they woukd not even answer the phone. my only advice is to call every 2 months, take names and badge numbers and if no result call again. one agent told me they had everything they needed but nothing happened. Two months later calling back I wastold they needed X form and the lady stood by the fax machine when I faxed it. The refund arrived in two weeks. oh and keep a joint bank acvout open with mom so they can send the money there even if she passes and you can withdraw it
Post: How Far Behind is the IRS?
Link to comment from May 3, 2026
We paid for our kids basic expemses. Tuition room and board and books. no car. Why? You can live on campus. Certainly no “party expenses”. If you want to party get a job. they were there to get an education, not to get a lot of other things. I dont know what we would have done if they brought home less than A’s, but I would not have continued paying for sub par preformance. I do not think college is so difficult that it is impossible to get a 3.5 GPA, if you are in the library every night till 10 PM. if you can’t handle that get a real job and see how you like it.
Post: How much to provide a college student monthly?
Link to comment from May 3, 2026
You have been of great help here continuously, keeping us informed about HD and JC’s legacy. Thanks again!
Post: Financial Planning
Link to comment from April 13, 2026
I have read lots of Roth’s stuff, especially his TIPS ladder. I don’t know if you read one of his most moving articles recently about his major health scare with what sounds like an aortic dissection that required major surgery. He has great ideas and I was thinking of talking to him but I am a bit concerned about small firms and who steps up if he cannot anymore. Something to look at for sure.
Post: Financial Planning
Link to comment from April 13, 2026
Thank you Elaine and best wishes. I have read JC’s stuff since his early WSJ days. He was always a great help! I soured on Vanguard a few years ago when they made multiple mistakes in account statements and their technology seemed to fail. Are they better? Do they help with RMDs and the like? I also asked them for a proposal for our finances but they said, while they would be able to custody our existing stocks ( with sig embedded capital gains) they would ignore them in their recommendations and asset allocations. This seemed contradictory.
Post: Financial Planning
Link to comment from April 12, 2026
yes. there is an app too. free gets you the functionality but you can get limited out. much better than google search too.
Post: Tools/calculators for monthly retirement cash flow and tax estimation
Link to comment from April 11, 2026
I have been enough impressed with Claude to pay $17 a month. I have used it to examine several of my Mutual fund postions and compare them. You only get publicly avalible data and there are inaccuracies, but the reports are impressive and save a huge amount of time. I would be careful and limit any identifications. Claude says they save your downloads for training but do not access anything on the computer. Maybe I believe him. My daughter wrote a spreadsheet with RMDs and IRRMAs on it. It is pretty complicated so I will ask Claude to give it a try.
Post: Tools/calculators for monthly retirement cash flow and tax estimation
Link to comment from April 11, 2026
I agree. The new Yearly fee for Quicken seems cheap, given how dependent I am on it. The categories and payees lists remain clunky, but if guess if I spent An afternoon I could clean them up and eliminate all the unuse dones from 15 or 20 years ago!
Post: Tools/calculators for monthly retirement cash flow and tax estimation
Link to comment from April 11, 2026