All good comments below but, like Dick, I like a good size segment of my portfolio to throw off reliable income to augment our lifestyle spending. I've tracked my dividend stream for decades and it has a pretty reliable "COLA" going up a little over 6% per year....plus only a 15% tax. I just like the feel of regular, reliable income without selling something and trying to figure out what to sell.
Thank you very much, Bogdan. I got the notice on August 22nd but it was buried in the "junk" mail so I missed it. Sure enough, it was there and it was worth $228 after going through the sign up steps. My St Farm agent said it was handled very "clumsily" by t go through to get it. Still, $228 out of the blue was worth a bit of hassle.
All good and mostly accurate comments...as usual. Here's how I try to explain to folks how Social Security affects the deficit/debt.I hope I'm accurate. During the first 90 nyears or so more money was coming into the trust fund than going out. Congress said that excess money had to be invested in a special treasury security. Had FICA taxes or other rule changes kept up with the outflow ( money needed to pay benefits), the social security trust would have just kept on buying these treasuries with the excess.The mere purchasing of any treasury security adds to the debt year by year. Then demographics changed about 5 years ago and and the trust fund started cashing in those treasuries to pay benefits. I've gotten a couple different figures but I think the U.S. treasury is having to sell about $100 billion in NEW treasuries to pay off the treasuries Soc Sec is cashing in as of late. So, technically, one type of treasury is coming off the books and is being replaced by another to pay it. Net affect is zero on the debt. If our budget was balanced prior to this event, our debt remains the same. The problem is that the $100 billion was being used to pay for other things because our budget is not balanced. Therefore, debt is really going up $100 billion due to the Social Security situation. Can some of you sharpies out there tell me if I mistated it? Thanks
Dan, does your 5 year CD ladder reflect increasing yield in each year CD? In other words, is it based on an upwards sloping yield curve? Unless you got your CDs through a brokerage search, I've found most banks are paying more for shorter term CDs than 5 year CDs. I did my fixed income ladder using Target Date bond ETFs which all seem to have the traditional upward sloping yield in each increasing year with my 5 year ETF at around 5%. The investments are all in investment grade bonds and virtually eliminate interest risk if held to the target date. This gives me more of the traditional advantage of always getting the most yield out of my longest year ETF. My overall yield is around 4.75% and will gradually increase assuming interest rates don't change and I reinvest each maturing ETF in a 5 year target date.
Comments
All good comments below but, like Dick, I like a good size segment of my portfolio to throw off reliable income to augment our lifestyle spending. I've tracked my dividend stream for decades and it has a pretty reliable "COLA" going up a little over 6% per year....plus only a 15% tax. I just like the feel of regular, reliable income without selling something and trying to figure out what to sell.
Post: I will still take the dividends
Link to comment from September 19, 2026
Vanguard's VYMI is yielding 3.5% and is up 13.5% YTD.
Post: I will still take the dividends
Link to comment from September 19, 2026
I think it's legit, Sonja.
Post: State Farm Dividend
Link to comment from September 6, 2026
My feedback from them said October 4th.
Post: State Farm Dividend
Link to comment from September 6, 2026
Thank you very much, Bogdan. I got the notice on August 22nd but it was buried in the "junk" mail so I missed it. Sure enough, it was there and it was worth $228 after going through the sign up steps. My St Farm agent said it was handled very "clumsily" by t go through to get it. Still, $228 out of the blue was worth a bit of hassle.
Post: State Farm Dividend
Link to comment from September 5, 2026
All good and mostly accurate comments...as usual. Here's how I try to explain to folks how Social Security affects the deficit/debt.I hope I'm accurate. During the first 90 nyears or so more money was coming into the trust fund than going out. Congress said that excess money had to be invested in a special treasury security. Had FICA taxes or other rule changes kept up with the outflow ( money needed to pay benefits), the social security trust would have just kept on buying these treasuries with the excess.The mere purchasing of any treasury security adds to the debt year by year. Then demographics changed about 5 years ago and and the trust fund started cashing in those treasuries to pay benefits. I've gotten a couple different figures but I think the U.S. treasury is having to sell about $100 billion in NEW treasuries to pay off the treasuries Soc Sec is cashing in as of late. So, technically, one type of treasury is coming off the books and is being replaced by another to pay it. Net affect is zero on the debt. If our budget was balanced prior to this event, our debt remains the same. The problem is that the $100 billion was being used to pay for other things because our budget is not balanced. Therefore, debt is really going up $100 billion due to the Social Security situation. Can some of you sharpies out there tell me if I mistated it? Thanks
Post: The Federal Debt and Social Security Payments
Link to comment from August 22, 2026
Seniors turn out to vote in much greater numbers than the young.Politicians take care of them.
Post: Income taxes on retirees with Social Security
Link to comment from August 15, 2026
Dan, does your 5 year CD ladder reflect increasing yield in each year CD? In other words, is it based on an upwards sloping yield curve? Unless you got your CDs through a brokerage search, I've found most banks are paying more for shorter term CDs than 5 year CDs. I did my fixed income ladder using Target Date bond ETFs which all seem to have the traditional upward sloping yield in each increasing year with my 5 year ETF at around 5%. The investments are all in investment grade bonds and virtually eliminate interest risk if held to the target date. This gives me more of the traditional advantage of always getting the most yield out of my longest year ETF. My overall yield is around 4.75% and will gradually increase assuming interest rates don't change and I reinvest each maturing ETF in a 5 year target date.
Post: Taking a Loss?
Link to comment from August 1, 2026
John, that is very informative. Thanks for sharing your perspective on this. I was one of those not looking at this correctly but now I am. Cheers
Post: Widow Tax
Link to comment from July 25, 2026
And, an assumption the insurance company stays solvent.
Post: Automatic Income stream? How important to you?
Link to comment from June 27, 2026