AUTHOR: Howard Schwartz on 8/21/2025 FIRST: Mark Crothers on 8/21 | RECENT: Mark Crothers on 8/21
Comments
TIAA allows participants to do it either way. If they contribute each pay period over their employment, TIAA will release surplus reserves and increase the employee's pension check. This increase happens in about half of the years. Only Social Security is a better deal.
My wife retired from TIAA which has been offering defined contribution plan annuities in the retirement plans they administer since 1918. Covering your fixed expenses with guaranteed income every month is a blessing. Every plan should offer it.
You do not need any subscriptions that you have to pay for. Just read anything by Larry Swedroe, Wade Pfau and Michael Kitces and you will be all set. You can add Christine Benz as well.
My wife and I are in our early 70s and meet monthly for a complete portfolio review. We use E-money provided by Fidelity so we can see everything in one place including accounts at other institutions. We only rebalance if percentages move by 10% from our baseline which sometimes does not happen for several years and sometimes happens every month. We have multiple account types so buy or sell in the accounts that make the most tax sense usually. It works for us as it minimizes anxiety over risk.
My wife and I used to have Vanguard accounts and put up with their terrible customer service for many years because of the low investment fees. The strange thing that finally caused us to go to Fidelity and Schwab where the service is very good concerns a Coverdell IRA I opened for our daughter in the early 1990s. I opened the account, contributed $2,000 and promptly forgot about it, (we were busy, I guess). Over 20 years went by without any communication from Vanguard about the account until my daughter was in graduate school and I received a letter in the mail. The letter asked if we wanted to use the account to pay for our daughter's education or do something else with the $3,500 the account was now worth. I called and asked how they could have an account where they did not contact me for over 20 years and never got an answer. My daughter was of course delighted as she needed a new computer and some other education related items that allowed her to spend the money without paying taxes. That was the end for Vanguard. We now are pleased with our Fidelity and Schwab accounts where we use some Vanguard ETFs. I do not hold a grudge.
When I retired at 67, I paid for a calculator to help decide if Roth conversions made sense. I tried every possible combination of inputs and it always came out about the same if I converted or not. So, I decided to convert small amounts each year until age 72 so I would have some tax diversification to go along with my asset allocation and asset location strategies. I think predicting the future is tricky. I won't ever know if converting was beneficial, but I guess my kids will appreciate inheriting my Roth. BTW, I have my Roth invested in emerging market and healthcare equity ETFs to maximize growth. So far, so good.
I use this method because it guarantees that I won't have to pay an under withholding penalty and it is simple. The refunds vary year to year but have never been excessive, usually a couple thousand dollars and sometimes I owe a little money. Filing the estimated tax on the IRS web site really only takes a few minutes.
I don't have any withholding taken out of any payments. I just pay 110% of the prior year tax and file quarterly which takes five minutes. This has worked well for many years and is pretty simple.
I don't like dividends because I get enough income without them and don't like paying the extra taxes. By the way, there is a new S&P 500 index fund XDIV that pays no dividends by selling before the X date and rebuying after. I will keep an eye on it and may buy some if it makes sense.
In the spring of this year I hired a young fellow named Matt to paint the walls of my basement in preparation for selling the house. He is a Bitcoin evangelist and would not stop pitching it as the road to astonishing riches. I took a look and discovered that the price of Bitcoins had dipped and it looked like an entry point so I bought $5,000 worth of the Fidelity Bitcoin ETF. A few weeks later, it had gone up around 20%, so I sold out and made around $1,000. So, you could say that based on the astronomical rate of return I earned it was the best "investment" I ever made. You could also say it is not an investment at all and I could have just as easily lost $1,000 or my entire $5,000. Even though I made a little money I decided Bitcoin is not for me.
Comments
TIAA allows participants to do it either way. If they contribute each pay period over their employment, TIAA will release surplus reserves and increase the employee's pension check. This increase happens in about half of the years. Only Social Security is a better deal.
Post: The annuities are coming, the annuities are coming‼️
Link to comment from December 4, 2025
My wife retired from TIAA which has been offering defined contribution plan annuities in the retirement plans they administer since 1918. Covering your fixed expenses with guaranteed income every month is a blessing. Every plan should offer it.
Post: The annuities are coming, the annuities are coming‼️
Link to comment from December 4, 2025
You do not need any subscriptions that you have to pay for. Just read anything by Larry Swedroe, Wade Pfau and Michael Kitces and you will be all set. You can add Christine Benz as well.
Post: What are the financial subscriptions you believe are worth it for yourself and would recommend to others?
Link to comment from December 3, 2025
My wife and I are in our early 70s and meet monthly for a complete portfolio review. We use E-money provided by Fidelity so we can see everything in one place including accounts at other institutions. We only rebalance if percentages move by 10% from our baseline which sometimes does not happen for several years and sometimes happens every month. We have multiple account types so buy or sell in the accounts that make the most tax sense usually. It works for us as it minimizes anxiety over risk.
Post: How do Couples Rebalance with Multiple Accounts
Link to comment from October 29, 2025
My wife and I used to have Vanguard accounts and put up with their terrible customer service for many years because of the low investment fees. The strange thing that finally caused us to go to Fidelity and Schwab where the service is very good concerns a Coverdell IRA I opened for our daughter in the early 1990s. I opened the account, contributed $2,000 and promptly forgot about it, (we were busy, I guess). Over 20 years went by without any communication from Vanguard about the account until my daughter was in graduate school and I received a letter in the mail. The letter asked if we wanted to use the account to pay for our daughter's education or do something else with the $3,500 the account was now worth. I called and asked how they could have an account where they did not contact me for over 20 years and never got an answer. My daughter was of course delighted as she needed a new computer and some other education related items that allowed her to spend the money without paying taxes. That was the end for Vanguard. We now are pleased with our Fidelity and Schwab accounts where we use some Vanguard ETFs. I do not hold a grudge.
Post: Disappointed (and annoyed) with Vanguard.
Link to comment from October 22, 2025
When I retired at 67, I paid for a calculator to help decide if Roth conversions made sense. I tried every possible combination of inputs and it always came out about the same if I converted or not. So, I decided to convert small amounts each year until age 72 so I would have some tax diversification to go along with my asset allocation and asset location strategies. I think predicting the future is tricky. I won't ever know if converting was beneficial, but I guess my kids will appreciate inheriting my Roth. BTW, I have my Roth invested in emerging market and healthcare equity ETFs to maximize growth. So far, so good.
Post: Contrarian Thinking About Roth Conversions
Link to comment from October 19, 2025
I use this method because it guarantees that I won't have to pay an under withholding penalty and it is simple. The refunds vary year to year but have never been excessive, usually a couple thousand dollars and sometimes I owe a little money. Filing the estimated tax on the IRS web site really only takes a few minutes.
Post: How do you pay income tax withholding in retirement?
Link to comment from October 17, 2025
I don't have any withholding taken out of any payments. I just pay 110% of the prior year tax and file quarterly which takes five minutes. This has worked well for many years and is pretty simple.
Post: How do you pay income tax withholding in retirement?
Link to comment from October 15, 2025
I don't like dividends because I get enough income without them and don't like paying the extra taxes. By the way, there is a new S&P 500 index fund XDIV that pays no dividends by selling before the X date and rebuying after. I will keep an eye on it and may buy some if it makes sense.
Post: Are You a Dividend Investor? If so Read This!
Link to comment from October 9, 2025
In the spring of this year I hired a young fellow named Matt to paint the walls of my basement in preparation for selling the house. He is a Bitcoin evangelist and would not stop pitching it as the road to astonishing riches. I took a look and discovered that the price of Bitcoins had dipped and it looked like an entry point so I bought $5,000 worth of the Fidelity Bitcoin ETF. A few weeks later, it had gone up around 20%, so I sold out and made around $1,000. So, you could say that based on the astronomical rate of return I earned it was the best "investment" I ever made. You could also say it is not an investment at all and I could have just as easily lost $1,000 or my entire $5,000. Even though I made a little money I decided Bitcoin is not for me.
Post: Why Bitcoin?
Link to comment from October 1, 2025