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I am a retired IT executive with 44 years of experience in IT. I am originally from Virginia and have lived in North Carolina the past 60 years. I am a widower who was married for 57 years to my late wife, Judy. We have 2 children and 3 grandchildren. I volunteer with my church and serve on the board of 2 retiree associations, one of which has more than 50,000 members. I still enjoy golf, travel and taking care of our home and 2 acres of land.
Comments
I agree with Brandt that you do not absolutely have to pay Roth conversion taxes out of taxable funds. That is ideal but not always feasible. When I retired, 90% of our savings was in TIRAs. Twelve years later only 12% of our savings was in TIRAs. I did a lot of Roth conversions, and frequently paid IRMAA penalties, although usually at the first penalty tier. I am now in a position where I can cover RMDs from QCDs. My main driver was to leave my Roth for my 2 children.
Post: Sourcing Taxes for Roth Conversions
Link to comment from September 30, 2026
Kick the can down the road is Congress's strategy for SS.
Post: Will Congress Wait Until the Last Minute on Social Security?
Link to comment from September 29, 2026
These byzantine telecom companies are terrible to work with. I recommend just cutting your loss and moving on. The money is not enough to pursue legal action. Years ago in business, I had a company that owed me $27k and refused to pay. Our agreement was well documented in writing. The EVP would not return my calls. Finally, I sent him a letter documenting our agreement. A colleague suggested that I CC Counsel on the letter. That worked! I got a call the next week from the EVP and he said, "It looks like I am going to have to pay you bastards". I thanked him and we received a check a few days letter. You may want to try that little trick in written correspondence.
Post: When $2000 Isn’t Worth the Hassle
Link to comment from September 18, 2026
Dick, I am sorry to hear of your families health issues. I pray for good outcomes for each of them. Been there, done that. Two years ago, I started giving our two children $15k each year, rather than wait until we die to get any inheritance. The only stipulation I had was for my son to establish an emergency fund. My daughter is a SAHM and manages her family's funds very well. I know from casual conversations that my son used most of his money for a new roof and other home improvements which is good, but apparently no emergency fund. Fast forward to this month. My son's work truck transmission went out and it cost almost $5k to repair it. He did not have the cash so dear old dad covered the cost. I may reduce his end of year gift accordingly, since he did not establish an emergency fund. Years ago, we sent both of our kids to church summer camp. We gave them both the same amount of spending money. At the end of the week, my son had run out of money and had borrowed $10 from one of the counselors. Our daughter came back with half of her money unspent. How can kids be so different? This was a precursor for their future lives.
Post: What would you do if you received this text from your child as I did this morning?
Link to comment from September 18, 2026
Fortunately, I never had this experience, but I have empathy with those that have. People in your age range are often targets for layoffs even though they perform well. Earlier this year, my SIL got laid off. He quickly landed on his feet with a job with better pay and benefits. He was a victim of a reorganization that had nothing to do with his job performance. Nonetheless, he said it was a bad feeling to get laid off. Hang in there, keep you head high and persevere. You have a lot of experience that many companies will value.
Post: Being terminated…
Link to comment from September 13, 2026
One of my daughter's friends had her wedding reception at the Charlotte Coliseum (think big bucks). She too was divorced within a year.
Post: A Wedding Too Far
Link to comment from September 8, 2026
We based catering on RSVPs plus 20. My daughter was in a fraternity. Very few RSVPed but they all showed up. We still had more than enough food. I am sure the caterer thought I low balled her.
Post: A Wedding Too Far
Link to comment from September 8, 2026
I have been there Mark. We only had one daughter. She got married in 1995 after graduating from college. A woman that worked for me set a budget of $10,000 for her daughter, which with inflation is more than $22,000 today. That sounded reasonable to me, and I informed my wife and daughter of their budget. Daughter seemed ok, wife not so much. It worked out. They did not have to scrimp on anything and we had a great wedding. We had $500 left and that plus our wedding gift made for a nice honeymoon in Cancun.
Post: A Wedding Too Far
Link to comment from September 8, 2026
Well done Greg. We were never frugal but neither were we extragravant, at least most of the time. I had a HELOC on our house, which I always used to buy cars. We usually kept our cars for 10 years or more, and accumulated 150k or more miles. There was a minimum monthly payment required, but I usually paid more and usually had the car paid off in 12 to 15 months. If I had a car payment instead, I would have probably paid it off in 24 to 36 months and spent the extra money in my checking account. Similarly, we had a 25 year mortgage for our house. We paid it off in 18 years. It is a great feeling to have a fully paid off house. One indulgence we had was having dinner at Ruth Chris on our anniversary. It was expensive but the food and service was great and we both really enjoyed that. We need to have some indulgences but obviously need to discipline ourselves for them to not be excessive.
Post: Locking it in
Link to comment from September 6, 2026
Thanks Bogdan. My refund is $164. I will definitely take it.
Post: State Farm Dividend
Link to comment from September 5, 2026