"In my friend’s case, her father left her his house. But because the property still had to go through probate, she could not immediately access his bank accounts or other assets. For over a year, she had to use her own money to pay the mortgage, insurance, taxes, and maintenance on the home just to keep the property from falling into foreclosure." This is wrong. While the estate is in probate, you can use estate assets to pay estate expenses. What kind of estate lawyer did she have? You file for probate, you get appointed executor, your lawyer gets a tax ID for the estate, and you go to the bank, show them the executor certificate, and the bank converts the decedent's account to an estate account identified by the estates tax ID. The executor can then write checks to pay estate expenses, which offset estate income on the 1041.
One interesting thing about Enron is that some of the employees with 100% of their savings in company stock knew that the company was fraudulent. Evidently, they thought they could join the fraud and make a ton of money for themselves.
Yes, financial fraud can be high profitable, but there are risks....
At my place, we have a fleet of trucks. We need some new vans - our current vans are pre-2010 - and we're trying to scrounge up some used vans that won't cost much. The trucks and backhoe are newish, but we had to take 7-year financing on them, and we're paying $70K a year in loan payments.
We just take CDs at the bank where we have our checking account. You don't really want to tie up funds you might need in some fancy investments. And the consultants these boards hire are usually not worth it. Our engineering consultant, our reserves consultant, our roofing consultant, all told us what we knew already.
Here in the retirement village, we buy in bulk and just signed a new contract. It's about $700,000 a year for 929 units, which comes to about $60 a month per user. We get fiber-optic internet and cable TV with hundreds of channels for that price. We hired a consultant to negotiate with the cable companies (about $25K) and he got us a great deal, We even get a $170K rebate for signing up.
Right at the moment, they're busy ripping the village up to install conduits for their fiber.
I sometimes look foolish, aware of ways to save money, but being too lazy to look into them. For example, I have been paying $20 a month to my ISP for a VoIP phone. Here at the retirement village, we are bringing in a new ISP, and they will be charging $40! This prompted me to investigate, and I discovered that for a setup cost of $120 I can have my VoIP landline for $7 a month. Why am I not really foolish? I am retired, but living on about 25% of my income, and saving the rest. My expenses may be foolish, but they're far from bankrupting me.
Yes, the stock market consists of individual stocks - each company is a separate legal entity that has its own capital, product, and sales. This is the real world
As the stock market moves away from the the real world, stocks become trading tokens detached from the actual companies doing real business. To my mind, this is not the way it should be.
But people who don't have a coupon do pay that full price, right? The store knows what percentage of customers use the coupon, and what percentage do not, on each item. They can adjust their prices based on these percentages to get the revenue they need from that item.
Comments
"In my friend’s case, her father left her his house. But because the property still had to go through probate, she could not immediately access his bank accounts or other assets. For over a year, she had to use her own money to pay the mortgage, insurance, taxes, and maintenance on the home just to keep the property from falling into foreclosure." This is wrong. While the estate is in probate, you can use estate assets to pay estate expenses. What kind of estate lawyer did she have? You file for probate, you get appointed executor, your lawyer gets a tax ID for the estate, and you go to the bank, show them the executor certificate, and the bank converts the decedent's account to an estate account identified by the estates tax ID. The executor can then write checks to pay estate expenses, which offset estate income on the 1041.
Post: The Financial Stress a Simple Document Could Have Prevented
Link to comment from May 24, 2026
What about state and local income tax? How would that work?
Post: Should Retirees Get a Temporary Flat Tax Window on IRA and 401(k) Withdrawals?
Link to comment from May 24, 2026
One interesting thing about Enron is that some of the employees with 100% of their savings in company stock knew that the company was fraudulent. Evidently, they thought they could join the fraud and make a ton of money for themselves. Yes, financial fraud can be high profitable, but there are risks....
Post: The Company You Keep
Link to comment from May 20, 2026
At my place, we have a fleet of trucks. We need some new vans - our current vans are pre-2010 - and we're trying to scrounge up some used vans that won't cost much. The trucks and backhoe are newish, but we had to take 7-year financing on them, and we're paying $70K a year in loan payments.
Post: The Rent is Too Damn High!
Link to comment from May 16, 2026
We just take CDs at the bank where we have our checking account. You don't really want to tie up funds you might need in some fancy investments. And the consultants these boards hire are usually not worth it. Our engineering consultant, our reserves consultant, our roofing consultant, all told us what we knew already.
Post: The Rent is Too Damn High!
Link to comment from May 16, 2026
Here in the retirement village, we buy in bulk and just signed a new contract. It's about $700,000 a year for 929 units, which comes to about $60 a month per user. We get fiber-optic internet and cable TV with hundreds of channels for that price. We hired a consultant to negotiate with the cable companies (about $25K) and he got us a great deal, We even get a $170K rebate for signing up. Right at the moment, they're busy ripping the village up to install conduits for their fiber.
Post: Living On Autopilot
Link to comment from May 7, 2026
Ha, Dick - you should see the high-end coffees that sell for hundreds of dollars a pound.
Post: Dickie and his magic beans
Link to comment from May 7, 2026
I sometimes look foolish, aware of ways to save money, but being too lazy to look into them. For example, I have been paying $20 a month to my ISP for a VoIP phone. Here at the retirement village, we are bringing in a new ISP, and they will be charging $40! This prompted me to investigate, and I discovered that for a setup cost of $120 I can have my VoIP landline for $7 a month. Why am I not really foolish? I am retired, but living on about 25% of my income, and saving the rest. My expenses may be foolish, but they're far from bankrupting me.
Post: Living On Autopilot
Link to comment from May 6, 2026
Yes, the stock market consists of individual stocks - each company is a separate legal entity that has its own capital, product, and sales. This is the real world As the stock market moves away from the the real world, stocks become trading tokens detached from the actual companies doing real business. To my mind, this is not the way it should be.
Post: Wall Street Trap
Link to comment from May 5, 2026
But people who don't have a coupon do pay that full price, right? The store knows what percentage of customers use the coupon, and what percentage do not, on each item. They can adjust their prices based on these percentages to get the revenue they need from that item.
Post: Shopping around – you versus the grocery store
Link to comment from April 30, 2026