Adam Starry

Comments:

• That's essentially what we are doing. From reading up on the 4% strategy and their more flexible options that allow adjustments during up and down year, the whole point is to manage sequence of return risk. Additionally, if you look at Morningstar's recommended asset allocations for their Bucket Portfolios, you will notice that the "aggressive" portfolio for retirees is 60/32/8 Stocks/Bonds/Cash, which to my mind is a 60/40 portfolio with what "Cash" can earn currently in money market funds and short term T-Bills.

  Post: Sequence of Return Risk

  Link to comment from September 28, 2024

• I made no such insinuation and if you looked at the CDC link I included you would see that I know studies are clearly being done. The point is that under normal circumstances those studies are completed before a vaccine is approved. It is the obligation of the drug provider to prove they are SAFE and effective. Given that this process was rushed due to the emergency nature of Covid, one could expect to see adverse consequences of taking the vaccine that would have been caught under a normal approval process. Folks like Mary would be the first to see them. As such when they see anecdotal evidence of adverse reaction to this vaccine they should be taken seriously and studied further, as opposed to being dismissed as potential outliers.

  Post: Jabs Anyone?

  Link to comment from September 23, 2024

• I don’t see Mary’s comments as dissuasive. Per her advice it’s good to do some research. From the CDC https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html For most folks not a big deal, but definitely evidence of adverse effects. And it looks like cardiologists would be some of the first to notice. And just to reiterate what others have said, talk of “deniers’ is unnecessarily provocative and insulting with regard to the covid vaccine. Skepticism is absolutely necessary in science. For most these vaccines are safe, but the development and approval process was significantly rushed due to the emergency nature of the pandemic. Now that the threat has significantly subsided, it is certainly worth further studying potential dangers that would have been uncovered in a normal approval process.

  Post: Jabs Anyone?

  Link to comment from September 22, 2024

• We're all somewhat alone in the woods on this one, because the decision depends on each personal situation. What is your marital status and partner's SS entitlement? What is your current financial situation? What are your financial goals/plans? How long do you and your spouse reasonably expect to live vs the SSA actuarial tables for your age group? What are your financial goals/plans for the funds? etc... For any given situation there are probably a number of reasonably good options, and possibly some bad ones. The key is to avoid the obviously bad options and focus on the good ones without getting overly anxious about not picking the "best" option. Remember, the hardest decisions often involve choosing between two reasonably good choices.

  Post: Quinn asks himself, Is delaying Social Security to age 70 the right decision?

  Link to comment from September 22, 2024

• The Roth conversion calculations involve a number of assumptions, i.e. future tax rates, portfolio growth, etc that put a lot of uncertainty on the outcome. Most of the scenarios suggested I'd save by doing the Roth conversions. However, the savings was often not particularly compelling vs the cap gains harvesting. Additionally, the issue of how I pay the taxes on Roth conversions is important as I do not want to pay those taxes out current taxable accounts as that would limit my current spending capability. The nice thing about the cap gains harvesting is that I pay 0 taxes on those cap gains, which I can then reinvest at a higher basis. This has no effect on my current spending capability.

  Post: What’s your asset breakdown by tax treatment?

  Link to comment from September 20, 2024

• Roughly 51% Tax Deferred 48% Taxable 1% Tax Free Roth 401(k)'s weren't available to us early in our careers and fortunately we quickly exceeded Roth IRA income limits in our careers. By the time Roth 401(k)'s became available our marginal tax rate was significantly higher than what we expected it to be in retirement. Currently retired and in our late 50's. Rough calculations and uncertainties around future tax rates indicate Roth conversions would not be as advantageous as cap gains harvesting at this time. So, we are focusing on cap gains harvesting to minimize future taxes.

  Post: What’s your asset breakdown by tax treatment?

  Link to comment from September 18, 2024

• As you should. Just because you don't agree with a particular part of the tax code does not mean you shouldn't take advantage of it. To not do that would place you at a disadvantage and you have no obligation to do that.

  Post: Quinn ponders a taxing situation. Loopholes and such. Is there a better way?

  Link to comment from August 29, 2024

• Depends on what you mean by loophole. Alot of folks define a loophole in the tax code as "something I don't like", despite the fact that the code is doing exactly what it was designed to do. However, historically loophole describes an unintended consequence of a law. One example I would consider a traditional loophole is doing Roth conversions before 65 to avoid IRMAA surcharges. Clearly IRMAA is a means test for Medicare, so why should the source of the means of income matter. It's perfectly legal, and I don't begrudge anyone doing it, but I wouldn't be upset if that loophole got closed.

  Post: Quinn ponders a taxing situation. Loopholes and such. Is there a better way?

  Link to comment from August 29, 2024

• From my experience you don't need alot of investing knowledge. The first book on investing I purchased wat Jonathan's "25 Myths You've Got to Avoid..". That and along with his "Getting Going" columns in the WSJ covered most everything important. If you follow what is taught there, you'll be in pretty good shape. That said - you do need more than just investing knowledge to manage your investments. Most importantly, you need to know yourself. What are your goals, tolerance to risk/volatility, strengths and weaknesses with regard to managing finances...etc.

  Post: I Ain’t Stupid Ya Know

  Link to comment from August 28, 2024

• Even worse, our company would every few years have cutbacks with generous payouts (1 month salary for every 2 years of service). So it wasn't unusual to see older employees with fully vested pensions waiting for the cutbacks to occur and volunteering for them. It was almost treated as an entitlement at some point.

  Post: Is a 401k plan better than a pension? For most workers, yes it is. Here’s why. RDQ

  Link to comment from August 12, 2024