Boss Hogg

Comments:

• Some word salad but I'm impressed with this turn of phrase: "By opting for early benefits, we were able to kickstart these plans without delay."

  Post: Seizing the Moment

  Link to comment from May 28, 2024

• Your experience has good lessons for us and I thank you for sharing. I will check them all to the extent I'm able to with my family. I believe an executor of a will and a trustee of a trust is entitled to reasonable compensation in most states. Maybe being paid for some of your time would have relieved the stress. I can see where, practically, one might not want to do this.

  Post: Unsettling Experience

  Link to comment from May 8, 2024

• I chime in with praise for Adam on this and his other articles. One question is if investing in an S&P 500 index risks missing another Nvidia that might be outside the S&P 500. A related issue is that some index funds don't invest in all the stocks of the index they're tracking. Take Vanguard VTI, total stock market index ETF. The prospectus says it tracks the "CRSP US Total Market Index (the Index), which represents approximately 100% of the investable U.S. stock market." But the ETF doesn't invest in the whole index, "meaning that it holds a broadly diversified collection of securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the full Index in terms of key characteristics." One of the "principal risks" identified of this is "Index sampling risk, which is the chance that the securities selected for the Fund, in the aggregate, will not provide investment performance matching that of the Fund’s target index." It seems sampling the total stock market risks excluding another Nvidia.

  Post: No Big Loss

  Link to comment from April 28, 2024

• Instead of VT, which has an expense ratio of 0.07 percent, I suggest a mix of VTI (expense 0.03%) and VXUS (expense 0.08%). You'll get the same global coverage, roughly, and save a few hundred dollars a year on fees.

  Post: Not Scared of Bears

  Link to comment from April 27, 2024

• I'd be annoyed too but reflecting a bit I suggest the MLS offered the property with the fridge at full price and by paying less than full price the MLS offer is invalid. A new deal has to be struck which was done. Your story will make me check the details of my next real estate transaction more carefully. My real estate peeve is real estate brokers advertising on the radio saying they have buyers ready to act and that "your home may already be sold." I cringe at that language and have thought about an ethics complaint as well but I see that process is more complicated than I thought.

  Post: Not Cool

  Link to comment from August 31, 2023

• In addition to being a beneficiary I expect you are also entitled to compensation as executor and trustee. I hope you paid yourself.

  Post: Closing the Door

  Link to comment from June 21, 2023

• I second the recommendation for the "Medicare for Dummies" book. Regarding Medicare Advantage (Part C) -- "I can see any doctor that accepts both Medicare and the plan." To emphasize, the doctor has to be in the plan's network and most doctors may not be depending on the Medicare Advantage plan. On the other hand most doctors will take Medicare Part B giving one a larger pool of doctors to choose from (including, probably, your current doctors). Also, referrals may be necessary to see specialists in Medicare Advantage plans but they are not necessary under Medicare Part B.

  Post: The Medicare Maze

  Link to comment from May 3, 2023

• As a longtime reader of HumbleDollar articles, I was not aware of Voices section until now.

  Post: What’s Your Answer?

  Link to comment from April 15, 2023

• So much food for thought. Thank you. Brief comments:

  1. It would be great if one of your knowledgeable writers would pen some pieces on continuing care retirement communities addressing financial and other aspects.
  2. I was heavily churning Savings Bonds long ago when the government would let you buy them using credit cards on which I'd earn miles. Not today.
  3. The problem with Powers of Attorney is that no one is compelled to accept them, and often won't as they're unsure if it has been revoked. You should have them, and I do, but I also title assets to a revocable living trust where my successor trustee will get instant access to trust assets on my death, and can have access to them now in the event of my disability without going to court.

  Post: What I Don’t Own

  Link to comment from March 4, 2023

• It's my understanding that titling a home as an asset in a revocable living trust can reduce the chance of title fraud due to the additional transaction complications involved and the fraudster's desire to avoid them.

  Post: Lost Property

  Link to comment from March 2, 2023