David Lancaster

Comments

• Good read. Thanks Ed. Caveat Emptor!

  Post: Bond Conundrum

  Link to comment from July 8, 2025

• Great article An. A must read. Looks like they are “not touching Medicare” in the same manner as they didn’t touch Medicaid.

  Post: A major Medicare benefit just vanished

  Link to comment from July 8, 2025

• Sorry for the errors y’all. Do others find that, at least on a mobile device, sometimes your post is too long and you can’t get to the edit button to correct, as well as a page refresh where you loose all your typing to date? I’m not sure if it is my device or not.

  Post: ETFs versus Assets Under Management

  Link to comment from July 8, 2025

• Sometimes you just have to admit that the advisor is just not a good fit and you need to move on from them. This one appears to have you going from simple to high fee. Assuming they will charge a 1% AUM, the question is what are the chances their returns with the additional will be greater than the market return. Doubtful as even the vast majority of active fund managers on Wall Street with more tools in their belt can’t. Years ago we utilized my brother in law’s CFP on a fee only basis to “run the numbers” to see if I was correct that our assets were sufficient to retire, then again about a year later when we inherited a fair amount. I told him I wanted to claim Social Security early. He didn’t push back. I hesitated as most authors whom I was reading online were recommending delaying at least the highest earner’s benefits until 70. This is what I decided to do, by utilizing the inheritance monies to delay claiming so our own retirement funds would continue to grow (for what looks like six more years). Then last year we had his son (who I think is going to take over the company) run a Roth conversion plan I was considering. His father was on the Zoom call as well. Atone point his father had to intervene as the son was not getting my question. His father joked to ustgat his son didn’t have the perspective of an elder to get the question. My plan was confirmed as being sound after several more calls. I have decided that I am comfortable with my knowledge and access to New Retirement’s Monte Carlo simulator that I do not need a financial advisor. Maybe when we both turn 70 in 3 1/2 years, claim SS, and know for for sure their contributions to our cash flow going forward, I may hire someone to build a bond ladder for 15-20 years to cover the balance of our income needs rather than an annuity.

  Post: ETFs versus Assets Under Management

  Link to comment from July 8, 2025

• This is another case of the administration not being succinct in their verbiage. They’re trying to claim that they eliminated the tax hit for 90% of all Medicare recipients to try and show they nearly met a campaign promise, instead of saying clearly and correctly that is a deduction for all seniors 65+ old. There may be some who are like us 65+, but delaying Social Security income who: 1) may file for SS benefits thinking they need to claim to get the deduction, or 2) who are 65+ who are not claiming SS benefits that think they are not eligible for the deduction. Another case of the government complicating something unnecessarily.

  Post: Increased Deduction for Seniors

  Link to comment from July 7, 2025

• The Japanese have a term for eating until you are 80% full is hara hachi bun me (腹八分目). This phrase, often practiced in Okinawa, translates to "eight parts (out of ten) full". It's a Confucian-inspired concept that encourages mindful eating and portion control to promote a healthy weight and potentially increase longevity. I try to utilize this theory, but find I stay hungry, and eat more 1- 1 1/2 hours later. I also perform heavy duty stationary biking for an hour, and weight train at least 6 days per week. All this effort including last year biking1,700 miles. My grandfather who I take after physically died before 70, and this motivated me to be committed to nearly daily exercise for the past nearly 50 years, but yet I still meet the criteria for obesity 😞. A large component has to be genetics.

  Post: A major Medicare benefit just vanished

  Link to comment from July 7, 2025

• I’m not saying I would sign up for an advantage plan, but people should get an opportunity to if they are not going to get the freedom of choice they’re paying for. Some might decide if this is where traditional Medicare is going they should have the option to switch to a plan that is less expensive if they’re not getting what they signed up for. In our case as I have written before we signed up for a free five star advantage plan for the first year of Medicare eligibility so we could avoid a year of supplemental policies’ premiums while we were young and healthy, and to take “advantage” of the other perks. We switched to traditional before the end of the one year trial period so under current rules can not switch back.

  Post: A major Medicare benefit just vanished

  Link to comment from July 6, 2025

• If this is the case then either we should be able to get a rebate on our Federal premiums and/or allow traditional Medicare enrollees to consider enrolling in Medicare Advantage. This is a governmental bait and switch, as this is not what we signed up for!

  Post: A major Medicare benefit just vanished

  Link to comment from July 6, 2025

• Thanks for the input Hugh. I did a quick back of the envelope calculation based on the RMD at 73 for just my traditional account, plus my expected SS income, as well as my 100% survivorship pension. This assumes I am successful in converting all of my wife’s traditional IRA to a Roth. Using today’s governmental laws, if one of us were to die the year I turn 73 the survivor would have income requiring IRMAA payments. However I still stand by my statements in the past that I would feel privileged to be in the top 7% of retiree incomes. I might have to look at a QLAC to see how that might affect our income to avoid paying. Of course that is inheritance my children will be missing out on, but both are doing very well financially, ie making more than my wife were making combined for the majority of our working life, which ended in 2020.

  Post: Increased Deduction for Seniors

  Link to comment from July 5, 2025

• Thanks for your input. Once we are receiving our maximum Social Security income, plus my small pension and RMDs we may be in what is the current the 22% tax bracket. Even if not, my wife has an excellent chance of living to 100 based on her family’s longevity. I plan on tapping only my traditional account for expenses during our lifetimes. If that plan comes to fruition she will have at least another 30-35 years of tax free growth, then our children could have an additional 10 years as well (based on today’s tax law).

  Post: Increased Deduction for Seniors

  Link to comment from July 5, 2025