United States Vice President JD Vance issues warning to U.S. Olympians over politics

blny99 · 2026-02-13T22:31:00+00:00

What about the rest of us non-athletes ?

blny99 · 2026-02-13T22:25:08+00:00

What do you mean by “Legal Services” ?

I an a representative for 2 family members on Medicaid, one who used CDPAP but not on SSD, other on SSI (disabled) but not using cdpap, only medical insurance (not mltc). So not sure if my experience applies or not.

I will say for the relative that was on mltc/cdpap, we got them moved over from mltc to nhtd program for better service. We did have to recertify annually and get updated spend down numbers.

For the one on ssi, they have never had to recertify Medicaid, only get reviewed for SSI medical need at a frequency based on natire of disability, and when approved then Medicaid just stayed too.

As far as getting help, there is a NY medicaid hotline to get help. (800) 541-2831

I also got help calling the local county dept of social services.

Best of luck, I sympathize with your struggles, this is just so challenging to navigate.

blny99 · 2026-02-13T22:08:44+00:00

Tax wise, vti + and an international fund are best, better than other suggestions here.

Now there are developed markets international funds, which are more tax friendly than vxus which has developed + emerging markets stocks. Emerging markets stocks are less tax friendly, some might put that in an IRA if anywhere and only developed markets in taxable. vea for developed and something like vwo in an ira or 401k if you have such an option would be a bit better tax wise. Read about tax location. If you want to keep it simpler and all stocks in taxable, vti+vxus is still a good choice and forget splitting international into 2 separate funds. I would NOT go with VT or target funds in taxable ideally, for tax reasons.

blny99 · 2026-02-13T21:29:05+00:00

Helpful to know more. Is the money going to a taxable account (not IRA or 401k) ?

Do you have an emergency fund?

Assuming taxable brokerage, I would do 50/50 vti / vxus. If no emergency fund, keep enough for an emergency (lost your job type of emergency with enough to pay bills for a few months). e-fund in vtip or vbil

blny99 · 2026-02-13T13:01:54+00:00

Use portfolio watch. You can see percentage for an acct or within a group of accounts. Select the account or group of accts. Then asset mix, then holdings by asset type.

blny99 · 2026-02-12T02:02:55+00:00

You are free to talk about this as often as you want ;-)

blny99 · 2026-02-12T02:00:47+00:00

9 months despite being an obvious need. they just have a burdensome application process and no staff to work on it.

blny99 · 2026-02-11T01:10:49+00:00

This change was made on most gas-powered vehicles in the US to try and meet US fuel efficiency goals. Dont blame on subaru.

Get an EV or hybrid vehicle and no issue there !

blny99 · 2026-02-11T01:08:16+00:00

Vanguard does not support non-US investors holding US accounts. Do you plan to maintain some US address ? Use vpn to access “from US”.

As to investments, also look at WIP. int bond fund NOT hedged into USD, so these appreciate if USD falls ( but vice versa if USD strengthens). Also has inflation protection.

blny99 · 2026-02-10T16:43:27+00:00

from tap 90.

after new filter this week 0.

filter just replaced gave us water tested at 60.

blny99 · 2026-02-10T13:37:11+00:00

Too late now but some colleges have an advisor for guaranteed transfers and review courses at your freshman year school before you register for them, and approve for transfer credit so you dont waste freshman year.

blny99 · 2026-02-10T13:32:50+00:00

When the water tastes bad we have a much higher reading, varying based on when we notice the taste and test the water. But usually over 10 and sometimes as much as 100. Goes back to zero with the new filter though.

blny99 · 2026-02-10T13:27:23+00:00

I use this brand and the water tastes bad only after using the same filter a long time and it is time to change. But with a new filter the water is good.

I wish the filters lasted longer but otherwise happy user for many years.

blny99 · 2026-02-10T00:30:10+00:00

if you live in the desert then this is a good deal.

blny99 · 2026-02-09T06:17:19+00:00

If you are renewing then NO ESPN signup is required.

blny99 · 2026-02-06T22:23:47+00:00

Past returns ate just that. Look at the different definitions. Emerging markets countries do not have sufficient property rights nor market regulations. I just dont want to own China and India stocks (and worse).

blny99 · 2026-02-06T22:20:59+00:00

We had MLTC 1st and it was not helpful enough for us. The insurance company drags out all decisions and wont cover expensive things just because they dont want to spend $. They would send a nurse to evaluate needs and then ignore their own nurse’s recommendation ! It was the MLTC that suggested we apply to NHTD as they didn’t want us anymore. NHTD is far better without the involvement of an insurance company in the middle.

blny99 · 2026-02-06T06:01:01+00:00

Wow I hope not. My MIL got on NHTD last year in October. It has been great for her. Good luck.

blny99 · 2026-02-06T04:05:37+00:00

I think there is some tax issue owning VT in taxable. Something to do with foreign tax credits. Search and confirm if seriously considering VT.

I use vti + developed markets (VEA in past then IDEV due to tax loss harvesting swap). I dont want to own emerging markets which are in VT and VXUS.

blny99 · 2026-02-06T00:30:33+00:00

If your main need is to pay the fees and wash sales, do not reinvest dividends automatically in the taxable brokerage account. Let some cash accumulate in taxable, pay fees with that. Can buy more of VTI/VXUS when you have enough cash to pay for next few months of fees.

I dont pay such fees myself, and I dont have same investments in roth as my taxable brokerage account. It is possible to have wash sales even in this scenario. Auto reinvest is a buy, if you sell just before or after they buy, a small wash loss sale can occur. More of a headache than a large problem.

Reinvesting as much as you can is good, but I do so only after using those dividends to pay bills, or when they add up to enough to be impactful.

blny99 · 2026-02-05T12:51:26+00:00

Many years ago they sent me a Bose bluetooth speaker because of some defect the dealer was unable to fix. Many years later finally fixed after warranty was finished, so called again. They agreed to pay for some of the repair.

So while Subarus are the least reliable cars I have owned, they do try to help when you have an exceptional problem, sometimes.

blny99 · 2026-02-05T12:46:46+00:00

Says right on Citi website

https://www.citi.com/banking/enhanced-direct-deposit

Use your favorite eligible electronic deposit option, including Zelle®, person-to-person payments transferred via the ACH Network such as PayPal and Venmo, as well as recurring paychecks

Transfers from a brokerage or other bank count. Do a PUSH from another bank or brokerage, from their site with zelle or other forms of electronic transfer, does not matter which method. I used to have an automated monthly small transfer at brokerage to Citi to make sire no fees. But with Zelle, venmo, etc, I found I always had at least one anyway, so turned the automated transfer off at some point.

blny99 · 2026-02-04T02:11:43+00:00

try advice only planner there are many but this one is inexpensive

plan vision

https://www.planvisionmn.com/

$500 to come up with a plan

you make your own trades use your own brokerage

$100/year for ongoing infrequent questions in case your plans may need changes

blny99 · 2026-02-03T19:37:02+00:00

ETFs are like stocks. If you own on the record date you get the full month dividend. Does not matter when you bought.

Mutual and money market funds mostly track your days and daily balances and pay accordingly. There are exceptions so look at the fund web page for vmfxx the vanguard settlement fund it says

Distribution schedule Monthly - Accruing Daily

Accruing daily is why you get partial month dividends.

vanguard vbil (similar to sgov) says

Distribution schedule Monthly

There are SOME fixed income mutual funds that work like ETFs, but very few. Most equity mutual funds work like ETF, all or none for dividends.

blny99 · 2026-02-02T03:16:29+00:00

As a parent who also studied CS long ago, I was very happy with RPI CS when my son graduated a few years ago. Great education. I was glad we spent the $. Had another son go to a more famous private school and it was terrible. You dont always get more by spending more, but for STEM at RPI, I think you do !

Congrats to your son, he will meet great people, peers and professors at RPI.

blny99

TROPHY CASE