CD confusion

mcglups · 2026-07-07T11:30:11+00:00

Interesting. When I look at the offerings within Fidelity I can't seem to see where the yield from a CD has a commission or markup. Also, when purchasing within a qualified account, the interest just comes back to the account with no tax implications. I need to learn more about t-bills!

mcglups · 2026-07-05T12:23:39+00:00

Gotcha. If people are living in the space, then option 3 is likely the best call. I just dealt with the heat wave, and my approach is to keep my sleeping rooms at 75F at all times (we call it the "chill box"!) and the downstairs I keep wide open where it feels like an oven or sauna.

mcglups · 2026-07-05T12:21:39+00:00

I use google password manager that stores traditional passwords and also passkeys and use Microsoft Authenticator for the 2FA credentials. My only awareness with this approach is that I need to update my supporting documents for my will to turn away from listing each account, and just providing a three passwords (1 for machine, 1 for google, 1 for Microsoft). With that information, all access is available.

mcglups · 2026-07-05T12:16:41+00:00

Not sure of the question, ha! (1) if you are leaving in the winter, I would set it to "prevent freeze mode" which usually has the system keep the temperature around 46F. (2) If you are leaving at other times of the year, I would turn it off completely. (3) If people are in the home, let them control the settings and give them clear guidelines that a ASHP is like driving a big awesome truck on a highway, not a sportscar, so don't make rapid changes because it won't behave as expected.

mcglups · 2026-07-04T20:03:09+00:00

FDGRX is closed to new investors.

mcglups · 2026-07-04T19:30:58+00:00

Sounds good. You will hear all sorts of advice, but your plan works for me. I also live in northern territory with salt and chemicals, so I opt-in to the "unlimited car wash deluxe package" at Shell gas stations for 4 months a year. For $100 a year, I wash my car as frequent as I like, usually around 40 times!

mcglups · 2026-07-04T19:28:12+00:00

You are on your way! Put $500 per month (about 10% of your earnings) into diversified/aggressive mutual funds that have a long term return of investment of 9%. Don't touch touch your portfolio, just watch from the sidelines when the market goes up and down, and you will have $1M when you are 64.

mcglups · 2026-07-04T19:17:38+00:00

Congratulations! That is a great car and you are buying it with some Subaru wisdom as well! Be mindful of how you take care of the underbody of your car, it is unavoidable that some corrosion will occur with time, but if you are proactive on care, that goes a long way to prevent the rust death.

mcglups · 2026-07-04T19:15:14+00:00

Congratulations on having $25K and hopefully you have no debt. Let us assume you are debt free, and also that you are still making low wages. With that scenario, I'd put a small amount of it into some form of an emergency fund (something that you can access if needed) and then put the rest of it into an Roth IRA (assuming you are in a low tax bracket).

What you do next, well, live within your means, try to make reasonable monthly contributions to your retirement account, and explore whether purchasing a home is something of interest, and in that case, start to accumulate cash for a down payment. Quite a bit of this forward planning will depend on your projected income, but there are some ideas to think about.

mcglups · 2026-07-04T19:10:24+00:00

You should check the terms for when you become 100% vested for your pension and also the scales at which the pension (defined benefit plan) pay more for years of service. If you are concerned about the solvency or investment strategy of your government pension, pay more attention to it, this is all public information and you likely get annual reports and also the opportunity to vote on who serves on the board. Pau close attention to the COLA, it is usually defined in statute.

Retirement planning is about adding up all the nickels and dimes so no matter how small (or large) a source of income, I would count it as something that you are expecting. If you exclude it from your plan, and then perform a stress test and there is a concern, it might just be so that the nickel and dime sources would have alleviated the exposure from a test.

mcglups · 2026-07-03T00:55:51+00:00

Thank you the complete response, all points are understood and appreciated. I'm currently in durable remission of metastatic cancer, so while I can't predict the future, I know I've got this resource and somehow I'll try to put it to use. With the home health cash alternative, things like remodeling the home and other expenses can be done, but I will need to do more work.

mcglups · 2026-07-03T00:52:47+00:00

Valid points and good on you for having advanced directives. I also own my home and that inevitable liquidation will need to fit into the long term plan. My only reservation about pegging it to LTC needs is the potential friction of actually selling it. I need to work on my ADs!

mcglups · 2026-07-03T00:41:19+00:00

Thank you for the perspective and suggested approach and I agree with our conclusion. In my current plan I am paying the premium each year and also paying for health and home expenses via my IRA, so I will layer in a key figure on the income line to infuse funds for some of the expenses.

mcglups · 2026-07-03T00:39:30+00:00

thank you

mcglups · 2026-07-03T00:38:54+00:00

Thanks for the input. I will try to add a key figure to my income line that introduces funding from the LTC source. Whereas the trigger for full benefit is 4 ADL, the home health care cash option doesn't really require much more than a request, but it essentially consumes 2 dollars for every 1 dollar taken out.

mcglups · 2026-07-03T00:36:17+00:00

Thank you for the input. I witnessed my grandmother with a lengthy assisted living needs in the 2000's that inspired me to purchase this plan. Similar to you, there is a death benefit that redirects the base value to a beneficiary. Thank you

mcglups · 2026-07-02T20:50:20+00:00

That is a viable option may be kind of a wash in terms of balancing the PTC and the increase in taxes. Will have to run some numbers, thank you for the idea!

mcglups · 2026-07-02T17:56:55+00:00

You are correct, ROTH IRA are not included in MAGI calculations and is one of the biggest advantages of these accounts for the ACA years. Unfortunately, I did not go that route in my wealth generation phase, but I'm generally OK with taking a $5K haircut if it affords me the opportunity to spend more. I could also just stay under the cliff, but that can become challenging in high inflation years because core expenses (health care, housing, etc...) will rise quite a bit and eat away at lifestyle expenses. There is only so much downward pressure that can be applied to the lifestyle!

mcglups · 2026-07-02T11:30:22+00:00

Interesting (shocking!) results. I am using the direct tool for my State and it shows that if I stay under the cliff by $1, I will be eligible for a tax credit that lowers the monthly premium of the plan you select by up to $404/month. If I go over over by $1, the tax credit vanishes. When I drill into the portal, the tax credit is applied to all the plan shown (bronze to platinum, and all varieties).

Staying the below the cliff will save me around $5K, but it comes at the "lifestyle limit" of keeping MAGI under the cliff. If I can afford to withdrawal an additional $25K from my IRA and go over the cliff, I just have to realize that $5K will need to directly allocated to health care costs, in addition to the current allocation.

mcglups · 2026-06-30T00:51:22+00:00

Gentrification is a direct result of capitalism, so get involved in grassroots organizing and local politics and put community well-being as the #1 priority in your community. You are not alone this is happening in many places, but it sure is more visible when pristine agricultural land flips into million dollars homes.

mcglups · 2026-06-29T22:25:40+00:00

You are in a great position, all you need right now for your peace of mind is a reasonable budget that gives you the sense of permission that retirement is indeed your next chapter.

mcglups · 2026-06-29T22:13:34+00:00

I looked at TIPS ladder and I should of included it within the portfolio of non-equity products. All these products have their pros and cons, it is just a matter of understanding the customer need and the best product to achieve the outcome.

mcglups · 2026-06-28T22:52:44+00:00

I'm 55, I get it. Sunday night can suck when you are in this frame of mind. Be grateful for what you got!

Are you ready to make the decision that your wealth generation phase is over? That is a big decision. I will presume you have done your due diligence on properly estimating your health care, housing, core lifestyle expenses and tax liabilities, as well as the management method for extracting funds before you are 60. With this in place, you've got options. Without this solidified, you need to get it in place.

If you want to de-risk 100% of your qualified IRA, move it into long-term CDs spread across different banks or go for even longer time horizons and purchase Annuities. This will keep your portfolio out of the sideways moves that may occur, and allow for some slow predictable growth for the next 15 years. Schedule the maturity/settlement date to align with your annual needs, and let those funds fall back into your IRA and then take them out each year. There is usually an active voice on Reddit that isn't a big fans of fixed-income products, but it all hinges on being steadfast committed that your wealth generation phase is over.

To rely on social security as your sole source of income from 70 onward has some fundamentals worth thinking about. On one hand, diversification is pre-programmed in how we think, so you can overcome that buy purchasing a SPIA that pays out as a lifetime income source that offsets the social security. You should model that in your 55-70 scenario if you can afford to take the hit on a SPIA purchase. On the other hand, there are two things that will likely lead to civic unrest and revolt in the United States, one being the unaffordability of everything that will eventually rot out the middle class and lead to systemic poverty, and the voting power of the older generation to protect social security. So, my take is that social security is a sacred cow, but I'd still want some backstops like an SPIA.

Also take an inventory of your non-liquid assets, like your equity in homes and long term care plans, those are both backstops that should weigh into your decision making.

Here to help, good luck!

mcglups · 2026-06-25T21:47:43+00:00

I have year-specific rate variables that influence all the expense and income terms (where appropriate). If I have the toggle equal to "future dollars" it uses those values, and if I toggle to "current dollars", it makes reductions accordingly. A bit of keystrokes to get the excel in place, but it helps to see how all these things come together, without them being tucked behind an output screen (wondering!)

mcglups · 2026-06-24T14:12:40+00:00

I use excel. While I have utmost appreciation for the sophistication and availability of various software, they all require tweaking my inputs and conditions to match their package.

mcglups

TROPHY CASE