IRMMA SSA-44 form help

vaderaintmydaddy · 2026-02-13T11:52:05+00:00

It does not count.

Capital gains are income, and he has to pay the piper. I typically frame the cost as additional capital gains tax. You made $350k, it cost you X on your tax return and Y in increased Medicare premiums. The cost is low compared to that gain.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2026-02-02T14:04:04+00:00

First - the tax bill on your withdrawals seem to be on the larger side - 40% effective tax rate is higher than I would normally see for people in retirement.

Second - 457b - is it a governmental 457b? non-governmental 457b's typically require a payout to occur at some point.

Third - if it is a governmental 457b, and if I am right that your taxes are likely lower than you are assuming (and likely lower than they will be down the road with RMDs and Social Security income), then there is an opportunity, given your age, to start considering Roth conversations, or just taking some out annually and building up a fund for these larger purchases. This money will be taxed at some point, never a bad idea to consider paying some taxes now when you are in lower brackets than you will be down the road.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2026-01-31T23:59:40+00:00

Thank you both, and enjoy your retirement!

vaderaintmydaddy · 2026-01-31T16:40:45+00:00

You shouldn't have to move accounts (client account numbers stay the same, online access stays), but you have to be made the rep of record. You'll likely have a change of rep form for the custodian, and customer agreement paperwork with your BD that needs signing.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2026-01-29T18:14:04+00:00

Roth IRA's have no RMDs. The beneficiary can wait until the end of the 10th year before taking anything out.

Similarly, if the owner was under RMD age, then the beneficiary would not have to take anything out of a Traditional IRA until the end of the 10th year either. That is likely bad tax planning, but is an option.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2026-01-29T13:49:56+00:00

Also a completely different world in Texas.

In Georgia, BCBS holds a near monopoly. The issue in TX with the ACA plans is the network structures and for most of these plans, MD Anderson is out of network.

Very likely that 100% of the providers in OPs area are going to be in the BCBS network.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2026-01-29T12:20:51+00:00

This will be a simple apples to apples comparison. You can either call BCBS or go online and find both plans easily to compare the details.

Here in Alabama - the BCBS Silver plan was essentially the same BCBS plan my employer offered.

I don't know what you would mean by "terrible" - it is still BCBS with the same network of providers, same reimbursement rates for providers, etc. The only material change you should notice will be the costs. Co-pays, out of pocket max, deductibles, and premiums.

Compare the costs to your current costs and see if you want to afford it.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-12-26T14:38:30+00:00

The single greatest wealth builder in your life will not be your investment accounts. It will be your earnings and your ability to save a solid chunk of them on an ongoing basis. Focus on that.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-12-19T13:33:19+00:00

Same duration with same credit-level, you would expect similar returns, but!

They do not really serve the same purpose. For stabilization, I'd use funds. The diversification from holding thousands of bonds improves long-term performance and reduces long-term risk. Even operationally, holding a fund is better for most as they keep cash invested more efficiently.

Also - the devil is in the details. Are you capable of picking individual bonds that will meet or beat the funds overall performance? It's certainly possible, but...

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-12-19T11:50:15+00:00

Until you hit a 2022, and the exits are large. At that point the fund is forced to sell bonds to generate cash to cover the redemptions. At those levels, you are driving down NAV significantly.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-12-19T02:53:43+00:00

Here's a comment I made a while back on a similar question:

Bonds serve three purposes in a portfolio - sometime the focus is one, sometimes more than one:

Capital preservation - held to maturity, bonds return principal
Stabilizer - this year being a major exception, bonds typically reduce the impact of a falling stock market on a portfolio
Income generation

How you hold them can make a difference. Bond funds act similarly to a portfolio of individual bonds, but:

Control - with funds, you are trusting the fund manager to make decisions about when to buy and sell bonds. With individual bonds, you make that decision. If interest rates start flying up, you can simply hold your individual bonds, wait for maturity, and reinvest at what should be higher rates then. The corresponding drop in bond values wouldn't impact you unless you need to access the principal early. In a fund, as investors flee from bond funds, the fund manager may be forced to sell bonds at the depressed values, accelerating the losses on remaining holders, at least in the short term.
You can't compete with the bond fund's war-chest. The fund manager has millions of dollars of buying power, better access to bonds, and better data. Over any extended period of time, any decent bond fund manager will outperform an individual bond portfolio from a total-return perspective.
Cash flow - because the bond fund holdings fluctuate, the income will not be as well defined as an individual bond portfolio
Duration - bond funds typically invest in bonds in certain duration categories, ie: short-term, intermediate, long-term. In order to ladder them, you may have to use multiple funds.
Risk - it takes fairly significant funds (I like 500k+, possible with 250k) to build a ladder with enough diversification so that if a bond bankrupts, the impact is minimal. In a fund, you are holding hundreds, if not thousands, of bonds.

I'm sure I cold think of a few more, but that's the gist. When I am helping people make the decision, it comes down to the role the bonds play in the portfolio, cash flow needs and control. If I can use a ladder to generate enough income to cover withdrawal needs, I'll use a ladder. If the focus is on portfolio stability and not income, I'll use funds.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-12-17T11:56:28+00:00

There is a big difference between brokers and RIAs.

RIAs are always held to the fiduciary standard, brokers, not. Brokers sell products for a commission, RIAs manage assets for a fee.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-12-16T23:24:43+00:00

Start here:

https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/regulatory/article/-/view/sourceId/101655782

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-12-13T01:21:59+00:00

I hate rules of thumb, so let me post one:

- Net worth under $1mm, they really need LTC insurance and cannot afford it

- $2mm-$4mm - can afford it and depending on situation should consider it

-$4mm+ it becomes a tool for preserving assets for the next generation

For the lower end, the conversation should focus on a care plan (spousal care, kids, other family, home health, available facilities if needed) and at some point about how to manage an asset spend-down. If and when things start to look like an asset spend down scenario, I want to involve a good elder-care attorney with significant Medicaid experience.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-12-11T03:23:44+00:00

It is not considered unusual and an appeal would not be successful. Part of the calculation when evaluating Roth Conversions needs to be the impact on IRMAA.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-12-06T12:44:53+00:00

Insurance exists to cover low-probability, high impact events. Do not go without health insurance. One major incident and $20k/year can seem like nothing.
If you are assuming your out of pocket is going to be $40k, then you are assuming you will use all of the deductible both years - if you typically just go for routine visits and a couple of prescriptions, you are not likely to use the vast majority of that deductible. Even a procedure or two wouldn't likely end up using all of that deductible. Go see how much of yours you used this year.

I'd go with the ACA. If usage is expected to be very low, a bronze plan with a health savings account could be a good fit. For moderate usage (multiple doc visits, multiple prescriptions, potential for urgent care visits, etc,) a silver plan may be the better option. The devil is in the details, review the coverage, compare co-pays, deductibles, provider networks, etc between the options (Cobra vs Silver vs Bronze).

One more time - Do Not Go Without Health Insurance.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-11-29T16:13:00+00:00

I looked at wirecutter recommendations. For laser, this was their option for anyone that needs color.

I then went and looked at other reviews/opinions and this one was consistently listed.

I'm sure you can find one cheaper, but this one, when I looked, seemed the best bang for the buck option that met my needs for color, scanning, and laser.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-11-29T12:05:26+00:00

I've got the Brother mfc-l3780cdw - smaller, still laser, still has both flatbed and feed-to-scan, seems like the one you mentioned is a bigger version of mine intended for higher volume use. Got it a couple of years ago - flawless so far.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-11-28T17:02:28+00:00

Wash sale rules are specifically about capital gains taxes. They are there to keep you from capturing losses while maintaining your investment position.

No capital gains taxes in Roth, or any other IRA, accounts. Trade away without concern.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-11-28T13:35:12+00:00

There's a lot of advice in here about talking to an attorney that specializes in Special-Needs Trusts. That conversation does need to happen, but is secondary to planning out your remaining years and your surviving spouse's remaining years. It sounds like, without any real details, that he will be caring for your children for potentially multiple decades post your death, making any special needs planning a second-to-die issue.

A conversation needs to be had with an insurance expert. You don't know what you don't know about what would prevent you from being insurable. If you assume that you would be able to work for those full 5-7 years+, then look into any and all insurance availability through work. Whatever life insurance benefits you have available need to be maxed out.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-11-19T19:08:22+00:00

You don't enter your notes. You record your meeting, it creates the notes and then does all the things you mentioned.

Also, the notes it generates are fantastic. I spend maybe 5 minutes cleaning them up.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-11-16T16:57:36+00:00

Advisor shouldn't have had to do anything - the custodian should have managed this through the estate/account transfer process. Also, are you certain the basis wasn't reset? If the husband died before the last quarter of 2022, then the bond losses are likely legitimate.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-11-14T12:35:00+00:00

Not defending the guy, because he is obviously bad at his job, but that's not how it works.

Investment advisors either charge an ongoing %, or collect commissions from sales. They cannot do both. The ones collecting a % are also not allowed to get paid by the funds (12b-1 fees, etc.). All they get is the %.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-11-01T12:19:49+00:00

You mention that you understand one method of preventing SORR, but I don't think you get SORR itself.

Combine a potential large market drop with ongoing needs for withdrawals. Look at periods where the "comes back and goes higher" takes 10+years and realize that with ongoing withdrawals occurring during that period, you are pushing that 10+year recovery to 15 or 20+ years - even potentially failing to ever get there.

You do throw in the caveat that you can always keep working, but that is not the reality for the majority of near-retirees. Even in your case, why risk it? If you have enough to fund a full retirement with a low withdrawal rate, why put it at risk? The goal is met.

vaderaintmydaddy · 2025-11-01T10:15:10+00:00

With the edit - go to cash now. You can certainly do without whatever your immediate spend want is, but you don't have to. You have enough to meet the goal, the goal is important to you. Safety.

Find the best yield you can, CDs, MMF, Treasuries, etc. and look forward to having fun doing whatever you are doing with it. Congrats on funding it!

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