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Reagan1k

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by Reagan1k

  1. I thought that was universally known as an order of "fried fried"?
  2. Yep - Ask if your plan has a True-Up Provision or not. "Most" plans now have it....not all...but more likely than not.
  3. Yeah - I think this was the observation I had and was trying to convey with my real world example, and it may have read as "let them eat cake"....which was not my intent. Modeling out the what-if and extending conversions into that next bracket from 22 to 24 could be a worthwhile exercise when you take into account the likelihood of a period where there is a single filer. It's counter to what the general advice boilerplate advice would be but MIGHT be useful especially if one spouse isn't in great health or is fighting family history.
  4. For better or worse I've fallen into the role of financial sounding board for several family members and I'm seeing this play out too - both sides of the coin. One giving with the only requirement being that the recipients then spend time with her to tell her all about the food they ate, the trip they took or the experience they had. She's enjoying her money vicariously through the while she can. Another is squeezing her dollars so tightly that the ink is oozing out of her fingers. Both have the same general amount of assets. Guess which one is happier day to day?
  5. Yep....As I said....It is a good problem to have and the couple was obviously affluent (through building their own business from the ground up and diligent savings). They achieved most of their pre-tax savings before the Roth was a thing and then failed to take advantage of roth conversions - Big mistake on the latter. My point in all of this was the bigger picture and how conversion tax planning should also take into account the "what if" possibility of single filer vs. MFJ in 10-15 years. The same would be true for the 22-30 brackets and a couple that is not as affluent, but still has sizable pre-tax balances. If those conversions don't hit while still MFJ, then that ship might sail. Assuming that one has many years to convert in the 22-24 brackets is fully dependent on maintaining that filing status.
  6. I know it has been discussed a lot upthread and I intellectually knew the importance of long term tax planning, but damn...watching the lack thereof play out in real life in jolting. I'm helping a family member who is recently widowed get their affairs in order and the double tax hit of RMDs plus the compression of the single filer brackets is staggering. This exercise has made me rethink and take a second look at what i've done b/c a lot of my planning has been based around the MFJ brackets and I hadn't fully digested the what-if / when there's a single payer. Those 32 and 35 brackets come screaming up really quickly for a single payer with sizable taxable income due to pre-tax qualified plans or other taxable income. Good problem to have nonetheless but damn, it hits hard and fast for an accumulator with high taxable income after the death of a spouse.
  7. I don't hate it. Like the Tac Pro more, but I don't have a lot to compare against. Have looked at some of the other grip modules but slow to move on that. I'm not sure I'm ready to start tearing down a 2011 yet. Not yet comfortable with my own ability there. I'm good with a rifle or 1911 but haven't yet studied enough to see what the differences are in the 2011 full disassembly / reassembly and what mods might be required of me.
  8. Speaking of...... I've been shooting the MAC 9DS Comp in 4.25" and the MAC 9 DS 5" fitted with a Cerberus Compensator and I love them. Good guns / value price - Lotta room to upgrade and still stay well under $2k including quality optic. I'm very pleased. Also love my Bul Armory Tac Pro 5" SS. Bit more money but also a great shooter. Been fun to work on breaking through some of my sight confirmation bias and shoot with more speed using all three of these. I've always been an aim small guy with hunting rifles so it's been a challenge but I'm enjoying the competition with myself to see how much I can improve times.
  9. Camp Mondamin in NC is > $9000 for their 5-week main session for next year. Ozark breaks their sessions differently (1 and two week chunks), but staying 4 weeks is basically the same as above. Texas has no monopoly on this industry.
  10. Most if not all will charge a %-based transaction fee on any credit card payment. Unless you can make the value of the rewards exceed that cost, it might not be enough juice to warrant the squeeze - or even worse you could be hustling backward. UT = 2.3%. TAMU = 2.25%. TCU = 2.85%
  11. The Oura ring component of what I'm doing is not measuring anything. It's app is interfacing with and pulling from the Stelo (Dexcom) monitor stuck in my arm. They (Oura) and Stelo have an agreement that Oura can pull data from the monitor. The Stelo app gives me the readings and Oura pulls its own readings - data pulled from same source. So while I have a Stelo app giving me only glucose readings, and the Oura app gives me the glucose but also allows me to view it in the context of other things. When my sleep score is lower I can see that my overall glucose is up. When my activity is higher I can see it go down. I can see that when Oura detects stress, my glucose is also rising and vice versa. Oura just uses the data to provide a more holistic view of total health with glucose as a component. Food intake is obviously just one component of glucose changes. The Stelo app is 100% glucose focused. Again, I don't know if the this specific Dexcom Stelo monitor stuck in my arm is "rated" for use by a diabetic or not. There could be various classes of continuous glucose monitors - I'm not sure.
  12. ** Disclaimer - I am not a diabetic and have good A1C levels** I've recently started using the Stelo (by Dexcom) to monitor my glucose. It has an app that's easy to use and provides alerts as needed. Not sure if it is "rated" for use by someone who needs it due to diabetes, but it's easy to use with the app and insightful. It also links seamlessly with my Oura ring which also displays and uses the data. My goal with it was to become more aware of glucose spikes and the role that plays with inflammation / longevity and Alzheimer's.
  13. I've done all kinds of stuff. Sounds like what you're really looking for in this case is the Cleerly Scan. It'll show you and your doc exactly where problems might be and the type of coronary disease you have, if any at all. Below is the type of output you get for all the major vessels.
  14. I hunt with my G40 10mm and have had a lot of success (for me). I second Buffalo Bore and have also had great results with Underwood Ammo (for hunting / not being hunted).
  15. Fascinating period when those came out. Different worlds were still colliding out west. Went to presentation some time back by the Cody Firearms Museum covering the guns of the west and it was amazing that they had pictures of cowboys with their 1873s, 1876s, Thompsons and even some Spanish Mausers - in the same picture.
  16. Things got away from me and I've been on a bit of a bender. Need to recoup and recover but am not mad at what has hitchhiked home with me this month. FPC in 9mm (FDE), FPC in 10MM (Black), MAC 9 DS Comp, SPEC V 9 Metal, and a CMP 1911 Colt over Colt (1945).
  17. Cosigning all of this that Hospice is not just for final days - make them comfortable stage - which is the overriding societal idea. It is much more than that and they will assist with and provide things like beds, chairs, etc. along with the care they provide. For cognitive issues, there is a "test" and a standard that involves daily activities of life, but those can be discussed with the signing doc ahead of time so that when the threshold is crossed, you're ready to act. I suggest getting hospice involved early....normally the right time is before it is already obvious that it is needed. They're typically great and they understand what's going on so much better than the family or a layperson. They can work wonders getting patient compliance when no one else can.
  18. Swap out the Cream Of.......with french onion soup and it works very well as a change of pace.
  19. Just got my 2nd 1911 from the cmp sales. Colt slide / Colt frame - Very pleased. I'll get some photos later. Nice gun - dates to production at the end of the war.
  20. Sounds just like early dementia to me based on my experiences with several family members and friends. Short term is often 1st to go. They can still tell you their 1st grade teacher's name but not who they had dinner with last night. Long term declines later and more slowly. The longer the relationship, the longer they hold on to the memory. Forget grandkids before kids, and kids before spouse kind of deal.
  21. Is Dequincy, La far enough east? Yeah, there and out in what's become Deweyville / Mauriceville area.
  22. None at all as long as the pear/peach syrup doesn't run over into my rice.
  23. This brings back some good and bad memories. Bad -Canned pear half and mayo or canned peach half and cottage cheese was a staple "salad" of most southern baptist Wednesday night fellowship dinners. Add in some beef tips and rice or baked chicken and rice with a side of green beans and that's what was served in the 50's - 80's. Probably a product of some of the more "interesting" culinary trends that came out post war, and it was a cheap, easy side to serve a lot of people. The 50's produced some odd combinations. Good - Weekend meals for my grandparents normally were "dinner" at 1 or 2pm and "supper" at 8pm. Dinner was their big meal and supper was usually small and haphazard. Leftover cornbread and buttermilk as mentioned above was a staple for supper and my father would still make cornbread about once a month for no other reason that to put in buttermilk. I don't recall ever doing saltines, but I'm sure it would do the trick. Good - In spring and summer, slice tomatoes, sliced raw onions, cucumbers in vinegar, and white bread/butter was on the table for every dinner. I'm an onion guy raw or sliced, probably because of that. Bad - Warm Dr. Pepper and lemon was a big thing. The company promoted it in advertisements and on the backs of the old steel cans. Warm carbonation is no bueno.
  24. As with most things IRS, I would suppose the easiest thing to do would be to file and pay whatever minimal tax there is even out of your own pocket. In fact, if she hasn't been required to file there may be a credit or deduction somewhere out there you could claim to wash it. Medical expense threshold if her income is low and it can exceed the standard deduction by $5k would be an offset??? Keeping that slate clean and them out of her hair would probably be worth an hour of time to file and a few hundred dollars out of pocket for a SIL caregiver. I'd consider the cost in your time and having an anxious MIL if she got a letter after not filing. Might be an easy trade.
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