. Geez, these Chase offers are getting into serious money...
Of course, they want serious money, too, which won't be forthcoming.
Tempting to think about though.
I went to one of those retirement planning programs last night. They always talk about Roth conversions. Which I understand can be very helpful in reducing taxes you'll pay once RMDs begin, but I don't think they're necessary for everyone, and they didn't mention scenarios where they wouldn't make sense.
There's a John Lewis/anti-Trump rally tonight, the first one I'll be skipping. It will be a muggy 90 degrees here at 6:30 pm, when the rally starts. It's just too darn hot.
This is a Great spangled fritillary on purple coneflower.
Liatris (blazing star) with black eyed susies.
I got a new Shark vac and tried it out today. Pros: It's definitely better picking up stuff on both bare floors and rugs than what I had, and I like the easy empty feature. It automatically adjusts its setting after detecting whether I'm doing a rug or floor so I don't have to keep pressing buttons.
Cons: It acts like a self-propelled Ninja on rugs. Kind of like a dog pulling on a leash. It's pretty loud, so I'll continue using headphone thingies. It's also still fairly heavy, but I guess you can't have it all.
I brought my Toyota in for its very first, 6-month service, which will be free (ToyotaCares) for I think the first 2 years? 10 years? I'll have to doublecheck. But at this juncture, all they did was top off fluids, rotate the tires and reinsert a small plastic cover that I accidentally dislodged that goes over one of the license plate lights in the back.
July 18th, 2025 at 01:54 pm 1752843266
Sounds like your new Shark vac has more pros than cons. Good deal on your car service.
July 19th, 2025 at 09:15 pm 1752956135
But now if you do a Roth conversion and you are 65 or older, for example, you are probably reducing the amount of the "Enhanced Senior Deduction" that they added for 2025-2028 that you are eligible for (up to $6,000 per person, with phaseouts occurring starting at $75k of income for singles and $150k of income for married couples.
It becomes a matter of do you want a bird in the hand (more Senior Deduction now) or one in the bush (presumed lower tax rates later)--and those future tax rates are a matter of great uncertainty. Most planners assume that at some point, they will need to go up because of the amount of debt our country is accruing, but there is still uncertainty.
The benefits may not kick in for a decade or so. I, for example, could convert my tax-deferred accounts to Roth over the course of the next decade (65-75) starting at age 76 for the rest of my life....however long that is. Today is incidentally my mother's yahrzeit (death anniversary, 14 years ago today) and she was 77. Dad was 72. I suspect that I will live longer than they did, most likely into my 80s, but it's also reasonably likely that I will live to 85 or so (which would still be a great deal longer than either of my parents). I'll have to run a break-even analysis someday, but my intuition is that I wouldn't break even on the pre-paid taxes until my later 80s.
Also, one's legacy concerns play a role. I don't have kids, and in any case, will leave some portion of my assets to charity. For single people with no heirs to look after, it makes less sense than for someone who is focusing on preserving assets for their children and grandchildren.
July 21st, 2025 at 08:27 am 1753082838