2024-01-26

Melanie Safka

Melanie Safka

Melanie (Melanie Safka) died a few days ago. I have listened to her since about 1970. She wrote some great songs and she was wonderful covering others' songs. I thought I would gather a few of them that I still listen to. No particular order to these, just the order that I thought of them or found them.


Some of Melanie's songs -

Peace Will Come
on Ed Sullivan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDyni9AIp9E

Close to it All at Woodstock - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL_frV5gXyg

Lay Down
on Woodsongs - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzg_8gKp-rU

I went to Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour (a Lexington KY show, recorded live) to hear Melanie. Not being a member, I sat way in the back. When the two person chorus for Lay Down came on stage, it took a minute to recognize my friend Diane Timmons, a wonderful singer who, long ago, would sing Schubert songs for me, and once for my father's memorial service.

Lefover Wine - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7rIVhyFhts

In the Hour - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffAJ1viZUws

I had forgotten this beautiful song. I found it while searching YouTube. When I switched from vinyl to CD I lost a lot of music. I restored a lot of it as old music slowly reappeared on CD, then oldies collection CDs, then MP3s from Amazon, then YouTube.

Photograph - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x55sAAxZO2U


And some wonderful covers -

Long Long Time - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7hrjATqSpA

Hard to beat Linda Ronstadt's version (or any other Linda Ronstadt cover), but this one is just as good.

Carolina in My Mind - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz0hB9rrmQA

Chords of Fame - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBXtTDCWUk8

My Father - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faUp8OJ-ZVk

Arrow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7fBuYayVzw

As Tears Go By - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBF0hASQQBg

2024-01-16

Investing - IRA to Roth Conversion

Investing - IRA to Roth Conversion

This post is based on a few conceptual rules of IRAs and Roth IRAs. But don't forget the details that I have not mentioned - converting, eligibility, age, time limits, etc. And don't forget - THE RULES MAY CHANGE.

Also see  

Occasionally you may see an article questioning the use of Roth IRA, Roth 401K, etc. and suggesting that 90% of us should not be using the Roth versions of retirement accounts. I do not recommend or disparage using Roth accounts to build your retirement savings. I have suggested converting your IRA to a Roth IRA (in pieces, not all at once) when conditions make it advantageous.

Certainly Roth accounts are not the better place for some people. I have no idea what the percentage is. Roth is not generally used while working, in my experience, because people like the tax break of a pretax account. And for older people, Roth accounts were not available at work for most of their working life.

But the point of this post is to examine the value of converting IRA funds to Roth funds in preparation for or in retirement. I assume that you have converted your 401k to an IRA and that you have a Roth IRA started. I know nothing specific about converting 401K or 403B to Roth versions - this post applies to IRA to Roth IRA conversions.

For the rest of the post, IRA means traditional or rollover IRA, Roth means Roth IRA.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Conversion

The choice of IRA vs converted Roth starts with how much tax you pay when withdrawing money. At first look, when withdrawing small amounts, and assuming that tax rates stay the same over time, and assuming that you pay the tax on the conversion from the IRA, it's a wash - no difference. You can pay the tax now and shrink your investment by the tax rate (Roth). Or you can wait until you need the money and pay the same tax rate on the, hopefully bigger, investment (IRA).

But the choice is not that straight forward.

RMDs

At 72 or 73 you must start taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from the IRA. Not that you will be paying more tax than if you have converted the money, but you may not need the money. It is too late to convert to Roth, so now it leaves the tax advantaged realm.

Growth in an IRA vs Roth

A good stock investment will grow faster than inflation. Maybe you will pick an explosive growth stock and make a fortune. If this is in the Roth, you may use any amount of the money tax free. In an IRA, use too much in a year and you bump the tax bracket. Or the tax rates may go up. And the RMDs will go up because they are a percentage of the total in the IRA. This is why I have suggested to convert risky high growth investments to a Roth before the safe stuff (bonds, CDs).

The Widow(er) Tax (2024-05-04)

If you are married, you are using the married tax table for ordinary income on IRA withdrawals. But what happens if a spouse dies? The living spouse is suddenly single and using that tax table - way higher tax bracket for a given income. This is a good reason to push IRA to Roth conversion.

A Back Door

And a back door - if you have money in an ordinary (not tax advantaged) account and pay capital gains tax or qualified dividends tax to use the money, but can't put it in a Roth because you have no earned income, try this. Convert money from IRA to Roth but pay the taxes from the ordinary account. Now instead of having to pay income tax on the money that you convert and the money that you take out to pay the tax, you take the income tax money from the ordinary account plus enough to pay the capital gains rate on it. You end up keeping the full value of your tax advantaged accounts but some of it made tax free. And you pay for this with money from the ordinary account. So you have moved money from the ordinary account to the Roth through a back door. But how much did it cost to do that and where did the money come from and go to? An example is the only way that I can illuminate.

Let's move 10K from IRA to Roth. Let's say your tax rate is 22%, so you need to pay 2.2k in income tax. If you pay from your IRA, take out total 12.82K, now you owe 22% on 12.82k = 2.82k. Conversion complete, IRA down 12.82K, Roth up 10K, taxes paid.

Let's try it the other way. Convert 10k so 2.2k income tax. Your tax rate on the ordinary money is 15% (cap gains) so you need 2.59k and you pay .39k tax. Conversion complete, IRA down 10k, Roth up 10k, ordinary account down 2.59k, taxes paid. You have moved 2.59k of ordinary money into 2.82k IRA money. That's a 9% increase, but the IRA money costs you 7% more to withdraw. So just a 2% difference, but that 2.82k is eligible to move to your Roth.

Tax Rate on IRA Money

If IRA withdrawals are in addition to other taxable income (pension, taxable Social Security) they will be taxed at your marginal rate, not your average tax rate.

Tax Efficient Conversions

If you encounter a significant stock market dip, and you are confident that it will come back, then converting in the dip lets you convert with less tax. I am not suggesting timing the market for short term dips or looking for absolute bottom. But in a significant, long term downturn such as the tech crash, housing loan crash, or COVID crash, it is easy to choose a point to save some taxes.

Between the ages of 62 and 70, you might decide to live off of savings and avoid taking Social Security benefits. You can use this low income period to transfer IRA assets to Roth assets at a low tax rate. If you have assets in an ordinary account, you can set it up so that you collect only capital gains and qualified dividends. Then pay the income tax on the conversion from this ordinary account (the back door described above).

At age 72 or 73, you must start taking required minimum distributions (a percentage of the total assets) from your IRA. You can reduce these by moving the assets to a Roth before the RMDs start.

Medicare

But remember that income from a conversion may bump your Medicare premium, so look at the whole picture before deciding. See Investing - Fun Retirement Tables.

Charities

If you like to contribute to charities, before or after you die, IRAs are very efficient - give them pretax money. They won't owe tax on it.

If you leave money to charities after you die, it's a waste to have already paid taxes on it.

Heirs

Remember - THE RULES MAY CHANGE.

IRA, the heir pays income tax rate (because you didn't pay it).

Roth, the heir pays no tax (because you already paid it).

Ordinary account, the cost basis resets to the value at death - so the money is tax free at that point. Your heir gets a free, potentially huge, capital gain (that you did not pay). So ordinary accounts have some advantages over IRAs and Roths, but that is not the subject of this post.

Psychology

Not owing taxes, I expect, is somewhat like not having debt - one less headache to deal with. You will still have to file a return and pay taxes, but a lot less after converting to Roth.

2024-01-11

Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

Caulipower Pizza Crust (that's a brand name, not a misspelling)

I have had very good cauliflower crust pizza at three restaurants. But I don't know how much cauliflower they contained or what other ingredients were included. I tried Green Giant frozen cauliflower crust that was not good.

I tried another frozen crust recently - Caulipower. The first three ingredients are cauliflower, brown rice flour, and rice flour. So maximum 33% white (rice) flour. It's easy to work with - I bake (425) for 5 minutes, then add sauce, cheese, toppings, and bake for ten minutes. The prebake is my change to the instructions because thick toppings can insulate the crust.

This is my new crust for homemade pizza. It tastes good and should be healthier than the white bread refrigerated dough that I had been using. I am not under the illusion that this counts as a vegetable serving, but it does reduce my intake of white flour.

I make mushroom pizza - prebake the mushrooms or the water content will make the crust mushy. And salmon/artichoke heart pizza - no sauce, bake with just cheese, saute the salmon, add it with the artichoke hearts and bake for a couple more minutes. I need to try adding some pesto. I don't know if these instructions are optimal, but they work well.

Buckwheat Husk Neck Pillow

At the suggestion from a massage therapist, I purchased a buckwheat husk six inch tube pillow - Waterglider brand but there are many choices on Amazon. I added a form fitting pillow case.

The casing (not the pillow case) feels thick and not stretchy. The zipper that lets you remove stuffing seals well - I haven't had any buckwheat husk leaks.

The pillow conforms to your head/neck and then provides firm support. I find this much superior to elastic or viscoelastic pillows that change thickness as you move - these never let my neck muscles completely relax.

I have also used plastic bead pillows. These are great for a time, but as the casing stretches, the firm support disappears. The thick cloth and tube shaped casing of the Waterglider pillow and the additional friction between the buckwheat husks should solve this issue.

This pillow is wonderful.

Apple TV Streaming

I signed up for Apple TV + to watch Lessons in Chemistry. Not bad, not as good as the book. All worked well on my Roku stick.

Then I made it through half of the first episode of Foundation - BORING. I read all of the Foundation and related books, many years ago. I don't remember them being boring.

Ted Lasso was very good.

On to For All Mankind. Pretty good. Kind of sci-fi on the moon and soap opera on the earth. I am almost done with the fourth season.

On oddity - early in the show they explain that communication with people on the moon will have a two second delay. But when earth to moon conversations become part of the show, I don't hear any delay, or explanation of the discrepancy.

About halfway through the end of the second season, the resume function quit working. If I stop the show and return to it the next day, it starts at the beginning of the episode that I had been watching. VERY annoying. And if I pause and wait too long to start watching again - about 15 minutes I think, it goes back the the start of the episode. EXTREMELY annoying.

I tried backing out in different ways - back out from watching, back out from pause, pause then start watching then back out. Resume did not work. I checked the web. Many people have this problem, dating back at least a year. The "solutions" are things like reboot the Roku, sign out of the app and sign in again, turn on "use play history". I also cleared my play history. After doing all of this, the problem was fixed. Until midway through season four. I'm not doing all of that again.

This is not a slightly annoying bug. It is a major problem. And Apple apparently doesn't care to fix it.

Fortunately I am in the initial three month free trial period. And one episode to go. Then I'm done with Apple TV.

Softsoap Soothing Aloe Vera

I have been using this liquid soap for over twenty years. It has now become Softsoap Soothing Clean Aloe Vera Fresh Scent. It stinks - literally. Many reviews also says it dries your skin. I won't be using it long enough to find out.

2024-01-28 - After testing four hand soaps that appeared to meet my requirements, the winner is Molly's Suds Foaming Hand Soap unscented (from Amazon). I like the foaming - makes it easier and quicker to use. I'm not sure yet how the dispenser will handle being in a shower - some pumps let water into the bottle. Beside a sink, very nice.