Five sensible things
Five frivolous things
A Volkswagen EV van. I’ve been lusting after one since they were first announced a few years ago. It’s frivolous because even though my car is 12 years old, it only has 60,000 miles. And the VW Buzz is way more expensive than a lot of EV’s.
Monthly visit to the Watershed spa (where they have a variety of soaking pools, sauna, steam room, cold plunge, plus massages available).
Some nice quality jewelry
Plastic surgery? (Shocked face emoji) Don’t worry, I’m not going to suddenly be sporting freakishly large lips, but I would love to get rid of my turkey wattle.
A trip to NYC where I would not scrimp…not worry about hotel room price, get a good seat at the opera and a Broadway musical, eat at some nice restaurants.
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14 comments
Mortgage! Yessss!!!!
It's kind of hard for me to get excited about because at this point my property taxes and insurance are almost half of my monthly payment. I suppose not having that escrowed and instead being a couple of big payments a year might feel different...
I like your list. Mine will be similar
Good list. About the Trad > Roth conversion. I had been thinking about using the proceeds from the sale of my house to do just that when I get there. But I've been reconsidering. There has been some recent discussion about it likely not really saving taxes in the long run. For me, taxes on RMDs would likely be less in my lifetime since I won't need to withdraw anything more than that by the time I get old enough to have them. And paying taxes in the higher bracket now just might edge out the total. I haven't done the actual math, but it's something I'm seriously looking into.
I do, in general, prefer the Roth and tax-free growth knowing I can take the money without consequence whenever I want, but it might not really be the best use of money to convert the Trad. Not to mention the increase my Medicare payment will get for the years I do that since my income will be quite high in those years. I'm already taking a one-time request to lower MC because I retired and income is definitely lower than both 2024 & 2025. (Sorry...I'm deep into the Medicare stuff right now. Lol )
Don’t say sorry, I find this stuff interesting!
I had the same doubts about Roth (as evidenced by the fact that I could have been working on this for the last nine years and haven’t done so). At one point I even did a complicated spreadsheet, trying to factor in that if I DON’T do a conversion, I save in taxes and presumably could invest those savings. As I recall, my model showed that I wouldn’t come out ahead until my mid-80’s.
On the other hand, I did a quick calculation of what my first RMD will be when I reach age 73, and the amount shocked me! Which led me back to considering trying to convert some of those funds.
@smartasswoman If you do decide it's beneficial to convert it, keep the IRMAA Premium Reduction Request in mind if you haven't used it yet. That can help offset when they review your income. It can only be used once, so I'm doing that now because my taxable income dropped quite a bit, and the premium they've initially assigned to my Part B is double the base cost. Um no! For the moment, I supplement my income with Roth withdrawals to help cover my daughter's college costs. Once I move, I shouldn't have to do that. I'll use my IRAs to travel. You're my role model there!
PS - I thought you might not mind the discussion. Lol.
My attention is stuck on Frivolous #1...my car is only 9 years old but has almost 150K miles on it. Either, you need to get out more or I need to stay home. Thank goodness I average 40 mpg
Yeah, people are floored when I tell them the mileage on my car. The bulk of my driving is 1-2 mile trips to the gym and grocery store. I've recently started taking a Sunday yoga class at a gym 10 miles away, so maybe that'll up my routine mileage a bit.
And I don't do many road trips. I had one this year, when I drove up to Ely for the knitting retreat, and I'll be driving up north again at the end of October for another retreat.
I'm having problems distinguishing the sensible from the frivolous. It appears that my frivolous spending is essential spending!
I felt that way about both the personal trainer and the EV van - a little bit sensible, a little bit frivolous!
S3-As soon as the standard deduction exceeded my itemized one I paid off the house (since it was not deductible any more).
S4-For several years in a row I rolled a good chunk of my IRA into a Roth. Smart to do in the long run, but OMG was writing the check to the Feds painful!!
F5-GO FOR IT. You can't take it with you!
My itemized deductions still exceed the standard deduction (and would far exceed it if there wasn't a limit on how much state/local taxes we can deduct). Thus the dilemma.
I'm thinking about just doing one huge Roth conversion. It will be a big ouch for taxes and Medicare premiums, but I figure better to have just a one year hit on my premiums rather than dragging it out.
Oh and re, GO FOR IT, I feel like I'm already fairly spendthrift with travel. You should see the airfare for my upcoming trip to Africa. Total of four eight hour flights. Business class for the overnight flights and premium economy for the daytime flights.
Those VW vans are a rockin
I remember that song. It's pretty corny but it was fun to hear it again.
The 2027 VW Buzz will have a camping option that includes window shades and all night temperature control. Road trips would be fun (as long as there are chargers to be found along the way).
@mufdiver69er2 I’ve been following different EV forums on reddit and did see one story about a car fire (the guy was lucky that he exited very quickly at the first sign of smoke because it burst into a horrible conflagration).
What seems much more common is problems with 12 volt batteries mysteriously draining, and the Hyundai Ionic 5 has a ICCU problem which renders the car undriveable and it has to be towed. They don’t seem motivated to figure it out? Their approach has been to extend the car’s warranty.
We definitely still have a ways to go with EV tech.