u/woodstock9999

I am confused by this as I have gotten different answers from bank and investment firm and estate attorney.

We currently live in TX. We own a home and other assets are with a large investment company who has the bulk (brokerage/IRA/ROTH) and a national bank with a checking account that averages about 1% of investment net worth. We currently own one vehicle and I am not too concerned about this.

Investment and bank account all have primary (spouse) and contingent beneficiaries.

We have a will not a trust. We do not have children. Contingent beneficiaries for the investment/bank accounts are a mix of nieces/nephews/longtime close friends. We will likely adjust to add some charities to the mix. All we were required to do when adding them was entering full legal name and DOB.

The will currently specifies who should inherit our home and a few personal property bequests (which we will likely disburse sooner particularly if we downsize, etc).

We were told by the estate lawyer this would be fine for us in TX and that we did not need to do anything more about the house. I want to know if this is correct and how onerous will this be for the executor as well as the inheritor/beneficiary. If we do downsize and move, my feeling is that we would rent and/or move to independent and at some point assisted living. I know if my spouse passes before me, I will definitely sell the house and move. Proceeds would go into the investment accounts and we'd adjust the % among the contingent beneficiaries.

But this is my question. How do the contingent beneficiaries get notified after the 2nd spouse passes? We have an executor who will have durable POA. Does that person notify the investment company etc and provide whatever is needed. for their trust department to follow-up with the contingent beneficiaries. Are we supposed to provide detailed contact info of those individuals to the executor and/or the estate attorney? Niece/nephew may have idea they will inherit but are not aware of specifics and do not live nearby but friends or charities have no idea.

I know accounts with beneficiaries do not go through probate so is executor supposed to handle assets that do not go through probate? I just am unclear how we know that the contingent beneficiaries get their funds primarily from the investment company. Assume any debts or bills etc will be paid form the checking account.

As far as the house goes, it there a better way in TX to handle this than to just have the bequest in the will should we still own it when second spouse passes?

A younger friend is the executor and I do not want them to have any hassles.

Appreciate any guidance that can be provide. Thanks.

We are on the $22 per month plan in 2026. Have not received any notice for 2027 in the mail and nothing is online. We will shop our Part D come October but just curious what this one is changing to next year. Thanks.

EDIT - someone replied where to find ANOC on their website. 45% increase. $22.90 to $33.20 a month.

I will have more questions and will post them separately but I am curious what the start-to-finish timeline is and how many visits there are before, day of, and after surgery assuming no issues.I have wet AMD and am trying to decide on when to schedule my first surgery which will be on my worse eye.

Let's say I see retina doctor on 10/1 and may/may not need an injection so I plan to schedule the surgery 10 days-2 weeks in case I did need one. I will be doing standard lens. The cataract surgeon office said I'd come in before the surgery for final measurement and come back the next day after surgery. How many more visits after surgery and are the drops (they use a combo drop) for 4 weeks or more?

I plan to wait until the left eye is fully healed and know all is ok before doing my other eye which is my "good" eye.

Left eye is 20/200 and right is 20/40 and high astigmatism.

Thanks very much.

Edit - I am in the US and will be doing near vision in basic lenses.

I tried to upgrade to V8 a few years ago and ran into issues so gave up. I originally purchased a monthly 1PW subscription years ago on the Apple Store and that is what I am still using. I have 1PW on my iPhone and on my iMac. I sync via iCloud.

I received an email today that auto syncs will be phased out in early 2027 and various ways to migrate to v8.

Here's my questions:

Cam I just start from scratch with V8 as if I was a totally new user and import my data from a csv file that I can export from my desktop V7? I cannot find or access my Emergency Kit. Can I use the same email address? I do not want to try all the migration steps and end up frustrated like before.

Does V8 allow for a file export to a csv file like V7?

Is V8 interface vastly different than V7?

Is there any way to access your vault if there is no internet connectivity?

Can you still

I have thought about using Apple Passwords but there are limitations with the info you can store and also thinking about doing a family account for me and my spouse.

Appreciate feedback on best option for me. Thanks.

Currently we are on Cool and all comfort settings are set at 75 degrees as it is hot. We have one sensor near our den and kitchen as that side of the house is furthest from t-stat and runs hotter or colder. It is unchecked for Sleep setting. We do not use any smart or auto settings.

We want to change our sleep temperature in our master bedroom to 68 degrees. The t-stat is right outside the bedroom.

My questions: As a test, can I use the one sensor, only check Sleep and set it for 68 and leave main t-stat at 75 for all settings? If this works, I will buy a 2nd sensor to use in den/kitchen. Our HVAC system is 12 years old. Will running HVAC with a sensor at 75 for 16-18 hours a day and then 68 for sleep setting and the main t-stat at 75 24/7 be too much of a tempo spread and put too much stress on the system? Not worried about increased energy cost right now. Testing to see if this colder setting will improve sleep or not. Thanks.

I keep water in the fridge but got up at 4 and went to get some cold water in the bathroom and it seemed kind of warm. Checked the kitchen faucet later and kind of the same. Our faucets are single handed. But then was thinking maybe it is because of the heat and the pipes are hot? Anyone else notice this?

We are a couple of years into retirement - early 70's - and AA is 70/20/10. About 58% of the bond allocation is in both funds FXNAX and FTBFX.

Looking for opinions about selling and buying 5,10,15 and 20 year TIPS ladders.

I am not an expert but modeling the $ on tipsladder,com looks to provide the safety, low risk and better return. Am I missing something?

My other thought was to move the $ into FBALX although that would be higher risk.

Between SSA/pension/10% in brokerage and CD ladders/RMD, needs are covered but looking for safety and better return from this money.

Appreciate any thoughts. Thanks.

Am starting to think about QCD's for RMD's and walked through the first screen in my IRA account just to see what would be input and that there is selection for mailing check to my home address or to enter a different address. I assume the other address would be the charity address?

Is there not a way to send the donation to a charity electronically and eliminate the paper check?

Will the paper check be drawn on a Fidelity account or will it show my account number which is concerning if mailed. .

Also, is the payment deducted when you request the check or when it is deposited/cashed by the charity? Need to know for tax year timing.

Is there someplace to include a memo?

When the check is cashed, will check image be viewable and printable?

Lastly will Fidelity be implementing Y code on 1099's for tax year 2026?

I am thinking if this has to be a paper check that I'd prefer it sent to me so I could track it and then send or physically give to the charity if local with a letter etc. Is this what most people do?

I am just so used to making donations online.

Thanks.

Will AIG reimburse for airfare differential if we opted to rebook return flight directly the next day and Centurion Lounge cost for spouse when there was a 7 hour delay on return flight. Tickets purchased using AE Platinum.

Flight was delayed due to aircraft maintenance 11x and ultimately they used a different aircraft and was not going to depart until way too late for us as we would have landed at 3AM. Airline unable to rebook us at ticket counter when we got there so we were waiting by gate and Centurion Lounge. As the day went on, we were concerned it was going to be cancelled so we rebooked direct for next morning.

Trip insurance related to the cruise we were coming back from reimbursed some expenses but there was a max $ per person per day. They covered the 1 night hotel and uber rides.

Is it worth a shot or do they only reimburse for hotel and meals? Have actually never did a claim with any travel insurance before. Thanks.

Redeeming some iBonds that I bought 5 years ago. I will owe Federal tax on the transaction but have no W2 income and there is no option to withhold a %. Apparently, I need to login to get a 1099. Question: do I need to pay estimated tax on this redemption and if so, how do I figure out how much and do I pay it online like I do regular tax owed? Thanks.

I bought some iBonds on Treasury Direct 5 years ago that I want to redeem, I transferred $ from my Fidelity brokerage account to purchase. I verified the routing and accounting numbers are correct. Will I have nay issues with the $ coming from TD to Fidelity? Thanks.

Has anyone done the Western Caribbean QE before? Trying to decide if we want to do one more QE cruise before she leaves North America. It's a 9-day cruise in early December. I'd prefer Eastern Caribbean but we do not want to sail over the holidays. We have only been on QE for Alaska and just returned as few weeks ago. We loved our cruise as we have in the past but will say we noticed tiny differences from last year to this year which I am sure are due to cost-cutting measures most significantly in dining quality (including QG) but still fantastic. The itinerary itself is not of interest and we are not sit-at-the pool-or-beach people anymore. I think it would be more like a cruise to nowhere for us and I wonder if we'd get bored after a few days without anything like the compelling vistas and ports in Alaska. Appreciate any feedback form anyone who has done QE for Alaska and Caribbean as we have to make up our minds by tomorrow before final payment is due. Thanks.

I have had my N130WHTUNV since 2022 and it has worked flawlessly over the years with various devices until yesterday.

Currently, I have the app on my Mac Mini, MAC laptop, iPad and iPhone and until the past few days, no issues.

Now, when I open the app on any device, it starts searching for the player and asking me to connect to settings and/or wifi but I can't seem to get anywhere clicking on anything.

I have restarted devices, restarted router, deleted the app/downloaded and reinstalled, checked security settings to allow on local network, wifi is working fine on all other devices in our house.

I am on same wifi network for years. I am on latest MAC OS and IOS software on all devices.

Anyone have any suggestions. Thanks.

We have decided to paying off our low balance mortgage and car loan from a brokerage account.

We are leaning towards transferring the funds to BOA (have transferred monthly cash there for a few years) so we can get a certified checks to send via FedEx etc to have hard copy of payment and to insure no errors made with wire particularly for the mortgage.

I know there is a daily max to withdraw and send via EFT so we can break into 2 transactions.

Is it recommended to contact our FA or Customer Service in advance to notify them that we plan to make this 6 figure withdrawal or even the wire for the car loan balance? Thanks.

We booked a stay 5 months ago for a pre-cruise stay for what turned out to be an arrival on the USA-Belgium WC Match. We stayed at this property once before when it was the Pan Pacific. Hotel was sold out so no early check-in and no upgrade. Desk agent was nice and noted FHR privileges but said there were no other rooms available for that night.

We were disappointed in our reserved "space Needle" view room which was somewhat obstructed and overlooked the roof of a parking lot and trees. We had a Space Needle view when we last stayed there but it was a different layout but had a great view.

Our room this time was narrow and cramped. The rooms overall are large but the bathrooms are very large in relation to the rest of room as they have big soaking tubs. Between the hallway and bath the "room" part was tight. Room had no closet just a small open hanging space and a couple of small drawers. We could hear music coming up from the ground floor Drift bar/restaurant lobby lounge area and wondered how late that would be going on.

By the time we settled in we were tired from travel and the match had just ended so we decided to use our $100 credit towards dinner at the La Loba, the tapas restaurant. Food and service were excellent and we e enjoyed our dinner.

Whole Foods is around the block which is nice if you need anything so we picked up some waters and snacks and headed back to our room. We had not turned on any lights before we left for dinner but started turning on the myriad of complicated light switches when we got back. All of the sudden the bedside lights started flashing and flickering like a really bad strobe light show. We tried turning them off to no avail. Called front desk and they said maintenance would come up. The tech said there was a wiring issue and he'd have to pull the bed away from the wall and was not sure it would be a quick or easy fix.

I went down to the Front Desk and by this time it was different staff and although I had been told at check-in that there were no rooms available besides the one were given at checkin, somehow there was another room on our floor for us to move to. While it was not a Space Needle view and closet etc was same set-up the overall layout was much better and not as claustrophobic and there was no music coming up from lobby lounge. We moved ourselves but were not offered any rate adjustment.

We had a breakfast credit for 2 of $60 at Drift which pretty much covered us except for tip. Varied breakfast menu and food and service was very good.

Hotel has $29 nightly "amenity" fee which includes a car that will take you within 2 miles of hotel. We used it on our departure to take us to the cruise terminal which was nice. We did not need late check-out.

Overall hotel is ok but not sure we'd stay there agin given other options in town. Have to give a shoutout to the excellent bell/valet staff during entire stay. Toiletries wonderful. Housekeping good. I know the room we moved to was lower $ category than booked and we should have been offered some adjustment. My bad too as I did not ask for any.

We usually stay at the Fairmount Olympic but the FHR rates when we were planning this trip were very high compared to last summer similar time but in retrospect that was likely due to them being one of the designated FIFA team hotels. The hotel size, ambience, staff, rooms and location are a better fit for us.

We have always enjoyed our Cunard QE Alaska cruises and just returned from 11-day voyage. Overall, we had a great experience although I will say things were not quite as good as years past - minor changes but noticeable - and maybe due to this being their last season. We love Alaska though and want to start researching 2027 cruise lines. Looking for feedback and recommendations based on our criteria. Thanks.

1. High-end or luxury but not uber like Ritz yacht

2. Prefer Seattle-Seattle but would be ok with Seattle departure and Vancouver return

3. 10-14 days

4. Prefer not to tender if possible

5. Excellent food and dining options with anytime dining with reserved table for 2 like QG. .

6. Shows are not our thing - prefer small lounges

7. Do not care about late night activities, drinking, gambling, spa or shopping on board

8. Updated and comfy staterooms with balconies

9. I know unlikely to find on newer or smaller ships but we like to walk promenade deck

10. Diversity of passengers but not too many children

11. Naturalists on board

12. Fitness Center

13. Sophisticated ambience

14. Great crew/staff

15. Laundry facilities that are not The Hunger Games

16. Good wifi

17. Would like to return to Juneau, Sitka, Haines and Victoria as well as the glaciers.

18. Good website and app

Anyone know what the issue is with flight and if we will ever depart today or will they cancel? Thanks.