"Dick, I use High-Deductible Plan G (HD-G) as my Medigap policy. I love it, primarily because of the $34/mo. premium (saving about $100/mo. in comparison to regular Plan G) and paying only the 20% coinsurance out-of-pocket for Part B physician visits. The deductible on this plan acts more like a ceiling than a floor, as a group health plan's deductible would. My personal analysis shows that as long as I can stay out of the hospital no more than every 5 years or so, I'll come out ahead. No guarantees, of course, but a good risk IMO. I'm wondering why you don't also use an HD-G Medigap plan given your comment below, recopied here: "The reality is relatively few meet even meet their deductible in a given year and many for several years in a row, but they do pay higher premiums.""

"Oh dear Mike, that certainly pushed your buttons! He’s a decent young chap, just passionate. To be fair, it was an awful foul. He gave the opposition a goal kick instead of an obvious penalty, though the principle was also on the pitch to help the poor boy hobble off. Thanks for your childhood story and the good wishes for my grandson’s team. They struggle in school soccer as it’s a very small school, but his club team is flying high: eight wins from eight and top of the league! He’s a fast, physical right winger, and one of Ireland’s top teams has approached him about joining their youth academy. Congratulations on 50 years of refereeing, I'm sure you've seen all sorts of behaviour over the years!"

"Does the donor have any control over which school gets the money?"

"I wonder whether this might be more typical than CCRC advocates might imagine. I have a friend who had. to place her husband in a highly regarded memory care facility this past spring. Things seemed to be going well— until a couple of weeks ago, when he started running a temperature and his blood sugar level spiked— he’s also a diabetic. He was taken to the ER, and from there admitted to the hospital. After a few days, he was ready to be released from the hospital, but the doctors decided he needed a very high level of rehab— beyond that provided by the PT offered by the memory care. He is now at a rehab facility. When and if he’ll be able to go back to Memory care is up in the air."

"Thanks for commenting Mark. I agree with your statement that most HD readers will avoid such a financial wolf product dressed in passive index clothing. Yet such funds continue to be created for wrong headed purposes and will unfortunately will be inappropriately sold. I am two chapters from finishing a 2021 book titled "Trillions" authored by Robin Wigglesworth, a long time finance correspondent for the Financial Times, which is a comprehensive history of the creation and growth of index funds ( both mutual and ETFs ). The book has reinforced my expectation that marrying performance based fees inside a "index" fund wrapper is just another bet to sell a trendy stock picking methodology for the financial benefit of the seller."

"We were recently in the UK for two weeks. During that entire time we never touched, nor even saw a British pound. Used the card for everything. BTW to those that are not aware of the “scam” you should choose the pay in local currency when given the option. The reason: If you choose to pay in your home currency, the merchant’s bank handles the conversion right at the point of sale. They set their own exchange rate instead of using the market rate."

"Great minds/HD readers think alike. I too have been working on my list of charities for annual donations. I’m working on paring down the number and increasing the amounts given. I’m grateful to the schools I attended but I know that every year they have a new crop of potential donors graduating so now I’m leaning more towards the local organizations whose good work I see every day: my church, our little museum, the non-profit daycare, fire department, etc. This is my second year using QCDs. My IRA custodian provides me with a separate checkbook just for this purpose, like what Dick and the Connie do."

"My brother in law who is an experienced mechanic and race car driver says to let the turbo engines idle a little while before shutting them off. Too bad I forget more than remember to do so."

"“keeping our promises, and taking pride in our work” seems to be sorely missing these days. I sound like an old codger. "

"I agree. I'm a big fan and have learned so much from the Kitces site.The Kitces article covered the topic in its usual thorough fashion, with excellent examples and figures. I would note that, unlike HumbleDollar, Kitces' writers are finance professionals, and generally write for other professionals. But it is one of my go-to sites for information."