Random Questions Mega Thread v1.1

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Wormius

It has been discussed, ad nauseum. They’re stubborn and not interested in leaving because they’ve lived there their entire life and all of their friends are there, etc. I’ve been open about it being totally fine to move in with us and being able to live very comfortably for the rest of their life on the proceeds of a sale, even if they decided just to rent.

Honestly, the house is a dump. The value is 95% land value. If they sold and rented or bought a small condo they’d immediately increase their living conditions.

I feel obligated to help though, since I am in a position to and they did raise me.

Reverse mortgage then.

[bizaro86]

I think maybe help them refinance into a reverse mortgage? No payments until they die or sell, and it's clean in the estate because it's a bank loan/third party so there's no "is this a gift" type concerns.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Wormius

It has been discussed, ad nauseum. They’re stubborn and not interested in leaving because they’ve lived there their entire life and all of their friends are there, etc. I’ve been open about it being totally fine to move in with us and being able to live very comfortably for the rest of their life on the proceeds of a sale, even if they decided just to rent.

Honestly, the house is a dump. The value is 95% land value. If they sold and rented or bought a small condo they’d immediately increase their living conditions.

I feel obligated to help though, since I am in a position to and they did raise me.

The more I think about it, just be super careful and protect yourself over them. You're in a position to help them help themselves. It's one thing if you were the only beneficiary, but because there are others, it's messy. Therefore drawing the line and not letting assets cross it to avoid issues, might be more important.

$100K LOC at 6% is about $6K a year or around $500 a month in interest. If they're struggling based on that, then handing them another $100K loan just means that they'll potentially keep digging a bigger hole. Then by the end, you're out the $100K plus you have other issues to address. Maybe gift them something and just assume you won't get anything back.

Nothing wrong with wanting to help, but it doesn't mean you have to offer something that has a likelihood of not getting back plus increases the odds of being in a weird situation with the other beneficiaries. If it's reverse mortgage and their estate is near zero when they pass, that's probably OK too. I'm going to circle back and say the loan/lien idea is fine if there weren't other beneficiaries involved, but because there are, maybe look into other options instead of the loan. I've seen too many scenarios where the best thing to do regarding loans between family members is to assume it's a gift instead.

I kinda get it. I am in a culture that is like that too, but the way my family approaches it is to always gift things, not cash and often consider used things too, because my parents/in-laws feel like the item is too nice to use. For instance, they might rarely touch/overly baby a brand new Canada Goose jacket or phone to avoid damaging, but proudly use a hand me down owned by their kids or in law. Or they'd just save the $10-15K towards a car vs buying a decent one, but be relatively happy driving the kids older vehicle (sold for $1 after they upgraded vehicles), assuming it's reliable and not a wreck.

The loan/lien might be determined to be the best option later on, but try to exhaust other avenues and options first.

[WideReceiver]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Reverse mortgage then.

Only as an No absolute last resort. I hate those things.

[WideReceiver]

Any secrets to get a flag hanging horizontally to hang without wrapping around the pole from the wind?

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by WideReceiver

Any secrets to get a flag hanging horizontally to hang without wrapping around the pole from the wind?

Could you add like a wooden dowel at the bottom to add some weight?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by WideReceiver

Any secrets to get a flag hanging horizontally to hang without wrapping around the pole from the wind?

My dad put a pole up this year. Used an old fiberglass mast from a windsurfer. He had the same issue, and needed something that rotated at the top. Grabbed the old pulley from his Subaru timing belt replacement, and attached that to the top, then the flag top to that, and the bottom zip tied loosely. So the pulley spins freely. Note this isn't the type of flag pole with a rope to pull it up and down. But if you just have a static one, mount something spiny at the top.


After typing all that, I imagine Amazon has a doodad to do it.

[Fuzz]

Yup.


https://www.amazon.ca/NQ-Rotating-Ag.../dp/B0BTD11WZV

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by WideReceiver

Any secrets to get a flag hanging horizontally to hang without wrapping around the pole from the wind?

It need to be a spinning pole to avoid that.

Or rig it up with spinning connects as fuzz mentioned. But everything can’t be static.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by WideReceiver

Any secrets to get a flag hanging horizontally to hang without wrapping around the pole from the wind?

The same method they used to wave the flag on the moon? I think it's as simple as a dowel or fiberglass stick on the top and inner edge.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

The same method they used to wave the flag on the moon? I think it's as simple as a dowel or fiberglass stick on the top and inner edge.

That was a guy up on the gantry just moving it the way Kubrick told him to!!

[WideReceiver]

Considered putting this into the Calgary council thread….

Does anyone have a guess or a source how much taxes would go up if seniors were exempt from municipal property taxes? I’ve been reading numerous people putting that idea out. I’m sure our taxes would rise considerably. My guess is without service cuts (hard to do) taxes for the rest of bus would be, I dunno, a third higher. Anyone?

[Fuzz]

Wait, why do seniors not need to pay property tax?

[WideReceiver]

They shouldn’t. Some people think otherwise. I don’t know if they’re seniors.

[Wormius]

Maybe deferred until the sale of the house, but not eliminated.

Also wasn’t a large contingent of people bitching about the blanket re-zoning changes seniors worried about their property values dropping?

[Fuzz]

I really disagree with the idea that just because someone is a senior, it means they have affordability issues. Many seniors have far more wealth than they can spend and will pass it down, while young people have nothing and struggle to get a foothold. Yes, there are seniors struggling financially, but why should being old automatically exempt paying for things you can easily afford and are still an expense on(city services)?

[Fuzz]

These are the stats for Calgary. Someone else can math it out from this data for a ballpark number, I think, but my eyeball says around 20%:


Statscan