And the PM miner funds mentioned are around a 40 SD. Not for the timid.

Using M* standard deviation (SD) data,
Gold-bullion GLD SD = 15.12
Silver-bullion SLV SD = 36.39
So, SLV is 2.4x more volatile than GLD.

The other new twist is you can convert up to $200,000 ( used to be $160,000 I think) or 25% of your IRA into a QLAC tax free, so you can lower your RMD. I have not dug into it yet, but I think you can pick an annuity date at anytime in the future, and one that would still return money to your heirs.
I have searched long and hard for a simple spreadsheet that would allow different iterations of this conversion question, and take into account current and future tax rates, state tax rates, estimated inflation etc and returns.
Can't find one. Anybody else have any luck?
https://maxifiplanner.com/ comes the closest but it is an all around program designed to maximize your retirement income
My daughter finally wrote a simple spread sheet that works pretty well.
I concluded IRA conversions can save a substantial amount of taxes in the long run, but you have to be willing to pay the taxes now out of your taxable accounts.
That is the hard part. Who wants to substantially increase your tax bill this year? So we chose numbers that would not push us into the next bracket. Probably should have done more
Guess I could break down and hire a financial planner but if have never been impressed.

Interesting. The numbers on gold & silver appear incorrect. Gold finished at $1865.19 and silver at $22.36 Friday according to Bloomberg. But the linked chart is showing their current values a bit higher than Friday’s close while at the same time being “down” sharply. Doesn't add up at first glance. The % change for Dow & NASDAQ shown are significant, but not unusually large in the context of the recent heightened market volatility.
Related: Some excellent analysis of the extreme options trading going on in the markets by Forsyth in the current Barron’s. He and some quoted sources believe this “gambling” (his word) by large and small investors alike is causing wild gyrations / very high volatility in the markets. I’m not trying to make the case here. A facet of investing I know little about. But am suggesting the article might be a useful read.

Ouch! I must say his (print) recommendations late in December to buy BCAT and GUG has panned out. Both have done nicely since that article published. Up roughly 10% each. And he does not, as a rule, generally promote individual securities.

@yogibearbull - Thanks for a comprehensive answer. From your following remark it sounds like the article might have appeared online before the end of the trading week: ”Weekend Barron's articles start trickling in at Barron's Online about midweek”.
It wouldn’t seem to be in Barron’s own interest or their subscribers’ interests to publish specific stock recommendations piecemeal before their print edition hits the stands Saturdays or can be read in its entirety online. In the case I alluded to, the recommendation of a specific mining company was made by someone they interviewed (in their lead gold piece). Only named 3 out of the dozens of players. The AU miners lost over 4% on average Friday. Roughest down day in a while. But one I was interested in fell only about 1.7% - after strengthening late in the day. In addition, it is one of the bigger players in silver, which fared far worse than gold Friday and so should, one thinks, have experienced an even bigger decline.
While the above mentioned was a “secondary” recommendation made by a person interviewed in the article, I have found Barron’s own recommendations generally spot-on. And, surprisingly, haven’t noticed huge upsurges in price immediately following them - but their picks do mostly rise in the weeks and months afterward. One extreme example of how well their picks do: Only 3 or 4 weeks ago they ran an article promoting TLSA, recommending readers buy it and claiming it was way oversold. But in this week’s edition they found it necessary to run another article strongly suggesting investors sell TSLA (after a huge run up).
Thanks again.

@hank, Weekend Barron's articles start trickling in at Barron's Online about midweek. Most of them are available Friday when I start my Summaries. I guess based on categories and authors. The current Editor tends to rotate authors and also has multiple articles that may fit a category - in the old days, column authors sort of owned their columns, but not now (just imagine Alan Abelson - Editor himself - rotated in/out from Up and Down Wall Street).
It used to be that Barron's market impact was felt on Mondays, but now, it can be in the late week (Thursday-Friday). The articles on gold in this issue were available on Friday, but gold still tanked on Friday.
To your question, the ENTIRE weekend issue is available at Barron's Digital early-AM on SATURDAY - 4am Central is the earliest I have checked, but just months ago, it was after 6am CT only. I also rely on my home delivery that is between 5am-7am CT on Saturday; Barron's can expect a call from me about missed delivery and redelivery request around 7am+ CT Saturday.
My Summaries are out on Saturdays - Part 1 by early-AM, Part 2 by late-AM. About 2 years worth of Summaries can be found at this link (searchable) but I have decades worth of Summaries (also searchable) in my PC.
https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/board/12/market-insights

Top 5 holdings of BRK are AAPL, BAC, AXP, KHC, OXY. So, the stock portfolio should be up YTD based on StockCharts. But BRK is also a huge operational company and that part is cyclical, and as @Devo mentioned, there may be other market actors. This bounce is in speculative and junky stuff.
https://www.cnbc.com/berkshire-hathaway-portfolio/
https://stockcharts.com/h-perf/ui?s=AAPL&compare=AXP,BAC,KHC,OXY&id=p84130660542

+1

My guess is one of the foundations is selling $1 billion Berkshire every morning at 930 am every day this year. I don’t think munger Buffett believe in buying anything here. Will see how the market evolves. Animal spirits are full on preventing sanity to prevail

Using M* standard deviation (SD) data,
Gold-bullion GLD SD = 15.12
Silver-bullion SLV SD = 36.39
So, SLV is 2.4x more volatile than GLD.
As silver is used both as industrial and precious metal, it has more cyclicality tied to economy. This is also indicated in projected range for silver in Barron's article, $10s (recession) - $30s (soft landing).
Gold:silver ratio is about 83, high. At one time, 60 was considered ideal ratio. So, historically, gold is overvalued relative to silver, or silver is undervalued relative to gold.
https://goldsilver.com/price-charts/gold-silver-ratio/

..... And so, OK: I'm intrigued.
Does it make sense to convert from T-IRA to Roth if current filing status puts one in "no tax due" at all bracket--- AND spouse has no reportable earned income, as well? SS and pension plus interest, cap gains and divs are my own sources of income. But those cap gains and divs. all get reinvested into T-IRA. Come to think of it, I'm re-investing all proceeds from the taxable account, too. The taxable account at the moment is up to about 11% the size of the T-IRA. (That figure includes wife's own small rollover T-IRA, too, less than $11,000 right now.) Thanks for any thoughts. These rules just all seem so arcane to me./ And there's still a small slice of my T-IRA which is non-taxable upon withdrawal, because it was deposited as non-deductible, and no tax due in that year. My tax guy is on top of that. Very conscientious.

Thanks @msf / Your math has always been impeccable. And the idea of using tax deferred money (and paying taxes on such) to do a conversion is flawed as your math has shown before. OTOH, I wouldn’t discourage someone from doing so if they felt it met their needs. You acknowledge some other benefits.
My view on the matter is of course biased - and probably overly-simplistic. Interestingly, I’d just begun drawing SS at the time the markets tanked in ‘08, having subsided on pension alone for a few years prior. So the additional income stream was put to work converting a sizable chunk at distressed market valuations (early ‘09). Everyone should be as lucky.
ISTM there was a 1-time change in the law at the time allowing 3 years to cover the tax hit from conversions. But I might be mistaken. Research turned up only such an an extension instituted in 2010.

Whether conversions, having the up front tax hit, make sense … that’s a different matter and msf for one has effectively, I think, cast that into doubt. Still, conversions at lower market valuations seem a good idea to me.
Assuming no change in tax rates, you can come out ahead doing conversions if you can pay the taxes with money from a taxable account. If the tax money comes out of a tax-sheltered account, it's a wash.
At lower valuations, you come out even further ahead if paying taxes with taxable account money. Curiously, if you're paying taxes with tax sheltered money, it's a wash regardless of whether the market is up or down.
Briefly, that's because when the value of the investment you're converting is down, so is the value of the portion of the investment you're using to pay the taxes. Still, if you want to convert a given dollar amount, lower valuations let you convert a bigger percentage of your IRA at a single time.
Also, there are other benefits to Roth conversions beyond saving money. For example, heirs (who may be younger, working, and in higher tax brackets) won't have to deal with taxes on inherited IRAs. Especially now that they have to pull everything within 10 years. Also, when you pull from Roths instead of traditional IRAs you have a lower MAGI for things like IRMAA.

Down to 21.5% left in Traditional IRA (compared to 100% when I retired over 20 years ago). Most now in Roths. Some in TOD. When you pull necessary funds from a Roth w/o the immediate tax-hit it’s kind of reminiscent of a Yogi Berra expression: ”And they give ya real money.”
The plan has been to pull mainly from the Traditional IRA annually for normal needs, saving the Roth $$ for the occasional larger needs. Whether conversions, having the up front tax hit, make sense … that’s a different matter and @msf for one has effectively, I think, cast that into doubt. Still, conversions at lower market valuations seem a good idea to me.
Lots of websites will calculate your RMD - including, I believe, some from the govt. Doesn’t hurt to do some cross-checking among sites if the amount / time periods are critical for you.
Under recent market conditions have been tilting the Roth more in the direction of growth, while fixed-income holdings and a few small equity hedges are concentrated in the traditional account. Were the equity markets to bounce hard, would probably gradually increase income-oriented component of the Roths as a defensive measure.

@sma3
Doesn't take very long to burn through the $'s for a Master's, eh?
I believe I found the correct data that indicates at Michigan State, in state resident; the tuition ranges for $1,850 - $1,000 per credit hour. Fully outrageous.
30-60 credit hours for a Master's. Serious math.

One clarification pending is what happens if the beneficiary is changed?
IMO, this may mess up possible transfers or 15 yr clock.
Otherwise, transfer $35K to beneficiary1, change beneficiary and transfer $35K to beneficiary2, rinse & repeat. I don't think that was the intent of Congress.

https://commondreams.org/news/tech-layoffs-wall-street
https://twitter.com/petergyang/status/1617334412148109312
https://barrons.com/amp/articles/fedex-stock-layoffs-ratings-upgrades-51675344138

Some Google employees didn't realize they were laid off until they arrived at the office and found that their access badges were deactivated.

All 3 guests expect 10 yr Treasury to hit 4% before 3%. Currently right in the middle at 3.5%.

@Graust To add to YBB's comment; this is from Lord Abbett Investment Company site:

529 plan to Roth IRA rollover – Effective in 2024, SECURE 2.0 authorizes 529 plan funds to be directly transferred to a Roth IRA tax and penalty free. Importantly, several conditions must be satisfied to be eligible: The Roth IRA receiving the funds needs to be in the name of the 529 plan beneficiary, the 529 plan must have been maintained for a minimum of 15 years, any contributions (plus earnings) to a 529 plan in the last five years are ineligible to be transferred, the annual transfer limit is the Roth IRA contribution for that year (i.e. $6,500 in 2023), and the lifetime rollover is limited to $35,000.

Perhaps to let the 'dust' settle on this legislation for the full language markup, if needed. No actions may be taken until 2024, so you have enough planning time. Further clarification will be able to be discovered at the IRS site.

'Herding Cats'. In my mind, I envision perhaps 12 pieces of data that is the most important for the FED; but is also difficult to pin down for a given time frame and the FED 'watch'; to guide the economy. So, at times; the task is likely to resemble attempting to 'herd cats'.
My overall quick take on the FOMC discussion period this week was a 'new' soft touch version. The first 15 minutes were 'normal' talk, the second 15 minutes were 'relaxed', a kind of 'we're going to be nice and do no harm. Disinflation was uttered by Mr. Powell.
--- Wednesday, A bond love-fest, by those so inclined, after 2:30pm FOMC Q&A. Pricing rose nicely in many bond sectors.
--- Friday. HOT! HOT! HOT! Employment: January payrolls increase 517,000 versus estimate of 188,000. This isn't a data entry error, is it? January unemployment rate falls to 3.4%, a rate last seen in 1969. January average hourly wages, +.3%. AND of course, the bond folks gave back a lot of the Wednesday love.
--- disinflation v. deflation
Deflation means prices are falling and the inflation rate is in the negative, while disinflation means a slowdown in the rate of inflation while still remaining in the positive. Disinflation occurs more commonly than deflation.
Note: On the disinflation front.....reported that chicken wings and avocado prices are down about 22% YTD; and before the Super Bowl parties, too. Big move !!! I have not verified this locally.
--- U.S.$ UP 1.22% on Friday, for a +1.02% for the week.
The Money Market thing. FZDXX and two other Fido core MM's will be receiving yield bumps, although FZDXX usually leads first. 'Course, this comes from the Fed. Funds rate hike. I'm anticipating a 4.6% yield within the next week or so; and likely that MM yields will be at 5% or more in the summer. Other investment houses will provide similar yields.
*** See FOMC thread from Wednesday and current 'Real Yield' for other bond related information.
My non-qualified quick overview: Mr. Powell would have had a different tone, during the FOMC Q&A, if the employment/labor info was released Wednesday morning. Most bond sectors, although positive for the week, gave back a lot of gains on Friday, some at -1% for the day. 'Course, profit taking should be expected, regardless of financial health reports. TIPS funds did not find love by the end of this week. Common core MM's at fund companies may find a yield of 4.5% this summer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE; An excellent request was presented to add more important bond sectors to the list. The new adds are included below.
---Several selected bond funds returns since October 25, 2022. I'll retain this date, as it is a recent inflection point when bonds began to have positive price moves. We'll need to watch if this was just a 'blip'.
NOTE: I've kept the prior dated reports in the beginning of this thread; and have added YTD to this data.
For the WEEK/YTD, NAV price changes, January 30 - Febuary 3, 2023
***** This week (Friday), FZDXX, MMKT yield moved a bit to 4.33% . The core Fidelity MMKT's have continued a slow creep upward to 4.04%. The holdings of these different funds account for the variances at this time.
--- AGG = -.02% / +3.17% (I-Shares Core bond), a benchmark, (AAA-BBB holdings)
--- MINT = +.16% / +.94% (PIMCO Enhanced short maturity, AAA-BBB rated)
--- SHY = -.1% / +.59% (UST 1-3 yr bills)
--- IEI = -.12% / +1.84% (UST 3-7 yr notes/bonds)
--- IEF = -.21% / +3.16% (UST 7-10 yr bonds)
--- TIP = -.85% / +1.66% (UST Tips, 3-10 yrs duration, some 20+ yr duration)
--- VTIP = -.3% / +.56% (Vanguard Short-Term Infl-Prot Secs ETF)
--- STPZ = -.32% / +.6% (UST, short duration TIPs bonds, PIMCO)
--- LTPZ = -2.6% / +4.7% (UST, long duration TIPs bonds, PIMCO)
--- TLT = +.25% / +7.4% (I Shares 20+ Yr UST Bond
--- EDV = +.48% / +10.4% (UST Vanguard extended duration bonds)
--- ZROZ = +.74 / +10.9% (UST., AAA, long duration zero coupon bonds, PIMCO
--- TBT = -.4% / -13.5% (ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury (about 23 holdings)
--- TMF = +.22% / +21.3% (Direxion Daily 20+ Yr Trsy Bull 3X ETF (about a 3x version of EDV etf)
*** Additional important bond sectors, for reference:
--- BAGIX = +.2% / +3.23% (active managed, plain vanilla, high quality bond fund)
--- LQD = -.05% / +4.81% (I Shares IG, corp. bonds)
--- BKLN = +.47% / +3.67% (Invesco Senior Loan, Corp. rated BB & lower)
--- HYG = -.01% / +3.44% (high yield bonds, proxy ETF)
--- HYD = +.4 /+4.27% (VanEck HY Muni
--- MUB = +.12 /+2.45 (I Shares, National Muni Bond)
--- EMB = +.02 /+4.77% (I Shares, USD, Emerging Markets Bond)
--- CWB = +1.2 / +7.5% (SPDR Bloomberg Convertible Securities)
--- PFF = +.76 / +10.2% (I Shares, Preferred & Income Securities)
--- FZDXX = 4.33% yield (7 day), Fidelity Premium MMKT fund
*** FZDXX yield was .11%, April,2022. The rate of rise began an upward path again on Friday (Feb. 3).

Comments and corrections, please.
Remain curious,
Catch