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As far as I know, eftps is not required.

Having said that, I enrolled a few years ago simply to pay my quarterly estimates and I'll not go back to envelopes and stamps. Even signed up for my state's electronic payment system.

In the lease/contract, I would highlight a line in the "security deposit" portion which defines that the purpose of the security deposit is to guarantee performance on the lease . Also, do NOT make the security deposit amount anything related to the monthly lease amount (eg, monthly rent =...

[Taxable accounts] Vanguard Total Bond Admiral VBTLX $13850 Usually better to keep investments that throw off income like this, in tax-deferred accounts. Look at all your accounts together as one big pie and divide up the individual investments according to taxable vs tax deferred. There is a secti...

You can file "married filing separately" on your federal return and apportion income and deductions to whom each accrued what. I presume California has some sort of similar filing provision.

[Offensive remark removed by admin LadyGeek] Duckie has given you a VERY good portfolio recommendation. Highly advised you switch to it.

You could actually skip the advisor altogether and merely check-in back here yearly for rather minor tune-ups.

Pretty sure I agree with you. Is the "annuity" payment indexed for inflation?

brianplycatu wrote:BolderBoy, The Franchise Tax Board in California treats capitol gains as ordinary income so a person could pay the total state liability if he/she is in a high state income bracket.

Ah. I failed to consider the state side of things. Thanks.

cheese_breath wrote:Please don’t tell to just let them be because they control rodent populations. My wife would freak out if she ever saw one.

A cat? They'll take care of rodents, too. Of course your bird population will go down as a side-effect.

indexfundfan wrote:Nevertheless, only harvest the gains if you know that you might eventually sell when you are in a higher tax bracket.

If the gains can be harvested at zero tax liability, is there ever a downside to harvesting them?

Emergency funds: high 6 figures in the bank savings/checking accounts (this amount earns a tiny interest rate emergency fund required for 12 months: mid 5 figures)... Questions: 1) I currently have high 6 figures to be invested. I will need mid 5 figures for emergency expenses and I need some advic...

I recently was allowed to sign up for the company 401k. There is ONE Index fund offered and the balance of the funds are all high expense ratios. When I contacted them to ask about adding some Vanguard Index funds, I received this reply: "I appreciate your zeal..but..I caution you not to get f...

[ Available mortgages (all with no points): a. 30 year fixed: 4.0%, $2415 monthly b. 15 year fixed: 3.25%, $3555 monthly c. 7/1 ARM: 2.875%, 2/2/6 caps, $2099 monthly d. 10/1 ARM: 3.25%, 2/2/6 caps, $2202 monthly If it were me, I'd go with the 30 year, but make the 15 year payments. That way you're...

Does this mean that if I switch on to a non HDHP, I will no longer be able to use my HSA (contributed from when I had a HDHP) at all? Not really. I was asking if I should use my HSA to pay for my current qualified medical expenses, or if I should use after-tax money now and save the money in the HS...

Hi, I'm trying to wrap my head around this, and there are some complicating factors. I'm more interested in how you would approach this problem, but would also like to know the actual answer. My situation: 25, female, currently max out my HSA, 401k, and backdoor Roth IRA. I have two houses (mortgag...

PaddyMac wrote:In the SEP-IRA you can ONLY do employER contributions.

No, he can do both profit sharing and salary deferral just as with a solo 401k. I had a SEP-IRA for many years and did both to the max allowed with the complete blessing of the IRS (and TurboTax).

in the healthcare business and can assure you that if catastrophe strikes and you are uninsured, we will reduce your net worth to zero for years to come, likely forcing you into bankruptcy. And if a hospital took care of me without my permission (e.g., I get in a car wreck and I'm unconscious), the...

Health Insurance is far too expensive for what I get (namely, a visit to the doctor's office is only ~$120, so I'd rather just pay for that in cash). The odds of a horrific accident seem too slim to warrant paying for catastrophic health insurance (which I paid for when it was $69/month, but when t...

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and how they dealt with the emotions (ie. reduce stock exposure as the portfolio increased in size, stop looking at balances, etc.)? Ummmm, isn't this an indication that your AA isn't quite suited to you anymore? I think that's the obvious, but not...

You've covered most of the issues to consider. Depending upon your state, there may be legal protections of some retirement plans against creditors, but not others. In general, 401k type plans are better protected in the most states.

I'm not sure how you are paying yourself as an independent contractor. Everything should come in as business income (1099). The SEP-IRA contribution seems low? You are allowed to contribute up to 25%. Seems low to me as well. You can do both a salary deferral contribution *and* a profit sharing con...

This suggests that homeowner's premiums are almost completely arbitrary! How can there be such divergence in the cost of the "same" product? Like most businesses, insurance companies will charge what the market will bear and they continuously test that with their customers. After 26 years...

Thank you for your help,but you are not understanding my situation. My insurance will not pay for my treatment for sleep apnea, basically a pr-existing condition clause. I'm trying to get the lowest possible price for this medication, in an legal ethical manner. If someone knows how to get legal lo...

feh wrote:I've been quoted $230 for $2M in coverage from the same agency that provides our auto/home insurance. Is that a reasonable price?

Yes. In line with others I've seen.

sox2013 wrote:Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and how they dealt with the emotions (ie. reduce stock exposure as the portfolio increased in size, stop looking at balances, etc.)?

Ummmm, isn't this an indication that your AA isn't quite suited to you anymore?

Welcome. All things considered, you are likely doing as well as you can for now. Good net worth (a guess based on the info you provided). How much do you have left over for taxable investing? Good to move the Roth to VG for lower fees and more self-control. Look into the annuity and find out if you ...

Love that story. Pushing a lawnmower all summer was all the motivation I needed to get As in Organic Chemistry. No way was I going to do that all day for the rest of my life. The Summer between high school and college, my father got me a job as a grave digger's helper - it was all done by hand. I s...

A little reading is in order. Go to the Bogleheads wiki and read the "getting started" section. Once you've wrapped your head around "the big picture", the light will come on and you'll have an idea how to write yourself an investment planning statement.

Welcome!

This issue isn't too complicated at the base level. You figure (or itemize) your net worth as of the day BEFORE you get married. Put that info / itemization away in a safe place. Any gain going forward from the day of the marriage is a marital gain and in general applies to everything either of you ...

(2) Setting up some type of trust or LLC that would allow us to buy out my in-law's ownership percentage in the house over time. Does anyone have experience with #2? I did this with a former girlfriend - was her idea to "invest" in the house I was buying. I did it all with a spreadsheet o...

You may find that a large credit union will satisfy all your local banking needs at virtually no cost. I do all my "banking" through USAA (no local branches) and have the credit union for any in-person needs I have. Vanguard has everything else with and ACH link to the bank and credit union.

I guess my real question is: Before I jump and sell, how likely is it that they will actually stay on after getting such a notice? How much risk is there in staying? I hate to take an 80% loss on a company that I think will do quite well in the coming year. The real chance of any particular company...

wilked wrote:Does this mean dividends are automatically reinvested into the fund? I don't have a separate money market acct, appears to be no cash acct.

Yes, unless you set it up otherwise, that is the default.

"The minimum number of characters you need to enter is 5".

Hmmm.

#2

To me the most important component of a security system is that is make a LOT of noise and flash a lot of BRIGHT lights - both INSIDE and outside the house. Deafening noise, to include sirens and alarm bells such as banks have. Sirens and bells blaring out on every side of the house and flashing lig...

Since you are asking for us to butt into to your business... I think your financial requirements are a bit overly detailed. Can you reduce it to single, lump-sum payment due each month? She may need a year out-of-school working in a drudge sort of job to get the motivation to get with studying for s...

Also keep in mind that you will find that inspections are rather non committal. My experience has been that inspection services are mostly a scam. You sign a waiver before they start that they will only report on things they can obviously see - ie, plain sight. The best inspections are done by engi...

I would just go as a sole proprietor and set up a SEP-IRA within that framework. I doubt an LLC will get you much over the simplicity of being a sole proprietor. I've most always done my anesthesia moonlighting as a sole proprietor (with someone else providing the liability insurance coverage). In m...

I am invested in The Total Stock Index Fund, The Total International Stock Index Fund, and The Total Bond Index Fund. Am I right to believe that I am investing in the total market for each asset class? Based on what I've read here, the answer is no for the total Bond Market I previously made the er...

I am in the process of transferring my current SEP IRA and Roth IRA accounts from Principal to E-Trade (self directed). I am trying to decide whether I should keep both accounts or to consolidate everything into the SEP IRA. You cannot combine a SEP IRA (which is always before-tax monies) with a Ro...

I think I'd harvest the loss and use that against any gains you make and take this year. You bought a bad experience from which good judgment is accrued.

Retired (mostly), able to twiddle my income down quite a bit to the 10-15% bracket. Will incur $5k in medical expenses this year which I can easily pay out-of-pocket. Have HSA which is funded fully each year. Living on savings and minor working income, as needed. The plan... Flush out my Schedule A ...

So what happens to the person who meets the Medicaid criteria as to low/no income but who is otherwise not eligible for Medicaid. In OH, a single adult with no children also has to be disabled using SS disability criteria to qualify for Medicaid, I believe. The ACA carves out a new class of potenti...

HomerJ wrote:The 80% INCOME number in the press really makes me mad.

What you need in retirement has absolutely ZERO to do with your income... It's all about your EXPENSES.

+1

There should be MUCH more focus on this and not the % of income needed in retirement.

...we've had several friends suggest paying off the mortgage early - but others have brought up the point that the market tends to average around 8% in a 10 year period (effectively doubling our investment). I know there are no absolutes, but isn't paying off the mortgage losing money in the long r...

The more money you have, the more people want a piece of it. I can't speak for the rest of the country, but in Southern California, people have been known to throw themselves on the hood of a BMW and claim to have been hit . . . Recently a California jury awarded the plaintiff for running his skate...

BruDude wrote:

magellan wrote:

BruDude wrote:Kaiser has a large market share in CA but in other areas they are not competitive. In the MD/DC/VA area their rates are significantly higher than every other company, especially on family plans.

Sure not true in the Boulder/Denver market. Kaiser is much cheaper than virtually all other carriers.

My other plan is to contribute the maximum on Total stock market index fund this year, then next year contribute the minimum on total bond market index fund and the rest on total stock market until I achieve my desired allocation. This is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. In your description of y...

Obviously the market has had a big run up and none of us know if that will continue. I can stomach a 10-20% near-term drop should we have a big correction starting the day after should I invest a lump sum. My gut tells me to invest about $5K per month and DCA throughout the next 10-12 months (as I ...

I'll be taking SS at 66 or 70. At 59.5 I will begin taking money from my IRA/403b etc accounts which shouldl be in the region of $1M by then. Right now I'm interested in how to arrange the $230k that I can access without penalty before 59.5 to generate and inflation adjutsed $21.6k a year for 7 yea...

I mentioned in my original posting the fact I expect a really ugly correction and when it occurs it WILL be a bloodbath. I guess none of the Bogleheads are in a sharing mood since I didn't see any posts of some of their chosen Vanguard equities....on well ... Do you know WHEN this bloodbath will ha...