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If the IRA wasn't inherited, would you take the money out to pay off the mortgage? Probably not, so why would the answer be any different just because it was inherited? Because if it wasn't inherited there would be a 10% penalty. I don't think it's bad advice given the limited information, though i...

There are probably a couple planning items that could be taken care of (namely your wife's property in PA that I assume stays with mom). That asset will go through probate, which seems unnecessary and her will directs it (to mom, I assume). If that can be changed to a TOD or trust used, that would ...

Taxcaster is totally accurate given the limited data input. But it doesn't account for your individually. For ex if I run my numbers though taxcaster it gives one result, but if I go into TT it's another because I'm eligible for certain credits that the limited version doesn't account for.

There are probably a couple planning items that could be taken care of (namely your wife's property in PA that I assume stays with mom). That asset will go through probate, which seems unnecessary and her will directs it (to mom, I assume). If that can be changed to a TOD or trust used, that would b...

First see what you're REALLY getting in a fixed income option. Probably no need to go any further. Moshe A Milevsky offers a way to do that. http://www.advisorone.com/2009/08/01/annuity-analytics-what-is-a-guaranteed-rate-really This is not the product being discussed. Very easily the contract says...

The ONLY thing "costs" impact is the solvency of the insurer. If the contract says I have a monthly cap of 2.5% and an annual floor of 0%, neither the 0% or 2.5% are impacted by any costs (stated or otherwise). How is my return impacted by anything other than the 0% and 2.5% numbers? It's ...

This thread wasn't started to debate the merits or lack thereof of an indexed annuity. I am no annuity sympathizer - far from it. But first, costs don't matter in an indexed annuity. In fact there are no explicit costs. It's not any different than asking your bank what the costs of their CDs are. Th...

Just a comment, not a volunteer. But I will find this very helpful. Obviously we rail against annuity products, but in today's interest environment, it could very easily be the case that fixed index annuities could provide a better total return than other fixed income options, with similar or lower ...

Trading a car in and buying a new car are (or should be) two completely separate financial transactions. My analogy (admittedly a poor one) is that this is like whole life insurance - investments and insurance are completely different things, you are likely to get hosed on one or the other (or even...

Theres a lot of advisor bashing (expected) but it's clearly premature and beside the point, since it appears the question is how, not if. Some practical advice would be more helpful. The first question is if they want you involved and if they want to leave. If not, then it's not normally worth pursi...

With one very remote possibility there are no surrender fees at TIAA

If I assume it's made out to VG or VG and you, then no

There's a big difference in starting the differnece types of firms If you start a brokerage firm, you sell products and earn commissions. Advice is mearly "incidental" to the sale of the product; it is not an advice driven model (though you may not realize that if you meet with a broker wh...

Arguing ad nauseum with diehard regulars on the M* board in the late 90s.

I won't add to the details already provided but depending on who this person is and what your relationship is, the best advice would be to have you (or another advocate) meet with her and the attorney to better understand the advice. The details mean everything, so it's hard to speculate here and gi...

Generally this sounds like a good idea: 1) stay in the 15% bracket, and 2) use non-retirement funds to pay taxes, this assumes you don't need too much to live on. You may even decide to delay your own SS to keep the window open. It depends how fast you run through your non-retirement funds (for expe...

The only (small) caveat I can think of is that some states place limits on the size of the account for each beneficiary, so it may be necessary to split it into 2 accounts (assuming you want to continue to contribute; there's no limit on how large it can grow.) If you have 1 kid and the account is n...

I also agree that higher education costs can't economically stay where there are. Just from a macro standpoint of supply and demand, students will need to eventually migrate to lower cost (and dare I say more practical) alternatives, pushing costs down. Economically speaking, students/parents will ...

I don't think it matters too much, so I would opt for 60/40 as Outdoors mentioned. If you ever need the money in an emergency, you might want to know that it's not absolutely set for long term, among other reasons. Average return for 80/20 has been about 9.55% with a standard deviation (risk) of 13....

You call the bank and open the account. Then you initiate a transfer from the current custodian - either the bank will "pull" the money using one of their won forms, or there will be a rollover form from the current place to "push" the money. Call the bank and tell them what you ...

Similar thread just started here http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=116472&newpost=1697238

There will certainly be bonds that mature past the date in the fund title. Looking at the holdings in the ishares (2018 version), that does not appear to be the case. Every bond matures between June 1 and August 15, 2018. http://us.ishares.com/product_info/fund/holdings/MUAG.htm Sorry, maybe Im wro...

You pay the broker a lot of money to make these "calls" for you; what does he/she say?. I assume based on the post that you're wondering if "now" is a good time to get out given a) recent market upswing and b) nearing college time frame. On those fronts, it's hard to say because ...

It doesn't take away interest rate risk, but it better optimizes someone's risk/return characteristics by matching investments to a particular time horizon. The funds make sense over individual bonds, due to liquidity, but they aren't different wrt interest rate risks. FWIW, you are not guaranteed t...

The ER of the stable value funds is not as meaningful as when looking at stock funds; it's not necessarily going to predict future returns (though if it's out of normal boundaries, it would be a concern.) What's the yield of the two funds? You should likely go with the highest yield, just like when ...

First, you have no ability to predict the bond market, though that's been stated ad nasueum. Second, your risk of losing anything significant is small. That said, fixed income should be used for safety in a portfolio. Take risk with the equities. As such, bonds should be short and high quality. This...

Agree re: see an attorney. Probably a mistake to own it jointly (creditors, taxable gift). But it can be titled as a TOD with your sister and/or you as the beneficiary so it would avoid probate. That said, probate isn't "bad" and unless some planning has been done (maybe via trusts) or it'...

I would say that assuming the usual caveats it can make sense: 1 - 529s are fully funded 2 - Child won't need money pre-59.5 3 - time horizon is long enough 4 - Roth is maxed 5 - Your wealth is high enough That said, it still probably takes 30-40 years to beat a taxable account. And a taxable accoun...

The original post / idea shouldn't be dismissed too quickly (though something is off in the calculation). This has everything to do with market opportunity costs. If we just isolate the SS part of the equation and weigh the options of taking at 62 vs 70 and draw from the portfolio while delaying wit...

I have also created a matrix of nest egg value, again using SS initiation ages vs nest egg value by age. This takes into account the amount that I would have to withdraw to cover expenses prior to initiating SS. It assumes a 5% return per year on the portfolio. The benefit to the nest egg of claimi...

I'm sorry, but really need to know if electing to have a portion of an RMD distributed directly to charity reduces the amount of Gross income, or Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), as a tool to reduce income for the purpose of means testing. Here is an example of what I am trying to ask. Say my yearly pe...

This is stupid and has run its course. But it needs to be clarified that changing the beneficiary can be a taxable gift, most certianly changing it from my child to my grandchild is a taxable gift thereby largely eliminating any estate tax planning benefit. Same if I change it from my wife to my nie...

Of course you can create fact patterns that make one better than the other. The point is that the oringal idea and corresponding anaysis is flawed. If everyone runs out and starts putting money in 529s far more people will be worse off than better. If anything the benefits suggested in the posts are...

I fully understand the rules of 529 plans and use them myself. However the premise of the article is 1) that tax deferral has benefits and over time beats taxable and 2) that 529s are more favorable than annuities because of the cost differences. The first premise is true over a long enough time per...

I think the whole idea is silly. Ive looked at the possible advantages in great detail for taxable vs. annuity given lots of circumstances. It nearly literally takes he heavans to align right for the annuity to win, and is impossible given today's interest rates. Substitute the 529 with slight diffe...

Expectations (only useful for long term planning) are generally derived off of an expected risk premium for an asset class above the risk free asset (tbils). You can see intuitively that if you can get a risk free 1%, then say are willing to expect 1 more step in risk, you might get say 2% off of co...

Vanguard and DFA operate from different philosophies. Vanguard is friendly to do it yourself investors and believes in market cap weighted indexing. It also offers low expense managed funds. Vanguard believes in efficient markets and is not a fan of tilting strategies. DFA is built on the academic ...

This is a bit complicated. A common discussion topic is if a taxable account is better/worse than an annuity. In that calculation the annuity wins if the time horizon is long enough, interest rates are "normal," and tax efficient fund locations are used (ie, no equities in the annuity). If...

Although "playing nice" has some impact on this issue, it's probably not the driver. Every custodian enters into a written contract with fund companies stating the terms of the relationship (what is available, etc). DFA's distribution channels do not really include self directed investors....

Just to clarify. There is good reason to potentially own funds of various asset classes. The reason is that those funds can have a positive impact on risk / return in a portfolio. Many of "those" asset classes indeed outperform the S&P, in fact the S&P is one of the lower performin...

There's only so much you can do about proper asset location given the account balances. At some point the IRA will be nearly zero so you'll have to hold inefficient funds in the taxable account. I don't think a total bond fund is out of the question at all. Just from a marginal bracket standpoint th...

There are two different issues here. First is how to estimate your expenses. Thats just picking an inflation rate and adjusting for major changes. For that 3% is fine (the market says inflation will be closer to 2%.) As someone already suggested you could also double that number or increase it nomin...

I would go to the place you think you'll be long term (probably not your advisor, but I don't know.) That said, if you do stay with the already purchased funds its not terrible. He makes very little to keep your business - you pay him indirectly 0.25% per year within the American funds. The "pr...

I don't know that "high" income is 35% state and fed combined, so I can't imagine that there would be a ton of people advocating against the Roth. I mean it's a lot higher than some, but it's certainly not the top bracket. You make a lot of assumptions about future net worth in stating you...

the additional costs of those products (whatever they are) are likely to outweigh the benefits. There's a lot of study on standard 401ks that indicate that above a certain costs, despite the tax benefits, investors are better avoiding them and investing in a taxable account. I presume that would en...

I don't have knowledge of the products impacting your protection; I imagine there are only a very few who do. By definition in order for the deferred compensation plan to achieve the desired outcome (tax deferral) there has to be a substantial risk of forfeiture - ie, the money has to be at risk. If...

talltodd wrote:Put it into Vanguard Target 2020 and call it a day. You could DCA over six months if you're that worried about a potential crash of some sort.

Oh my, no. Not appropriate at all.

If you're trying to buy low then timing by definition has to be a part of it. If you're trying to buy low then rebalancing your portfolio when it's out of alignment by definition has to be part of it. ... buying at regular intervals wouldn't have helped either. ... buying at regular intervals would...

To the original question: How much to invest in your 401k (or SEP) compared to what alternative ? That's not a minor distinction at all because there are several answers to the question. Are you saving enough, yes or no? If yes, what other goals are there (home already mentioned)? What is today's in...

As mentioned, your only acceptable end point given your unwillingness to take risk is cash/cds for the portfolio. I took a second to run this through software... 87k withdrawals (pre tax) off of 2.3M in cash. That gives you about 0% chance of the money lasting to age 90. If you accept about 20% in s...