Bogleheads.org

I made a bad mistake and panicked from the sequestration. I changed my 401K allocation to the Gold Fund and have lost 20%. What have I learned? Not to react. What would you guys do if you were 34 years old? I have changed future contributions already. This is all the data I have on the fund FMT/Firs...

Good advice and was what I assumed you guys would say. What is your guys exact recommendation: 401K traditional: 50% VG500 50% VG GNMA? TIRA: 100% Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTIAX)? To be clear with the balances: Mar 2013: 401k $25K, TIRA $11K (projected) jan 2014 ...

Yes, .80 fee off the top, then an "inflated" ER per fund...The only thing about the 401K is that I need to come close to maxing it out to qualify for the deductible TIRA...But I'm not against a taxable brokerage and a Roth.

While I'm not taking a huge interest in the sequestion but thought it's worth checking with the experts...The important thing is I'll be maxing both my TIRA and 401K so to get my desired overall portfolio allocation (I'm open but let's go with 70/stocks 30 bonds for example) year to year changes wil...

I spoke with multiple reps who cover new accounts, trading and investment advisers at Fidelity...Bottom line, each withdrawal from a brokerage, regardless if it was a direct withdraw from the brokerage account or an overdraft withdrawal counts as a sale which has the tax consequences. As you probabl...

New question if using a brokerage as a checking account. Do I send my direct deposit directly to my brokerage account and if so will it automatically purcahase (in my case) mutual funds? And if I wanted to do a EFT transfer can I again use the brokerage or is it better to use the cash management acc...

I had read fidelity also had no foreign transaction fee. According to the fidelity rep the ATM fee cap is $10/day...While it's easy to transfer between funds, in the interest of thoroughness, I wonder if a CS account will automatically overdraft without a fee? I looked into to Vanguard and the no at...

That's exactly what I was looking for, thanks Sunny!

Looking to change banks for a primary checking account. I've done some research to the above places and have some questions... In my research it appears all three firms offer a brokerage that linked to a CORE account or are basically two different accounts. Is this accurate? Do any of the firms offe...

16% of gross...Based on my take home, investment (I max out my 401k & IRA) / net pay, 24%. I originally got a $0 down loan and aggressively paid it off in seven months.

Al Gore said in November 2010:

--Political comments deleted--

Credit Karma (TU) and quizzle (EX)...

Ditto to the "Wow"! Just makes me hate my 401K choices even more...lol

Depending on income and filing status, if you qualify for a deductible traditional ira (TIRA) todays the deadline the contribute a max of $5000 for under 60 or $6000 if over 60...

33 years old, no debt. Disability rating entitles me to a tax free $1272/mo which often increases 2-3 years for as long as I'm alive and gives me free healthcare. $8K in 401k and $5K in TIRA, 6 months of expenses saved. 25% federal tax bracket, no state tax. Company 401K has an automatic 3% regardle...

Lots of good insights here. Thank you Bob. While a VA home loan doesn't have PMI and can often be had with zero down, it's still not guaranteed that you'll qualify for either the zero down option loan or receive the lowest interest rate at zero down. So that's why I'm eager to save a down payment vs...

I'm a veteran and would be using a non-PMI va loan. I guess the other thing to consider, for 2012 only, it looks like if I can max out my 401k for $17K and the $5K traditional ira, I would just sneak into the 15% tax bracket. But with my expected raise for 2013, there'd be no way to get back into th...

I'm 33, debt free with 3 months of income saved. 25% fed and 6% state. Have $9K invested in my 401k and $5K in a trad. IRA with vanguard. I am currently not investing into anything as I'm trying to build up to 12 months of saved income, once I get there will start investing into retirement again. Wa...

Sorry if this is a highjack, but it fits the scope of title, tapping into the 529b plan... I paid out about $3000 to tuition this year, I opened a 529B for myself in November...Can I contribute $3000 into it today, then withdraw it ASAP and still get the tax benefit for 2011? From a federal tax sta...

Sorry if this is a highjack, but it fits the scope of title, tapping into the 529b plan...

I paid out about $3000 to tuition this year, I opened a 529B for myself in November...Can I contribute $3000 into it today, then withdraw it ASAP and still get the tax benefit for 2011?

I don't know if it's like this in all states or not...In my state you request a withdrawal, you get a withdrawal...It's up to the state's IRS to "red flag" and audit you during tax time...

Thanks again kenyan. A couple more questions. The traditional deductible IRA and maybe this is provider (eg Vangaurd) specific, I know you have until 4/15/12 for the 2011 tax year to contribute...If you wait until April 1st to contribute, is it safe to assume that the provider OFTEN has the proper t...

Thanks kenyan. Is this pretty much a good strategy? I'm already going to have $5000 into a deductible traditional IRA for 2011. Contribute another $5000 into a deductible traditional IRA for 2012, that would get me to $10K, then I could go to the admiral class of the total stock market index fund or...

I think generally speaking you want to use tax deductible investing (401k) prior to Roth/taxable investing. For next year that means going up to $17k+match in the 401k if possible. You may consider moving part of your e-fund to a Roth and investing that stable-y as Roth withdrawls of contributions ...

I will qualify for 2011 and if I invest enough into my 401K in 2012 to lower my AGI, I will be in 2012 as well. I 6% state tax. My 401k provider takes .52% off the top...My funds choices are: RBLSX FMT/RUSSELL LIFEPOINTS BAL STRATEGY 1.08 SSGXX FMT/SSGA TREASURY MONEY MARKET 0.54 DFEQX DFA SHORT-TER...

1. You should look at the entire portfolio as a whole, that means including the 401(k) in asset allocation. What is the matching situation with that? 2. You mention investing in both traditional IRA and Roth in 2012. Please clarify your plans. You are limited to 5k between the two for each tax year...

I'm 32, have no debt, am in the 25% tax bracket. I have contributed $5K into my work 401K. In 2012 I wanted to invest in the Vanguard index funds, $5000 for the Roth and $5000 for the traditional IRA. What I'm noticing is most funds require a $3000 minimum to open, so how would that work if I wanted...

http://www.daveramsey.com/article/the-truth-about-mortgages/ "And, whatever you do, never buy a trailer, mobile home or timeshare. The value of these properties drops like a rock. You will never get back what you put into them." I also heard on his radio show him saying the only one's that...

Interesting article. The issue with an used car is there's no one size fits all. You first need to have a reliable mechanic and know what you're getting yourself into before you buy. Some cars with timing belts ($250-$500) need to be replaced as little as 60K miles while others make it nearly 200k. ...

Another thing to consider...For the most part, performance wise most are equal or the ipad 2 is actually the fastest. If you buy the ipad 2 for $500ish, you could probably resell it for close to $350-$400 around XMas time on ebay. Hopefully by XMas some serious contender will step off and beat the i...

What do you recommend, I stick to the companies plan? Or go to Vangaurd for a TIRA or Roth?

Another option is pageplus is "secretly" runs off the verizon network. It is a prepaid service, $29.95 for 1200 minutes/2000 texts/100MB of data, all expire in a month. They also have unlimited talk/text for $44.95/mo. You can activate most CDMA phones, the droid 1/2/X are very popular...

Alan S. wrote:To clarify, does the state allow you to deduct your 529 contribution?

Correct; I'm allowed to deduct my contribution

Found out the state does not tax the 529b

Does anyone have a fund selection advice?

Thanks. Any insights on the 529B? I don't think I'll be able to invest much more than $5000 for 2011, really depends on my settlement as it possbily could be significantly more than what I'm expecting. Also, I have already contrubuted about $1000 in my companies Roth 401k but have stopped. The last ...

Single vet in my early 30s with nothing saved up for investment. I am expecting at least a $10K disability payment. I currently have 6 months for an emergency fund saved up and my only debt is a car which I'm hoping the $10K will pay off cover. My company only offers a Roth 401K and a tradition 401K...