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Given the stats below, is it worth setting up a tiered emergency fund utilizing the CD options available to me? *High Int Savings Account (Currently holds my entire EF, approximately 10 months): 1.00% *3 month - 24 month CD: <= 1.00% (Not worth tier-ing anything to this level since it is less than o...

I put "don't know, don't care." I very well could be wrong, but I've told myself as long as I'm at or below the 25% tax bracket, I'll contribute to a Roth IRA. Once I reach the 28% bracket, I'll contribute to a Traditional IRA. Unless I can be absolutely convinced this is wrong, I'll stay...

I put "don't know, don't care." I very well could be wrong, but I've told myself as long as I'm at or below the 25% tax bracket, I'll contribute to a Roth IRA. Once I reach the 28% bracket, I'll contribute to a Traditional IRA. Unless I can be absolutely convinced this is wrong, I'll stay ...

I'm hoping to have one soon. In the meantime, I'll continue banging my head against this never-ending, scope creeping, test failing, late design change....

Car A: 17 mpg Car B: 35 mpg Miles per week: 350 Price of gas: $3.50/gal Price of Car B: $25,000 Savings per week: $37 Break-even (no inflation, etc.): 13 years... Unless you're trading in a fully paid off pickup and paying cash for a Prius, I don't think you'll see much of a difference. To buy an ad...

In the past I've been investing in my taxable account instead of prepaying my mortgage. With the current market and bond rates, I'm wondering if I should deplete my taxable account to pay down my mortgage. My current mortgage is $230,000 @ 3.5% (2.4% after tax), 29 years left My taxable account is ...

6% on the engagement ring and 0.07% on the wedding band.

Being in a similar situation as you last year, I would recommend saving more. I don't necessarily regret my house purchase, but it's not making my standard of life that much greater. I kind of wish I would have rented till kids came along and just really kept my savings rate as high as possible. Don...

I tend to think I'm smarter than most people, even at their own jobs. It just makes sense that I wouldn't trust a financial adviser...

Plus I'm a cheap a$$

I didn't know where to post this, fee free to move the post where it needs to be. My wife and I are currently maxing out Roth IRAs and slowly working up to maxing out our work 401k's. I've also been maxing out my company HSA. I still plan on using my HSA for medical expenses, but my insurance plan's...

Retirement specific accounts: 25%
HSA: 5.5%
Emergency Fund: 4.5%

I'm 26. I put 2% of my 3% raise into my 401k this year. I'd like to continue doing that until that thing is finally maxed.

*crickets*

I'm not knowledgeable enough to tell you whether you need it or not but I recently received a $1M umbrella policy for $1.93/month through State Farm. It actually costs more, but through the discounts I received on my existing coverages by adding this additional coverage, my monthly bill only went up...

How'd you get your first bachelors in 2004 when you're only 26 now?

Anyway, I don't think it's a bad idea. It's better than going back at 28. Or 30. Or 32, etc.

I believe Vanguard's Target Date Retirement Funds have a $1000 minimum.

I just called up my insurance company. By adding umbrella coverage, I get additional discounts on home and auto, so adding $1M of umbrella coverage only increases my annual bill by $23..... I signed right up. My net worth is much closer to $0 than $1M.

I love rebalancing because I get to play with my spreadsheet.

Sounds like you can use your response of question 2 to answer question 1. Once it's in retirement, keep it in retirement. Leave your 401k alone. However, in a situation such as the one you'll be entering, a Roth IRA would be great to contribute to, knowing you could use it as an emergency fund if ne...

My wife purchased a new 2013 Kia Optima sedan. One of the things we overlooked was the front passenger seat. The sticker stated "power seat", but it turned out to not be a "full range" power seat. There is no adjustment, either power or manual, on the height of the seat. The sea...

I participate in a Fidelity managed 401k and my index funds through them have very low expense ratios, most of which below 0.05%. Still, that's something. Your employer must be covering this somehow.

The only reasons I can see to go to a dealer are for warranty work or recalls. Otherwise, I have a local mechanic I trust. He does good work, is not too expensive, and is honest. I have been cheated on several occasions at dealers and try to avoid their service departments, if I can. Jeff I complet...

Thanks so much for all the advice. I should mention that after I received the guidance from you all last May regarding eliminating PMI, I contacted my mortgage company who informed me that we couldn't just send in a check for $40,000 to eliminate the PMI. We would have to refinance, which comes wit...

1.) I wear warm clothes in the house during the winter and rarely put the thermostat over 63. 2.) Spend most of my time in the basement during the summer. Rarely set the AC below 78. 3.) Keep driving the old Volvo S40 I can barely fit in to because it's bullet proof. Instead of researching the big b...

I'm 26, so my 8 month emergency fund is still a good amount of total my portfolio. The number below also includes other "savings" accounts that we know we will spend, like a home insurance fund, property tax fund, etc.

28%

I'm 26, and without getting too political, I don't see how I"ll be able to enjoy the same retirement that my parents will. It's not changing my Boglehead investment philosophy because I don't know what else one could do. Hopefully I'll be lucky enough to retire at 55 or so, but I wouldn't be su...

Do you still put the $5500 in a Trad IRA without the deduction? Even though it grows tax free, does the principle essentially get taxed a second time upon withdraw? Do you move forward with the backdoor roth and bite the bullet on the rollover? Invest in taxable accounts only? If you can't do a bac...

I have a hypothetical question. What if you have substantial assets in Trad IRAs and participate in an employer sponsored plan. Your income is too high to contribute to a Roth or get any deduction for new trad IRA contributions. The substantial assets in a Trad IRA don't make a backdoor roth an idea...

So any common themes in the places you all first met? Like church, volunteer group, hiking club? any behaviors on dates or in relationships that made you realize they would've caused you to go broke if you married them? It's more like you'll see the behaviors you wouldn't want to touch with a 10 fo...

zebrafish wrote:In the lack of complete information, a 10K per year savings by putting up 47K seems a pretty good return on investment

It would probably even be better that, assuming he'd refinance to a much better rate that 6+%.

I'd refinance.

If you're invested in index funds, it's about impossible to NOT know how you're doing anyway, with or without peeking. If there's a big crash, everyone will be discussing it. I peek a couple times a week, but I don't consider it peeking because I feel no guilt what-so-ever. I have my AA, I have my p...

I graduated just a few years ago and I was lucky enough to have my parents help me out substantially. They paid the tuition, and I basically paid everything else. This meant I was responsible for my apartment, my car and maintenance expenses, my books, recreation, clothes, etc. With this set up, I w...

Todays WSJ commented that equities are at a five year high and the "chart" is getting ominous. I plan on selling the few stocks i have left and i wont look back. Taking a profit is called winning. Did the same thing today. My last stock I owned went up 18% so I sold it all! No more stocks...

Todays WSJ commented that equities are at a five year high and the "chart" is getting ominous. I plan on selling the few stocks i have left and i wont look back. Taking a profit is called winning. Did the same thing today. My last stock I owned went up 18% so I sold it all! No more stocks...

I started out with American Funds. My financial adviser told me the 5.75% front end load was pretty standard and the 0.80% expense ratios were some of the lowest in the industry. And he was right, when comparing the two sets of funds he sold: American Funds and Franklin Templeton. He then had me rol...

With a 2 year emergency fund, I would question why you are refinancing from a 15yr mortgage to a 30yr mortgage.

Have you calculated what that will do to your total interest paid throughout the life of the loan?

I'll let others comment on the investments.

Regarding the house with the pool, you will exclude a lot of future potential buyers who do not want a house with a pool. One of my siblings has a pool with a liner, they have spent a not insignificant amount of money on the pool including repairing the concrete apron and are now looking at a perma...

letsgobobby wrote:You should max out your HSA before maxing out her 401k or either Roth IRA. Do you know why?

I do not know why. I know the HSA can essentially be used like a Trad IRA, but whats the benefit of maxing it out first? Especially if we plan on using it for our medical expenses?

I had to pay about $200 last year.

This past year I bought a house and got married. I'm not too much of a tax buff, so I'm not quite sure what to expect. I'm thinking I'll get a refund bigger than I should.

Oh well. I'll throw it at the debt.

Things look pretty good. Just thinking out loud here: Desired Asset Allocation: 75% stocks / 25% bonds 40% International Stocks <--If you aren't set on this figure, you could have such a simple portfolio! His 401K 42% BTC Lifepath 20 4 0 Q 0.12 His Vanguard IRA 42% Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 F...

Hi again, The first time I posted a portfolio review, I didn't know what index funds were. The 2nd time, I really didn't know what asset allocation was. This time, I'm hoping I got it right. I hope I don't get scolded for posting too many reviews, but I'm hoping you guys see an improvement. Emergenc...

Wow, I also feel out of my league reading this thread. I guess it gives me motivation for being a saver in my 20's. I need to close this one down and get to the frugal thread so I don't feed any temptations!!

Got to learn this one the fun way. 4.5yrs of marriage in which I lump-sum paid off her undergrad debt, then paid for the entirety of her dental school out of pocket, and still had to give her half of what I earned for the entirety of our marriage (because she earned $0) at divorce preceedings. Good...

You need to understand more about the fundamental differences between certain kinds of assets. Series I savings bonds are different from everything else. I'm not sure "exposure" to them is even the right terminology. 1) There can't be an I bond index fund, because I bonds aren't marketabl...

Is there such a thing? I don't have much space in my budget to justify savings in a taxable account right now and with my emergency fund only being about 7 months, I'd rather just keep it all in my high int savings account. How could I gain exposure to I-Bonds? Do I need it? I'm in the process of bo...

You're right, I misspoke. I meant wants. I understand opportunity cost. The reason I bought the house was mortgage + taxes + homeowners insurance + pmi was the same as renting a house built in 1985 in Vegas and I wanted to get in the Vegas housing market while it is at the bottom. In return I got a...

If you have an extended time horizon for saving then take a peel at I-bonds through treasury direct. Do a quick search on this site and you'll find a lot of info. They are great for emergency fund and house down payment funds since they protect principle. If you hold for less than 5 years when you ...

I would approach the problem differently. Assuming your bond allocation is high-quality and short-term, I would use this equation as a starting point: Bond allocation (%) = (100-2*max tolerable loss) % For example, if your max tolerable loss is 20%, the equation suggests a bond allocation of 60%. T...

livesoft wrote:I think that is outstanding. Our weighted average is about 0.2%.

I figured up my weighted average quick, it's at about 0.15%. Glad to hear I'm at least in the ball park.

My bond index funds in my company's 401k are outstanding with a 0.05% ER.

Out of curiosity, what is everyone's average expense ratio's in their portfolios? I didn't get too fancy and figure out a weighted average based on balances or anything, just a straight average on all my funds.

Mines at 0.13%. I'm a novice bogleheader and just wondering how I stack up.

This can be a pretty black and white calculation if you make all the assumptions (closing costs, interest rates, time left in home, etc.) When you're looking for your break even point, remember the opportunity cost of the closing money. I always compare the refinanced mortgage to my current mortgage...

I simply chose a target fund in my 401K I was moderately comfortable with and dedicated 100% of my contributions to that fund. Then, in my IRA, I set up the 3 fund portfolio. (This is a little over simplified because I'm also taking advantage of the Bond Index in my 401k because the ER is much lower...