Bogleheads.org

I saw the M* June interview where Bogle is talking about those who need yield. I think if you are going to take withdrawals from principal and end up with very little money at the end of life then total return is very important. Or if you have a base of "pensionized income" from SS, pensio...

You likely want to smooth out income over the years, both in and out of retirement. I agree that it is helpful to look hard at your expenses. You don't want to live too far below your means just so you can spend it all in retirement. Best Wishes.

You can get a free estimate at AARP. It is a good starting point. One option is your wife files and suspends at 69 and you collect half her FRA amount or 1100. Then you both file for your own at age 70 and she gets around 2900 and you get around 3100 monthly. That would be 72000 a year from SS. Thes...

I looked at the buying power of Roth conversions, they were neutral if conversion taxes were paid out of taxable accounts and tax rates did not change. At a constant tax rate, the Roth conversion is beneficial if you can pay the tax on the conversion out of other assets. Assume a constant 30% tax r...

Obliviousinvestor, I only get two columns from your spreadsheet. I must be doing something wrong. In an earlier thread a comparison was made of 1000 vs 1760 in claiming at 62 vs. 70. One really must look at the buying power. Of course, it is more difficult with inflation, taxes and varying return ra...

I don't see how anyone can put together a spreadsheet that shows the delayer taking out of his savings up through age 69 and then getting a higher SS benefit than the early claimer and call some later year a break even point. How is it a break even point at 93 when the early claimer has a lower stan...

I am in somewhat similar circumstances. I was planning to take SS at 70. The 2345 will become 3100+ or greater if you continue to work past 66. You file and suspend when the wife turns 66 and she gets half of your 2345 until she turns 70. So she gets 1172.5 a month until she turns 70. She will get s...

I would be very unhappy if Vanguard increased ERs. I can make better use of my money than to give it to a mutual fund company. Expense ratios are a necessary evil to increase exposure to the broad market, and that is the only reason that I agree to pay it.

I have been trying to get my bro to wait on SS, so the argument is interesting to me. I know he won't and he will likely do a few other things I do not agree with, but be that as it may. He has already learned the hard way by giving his first retirement lump sum to a pricey firm to manage. I have al...

Look for the SHIP phone number for your state. Choosing secondary insurances is quite complicated and SHIP in my state is having meetings throughout the year to educate seniors. Apparently, the rules differ somewhat by state. Also I have been told that you can have individual meetings. This organiza...

I look at the rental + retirement + SS income streams plus 2.5%, 3 and 4% drawdowns from a portfolio. Including the income streams in my bond allocation will cause me to put more into stocks than I am comfortable with at retirement.

I would have a discussion with an estate attorney to look at the need for a trust and how to save on inheritance tax. Mom might want to gift up to 14k per year to the children. In addition she could also pay directly for medical expenses and school tuition without incurring any taxes for children an...

Low market prices are an advantage during the accumulation stage. If you are 30 years from retirement you should hope for lower valuations. I was always interested in accumulating more shares rather than worrying about the total value of those accumulated shares. Focus on accumulating more shares. W...

A plateau de fruits de mare at the Gare St. Lazar is a must for us. There are multiple types of fruit de mare. I especially liked the oysters and the bigorneaux (eaten with a finishing nail). Food aside, Hemingway had it right when he said Paris is a "moveable feast,"....... if you go ther...

I look at SS as an income stream. Interestingly Milevsky is 100% in stock. He looks at his steady work of which he is very confident will continue, as a bond, and is otherwise 100% in stock. He is what age 35? He figures his AA is 70/30, although he owns no bonds. Stock/bond(work income, i.e., human...

Mel, I will be attending. Can I buy my brother a ticket? He expressed an interest recently but has not been on the web site. I think he would benefit greatly from hearing the speakers and talking to other Bogleheads.

Sole proprietor vs. S corp I chose the S corp for my business partially for the increased retirement contributions allowance. I can deduct expenses on a 1120S form. The difference is even greater for higher incomes and age 50 with increased catchups 5500 vs 2500 for some types of retirement plans. T...

Email sounds like an error to me. I would prepare to look for another job. HR does serve management only. Never say anything bad about your supervisor, especially when looking for another job. The thoughts of a manager are essentially........if he says this about his supervisor what will he say abou...

I set up an S corp and a contract employer plus direct insurance payments were paid to my S corp. This allowed for increased retirement savings in a solo 401k and some income that did not require payment of fica taxes. I did look at setting up a DB which would have greatly increased retirement savin...

Not in any order: - Downtown Alexandria VA - lots of restaurants and river park. -Astoria Queens..... I recall well dressed beautiful women from all over the world. -New England coastal towns, with scenic ocean or LI Sound views and compact shopping areas with town greens/squares. -Providence, RI -S...

I approached this differently with my S corp and set up a solo 401k. However, my only employees were family members. This year I work less than 10 hours per week so I max out both 401k and profit sharing. The profit sharing lowers my SS income but it will have no effect on my SS payout as I am close...

In beds of American box bushes I used newspaper under mulch to hold down the weeds until the box bushes filled the spaces and nothing else grew. The American box bushes are now 7 feet tall with no attention required. With English box bushes we mulch and watch the plants slowly die. A small consolati...

Being able to quit higher paying work to pursue whatever feels like freedom to me. Bogie called it fu money.

You are going to be hit with a lot of taxes at age 70.5. Your rmd will likely be over 80k at 70.5 assuming your 401k increases a little. The rmd will go up every year too. Also note that if one of you passes the income tax rate will increase for the survivor. If you are going to work until you are 7...

We are on our third Odyssey. We keep vehicles until they die. Mileage 285k 250k and 30k. Kids are grown now and we use the extra space in the Odyssey for cargo space, I also stretch out in the back seat for long trips. Wife drives it. I have had several SUVs as I need to be able to go in snow. It is...

Farm rental income is steady and increasing somewhat over the last 15 years in our area, maybe because of the demand for ethanol. I would not include it in determining our equity/bond asset allocation. I would treat it as a separate income stream. I like diversity of income streams and there is room...

I don't like their higher expense ratios in my son's 401k run by Fido and the undisclosed fee he paid after the site stated he would get a check for X dollars. He received X-50 dollars. $50 seems steep to close an account. Back when I was an employee in a major company I rolled over my retirement ac...

I don't know about sole proprietor ownership and I do not fill out a schedule C. For an S corp, the employer contributions are an expense on a 1120s and are not included in the w-2 or 941. The solo 401k I have allows for a profit sharing component. Some plans are simply profit sharing and none of th...

This article states that employer contributions are not subject to fica taxes. http://www.pbtk.com/newspage.asp?AID=300

Employee contributions require fica payments. Employer contributions do not. If your business is profitable enough then you pay yourself a reasonable salary and you calculate how much the employer can contribute if you want to maximize tax deferred space. Employer contribution can be up to 25% of sa...

You will pay a fee for purchasing Vanguard mutual funds at Etrade and I do not believe you will be able to hold Vanguard Admiral shares at Etrade. You will continue to pay investor grade expense ratios even if you meet the minimum ($10k for most) to qualify for Admiral shares lower expense ratios. E...

I generally like reading these reports, but I was a little surprised to see that Ann Price recommended Natixis ASG Diversifying Strategies a fund with a 5.75% load in an article titled "Keep Your Portfolio Simple." Maybe her readers are more sophisticated investors than I am. :oops: http:/...

Berkshire Hathaway became too large a part of our portfolio and we now only hold it within index funds. I would not be averse to owning it again if it looked like a screaming opportunity.

I've become more and more of the opinion over the last few years that widespread financial literacy movements are a waste of energy. Those who want to learn will seek it out - we all wound up here, after all. Those who don't, won't. No amount of required financial literacy classes in high school/co...

In "The Only Guide to Alternative Investments You'll Ever Need," Larry Swedroe states that social responsible index funds cost investors and additional 0.5%/year in higher costs. He compares a popular SRI returned 10.1% vs. 12.7% in Vanguard 500 index from 2003 to 2007. For small cap funds...

Read Herminia Ibarra's book on career change (working identity or something like that). Short answer: career change is an adaptive incremental process. Doesn't happen in one big jump. You need information (ie experience) of other careers eg working in a CFP office for 2 weeks during your vacation. ...

6 million withdrawal rate depends in part on the age when you begin withdrawals. I think the 4% safe rate was assuming 30 years in retirement and there is debate about whether it is still a safe rate. I would design a portfolio to minimize taxes and expenses. I would not put assets under management ...

You might want to read "First Do No Harm," (Being a resilient doctor in the 21st century), by Leanne Rowe and Michael Kidd. We must expand the Hippocratic Oath to include doing no harm to ourselves. Job number 1 for me is to make home a sanctuary,to value strong relationships and to treat ...

Large corporations are buying practices these days in Maryland. If your father in law is in a good location then Medstar, Hopkins, Holy Cross or another entity may be interested. I would contact directly local hospitals and corporations active in buying practices in Maryland. I do know of small fami...

The AMA published a handbook titled, "Buying, Selling, and Owning the Medical Practice." Coker Publishing Company 770 353-0118. It was published in 1996. There may be newer versions available. A family doc in the suburbs sold his practice about 10 years ago, however, he kept the single fam...

Two different experiences with Fidelity fees. I have seen a 401k account that was run by Fidelity. The owner who had never used a 401k before put in about 60 bucks and his company put in 40 for one pay period. Then the owner of the account lost his job and the $50 fee was not revealed until after th...

Some plans have a yearly fee if assets in a particular fund are below a minimum. I have more than one child in a 529 and when I added an additional beneficiary and put less than 2k for a separate beneficiary who was part time non-degree taking two inexpensive courses in the same plan I received a ch...

Just thinking out loud here: Two percent of a 7mm portfolio is 140,000. I think SP 500 is paying 2% divs. I think I would put a large amount in intermediate tax deferred, a lesser amount in high yield tax exempt, or high yield corporate and Vanguard reit in tax deferred accounts. EMB recommended by ...

I graduated medical school without debt. It is very comfortable feeling to have no debt. It sounds like you will pick Penn and the scholarship. That is a good choice. You will have the opportunity to pick your specialty based on what you really want to do rather than be hamstrung by debt. I also agr...

Apparently a tax on roads, parking lots, driveways and buildings roofs has been passed and will go into effect in July. The area that diverts rainwater will be taxed. Non-businesses, non-profits and individuals will not escape the tax and may end up being a higher tax than real estate tax for some e...

Unfortunately, you missed the national pillow fight on the mall. Check the Washington Post weekend section on Fridays with lists of activities, special exhibits, music and plays, etc. I like Jaleo for brunch or dinner. Portrait Gallery is close by, free and interesting. I took a special interest in ...

Winning a publishing clearing house prize was the start of a scam that has been going on in a local retirement community. Two elderly ladies were convinced that they were winners and the boyfriend of one may also have been convinced at one time. It has been very difficult to extricate at least one o...

Interesting Ferri article, in that if you are not spending much you can stay 100% in equities, because you will never outlive your money. I have seen the opposite, wealthy staying 100% in bonds because they will never spend more than they make in bond interest. Second thoughts appear when the bonds ...

I received a letter to my home address from Britain stating that someone with my name died 5 years ago. Millions are held in a Hong Kong bank. If I am serious I can share this money. Of course, this must be kept quiet. The appeal is to greed, larceny and stupidity. Is there any point in reporting th...

I don’t want to get into this argument, because I don’t know what side I would come down on, liking a little bit of both strategies. Below are some musings, that may not shed any light and hopefully will not attract heat, but I will post it with the hope that it will help me clear up my own thinking...