Bogleheads.org

interesting! so districts, and not schools, have a list of providers that are acceptable. Is there a way to cross check whether my district has anything besides what the HR woman who doesn't know much about this says? Some database or something?

I just spoke with Vanguard at length. They basically told me that the school had to offer Vanguard as a provider or I was out of luck. I'm definitely curious how and what year those of you who got around this did so (without mobilizing the entire school to petition the HR office to add Vanguard beca...

ok. Ill call VG and report back!

so basically if the school offers a 403b or a 457 I should be able to do it through Vanguard, not Mutual of America, regardless of what the HR person tells me about it being a group plan etc. And in order to make this happen, I should call Vanguard if that's what I'm understanding?

and any teacher in a public school is eligible for both 403b and 457?

And presumably he could diversify his tax risk by making the 403b Roth and the 457 traditional...

Wow! Great advice! Can he legally do a 403b and a 457? Meaning 17.5k in each + a 529?

What do you mean by "strong asset protection?"

Would you do a ROTH or normal?

And how might you phrase an e-mail to the HR dept asking for different funds? Just asking for a self-directed option? Or... what's worked for you?

I'm trying to help a friend who is a 26 year old school teacher. He's contributing the max to a roth IRA in a standard Vanguard Retirement Fund (roughly 80/20). In addition to having ~ $17,000 in the Roth at this point. He's accumulated around $100,000 and has minimal expenses. He wants to begin inv...

How big of a concern is this? Assume a top tax bracket, and a roughly 75-25 target retirement fund.

Hi All - Quick Q -- assuming a high-income (high tax) investor who has maxed out tax advantaged space, is there anything wrong with holding a Vanguard Target Retirement fund in a personal account (taxable) from a tax perspective? I was planning on just using it for simplicity and making automatic mo...

also, it occurred to me that this individual has income (short term cap gains) coming from a hedge fund he's invested in from 2012. Could he offset that income with investments into a tax deferred vehicle like a Roth?

so as long as there's any income, one can have a ROTH. And then beyond that, depending on employer, potentially a 403b or 401k. And he could contribute to both. And in the absence of that, perhaps a 529 plan for a future child...?

Fair enough.

Is the only way to get access to the tax vehicles for him to have a job/income? Presumable he'd be able to at least do a ROTH at that point... and what else?

Hi - I've got a 23 year old cousin who has come to me asking for a bit of investment advice for an inheritance of approx. $50,000 USD. For simplicity, let's say he's got another $300,000 USD in funds bogleheads wouldn't like (more family money)-- but that's not the point of my post, and for variance...

I should add that the approx. 1st deposit would be between $75,000 and $100,000 and the approx. normal balance would be $20,000

I have to move my business account from Smith Barney because since they merged with Morgan Stanley and they no longer support QuickBooks (pretty bone headed). So, where would you suggest that I go? I don’t really need anything except a checking account (no credit card, no brokerage account) but rewa...

Bob -

The question I had was when the contributions had to be made by. In other words, if I want to contribute to my HSA, does it have to be done by 12/31 or 4/15. Ditto for SEP-IRA/529...

Quickly: I make the maximum use of tax-sheltered accounts like a SEP-IRA, HSA, 529 etc. Are there any tax-shelters that have the end of the calender year (Jan 1) as the cut-off date for contributions, ratehr than the end of the tax-year? Also, can someone provide me with the specific rules regarding...

I know that interest from a cash back credit card is counted as bank interest. I've got the Schwab 2%, but when I log into my account and print my 1099 including DIV, INT, and MISC, it doesn't show any of those deposits that are made monthly. Do I have to call Schwab up on this?

Sublime8700? Why not BRK? I think it's a far question. I guess I don't feel like BRK offers any of the benefits of diversification/playing in other markets that may be more inefficient than the stock market. BRK isn't diversified? And hasn't demonstrated informational advantage and the ability to m...

You don't invest in the "average hedge fund", so averages are nice but not particularly meaningful given the very wide dispersion of outcomes. You invest in this particular hedge fund , based on the management, their track record, their strategies, their risk controls, their fees, how muc...

Hmmm.. Citadel, according to my favorite insider trading site "Ken Griffin’s Citadel returned about 10 percent in 2010, according to a person who has seen the numbers but wasn’t authorized to share them publicly. Citadel’s flagship Wellington and Kensington funds gained around 10 percent, but ...

james22 wrote:Sublime8700? Why not BRK?

I think it's a far question. I guess I don't feel like BRK offers any of the benefits of diversification/playing in other markets that may be more inefficient than the stock market.

I think most Hedge fund investments are driven by people trying to do the right thing, not ego. But most people, even rich ones, are financially ignorant. Most high net worth investors got there through inheriting wealth or growing and selling a business. Neither of which makes you at all knowledge...

From 2003-2010 the HFRX global hedge fund index returned 2.8 percent per annum, underperforming every single major equity asset class and the only safe bond asset class it beat is one-year Treasuries or shorter (and just barely) Why do people invest in hedge funds? Ego driven investing Larry -- I t...

Hmmm.. Citadel, according to my favorite insider trading site "Ken Griffin’s Citadel returned about 10 percent in 2010, according to a person who has seen the numbers but wasn’t authorized to share them publicly. Citadel’s flagship Wellington and Kensington funds gained around 10 percent, but s...

RE zero sum--here is example. Say one buys Euros betting dollar goes down. The other side must be a seller betting the opposite. Both cannot win, so it is zero sum game on gross basis. But both are incurring expenses (the costs of running the operation). So it must be a negative sum game after expe...

I don't doubt that most hedge funds are poor investments, but I don't think it's wise to lump all funds into the same category. I invest about 20% of my portfolio in Citadel, which is a $13b dollar fund run by Ken Griffin, by piggybacking onto a wealthy relative. I count my investment it as equity r...

Probably a fairly easy question here: I currently hold FTSE All World-Ex US for my international equities, but I don't have enough for admiral shares, which means I'm paying .40% ER. There doesn't seem to be a substantive difference between this fund and the Total International Fund, which has a low...

I am helping a friend with a 403.B plan through Mutual of America. To date, he hasn't contributed anything, but was planning on enrolling and making a one time contribution before December 31st. Today I was told that the money had to removed from his payroll checks in order for it to be put into the...

Just to be clear here... We have already done 5k into a Roth IRA for 2010. IN THE ABSENCE OF DEBT and with an emergency fund, Is the advice to max out the $16,500 (far above the match, of course) and then wait a year or two until we are no longer working at this school with this program, and then tr...

Essentially, for the cost of 1.2%, my friend should be able to get $16,500 of tax advantaged (Roth, in his case) space for life (if he wanted to max it out). So it's a Roth 403b? Then, yes, you're right, he can contribute enough to the 403b to get the full match, then max out a Roth IRA, then max o...

Essentially, for the cost of 1.2%, my friend should be able to get $16,500 of tax advantaged (Roth, in his case) space for life (if he wanted to max it out). So it's a Roth 403b? Then, yes, you're right, he can contribute enough to the 403b to get the full match, then max out a Roth IRA, then max o...

Thanks very much -- I will call them up and see what the situation is.

No, unfortunately not. I just left it in the seatback pocket on the plane. Out of luck?

anyone know if it has travel insurance with it? I left an expensive cell phone on an airline (that I booked with the Schwab card) and was wondering if there was some travel insurance that I could claim the loss with...?

Is there any confirmation about what is going to happen to this card? I haven't heard anything directly (though I know it was moved to FIA and not serviced by Schwab anymore) but are card holders still getting 2% or no?

I'm trying to help a 23 year old friend through some of his decisions with respect to a 403.B plan that is offered through Mutual of America. The plan has a 3% base and 2% matching contribution from my friend's school where he works. As he makes $50,000/year, that works out to be $1500 and $1000, or...

Listening to this guy would almost certainly be very, very bad judgement. And it could very well have results that will mitigate whatever gains you've had due to your good business judgement in whatever business you're involved in. I've been in your shoes before. I'm 23 now, but when I was 18 I made...

I have a friend who is completely financially illiterate, and has asked me to help him not be stupid with the money he is earning as a teacher / living at home. I had him do the basic thing which was to max out a Roth IRA and put it into a target retirement fund. He won't touch it, and will continue...

Why do people invest in Timber? And how do people invest in Timber? I keep reading about Timber and I just really have no idea how to even begin considering the asset class, so if anyone would be kind enough to provide a brief cliff notes version of the case for/against timber it would be much appre...

Yes it was a typo.

I thought that intermediate term tax exempt was exempt from Federal, but not state...and if I bought the NY fund it would be exempt from federal + state...? But I also figured that was probably built into the price etc...

Basic question: I've just moved to NY from IL and have the typical boglehead portfolio. I am in the highest tax bracket. Does it make sense to keep buying intermediate term tax exempt treasury bond fund for the bonds that I have to hold in taxable (after my other space is maxed out) and pay 8 % stat...

Professional poker player.

OK, great information all.

Does anyone know for sure if I could contribute to both NY and IL plans if I will be paying some state tax for both and take deductions on state income tax for both?

I think I watched a video of David Swenson on Youtube talking about people basically paying far too much for liquidity, which resulted in an inherent illiquidity premium not dissimilar to the supposed risk premium. That's why private equity and real estate are (I think?) at the core of Yale's invest...

I have spent half of this year living in New York (7.8% state income tax) and half living in Illinois (3%). According to my research, I can deduct $5,000 from my state taxable income for NY and $10,000 for Illinois. (http://www.finaid.org/savings/state529deductions.phtml) Can I do BOTH of these? Of ...

I'm a young investor (23) who is self-employed. I've been lucky enough to max out my Sep-IRA (49,000) for the year, as well as an HSA (3050). In an effort to maximize the tax benefits available to me as a young individual with some relatively significant income, I was considering 529 plans. However,...

Oh, whoops, now I get it...

But obviously I'm wondering about 50/25/25