Bogleheads.org

is there a chance the options selling strategy is a viable one? Zero chance of that. Options are a zero sum game where there is a winner for every loser, but there are lots of transactions cost and you have to pay a good part of any winnings in taxes. For you to win you are just betting that you ar...

When you look at this question you need to remember that the median household income in the US is only a little bit over $50,000. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States And that a large percentage of people that are working do not pay any income tax they either have low i...

that $17,500 is my limit. Are you guys saying that maximum is for the individual only and does not include matched funds? That is true. There is a separate limit for the employer contributions of about $51K. http://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/Plan-Participant,-Employee/Retirement-Topics---401(k)-a...

It would be good to run your numbers to see how your social security will be taxed; http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Taxation_of_Social_Security_benefits http://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster/?cid=ppc_gg_b_stan_dk_us-nstax_lv-brand-tax-caster&srid=sr3_45613056_go&adid=Free...

If you and any spouse are not maxing out all of your deductible retirement accounts then putting the $500 a month($6K a year) into a deductible retirement account would likely be a better choice then going with the 15 year mortgage. What your numbers look like for that? If you are not maxing out you...

The way that I and handling the balancing act of being aggressive enough to get a decent return and the need to be safe as I near retirement is that; 1) I have a higher percentage(about 20% more) of my investments in stocks than is typically recommended for someone my age but I am also targeting bei...

making $600K+/year You also need to look at the after tax income of your current job and a less stressful but lower paying one. You might be making $600K, but after taxes you would be clearing a lot less than that so the after tax income of a lower paying job might not be as big a reduction as it s...

Perhaps you may want to redirect some of your maxed-out 401k's to a couple 529 plans for a while, for your two kids?

+1

Saving up to pay cash for your next car would be an option too if you don't want to use your brokerage account to pay for it.

A big question that makes it hard to know what to do with the land is that we don’t have a clue as to what it would be worth if it was buildable. In some parts of the country that land could be worth a lot, but in much of the country buildable land like that might not be worth the price of a good ca...

Be sure to ask the company that he will be working for if they have any agreements for corporate discounts with any rental car companies. It is likely that even if you are paying for the rental you can still get the discount. FYI, The car insurance that comes with a credit card is only for good for ...

Thanks for the explanation Watty. Any thoughts on taking a small loan for 25k to apply directly against my mortgage to get me below the LTV and the ability to refi without a PMI? Even with an interest rate on the 25k of 6-7%, the ability to lock into a 3.5% APR without a PMI seems like a good long ...

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that that the consequences of making an incorrect choice are not really equal. By this I mean that if you choose to keep the money in an IRA and eventually end up in a higher tax bracket then you are doing pretty well financially and paying more taxes than you...

Cash
$350,100,000

Most likely after looking at the taxes I would keep maybe $50 million and use the rest for charity to avoid most of the taxes. Realistically having more than that would make no possible difference in my or my heirs life.

All that to say.....I understand that past performance is not an indicator of future results, so I can't rely on that. Is that what this all boils down to? Just to reinforce this, in a lot of ways past performance is often not even a true indicator of past performance. The problem is that poorly pe...

"If you will be capital gains taxes on the assets you sell to pay the 15% taxes on the conversion then your effective tax rate will be higher than 15%." I'm not understanding this, in the 15% bracket currently Cap gains taxes are 0% as long as I stay in the 15% bracket. (Long term cap gai...

....but is there any other advantage I'm not considering? Did the numbers you ran include the taxation of social security? http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Taxation_of_Social_Security_benefits If your income is in the range where each dollar of IRA withdrawals makes more of your social security taxab...

The other option would be for the money to go into our taxable account. One way of looking at it is that the earnings on tax deferred part of the 401K contribution will pay for the higher expenses so that will usually make the 401K worthwhile. For example of you are in the 33% tax bracket then you ...

Probably a silly question, where can I find the expense ratios of each? Check your 401K website or the paperwork that you got from the HR department. You need to check there instead of just going to the Fidelity web site since your 401K may have negotiated a different expense ratio. Here are some l...

It is pretty rare but once in a while a check could be lost in the mail so you need to consider how difficult it would be to replace a lost check if you decide to mail it. I once had a large(to me) check that would have been difficult to replace because of the company it came from(a long story) so I...

How exactly did you calculate the net worth? I am curious what the variables are in accounting for that, which I am assuming is taking forward projected assets against liabilities. If I increased savings by roughly another 1k per month--either through additional income after tax, or additional expe...

The best you can do is figure out how to get your mom to listen to you and to see another advisor.

By advisor I am sure that is meant to be one that she is paying by the hour that is willing to give a clear written statement that they are not getting any other compensation.

What questions should I ask this advisor? If you want see the advisor squirm ask if they have a "fiduciary responsibility" (Google this) to do what is in your Mom's best interests. There problem is that there are real paid advisors that do have a "fiduciary responsibility" to th...

Is there a resource online to help play out this kind of transaction, or would I need to sit down with an accountant ($) and personal advisor ($$) for this kind of trade? If you(or someone you know) have last years tax software you can make up a dummy return to see how much in taxes you would need ...

If you had a paid of house would you take out a home equity loan just to invest it?

It can no doubt be done but raising kids in a 919 square foot condo would be a significant tradeoff especially as the kids got older or if you have more than one kid. If you are planning on having kids then you will need to be brutally realistic about just how important the good schools and locking ...

Married, both age 28, with net household income of 190k.... I can save roughly 1.5k after taxes/401k/all expenses What should I make my priority, Looking at the rest of your numbers it looks like your current net worth is somewhere around negative $50,000. At the current savings rate you will proba...

A) Do you think she should keep her house and me and my sister can take a small mortgage on the new house (say for 100k or slightly more)? We can then rent her house out and keep it. No that would leave way to much a percentage of her net worth in home equity. She really needs that 246K in cash for...

I think you are underestimating the chances that you or your wife will get at least a part time "fun job" just to give you something interesting to do. This is especially true while your kids are in school and traveling would be difficult to do during the school year. Having some income ea...

Your current mortgage company has an interest in keeping you in the higher interest rate mortgage so I would take what they say with a huge grain of salt.

You are just about at the 20% equity level that would allow you to get a convention mortgage without paying PMI so I would really try for that.

There is not enough information. When this has come up before the option that often looks best is to keep the money invested until you have enough to pay it off completely all at once. I would also look at it a how much this is of your net worth. If this is more than 20 to 30% of your net worth then...

Beware of general lists, the problem is that the relative tax load for people of different income levels may be a lot different than what the lists are looking at. I would be best to actually do a sample tax return and make a spreadsheet of all the property and sales taxes that you will be paying. S...

There is a wiki you should check out; http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Owning_vs_Renting If your current apartment is not the same then be sure take that into account. A big factor that people often overlook is that once you buy then you are much less mobile in your career. I have seen promotions and ...

A good thing to do would be to call your current lender and ask if they will "recast your mortgage" (Google this) if you make a large prepayment. Ask specifically for a "recast" and make sure that you get to someone that is familiar with this. You should a letter with all of the ...

Check with your HR department to see if he can get COBRA coverage after he turns 26. If so then that would take him through when he can get insurance next year. A quick Google found this; http://www.bluecrossma.com/national-health-care-reform/faqs/dependent-care-coverage-extension-26.html See the CO...

Savannah has some pretty dodgy area so be careful in your selection of hotels. The ones in the historic district are pretty expensive. If you are on a tight budget there are lots of generic chain motels on the interstate out in Pooler which is a short drive out of town. Bonaventure Cemetery is the h...

Here is a link to the "getting started" Wiki. http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Getting_Started There is a lot of great information in the books and links but you have plenty of time to learn. Since you will be starting out with a relatively small amount making all the best choices right now ...

My tax rate (state and fed) winds up being around 35-38% ...... Also, 20% of our gross income goes into ROTH 401k accounts (something that has been debated at length on other threads - both percentage and ROTH). Putting money in the Roth 401K in that tax bracket does not seem to make sense. Could y...

I actually think I like bear markets better.

If you are still in the accumulation phase then you should.

One thing she should do is call her current lender to see if they have any special refinance programs. Often they will just try to give existing customers a junky offer since some people will take it because it is easier than doing some research so you have to be careful and get all the details but ...

You didn't mention if the student loan interest is deductible or not. If not then the 4.8% interest rate is likely a lot higher than the effective after tax interest rate will be on the mortgage even if you have to pay PMI so paying the 4.8% loan first would make sense. It would be good to call a mo...

I've searched the forums and most of the discussions on permanent vs term life insurance usually quickly summarize to "buy term & invest the rest". One thing to keep in mind is that if you are not already maxing out all your deductible retirement accounts(401K, IRA, etc) then you coul...

I will take any and all input regarding anything, especially rental insurance, security deposits (how much to give and how to get them back), and any other pertinent topics that will make renting a pleasant experience. It is likely that you will be getting a one year lease. There are pros and cons ...

That's a good point, RM, and a good way to think about it. Okay I'm going to be an engineer here and make a table: Company Makes it Big: Company Doesn't Make it Big: I go with this company: Huge return Loss of opportunity cost don't go with this company Huge regret Feel more secure in hindsight, ha...

I got my wife's engagement ring at a reputable higher end auction house where they would refund your money if you had it appraised within a few days and the stone turned out not to be as described. I bought it without her there or knowing that I was buying it so I would not be under pressure to pay ...

It makes sense, and the light bulb has come on, but how do I know how much to save to make a difference in my taxes? It will not be exact because the laws and rates may change but if you have last years tax software then can make a dummy copy of last years tax returns and change the numbers in that...

What other financial factors should be considered? The way they are built now the typical suburban house in the US is a depreciating asset and only a very small percentage of them will not be torn down by the time they are 100 years old. There will be exceptions of course but if you can try to look...

One thing that I have not seen mentioned is that if you still have a mortgage then one way to get the money back into the stock market would be to pay off the mortgage then invest your "mortgage payment" each month in the stock market. I don't agree with it but an argument can be made for ...

There is also a wiki on this with some more dates.

http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Checklis ... ment_dates

I live in NJ. When I fly anywhere, the car service costs for me round trip is about $300. Think about it - NYC to Florida for $300 round trip. It seems like so little !!! If you are talking about a car to get you to and from the airport then there may be a less expensive way that you can use. What ...

Congratulation on expecting a baby. A third option would be to hire a property management company to manage the properties. It would be good to figure out what your situation will be with taxes if you sell. If you have been taking depreciation then that could cause you to have more capital gains tha...