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Re: First Time Landlord: Am I Doing It Right?

I would never ask for tax return or bank statements. Form 4506-T is an IRS form for getting a tax transcript that's usual when getting a mortgage. Doesn't give you the full return, just a summary of income, etc. for the year(s) requested. Seems like that might be a reasonable middle ground between ...
by archbish99
Tue Jun 18, 2013 1:13 am
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: First Time Landlord: Am I Doing It Right?
Replies: 27
Views: 1579

Re: Rollover from 401k while active employee

There's something fishy about being willing to modify the plan for a fee.

In general, no, you can't roll out your own contributions or the match, but you may be able to roll out anything you rolled in. I'm not sure how having been separated from service then coming back later affects that, though.
by archbish99
Mon Jun 17, 2013 5:44 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Rollover from 401k while active employee
Replies: 5
Views: 339

Re: First Time Landlord: Am I Doing It Right?

Re: the lease length, this is similar to duration on a bond. The longer the lease, the longer they're protected from increases in local housing prices, but the longer you have a semi-guaranteed cash flow (provided you have a penalty for leaving early which adequately compensates you). We have a neig...
by archbish99
Mon Jun 17, 2013 1:58 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: First Time Landlord: Am I Doing It Right?
Replies: 27
Views: 1579

Re: 401(k) and Roth IRA question.

In general, I'd say that asset allocation comes before how ideal the funds are. You could certainly look at tax-exempt bond funds in your taxable account, but unless your 401k choices are truly rotten, you'll probably ultimately want some bond investments there as the vast majority of new contributi...
by archbish99
Mon Jun 17, 2013 1:12 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: 401(k) and Roth IRA question.
Replies: 14
Views: 917

Re: Cashing out company 401k match immediately?

Lostinjersey, how does that work? If withdrawals are permitted, don't you risk a lawsuit by prohibiting them for taking advantage of options permitted by the plan? Or does the plan contain language about permitting withdrawals "at our discretion"?
by archbish99
Sun Jun 16, 2013 3:33 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Cashing out company 401k match immediately?
Replies: 21
Views: 1214

Re: Covering Fees in a Tax-Advantaged Account

First off, it's reaaaly bad that they insist on pulling the fees from your Roth, but this poses some interesting questions. With a regular Roth, you can withdraw contribution at any time without penalty, but you cannot withdraw earnings. If $500 is taken out as fees it would probably be shown as a ...
by archbish99
Sun Jun 16, 2013 11:46 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Covering Fees in a Tax-Advantaged Account
Replies: 4
Views: 338

Re: 401(k) and Roth IRA question.

Yes to both. Withdrawing $8k from your taxable "investments" (used loosely, for savings accounts) to enable you to contribute $12k to a tax-sheltered account is clearly advantageous, particularly if you're actually paying $33k in taxes. Also, I would always move money from taxable to Roth ...
by archbish99
Sat Jun 15, 2013 1:39 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: 401(k) and Roth IRA question.
Replies: 14
Views: 917

Re: Cashing out company 401k match immediately?

That's correct -- there are typically restrictions on when you can take a withdrawal and of what funds, and if a withdrawal is permitted, your ability to make new contributions is suspended for a while. Now, that's not to say that you couldn't pull this trick with a company you work for a short peri...
by archbish99
Sat Jun 15, 2013 12:11 am
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Cashing out company 401k match immediately?
Replies: 21
Views: 1214

Re: Social Security - Guide

What it comes down to is a trade-off between possibly leaving money on the table or having a higher guaranteed floor if they live "too long." By spending down the portfolio in order to delay SS as long as possible, they reduce the size of their estate if they die earlier, but increase the ...
by archbish99
Thu Jun 13, 2013 11:48 am
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Social Security - Guide
Replies: 20
Views: 1331

Re: Inherit an IRA through a trust?

If the IRA owner dies before they have begun RMDs at age 70.5, there is no option to continue taking RMDs over a number of years. In this case the account becomes subject to a 5-year rule, where there is no specific RMD requirement each year, but the entire account balance need to be distributed wi...
by archbish99
Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:20 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Inherit an IRA through a trust?
Replies: 10
Views: 474

Re: Inherit an IRA through a trust?

Basically, remember that the IRA is a separate legal entity whose actions are governed strictly by the terms of the trust (and any discretion those terms give the trustee, or rights it gives the beneficiary to make demands of the trustee). What generally happens is that the trust will take (at least...
by archbish99
Wed Jun 12, 2013 11:56 am
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Inherit an IRA through a trust?
Replies: 10
Views: 474

Re: WiFi 802.11 AC: Is it really faster? Worth It?

Indeed. I just realized last week that I had no 2.4GHz-only devices left, but they were all using the 2.4GHz band when it was available. I switched off the 2.4GHz SSID.
by archbish99
Tue Jun 11, 2013 7:39 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: WiFi 802.11 AC: Is it really faster? Worth It?
Replies: 15
Views: 975

Re: WiFi 802.11 AC: Is it really faster? Worth It?

Link speed? Yes, 11ac is drastically faster for a number of reasons. If you do a lot of in-home transfers (streaming from your PC to your game console, or network-attached storage to your PC, etc.) then you'll see an amazing difference. (Incidentally, Apple is far from the only source of 11ac device...
by archbish99
Tue Jun 11, 2013 12:20 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: WiFi 802.11 AC: Is it really faster? Worth It?
Replies: 15
Views: 975

Re: Does It Make Sense to Buy Company Stock at a Discount?

tax issues that tend to make it desireable to hold stock for 1 or 2 years. Actually, if you sell immediately, there's no tax penalty -- if you sell for more than fair market value (FMV) at the time you received the shares, the whole thing is ordinary income, both the discount and the capital gain. ...
by archbish99
Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:12 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Does It Make Sense to Buy Company Stock at a Discount?
Replies: 11
Views: 1064

Re: Tap IRA early or use SS early ??

*OK - I admit it. I don't really find two people arguing on line about math to be "interesting" after the first couple salvos. In slight defense, there were actually four of us. But you're right -- while it was on-topic, we did derail from the specific scenario under discussion, and I'm s...
by archbish99
Mon Jun 10, 2013 9:02 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tap IRA early or use SS early ??
Replies: 116
Views: 4031

Re: Tap IRA early or use SS early ??

From my perspective, you haven't explained how the person is better off at age 82, so there's nothing for me to agree with or disagree with yet on that score. But no, you haven't given an explanation of "inverse money from savings" that makes any sense to me (Or anyone else? Anyone?), and ...
by archbish99
Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:50 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tap IRA early or use SS early ??
Replies: 116
Views: 4031

Re: Reorganizing Investments before Income Jump

Watty - I am going to look into refinancing more. I'm not sure I have 20% equity in the house, but it I think it is pretty close. The PenFed refinance seems like a good option. Thanks for sharing! PenFed requires 90% LTV on houses, not 80%, but there would be PMI if your LTV is under 80%. (Their PM...
by archbish99
Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:44 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Reorganizing Investments before Income Jump
Replies: 9
Views: 800

Re: Tap IRA early or use SS early ??

Except that the money is already present in the age-62 scenario -- it's that nice little column that says "8000" on every row. You've explained why it gets counted once -- what you haven't explained is why you think it should be counted a second time. Or, to phrase the question differently...
by archbish99
Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:18 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tap IRA early or use SS early ??
Replies: 116
Views: 4031

Re: Tap IRA early or use SS early ??

However i say that money NOT REMOVED from savings is in EFFECT double counted from 62-70 and that money if added to the 62-90 total breaks EFFECTIVELY even at 90. ... all the charts you have DO NOT double count the money Yes, this seems to be the difference, so we're closing in on some level of mut...
by archbish99
Mon Jun 10, 2013 7:51 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tap IRA early or use SS early ??
Replies: 116
Views: 4031

Re: Tap IRA early or use SS early ??

I honestly can't decide if Gerry is a troll or just firm in his viewpoint without being able to express it clearly enough for us to understand why he believes what he does. Therefore, in an attempt to offer sufficient respect to both possibilities, I'm going to do the following, and invite others to...
by archbish99
Mon Jun 10, 2013 7:28 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tap IRA early or use SS early ??
Replies: 116
Views: 4031

Re: Tap IRA early or use SS early ??

yes you got it. the effect is the not removing money from savings-this only happens with the social security scenario of taking 62 or 70. I'm not the one that created this system. SS did.. your saying exactly what i'm saying-except you don't believe it. because you think it's too good to be true it...
by archbish99
Mon Jun 10, 2013 5:10 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tap IRA early or use SS early ??
Replies: 116
Views: 4031

Re: Tap IRA early or use SS early ??

The decision to take Social Security or not is effectively an annuity purchase. Social Security comes as a pair of two things: ⋅ An annuity with a certain monthly payout, inflation-adjusted annually for life, and pretty generous survivor benefits ⋅ The option to purchase a simila...
by archbish99
Sun Jun 09, 2013 5:44 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tap IRA early or use SS early ??
Replies: 116
Views: 4031

Re: Premium for Brokerage CDs on Secondary Market?

the person selling on secondary market is taking a loss even if they are getting a premium for their cd. I have no idea why somebody would sell a cd for cash unless they needed the cash. as for buying a cd and paying a premium technically that is not true. i bought a cd that has a 5.15 interest rat...
by archbish99
Sat Jun 08, 2013 12:06 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Premium for Brokerage CDs on Secondary Market?
Replies: 31
Views: 1261

Re: Premium for Brokerage CDs on Secondary Market?

I've seen a reasonable explanation for the premium of CDs over Treasuries -- the prices are driven by institutional investors who are well past the FDIC limit, so the value of the insurance is mostly not priced in. To that extent, it is a free lunch. But why so much higher yield on secondary than pr...
by archbish99
Sat Jun 08, 2013 12:49 am
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Premium for Brokerage CDs on Secondary Market?
Replies: 31
Views: 1261

Re: Solo 401k: Good Way to Save on Taxes?

Yes, though you're confusing the term "match." So long as you don't have any employees in either side-job, you can contribute: ⋅ Up to $17k/year as an employee contribution, but this limit is spread across all your jobs, PLUS ⋅ Up to 20% of your net business profits as ...
by archbish99
Fri Jun 07, 2013 7:38 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Solo 401k: Good Way to Save on Taxes?
Replies: 1
Views: 257

Re: Does It Make Sense to Buy Company Stock at a Discount?

This is generally a good deal, if you can sell immediately. Some ESPPs have minimum times that you have to hold the stock before you can sell. (Ours only has a time during which you can't transfer the shares away from the broker; you can sell and then transfer cash freely as soon as you get the shar...
by archbish99
Fri Jun 07, 2013 7:31 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Does It Make Sense to Buy Company Stock at a Discount?
Replies: 11
Views: 1064

Re: HDHP X2 just to get the HSA contribution?

I am not sure i follow your logic. If my wife's plan were primary for all parties involved, then our out of pocket maximum would $6000. That is the best case. The second best case would be if she and any kids were on her plan. Their out of pocket max would be $6k. Lets say that my out of pocket max...
by archbish99
Fri Jun 07, 2013 2:48 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: HDHP X2 just to get the HSA contribution?
Replies: 19
Views: 1055

Re: Jargon help for a BH noob - results/strategy

Chastised ? That was how it seemed. Perhaps it was not the intent (there's always a chance of misunderstanding someones intent in a forum like this). Newcomers are frequently chided with that, because they're falling into that trap. I know I certainly did when I was starting out with my 401k. I pic...
by archbish99
Thu Jun 06, 2013 1:22 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Jargon help for a BH noob - results/strategy
Replies: 12
Views: 673

Re: HDHP X2 just to get the HSA contribution?

If we do have kids, and they are double covered, then the primary insurer would be my plan (the worse of the two) because my birthday falls before my wife's birthday in the calendar year (both SPDs agree on that). That basically kills the idea entirely. Why? Looks like COB can vary by plan and by s...
by archbish99
Wed Jun 05, 2013 2:41 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: HDHP X2 just to get the HSA contribution?
Replies: 19
Views: 1055

Re: Investing newbie is nervous about his portfolio!

Yeah, not seeing any low-expense International funds there, so I'd start with the second one where everything outside the 401k is in Total International, and the 401k is entirely in your low-expense options. Once you've gotten up to your target percentage for International, start putting new funds o...
by archbish99
Tue Jun 04, 2013 7:23 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Investing newbie is nervous about his portfolio!
Replies: 24
Views: 1933

Re: Investing newbie is nervous about his portfolio!

In most 401ks, the company provides a list of funds, and you have freedom to pick among them in any way you want. In many, there's also a "self-directed brokerage" option (possibly with an annual fee, always with per-trade commissions). The fees on those are generally horrible for buying s...
by archbish99
Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:45 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Investing newbie is nervous about his portfolio!
Replies: 24
Views: 1933

Re: Investing newbie is nervous about his portfolio!

VINIX tracks the S&P 500, the 500 largest stocks that make up the bulk (~80%) of the market. It's a good starting point. If you want, you can look for the "Extended Market" fund, which is a Total Stock Market fund minus those 500. It's appealing because Institutional shares get super-...
by archbish99
Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:20 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Investing newbie is nervous about his portfolio!
Replies: 24
Views: 1933

Re: Investing newbie is nervous about his portfolio!

When you're talking about mutual funds, more funds doesn't mean more diversity. Total stock market owns essentially every stock in the US stock market; in at least one sense, you can't get more diversified, because any other fund necessarily owns more than market weight of some things and less than ...
by archbish99
Mon Jun 03, 2013 11:50 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Investing newbie is nervous about his portfolio!
Replies: 24
Views: 1933

Re: Any downsides to rolling into current employer (good) 40

I'll disagree with Watty. You should check your plan's terms on rolling out money that has been rolled in, but most allow you to do that at any time, so if they change their fund selection you can get the money out then. Plus, if you're only in Investor shares at Vanguard, we're not really talking a...
by archbish99
Mon Jun 03, 2013 12:13 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Any downsides to rolling into current employer (good) 401k?
Replies: 5
Views: 352

Re: Possible bullying at work

Frankly, I also seem to be the only one who thinks that taking notes is not much of a hardship. I actually consider it a mark of respect to be assigned this task. I didn't get around to saying that because there seems to be other stuff going on, and I'm not sure how he intends it. If you check out ...
by archbish99
Mon Jun 03, 2013 12:09 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Possible bullying at work
Replies: 87
Views: 6723

Re: what's the best approach to spouses saving in 401Ks?

...let's say that the husband is taxed at 20% and the wife at 25%. How, in this hypothetical scenario, does this happen? There are a few situations in which this could occur, but not many. If they're married, but filing separately, then you'd obviously prefer to contribute everything to the 401k of...
by archbish99
Sun Jun 02, 2013 7:05 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: what's the best approach to spouses saving in 401Ks?
Replies: 9
Views: 967

Re: Foreign tax credit - funds of funds

Basically, if you hold the fund directly, you're eligible to take a credit for the taxes paid, but you're taxed on the full amount (including the taxes). If you hold it via a fund-of-funds, the fund distributes and you're taxed on the after-foreign-tax amount. By holding a fund-of-funds, you get a d...
by archbish99
Sat Jun 01, 2013 1:04 am
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Foreign tax credit - funds of funds
Replies: 6
Views: 406

Re: First Time Posting, Portfolio Advice Please

Haven't looked them all up, but Schwab is a more recent comer to the field of low-cost index providers, so I checked a couple of theirs. SWEGX (Schwab All-Equity) is ~70% domestic, 30% international with an ER of 0.64%. Coupled with SWLBX (Schwab Total Bond) at 0.29%, that would make a pretty good b...
by archbish99
Thu May 30, 2013 2:25 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: First Time Posting, Portfolio Advice Please
Replies: 17
Views: 1064

Re: $200,000 windfall

1. Would it be a good idea to put the IRAs in Target Retirement funds until we sell the land and I'm able to begin 403b contributions? I know we'd need to rebalance once I set up 403b contributions so we have more bonds in the tax-advantaged accounts. 2. We're still thinking about whether to conver...
by archbish99
Thu May 30, 2013 1:31 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: $200,000 windfall
Replies: 41
Views: 3230

Re: Converting Taxable to VG. All at once or over time?

If any of those taxable short-term funds have losses, go ahead and move them now; the capital loss can offset the gain on the long-term sales. Even looking at the whole thing, you say the short-termers are $14k of which $1k is gain. She saves 10% tax on the gain (15% vs. 25%), and so will pay $100 i...
by archbish99
Wed May 29, 2013 5:20 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Converting Taxable to VG. All at once or over time?
Replies: 6
Views: 454

Re: HDHP X2 just to get the HSA contribution?

if you have your own plan can you make yours secondary for you? is that possible. when you had your own single plan was yours primary for you. From what I've read, the person who is the primary insured (i.e. the employee for whichever plan) gets that plan used as primary for them, and the spouse's ...
by archbish99
Tue May 28, 2013 5:22 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: HDHP X2 just to get the HSA contribution?
Replies: 19
Views: 1055

Re: Converting Taxable to VG. All at once or over time?

Transfer the account to Vanguard; you can then sell the fund shares as needed, minimizing the time you'll be out of the market. If she's sitting right at the top of the 15% bracket, I don't think you'll make much difference this year versus next, though regardless it's to your benefit to minimize sh...
by archbish99
Tue May 28, 2013 5:01 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Converting Taxable to VG. All at once or over time?
Replies: 6
Views: 454

Re: Bond funds vs CDs...how best to preserve principal

if you look at the "fine print" of most funds i would surmise they all have weasely print I vaguely recall seeing something in one of Vanguard's fund documents that, if you make a large, sudden withdrawal from one of their mutual funds, they reserve the right to deliver you the underlying...
by archbish99
Tue May 28, 2013 4:51 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Bond funds vs CDs...how best to preserve principal
Replies: 34
Views: 3482

Re: Traditional, ROTH and SEP-IRA

See Principles of Tax-Efficient Fund Placement. All else being equal, I'd put it in the Traditional or the SEP, since you prefer to keep the highest expected return in the Roth. However, they're all tax-advantaged, so none of them would be a bad choice.
by archbish99
Tue May 28, 2013 11:26 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Traditional, ROTH and SEP-IRA
Replies: 4
Views: 247

Re: Transfer of stock to a charity - is this a no brainer?

Tax-wise, there's really no reason at all. In fact, no need to have a separate fund -- just transfer shares of whatever you have in taxable, then buy more shares with the money you would have given. Hassle-wise, though, you've already encountered the big one: whether the recipient is already set up ...
by archbish99
Tue May 28, 2013 11:15 am
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Transfer of stock to a charity - is this a no brainer?
Replies: 17
Views: 961

Re: Medical Balance Billing Business

Fair enough -- a more appropriate term might be "catch-all pseudo-insurance." The payments are tiny past the high-deductible portion, at least. :happy Our HDHP pays nothing for the first couple thousand, 90% thereafter up to the OOP max. Once we meet our deductible, day-to-day things get t...
by archbish99
Tue May 28, 2013 12:43 am
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Medical Balance Billing Business
Replies: 6
Views: 481

Re: Medical Balance Billing Business

I see CareCredit, which looks like it's just a credit card you can use to pay medical bills. Other than not being one of the major card companies, and offering no-interest promotional periods, it doesn't seem like it actually reduces the billing friction for most things. Interesting concept, though ...
by archbish99
Mon May 27, 2013 5:30 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Medical Balance Billing Business
Replies: 6
Views: 481

Medical Balance Billing Business

As I was picking up a prescription with a forty-two-cent coinsurance today, and thinking about my parents' typical $3-4 coinsurance per doctor's office visit, I had an idea for a business niche and wondered if it already existed. Dealing with these scattered tiny payments is a hassle -- not so bad a...
by archbish99
Mon May 27, 2013 4:56 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Medical Balance Billing Business
Replies: 6
Views: 481

Re: Do you tip on take out?

No way. Pretty soon, tipping will be expected for everything, that is just ridiculous. Do you tip your supermarket deli counter clerk? Do you tip your supermarket cashier as well? How about the baggers? :oops: I certainly don't, but I've seen some of these "how much should I tip ______?" ...
by archbish99
Mon May 27, 2013 12:57 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Do you tip on take out?
Replies: 70
Views: 4491

Re: First Time Posting, Portfolio Advice Please

You need to be saving a lot more for retirement each year. You are single with no debt and own your own home (a great accomplisment btw). On a $90k salary, you should be maxing out your 401k at $17.5k per year, contributing $5.5k to an IRA, and adding like another $20-25k per year in after-tax mone...
by archbish99
Sat May 25, 2013 9:35 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: First Time Posting, Portfolio Advice Please
Replies: 17
Views: 1064
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