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You open a taxable account at Vanguard. Once it's set up and you have the account number you get checks from the savings accounts. You either send those checks directly to Vanguard or deposit them in a checking account and send one big check. Or am I misunderstanding the question? You answered my q...

Here's an idea. You would exchange everything you currently have to what is below and then maintain it with contributions. Taxable 30.5% 30.5% Vanguard Total International Index His Current 401k 0% 0% BlackRock S&P 500 Index A (MDSRX) (ER: 0.56) 0% PIMCO Total Return Fund A (PTTAX) (ER: 0.85) H...

bkm, welcome back. Since it appears you will be in the 28% tax bracket for 2012 (and later), you may or may not be able to contribute directly to Roth IRA. Do you know yet? We have not yet made our Roth IRA contributions. We are going to figure it when we file our taxes next month. 1) Would you rat...

Sorry for a very late reply. I have been busy with family visits and holidays :) Ok. This puts you into the 28% tax bracket for 2012. That puts a different light on things. And it might put you out of range for direct Roth IRA contributions for 2012. I'm assuming you have not yet made your 2012 Roth...

Do you mind if we go over that federal rate just one more time? The reason I'm asking is that you originally had 27%. When people have a number like that it is usually an effective rate, not a marginal rate. But an effective rate of 27% made me expect a marginal rate of probably 33%, maybe higher. ...

ruralavalon thank you for your comments. You indicate your combined tax rate is nearly 31% ("25% Federal (approx), 5.75% VA State"), which is relatively high, so it ts more likely that you will be in a lower tax bracket on retirement. That would argue against using a Roth. What is your mar...

retiredjg thank you for taking time to review my portfolio. I am sorry for a late reply. I have made changes in the initial post to reflect the Federal and VA state marginal tax bracket. Your suggestion of 80% stocks and 20% bonds makes sense. I made this change. Why are you unsure about the Roth IR...

Hi, I am a newbie to this forum. I have been following the forum for over a month. I am married, wife worked for 8 months this year. Here is our current breakdown. Emergency Fund: 6 months in savings accounts. Debt: $360k mortgage. No other debt. Tax Filing Status: Married Filing Jointly. Children a...