Bogleheads.org

Another happy YNAB user here. I enter my spending on the go and when I get home, it automatically syncs to the desktop version. I don't have to give account numbers/passwords like Mint requires. DH is trained to save his receipts and give to me. Works on both Macs and PCs. i use the iphone app, but...

I think this poll would be more interesting if people posted their household income at the time their household net worth, including their home, hit $100k. Are bogleheads great savers or do they just have above average incomes? It would be interesting if people included how much of that could be at...

market timer wrote:Age 32. This thread makes me feel even poorer than the net worth thread showing half of you are millionaires.

Well I was in my 40's before my IRA account hit $100K. Hopefully that will make you feel better.

I use a debit card for small purchases as my credit union requires 12 debit a month to earn the "high" interest rate of 1.75%. Just about everything else goes on the rewards cc. My local grocery stores don't require a signature on purchases under a certain amount. I carry a couple of blank...

How about power of attorney? I guess durable or springing power of attorney for the wife or the daughters would be a good thing to get, if he becomes incapacitated (he has already had some health issues)? Does anyone have any thoughts on that? If you are talking about obtaining a POA after he is le...

Another happy YNAB user here. I enter my spending on the go and when I get home, it automatically syncs to the desktop version. I don't have to give account numbers/passwords like Mint requires. DH is trained to save his receipts and give to me. Works on both Macs and PCs. i use the iphone app, but ...

Checking the IRA balances every single day.

Is it possible that he may already be suffering from some mental incapacity? Has he been evaluated? If is actually is already mentally imparred, do his daughters have the backbone to have him declared incompetent?

Unless everyone is on the same page nothing good will happen. This. Have you talked to your wife about your concerns? Are you both on the same page? If so, you need to talk to her siblings and their spouses and see if everyone is worried/concerned enough to act. If you choose an intervention, every...

Am I correct in thinking that with an HMO (non-Kaiser), if you go to a hospital and have a procedure done, it's possible that it could turn out that one of the doctors was an out of network contractor, in which case you would be out of luck because HMOs don't cover out of network care, and have to ...

Though benefits are regionally dependent, does anyone know how to best find out what resources are available to low income families? I'd google search terms like "name of county, state, and senior services", "name of county, state, and senior assistance", and repeat using terms ...

She now lives in a large farmouse in the boondocks of Maine. It is too much house for her but now if she moves the mortgage comes due and it is a difficult place to sell. It is also the place of her dreams. If it is too much house for her now, that is only going to get worse. Either she will have t...

Target Retirement funds are ideal for someone who holds most of their retirement in a tax advantaged account, whose AA fits the TR glide path, can find a low-cost option (VG has ER of only 0.17%), and who does not want to spend much time fiddling with their investments (even if they know quite a bi...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=298nld4Yfds Give Vanguard the account details, ask them to initiate the transfer. Engage in only the minimum contact with your current provider that you have to. And, be sure to get Vanguard's help in getting the cheapest way to move / liquidate assets. It is probably...

Here's what my uncle did when he married. His net worth was north of 5 million. She, had an small inheritance of a few hundred thousand. Since he did not go the pre-nup route (you have to disclose all assets. You forget one, the whole thing can be tossed out due to misrepresentation or fraud), he t...

Since it has been in the family 80 years, it seems a shame to sell it. Is there no one in the family/extended family who would treasure it as a family heirloom?

OP, I'm not going to go into whether you should accept a loan from your inlaws.... Just a couple of comments. I would NOT ask them to make it a gift. If they offer a loan, I'd ask them to accept a promissory note for repayment (with terms like interest rate and repayment schedule included). I would ...

I would do #1

Well, if it was me, I'd lock it in and go to sleep remembering when I bought a condo in 1980 and locked in a rate of 11%. Good thing too, because rates went up to about 18% later that year...... Besides, if you plan to be there a long time and rates drop significantly more (which I doubt), you alway...

Expecting my first in August So I'm probably right along with you. 529 plan - do it, even if it's just $50 a month - if you can, I started from the day I got the TIN #, have not regretted it. Compounding does work and the gains will be tax-free to you. + 1 Even better, encourage the grandparents to...

Disclaimer - I"m not trying to show off or anything, just want honest advice :) I know I should have a bigger emergency fund but I work in the heart of the tech industry so I will be able to find a job within days (if not hours) if absolutely necessary (in the short term, if there's a tech bub...

I don't have a large estate (currently about $1.2M) as I did not earn a lot of money when I was working. But they would think they'd won the lotto. They'd ignore tax saving strategies and spend it all at once. I was thinking that if it were in a trust, they could receive an annual amount and stretc...

In my case, the "children" are adults, in their 40's. They are not good with money and have blown off my attempts to enourage them to save/invest. I watched them handle a modest inheritance ($60K each) when their father (my ex) died. Five years later, it is gone and they have nothing to s...

We are nearing our 70's and still enjoy travel. I'm finding that I'm willing to pay more for extra comfort - it greatlyenhances the enjoyement.

I appreciate the responses, especially from bsteiner. In my case, the "children" are adults, in their 40's. They are not good with money and have blown off my attempts to enourage them to save/invest. I watched them handle a modest inheritance ($60K each) when their father (my ex) died. Fi...

to warrant creating a trust?

Half a million? A million? More?

I realize that a lot depends on the state, but what if the purpose of a trust is less about avoiding probate and more about protecting an inheritance from being squandered by spendthrift heirs?

I can spend it in retirement. But DH, who saved all his life, thinks there is something "bad" about taking withdrawals from the retirement accounts. I've told him, "you can't take it with you" and "this is what you've saved for" and he still has a hard time doing it.......

If you could travel in a Delorean time machine, what would you tell yourself to do over? . I'd have acquired a better understanding of asset allocation and re-balancing. And the importance of not trying to chase returns. I did not really learn those things until after retirement. Better late than n...

Oh this topic is a big one for me. I used Bigfoot's spreadsheet to help me decide. I've decided to convert as much as I can within the 15% marginal rate. (We have yet to reach the age for RMD's) because if our IRA accounts continue to do well, the RMD's will push us into the 25% bracket. Now, if the...

How mich is your deductible?

The FIRE forum (early retirement and money) have a number of threads on this topic.

Inspired by this thread, I've scanned 10 years' worth of tax returns. I'm now using turbotax which lets me save the return as a pdf which will make archiving future returns a snap.

DH and I hace separate ins. I have Medicare with a supplemental plan. He has a HDHP. It's not a big deal, but we did make sure that our preferred doctors are part of both plans.

Documents that would be difficult (or expensive) to replace are kept in the safe dep box: birth &marriage certificates, vehicle registration, title to property, etc . dd, you would be amazed how easy it actually turns out to be to replace all of these things. I once had to do these and between ...

rec7 wrote:Ever notice the tax free states many times have wilder weather. It is like tax free is the carrot to get you to move there.

The tax free carrot is not enough to make me consider moving to most of those places. I dislike extremes of hot and cold weather. And living near family is priceless.

Documents that would be difficult (or expensive) to replace are kept in the safe dep box: birth &marriage certificates, vehicle registration, title to property, etc Bank and investment statements I keep in a pdf file on my computer - I keep a paper copy of the Dec statement of investment stateme...

If you are single, I'd seriously consider teaching English overseas. Lots of places hire English teachers (they want a degree). The daughter of some friends did this for 20 years teaching English all over the world. She eventually got a Masters and is now back home teaching at the local CC. She star...

In the meantime, you'd probably be better off just buying a VG target fund direct from VG for all your retirement accounts and buying term life (assuming you actually need life insurance.) If you have money left over for taxable investing, post a specific question about that later. Paul +1 Imo, you...

Have I made a mistake? I don't know if it was a mistake for you or not, but the fact that both you and your wife are feeling uncomfortable is telling you something..... At what point should children have full access to parents' financial information? I really think that depends on the family. Some ...

I have two adult children. Unfortunately, they do not share my financial values and goals. I watched as both blew through a small ($60,000) inheritance when their father died (my ex). One put $9000 down on a house, spent $5K on braces for his (now ex) wife. Other than that, they have nothing to sho...

I have two adult children. Unfortunately, they do not share my financial values and goals. I watched as both blew through a small ($60,000) inheritance when their father died (my ex). One put $9000 down on a house, spent $5K on braces for his (now ex) wife. Other than that, they have nothing to show...

gkaplan wrote:You couldn't pay me to live in most of the tax friendly states for retirees.

+1

My priority is to live near my children & grandchildren. I also enjoy the services that my taxes pay for. Besides, our largest tax bill is to the IRS and that would be the same whichever state we lived in.

Some things are more (healthcare), some are less. It is about the same overall.

It appears that the OP's father lives in NY. When I googled "filial support laws", NY did not show up as being one of the 29 states thst have these laws...

I have an ipad also (a regular one). It is a "wifi only" : no data subscription. I use it at Starbucks, Safeway, the public library, Home Depot and any other place that has free wifi. Many restaurants have free wifi, but you have to ask them for the password. Very easy to use. In addition...

BUT , the wife received a mini iPad as a gift and she carries it everywhere. Plays games, checks and sends email, surfs the web, down loads eBooks from our library - all at no cost. Please tell me more about the "all at no cost" aspect. 1210 P.S. Anyone....what's a "hotspot"? I ...

Yes, it does seem a bit high. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we insure through SAFECO, which charges us $400 per year for a $5 million umbrella policy. I believe most companies require that you buy auto and homeowners insurance from them, before they'll sell you an umbrella policy — though there ma...

Signing up for my company's 401K and contributing enough to get the match. I did not know much about finances, but did figure out that it was a good deal. I did it when they were fairly new and most of my co-workers had all kinds of reasons not to. (Gradually I increased my contributions until I rea...

Here's what worked for us. My wife has her own credit card that I don't look at, but she's responsible for paying the bill from her account. It works. Before I would see every one of her purchases, we'd do combat over every little purchase, then I paid the bill anyway. Now I don't see the charges a...

If you can't afford to have your daughter live on campus without a loan then she should not live on campus. That lesson alone is probably more valuable than EVERYTHING she learns in the first year of college. edit to add: I'm a huge proponent of students living on campus, but seeing as the universi...