Bogleheads.org

For us, it was investing in our companies' employee stock purchase plans. Not that we made tons of money in them, but more that it got us used to saving. The money for the investment came out of our checks before we missed it. And so we made a habit of saving. Another smart move, for us, was paying...

I've gotten them numerous times for gifting stock. Our bank requires & keeps a copy of my living trust to reference when signing.

Agree with TL about the CG tax going away upon death. Also, if there's a state income and/or estate taxes, those go GC taxes also go away. If they're in the 25% marginal bracket or higher, selling a lot of that stock in one year could push them into the AMT brackets which are higher than the GC brac...

You may want to read Rick Ferri's comment:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=114575

Don't you also make the montly principal paydown on the mortgage? You don't see it till you sell, but it's an unrealized cap gain.

Trying to figure out how I'm going to pay the bills would drive me insane. Net, have always spent less than take in & have some left over when I get my next income source. No money stressing.

I've learned that I don't have a lot of much from this thread.

I having one kid, this is immaterial directly. But my point would be is how do you know the relative financial circumstances - current & future - of each of your kids? And I'd be concerned that the ones that are down & out would use their inheritance to quickly get back to being down & o...

I am trying to determine the best way for my wife and me to take Social Security. I am three years and 2 months older than my wife. I plan to wait until 70 to take my own social security benefits. I have a couple of questions. They are as follows: (1). I will be 65 and 2 months when my wife turns 6...

Your wife doesn't gain anything by delaying her spousal benefit, because it's based on your age-66 amount and won't go up any further. My understanding is that it's 50% of the age-66 amount (your Principal Insurance Amount = PIA), but I don't know enough to recognize the 45.1% that you cited. It's ...

I would not take S.S. until Age 70, especially since you are still working. I assume that you don't need the money now, right?.....the increase in benefits will average about 8% a year from 66 to age 70 What about my wife's Social Security? Take it now? I sort of feel that a bird in the hand is wor...

"Truman Clark, of DFA, examined rebalancing in detail in three papers published online on the DFA site in Fall of 2001. He concluded that, "the proposition that a rebalancing strategy can increase expected return is dubious," "


http://www.evansonasset.com/index.cfm?Page=3

It's comforting to know that when it storms I get a free umbrella replacement.

"My wife files and suspends at 66. (2103) I file for spousal benefits at 66. (2015) My wife files for retirement benefits at 70. (2017) I filed for retirement benefits at 70. (2019) My wife takes spousal benefit when I turn 70. (2019.)" If you wife takes your spousal benefit when you are 7...

You have until April to contribute $5,000 post-tax.. so keep contributing until you've maxed out that 5k! Wish I could've started at 17... The OP can not contribute more than his taxable income for the year. For 2012, the maximum you can contribute to all of your traditional and Roth IRAs is the sm...

Sounds like cheap firewood.

To me, an HSA is a way to avoid taxes on income, not a primary investment vehicle. Mine has limited investment choices vs. other investment options. Also, the higher your taxes rates, the more you use the HSA the more you avoid spending greater amounts cutdown after taxes income. I'd be trying to co...

Because of the widows benefit rules it does not matter much which of you has a longer life expectancy. It might matter if one of you is likely to die before age 70. Also how much is "considerably lower"? if your wifes PIA is close to or more than 1/3 of yours you should also consider: 1) ...

The taxes out of my paycheck have gone way down.

I think we seniors are given way to many breaks - taxes/deals/etc. We're the 2nd wealthiest age group. The ones that truly need breaks are the young ones trying to get established.

I'm curious why he/she needs to be nearby.

Don't know why a condo would be harder to get a loan on than our duplexes are. We're getting owner-occupied rates + 2 points. For 15 year, the rate is under 3%. The points add to the effective rate of course but aren't that big an effect. The loan process is a real pain. Don't think it's due to us n...

Promise yourself that you're not going to buy anything no matter how good of a deal, and then go look at and test drive stuff. By being in a headspace where you *know* you're not buying anything, it can be more amusing than stressful dealing with hard-pressure salesmen. Once you've figured out what...

As I understand it, SIPC provides $500K insurance per account in the event of broker fraud/bankrupcy. V & F keeping your accounts are brokers. They also likely carry insurance on their own protecting against themselves.

I'd load up with sunscreen and/or moisturizer & reapply as needed along the way.

Before you open, take a tour of KY's Bourbon Trail & sample along the way. Then you'll know what to like. The Maker's Mark distillery sits in a gorgeous creekside setting. BTW, I'm never w/o it. Just bought a 1.75L refill.

We had to put 25% down to get personal mortgages at rates similar to home mortgages. And we're limited to 4 properties having mortgages by the bank, including a home. After expenses - mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance, repairs - and including mortgage principal paydown, the apartments are maki...

And I don't see any indication that tax preparer credentials necessarily qualifies someone to provide tax advice . It seems to me that there needs to be some means of certifying tax advisers, like we certify financial planners. "IRS Registered Tax Return Preparer" is a new designation by ...

I read this increase to be on new coverage, not existing coverage; i.e., not raising current customers' rates. Right/wrong?

livesoft wrote:It looks like they will mean nothing to me and to most folks since we won't be paying them.

Just those that need a medical device like an artifical knee or a tongue depressor. 2.3% tax on all.

They're a political organization that uses your membership to show politicians your support for their positions. If you like what they spout, join. If not, why help them with their dirty work? Did I say I was biased?

If you're old & like the investments, why take the cap gains at all? The basis costs steps up to current value upon death & poof go the cap gains.

Since you both earn relatively the same salary and have relatively the same assets (one is not a millionaire and the other a pauper) I would not bother with a prenup. In your scenario, if you can't blend your lives together in every way, I wouldn't get married yet. I must respectfully disagree. Wit...

Mine's NAV is the highest it's been in the last few years.

Agree on EBITDA. 5x min today if stable/growing slow. Higher if growing well.

If I lived in a state income tax state, I'd want a state-speciifc fund to save those taxes also.

Stuff like this happens when you devalue your currency.

Big thing with HSA's is to have the receipt for each expense. Otherwise in an audit the expense will be disallowed & you'll owe taxes & a penalty on those dispersals.

13. GLD + 12 bond funds of various durations & various markets. Also MM and a few corporate bonds.

Me, I'd give the most-appreciated stock directly to the charities to avoid the cap gains tax & perhaps state/local income taxes AND get the deduction of the fully appreciated value. We do this constantly. The net cost of the gifts to us is ~56% of its value. It allows us greater gifting.

I will tell you what we are doing. We are trying to preserve our carryover losses until we stop earning income and start withdrawing from taxable account for the many years before we start SS benefits. That way, we will have no income to report on our tax return except our traditional IRA conversio...

mbres60 wrote: My other child lives out of state and never has liked to be told what to do.

Perhaps explaining why s/he lives out of state?

We have our clients provide for their children in trust rather than outright. That keeps the inheritance out of the child's estate, and protects against the child's potential creditors (including spouses). If you would otherwise have left the money to the child outright, the child can effectively c...

Assuming 0% tax bracket means income tax, not long-term cap gains.

But, you pay 0% capital gains tax up to $70k taxable income, so the amount not taxed at 15% LTCG is way more, $70K + the $12K, than the amount of income offset by deductions in the 0% income tax bracket.

No. I wouldn't do it. I see no need to pay LTCG tax now when you have no idea what the LTCG rate will be when you actually need the money. (Presumably this will be much further into the future than 2013.) IMO it makes sense for someone currently in the 15% Federal bracket with no carryover losses, ...

No. I wouldn't do it. I see no need to pay LTCG tax now when you have no idea what the LTCG rate will be when you actually need the money. (Presumably this will be much further into the future than 2013.) IMO it makes sense for someone currently in the 15% Federal bracket with no carryover losses, ...

dbonnett wrote:Posters often ask if there is an advisor in their local area. Is there some benefit I'm overlooking?

Unless you need constant handholding, I don't see why. There are phones & the internet these days.

ResNullius wrote:Nope. You're not missing a thing, other than the pleasure of paying high fees for poor investment advice. Good luck.

Quite the over-generalization.

Great thread. We've been to maybe 50-60% of the places listed & agree they are great ex-Las Vegas - too hokey for me. Net, need to get to the others listed. Hitting Kauai in May. Need to do Aruba/Aus./NZ/Kenya/Grenada/Patagonia. Love the American West. All the UT NP's, Y-stone/Tetons/Yosemite. A...

Given this is the op's #1 post, it makes me wonder if s/he is a plant or ruse.