Bogleheads.org

I haven't done a demo nor do I think it would be that difficult. However, I would probably get a few quotes and then ask them "How much if it was already demolished?" It might be surprising to see how little you would save by doing the demo yourself (at least on a project this small). But ...

Answering the actual question, having just bought one recently: $7k (1 ct, platinum band, diamonds on the band, at Costco, came with an appraisal saying $14k) ~3% of yearly gross salary (mine, not hers). So get what you can comfortably afford but don't go overboard. I hadn't heard the 1/3 annual sal...

I listed my dumb(est) mistakes, so here are my best(est) moves: -- Deciding to get my master's degree in a completely different field than my undergraduate. Even if I did nothing else, I easily doubled my lifetime earning potential. -- Moving from Atlanta to NY in 2002 to take a lower paying job (in...

-- Graduating from college with $5500 of credit card debt. I paid off the entire amount with my signing bonus (these were around in '99) but I would have loved to use that money for other things since I couldn't even begin to tell you what was bought with that $5500. -- "Telling" my girlfr...

Ahh ok, thanks. Hopefully she can hang in there for 3.5 more years.

Wow, talk about confusing! I've done a search and read threads on "spousal social security benefits" on this site, read the Social Security wiki, read a few other sites and I still don't know whether I'm in the ballpark with regards to how my mom might maximize her social security benefits...

Hi Sarah, Are you sure you didn't answer something that would cause Turbotax to put $10k on line 16b? Did you get a 1099-R for a Roth IRA conversion that you did last year? I also did an IRA->Roth conversion in 2010 (Total amount $66k) and prepared my 2010 taxes with Turbotax. This year, TT has $33k...

What is his stock allocation, actually? Maybe what he is saying, even if he doesn't know it, is that it is too high for his risk tolerance. Making a huge sudden change downward doesn't seem like a good idea, but maybe reducing stock allocation is--and it's hard to argue that this is an obviously ba...

As often as I can. I make sure to not reinvest dividends in any of my holdings (that complicates matters a lot). I basically wait until losses are around $1,000 for a given fund and then make sure I haven't bought/sold in the past 30 days (both the fund I'm selling and the fund I'm buying). It doesn...

Since everything has to add to 100%, you cannot make LC the same as the index if you want SC to be higher than the index. I shoot for the LC row to be about 45% to 50% of total equity and the SC row to be about 20% to 25%. That leaves about 30% for mid-cap. I reread my post and I don't see where I ...

After taking last year to get my portfolio to my desired asset allocation (Age - 10 in Bonds, 10% Gold/Silver, remaining to stocks split between 2/3 US and 1/3 International), I've now moved on to slowly moving my US equities to a small/value tilt. Looking at TSM, I see that the breakdown is: 72% LC...

My wife's "normal retirement" either goes into a defined benefit (pension) plan or a 401(a) (which is just like a 401k except you can decide NOT to make contributions or change the amount). She also has the ability to contribute to both a 401(k) and a 457(b) plan! She doesn't make enough m...

Wow, I can't believe all the conclusions being jumped to about why the OP is managing his mother's money. A lot of the assumptions are really mind boggling. My opinion on the actual question asked by the OP is to consider the portfolio with regards to current needs first, tax efficiency second, esta...

No, it's not. See here: http://m.seekingalpha.com/article/878251 Thanks for this, a very good read. Although I think your statement of "No, it's not" is a bit definitive considering my original post wasn't definitive (I.e. SO SIMILAR but not IDENTICAL) and I also mentioned how there was n...

I didn't want to add this to the end of the 50 other PP threads because I know most wouldn't read them (including me) thinking that someone else was just adding a less-than-significant reply to those threads. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-23/return-cash-beta-alpha-inside-look-worlds-biggest-...

After first getting married, I seeded our individual checking accounts with $3k/each and our joint account with $10k. So these amounts are our "zero" amounts and we can go below them if needed without actually incurring any damage (read fees). At the end of each month, any money above $10k...

As the above poster said, the best way to "grow" cash savings is to put more cash into it. Basically for cash savings, you take what the prevailing rate is and no more. Any more means additional risk and/or reduced liquidity. As for your second question, if you have additional monies after...

Prior to getting married last year, I've made my yearly Roth IRA contribution by first putting it into a traditional IRA and then converting it into a Roth (due to being above the income limits). My wife has never contributed to an IRA so starting this year we're going to fund hers for 2012 and 2013...

Both joint and separate. Everything gets deposited into joint (with which the bills get paid) and each month we have automatic ACH withdraws into our separate accounts (equal $$). I make significantly more than her but I don't want her to feel like she needs to ask me to spend money on every purchas...

1518.73

My Labs Are Better Stock Pickers

Long #1 XLS - Exelis Inc
Long #2 CTGX - Computer Task Group Inc
Short #1 BLT - Blount International
Short #2 CATY - Cathay General Bancorp

I too consider my 529 assets as retirement assets as opposed to strictly college assets. I wonder if it makes sense to "discount" the value of the accounts by earnings*10% when I calculate my net worth to adjust for the fact that if I DO use these assets for retirement and not college, the...

When calculating portfolio returns, you should absolutely consider them contributions. If you're comparing investments however, you should treat them as returns. For example if you wanted to know whether you should contribute $10k to your 401k or invest $10k in Opportunity Y, then your 401k expected...

I would NOT use ACWX for my Total Intl replacement. Its avg daily trading volume is only around 300k shares a day so it's not out of the realm of possibility that this fund would get liquidated. What would happen if the fund got liquidated? Couldn't the poster just look for something else when/if t...

Here are your corresponding iShares: Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTSMX) --->ISHARES RUSSELL 3000 - IWV (0.2%) Vanguard Total International (VGTSX)---> ISHARES MSCI ACWI EX US INDEX FUND - ACWX (0.34%) Vanguard Total Bond Market (VBMFX) ---> ISHARES CORE TOTAL U.S. BOND MARKET ETF - AGG (0.08%) reg...

Hitless Wonder by Joe Oestrich. A story about minor league rock-and-roll. I don't have any natural talent for musical instruments (or even a singing voice), but oh how I wish I was a rock star. Almost Famous is almost my favorite movie (even though it's not an "outstanding" movie).

I've always wanted to be the "capital" for this type of arrangement, but haven't quite found the right arrangement. Did you meet these guys specifically to discuss such an arrangement (i.e. mutual friend introduced the two parties) or was it just circumstance that you met (i.e. you were bo...

I currently invest in Tax-Managed Balanced Fund. I would *hope* that it could be more efficient than holding 50% Intermediate Tax-Exempt and 50% Total Stock. However I imagine that the cost of being more tax efficient could be under performance to its benchmark. In the product summary it says, "...

What is the policy indexed to, the stock market? I had an equity-indexed UL policy pitched to me when I was looking for term insurance and it seems like a good deal UNLESS you work through the numbers yourself. An agent will likely never do this for you since it will likely be obvious how bad of a d...

I would not worry about it. Either way, it appears you are saving plenty. Does it really matter if your goal is higher than "enough" as opposed to just "enough"? Sure, because if I become used to hitting my goals with the 401k match included and then I change jobs which does not...

I'm wondering (and maybe this post would be better with a poll) whether bogleheads include any 401k match towards their yearly savings goals. Prior to this year, I never did and so the 401k match ended up shooting me past my yearly savings goals. However now that I'm married and my costs are increme...

... 3) The cost of this policy seems quite good, especially considering the cost of my current group policy. Athough might my group policy be one of those few policies that are "good" and so maybe I don't need an individual policy? ... ... 3. Your group policy is pretty expensive for grou...

I've read the wiki and this thread - http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=68489 - before posting. Currently I have a "thinking job" and have both STD and LTD insurance through work. My STD is paid for by my company and covers 13 weeks of 100% income replacement. My group...

A lot depends on your current mix of income, debt, investments (retirement/non-retirement), future expenses and timeline for retiring that debt and/or meeting those future expenses. A few questions I asked myself when getting term: -- Do I expect to pay for college for my kids. If so, am I saving as...

Working for the school district, she was required to choose between a defined benefit pension plan or a 401(a) plan. Regardless of her selection, she contributes 7% of her gross pay. For the pension plan, she earns 4% interest on the balance. If she leaves the retirement system, she can rollover th...

I'm wondering if I should take advantage of this tax-deferred space with the money I currently save in my taxable accounts (around $50k). I would hate to lose the liquidity and TLH opportunities provided by parking it in these tax-deferred accounts but the tax-savings I would get would be huge if I...

I'm wondering if I should take advantage of this tax-deferred space with the money I currently save in my taxable accounts (around $50k). I would hate to lose the liquidity and TLH opportunities provided by parking it in these tax-deferred accounts but the tax-savings I would get would be huge if I...

I'm wondering if I should take advantage of this tax-deferred space with the money I currently save in my taxable accounts (around $50k). I would hate to lose the liquidity and TLH opportunities provided by parking it in these tax-deferred accounts but the tax-savings I would get would be huge if I...

Recently married and trying to see if I should move some of my yearly taxable contributions into tax-deferred accounts. The wife currently contributes roughly 7% of her income to a defined benefit (i.e. pension) plan (my recommendation since I have so much non-pension investments). I assume her emp...

I would hate to lose the liquidity and TLH opportunities provided by parking it in these tax-deferred accounts but the tax-savings I would get would be huge if I funded them both. Tax Rate: 33% Federal, 7% State No question. Max out every tax deferred account you can find. Liquidity and TLH pale in...

Recently married and trying to see if I should move some of my yearly taxable contributions into tax-deferred accounts. The wife currently contributes roughly 7% of her income to a defined benefit (i.e. pension) plan (my recommendation since I have so much non-pension investments). She also has acce...

I have a mortgage balance of 370,000, 3.625% fixed for 30 years. I have no other debts, fully fund 401K and Roth IRA, and have 12 months worth of cash/savings bonds which act as my emergency fund. I have approx 1500-2000 extra each month that I was considering throwing at the mortgage. Not sure if ...

Recently an insurance agent met with my retired mother and I sat in on the conversation. He was trying to sell her a Single Premium Equity-Indexed Universal Life Insurance “product.” Despite his claims about some pretty appealing features of the product, I advised her against purchasing it, both be...

I have $6250 in wells fargo and have to have 5k in there to avoid monthly fees. I have an upcoming surgery that will probably be around 3k. I have more than enough to pay this outside my HSA account, should I just leave my money in wells fargo, and pay through other means, or should I use the HSA? ...

It's still silly to generalize, even within NYC itself. Every situation is different; block to block, building to building. And they present an awfully curious example: Joan Riegel, a 69-year-old educator, started looking to buy earlier this year, when the rent on her 1,000-square-foot Upper West S...

Please see a lawyer before you ever use a quitclaim deed. It can create horrific title problems later. I'm a lawyer and I would not use a quitclaim deed without very solid legal advice. This sounds odd. Ha! I'm assuming he means "I'm a lawyer not specializing in real estate law and I would not...

My new wife, before we met, had bought two pieces of land with her father. The father took out two loans, one for each piece of land, but it was my wife who made the payments for one of the loans (I'm assuming she didn't qualify for the loan at the time of the land purchase and this was a favor from...

I'm pretty sure I screwed up by converting in 2010 when I converted my IRA (rollover from 401k) to a Roth. My account was around $62k in value but I was also in the 31% tax bracket. My thinking at the time was that if I could leave the money in the Roth for 30+ years, the fact of only paying 31% on ...

I think there's both a philosophical and practical argument for term over whole. It seems to me that the arguments tend to focus on the philosophical (i.e. people don't need insurance for their entire lives, only for the period of time when they'll need income replaced, expenses paid for, etc.). Pra...

I don't want to start a new topic on universal vs. term so I'm going to reuse a thread of mine. I figure there's some interesting info about disability premiums on term policies in the first section of this thread that new readers of this thread might also find useful. This reply is pretty long, so ...