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Walk away - you will be happy you did.

My wife and I left for Germany in 1969. She was 19 and I was 23. We had been married for 4 months. We had no debt and $300 in our checking account. My monthly pay as a 2nd LT was $352. So I guess our net work was about $300. I retired 5 years ago and my wife will stop working in the next 2-3 years. ...

In which situations does it make sense to file married with separate returns rather than a joint return?

Thanks.

jte

I might have missed it but did not see how long you were planning to visit. I have been living in England for the past 2 years, about 70 mile north of London. I'll be moving to Kaiserslautern next week and will probably be there for about 3 years. Prior to moving to England, I lived on the Germany -...

Thanks.

Long story short - I was reviewing tax documents for 2005 and 06 and thought that I had made a mistake vis-a-vis IRAs. I went on line and unfortuneately had a senior moment as the information I saw said 1997 (after rechecking yesterday) but I took away 2007.

jte

What was the 1st year the one could make a ROTH contribution?

Thanks.

jte

My son and his wife are both physicians. When he finishes his fellowship next year, their combined income will be in the 400-450K range. They have been paying down their medical school loans and funding ROTH IRA's. The portfolio for their IRAs uses 3 Vanguard funds - the Total Stock Market Index, th...

Thanks Alan. I really appreciate the information. Let me lay out her situation to insure I correctly understand your response. She actually has multiple ROTH IRA accounts, one dating back nearly 12 years. Question - if I understand correctly, she has met the ROTH holding period requirement and could...

I tried to send this post earlier but don't think it got thru. My wife began contributing to her Roth TSP several months ago and intends to continue for the next 3 years until she retires. She will be 65 when she retires. What are the rules for withdrawing from this account? Are they different than ...

That's what I thought.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

jtelwood

Thanks for the information. I do have a couple more questions - As I mentioned earlier, I am a CSRS retiree with both a federal pension and small social security benefit from work in the private sector. My wife is also a federal employee, but in the FERS retirement system. Questions - - if she retir...

I would like a good explanation on the 'file and supend strategy' as it would pertain to my situation. I was a federal employee and retired several years ago under the CSRS system. I qualified for a small social security benefit (about $300/month) from work in the private sector and began taking thi...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my son and his wife (both are physicians and 30 years old with their first child on the way) are in the process of purchasing term life insurance. They have quotes, provided by a local Atlanta agent, for 5 companies. These companies are American General Life Insura...

I have a question regarding taxes and whole life insurance. If one decides to cancel the policy and take the cash value accrued to date, would the money be taxable?

My son and his wife are considering 400K 30 year term insurance policies, each with 100K flexible premium adjustable life insurance. They are both physicians and 30 years old with a child on the way. They will add more term insurance over time. I know very little about flexible premium adjustable li...

The insurance carrier, our ages, and length of time owned is in my initial post.

My wife and I need to make a decision in the next couple of weeks regarding our LTC insurance policy and would like to hear your thoughts on the best way to analyze/evaluate the option presented by the insurance company. Summary of LTC insurance benefits - - We purchased the policy with John Hancock...

My wife has a durable POA to manage all her mother's affairs. Her mother's current state (4 days after the stroke) is that she cannot feed herself, has vision and speech problems, is not sure what happened or where she is, and cannot, at this time, process information. My wife's concern is that her ...

My wife's mother had a stroke. She is 84 and her prognosis is unknown at this time - it's not clear if she will fully regain her mental capacity to reason, speak, etc. She has several credit cards. Questions - - does it make the most sense to cancel the cards at this time and then have her reapply f...

If it was a deed of correction - merely to add her to the deed - and the property was deeded 'husband and wife, as tenants by the entirety' - would that still likely trigger a due on sale clause? I undertand that any response to this question is just for general information purposes and not legal ad...

Just curious - I thought there might be an attorney who would respond.

My daughter and her husband purchased a home several years ago. My daughter's credit score was not very good at the time and the mortgage was based soley on her husband's income - and the deed is in his name. They want to add her name to the deed and will see an attorney to take care of this. Questi...

Thanks for the perspective.

jtelwood

I will be retiring in about 2-3 years. My present allocation is 40% equities, 55% bonds and the remainder in cash. I'll probably keeps this allocation in retirement, at least in the beginning. I'm considering the addition of TIPS to my bond holdings. I would hold the TIPS in the Vanguard mutual fund...

Just for clarificaion - The TSP Highlight note for Jan/Feb 2012 states that in order to get the tax free benefits of a TSP ROTH, one has to be 59 and 1/2 or older AND have had ROTH contributions for 5 years or more when you receive your distribution. After reading the thread on the TSP Roth, it is m...

Thanks for taking the time to assist me with these questions.

j elwood

Thanks for taking the time to asist me with these questions

Thanks for the information and your patience. I think I understand, but to review a last time - My situation. I have a vacation rental property. I ONLY make it available to rent during June, July, and August (it was rented for 92 days in 2011). It is off the market and unavailable to rent the other ...

Actually, I have read it and was unable to find the answer that addressed my specific case. That is why I sent the original email and follow-up.

Last question - I hope.

What would go in the box 'fair rental days'?

- Would it be the number of days the house was rented?

- Or, the number of days that the house was on the market, which would include the days it was rented?

Thanks again for your help.

j elwood

My situation - the house is available to rent for 14 weeks in the year. It is closed the remainder of the time. I do not use it for personal use. Am I allowed to FULLY deduct the normal rental deductions ie. repairs, taxes, insurance, cleaning, etc. for the entire year or must I prorate them for the...

RE: Form 1040 Schedule E

This form was changed for 2011. On line 2, what is the definition of 'fair rental days'. I did not find the instructions to be clear. Any assistance would be appreciated.

j elwood

My portfolio is 50% stocks and 50% bonds. My bond holdings are almost equally divided among the VG Total Bond Market Index, the VG Short Term Bond Index, I bonds, and EE bonds (purchased during the years that provided a variable rate but with a guaranteed rate of 4%). I will be withdrawing from my p...

The responses to my last posting on this topic were both insightful and appreciated. Since I have guaranteed sources of income to cover my essential expenses, I have decided to use the fixed percentage with ceiling and floor limits on the withdrawals. Given all the variables that one will experience...

This subject received considerably more reponses than I had anticipated. All of which were greatly appreciated. My take-away, I was 'over-thinking' this decision; and I blame it on my fiscal conservative genes. Again, thanks for the postings, particularly the actual experiences from those who are re...

I have read a considerable number of publications on withdrawal strategies during the past several months and have winnowed the list to 2 - constant dollar and constant percentage. Initially, I thought the constant dollar method using Jonothan Guyton's withdrawal rules made the most sense to me. Now...

Got it.

Thanks.

Thanks for the timely response.

If he chooses to do nothing at this time, will the IRS calculate the penalty, if any, and send him correspondence with the amount due?

By waiting to have the IRS calculate any penalty, will there be an interest charge on any penalty due?

My son and his wife are both 3rd year residents. Their combined gross wages for 2010 was about 95K. They filed a married return. Each had claimed 1 exemption on his/her W-4. After adjustments for a student loan, standard deduction, and personal exemptions, and the making work pay credit, they owed j...

Thanks for taking the time to share your insights.

I will be taking money from my retirement accounts in a couple of years. To prepare for this, I will be putting about 3 years of anticipated withdrawals in short term bonds. What is the better choice - VG short term treasuries or VG short term bond index; or does it really matter? Appreciate the ins...

Bruce, I'm still retired. My wife is working and about 1-2 years away from retiring. We presently live in the UK (she is a DOD employee). She gets a living quarters allowance (LQA) that covers our housing costs and is also compensated bi-weekly for changes in the purchaisng power of the dollar (both...

Thanks for the comments. I have read 15-20 articles on portfolio withdrawals during retirement and many stress the need to have 50-65% in equities to allow for growth in the portfolio. I was at 50% equities and moved up to 55% based on these readings - hence my earlier statement about being in 2 min...

my allocation is 55% stocks / 45% bonds. The portfolio is in the low 7 figure range. I have a generous pension and additional real estate investment income. I'm about 1 and 1/2 to 2 years out from retirement. I'm seeking advice on the equitiy portion of the portfolio. All holdings are in tax deferre...

In response to Zapped's questions -

- 55/45 is 55% equities and 45% bonds.

- each sector weighting is 5% of the total portfolio.

Sorry for the confusion.

I will be transitioning into the spending phase of my portfolio in a couple of years and would like some thoughts on the equity portion of my portfolio. My present allocation is 55/45. My core holdings are VG Total Stock Market Index and VG Total International Stock Index. I have 5% weightings in RE...

I will be spending from my retirement portfolio in the next couple of years. I have done considerable reading and concluded that, at least for me (not my wife!), getting my arms around the spending phase is more difficult than the accumulation phase. I am aware of the general strategies that get the...

Just wanted to thank those who responded to my question. It's always both important and valuable to see different perspectives, especially from those much more knowledgable than I.

j elwood

Background - - I am presently retired and have a generous pension. - My wife will be working 2 more years. - She contributes the maximum to her 401K. - We contribute the maximum to our ROTH IRAs each year. - Our asset allocation is 55% stock and 45% bonds/cash. - We have 5% weiightings in the VG Ene...

Many thanks for taking the time to assist me with this request.

jte