Bogleheads.org

Thank you, I got a copy!

Thank you everyone. These ideas and feedback have given me a lot to consider. I appreciate everyone's input.

I am considering an online password protect program and, of course, searched the Boglehead site. I found one post from a couple years ago that was somewhat useful, but I have still not wrapped my mind around whether I think it is "safe" to use such a program.I am considering SplashID on th...

In weighing Target Retirement fund(s) versus VTI, or a TR fund versus large caps, or which fund(s) to choose for which account...the following analogy comes to mind (probably because I'm hungry): When you originally asked "TR or VTI?", you may have thought your fund options were like choo...

Thank you everyone for this discussion. I will do some more research using this information. Thanks again!!

Thank you Huey!! I cannot believe this!

Now I'll just have to decide between rolling it over to my TSP or opening a Vanguard TIRA. Does anyone have any insight/suggestions to offer on how I could make this decision?

This question is lurking in my mind. I have an existing TSP and am not contributing to it, and have no way to as I am no longer a federal employee or someone who is able to contribute. My question is - I know sometimes you can rollover your "old" 401(k) to a new employer's plan. But, could...

Yes - no fees to sell VG mutual fund. But there are Sometimes trading limits - you can't buy then Sell then buy then sell again. Since you want to do monthly contributions, I'd suggest target retirement - these have international In them, and you can choose any bond allocation you Wish (more or les...

dickenjb wrote:Look at Life Strategy Moderate Growth.

Don't DCA in during the year if there is any chance you will be ineligible for Roth (MAGI>$180K I believe). Wait until Q1 2014 to fund.

Thank you dickenjb!!!

Hi neophyte, 1) As mhc mentioned, it's easy and free to set up automatic contributions to a mutual fund from an external checking account. 2) As nydad mentioned, purchasing Vanguard mutual funds is free. Vanguard ETF's are also free. Check out this page for more info. https://personal.vanguard.com/...

Are you planning to still by USCRX? It has a pretty high expense ratio. In any case, if you were purchasing vanguard mutual funds automatically, there would be no fee. If you wanted to buy an ETF however, this probably cannot be done automatically, and you may have to pay a small fee to trade it (d...

You should have no problems automatically buying funds in your Roth from an external checking account. It is easy and there are no fees. You just have to link your checking account to your Vanguard account. If your better half is not interested in running his/her own funds, you can have your better...

As I continue to sort through things, I have a few more questions before I am ready to take the steps to open 1) a Roth IRA at Vanguard and 2) open a TIRA at Vanguard. (Well, I plan to open two Roths and two TIRAs -- one for me, one for better half.) I plan to have Vanguard transfer the funds from m...

neophyte: I will not attempt to tell you what each figure means because I don't know for sure. Ask your plan Administrator. It appears that the current total fund expense ratio and administration fees (which is what's important) are 1.43% of fund assets. This is not good but it is probably better t...

My interpretation is that the gross expense ratio in the Prospectus is 1.54%, but somebody is paying 0.11% of that (the waiver), so that the net expense ratio is 1.43%. Thank you livesoft for your interpretation. I tend to agree with you. I wonder if my previous employer may be the one paying the w...

I have no idea what these mean either. Fees should be explained in the prospectus - have you looked there? If still unsure I would give them a call. Still these numbers look scary big. Do you have any less expensive options in your plan? Thank you furwut. I will look in the prospectus. Yes, I do ha...

Hi all, I am a new Boglehead and am trying to make sense of everything I've taken in over the last couple months. I've been relatively savvy with investing into 401(k), etc. At some point, I plan to prepare a formal post with all the information, but in the meantime keep coming up with questions. Th...

In most cases whole life is too expensive to maintain if you have other life insurance options. I have a small whole life insurance that is paid up (after 40 yrs). The current dividend divided by the cash value returns 5.85%. So while it probably wasn't worth having this policy vs term for 40 years...

I've only had it maybe 4 years. I am not sure about up-front commissions, I went through USAA. I am going to look at that link and determine if I want to just ditch it. It's a very low policy value ($50k) and I'm having many second thoughts about keeping it at this point. Just my opinion as a 40 pl...

It's really too bad there aren't good investment vehicles in this space. I max my tax-avoidance accounts (401k, Roth IRA) and I've got term insurance. I wish there were SOMETHING good in this space to stash more savings in a tax-friendly manner. A plain old stock index fund in a taxable account is ...

your in force illustration will tell you what you could get back. Also if you just call and ask what the cash surrender value is they will tell you that value. Yes all gains are taxed as income even if you crash the policy. Your example shows one of the many problems of taking out too much in loans...

It may or may not be a good idea depending on how long you've had it, the dividends paid, and whether or not they are guaranteed. I wish I had not gotten into the whole life racquet to begin with. But, 9+ years into the policy, the up-front commissions have been sunk, and the tax-deffered return on...

jeffyscott wrote:In addition to taking the cash value or converting to a term policy, you may be able to convert it to a paid-up policy.

Would this be a paid-up term life policy?

Thank you everyone. I will consider everything offered here. A followup question-is ditching the policy an option, whether or not I get anything back from it? Or will that really have to do with whatever the insurance company says?

As we are paying off all debt, I have been toiling with the idea of cashing out my whole life policy AFTER securing a term life policy and using whatever "cash" I get toward the debt. Just for information, I chose to select this vehicle. I was not pushed, coerced, or made to select it. I p...

surlygent wrote:I have been using ING Direct (now Capital One 360) for years.

I feel foolish, I did not know Capital One bought ING Direct. Do you know if "ING Direct" encompasses all of ING, as in their 401k plans as well?

I think if you can get your entire balance transferred to 0% card (for 12 or even 18 months), that would be best. Then, you could possibly contribute more to 401(k) after building up emergency fund and ensuring you can pay off the 0% card. Regarding whether it makes sense to contribute more to 401k...

Chances are if you refinanced now, you could do a conventional loan. Do you have any cash to bring to the table for the refinance? Could you do a 15 year conventional loan, rates are around 2.5% right now. If you are at 20% equity in the home, then you can do a conventional without bringing cash to...

My suggestion would be to get the 401(k) match (equivalent 100% return on your investment), then go to survival mode and pay off the debt before you do anything else. This is a great suggestion, one I received from another poster as well. We (now) have quite a bit of disposable income, so I am conc...

While I applaud you knowing you need to save, first things first. Only contribute the match for now, and stop the Roths until both cards are paid off. Then build the emergency fund back up. Get a solid base before you build your skyscraper. Thank you Pennstateclj1! I appreciate your input and love ...

You cannot get the kind of guaranteed return from investments that you can by paying off your debts. This might be different if your mortgage was at a low rate (below 4%). Refinancing that should be a top priority, even if it means that you have to sell off your taxable investments in order to get ...

As a side note, I consider the HSA slightly farther down the financial checklist. There are some basic steps that you should be hitting first that the bogleheads recommended, but mine look something like this: 1. Balance a budget, spend less than you earn 2. Pay off all revolving / unsecured debt 3...

Thank you wander for your input.

Thank you for your reply.

Thank you for the suggestion about the wiki, the website popped up at one point but I wasn't sure if it was legitimate or not. Now that I know it is, I will definitely do that!

I have edited my original post to provide the additional information you requested.

Learned about this forum in a magazine and thought I'd see what you all may be seeing that I am not. Recently getting back into receiving a salary (was doing many jobs with no consistent income for about a year) and wondering if I should try to fully fund my HSA for 2012 in the next 4 months? I did ...