Search found 453 matches

by relentless
Mon Jul 25, 2022 9:34 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I currently have a commissioned broker-dealer, and my gut is telling me to go Boglehead
Replies: 47
Views: 4407

Re: I currently have a commissioned broker-dealer, and my gut is telling me to go Boglehead

That degree of slicing and dicing is ridiculous—and tiny slivers of funds like TIPS and other fixed income I don’t get, unless they are trying to make it look complicated. I slice and dice more than many on here, but not nearly to that extent. FWIW, you could effectively replicate much of that portfolio (as much as you would want to) with a combination of low cost index funds (Vanguard, Fidelity, iShares, etc) for the non-value funds and active Avantis funds for the value funds still at much lower cost I put my Avantis funds (relatively small percentage of portfolio) in Roth IRAs (backdoor) and HSA accounts, although I have held in taxable previously. More generally for personal finance, this spreadsheet package is worth considering to help...
by relentless
Sun Jul 24, 2022 10:16 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buying I Bonds for Children
Replies: 90
Views: 14074

Re: Buying I Bonds for Children

I have kids a similar age and loaded up on I bonds in Dec and January. These have performed so much better than the stock market. We are limited by ibond purchases but it doesn't mean you can't add onto 529 accounts for equities now that we have dropped 20%. Over time this will smooth out the asset allocation. Despite the name, think of ibonds as very high yielding cash. Inflation is here, but also somewhat backward looking. You get paid for inflation that happens vs what inflation will be, so it makes sense to keep holding I bonds for the near term. It makes sense to switch to equities for the child at some point. You can always put the cash in a brokerage account for the child.. Withdrawl funds for a trip to Disney, Summer camps, ski vac...
by relentless
Sun Jul 24, 2022 10:05 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buying I Bonds for Children
Replies: 90
Views: 14074

Re: Buying I Bonds for Children

Thanks for the finance buff references above, which were very helpful. Not sure how I missed as I have followed Harry for a long time. I think it makes most sense NOT to declare interest as you go and simply sell the bonds to harvest the income up to the targeted amount (1100 or just under 2200 depending on goals). I agree with him that changing from the default method complicates things too much. Harry didn't mention it that I saw, but the other big reason NOT to do this is that interest is too unpredictable since rate varies, and it could backfire if rates were to increase and push the un-earned income over 2200 (for a child not working). Also the kiddie tax gets more complicated once kids have earned income, which is probable for teenage...
by relentless
Sun Jul 24, 2022 1:13 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buying I Bonds for Children
Replies: 90
Views: 14074

Re: Buying I Bonds for Children

BTW, the tax savings per year assuming 9.62% for entire year on 10k in a given child's name would be $344 in a year at our tax rate. For context, we bought the maximum 20k last year in our own names. Seems like low hanging fruit to do this. I Bonds are yielding far more than the stable value fund available in our state's 529.

I suppose another option could be simply to sell the IBonds periodically (e.g every 1.5-2 years), take the 3 month interest hit and then just make sure to stay under the $2200 kiddie tax threshold. It may be that inflation comes under control in next few years in any case, and then I Bonds will become less attractive. We probably would want to switch the funds to equities in a UTMA account at that point.
by relentless
Sun Jul 24, 2022 12:49 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buying I Bonds for Children
Replies: 90
Views: 14074

Re: Buying I Bonds for Children

Thanks for response, Todd. I didn't mean to imply that I would want to switch methods for my purposes. My intent would be to use them for college (or perhaps other expenses earlier if need arose). The concern was that it appears that even if the child had no savings bonds remaining, if they decided to purchase them later on their own, they would still be committed to pay the taxes annually, yet not know that they were obligated. This is not intuitive.
by relentless
Sun Jul 24, 2022 12:16 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buying I Bonds for Children
Replies: 90
Views: 14074

Re: Buying I Bonds for Children

I Bonds are now yielding 9.62%! We were planning to purchase more in our names this month, but it occurred to me that it would actually be a lot more tax efficient to purchase in children's names given our high marginal tax rate (federal+Medicare surcharge on I bonds=35.8%). Money is fungible. Then I found this thread and am bumping it. Some of the prior replies answered a lot of my questions, but I have more that should be relevant to the OP and others. Our children currently have negligible assets (relatively trivial quantity of iBonds purchased end of last year) and we never previously had to even concern ourselves about "kiddie tax" implications, although now I understand how it works. I was already thinking it would made sens...
by relentless
Sun Aug 22, 2021 10:32 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Looking for portfolio review/rebalance combo of Cash/Roths/TSP/Taxable
Replies: 13
Views: 2381

Re: Looking for portfolio review/rebalance combo of Cash/Roths/TSP/Taxable

I meant current yields.

ETA: market is accepting a locked in 1.79% annual geometric yield currently for 20 year treasuries. That compares to just over 3.5% for EE bonds. That is only apples to apples comparison that I can make.
by relentless
Sun Aug 22, 2021 8:16 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Looking for portfolio review/rebalance combo of Cash/Roths/TSP/Taxable
Replies: 13
Views: 2381

Re: Looking for portfolio review/rebalance combo of Cash/Roths/TSP/Taxable

With your time horizon, you really should be looking at possibility of EE bonds in taxable at least for some of the fixed income as well. Yield if held at least 20 years is higher than both F fund and G fund in TSP and with zero ER. May be only government backed, safe option that could be expected to have positive real yield (assuming inflation settles back under 3% over next 20 years.) Unlike F fund, value will not decrease when market rates rise. I recently started buying I bonds as well to do double duty as part of portfolio and EF (once held over 1 year). I also get some bond exposure through kids’ 529s (get a good state tax deduction for 529 contributions). The majority of my fixed income (about 65%) is still in G fund (no F fund), tho...
by relentless
Sat Aug 21, 2021 8:14 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What would you buy if you could not invest in ETFs or mutual funds for 5 years? [US ex-pat in Germany]
Replies: 30
Views: 3623

Re: What would you buy if you could not invest in ETFs or mutual funds for 5 years? [US ex-pat in Germany]

EE bonds would seem to be a particularly attractive option in your situation especially if you can move equities into retirement accounts and bonds out.

Would be curious if dollar denominated bonds in a bond fund would also have a “capital gain” from German perspective if dollar appreciated relative to Euro. If so, that could be reason to consider purchasing individual bonds as well.
by relentless
Sun Feb 28, 2021 10:08 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Pay off our house or invest?
Replies: 37
Views: 3802

Re: Pay off our house or invest?

I haven’t done personally, but I had read here many times over the years that with trusts it may be possible to purchase additional EE bonds in a given year—perhaps as much as 40k in a year, which would then grow to 80k 20 years from now to pay remaining mortgage. If necessary, you can then buy more next year and plan the same for year 21, etc.. Another potential option (although not risk free), would be some combination of equities and I-bonds that would have similar or even higher expected returns than EE bonds without a lot more risk. That would of course depend on your expectations for inflation in the future.
by relentless
Sun Feb 28, 2021 7:23 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Pay off our house or invest?
Replies: 37
Views: 3802

Re: Pay off our house or invest?

Why not buy 20k in EE bonds each year instead of paying down mortgage (if you do not want to invest in riskier equities)? EE bonds are returning 3.53% vs. your 2.5% rate. I conceptualize this to be analogous to a risk-free “arbitrage”—while also improving liquidity. Of course, you do need to consider your anticipated tax rate in 20 years to really compare the effective rates and “arbitrage” spread. I am strongly considering doing this myself going forward, since our marginal combined tax rate on interest in a taxable account is 40% and will almost certainly be lower in 20 years. We have a similar 2.375% 30 year mortgage and we will continue to itemize (yet another reason for us to hold off on early re-payment) This proposed approach seems t...
by relentless
Sun Feb 21, 2021 1:31 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard is giving Foreign Tax Paid statement, but Vanguard funds only
Replies: 12
Views: 1505

Re: Vanguard is giving Foreign Tax Paid statement, but Vanguard funds only

This is not something I have had to worry about previously (and the Avantis ETFs are new). However, what choice will I have but to assume, if Vanguard as the brokerage doesn't report the foreign income for Avantis funds I hold with Vanguard? According to the prospectus, "The fund invests primarily in a diverse group of non-U.S. small cap value companies across market sectors, industry groups, and countries." (https://avantisinvestors.prospectus-express.com/summary.asp?doctype=pros&cid=avantisll&fid=025072802). Perhaps to your point though, according to the Annual report as of August 2020, while the equivalent institutional mutual fund AVDVX did not include U.S. as a represented country the portfolio did include 2.6% money ...
by relentless
Sat Feb 20, 2021 11:54 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard is giving Foreign Tax Paid statement, but Vanguard funds only
Replies: 12
Views: 1505

Re: Vanguard is giving Foreign Tax Paid statement, but Vanguard funds only

Interesting. I missed this. I just reviewed my Vanguard consolidated tax forms again and for the 1099-DIV section, it is reporting the foreign tax paid as well as total ordinary dividends and qualified dividends for my Avantis International SCV ETF (AVDV) shares in the taxable brokerage account together with the Vanguard international ETFs (VWO and VXUS). A separate page summarizing 2020 Foreign Tax Paid then only includes the Vanguard funds as noted (excluding the Avantis dividends and foreign tax paid). Not sure this matters to me for 2020 as we are well under $600 (MFJ) for total foreign tax paid (in eligible taxable accounts that is). I would assume all of the dividends from AVDV should be foreign sourced and could just be added to the ...
by relentless
Sun Jul 07, 2013 4:45 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Rise of Smart Beta(fundamental indexing)-Economist
Replies: 30
Views: 4307

Re: The Rise of Smart Beta(fundamental indexing)-Economist

Apart from stock splits & stock dividends, cannot the same thing be said for price weighting? No. Supposing that the price of some component of the index skyrockets, rebalancing will require selling it off and buying whatever has been sinking. Now suppose several components seesaw up and down this way, taking turns being expensive and cheap, and you can see the potential inefficiency. Same with most other weighting metrics. Why would this affect a price-weighted index but not a cap-weighted index? Cap weighting should be dynamic. The market cap for a given company automatically changes in proportion to the price assuming no change in number of outstanding shares for that company. So cap weighting should also change proportionately with...
by relentless
Sun Jul 07, 2013 1:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Finance/Boglehead Career Advice: Industry vs Academia
Replies: 24
Views: 2794

Re: Finance/Boglehead Career Advice: Industry vs Academia

Any chance that med school would be an option for you? If you are going to spend five years doing a post doc, 4 years of med school might be an alternative. Depending on your field, might give you a great niche and potential to become faculty on the clinical side--with less dependence on grants and a higher expected salary. Of course would have to potentially take on a lot of loans, although a Howard Hughes scholarship might be a good possibility with your background. Just a thought...
by relentless
Wed Jun 12, 2013 9:10 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Circling vultures...advisors looking for access to residents
Replies: 109
Views: 13052

Re: Circling vultures...advisors looking for access to resid

I think this may be the first favorable post I have seen on Bogleheads about Northwestern Mutual for DI.

I always get the feeling that Bogleheads may be overly dominated by Guardian insurance proponents (salesmen). The opportunity costs of the Cadillac plans may be more than people recognize. For example, a single $5000 premium invested instead at 7% for 40 years would be worth $74,872.29. So there is a balance that needs to be struck I think between competing objectives.
by relentless
Sun May 26, 2013 6:54 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Former student advice
Replies: 17
Views: 1697

Re: Former student advice

I don't like the idea of the 529 plan for her because a) it lacks liquidity; b) she may end up not deciding to go to med school or even grad school down the road c) relatively little to gain on 5K over about a 4 year period. I knew many pre-meds who did not go on to pursue medicine. I was the reverse. The idea that a college freshman knows she wants to be neurosurgeon is, frankly, laughable. Most first year med students don't even know what they want to do, and many who do end up choosing a very different field than they would have anticipated. I would say I-bonds are very reasonable as is saving in a CD until she is eligible for a Roth IRA (which can then double as an emergency fund). Even a plain taxable account with index funds could be ...
by relentless
Sat May 25, 2013 5:37 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: New T Rowe Price target date retirement funds
Replies: 27
Views: 6023

Re: New T Rowe Price target date retirement funds

arcticpineapplecorp. wrote:
gerrym51 wrote:i actually own their current 2020 fund -trrbx- and like it because it does keep a higher percentage of stocks. at this moment i would not change
If you want a higher portion of equities than what Vanguard offers from their 2020 fund, couldn't you just pick a Vanguard target date 2030 or later fund (to get the proportion of equities you want) at a lower cost than what T. Rowe is charging?
Yes.

And if you have no option for lifestrategy fund as recommended by later poster, you can pick target 2060 and add TBM to get your desired ratio with no need to worry about the glide path for years (although you would need to rebalance periodically still.)
by relentless
Fri May 24, 2013 10:13 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio Review before Medical School
Replies: 4
Views: 958

Re: Portfolio Review before Medical School

What interest rates were you able to get on those loans? 7.25%. I don't know that I'd feel comfortable taking out more loans simply to invest, especially given the high loan burden I'll already have by that point. And with respect to the 401k, while I understand the need to manage our loan burden, I do want to strike somewhat of a balance between loans and the future. At this point, I'll probably continue with the plan to roll the 401k into her Roth, eventually, after she quits. But I'll certainly keep that in the back of my mind. :happy I would contend that taking out extra loans to allow you to invest is exactly what you are already planning to do by default in leaving the money in the 401k--just in a risker way. (Note: I am assuming tha...
by relentless
Wed May 22, 2013 9:19 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio Review before Medical School
Replies: 4
Views: 958

Re: Portfolio Review before Medical School

Assuming you will have Roth 403b in residency/fellowship I would not worry too much about acquiring Roth space as you can borrow extra your last couple years of training and get lots of Roth space then. That is more or less what I did in fellowship.

I would actually consider liquidating some or all of the 401k money after January spaced over several years if you are not going to have earned income. You will pay 10% penalty but potentially no tax if below standard deduction. That would greatly reduce your interest costs on the loans over the next 7-12 years. You are going to be taking on a LOT of debt.
by relentless
Sat May 18, 2013 10:32 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Refusing to pay doctor bill, consequences
Replies: 57
Views: 9362

Re: Refusing to pay doctor bill, consequences

Would add that total costs for prenatal care and delivery (not to mention any other non-OB medical expenses during the year for OP's wife) should far exceed deductible for even high deductible health plan. So is this bill actually costing you any more than you would already have paid in the year for deductibles? I think you are wasting your time and mental energy and probably being a jerk as well.

I agree you owe the money in any case.
by relentless
Mon May 06, 2013 5:42 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Max Out New Roth IRA or Pay Off Loan with 7.25% Interest
Replies: 22
Views: 10317

Re: Max Out New Roth IRA or Pay Off Loan with 7.25% Interest

How many years is your fellowship? Are you eligible for retirement savings credit? Answer to your question may depend on these variables.

Also does new institution have Roth 403b? If so, and job after does not allow you to do 401k your first year, you may be better off paying loan now and then re-borrowing towards end of fellowship.
by relentless
Wed Apr 24, 2013 8:48 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: New I-Bond rate?
Replies: 32
Views: 5823

Re: New I-Bond rate?

Mel Lindauer wrote: ...
So, bottom line, there are no custodians who will purchase them for your account that I know of, and even if they would, it simply doesn't make sense to do so.
If the choice were TIPS vs I bonds in the IRA, wouldn't I bonds be preferable? 1) positive real (and even potentially nominal) return with deflationary periods; 2) ER=zero with zero transaction costs 3) no potential for loss of principal

I don't think the annuity analogy works well because of the wrap fees associated with them mean you are paying for something you don't need. With I bonds you are not paying anything extra and thus not harmed.
by relentless
Sun Apr 14, 2013 10:02 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Changed 529 to 60/40 allocation today
Replies: 9
Views: 1960

Re: Changed 529 to 60/40 allocation today

Wouldn't it be a mistake to buy ibonds in their names? You lose any possibility of getting the educational expense benefit of savings bonds if the bond is held in the name of the child/student.
I was thinking that if Ibonds in their names, children can redeem after they become adults in a much lower (likely zero) tax bracket. OP may have too high of an income to even be permitted to use the educational expense benefit and would then have to pay a lot of tax on the interest. Also OP may have already maxed out Ibonds in own and spouse's names.

The problem with TIPS vs I-bonds is no deflation protection and likely a negative real return vs a zero return (or even positive real if any 6 month periods of deflation) with Ibonds.
by relentless
Thu Apr 11, 2013 11:08 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Changed 529 to 60/40 allocation today
Replies: 9
Views: 1960

Re: Changed 529 to 60/40 allocation today

Sure you don't want to buy I-bonds in their names going forward and skip the TIPS?
by relentless
Wed Apr 03, 2013 9:52 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: School Loans, IRA, Vanguard, OH MY!
Replies: 35
Views: 3389

Re: School Loans, IRA, Vanguard, OH MY!

Thanks for the reply. I imagine our salaries may increase by 10k each over our careers, but likely not far beyond. We are aware of the repayment programs, but unfortunately don't think those are options we would be willing to pursue... But why on earth not?? I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be judgmental, but this is a great time in your life. You don't have kids (yet), you don't have a mortgage (yet); this is when you can take on an adventure and do something a little weird, knock off a huge chunk of loans, and oh yes, help out those who have trouble accessing healthcare, which is the whole purpose of this program. Frankly, I can't fathom the idea of carrying this enormous cloud of debt over my head for the next 25 years. You might not be the...
by relentless
Mon Apr 01, 2013 9:55 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: School Loans, IRA, Vanguard, OH MY!
Replies: 35
Views: 3389

Re: School Loans, IRA, Vanguard, OH MY!

May consider graduated repayment and pay off as if you were on 10 year (or as livesoft recommends 3 year schedule). I think you have better control over the order in which loans with differing interest rates will be paid off. Whatever you do, don't consolidate your loans with your wife's.
by relentless
Sun Mar 31, 2013 11:14 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: School Loans, IRA, Vanguard, OH MY!
Replies: 35
Views: 3389

Re: School Loans, IRA, Vanguard, OH MY!

An additional question I have is, with $50k literally sitting in the bank, should I just send a check to the loan program for a large portion of that amount and try to pay down the higher interest loans? Maybe keep $10k on-hand for emergencies, with the realization that my wife still has a decent chunk of an inherited IRA if we ever needed it. This would be a much easier thought process for me if all we had were our monthly paychecks. But, with at least some significant cash on hand, I am confused as to what to do. After all, don't they say there is nothing better than cash?? I think that's a good idea. Be sure that they apply extra payments to the higher interest accounts though. Otherwise, they will probably try to divide up proportional...
by relentless
Sat Mar 30, 2013 8:09 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: School Loans, IRA, Vanguard, OH MY!
Replies: 35
Views: 3389

Re: School Loans, IRA, Vanguard, OH MY!

Do you expect your combined incomes to go up? It may be that you could live in a more remote area for a couple years and make a lot more. That is the case for physicians often. Willing to move to Alaska or the Dakotas? Might also see if locum tenens is a possibility for PAs and if you could make more doing it. You may also want to look into service based repayment (working for non-profit or in underserved area) as after 10 years you could qualify for loan forgiveness (http://www.finaid.org/loans/publicservice.phtml). You may already be working for one. Of course the government can always rewrite the rules on the loan forgiveness programs. I agree with livesoft that generally would focus on paying down loans rather than investing (especially...
by relentless
Sat Mar 09, 2013 9:25 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Why should young people invest in bonds at all?
Replies: 87
Views: 20502

Re: Why should young people invest in bonds at all?

crowd79 wrote:I am slightly risk adverse, however age - 100 is too conservative. I use my own formula: Age - 108 = bonds.
So you are advocating leverage (negative bonds) until you are 108? That is pretty aggressive portfolio. :wink:
by relentless
Sat Mar 02, 2013 9:42 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Suggestions for the Wiki
Replies: 699
Views: 537627

Re: Suggestions for the Wiki

I think there is a math error for Vanguard target fund 2040 in the wiki:
72.1+27.1+9.9 = 109.1%
http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Vanguard ... ment_Funds
by relentless
Sat Mar 02, 2013 7:58 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: EE Bonds as part of a retirement strategy?
Replies: 38
Views: 4687

Re: EE Bonds as part of a retirement strategy?

[EE bonds] compare favorably to I bonds only if future inflation is greater than currently predicted and only if it occurs over almost precisely twenty years, maybe plus a little. I think this is incorrect. EE bonds will likely have a higher return than I bonds if future inflation is LOWER than 3.526% per year (whether expected or not does not matter) and assuming no deflationary periods. For example if future inflation were zero percent (or negative) for every 6 month period that is used for I bond return calculations, the nominal return of I bond would be zero while that of EE bond 3.526% which would be a very respectable real return. Now if you had the right combination of inflationary and deflationary periods even with a net zero infla...
by relentless
Mon Feb 18, 2013 10:06 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Disability insurance for a physician
Replies: 11
Views: 3614

Re: Disability insurance for a physician

bluemarlin08 wrote:The answer to the question is what is the cost difference and is the cost worth it? That's what a good agent should be answering.
I am encouraging her to think critically about what her insurance agent says. The commissions are likely to bias even the most knowledgeable agents towards a more expensive policy. Also, I am not sure how many agents would actually know the difference (more than superficially) between the various medical specialties and how each potential disability would affect a given specialty or sub-specialty.

Now it is possible that the more expensive policy is the better policy for the OP.
by relentless
Mon Feb 18, 2013 9:08 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Disability insurance for a physician
Replies: 11
Views: 3614

Re: Disability insurance for a physician

Since you are a radiologist, I would at least consider what disability could possibly disable you from practicing radiology that would still let you practice as a physician in another field (and what is the likelihood of such a disability). I am a bit hard pressed unless you are an interventional radiologist. You could probably be quadriplegic or have advanced ALS and still figure out a way to read films from your bed at home, while certainly not able to practice any other field. If you lost your eye sight or had a traumatic brain injury, what other fields could you still practice in? I mean you don't even need to use a stethoscope or palpate an abdomen, so you could practice if you lost both arms using dictation software, no? I would say t...
by relentless
Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:35 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Two Comma Club
Replies: 200
Views: 48418

Re: Two Comma Club

Congratulations to OP!

I am personally well established in the NEGATIVE ONE comma club (and anticipate being here for another couple years with well over 6 figures of student loans). I actually can't wait to hit zero net worth and will probably post here to celebrate when I do!

Reaching POSITIVE two commas is definitely an accomplishment to be celebrated.
by relentless
Sat Nov 03, 2012 4:41 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Statistics packages: R or Stata (or both)?
Replies: 15
Views: 2279

Re: Statistics packages: R or Stata (or both)?

I would add to my comments above that you can actually use R and do a lot of analysis without learning a single line of R coding. I think a lot of people are scared off by the prospect of having to learn a new programming language, unnecessarily. RCommander uses a GUI interface. You can do multivariate analysis for instance by clicking on the explanatory variables in one column and the dependant variable in the other column. I personally like to use RExcel as an interface to import the data because it is easy to filter the data in the master spreadsheet using Excel functions then highlight the data cells and instantly send to an active sheet in RCommander. Where I have mostly had to learn some coding is changing the default graphic settings...
by relentless
Sat Nov 03, 2012 1:47 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Statistics packages: R or Stata (or both)?
Replies: 15
Views: 2279

Re: Statistics packages: R or Stata (or both)?

I would suggest trying out RExcel. You can download the package for free for non-commercial use from the University of Vienna web site (http://rcom.univie.ac.at). The package is an add-on to Excel. There is also a video you can check out on http://www.statconn.com which demonstrates how you can use a spreadsheet interactively with R using RExcel.

You can upload your data to RCommander and then run your stats in RCommander. As you work with RCommander you can then learn how to edit the default scripts produced by RCommander to customize graphs, boxplots, etc. There is still a fairly steep learning curve, but it is quite powerful and is free.

Good luck.
by relentless
Sun Sep 16, 2012 9:34 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: [Medical Intern] Wanting to get started but need help
Replies: 8
Views: 1068

Re: [Medical Intern] Wanting to get started but need help

You need to know about IBR for fed loans and determine if would be advantageous to wait on paying down loans. White coat investor has good discussion. You also may want to consider your brackets when your income goes down. Could make more sense to go traditional IRA and then convert then if in lower bracket.
by relentless
Sat Aug 11, 2012 7:34 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Backdoor Conversion to Roth and Inherited IRA
Replies: 9
Views: 2181

Re: Backdoor Conversion to Roth and Inherited IRA

retiredjg wrote: (The times on this thing bogle my mind....)
Nice word play.
by relentless
Wed Jul 25, 2012 12:46 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: New Job, Awful 401k with The Hartford
Replies: 27
Views: 6801

Re: New Job, Awful 401k with The Hartford

Re Artsdoctor post. Sound advice overall with caveat that if investor can't fill the 401k space AND invest in taxable, they may not be adequately tax diversified with just Roths and 401Ks/traditional IRAs.
by relentless
Sat Jul 21, 2012 3:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Doc looking for Financial Diagnosis and Plan.
Replies: 13
Views: 1896

Re: Doc looking for Financial Diagnosis and Plan.

Once I max out the SEP Ira, I fall within the 25% tax bracket. Can you expand on the significance of this in regards to investing? Got it. Lots of physicians have not idea of their brackets and wanted to make sure since your income seemed low. I am a big believer in tax diversification. I am also of the opinion that many physicians deferring the max have some risk of overrunning their retirement brackets and could then end up withdrawing a lot of money at a higher tax rate than when they deferred it. So, if you are in the lowest bracket that you will be going forward, then it may be less costly to pay some more tax now and invest in Roths or taxable accounts and then do more tax deferral later. A lot also depends on assumptions about your ...
by relentless
Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:33 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Doc looking for Financial Diagnosis and Plan.
Replies: 13
Views: 1896

Re: Doc looking for Financial Diagnosis and Plan.

You say you are in 25% bracket. So that would mean if you are single you make less than 83,600. Are you filing as head of household? Perhaps you mean that you pay 25% of your income in taxes which is very different than your bracket. The key for investment decisions is your marginal tax rate which is your actual bracket--how much tax you pay for an additional dollar of income.
by relentless
Tue Jun 26, 2012 11:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tell Me Why I Should Pay Off My Student Loans
Replies: 40
Views: 5704

Re: Tell Me Why I Should Pay Off My Student Loans

However, the consensus in this thread is not to invest in taxable before paying down student loans. To be specific--not to invest in taxable before paying off student loans for the OP at his income with his interest rates. I am actually wondering if someone in his position with a six figure income may be better off maxing out I-bonds before maximally paying off loans if they anticipate wanting and not being able to buy enough I-bonds in a few years after the debt would be gone. For example, if you are married and would want 40K of Ibonds next year you may be willing to pay the extra interest and purchase 20K this year and 20K next year since you CAN'T purchase 40K next year. The savings in taxes if redeemed in a lower bracket could far out...
by relentless
Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:18 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: New Job - Waiting for new 401K eligibility, Options?
Replies: 8
Views: 2237

Re: New Job - Waiting for new 401K eligibility, Options?

Yes that was why I was asking. Not a rhetorical question--was probing to see if he had thought it through. He should not have to worry much about back door until his income goes up to 6 figures. According to TFB's website if that is a concern he could plotentially roll over traditional IRA into employer plan later if does not want to convert to Roth. I don't know if all employer plans will permit that move, so could be a factor to consider.
by relentless
Sun Jun 24, 2012 10:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tell Me Why I Should Pay Off My Student Loans
Replies: 40
Views: 5704

Re: Tell Me Why I Should Pay Off My Student Loans

EmergDoc wrote:5-6% guaranteed investment? Where do I sign up?
Actually has to be at least 6-7% because of tax effects (assuming LTCG of 15%) just to break even, even more if LTCG goes to 20% or if has to pay income tax rate on dividends/interest.
by relentless
Sun Jun 24, 2012 9:12 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: New Job - Waiting for new 401K eligibility, Options?
Replies: 8
Views: 2237

Re: New Job - Waiting for new 401K eligibility, Options?

Why are you considering rolling over old 401k to new 401k plan rather than rolling it to IRA? 401ks usually have higher fees than a Vanguard IRA would.
by relentless
Sun Jun 24, 2012 8:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tell Me Why I Should Pay Off My Student Loans
Replies: 40
Views: 5704

Re: Tell Me Why I Should Pay Off My Student Loans

You are doing pretty well overall and are obviously bright. I agree with others that 6+ percent is pretty high and as you noted you don't get any tax deduction on the student loan interest. Student loans are riskier than other loans because they are not bankruptable and are very difficult to get rid of short of dying. I am personally increasing my total loans to fully fund my Roth IRA and Roth 403b (equivalent to 401k) in my last few months as a physician in training as the long term expected benefit FAR outweighs the short term interest cost. I will also have limited eligibility for increasing Roth space going forward. However, my income will be going up a lot soon and I will be repaying the additional loans in short order. I would certain...
by relentless
Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:03 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: HSA Strategy
Replies: 16
Views: 3312

Re: HSA Strategy

BTW, I know I have hijacked this thread a bit but hope OP doesn't mind, since my questions will probably be of value to him/her. OP you need to consider the time value of money in your decision. If you have a receipt for 1000 this year and don't submit that receipt for 20 years, that 1000 may only be worth 500 in real terms. However, lets assume your 1000 grows to 4000 nominal over that time period (i.e. about a 7.2% compounded return) then 3000 of growth can be used without tax penalty for medical expenses. Combined you then have 1500 real dollars available for medical expenses (tax free) plus 500 real for any expenses and you would likely be better off if that is the case (assuming no change in tax laws, etc). I am favoring saving up the ...
by relentless
Sun Jun 24, 2012 1:30 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: HSA Strategy
Replies: 16
Views: 3312

Re: HSA Strategy

Thanks. I had actually read the form a couple of times and missed this nuance. This actually raises yet other questions. It appears that the opening time of the HSA account is critical. Can I assume that if I open an account with another provider; transfer the funds from the original provider and then close the original account that I would lose the ability to claim reimbursement for expenses prior to opening the second account? The reason I am asking is that my new employer will fund an HSA partially this year and fully next year and thereafter but does not use my preferred HSA provider. I wonder if I should open my own HSA account from the get go with my preferred provider (i.e. have two HSA accounts) just to have a continuous account wit...
by relentless
Sun Jun 24, 2012 12:41 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: HSA Strategy
Replies: 16
Views: 3312

Re: HSA Strategy

Thanks.

For the related question: lets say I start an HSA with 1K and immediately have a 3k medical expense that is paid out of pocket, can I add 2k to the HSA account and then withdraw all 3k to reimburse for the expense? This is critically important because if not you would want to maximize contribution to the account at the outset.