Search found 113 matches

by DoubleDraw
Sun Mar 03, 2024 2:18 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup
Replies: 24
Views: 3071

Re: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup

Haven't updated our forum post in a few years - next year will be 10yrs of benefitting from this forum's wonderful advice. Thank you all! Emergency funds: yes in a separate HYSA (not listed here) Debt: none - paid off house Tax Filing Status: Married Filing Jointly Tax Rate: 24% Federal, 5% State State of Residence: UT Age: Him 40 Her 39 Desired Asset allocation: 80% stocks / 20% bonds/MM Desired International allocation: 26% of stocks (20% of total allocation) Please provide an approximate size of your total portfolio 1-2M Current retirement assets Taxable 26% Vanguard Total Market Index Fund (VTI) (0.03%) 6% Fidelity Money Market Fund Premium Class (FZDXX) (0.36%) 4% Apple (AAPL) His 401k 8% Fidelity 500 Index (FXAIX) (0.015%) 7% Fidelity...
by DoubleDraw
Mon Jan 22, 2024 7:18 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Adios, Vanguard
Replies: 465
Views: 93283

Re: Adios, Vanguard

We have been moving our last accounts over from Vanguard to Fidelity and today received a pleasant call from a local Fidelity rep who asked how things are going with the moves (flawlessly, Fidelitys website is easy to use), asked if there was anything he could help with and he had a recommendation on changing our default money market holding.

Probably a trigger in their sales funnel created the call but still, it was nice that they noticed and asked if they could help.

So far we are very pleased with our moves and highly recommend it to anyone who is considering it.
by DoubleDraw
Wed Jan 10, 2024 6:35 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Paypal - scam seller - difficulties
Replies: 28
Views: 3620

Re: Paypal - scam seller - difficulties

michaeljc70 wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2024 9:13 am Just an update. Citibank did not hear from the vendor/scammer and credited me the funds back.
Score one for the good guys! I bet that feels good. I’m surprised large corps and/or the govt don’t do more to protect consumers from situations like this, it only serves to erode confidence in the economy.
by DoubleDraw
Tue Jan 09, 2024 8:20 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Adios, Vanguard
Replies: 465
Views: 93283

Re: Adios, Vanguard

Another customer leaving Vanguard here. Their website and customer service are laughably bad. I appreciate all they have done for low cost index investing but we are taking our business elsewhere.
by DoubleDraw
Mon Jan 08, 2024 8:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Intuit's Mint App Shutting Down...Replacement Recommendations?
Replies: 754
Views: 141151

Re: Intuit's Mint App Shutting Down...Replacement Recommendations?

Sandi_k wrote: Mon Jan 08, 2024 8:30 pm
DoubleDraw wrote: Mon Jan 08, 2024 8:27 pm I was a 12 year+ Mint user and am sad to see it go. After spending close to 10 hours trying to setup Quicken properly, we have thrown in the towel. The software is too buggy and has serious issues miscalculating balances and connecting to accounts.

Our plan is to go back to spreadsheets. I downloaded all of our transactions from Mint and am spending some time setting up all the budget and investment tracking.

I am shocked there isn’t a better option in the marketplace but I have yet to find a complete solution that is reasonably priced.
Tiller. Spreadsheet (Google Sheets or Excel) customization, $79 per year.
I have looked at Tiller but don’t yet understand the value proposition compared to free stock connector add in.
by DoubleDraw
Mon Jan 08, 2024 8:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Intuit's Mint App Shutting Down...Replacement Recommendations?
Replies: 754
Views: 141151

Re: Intuit's Mint App Shutting Down...Replacement Recommendations?

I was a 12 year+ Mint user and am sad to see it go. After spending close to 10 hours trying to setup Quicken properly, we have thrown in the towel. The software is too buggy and has serious issues miscalculating balances and connecting to accounts.

Our plan is to go back to spreadsheets. I downloaded all of our transactions from Mint and am spending some time setting up all the budget and investment tracking.

I am shocked there isn’t a better option in the marketplace but I have yet to find a complete solution that is reasonably priced.
by DoubleDraw
Sun Jan 07, 2024 12:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Finding cost effective mid-tier colleges (Computer Science)
Replies: 164
Views: 25508

Re: Finding cost effective mid-tier colleges (Computer Science)

My anecdotal experience in tech is unless you went to a top 10 or 20 school, most companies will care a lot more about what you can do than where you went to school. Hiring managers look at GitHub projects to determine skill and aptitude. Make sure wherever your child goes they do not get burned out on coding for classes and has time and energy for coding on passion projects.

Good luck!
by DoubleDraw
Sat Jan 06, 2024 11:29 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Help me find a coffee maker with these features
Replies: 44
Views: 6638

Re: Help me find a coffee maker with these features

We have had a Spinn coffee machine for over a year now and it meets all your requirements and then some. Cleanup is easy - empty the drip tray and empty the grounds - then once a quarter run an automated cleaning cycle with cleaning fluid.

Some of our friends have it too and everyone loves it. The coffee is spectacular. We paired it with a milk frother to make milk drinks and couldn’t be happier with our setup. Cheers!

Edit: I see you went with the aeropress, that’s what we used for a decade before the Spinn and we haven’t used it once since we got the Spinn! Aeropress makes excellent coffee, enjoy!
by DoubleDraw
Mon Jan 01, 2024 6:26 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Southern Spain in March
Replies: 47
Views: 4761

Re: Southern Spain in March

We did a very similar trip a few years ago and had a lot of fun renting a car and making an adventure out of it. I second the advice that this is too many cities in too short of a time but you do you!
by DoubleDraw
Mon Jan 01, 2024 5:03 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What big hairy audacious goals do you have for 2024?
Replies: 109
Views: 15382

Re: What big hairy audacious goals do you have for 2024?

tbh, to have a more predictable year. I had a lot of ups/downs due to my/family health in 2023, career challenges, etc. I just want to get back into a sustainable flow. Some I can control directly, some I can put some pieces in place to hopefully make the bumps/detours a little easier to handle if/when they occur. This resonated with me, any strategies or tactics you are planning to implement you can share? At the moment: - I'm starting to work on better organizing my life / writing stuff down. Experimenting with https://obsidian.md/ to help here. - Read more. - Look at my work calendar this week and really think through what is necessary, what I can delegate, and what I can cancel. - Simplify daily processes, like finances (do I really ne...
by DoubleDraw
Mon Jan 01, 2024 3:49 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What big hairy audacious goals do you have for 2024?
Replies: 109
Views: 15382

Re: What big hairy audacious goals do you have for 2024?

crg11 wrote: Sun Dec 31, 2023 12:14 pm tbh, to have a more predictable year. I had a lot of ups/downs due to my/family health in 2023, career challenges, etc. I just want to get back into a sustainable flow.

Some I can control directly, some I can put some pieces in place to hopefully make the bumps/detours a little easier to handle if/when they occur.
This resonated with me, any strategies or tactics you are planning to implement you can share?
by DoubleDraw
Mon Jan 01, 2024 3:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What big hairy audacious goals do you have for 2024?
Replies: 109
Views: 15382

Re: What big hairy audacious goals do you have for 2024?

Health: Write in my journal every single day - I started this habit this year and have been pleasantly surprised at how helpful it has been for me

Work/finance: earn promotion, stay the course

Family: at least 1hr of no screen time per day with my kids

Cheers to 2024 Bogleheads, I hope you all have a happy and healthy year.
by DoubleDraw
Mon Nov 27, 2023 9:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Black Friday/Cyber Monday Deals on Luggage/Duffles?
Replies: 11
Views: 2249

Re: Black Friday/Cyber Monday Deals on Luggage/Duffles?

+1 for ebags house brand, it’s the best combination of very reasonably priced and good quality that we’ve found. We have several and have never had any issues.

If you combo a sale and look on a rebate site you can usually get them for very competitive prices.
by DoubleDraw
Sat Sep 09, 2023 4:55 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Handyman? How much do you pay ?
Replies: 23
Views: 3587

Re: Handyman? How much do you pay ?

We recently had quite a bit of handyman work done by two different people. One charged $65/hr and the other $75/hr.

We typically discussed time estimates beforehand and overall the projects came in very close to the estimates.
by DoubleDraw
Thu Sep 07, 2023 1:41 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Bose NC 700 Headphones versus QC 45 Headphones
Replies: 18
Views: 1586

Re: Bose NC 700 Headphones versus QC 45 Headphones

+1 for going to a store and trying Sony vs Bose or buying a few options and returning those you don’t prefer. To me, the most important part of headphones you plan to wear for long periods of time is comfort.
by DoubleDraw
Thu Aug 24, 2023 8:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Recommendations for expense tracking/budgeting software/programs?
Replies: 21
Views: 2413

Re: Recommendations for expense tracking/budgeting software/programs?

I have used Mint for years and find it easy to use and connects to everything. Easy exports to .csv too if you want to bring your data elsewhere.
by DoubleDraw
Tue Aug 15, 2023 6:16 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: YouTube Premium
Replies: 29
Views: 3814

Re: YouTube Premium

We pay for YouTube premium and for YouTube TV during football season. We find Premium to be an incredible value as we have two young kids who can watch YouTube kids ad free and there is a Spotify competitor music app called YouTube Music (yes their branding is insanely confusing) that Premium members can play ad free using your phone or desktop. It’s not quite as good as Spotify but still 90%+ replacement for Spotify. In terms of YouTube channels I like channels where they make learning for adults fun. Like these: Veritasium Smarter Everyday Epic history tv Peter Santanello Lots of comedians are releasing their specials on YouTube now so I end up watching lots of those and old standup. It’s pretty amazing to have access to all that. YouTube...
by DoubleDraw
Sun Aug 23, 2020 3:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Which 3 row luxury SUV?
Replies: 70
Views: 7119

Re: Which 3 row luxury SUV?

Check out Doug DeMuro's reviews on YouTube. He approaches reviews from an Everyman's perspective (vs. a gearhead's). I believe he recommends the X7 out of this bunch.

X7 Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1fNZSYXNaw

GLS Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOREqfzgN9M

Navigator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUSv8b-V5I4
by DoubleDraw
Thu Aug 20, 2020 12:41 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: A few things that points blogs don't tell you about credit card points
Replies: 67
Views: 13054

Re: A few things that points blogs don't tell you about credit card points

I have done quite a bit of reading on this topic and disagree with every point you make here
by DoubleDraw
Wed Jan 15, 2020 9:45 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup
Replies: 24
Views: 3071

Re: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup

retiredjg wrote: Sat Jan 04, 2020 6:12 am All looks good to me. You are doing great!

If there is a good bond fund choice in Her new 401k, maybe you could roll her ole 403b into it if you want.
Thanks for the advice, we rolled her 403b into her 401k (and put some into a bond fund) and also did our first backdoor roth!
by DoubleDraw
Wed Jan 01, 2020 4:03 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup
Replies: 24
Views: 3071

Re: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup

Emergency funds: Yes Debt: Mortgage on principal residence: ~$67k @ 4.25% - 62 payments remaining No other debt Tax Filing Status: Married Filing Jointly Tax Rate: 24% Federal, 5% State State of Residence: Utah Age: Him (DH) 36, Her (DW) 35 Desired Asset allocation: 80% stocks / 20% bonds Desired International allocation: 25% of stocks Size of current portfolio: High 6 figures Current retirement assets: Taxable Account at Fidelity 40% Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) (.04%) 2% Vanguard Small Cap Value ETF (VBR) (.08%) 3% Apple (AAPL) 1% Money Market His 401k at Fidelity 12% Fidelity Spartan 500 Index (FUSVX) (.07%) 9% Fidelity Spartan International Index (FSIVX) (.17%) 5% Fidelity Government Income (FGOVX) Company match: 3.5% His Roth ...
by DoubleDraw
Sun Aug 04, 2019 11:47 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup
Replies: 24
Views: 3071

Re: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup

HHI: $235k-$250k depending on bonuses & 1099 work Current debt: $~80k on mortgage @4.25% 6.75yrs left if paying PITI only Current home value: $450k+ Taxable accounts: $375k Retirement accounts: $450k Ages: 35 & 36 Current contributions: 401k: $18k/yr ea Roth IRA: $6k/yr ea Mortgage principal: $4k/mo on top of PITI of $1400/mo Our plans have changed and we are now expecting our first child in early 2020! We are planning on 2 children which means we will likely need to think about a larger house in ~3-5yrs. We plan to continue working for at least another 20 years, through child 2 graduating HS, and plan on maximizing our 401k and IRA contributions for that entire time. At our current rate of contribution, we would have our home paid ...
by DoubleDraw
Thu Jun 27, 2019 1:20 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Crypto bulls are back. Are you getting in?
Replies: 278
Views: 32645

Re: Crypto bulls are back. Are you getting in?

I have never owned any cryptocurrency because 1) I don’t understand it well enough 2) it is volatile and seems incredibly easy to manipulate the market 3) I don’t see how it is anything but speculating.

However, I can see a lot of use in transferring value across borders with low transaction costs for legitimate reasons.

We recently booked a vacation rental without using a major site (peer to peer) and had a hard time finding any reasonable way to transfer money. We ended up paying ~$100 to transfer $1,500. In speaking with coworkers who are from other countries, they all had the same experience when transferring money back home to their families.
by DoubleDraw
Mon Apr 29, 2019 7:18 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best use of Chase Sapphire Preferred points?
Replies: 27
Views: 3666

Re: Best use of Chase Sapphire Preferred points?

Best use I have found is Hyatt hotels over the Christmas holiday season. We got 9cpp last year!
by DoubleDraw
Tue Apr 16, 2019 12:06 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Salt Lake City (or Wasatch Front) Bogleheads? Or Both?
Replies: 123
Views: 39843

Re: Salt Lake City Bogleheads

I'm interested as well!
by DoubleDraw
Thu Apr 04, 2019 11:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Landlord looking to buy out my lease. Whats a reasonable price?
Replies: 75
Views: 7323

Re: Landlord looking to buy out my lease. Whats a reasonable price?

I’d ask for my full deposit back immediately (for next place deposit) + $5k to be out in 45 days with a $100 kicker for each day less than 45 days it takes you to find a place and move. Don’t get greedy, but you should be compensated for a bit of inconvenience.
by DoubleDraw
Thu Mar 07, 2019 8:43 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best Car Values
Replies: 155
Views: 15054

Re: Best Car Values

This has been mentioned on here before, but to me one of the real value sweet spots these days is a lightly used Nissan Leaf. The market for an all electric car is inherently limited (for now anyway) and the technology is evolving rapidly, so the prices for a used one are quite low for what you get. Plus they're cheaper to operate. 2nd this. We recently bought a 2013 Leaf with 27k miles for $9k. My work has free EV charging so it is very inexpensive to operate as well. An amazing deal when you think about what you’re getting, as long as the 85mi range works for you (my commute is about 12 miles each way). We absolutely love the Leaf and will likely replace our 2012 Outback with an EV when it needs replacing in the next 5-10yrs. The one thi...
by DoubleDraw
Thu Mar 07, 2019 12:06 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best Car Values
Replies: 155
Views: 15054

Re: Best Car Values

tchoupitoulas wrote: Wed Mar 06, 2019 9:55 am This has been mentioned on here before, but to me one of the real value sweet spots these days is a lightly used Nissan Leaf. The market for an all electric car is inherently limited (for now anyway) and the technology is evolving rapidly, so the prices for a used one are quite low for what you get. Plus they're cheaper to operate.
2nd this. We recently bought a 2013 Leaf with 27k miles for $9k. My work has free EV charging so it is very inexpensive to operate as well. An amazing deal when you think about what you’re getting, as long as the 85mi range works for you (my commute is about 12 miles each way).

We absolutely love the Leaf and will likely replace our 2012 Outback with an EV when it needs replacing in the next 5-10yrs.
by DoubleDraw
Sun Jan 06, 2019 8:22 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup
Replies: 24
Views: 3071

Re: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup

Thanks for the advice on Total Stock in her Roth IRA - we will look at changing this soon. As for the mortgage vs. student loans, DW wants to pay the loans back with her income, just personal preference for her. Might cost us a few bucks in the long run, but will feel good.

Now we just have to figure out how to do our first backdoor Roth!

Thanks again for your input. Cheers.
by DoubleDraw
Tue Jan 01, 2019 5:11 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup
Replies: 24
Views: 3071

Re: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup

Emergency funds: Yes Debt: Mortgage on principal residence: ~$100k @ 4.25% - 103 payments remaining Her student loan 1 $,1249 @ 3.15% Her student loan 2 $5,262 @ 3.15% Her student loan 3 $5,283 @ 4.25% Her student loan 4 $1,197 @ 5.35% Her student loan 5 $1,000 (deferred and will be paid before interest starts 3/1/2019) Tax Filing Status: Married Filing Jointly Tax Rate: 24% Federal, 5% State State of Residence: Utah Age: Him (DH) 35, Her (DW) 34 Desired Asset allocation: 85% stocks / 15% bonds Desired International allocation: 25% of stocks Size of current portfolio: Mid 6 figures Current retirement assets: Taxable Account at Fidelity 41% Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) (.04%) 2% Vanguard Small Cap Value ETF (VBR) (.08%) 2% Apple (AA...
by DoubleDraw
Wed Mar 21, 2018 11:18 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Rent & Invest vs Mortgage for mid-30's saver
Replies: 25
Views: 4571

Re: Rent & Invest vs Mortgage for mid-30's saver

If you are single and don’t have a long term significant other or a dog then stick to renting as long as you can. The fewer things you have anchoring you in one place the better. It opens you up to so many opportunities in life. Relocate over seas? Easy. Take a work hiatus and travel for 6 months, pack your stuff in a storage unit and go. A work friend ends up moving and needs someone to house sit their house for a year. Free rent boom. Makes you a more flexible partner housing wise for anyone you start dating long term too.

Just my .02 - I bought a condo when I was young (24) and ended up regretting it even though it worked out ok in the end
by DoubleDraw
Sun Jan 07, 2018 2:15 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why Buy Bonds If You Have A Mortgage?
Replies: 187
Views: 25968

Re: Why Buy Bonds If You Have A Mortgage?

What kinds of events require such large amounts of cash or liquidity? I have yet to run into any situation other than buying a home or car that requires more than $10k or so at a clip. We have great health insurance, home insurance and car insurance.

I understand the value of liquidity in order to rebalance when there are large shifts in the markets but don’t understand what people need $50k at a time for that is unplanned.
by DoubleDraw
Sun Feb 19, 2017 4:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tracking progress to $1M portfolio and no mortgage by 40
Replies: 121
Views: 36057

Re: Tracking progress to $1M portfolio and no mortgage by 40

Awesome to see this from another 33yr old! My wife and I have similar goals, paid off house and $1M invested by 40. We are 33/32. We aren't as far along as you but my wife has been in school forever and will graduate at the end of this year.

Nice job getting your income up, at our age I believe that is the hardest part. Once you are used to saving most of your paychecks that becomes 2nd nature.

Some of my friends have made fun on me for not spending money on silly things like video games but when I explain I hope to retire at 45 the mocking stops and it becomes "woah how can you even think of doing that?".

Congrats on your progress!
by DoubleDraw
Sun Jan 08, 2017 12:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup
Replies: 24
Views: 3071

Re: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup

retiredjg, thanks for your input, I appreciate the time you took to review our situation. We will be considering your suggestions, especially about wash sales if that were to ever come up. We are OK with 20% in international right now and are adding 50% international in His 401k to slowly increase our exposure. Dottie, we are sure none of her student loans are accruing interest. We are paying down our mortgage as fast as we can because it is accruing interest! We made some adjustments to our holdings in Her 403b and 457b as well as new contributions. We are now aiming for 10% in bonds. Any other adjustments anyone recommends in our new allocation? Thank you! Emergency funds: Yes Debt: Mortgage on principal residence: $144,468 @ 4.25% - 161 ...
by DoubleDraw
Sun Jan 01, 2017 3:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup
Replies: 24
Views: 3071

Re: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup

Update - 1.5yrs later and we have sold our investment property and put the proceeds towards our principal residence mortgage. We have also simplified our investments and will continue to do so over time. Our income continues to grow and will grow significantly at the beginning of 2018 when she is done with school and (hopefully) gets a job. Emergency funds: Yes Debt: Mortgage on principal residence: $144,468 @ 4.25% - 161 payments left (13.4 yrs) Her student loan 1 $1,288 @ 3.4% Her student loan 2 $5,424 @ 3.4% Her student loan 3 $5,421 @ 4.5% Her student loan 4 $3,919 @ 5.6% All student loans are subsidized and in deferment right now (no payments due, no interest accruing). She will graduate in ~1yr with a STEM PhD and wants to pay these b...
by DoubleDraw
Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:52 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: late 30s, what career or new degree
Replies: 24
Views: 4958

Re: late 30s, what career or new degree

I would not go back to school for a degree, I would start building cool stuff. I don't believe a degree is nearly as valuable as evidence you can do stuff.

Your experience and interests would be a good fit for any analyst, web analytics, business intelligence or similar role. You should learn and master Excel, R, Tableau and SQL on your own time. Very minimal real coding but still get the thrill of problem solving and "developing" reports.
by DoubleDraw
Tue Nov 03, 2015 10:36 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Funding new house down payment
Replies: 4
Views: 710

Re: Funding new house down payment

Try putting your values into taxcaster and see what it spits out. It's not quite as good as the tax software you pay for but will give you a good idea of where you would stand in different situations.
by DoubleDraw
Sun Nov 01, 2015 3:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Capital Gains Questions
Replies: 5
Views: 648

Re: Capital Gains Questions

Ok, so it would need to be 110% of last year's taxes of $12,500 since our AGI would be over $150k this year.

We need to have at least $13,750 of withholdings in 2015 or an additional $2250 over the next two months. Correct?
by DoubleDraw
Sun Nov 01, 2015 3:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Capital Gains Questions
Replies: 5
Views: 648

Re: Capital Gains Questions

As of right now it appears our tax liability would be around $11,500 but that is before any stock sales.

With $40,000 of additional capital gains it would increase to $17,500. Does this change anything?

As long as we are at 100% of last year's taxes (or 110% if our AGI is over $150k) we should be fine paying the capital gains of $6,000 in April 2016?

Thanks for your help, this is all very confusing.
by DoubleDraw
Sun Nov 01, 2015 11:13 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?
Replies: 91
Views: 35690

Re: How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?

We have two credit cards

1) BOA 1-2-3 cash rewards - used for most everyday purchases
2) Costco Amex - used for travel (2%) and Costco purchases (1% in the store, 3% on gas)
by DoubleDraw
Sun Nov 01, 2015 11:05 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Capital Gains Questions
Replies: 5
Views: 648

Capital Gains Questions

We are trying to figure out our tax situation for 2015. We would like to sell some stock this year and aren’t sure what the tax implications are in terms of estimated payments etc. In 2014 our total federal taxes were ~ $12,500 but we only had about $7,500 in federal taxes withheld from our paychecks which meant we had to cut a check for about $5,000 in April. I believe we were in the safe harbor because our 2014 federal tax paycheck withholdings were more than 100% of our 2013 total federal taxes but I’m not sure we did everything correctly because we did not make an estimated payment in Q4 of 2014 which led to the $5,000 payment in April of 2015. We only just learned that we might have needed to make an estimated payment and would like to...
by DoubleDraw
Wed Aug 26, 2015 9:44 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TLH tomorrow? Please help me decide [Tax Loss Harvesting]
Replies: 22
Views: 2884

Re: TLH tomorrow? Please help me decide

livesoft wrote:
DoubleDraw wrote:I have a Fidelity account and would be selling VTI. I don't think there is a way to avoid the 3 day settlement period for this sale.
Try this: Sell VTI and immediately try to buy something else in the same account. It works. And it does not avoid the 3-day settlement period, but takes advantage of the fact that the thing you buy will probably have a 3-day settlement period of its own.

HOWEVER, if you are trying to sell something that you bought very recently, but the purchase has not settled yet, then yes, you cannot free ride.
Wow, thanks for the information. I called Fidelity to confirm. Not sure why I thought what I did!
by DoubleDraw
Wed Aug 26, 2015 9:23 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TLH tomorrow? Please help me decide [Tax Loss Harvesting]
Replies: 22
Views: 2884

Re: TLH tomorrow? Please help me decide

livesoft wrote:
DoubleDraw wrote:I am wrestling with a similar problem, but on a smaller scale. How do you factor in the 3 lost days in the market when making tax loss harvesting decisions? If you had sold yesterday after the big down day you would have had to wait 3 days for your trade to clear and would have missed today, no?
No. One can unsettled funds to buy in the same account. That's why one can "exchange" shares and not even go to cash.
I have a Fidelity account and would be selling VTI. I don't think there is a way to avoid the 3 day settlement period for this sale.
by DoubleDraw
Wed Aug 26, 2015 9:22 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TLH tomorrow? Please help me decide [Tax Loss Harvesting]
Replies: 22
Views: 2884

Re: TLH tomorrow? Please help me decide

I am wrestling with a similar problem, but on a smaller scale. How do you factor in the 3 lost days in the market when making tax loss harvesting decisions? If you had sold yesterday after the big down day you would have had to wait 3 days for your trade to clear and would have missed today, no? I don't understand the question, since this particular TLH would be exchanging one mutual fund for another similar but not substantially identical mutual fund on the same day, so there is no T+3 settlement to even worry about. The question was answered for ETFs in the same account, but if one has some cash in a bank account linked to a brokerage, TLHing ETFs also can be done same day in different brokerage accounts using similar ETFs, or even an ET...
by DoubleDraw
Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:39 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TLH tomorrow? Please help me decide [Tax Loss Harvesting]
Replies: 22
Views: 2884

Re: TLH tomorrow? Please help me decide

I am wrestling with a similar problem, but on a smaller scale. How do you factor in the 3 lost days in the market when making tax loss harvesting decisions? If you had sold yesterday after the big down day you would have had to wait 3 days for your trade to clear and would have missed today, no?

Looking forward to people's thoughts on these issues!
by DoubleDraw
Tue Aug 18, 2015 9:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Blue Apron
Replies: 155
Views: 31269

Re: Blue Apron

We recently tried the $30 for 6 meals Blue Apron intro deal. We have been disappointed with the food. Both meals we have tried so far had a lot of bread and tasteless protein (salmon and meatballs). We cook a lot at home and make both of these dishes much much better than Blue Apron's recipe. The salads have been good but, again, not as good as our homemade dressings and fresh ingredients from the local store. We will not be subscribing despite a reasonable cost per meal, though not a deal by any means, and convenience factor. People who are "foodies" would not recommend this service at all based on the two meals we have had so far! Maybe people who are very short on time (we both are busy 40+hrs/wk) and/or live in a HCOL would be...
by DoubleDraw
Sun Jul 12, 2015 11:51 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup
Replies: 24
Views: 3071

Re: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup

Thanks for taking the time to respond! Here is a different approach. To me it seems easier than going back and amending 3 years worth of taxes. And some other comments as well. Her Student loans: (in deferment for 3 more years while she is in grad school) Why are you borrowing money for school when you have plenty of money in the taxable account to pay for it? This does not make good sense to me. We are not accumulating any more debt right now, these are her loans from her undergraduate degree before we were married. Her graduate tuition is covered by the school. The taxable account was his from before we were married as well and we think of it as our emergency fund and have not contributed to it in years. She put herself through school an...
by DoubleDraw
Sat Jul 11, 2015 6:35 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup
Replies: 24
Views: 3071

Re: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup

Thank you for such a detailed response! I have edited my OP with as much info as I could provide. Unfortunately, his old 401k does not seem to provide any expense ratio information we could easily find online. The two index funds were chosen because they are by far the least expensive, everything else are actively managed funds with expense ratios well above than 1%. I'd be uncomfortable holding so little in fixed income when you have over $300k on two mortgages. I hesitate to count the rental property equity as part of your portfolio until you own it. If you chose this allocation with a serious evaluation of your risk/volatility/loss tolerance, then it's okay. We are very comfortable with our risk profile and have experienced heavy losses ...
by DoubleDraw
Sat Jul 11, 2015 4:38 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup
Replies: 24
Views: 3071

Re: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup

sawhorse wrote:Is there no general bond fund among the options?
That is a complete list of options in his 401k. Rather limited, but at least there is a cheap SP500 and International Stock Index fund
by DoubleDraw
Sat Jul 11, 2015 2:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with 401k choices and account cleanup
Replies: 24
Views: 3071

Help with 401k choices and account cleanup

Emergency funds: Yes Debt: Principal Residence: $232k @ 4.25%, $1,487 PITI, ~28yrs left on a 30yr fixed mortgage Rental Property: $83k @ 3.125%, $944 PITI, ~ 8yrs left on a 15yr fixed mortgage Her Student loans: (in deferment for 3 more years while she is in grad school) $1,287 @ 3.4% $5,424 @ 3.4% $5,421 @ 4.5% $1,000 @ 5% $3,919 @ 5.6% total of $17,051 Tax Filing Status:Married Filing Jointly Tax Rate: 25% Federal, 5% State State of Residence: Utah Age: Him: 32, Her: 31 Desired Asset allocation: 80% stocks / 5% bonds/ 15% rental property equity Desired International allocation: 30% of stocks Size of your current total portfolio: mid six-figures Fidelity Taxable Account 1.79% cash (for investing – do not include emergency funds) 20.93% Va...