Bogleheads

But why, oh why, would you let them take from your checking account if they accept credit?

Because some charge a fee to pay by credit card. And those are not the only two options.

Not all Amex cards have an annual fee. For example, the Blue card has no annual fee. Also, the Blue card has very good cash back rewards, better than most visa cards. And in my experience, 95% of m ...

Earn too much to do IRA or spousal IRA.

Everybody can contribute to an IRA, regardless of income, up to the amount of earned income, subject to limits. money bag

Term life has begun to rise.

42 year old preferred plus in 2007 was $495 on average 20 year term.
42 year old preferred plus in 2009 is $545 on average 20 year term.

For how much coverage?

You provided two different numbers. The first was for 2008, and the second was for the first quarter of 2009. None of them was for 15 months.

12 months = 1 year

3 months = 1 quarter

12 month ...

Adrian, you are saying that 3 months of returns gives a more accurate picture of risk than 15 years of returns?

What do you think? Do stock markets give off steady high returns year after year? Doe ...

Adrian, you are saying that 3 months of returns gives a more accurate picture of risk than 15 years of returns?

...in the average annual returns of a broadly diversified low cost portfolio.

Case in point: The average annual return of Vanguard's four different LifeStrategy funds since their inception 15 year ...

Accidents happen, that's what insurance is for. Don't worry about it.

He used the word "generally", and I agree with him. Most people spend more as they earn more.

Hi Kendra. The general rule of thumb for investing priority is:

1. 401k/403b up to the company match
2. Max out Roth
3. Max out 401k/403b
4. Taxable Investing

Perhaps you should read ...

-12% is close to the total return of the Target Retirement Income Fund for 2008 which was -11.34%. So this would lead to the inference that Mr. Bogle has approximately 30% of his portfolio in equitie ...

Zaplunken, it's not your fault, you are a victim of the financial media and the real estate and lending industry that repeats over and over that "your mortgage interest is tax deductible". ...

Zaplunken, you are getting less of a tax benefit from your mortgage interest than you think. Read this thread...

http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31456&highlight=morgage+mortgag ...

I am neither a mathematician or a programmer, so I am curious...

If you have a username that is 8 characters, and you have a password that is 10 characters, what are the odds or the likelihood that ...

Mptfan- you have raised an interesting point that I had not thought about.
Bob

Bob, don't feel bad, most people don't think about it. And it is different than the oft-repeated (and usually wrong) ...

When will people stop falling for "they say I'll make 25% return! Here's my $500 to learn how!"

Never. A sucker is born every minute.

Your first priority should be to withdraw enough from your tax deferred accounts to fill up your lower (and zero) tax brackets during each year of your retirement. Alternatively, if you are eligible, ...

Way to much of a Polyanna. Think decades - maybe 2019 at the absolute earliest and probably more like 2029.

Whoops - hope you didn't act based on that prediction!

- DDB

Give the guy a break, ...

I have said this forever....you don't need a certain percent of your income in retirement, you need a certain percent of your expenses in retirement. I wish that someday those writers would stop sayi ...

Take your income and subtract how much you saved, that is your spending.

That is only true if you don't borrow or use credit cards.

The IRS announced yesterday that pension plan contribution limits will remain unchanged for 2010.

"This is because the cost-of-living index for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, is less th ...

If your tax bracket is the same in both phases, and you invest the tax savings you receive from pre-tax contributions, I believe it's a wash between the Roth and traditional.

If you are referring ...

I guess I was thinking of my stereotype of what is normal......a mix of other income plus IRA....

In my example, the couple did have a mix of other income...it just wasn't taxable.

Doc is correct. Allow me to use a simplistic example to illustrate the difference between marginal tax rates in retirement, compared to the effective tax rate applicable to the TIRA withdrawals in re ...

Doc, you are correct, and I agree with what you said. However, when you make a broad statement that "the TIRA may be worth more in the future if your tax rate is lower in retirement", I thi ...

This may be a nit pick but it may be important to avoid making a mistake in the details. David is correct. In the 25% tax bracket $10000 in a TIRA is worth $7500 in a ROTH (today). But mptfan is als ...

Chicagobear wrote:I don't see any reason to put bullion in an IRA given that it doesn't generate taxable income.

Are you saying if I bought gold at $1000 per troy ounce with monies NOT in an IRA th ...

Chicagobear wrote:I don't see any reason to put bullion in an IRA given that it doesn't generate taxable income.

Are you saying if I bought gold at $1000 per troy ounce with monies NOT in an IRA th ...

So unless you know the tax rates in the future or have some other special factors to consider, e.g. estate size, there is no difference between the after-tax money from a Standard IRA and a Roth IR ...

And if you are in a 28% tax bracket now, it is very unlikely that you will retire in a tax bracket lower than 25%; unless you retire with a huge Roth or a huge taxable account, retiring in a 15% tax b ...

If you have $10,000 in an IRA (worth $7500 after tax)...

David, you continue to make this assertion, even though it is not true for many people. Life is more complicated than your simple math calc ...

I can't believe people were giving you advice without this information. Now that we know, it's simple.

This is because people tend to focus so much on where the money is coming from and not eno ...

"Badges? Badges? We don't need no stinkin badges!"

Of course, I'm not smart enough to create such a formula, but that doesn't mean it's not possible. Is there some fundamental reason no one in the literature has come up with one?

I can think of sev ...

Vanguard does not allow Transfer-on-Death of nonretirement joint accounts, but only on individual accounts. I was wondering if our nonretirement joint accounts simply have to go through probate if bot ...

If we retired now, how much would you guess we could take each year from our $750K retirement funds?

As much as you want.

Of course, the downside to this order of withdrawal is the second point I made previously:

* Why reduce the principal in tax deferred accounts that are compounding tax-deferred, if we can take prin ...

Taylor, in my opinion, it would be foolish to forego the benefit of withdrawing money from tax deferred accounts at very low tax rates in any given year. Again, I am assuming no other taxable income ...

Your first priority should be to withdraw enough from your tax deferred accounts to fill up your lower tax brackets during each year of your retirement. Alternatively, if you are eligible, you should ...

I know that the chosen order of taping investments are first taxable, then tax deferred, and lastly tax free.

I do not agree that this is the chosen order, as it will depend on your situation. ...

Did your friend ask you for advice? If so, what was her specific question?

A simple layman such as I would think that being the most stolen automobile model doesn't matter. What matters is insurance premium per $10,000 blue book value, since that is the variable which affec ...

7-8% over 40 years from 2007, when S&P was at ~1500, would put it at about 22,000-32,000 in 2047.

We are now at about 1000. 38 years at 8.5% to 9.5% would put us at about that same range in 204 ...

Keeping it in the Traditional IRA lets it grow to $16,000, which is $12,000 after tax.

This is not necessarily true. If you are in your peak earning years, you save at your current marginal ta ...

I understand that paying 25% now (with conversion) or 25% later (withdrawing from a TIRA) yields the same.

Your understanding is not correct.

When I was working we maximized our pension plan contributions. We wondered whether we were going to have higher incomes in retirement.
As a result of the retirement fund growth, now that I am retire ...

I do not budget. I use homemade spreadsheets created using Excel to keep track of my account balances and net worth. If I continue to save, and if I do not incur debt, then it does not matter to me ...

Universal Property and Casualty Company. They were the best deal for me for homeowner's insurance.

http://www.universalproperty.com/