Search found 105 matches

by cliffedelgado
Wed Jul 24, 2019 3:54 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Moving out of high ER
Replies: 6
Views: 977

Moving out of high ER

My parents are retired (mid 60s) and considering moving money out of high ER funds due to the fees. I wanted to get everyone's advice on what steps they should take and see if I'm missing anything. They already have Vanguard accounts and others as well (their way of diversification). Their concern is that if they sell now, they will have to pay capital gains tax. I saw the spreadsheet in the wiki for switching out of a bad taxable fund. This is also a taxable account. In case it makes a difference, they probably do not need this money for 20+ years, or possibly not at all. Also, they should have some 0% LTCG space. The spreadsheet does not consider this. PEYAX Putnam Equity Income Fund Class A. ER 0.91% POGAX Putnam Growth Opportunities Fun...
by cliffedelgado
Fri May 29, 2015 4:58 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Why employer limits after-tax 401k contribution percentage to a low number?
Replies: 1
Views: 627

Why employer limits after-tax 401k contribution percentage to a low number?

My new employer allows after-tax contributions to the 401k, as well as in-service withdrawals (unlimited). However, the after-tax contribution is limited to 5%. I would like to get this raised. Please help me brainstorm on why they would limit it to such a low number. From what I've read, after-tax 401k contributions are not subject to the non-discrimination tests. Please correct me if I am wrong. I believe allowing a higher percentage would NOT raise the costs incurred by the plan. edit: ok, I'm answering my own question. Posting here for everyone to learn. So the widely known non-discrimination test is ADP. But there is another one called ACP. from http://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/401k-Plan-Fix-It-Guide-The-Plan-Failed-The-401k-ADP-and...
by cliffedelgado
Fri Jan 30, 2015 5:04 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Mega Backdoor Roth IRA questions
Replies: 5
Views: 917

Re: Mega Backdoor Roth IRA questions

1. There will be tax on the earnings. I think it goes under pension category, which is at income rate.

2. Correct.

3. Starts Jan 1st of the year when you did the rollover.

See the chart here

http://fairmark.com/forum/read.php?2,54159

Re: Roth IRA Rules - Table Approach
Posted by: KAWill, October 15, 2010 03:57AM
by cliffedelgado
Sun Feb 17, 2013 1:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Turbo Tax - 401K After-Tax Rollover to Roth IRA
Replies: 11
Views: 1820

Re: Turbo Tax - 401K After-Tax Rollover to Roth IRA

Turbotax acknowledged the bug. Hope it is fixed in desktop and online version soon.

http://turbotax.intuit.com/support/iq/R ... 66002.html
by cliffedelgado
Mon Feb 11, 2013 7:37 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best way to take out money from VWITX
Replies: 5
Views: 949

Re: Best way to take out money from VWITX

Thanks grabiner, that's what I was thinking of.

While the amount may be small, I would avoid the extra accounting if possible. Especially if you had reinvested dividends. Just wanted to point that out to OP should OP actually be near the 6 month mark.
by cliffedelgado
Mon Feb 11, 2013 7:14 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best way to take out money from VWITX
Replies: 5
Views: 949

Re: Best way to take out money from VWITX

I thought that tax-exempt dividends lose their tax-exempt status if you hold the security for less than 6 months. And that the Vanguard cost basis does NOT take this into consideration. If this is true, then it does make a difference which one is taken out (if you wait a couple more months). Can anyone chime in and let me know if I am remembering incorrectly ? It doesn't matter in the OP's scenario, but after a couple months, it could make a difference.
by cliffedelgado
Mon Feb 04, 2013 11:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Free Turbotax Premier Online for Fidelity users
Replies: 12
Views: 3295

Re: Free Turbotax Premier Online for Fidelity users

Bad news folks. Seems it was a mistake and Fidelity/Turbotax disabled it. My account was showing a charge of $49.99 just now whereas yesterday it showed $0.

The good news is I chatted with Turbotax support online and they gave me a single-use code to still get premier for free. If you still want it for free, you'll need to contact Turbotax support. Sorry for the trouble.

edit: Forgot to add, they said with the code, state would be $27.99 instead of $36.99.
by cliffedelgado
Sun Feb 03, 2013 12:19 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Free Turbotax Premier Online for Fidelity users
Replies: 12
Views: 3295

Free Turbotax Premier Online for Fidelity users

Free Turbotax Premier Online (with e-filing) for people that have accounts at Fidelity. This is federal only. State is 36.99 extra. I believe this will also work for those with 401k at Fidelity. This would be another reason for people to use Turbotax. You will need to login. https://www.fidelity.com/premier Has been reported to NOT work with chrome and Internet Explorer. Signed up myself through firefox. Adding my later post in original one so more people will see the update: Bad news folks. Seems it was a mistake and Fidelity/Turbotax disabled it. My account was showing a charge of $49.99 just now whereas yesterday it showed $0. The good news is I chatted with Turbotax support online and they gave me a single-use code to still get premier ...
by cliffedelgado
Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:54 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buying a new car without having dealer do credit check?
Replies: 64
Views: 7039

Re: Buying a new car without having dealer do credit check?

Mudpuppy wrote:See, you should have insisted on finalizing the price and going to get a cashier's check for it, WITHOUT filling out the credit application form. Once you sign that form, it doesn't matter that you left the SSN blank or told them you didn't want to have your credit run. The fine print of the form allows it.
Yes, they got me. Now I can't even sue them for violation of FCRA. I provided my story as a warning to everyone that withholding the SSN is not enough. I should have refused to sign it. They will say it is required, so be prepared to walk out. Does crossing out the small print change anything ?
by cliffedelgado
Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:13 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buying a new car without having dealer do credit check?
Replies: 64
Views: 7039

Re: Buying a new car without having dealer do credit check?

stan1 wrote:
Did you buy the car? If so, did you finance elsewhere, pay with a cashiers check, a personal check, or something else happened?
I did buy the car and paid with a cashier's check. Filled out the "credit application" as they said (or rather implied, I can't remember now) it was required. Purposely left the SSN blank. The small print says they can run the credit report. I had made it clear to the salesman I did not want my credit pulled and they said cashier's check was the only way to avoid it.
by cliffedelgado
Sun Dec 30, 2012 11:08 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buying a new car without having dealer do credit check?
Replies: 64
Views: 7039

Re: Buying a new car without having dealer do credit check?

I can confirm no SSN is required for the dealer to pull credit report. Dealer just did this to me, and it was a hard pull. Not happy
by cliffedelgado
Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:06 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Wells Fargo Advisors : new fees starting 6/20/2012
Replies: 94
Views: 15188

Re: Wells Fargo Advisors : new fees starting 6/20/2012

I received a letter with the new fee schedule today, as well. Unless I'm misreading, it would appear that Wellstrade accounts linked to a PMA Package will still not incur any annual fees. However, the balance requirements to waive the $30 monthly service fee for the PMA Package have increased. Previously, you needed to maintain a combined (brokerage and PMA checking, savings, CD, etc.) balance of $25,000. Now, you need $50,000 combined, or $25,000 in PMA linked banking accounts (brokerage balances not included). I don't (and at the moment, can't) meet the new requirements, so I'm currently looking to transfer my Wellstrade brokerage account to Vanguard. Does anyone know if the $95 account transfer fee will be temporarily waived because of ...
by cliffedelgado
Fri Apr 13, 2012 3:13 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to add online only bank account to TreasuryDirect?
Replies: 6
Views: 1220

Re: How to add online only bank account to TreasuryDirect?

I've done this before. You do not have to go to Ally to do this. Any place that offers a medallion signature will work.

For example, I went to a wells fargo branch and the branch manager has a medallion stamp. I added my ING account to treasury direct this way. You can call your BoA branch and ask if they have someone with the stamp. Not sure if they will charge you, but WF did it for free.
by cliffedelgado
Tue Mar 13, 2012 1:33 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: After tax contributions to a 401k
Replies: 75
Views: 8066

Re: After tax contributions to a 401k

FB01 wrote:Can anyone please explain me..who can do after tax 401K...

1) Called Vanguard and they said..it is only self employed or business owners
2) I see that here some people who work in mega corps...are able to do so..how so...

I do not work for mega corp but would like do after tax 401K...is there any way..

Thanks,
FB
It depends on your employer's 401k plan. Check in the plan documents.
by cliffedelgado
Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:36 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Question about after-tax 401k contributions
Replies: 21
Views: 1566

Re: Question about after-tax 401k contributions

This page lists the order of the distributions from roth IRA. http://fairmark.com/rothira/distrib.htm

Regarding "Thanks cliffe. Does that mean there is no place (or need) to report a 401k --> roth conversion while filing taxes?"

The conversion/taxable amounts go on line 16ab but other than that, I haven't found any place for the info to go.

You should have access to the plan documents. I would hope that's required by law!
by cliffedelgado
Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Question about after-tax 401k contributions
Replies: 21
Views: 1566

Re: Question about after-tax 401k contributions

For 2010, I got a 1099-R and the info went into Form 8606 part 3.

I just did my taxes for 2011 and the 1099-R info did NOT go anywhere on 8606. Similar as xerty24 mentioned, I also did not see any place in the 2011 8606 to hold this information.
by cliffedelgado
Fri May 13, 2011 3:27 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: After Tax 401K Rollover to Roth IRA, Continued
Replies: 63
Views: 41674

airahcaz wrote: Does one immediately rollover the after tax contributions, or are the scenarios here stating at end of year? For me, I would have to call Fidelity after every pay check and manually alert them to roll it over, hopefully directly to Roth IRA. (I have no other IRA's, just an empty Traditional IRA).
Ideally, you do it as soon as possible to avoid paying any taxes on earnings. However, your plan probably limits it to once a year or once a quarter, and may even charge a fee for the withdrawal.
by cliffedelgado
Mon Apr 25, 2011 6:53 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: living abroad 401K question
Replies: 20
Views: 3399

pbandj1027 wrote:From the idea of the PP, can you still rollover a 401K while you are still employed with the company and contributing to it?
This relies on the "in-service withdrawal". Allowed by the IRS but not all 401k plans allow it. And not all types of money in the 401k are eligible. Check your plan.
by cliffedelgado
Sun Apr 24, 2011 2:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: living abroad 401K question
Replies: 20
Views: 3399

Check if your plan allows post-tax contributions. You already know it does not take Roth 401k contributions. I believe you should be able to make post-tax contributions without pre-tax contributions, but it may depend on the plan.

If so, then you want to check if it allows in-service withdrawals so that you can roll out the after-tax money as livesoft mentioned.

I think the 8606 would only be filled out when you withdraw some of the 401k money. Your 401k administrator should keep track of the after-tax contributions and the gains associated with that amount.
by cliffedelgado
Sun Feb 27, 2011 7:49 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 1099-R tax question and in-service withdrawal
Replies: 17
Views: 3165

Has anyone tried doing their taxes with the 1099R from after-tax 401k to Roth IRA using Turbotax? As described above, my 1099-R seems correct to me. However, when I put in the numbers, my total income is jumping by the COMBINED value of box 1 (gross distribution) and box 5 (employee contributions/desg Roth contrib). This value is going on line 16b of form 1040. As you can imagine, this is resulting in a lot of taxes due... edit: I updated my turbotax, and it half corrected itself. Now only box 1 is going into line 16b. However, this should be reduced by box 5 of 1099-R. So seemingly went from (box1 + box5) to (box1). I need it to become (box1 - box5). edit2 3/3: Looks like I was hitting this: http://turbotax.intuit.com/support/iq/Retirement...
by cliffedelgado
Sat Feb 19, 2011 6:20 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 1099-R tax question and in-service withdrawal
Replies: 17
Views: 3165

Since the after-tax check was made out to you, I'm guessing they could not put a G as it was not truly a direct rollover. The taxable amount is 0, and box 5 is the entire after-tax amount right?

Gains part should be ok even though Box 2a (taxable amount) is 0. Since it was directly rolled over, it should be 0. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1099r_10.pdf Box 5 would would then show how much basis you have, which should also be zero.

I'm not sure about MarkNYC's issue that you must do a direct rollover in this case.

I did a direct rollover for both after-tax + gains (using 1 check FBO), and was issued 1 1099R with code G.
by cliffedelgado
Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:38 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 1099-R tax question and in-service withdrawal
Replies: 17
Views: 3165

Is this 1099R from vanguard or the other institution ? I thought if there's any problem in this, it would be from the sending institution.
by cliffedelgado
Thu Jan 27, 2011 1:26 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Extra $32,500 in Roth IRA - too good to be true?
Replies: 159
Views: 50591

wellmoneyed wrote: EDIT:Read more: I guess the hope/point is Step2 DOES NOT incur additional taxes.
Step 2 DOES NOT incur taxes on money that has already been taxed.
by cliffedelgado
Fri Jan 14, 2011 11:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Extra $32,500 in Roth IRA - too good to be true?
Replies: 159
Views: 50591

Strategy 2 and 3 both try to get the earnings into a Trad/Rollover IRA and the after-tax contributions into a Roth IRA. The difference seems to be in the exact steps to accomplish this.

So are you saying that quadz42 steps sound like strategy 2 ? If so, that's where we differed. I was referring to in general, this could be done. Didn't see how quadz42's steps were strategy 2.

But do watch out when doing this. That's partially why I went with strategy 1 and paid the taxes.
by cliffedelgado
Fri Jan 14, 2011 10:20 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Extra $32,500 in Roth IRA - too good to be true?
Replies: 159
Views: 50591

Bfwolf wrote:Sounds like you are looking to do something similar to strategy #2, which may not have the tax consequences you want.

http://fairmark.com/rothira/09030801-401k-basis.htm
I'm of the opinion that what quadz42 wants to do is ok and will not have any adverse tax consequences.

I thought this scenario is what you (Bfwolf) asked Alan S over at fairmark (option 2 http://fairmark.com/forum/read.php?2,56002).

Maybe I'm missing something?
by cliffedelgado
Fri Jan 14, 2011 11:50 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Extra $32,500 in Roth IRA - too good to be true?
Replies: 159
Views: 50591

Great point xerty24. The table in the link provided by quarterstock seems to put it fairly well.

Watch out for the penalty for the taxable conversion part if under 59.5 and 5 year conversion holding.

Code: Select all

from http://fairmark.com/forum/read.php?2,54159

UNDER AGE 59.5 
FIVE YEAR CONVERSION HOLDING PERIOD NOT MET 

Contributions: Tax-No Penalty-No 
Conversions: Tax-No Penalty-Yes (Taxable Portion)    
Conversions: Tax-No Penalty-No (Nontaxable Portion) 
Earnings: Tax-Yes Penalty-Yes 
This part should be minimal though.

Here is another link that may be helpful in figuring penalties.
http://www.fool.com/money/allaboutiras/ ... iras07.htm
by cliffedelgado
Thu Jan 13, 2011 8:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Extra $32,500 in Roth IRA - too good to be true?
Replies: 159
Views: 50591

jeh676 wrote: Jumping in here. If I do have money in a tIRA(previous employer), but my 401(k) accepts rollovers, could I just roll the tIRA into the 401(k), and then have an empty tIRA and avoid problems with the prorata rule?
Yes, that's what others have suggested as well. see http://thefinancebuff.com/the-backdoor- ... ow-to.html

However, for these in-service withdrawals/conversions, the pro-rata rule should not apply. At least that's what I believe most of us believe is the case.
by cliffedelgado
Wed Jan 12, 2011 11:47 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Handling ESPP wash sale in Turbotax
Replies: 6
Views: 3477

Thanks for looking into it BruceM and jpsfranks.

I think I'll just treat it as a regular investment and not as an ESPP sale. The Turbotax ESPP guide is unable to take into consideration wash sales. (I'm using the Home & Business version) So the ESPP guide is useless in this regard.

Going ahead with treating it as a regular stock sale. I entered the basis as my purchase price + W2 income part. This then leaves the correct capital loss. Entering the wash sale info then correctly nullifies the loss. (note: exactly what BruceM suggested)

Hope this will help others as well.
by cliffedelgado
Wed Jan 12, 2011 2:24 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Handling ESPP wash sale in Turbotax
Replies: 6
Views: 3477

In my ESPP, we get a discount of 15% on the lower of the offering date and purchase date price.

This link can show you some examples, though they don't explicitly show example of disqualifying disposition with capital loss.

http://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/ta ... 12047.html

Some example prices that would result in this situation:

Purchase price: 15
FMV on purchase date: 25
Sell price: 22

Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, that screen only shows up for regular investments and not for ESPP.

Added: Here's a pdf, page 7 shows my example. https://content.etrade.com/etrade/optio ... spptax.pdf
by cliffedelgado
Wed Jan 12, 2011 1:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Handling ESPP wash sale in Turbotax
Replies: 6
Views: 3477

Handling ESPP wash sale in Turbotax

Looking for some advice here regarding reporting an ESPP wash sale in TurboTax.

Sold around 12/28/2010. New lot came in 1/3/2011. The sell was above my buy price, but below the FMV on the purchase day, so there was +W2 income but also some short term capital loss.

I tried to input it into Turbotax but it did not ask about wash sales for ESPP. I see it does ask about re-buying for regular investments.

1) Any advice on how to handle this in Turbotax?
2) Can anyone confirm if there was indeed a wash sale? (Most sources say yes, one source on intuit.com claims no. I think it's yes)
by cliffedelgado
Tue Jan 11, 2011 4:14 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Expensive 401k, Want to Invest in Roth IRA
Replies: 10
Views: 1237

Re: Expensive 401k, Want to Invest in Roth IRA

Bob's not my name wrote:
NateW wrote:Will I get the full company match for the year, or will I only get six months of match ($800) since I will only participate in my 401k for six months (even though I will have $11,000 witheld for the year)? Would a better strategy be to participate in my company 401k for the entire year, but lower the amount witheld for my 401k to about 50% of present witholdings?
I believe (based on prior threads) that this varies by plan, so nobody here can answer the question for you. You have to find the answer in your plan documents.
Not Bob is right. This is probably in the plan document. If not, ask HR/Benefits. It's usually referred to as a "true-up contribution".
by cliffedelgado
Tue Jan 11, 2011 4:03 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Roth IRa versus taxable account
Replies: 25
Views: 9556

airahcaz wrote: Aha, thanks! So even holding a tax efficient ETF, like SPY, and holding forever, it will still throw off some taxable dividends annually I suppose, which can be significant as the portfolio grows?

and some of those dividends may be taxed at higher tax bracket than the 15% is the moral of the story?
Close! The fact that those dividends may be taxed at all is the moral of the story. In the Roth IRA, they are not taxed at all.
by cliffedelgado
Mon Jan 10, 2011 3:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Question about International Funds on Schwab
Replies: 11
Views: 1879

Re: Question about International Funds on Schwab

jimmyrules712 wrote: I see, well that leads me to ask another question. My Roth 401k is on vanguard (and has the total int stock fund). If I want to just use vanguard for everything is there any reason to not just increase my contribution to the roth 401k (currently only 2.25% of salary) and just not even contribute to the roth IRA account anymore?
Not advocating one or the other here. Just pointing out a difference. It should be easier to get your contribution out of the Roth IRA compared to the Roth 401k in case you ever needed to do that. Your contributions to Roth 401k plan can be withdrawn according to the IRS, but I'm guessing some plans may not even offer the option, or may hinder your ability to do so with restrictions.
by cliffedelgado
Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Extra $32,500 in Roth IRA - too good to be true?
Replies: 159
Views: 50591

Default User BR wrote: It's not really that complicated. The key there is a special rule that only permits taxable money to be rolled from an IRA into a qualified plan. It's an explicit exception to the pro-rata rule.

So you roll into a TIRA, then roll back the taxable portion. Then do a conversion of the remainder. Some suggest doing it the other way around. Form 8606 just asks for the value of IRAs at the end of the year.
I agree it's doable, but not worth the hassle for me (and I'm lazy). Rolling the taxable portion back into the qualified plan would require another form to fill out. But it's good you brought it up and reminded everyone of the possibility. Maybe I'll try the "double step" this year if I have extra time :)
by cliffedelgado
Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:33 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Extra $32,500 in Roth IRA - too good to be true?
Replies: 159
Views: 50591

My 401k plan also only let me do an in-service withdrawal of after-tax + associated earnings. I rolled it all into a Roth IRA and will pay taxes on the earnings part. Some have suggested a way to avoid paying the taxes by rolling the earnings into a trad IRA and then back into the 401k, but that was way too complicated for me.

Will see how 2010 taxes are and report back then.

I believe the fairmark article strategy 1 is doable for in-service, but not for post employment.
by cliffedelgado
Tue Jan 04, 2011 6:28 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Merill Lynch Versus Vanguard
Replies: 30
Views: 8850

Regarding ML:

True you get 30 free trades/month if you have 25K in your deposit account.

Watch out for the maintenance fee if you don't have 50K:

Code: Select all

CMA account maintenance fee	
$25 per quarter, per household. Waived if the client meets just one of the following criteria:

Has total combined balances of $50,000 or more in Merrill Lynch investment accounts and Bank of America, N.A. deposit accounts
Or, executes 60+ trades per year / 15+ trades per quarter in one or more self-directed accounts
by cliffedelgado
Tue Jan 04, 2011 3:32 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: After Tax 401K Contribution
Replies: 65
Views: 24021

********************************** Let's assume for the moment that I'm wrong in what I've said above. (It happens regularly :oops: ) Let's suppose that your employer lets you make the maximum of $49,000 of annual contributions (no employer match here). If you're under age 50, you get a $16,500 annual pre-tax contribution - that's the IRS rule about which I've heard no disagreement. The remaining $32,500 would then need to be after-tax money. So what's the legal status of the $32,500 of after-tax money? What does the IRS call it? You can't call it a 401(k) contribution, because you've already maxed that out with the first $16,500! I think it's called a non-deductible or after-tax 401 contribution. Not to be confused with a Roth 401K contri...
by cliffedelgado
Tue Jan 04, 2011 1:52 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: After Tax 401K Contribution
Replies: 65
Views: 24021

I just called my plan to ask... They said, the after tax 401K contributions are limited only to the 49K total plan limits including all my pre tax, post tax, and employer match. They also said this in no way affects me being able to put an additional 5K into an IRA outside this plan every year. Last, I can roll this after tax monies over into my IRA up to 4 times a year. Cloud , thank you very much for talking to your plan administrator. Please allow me to ask a clarifying question. Your plan administrator allows you to make both pre- and post-tax contributions. I've no problem with that. But can the total of those contributions be more than $16,500 (or $22,000 if you are at least age 50) - the legally mandated annual limits for 401(k) con...
by cliffedelgado
Fri Dec 17, 2010 6:18 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Has anyone reached their HSA deductible?
Replies: 23
Views: 4090

It is my understanding that you may "save up" your qualified expenses that are not deducted on your tax return and reimburse yourself for them in a later year from your HSA with no tax consequence. Thanks FrugalInvestor and Cliffedelgado, and I'm glad to hear that one can withdraw from an HSA to pay for expenses from previous years. It looks as though Qualified Expenses are defined the same for an HSA and Itemized Deductions, but Schedule A is a little different in terms of date requirements. I think the HSA must have been open prior to the date of the medical services being rendered in order for those medical expenses to be eligible. Just a reminder. So you can't use your HSA funds now for medical expenses from 5 years ago when ...
by cliffedelgado
Fri Dec 17, 2010 1:06 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: For those being transported to Wells Fargo Advisors
Replies: 25
Views: 3413

Someone in the other thread said they will waive transfer fees. I have yet to get the notice in the mail.

I may use this chance to move my Roth IRA to Vanguard. What do you guys think ? I've got less than 10k in this account.

Good points about keeping at Wells Fargo:
Balance in IRA counts toward 25k for PMA
Free trades
Access to stocks

Good points about moving to vanguard:
Avoid transfer fee (one time thing?)
Access to admiral shares
Avoid any future BS from Wells Fargo
Consolidate with other Roth IRA
by cliffedelgado
Fri Dec 10, 2010 3:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Has anyone reached their HSA deductible?
Replies: 23
Views: 4090

Here is another question on HSA Accounts. Assume that one pays for a qualified expense out of pocket, and the deductible has not been met. Can one withdraw that amount from their HSA only for that tax year, or can the expense be carried to a future year and withdrawn? I understand that expenses withdrawn from an HSA will be listed on IRS Form 8889 which is submitted with their tax return. It appears that qualified expenses are defined the same as medical expenses that can be deducted on Schedule A. Pub 502 indicates that expenses must be paid in the same tax year if deducted on Schedule A. It is my understanding that you may "save up" your qualified expenses that are not deducted on your tax return and reimburse yourself for them...
by cliffedelgado
Wed Dec 08, 2010 8:31 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: PIMCO Total Return down -5.26%
Replies: 47
Views: 13803

Ouch, I have some of PIMCO Total return in my 401k as well. (PTTRX)

Looks like it is due to capital gains distribution.
by cliffedelgado
Tue Dec 07, 2010 7:13 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How many Bogleheads pay for texting on their cell phone?
Replies: 91
Views: 11251

No texting on my plan. I turned it off so I can't receive texts at all. This way, they also can't charge me. They still charge the sender of the text though...
by cliffedelgado
Tue Nov 16, 2010 5:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Has anyone reached their HSA deductible?
Replies: 23
Views: 4090

bearwolf - This is kind of what I'm getting at. So the deductible is with the HDHP, so if my deductible is $3,500, I have to spend $3,500 on medical expenses such as broken legs, car accidents, etc. that would require me to go to a doctor. OTC drugs, chiropractors, etc. all come out of my HSA, but my HDHP has no knowledge of these transactions. So if I get sick, I need to find an aetna in-network doctor and go to them instead of just going to a cheap cash only medical clinic? Thanks for the replies everyone! What do you mean "need to find an aetna in-network doctor" ? If you are purposely trying to meet your deductible so that all care after that will be 100% covered, then yes. If not, then I think the cheap cash only medical cli...
by cliffedelgado
Mon Nov 15, 2010 4:22 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth Alternatives?
Replies: 18
Views: 2777

ggartrell wrote:Thanks. From your previous post, it seems like whatever amount you convert to Roth is treated as taxable income. So, if I made a contribution to a traditional IRA with after-tax dollars, and then converted to Roth, would I essentially be paying taxes twice on that money?
No, there won't be double taxation. IRS will ask you how much of the conversion is after-tax money. If you don't have any other pre-tax IRAs that would invoke the pro-rata rule, then there would be no tax.
by cliffedelgado
Mon Nov 15, 2010 2:29 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth Alternatives?
Replies: 18
Views: 2777

There are at least 2 possible options for getting money into a Roth IRA.

1) As you mentioned, open up a traditional IRA and contribute non-deductible money. Convert that to a Roth IRA

2) This is not as common as it depends on your employer 401k. Some allow you to contribute after-tax money to the 401k. And then an even smaller subset allow you to take in-service withdrawals (even with age < 59) of the after-tax amount which can then be rolled into a Roth IRA.
by cliffedelgado
Sun Nov 14, 2010 7:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Roth IRA conversion and long term capital loss carryover
Replies: 14
Views: 3820

ieee488 wrote:
I may have an engineering degree, but I am not good at this sort of thing.

Since the conversion has to be done by Dec. 31, 2010, and I won't get all of my 1099s until early 2011, how does one go about knowing how much to convert?
The same technique of estimating/extrapolating your remaining months of income can be applied here as well. Estimate your 1099s. Estimate your deductions/exemptions etc. You had to do that for the turbotax tax calculator as well right ?
by cliffedelgado
Sun Nov 14, 2010 2:21 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Using Tax Loss for Roth Conversion
Replies: 2
Views: 720

I believe the Roth conversion counts as ordinary income, so you would not be able to offset more than $3K of it using loss carryovers.
by cliffedelgado
Sat Nov 13, 2010 12:50 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth questions
Replies: 13
Views: 1890

vencat wrote:I'm not certain I understand. My wife and I can contribute $5000 each, every year since we are both less than 50. Our prior IRAs are fully converted . Am I missing anything? Everything else is in profit sharing plans, 401Ks and of course taxable accounts.

Venkat
Looks like the pro-rata rule doesn't apply to you then since you have no other pre-tax IRAs. The other posters just wanted to make sure you were aware of that rule since we didn't know your situation
by cliffedelgado
Sun Nov 07, 2010 9:23 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth IRA / 401K question
Replies: 3
Views: 904

Looks like the limit is 167k for full amount to roth IRA. Phase out between 167k and 177k. It all depends on your modified AGI.

And yes, contributing to the 401k reduces it and can make you eligible. I do this myself as well