Search found 585 matches

by jjustice
Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:20 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA questions regarding inheriting spousal IRA
Replies: 12
Views: 798

Re: TIAA questions regarding inheriting spousal IRA

RAs and SRAs are 403(b) retirement accounts to which contributions are made by deductions from wages. I'm sure that you cannot roll a spouse's IRA into one of these accounts. An account would need to be an IRA in order to roll an IRA into it. I don't know what an IP account is.

John
by jjustice
Sat Aug 17, 2019 1:56 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Wellinton Fund as Moderately Aggresive Alternative?
Replies: 5
Views: 1345

Re: Wellinton Fund as Moderately Aggresive Alternative?

Lastly, as an educator I'm also heavily invested in the TIAA 403(b). What might be a similar TIAA fund, or limited combination of funds, that would mimic the Wellington should you agree with this strategy? No one has answered this question. You can do a very good 65/35 fund with 65% CREF Stock and 35% TIAA Traditional. The Stock account gives you a diversified global stock account with 70% domestic and 30% foreign. It would be comparable to a combination of Vanguard funds made up of 70% Total Stock Index and 30% Total International. The expense ratio at TIAA would be a little higher, but you also have the option of turning the stock account into an excellent variable annuity when you retire (as I have done). If you are a trader, which you ...
by jjustice
Wed Aug 14, 2019 2:06 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Retirement Planning
Replies: 13
Views: 1222

Re: TIAA Retirement Planning

The excellent TIAA Traditional annuity is a better choice for fixed income than the CREF bond market fund. It will probably return more in the long run, and it will certainly be less volatile. Another advantage of the Traditional account is that you can annuitize it when you retire. TIAA's forte is annuity accounts. You don't have to annuitize their annuity accounts. You can treat them like mutual funds, or you can annuitize them in part or in total--your choice. I use the CREF Stock account as a single fund for a well-diversified global stock fund. It is 70% domestic and 30% foreign. You might also look at the TIAA Real Estate annuity account. It moves in a reliable middle ground in return and volatility between Traditional and Stock. I am...
by jjustice
Fri Jul 19, 2019 10:22 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Variable Annuity Question
Replies: 8
Views: 710

Re: Variable Annuity Question

Thanks, John, it is a GSRA. What does that mean? What's the ideal option, if I cannot move it from my employer? Is there any way to invest that into a 403b? Should I just leave it alone? It's not hurting anything, and it's Bogleheaded as 90% CREF STOCK and 10% CREF BOND. P Group Supplemental Retirement Account: It is a vehicle for voluntarily contributing to your retirement plan in addition to what your institution contributes on your behalf. Your institution's retirement plan is a 403(b) plan. It may have more options than just TIAA annuity accounts. Usually you can move money freely among a 403(b) plan's options. But it is often not possible to take money out of the plan before leaving employment or retiring. CREF Stock is one of my vari...
by jjustice
Fri Jul 19, 2019 10:00 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Variable Annuity Question
Replies: 8
Views: 710

Re: Variable Annuity Question

If you put pre-tax money into a TIAA annuity account, you were in a 403(b). Perhaps your institution, like many, was not willing to contribute its own money on your behalf during your first year of employment. You probably put money into an SRA or GSRA, which now tend to be called TDAs. Under any label, it is an opportunity to make voluntary individual contributions to a retirement plan. What you can do with that money while you are still an employee will depend on your employer's plan. In all likelihood you can only transfer it to other plan options. By the way, I would not disparage TIAA annuities. I have been very happily receiving monthly payments from TIAA annuities, including two variable annuities, for the past six years. They give f...
by jjustice
Mon May 06, 2019 3:27 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Reversion to the Mean Is Dead?
Replies: 63
Views: 8634

Re: Reversion to the Mean Is Dead?

Thesaints wrote: Sat May 04, 2019 2:01 am Reversion to the mean is always there, mandated by rather simple mathematics.
It is not uncommon for people to misunderstand it, though.
+1
The mean may have moved a little higher, and the speed of reversion is uncertain.

John
by jjustice
Thu Apr 18, 2019 1:58 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What is your one favorite fixed income for retirement?
Replies: 50
Views: 9716

Re: What is your one favorite fixed income for retirement?

TIAA Traditional, hands down. You have to work for an institution that has it in its retirement plan. There may be a public IRA version, but it would pay less.
John
by jjustice
Thu Mar 28, 2019 3:38 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Newbie Question: Taxes on Brokerage Account?
Replies: 10
Views: 1298

Re: Newbie Question: Taxes on Brokerage Account?

cbr shadow wrote: Thu Mar 28, 2019 3:04 pm We only buy VTSAX in that account (monthly) and never sell/withdraw money from it. Do we pay annual taxes on the gains from that account even if we aren't "realizing gains" by selling?
This is a question that I'm frequently asked as an AARP TaxAide. I explain that they have in fact gotten the dividends or capital gains distribution, but they have made an earlier decision to have the fund or brokerage spend this money on their behalf to buy them more shares.

John
by jjustice
Tue Mar 19, 2019 4:26 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Drawdown questions
Replies: 6
Views: 679

Re: TIAA Drawdown questions

I doubt that you can find a better life-time income stream anywhere than TIAA annuities. With TIAA you have the ability to annuitize differing types of funds, so that you can do well in various economic conditions. I started TIAA annuities when I retired in the summer of 2013. I have three or four annuities, depending on how you count. I took as much of my Traditional annuity as possible in graded payments. The remainder is in a standard Traditional annuity. In addition to Traditional, I have CREF Stock and TIAA Real Estate annuities. I annuitized roughly half of the funds that I had at TIAA. I find that the annuity payments have grown over the years, while the remaining funds are being slowly eroded by RMDs. Starting these annuities was th...
by jjustice
Fri Feb 15, 2019 10:27 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Contributed to Roth when exceeding limit
Replies: 20
Views: 896

Re: Contributed to Roth when exceeding limit

I had the same problem and found that Vanguard has a form to remove as much as you need to from the Roth IRA. I'm sure that Fidelity has the same kind of form on its website. Look around. It was easy and quick. I moved the excess into my taxable money market account.

John

PS Use "excess contribution" to search.
by jjustice
Tue Feb 12, 2019 1:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [2018 tax return - How does it compare to previous years?]
Replies: 441
Views: 43851

Re: Tax 2018: Shock and Awe

Yes, I've been shocked. I am a TaxAide volunteer, and the "postcard" 1040 has made it much more difficult to walk clients through their finished returns. The print is smaller, some items have been moved off the 1040, and mysterious check boxes and numbers mark information that has to be chased down elsewhere. Understanding the former 1040 was not easy for some of our clients. The new one is an impossible Easter egg hunt.

Furthermore, there is more paper used because additional schedules are necessary. The "postcard" 1040 is a shocking farce.
John
by jjustice
Tue Jan 22, 2019 10:11 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: REITs in taxable - new tax law with M1 platform
Replies: 3
Views: 762

Re: REITs in taxable - new tax law with M1 platform

I'm not sure how you arrived at the 17%. Under the new tax law the 199A dividends on REITs get a 20% deduction. So if you're paying 22%, then wouldn't your effective rate be 17.6%?

John
by jjustice
Wed Dec 26, 2018 6:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do I need to report my child's income ($1600)?
Replies: 31
Views: 3768

Re: Do I need to report my child's income ($1600)?

If I understand things correctly, here is where the free ride ends: 1) If he makes more than $4,150, then you can't claim the $500 dependent tax credit. 2) If he makes more than the $12,000 single standard deduction, then he has to start paying income tax in the 10% bracket until he gets to an AGI of $10,001, at which point he would get into the 12% bracket. Also, if he starts making enough money to cover more than half of his expenses, then he is no longer your dependent. I'm not quite clear on this point actually. Let's say his total expenses were $6,000 for the year, and let's say he made $4,000, but he put $3,000 of that into a Roth IRA, so he actually only grossed $1,000. Is he still your dependent? I'm not sure. Someone please correc...
by jjustice
Wed Dec 26, 2018 4:02 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do I need to report my child's income ($1600)?
Replies: 31
Views: 3768

Re: Do I need to report my child's income ($1600)?

stuper1 wrote: Wed Dec 26, 2018 3:09 pm I saw one article that says that if your dependent kid is older than 16 and has any gross income at all (even one penny), then you can't get the $500 tax credit. Is that true?
No, that is not true. To get the "other dependent" credit of $500, one needs only to have a dependent other than a child below 17.

John
by jjustice
Wed Dec 26, 2018 10:55 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do I need to report my child's income ($1600)?
Replies: 31
Views: 3768

Re: Do I need to report my child's income ($1600)?

If you are talking about earned income (i.e. from a job), the dependent child can earn up to $12,000 without a filing requirement.

John

PS If he had tax withheld, he should file to get a refund--as jebmke said above.
by jjustice
Fri Nov 09, 2018 12:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA R1 With Painfully High Expenses - stuck?
Replies: 41
Views: 4227

Re: TIAA R1 With Painfully High Expenses - stuck?

The accounts labeled 'TIAA' (Traditional and Real Estate) are the same price for everyone everywhere. It is the CREF annuity accounts and the mutual funds that vary in their expense ratios.

Many think that TIAA Traditional and TIAA Real Estate are their best offerings. I also like CREF Stock with its 30% allocation to foreign equities. Personally, I would bite the bullet and pay a little more for the R1 class to include it among my investments.

John
by jjustice
Sat Sep 15, 2018 7:31 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA near-retiree begins to consider retirement now
Replies: 22
Views: 1858

Re: TIAA near-retiree begins to consider retirement now

#4 You definitely should go to the TIAA forum in the discussion groups at Morningstar. You can learn a lot even if you don't join in. Like any online forum, there will be much that is irrelevant to you; but if you browse through recent threads, you'll find it very educational. #1 I don't think that you should abandon TIAA at this point in your career. To many of us, the best thing about TIAA is that they offer a variety of good annuities. The Traditional annuity is a solid, basic guaranteed annuity. Their variable annuities, especially TIAA Real Estate and CREF Stock will allow you to diversify your annuity income with some participation in the market. CREF annuities all have the lowest R3 expense ratios. But always remember that the market...
by jjustice
Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:28 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [TIAA: Can initial payout rate go down?]
Replies: 5
Views: 561

Re: TIAA: Help with Payout Options

InMyDreams, yogibearbull answered your question with a quotation from TIAA on the second page of the TIAA forum thread that you linked in your post.

Briefly, since 1995 there have been only increases, but decreases are possible and have occurred. TIAA Traditional is what is called a participating annuity. You participate in their fortunes.

John
by jjustice
Wed Sep 12, 2018 11:40 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TIAA: Help with Payout Options
Replies: 24
Views: 3138

Re: TIAA: Help with Payout Options

NoHeat wrote: Wed Sep 12, 2018 9:39 am Does TIAA publish a table of vintage rates and their dates? I have no idea what my vintage rates actually are.
Yes, you can find it at the link below. Contributions from 1/1/12 through 12/31/16 are currently ineligible for the graded method payout. All other contributions are eligible.

https://www.tiaa.org/public/investment- ... r=47933630 (Link corrected after original post.)

John
by jjustice
Wed Sep 12, 2018 9:27 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TIAA: Help with Payout Options
Replies: 24
Views: 3138

Re: TIAA: Help with Payout Options

I've heard about the "graded payout" but I don't know if my money qualifies. That was on my list of questions to ask. I'm assuming level payout is a steady amount and graded fluctuates with the stock market? Can this option be applied to Tradition or just to the variable portion? Graded payout is a unique option for TIAA Traditional annuities. Any interest earnings on your Traditional annuity above 4% are reinvested into the annuity rather than being paid out to you. This causes the annuity to be larger in subsequent years. It is a form of systematically deferring some of your annuity each year and reinvesting it. Graded payment does not fluctuate with the stock market. The variable annuities like TIAA Real Estate or CREF Stock v...
by jjustice
Tue Sep 11, 2018 1:48 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TIAA: Help with Payout Options
Replies: 24
Views: 3138

Re: TIAA: Help with Payout Options

I began my TIAA annuities in the summer of 2013. I have annuities from CREF Stock, TIAA Real Estate, and TIAA Traditional (both standard and graded method). I preferred graded method because I like to have an increasing income, but not all of my vintages (i.e. contributions made at different times) were earning the minimum of 4% that is required for graded method. I have a standard payout annuity for the small amount that did not qualify for graded payout. I am very happy with all my annuities and would not do anything differently. My annuities altogether are paying 25.09% more than they did when I started 5 years ago. (Total inflation has been 8% for the same period.) I did not want a guarantee period because I did not think that the possi...
by jjustice
Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:54 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help explain TIAA Traditional to me
Replies: 21
Views: 5222

Re: Help explain TIAA Traditional to me

Probably the best single source of information about TIAA Traditional is TIAA's white paper.

https://www.tiaa.org/public/pdf/complia ... -paper.pdf

All of the fixed income in my retirement account is in Traditional. It is steadier, and may have a higher return over the next few years, than bond funds whose prices fluctuate inversely with interest rates.

John
by jjustice
Sat Aug 04, 2018 11:05 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What’s your Value Colombian coffee?
Replies: 53
Views: 5172

Re: What’s your Value Colombian coffee?

deanbrew wrote: Wed Aug 01, 2018 2:11 pm I enjoy coffee, but it hasn't become a hobby or obsession with me. I buy 8 O'Clock 100% Columbian coffee as my regular, go-to. It's the best mass-produced coffee I've found, and is an excellent value.
+1

John
by jjustice
Tue Jul 17, 2018 9:08 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: GMO 7 year forecasts are worse than a toss of a coin
Replies: 56
Views: 8588

Re: GMO 7 year forecasts are worse than a toss of a coin

I don't understand. How are seven-year forecasts to be evaluated? By how close one of them got? Does GMO say that their forecasts will never turn out to be way off? They surely are not that naïve. I seem to remember that Professor Tower of Duke University did an analysis of GMO forecasts over a period of years that found that they were pretty good. Perhaps someone remembers that report?

How would you go about forecasting asset-class performance with a coin toss? How accurate would that method (whatever it is) have been from 2011 to 2018? Would it have beaten the GMO forecast?

John
by jjustice
Sun May 27, 2018 11:08 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What would you do: TIAA traditional vs. TREA?
Replies: 39
Views: 3578

Re: What would you do: TIAA traditional vs. TREA?

I basically second Wizard's advice. My qualification would be that 70% equities is rich even for a young person. People are requiring a smaller equity risk premium these days, so equities may not be the money-makers in the future that they were in the past. I might completely agree with Wizard if the 70% meant 55% stocks plus 15% TREA. I agree with having both liquid and illiquid Traditional. You need the liquid version for rebalancing, but I think that people tend to overestimate how much they need to have in their rebalancing fund. 5% of your total assets would be enough. Remember stocks are only a portion of your assets, and by the time they have dropped in a bear market the amount that is currently 5% of your total assets will be an amp...
by jjustice
Fri May 25, 2018 7:13 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA TRAD as Fixed Income in my AA?
Replies: 9
Views: 1343

Re: TIAA TRAD as Fixed Income in my AA?

livesoft wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 3:34 pmIn any event, I think you will get a 3% yield from bond funds or more going forward, but that TIAA Trad will be stuck at paying 3% for a while.
You must be thinking of Traditional's 3% guarantee. Its actual accumulating rate has been 4% for quite a while, and I would not be surprised to see it go up a bit on June 1. As of 4/30, its 10-year annualized return was 4.14%.

John
by jjustice
Fri May 25, 2018 3:25 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA TRAD as Fixed Income in my AA?
Replies: 9
Views: 1343

Re: TIAA TRAD as Fixed Income in my AA?

I would not be 100% TIAA TRAD myself. It is good to have when bond fund prices are dropping, but not so good when bond fund prices are recovering. Since bond fund prices have already dropped quite a bit, I think the ship has sailed this time. Traditional may indeed do relatively better when rates are rising and bond prices are falling, but I'm surprised that you think that we are not in a period during which rates will be rising. You think that they topped out when the 10-year Treasury reached 3%? Maybe, but I doubt it. i don't worry about the direction of interest rates. For the past forty years I've found Traditional to be an excellent all-weather fixed-income investment. I do have IRAs in Wellington and LifeStrategy Growth, which have b...
by jjustice
Sun May 20, 2018 6:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Real Estate
Replies: 78
Views: 13067

Re: TIAA Real Estate

I hate to break it to you but the returns already have dropped below Traditional, dramatically in some cases, depending on the time period you choose to measure. ?? You would have to do some very motivated cherry picking to find a recent period where TIAA Real Estate has returned less than illiquid Traditional's 4%. For the past 3 months, 4 months, 6 months, and one year its annualized return has been over 4%. Perhaps you are thinking of its performance during the great recession? John I'd say 2.5% over ten ynears through the last month or so is less than Traditional of any form. Well, I wondered what you were thinking of. Seven or eight posts preceding yours had referenced the 2008-2009 recession, and Oldzey had even posted a chart. Your ...
by jjustice
Sat May 19, 2018 4:19 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Real Estate
Replies: 78
Views: 13067

Re: TIAA Real Estate

tibbitts wrote: Sat May 19, 2018 10:03 amI hate to break it to you but the returns already have dropped below Traditional, dramatically in some cases, depending on the time period you choose to measure.
?? You would have to do some very motivated cherry picking to find a recent period where TIAA Real Estate has returned less than illiquid Traditional's 4%. For the past 3 months, 4 months, 6 months, and one year its annualized return has been over 4%. Perhaps you are thinking of its performance during the great recession?

John
by jjustice
Fri May 18, 2018 6:52 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: both spouses not wait for SS ?
Replies: 26
Views: 4145

Re: both spouses not wait for SS ?

So she was not yet 62 on January 1, 2016 and is not eligible to do a restricted application for the spousal benefit while waiting to take her own benefit at 70. But you can. When you reach 66 (FRA), she can start her social security and you can do a restricted application. For four years you'll get her benefit plus half for you. At 70 you can start your higher benefit. If you die first, she'll continue with the higher benefit.

If she is still working when you turn 66, you can wait to start when either she retires or she reaches her FRA.

John
by jjustice
Thu May 10, 2018 10:02 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Traditional annuitization vs. cash out
Replies: 16
Views: 3502

Re: TIAA Traditional annuitization vs. cash out

Do you happen to remember "how much less" (percentage less) the graded cost back in 2013? (That's probably age-dependent, in addition to the age factor of any annuity itself?) I take your question to be about how much more I would have gotten on my first payment if it had all been standard payout. The answer is that I don't know--and don't know how to find out. I really wasn't worried about the size of the original payment. It was plenty large for my needs. I just didn't want to watch the payments shrink in real terms over the years. By the way, although I have four TIAA annuities, I get one check (bank deposit) on the first of each month. I get two 1099-Rs each January. One for the CREF annuity (Stock) and one for the three TIAA...
by jjustice
Thu May 10, 2018 8:59 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Traditional annuitization vs. cash out
Replies: 16
Views: 3502

Re: TIAA Traditional annuitization vs. cash out

ResearchMed wrote: Wed May 09, 2018 6:45 pm Ah - you've got both graded and not.
For those two TIAA Trad Annuity lifetime incomes, are you able to compare the percentage (or yearly average percentage) of the *increase*?
I began my Traditional annuities on August 1, 2013. Using the CPI-U index for July 2013 and April 2018, inflation has been 7.26%. My standard payout Traditional annuity now pays 4.13% more than when it began. The graded payout Traditional annuity is currently paying 10.33% more than when it began.

Other people's graded payout will differ if they have different relative amounts in the different vintages.

John
by jjustice
Wed May 09, 2018 6:38 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Traditional annuitization vs. cash out
Replies: 16
Views: 3502

Re: TIAA Traditional annuitization vs. cash out

Speaking from personal experience, I am very happy on the first of the month to get an annuity check that I know will continue through both my and my wife's lifetime. Five years ago I started four annuities with TIAA. They were CREF Stock, TIAA Real Estate, TIAA Traditional graded payment, and TIAA Traditional standard payment. I requested that as much as possible of my Traditional annuity be graded payment. My contributions for 2012-2013 were not earning the 4% minimum required for the graded payout method. Graded payout is not linked to CPI. It is a sort of deferred or increasing annuity in that any interest income above 4% is diverted to buy more Traditional. (The annuity pays more than 4% annually since it is not simply paying its earni...
by jjustice
Mon May 07, 2018 9:44 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Guaranteed Annuity
Replies: 83
Views: 8793

Re: TIAA Guaranteed Annuity

The definitive information from TIAA about Traditional is in this white paper:

https://www.tiaa.org/public/pdf/complia ... -paper.pdf

John
by jjustice
Thu Apr 19, 2018 10:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What is best strategy for taking RMD from VG IRA
Replies: 26
Views: 5919

Re: What is best strategy for taking RMD from VG IRA

I have a suggestion: qualified charitable distributions. Following up on the previous poster's suggestion of consolidation, you could put it all into two funds: a LifeStrategy fund and the Prime money market fund. Then you can write checks on the money market fund (minimum $250) directly to qualified charities. This will reduce your AGI and is the only tax-advantaged way of giving to charity that is left for most of us who do not have large itemized deductions.

The consolidation would not be necessary, but the addition of the money market fund is necessary for the QCD strategy.

John
by jjustice
Tue Jan 30, 2018 10:16 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Wow: Shiller PE is 34.52
Replies: 52
Views: 8901

Re: Wow: Shiller PE is 34.52

Crisium wrote: Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:56 amDon't you mean, unless you are a long-term investor?

Buying (broad index) stocks in 1999 was profitable, for example. Took a bit of time though.
I see your point, but I wouldn't say that buying US stocks in 1999 was a profitable activity, since saving that money and investing it a few years later was much better. 'Profitable' has a time dimension, but I don't know exactly how to state it.

John
by jjustice
Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:35 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Wow: Shiller PE is 34.52
Replies: 52
Views: 8901

Re: Wow: Shiller PE is 34.52

The CAPE can certainly tell you when it is not a profitable time to buy US stocks--unless perhaps you are a short-term trader.

John
by jjustice
Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:31 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Revisiting Annuity vs. Lump Sum decision
Replies: 10
Views: 1436

Re: Revisiting Annuity vs. Lump Sum decision

You would probably find Dirk Cotton's January 26 essay on retirement strategy helpful in making your decision.
http://www.theretirementcafe.com/

John
by jjustice
Thu Jan 18, 2018 1:26 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Rebalancing bands tighter than 5 / 25?
Replies: 17
Views: 2328

Re: Rebalancing bands tighter than 5 / 25?

I think that some suggested bands take trading costs and capital gains taxes into account. It also matters what the alternative to stock is. In my retirement funds, where I have neither costs nor taxes and my alternative is TIAA Traditional, the equity target is 50%. When it reaches 52.5% I exchange equities for Traditional amounting to .5% of total assets. When it reaches 47.62% I exchange Traditional for .5% equities. (47.62/50 = 50/52.5) I've already sold equities twice this year.

I've done this for decades, and my equity target has slowly declined from 60 to 50. The target has reached its permanent bottom.

John
by jjustice
Wed Jan 10, 2018 4:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA vs Vanguard Index Funds
Replies: 3
Views: 1870

Re: TIAA vs Vanguard Index Funds

If you are not going to establish an annuity, there is no reason to stay in annuity accounts. Many TIAA clients, including me, are happy to have a lifetime annuity.

John
by jjustice
Fri Nov 03, 2017 2:57 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should I max out 403(b) on last check?
Replies: 9
Views: 1354

Re: Should I max out 403(b) on last check?

Teague wrote: Fri Nov 03, 2017 9:51 amShould I stick $9k in these tax-deferred accounts from my final check, or my usual $2-4K?
Neither. Put it all in your taxable account or spend it on something for your family. Congratulations on a secure retirement!

John
by jjustice
Fri Nov 03, 2017 12:39 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: CREF VarAnty funds vs TIAA Access TIAA-CREF Mutual Funds
Replies: 12
Views: 3047

Re: CREF VarAnty funds vs TIAA Access TIAA-CREF Mutual Funds

House Blend wrote: Fri Nov 03, 2017 10:38 amIf they need to annuitize in year 2057, they can transfer dollars into CREF Stock at that time, with zero disadvantages.
Yes, in theory. I often hear and read this, but I have never heard or read of anyone who actually funded a CREF annuity with money he or she had saved up in equity mutual funds. I think that human nature, perhaps the endowment effect, makes one unwilling to jump from a familiar and trusted fund into a new account at retirement. Nearly all (maybe all) of us who enjoy CREF annuities have accumulated our annuities over the years in CREF annuity accounts.

John
by jjustice
Fri Nov 03, 2017 10:14 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: CREF VarAnty funds vs TIAA Access TIAA-CREF Mutual Funds
Replies: 12
Views: 3047

Re: CREF VarAnty funds vs TIAA Access TIAA-CREF Mutual Funds

Your son's partner has access to two of TIAA's best annuity accounts on the same conditions as everyone else: TIAA Traditional and TIAA Real Estate. It is at times like these, with both stocks and bonds high, that TIAA Traditional is at its best. I am very happy to have a significant portion of my own annuity in Traditional. I annuitized over four years ago using Traditional, CREF Stock, and TIAA Real Estate. It was the best financial decision that I ever made. Don't scorn CREF Stock, even at R1's .71% expense ratio. I see that you have correctly identified it as equivalent to 70% VTSMX and 30% VGTSX. For the year ending 10/31/2017 CREF Stock (R1) returned 23.96%, while the two Vanguard funds returned 23.78%. When you annuitize CREF Stock, ...
by jjustice
Sat Oct 28, 2017 2:28 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Allocation Question
Replies: 13
Views: 1558

Re: TIAA Allocation Question

edmundspenser wrote: Sun Oct 22, 2017 11:48 am I yearn for the simple days of signing up for 70%Cref/30% TIAA!
So go for it! You are fortunate to have the R3 class CREF annuity accounts. It sounds like a 60/40 allocation to CREF Stock and Traditional might suit you. You (and I) like TIAA Real Estate also, so you might do 50% CREF Stock, 35% Traditional, and 15% TIAA Real Estate. That is my wife's TIAA allocation.

John
by jjustice
Fri Oct 27, 2017 10:14 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How Well Do You Know About Retirement Income?
Replies: 40
Views: 6212

Re: How Well Do You Know About Retirement Income?

I got 36/38 and missed the same two questions that jhfenton missed. We may have given the same wrong answers. Twins separated at birth?

John
by jjustice
Wed Oct 25, 2017 6:34 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: TIAA traditional -- How did they do that and What's the catch?
Replies: 31
Views: 4345

Re: TIAA traditional -- How did they do that and What's the catch?

It's for profit: "In 1997, Congress revoked the company’s nonprofit status as part of a tax reform bill, saying the status gave TIAA an unfair advantage over other companies. This meant TIAA’s costs would rise significantly because it would have to pay taxes." from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/21/business/the-finger-pointing-at-the-finance-firm-tiaa.html?_r=0 This was one of the errors in Morgenson's article on Sunday. What TIAA lost in the budget act of 1997 was its tax-exempt status. This had no effect on TIAA's not-for-profit status. Congress did not revoke TIAA's New York state charter. Here is a NYT article from 1997. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/30/business/budget-deal-to-cost-tiaa-cref-its-tax-exemption.html John PS L...
by jjustice
Wed Oct 25, 2017 11:58 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: TIAA traditional -- How did they do that and What's the catch?
Replies: 31
Views: 4345

Re: TIAA traditional -- How did they do that and What's the catch?

I also read the morning star link. The reason I asked this question is because the morningstar forum post about TIAA lawsuit, I only realized TIAA is a for-profit organization yesterday. And that spooked me a little. You need to go back and reread our discussion at Morningstar's TIAA forum. I asked there whether TIAA was still a not-for-profit organization. The answer was that it is, even though it has for-profit subsidiaries like Evergreen Bank, Nuveen, and TIAA mutual funds. Not-for-profit organizations can own for-profit enterprises. Universities and their bookstores was an example. There is also a statement from the CEO Roger Ferguson at TIAA.org reaffirming that TIAA is not for profit. By the way, I share in your mystification about h...
by jjustice
Fri Oct 20, 2017 1:04 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Questions
Replies: 13
Views: 2455

Re: TIAA Questions

ResearchMed gave you good information about the Equity Index Accounts (not called funds). I just want to add that, although the variable annuity accounts can be handled just like mutual funds, their great advantage is that when you retire, if you so choose, you can turn them into lifetime annuities. Take it from one who has both CREF and TIAA annuities, there is no security like a lifetime salary from a good annuity.

These accounts are mutual funds plus the option of annuitizing. The annuitizing option may be very attractive when you retire.

John
by jjustice
Wed Oct 18, 2017 1:31 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Larry Swedroe:Better To Face The Correction
Replies: 51
Views: 8876

Re: Larry Swedroe:Better To Face The Correction

Noted author Peter Bernstein provided this insight: “In the end, what matters is the quality of our decisions in the face of uncertainty.”
I agree with Bernstein. If the decision is full speed ahead with CAPE at 31, I doubt the quality of the decision. Our uncertainty about the dates of corrections does not mean that we should reject the evidence we have about likely returns from here.

John
by jjustice
Wed Sep 20, 2017 12:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Social Security - Applying Online for Age 70 Benefit - Avoiding Retroactive Payments
Replies: 5
Views: 1811

Re: Social Security - Applying Online for Age 70 Benefit - Avoiding Retroactive Payments

I applied online for benefits starting at age 70. I had no trouble. It went smoothly. They aren't going to sneak retroactive payments past you.
John