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happymob

I'd go with Roth as well to the top of the 12% bracket, unless you have other tax credit considerations, such as the Premium Tax Credit.

happymob

Sequence for Kids involves some strategy (though the 3 year old can just play whatever) and it's easy for parents to deliberately throw the game if they choose without making it obvious to the kid that you are throwing the game.

happymob

If parents are in the new 12% bracket, it seems like trust rates for the kids will very quickly exceed the parents rate.

happymob

We also have terrible (well, not quite as terrible as yours, but non-indexed and near 1.0% ERs) bond options in our 403b plans, while simultaneously having great equity options (Vanguard Institutional Total Stock, Small-cap value, REIT, etc at Vanguard's cost, so sub 0.1% ER). We just find other pla...

happymob

Vegetables I can't get in standard grocery stores around here (bok choy, garlic greens, etc) Vegetables that are significantly cheaper (shallots) Locally-made tofu Fresh (non-dried) Asian noodles Dried Asian noodles Rice Pork bellies Frozen ducks (head off, I'm not that bold) Gochujang paste (we go ...

happymob

We bought a slug of Tips in October 2008. The real rate was around 3%. At some point, the rate dropped below 1% and I sold about half the holding for a large gain. I thought the real rate of a TIPS was fixed for the life of the bond. Am I confused and/or misinformed? --vtMaps The rate is fixed, but...

happymob

The intent of this thread is to spread the word about oddball tax situations that people may not know about to better plan for 2017. With that said, is there anything about your 2016 taxes that caught you off-guard? In my case, it was the retirement saver's credit. Our AGI was lower this year than u...

happymob

Honestly, I may or may not achieve any actual improvement in returns.

What I expect to achieve is a little added entertainment as I see that small-cap value is up (or down) or emerging markets are up (or down). It's just more interesting than a 3-fund portfolio.

happymob

bigred77 wrote:The "illusion of poverty" is really prevalent amongst a subset of Bogleheads IMO...

An even more extreme case of this than Bogleheads is Mr. Money Mustache mustachians.

happymob

Since this is in an IRA anyway, I don't really understand the preference for holding a dividend fund (which, as indicated, will be somewhat concentrated in financials and utilities) over a total stock market or S&P 500 fund.

happymob

What about signature guarantee on financial documents? That isn't the same as a notary. Most banks will do this as a courtesy for non account holders. Regarding local bank- I would maintain one (or credit union) for a local account with a nominal balance. Occasionally (1-2) I need the local bank fo...

happymob

"Various" works. If I did my taxes by hand, I would avoid Betterment like the plague. With tax software, the burden is trivial.

happymob

Make sure you understand what is meant by flood and what flood insurance will and will not cover. Our story - We bought a house in a flood plain in 2006. The sellers told us at the time that the house hadn't flooded since 1985. This was consistent with how other people in town defined flood. What we...

happymob

Regardless of your tax bracket, you should contribute to get the full match. Otherwise, if I were you, I would only contribute to the 401k until I was in the 15% tax bracket. Unless you have a lot of income other than salary, that would mean not maxing your 401k. Other people will tell you to alway...

happymob

Yes. I've received changes from published rates and early withdrawal terms multiple times.

happymob

If inflation picks up and exceeds expectations then at least theoretically REITs should do better than stocks and conventional bonds. Greater correlation with inflation. It's a bit more complicated than that. The underlying real estate holdings should do ok with inflation, but inflation tends to br...

happymob

While your mom could get a tax deduction, you will have to recognize it as income and pay taxes on it. You don't really come out ahead. If you're mom wants to transfer money to you, just have her give it to you as a gift. She could give you and your husband each 14k a year tax free plus another ~$5...

happymob

If this is in taxable, and I hadn't maxed out I-bond purchases for the year, I would prioritize that over the 10-year TIP. Similar yields, but taxes are deferred and you have a lot more flexibility with the I Bond. If you were planning to buy in tax-deferred accounts, but have money in taxable, I wo...

happymob

My wife and I currently have 20 savings and investment accounts (so no credit cards in that number). That is more than I would like and we are actively consolidating, but in a perfect world, we would still end up with: Rewards checking account Taxable brokerage 2x Roth IRAs 2x Workplace 403b 2x TIAA...

happymob

There's no real reason to invest in the KS Learning Quest 529 - KS gives a deduction for any state's 529 plan. Shop around for lower expenses.

happymob

Jenmke, regrettably, I have one of those "vintage" taxable mutual funds my parents bought for me in the late 60's. Long before computers could keep track. Were I to sell today, neither I nor the IRS would have a clue how much LTCG tax I might owe. My solution: keep it in the estate and let the kids...

happymob

Jenmke, regrettably, I have one of those "vintage" taxable mutual funds my parents bought for me in the late 60's. Long before computers could keep track. Were I to sell today, neither I nor the IRS would have a clue how much LTCG tax I might owe. My solution: keep it in the estate and let the kids...

happymob

Thanks all! @rmelvey I already maxed out retirement accounts every year since I'm also at the highest tax bracket now . To sum up, a reasonable strategy would be: 1. Read, learn and investigate to find a low cost index-based allocation that I'm comfortable with. 2. Invest 20% of the money each mont...

happymob

thanks for the replies......I'm the custodian of the account. It is for my 2015 taxes. Its through Vanguard's 529, therefore through Nevada's apparently. OK, so there is no MI tax advantage for you. Which is not a bad thing in the long run. Who is the owner of the account? You? Your granddaughter? ...

happymob

Ron wrote:No different than a "child" working on a family farm, much younger in age.

Except, legally, it might be different. Exemptions to family farms likely wouldn't apply to family construction business.

happymob

The standard Bogleheads response for ESPP (and for many at my workplace) is "sell it as soon as you get it" for the instant ROI, but this stock has also kept me above water for the past year. Economy tanks. Stock market tanks. Your company's stock price tanks. You are laid off. This is about risk. ...

happymob

Is there any chance of selling the development rights to the State/ This has worked very well to preserve farmland in CT. They can continue to live there but can sell at any time or leave it to their heirs. The only subsequent use would be for agricultural purposes. (no housing developments, malls,...

happymob

Ninnie wrote: Of course, avoid the for-profits (U. Phoenix, Capella, SNHU, etc.)

SNHU is non-profit, for the record. There are some other, mostly online, non-profits, like Excelsior College, Thomas Edison State, Western Governors University, and Charter Oak State.

happymob

Not sure how much money we are talking about or where you are, but we have found that multiple local banks (in the Midwest) have been willing to change their normal terms (for large CDs) for us. We have been offered better than advertising rates and/or better than advertised early withdrawal penalti...

happymob

Defaults happen. I don't mind buying individual treasuries, but I want diversity in corporates.

happymob

+1 to Umbrella policy. Costs are reasonable for coverage over home and Autos. Peace of mind is definitely worth it! Not reasonable to expect friends won't want to go in treehouse. It's there for fun...kids are kids and things happen. If it does, your Homeowners policy will cover and Umbrella will b...

happymob

We still have ~$30K of carryover capital losses, so tax-gain harvesting isn't ideal at this time. What we currently are doing is rolling over traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs. Once that is finished, we will shift some money currently going into a traditional 403b plan into a Roth 403b plan. If we can m...

happymob

My understanding is that tax is owed at year 30, whether they redeem them or not.

happymob

I wouldn't even try to convince her. After all, trading individual stocks is a lot more work but the expected value of her traded portfolio is about equal to the expected value of the S&P 500 (assuming she is trading large-cap stocks). I'd split the portfolio and let her manage her half the way she...

happymob

It should be noted that if the child does not have significant other assets via inheritance, they could choose to pay interest on savings bonds annually (pre-redemption), which would make them tax-free up to kiddie tax limitations.

happymob

But buying savings bonds could satisfy the ssa requirement and have tax exempt interest if used for qualifying education expenses . I understand that a minor can be the account holder and beneficiary of a 529 account if there is a adult custodian of the account but I haven't found anyone to describ...

happymob

- I left my job at the end of May 2015. - I had health insurance through the end of June. - I was without coverage in July and August, though I could have signed up for COBRA had something serious happened. - I have been under a HDHP through the marketplace since September 1st ($6000 deductible, $60...

happymob

Perhaps you can find some research on the likelihood of losing dividends on stocks vs. interest payments on CD's in a given 5 year period. In 2008 the S&P 500 paid $32.18 in dividends while in 2009 the payout was $24.73. The payout didn't recover until 2012 at $32.43. For 2014 the payout was $40.03...

happymob

Some (perhaps 20-25% based on Vanguards other international index funds) of the dividends won't be qualified.

happymob

The emulator is slow in the best of circumstances. Do you want a 45s compile-test cycle or 120s cycle? The former is still painful for my style of programming, but I can't tolerate the latter at all. Buy the cheap phone. Don't fret the 5.0 issue.

FWIW, I do primary development on a Moto G.

happymob

Thanks. My wages amount shows as identical in the Social Security wages and Medicare wages box as well. If I change it in all three places, I get a warning from Turbotax that my SS and Medicare wages were overwithheld. My tax refund changes as well as a result of this. To accurately represent the s...

happymob

Why not just use the grid? During the day when the sun is out, sell your PV power to the local utility company, and then after dark you buy it back, or at least buy back some of it. They are the battery. It is silly for everyone to have their own home batteries. There are variations on this system ...

happymob

Keep in mind that you can withdraw money from a 529 plan penalty-free if your child receives a scholarship. You have to pay taxes on the withdrawal and you have to withdraw it that year (so the tax situation may not be ideal), but this helps ease my own mind that I am over funding 529 plans. As to s...

happymob

If you sell everything, you'll be ok as long as you don't repurchase within 30 days.

happymob

Lots and lots of QQQQ (before it was QQQ) before it crashed. Hey, it was an index! Surely, it was safe! I mean, it wasn't all dot coms. It had Cisco and WorldCom and Microsoft, in addition to the dot coms!

happymob

There were many comments about unlimited losses and borrowing, or lack of margin account for IRA. While I don't practice this, one could buy Put options on S&P 500. If you feel you know a specific timeframe the market will fall, you only risk the premium. OTOH, you can write calls, have potential u...

happymob

Look at Ameren (AEE). Look at Hawaiian Electric (HE). These are two of several utilities that cut dividends around 2008. They got hammered and you lost half the income.

happymob

For good? 28. I went to college at 18. Struggled with depression, flunked out, moved back with my parents for about a year at age 25. Got a real job, lived on my own, and then moved back with my parents for another year or so at age 28. In that case, my job had me on the road (at the peak) 50 weeks ...

happymob

28 or 29. Worked in IT and earned big bonuses in 1999 and 2000. Unfortunately, a bit too much of that first 100k of savings went into QQQQ (now QQQ) rather than SPY.

happymob

It should be open 24/7/365. Once humans aren't really needed (and we might be there now), this will happen. Right now, we have physical exchanges with human traders (including those who are "making the market"). This all can be automated. Much of it has already been. When it all is, I wouldn't be s...

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