Bogleheads.org

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 le...

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 le...

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 ab...

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...

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 $4...

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 potenti...

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 wou...

happymob

And the I Bonds can be tax-free if used for qualifying educational expenses for your or your children. As can be the EE Bonds! Treasury Direct on Using Savings Bonds for Educational Expenses I should have been clearer. Newly purchased EE Bonds do qualify, but some older ones don't. Only EE Bonds is...

happymob

Keep in mind that different posters come from two very different places - 1) financial aid isn't going to happen or 2) financial aid considerations matter. In the first case, the Roth is almost always better (if it is truly a choice between the two). In the latter case, gaming FAFSA gets pretty comp...

happymob

Yes, if you are withholding enough this year to cover last year's taxes, you will be safe and not need to pay estimated taxes this year and have no federal penalty. Be wary of state rules now as they often have different rules. Be wary of federal rules for the following year even though you should b...

happymob

I'm not buying the fraud idea - after all, who is being defrauded? The 529 administrator makes their money. You pay (deferred) taxes, plus an extra 10% penalty, so the federal government can't be too upset. Most (all?) states that allow a deduction will claw back the state tax deduction on a non-qua...

happymob

Even with 10% penalty on non-qualified withdrawals, that is a really nice tax-deferred, fairly safe return.

happymob

<$450/child for 2 children for 5 days/week day care.

happymob

Colorado's plan has a stable value fund with a 2% minimum currently paying 2.64%

https://www.collegeinvest.org/our-savin ... value-plus

happymob

If I understand things correctly, you could also pay taxes on the accrued interest to date now (rather than defer) at the 15% rate while continuing to hold the bonds, though you would then be stuck paying interest annually for as long as you hold the bonds.

happymob

Definitely in the 15% tax bracket. With $35,000 in traditional 403b contributions, the standard deduction, and exemptions (2 children) we get there. We do have very low expenses (own an energy efficient home, no mortgage or other debt, low property taxes are big factors). There are no extra fees on ...

happymob

The (government) employer of both myself and spouse recently added a 457 plan option (Roth and Traditional) to our existing 403b options (Roth and Traditional). It seems like we should contribute to the 457 plan, but wanted the expertise of the forum. Our situation: Marginal tax bracket: at the top ...

happymob

Do I understand correctly that Betterment uses pairs of ETFs that for most purposes can be considered almost interchangeable, and does tax-loss harvesting by doing massive switches from one into the other? I've read that isn't any definitive statement by the IRS of what constitutes a wash sale, and...

happymob

Other possibiilities are taking out a 401(k) loan later. That loan could either be used to pay for college or could be used to invest in a 529 plan ithen. Appreciate your prompt response livesoft. What you said make sense. The only point I didn't understand in above was when you said "invest i...

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