Bogleheads.org

kappy

It is pretty amazing. When I first started working, I knew nothing of investing but my company offered a 50% match up to my contribution of 8% and I was not going to let that extra 4% get away. I think they automatically started you at 3% or so with a 1% increase every year unless you went in and ch...

kappy

I agree with the others that ask why invest it when dividends are less than the interest rate of your loan? If you want to invest, do it in a TSM or S&P 500, take dividends and put them towards the mortgage, then use your other income sources to make up the difference. At least then, you have a ...

kappy

*3!4!/5! wrote:How is interested accrued? If you cash out after, say 2.8 months, would you get the full 2.8 months interest, or would you just get 2 months interest because that's the number of whole months you were in?

Interest accrues daily.

kappy

Thanks. Learn something new every day...

kappy

I occasionally see comments on here that the Russell 2000 isn't a good index to track. Would anybody care to explain why I would or wouldn't want to use an index fund that tracks it for small caps?

kappy

corn18, I thought that's what I said but either way, we are in agreement. Pre-tax 401k $18000, Roth IRA $5500.

kappy

I believe what captpete means is that his 401k offers a Roth option for post tax money. This is an easy way to get money into a Roth but not the best way to maximize your tax deferred space if that's what you're trying to do. You can only contribute $18,000 to tax advantaged 401k's. I use 401k for a...

kappy

Ok, I finally made it through my plan documents. It allows in-service distributions every 3 months but I am not permitted to make after-tax contributions for another 3 months after a distribution. This is fine as my only contributions would happen towards the end of the year and I'd roll over at the...

kappy

Thank you. I have started reading up on mega backdoor roths and my plan documents. I currently have a traditional IRA and roth IRA at Vanguard as well as pre-tax 401k with my employer. It would seem this limits me to an in service distribution as I do not want to roll my traditional IRA into the 401...

kappy

Yes, this would be after-tax contributions to my 401k. The reason I ask is that I am maxing my pre-tax 401k based on my salary but my company takes the percentage based on my gross paycheck. I am salaried but can make OT and on weeks that I work OT, I end up contributing more to the 401k than I want...

kappy

I'm trying to understand how a post tax 401k works. After the 2015 IRS ruling that clarified how post tax 401k's can be rolled into a Roth after leaving an employer without paying taxes, are there any major differences between the two? Are dividends in a post tax 401k taxed or not?

kappy

I had a stroke of luck. I rebalanced some of my small cap into REIT before markets closed yesterday to meet my desired AA. It was a mini win for a day or two but in the grand scheme of things, won't mean a thing. It did put a smile on my face though.

kappy

Thanks for the replies. The warranty and return policy start date comment certainly makes it less tempting to buy early and store them. I might give AJMadison or ABT a try if their prices are still the best when I'm ready to buy. Since these would be delivered by truck whether I buy online or local,...

kappy

I changed jobs last year. My new 401k allowed me to contribute after a month of employment but they would not match until I was there for a year. There is also a 4 year vesting period on the match. The year wait for employer matching was the toughest part and I learned that it was a more recent chan...

kappy

Currently, I can get the appliances locally on sale for the same price as online. I haven't tracked them long enough to see if the online prices swing like the local sale prices. Assuming the price is similar, the main thing I'd be saving is the 7% tax. Whether I buy locally or online, it would be d...

kappy

I'm in the process of building a house and didn't feel like lumping thousands of dollars of appliances that last <10 years into a 15-30yr mortgage. I'll need to buy the washer/dryer and refrigerator myself. I'm trying to find the best deal even if it means buying before the house is complete then ju...

kappy

Great info everyone. Dad was the higher earner and plans to hold off until 70 to take SS. I'm sure they will be fine either way but I'm just trying to help them plan for a decade or two down the road and I'm not confident their Fidelity advisor has their best interests in mind. It sounds like a Roth...

kappy

Thanks for the advice. It does look like they will be in the bottom of the 25% bracket in the few years before RMD's kick in with moms pension and their other income.

kappy

I was talking with my mother today about my parents finances and had some questions before giving any real advice. Both parents are mid 60's. Dad retired a couple years ago and mom retires later this year. They have around $1M in IRAs and mom has a pension that will cover their basic necessities. Mo...

kappy

House age matters a lot. I'm in the middle of the state in a house built in the late 80's (value ~250k). Insurance is over $1500 a year even after $800 was knocked off after a wind mitigation inspection. I'm building a house a few miles from the coast with similar value. Insurance will be under $100...

kappy

I knew nothing about investing for the first several years of my working life other than the fact that I should invest as much as possible in my 401k. The target date funds were perfect for me. When I did finally find Bogleheads and start learning, I was happy to find the expense ratio was under .15...

kappy

I think it comes down to the fact that a company can let you go at any time, especially in the first 90 day window. Honestly, it seems worse to take a job, get trained, assimilate into the new system, and then take another offer after only a year. There is a risk of burning bridges but this is reall...

kappy

Along those lines, it would be interesting to see how an 80/20 or 60/40 portfolio compares over the same timeframe.

kappy

I bought in 2003. Wish I had bought more but I'm hoping to get AAPL down to 10% of my portfolio by the end of this year

kappy

It would take at least a 20% increase in overall compensation to make me move and I'm not overly ecstatic about my current employer. I wonder what millenials get each time they move besides another bullet on their resumes. Seems like it's a lot of work to jump ship every two years and I question wh...

kappy

I opened up my Ally savings account earlier today. The process took 15-20 minutes and was very easy. You will need the account and routing number of your current bank for an initial deposit.

kappy

1%? How do you manage that? My property taxes are 3% of my annual income. I agree with the constant expenses but higher earnings as you get older but inflation does hurt you. I remember having a conversation with an older co-worker who had worked at the company since 1964 (both direct and contractor...

kappy

Thanks. I just set up the account; should have done it months ago. There's interest to be earned!

kappy

I want to open an online savings account with Ally for the 1% rate. The initial money will be for the down payment on a house (3-6 months out) and then I will use it for emergency fund money after that. I do have a couple questions mostly stemming from the house... 1. Does opening this account put a...

kappy

Older millennial here. My parents can only retire now because of social security. They just topped $1M, which would not cover their costs in retirement at 4%. This includes pensions, as like many boomers my mom paid into a defined benefit pension for years only to have the terms repeatedly changed ...

kappy

Thanks everyone. Sounds like there are some varied experiences with Scottrade. I use them infrequently but I want to start pulling money from this taxable account every year to fund my Roth IRA at Vanguard. I won't be moving funds frequently but it will be going on for many many years to come.

kappy

Question for all you Scottrade users... I have an individual taxable brokerage account with them and would like to withdraw some funds. It has been quite a few years since I last did this and it wasn't very straightforward back then. Now it seems like the easiest way is to open a Scottrade bank acco...

kappy

My dad drove one for a few years before he retired and still has it for most trips around town. He would charge it up to 80% every day and it worked fine for his 20 mile commute each way. He would get home with maybe 20 miles (of 100) left. The original battery was replaced under warranty when it fa...

kappy

Thanks. I'm leaning towards a large lump payment. My financial situation is good and job is reasonably secure. I keep a 1 yr emergency fund on top of taxable investments so having immediate equity in my new house is worthwhile.

kappy

I'm in the process of building a house and am interested in Bogleheads views of paying down the mortgage. New house will be ~$235k. I will be paying 20% down with money from my savings account and once I sell my current house, I will have ~$90k available after building up the emergency fund and payi...

kappy

Thanks pascal. Mini heart attack averted!

kappy

HI everyone. I have a few questions regarding contribution limits. This year has been busy for me finance-wise and I'm worried I missed something that will cause me problems come tax time. Is the $18,000 IRS contribution limit the combined limit for both pre-tax 401k plus Roth 401k? Do Roth IRA cont...

kappy

From what I understand, the company match can go over the personal $18k limit. There is a combined limit of $53k that includes all personal and company contributions. Also, some companies match per pay stub, not year. This means if you hit $18k in July and then stop contributing for the rest of the ...

kappy

I've worked at a couple companies and interviewed with others. All major S&P 500 players. Straight out of school, we needed a 3.0 GPA to get a job. Since then, other than listing GPA on a bio, no other school related performance was asked. SAT/ACT was never asked of me and I never bring it up wh...

kappy

Investor shares have higher ER, thus lower returns. VOO and VFIAX should be identical due to admiral shares and ETF's having the same expenses. It's a preference thing but in my view, if you don't have the $10,000 minimum to put in to get admiral shares of a fund, you might as well buy the ETF. Down...

kappy

I changed jobs earlier this year and am now moving closer to my new employer. I'd like a critique of my plan. Current house: bought for $150k in 2010, $85k left on mortgage. Worth ~$240k now. After the realtors take their cut, I should make around $140k. New house: new construction, $240k. Completed...

kappy

Thank you for accurately and succinctly summarizing my working career :wink: ... BTW, I started in engineering out of school at $9,600/ yr and no IRA / 401(k). It does strike a bit of a chord with me too... Funny, I had some old sr. managers who would say they started out of school making $12k. I n...

kappy

I say it depends what the overall value is of your portfolio. 75 shares of Apple is worth around $8k. If your entire portfolio is $400k, then you're just a adding another 2% weighting to Apple. Have fun and let it ride! On the other hand, if your entire portfolio is $50k, then you may want to think ...

kappy

Underperformed, not outperformed.

Thanks for the explanation, I didn't realize extended market was more than just mid and small caps.

kappy

Quick question... I've noticed that the extended market index VEXAX has underperformed both the small and mid caps VSMAX and VIMAX. I thought the extended market was essentially a combination of stocks from these two funds. What gives?

kappy

It may go a little faster if you predetermine with the Vanguard rep what fund(s) you want to be in so they put the money directly into those funds instead of the settlement account. I did not and IIRC, I was able to buy into mutual funds a day or two after Vanguard received the checks and maybe with...

kappy

I asked a similar question and found that the total stock market funds are best for taxable accounts because of low turnover. I hold the VTI ETF in my taxable account. Just remember your asset allocation includes all accounts so if you hold all stock in taxable, you may need to have significant bond...

kappy

I'll add a little from my experience. I rolled over my 401k at a previous employer to a Vanguard IRA earlier this year which left me with the choice to invest it all immediately or use a more DCA approach. This was the time when the DOW seemed to be doing +100pts then -100pts every other day. I put ...

kappy

If you can rent for $675/mo in SoCal, I don't know why you'd give that up to pay more than three times that in mortgage, taxes and insurance unless you just want to speculate in real estate. Ditto. Buying would make sense if your rent was close to the mortgage payment. Also you have to consider hou...

kappy

Sorry Taylor, I meant that AA is intended to be my overall allocation across all accounts. If rebalancing gets tiresome as I get older, I may follow your advice and do a 3 fund portfolio. I understand that total stock market funds are efficient for taxable accounts so I only plan on holding those in...

Search found 56 matches