Search found 11629 matches

by DSInvestor
Thu Jan 04, 2024 8:33 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Considerations for transferring solo 401k to current employer 401k
Replies: 7
Views: 794

Re: Considerations for transferring solo 401k to current employer 401k

The employer 401(k) may offer the advantage of penalty free withdrawal starting at age 55 if you separate from service at that time. The 7 digit solo 401(k) will require annual filing of form 5500EZ so this goes away. Make sure you file the final 5500EZ.
by DSInvestor
Thu Dec 28, 2023 10:12 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth IRA - definition of earned income
Replies: 21
Views: 2587

Re: Roth IRA - definition of earned income

It may be beneficial to change the 401(k) contributions to Roth.

Traditional 401(k) contributions reduce W-2 Box1 which flows into 1040 and that number is used to consider eligibility for IRA contributions. With your large contribution to Traditional 401k, W-2 Box 1 may be reduced too much to allow for much or any Roth IRA contributions.

Roth 401(k) contributions do not reduce W-2 Box 1 which will allow you to contribute to Roth IRA as well on the same income of 19K. So this may allow 19K to Roth 401(k) _and_ 8K to Roth IRA, possibly another 8K as Spousal Roth IRA if eligible.
by DSInvestor
Tue Dec 26, 2023 10:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Help me find a coffee maker with these features
Replies: 44
Views: 6662

Re: Help me find a coffee maker with these features

Take a look at Aeropress. Pair with a grinder if you want to grind whole beans.
by DSInvestor
Tue Dec 19, 2023 9:48 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: My car was stolen Saturday night!
Replies: 62
Views: 9379

Re: My car was stolen Saturday night!

My mom's car was stolen a few months ago and police found it a couple of days later. Broken driver window and steering column and took a couple of weeks for repair.
by DSInvestor
Sat Dec 16, 2023 10:43 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Ad Blocking on TV?
Replies: 7
Views: 1177

Re: Ad Blocking on TV?

The Brave browser is pretty effective at blocking ads on Youtube videos viewed on computer, phone or tablet. Not sure if brave browser is available for your TV or streaming box. Try installing brave browser on your computer, phone or table and give it a try.

Nowadays, I tend to subscribe to streaming services using a ad free plan (Max, Apple TV, Netflix).

I recently started playing with Pi-Hole ad blocker which is a DNS ad blocking tool. I installed it on a very low cost, low power home server running Proxmox VE (open source, free to use) and noticed that Hulu with ad plan detects it and will not let me use their service with Pi-Hole enabled as my DNS to block ads. I have not looked further into this.
by DSInvestor
Sun Dec 10, 2023 10:28 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: New to Costco
Replies: 239
Views: 58398

Re: New to Costco

Kagord wrote: Sat Dec 09, 2023 4:58 pm Best time to go, 25-30 minutes before closing time during the week, and gas up on the way out.
Arriving 15 mins before the open is good too. Gas up first, then go into the store.
by DSInvestor
Thu Nov 23, 2023 8:42 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Limit for contributing to IRA for deductions
Replies: 13
Views: 1226

Re: Limit for contributing to IRA for deductions

When determining Roth IRA contribution eligibility, you need to look at MAGI for Roth IRA purposes. Assuming your gross salary is 250K and you contributed a total of 44.5K to Traditional 401k, that means your W2 income is contributing 205.5K to MAGI. If your 401k contributions were to Roth 401k, then your W2 income would contribute 250K to MAGI. Did you contribute to HSA? HSA contributions will reduce your AGI/MAGI. IRS Link: https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/amount-of-roth-ira-contributions-that-you-can-make-for-2022 MAGi also includes other income like, rental income, interest income, dividend income, capital gains. You need to consider all of your income. I suggest using tax software to figure out whether you...
by DSInvestor
Thu Nov 23, 2023 1:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: H&R Block 2023 software offer
Replies: 246
Views: 38128

Re: H&R Block 2023 software offer

Newegg.com has a Black Friday Coupon code for H&R Block 2023. The coupon takes off $25 $49.99 or the Fed and State. If you only need Fed, it is $20 off $39.99.

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=hr+block+2023
by DSInvestor
Tue Nov 07, 2023 9:17 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: SEPP questions
Replies: 17
Views: 2115

Re: SEPP questions

rkhusky wrote: Tue Nov 07, 2023 9:08 am It’s generally better to spend down taxable rather than tax-deferred, if you are able. LTCG tax is lower than income tax, tax drag in the taxable account, no tax drag in tax deferred.

If you have a 401k, consider rule of 55 withdrawals, instead of SEPP.
Adding to comments by rkhusky, remember that your assets in taxable accounts are likely to distribute dividends. Dividends are subject to taxation if reinvested or collected in cash for spending - it's taxed the same either way. You have the option to not reinvest dividends and use them for spending which may reduce need to realize capital gains and/or take withdrawals from IRA.
by DSInvestor
Tue Oct 31, 2023 9:13 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How To Deposit Funds Into SEP IRA
Replies: 8
Views: 883

Re: How To Deposit Funds Into SEP IRA

If you are an S-Corp and using SEP-IRA, it works differently than Solo 401(k). Solo 401(k) allows for two types of contributions: 1) Employee salary deferral and this must be withheld from your paycheck. 2) Employer Profit Share which is made by the company outside of the paycheck. This contribution is up to 25% of the W2 pay. The contribution percentage for the employer contribution must be the same for all plan participants. SEP-IRA contributions are similar to the Solo 401k employer profit share and it comes from the employer account and is not withheld from paychecks. The contribution percentage must be the same for all plan participants. At lower levels of income, Solo 401(k) allows for much larger contributions than SEP-IRA. You'd nee...
by DSInvestor
Tue Oct 17, 2023 4:10 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Wireless headphones
Replies: 13
Views: 1094

Re: Wireless headphones

I have AirPods which do not fit well in my ears and feel like they'll fall out at any time.

I also have AirPods Pro which work really well with my ears. These have silicone tips in 4 sizes so you can choose which works best with your ears.
by DSInvestor
Sat Aug 19, 2023 10:10 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Leave TSP g fund ?
Replies: 32
Views: 3306

Re: Leave TSP g fund ?

Do you need to move money out of TSP to do this?

For example, if your IRA has 260K in stock funds you can do an asset location swap without any money transfer by placing two trades on the same day:
Trade 1 - In IRA, exchange 260K Stock fund(s) for MMF.
Trade 2 - In TSP, exchange 260K G Fund for stock fund(s)
by DSInvestor
Fri Jul 28, 2023 10:05 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Music Subscription - which do you prefer?
Replies: 58
Views: 5605

Re: Music Subscription - which do you prefer?

I have Apple Music and I get a discount by signing up for a year at $109/yr - this appeared as an option on my iPhone. Before I did this, I took advantage of 4 months free which I found at Bestbuy. I found that I could use that 4 months free several times. This is a great way of testing the service. Once you get on the free plan, I noticed that you can use the service until the end of the time period even if you cancel early. This avoids the concern of forgetting to cancel before the trial period is over. If you are a student, there is a discounted student rate of $5.99/month. If you subscribe to other Apple services (TV, Arcade, you might want to run the numbers for adding Apple Music by itself or by getting Apple One. I get Apple TV from ...
by DSInvestor
Thu Jul 20, 2023 8:55 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Roth IRA or traditcaional IRA for starters
Replies: 24
Views: 1564

Re: Roth IRA or traditcaional IRA for starters

If your DS is covered by an employer sponsored retirement plan like 401k, 403, 457b or other plan, then his ability to take the Traditional IRA deduction may be lost if income goes above a certain amount. The phase out applies for folks who are covered by an employer plan (W-2 retirement plan box is checked). See IRS page IRA deduction limits:
https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/ir ... ion-limits

If covered by an employer plan, it may be safer to make Traditional contributions into the employer plan as that will work no matter how high the income is.
by DSInvestor
Thu Jun 01, 2023 10:21 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Olympic national park or Mt. Rainier?
Replies: 24
Views: 1666

Re: Olympic national park or Mt. Rainier?

You might also want to consider visit Mount Baker, north of Seattle. The hikes near Artist Point are offer world class scenery.
One of my favorites is Chain Lakes Loop.
Washington Trails Association page on Chain Lakes Loop:
https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/chain-lakes-3

If the kids are not up to a longer hike, the are short hikes at the Artist Point parking lot with amazing views of Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan. You can also venture down the Ptarmigan Ridge trail which is an out and back trail and turn around at any time. Ptarmigan Ridge has great views on the entire trail.
by DSInvestor
Sun Apr 09, 2023 12:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Water filter
Replies: 43
Views: 2631

Re: Water filter

I use a Brita Faucet filter.
https://www.brita.com/faucet-systems/

The system and replacement filters should be widely available at your local stores.
by DSInvestor
Mon Mar 20, 2023 12:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Deductable IRA with no work retirement plan for part of the year
Replies: 9
Views: 535

Re: Deductable IRA with no work retirement plan for part of the year

If you were covered by a employer sponsored retirement plan for any portion of the year, then your 2022 W-2 will show a check mark in the retirement plan box. See IRS Pub 590A and look for "Are you covered by an Employer Plan?". It should be on page 11 of this IRS PDF file. Keep reading and it will show you income limits in Table 1-2

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p590a.pdf

If this is there, then there are income limits to determine eligibility for TIRA deduction.

https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/ir ... ion-limits
by DSInvestor
Fri Mar 17, 2023 10:53 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Lightweight Gortex Raincoat
Replies: 12
Views: 1354

Re: Lightweight Gortex Raincoat

Take a look at REI XeroDry GTX jackets and pants. It is lightweight and Gore-Tex.
https://www.rei.com/search?q=xerodry

The jacket is $169 but if you are a member with REI, use the member coupon to take 20% off.

Link to details of current member coupon:
https://www.rei.com/coupon
by DSInvestor
Sun Feb 19, 2023 5:35 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: QDI preferred fund in taxable account instead of sheltered bonds
Replies: 5
Views: 532

Re: QDI preferred fund in taxable account instead of sheltered bonds

If you want cash, hold cash. If you want bonds, hold bonds or bond funds. Stocks or funds of preferred stock are not bonds or cash and there is substantially more risk. If your plan is to get back to desired AA in one year, you may need to sell the holding having held it for less than 1 year, a short term capital gains tax would apply which does not have the same preferential tax treatment that Qualified Dividend Income (QDI) and Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG) have.

Money Market and/or tax exempt money market funds have no fluctuation in NAV so there is no Capital Gains Tax issue. Tax Exempt money market (National and/or state) may offer some tax relief if you are high income compared to the taxable MMFs.
by DSInvestor
Sun Feb 19, 2023 2:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Credit Card min payment: Is it reduced by return?
Replies: 12
Views: 1178

Re: Credit Card min payment: Is it reduced by return?

I believe that you will not incur any finance charges if you pay the statement balance or the entire balance on the account by the due date. In this case, it appears that the account balance, after the refund, is lower than the statement balance. You should be good by paying the $20 to zero out the account balance by the due date.

If you have any doubts, I suggest speaking with representative at that financial institution.
by DSInvestor
Sun Feb 19, 2023 2:11 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: QDI preferred fund in taxable account instead of sheltered bonds
Replies: 5
Views: 532

Re: QDI preferred fund in taxable account instead of sheltered bonds

If you seek 50% stock and 50% bond where taxable is 40% and tax advantaged is 60%, consider this:

Tax Advantaged (60% of total):
50% bond
10% stock

Taxable (40% of total):
40% Stock (something tax efficient like Total Stock Market VTI/VTSAX).

The entire portfolio can be rebalanced by trading in the tax advantaged accounts where there are no tax consequences.

If you need to withdraw from taxable but the asset allocation plan says you should withdraw from bonds, simply sell stocks in taxable and then in tax advantaged exchange bonds/cash to stocks. This will have the net effect of selling bonds/cash from the portfolio and you have not withdrawn anything from tax advantaged even though all bonds/cash are held there,
by DSInvestor
Sun Feb 19, 2023 11:02 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: SEP or Solo 401k for freelancing spouse?
Replies: 3
Views: 262

Re: SEP or Solo 401k for freelancing spouse?

It is too late to open up a Solo 401(k) for your wife to defer 2022 income. The Solo 401(k) plan must have been established by Dec 31, 2022 to allow contributions for the 2022 tax year. It would be an option for 2023 income, if she has any.

SEP-IRA would still be possible to defer some of the 2022 self employed income.

Traditional IRA and Roth IRA for both of you are an option as well if you file taxes as Married Filing Jointly which is helpful if you have no compensation.
by DSInvestor
Sun Feb 19, 2023 10:56 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Job Switching from 401k to Taxable
Replies: 33
Views: 2700

Re: Job Switching from 401k to Taxable

In taxable I would pay taxes on dividends and cap gains each year, but would I also pay income tax on withdrawals when retired? Yes, in Taxable, you will be taxed along the way on Dividends and Capital Gains. When you sell the investments in the taxable account, you will be taxed for net realized capital gains at capital gains tax rates which, for long term capital gains, are lower rates than the rates for ordinary income. So if you sell 100K from taxable where the cost basis was 90K, your capital gain is 10K. To minimize tax drag, try to hold tax efficient holdings in the taxable account and if you need to sell, sell the shares with the highest cost basis to minimize the capital gain. Long Term capital gains (shares held for longer than 1...
by DSInvestor
Fri Feb 17, 2023 10:58 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: where are the vanguard growth of $10,000 charts?
Replies: 11
Views: 1265

Re: where are the vanguard growth of $10,000 charts?

Try looking up the fund at Morningstar.com and then, at the fund page, click on the performance tab.
by DSInvestor
Mon Feb 13, 2023 7:29 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: eBillPay for Lowes CC
Replies: 7
Views: 850

Re: eBillPay for Lowes CC

If you are searching in your bill pay for Lowes, you might try to search for the bank that issues the card instead. For example, REI Mastercards are issued by Capital One and Amazon cards are Chase, I believe. Maybe try calling the toll free number on your Lowes card to check on how to setup with your bill pay service.
by DSInvestor
Sat Jan 28, 2023 10:56 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Tax loss from recharactorization of Roth
Replies: 4
Views: 436

Re: Tax loss from recharactorization of Roth

When you recharacterize your Roth IRA contribution to a Traditional IRA contribution, it will be like you contributed to Traditional IRA all along. Say you contributed 6K to Roth IRA and it falls to 4K. You recharacterize that 6K contribution to Traditional IRA which causes the 4K to be transferred to Traditional IRA. The recharacterization will make it as though you contributed 6K to Traditional IRA and the fluctuation in value happened in the Traditional IRA to bring it down to 4K. The recharacterization moves the contribution plus any earnings and losses into the other account. This means IRS will consider that you contributed 6K to the Traditional IRA. If you are eligible for the Traditional IRA deduction, take it. Be aware that if you ...
by DSInvestor
Tue Jan 24, 2023 7:46 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: iPhone 13 Charger - Which generic brand on Amazon is best?
Replies: 62
Views: 3482

Re: iPhone 13 Charger - Which generic brand on Amazon is best?

When I bought my iPhone 12 mini, I just used the apple chargers/cables that I had from my older phones (iPhone 5S and iPhone 7). These were lower power chargers but worked to charge the new phone. I also have chargers from iPad, iPad mini and iPad Pro which have more power and would charge the phone faster.

If you did not have other Apple devices, I would recommend the Apple 20W USB C Power Adapter which you can buy at Apple, Amazon, BestBuy etc for $19.

If you have multiple devices to charge, Anker makes some interesting options that are compact and have multiple ports.
by DSInvestor
Thu Jan 19, 2023 5:42 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: S-Corp Solo 401(k). Are "early" contributions during the year a problem?
Replies: 7
Views: 837

Re: S-Corp Solo 401(k). Are "early" contributions during the year a problem?

When organized as an S-Corp paying you a W-2 salary, the solo 401(k) employee contributions must be withheld from your paychecks. Once withheld, the S-Corp makes the contribution to the Solo 401k on your behalf. Employer profit share contributions are a max of 25% of your W-2 salary and the S-Corp makes that contribution for you. The employer profit share contribution will be an expense of the S-Corp and reduce the net profit that flows via K-1 into your personal tax return.

If you wish to max out the employee contribution early in the year, there must be sufficient paycheck in those early months to support those contributions, payroll taxes and other things.
by DSInvestor
Wed Jan 18, 2023 12:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Why very high speed internet?
Replies: 168
Views: 13813

Re: Why very high speed internet?

I have xfinity internet that used to be 100Mbps down and 6Mbps up. This was fine for most things. The limit on upstream bandwidth was a problem if anyone were to do a big file upload or cloud backup to consume the very limited upstream bandwidth. Xfinity recently upgraded me to 200Mbps down but kept the same the 6Mbps up. I would have preferred a bump in upstream bandwidth.

Some faster plans offer more upstream speed which may useful for some.
by DSInvestor
Wed Jan 11, 2023 10:13 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Converting 401k to Roth IRA when you have no income
Replies: 5
Views: 1024

Re: Converting 401k to Roth IRA when you have no income

Roth conversions are taxable as ordinary income. It would make sense to do some Roth conversions if you will not have income for 2023 tax year from work. For 2023, the Standard deduction for Single folks is $13,850. Married Filing Jointly is $27,700. See IRS page: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-provides-tax-inflation-adjustments-for-tax-year-2023 So if you are single and have no other income, you can convert $13,850 to give you an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of $13,850. Taxable income is AGI - deductions. Taxable Income = 13,850 - 13,850 = ZERO. Fed Tax = Zero. The Federal AGI will flow into your state tax return where it may be subject to state income taxes. If you convert a little more, say 14,000, your taxable income would be 14,000-13...
by DSInvestor
Tue Jan 03, 2023 12:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Backdoor ROth Conversion: Year-end requirements?
Replies: 6
Views: 510

Re: Backdoor ROth Conversion: Year-end requirements?

If you had made the IRA contribution in 2022 and also converted in 2022, then your 2022 Form 8606 will show the IRA contribution of 6K (IRA basis) and the conversion of 6K to consume that IRA basis, making the conversion non-taxable. Since you contributed 6K in 2022 and converted in 2023, the 2022 from 8606 will show the 6K IRA contribution to add 6K of IRA basis. This basis from 2022 will carry forward to 2023's form 8606. IMO, it is simpler to contribute and convert in the same calendar year to simplify the 8606 and avoid carryforward of IRA basis. Something to consider for your 2023 contributions and conversions. Say you contribute another 6K for 2023 tax year in and also convert 6K to Roth in calendar 2023. Your 2023 from 8606 will show...
by DSInvestor
Mon Jan 02, 2023 7:35 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Contribute Some to Traditional to Get to the 12% Tax Bracket?
Replies: 27
Views: 3430

Re: Contribute Some to Traditional to Get to the 12% Tax Bracket?

toddthebod wrote: Sun Jan 01, 2023 9:24 pm
$94,450 < $109,000. I don't see a problem.
Tax brackets use Taxable Income (AGI - deductions).
Traditional IRA income limits use MAGI.

$94,450 Taxable Income + deductions will be above 120K for AGI and the covered spouse will be in phase out range for the TIRA deduction. IMO, if they choose to make Traditional contributions, they should do so in 401(k) to avoid the tricks with IRA deduction limits.
by DSInvestor
Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:40 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Contribute Some to Traditional to Get to the 12% Tax Bracket?
Replies: 27
Views: 3430

Re: Contribute Some to Traditional to Get to the 12% Tax Bracket?

If you will be breaking into the 22% federal tax bracket, your MAGI may be too high to allow the tax deduction for Traditional IRA contributions. See IRA contribution limits: If covered by employer plan: https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/2022-ira-contribution-and-deduction-limits-effect-of-modified-agi-on-deductible-contributions-if-you-are-covered-by-a-retirement-plan-at-work For spouse who is not covered by employer plan: https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/2022-ira-contribution-and-deduction-limits-effect-of-modified-agi-on-deductible-contributions-if-you-are-not-covered-by-a-retirement-plan-at-work To keep it simple, I would focus on making Traditional 401(k) contributions rather t...
by DSInvestor
Tue Dec 20, 2022 10:53 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Iphone - replace battery or get a new one?
Replies: 51
Views: 4806

Re: Iphone - replace battery or get a new one?

My wife upgraded from iPhone SE to iPhone 12 mini for the similar size. She loves it. The iPhone 13 mini is even better and is more efficient on battery life compared to 12 mini. The 13 mini may be the last compact iPhone.

I went from iPhone 5S to 7 to 12 mini. I also love the 12 mini.
by DSInvestor
Mon Dec 12, 2022 12:13 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Where Can the Roth IRA Contributions be Made?
Replies: 6
Views: 657

Re: Where Can the Roth IRA Contributions be Made?

Is other non-compensation income relevant to my question? Roth IRA contributions requires compensation like W-2 income or self employed income. You mentioned $2500 each in self employed income. Do either of you have any W-2 income? If yes, then that W-2 box 1 income can be added to allow for larger Roth IRA contributions to Roth IRA assuming your tax situation allows for Roth IRA contributions. Other non-compensation income is relevant as if you have too much income, that may disallow Roth IRA contributions. For example, if you have 300K of capital gains/dividends and $5000 of self employed income, your MAGI is 305K which is too high to allow for any direct Roth IRA contributions. For 2022 tax year MFJ, no Roth IRA contributions are allowe...
by DSInvestor
Sun Oct 30, 2022 5:03 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Move a closed mutual fund from taxable account to retirement brokerage account
Replies: 5
Views: 631

Re: Move a closed mutual fund from taxable account to retirement brokerage account

You might want to reach out to T Row Price to see if there is a way to hold that closed fund in an IRA account and sidestep the 401(k) plan.
by DSInvestor
Mon Oct 24, 2022 10:27 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Unconverted backdoor Roth has $6040 instead of $6000 due to interest. How to fix?
Replies: 8
Views: 1245

Re: Unconverted backdoor Roth has $6040 instead of $6000 due to interest. How to fix?

edited to correct typo.

The 6K IRA contribution limit is for the contribution only. You can convert more than that. If your 6K contribution was non-deductible (IRA basis) and you do a full conversion of $6040, then the non-taxable amount is $6000 (IRA basis) and the taxable amount is $40.
by DSInvestor
Thu Oct 20, 2022 2:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Roth 401k
Replies: 15
Views: 1166

Re: Roth 401k

You can try to get a large multinational company to change but that may be a long wait.

If you have assets in other accounts like Traditional IRA, SEP IRA, Rollover IRA, you can convert those assets to Roth IRA while you max out Traditional 401k at the workplace plan. The Traditional 401k contributions give you a tax break up front but your Roth conversions are taxable to offset those tax breaks and in the end, you'd have taken advantage of your workplace contribution plan and increased your Roth space as well.
by DSInvestor
Sun Sep 25, 2022 9:59 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Rechargeble Consumer Batteries
Replies: 26
Views: 2652

Re: Rechargeble Consumer Batteries

Here is a page that I found from the eneloop wikipedia page:

https://web.archive.org/web/20141129145 ... eloop.html
eneloop archived page wrote:eneloop – Clean Energy Loop

eneloop creates a clean „Energy Loop“ by being pre-charged at the Japanese factory with clean, renewable solar energy, which makes eneloop even more environmentally friendly.
by DSInvestor
Wed Sep 21, 2022 12:28 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Older Macbook Pro Battery Replacement Kit? Help?
Replies: 23
Views: 1193

Re: Older Macbook Pro Battery Replacement Kit? Help?

We have replaced batteries in our mid 2012 MacBook Pro (non-retina). It was easy. We bought ours from OWC / Macsales.com.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Apple/Laptop/Batteries

MacOS Catalina is the last version of macOS that our older MacBook Pros will accept and security updates for Catalina may stop after macOS Ventura is released. We also have newer M1 MacBook Airs which are fantastic.
by DSInvestor
Sun Sep 18, 2022 6:59 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Downloading TurboTax deluxe file on Lenovo computer
Replies: 8
Views: 710

Re: Downloading TurboTax deluxe file on Lenovo computer

I am a mac user but I believe there are some windows computers that are setup in Windows S-mode. When running in S mode, windows will only allow installation of apps from the Microsoft Store. You may need to get out of S-Mode to allow third party apps to install.

See Microsoft FAQ on Windows 10 and 11 S Mode:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... baebeebc85
by DSInvestor
Fri Sep 09, 2022 9:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone been to Singapore?
Replies: 36
Views: 5792

Re: Anyone been to Singapore?

The food in Singapore is fantastic. If you go, check out Roti Prata, Hainanese Chicken Rice and Chili Crab.
by DSInvestor
Tue Aug 23, 2022 1:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Calculating contributions to Solo 401(k)
Replies: 9
Views: 692

Re: Calculating contributions to Solo 401(k)

You should reach out to solo 401k providers as ask them. When I setup my Solo 401k many years ago, I spoke reps at Fidelity and Vanguard and found them to be extremely knowledgeable. In my case, the fidelity plan offered only traditional contributions employee and employer contributions. The Fidelity rep explained how those would work very clearly but voluntary after-tax contributions were not an option and not discussed. If you have found a company who offers or can create a custom plan for you that supports voluntary after-tax contributions, they may be able to share details on how those features work and what the limits are.
by DSInvestor
Tue Aug 23, 2022 11:07 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Calculating contributions to Solo 401(k)
Replies: 9
Views: 692

Re: Calculating contributions to Solo 401(k)

megalodon wrote: Tue Aug 23, 2022 10:41 am Of course. I'm specifically asking about employee deferral and voluntary after-tax contributions here, though - not profit-sharing.
I am not aware of any standard solo 401(k) plans at the major brokerage firms that offer after-tax contributions but I have not looked at plans in many years. You may need to get a custom plan (more money) to get that feature.
by DSInvestor
Tue Aug 23, 2022 10:28 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Calculating contributions to Solo 401(k)
Replies: 9
Views: 692

Re: Calculating contributions to Solo 401(k)

I agree with nolesrule about employee contributions. You must have sufficient W2 salary to cover payroll taxes and the employee contributions. 18K salary is not enough. These contributions must be withheld from the paychecks. If you have already paid yourself some W-2 Salary, then the remaining paychecks in 20222 must be large enough to support the 20.5K employee contribution and payroll taxes. The employer profit share contribution works a little differently. It is limited to 25% of S-Corp W2 salary. To contribute 40.5K employee profit share, you must have W-2 salary of at least 162K. This is not withheld from the paychecks but separately by the S-Corp. These employer contributions are an expense of the S-Corp and will reduce S-Corp net in...
by DSInvestor
Thu Aug 18, 2022 11:07 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can VBIAX be converted to VTI?
Replies: 18
Views: 1879

Re: Can VBIAX be converted to VTI?

Conversion to ETF is possible if 1) there is an ETF share class of your fund and b) conversion is supported for that fund. Not all funds that have ETF share classes allow for conversion. For example Vanguard Total Bond Market Admiral VBTLX has an ETF share class BND but ETF conversion is not supported. This could be due to the way the mutual fund share class accrues dividends.

If you wish to convert Vanguard Balanced to ETFs, you'd need to sell and purchase the ETFs. if you wish to maintain AA of the balanced fund, you can buy VTI and BND ETFs in a 60/40 stock/bond mix.
by DSInvestor
Wed Aug 17, 2022 11:50 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Auto drip coffeemaker optimized for 10-20 fl oz (300-600 ml)?
Replies: 44
Views: 3843

Re: Auto drip coffeemaker optimized for 10-20 fl oz (300-600 ml)?

Not what you're looking for but I love my Aeropress. I bought it for camping and loved it so I use it every day.
by DSInvestor
Mon Aug 15, 2022 1:13 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can’t decide between 401K types (Roth vs Trad) for Tech Worker
Replies: 74
Views: 6241

Re: Can’t decide between 401K types (Roth vs Trad) for Tech Worker

Roth is great if you do not have to give up a Traditional benefit to get into Roth. Roth 401k employee contributions reduce the amount of Traditional 401(k) employee contributions that you can make and you will lose an immediate tax benefit. Roth and Traditional 401(k) share an employee salary deferral contribution limit of $20,500. Note that since you switched jobs, you need to be careful not to exceed $20,500 in employee contributions in total across both 401(k) plans for 2022. Given that you're covered by an employer plan at work and have high income, you are not eligible for any Traditional IRA deduction so Roth IRA using the backdoor is great. Contribute 6K to Traditional IRA and then convert to Roth IRA. At age 24, this would be 6K/yr...
by DSInvestor
Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:17 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax Optimization for Multiple Income Streams
Replies: 19
Views: 1656

Re: Tax Optimization for Multiple Income Streams

For 2022, full Roth IRA contribution allowed if MAGI for Roth IRA purposes is under 129K. https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/amount-of-roth-ira-contributions-that-you-can-make-for-2022 Be familiar with what is included in your AGI. MAGI for Roth IRA is the AGI with some adjustments to exclude Roth conversion etc. You have a complex tax situation with 2 W2 jobs, self employed income, rental income etc. If you are looking to minimize current taxes, then Traditional contributions to 401(k), 457(b), HSA, Solo 401(k) will reduce your AGI. If you can get your AGI under $129K to make you eligible for direct Roth IRA contributions, there would be no need to use the backdoor into Roth IRA and you'd side step the IRA basis...
by DSInvestor
Wed Aug 10, 2022 10:39 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Laser printer
Replies: 34
Views: 2225

Re: Laser printer

We have brother laser printers as well and they work great.