Bogleheads.org

mass88

Hello folks, looking to get some feedback on my current setup for personal savings as well as investing for my retirement. 34 years old, married, file my taxes married filing jointly. My wife works and has a ROTH TSA through her employer. I will just focus on myself for the sake of this post. Emerge...

mass88

You absolutely want YOUR inspector to look over the entire house. There can be huge problems, even with new construction. If this is a development, be aware that drawings with the words "Conservation Land" is a lie. A development was built sort of surrounding my property. In the maps thei...

mass88

IMO, the real risk of new construction developments is how the neighborhood will age. Is this higher end housing or starter homes where many residents will not be inclined to maintain their houses once they start needing a new roof, landscape maintenance, exterior repairs etc? How do you plan on li...

mass88

My wife and I are strongly considering buying a new construction home in a new sub division that is entering its final phase. We've been going over the spec sheet and are wondering if there is anything we should be looking out for? Any targeted question(s) we should be asking the sales team?

mass88

That's great, good for you! Keep it going!

mass88

Holy Cow! In my state, each community college course costs $700 (I just paid for one course, so know that for sure). 5 courses a semester is common in most majors. So for 2 years, that's $14k (no living expenses). If he could somehow drag these costs over to state college and live at home, we're st...

mass88

if she wants something more expensive (and honestly unnecessary) then she can pay for it with student loans. No, she can't. I read this a lot from people, but it isn't true. You can take out loans, she'll be limited to $5500 her freshman year, maybe a little more if the minimums get raised. She can...

mass88

My wife and I have a young daughter - under the age of 2. When she was born, we opened up a 529 savings plan for her. Our state's plan offers a tax deduction. This is what we have been doing as far as contributions: Set a goal of a $1,000 a year contribution from the both of us - our plan is to make...

mass88

Thank you for all of the comments and suggestions. We are leaning towards a 30 year policy - we like the idea that we would be covered until our early 60s when (hopefully) our children are fully financially independent.

mass88

My wife and I have begun to shop around for life insurance. We have a daughter, who is 2 months old, and plan on having 1 more child in the next 2 years. We both work and make roughly the same annual income. We each have small life insurance policies through our employers but want our own in additio...

mass88

My wife and want to start saving for our daughter’s (she’s almost 2 months old) college education. From what we have read there’s essentially two routes; either open up a 529 plan or open up an IRA. We initially are leaning towards a 529, we live in Massachusetts. Our state’s 529 plan allows for a s...

mass88

Thank you for all of the suggestions - keep em' coming! Between my wife and myself we have 2 nieces and 3 nephews so we are lucky and will be getting a ton of hand-me-downs in the form of clothes and toys. We plan on taking full advantage especially considering how fast kids grow out of clothes and ...

mass88

My wife is expecting our first child in a couple of months and we would like to start getting things in order before our child is born. If you were to list the 4 or 5 most pressing items we should, what would they be? Life insurance? A will? College savings plan? If we went term, how long should the...

mass88

Why not just ask your HR or finance department? They may have just changed the way they are doing calculations or something but in any case, should be able to tell you. I spoke with our HR person and she is baffled so we reached out to the company that handles the paychecks so they can look into it.

mass88

When comparing the total federal income tax withheld in 2016 vs. 2015, we had less tax withheld in 2016. Our incomes went up in 2016 so we're a bit confused why less tax was withheld from our paychecks. We file our taxes married filing jointly. We did not make any changes to filing status or allowa...

mass88

Let's treat each person's income and withholdings separately. Which spouse had the reduction in withholding? Both of us did. I looked at our W-2s for 2015 and 2016 and each of us had less federal tax withheld. Our incomes both went up. Do the W-2s and year end pay stubs show similar numbers for Fed...

mass88

DSInvestor wrote:Let's treat each person's income and withholdings separately. Which spouse had the reduction in withholding?

Both of us did. I looked at our W-2s for 2015 and 2016 and each of us had less federal tax withheld. Our incomes both went up.

mass88

Did you change your 401k contributions? Did you make larger contributions to Traditional 401k in 2016 vs 2015? Did you change from Roth 401k contributions to Traditional 401k contributions? What about HSA contributions withheld from paychecks. These items can result in smaller tax withholdings. You...

mass88

Did you change your 401k contributions? Did you make larger contributions to Traditional 401k in 2016 vs 2015? Did you change from Roth 401k contributions to Traditional 401k contributions? This could definitely result in smaller tax withholdings. I contributed $4,748.97 to my 401k in 2016 and $4,1...

mass88

I am in the process of doing my taxes for 2016 and have an issue. When comparing the total federal income tax withheld in 2016 vs. 2015, we had less tax withheld in 2016. Our incomes went up in 2016 so we're a bit confused why less tax was withheld from our paychecks. We file our taxes married filin...

mass88

An excel spreadsheet. You can easily build a simple spreadsheet that allows you to log your expenses and then have it total the categories up on a monthly basis and you can see how you're doing. I have found the less automated everything is, the more I pay attention. One tab would be a transaction j...

mass88

I bought an Acer C720 Chromebook 2 and a half years ago and love it. It's thin, lightweight and gets great battery life. Oh and it also cost under $300 which was nice. It's funny, Microsoft never really gave Chromebooks much of a thought as far as a threat in the beginning, flash forward and year an...

mass88

One of the reasons I am going with Honda over a Toyota is the fact that Toyota is not allowing Android Auto on their cars.

Thank you for all of your responses. I went to the Honda dealership and finalized the purchase of the Accord.

mass88

Here's something more to think about: Since we've usually bought new and plan to keep cars for a long, long time, I've found that it's money well spent to rent a car like the one you're considering buying for a week, and drive it a lot. It's really cheap compared to realizing that you don't like th...

mass88

I've owned 6 Hondas/Acuras since 1988 and have generally enjoyed them. Like you I am looking at a 2017 Accord. However I recently discovered that the 2018 Accord is scheduled for big changes so decided to wait. Some of the spy photos look interesting. A much sleeker look and a possible turbo 4 cyli...

mass88

Looking to get thoughts on Honda cars. I am thinking about buying a 2017 Honda Accord EX-L and would like feedback from others as to what they think of the Honda brand? Well made, reliable cars?

mass88

Is there a way to find out, or get a goo idea of the interest rates a dealer, or car manufacturer would offer on a car loan?

mass88

I am looking to change my Citi credit card from a Dividend card to a Double Cash card. Is there anything I should know before I call them up and ask if this is possible? I don't want to close the card out given I've had it since 2007 and it's my second oldest credit card (my oldest is 2004) and want...

mass88

I am in a similar situation as you are - my wife and I are not even a year into our mortgage and we're refinancing with a no cost mortgage. We've only made 9 payments and by the time we close on our new loan we'll have made 11 payments. Given you're not even a year into your mortgage, going with ano...

mass88

Just as an update, I've started going over the formal application. These are two screen shots of the loan details.

mass88

Thanks for sharing. I am in a similar situation (great credit, principal is under $28k, good cash flow) and like you was not getting the best advertised rates and in some cases was not really close. Citizens Bank was the most frustrating of them all - I was qualified for a rate that was 2.25% above ...

mass88

I don't know the circumstances, but I always get a little leery when there are arbitrary deadlines. In order to lock the 3.25% rate, I need to submit an application. I think the key question is, are there really 'no closing costs or fees?' It feels like I've heard this line before, only to realize ...

mass88

Given interest rates are the lower they’ve been in 3 years, I decided to start looking around to see if I would be able to lower my interest and save some money. I have a lender who is offering my 3.250% fixed for 30 years. Apart from the escrow deposit, there would be no other closing costs or fees...

mass88

Another question - is there such a thing as refinancing your mortgage too many times? Yes and no. Basically you reset the clock each time you do it, so you pay for 2 years then refi into another 30 so you just tacked 2 years on the end. Also, I really question the whole "no cost". Often t...

mass88

Another question - is there such a thing as refinancing your mortgage too many times?

mass88

Jeff P wrote:By selling it to Chase in 2 months?

Why they would come back to us to refinance after they sold our mortgage.

mass88

We are leaning towards it given the zero closings costs to us.

Why would the bank offer something like this to us? How will the make money off of it?

mass88

I just confirmed with the bank - there are zero costs at closing. The only money we would have to pay at closing would be to establish an escrow account. I also confirmed that they would not roll the closing costs into the principal balance.

mass88

My wife and I bought a house back in August of 2015 and so far have only made 7 payments on our mortgage. Our original lender sold our mortgage to Chase (their servicing leaves a lot to be desired) after only 2 months. Now the original lender has reached out to me with an offer to refinance our mort...

mass88

I am not a Cosco member, so that's not an option for me.

Thanks for all of the suggestions - I'll checkout kayak.com and vroomvroomvroom.com.

mass88

What is your preferred method for pricing out rental cars? Or how do you shop for deals? I've always been loyal to Enterprise for my rental car needs as they usually have the lowest, or very competitive rates and I have never had any issues with their cars. I am wondering if I could score a better d...

mass88

How are you all handling the internet connection issue? I've thought about using Vue (I've always owned a Playsation as my game console of choice) but am wondering how much I would end up saving considering how much stand alone internet service costs from Xfinity or Verizon.

mass88

While I am not in the market for a new car, I've been a big fan of Tesla from the beginning and love what they're doing. It's unfortunate several states have banned their sales due to flawed and outdated thinking. I hope the model sells well and pushes innovation further.

mass88

Curious what the best way, or how you have gone about determining adequate levels of insurance? I am referring to life insurance. I am 31, my wife is 30 and we do not have any kids yet. I have a $50k policy through work and she has a $25k policy. At what point should we look to up our coverage? When...

mass88

Has anyone ever flown Spirit Airlines? Their prices are low but I am guessing there are a ton of additional charges (checked luggage, printing boarding passes, seat selection etc.). I am looking to fly Boston-Detroit-Boston and had a laugh when one of the options they presented on their website had ...

mass88

A couple of important factors are whether there is a cap on the variable rate, and the amount of the loan. A $20k loan that hits a cap of 9%, isn't a big deal, but it is a big deal on a $100k loan. My current loan balance is $29,085. I spoke with Citizens Bank and the cap on the variable rate is 21...

mass88

At what point does it make more sense to opt for a variable rate on a loan vs. a fixed rate? I am specifically referring to a student loan. In another thread I touched on my current student loan. I periodically check to see what lenders would offer to refinance and currently one bank, Citizens Bank,...

mass88

1. Does it matter if I make the additional monthly payment with my normal minimum payment versus making the minimum payment and then doing a second payment of the $150? Since I’ve upped the monthly additional amount to $150, roughly 68% of my monthly payment has been hitting principal. I was not su...

mass88

I have a student loan that I am currently making payment on. As background, this loan was used to consolidate 2 loans I previously had with 2 different lenders. This loan carries a lower interest rate and shorter repayment period. Admittedly, I probably made the mistake of going with a variable rate...

mass88

What is a TSA, or a ROTH TSA? My wife is being recruited for a job at a hospital and they offer a TSA for the retirement savings plan.

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