Search found 102 matches

by malbecman
Tue Jan 12, 2021 12:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How to make my mother-in-law’s estate “plan” work?
Replies: 19
Views: 2131

Re: How to make my mother-in-law’s estate “plan” work?

One other wrinkle to consider is the new Prop 19 that just passed in CA:

It used to be that inherited property in CA kept the original owner's tax basis for property tax purposes (since the 70s) so many
heirs inherited very valuable properties with very low property taxes. This made it a no-brainer for a lot of heirs to turn them into rental properties.

Now that is changed and the property will be re-assessed at market value when it passes to the heir so likely a big bump in the property tax bill (1.25% min of assessed value.) This would NOT apply to her husband, however, only other heirs.
by malbecman
Mon Jan 04, 2021 1:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: I don't trust my kids with a trust
Replies: 41
Views: 5541

Re: I don't trust my kids with a trust

We have Crummey trusts for our two kids but it matures when they are 25, 30 and 35yrs old (1/3rd each).

It's enough that if they want to start a small business or make a down payment on a house, they can get a nice head start in life (and believe me, we're in CA so getting a downpayment for a house is tough). We felt that they would be pretty mature at these ages but if they did screw it up, they would have 1-2 more chances.
by malbecman
Fri Dec 11, 2020 1:56 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Wisdom of using nontaxable accounts to go under the Kitce bond tent in early retirement
Replies: 16
Views: 1406

Re: Wisdom of using nontaxable accounts to go under the Kitce bond tent in early retirement

malbecman wrote: Fri Dec 11, 2020 1:17 pm
Dottie57 wrote: Fri Dec 11, 2020 11:55 am OP
I am concerned about your use of the term “nontaxable”.

The only tax-free accounts are those held in a Roth of some sort. 403b Roth if there is such an animal. If you paid taxes going into the account then it is tax free. If no taxes were paid on money going into the account (tax deferred) then any distributions are fully taxable as ordinary income tax rates.

Non Roth 403b assets are taxable.
You're correct, sorry for the imprecise language. We do have some regular Roth accounts (so true tax free) but the 403b monies are tax deferred.
I guess I was also thinking "tax-free" in that I can switch the monies in the 403bs between equities and bonds without paying LTCG.

Thanks for pointing that out.
by malbecman
Fri Dec 11, 2020 1:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Wisdom of using nontaxable accounts to go under the Kitce bond tent in early retirement
Replies: 16
Views: 1406

Re: Wisdom of using nontaxable accounts to go under the Kitce bond tent in early retirement

Dottie57 wrote: Fri Dec 11, 2020 11:55 am OP
I am concerned about your use of the term “nontaxable”.

The only tax-free accounts are those held in a Roth of some sort. 403b Roth if there is such an animal. If you paid taxes going into the account then it is tax free. If no taxes were paid on money going into the account (tax deferred) then any distributions are fully taxable as ordinary income tax rates.

Non Roth 403b assets are taxable.
You're correct, sorry for the imprecise language. We do have some regular Roth accounts (so true tax free) but the 403b monies are tax deferred.

Thanks for pointing that out.
by malbecman
Fri Dec 11, 2020 11:40 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Wisdom of using nontaxable accounts to go under the Kitce bond tent in early retirement
Replies: 16
Views: 1406

Re: Wisdom of using nontaxable accounts to go under the Kitce bond tent in early retirement

printer86 wrote: Thu Dec 10, 2020 3:19 pm What is your healthcare purchasing plan during your pre-Medicare years? If you are looking to use the ACA and obtaining subsidies, you will need to manage your annual income.
Both my wife and I are very fortunate. Our employer (a very large university) allows us to continue to be part of their healthcare pool
with reasonable rates so no need to manage income.
by malbecman
Thu Dec 10, 2020 1:19 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Wisdom of using nontaxable accounts to go under the Kitce bond tent in early retirement
Replies: 16
Views: 1406

Wisdom of using nontaxable accounts to go under the Kitce bond tent in early retirement

So I am considering RE this year at 53. DW would work a couple more years. We can live very comfortable at 3% SWR and even go down to 2.25-2.5% if necessary. As a potential early retiree, I am concerned primarily with sequence of returns risk. I've been looking at Kitce's bond tent strategy and it seems sound. We're currently at 70% equities but quite a bit is in taxable accounts so to sell those would incur LTCG. I'd rather not do that. I've been playing with the math and our nontaxable account (primarily two 403b's) could potentially give us a ~15% shift into bonds with no tax costs. Would there be any hazards to this strategy? As I understand the withdrawal rules, I need to wait until 59.5+ to make any withdrawals (and must withdraw star...
by malbecman
Fri Dec 13, 2019 5:22 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Does a rebalancing tax hit count against a SWR?
Replies: 4
Views: 389

Re: Does a rebalancing tax hit count against a SWR?

jebmke wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2019 5:03 pm I consider every expense, including income taxes as a withdrawal. When the money is gone, it is gone. Doesn't matter if it goes to get a haircut or a tax payment.
That certainly makes sense. Its just a little hard to forecast as an expense and how it would affect your "pocket" money down the road. I guess all the more reason to have flexible spending plans if one can.
by malbecman
Fri Dec 13, 2019 5:01 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Does a rebalancing tax hit count against a SWR?
Replies: 4
Views: 389

Does a rebalancing tax hit count against a SWR?

Just a theoretical question that's been on my mind. Say you retire with a 3M total portfolio with a target AA of 70% stocks/30% bonds (so 2.1M in the stock market). Stocks have a great year and go up 20% so $420K (or 2 yrs of ~10%). Your new total net worth is $3.42M but stocks are now 73.6% of your portfolio and you want to rebalance down to 70% again. You sell ~$140K of stocks and have a Fed LTCG tax bill (at 15%) of $21K. (not to mention any state taxes). 21K is ~0.6% of your net worth and you retired intending to spend a 3% SWR (so $90K/yr). Does that $21K come out of your spending that year? This means you have 69K to spend on the fun stuff in life or only 2.4% of your portfolio that yr. If so, I guess this would count as lumpy spendin...
by malbecman
Wed Oct 30, 2019 4:26 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How do I make more money with my accounting degree?
Replies: 29
Views: 3984

Re: How do I make more money with my accounting degree?

My tax guy is a CPA and has built it up into a nice business with several CPAs under him now. He's definitely making good money but yes, even he admits those 3-4 months of the tax season are tough sometimes. He does take really nice, long summer vacations though.
by malbecman
Thu Oct 17, 2019 4:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Legacy/Inheritance
Replies: 61
Views: 8103

Re: Legacy/Inheritance

Gill wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2019 4:22 pm Well, if that's the case I don't understand your questions. Aren't the terms of the trust already set in stone? Who is the trustee of the trusts?
Gill
+1, exactly my questions.....
by malbecman
Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:18 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best Trust Company For Spendthrift Child
Replies: 13
Views: 2550

Re: Best Trust Company For Spendthrift Child

I was in the unenviable position of being my sister's trustee on a trust setup from my parents-sounds similar to your situation. DONT DO IT! It totally changes your relationship to that person from being a loving sibling to managerial. My sister has some different values and very different spending habits which caused a lot of friction.

Me: "What, you need more $ already? What happened to that last $2.5K? Nevermind, I dont want to know...."

My parents did it to save $$ (frugal to the end) but once I offloaded it to US Trust, life was much easier and our relationship much better.

edit: better wording
by malbecman
Wed Sep 04, 2019 4:09 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: semi-DIY solar panels
Replies: 39
Views: 4446

Re: semi-DIY solar panels

Our local utility now offers 100% renewable/green energy at about a 8% increase over our regular rates (and they will soon offer 100% solar).
They use our money to go out and buy the power off the grid. For use, its like an extra $10 bucks/month..... much cheaper than the $12-20K prices I've seen for our own system.
by malbecman
Thu Aug 22, 2019 4:19 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anybody else enjoy sitting around and doing little in retirement?
Replies: 106
Views: 16510

Re: Anybody else enjoy sitting around and doing little in retirement?

Remember that very little is needed to make a happy life. ― Marcus Aurelius
by malbecman
Thu Jun 13, 2019 11:44 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Short-term money needs for Executor of Estate
Replies: 57
Views: 5346

Re: Short-term money needs for Executor of Estate

When my MIL passed away, her husband (FIL) made my spouse a joint owner on a checking acct for when he passes. My spouse is their
only progeny and executor and the understanding is that there is enough in there to handle estate expenses.
by malbecman
Mon Jun 10, 2019 6:52 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "Quitten" - Replacing Quicken with Google Sheets
Replies: 39
Views: 6305

Re: "Quitten" - Replacing Quicken with Google Sheets

Anyone using Sheets concerned about privacy issues? Just someone who doesnt like the reach of FANG sometimes....
by malbecman
Wed May 15, 2019 1:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buying a "new" car - Advice pls
Replies: 76
Views: 8263

Re: Buying a "new" car - Advice pls

IMO the most Boglehead car you can buy is a used Toyota Prius. - Low entry cost (10k is easily doable) - Great reliability. Reports of 300,000 mile Prius' are easy to find - Low overall maintenance costs (brakes last longer, engine is near indestructible, battery replacement fears are unfounded) - Great gas mileage (I average 45 mpg) - Super functional: The hatchback design and ability to put seats down makes this super functional. I can slip (2) bikes into the car without issue. I think a used Toyota Prius is the lowest total cost car you can purchase. I'll present a Boglehead alternative that's much cheaper to own if it fits your driving style (eg, commuting ~20 miles each way)....a Nissan Leaf. You can get a 2012 model for $8K or a 2016...
by malbecman
Mon Apr 22, 2019 1:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: If FIRECalc shows 100% success rate, what holds you back from retiring?
Replies: 126
Views: 15197

Re: If FIRECalc shows 100% success rate, what holds you back from retiring?

NotWhoYouThink wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2019 12:25 pm If FIRECalc shows 100% success rate you are inputting the wrong variables. Play with it to see what makes it go under 100%, or under 90% if you want to learn from it.
Another way to do this is FireCalc will let you show how much starting portfolio you need to achieve X success rate. I was at the 100% but not sure how much above..... I just set it to 99% and found that starting theoretical portfolio value to achieve 99% was quite a bit lower. :happy

It's a tool, like any other, and has certain assumptions baked in but overall I find it useful.
by malbecman
Thu Apr 11, 2019 5:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Can we afford a $1mil home?
Replies: 64
Views: 9535

Re: Can we afford a $1mil home?

trustquestioner wrote: Thu Apr 11, 2019 2:33 pm Every Bay Area housing thread leaves me staring at the post hoping there was a typo or something.

Unless you absolutely have to live there, I don’t get it. You can move to the Midwest, live a much better quality of life on half the income and have plenty left over for multiple luxury trips back, should you so desire.
Well, first off, you're prolly not going to get $340K/yr AGI in the midwest.

Also, I'm in Northern CA and aside from a few rain showers, we've been in the 50s at night and 68-70 degrees during the day with sunshine for the last couple of weeks. No blizzards here....
by malbecman
Thu Feb 07, 2019 4:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Facilities Management Career Path?
Replies: 6
Views: 816

Re: Facilities Management Career Path?

Here's a recent posting for the Director of Facilities at our Vet School (UC Davis). This would be the top position but you
can see it pays well and get an idea of the skills needed.

https://www.employment.ucdavis.edu/appl ... gId=392775
by malbecman
Wed Jan 30, 2019 5:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How do early retirees get health insurance in the US?
Replies: 22
Views: 3997

Re: How do early retirees get health insurance in the US?

Something to keep in mind is that healthcare costs in the US are very region specific. What works in Northern CA doesnt work in Central or South CA, for instance (or even far north CA which has a much more rural population). Everyone needs to run their own numbers. Once you are on Medicare, a lot of this disappears as I understand.
by malbecman
Tue Oct 16, 2018 6:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Any good 2018 CA tax calculators out there?
Replies: 7
Views: 1024

Re: Any good 2018 CA tax calculators out there?

ladycat wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 6:42 pm I have no knowledge of whether this site is good or not, but there appear to be CA tax planner spreadsheets that you can download for many tax years, including 2018.
http://www.taxvisor.com/taxes/
Thanks Ladycat, these look great!
by malbecman
Fri Oct 12, 2018 6:28 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Talk me out of buying a Tesla Model 3
Replies: 963
Views: 103288

Re: Talk me out of buying a Tesla Model 3

investor997 wrote: Fri Oct 12, 2018 6:26 pm WHOA - Tesla just called me and they said they'll have my car ready for delivery the Monday after next. Bam!
Dang! Double congrats!!!!
by malbecman
Fri Oct 12, 2018 6:18 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Talk me out of buying a Tesla Model 3
Replies: 963
Views: 103288

Re: Talk me out of buying a Tesla Model 3

Congrats, am considering pulling the trigger myself this weekend on a M3D but blue with white interior.....
by malbecman
Tue Oct 09, 2018 5:12 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Talk me out of buying a Tesla Model 3
Replies: 963
Views: 103288

Re: Talk me out of buying a Tesla Model 3

[/quote]

So what? The cars and mfgs you are comparing it to sell in almost every market. More importantly, there is a difference between fulfilling 2-3 years of pent up, subsidy driven ( OP a perfect example) demand and ongoing flow. Let’s see how many Tesla’s are sold in July 2019.
[/quote]

You mean when they become available in Europe and China? :D

(I'm tapping out)
by malbecman
Tue Oct 09, 2018 4:50 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Talk me out of buying a Tesla Model 3
Replies: 963
Views: 103288

Re: Talk me out of buying a Tesla Model 3

OP- There is no doubt you can afford a model 3. I'd recommend a model S if you are going to buy a Tesla. But, Tesla will enter bankruptcy before the calendar reaches 2019. No doubt about it. If you're okay with that, buy the car. Enjoy it man. Nice financial stats too. Well done. Uhhhh, really? The Tesla Model 3 was the 4th best selling car in the US last month and outsold Mercedes this last quarter and is nipping at the heels of BMW. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeanbaptiste/2018/10/09/tesla-outsells-mercedes-benz-in-america-and-bmw-is-next/#2ddb494d7562 https://insideevs.com/tesla-model-3-sales-pass-toyota-corolla/ It also has the lowest probability of causing injury of any car ever tested by the NHSTA https://www.tesla.com/blog/model-3-...
by malbecman
Wed Oct 03, 2018 12:17 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Any good 2018 CA tax calculators out there?
Replies: 7
Views: 1024

Re: Any good 2018 CA tax calculators out there?

CA has a tax calculator of ftb website https://webapp.ftb.ca.gov/taxcalc/calculator.aspx?Submit=2017+Tax+Calculator&Lang=english&redirectURL=OTC This is a 2017 calculator but should be reasonably close since CA has not changed tax laws like Fed. However input required is CA taxable income. You can get Fed AGI,I assume. Then you need to massage into CA AGI by the adjustments on Sch CA and then the CA deduction. Depending on your situation, this may be easy or somewhat cumbersome. The calculator gives you the initial tax. Then you need to subtract out the exemption credits which should be easy. Thanks. Yes, I can get Fed AGI and work from there. I was just hoping for a calculator that included the CA adjustments, etc, so I could quic...
by malbecman
Wed Oct 03, 2018 12:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Any good 2018 CA tax calculators out there?
Replies: 7
Views: 1024

Re: Any good 2018 CA tax calculators out there?

FiveK wrote: Tue Oct 02, 2018 7:46 pm Do any of https://www.google.com/search?q=califor ... calculator work for you?
Thanks, I tried a lot of those...mostly really basic ones that I was trying to avoid.
by malbecman
Tue Oct 02, 2018 5:07 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Any good 2018 CA tax calculators out there?
Replies: 7
Views: 1024

Any good 2018 CA tax calculators out there?

Most of the ones I can seem to find only have a few simple inputs. I'm looking for a more complex one that will accept
additional inputs like dividends, cap. gains, pensions, rental income, etc. Basically the adjustments from Schedule 540....
I'm looking to model some tax scenarios. Thanks.
by malbecman
Thu Aug 02, 2018 5:15 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I count rental equity towards our retirement number?
Replies: 9
Views: 729

Re: Should I count rental equity towards our retirement number?

That's a good point and I can quantify them a bit. Pension income goes up by $327 (age 51), $351 (52) and then $375 (53) per month. etc Its a sigmoidal shaped curve but at the tender age of 50, the increases are small...they really ramp up around 57 - 65. I'm hoping for ~5% total stocks and bonds return (which may be optimistic) which would put us at ~32x expenses (any contributions are gravy). We are at the point where any real growth (or loss!) significantly outweighs our annual contributions, aka, the portfolio size effect as Kitces calls it. And yes, we will be one year closer to the grave... I appreciate everyone's replies...still trying to figure out our feeling on this issue. This may be an odd question, but what would you plan to ac...
by malbecman
Thu Aug 02, 2018 11:52 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I count rental equity towards our retirement number?
Replies: 9
Views: 729

Should I count rental equity towards our retirement number?

Long and short. My wife and I are considering early retirement (early 50s). Just counting our stocks, bonds and cash we are at 27x expenses (yes, healthcare is included). Some variability there as we still have 1 kid at home and we also recognize our good position and occasionally splurge. However, we also have 3 rentals, all cash flowing positive now (not a huge amount) and which have appreciated decently. (They will be paid off completely in ~8 yrs and then the cash flow will go up). If I include the equity in them (minus 5% commission), we are at more like 34x expenses which seems to be the very safe 3% SWR. Ideally, we would not sell but could if needed. The fiscally conservative in me says keep working a few more years. The spendthrift...
by malbecman
Tue Jul 31, 2018 1:37 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Bond Tent strategy and AA for early retirement
Replies: 3
Views: 918

Re: Bond Tent strategy and AA for early retirement

I think you don't need to change a thing. I am early retired and have no bond funds in taxable. Also allocation is about 30% bonds. I don't care about portfolio swings either. May I ask why you care about them? They are not going to affect your ability to retire nor the long-term viability of your portfolio. The swings may cause you to make behavioral finance mistakes like changing your plan or not tax-loss harvesting when you can. Thanks for the replies. I don't care about the swings (ok, maybe a little :happy ) as we are long term investors. It was more of the realization of the magnitude of the swings becoming as big/bigger than our annual contributions and the thought of "Gee, a couple of bad weeks could wipe out our annual contri...
by malbecman
Tue Jul 31, 2018 12:09 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Bond Tent strategy and AA for early retirement
Replies: 3
Views: 918

Bond Tent strategy and AA for early retirement

So this is more of a general strategy question. My wife and I currently have sufficient assets after careful saving to consider early retirement in 2 yrs in our early 50s. Current AA is 70% Equities and 25% bonds, 5% cash. We currently also have ~2.2x in our taxable accounts vs tax-deferred (didnt know about backdoor Roth in the early years plus a small inheritance). We are seeing the portfolio size effect (as Kitces terms it) whereby our daily/weekly portfolio swings (in todays markets) can be equal or more than our annual contributions. To mitigate that, so we're considering increasing our bonds upward to ~35% or maybe even 40% to get under the bond tent and prevent large portfolio swings in our early retirement and hopefully decrease the...
by malbecman
Mon Jun 11, 2018 6:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Moved Family Across Country for New Job and Job is now gone
Replies: 27
Views: 7263

Re: Moved Family Across Country for New Job and Job is now gone

Was there an offer letter or email? Something in writing? Save it!
by malbecman
Wed May 16, 2018 5:02 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Need Input on My Early Retirement Plan.....
Replies: 45
Views: 7309

Re: Need Input on My Early Retirement Plan.....

You mention buying a new car for 25K. Do you have future allocations for cars in 5 or 10 years or do you fund that out of your 70K living expense (eg, set aside 2.5K/yr for ten years)?

I point this out as 25K is ~0.8% of your net worth so not a huge expense but something to consider.
by malbecman
Thu Mar 15, 2018 3:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Need Advice Rental Property -- Rent not covering PITI
Replies: 18
Views: 2467

Re: Need Advice Rental Property -- Rent not covering PITI

SPOUSE 2 says: The rent is paying down the mortgage and we have no housing expenses overseas, so the loss does not matter

This is not a logical argument. You are losing money every month and only paying the bank their interest at this point....if you sold the house, you would have more $ every month. That sounds better to me.

edit: I own 3 rental properties with a 4th on the way. Based on the facts presented, I would not touch this with a ten foot pole.
by malbecman
Wed Mar 14, 2018 6:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Cash out inherited IRA or just take RMD's?
Replies: 19
Views: 3125

Re: Cash out inherited IRA or just take RMD's?

My wife just inherited part of an IRA from her mom (the bulk went to dad who is still living). She took the RMDs as its like a nice $650 check every year in December and can use it to enjoy the holidays with family and also make some donations to orgs they both liked such as the SPCA. She knows her mom would approve. :D
by malbecman
Tue Mar 06, 2018 5:13 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: $150K to invest
Replies: 12
Views: 2332

Re: $150K to invest

What is your long term goal (or goals perhaps) for this money? Knowing your time horizon will help.
I think you will find useful answer about portfolios in the wiki.

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main_Page
by malbecman
Thu Feb 22, 2018 3:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Early retirement strategy for wife
Replies: 18
Views: 3223

Re: Early retirement strategy for wife

Speaking as a dad with 2 grown kids, I would expect your expenses to grow with your child...sports, music, food, etc. This looks pretty risky to me.
Can your wife go PT? My wife was 50% the first 15 yrs of our kids lives and it was nice having that backstop. Now she's 100% and glad she kept an oar in the water....

edit: I wouldnt count on Covered CA to stay linear..it will increase.
by malbecman
Wed Feb 14, 2018 6:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Did you learn anything from the market correction?
Replies: 160
Views: 17826

Re: Did you learn anything from the market correction?

It really is a random walk. Here it is, Feb 14th and the SP500 index closed up 0.94% YTD (but these last ~6 weeks were a pretty wild ride.) :D
by malbecman
Wed Jan 31, 2018 5:20 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Top 1% Net Worth Under 30 Years Old
Replies: 13
Views: 7330

Re: Top 1% Net Worth Under 30 Years Old

This calculator does not break it down by age but gives your wealth percentile in the US (can chose with our without home equity)

https://dqydj.com/net-worth-percentile- ... ed-states/

Looks like you'll need to be at 10M to be in the top 1%.
by malbecman
Fri Jan 26, 2018 5:15 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bond Portfolio for High Net Worth Individuals - Different Rules?
Replies: 67
Views: 12049

Re: Bond Portfolio for High Net Worth Individuals - Different Rules?

Here's a net worth percentile in the US calculator using 2016 data (so a little out of date but still gives you an idea) https://dqydj.com/net-worth-percentile-calculator-united-states/ $1,000,000 net worth is 88th percentile $2,000,000 is 93.5th I assume this includes your primary residence (it does say net worth) so that skews it vs just "investable assets" Their article here has a nice table showing brackets https://dqydj.com/net-worth-brackets-wealth-brackets-one-percent/ Net Worth Percentile 2013 SCF 2016 SCF 95 $1,924,942.64 $2,377,985.22 96 $2,401,849.00 $2,798,189.12 97 $3,185,849.01 $3,703,775.80 98 $4,506,369.69 $5,816,220.17 99 $8,102,708.22 $10,374,030.10
by malbecman
Tue Jan 09, 2018 1:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Early Retirement Math - What I am not thinking of?
Replies: 26
Views: 5344

Re: Early Retirement Math - What I am not thinking of?

I'm assuming funds for your child's education have been factored into this; I have no idea how much costs for education are in your home country. Living off dividends is a whole other discussion. People like to think of dividends as steady payments like bonds. They aren't. the idea of living off dividends brings all sorts of questions (i.e. are you rebalancing? If your 2 funds both return 6% but one pays a 2% dividend and the other a 4%, they aren't going to stay equal for long) that you can avoid by stop believing living off dividends does anything. If dividends went back up to 7%+, I am not sure I would be recommending a 7% SWR:) A good example of this is PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric) recently cutting their dividend to zero (to c...
by malbecman
Mon Jan 08, 2018 4:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Overwhelmed with how to handle taxes on large inherited portfolio.
Replies: 24
Views: 2582

Re: Overwhelmed with how to handle taxes on large inherited portfolio.

As alluded to, you can pay Vanguard for the Personal Advisor Services (PAS) for 0.3% AUM (or $6K annually for you )plus the amounts each mutual fund charges (which are some of the lowest in the business). With 2M, you should be eligible for their lower cost Admiral funds which are basically mirrors of most of their regular funds, just lower cost.

https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-fu ... ral-shares

The PAS are CFPS and a great way to start out as training wheels while you learn more about investing and taxes....we went this route and recently let ours go after we self-educated ourselves.

edited for typos
by malbecman
Thu Dec 14, 2017 6:08 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Honda Pilot vs Toyota Highlander?
Replies: 88
Views: 25841

Re: Honda Pilot vs Toyota Highlander?

cheesepep wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2016 6:04 pm Just make sure it comes with Carplay/Android auto. It's a deal breaker for me.
Toyota went their own route with the whole infotainment system.. AFAIK, they still do not offer either CarPlay or Android Auto, even on 2018s.
by malbecman
Wed Dec 13, 2017 6:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Taxes on Crypto Currency Short-Term Profit
Replies: 8
Views: 1639

Re: Taxes on Crypto Currency Short-Term Profit

Now if you had only invested $1M! :moneybag :)
by malbecman
Wed Dec 13, 2017 3:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Thanks! We just let our VG PAS advisor go...
Replies: 14
Views: 4908

Re: Thanks! We just let our VG PAS advisor go...

White Coat Investor wrote: Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:57 pm No surprise there is no hard sell. I think they're salaried aren't they? I get the impression it's run at cost like anything else at Vanguard.
Right...we also had no hard sell once we told our advisor we wanted to end the relationship. I was wondering about their compensation...if it was pure salary or perhaps salary plus some % of AUM?
by malbecman
Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Thanks! We just let our VG PAS advisor go...
Replies: 14
Views: 4908

Re: Thanks! We just let our VG PAS advisor go...

I did it via phone...we had just wrapped up our quarterly summary talk when we told him we were no longer interesting in using PAS...tried to make sure he understood it was just business and not a personal assessment of his abilities.
by malbecman
Fri Dec 08, 2017 1:26 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help choosing bond fund for nontaxable work acct
Replies: 6
Views: 849

Re: Help choosing bond fund for nontaxable work acct

These were some of the highest rated bond funds. Expense ratios are similar across all three from 0.73-0.8%. The Lord Abbet fund, on further review, does have much higher turnover rate. I was trying to stick with pure bond funds to move our AA the most (vs a blended fund).
by malbecman
Fri Dec 08, 2017 12:31 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help choosing bond fund for nontaxable work acct
Replies: 6
Views: 849

Help choosing bond fund for nontaxable work acct

So with the recent run up in our stock index funds, our asset allocation is a little high in equities (about 73%) for our AA. We'd like to nudge it down to 70% or a little below and have enough room in our workplace 403b plan so its a nontaxable event. Our workplace plan uses Fidelity and below are 3 choices I found that are 5 star Morningstar rated. Any thoughts on any of these? Fidelity® Capital & Income Fund (FAGIX) High Yield Bond Lord Abbett Bond Debenture Fund Class A (LBNDX) Multisector Bond Prudential High-Yield Fund Class A (PBHAX) High Yield Bond Current bond holdings: Our Roth IRAs are already pretty heavy in VTABX (Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund Admiral Shares) and VBTLX (Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund A...