Search found 17 matches

by adman_c
Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:35 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: New to HSAs need help - HSA Bank (TD Ameritrade) + Cigna
Replies: 11
Views: 1492

Re: New to HSAs need help - HSA Bank (TD Ameritrade) + Cigna

I'm not entirely clear from your post whether your employer requires you to use HSA Bank. If so, disregard my recommendation below.

Otherwise, check out Lively. HSA with First-dollar investment at TDA for $30 per year. There's a few threads on it here on Bogleheads, including this one.

I have an account there and am happy with it (although I only touch it once a year to add funds).
by adman_c
Wed May 16, 2018 9:19 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fellow non-529ers
Replies: 43
Views: 4533

Re: Fellow non-529ers

What is the rationale for not using a 529? Just by depositing money in the 529 and then immediately taking it out to pay tuition, you could be taking advantage of up to a $10,000 state tax deduction in some states. Not to mention the tax free gains. Just wondering what the thinking is behind not taking advantage of those savings. I understand not everyone can save, and not everyone plans ahead, but if you’re already doing both, why *wouldnt* you use a 529? I’m assuming you’re in the US so ignore all of the above if you aren’t. I have the same question. I might be missing something obvious, but why would you not utilize a 529? Thank you for everyone's input. I personally do not care for the rules with a 529. I want to have my own freedom of...
by adman_c
Sun May 06, 2018 8:50 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best cash-back credit card right now?
Replies: 204
Views: 47691

Re: Best cash-back credit card right now?

If you don't want to play games, just use Citi doublecash. If you play games for fun and profit.....first, don't use an Amex anything for manufactured spending as they'll shut you down immediately. Uber Visa: I use this for the 4% at restaurants. I know it has other bonus categories but I don't really pay attention to them. Add 3% for air and hotels and if you $5K in a year they will pick up a $50 subscription to something like Sirius. I'd put honorable mention to Fidelity Visa. You have to redeem to a Fidelity account in order to retain the 2%, otherwise, it drops to 1%. I fund a 529 with the rewards earned. Mine goes to a Fidelity cash account which I transfer back to my bank. Car dealer let me put $32.5K on it LOL Add the PenFed 5% gas ...
by adman_c
Wed May 02, 2018 9:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: help with choosing funds for an inherited IRA
Replies: 14
Views: 1800

Re: help with choosing funds for an inherited IRA

My perspective may or may not be helpful. I have a modest inherited IRA, and have to take the RMD-- but I don't really count it as part of my retirement portfolio. I want it to last for the beneficiaries I've named so I invested enough of the funds in an EFT and a closed end fund selected because they pay monthly dividends sufficient for the RMD. The rest is invested for growth-- dominant position is Vanguards Dividend Growth Fund-- which is what I hope will be there for the beneficiaries. So a portion of the account pay for the RMD while the other portion grows. So far, it's grown about 20% in 4 years, despite RMDs so I'm content with this. I appreciate your motivation, but you are missing the bigger picture. Your plan is counter-producti...
by adman_c
Thu Feb 01, 2018 5:01 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards
Replies: 7057
Views: 891224

Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

I strongly recommend against boa auto pay through ebills. I had it before for one credit card and paid less attention on its payments until a collection letter came. It turns out the ebill is tied to the credit card number, not the account itself. So if the card number changes for any reason, their bill pay service will not get an e-bill! I tried to dispute the spot on the credit report, but the credit card company insisted that it's my fault not paying the bill on time. It took one full year to recover the 100 point loss on the credit score. It's not worth the trouble for the slight convenience, IMHO. The BoA billing/payment system and UI is terrible, even if you’re trying to pay your BofA credit cards. I wouldn’t trust it to do anything ...
by adman_c
Thu Dec 07, 2017 10:24 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Anybody use Personal Capital to advise them?
Replies: 23
Views: 5969

Re: Anybody use Personal Capital to advise them?

Everyone, thank you for your feedback, I appreciate it and I feel that they are expensive. Adam, Thanks for telling about your experience. I was thinking that if I went with them and was placed in mostly stocks and then wanted to get out, I would have to slowly sell to avoid a huge tax bill with gains and since I am 60, that's not something that is appealing. Actually, taking a look at my gains/losses in anticipation of year-end tax prep, I will contradict what I said above, and I will say one (pretty significant) bad thing about the managed portfolio at Personal Capital. It generates waaaaay more taxable events than a good tax-efficient ETF like VTI (or the equivalent mutual fund) would. Because their strategy is to equally weight market ...
by adman_c
Wed Dec 06, 2017 1:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Anybody use Personal Capital to advise them?
Replies: 23
Views: 5969

Re: Anybody use Personal Capital to advise them?

From another Personal Capital thread I posted in: I have nothing particularly bad to say about PC, but I don't think they're well-suited to Bogleheads. If you (or your SO/family) want the "security" of having an actual human financial planner, they are certainly less awful than most AUM shops. Their investment plan is fine, but I doubt it would beat a 3-fund portfolio over time, and certainly not by enough to justify paying the AUM fee forever. I had my assets managed there for about 18 months, including a sizable taxable account. I had transferred to PC from Morgan Stanley, where I was getting absolutely fleeced: 1.5% AUM, plus high expense-ratio funds. So PC's 0.89% with no garbage funds seemed like a bargain in comparison. Of c...
by adman_c
Thu Oct 12, 2017 10:30 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Which BoA Credit Card to use?
Replies: 24
Views: 3201

Re: Which BoA Credit Card to use?

I disagree. If the OP’s family travels a decent amount, and they even occasionally pay for a checked bag (4 bags per year total) then the premium rewards card is undeniably better, since the annual fee will be made up for by the reimbursement of airline incidentals. Airline incidentals are only reimbursed up to $100/year. So at best you're breaking even with the Premium Rewards. At worst you're out $100. To me, this makes Travel Rewards > Premium Rewards. If you add in the TSA Precheck / Global Entry, the scales can tip barely in favor of Premium Rewards every 5 years when you're up for Global Entry renewal. 2.625% is the best straight cash back (or travel back) rate in the market right now. Both are good cards, though I think Premium Rewa...
by adman_c
Thu Oct 12, 2017 9:59 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Which BoA Credit Card to use?
Replies: 24
Views: 3201

Re: Which BoA Credit Card to use?

FrugalProfessor wrote: Thu Oct 12, 2017 8:55 am The Premium Rewards card gives 2.625% on everything, redeemable in cash. $95 annual fee. There are a few additional perks, but that's mostly it.

The Travel Rewards card gives 2.625% on everything, redeemable in statement credits for travel. $0 annual fee.

If the OP's family travels a decent amount, the Travel Rewards > Premium Rewards. If I were OP only wanting to deal with 1 card, I'd go 100% Travel Rewards.
I disagree. If the OP’s family travels a decent amount, and they even occasionally pay for a checked bag (4 bags per year total) then the premium rewards card is undeniably better, since the annual fee will be made up for by the reimbursement of airline incidentals.
by adman_c
Thu Oct 12, 2017 8:33 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Which BoA Credit Card to use?
Replies: 24
Views: 3201

Re: Which BoA Credit Card to use?

My understanding of the new Premium Rewards card is that you get the increased base rewards rate of the Travel Rewards card (i.e. 2.625% at platinum honors), but that you can redeem the rewards for cash back, not just travel. The Cash Rewards (for groceries/gas/costco) and the Premium Rewards (for everything else) seems like a pretty outstanding combination if you're at platinum honors level.
by adman_c
Fri Oct 06, 2017 4:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Lively HSA offers first dollar investing
Replies: 352
Views: 78347

Re: New HSA provider Lively offers investments for $30/yr fee

I just opened an account with Lively after learning that Alliant Credit Union, my current HSA provider, was getting out of the HSA game. So far I am impressed. I exchanged some email questions with Shobin before setting up my account, and I was satisfied with the answers, so I decided to move my small (<$4k) balance to Lively. I opened the account and initiated a trustee-to-trustee transfer entirely online, which is a big improvement over other HSAs as far as I'm concerned. Once my funds arrive, I'll put them into the TD Ameritrade brokerage and I can report back to this thread.

-Adam
by adman_c
Fri Oct 06, 2017 4:42 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: personal capital
Replies: 42
Views: 9295

Re: personal capital

I have nothing particularly bad to say about PC, but I don't think they're well-suited to Bogleheads. If you (or your SO/family) want the "security" of having an actual human financial planner, they are certainly less awful than most AUM shops. Their investment plan is fine, but I doubt it would beat a 3-fund portfolio over time, and certainly not by enough to justify paying the AUM fee forever. I had my assets managed there for about 18 months, including a sizable taxable account. I had transferred to PC from Morgan Stanley, where I was getting absolutely fleeced: 1.5% AUM, plus high expense-ratio funds. So PC's 0.89% with no garbage funds seemed like a bargain in comparison. Of course, after a couple of months with PC I discover...
by adman_c
Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:54 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: SEP IRA and backdoor Roth
Replies: 11
Views: 4162

Re: SEP IRA and backdoor Roth

There may be a little more involved timing wise than DSInvestor described. As he pointed out, any balance in a pre-tax (traditional, SEP, SIMPLE) IRA on 12/31 will interfere in a low/no tax liability Backdoor Roth. So the best option is to rollover the SEP IRA to a 401k prior to 12/31. However, if your employer's 401k does not accept rollovers from an IRA, simply adopting a new one-participant 401k plan could be problematic. You can not have a 5305-SEP IRA at the same time as a one-participant 401k Vanguard, Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, etc... all have 5305-SEP IRAs. Schwab is the only mainstream brokerage I know with a prototype SEP IRA that can co-exist with a one-participant 401k. This is a little bit off-topic from the original post, and I...
by adman_c
Thu Jul 06, 2017 4:48 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Avoid close in fee united
Replies: 8
Views: 1732

Re: Avoid close in fee united

SrGrumpy wrote:They changed the rules Oct. 5 last year - not sure how this would have affected your situation.
Yup, I booked mine in February of 2016, so that would have been before they closed that loophole. Sorry OP, looks like you may be out of luck.
by adman_c
Thu Jul 06, 2017 4:34 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Avoid close in fee united
Replies: 8
Views: 1732

Re: Avoid close in fee united

I was able to do this last year when I booked a flight less than 30 days out. Not sure if it still works, but I selected a flight that was not subject to the close-in fee that cost the same number of miles. Once it was booked, I went back and changed the reservation, and was able to make a change to the close-in flight without paying any fees. As others have said, make sure you do everything online to avoid any telephone fees.
by adman_c
Wed Dec 21, 2016 4:19 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Makes No Sense to Contribute to 401K, right?
Replies: 20
Views: 3229

Re: Makes No Sense to Contribute to 401K, right?

It's not a huge difference, but if the OP is in Illinois (guessing based on username) he or she will save Illinois income tax by deducting 30k of income and then converting 30k of tIRA to Roth. Illinois does not charge income tax on IRA withdrawals, and Roth conversions are treated as withdrawals.
by adman_c
Sat Dec 17, 2016 3:17 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Baby books with "non-chewable" covers
Replies: 8
Views: 1089

Re: Baby books with "non-chewable" covers

Another recommendation for the Indestructables books. They live up to their name, although, as noted, the pages can wrinkle a little bit.