Bogleheads.org

I forgot all about this. But no, i didn't end up putting any money into VNQ. I put around $5k of my Roth money in VGT (information technology). It's such a small amount that i felt comfortable riding with it. Other than that, all the money i invested in brokerage accounts/ my Roth is in total market, small cap, and mid cap index funds At this point, I'm not sure what to believe. The former "you" or the current "you" based on the post you made in 2019... "My Roth has $3k in VGT (Vanguard tech sector), $2k in VTI (total stock market), $1k in VO (mid caps), and $12k in VNQ (reits). I have one 200k rental property (a triplex) on a 30 yr loan and $120k in cash and a short term bond funds to buy more rental properties ne...

So i recently watched the PBS documentary "Age of Easy Money" on youtube. It was very eye opening for me. It's about how ever since the 2008 Financial Crisis, the Fed has increased the money supply thru quantitative easing and kept interest rates really low. This is a historical anomaly, it's essentially come to an end, and now we're returning to the norm. Of course, on some level i already knew these things, but it had never really clicked in my brain the way it does now. I've been investing since 2018 in a mixture of local small multi family rental properties and index funds. My investing philosophy has always been the boglehead philosophy, namely don't bother timing the market or trying to predict macro trends because doing so...

tundratoy wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 5:58 pm Is there a way to contribute to a Roth or another tax deferred account without having an earned income? I am 66, wife is 65, neither of us are employed. Thanks for your help.

You could contribute to Fidelity Personal Retirement Annuity:

https://www.fidelity.com/annuities/FPRA ... y/overview

NYCaviator wrote: ↑Thu Mar 30, 2023 8:10 amOr maybe look at upgrading to a 12” iPad.

There you go. Get the 12.9" Pro and the Magic Keyboard.

I work at a bank. I make 45k. I put 7% into 401k with 5% match, max Roth IRA, save around $250 every paycheck into my emergency fund until I hit 10k (at 7k). Took up a 2nd job as a server - $300 to $350 for a Saturday night and Sunday brunch shift (tips + wage). $1,000ish a month from that - saving for engagement ring (4k). Think I'm doing as much as I can right now. Pay $500 in rent, $270 student loan, $200ish in electric & heat every month. I have around 45k between 401k and Roth. Once I purchase ring and hit emergency fund, excess funds will go into VTI in taxable. Been using the allocation prioritization chart on the boglehead wiki. Just want some reassurance that I'm doing everything right. Seeing the multi-million dollar portfoli...

I have two high school age kids. Both are strong students with a reasonable shot at top schools. We will not qualify for any need based aid. We could afford to put the through school from employment cash flow and/or savings in taxable. However, I want to create an incentive for them to take the cost of education seriously, including considering the excellent in-state schools where we live and applying for merit based and other scholarships. I would like to hear about your successful strategies for getting the kids to care about the costs of college. Thank you wise Bogleheads! We would agree with the skin in the game concept at some level that doesn't detract from their studies. We encouraged ours to work part-time jobs in high school, and ...

Will you share a comparison of that vs Boglehead three funder? Nice review of Ultimate Buy & Hold and Three Fund lazy portfolios here: https://www.optimizedportfolio.com/ultimate-buy-and-hold-portfolio/?gclid=Cj0KCQjww4-hBhCtARIsAC9gR3Zln3zQt8UvrFRjkOuTVdgYmfuPQPQm6dLWjeTDDe6VcguXPahCkPwaAjykEALw_wcB https://www.optimizedportfolio.com/bogleheads-3-fund-portfolio/ Again, my previous post was more about suggesting Paul consider speaking a bit about how things have changed throughout his career via the use of technology to set up, manage, and maintain a portfolio that might have been considered too complex for the DIY investor to consider in prior decades. The technology and management applies to a three fund portfolio as well as any lazy...

My wife and I have two very different bucket lists. She has a lot of far off places to see. I'm game for some and not ready for others. My bucket list is mostly made up of groups of people I would like to speak to before I die. One those is the Bogleheads Conference. It took me almost 40 years to get invited to the AAII National Conference. It took me 16 years to get on Wall Street Week. I am so pleased that I have been invited to speak at the Bogleheads Conference this coming October. It will happen about 3 days before I turn 80. Just in time! My challenge now is to figure out what the topic should be. One of the most hard working Bogleheads I know suggested I ask the members. So here is a short list of topics I'm considering: How to comb...

Thanks very much! I really appreciate your taking the time to explain all this. One last question. Another poster mentioned I should switch both new contributions and existing balance to the new plan. I assumed when I make new selections, everything will be applied to the new plan. Do I need to do something special to make sure the existing balance is moved to the new portfolio? I would just exchange what you have into the new funds. How to do it? Every plan has their own system in place for changing funds, and choosing what percentage goes into each fund out of every paycheck. I would suggest checking with your plan’s instructions on how to do this. Example, my wife’s plan has a form to fill out and sign that has to be submitted electroni...

Thanks very much! I really appreciate your taking the time to explain all this. One last question. Another poster mentioned I should switch both new contributions and existing balance to the new plan. I assumed when I make new selections, everything will be applied to the new plan. Do I need to do something special to make sure the existing balance is moved to the new portfolio? I would just exchange what you have into the new funds. How to do it? Every plan has their own system in place for changing funds, and choosing what percentage goes into each fund out of every paycheck. I would suggest checking with your plan’s instructions on how to do this. Example, my wife’s plan has a form to fill out and sign that has to be submitted electroni...

OP- They mean what funds do you have the option to buy? I looked in my 403b plan and it appears I can choose the following: Stocks/Large Cap: FID Contrafund K6 (.48% ER) VANG Inst Index Plus Stocks/Mid Cap: VANG EXT Mkt IDX INS Stocks/Small Cap: VANG SMCPVL IDX ADM VANG TOT INTL STK IS Bonds VANG TOT BD MKT INST One other thing to note is I will have a decent pension when I retire as well as social security. I plan to eventually contribute to a Roth 403b (in addition to the traditional 403b), and once I've reached the contribution limit for those, I plan to contribute to a 457b as well. I just haven't gotten to the point where I'm able to contribute that much yet, but according to my budget, I should be there in another year or so. However...

Vanguard PAS has recommended liquidating all of the stocks in this IRA and re-purchasing Total Stock Index, Total Bond Index and Intl Index in a 60 stock/40 bond allocation. Their recommendation is to "rip the bandaid off" and sell all the stocks in this account now and reinvest immediately as described above. Concerned about selling in a down market but these are funds I inherited back in 2016 and there has generally been good appreciation in that time. Any thoughts on this recommendation? Yes, but you would also be buying in a down market as you use the proceeds from the individual stock sales to purchase the total stock market, total international index, and bonds. So net-net, you won't lose anything by doing the swap. Cycling...

After thinking about it … for way future RMD time Guess just have to have the end of year balance. then wonder if Fidelity will offer their auto RMD calculator for the 403b account like they have on their IRA accounts. Just full RMD amount added as normal income without the potential hassle of any 8606 forms… Where exactly does the 403b withdrawal amount get entered on the 1040 If your 403b is a traditional (pre-tax), the money that comes out will be taxed as ordinary income. Most, come retirement, will have rolled the traditional 403b over into their tIRA at Fidelity (if that is where your IRA is) - which again, it comes out and is taxed as ordinary income. Fidelity will help you determine the RMD's at that time when it comes. CyclingDuo

OP- They mean what funds do you have the option to buy? I looked in my 403b plan and it appears I can choose the following: Stocks/Large Cap: FID Contrafund K6 (.48% ER) VANG Inst Index Plus Stocks/Mid Cap: VANG EXT Mkt IDX INS Stocks/Small Cap: VANG SMCPVL IDX ADM VANG TOT INTL STK IS Bonds VANG TOT BD MKT INST One other thing to note is I will have a decent pension when I retire as well as social security. I plan to eventually contribute to a Roth 403b (in addition to the traditional 403b), and once I've reached the contribution limit for those, I plan to contribute to a 457b as well. I just haven't gotten to the point where I'm able to contribute that much yet, but according to my budget, I should be there in another year or so. However...

Questions : 1. Apple - I love Apple. Apple's the reason we're retiring early. And yet 42% of our investments in one stock is ... bad. (We never meant to let it get so out of control but it feels like it became our Clifford, the Big Red Dog. And then it doubled.) Fortunately, Apple doesn't have adorable giant dog eyes, but it does have over a million dollars in capital gains. I suspect the answer is to just bite the tax bullet, and replace it all with VTI/VTSAX, but it's hard to let go of a position that's been this good to us. Congratulations on your accumulation up to this point! Yes, having $1M or 42% of all your investments in a single company stock stands out as the problem to be solved for the sake of diversity. On top of that, you ho...

Thanks. I also have just FZROX at Roth IRA which has no ER and is the replica of VTSAX. Also, have VTSAX in my taxable. So all in all I am 100% U.S total stock market in my entire portfolio. So I am doing well with managing ER’s Thoughts? Yes! :beer Why is the point of having international exposure? That’s always one of the hot debates on these forums. You certainly could consider the S&P 500 contingents that have a percentage of international sales as some coverage, or even “enough” coverage. That meets the needs for some, but not for others. Currency differences, GDP, the business cycle, governments, etc factor in as well. Our household’s stated goal is to keep 15% percent in international stocks. You can read plenty of discussion on...

Raycpact wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 8:04 am

LadyGeek wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 7:12 am Before this discussion goes further into tithing perspectives of different religions, please remember that religious discussions (and quotes of religious texts) are off-topic. Please stay focused on the financial aspects.

In BH speak, tithing would be a subcategory of legacy planning. As such for me and maybe others it's not a extravagance.

Or simply just talk about it as a weekly/monthly/annual expense within their budget for those who do tithe. That's how we view it.

CyclingDuo

Vanguard User wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 12:49 amThanks. I also have just FZROX at Roth IRA which has no ER and is the replica of VTSAX. Also, have VTSAX in my taxable. So all in all I am 100% U.S total stock market in my entire portfolio. So I am doing well with managing ER’s Thoughts?

Yes!

What do I pay attention to in that link? In your particular case, the section entitled: Approximating total stock with two funds https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52769876851_709a7e3db8_z.jpg https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Approximating_total_stock_market As you see in the visual above from the link I provided in the previous post, regarding Vanguard's funds it is the S&P 500 Index fund at 85% and the Vanguard Small Cap Index fund at 15%. That is the closest representation of your two new Fidelity funds for approximating the Total US Stock Market Index Fund. CyclingDuo I had FXAIX 85% and VSCPX 15% so that was closely equal to VTSAX? Yes, what you had was closely equal to VTSAX by way of approximating it using the two funds you had ...

If I was on my own, I'd probably set the thermostat just warm enough to make sure the pipes don't freeze - I have zero issues with cold. We also totally turn it off about an hour before bedtime and then I turn it back on in the morning. It's a lot more comfortable to sleep. Research suggests "ideal" sleeping temperature ranges from high 50's to high 60's, depending on the individual. It often gets well below 60 in our home overnight, and that's how we like it. Keep in mind while the entire house is set at 60, they are - during Winter - mainly spending their time in two rooms that I imagine are heated above 60 degrees... To save on heating bills, the Joneses turn down the thermostat to 60 degrees in winter and mainly live in two r...

What I can say is that they have been dealt some difficult health issues, but manage. The church family is a big part of the their lives and tithing is simply something that makes them happy. It is always given anonymously and the church wouldn't even know its source. Certainly nothing to be sad about. The house is old, drafty, huge and a great gathering place for family. We have been trying to convince them to downsize for health and financial reasons, but it holds a lot of memories for them. The sad part for me is knowing that poor advice and panic in 2008 along with subsequent inaction resulted in a permanent loss of retirement funds. All in all despite health and financial missteps, they are happy with lots of loving family around them...

Vanguard User wrote: ↑Sat Mar 25, 2023 1:11 amWhat do I pay attention to in that link?

In your particular case, the section entitled:

Approximating total stock with two funds

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Approxi ... ock_market

As you see in the visual above from the link I provided in the previous post, regarding Vanguard's funds it is the S&P 500 Index fund at 85% and the Vanguard Small Cap Index fund at 15%. That is the closest representation of your two new Fidelity funds for approximating the Total US Stock Market Index Fund.

CyclingDuo

Hello. I work for a big corp and have a traditional 401k through Fidelity but the funds I was invested in was changed on 8/8/22. Old investment: Fidelity® 500 Index Fund Ticker: FXAIX Gross Expense Ratio: 0.0150% (85% allocation). Old investment: Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares Ticker: VSCPX Gross Expense Ratio: 0.03% (15% allocation). New investment: Spartan® 500 Index Pool Class F Ticker: N/A Gross Expense Information: 0.0075% (85% allocation). New investment: Small Cap Index Fund Ticker: N/A Gross Expense Information: 0.028% (15% allocation). It picked the closest fund to put in from old to new and does have a lower ER. Should I stick to these funds and allocation? I chose the old 2 funds and allocations based on...

Hello. I work for a big corp and have a traditional 401k through Fidelity but the funds I was invested in was changed on 8/8/22. Old investment: Fidelity® 500 Index Fund Ticker: FXAIX Gross Expense Ratio: 0.0150% (85% allocation). Old investment: Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares Ticker: VSCPX Gross Expense Ratio: 0.03% (15% allocation). New investment: Spartan® 500 Index Pool Class F Ticker: N/A Gross Expense Information: 0.0075% (85% allocation). New investment: Small Cap Index Fund Ticker: N/A Gross Expense Information: 0.028% (15% allocation). It picked the closest fund to put in from old to new and does have a lower ER. Should I stick to these funds and allocation? I chose the old 2 funds and allocations based on...

I was sad to see that one couple are donating $400/month to their church. Meanwhile, in the winter, they confine themselves to two rooms in their home and set the thermostat to 60F. While I'm not judging their choice, it seems like they cannot afford to do this. I hope folks from there church see this article and advise them to cut back, but I doubt that will happen. That works out to 9.1% of their SS/Pension income. I guess I wouldn't use the term sad to describe their devotion to tithing. However I would agree that they could certainly explore tithing a lower amount if striking a better balance would meet their needs. The 13 room Victorian home with the high ceilings way up on the Canadian/Maine border that experiences cold winters certa...

Hello. I work for a big corp and have a traditional 401k through Fidelity but the funds I was invested in was changed on 8/8/22. Old investment: Fidelity® 500 Index Fund Ticker: FXAIX Gross Expense Ratio: 0.0150% (85% allocation). Old investment: Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares Ticker: VSCPX Gross Expense Ratio: 0.03% (15% allocation). New investment: Spartan® 500 Index Pool Class F Ticker: N/A Gross Expense Information: 0.0075% (85% allocation). New investment: Small Cap Index Fund Ticker: N/A Gross Expense Information: 0.028% (15% allocation). It picked the closest fund to put in from old to new and does have a lower ER. Should I stick to these funds and allocation? I chose the old 2 funds and allocations based on...

“Buy when others are fearful”. Does it make sense to back up the truck to sector funds such as financials? Seems like a good time to get a huge discount. You might have to sit on it until it rebounds but you would do that with any holding. What would having 10-15% of portfolio in this matter as far as the downside. Could go down more. If it does just DCA into it. Is this any worse or riskier than holding something such as a REIT fund at these percentages? What does that mean for all of us home gamers? Err on the side of caution by buying your investments out of each and every paycheck over the course of your working career. That's the strategy that gives most of us a solid three to four decades of being able to capture plenty of purchases ...

Backroads4Me wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 1:17 pmHe is a healthy 81 and mom is 80 and bed ridden after a stroke last year. Dad lost some money in the start market 40 years ago and has literally refused to have anything to do with it since then.

Glad he has been covered by the pension and SS.

Always curious about these stories of “losing money in the market 40 years ago and refusing to have anything to do with it since”. Was it a single stock? Or group of stocks? How did he avoid 40 years of investing with all of the news over the past 4 decades regarding investing?

Pretty amazing returns were missed from 1983 to 2023. Oh well, was just curious what it was that happened back in 1983 to keep him far and away from equity investing all these years…

It’s important to learn lessons from current events in the financial world. Just wondering where we as Vanguard investors are at risk in the current state of financial affairs of the banks. The bond holders got wiped out in the UBS Credit Suisse deal for example. Are investors in Vanguard high yield/junk bond funds on the hook for a significant loss on the deal? Was Vanguard invested in those bonds? Will Vanguard come clean and tell shareholders? Where else might we be at risk and not know it? You previously wrote... I am 70 years old and just started collecting Social Security and my two pensions this month. I am still working part-time and also have rental income from a condo I rent. My annual income from SS, pensions, pt work and rental...

DS03 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 11:16 am
You are fine with the switch to VBILX. It is close enough to the old fund not to worry about the differences. I would keep your allocations the same personally. It might even be helpful to have the mix of both of them in your portfolio.

Thanks.

After spending the weekend studying VBILX, I agree that the switch will be fine.

If I don't sell my stocks, then my monthly payment including taxes and insurances will be around $5500 and I may have to work more days and nights just to keep up with payments . I just can't seem to make a decision whether selling my investments to pay more for downpayment vs working more to keep up with mortgage payment and not sell my investments... :( Thank you in advance for your insight! Removing the issue of selling investments for a larger downpayment, if you have to increase your workload to afford the house, then the price is out of your range to purchase at this time. You will be "house poor". If you sold your investments to increase your downpayment, how much of a downpayment would that be and what would the monthly p...

Total bond VBTLX includes mortgage-backed securities, of which roughly a third are GNMAs. Another difference is that VBILX holds intermediate bonds only, while VBTLX achieves an intermediate average duration but also holds short-term and long-term instruments. Older thread I am responding to, but I am responding with a question due to my spouse's plan switching all participants within the plan from VBTLX to VBILX next month. Is it okay to assume that they are similar enough funds that for her tax deferred plans (403b and 457b) bond coverage (she keeps 30% in VBTLX in one plan and 40% in the other) it will more or less be a wash? CyclingDuo Historically higher returns with higher volatility, good risk-adjusted returns, and the same correlat...

If I don't sell my stocks, then my monthly payment including taxes and insurances will be around $5500 and I may have to work more days and nights just to keep up with payments . I just can't seem to make a decision whether selling my investments to pay more for downpayment vs working more to keep up with mortgage payment and not sell my investments... :( Thank you in advance for your insight! Removing the issue of selling investments for a larger downpayment, if you have to increase your workload to afford the house, then the price is out of your range to purchase at this time. You will be "house poor". If you sold your investments to increase your downpayment, how much of a downpayment would that be and what would the monthly p...

Northern Flicker wrote: ↑Mon Jun 20, 2022 3:16 pm Total bond VBTLX includes mortgage-backed securities, of which roughly a third are GNMAs.

Another difference is that VBILX holds intermediate bonds only, while VBTLX achieves an intermediate average duration but also holds short-term and long-term instruments.

Older thread I am responding to, but I am responding with a question due to my spouse's plan switching all participants within the plan from VBTLX to VBILX next month.

Is it okay to assume that they are similar enough funds that for her tax deferred plans (403b and 457b) bond coverage (she keeps 30% in VBTLX in one plan and 40% in the other) it will more or less be a wash?

CyclingDuo

02nz wrote: ↑Tue Mar 14, 2023 8:58 am Anyone know what's going on with VIOV (Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 Value ETF)? Its NAV dropped by about half at open. That doesn't seem right even if there's an upcoming distribution. The NAV of Vanguard's other small-cap value ETF, VBR, is about where it was yesterday. IJS, which I believe is iShares' equivalent to VIOV, is also about the same as yesterday.

Share split...

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/vanguard ... 00392.html

Add your name to this Wonderful Retirement Roll Call, post your R-date and age, get ready for punch-out day, and please share with us your exciting glidepath into retirement. We enjoyed joining your banquet table at the conference in Chicago, Miriam2! Oh for sure we had a great dinner table! We were pretty well behaved and never banned :D Half of CyclingDuo is retiring this year. My wife will join the 2023 retirement roll call at age 65 1/2 in June. Congratulations! And Welcome to this Most Extraordinary Retirement Roll Call for 2023 and to all the benefits attached hereto (and trust me, there are many great benefits :beer Her exciting glidepath into retirement? I'm not sure I can pedal to keep up with her anymore, but her glidepath into r...

InvestorHowie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 08, 2023 4:37 pm Sharing this link as the annual update just dropped in the past few days. I always enjoy diving into this document as I learn something new from it each year.

To View Online
Direct PDF Download

Enjoy!

Thanks for posting.

I like some of the nice additions to the Guide this year! It's always a nice trove for planning.

That being said--the annualized USD dividend yield on a global stock portfolio is going to be something like 2% these days (note the US-only dividend yield is lower, something like 1.7%). If you invest in a global stock portfolio and set a withdrawal rate of 2%, that of course is an extremely "safe" withdrawal rate. So it "works" in the sense that your withdrawal rate is really low. And in fact, if you have a really low withdrawal rate anyway (say you want to leave a large inheritance), you may well find yourself mostly just withdrawing the dividend income despite that not being a per se goal of your plan. Agree with your comments as to the why it "works" . Due to the yield being low enough that just taking di...

I was recently gifted some money through two demand promissory notes. I can keep the money in both accounts, collecting interest based on the fixed rate of the 5-year US treasury bond (currently 4%). Interest would be paid out yearly, which I would be taxed on. I would not be taxed if I pulled the money out. It would generate more money to pull it out and invest vs leaving it in the account, collecting interest payments, and then investing. The most I can take out between the two notes in year 1 is roughly $200k, year 2 $97k, year 3 $97k, year 4 $97k etc. In total the two notes equal roughly $700k. I am 34, married with 2 kids. Our mortgage rate is 2.75% with 290k left. Vehicle loan is 2.45% with 20k left. I am currently maxing out my 401k...

Beensabu wrote: ↑Sat Mar 04, 2023 3:15 pmFrequency? Duration? How long has it been part of your lifestyle?

Yes, I (and we) do go for walks.

At least one, if not two dog walks per day. 1.7 miles per walk. Been doing that for 20 years. Only skip the really bad weather days (deep snow, heavy rain).

I walk 30-40 minutes per day 5X a week during my lunch hour at work. Been doing that for the past 5 years. Can walk inside or outside, so weather is not a factor. Prior to the past 20 years, we lived in major cities where we took public transportation and walked several miles each and every day. So, I guess from 1985 to 2023 it has been a part of our lifestyle.

Now, if you want to ask about how many hours and miles we put in on our bikes...

CyclingDuo

7 days in Europe (9 days travel) in early summer. -DW, 2 teenage daughters and 1 teenage 10 year-old. -Focus is food, cultural experience (rare time before eldest heads off to college) -considering France, England, Portugal, Spain, Italy Was planning on Rome, but would appreciate suggestions! What's your family history? As in what country did your family emigrate from? What about war? Any relatives that were involved in either WWI or WWII? I wouldn't rule out two of the most beautiful European countries that you did not mention - Austria and Switzerland. We would skip England as being on the list (sorry if that offends anyone). We've traveled extensively through France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium,...

hudson wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 7:45 amI never do extended warranties or the like...except I now have AppleCare. I want to make one phone call and have a replacement phone on the way.

We do too. In particular, it's the AppleCare+ with Theft & Loss that offers the best protection if one is worried about losing their phone or having it stolen. We travel a lot, so buy the coverage on our phones just in case.

I was looking at the lifetime income from social security site and comparing to networth. Is financial effectiveness a function of Net worth / lifetime earning? If so, mine is around 45% in my 50s. One can increase this effectiveness by better earning, better savings, better investments returns, accrual time? What's yours thoughts? How does this change with age? What can we learn from this? This is actually my 49th year of earning income according to SS. Sure, the jobs I had during the years as a kid and in high school/college are low contribution numbers, but they are right there on my record. Income as a musician, driving range attendant, short-order cook, fried chicken cook, stocking shelves, and painting houses all filled my formative ...

james22 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 10:02 amRemember, in 1999, an S&P 500 index fund did offer diversification benefits. You owned 500 stocks. But when everyone owns the same 500 stocks, there are no diversification benefits. It’s essentially as if all investors were piled into[/i] one stock.

https://www.mauldineconomics.com/the-10 ... qus_thread

Click on the link of one of his other articles and notice his first sentence...
https://www.mauldineconomics.com/the-10 ... -decisions

"I’m a trader, so take all this with a grain of salt."

Pass the salt shaker please.

Greetings, DH and I are planning a trip with family to Europe in May/June. My SIL is planning the first part of our trip around Italy: Rome, Venice, Amalfi Coast, then back to Rome. However, we will be staying longer than they will and I'm trying to get some ideas for the second leg of our trip (to last about 11 days). I'm thinking that we can start in Milan, spend a few days there, take a train to Zurich and rent a car. From there, we could drive west to Basel, then cross into France and drive north on the French side of the Rhine River. From there, cross over at Strasbourg, then drive back down the German side and come back to Zurich, where we will fly home. We are trying to avoid excessive walking due to some physical limitations , but ...

I think it's a short-medium term risk. Wife plans to be at a full-time position (~60K/year position) around time we would need to make first mortgage payment (June). Ah, well that's a bit of a horse of a different color compared to the current $85K + $20K. Going with the more liberal version of mortgage affordability being 28% of gross... $85K + $60K = $145K gross 28% of gross = $40,600 (could cover a mortgage of $3383 a month) Going the other direction to take the more conservative view - as in the Ramsey Solutions Group - would be quite a bit tighter... No more than 25% of your take home pay goes to cover a mortgage. https://www.ramseysolutions.com/real-estate/how-much-house-can-i-afford?campaign_id=857638515&adgroup_id=81606987812&a...

I know this is all personal preference, but just looking to take a poll and see how others would handle this. I have 3 kids (14, 12, 11) and we have been pretty diligently saving for college for their entire lives. I checked the balance today and we have roughly $232K in total saved for the 3 kids. I use the calculators and it tells me I'm close to funding 70% of the cost of a state school for all 3 kids (tuition only). My oldest is very smart, will do all honors/AP in HS, very diligent. Younger ones are smart too, but too early to tell what HS tract they will be on. Really have no clue on the college process and how easy it is to get scholarship money and whatnot. I know there is still room/board, but people also tell me that the "st...

4) For investments in future years, I would assume that as long as she continues to use the FEIE on her US tax return, a taxable investment account is the best option? Yes, taxable is one of the options. The other option, which we used based on a suggestion from our CPA while we lived and worked overseas for many years, is Fidelity's Personal Retirement Annuity. The money goes in after tax, and is tax deferred until you pull money in retirement when only the gains are taxed as ordinary income. You can begin pulling at age 59 1/2, but there are never any RMDs. https://www.fidelity.com/annuities/FPRA-variable-annuity/overview Caveat being, one pays a 0.25% administrative fee on balances below $1M (0.10% over $1M) on top of the underlying ind...

cbox wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 6:52 amMy long-time tax preparer just retired at 78. After every tax season, though, he jetted off to Paris or his other residence in Jamaica for extended periods of R&R. I suspect that he basically worked intensely from February through April most years and left the rest of the "small stuff" of running the business to his staff.

That kind of life probably makes a huge difference in when one decides to "retire."

Those of us who had careers that included having 2-3 months off in the summer, a 10 day Spring Break, about 2-4 weeks during the December/January holidays can attest to that. It was like practicing mini-retirement each and every year throughout a multi-decade working career.



CyclingDuo

passive101 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 26, 2023 11:51 pm This is the first year I’m doing taxes on a tablet. I know I can’t use the most basic form of the software. I have a 401k, Roth IRA, HSA, taxable investment account, and crypto. Should I use the iPad app or the website? Does the app version have all the features of the website?

I notice on the iPad when it runs low on memory it refreshes and loses things in the browsers. It happens with Brave, Chrome, and Safari. That makes me a little nervous to use for taxes since I’ll be switching apps and websites for forms and such.

Download the Turbotax App for iPad!