Bogleheads.org

In your position I would decide between two paths.

1. I would work three or four more years to let my savings grow. This would provide for a bit more comfortable level of living expenses, and provide additional security for unknown future expenses. I would reevaluate in three or four years.

2. I would pursue part time work with my employer to the extent that the maximum I would need to withdraw from savings would be 2% annually. This would probably allow your savings to increase slowly and provide additional security.

Both if these options would presumably increase your Social Security benefit.

Of course another option would be part time work with another employer.

Thanks Cruncher for the annuity calculation it was helpful. My initial thoughts are it's a lot of work saving up for that annuity for 20 yrs. It probably works out financially better to do the annuity but a lot of effort to get there. IDK. After all the comments (thank you so much) I'm leaning towards the 100% Jt & Survivor. I think I'm leaving some money on the table as there may be a way via life insurance and/or annuities to get similar (but not exactly the same) coverage for cheaper then the $835 monthly I'm giving up if I went with the 50% Jt & Survivor which kind of bothers me. Why pay more for similar coverage? But in the end it is maybe more trouble and possible pitfalls with an annuity or life insurance product than it's w...

The difference is that there are almost no other factors involved with credit card rebates: you either get them or don't while the products and services you buy remain identical. There are no quality of life differences between credit cards. The cards more or less imply "all other factors being equal", while the choice of where to live doesn't. This post perhaps should have been titled "Should I move to a location with a lower cost of living", whether in the same or different state or even ex-U.S. As I mentioned earlier, when I was younger I went to the point of visiting a no-income-tax state specifically to view homes to buy, based entirely on the state having no income tax. I never did move. So I understand the motiva...

I haven t really noticed, but I wonder if the people on this thread who so easily dismiss the savings of 500-1000 dollars a month in state income taxes (or more) are also on the threads that talk about their savings with the use of their credit cards. 🤔 The difference is that there are almost no other factors involved with credit card rebates: you either get them or don't while the products and services you buy remain identical. There are no quality of life differences between credit cards. The cards more or less imply "all other factors being equal", while the choice of where to live doesn't. This post perhaps should have been titled "Should I move to a location with a lower cost of living", whether in the same or diff...

I haven t really noticed, but I wonder if the people on this thread who so easily dismiss the savings of 500-1000 dollars a month in state income taxes (or more) are also on the threads that talk about their savings with the use of their credit cards. 🤔 Pretty much what tibbitts said. Living in MA costs us many thousands per month over living in FL. Sending our son to Yale cost many thousands over having him attend Rutgers. Sometimes something is worth what it costs. We also sent both kids to expensive highly competitive private schools rather than take advantage of generous scholarships at other schools. We felt the expense was worth it, though I understand the argument for the opposite opinion. I also understand living where one wants to...

I haven t really noticed, but I wonder if the people on this thread who so easily dismiss the savings of 500-1000 dollars a month in state income taxes (or more) are also on the threads that talk about their savings with the use of their credit cards. 🤔 The difference is that there are almost no other factors involved with credit card rebates: you either get them or don't while the products and services you buy remain identical. There are no quality of life differences between credit cards. The cards more or less imply "all other factors being equal", while the choice of where to live doesn't. This post perhaps should have been titled "Should I move to a location with a lower cost of living", whether in the same or diff...

I haven t really noticed, but I wonder if the people on this thread who so easily dismiss the savings of 500-1000 dollars a month in state income taxes (or more) are also on the threads that talk about their savings with the use of their credit cards.

Given the present banking crisis I wonder, like I have in the past, whether it is prudent to have almost all of my investments (ETFs, single TIPs plus some cash) at Fidelity. I have worked with them for close to 30 years and I have been very pleased, but what if something happens to Fidelity? There is an article at WSJ by the name “Can Your Money Pass a Stress Test? Lessons From SVB’s Collapse” Which brought back that question. Once again (this has been discussed in the past) can I get some input on the question??? While I feel that you re fine with Fidelity, I personally keep funds at Vanguard and Fidelity, as well as a large regional bank. I can t imagine what kind of event would cause an inaccessibility problem at one of these instituti...

RetiredAL wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 2:01 pm I did not over save, but with the money influx from my Dad's Estate, we have more that we'll ever need.

That s the kind of gift I am hoping to have for our kids.

And providing a comfortable financial security for my wife and myself for many years. “Spending” money on financial security means leaving a certain amount in place. Assuming one doesn t annuitize their entire savings.

I just looked at Vanguard s current rates on money market funds. They have two Federally backed money market funds currently yielding about 4.5%.

That might be the place to park your cash as safely as a bank.

What about their social security accounts? To have that access, you really need to be named their fiduciary, which involves paperwork and an interview at the SSA office. But what did you have to transact with SSA? I never had to do anything; the checks just showed up. When my relative passed away, I believe I called SSA immediately, and no further deposits appeared. I don't recall any authentication being required. When my father died in his mid eighties, my mother, with significant dementia was moved into assisted loving. I believe I provided Social Security with a death certificate allowing my father s SS check to be deposited into my mother s checking account. I believe I mailed in the death certificate. With all of my mother s assets i...

Glockenspiel wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:15 pm

broncocountry25 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:05 pm

Glockenspiel wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 12:57 pm Me - Civil Engineer with a 4-person team under me, 15 years experience = $138k + 10% target bonus
Spouse - Family Nurse Practitioner working ~0.7 FTE = $105k annually
Royalties for oil extracted from land owned =about $180k annually

Total household income = about $425k annually

How did you get the royalties?

560 acres of land owned by family for over 100 years. Oil companies approached us to build wells and pipelines under the land. Royalties are a % of total oil extracted from the land and the current oil price.

Wow! That sounds a lot better than raising cattle.

I mentioned it above, but my parents gift money annually to all the children. I am 52 and the oldest child. This allows me to immediately count that money (not future anticipated gifts or inheritance) into my plan and I greatly appreciate that aspect of it. The risk of divorce, remarriage, changing a will, LTC, etc. don't play a part in this aspect. The money is in my control. Other than contributions to Roth IRA s and yearly contributions a 529 plan, I haven t been gifting money to my children. While I would enjoy making the gifts, I would not want to help them become accustomed to a lifestyle that they could not support. In other words, I feel that giving them spending money they don t earn might enable an inflated lifestyle that they mi...

I mentioned it above, but my parents gift money annually to all the children. I am 52 and the oldest child. This allows me to immediately count that money (not future anticipated gifts or inheritance) into my plan and I greatly appreciate that aspect of it. The risk of divorce, remarriage, changing a will, LTC, etc. don't play a part in this aspect. The money is in my control. Other than contributions to Roth IRA s and yearly contributions a 529 plan, I haven t been gifting money to my children. While I would enjoy making the gifts, I would not want to help them become accustomed to a lifestyle that they could not support. In other words, I feel that giving them spending money they don t earn might enable an inflated lifestyle that they mi...

One reason to start taking SS earlier than age 70 would be to leave a bigger inheritance for the kids.

Pay cash for the new vehicle and keep it a while longer. Maybe 8 years instead of 6.

Due to a major repair concern with my last car, I was forced to buy a new car pretty quickly during the pandemic shortages. I tried to use the dealer incentive to lower the car s price with financing. My first time to finance a car. By the time I met the requirements for the incentive with the number of payments required, the interest I paid was within a couple of hundred dollars of the incentive amount. That was a lot of trouble for saving two hundred dollars.

Consider looking for a house with more privacy and quiet somewhat further out from the city. With neither of you having an office to go to, commuting is not an issue. This might be a way to get a more desirable house for only a small amount of additional money.

I agree with the other posters that the house is a big factor in keeping your partner happy. But you will also appreciate the improvement. Just try to do it with a relocation that doesn t cost too much additional money.

Stats: Taxable accounts: $28M Annual income: $1.5M So: smart idea or dumb idea? Smart idea. Do it ! Live a little. I also think it is a smart idea. Don t rent it out. That way it feels more like your home rather than a rental that you get for a vacation. We built a vacation home about 15 years ago at the beach in Florida. We had traveled to a number of places around the world on vacation. More than 90% of them were beach destinations ( we ve never been skiing because my wife hates cold weather). We figured it might be nice to have our own beach place. We don t rent it out, and while somewhat expensive to maintain, it feels like home. That s where we vacation now, and the family really enjoys it. Our kids prefer to come to the beach when th...

Individual stocks are risky. Timing purchases and sales becomes very important when investing in single companies. Investing in individual stocks presumes one knows something about a company that the market of investors doesn t know. Three individual stock mistakes made by my family. 1. My father bought GE stock when he first started working there after grad school. He held it all of his life, and when he died in 1999, the stock was selling for around the mid 40 s. I sold my portion a few years later for the mid 20 s and my sister sold hers after that for the high teens. 2.I bought Worldcom when it was the third largest telephone company in the country. I held it until the company folded, and lost my entire investment. 3. My son in law took...

Aa an owner of a small business, I was able to control my schedule late in my career. Four years before I retired, I started taking off one week out of three. Two years before I retired, I started working one week out of three. By the time I retired, in my mid sixties, I was used to having time away from work. My retirement was a continuation of a transition that took several years. Nothing to “retire to”. Simply enjoying my free time and my financial independence.

OP, perhaps it is already known (i.e., backed up by cost basis data) that there truly are $1.1 million in LTCG. If so, ignore what follows. But if not.... Not long ago I sold off five actively managed funds that I had held for a looooong time. My assumption (and fear) going in was that I would owe a whopping tax bill, given the growth in total value over 30-40 years. However, once I dug into records and reconstructed my actual cost basis, I was pleasantly surprised to find that taxes had mostly been paid already, through the annual reporting (and taxing) of dividends and capital gains. Bottom line, it was MUCH less of a tax hit than anticipated. In the case of the oldest and largest of these funds, unrealized gains amounted to only 5% of c...

I ve mentioned to our kids a general idea if what to expect from a trust established for them from my inheritance from my parents.

Our children realize that we will probably never need to ask them for financial support. Other than that, they really don t know what to expect from our estate. Other than small annual gifts into Roth IRA s and recently modest annual contributions into a 529 plan for our grand daughter, we haven t done any annual gifting.

My sister knows that we re secure. I m acting as an informal financial advisor for her and her husband as they approach retirement. Their finances are rather simple, like ours.

It was an easy decision for me at 67. Company made it for me. I'm glad they did now. I'm really hoping for something that will make the decision easy. Bad boss, where are you when I need one?! Really, though, I'm not just being passive: I'm actively looking for something to "retire to." I'm heading out in a month or two on annual leave with the intention of trying out retired life overseas and looking for a place to call home. But it's a process, and I'm feeling a sense of urgency now, as I approach mid 60s. But after a life of earning and saving, it's just not so easy to walk away from a paycheck. Why overseas? I retired at about your age with no particular plan. I just felt that I needed to have some opportunity appreciate the ...

To quote a line from the post from CyclingDuo above:

Warren Buffett would say put it all in a Vanguard Index fund and get on with your life and career.

Succinct and imminently wise.

This is what I would do in your position. First, do not tell anyone else about your windfall. And emphasize to your partner that he is not to tell anyone either. Pay off the student loan. Get a new Camry or Accord. Toyotas have the best reliability. Make the investments very simple. 70-75% in a total stock market index fund. 20-25% in an intermediate term bond index fund. And 5% in a money market fund. All dividends and interest reinvested. You may use some of the interest to pay the taxes on the gains from the windfall. Don t touch that money for the next ten years except for a dire emergency. Live your life as though that money doesn't t exist. Save your routine amount for retirement out of your salary. Enjoy your career and your life wit...

When my kids were in undergraduate school, I didn t want them working during the school year to earn money for for their college expenses. I wanted them to spend their time and energy studying to prepare them for their graduate school or careers. I would have preferred they take out loans and make the best grades they could by spending their time studying. They did work summer jobs to contribute to their college costs. Those that work during the school year and still succeed with their college studies are very impressive students. That s more than I could have done, and more than I expected out of my children. When I was in college, my father expected me to give him 600.00 at the end of each summer to help with my college costs. Making 1.40...

John Doe 123 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 7:45 pm The management company and the high cost of borrowing are going to eat into your profits. Put the funds in a total stock market index and let it ride for 25 years. You'll likely come out ahead and definitely will have less headaches. Mutual funds dont require new roofs, dont require evictions, etc

I agree with this.

The first two responses gave the best answers you ll get to this question. I m currently retired and while saving quite a bit of my income my entire life, I didn t start index investing in the stock market until about age 40. Instead I invested in individual stocks, rental houses, private partnerships owning apartment buildings, an individual private transportation company, and private limited partnerships in real estate. My returns ranged from significant losses to modest gains. I learned a lot the hard way, but at age 40 I had very little accumulated, despite spending a fair amount of time involved with these investments. If I had started index investing in the S&P 500 at your age, I would have quite a bit more than I now do. If you w...

Hello, Over the past decade I have had my grandparents as well as my wife’s grandparents pass away. Each set of grandparents had an estate valued between 800k - 1.5m. One thing I have noticed is that they had that level of wealth of even in their 60s/70s but it did not grow much (even declined some) from then till their death in their 90s. I always thought I should be set up investment-wise in a way where my wealth is still growing, compounding and doubling even in my 70s -90s? Therefore the estates should have been worth more like $2million or more each. I believe the stagnant wealth in the last two decades is due to essentially zero equity exposure, increased costs for nursing home, etc. but I wanted to see if the bogleheads have seen th...

Unless you really plan to swim in the future for exercise, do not get a pool!

Weekly pool maintenance will be about like weekly yard maintenance. And periodic repairs will be needed.

stuff deleted Isn't a lot livesoft's point reduced substantially, on a serious medical issue, through getting a second medical opinion, and identifying the most competent doctors? Or is the point that when you encounter a serious medical issue, you are just rolling the dice and hoping for a good outcome? I don't know what the point was. I don't think avoiding doctors is a great idea, or the point. If all doctors are incompetent, then a second opinion will only confuse me. And there is no easy way for a lay person to identify the most competent doctors. I view dealing with a doctor much the same as dealing with any other professional. I try to understand what they are telling me, cross check their opinion if possible, and do what I can to a...

I believe there are good and bad practitioners in every vocation. But certain people in my life I trust to begin with. Police, school teachers, pharmacists and nurses. As well as doctors. Among some others. Any time a new medical condition arises, I research it as well as I can, before going to the specialist my internist recommends for further evaluation, discussion, and care. If something doesn t feel right about our interaction with a doctor, we change doctors. Having two children finish medical school in the last 10 years one thing I do know. Medical schools admissions are currently extremely competitive. The doctor you see will be a bright person, at least the relatively young ones. Will he or she be caring? Probably, or most likely, b...

I'm worried about iatrogenic hazards. Interested in any elaboration you are willing to make on this statement. I worked in a hospital for a few months in direct patient care. I will only say that I have no confidence in physicians because of all the stupid mistakes I saw them make. My friends and siblings are physicians, too. The entire industry has problems. One might want to trust, but verify, but don't trust anyways. I personally hate going to the doctor. I went for 30+ years without seeing a doctor. But after age 60 there are two choices to consider. One is to wait until you have a problem, and then go to a doctor. The other is periodic (annual) screening to achieve early detection of a problem that may arise without symptoms. Hopefull...

This thread has a lot of potential.

I'm worried about iatrogenic hazards. Interested in any elaboration you are willing to make on this statement. I worked in a hospital for a few months in direct patient care. I will only say that I have no confidence in physicians because of all the stupid mistakes I saw them make. My friends and siblings are physicians, too. The entire industry has problems. One might want to trust, but verify, but don't trust anyways. I personally hate going to the doctor. I went for 30+ years without seeing a doctor. But after age 60 there are two choices to consider. One is to wait until you have a problem, and then go to a doctor. The other is periodic (annual) screening to achieve early detection of a problem that may arise without symptoms. Hopefull...

We are also car people. I had a Lexus which felt like driving a Buick sedan. Boring. But by far the most reliable car I ve ever had. After 180,000 miles, the only non routine maintenance repair required during the car s lifetime with me was a radio replacement. That s it. I m currently on my second BMW, a 5 series. These cars are much more fun to drive but also fulfill the role of daily driver. Occasional repairs, which are usually costly, once the 36000 mile warranty/ service charge coverage expires. On Tesla. Surveys show great owner satisfaction, despite Tesla currently having one of the worst reliability records of any model (CR). I can t believe that I might be considering a Lexus for my next car. A “sporty” one, if it exists.

anon_investor wrote: ↑Sat Feb 11, 2023 10:08 pm

UpperNwGuy wrote: ↑Sat Feb 11, 2023 5:51 pm

anon_investor wrote: ↑Sat Feb 11, 2023 5:41 pm

UpperNwGuy wrote: ↑Sat Feb 11, 2023 5:14 pm The easiest answer to all those risks to accumulate more money for retirement. That means working longer, saving more, and cutting back on lifestyle immediately.

You don't have to work longer if you save more and cut back on costs now.

Of course. And you don't have to cut back on costs now if you work longer. It's a math problem with three variables.

Yup!

Such common sense. Surprising how uncommon it is.

Our LTCI when all else is gone is our house.

After that, our kids will probably be able to support us. In some fashion. If they choose.

We re past the borrow money stage of life.

Just based upon the estimated monthly rental income not covering all of the anticipated expenses, particularly after accounting for vacancy loss, I'd recommend you sell. If you are currently eligible for capital gains exclusion of $250k (if single) or $500k (if married), that presents an even more compelling reason to sell now. This is what I was thinking. My wife and I each had a house that we moved from shortly after we got married. We couldn't t sell in a terrible real estate market due to mortgage rates of 10-12%. Our rentals covered our payments, but we had a small net loss every year. And the bother of self management became tiresome after a year or two. And when we did sell 7-8 years later, the money we made was very modest for the ...

First world problem here, but I’m looking for feedback from new money folks. I don’t know how to be rich. I came up very blue collar, no frills, first generation educated. As a kid there were countless lessons on frugality, but investing was a foreign concept. Having entered a world of urban professionalism, I now find myself surrounded by kind and thoughtful colleagues / new friends who come from family money and spend like there’s no tomorrow. I out earn all of my close friends by a wide margin (even in my field), but spend much less. I’m not a tightwad, by any stretch. Also not looking for FIRE, but to build material generational wealth. We hide our income from family and old friends, to avoid alienating ourselves. They know I do well, ...

First world problem here, but I’m looking for feedback from new money folks. I don’t know how to be rich. I came up very blue collar, no frills, first generation educated. As a kid there were countless lessons on frugality, but investing was a foreign concept. Having entered a world of urban professionalism, I now find myself surrounded by kind and thoughtful colleagues / new friends who come from family money and spend like there’s no tomorrow. I out earn all of my close friends by a wide margin (even in my field), but spend much less. I’m not a tightwad, by any stretch. Also not looking for FIRE, but to build material generational wealth. We hide our income from family and old friends, to avoid alienating ourselves. They know I do well, ...

AnnetteLouisan wrote: ↑Mon Feb 06, 2023 6:52 am You say you don’t know how to be rich, but the beauty of it is that you get to do it your way. There is no one right way. Find a way that is consistent with your values and preferences. The book “We Need to Talk,” by Jennifer Risher describes how she felt she needed to “do rich right” and later she and her husband, who was raised poor, learned their own way.

Annette Louisan

You are well read! I m retired and I m not sure I have time to read all the excellent books you recommend. Thanks for these suggestions.

There is always some investment that has done better than yours. If you translate that objective fact into an unhappy emotion, "I missed out," then you are going to feel continually unhappy. When we are in the process of making a decision, we usually go through a period of ambivalence. We feel both "I should" and "I shouldn't," practically at the same time. If we decide not to and we don't like the outcome, it is easy to selectively remember thinking "I should," and saying after the fact "I knew I should have." But you didn't know. One of the most insightful posts I ve read anywhere on this forum since I joined this group. Seems like investing common sense, but many people tend look back wi...

First world problem here, but I’m looking for feedback from new money folks. I don’t know how to be rich. I came up very blue collar, no frills, first generation educated. As a kid there were countless lessons on frugality, but investing was a foreign concept. Having entered a world of urban professionalism, I now find myself surrounded by kind and thoughtful colleagues / new friends who come from family money and spend like there’s no tomorrow. I out earn all of my close friends by a wide margin (even in my field), but spend much less. I’m not a tightwad, by any stretch. Also not looking for FIRE, but to build material generational wealth. We hide our income from family and old friends, to avoid alienating ourselves. They know I do well, ...

Marseille07 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 05, 2023 10:23 am

ebeb wrote: ↑Sun Feb 05, 2023 10:15 am I would avoid any Fidelity ZERO funds since you get stuck with Fidelity. If you decide to transfer to another brokerage you would need to sell and pay capital gains tax. Since Fidelity ZERO funds are not available in other brokerages. I would stick to low cost Vanguard ETFs with expense ratios below 0.1%.

Is CG tax upon transferring the only reason? Any other reasons to avoid ZERO funds?

I also think not being able to transfer in kind is a drawback. I would stick with Vanguard index etf s, which can be held in other brokerages.

I m often a big believer in prepaying a home mortgage. But you, like many others recently, locked in a historically low interest rate on your mortgage. With your low savings rate with your wife staying at home, having some liquidity is more valuable than usual. However, the point made that a return of 4.5% with inflation at 6-7% represents a net loss is valid. Do you really need the monthly interest on the 192k as current income? You can always withdraw from the cash if needed. In your position, I would keep the mortgage. I would put 100 k in a U S total stock market fund. I d currently leave the rest in a mmf for now. Check the mmf rates. Our Vanguard mmf s have generally paid better then our Fidelity mmf s. I don t know about Schwab. I d ...

I would ignore the equity appreciation, since you have to buy a different house that has also appreciated. What would be the cost of selling and buying including paying any points, like $40k to $70k? How much more would annual interest be for same price house, like an extra 3%, so like $15K more per year? So, over $100K to move. I think fence sounds like a good idea. well sure, but refinancing is always an option if/when rates come back down. I think mortgage rates are about average or better than what the averages have been over the last 40 years. I wouldn t expect them to return to anywhere near previous levels, but anything is possible. I m not sure exactly where is safe in a suburb for kids to play unattended in a front yard these days...

I would just like to second something said by a previous poster. Investigate establishing a domicile in Florida to eliminate the 8.5% Iowa state income tax. Also get the homestead exemption in Florida to cut property taxes a bit, but more importantly, to limit property tax increases in the future.

I've recently learned of a new policy at Fidelity where they do not assign reps to Private Client Group members with self-directed accounts. One has to sign up for wealth management in order to be assigned a rep. Is there a brokerage house that provides excellent customer service for people who do not want wealth management? Or should i start looking at options where I pay a fee? When I was approaching retirement, I decided to consolidate accounts at several different brkerages into just two. Vanguard and Fidelity. At Fidelity, I was assigned a personal representative who met with me annually for two or three years and was happy to take my rare calls. Then his name was taken off my account. I wondered if he had moved on. Now I discover tha...