Bogleheads.org

jlcnuke

I'm not sure I completely understand what you're asking, but if you're asking if you can take tax deferred money and convert it to after tax money (Roth) without paying taxes, the answer is "no".

jlcnuke

It would be interesting to hear from someone (or some people) who have experienced either or both of these two scenarios: 1) You finance a new car with some money down, make a few payments, and the car is totaled in an accident. 2) You buy a car outright, and the car is totaled in an accident two m...

jlcnuke

There is no difference in the quality of an oil change from a dealer mechanic vs any other competent person. So no, it's not worth the extra cost most charge you.

jlcnuke

If the mortgage and auto loan rates are reasonable (i.e. good credit so rates are low), then many prefer to take/keep the loans and invest the money to maximize my net worth in most cases. If you just can't sleep at night if you have any debt or are too scared of risk to invest in something likely ...

jlcnuke

If the mortgage and auto loan rates are reasonable (i.e. good credit so rates are low), then many prefer to take/keep the loans and invest the money to maximize my net worth in most cases. If you just can't sleep at night if you have any debt or are too scared of risk to invest in something likely ...

jlcnuke

If the mortgage and auto loan rates are reasonable (i.e. good credit so rates are low), then many prefer to take/keep the loans and invest the money to maximize my net worth in most cases. If you just can't sleep at night if you have any debt or are too scared of risk to invest in something likely t...

jlcnuke

Cabs, and just about everything outside the resorts, I find paying in pesos is MUCH better; shops were generally pretty close on the exchange rate with actual around 19:1 in January and shops in the 17-18:1 range generally while cabs were probably 40% lower fairly often. Go to the cenotes at least o...

jlcnuke

you: "I'm here to cancel the extended warranty" Salesperson "oh, that's terrible, can I " you: "no offense, but I've made up my mind, the reasons are irrelevant at this point, and it would save us both some time and trouble if we could get this done as quickly as possible so...

jlcnuke

Home office tax deductions?

jlcnuke

All, thanks for the replies. Again, I'm looking in the year to year budget of life. I don't plan on retiring early, and our expenses may go up in the future (more travel, more x), but that's relatively discretionary. We're contemplating buying a home, which is a big expense for us, and would take u...

jlcnuke

The charts are set up for 10% savings rates and average levels of income. The OP is already above 25% savings and "high tax rate" and likely in heavy tax territory with a very modest goal in time and expense. (mid 60's modest COL) I know from personal experience that the charts will be of...

jlcnuke

Congrats!

jlcnuke

My problem with debit cards has nothing to do with warranties etc, it is simply this - a hacked debit card takes your money, albeit it temporarily, while a hacked credit card takes your credit limit, albeit temporarily. A hacked debit card can mean your checking account can't cover that auto-draft ...

jlcnuke

My problem with debit cards has nothing to do with warranties etc, it is simply this - a hacked debit card takes your money, albeit it temporarily, while a hacked credit card takes your credit limit, albeit temporarily. A hacked debit card can mean your checking account can't cover that auto-draft f...

jlcnuke

Explain how that would work. "We want you to use credit cards for two months and bring us the receipts. Then two months with only cash. But this isn't about credit card versus cash spending." People would need to be pretty stupid not to figure out the study. My recollection of the study I...

jlcnuke

If you honestly think I was constantly thinking about trying to control spending, you're way off from the reality of the situation. Wanna know why my spending habits didn't change at all? Because my spending plan is to pay my bills, pay myself, then spend the rest. Spending the rest, whether cash o...

jlcnuke

feel like I sometimes overspend A proven fact. People spend more with a card than if they were "exchanging " green bills. Cut back on the card ,use cash. See if you notice a difference for one month. :happy It's a "fact" that "in general" people spend more with credit ...

jlcnuke

Ahh - but those income mutiples really do not work for high earners that are also high savers for many reasons. The multiples are fine for someone planning to do a "normal" work until "normal" retirement age (i.e. mi-60's) who have no need for "massive savings rates" f...

jlcnuke

feel like I sometimes overspend A proven fact. People spend more with a card than if they were "exchanging " green bills. Cut back on the card ,use cash. See if you notice a difference for one month. :happy It's a "fact" that "in general" people spend more with credit ...

jlcnuke

We're just starting out in our careers and will likely work until mid-60's. We live modestly now, but have never purchased a home together before. In that case, check your expected progression and try to make sure you're on track for numbers similar to those in this article https://www.investors.co...

jlcnuke

This has much more to do with your current and expected expenses as well as your anticipated retirement date(s), SS, pensions and your overall portfolio and goals. Certainly these questions and choices have no good rules of thumb and if I would forward a guess it would require a lot more detail to ...

jlcnuke

This has much more to do with your current and expected expenses as well as your anticipated retirement date(s), SS, pensions and your overall portfolio and goals. Certainly these questions and choices have no good rules of thumb and if I would forward a guess it would require a lot more detail to ...

jlcnuke

This has much more to do with your current and expected expenses as well as your anticipated retirement date(s), SS, pensions and your overall portfolio and goals. Certainly these questions and choices have no good rules of thumb and if I would forward a guess it would require a lot more detail to ...

jlcnuke

One point to ponder is why do people need to upgrade or downsize their house? Why not buy a little late when you are sure about family and work needs and can pay that 20% downpayment. Wont you be in position to buy optimum house rather than dream house?( This dream house buying trend looks especial...

jlcnuke

So ... is buying a home, like bonds, more of a psychological decision (stability) rather than a wise financial decision ? It depends on your situation. If you're buying your "forever home" then financially it's almost always better to buy than to rent the same home. The reduction in infla...

jlcnuke

For those that use credit cards responsibly (i.e. only charge what you can pay, don't overspend, never pay interest, take advantage of credit card rewards), credit cards are preferable to paying in cash. For those who can't or won't use credit cards responsibly, they should avoid them until such tim...

jlcnuke

Going to Cozumel for a bunch of diving the week of Memorial Day. Haven't planned anything else yet for this summer, but working on getting some friends together for another dive trip in the Caribbean Islands (haven't decided which yet) for either Thanksgiving or Christmas/New Years time-frame.

jlcnuke

sport wrote: ↑Sun Feb 25, 2018 2:32 am
wbadbada wrote: ↑Sun Feb 25, 2018 1:20 am I could juggle all the above but that will be exhausting. I work to live, not live to work.
It seems you have answered your own question.

+1

jlcnuke

Maybe I’ll consider a home during the next recession Otherwise, home prices for what you actually get in my area are ridiculous If I’m spending half a million on something - I better love 99% of it at least. There’s a lot of “oh we’d just need to tear down several walls, update the kitchen, and fin...

jlcnuke

Maybe I’ll consider a home during the next recession Otherwise, home prices for what you actually get in my area are ridiculous If I’m spending half a million on something - I better love 99% of it at least. There’s a lot of “oh we’d just need to tear down several walls, update the kitchen, and fin...

jlcnuke

If you currently make $60k/year and have total annual expenditures of $20k/year, you're doing amazing. If you currently make $600k/year and have total annual expenditures of $540k/year, you're doing terrible. I imagine you're somewhere in the middle of those two scenarios but can't say for sure beca...

jlcnuke

The access to retiree benefits alone is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars (if you FIRE and get a medical insurance plan for you and your wife you'd likely be spending 5-figures on premiums alone every year). Combine that with the pension income and other retiree benefits and sticking around an...

jlcnuke

Do you expect your investments to return more than 1.75% over the next year? More than 4.125% over the next 5? If so, don't pay off. Providing job flexibility is a red herring. You can always pay the debts off in the future in your want to change. Your reasons for paying off debt are psychological,...

jlcnuke

Personally, at 1.75% interest rate I'd just make payments and leave the cash that could pay it off invested (I don't think investments will fail to outperform that interest rate). At $500/month (you mention), it's going to be paid off sometime next year anyway, so unless having that debt is causing ...

jlcnuke

I would pay it off. A tax-free risk-free 3.49% is impossible to beat in today's rate environment. He's not limited to tax-free, risk free investments though... True. He can elect to invest and pay taxes on his returns. Which, using historic average market returns, would result in a higher net worth...

jlcnuke

I was an Air Force brat and an Air Force spouse (2x). The benefits to hanging in there are huge. Not having to worry about healthcare is wonderful. I survived going to 12 different schools before I graduated; that was tough for me because I'm an introvert, but I do have great memories of living in ...

jlcnuke

I rent AND I own... I own my retirement home (well, I will once I pay off the mortgage in ~9 years), but I don't live there (I moved my parents in there for their retirement home, I'll move there later). It's a bit farther from the city and wouldn't be a pleasant commute while I work in the city, bu...

jlcnuke

The access to retiree benefits alone is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars (if you FIRE and get a medical insurance plan for you and your wife you'd likely be spending 5-figures on premiums alone every year). Combine that with the pension income and other retiree benefits and sticking around ano...

jlcnuke

Detroit lost ~1/3rd of it's population in just 2 decades. Is that going to happen where you live? I can't tell you, but I bet the people buying property there in the 1970's weren't expecting it to happen either. If that happened to your city over the next 20 years, how would you feel about choosing ...

jlcnuke

Okay forget about savings rate. How about keeping track of TOTAL dollars saved and invested each year. In the end that is what compounds and not savings rate. Good luck. Savings rate can draw a direct correlation to how long until you can retire. Dollar figures are more convoluted (I saved $40k... ...

jlcnuke

What I get caught up on is how to factor 401k matching. I am fortunate to get a 6% match at work with no limit. Do I count that as part of my income, even though I wouldn't get it if I wasn't saving? For instance, if I make 100k and contribute 10k, getting another 6k match, is my savings rate: a) 1...

jlcnuke

What I get caught up on is how to factor 401k matching. I am fortunate to get a 6% match at work with no limit. Do I count that as part of my income, even though I wouldn't get it if I wasn't saving? For instance, if I make 100k and contribute 10k, getting another 6k match, is my savings rate: a) 1...

jlcnuke

I would pay it off. A tax-free risk-free 3.49% is impossible to beat in today's rate environment. He's not limited to tax-free, risk free investments though... True. He can elect to invest and pay taxes on his returns. Which, using historic average market returns, would result in a higher net worth...

jlcnuke

greg24 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:39 pm I would pay it off. A tax-free risk-free 3.49% is impossible to beat in today's rate environment.

He's not limited to tax-free, risk free investments though...

jlcnuke

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Paying_ ... _investing

jlcnuke

After reading the White Coat Investor’s post on minimizing emergency costs and about 1000 emergency fund posts, it got me thinking. What kind of an emergency am I planning for and how much does it cost? I came up with three ideas 1-immediate job loss (of either me, my spouse, or both - I’ve lived t...

jlcnuke

https://www.bankrate.com/calculators/college-planning/loan-calculator.aspx Either way, do you expect the market returns to be lower than 3.5% (your interest rate)? If not, you expect to have a higher net worth by investing. If you think the market will perform worse than that 3.5%, then you expect t...

jlcnuke

You didn't mention WHY you want to cancel it. You buy insurance for something you can't afford to lose and you shouldn't buy what you don't need. I cancelled my life insurance years ago because our net worth could take care of my family if something were to happen to me. TravelfoFun You buy insuran...

jlcnuke

If you're earning $30k/year you're doing very well. If you're earning $300k/year you're quite a bit behind where you should be.

jlcnuke

Their prices have always kept me with other car insurance companies. I do have my mortgage through USAA (though I don't care for the company that they have contracted out servicing the loans for, but that's a different story).

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