Bogleheads.org

FrugalProfessor

The analysis you need to do is to trade off the state 529 subsidy vs the dividend & capital gains taxes from investing the equivalent amount in a taxable brokerage account. So we're evaluating between $100k in 529 (costing us $98,730 after tax subsidy) vs $10k in 529 + $90k in brokerage account (cos...

FrugalProfessor

https://www.frugalprofessor.com/hierarchy-of-savings/

FrugalProfessor

We had anywhere between 2-5 kids while in our 7 years of grad school. We qualified for food stamps in one state and medicaid in two states. Our assets, which were in the range of $150-$250k precluded us from food stamps in one state as well as medicaid for me (but my wife and kids were OK). In anoth...

FrugalProfessor

I use my Roth as my emergency fund. If you desired to do the same, then you wouldn't have the need to save in a separate "emergency fund" account. From there, your decision is 529 vs taxable brokerage. For me, I'm a fan of funding the 529 up to my state's max deduction ($10k), then dump money into a...

FrugalProfessor

Does ME charge any additional fees? Any disadvantage to having funds with them? Actually now that I look closer, its not really much of a gain over just using an Alliant CC for general use with Uber CC for 4% restaurants, Amex BCP for 6% groceries, and several card options for 4% gas (1% loss, meh)...

FrugalProfessor

With 100k assets at ME. Can transfer VTSAX directly from VG to ME if you want and pick up a transfer bonus along the way. BoA Cash Rewards 5.25% gas 3.5% groceries (including Costco) BoA Premium Rewards 3.5% travel 3.5% restaurants 2.625% everything else Relatively low 2.5k quarterly spending limit...

FrugalProfessor

2,300,000 in retirement which is why I said 2 million because of early withdrawal fees I would lose a lot and wanted that to be factored in Early withdrawal fees can be mitigated with the "roth conversion ladder" strategy: https://www.madfientist.com/how-to-access-retirement-funds-early/ http://roo...

FrugalProfessor

With 100k assets at ME. Can transfer VTSAX directly from VG to ME if you want and pick up a transfer bonus along the way. BoA Cash Rewards 5.25% gas 3.5% groceries (including Costco) BoA Premium Rewards 3.5% travel 3.5% restaurants 2.625% everything else Relatively low 2.5k quarterly spending limit...

FrugalProfessor

With 100k assets at ME. Can transfer VTSAX directly from VG to ME if you want and pick up a transfer bonus along the way. BoA Cash Rewards 5.25% gas 3.5% groceries (including Costco) BoA Premium Rewards 3.5% travel 3.5% restaurants 2.625% everything else Relatively low 2.5k quarterly spending limit ...

FrugalProfessor

sport wrote: ↑
Thu Apr 12, 2018 12:02 pm
I use a bank for banking and an investment company for investing. You may get better service by separating the two functions.

+1. I've never understood the appeal of banking at an investment company.

FrugalProfessor

The HSA is arguably the best tax savings vehicle available. Normally you have to either choose between a tax break now (traditional) or tax break later (Roth). With an HSA, you get both, also called "triple-tax-free": (1) you get a tax deduction the year you contribute, (2) the earnings grow and co...

FrugalProfessor

Here are my thoughts: https://www.frugalprofessor.com/hierarchy-of-savings/

+1 to get the hell out of student loans. >7% tax free return with 0 risk? Sign me up any day of the week!

FrugalProfessor

This thread sounds really familiar. Between my wife and I, we have one set of parents that are broke and one set of parents that are well off. Fortunately, the broke parents have 6 kids. Unfortunately, most of the 6 children are also broke, leaving the inevitable financial burden among the couple un...

FrugalProfessor

Roth conversions up to standard deduction + 0% dividends + 0% LTCG (including capital gain harvesting). $0 taxes owed. https://www.gocurrycracker.com/never-pay-taxes-again/ https://www.gocurrycracker.com/the-go-curry-cracker-2013-taxes/ https://www.gocurrycracker.com/go-curry-cracker-2014-taxes/ htt...

FrugalProfessor

Good morning Bogleheads! Sorry for the morbid title, everything is fine as far as I know. I am a long-time reader of the forum, but have only just now made an account. I really wanted to thank everyone here for the amazing discussions and advice on a variety of subjects. I have been trying to becom...

FrugalProfessor

Thanks for the reply Prof! I have followed the TFB tutorial and it is still adding $3000+ when I finish inputting the 1099-R forms after inputting contributions... Let's make this simple. Say you made $11k of contributions to TIRA, all of which was non-deductible. You convert to RIRA next day when ...

FrugalProfessor

Have you looked at this tutorial? https://thefinancebuff.com/how-to-report-backdoor-roth-in-turbotax.html The key is to enter IRA contributions first, then enter conversion. If you get the order wrong you will likely run into issues. If I were you, I'd delete your contributions & conversions within ...

FrugalProfessor

let this be a lesson...I could have easily contributed $700 more to my 401k in December of last year to get more money back on my taxes but forgot to calculate my taxes until now instead of late November of last year like I should have. Now I cannot think of a way to lower my AGI and I already cont...

FrugalProfessor

Finally succumbed and bought a $41/mo gym membership on campus to allow me to rock climb. I do so 3x/week and it makes me happy.

We bought 2 moviepasses the other month and that's been great: https://www.costco.com/MoviePass-and-Fa ... 95930.html

FrugalProfessor

We have a fun example. We are eligible for EITC with 2 children currently. EITC has a 21% phaseout rate. Before 401k contributions, we'd be in the 10% bracket, plus 4% state income tax bracket. Also, the state matches EITC at 30%. So every $ contributed to traditional 401k saves 10% + 4% in taxes, ...

FrugalProfessor

cancel your comcast phone service... and buy a normal docsis 3 cable modem then buy a obihai and use it with google voice phone number... https://www.amazon.com/OBi200-1-Port-Adapter-Support-Service/dp/B00BUV7C9A no monthly fee as it uses google voice. but there is a 15 dollar a year fee if you wan...

FrugalProfessor

cancel your comcast phone service... and buy a normal docsis 3 cable modem then buy a obihai and use it with google voice phone number... https://www.amazon.com/OBi200-1-Port-Adapter-Support-Service/dp/B00BUV7C9A no monthly fee as it uses google voice. but there is a 15 dollar a year fee if you wan...

FrugalProfessor

3mbps down & 1mbps up here. I'm living proof that you can survive the atrocities of slow internet.

I notice an almost imperceptible difference between work (super fast) and home, with the caveat that 3mpbs can't handle simultaneous devices well.

FrugalProfessor

Looks pretty accurate to me. You properly accounted for the $2k CTC. If I were you, the only remaining option I'd entertain is shove money into Roths (including your 401k if Roth 401k is an option). In this manner, you lock in the 12% bucket now and are hedged against future increases in taxes. You ...

FrugalProfessor

I track our spending. We spend without remorse on items we need (groceries, shelter, healthcare). We next spend money pretty freely on things we really want (infrequent trip to a restaurant, simple entertainment, modest vacations). We tend not to spend money on "sort of wants" (random trinkets, conc...

FrugalProfessor

We did a VRBO 2 years ago in this area: https://www.vrbo.com/results/usa/florida/central-disney-orlando/lake-buena-vista/bonnet-creek-fairfield-orlando. I believe the specific hotel was "Wyndham Bonnet Creek". Paid around $150/night. It was within the Disney property. Just a few minute drive from th...

FrugalProfessor

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...

FrugalProfessor

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...

FrugalProfessor

For myself, I rolled into current employer's 403b.

Brilliant post here by the white coat investor on how to do it if the above option is unavailable: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/penni ... -roth-ira/

FrugalProfessor

I moved $50k of VTSAX from Vanguard to Merrill Edge last month to juice my BOA credit card rewards. Contrary to what has been posted elsewhere on this blog, you don't need to convert to VTI prior to transferring out. The caveat is that VTSAX cannot be purchased within Merrill Edge. Knowing the above...

FrugalProfessor

To me, stuffing Trad/Roth IRA/401k/401a/457, HSA, 529 trump paying off mortgage. Only after the above would I consider prepaying mortgage. My 15Y mortgage is similar (2.875%). Going forward I will itemize, so no subsidy on debt. For my taxable accounts to beat my mortgage, I'd have to get at least 2...

FrugalProfessor

Bacchus01, I feel your pain and am equally perplexed at the complete failure of medicine to provide transparent pricing. We have a HDHP plan as well and have faced similar frustrations while pricing out basic procedures/exams (strep test, pink eye, etc) prior to hitting our deductible each year. At ...

FrugalProfessor

Freetaxusa does schedule c and d and lives up to it's name. Only downsides are the platform is online and does not import brokerage data. I've inputted my data on TurboTax and freetaxusa and get identical numbers. I'm not sure why freetaxusa doesn't get more love from bogleheads. Manually inputting...

FrugalProfessor

I finished a phd last year at the age of 35. I don't think it makes financial sense over a master's in most fields other than a couple. Attrition is high in many PhD programs. We lost 50% of our students for various reasons (half walked out and half kicked out). I received a 25-30k stipend which cer...

FrugalProfessor

Watched the youtube video. Interesting, but mostly unrelated to the topic. The video highlights the debilitating effects of compounded fees. 100% VTSAX has almost no fees. Bogle has changed countless lives (but unfortunately not enough as the video highlights). Thank you Bogle! I'm 70% VTSAX (and fi...

FrugalProfessor

CA has the cheapest all-in index fund available. If I were you guys (unconstrained by state incentives), I'd do that without any question. https://www.scholarshare.com/research/fees.shtml Index U.S. Equity Investment Portfolio (8bp all-in fee). If you want diversification, achieve it in other accoun...

FrugalProfessor

Would everyone expecting a decrease (or increase) in their 2018 Federal tax bill mind coming back in 2019 and tell us how it actually worked out for them? We fall into that group of high-income working people that will likely see a significant increase in our tax bills. But we are not very sure of ...

FrugalProfessor

The wife and I are trying to figure out the best way to handle our charitable donations given this tax reform. We have 10,000 mortgage interest (slightly declining each year). We will hit the $10,000 cap for SALT. We want to donate $10,000 to charities which should we do? 1. Donate 30,000 to a Dono...

FrugalProfessor

I have written fairly comprehensive Excel models for 2017 and 2018 taxes. Available for download at bottom of this page: https://www.frugalprofessor.com/model-of-new-tax-plan-house-senate-compromise/. The 2017 model is accurate to within $5 for all scenarios I've thrown at it, with the caveat that ...

FrugalProfessor

I have written fairly comprehensive Excel models for 2017 and 2018 taxes. Available for download at bottom of this page: https://www.frugalprofessor.com/model-of-new-tax-plan-house-senate-compromise/. The 2017 model is accurate to within $5 for all scenarios I've thrown at it, with the caveat that i...

FrugalProfessor

I have had an electric pressure cooker for 10 years, predating the instantpot for sure. We just upgraded to the largest instantpot. I would recommend an instantpot to anyone. Put a price alert on CamelCamelCamel and buy when on sale.

FrugalProfessor

Do it yourself. FreeTaxUSA is free federally with nominal state charge. TurboTax is really easy to use as well, but costlier. If you don't trust FreeTaxUSA, enter into both tools and see that they produce equivalent results. You only pay TurboTax at the last step (eFiling) so it's free to play aroun...

FrugalProfessor

I teach. I'm not sure what the future of higher education is. I can definitely see it going either way. Reasons why it will collapse: student debt is unsustainable, job prospects are poor for many majors, easily consolidated and provided for free from top colleges via internet. Reasons why it won't ...

FrugalProfessor

I think the best single card on the market is the USAA 2.5% cash back card. I've had either the Fidelity & Citi 2% cards for close to a decade. My new strategy is to park $100k of Vanguard funds at merril edge, then do the following: 5.25% cash back on gas (BoA cash rewards card) 3.5% cash back on d...

FrugalProfessor

You have a spending problem, not an income problem. 1.) Slash living expenses. Find a roommate if possible, saving $500/month. I pay $1/month on cell phones. You should not pay more than me. https://www.frugalprofessor.com/phones/ Groceries: Slash your budget by 50%. Eat only oatmeal, banannas, rice...

FrugalProfessor

tfb wrote: ↑
Tue Oct 31, 2017 10:54 am

FrugalProfessor wrote: ↑
Tue Oct 31, 2017 10:48 am
Thanks for catching the mistake TFB. Sorry to misquote. I have updated the original post accordingly.
Still not quite right because you left 457 there.

Just fixed it. Thanks!

FrugalProfessor

I read the following TFB article on after-tax contributions to a 403b/457 this morning: https://thefinancebuff.com/401a-plan-contribution-limit.html. He states that some employers allow for the elusive after-tax contributions to 403b/457 plans, which opens the door for contributions up to the $54k/...

FrugalProfessor

I read the following TFB article on after-tax contributions to a 401a/403b this morning: https://thefinancebuff.com/401a-plan-contribution-limit.html. He states that some employers allow for the elusive after-tax contributions to 401a/403b plans, which opens the door for contributions up to the $54k...

FrugalProfessor

The most intelligent discussion I've seen on the topic is here: * http://www.choosefi.com/035-sequence-return-risk-early-retirement-now/ * https://earlyretirementnow.com/2017/05/17/the-ultimate-guide-to-safe-withdrawal-rates-part-14-sequence-of-return-risk/ * https://earlyretirementnow.com/2017/09/1...

FrugalProfessor

CA offers a total US stock market fund for 0.08%: https://www.scholarshare.com/research/fees.shtml. It is where I am planning on putting 529 contributions in excess of my state's 10k limit. Regarding the optimality of prioritizing 529 above retirement, I have a hard time conjuring up such scenarios....

Search found 104 matches