Search found 43 matches

by Element
Fri Nov 24, 2023 5:30 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Niece is Recieving Life Insurance Lump Sum $1M
Replies: 153
Views: 18162

Re: Niece is Recieving Life Insurance Lump Sum $1M

vkat wrote: Fri Nov 24, 2023 4:14 pm Hi,
Your niece would also get social security payments I believe. Your sister should reach out to social security office and would receive payments until the daughter is 18. Typically the SS money covers daily expenses for the child. The payout for the life insurance could be set up in a custodial account named for the minor. People also set up a brokerage custodial account.
Good luck!

Yes, I believe she will be getting $300/mo until she's 18.
by Element
Fri Nov 24, 2023 12:49 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Niece is Recieving Life Insurance Lump Sum $1M
Replies: 153
Views: 18162

Re: Niece is Recieving Life Insurance Lump Sum $1M

Thank you for all the great replies. My sister truly wants the best for her daughter. So I feel she will seek the correct path with this. I agree that she needs legal council. I wouldn't solely rely on an online forum for something like this. But I'm also going to stay out of it since it's her and her daughter's business. I told her I would like to give her some direction, and then step back, unless she has more questions for me.

I did send her the link to this thread, so hopefully she will read all your replies as well.
by Element
Fri Nov 24, 2023 8:25 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Niece is Recieving Life Insurance Lump Sum $1M
Replies: 153
Views: 18162

Re: Niece is Recieving Life Insurance Lump Sum $1M

That is a nice legacy your brother in law planned for his daughter. Does the Georgia 529 plan have low fees? Your plan sounds good to me from an investment point of view. I am not an expert in tax planning, trust, or college funding. It might be good if there were some guard rails to prevent the daughter from buying a Ferrari at whatever age she can and touring the world like Paris Hilton but I don’t know how that can be accomplished if her dad didn’t set that up with his estate. Maybe they can keep the inheritance a secret from her until age 18 … lol. Thank you. Haha, yes I believe my sister plans to use the money to best set her daughter up for the future, and not just give it to her young to let her spend as she chooses. She told me las...
by Element
Fri Nov 24, 2023 8:03 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Niece is Recieving Life Insurance Lump Sum $1M
Replies: 153
Views: 18162

Niece is Recieving Life Insurance Lump Sum $1M

My sister's ex-husband passed away last month. He and my sister had one daughter together, and she was his only child. He had a $1mil life insurance policy with the daughter as the sole beneficiary, which my sister recently found out about. I'm currently trying to help her to figure out the best direction to go with this. (For clarification, they have been divorced for years, and there is no family drama or anything, if any of this matters for this situation) My sister is in a stable relationship and they are financially doing ok. She wants to figure out the best way to invest this money for her daughter for the future (daughter is 13 yo) My initial thought is to put a substantial amount into a 529 plan here in Georgia, and invest the rest ...
by Element
Mon Jan 23, 2023 9:03 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Please Help Me Understand my Taxable Vanguard Acct
Replies: 6
Views: 652

Re: Please Help Me Understand my Taxable Vanguard Acct

Triple digit golfer wrote: Mon Jan 23, 2023 8:41 pm Is your cost basis set to specific ID?
How many lots do you own?
If there are gains in the lots that you sell, you may have a tax liability. If some have gains and some losses, you will use losses to offset gains.
Also, yes. Cost basis is set to Specific ID
by Element
Mon Jan 23, 2023 8:53 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Please Help Me Understand my Taxable Vanguard Acct
Replies: 6
Views: 652

Re: Please Help Me Understand my Taxable Vanguard Acct

mhalley wrote: Mon Jan 23, 2023 8:44 pm It depends on if you invested it all at once or have been investing throughout the period. Login to your vanguard account, menu, my accounts, cost basis, your account and you can see if you have gains overall.
I bought a little every week for about a year and a half. Probably around 50-60 transactions
by Element
Mon Jan 23, 2023 8:51 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Please Help Me Understand my Taxable Vanguard Acct
Replies: 6
Views: 652

Re: Please Help Me Understand my Taxable Vanguard Acct

mhalley wrote: Mon Jan 23, 2023 8:44 pm It depends on if you invested it all at once or have been investing throughout the period. Login to your vanguard account, menu, my accounts, cost basis, your account and you can see if you have gains overall.
It says short term gain/loss -$69.14

Long Term gain/loss -$446.20

Total Capital gain/loss -$515.33

Percent gain/loss -4.4%
by Element
Mon Jan 23, 2023 8:39 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Please Help Me Understand my Taxable Vanguard Acct
Replies: 6
Views: 652

Please Help Me Understand my Taxable Vanguard Acct

I have about $11,000 in a taxable acct, all in VTSAX. I want to withdraw $10,000 to pay for some home repairs.
My performance returns are -4.80% since I began contributing to that account, around January of 2021.

Will I owe any taxes on this money if I withdraw it? I know I've had a few dividends reinvested, but I'm currently down around $384 overall.

Thanks in advance!
by Element
Sun Dec 25, 2022 7:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: HSA Transfer to other HSA Account
Replies: 2
Views: 542

Re: HSA Transfer to other HSA Account

Makefile wrote: Sun Dec 25, 2022 7:52 pm
Element wrote: Sun Dec 25, 2022 7:50 pm Are there any tax reasons why I can't just have the funds sent to my regular bank acct, and then transferred over to Fidelity? I believe this process would only take a week or less. Much faster than a direct transfer between HSA accts.
This is an indirect rollover and you can only do it once in a 12-month period.

With the trustee-to-trustee transfers, you might determine whether your old HSA charges a fee on each outgoing transfer, which wrecks this approach.
Thanks. I would probably only need to do this once and then continue with the HSA to HSA transfers throughout the year. I will find out if there are any fees associated with the transfers from my old HSA.
by Element
Sun Dec 25, 2022 7:50 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: HSA Transfer to other HSA Account
Replies: 2
Views: 542

HSA Transfer to other HSA Account

Hello, I've decided to move some money from my current HSA acct with UMB to a new HSA with Fidelity. My current HSA through my employer is UMB and I cannot invest any of the money until after I have at least $1,000 in my cash acct. However, I can invest all of the money immediately with the Fidelity acct. My question is, Do I have to transfer money directly from UMB to Fidelity? When I do it this way, there is a hold time of 30 days before any funds are transferred. I don't want to liquify my investment acct and have it sit for at least 30 days before I can reinvest. Are there any tax reasons why I can't just have the funds sent to my regular bank acct, and then transferred over to Fidelity? I believe this process would only take a week or ...
by Element
Wed Dec 14, 2022 8:34 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why a Glide Path to Retirement?
Replies: 400
Views: 27398

Re: Why a Glide Path to Retirement?

I've played the game craps a few times and won a little money. At the time, I had a stack of chips I was playing with. I bet some, and rolled the dice. i would win and put a chip or two in my back pocket and keep playing with what I had on the table. I'd lose a little the next roll, and the money on the table disappeared. Then I'd win big and put 2 or 3 more chips in my back pocket. After I finally lost all my chips on the table, I walked away, knowing I still had a pocket full of chips in my possession. It ended up being more than what I began the night with. I think back to that from time to time and relate it to a retirement glidepath. I wasn't betting with all the money I had, but over time, ended up with a comfortable winning amount.
by Element
Sun Oct 16, 2022 3:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof [RESOLVED!]
Replies: 48
Views: 7843

Re: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof

Sandtrap wrote: Sun Oct 16, 2022 10:54 am
to op
this can help others:::::
you can edit your original first post uding the pencil icon to include your "update" so it doesnt have to be looked for or found later inside the posts threads.

just copy and paste the update into your heading/first post.

huge thanks
good luck going forward.

this is s good example of getting legal advice from a professional, and consulting an attorney does not automatically mean a road to litigation and high expenses.
j🌺

**huge thanks to "galawdawg"

Thanks sandtrap. I just edited my first post with the update!
by Element
Sat Oct 15, 2022 7:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof [RESOLVED!]
Replies: 48
Views: 7843

Re: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof

Very glad she received her money back. IMO she should also have received some compensation for her trouble. It seems the roofer was caught red handed in a blatant fraud and the penalty was only he had to return the money he stole. Not much of a disincentive to do this again, and I see above this was not his first time. Still, all in all a very good outcome-it could certainly have been worse. Great work! You're right. Who knows if he'll do it again. My MIL is in her 70s and does not have a lot of money. That $5k was a huge amount for her to lose. I know justice should be served harder to the roofer, but at this point, she wants to move on with her life now that she was paid back. She has learned a lesson of what NOT to do now when looking f...
by Element
Sat Oct 15, 2022 8:00 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof [RESOLVED!]
Replies: 48
Views: 7843

Re: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof

I wanted to provide an update to this. Thanks so much to the members on this board! I was given direction by @galawdawg on how to proceed with legal action towards the roofer. My MIL filed a claim in small claims court. Then called the clerk at the magistrate, which walked her through the steps. Filed a claim of thief by deception, along w police report. She got a summons to appear at court along with the roofer about a month ago. He started texting and calling her wanting to resolve the situation, saying it was a misunderstanding, etc. She told him to not contact her any more and that he could bring the money to the court date. So last week at court, he brought a check. Judge saw the check was drawn from a local bank. Had him meet my MIL a...
by Element
Fri Aug 26, 2022 3:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof [RESOLVED!]
Replies: 48
Views: 7843

Re: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof

[/quote]
To Op:

this forum member is a “hero”
and highly qualified professional
you need go no further than to PM

j🌴
[/quote]


I did speak to him this morning. He was very helpful. That's why I posted on this forum instead of Facebook or Reddit. I do thank everyone for their replies!
by Element
Fri Aug 26, 2022 6:26 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof [RESOLVED!]
Replies: 48
Views: 7843

Re: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof

I don’t think it’s a scam given the circumstances but I also doubt you will recover any money. The guy isn’t out of business because he had too much money and retired. He was robbing Peter to pay Paul for a long time and the jig is now up. I am not quick to give up on 5k but I also think it would be best to be realistic about the situation in which you find yourself. Contact the relevant folks to put a claim in/complaint in and then move on This is why you never pay a contractor with a check when he hasn’t done anything for you or without a lien release. I agree with this. I'm just trying to see if there is any way I can help. Backstory, my MIL is still married to my FIL and they live together. But he makes bad financial decisions. He's th...
by Element
Fri Aug 26, 2022 6:05 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof [RESOLVED!]
Replies: 48
Views: 7843

Re: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof

biscuit5 wrote: Thu Aug 25, 2022 11:56 pm
There were about 75 people included on this email.
they included everyones email address in the email?

is this roofer a local person in town? or a franchise from 50 miles away? or?
Yes, I didn't actually count the number of recipients in the email, but it was at least 40 and probably more. There were lots of replies in the chain of people like my MIL that were out their deposit and were talking about doing a class action lawsuit, etc.
I looked on BBB and the reviews were showing the same thing, around the same time frame. One person said that the company had the materials dropped off at their house, but the materials company did not get paid and was putting a lien on the homeowner.
by Element
Thu Aug 25, 2022 8:53 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof [RESOLVED!]
Replies: 48
Views: 7843

Re: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof

Thank you for the replies. I will try to file a claim through the bonding company. The only problem is that I can't find the company's license number anywhere. I tried looking it up on my state's (GA) website but nothing is coming up. I will keep trying.

This email was sent out by the company on July 25. Their website is shut down and My wife said that MIL has been trying to call their number repeatedly. No replies. Fortunately, it looks like the financing never went through with the finance company. I entered the loan number and her last 4 of ssn and nothing came up on the website.
by Element
Thu Aug 25, 2022 6:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof [RESOLVED!]
Replies: 48
Views: 7843

Re: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof

She might have called. I've checked the website and it has been shut down.
by Element
Thu Aug 25, 2022 6:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof [RESOLVED!]
Replies: 48
Views: 7843

MIL lost $5,000 for down payment on roof [RESOLVED!]

Does anyone have advice for how to possibly help my Mother in law? She needed some roof repair. Had a contractor come out who had a somewhat respectable history. He told her she needed a full roof replacement. She ended up financing a large amount with the roofer's preferred financing company, and also wrote a check to the roofer for $5,000 as down payment. A week later, she received a mass email from the roofer that he unfortunately has gone out of business and will not be completing the work. There were about 75 people included on this email. (I've X'd out the name) The email: Good Afternoon, We wanted to take a moment to share some unfortunate news. It is with our deepest regret to announce that XXXX Roofing and Construction is permanent...
by Element
Fri Apr 30, 2021 11:55 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Target Date Funds
Replies: 36
Views: 6869

Re: Target Date Funds

I'm all in on the 2045 Vanguard fund through my work (VITLX) with only a .09 ER. I've become more of a believer in International funds so I'm good with the AA.
by Element
Thu Feb 04, 2021 8:16 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: VTWAX seems Midcap heavy
Replies: 11
Views: 1214

Re: VTWAX seems Midcap heavy

TierArtz wrote: Thu Feb 04, 2021 8:09 pm Per Morningstar's Instant X-Ray, Vanguard Total World (VTWAX) is 19.3% mid cap (sum of mid-cap value, core, and growth; 6.14, 8.45, and 4.74, respectively).

The large cap and small cap totals are 75.06% and 5.61%, respectively.

For reasonable precision, I use 75%, 19%, and 6%, for Large, Medium, and Small cap, respectively.
Thank you for your reply and looking that up!
by Element
Thu Feb 04, 2021 8:04 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: VTWAX seems Midcap heavy
Replies: 11
Views: 1214

Re: VTWAX seems Midcap heavy

[/quote]

Yeah I would say if the OP dislikes the number of mid caps in his portfolio, then he can just adjust his definition of mid cap until he gets a % that he likes. The adjusted definition will be just as arbitrary and meaningless as Morningstar or Vanguards definition.
[/quote]

I don't like or dislike. All I'm trying to do is match the market. If VTWAX matches this across the globe then I'm good with that.
by Element
Thu Feb 04, 2021 6:40 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: VTWAX seems Midcap heavy
Replies: 11
Views: 1214

Re: VTWAX seems Midcap heavy

MrJedi wrote: Thu Feb 04, 2021 6:36 pm The US is much more large cap heavy than the rest of the world. Median market cap of VTSAX is 3x that of VTIAX for example.
Ok so I guess that they are including international stocks in the 3 different caps as well? That would make sense
by Element
Thu Feb 04, 2021 6:31 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: VTWAX seems Midcap heavy
Replies: 11
Views: 1214

VTWAX seems Midcap heavy

This is my portfolio: Rollover IRA: VTWAX (Total World) VTBLX (Total bond) Roth VTWAX VTBLX 401k VITLX (2045 Target Retirement) Taxable VTSAX (total stock) That's all I have. I looked at my portfolio analysis on the Vanguard home page, and it says that my stock portfolio is 55.8% midcap, and 41.5% large cap. Can someone explain this? I know that VTSAX is only 17% midcap, which is what is in my target retirement fund. I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with that much midcap exposure and that little large cap in VTWAX. Maybe I'm just reading it wrong. I called Vanguard today, and although the guy on the line was nice, he didn't know really any more than what I could see on my side. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/9048/kPfRvF.png
by Element
Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:52 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Max out 401k & Roth IRA contributions while student loans on pause?
Replies: 19
Views: 1744

Re: Max out 401k & Roth IRA contributions while student loans on pause?

If I were you: Whatever amount you need to do for company match. Pile cash in savings or money market. The purpose of this cash is to pay off student loans - but after we see what the new admin will do. Worst case scenario they do nothing, and come September you have a pile of cash to pay this off in full. With your income, this won’t be hard to do. Just focus on saving and cut the fun back for 6-7 months. As someone pointed out above, it’s 6% return. Not shabby. After that’s paid off, company match, Roth, back to 401k This is what I'm doing. Currently have about $30k left of my wife's student loan to pay off. I'm not currently paying it down, but saving $500 per paycheck in a savings account earmarked for the loan. Waiting to see what hap...
by Element
Tue Oct 06, 2020 12:19 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Taxable Account investing to pay off mortgage early
Replies: 8
Views: 805

Re: Taxable Account investing to pay off mortgage early

Watty wrote: Tue Oct 06, 2020 12:00 pm
Element wrote: Tue Oct 06, 2020 11:32 am Any pros/ cons to this?
One big thing to consider is if you will be able to max out all of your, and any spouses, tax advantaged accounts(IRA, 401k, 529, Roth, etc) if you choose a 15 year mortgage.

I am normally in the "Pay it off" or "pay it off quickly" cheerleading camp but to me if going with a 30 year mortgage would allow you to max out those accounts then that would greatly favor using the 30 year mortgage.
You're right, I wouldn't be able to max out all retirement accounts paying the 15 yr route.
by Element
Tue Oct 06, 2020 12:18 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Taxable Account investing to pay off mortgage early
Replies: 8
Views: 805

Re: Taxable Account investing to pay off mortgage early

tashnewbie wrote: Tue Oct 06, 2020 11:59 am How many years are left on your current mortgage?
I have 29 years left on my current mortgage. We moved last year. Currently at 3.75%. Going to 2.75% will reduce the payment by $200
by Element
Tue Oct 06, 2020 11:32 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Taxable Account investing to pay off mortgage early
Replies: 8
Views: 805

Taxable Account investing to pay off mortgage early

I'm refinancing currently to a 30 yr 2.75% mtg. I was going to do a 15 at 2.25% but figured I could pay down the 30 at a 15 year time frame.

Looking at calculators, I'd need to add about $900 per month to the mortgage in order to pay off in 15. However, I could put in $745 a month to a taxable acct, and have enough in 15 years to pay off the balance.

Any pros/ cons to this? I'm aware of capital gains taxes, and risks of the market place. But would 15 years be enough time to estimate avg returns? I'm estimating 7% return. using VTSAX.
by Element
Wed Aug 12, 2020 8:49 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Three-Fund Portfolio
Replies: 3898
Views: 2435035

Re: The Three-Fund Portfolio

My 401k has the 500 fund VFIAX as an option but no VTSAX. Would it be of any benefit to add Vanguard Midcap VMGMX to my portfolio? Currently my 3 fund consists of 60% VFIAX, 20% VTIAX, and 20%VBILX (Intermediate term bond fund). Would it make any difference for me to change the VFIAX to 50% and add VMGMX at 10%? See the Wiki on how to approximate the Total Stock Market Fund here: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Approximating_total_stock_market Is the Extended Market Fund available within your 401k? What about a Small Cap Fund? What about the Russell 2000? There are various combinations shown in the Wiki that will get your US portion of your portfolio distributed to approximate the Total Stock Market. CyclingDuo I have VMGMX Midcap and VEXR...
by Element
Tue Aug 04, 2020 8:58 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Three-Fund Portfolio
Replies: 3898
Views: 2435035

Re: The Three-Fund Portfolio

My 401k has the 500 fund VFIAX as an option but no VTSAX. Would it be of any benefit to add Vanguard Midcap VMGMX to my portfolio? Currently my 3 fund consists of 60% VFIAX, 20% VTIAX, and 20%VBILX (Intermediate term bond fund). Would it make any difference for me to change the VFIAX to 50% and add VMGMX at 10%?
by Element
Mon Mar 23, 2020 8:33 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Is VFIAX right for me?
Replies: 15
Views: 3032

Re: Is VFIAX right for me?

Yes it is the correct fund if you are tracking only the S&P 500.

Are you contributing to a Roth or taxable account? If it's the Roth, you can only contribute a max of $6K per year. I don't believe there is a limit in a taxable account though. Good luck!
by Element
Mon Jul 08, 2019 11:03 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Expense ratio 3 fund vs TR
Replies: 6
Views: 900

Re: Expense ratio 3 fund vs TR

VTSAX is .04
VTIAX is .11
VBTLX is .05

Say you have 50% VTSAX, 25% VTIAX, and 25% VBTLX

50% of .04 is .02
25% of .11 is .0275
25% of .05 is .0125

add those together = .06
by Element
Fri Jul 05, 2019 1:59 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Talk me in or out of Switching Funds- VBIAX and VTIAX
Replies: 3
Views: 920

Talk me in or out of Switching Funds- VBIAX and VTIAX

I'm currently putting all my 401k money into the Vanguard 2040 fund. It's the low cost institutional fund VIRSX w a 0.09 ER. I've been going back and forth about increasing my bond exposure as I'm about to turn 40 in August. The 2040 fund is currently at an 85/15 ratio. I'm thinking of setting my allocation at 70/30 going forward. The funds that would work best in my 401k options are the Balanced fund VBIAX, and Total International VTIAX. Setting VBIAX at 75%, and VTIAX at 25% would give me a 70/30 allocation. I don't have any future pension, and ideally I would like to retire at 55. My wife is a nurse that just landed a nice position. Together we will be able to save about $60k/year in all our tax advantaged accounts if we are disciplined....
by Element
Wed Feb 06, 2019 7:36 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Target Date Funds w/ 0.09%ER
Replies: 20
Views: 8890

Re: Target Date Funds w/ 0.09%ER

Thank you for the replies! Especially you, Taylor :)
by Element
Tue Feb 05, 2019 1:02 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Target Date Funds w/ 0.09%ER
Replies: 20
Views: 8890

Target Date Funds w/ 0.09%ER

My company switched over to Vanguard last year for our 401k, which has been nice. We have access to the Target Date funds. I had a mixture of 4 funds, all low cost Vanguard funds, in my portfolio. Recently, I exchanged everything and went all in to the 2045 fund, which currently is about 90/10 stocks/bonds (the 2040 fund VIRSX is currently 83/17). My question is: Other than the ER being higher for the target date fund, is there any other reason why I shouldn't just go all-in? We use the Institutional option VITLX, which only has a 0.09 ER. I debated using an equivalent of this with the 500 fund (VFIAX), and Interm Bond (VBILX). However, there are no good, low-cost international funds available in my 401k. The lowest one is Dodge & Cox I...
by Element
Fri Nov 23, 2018 9:20 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: pros and cons of target date funds?
Replies: 78
Views: 19315

Re: pros and cons of target date funds?

My employer switched 401k companies to Vanguard this past year. We have access to the institutional class target date funds. I put 100% of my contributions in VIRSX, which is the 2040 option. It only has a 0.09%ER
by Element
Mon Apr 02, 2018 8:37 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What’s the magic savings rate???
Replies: 94
Views: 20333

Re: What’s the magic savings rate???

This is a nice calculator to look at your situation:

http://networthify.com/calculator/early ... awalRate=4
by Element
Wed Dec 27, 2017 6:03 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How do Bogleheads save on eyeglasses?
Replies: 91
Views: 11046

Re: How do Bogleheads save on eyeglasses?

RMD3819 wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:14 am

60 Minutes did a story a few years ago that was fascinating. They "exposed" that nearly every facet of the eyeglass market, including VSP and other insurances, was controlled by one company named Luxxotica. The only exceptions were Costco and Walmart. I don't think they talked about online which would have been much smaller back then anyway.

To be fair, Luxottica owns a lot of the market, but not every part of it besides Walmart and Costco. They own Eyemed, but not VSP. VSP is owned by Marchon, which is a company in New York. At my practice, the only Luxottica brands we carry are Rayban, Oakley and Persol. All the others are either privately owned, or manufactured by other companies.
by Element
Mon Dec 25, 2017 3:16 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How do Bogleheads save on eyeglasses?
Replies: 91
Views: 11046

Re: How do Bogleheads save on eyeglasses?

dual wrote: Mon Dec 25, 2017 1:52 pm How do purely online companies measure for progressives?

You go to your local optometrist to get measured then send them the prescription. My wife got progressive sunglasses at Goggles4u for about $40 and they work great.
You're referring to the PD. but the seg ht measurement needed for a progressive or bifocal changes with each frame. If you get them online, they will just estimate where this measurement needs to be.
by Element
Mon Dec 25, 2017 10:27 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How do Bogleheads save on eyeglasses?
Replies: 91
Views: 11046

Re: How do Bogleheads save on eyeglasses?

I'm a licensed optician. I won't say much about the topic because I know saving money is the priority here. You can always get cheaper glasses online, and I don't blame people for doing that. But there are many different types of prescriptions and lens materials. Half the battle with getting glasses that work is finding someone that knows what they are doing. I work for an Ophthalmology practice and yes, we do have higher priced glasses. But we take insurance, and only charge what the insurance company tells us to charge. I used to work at Lenscrafters in the lab for 8 years, so I'm familiar with how everything works. And there is a difference between a big box store, which focuses only on sales, and an office with multiple doctors speciali...
by Element
Wed Sep 13, 2017 2:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard Balanced Fund vs Separate
Replies: 4
Views: 948

Re: Vanguard Balanced Fund vs Separate

Thanks for the replies. This too was my thought. I have decided to re-balance the acct to hold the three funds, and revisit it periodically. :sharebeer
by Element
Wed Sep 13, 2017 11:34 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard Balanced Fund vs Separate
Replies: 4
Views: 948

Vanguard Balanced Fund vs Separate

Hi. First post here. Thanks for all the helpful info and knowledge! These are the current funds I contribute to in my 401k: Vanguard 500 Index VFIAX .04 fee Vanguard Midcap VMGMX .07 Vanguard Interm-Term Bond VBILX .07 Vanguard Balanced Index VBIAX (60/40 split) .07 These are really the only low cost Vanguard funds in my option list other than Vanguard Explorer VEXRX .34, and Vanguard Growth Index VIGAX .06 My question is, Is there benefit to contributing to the Balanced fund at the same time while contributing to the other three? I'm currently contributing at a 80/20 split (25% towards the balanced fund, which comes out to 10% bonds) and 10% to the VBILX. I've heard the balanced fund is essentially VTSAX and VBTLX together. So my reasoning...