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PowderDay9

If you do have a really tight squeeze park exactly where you want the vehicle. Then get some fishing line and a plastic golf ball. Hang the golf ball from the ceiling resting on the windshield at eye level right in the middle of the steering wheel. This will make it a lot easier to pull in the garag...

PowderDay9

Interesting topic. Some of the principles apply to regular or high nw too. Setting up our trust was tricky/hard. 18? Too early. 26? I think we landed at this age, before any trust $ get released. DW and I were married and had a house at this age. I'm still not sure its the right age for our kids. W...

PowderDay9

Yes, you can easily afford this new house and you should buy it based on the reasons you stated. Some people focus on all the negative things that could happen if everything goes wrong but I think it's more likely that you will continue to be successful financially based on your prior earning, savin...

PowderDay9

The first response to this thread made me laugh for awhile. https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=325278 Somebody asked what is your side job and income. tibbitts replies, "My side job is pointing Bogleheads to the forum search box, where they'll find lots of threads like this one (l...

PowderDay9

I have been with Schwab for 20 years, Fidelity for 9 years and Vanguard for 2 years. Maybe I don't have the experience of when Vanguard was much better in the past but here is my overall rank of the 3 companies. 1. Vanguard 2. Fidelity 3. Schwab I find the service pretty similar but admittedly don't...

PowderDay9

It’s like these posters ignore what’s happened to Vanguard the past few years (Rick Ferri noted Buckley had Bogle’s statue removed from the front of the building, prior threads on Vanguard eliminating jobs in the US and moving them to India, etc.). When and what happened to the Bogle statue? It was...

PowderDay9

HomerJ wrote: ↑Wed Nov 18, 2020 9:29 pm If you're making that much money, you should be so much better at math than this.

I work with plenty of people who make $200k and are terrible at math. So it doesn't surprise me that some people think the top 1% or top 5% is not rare.

PowderDay9

I'd just combine everything into one joint vanguard brokerage account and buy VTSAX. Each month purchase VTSAX one time. Set dividends not to reinvest. Set cost basis to specific identification. You'll know when to TLH because it'll be all over the news. This set up takes only a few minutes per mont...

PowderDay9

I truly believe that some people would benefit from a financial advisor if they helped the client from selling low when large drops happen. Obviously AUM advisors can have high fees but that may be better than selling at the bottom every time the market crashes 30%. Investing is more about controlli...

PowderDay9

I like Dr. Bernstein's idea for those who have won the game. 20 or more years of draw down dollars in "safe" fixed income and invest the rest anyway you want -- even 100% equities. You don't need to triple your nest egg -- you need to make sure it fully funds your retirement and legacy wi...

PowderDay9

I think there must be a solution that does not include the need for overdraft protection. It does seem like it might be easier for you to just pay all the major bills, including your wife’s credit card bills. In addition or alternatively, you can set up alerts that can hopefully give you time to re...

PowderDay9

Radiologist. High earner and easy work. I'd be concerned artificial intelligence would substantially reduce the number of radiologists needed. I was at a large conference last year and the keynote speaker said, "you can just stop training new radiologists now because by the time they get out, ...

PowderDay9

Thanks for what you do. It's not easy especially during these times. Have you looked into a freestanding ER? I have an ER doc friend in his upper 30s who worked at a busy hospital and then went to work nights at a small freestanding ER in the suburbs. He only worked there less than a year though and...

PowderDay9

Many years ago, I called up Schwab and had them turn off the overdraft protection as it was an extremely undesirable feature for me. As you may know, with Schwab, you can open multiple checking accounts and multiple brokerage accounts - I have two of each. When I travel, I use Schwab's ATM debit ca...

PowderDay9

tj wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 8:06 pm
then Chase 2% on everything that doesn't fit in one other the other categories)
What Chase card offers 2%?

Sorry, it's the Citi double cash. I obviously have too many credit cards!

PowderDay9

Try this. --Increase your desired 1x checking balance to 2x or 3x level. Don't worry, you don't have to leave money on the table*. --Use only one checkbook and checks that make a duplicate copy. --Set up notification should account balance drop to 1x level. Assume that's a thing and can be done. --...

PowderDay9

This is why I use Mint and aggregate all our accounts so I can track all spending across all accounts. I use mint as well but only for credit cards. I don't want to give them my login for my checking account though. Are you saying that you can notice if a pending transaction will cause an overdraft...

PowderDay9

We target $2k as our floor in our checking account but it's a joint account and accidents happen from time to time. How? Not trying to blame the victim or anything, but figure out how mistakes get made, and stop doing that. One suggestion would be to stop writing checks. Pay for everything with cre...

PowderDay9

Yes that link above should help you. A simple example helped me understand why it's best to pay post-tax for medical expenses and leave the HSA funds to invest. For simplicity sake, say you have 2 accounts with the following balances. HSA account: $3k Savings account: $3k Now you have a $1k medical ...

PowderDay9

Does your state tax HSA contributions or investment gains? If not, then I'd choose the HSA compliant plan. Check with your plan but preventive care should be covered first dollar at no cost to you (before you pay your deductible). I'd take the $1k HSA company contribution and max out your HSA. Then ...

PowderDay9

If the tax break saves you 10% (just for the sake of discussion), then unless the risk of your employer going bankrupt before you withdraw the funds is at least 10%, then it makes sense to utilize the deferred comp plan, especially since the OP is maxing out everything else. And the OP says that th...

PowderDay9

Personally, I find the risk of 100% loss if my employer files for bankruptcy too big a hurdle for me to overcome for the tax benefits gained. I think about this a lot as well and think 10% of net worth in NQDC would be a reasonable limit. However, how big of a risk is not being paid out the funds? ...

PowderDay9

We target $2k as our floor in our checking account but it's a joint account and accidents happen from time to time.

PowderDay9

I received an email from Schwab Bank that they are closing our Overdraft Credit Line. Since we don't use their brokerage or savings accounts, we now have zero overdraft protection and will be subject up to $100 in overdraft fees per day. I watch our checking account fairly closely but the overdraft ...

PowderDay9

Option (e). Move everything to vanguard and do TLH yourself. TLR isn't worth the complexity and fees of a roboadvisor. Sure it's nice when you have low balances but once you get your account up to a few hundred thousand, it doesn't make sense anymore. For example, say you had 500k in total US and yo...

PowderDay9

So you're going to save $13.25 on taxes if you spend all $2750 in your FSA? That seems pretty trivial to me. How do you know you're going to use all $2750 next year? If you don't, HSA would have been better. You probably know this but not all states tax HSAs like California. In these other states, H...

PowderDay9

You should be able to take your year end paycheck and W2 and reconcile them. I highly recommend that as you'll better understand how each box is calculated. As for what reduces social security wages 403B - No HSA - Yes DCFSA - Yes State taxes - No Usually employee paid medical, dental, vision are ex...

PowderDay9

I track net worth but I think the more important financial metric is your investments divided by your projected annual expenses. Even if your investments went up, your expenses may have also gone up by the same percentage. If the expense increase was due to inflation then you're no better off. If th...

PowderDay9

MVNOs, I pay $6.46 per month for my cell phone plan on Tello
Costco Toilet Paper
Costco Pre-Made Taco Kit Dinner
Kirkland Premium Dog Food
Darn Tough Socks
Smith I/OX Ski Goggles
Bogleheads Conference

PowderDay9

PPO health insurance plan (vs HMO) Original Medicare (vs Advantage) Why original Medicare vs advantage? Trying to help my mom navigate this...thanks Most Medicare Advantage plans have a restricted network of providers. In my opinion this alone is enough to make them a poor choice. There are many ot...

PowderDay9

Surprised no one said this yet. There is no book that will prepare you for your first child. Im at week 4. Its definitely challenging. Everyone is going to tell you something different. What worked for someone else's child may not work for you. You are going to be tired. You will be sleep deprived,...

PowderDay9

It sound like you won't know if you lose your job until January, but I would consider taking a CARES Act distribution from your IRA if you are eligible. You can take out up to $100k by 12/31 penalty free and spread the income over 3 years. You can pay it back within 3 years and there is no tax/pena...

PowderDay9

It sound like you won't know if you lose your job until January, but I would consider taking a CARES Act distribution from your IRA if you are eligible. You can take out up to $100k by 12/31 penalty free and spread the income over 3 years. You can pay it back within 3 years and there is no tax/pena...

PowderDay9

I think you're good to retire. The potential for rent increasing faster than expected would worry me a bit though. Have you thought about buying a house to reduce that risk?

PowderDay9

I'd suggest that anything that models out at 90% or better is just fine. In reality, your chances of actually going broke are near zero. The doomsday scenario where you're broke, homeless, and panhandling on the street in your 90s don't happen because people make sensible adjustments to their spend...

PowderDay9

You're looking great! Glad to hear you are back home.

Happy Veteran's Day!

PowderDay9

- Another wrinkle in all this is ... my agency is starting a Roth option at the end of this year. If I go the Employer Retiree option, I wouldn't have to be concerned about the Premium Tax Credit income limit and I could front-load the entire $26,500 into Roth instead of my tax-deferred 457b. That ...

PowderDay9

I asked this exact question on other forums and the reactions were overwhelmingly positive. For example, "You're violating the rule of thumb that you shouldn't assume a mortgage greater than 3x your annual income, however you'll have immediate equity and a low interest rate." Or, "He...

PowderDay9

You'll be Medicare eligible in 3 years. If you will be getting large ACA premium subsidies over the next three years and don't have plans for Roth conversions, then I'd go the ACA route. The risk of the ACA going away in the next 3 years is extremely low in my opinion. The employer plan for $850 per...

PowderDay9

I'll echo someone earlier who said this is irrelevant. The only relevant question is whether your invested (non-house) assets are sufficient to cover expenses. If you have $10 million in invested assets and annual expenses of $200,000, does it really matter if your house is $1 million or $10 millio...

PowderDay9

It wouldn't change my retirement plans but might make retirement better. Like others have said, don't count on it until you receive it. I am counting on social security though and have full confidence it will be around for generations.

PowderDay9

If it were me, I'd move to Austin! If you like BBQ and other food, they are one of the best cities for that (mmmmm, Salt Lick). In a heartbeat, but am I the only one who thinks Salt Lick is hugely overrated? Of all the BBQ places I tried in the Austin area (many of which are not known names) during...

PowderDay9

If it were me, I'd move to Austin! If you like BBQ and other food, they are one of the best cities for that (mmmmm, Salt Lick). In a heartbeat, but am I the only one who thinks Salt Lick is hugely overrated? Of all the BBQ places I tried in the Austin area (many of which are not known names) during...

PowderDay9

Either you both are very underpaid at your current employers or these job offers are a huge career advancement. Based on your comment about your current employer increasing your comp by $60k upon knowing the new offer, I'd venture to guess you were paid below your market value. If you think this is ...

PowderDay9

VTSAX is more tax efficient so it is better in a taxable account. I would not buy FZROX in taxable. For tax-advantaged accounts (401k, IRA, etc) you can use either fund. FZROX has a lower expense ratio but also has less stocks than VTSAX. The performance of both should be almost identical so I'd sli...

PowderDay9

I break the formula up. To get the taxable amount for each bracket, I do: =MAX( 0, MIN([Upper Bracket],[Income])-[Lower Bracket] ) And then the tax on each bracket is that amount multiplied by the rate. Each bracket gets a row, and then I sum it up to get the total tax. This is the most efficient a...

PowderDay9

- the only real difference between medigap companies is price & customer service, many people go with the lowest price I believe a third factor (which is perhaps unknowable) is the potential for the chosen company to increase rates faster than average. I seem to remember reports of some provide...

PowderDay9

What is average premium difference between a Medigap plan, and a Medicare Advantage plan? I see one post with an example of paying $57 for HD Plan G+$23 for Part D, so that is $960 a year. I would not choose MA for that kind of savings with added headache, but everyone's MMV. It varies substantiall...

PowderDay9

An awful lot depends on where you live in the country. I'm enrolled in an MA plan. The greater the competition between networks - the more benefits for the enrollee. Big networks of docs - and I could change networks in any given month as many times as I want. Do not have to wait for open season. $...

PowderDay9

Leave it in the 401k or roll it into your new 401k but don't covert it to Roth in the 37% tax bracket. You should consider future contributions into traditional 401k, not Roth 401k. Almost everyone here will recommended that to you.

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