Bogleheads.org

Jags4186 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 1:21 pm

MrBobcat wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 1:20 pm

ScubaHogg wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 12:39 pm

MrBobcat wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 10:28 am Go camping in a national forest.

I’m curious if you’ve done this with a two year old…?

I've done it with a 4yo, 2yo and 1yo at the same time, in a tent. Good times.

Trust me, camping won’t be on the menu. But thank you for the suggestion.

It's not for everyone, but we were poor and lived relatively close to great camping areas. So many good memories.

ScubaHogg wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 12:39 pm

MrBobcat wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 10:28 am Go camping in a national forest.

I’m curious if you’ve done this with a two year old…?

I've done it with a 4yo, 2yo and 1yo at the same time, in a tent. Good times. Portable crib a necessity. Also bathed them in a rubbermaid container as they get dirty.

It took 2 of us working for 33 years to save $1mm.

Go camping in a national forest.

chassis wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 3:54 am

erebusxc47 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 1:44 am My question is should I put some savings in a money market? And if so, how much in terms of monthly expenses?

Yes. 100% of your "cash" position.

Daily operative cash (Starbucks, cell phone bill, gasoline) and so-called "emergency fund" can be held in a single money market fund.

If you are with Fidelity, many of us recommend FZDXX if you can manage a $100k initial purchase. Subsequent purchases can be less than $100k and the balance does not need to be maintained at $100k.

Do you have to do anything special to buy FZDXX or can I just buy it if I have the required funds? I have the money in SPAXX at the moment.

KellyInBaconville wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 7:06 am Good morning! Been lurking and reading here the last few months.
I then dove into my EJ accounts.
I really didn’t pay attention to the E-Statements.
The churn is insanity. Lesson learned.
The IRA is in 10, yes 10 different funds.
The Taxable MF is ANCFX.
And stocks are KO, OGE and Walmart. Dividend reinvested.
So last week I went to Fidelity and everything is in motion now to transfer in kind.
They will take ANCFX. I plan to exchange that for FSKAX once everything is settled. And probably a tax hit.
Now the IRA I will probably put in FIHFX.

I did this 4 years ago and am so happy I did.

smooth_rough wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 6:19 pm

MrBobcat wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 9:07 am

3PKWzh9 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 12:11 am Is it PRUDENT?

You're are at a wealth level prudent doesn't even factor into a purchase like this unless you were planning on dumping $20mm into a vacation home... but somehow I think you already know this.

$4M/$28M = 1/7 of his taxable account.

I'm guessing he cares, and doesn't want to end up like athelete who went from rags to riches to rags, after something unexpected happened with his career.

He's not going to be an athlete going from rags to riches because he drops $4mm on a vacation house and has $24mm left... maybe if he decides to buy into a private jet. He makes more in one year than 99% (not verified ) of american's save in a lifetime.

3PKWzh9 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 12:11 am Is it PRUDENT?

You're are at a wealth level prudent doesn't even factor into a purchase like this unless you were planning on dumping $20mm into a vacation home... but somehow I think you already know this.

How, even if you dumped $5mm into a vacation home and it burned to the ground w/o insurance and it was a total loss, could it possibly have any kind of impact on your life and doing what you want to do?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcArzldvoGE

I'm currently obsessed with PostModern Jukebox's version of I Was Made For Lovin' You (yes a Kiss cover), done in Spaghetti Western Style feat. Effie Passero

1. 77 Pontiac Bonneville, bought from my dad in 1984 for $1,500, it had 104K miles on it, drove it for 8 years, had 168K and sold it for scrap $50. 2. 1988 Dodge mini van bought in 1992, had 107K miles paid $7,000 for it, drove it for 7ish years, sold it for $750. 3. 1984 Honda Accord, bought around 1995 for $2,500, had 121K miles on it, got in one too many fender benders and sold it for $200, still sad about this one. Want to say I drove it for 5-6 years. 4. 1988 Chevy Suburban, bought in 1999 for $8,000, 105ishK miles drove it for about 6 years until it died, sold it for $500. 5. 1995 Toyota Avalon, bought around 2001, had 55k miles, paid $13k, daughter took it to college when she went and it died around 220K miles. 6. 1999 Chevy IT truck...

I'm glad I didn't ask bogleheads about my first home purchase - they would have said no. Home price was 240K - my salary was 45K - wife two small kids - both of us in our early 30's - no savings of any kind - cars owned outright - no major debt - living check to check - borrowed down from parents (10K). I think our rent was 1100 - and that jumped to just under 2k? Wasn't a huge stretch. Worked out extremely well for us. Key though was I felt great regarding my employment and my wife was extremely employable. So being young and employable and smart is key to feel assured you can always make the payments. The interest rate sucks though - mine was in the 2's I think - we had one of those variable can't get a loan type loans + PMI. (this is 19...

rich126 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 8:32 am The ones with the least regret are unfortunately the ones who didn't make it to 70.

Trust me they won't care unless they ran out of money before tipping over.

JenniferW wrote: ↑Mon Feb 27, 2023 11:55 pm
Yeah, I understand. We don't eat steak much though , maybe a handful of times per year. Mostly we eat $1.94/lb whole pork loin (bonelss). We slice into thin slices for jerky, stir fry and pho. We also slice into nice chops. Also we eat pork butt at $1.58/lb. Grind it into ground pork or BBQ it for pulled pork. Also we eat $2.84/lb ground beef.

Side note: I am doing another challenge , to reduce monthly grocery bill down from $588 per month to $400 per month. Did okay so far this month

For 2 people? If so that should be very doable.

So why not focus on those goals, ie X amount towards house paydown, x amount towards savings, and spend the rest and not worry about your spending categories? My goal is to save as much money as I can as possibly can, not buying anything that doesn't bring me any real value to my life. I don't do sinking funds nor use cash envelopes etc.. all excess money is money to be saved is how I view things. Again I want to get this home paid off in two years. What if I died 3 years from now and not had this home paid off.. it'd be foreclosed and my BF wouldn't have it. It drives me to save, for his security -- and mine as well since we don't have a lot of funds currently. I messed up for 30 years and now trying to make things right. Then figure out ...

Mr money mustache might be a good forum for this. Personally I don’t think you need to be so frugal unless you have some other circumstances like a disability and can’t work, etc.At some point money will be spend either by you, your heirs, or the government so might as well enjoy things. I understand. I just have an immediate goal to get this home paid off within the next couple years. If I pass I just want it to transfer to my BF without any issues, without having to pay off bank etc.. just transfer the title right over (no probate etc.) Want him to have home and not worry about a house payment; he's been really good to me. That's my immediate goal. Secondary goal is like $50k in liquid funds for anything that might hit us. My current net...

albireo13 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 24, 2023 4:00 pm
One thing is my wife likes RJ and is opposed to my plan. That is
my challenge, I know.

I am doing more research and am open to suggestions.

Tell her she can spend the +/-$10k a year you'll save on RJ fees on whatever she wishes.

There are many people who spend zero money in those human enrichment categories. They are in prison. Well I'm having the time of my life and not imprisoned :) Most of the joys of life can be had for free :) Or low one time costs. I cook fine meals for us, garden out back, have two big 4k tv's, an audiophile stereo system (which we DIY'd for a couple hundreds bucks per component), a nice washer, dryer, dishwashing machine, stove; a few nice bbq pits out back. A two car garage, a lovely shed. An awesome dog we play with. Tons of free entertainment on internet including youtube, free streaming, forums, etc.. Many discretionary spending items are one time costs, so after you have everything you really want it gets easier to cut back on spending.

This is what matters. https://i.imgur.com/nkyVdow.png Around 2009, BlackBerry had over 50% market share of the US smartphone market. Not as high as Docusign but pretty darn dominant. I remember my daughter had a keyboard model her company had issued her, and she told me how great it was. My son got one a few years later, and it was their bungled touchscreen model, and he told me how bad it was. Market dominance can be lost quickly. Where it matters is that they become a takeover target for larger companies which I point out in my post which you left out of your reply. I'd guess a breakout in DocuSign stock would happen when it's announced that they get bought out by a larger company just to get their corporate customers. https://www.bogleh...

I went dishwasher shopping today and the salesman at an appliance store said Bosch is so backed up that they have stopped accepting orders and it will be months before they clear the backlog and start accepting orders again. He added that customers have waits of up to a year to receive dishwashers ordered before the freeze. Interesting. Must be for some models. There is a 300 SHE53B75UC model available for delivery in 7 days from Best Buy. Well, at least in my area. Have you called to confirm this? I only ask because we drove to the nearest Home Depot (120 miles) because the website for that store said they had 4 on hand. The guy laughed at me and said you can't rely on our website. This was July and they were backordered then and they guy...

My son did a life guard job last summer and a few hundreds dollars of FICA tax was deducted. I thought the FICA can be claimed back when file tax return, because I read on IRS "Payments for the services of a child under age 18 are not subject to social security and Medicare taxes. If the child is 18 years or older, then payments for the services of a child are subject to social security and Medicare taxes.", However, in turbotax he can only get the federal tax and state tax back. Is this right? Only if they're employed by their parent's business (Schedule C, F or 1065 (if parents are only owner)), then the parents don't withhold FICA. Alternatively if someone is a full time student and employed by the university they are attendin...

My son did a life guard job last summer and a few hundreds dollars of FICA tax was deducted. I thought the FICA can be claimed back when file tax return, because I read on IRS "Payments for the services of a child under age 18 are not subject to social security and Medicare taxes. If the child is 18 years or older, then payments for the services of a child are subject to social security and Medicare taxes.", However, in turbotax he can only get the federal tax and state tax back. Is this right? Only if they're employed by their parent's business (Schedule C, F or 1065 (if parents are only owner)), then the parents don't withhold FICA. Alternatively if someone is a full time student and employed by the university they are attendin...

We wanted to get a Bosch this summer, couldn't find one available and went with this KitchenAid:

https://www.kitchenaid.com/major-applia ... 04kps.html

I'm now a Kitchenaide convert, the thing is fantastic.

bengal22 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 1:43 pm I would also recommend the Tax Aide AARP preparers. Google their location nearest you. Secure, accurate, and free.

According to the OP they have $3mm they can and should IMO afford and be to able pay for competent advice. Tax Aid AARP focuses on people over age 50 with low to moderate income.

Holy moly, after reading this thread and the various merges, hire yourself a competent tax preparer/CPA whatever, pay their fee, don't complain, you need the help and some advice. Also don't shoot the messenger if what you have done has caused some catastrophic tax consequences. Maybe yes, maybe no (I hope no) but damn if you took a pile (million plus) out of tax deferred accounts and/or had significant gains in your taxable accounts when you liquidated, be prepared to pay the piper.

Hello all, I have been part of this forum for many years now. I am posting under a new account in order to make preserve privacy. I am mid-career level tenured academic in the engineering discipline. I have stayed in central midwest for over 10 years now at mid-major university and have a family with two kids in middle school. I have been looking to grow myself both research-wise and leadership potential wise and have decided to make a move to better universities or to a better place. I long for more pleasant scenery with woods/hiking/outdoor activities and better (somewhat warmer perhaps?) weather so that is also a consideration, but not sure yet how to weight these different considerations. Anyway I have interviewed at the following plac...

I'm lined up for a medical procedure will likely cancel our summer camping plans. DW and I have started looking at lodge-type stays at national parks, including at Yellowstone, as an alternative. The trip will include the littles aged 5 and 0. Anyone thoughts and advice from people who have gone to Yellowstone? I'm particularly interested in suggestions regarding where to stay, and why. I'd also be glad to hear: You would be better going to X than to Yellowstone, and why. I'm not married to Yellowstone in particular. We haven't been there. And it was just the first thing that came to our mind. As relevant, we will be driving out of the San Francisco Bay area in mid-July, and we're looking to spend 3-4 weeks on the road. Thank you all. Been...

KlangFool wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 5:36 pm OP,

1) In this forum, many folks do not use percent of income as the saving rate. We use percent of annual expense. I save 100% of my annual expense every year.

KlangFool

Do you count income/fica tax as part of your annual expense or do you go this is our income after taxes, spend half save half?

I'm in the catch-up phase of retirement savings, so much, much higher now than when we were younger, poorer and raising 3 kids. Last kid got out of college in 2015.

First 10 years, maybe 5-8% (couple of thousand $/year)
Next 10 years, 10% (about $5k/year)
Next 5 years, 15%
Next 5 years, 30%
Last 5 years, Close to 50%

IsabellaH555 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 08, 2023 4:44 pm
One evening I got a message, from the receptionist at the medical office here, reminding me of an appointment for the next morning. I was puzzled as I had not made any new appointments, and I had just had a checkup there the previous week. I was told I was in very good health, so no reason for another appointment so soon.

Is it possible they scheduled a follow up appointment when you were done with the checkup the previous week, maybe to go over some lab work or something?

She seems very level headed, smart, and trustworthy to me, and has worked up what seems to be good investment plan, which includes some ingenious-sounding funds and "products" which I would not otherwise have access to. For example, I accrued quite a lot of taxable gains with VTSAX over the years, but she has a "direct indexing" product which will supposedly earn me index-like returns, while lowering those gains over time through tax loss harvesting. She also has some really interesting products that provide principal protection while still offering good indexed market returns. And then, of course, she would park some of my money in privately equity funds which she says offer good returns, but which I'm sure also have h...

PugetSoundguy wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 12:24 pm Our motto is we make mistakes so you don't have to. I wish we would have done years ago what you are contemplating now. We kept waiting to do needed renovations and now our kids will only be in the house a few more years.

Your situation seems like a very good use of a HELOC. You seem to have your eyes wide open about potential cost overruns, etc. Go for it and good luck!

We waited till the kids were out of the house. Definitely would have been nicer to have it finished when they were younger but we couldn't afford it.

I think if you can't pay cash, you can't afford it. I'd keep saving and do it when you can pay cash. We waited till we could pay cash. Granted we weren't in exactly the OPs situation as our basement had been finished in the 70s. But no egress windows, wasn't insulated (we live where it's cold) and the bathroom was functional but terrible. We did the bathroom first. Then a few years later, gutted the basement down to the studs, put in 3 egress windows, removed the popcorn ceiling, put in recess lighting, insulated it, removed the shag carpet and put in tile flooring and had a new electrical box put in. Worth every penny. IIRC we are into it about $65k, finished everything up 2ish years ago. It took months for them to get everything done.

WoodSpinner wrote: ↑Sat Feb 11, 2023 10:12 pm OP,

Not a tax expert but, I don’t think you can do a 1031 exchange after a property has been sold.

WoodSpinner

You can, though the proceeds from sale must be held by a qualified intermediary. You have 45 days to identify replacement property and 180 days after that to close on replacement property.

1. What type of trust? Revocable living trust or irrevocable trust? 2. IMO your BIL really ought to run it by his tax advisor as to whether your mothers house is going to qualify for a 1031. It appears he plans on using it for personal reasons, not business/investment reasons which would nix the 1031. 3. If the house is in a revocable living trust and the house was used by your mother as her principle residence in 2 of the last 5 years she can exclude $250K gain. If she dies with it, it'll get a step up in basis, so likely no capital gains tax. The capital gains tax issue will come into play if she's in assisted living for more than 3 years and then needs to sell the house. It’s in a revocable trust. My mother has been in the facility almo...

sw5318 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 11, 2023 10:25 am Hi All,
Wife and I are looking to finish the basement and need 50-75k to do so.

Any recommendations in the current environment for the best loan to take out?

We have pretty decent credit, but have a 2.6% interest rate, so obviously don't want to refinance the house.

If there aren't any good options right now, we may just need to cool the jets and save up some cash.

Appreciate any ideas though.

Thanks!

Can you get a HELOC or a second mortgage to preserve the 2.6% first mortgage?

1. What type of trust? Revocable living trust or irrevocable trust?

2. IMO your BIL really ought to run it by his tax advisor as to whether your mothers house is going to qualify for a 1031. It appears he plans on using it for personal reasons, not business/investment reasons which would nix the 1031.

3. If the house is in a revocable living trust and the house was used by your mother as her principle residence in 2 of the last 5 years she can exclude $250K gain. If she dies with it, it'll get a step up in basis, so likely no capital gains tax. The capital gains tax issue will come into play if she's in assisted living for more than 3 years and then needs to sell the house.

I replaced my water tank in December. 50gal water heater was $1030. Total cost came to about $1,800 (labor was mixed in with installing a new toilet). They had to move a few gas lines as well to get it in. Bargain as far as I was concerned, took about a month and a half to get it scheduled because all the plumbers in town are busy. It was a preemptive replacement because my old water heater was 16-17 years old and I really hate to wake up to cold showers.

OP, We do not believe in books and so on. We believe in show and explain. We took our kids grocery shopping. We explain why we buy x instead of Y. We show how buying stuff on sale and coupon saves money. We explain why we did what we did. We gave our kids money for them to buy their own stuff. We let them manage their money and make their own mistake. We gave them $25 for birthday and X'mas. They shopped for their own gifts. The amount of money under their own control grew as they get older. KlangFool This is pretty much what we did, lots of explaining why we did what we did combined with increasing amounts of money under their own control. All started working summer jobs by age 14-15 with the expectation that they should contribute as muc...

I have a 2017 Subaru with around 80k miles. I took it into the dealer for a vibration issue and turns it out that it needs some bushings replaced on the suspension that will cost $1k

My first thought would be to take it to a tire shop to see if your wheels need rebalanced.

Colorado14 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 05, 2023 1:00 pm I recently retired at age 54, as planned. Spouse is already retired. So far retirement has been wonderful.

It's a real treat to be able to enjoy having free time, less stress and much contentment knowing that we worked and saved so much in our twenties and thirties (and forties) that we can now enjoy this chapter of our lives. Hopefully all of you Gen Xers that want to join us in early retirement will be able to do so soon! Good luck!

Congrats, were shooting for an earlyish retirement (we're 56/57) in about 3.5 years.

A friend mine, who is not a BH, read some of this thread and said- and I quote: " I am calling BS on this thread. Most of those responding are exaggerating their amount of wealth." I tried to explain to him that the folks here are atypical of the majority, live below their means, successful, and financially driven. He doesn't' believe me or what the responders here have stated. I think most people dream of having a $1M+ net worth, but they never take the steps to achieve the goal. Most of our friends make pretty good money, but somehow manage to live paycheck to paycheck. We don't talk about finances much with our friends, but I've heard enough general comments to know that investing in the stock market is not important to them. ...

How old are you today? 56/57 Portfolio Value Today? 1.2M ($450k taxable, $330K SEP, $25k HSA, 395K Roth) What is your portfolio target size for retirement in PV dollars? 1.5M What age are you targeting full retirement? 60/61 Estimated annual spend (in todays dollars) in retirement: 72K, this can be cut back if needed. Mrs. will get a pension of about 1.8K/month. She'll start drawing SS between 65-66, I'll start at 70. I'll get $36,840 SS at 70 and She'll get about $16K in SS. Annual savings $60k Taxable $24k SEP, 7.5k Roth and $8k HSA House paid off and no other debt. I also own a paid off office building worth about $400K. Kids are all through college and on own. I may pull the plug earlier but Mrs will work till about 3 months before turn...

MathWizard wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 3:57 pm I have never experienced it, or known of it to happen.

But then, I write a check for the car and drive it away with a bill of sale. Good luck with them getting it back.

I have never financed with a dealer. Twice early on with a bank, but now I just pay cash.

^This. When younger I had to finance our first few used vehicles through our credit union. Did not buy our first new car till I could pay cash for it.

deanbrew wrote: ↑Sun Jan 29, 2023 8:54 am

MrBobcat wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 10:43 pm

jjunk wrote: ↑Fri Jan 20, 2023 5:50 pm Rewatched RRR with my wife last night since she hadn't seen it. Still as amazing as the first time. The movie is simply an experience unlike anything else. Nice to see it getting some attention at the awards shows (not that those really mean anything but it brings wider audiences).

I hadn't heard of it till I saw your recommendation. Mrs and I watched it tonight, hands down one of the most enjoyable movies we've watched in a long time.

What is "RRR"?

That's the name of the movie, it's on netflix. Weird name, I know.

jjunk wrote: ↑Fri Jan 20, 2023 5:50 pm Rewatched RRR with my wife last night since she hadn't seen it. Still as amazing as the first time. The movie is simply an experience unlike anything else. Nice to see it getting some attention at the awards shows (not that those really mean anything but it brings wider audiences).

I hadn't heard of it till I saw your recommendation. Mrs and I watched it tonight, hands down one of the most enjoyable movies we've watched in a long time.

my goal is to owe the government money but not to have a penalty. Yup as long as you pay 90% of your total liability or 100% of what you paid last year you avoid penalties on the taxes owed. If your prior year AGI was over $150K (or $75K if MFS), then you need to substitute "110% of what you paid last year" for the phrase I underlined and bolded above. Farmers and fishermen also can substitute "66% of your total liability" for the "90% of your total liability" rule cited by grok above. Farmers and fishermen are also exempt from the 110% special rule even if their income exceeds $150K. See "Special Rules" on page 1 of https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf I am pretty sure there are a number of b...

Why not just pay the tax?

Thanks for replies. The reoccurring questions was "why a pickup?" Here is what it would be used for and what is it is not required for: 1. Hauling light material such as mulch, leaves and grass clippings, etc. to and from the community composting center. 2. Gardening - I have multiple garden locations and am frequently moving soil or compost or garden tools. 3. Light hauling of boxes, etc. 4. Bike for remote locations. also, lawn mower, snow blower, etc. Not: 1. Heavy towing such as boat, camper, trailer, etc. 2. Heavy aggregate such as gravel, etc. 3. Fashion 4. Off roading My current vehicle - Equanox 2015 has 155k miles and no problems, but it is awkward to do above things at times. Plus it gets quite dirty with transporting o...

nyclon wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 9:38 pm
Pay the tax and diversify vs go from one illiquid investment (that luckily liquidated) to another illiquid and suspect investment.

^This