Search found 7025 matches

by Wiggums
Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:04 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Thoughts on Dave Ramsey's Investments
Replies: 32
Views: 2527

Re: Thoughts on Dave Ramsey's Investments

We invested in the three fund portfolio (or similar) and treasuries. 39 years and still going strong.

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio
by Wiggums
Wed Mar 27, 2024 1:25 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How do YOU integrate cognitive decline with investment policy?
Replies: 35
Views: 2371

Re: How do YOU integrate cognitive decline with investment policy?

We simplified our portfolio and reduced the number of accounts we have opened. We keep our financial documents up-to-date. We trained our sons to manage their own brokerage account. We are in the process of educating our sons on our finances.

I agree with retired that Retired@50 that a one-fund portfolio, a balanced index fund or a retirement income fund. is a good solution for many people.
by Wiggums
Wed Mar 27, 2024 11:04 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: [Wait for new Dept. of Labor Financial Advisor Protections?]
Replies: 13
Views: 872

Re: WAIT FOR NEW DEPT. OF LABOR FINANCIAL ADVISER PROTECTIONS

We hold the three fund portfolio and treasuries. It’s very easy to manage. We are buy and hold investors. The best way to protect your family from poor advisor recommendations, is to educate your spouse, and have them make changes. As an alternative, consider an all-in-one fund. It’s hard to imagine that a law would passed to protect the consumer against “bad” advice. Even when one hires an advisor, it is up to the account owner to review statements, understand taxes, etc.
by Wiggums
Tue Mar 26, 2024 11:07 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Automatic investments - How to keep balanced?
Replies: 6
Views: 404

Re: Automatic investments - How to keep balanced?

Going out on a limb here, but we stopped worrying about rebalancing in retirement. We set our AA down to 65/35 and now our equities have room to fly. It is possible to rebalance too often or do so in a manner that is tax inefficient.
by Wiggums
Tue Mar 26, 2024 11:00 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice for 29 year old daughter
Replies: 32
Views: 2813

Re: Advice for 29 year old daughter

Our oldest contributes to the S&P 500 in his 401k and VTSAX in a Roth IRA. No plans on having a rental.
by Wiggums
Mon Mar 25, 2024 9:31 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fidelity Wealth Mgmt Advisor vs. Fidelity Target Fund
Replies: 17
Views: 1432

Re: Fidelity Wealth Mgmt Advisor vs. Fidelity Target Fund

Perhaps a downside of the Fidelity go program in a taxable account would be IF the Fidelity flex funds cannot be help outside of the Fidelity Go program. The FAQs says, “Fidelity Flex® funds are a lineup of Fidelity mutual funds that have zero expense ratios, and include proprietary active and passive funds. Flex funds are currently available only to certain fee-based accounts offered by Fidelity, like Fidelity Go”
by Wiggums
Mon Mar 25, 2024 8:23 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Those complimentary dinners for retirees by investment advisors
Replies: 143
Views: 10535

Re: Those complimentary dinners for retirees by investment advisors

Back in the day, people would call your Florida hotel room and offer you a free bag of oranges but you had to listen to a sales pitch for discount tickets of whatnot when you retrieved your gift. I guess the hotel gave out my info.

We subscribe to the same that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. We also don’t do business with people who show up unannounced at our door or cold call us. It’s safer that way.
by Wiggums
Sun Mar 24, 2024 11:15 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: House 2027
Replies: 36
Views: 3217

Re: House 2027

I would invest the savings in a MM or treasuries. Why are you waiting three years to move?
by Wiggums
Sun Mar 24, 2024 9:37 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fiduciary advisors vs not - how important do you think it is
Replies: 33
Views: 2274

Re: Fiduciary advisors vs not - how important do you think it is

Just because you higher someone to manage your money, that does not eliminate your responsibility to provide oversight by reviewing statements, and changes to your account are suitable for you.
by Wiggums
Sat Mar 23, 2024 4:10 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Downside to 401k allocation churn?
Replies: 8
Views: 772

Re: Downside to 401k allocation churn?

Rebalancing too often can sometimes do more harm than good. I would focus on moving the funds to your preferred location, and then rebalance once the movie is completed.
by Wiggums
Sat Mar 23, 2024 7:35 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio Review in Retirement
Replies: 30
Views: 2729

Re: Portfolio Review in Retirement

We are 10 years younger and our AA is 65/35. We hold the three fund portfolio plus treasuries.

You have $86,000 pension plus SS. Not sure of your expense.

Your current AA is reasonable as is. If your goal is to invest for your heirs, you can add more equities, but 80/20 seems high to me. As an alternative, you can adopt a reverse glide path and invest at your current AA and not rebalance in the future.
by Wiggums
Fri Mar 22, 2024 10:28 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth conversion in Fidelity. Can you convert CDs from a tIRA to Roth?
Replies: 4
Views: 405

Re: Roth conversion in Fidelity. Can you convert CDs from a tIRA to Roth?

Yes, Fidelity CD's and TNotes can be moved from Trad IRA to Roth IRA without selling them.
by Wiggums
Fri Mar 22, 2024 10:24 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: retirement income - reinvesting dividends
Replies: 4
Views: 875

Re: retirement income - reinvesting dividends

We reinvest dividends in our retirement accounts.
by Wiggums
Fri Mar 22, 2024 8:06 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: VWIAX [Vanguard Wellesley Admiral Shares] for 80+ inlaws?
Replies: 16
Views: 1446

Re: VWIAX [Vanguard Wellesley Admiral Shares] for 80+ inlaws?

galabar wrote: Thu Mar 21, 2024 9:41 pm I was planning on advising that my inlaws (80+) invest in VWIAX (https://investor.vanguard.com/investmen ... file/vwiax).

However, with an expense ration of 0.16%, would there be a combination of funds (eg. VFIAX, etc.) that would accomplish the same thing, but have a lower expense ration overall?

Thanks for any info.
My mother is 94 years old. She has that fund and she is happy with it. The expense ratio is not high.
VWIAX - Vanguard Wellesley Income Fund Admiral Shares
by Wiggums
Fri Mar 22, 2024 7:13 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 23 years old, question about investments in taxable acct
Replies: 25
Views: 1949

Re: 23 years old, question about investments in taxable acct

Our 24 year old son redirects his paycheck to his 401k (S&P 500), Roth IRA (VTSAX), and some dollars to a MM for future goals. He doesn’t see the need for bonds since he is just getting started.
by Wiggums
Fri Mar 22, 2024 6:59 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: When one is ready to retire and pull out of the market.
Replies: 44
Views: 4883

Re: When one is ready to retire and pull out of the market.

We retired at 56 and lowered our AA to 65/35. We started off retirement with 2-3 years of expenses in cash. We have a long tine in retirement, so we never considered getting out of the market. We added treasuries to our three fund portfolio as interest rates improved. When the pandemic associated market crash happened, we Roth converted a larger amount and started to buy more stock while stuck at home.
by Wiggums
Wed Mar 20, 2024 8:00 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Purchasing MYGAs (multi year guaranteed annuities) - mega thread
Replies: 2255
Views: 293125

Re: MYGA as bond substitute?

For cash that you are sure you won’t need, it’s nice to lock in that interest rate. We have gone out 3 years and we will use this money to cover future lumpy expenses. Our AA is 65/35 using the three fund portfolio. So we still have a bunch in intermediate bonds too.
by Wiggums
Wed Mar 20, 2024 7:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What kind of unexpected expenses come up late in life?
Replies: 18
Views: 2077

Re: What kind of unexpected expenses come up late in life?

For context, are you retiring early?

There are many things that can happen in life. I think it’s a given that your medical expenses will rise as you get older. We only retired once our kids had enough to complete college and that ended their allowance. Yes, we would help them in an emergency.

Inflation is a concern since we have a long retirement.

I know during the rapid appreciation of houses, many seniors complained about the high property taxes.

We are considering the cost of a move versus aging in place where we would consider adding an elevator to the existing structure.
by Wiggums
Wed Mar 20, 2024 6:28 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Crummey Trust - Who Reports the Income?
Replies: 6
Views: 672

Re: Crummey Trust - Who Reports the Income?

Depending on how the trust is drafted, the trust may need to obtain its own tax ID number. Does your have it’s own tax payer ID number?
by Wiggums
Wed Mar 20, 2024 8:11 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Dividend shock: Help me reduce dividends
Replies: 30
Views: 4032

Re: Dividend shock: Help me reduce dividends

wannabeteacher wrote: Wed Mar 20, 2024 7:58 am What is BRK/b
Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B
NYSE: BRK.B
by Wiggums
Tue Mar 19, 2024 5:49 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Rebalancing Yearly in Taxable - how to LTCG?
Replies: 15
Views: 1344

Re: Rebalancing Yearly in Taxable - how to LTCG?

You should not sell anything in taxable at a gain to rebalance your portfolio unless that is your only option. And only then if you are outside a reasonable band centered around your target percentage. For example if your target is 50% and you have 53%, no rebalancing is needed yet. Rebalancing should be done in tax-deferred accounts, not taxable, unless this is not possible. If it is not possible, see if you can rearrange your portfolio to make it possible. If you must rebalance in taxable, you should do that with your contributions if you can, not by selling something and buying something else. The same thing can be done in withdrawal mode by withdrawing from the asset you have too much of. If you must rebalance in taxable, do not reinve...
by Wiggums
Tue Mar 19, 2024 9:39 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Nervous about giving out information
Replies: 36
Views: 3517

Re: Nervous about giving out information

For people who use the same alias on social media platforms, we probably already know you are. :-)
by Wiggums
Tue Mar 19, 2024 8:56 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How Much to Convert to Roth?
Replies: 53
Views: 4440

Re: How Much to Convert to Roth?

We focus on the various brackets — federal tax bracket, NIIT, IRMAA etc. We convert to the IRMAA where we want to be. We will delay SS to allow for larger conversions today. We do this same evaluation each year where we determine how much to convert.

One reason we are doing Roth conversions is to control the size of RMDs which get larger over time. You can use a free calculator to project the first RMD. If you were 73 today, your required minimum distribution would be $109,433.96 for 2024. Obviously, the IRA balance will be higher by the time they reach RMD age.

You can use your favorite tax software to do some of the math for you.
by Wiggums
Tue Mar 19, 2024 5:09 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Nervous about giving out information
Replies: 36
Views: 3517

Re: Nervous about giving out information

cheryly279 wrote: Sun Mar 17, 2024 7:23 pm Hello! I am working hard at planning for retirement, and I'm considering posting my portfolio information using the provided template. But, how do you get past the thought of giving out so much information? I do want advice, but I'm a pretty fearful person. Am I the only one who feels this way?
If you don't feel comfortable, then don't share online. But we do give really good financial advice to those who use the forum.
by Wiggums
Mon Mar 18, 2024 5:10 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 529 Excess Conversion to Child's Roth IRA
Replies: 3
Views: 299

Re: 529 Excess Conversion to Child's Roth IRA

Housing and then retirement funding was our top priority .

You certainly can use the 529 up to the Roth max and a UTMA up to the child’s rate if you have the energy. I think most people would use a 529 for the tax free growth.
by Wiggums
Mon Mar 18, 2024 2:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need to replenish Emergency Fund
Replies: 24
Views: 2148

Re: Need to replenish Emergency Fund

We are retired. We pull from our Roth as a last resort unless we need tax free money. Why? Because we want our Roth to grow tax free as long as possible.

We spent down our emergency fund down to zero once. We then used our cash flow to slowly rebuild our emergency fund balance. We maintain a list of lumpy expenses 2-3 years out so that we move money in a tax efficient manner.
by Wiggums
Mon Mar 18, 2024 9:38 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can I retire with $1.75M at age 43?
Replies: 169
Views: 12572

Re: Can I retire with $1.75M at age 43?

At the end of the day, you have to do what is right for you. The risk that I see is a long time in retirement. Assuming that you don’t run into a bad sequence of returns, you will be fine. Happy retirement!
by Wiggums
Mon Mar 18, 2024 9:29 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Reported bond fund return inconsistancy
Replies: 8
Views: 450

Re: Reported bond fund return inconsistancy

Unless you are looking for a loss to offset 2024 gains, I would stick with VBTLX. If you were going to sell, and we sold some municipal bonds last year, we bought 5% treasuries instead of a short term bond fund that had a lower return at that time.
by Wiggums
Mon Mar 18, 2024 8:11 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio Review Request
Replies: 11
Views: 1498

Re: Portfolio Review Request

We are retired and hold the three fund portfolio plus treasuries. Our AA is 65/35.

We started retirement with 2-3 years in cash and about the same-size portfolio. We eliminated our emergency fund. Instead, we track our lumpy expenses on a sheet of paper to better manage cash flow and investment duration.

You have so many small positions (less than 5%) which will not move the needle much even if they’re winners. I would recommend that you simplify your portfolio by selling small positions and moving the proceeds into the three fund portfolio.
by Wiggums
Sat Mar 16, 2024 5:59 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Anybody heard stories of well "prepared" retirees running out of money?
Replies: 210
Views: 23862

Re: Anybody heard stories of well "prepared" retirees running out of money?

My parents-in-law came very close to being homeless. They sold their house, moved to Florida, and spent the house money over a twenty year period. They had their money invested in CDs and low interest accounts. When they came back to a HCOL area to be near family, the most they could afford was a subsidized rental home from a family member. Things turned around for them when an Aunt left them a mortgage free condo and $80,000 in cash.

Inflation and depreciating asset purchases added up over-time. They lost money holding only cash like investments
by Wiggums
Fri Mar 15, 2024 5:20 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fees for selling Mutual Funds?
Replies: 18
Views: 1610

Re: Fees for selling Mutual Funds?

Chuckles960 wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2024 5:07 pm Just looked up the first fund listed by the OP, MDNLX. It seems to have no back-end load, but a front-end load of 4.25%. So the financial advisor profited hugely from the "advice".

edited to add:
SASMX front-end load 5.5%
CSFAX front-end load 4.5%
CSFAX has a Max Deferred Sales Load of 1.24% and an expense ratio of 1.19% to go with the front-end load of 4.5%
by Wiggums
Fri Mar 15, 2024 8:49 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Do I need to do anymore Roth conversions?
Replies: 14
Views: 1555

Re: Do I need to do anymore Roth conversions?

One last Roth conversation before the tax rates revert sounds good to me.
by Wiggums
Thu Mar 14, 2024 2:44 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth Conversion - Source for Paying Taxes
Replies: 31
Views: 2744

Re: Roth Conversion - Source for Paying Taxes

retired@50 wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2024 5:43 pm
If you have the ability to pay taxes from "other" savings, then the idea is that's considered better than paying from the converted amount. This helps you shrink your taxable account, and pumps up the Roth balance. Shrinking the taxable account may not sound attractive, but if you do, you reduce your annual tax drag on the dividends and interest that the taxable account is creating.
We share this point of view.
by Wiggums
Thu Mar 14, 2024 8:04 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fidelity Portfolio Manager Tools
Replies: 10
Views: 1274

Re: Fidelity Portfolio Manager Tools

Check out their Planning and guidance tool. (Requires a Fidelity logon)

https://myguidance.fidelity.com/ftgw/pn ... retirement
by Wiggums
Wed Mar 13, 2024 9:18 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can I sell part of a lot when using spec id?
Replies: 8
Views: 589

Re: Can I sell part of a lot when using spec id?

zaplunken wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2024 8:41 am
I suspect I can sell part of any lot but I never did this so I want to know.

Thanks
Yes, you can sell a partial lot.
by Wiggums
Wed Mar 13, 2024 8:59 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 401k allocation/rebalance
Replies: 15
Views: 1002

Re: 401k allocation/rebalance

We rebalance once a year.
by Wiggums
Tue Mar 12, 2024 11:45 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What Platforms are DIY Investors Using to Manage Portfolio
Replies: 26
Views: 2668

Re: What Platforms are DIY Investors Using to Manage Portfolio

We hold the three fund portfolio plus treasuries at Vanguard and Fidelity. Very easy to manage. In fact, my DW purchased a t-bill on the secondary market this morning without any assistance from me.

For people that don’t want to directly manage their portfolio, Vanguard has the balance index and Lifestrategy funds. Fidelity has the freedom index target date funds.
by Wiggums
Sun Mar 10, 2024 6:42 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TRowe Challenge with Unauthorized Fund Change
Replies: 5
Views: 615

Re: TRowe Challenge with Unauthorized Fund Change

The last quote I see for that fund (TRPHX) is February 16
by Wiggums
Sun Mar 10, 2024 5:12 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Sharing why we went with Vanguard PAS
Replies: 69
Views: 6950

Re: Sharing why we went with Vanguard PAS

We further reduced the number of accounts that we had in early retirement. I have also talked with folks on here who switched to an all-in-one fund. Having a low-cost option for your spouse sounds like it was a good fit for your family. Congratulations!
by Wiggums
Sun Mar 10, 2024 4:29 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How Much Cash Do You Keep In Your Home?
Replies: 207
Views: 15486

Re: How Much Cash Do You Keep In Your Home?

My MILs Aunt passed away. While administering her will, we found $80,000 in cash stored in the pantry. Yikes.
by Wiggums
Sun Mar 10, 2024 8:55 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Asset allocation and location when approaching (early) retirement
Replies: 10
Views: 1288

Re: Asset allocation and location when approaching (early) retirement

With your 2.875M, you only have a $20K buffer in a good economy. How much of your portfolio is pretax? How will you access your retirement assets prior yo 59.5? Have you priced healthcare for your family? We are spending more money in retirement - travel, Roth conversions, home maintenance, etc. A sixty year retirement with a young child is challenging.
by Wiggums
Sat Mar 09, 2024 11:14 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Tax Managed accounts
Replies: 21
Views: 1577

Re: Tax Managed accounts

VTMFX - Vanguard Tax-Managed Balanced Fund Admiral Shares ER=.09%
by Wiggums
Fri Mar 08, 2024 2:49 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Time to convert mutual funds to ETF?
Replies: 28
Views: 2421

Re: Time to convert mutual funds to ETF?

No real drawbacks but it is a one way tax free conversion.
by Wiggums
Fri Mar 08, 2024 11:04 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Finally ready to improve, consolidate and own my plan to retirement!
Replies: 50
Views: 4756

Re: Finally ready to improve, consolidate and own my plan to retirement!

Asset allocation: 60/40 with 1-2 years in cash would be a nice place to start. I suggest this amount of cash for Roth conversions if most of your money is pre-tax. Also, cash came in handy for us when we ran into a pandemic induced market crash.

You have way too many funds. Retired@50’s recommendations are good. We hold the three fund portfolio and treasuries. Easy to manage. Easy to teach our son’s to manage the portfolio in the future. Percentage wise, a lot of these funds make up a very small percent of your overall portfolio. You should not be afraid to sell and switch to low-cost index funds.
by Wiggums
Fri Mar 08, 2024 10:51 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: One big charitable contribution to DAF
Replies: 7
Views: 626

Re: One big charitable contribution to DAF

We took a similar approach. It worked out well.
by Wiggums
Fri Mar 08, 2024 9:34 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help find Fidelity low Expense funds to: FFFIX, PABGX, ISTIX
Replies: 28
Views: 2062

Re: Help find Fidelity low Expense funds to: FFFIX, PABGX, ISTIX

retired@50 wrote: Fri Mar 08, 2024 9:29 am
RetiredAL wrote: Fri Mar 08, 2024 9:21 am
The key is to 'search' on the Fidelity website for "freedom funds", which are low cost.
I think you mean Fidelity Freedom INDEX Funds.

They can be hard to find on the Fidelity website, but if you go to the link below, then click on the Asset Allocation tab, then scroll DOWN the page, you'll see the INDEX version(s) of the Fidelity Freedom funds.

https://www.fidelity.com/mutual-funds/f ... s/overview

Regards,
+1
by Wiggums
Fri Mar 08, 2024 7:55 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 16 yr old - how can I best take on high risk?
Replies: 65
Views: 5612

Re: 16 yr old - how can I best take on high risk?

Our children have a Roth IRA with Vanguard Total Stock Market. Their 401k has S&P 500. Lastly, they are building a saving account and emergency fund (5.36%) for short term goals.

Your savings rate and time in the market is all that matters.
by Wiggums
Thu Mar 07, 2024 3:23 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Newly Retired: Start Roth Conversions For IRA or Not?
Replies: 39
Views: 5483

Re: Newly Retired: Start Roth Conversions For IRA or Not?

Your first RMD will be approximately $110,000 at age 73. Your RMD will get bigger with age.

We consider IRMAA, NIIT, RMDs, and growth of the IRA. Let’s say you Roth convert $140,000. You have to remember that your IRA is also growing each year too. Paying your expenses from a mixture of taxable and your IRA is likely to be better than only using taxable to save taxes today. You don’t want to tax bomb later.

We strike a balance between the medicare premium and the future RMD. Paying a little more for Medicare today is better for us than a larger RMD 10 years from now.

Here is a simple RMD calculator

https://www.aarp.org/retirement/require ... alculator/
by Wiggums
Thu Mar 07, 2024 8:08 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Career ending, getting fired. Can we FIRE ?
Replies: 161
Views: 26642

Re: Career ending, getting fired. Can we FIRE ?

Your budget is $121,000 and you can pull $96,000 from your 2.4M leaving a $25,000 shortfall. Your budget does not include taxes, but not sure how much tax you expect to pay in retirement.
by Wiggums
Thu Mar 07, 2024 7:02 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Retirement Planning - Target Date Funds
Replies: 18
Views: 1928

Re: Retirement Planning - Target Date Funds

We retired at 56 and slowly moved down to 65/35. A 60/40 might be a good starting point for your TDF. You will definitely pay less fees which is money in your pocket versus the fees you pay now. We left our 401k after retirement to get lower fees. We also started retirement with 2-3 years cash. Some people have recommended that 1 year is good enough. We rsn into the pandemic so the cash was partially used on Roth conversions and buying more stock during the market crash.