Bogleheads.org

As a long time people leader in F500 I don’t make counter offers. I expect if someone t ake the time to generate an outside offer they are mentally checked out and have have basically already moved on. I have no interest in that person on my teams. I have done many compensation adjustments when the person has proactively come to me (or one of my managers) with a sound reasoning behind the request. Inflation is not a sound reason for me (I know many disagree so we we will have to agree to disagree). I’ve also had situations periodically where the stability of one of my organizations/teams has been disrupted by rapid attrition for one reason or another. In that situation I typically identify the “core” folks I need to stabilize and rebuild a...

Fortune wrote: ↑Sat Feb 11, 2023 12:12 pm
What is the best course to settle the issue:
If the other party raises an insurance claim, will I pay deductible? or pay them in cash if its less than deductible.

Thanks

the other party is supposed to contact their own insurance and provide your insurance information
the insurance companies work it out between themselves
your insurance company would tell you what they did and what (if anything) they are expecting from you (deductible, etc).

Thanks. I’ll post how it ends up playing out in the event anyone else is in a similar situation for at least one reference point. sounds good. You are clearly unsatisfied with your current working arrangement (of which comp is a major factor) and searching for alternatives, good for you. as for whether it would work or not, there is zero that people unfamiliar with your specific situation (your 'strength' within your chain of command, your perceived loyalty, how much your team is willing to go to bat for you, etc) can advice. Above a certain level, these things are a team sport, I have been in situations where I found various ways to help and regard those 'in the team' and also seen and been in many situations where the same request would ...

Doesn’t the seller have a duty to disclose the roof repair? That should be sufficient to break the contract and to recover any costs you’ve incurred. I would pass on this house. I would wonder why they chose not to disclose this roof repair and what other problems they might be hiding. Was there actually a repair? The only thing I see is 'claim 2 years ago' which could mean anything including 'we visited, found no damage and closed the claim'. We had a storm pass through the area and storm chasers afterwards in our neighborhood 'advising' homeowners all file claims to get 'free roof and siding'. Many deed based on information they received, adjusters came out and some of the neighbours ended up with 'free' roof/siding while others heard, s...

It sounds like to me you can’t let go of your ex spouse. Below is a number of questions that would represent too much risk for me. 1. If your ex-spouse died, would the house be part of her estate? 2. If your ex-spouse got sued, would the creditors come after the house? 3. What if things turn sour? 4. What if you meet someone else and they find out your ex- spouses is on the mortgage? 5. What happens if you default on the mortgage, is your ex- spouse affected? 6. What if you get married and you want the house to go to your new spouse? 7. Will the house affect your ex-spouses ability to qualify for a new mortgage? 8. What if she moves to another state? Will the state the house is in claim her as a resident i.e. California and force her to pa...

The “$300k+ in extra interest” number is pulled from thin air though. There’s nothing in OP’s posts that says how much the mortgage is or how many years left it has. I do think refinancing to remove the ex from the loan is the smartest plan, but we don’t really have a good way to estimate how much that would cost. Going from 3% to 6% on a 30-year $500,000 mortgage adds $320,000 in interest to the life of the loan. I do not think OP was exaggerating. So the plan is to throw away 300K current dollars out of concern that the same loan would be held over 30 years in future dollars? 300K throw away now due to concern of paying extra 10k in interest? what universe does it make sense in? How do you know OP would not refi in two years? Is anyone h...

catchup wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 7:18 pm I have a full time job in another city in the state of PA where I spend 50% of my time and receive all of my income. The other 50% I spend at home in a separate county where my children go to school, a separate permanent residence.


Thanks.

- are you an independent contractor working from a fixed location that has to frequently travel to client site (whether you contract with them for full time hours, etc). then, may be for travel expenses
- if you are employee than I believe this is commuting and as other said, unlikely to be deductible.

a company that spouse started may be purchased for $5-$10m -- this is a couple of years out and this year we will get more insight into the chance this would happen. We currently live in CA. The business is located in MA. If it begins to look likely this will happen, and if we decided it would be worth it to move to avoid state taxes, does anyone have any sources or experience with this? Is there a good business accountant that you know/trust that you can pay for consultation? if not, any references you can ask about? you do NOT want to be getting 'advice' from anonymous people on the board and be stuck with result. Hire a good, well recommended, professional. Listen to said professional advice and make decisions based on information you k...

511east wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 10:00 am
Basically, my question is, is there anything important that I should be aware of? This account to be opened won't be used often and not for checking.

no. you either want their product or you don't. the most important part of such agreements is "we reserve the right to make updates and changes to our product agreement at any time and for any reason."

My nephew was asking about getting a prenuptial agreement. He recently met someone that he makes significantly more than and is getting serious about. I indicated that I would look into it and give me give him my feedback. I want to present him the facts and for him to make the final decision. I was shocked to find the following: [Off-topic general comments removed by moderator Kendall.] Of course, I'm not going to tell him what to do, but have him make his own decision given the facts above. But given the data, it just doesn't make sense to me for a man earning more than their spouse to marry these days without a prenuptial agreement. How have others handled this personal finance discussion? I don't think numbers are relevant, what matter...

At many companies, intro-level roles make $125k+, and once you are getting more senior in at a FANG-type company, salary is something like 185-250k, plus stock, so total annual compensation from $350k-$700k is possible. It may likely not reach that level at more "traditional" companies (e.g. perhaps you are a data scientist at something like Delta, Nike, or Salesforce rather than Facebook, Netflix, Airbnb, or some hedge fund) and be realistic with expectations. 'many' companies are getting rid of many (thousands) of intro-level people who somehow thought six-digit pay for entry level positions is assumed.. that is not the case and such 'experts' are losing jobs en mass as in any other boom and bust cycle. Sure, and many more are ...

muffins14 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 15, 2022 8:48 am
At many companies, intro-level roles make $125k+, and once you are getting more senior in at a FANG-type company, salary is something like 185-250k, plus stock, so total annual compensation from $350k-$700k is possible. It may likely not reach that level at more "traditional" companies (e.g. perhaps you are a data scientist at something like Delta, Nike, or Salesforce rather than Facebook, Netflix, Airbnb, or some hedge fund)

and be realistic with expectations. 'many' companies are getting rid of many (thousands) of intro-level people who somehow thought six-digit pay for entry level positions is assumed.. that is not the case and such 'experts' are losing jobs en mass as in any other boom and bust cycle.

Is data analyst a good career? anyone able to share their thoughts/ experiences? Is it possible to get into without a degree? data overall is a great career in my opinion , have been doing it for last 25+ years and love it. very definitely growth area (exploding the amount of data), plenty of specialization if that is what you want (from ML/AI to data governance to actual solution development). in terms of getting in , I had people ping me privately asking for advice - look up various 'user groups' in your area/close to you in any technology you may be interested them. ALL major technology stacks have their sponsors (Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, etc) and ALL have user groups in any major cities - go to the meetings, get to know the people, c...

Inherited IRAs: Vanguard and Fidelity, as expected, immediately made new accounts for the beneficiary (relative) with ease. Eventually we want all accounts in one place, I suggested Vanguard or Fidelity, not a huge difference. Once there I can actually be helpful with investment ideas, they are looking at brokered CDs and treasuries being both in retirement, and having a unique 7% stable value fund for much of their personal savings that precludes the need for stocks imho. My suggestion is would be to go to the large custodians you have mentioned and let them run their procedure 'pulling' the assets (through ACAT) into the newly created accounts. You/relative fills out a paperwork indicating new old firm/account number, list assets and wha...

2. The correspondence from Refund Processing Corp is suspicious, but at the very least, I would prefer to not pay a fee to a company for something that could, in theory, be queried online. But I have perused the Texas Unclaimed Property Site and did not find any property that I can claim. Are there alternatives I can explore? Perhaps other, engaging other legitimate entities that are familiar with such databases? Perhaps these funds are from another state? The two issues above may be unrelated, so apologies if I should have separated this into two posts. But I greatly appreciate any feedback and guidance. Thank you! every state has a defined escheatment process that deals with 'unclaimed' property. it is law. every state has systems to loc...

it would not work and is pointless to begin with .. unless you like paying more taxes (since rental income is income). also, there are specific rules of what is primary residence (household), secondary home, or investment property. I.e. you don't live in investment property (a rule you would be violating), this isnt a secondary home, and you cannot run rental out of what you claim to be your primary residence. Bad idea overall, and your mortgage lender may have an issue with this. Thanks for responding. Very good point. sure ,welcome to the board and enjoy your stay. not sure what 'md' stands for - doctor in training? doctors have a reputation of being financial targets for various form of exploitation, being pitched crazy 'strategies' and...

To make a long story short, we made a $6000 contribution to my wife's traditional IRA account for 2021 tax year and after doing the taxes in October, we realized that our income was too high in 2021 to allow for a traditional IRA . This is the first time ever that we have made an after tax contribution to her traditional IRA account (and it was done by error :oops: ). :idea: Ideally, we would like to withdraw the $6,000 and put it back into a Roth IRA account in her name. Is that option even available to us? Would we then be required to amend our taxes if we go that route? Which other options, if any, are available to us? Thanks in advance for your comments/answers. In the bolded section, did you mean income too high to qualify for IRA ded...

Hi, I'm new here For student loan reasons, my wife and I are married-filing-separately. The house we live in (as well as the mortgage contract) is under my name alone. Am I allowed to charge my wife rent for the mortgage amount, and claim my mortgage payments as rental expense? I will have my wife issue me monthly checks to create a paper trail. Thanks for reading. it would not work and is pointless to begin with .. unless you like paying more taxes (since rental income is income). also, there are specific rules of what is primary residence (household), secondary home, or investment property. I.e. you don't live in investment property (a rule you would be violating), this isnt a secondary home, and you cannot run rental out of what you cla...

I am a boglehead for the most part. I was recently talking to a friend about their investments. He was mentioning that in 2020, he bought some SPY calls and was able to turn 75k into 1.8m. Soon they upgraded their lifestyle and now have like a 4m house. Anyways, I am having huge FOMO because of this. To me the boglehead way seems like the slow and steady way. How do folks avoid fomo? [Non-family friendly language removed - Moderator ClaycordJCA] in short, if you want to gamble ->gamble, go buy a lottery ticket and support education funding for the rest of us. if you don't want to gamble ->don't gamble. for vast majority of people options are gambling with negative sum game, for one to win another one has to lose AND brokerage house takes t...

Like I mentioned Goodman triangle https://mafcompanies.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Goodman-Triangle.pdf Yeah this is exactly what I’m referring to. A lot of people unfortunately give advice on topics they don’t know bc well…we don’t know what we don’t know…and make a lot of assumptions…including about me! So then my question is can I apply the insurance payout to the my child’s inheritance as long our total estate is below the max amount? People are having to make assumptions about you because you aren’t providing clear information. Here are a few questions that, if answered clearly, would help you get answers to the questions you have asked. (1) Approximately how large is your estate (how much in assets will you have at death)? (2) What co...

No, I’m certain payouts are taxed as income if the owner, insured, and beneficiary are different as it is considered a gift by the IRS. I just wasn’t sure about secondary beneficiaries and how to make this all work out regarding that. You're thinking of the gift tax. If A owns a policy on B, and names C as beneficiary, when B dies and the proceeds are payable to C, it's a gift by A to C. That's because A was the owner, and could have named A as beneficiary. Yes this is exactly by question. So in this scenario, say A and B die together in an accident. A was primary beneficiary but now that kicks to C. That’s a taxable event right? To make this a bit more complex, what if A and B live in a community property state and B dies a little after A...

Makefile wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 9:13 pm

Stinky wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 8:51 pm I see what you're saying.

I think that Poppy1234 might be well-served to retain a lawyer with expertise in this area. Especially if he has an estate large enough that he expects to pay estate tax.

Agreed. You can see above I got a cryptic response when I brought up the lifetime estate/gift exemption. If the OP is over that professional estate planning would be in order rather than tweaking with which spouse owns the policy and who the beneficiary is...

Second or third that advice above. if you are dealing in realm of 8 digit numbers , please do yourself a favor and get professionals certified and recommended in your area/state.

I don't see why it would be subject to income tax. The exemption for life insurance is one of the biggest, oldest exemptions in the tax code. Are you thinking of a state-level estate or inheritance tax perhaps? No, I’m certain payouts are taxed as income if the owner, insured, and beneficiary are different as it is considered a gift by the IRS. I just wasn’t sure about secondary beneficiaries and how to make this all work out regarding that. You're thinking of the gift tax. If A owns a policy on B, and names C as beneficiary, when B dies and the proceeds are payable to C, it's a gift by A to C. That's because A was the owner, and could have named A as beneficiary. Yes this is exactly by question. So in this scenario, say A and B die togeth...

I hope its not too personal of a question, but I'm curious what members earning over 100k do for a living. I would like to break that threshold but it won't happen at my current job. Just looking for a little guidance towards something lucrative that might be up my alley. Data specialist - data governance, BI, analytics. Kind of got into it back in college, loved databases and math behind them, loved (and still love) building solutions and stuck with it for 25 years. Would do the tech side for fun without any way as I like building solutions (engineer at heart). Job is part time, one day in the office a week (my choice of when), rest is remote. Flex schedule totally up to me working with guys I know for 20 years, targeting 30 hours a week,...

Until recently my cousin had an account at a brokerage called Stockpile. Stockpile allows anyone, even non-account holders, to purchase a dollar-denominated gift card to be given to the recipient of your choice. The recipient must have a Stockpile account to redeem the gift card which is emailed to them. Either the gift giver can specify the stock/ETF or the recipient can pick the stock/ETF. As the gift cards were dollar denominated, the recipient could buy fractional shares either with or without a gift card. The service worked great for the first year or so that I used them, but Stockpile recently instituted a $4.95 per month fee just to have an account with them. This is not good for a small account, and they would liquidate shares behi...

Trying to move mom across the country isn't an option. She is no longer mobile, is dependent on others for all of the activities of daily living and is incontinent which adds even more complexity to her situation. I would never ever wish dementia on anyone, friend or foe. It is the most brutal disease I've ever seen and experienced (as the caregiver). Seeing your loved one become a shell of themselves is cruel punishment. ...I like the idea of finding a caretaker who could check in on the house a few times a week. I have a few ideas since I've met some really good people while on vacation who are locals. I'll likely ask them if they would be willing to keep an eye on things if I were to pay them a monthly fee to do so. I'm pretty sure they...

Also, I dont understand why you are talking about converting to cash and being out of the market - any broker you transfer to that supports the funds you already have would just transfer them 'in kind'. Nothing sold, no time out of the market. Check upfront by giving new broker (IRA custodian ,etc) the list of funds you have and they will no. This way 10,000 shares of XYZ would come over as 10,000 of XYZ, be it market going up or down. I just did my consolidation to Schwab and that is how it worked. I believe in-kind 401(k)-to-IRA rollovers are rare and in-kind 401(k)-to-401(k) rollovers even rarer. i am not sure where the above assumption come from , however it is always required that you will check. Of cause if there are very proprietary...

Can either of you do fine financially if the other one were to die? If so then not really. Still you should actually shop around the costs through an independent agent. If you are in great health it could be cheaper than your group rate. So you might even replace a policy especially since it wouldn’t be associated with employment. Thanks. We would be ok financially as we both have high paying jobs. But my thought is that if one of us die, other one don’t have to worry to much financially and take care of kids. You have to be more specific (at least in your mind) than that. 'dont worry too much' is meaningless , what budget looks like now vs what it would look should one of you is gone? what is the risk/liability that insurance is supposed ...

I have an old 401k that is held at my former employers plan Do you like the options/fees of the old plan? At that balance level each basis point (1/100 of percent) is $70 and 35 basis points of difference in expense ratio are over 2K a year in additional costs. I keep money in former employer plan because it is a great deal in terms of access to Vanguard Institutional share classes (where fund may have 10 million minimum balance but is exposed to me as plan participant for investment without any minimums). Also, I dont understand why you are talking about converting to cash and being out of the market - any broker you transfer to that supports the funds you already have would just transfer them 'in kind'. Nothing sold, no time out of the m...

NYCaviator wrote: ↑Sun Oct 30, 2022 6:25 pm I think banks are doing away with them. Apparently they are very expensive to build in when a branch is being built. It's surprising because when we were looking a few years ago, many of the banks around our house didn't offer boxes, and the ones that did were completely full. Seems like quite a bit of demand, but banks just don't want to deal with them.

Chase customer here (since WAMU days) that moved on to local credit unions. much better service, much friendlier, less about trying to extract maximum revenue from myself. As for demand for safe deposit box, I agree with you - credit union person mentioned to me that one just became available and there were multiple people interested in taking it..

My experience with brokerage bonus is this . . . . The brokerage bonus is prorated and deposited across whatever accounts you transferred. So if you transferred a taxable, trad IRA, and a Roth IRA, you'll receive some portion of the bonus in each account. The taxable bonus will be taxed as ordinary income, and you should receive a 1099-MISC. The bonus in the trad IRA will be taxed like any other IRA withdrawal, and the Roth is a freebie. The bonus is viewed like any other investment gain and does not count towards the contribution limits. Brokerages do not create some special account for this activity as there is no reason to do so. Thank you again. This is 1:1 to my experience. Prorated bonus across multiple accounts and separate letters/...

Thank you both- did not know that, thought I would have to reduce my contribution by specified (bonus) amounts!

Consolidating assets with Schwab and was issued a bonus that they are breaking into brokerage account and remainder into IRAs. Language in the letter of cause is "Please consult with your tax advisor about the appropriate tax treatment for this offer and any tax implications associated with receipt of the award before accepting the award" . Any experience with people receiving this on what they were issued by Schwab at the tax year end? Is this treated as IRA contribution (as I probably expect it to)?

Thank you

So did you actually receive a counteroffer from your current employer? If so, I don't see it in your post. Or did your current employer just "dip their toes in the water" without making an actual counteroffer? The latter, technically. As I understand, they (the three owners) had already begun the discussion amongst themselves about admitting me to the ownership group prior to my resignation. But my conversation with the President today did not contain specifics like, "you'd get XX% ownership @ $YYYK compensation". It was more, "would you be open to an ownership arrangement and a restructuring of your responsibility set to stay with us." So, admittedly, kind of a "bird in the hand" scenario. So what d...

motorider wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:01 pm

TJat wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 5:20 pm Is there an opportunity to post for an internal job at the company? If you’re a top performer, I would imagine other departments would bend over backwards to find you a spot.

Even if it’s a “step down”, accept it to view the RSUs and look for another job

That is one option I am pursuing (take an internal transfer just to vest). The skill set is somewhat unique and not applicable to most departments so openings are few and far between.

old enough to 'retire' under your megacorp definition? When we had layoffs , it was retirements for some (old enough) and standard layoff for the rest. retired got vesting of RSU, laid off did not. each program is different and it is described in the plan

checkcheck wrote: ↑Tue Oct 25, 2022 3:23 pm Appreciate the replies and seem in-line with what I was expecting. However, this has been recommended to me by HNW, smart individuals w/ no tie to the insurance industry. I did a forum search and there have been some comments in the past by others on this forum that have noted that it could be an attractive option given the tax advantages.

So? if you want to waste money, take cash, pour gasoline on it and burn them to grill something on it - lesser harm to your financial future vs buying whole life (and you get a burger out of it!). Don't be stupid and say 'no thank' you and move on.

yes, the entire thread stinks of slandering Vanguard for something OP done.
and recommendation for people to be 'detail kind of guy' when it comes to taxes.. it is your responsibility, even with tax prep person help

MadMaxHero007 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 08, 2022 9:22 pm
I have been thinking to buy Porsche 718 Base Model approx 65K. Do you think it's good idea ?

Thanks.

if it is truly a 'dream' (deepfelt desire) - go for it. YOLO

Tax free conversion of Vanguard Mutual Fund to ETF - how to do it? for anyone who has done it, could you please let me know how it was done? I am poking around the website and am not able to do it over any of the positions I have Thank you for your help I did this recently. Process was very painless. Called the Vanguard customer service number and asked for Trading. Picked the option to have someone call me back because I was *not* going to wait on hold for 50 minutes. About 45 minutes later, received a call, requested VTSAX to be converted tax-free to VTI. The rep was very knowledgeable, read me a bunch of disclaimers/information, confirmed I wanted this done, and it was finished within 1-2 days including cost basis information. I called ...

I am thinking of moving my Roth (currently at Vanguard), Charles Schwab checking and Ally saving all to Fidelity to simplify my life. As an aside, when you transfer significant funds to either Schwab or Fidelity, they will usually pay a ~$2500 - $3000 bounty. You need to arrange for this BEFORE transferring your accounts. I'm in the process of moving all of our accounts to Fidelity--2 individual and 3 retirement. When I inquired about a bonus the only one they had available was $2500 for $1 million of assets. The would not make any exceptions and said they had experienced too many folks broker hopping for bonuses. I didn't ask if they would "match" Etrade or one of the others whose names I don't remember. We are moving from CDs a...

Thank you - I had hope that this could be done online Call Vanguard and ask for the trading desk the first chance you get an option to tell them the nature of the call. This will mean less hold time and only the trading desk can do it. Thank you, will do - right now trying to figure out where to consolidate (since I am pretty sure I want an option of locale office at this point and cash management tie in which leaves me with Fidelity/Schwab as primary options) I chose Fidelity, because I have 529 plans with them and my company's HSA and I like how using their CMA like a checking account I can keep cash in a money market fund and get high rates that will auto liquidate to pay debits. I have multiple accounts with both (more in Fidelity, wit...

anon_investor wrote: ↑Wed Oct 05, 2022 12:24 pm

simas wrote: ↑Wed Oct 05, 2022 12:02 pm Thank you - I had hope that this could be done online

Call Vanguard and ask for the trading desk the first chance you get an option to tell them the nature of the call. This will mean less hold time and only the trading desk can do it.

Thank you, will do - right now trying to figure out where to consolidate (since I am pretty sure I want an option of locale office at this point and cash management tie in which leaves me with Fidelity/Schwab as primary options)

Thank you - I had hope that this could be done online

Tax free conversion of Vanguard Mutual Fund to ETF - how to do it?

for anyone who has done it, could you please let me know how it was done? I am poking around the website and am not able to do it over any of the positions I have

Thank you for your help

Yields-to-maturity (real) on 5-year Treasury TIPS bonds are pushing 2%. For shorter durations they are closer to 3%. What am I missing here ? Seems like pretty cheap insurance in case inflation fails to subside after all these rate hikes. Of course, everyone focuses on the year-over-year inflation number, but the month to month numbers have actually decreased from June->July->August this year. So maybe that's the answer. Probably belongs to a different forum - however, think of _why_ this is happening. I follow other media and they all described most recent Treasury action as a "failure", buyers failed to show up and thus highest yield raise in a long while (less demand vs supply => higher yield in order to raise money). This is ...

I am considering consolidating accounts outside of Fidelity with Fidelity , approximately 1.7-1.8 million worth. I have no specific timelines and am able to wait for 'brokerage transfer bonuses' . Question - where do you guys go to watch for it or does it make sense to talk to Fidelity directly (and if yes, with whom)?

I am getting pretty disappointed with Vanguard customer service, wait times, and lack of ability to actually reach them, thus desire to move.

What’s everyone’s take on Chase as a checking account provider? Especially if you have enough assets with them to waive fees? I’d keep Schwab as a backup (also have some investments there). it is pretty standard big bank corporate - anyone at the branch you are talking to has their quotas to fill (to sell the products of the bank). No quota -> no bonus/no job - corporate dictates everything on what branch could and could not do, i.e. where in small bank getting a signature guarantee was as simple as making an appointment , at Chase it was the run around (multiple branch) until eventual admission that corporate does not give branches rights to do any of this . 'Risk Management'. for what it is worth, Fidelity did the same sig guarantee in s...

Hello Bogleheads, I'm helping my aunt consider whether or not to update her estate plan documents, as she is now above her state's estate tax exemption threshold. There are also some heirs issues that she might want to address. I'll help her find an attorney to draft a new plan if needed, but want to first seek BH input to get an idea of what's appropriate (e.g. what type of trust(s), if any), so that we can first learn a little, in order to prepare questions to ask attorneys, know gotchas to look out for, etc. - get her good real attorney licensed to practice in WA - BH is not the place to come for legal advice . While you may have great real attorneys commenting here (some of them spoke on this thread), repeat again - get a real attorney...

holawhatup1 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 03, 2022 8:57 am What is the best way to create a living trust? Online which is cheaper than a lawyer?

are you an estate planning attorney who is very well practiced in your state? if yes, then there is a chance that 'doing it yourself' has some merit . if all other scenarios, get the best qualified help you can afford. Mistakes here could be thousand times the cost of attorney.

If you want to do it online through software, just take the money you want to spend on that and burn it instead - it would be cheaper and much less risk for you that way and you will do less harm

What a depressing read most of this thread is. “Keep working, keep adding to savings, you never know” “Wait 5 years and see” When you don’t have any money, these are absolutely correct suggestions. OP has more money than most retire with at a time where he has young kids and is 25 years ahead in the race. Goodness. What is the point of all of this money game playing when, once you win, you pretend as if nothing happened? I will speak for myself. We are at $2.6M NW at age 36 with two toddlers. We have the ability to save $300k each year that both of us continues working. Wife works well under 40 hours per week, I work 50. Not the best, not the worst. Every 2-3 years we increase our NW by a million. Under these circumstances how long would y...