Bogleheads.org

I would find value in one, but I'm also almost completely inexperienced at real estate having only ever bought one house and still live there so have never sold anything.

Is your 457 governmental or not? What tax bracket do you expect to be in moving forward? If governmental and less than 24% I'd do traditional contributions to the 457 - you could pull them out any time after severing employment and stick it in taxable at that time if you wanted. If you'll still be in the 24% bracket I expect it would matter a whole lot less which way you go.

If it is not a governmental 457 just be aware that there are some risks for your dollars in that plan.

Sounds to me like basically any cooler with some ice (actual ice, or I prefer ice packs or frozen water bottles, etc) will do fine. Throw something over the cooler to keep direct sunlight coming through the windows off of it.

Eda44 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 5:57 pm Thank you. Will I need to wait for an updated W2 if I do this? Will the lack of FICA deduction be an issue?

Only if you think saving about $10 in SS and Medicare taxes is a big deal. I personally wouldn't worry about it as it is probably too late for your employer to do anything about last year.

Not that I'm well versed in this at all, but the one thing that comes to mind is you may have to manually do the push each month which means you've actually looked at the bill before the cash goes. None of the surprise $10,000 water bill errors that you never looked at until you're overdrawn.

I don't know how this is affected by rolling a 457b to tIRA, but maybe you'd lose the ability to take penalty free withdrawals between separation of employment and age 59.5?

What if your current net worth is higher than your lifetime Social Security earnings? Regards, then that person is one to ask investment or financial advice? :D :D Is it such a big deal? I'm also in that group, but I suspect a lot of Bogleheads are, too. social security statement has 2 earnings, one for social security and another for medicare. I am talking about medicare life time earnings. My networth is only half of my earnings; so to me, your accomplishment is a big deal! so please share your insights if any. I t would vary by individual/employer, but for me at least my Medicare earnings are still quite a bit lower than my gross earnings. Our health plans (including insurance premiums, HSA contributions, dependent care flex contributio...

What about 2022 gave you the impression that bonds are safe over any short period of time?

If you want to stick with Android just get whichever Google Pixel 6 or 7 version meets your fancy and/or has the best sale at the time. Order unlocked from Google or Amazon. You don't need to do anything with Verizon to activate, just move your sim card over to the new phone. Connect the usb cable between the old and new phone when prompted during setup and it'll pull over all your stuff.

I haven't been in a Verizon store in probably over 10 years and several phones.

Die with Zero was mentioned up thread. I don't think I agree with all of the book, but I can't help but agree that the marginal utility of the additional money at 60 is super low compared to if they received a lesser amount at an earlier age. A 60 year old is generally already past their biggest consumption periods - funding kids, house, etc. Time also catches up to everybody and a 60 year old is already starting down the path of physical limitations for activities they may enjoy. I.e. if someone loves skiing, they can get a whole lot more runs out of a week on a mountain at 35 than they can at 60 with a whole lot less pain afterward as well. I'd give at least some consideration to how you can pass some of these funds to them at earlier age...

homebuyer6426 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 9:21 am

greenspam wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 8:32 am I never get a refund.
Why give the govt an interest-free loan ???

The year a person gets married, if their spouse earns less than them and they file jointly, a refund will be mostly unavoidable.

We had to pay in a decent chunk the year we got married. Mostly to pay back the big ACA subsidies my wife was getting prior to marriage that she certainly didn't qualify for once my income was included.

I just finally setup a HSA at fidelity and initiated a pull to do a partial transfer from my workplace HSA - I want to make sure it stays open so I don't have any issues with my payroll contributions. I did a sell order in my HSA to move it all to cash as I didn't know if it would be an issue trying to move a Vanguard mutual fund (VFIFX) to Fidelity and figured that would just be easier.

Assuming all goes well I'll just have to decide how often I want to transfer my ongoing payroll contributions

An air rifle is the best way, but obviously you'd have to be pretty flexible on that whole not harming them business. It is easiest to just let them be and get over having a perfect lawn.

A bunch always end up living under a couple big evergreens on our property and I just let them be as long as they stay out of our garden beds. I like to think we have an understanding. When I catch one in the garden it gets culled from the herd as clearly they've outgrown their natural food supply to tempt fate by taking that risk. Couldn't care less what they do to the lawn.

That purchase price would be within reason of your income, but I agree with the others that there are a lot of additional expenses that go into buying a house outside the home purchase itself. Furniture, various tools and equipment that are now needed, etc. With little to no taxable savings available to cover these costs you'll likely be very cash poor for some time.

You don't have an abundance of retirement savings yet either, so unless you're quite young I wouldn't suggest cutting back on those savings to make a house work.

Is the property tax total accurate for moving forward for a new owner after a purchase or is that what has been paid by someone who has owned it for a while with capped annual increases? Just seems low to me compared to property value, but VHCOL area is a whole different world from anywhere that I've ever lived so maybe that would be a normal amount. Given that you could liquidate your brokerage accounts and pay cash for it if you wanted to take the tax hit, I'd like to think you can afford it. It would cause me stress, but all of your numbers are jumbo compared to anything I'll ever experience :beer Do people at your jobs maintain employment as they age? I hear about chronically un/under employed in tech as people get older, but no persona...

I think your idea is just fine, except I wonder how realistic it is that you'll find a Maverick to trade for?

It certainly shouldn't hurt to ask. I'd do it gently with the full expectation of them saying no.

pizzy wrote: ↑Mon Feb 27, 2023 4:20 pm

somedays wrote: ↑Mon Feb 27, 2023 4:18 pm I appreciate everyone's advice. My cost per share is currently up 0.95 (about $1,110) at the moment. It has performed well in the past, so I have been on the fence on whether to hold or sell. Because it is closed to new investors, if I sell, I can't get back into this fund.

Thanks

If total gain is $1,110 then exchange to an index.

I agree. It is a small enough amount that this is being way overthought.

Just change it out if you are thinking you don't want it, it isn't going to cost you hardly anything right now.

It is only over the last year or so that the money market funds have been paying more than HYSA. When treasurys were yielding right around 0%, so were the MMFs that held them, but Ally was still at .5%.

I dabbled in buying tbills with our cash last year to try it out and learn as I got annoyed by constantly doing early withdrawals and starting new no penalty CDs at Ally. For now I've just settled on VUSXX as good enough. Eventually if it goes back to HYSA or no penalty CDs paying more, I'll move the dollars back. It isn't an either/or decision, just use whatever is better (or good enough) at a given time.

I didn't pay any attention to SUVs, but I just bought a 2023 Ridgeline rtle Monday. Sale price was 9.4% below MSRP. Got it from a dealer that had a couple dozen on the lot and this particular one had been sitting there about 35 days.

Defining "income" is hard? Can you do everyone a favor and get everyone agree on the definition of income? Please and thank you. I honestly don't know how this can be hard. What is an issue where people would disagree about what "income" means? We have seen some folks count their dividends as income for savings purposes. I do not go through my tax sheltered accounts counting up the dividends. Then there is gross income vs take home income and where do insurance premiums figure in? 1) Dividends are 100% income. The fact that they are not taxed if they are in certain accounts does not change the fact that they are income to you, just as your 401(k) contributions are still part of your income even though they are tax-defer...

As you've probably noticed this is defined by folks in a few different ways and can be a bit contentious at times ;). I've found that providing a variety of information is the best way to answer the "how much are you saving for retirement" question both for this forum and my personal planning. My current annual saving stats (including employer contribution): - % of gross: 40.65% - % of net: 48.24% - % of income: 42.65% - % of expenses: 224.30% :sharebeer Another interesting thought for what counts as income - employer contribution. I'm in a state pension plan, so I'm thinking along those lines, not so much a 401k match or the like, though I guess any un-vested contributions could be thought of as similar. My employer contributes ...

sailaway wrote: ↑Mon Feb 13, 2023 10:04 am

H-Town wrote: ↑Mon Feb 13, 2023 9:12 am

ramram22 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 11:13 pm

KlangFool wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 5:40 pm

Brianmcg321 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 5:37 pm

We do?

Brianmcg321,

To use the percent of income is to open the rabbit hole of what is "income". There is no clear agreed upon definition of that.

KlangFool

Defining "income" is hard?

Can you do everyone a favor and get everyone agree on the definition of income? Please and thank you.

Around here, even defining savings is hard. Do you count employer match? HSA seed?

Right? Another example - Are the dollars put aside for a childs possible college expenses a decade or more down the road savings or expenses for this years calculations?

We've been between 35-40% of gross income automated into our various savings. Much easier for us than many on here as our tax burden is relatively low, ending up fairly low in the 22% federal bracket after all the pre-tax savings and expenses. We also live in a LCOL area with paid off house, vehicles, etc so other baseline expenses are crazy low compared to many. I'm trying to get myself to feel ok with something more like 30%. Our youngest vehicle is 15 years/150k miles so both will need replaced in the next few years. DW would also like to spend a little more on travel which we haven't really done since our kiddo showed up a couple years ago. For % of income vs % of expense, just make sure you're consistent on how you track it for yoursel...

If you don't leave the heads on it doesn't stay damp and you don't get hardly any of the gross buildup, what little bit does happen is easily noticed and wiped off. We still use the e series. One handle with two heads, one for me one for DW. Neither head stays on the handle, they're only on while actually brushing. The shelves in our bathroom mirror cabinet are metal so the heads stick right to it with their magnetic base and stay standing up.

If I understand your scenario correctly:
Portfolio around 2.5 million, about 1 million of that in bonds
pension of 40k annually
taxable dividends of 20k annually
Needed annual income currently low enough to stay in 0% capital gains/dividends which is something like 90k

I'd just let it drift. Your withdrawal rate must be something like 2%? With the pension (and likely social security at some point?) it isn't like you're at any major risk from a market downturn.

I am certainly not an expert, but the composite that was used for my parent's decks would not work with joists at 16". The composite on their deck is way more flexible than wood and would have a lot of give with that span.

I do know of one house where a wood deck was starting to need some work and they just laid a layer of composite right over top the old wood deck. Might not be something you're interested it, but it looks fine to me. It isn't noticeable unless you're on the deck, but it is obvious if you're up there a look down.

What is your actual income going to be moving forward? There is a dramatic difference in what is doable between your actual 25k income and the 100k you say you were on pace to hit before an accident. This year I will make a minimum of $25k, likely higher. My business is sales and it is difficult to forecast. Positive growth is happening with the business and that's where my money and time is tied up hoping for a future payoff. If I have to leave to a pursue a different career I would make at least $50k salary in the private sector. Assume $25k at least for the short term. I wish I could give a more accurate answer but it is what it is. Financially, you'd probably be best off to stick with the free rent until a higher income is more certain...

What is your actual income going to be moving forward? There is a dramatic difference in what is doable between your actual 25k income and the 100k you say you were on pace to hit before an accident.

If the car you already own can be reasonably fixed and expected to get any decent additional life, that is almost always going to be the lowest cost of ownership from any given point vs spending on a new car. Especially if you're talking brand new vs say 4-5 year old used. Even just the marginal increase in costs for the annual registration and insurance on the new vehicle would cover a fair amount of repairs.

You drive so many miles that anything new is going to depreciate like crazy, so I'd keep that in mind as you subconsciously talk yourself into expanding your budget when you really start looking around.

...we wouldn't be moving far, just onto another, quieter and safer block. As soon you move there, people start driving there just like your old street! There are crazy drivers all around. More so on a "quieter" street...Would be better financially if there is a way to make your current house a home. That was going to be my thought as well. Maybe OP has a friend in the new neighborhood so they spend lots of time sitting in the front yard and actually know what the traffic flow is? Unless there is a speed bump right in front of the new house, how sure are you that traffic would actually be slower? Is a normally quiet/slow street with even one person who speeds by at random times really that much less dangerous than a residential st...

For people making payroll deductions to the employer sponsored HSA, how often do you do a transfer to Fidelity (or whoever else you may use)? I'm thinking of transferring to Fidelity, but I want to keep the contributions via payroll deduction for the FICA tax deduction plus the ability to get our company contribution.

As far as I can tell my HSA company is setup to have a paper form filled out/signed and faxed to them. Shouldn't be a problem to just make a bunch of copies, but I'm mostly just curious if people do transfers monthly or every pay period, or if there are any considerations around it outside of the minor inconvenience of submitting the form?

I don't have any personal experience with the Maverick, but a co-worker has one and she loves it. Eco-boost XLT with awd. Your use case sounds very similar to mine, and a smaller truck is perfect for me. I drive a 06 Canyon and my wife keeps telling me it's time to buy a new one. I've been very casually looking around with an eye towards buying in maybe a year unless the bottom falls out of the market on used Canyons or Ridgelines. The only midsize or under truck on the market that meets all of my wants that I've found right now is the 23 Canyon. The 23 Colorado does too, but by the time it is optioned up I'd just get the Canyon instead. I have several wants, but the two that don't seem to co-exist on anything else are adaptive cruise and v...

Given the pension will be taking up your no/low taxed income space I might push a little more into Roth. I don't see your ages, but if you're thinking of retiring early I'd keep the 457 traditional due to the ability to take penalty free withdrawals any time after separating employment.

I'd take the pension. Realistically you are going to be fine either way. With no stated heirs I don't see where you would ever realize a major upside to the lump sum (i.e. potentially pass on a much larger portfolio), but the downside of a really bad sequence of returns is still there.

I’ve also heard from railroad retires that the tier 1 portion of railroad retirement is not taxed in the state of virginia. but the tier 2 part is snip... I would reduce your 401k percentage by about 4%, which is ~$3,400, & put that money into your Roth IRA. The 2023 IRA limit is $6,500 & you're already putting $250/month there. Increase your monthly Roth IRA contribution by about $292 & you should max out the IRA (250+292= 542. 542*12= 6504). If you don't change anything else, you'd be contributing 11% of $85k to Trad 401k & about 7.6% to Roth IRA, roughly a 60/40 Trad/Roth split. You could let that ride, or reduce the trad 401k contribution by 1 or 2%, while increasing Roth 401k from zero to 1-2% if you wanted to get clos...

I don't remember for sure, but I want to say that way back when we did this in school the winner was someone who picked a penny stock that happened to go up a cent and therefore double or something dumb like that.

I don't think anybody learned anything useful by doing it. I can't remember what I picked, why I picked it, or how I did.

DonIce wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 10:19 pm Better as a graph:

That's a cool way to look at it. Out of curiosity, how are the years of expenses saved calculated? I'd have to assume your expenses were quite a bit different at age 29 compared to age 36. I.e My expenses with a wife and kid are higher at age 38 than my gross income was as a single 29 year old. Heck, taxes, health insurance premiums, and out of pocket max probably rival my old gross income.

Are you plugging in a new expense amount as it creeps up which reduces your years saved in previous years? Does each year get a stand alone number?

Just trying to see how I could play around with something like that for myself

Assuming you aren't expecting to have a pension I'd probably lean towards traditional 401k.

The number I frequently see recommended, at least on the white coat investor site, is to save at least 20% for retirement. Are the majority of people in this thread saving 33% for retirement if they say 1/3 saving, 1/3 taxes, 1/3 spending? Or does the 1/3 saving mean retirement as well as other miscellaneous? For us in CY23 our automated savings has 35% of gross going into tax advantaged accounts (401k, 457b, pension, HSA, Roth IRAs). *35% of gross is calculated as just our contributions. I am not counting employer contributions in the numerator or denominator. Total savings would be a little higher as we have a small monthly contribution to the taxable account that would be about 3.5% of gross, and cash typically builds up at least a bit ...

8foot7 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 10, 2023 8:17 am

sureshoe wrote: ↑Tue Jan 10, 2023 7:36 am
A Honda Pilot is basically a minivan.

I'm offended.

They meant to say that it is basically a minivan with inconvenient doors

I don't think I'd intentionally work to move funds from a tax advantaged account to a taxable account unless you have some specific purpose like spreading the withdrawals for a large purchase over a couple tax years.

If anything, I'd do Roth conversions. If some year before the Roth dollars are available you find you need more cash to spend you can just withdraw from the traditional IRA and not do a conversion that year.

It's going to be so individualized I'd suggest going to a bike shop where they'll let you try some different options out.

arw526 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 09, 2023 12:43 pm Thank you everyone. I appreciate the support and responses. While I feel confident that everything will be just fine, parting with such a large sum (vice saving/investing) is foreign. This purchase will hopefully help balance things out and we can enjoy the fruits of our labor a bit.

Since you mention a future pension at 57, I assume you don't plan for a super early retirement. If that is true, what do you plan to spend all of your money on? Or is your goal to die with as big of a portfolio as possible? You have a crazy high portfolio for your ages, a huge income, and a pension that'll probably meet a good portion of your retirement spending needs. Go ahead a spend a little on anything you want.

My toddler recently noticed a plastic piggy bank up on a shelf that we got when we opened a savings account for his gifts back at birth. I gave it to him and a few coins to put in it. Now he constantly walks around the house asking for money so he can put more in his piggy bank

If you're truly saving 250k per year, then do whatever makes you feel warm and fuzzy.

If it were me, whose family doesn't make 250k per year so certainly can't save that much, I'd probably put as much as you need into something along the lines of a treasury maturing shortly before you think you'll be spending the money. I'd consider a guaranteed interest rate north of 4% to be 'good enough'.

If you don't have a reasonably set date for the funds, I'd probably just pick out a money market like VMFXX or VUSXX or the like at other companies and stick it there.

Are you sure they're leaving existing balances at the old custodian? I can't imagine why they'd do that. Why pay two custodians if you don't have to, and they'd have to get better rates on the contract at the new place if there are any significant dollars being rolled in.

I suppose maybe they have all fees passed on to the participants and don't really care?

I funded mine this week because I had a tbill mature giving enough cash in my Vanguard settlement account. I'll wait until mid month to fund DW's. Most of our other cash is sitting in Ally under their promotion until 1/15.

Someday I should just invest a little more in taxable throughout the year to sell and fund the IRAs and not build up the excess cash over the year, but today is not that day.

Are you going to have a large pension or some other income in retirement that will fill up your standard deduction and lower tax brackets? If not, traditional is probably the better choice.

I personally use a combination of VTSAX and cash (or relatively similar items like money market funds, CDs, tbillls, etc) in taxable.

Certainly doesn't have to be VTSAX, any total stock or sp500 fund or ETF at Fidelity would work just as well.