Bogleheads.org

I'm trying to compare the past 8 months of retirement account performance, (Aug '22 through Mar '23), between my closed EJ retirement portfolio and my current Boglhead style 3 fund portfolio. I've tried using the online tool 'Stock Rover'...loading the former 25 EJ mutual funds (# shares/share price) into tracking. I've also added my current DIY 3 fund portfolio inclusive of dividends available from my Schwab account history. To get a good comparison of performance between the two accounts, I need to input dividend info from EJ portfolio shares previously held. Is there an easy way to obtain an aprox. account balance inclusive of dividend history for shares of funds I no longer own? I'm simply wanting to compare performance between my old ...

It's hard to comment on generalities. Did they substantiate that claim in any way? Basically said that with MF you pay capital gains every year as a function of other people’s sales of shares but with ETF only pay capital gains when your own shares are sold. I find it hard to believe there are any free lunches, so I’m curious. That being said, I know there is a trend for MFs to convert to ETFs, and I think there has to be something positive behind that trend. Dave As I noted, this can be true for non-Vanguard mutual funds and for Vanguard funds that don't have an ETF shares class. The "free" lunch is that it's cheaper for a provider to run an ETF than a mutual fund because then APs are the ones bearing the trading costs. The cost...

Random Walker wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 12:23 pm The main reason I ask the question is I have someone telling me that ETFs are far superior with regard to taxes. Any comments from a tax perspective?

Dave

ETFs can generally avoid paying out capital gains at the end of the year.

However, Vanguard mutual funds that have an ETF class are able to use the ETF to flush out capital gains. E.g., VTSAX and VTI. In this case, use whatever you prefer.

Both parties you mention, merchants and cc users who carry a balance, do so by choice. there is no 'victim' here. merchants are free to be cash-only, and cc users are free to not carry a balance. there is no one being 'forced to subsidize cash payments to unrelated persons." Now, choosing to do either of those things comes with a cost, of course. But a choice having consequences does not make it any less of a choice. This goes for almost anything, but it's currently popular to fight over who is the biggest victim. All choices have some consequences. IMO , if you have a choice, you are not a "victim". "Victim" is a strong word. The concept admits of gradations. Movie fans will recognize "I'll make you an offer ...

2 months ago I transferred a bunch of assets from my SEP IRA at Schwab to a Traditional IRA account I had opened at Schwab. From there, I did a full account transfer ($50 fee) to E*Trade. The Traditional IRA account I opened is surprisingly still open -- I would have expected Schwab to close it after the ACATS. Now I'd like to transfer more assets to E*Trade. I am curious if I can follow the same process -- transfer the assets to the Schwab Traditional IRA I had opened, and initiate a new ACATS? Or will the assets be swept to E*Trade automatically since I already did a full account transfer back in January? Or will it break because the account is supposed to close at some point? Would it be safer to just open a new Traditional IRA and avoi...

I need feedback from all the experts to share with my husband. He has money in stable value state of ohio paying 2.5 today and will go to 2.6 next quarter. I want him to transfer to Fidelity and put in money market. We both have accounts there already. Selling point from guy at state is multiple companies back the rate and guarantee no loss (as well they should for over 2% profit on money) my spaxx is at 4.44 and my vanguard money market is a few tenths higher. I know money markets have never broken the buck in past and many use all short term government investments like treasures, so overall should be relatively safe, but not guaranteed. Plus my husband could invest in CDs / treasuries if money is moved. Feedback please. Anyway One money ...

This morning I received a message from Vanguard regarding account change confirmation. After logging on to the site, I was alarmed to find that my address has been changed without my authorization. The perplexing part is: everything in my address is correct, except the city name. I put in a call to Vanguard and found out it's a 'system-overwrite' issue. I was assured that my accounts had not been compromised. I was in the state of panic after discovering the address error. I did not quite get what the rep was saying that contributed to this 'system-overwrite' problem. The incorrect address had everything correct including state and zip code, but the system associated the zip code with another city within the same state. How could that be p...

I’m a non-US investor, and I’m planning to invest in the Invesco S&P 500 UCITS ETF Distribution ETF. What happens to the money that I’ve invested in the fund if the company, Invesco, goes bankrupt or decides to close down because it is no longer profitable? You need to understand how the fund is structured. In the US, each ETF / mutual fund is a separate legal entity. If Vanguard goes bankrupt, the assets of fund are NOT part of Vanguard's property. Further, the ETF / MF had the shares custodied in an external entity, e.g. Bank of New York Mellon. Any sort of malfeasance would require both the ETF and the custodian to cooperate. Both are highly regulated. Reputational damage would probably outweigh any sort of fine. If a fund is closed...

You might look at brokered CD rates. Main big difference between bank and brokered CDs is selling before maturity > Bank CD - the penalty to sell early is well defined when you buy the CD. It's written into the terms of the purchase contract > Brokered CD - must be sold on secondary market so, like a bond, it's price can vary day-to-day as interests rates vary. Basically, you can only get what someone else is willing to pay for it - which may be more or less than your original investment Personally, I use brokered CDs for money I'm 99% sure I won't need before maturity. Current offerings at Vanguard (you should be able to find similar for the others) https://personal.vanguard.com/us/FixedIncomeHome I think the bigger difference is that bro...

^^^ While it's probably highly unlikely, that really doesn't matter at all if you happen to be the first and become the poster boy for how it was done. You can't go crying to TD, since you were warned. Somebody's always going to be the first at something. I might get in a car accident. You as well. (heaven forbid on both counts) but I can think a lot of risks I'm taking elsewhere with higher probability than this with significantly more impact. Wouldn't surprise me a bit if this might be the case for you as well. As for me, I'll continue to not lose sleep over this. Cheers (really, cheers!) :D Let's hope that neither you nor anyone else has to be the first. That's simply a risk I'm not willing to take since I already have more than my fair...

drwoods wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 9:37 am As of today it looks like it is best to keep your money in the settlement fund, VMFXX at 4.72% minus the .11% fee (4.61%) vs the Cash Plus Account at 4.25%. You do give up the FDIC Insurance.

What does everyone thing about this strategy?

VMFXX's yield is net of expenses.

You might look at brokered CD rates. Main big difference between bank and brokered CDs is selling before maturity > Bank CD - the penalty to sell early is well defined when you buy the CD. It's written into the terms of the purchase contract > Brokered CD - must be sold on secondary market so, like a bond, it's price can vary day-to-day as interests rates vary. Basically, you can only get what someone else is willing to pay for it - which may be more or less than your original investment Personally, I use brokered CDs for money I'm 99% sure I won't need before maturity. Current offerings at Vanguard (you should be able to find similar for the others) https://personal.vanguard.com/us/FixedIncomeHome I think the bigger difference is that bro...

Valuethinker wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 5:39 am The US is "overbanked" compared to any other developed country. But evidence shows that in terms of local lending to companies and especially to real estate developers, local banks are much more important than the majors.

Yes, and this will be the real fallout from the crisis. They're too small to matter systemically, but they're vital in the areas they serve.

To me an important distinction is that equity holders were not bailed out. I guess if the FDIC has to tap into 20B from the insurance fund to make depositors whole that's going to be paid by other banks in the FDIC system. Maybe those banks then pass along costs to customers in the end. It's not great and no one is probably thrilled by this. But I'm actually ok with it because the alternative could have been so much worse. The whole thing is a little slimy and unfair with VC's getting made whole and probably in the end all banking customers footing the bill with increased fees etc. but in my opinion it was the right move to stabilize the entire banking system. I will say there were lots of people saying that this would not cost a penny and...

skierincolorado wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 1:25 am I could see that a bank that is just under 250b doesn't want to go over. Those that are a lot under 250b would be taking a substantial risk and have less free capital. But what about banks already over 250b? Why no interest from them?

The hassle? If you're already at $2T, the $100B of assets is only 5%. Plus you have to pony up the cash for the assets. When you're already making money hand-over-fist, why dither around with another 5%?

It's incorrect to say that the protections are the same. Aside from the obvious that the one who has the cash is in a better position, there are legal differences. First, for fraudulent transactions, you have 60+ days for credit cards and 2 (business?) days for debit cards to notify the issuer. For debit cards, the liability increases with time. FCBA > individual contractual provisions which may be subject to a variety of exclusions basically at the whim of the bank (and can generally be changed any time). While the dispute mechanism will sound similar, banks can give you a real hassle with debit cards. My brother had his debit card skimmed with the PIN. He and the thief just happened to use the card at the same time 800 miles apart. When ...

Has anybody seen how SVB bondholders made out? I assume they will be wiped out, but one article said FDIC was looking to dispose of the remaining 90B in assets in a way that minimizes losses to themselves and investors. Hopefully the part about protecting investors was a mistake in the article. Well SIVB bond holders are owed money by the bank holding company, not the bank. That entity has several billion in cash, as well as some other VC-related businesses that seem to be valuable (wealth management, etc), and of course also owed the now worthless bank. One small sticking point, over which $10M’s at least in legal fees will be wasted, is the issue that $2B worth and the majority of the HoldCo’s cash is held at... their own bank that was s...

New to this forum, appreciate your input. 61 yr old, 6 weeks away from retirement. In the process of cleaning up and consolidating my retirement accounts. I have 6 accounts (401k, IRA, Inherited IRA, Roth IRA, 2 Brokerage Accounts). I am considering working with Vanguard PAS for 1 yr (> 500K, 0.30% AUM fee, dedicated advisor), to get these reorganized, then taking over myself within 1 year. I would like a simple investment strategy that I can manage myself. This question is specific to the Inherited IRA account. It is made up of primarily individual stocks (as inherited, I have not selected - Starbucks, Wells Fargo, Novo-Nordisk, P&G, Texas Instruments etc ). I am overallocated in stocks given my age, I need to reduce my exposure. Vang...

toddthebod wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 11:28 am

exodusNH wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 10:24 am

toddthebod wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 10:06 am

exodusNH wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 9:52 am They are tracked separately

This is the part where I am confused how OP can't find the $1,400. Can he not see the balances of the two accounts?

With my 401k, the page that shows employer vs employee contributions don't show individual investment balances. If you're not sure what you're looking for, it can be hard to find.

I don't have a breakdown of Fidelity 500: $x.yz employee / $a.bc employer.

But do you have a breakdown of Roth versus pre-tax?

On the screen that shows me my total contributions and company match, yes. But not on the balance screen, it just shows me total shares in the few funds I have. It does not partition it by match and tax status.

Hi All, This is technically not an investing post per se but if you save on your home loan that savings should then be properly invested, correct? I'm interested in how others have located and their experiences with banks, credit unions and mortgage brokers in securing financing for modest owner occupied homes. (less than $250,000.00) Yes, bankrate.com is out there and you can Google but is there any site which vets theses lenders? Ex. if you found a smaller bank (e.g. regional bank) how did you find them and what reassured you they would be good? Thank you. I refied in January 2022. My balance was only about $130k. It was hard to find good rates. I wound up working with a friend of a friend who's a broker. When it comes to mortgages, all ...

I received a text message which looked exactly like what I receive when I am signing on to my V account - the exact verbiage, with a 6-digit security code. Except neither I nor my wife had attempted to sign on to the account. I subsequently signed on and checked to see if there was any activity on the account - and there appeared not to have been. I then changed my password. Next, I sent a message to V asking why I received this text message, and after 2 days received some gooblygook about "financial aggregation tools and services" which they said I wasn't enrolled in, but if I had been it might have caused the issue. They seemed totally unconcerned about a text message looking like it originated from V which was not requested by...

ruralavalon wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 1:52 pm My daughter who is just one year younger than her ex-husband and recently divorced will inherit his IRA and 401k account because of the beneficiary designations.

Is there reason not to rollover his IRA and 401k account into her IRA, rather than maintaining a separate inherited IRA?

To be clear, the ex has died? If so, he died after the divorce was final?

Cicero123 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 12:57 pm At the risk of hijacking this thread, does anyone know what info is available to supermarket cashiers when they scan the bar code on the back of your license? When I buy alcohol at Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, they never look at the front for my birthdate, but they always scan the back before proceeding. Are they just getting a “yes, over 21” message, or do they see more info? Not that I’m paranoid, but…

They taking a picture of it with your phone. It may be able to read the barcode.

NH's has name, address, DOB, date issued, date expired, plus other data I can't determine.

So I have to ask. Why do they assign a different drivers license number from what you have now? In my state, the number used to be social security number. Maybe a decade ago, they changed to some different number. I've renewed many, many times and besides that one change, it's never been changed. It would sure sound like a bad practice to include a social security number right on your drivers license that you need to show in all sorts of places, like buying some wine at the supermarket. Is that what they did in MA? It wasn't an uncommon practice. When I was in college '96-'01, the college ID was your SSN. Grades were commonly posted by SSN. NH's driver's license numbers are a convolution of your name and DOB, with a sequence number added a...

I read https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/SIPC_protection_for_mutual_funds which concludes that SIPC protection does not add any protection to an account that is not a brokerage account. But I don't understand the reasoning. I have three accounts with Vanguard: a taxable brokerage account for purpose A; a taxable mutual funds account for purpose B; and a Roth IRA (mutual funds account, not a brokerage account). I am concerned about the lack of SIPC protection for my mutual funds accounts. But the Wiki is saying that I shouldn't, but I don't understand why; what does SIPC protection do then? I like having the two separate accounts for the two separate purposes. Thank you in advance for your help. SIPC protects you from dishonest brokers. Basic...

CloseEnough wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 9:57 am Thanks everyone for the feedback. I'll check further with insurance companies,

I don't think you're going to save as much as you think. As noted above, insurance pays out more claims like hail damage to the roof or a tree falling on your house. The $50,000 claims are what are driving your rate. Total losses are relatively rare, which is why they can insure a $400,000 house for $1,000/yr.

You can probably save more money every year by having your HVAC serviced, keeping your tires properly inflated, and switching cell carriers. (On the latter, I switched and am saving $80/mo, which is my entire home insurance amount with liability coverages set high enough to get an umbrella.)

toddthebod wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 10:06 am

exodusNH wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 9:52 am They are tracked separately

This is the part where I am confused how OP can't find the $1,400. Can he not see the balances of the two accounts?

With my 401k, the page that shows employer vs employee contributions don't show individual investment balances. If you're not sure what you're looking for, it can be hard to find.

I don't have a breakdown of Fidelity 500: $x.yz employee / $a.bc employer.

I don’t know where the cash is in the account, but I was looking through the contributions. On 3/6 and 3/10 of this year their are 2 contributions. The totals are $1480.72 & $1480.71 These 2 together equal $2961.43 which is exactly 4% of my total gross earnings of $74,035.86 Maybe the cash just goes into the Vanguard S&P 500 fund that I have chosen for my investment here. I’m not certain. I don't see how that's possible: Yes, your employer can make matching contributions on your designated Roth contributions. However, your employer can only allocate your designated Roth contributions to your designated Roth account. Your employer must allocate any contributions to match designated Roth contributions into a pre-tax account , just li...

Lifeisgood445 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 4:17 pm I'm trying to figure out my risk exposure and decide what to do.

ALL of my investments are in various Vanguard Index Funds held by Charles Schwab. The total is well over $250,000. My only Schwab investment is $40,000 in a CS money market fund. If something happens to Charles Schwab how safe is my money? Would FDIC insurance cover the $40,000 money market investment? What would happen to the Vanguard Index Funds held at CS? Is holding Vanguard investments at Vanguard safer than holding Vanguard investments at Charles Schwab? Does it matter? Thanks much.

Rob Berger discussed this: https://youtu.be/wz64z1YuL0A

Brokered CD’s do not compound on their own, but they pay interest every 6 months or some monthly, which regular CD’s do not. I've never heard that the brokerage CD pays different times than the Bank CD. I thought the bank was 'the decider' as to when they pay. I'm new to CD's , so maybe I'm wrong - but when I read the rate details through the brokerage listings, they say different payout time periods. If the brokerage is consolidating them a paying you from their brokerage funds - then that would be a middle-man-psuedo-mutual-fund behavior...(my technical term) which I would not consider a cd really. it states when it pays out interest. Most common is every 6 months. If you buy a 5 yr CD in the amount of $10,000 you will get $250 every 6 m...

Safe deposit boxes aren't as safe as many people think. (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/business/safe-deposit-box-theft.html) The article is paywalled. I assume that it is reasonably safe since you are part of a large number of boxes so unless you are targeted. Oh, I surf with cookies and JavaScript blocked. I didn't realize that. Then, on April 7, 2014, he lifted the thin metal lid. Box 105 was empty. ... There are no federal laws governing the boxes; no rules require banks to compensate customers if their property is stolen or destroyed. ... he began piecing together what had happened: Wells Fargo had apparently tried to evict another customer for not keeping up with payments, and bank employees had mistakenly removed his box instead...

I noticed a callable CD with a good rate that wasn't callable for several months. It would have been a good deal for those several months. Unless interest rates went up while you were holding it, in which case the bank wouldn't call it, sticking you with the lower rate until maturity. (Or forcing a sale at market rates.) But you'd be in the same situation if you had any non-callable security, "sticking" you with the lower rate... Callable CDs build in an interaction of interest rate risk and reinvestment risk, in that the counter-party gets to decide whether to call early or not - of course, they are likely to call at exactly the time that is advantageous to them and disadvantageous to you. This excess risk is most prominent when...

I think the benefits of having a physical bank that one can actually walk into and deal with another human being have been underestimated any more. Also aside from accounts there are still such things as safe deposit boxes, places to unload ten pounds of coins, and places to obtain newish $100 bill if travelling to Argentina (at least once upon a time), places to obtain a cashier's check, and possibly the service of a notary public. At the same time one has to be schooled to bypass the desk in the lobby of the investment advisor. Yes, but a lot of banks are now gutting their physical branch. At my bank, they have gotten rid of their safety deposit box and tellers and are just glorified atm stations. I had to drive to a different branch to ...

Also would withdrawing excess make sense or better to be double taxed? My new employer has one of the best 401k matching programs (they match 50% up to the IRS limit) and so I don't want to lose out on that match money. From what I understand, I can also do nothing? But will be double taxed (not sure why I would be double taxed if you don't pay taxes on 401k until you take out the money). Or do you get taxed on the excess and does turbo tax automatically handle excess 401k for you? You have to pay taxes on that $2,000 this year (2022 tax return). Then if you do not get the money returned by April 15th, it becomes a regular part of your 401(k) subject to the same distribution and taxation rules as the rest of the money in that account. No n...

hudson wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 7:17 am I noticed a callable CD with a good rate that wasn't callable for several months.
It would have been a good deal for those several months.

Unless interest rates went up while you were holding it, in which case the bank wouldn't call it, sticking you with the lower rate until maturity. (Or forcing a sale at market rates.)

I have a family member in India who needs a fairly substantial loan in the near future and is asking for my help. Let's say for argument that I am going to agree to loan them the money. I am based in the U.S. The loan will be money sent from a U.S. bank to a bank in India (not via Bitcoin (I think)). The loan amount will be anywhere from $9k to $25k. A bunch of questions: 1. Do I just walk into my local bank (Wells Fargo) and do a wire transfer? What is the preferred way to do this? 2. Is using a wire transfer company a less expensive way to do this (get a better exchange rate). Are they safe for this amount of money? 3. I understand that transfers of more than $10k will require filling out an IRS form. What about multiple transfers made t...

I store cash at a suboptimal rate not because I am old, which I am, and can't get around, which I can because I can use a computer, but because the whole issue is not important enough to waste time on or to add more accounts to keep in the data base. There are most likely investors for whom the actual financial consequences are more meaningful, or at least those investors think the consequences are meaningful. Your example above would evidently qualify as a case where serious questions would be asked about the use of that money. Perception or misperception of risk would seem to be the dominating factor. The physical branch does grant some additional security. If I received a large check or if I need a cashier check in a hurry. If my accoun...

They offered me a monthly loyalty discount in December. 2 lines, no change in service (5G start), $89. I am 39. The deals seem to be silently and selectively showing up. I think they are trying to compete with the Verizon MVNOs. I have two lines with US Mobile in a 7 GB pool. Total cost is just under $33/mo for both. Because my phone has 5G, I get "priority" data, which puts it on par with Verizon prepaid and Xfinity premium service. (Verizon has only two priority levels for the general public.) Yep, IMHO US Mobile is the Verizon MVNO to pick especially if you can live with a limited pool of high-speed data. The two lines I have on it with 5GB shared high-speed data (up to 5G) costs only ~$29/month. I switched to US Mobile becaus...

Do people still pay for these plans :oops: The start plans for verizon are junk. Seriously it is criminal to charge that much and that is even supposed to be some special deal? The start plans are bottom priority plans. You get no benefit from being with the mothership at all. Literally everywhere else offers more for less on the same verizon network. eg Visible is owned by verizon and offers pretty much the same unlimited plan for $25 a line. Even comes with unlimited hotspot. Pay just $10 more per line and you get priority data like the big boy plans. No extra taxes. Part of it is the financing offered. You get locked into a plan until you pay off your phone, either monthly or by lump summing it. The average American can't afford a $600 ...

I guess I am not entirely clear on how treasuries are set, since I have not invest in the directly. Treasuries sold directly by the US Treasury are sold at auction where bids are submitted by the likes of JP Morgan. Primary dealers are obligated to bid at on a regular basis. (https://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/primarydealers.html) Oversimplifying, the Treasury accepts the bids that are most favorable to the US taxpayer. If you bid on these through Treasury Direct, you're putting in a noncompetitive bid, which just means you accept what the bigger bidders get. Then there's the secondary market. Those prices are also set by at auction, but by a much larger group of participants. When you hear "the yield on the 10 year went up by 0.2%&qu...

They offered me a monthly loyalty discount in December. 2 lines, no change in service (5G start), $89. I am 39. The deals seem to be silently and selectively showing up. I think they are trying to compete with the Verizon MVNOs. I have two lines with US Mobile in a 7 GB pool. Total cost is just under $33/mo for both. Because my phone has 5G, I get "priority" data, which puts it on par with Verizon prepaid and Xfinity premium service. (Verizon has only two priority levels for the general public.) It puts you on par with verizon postpaid . All the better plans above start that people pay $$$ for. It's QCI 8. For the general public, Verizon only has 8 and 9. 8 is "priority" data. US Mobile was QCI 9 like nearly all MVNOs, ...

Third party verifier? Hahahaha. LexisNexis. Buncha clowns. Wouldn't verify me because I would not acknowledge my mortgaged house address in 1960. I was 3 years old. Those questions are terrible. I opened a HELOC with just my driver's license. I misplaced the paperwork and requested a copy of the docs. They sent me through the verification process, which I failed. I think the one that pushed me over the edge was asking me what car I was "associated with". My mother's fiance owned a three family that he lived in and rented out the other two floors, including one floor to my mother and sibling. When my mother moved into his apartment, I moved in with my sibling. The list of cars included the make and model that my mother had registe...

I am actually very aggressive with my CDs (which are often direct rather than brokered). Most of the loss on raised rates is already priced in for brokered CDs, so it is pointless to sell; direct CDs, on the other hand, normally have an ability (with penalty) to end the investment, which can allow for reinvestment at a far better rate than delaying. There is a difference between trading them and attempting to squeeze out returns by utilizing every option embedded in the CDs. Can you say more about buying direct? I've read that banks hold their best rate CD rates only for brokers. I guess they don't want to hassle with individuals? Whenever I look online at direct CDs they always seem a lot lower. Where do you search for them? With brokered...

StayTheCourse60 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 11:42 pm They offered me a monthly loyalty discount in December. 2 lines, no change in service (5G start), $89. I am 39. The deals seem to be silently and selectively showing up.

I think they are trying to compete with the Verizon MVNOs.

I have two lines with US Mobile in a 7 GB pool. Total cost is just under $33/mo for both. Because my phone has 5G, I get "priority" data, which puts it on par with Verizon prepaidpostpaid and Xfinity premium service. (Verizon has only two priority levels for the general public.)

kurious wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 6:25 pm

exodusNH wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 6:13 pm
The IRS will let you setup a payment plan. The IRS has a scary rep, it the people who work there really do want to help.

Thank you for your kind words. We can pay off the amount by selling funds in our taxable account. Should we do that or are we better off getting on a payment plan? Seems like the plan has an interest rate of 4%. I would much rather sell from taxable and pay it for peace of mind.

Well, if they lend you money at 4% and you can get 5% from a CD, you can maintain liquidity (and potentially reduce capital gains taxes) by taking the payment plan. It's probably worth mapping it out in a spreadsheet.

Ah I see the point about not selling options on your own stock as the downside of the above strategy for me is a lot of taxes. You’re playing with big stacks and trying to make it into a full investment strategy. To back up a bit, I’m down to my highest gain shares in taxable (all 45%+). That’s somewhat prompting me to evaluate all options including taking out a 5-5.5% loan :shock: I was just sniffing out a free lunch. Aside from the downside risks (as I don’t want to sell these tax lots, especially during a downturn) and my own time investment, it should be profitable, no? It sounds like if the strike price is above your average cost - premium, you'd not lose money. However, if the options are assigned, you will no longer own the shares. ...

Hi All - after all this hubbub with the banks, I'm inspired to pay off my home mortgage as quickly as possible. I had been doing a combination of paying down the mortgage and buying VOO/SPY/etc. in a taxable account. Given the below, what do you think is the most optimal way to pay off my mortgage quickly? Should I liquidate my taxable account to pay down the mortgage? Or liquidate it in a few years? Or avoid selling altogether (capital gains tax!)? 30 year fixed mortgage at 3.3%, paid down balance from $925,000 to $742,000 over the last four years. Monthly payment is $4047. I can make $60,000-$120,000 per year in extra principal payments, depending on bonuses, overtime, etc. I have a taxable account that holds mostly SPY and VOO held for ...

What was the reason (at the time) for doing the roth conversion? My stupidity and ignorance. I had 8k of tax loss in our taxable account. The rollover IRA had gains of about 10k at that point. I mistakenly assumed the losses from taxable account will offset most of the gains from the Roth conversion. I did not know that the entire amount being converted will be counted as income. Additionally, I also underestimated how much we will owe in taxes. Thanks to the expenses associated with pregnancy and birth the of our son as well as the fact that we bought a condo, I was delusional that we will likely get a refund. Because you didn't pay tax when the money went in, you pay it on the way out, as you learned. As noted above, this is a frustratin...

My husband and I have been debating purchasing a winter home for a year now. We have rented in different greater Phoenix areas for 5 winters and have settled on an area we like the most. We have decided that buying is going to be our best chance to get the home we are comfortable in and has the amenities we need to want to stay for another 10 years or so. Full time in this future home is always an option down the road. At this point we don't plan to do it until late this year or early next year. We see forecasts and have realtors telling us that home prices in this area could go down anywhere from 15% to 25% over the next year. We recognize that the current banking/interest/government situations could change all of this in a very short tim...

Thanks! I actually opened a ROTH IRA last week (have only contributed $100 to it so far). I wanted to open an IRA rather than contribute more to my 401k because: 1. I wanted to have more investment flexibility than my 401k offers. 2. I plan on increasing my contributions to my 401k in the next couple of years to the point where I will be capping it out eventually. 3. Using money from my side business to contribute to the ROTH. Side business income varies significantly so I wanted the flexibility to contribute more or less to the IRA depending on my side business income for the month. I have read the IRS income limits and am confused if I am over them or not. I think this will help you decide: https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/07/401...