Search found 30 matches

by seachicken
Tue Apr 19, 2022 8:04 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: [New] metro Denver Bogleheads Local Chapter Coordinator]
Replies: 107
Views: 37104

Re: [New] metro Denver Bogleheads Local Chapter Coordinator]

Fantastic! Thank you!! I hope to see you there.
by seachicken
Tue Apr 19, 2022 4:18 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: [New] metro Denver Bogleheads Local Chapter Coordinator]
Replies: 107
Views: 37104

Re: [New] metro Denver Bogleheads Local Chapter Coordinator]

Hi, I see I just missed the latest meeting. Is the Denver chapter still active?
Thanks
by seachicken
Mon Apr 10, 2017 11:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?
Replies: 25
Views: 2177

Re: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?

The articles on that site, The Finance Buff, are brilliant. Thanks so much for directing me there and to grabiner and your suggestions, Kevin. And even more so for you kind offer of help in calculations. I'm going to spend some time digging out details of fees of our 401ks to get all the input data I need and try some modeling. It's not going to be this week--too much on my plate. I may well reach out to you at a later date either for some assistance or, hopefully, to share the fruits of my toils.
Thanks again--much appreciated.
by seachicken
Mon Apr 10, 2017 7:50 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?
Replies: 25
Views: 2177

Re: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?

Re. 401k, I will always contribute 100% and therefore get the (small) match. The decision I'm weighing is whether to add my rollover IRA to that 401k account.

Thanks for the example re. transferring to Roth. There's a lot to think about! (It also has me questioning the value of my wife's non-deductible IRA vs a taxable account.)
by seachicken
Sun Apr 09, 2017 10:34 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?
Replies: 25
Views: 2177

Re: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?

Thanks for doing the math! Yes--I don't think it's worth my converting again until I can ditch the rollover IRA. For that, I think I need to (somehow) compare the scenarios of:
* All my rollover in a Fidelity 401k + a continually fed Roth IRA
* Continue with Vanguard rollover IRA + taxable or traditional IRA
The Fidelity 401k isn't bad at all. But it's difficult to calculate the drag on a 401k--assuming there are other admin fees that are less clearly documented than the funds' expense ratios. (I should start off doing a comparison based on just ERs I guess.)
by seachicken
Sun Apr 09, 2017 8:36 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?
Replies: 25
Views: 2177

Re: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?

Thanks Kevin and Celia! Re. not needing to complete the form: That's good news. Vanguard's site tells you to download a form or contact them. I assumed I'd still need to send the form even if I call. Very pleased to hear they can do it there and then! I should be able to efile tomorrow. Re. separate IRA accounts: Good advice. And yes--I do this already. I have my Rollover IRA and my (older, currently with 0 balance) Traditional IRA, which has always had non-deductible funding and for which basis was tracked, albeit set to 0 every year because I was converting. So no cross-contamination there. My recharacterization will be back to the Traditional IRA. Celia, there's a little under 300k in the rollover, hence I was having to pay ~2k on the 5....
by seachicken
Sun Apr 09, 2017 7:10 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?
Replies: 25
Views: 2177

Re: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?

Yes. I've got it all worked out now. Thank you for catching my error and explaining in detail, Kevin. That's saved me getting into no end of trouble I'm sure. I've already completed as much as I can of the form for Vanguard. I shall call them first thing and get things rolling.
by seachicken
Sun Apr 09, 2017 6:07 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?
Replies: 25
Views: 2177

Re: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?

Follow up for anyone else doing this: This article on https://thefinancebuff.com/how-to-report-backdoor-roth-in-turbotax.html is what I've previously used to guide me in my Roth conversions in Turbotax. Changing my answer on the "Move Funds" page to "Yes" walked me through capturing the recharacterization Kevin referred to. It allows for four lines of text and gives the following guidelines to that text: Explain your Recharacterization Complete this explanation statement regarding the recharacterization reported on your Forms 1099-R. This statement will be filed with your return. Include in your statement the amount that was originally converted to a Roth IRA, the amount of any earnings or losses after conversion, and th...
by seachicken
Sun Apr 09, 2017 5:22 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?
Replies: 25
Views: 2177

Re: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?

Brilliant, Kevin. Thanks. And re. "removing a conversion", that was my (likely incorrect) interpretation of Spirit Rider's first response. You would report your taxes as if it had not occurred and include a statement about the recharacterization. That means you would report your non-deductible basis on your 2016 Form 8606, but would not report the conversion. I was just going to exclude any mention of the Roth conversion whatsoever from my return and include a note to mention it had occurred and had since been recharacterized. But your approach is more transparent so I shall do that--and it will afford the opportunity to include a note. (The taxes due shouldn't change under either approach as I understand it. I can check in Turbot...
by seachicken
Sun Apr 09, 2017 2:06 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?
Replies: 25
Views: 2177

Re: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?

I think you're correct on that, Kevin. However, in my case, I wasn't going to represent the recharacterization on the return; I was going to remove the original conversion from my 2016 tax return. Consequently I wouldn't have a recharacterization in TurboTax to capture it against. Ideally I would include the recharacterization, but then I think it should form part of my 2017 return, no?

And.... answering my own question, I guess it wouldn't. I suppose I can recharacterize in 2017 but include it in my 2016 return. That's probably the best approach.
by seachicken
Sun Apr 09, 2017 11:43 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?
Replies: 25
Views: 2177

Re: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?

Spirit Rider, Kevin--that is a huge relief!! Thank you very, very much! I will get right on it.

FYI--I was planning to efile with Turbotax. It looks like including notes / statements might be a little tricky. But if it can't do it I can follow the advice here (viewtopic.php?t=133577#p1975589) to efile and then follow up with a mailed document and statement.
by seachicken
Sun Apr 09, 2017 11:02 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?
Replies: 25
Views: 2177

Re: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?

Thanks very much for the response, Spirit Rider. I see on Vanguard that I just need to call them to arrange the recharacterization--great! A couple of follow up questions if I may: 1. When I recharacterize, do I just recharacterize the $5,500--or somehow prorate the earnings too? (I'm sure Vanguard will answer this but thought I'd ask here anyway.) 2. I think I'll be keeping my pre-tax IRA for the foreseeable future. (I could roll over to new employer's Fidelity 401k, but I'm yet to work out if the slightly higher fees vs Roth IRA's benefits make that a better option.) Consequently, I don't plan to do a Roth conversion in 2017. I'm still good to recharacterize though, right? (I.e. there's no requirement for me to subsequently re-convert.) T...
by seachicken
Sun Apr 09, 2017 9:19 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?
Replies: 25
Views: 2177

Can I reverse my 2016 Backdoor Roth (for tax reasons)?

I've been doing backdoor Roths for the last few years. This worked well because the only pre-tax investments I had were in 401ks. In 2016, shortly after performing that year's conversion, my previous employer switched to a John Hancock 401k. I duly rolled the 401k over to a traditional / conduit Vanguard IRA--well aware that it would mean backdoor Roths would no longer be an option for me. My stupid, stupid misapprehension was that my 2016 Roth conversion wasn't taxable because I did it before I had a pre-tax IRA. Fast forward to doing my taxes and I see that whether it's taxable is based on the IRA balance at the end of the year. :oops: And this means I have to pay ~$2,000 in taxes on that $5,500 conversion of my non-deductible IRA. Can I ...
by seachicken
Wed May 21, 2014 3:59 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Reverse Rollover & Maximizing Basis
Replies: 9
Views: 1827

Re: Reverse Rollover & Maximizing Basis

Alas, they're quite specific... Acceptable rollover sources ...taxable money* from the following types of employer-sponsored plans: 401(a) plans (e.g., 401(k)); [deleted superfluous ]. After-tax contributions from 401(a) plans, excluding Roth 403(b) money, may also be rolled into this plan. In addition, the Plan will accept: conduit IRAs (rollover IRAs). *Taxable money is defined as pretax contributions (employee and employer), earnings on pretax contributions, and taxable earnings on after-tax contributions from your previous employer’s plan. Unacceptable rollover sources The Plan cannot accept money from the following sources: rollovers from beneficiary accounts (other than from a spouse), [deleted superfluous ]. Also unacceptable are Rot...
by seachicken
Wed May 21, 2014 2:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Reverse Rollover & Maximizing Basis
Replies: 9
Views: 1827

Re: Reverse Rollover & Maximizing Basis

Perfect. Understood. (And potentially fortunate timing with that recent RR 2014-9 release.)

Alan S, placeholder -- thank you both for your kind help.
by seachicken
Wed May 21, 2014 1:21 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Reverse Rollover & Maximizing Basis
Replies: 9
Views: 1827

Re: Reverse Rollover & Maximizing Basis

Sorry -- I think I'm nearly there now :( From that link Prior to the passage of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, the only way for an employee to transfer assets from one employer plan to another was to establish an uncommingled Conduit IRA. Since passage of the act you can roll over part or all of the Conduit IRA to a qualified plan, even if you make regular contributions to it or add funds from sources other than your employer's plan. While the highlighted ' even if you make regular contributions...' text almost gives the impression that it's viable, it's the below paragraph, which is key -- right? If you are rolling over assets from an IRA into an employer provided plan you should keep in mind that a qualifie...
by seachicken
Wed May 21, 2014 11:22 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Reverse Rollover & Maximizing Basis
Replies: 9
Views: 1827

Re: Reverse Rollover & Maximizing Basis

Hi -- many thanks for the response. I'm not sure I quite understand the point though. The only taxable event is the Roth conversion I believe.

I understand that the basis is calculated based on all IRA accounts, which is why I am trying to get as close to 100% basis as possible -- before the Roth conversion -- by performing the reverse rollover from the rollover IRA to the 401k. That gets me to around 80% basis, say. (And nothing taxed so far.)

You seem to be saying that, if I first move 7k from the second IRA to the rollover IRA, it would render the entire IRA to 401k rollover as taxable. Which is definitely not what I thought would occur. Have I understood you correctly or is there something I'm missing?
by seachicken
Wed May 21, 2014 7:39 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Reverse Rollover & Maximizing Basis
Replies: 9
Views: 1827

Reverse Rollover & Maximizing Basis

I'm planning to roll my wife's IRA (at Principal, a rollover from her old employer's 401k) into her current employer's 401k (Fidelity). The intention is to allow her to backdoor convert her Vanguard post-tax IRA into a Roth (and get away from Principal's high ERs). I'd like some advice on maximizing basis. She has approximately: 100,000 in 401k at Fidelity 150,000 in rollover (conduit) IRA at Principal 30,000 in Vanguard IRA, this was exclusively funded with post-tax dollars and has a basis of around 23,000 -- the remaining 7,000 is growth. I've already got all the forms to request and action the reverse rollover from the conduit IRA into the 401k. That's fine. That leaves us with just the 30,000 in the Vanguard IRA ready to convert to a Ro...
by seachicken
Sun Jan 20, 2013 9:59 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Updated! Denver Meetup Sat. Feb. 9 @ 3PM at Starbucks REI
Replies: 21
Views: 4224

Re: Denver Bogleheads Meetup - Saturday February 9th

I can probably make it too. What normally takes place at meetups (if that's not a stupid question -- and perhaps even if it is)?
by seachicken
Fri Sep 14, 2012 6:09 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Most underrated band of all time [that you listen to]?
Replies: 342
Views: 26303

Re: Most underrated band of all time [that you listen to]?

I agree with The Kinks and The Pixies. (And even though I love The Smiths I cannot say that they were underrated.)

However, there is clearly an objectively correct answer to this question... and that is Big Star. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Star. :)
by seachicken
Sat Jun 16, 2012 2:27 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Employer looking at Simple IRA
Replies: 1
Views: 404

Re: Employer looking at Simple IRA

My company (for which I work, not mine) is a relatively small business (around 20 people in the US). Our payroll is managed by Paychex. Paychex also does our 401k. It used to be a fairly limited range of Fidelity funds but we since changed it to allow a far wider choice of funds including Vanguard Signal class funds. To do this I believe we had to have a broker nominally attached to the account. He doesn't actually do anything for me though--he's Ameriprise and I use Vanguard exclusively. I'm very pleased with the 401k. I don't believe there are any other charges imposed on me, the employee, by Paychex. At least none that I've managed to find.
by seachicken
Thu Apr 12, 2012 4:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Contacted by Whole Life Insurance Agent - Need Help
Replies: 131
Views: 8017

Re: Contacted by Whole Life Insurance Agent - Need Help

Since you insist on meeting with him for sport... :)... some suggested topics: 1. Make him explain how much of your annual contribution is a Paid Up Addition (PUA), rather than paying towards the WL plan. (I would expect it to be at least a 4:1 PUA to WL ratio. Otherwise he's just trying to max his commission.) 2. Ask him what happens if your lifestyle changes, you lose your job or get sick and can no longer afford your payments in five years time. (Answer: you will have to borrow against your policy to pay its fees. And it could eventually consume itself.) Compare that with a Roth IRA which will continue to grow even though you aren't contributing to it. (That's the kicker right there.) 3. Someone already quoted the statistics above, ask h...
by seachicken
Thu Apr 12, 2012 2:33 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Contacted by Whole Life Insurance Agent - Need Help
Replies: 131
Views: 8017

Re: Contacted by Whole Life Insurance Agent - Need Help

what the agent is doing is called blending and overfunding the policy with PUA (paid up additions) to just below MEC (modified endowement contract) levels. PUA and MEC!! Thank you--I couldn't remember the terms. And while you quite rightly note that he would lose some commission by pushing up to the MEC limit, initially he suggested something like a $200k policy so there was a lot more going towards the WL policy and maybe only 2½ times as much in PUA. :D Once I understood how it worked I asked why we wouldn't do a 50k or 100k policy instead to maximize the PUA since we didn't care about the WL amount. He didn't seem to understand at first (but I'm sure he did really!) but agreed to go away and crunch the numbers and eventually halved the ...
by seachicken
Thu Apr 12, 2012 1:26 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Contacted by Whole Life Insurance Agent - Need Help
Replies: 131
Views: 8017

Re: Contacted by Whole Life Insurance Agent - Need Help

I think people are wary of WL questioners being shills because it seems so obvious that WL in most cases is a bad, bad deal. Couldn't agree more that it's a bad deal--no debate there. And I probably empathize with people who already know WL is terrible and can't believe yet another post about it. FWIW, I'd done the googling for comparisons of WL v Term & Invest before I posted. And I had mentioned it to my agent! Sounds crazy I know. Here's what made me (stupidly) contemplate WL at the time--I note this here for the benefit of the OP and perhaps to clarify why someone might occasionally, naively post asking about WL in spite of having read the wealth of evidence against. The way my agent pitched it to me was that it was not really life...
by seachicken
Thu Apr 12, 2012 12:44 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Contacted by Whole Life Insurance Agent - Need Help
Replies: 131
Views: 8017

Re: Contacted by Whole Life Insurance Agent - Need Help

I guess it's my wording which leads some ppl to think I'm here to lure ppl... I actually came here hoping to get my mind out of this WL, which I did thanks Hah. People are very wary of shills here it seems. My first post to Bogleheads a few years ago was about WL. I'd had a "financial planner" recommended to me and he was proposing WL but I smelled a rat and I posted here, hoping for good counterpoints to the agent's sales pitch. I had a few great responses and then suddenly my question was deleted and my account disabled. Emails to admin were not answered. I turned down the WL anyway, hit the Bogleheads books and haven't looked back since--it still grates though that my innocent questions were taken as shilling and I cannot regi...
by seachicken
Thu Apr 12, 2012 10:20 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Contacted by Whole Life Insurance Agent - Need Help
Replies: 131
Views: 8017

Re: I have been contacted by WHOLE LIFE INSURANCE AGENT NEED

It's not worth it on so many levels as you will have already read.I was on the receiving end of a relentless pitch too. Take their numbers and plug them into Excel, maybe compare it with your having just paid the money into a savings account--some flaws in the magic include: - They will have three columns in the example schedules for you normally: min. guaranteed (likely to be 3% - your 0% bottom cap sounds awful), current, and between min. and current. The 3% isn't really 3% net. Their fees still need to come out, it's virtually 0 guaranteed. The same goes for their best rate but that isn't consistent and note that they will never (ever!) publish historic figures. They will just tell you what it's doing right now. - If you sum your contrib...
by seachicken
Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:13 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roll IRA into 401k to Lower Basis for Back Door Roth?
Replies: 15
Views: 1775

Re: Roll IRA into 401k to Lower Basis for Back Door Roth?

Many thanks for all the replies. (And for the correction on use of the term 'basis'.)

The conclusions I am drawing:
1. I should check my wife's employer's 401k to see whether we can roll into it (and whether it has decent funds that would make it worth rolling into).
2. If her work's 401k is not viable then set up with Fidelity, one guide I found is here http://www.fivecentnickel.com/2010/11/1 ... y-sep-ira/. (Although she is not self-employed, it seems that this is possible.)
3. Once we are in a Fidelity 401k, we have the option to roll that into a Vanguard 401k plan--which hadn't occurred to me.

Thanks again.
by seachicken
Mon Jan 09, 2012 8:25 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roll IRA into 401k to Lower Basis for Back Door Roth?
Replies: 15
Views: 1775

Roll IRA into 401k to Lower Basis for Back Door Roth?

My 40yr old wife has ~$130k in a Principal IRA that she created when rolling over her old company 401k a few years ago. We already max our 401ks and pay into Vanguard IRAs. I back door into a Roth IRA. She doesn't because of her high taxable basis. I originally intended to move her IRA to a Vanguard IRA before I read here that Fidelity supports rolling an IRA into a 401k (which Vanguard doesn't) which would eliminate her basis. While we are very happy with Vanguard, love low ER Admiral funds and like the simplicity of having everything consolidated with Vanguard, I think in the long term she would be better off rolling all that IRA into a 401k because it will finally open up the possibility of a Roth IRA for her. I have read other threads (...
by seachicken
Mon Oct 25, 2010 10:18 am
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: UK Online Investment Account Recommendations
Replies: 2
Views: 796

Hi Ted,

Thanks very much for your detailed response. That's a great help. I'll examine these options with your advice in mind.

And quite right re. my mother's citizenship, I should have been more explicit, so yes: no US tax issues there.

Thanks again--much appreciated!
by seachicken
Sun Oct 24, 2010 4:37 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: UK Online Investment Account Recommendations
Replies: 2
Views: 796

UK Online Investment Account Recommendations

Hi, My UK based, retired mother has set up a savings account in her name for our new (US based) daughter. The idea is that rather than sending birthday and Christmas gifts she'll deposit money in this account. She sought advice from her building society and has set up an investment account (bonds) but it has significant fees (e.g. adviser fees of 3% upfront + 0.25% annually with 1.19% ER). There's only GBP500 in there at the moment and I would expect it to grow by GBP100 or so a year. I would like to move the money out of this into a low fee, UK full market index (I'm open to alternative viewpoints on that). Does anyone have any recommendations in UK online investment accounts? Vanguard UK with its minimum of GBP100k for private investors i...