Search found 49 matches

by gbronc
Tue Jun 28, 2022 4:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Take pension early as lump sum rollover to IRA QLAC?
Replies: 8
Views: 892

Re: Take pension early as lump sum rollover to IRA QLAC?

I took a lump sum. I hold the view that the investor can earn higher returns than the pension custodian can, which translates into higher future cash flows for the investor. Secondly, a lump sum is heritable by heirs of the estate, beyond a surviving spouse. A pension is not. I would take the lump sum, especially since you have done the math and it appears you aren't receiving in unfair lump sum offer. What you are overlooking with monthly payouts for life from a pension or QLAC is mortality credits. I have family history of late deaths and strong health so would likely get an advantage there. I use the QLAC or pension as a partial replacement for the low risk portion of my portfolio. But you are correct, it is lost forever if I die younge...
by gbronc
Tue Jun 28, 2022 4:12 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Take pension early as lump sum rollover to IRA QLAC?
Replies: 8
Views: 892

Re: Take pension early as lump sum rollover to IRA QLAC?

Are you also sure the payments are the same between the two in terms of apples to apples? What I mean is, if the qlac doesn't start paying out until 85 is that the same amount you're comparing to getting your pension payment at 65? If so, I'm not sure that's the right comparison, unless I'm missing something. Or are you comparing payouts at 65 from pension vs. 65 for qlac and coming out with the same amounts? Did you look into a joint qlac vs a joint pension payout with the company? Or are you just looking at 2 individual payouts with no survivor benefits? I would be interested in hearing from others as I am looking at a non-cola pension as well but hadn't considered the qlac. Good questions. I checked and re-checked with both immediateann...
by gbronc
Mon Jun 27, 2022 6:24 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Take pension early as lump sum rollover to IRA QLAC?
Replies: 8
Views: 892

Take pension early as lump sum rollover to IRA QLAC?

My wife and each have small pensions from jobs long ago that have an immediate lump sum provision. We are in our late 50s with the full pension paying out monthly lifetime with no COLA at age 65. I've realized that if I take the reduced lump sum immediately, roll it over into a Traditional IRA and then buy a QLAC (both pensions are under the $135k threshold) in the IRA, immediateannuities.com best plan shows I would be getting the exact same monthly payout starting at 65 for a lifetime non-COLA pension. This is probably not a coincidence since my old employer isn't likely to offer some premium over the open market. I see the main advantage is that I'd have greater control of the money and insurance provider and timing of QLAC purchase. The ...
by gbronc
Fri May 28, 2021 3:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Have a really hard time quitting
Replies: 157
Views: 28197

Re: Have a really hard time quitting

You are not working for 350K per year. You are working for almost free. A) You pay a lot taxes on that 350K. B) Your portfolio is at 7 million. It earned a lot more than after-tax income of the 350K per year. In summary, your 350K provide little to no financial benefit to you and your family. So, why do you choose to work for little to no financial benefit to your family? Don't you have better thing to do with your life than working almost free for a megacorp? KlangFool Like this answer. I have a very similar net worth and income from a high-tech company and just gave my notice last week after many years of OMYs and massive disinterest in the job. I did struggle a lot with the thought of leaving that salary on the table. It is a lot of mon...
by gbronc
Tue May 26, 2020 5:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Discarding Music CDs
Replies: 97
Views: 9381

Re: Discarding Music CDs

TravelGeek wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 11:18 am
gbronc wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 10:45 am I listened to 85,000+ hours of music in 2019 according so Spotify, so getting my money's worth.
On what planet are you living? On earth the year 2019 had 8760 hours.
Doh! Typo, should have been minutes. Corrected.
by gbronc
Tue May 26, 2020 10:45 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Discarding Music CDs
Replies: 97
Views: 9381

Re: Discarding Music CDs

I've struggled with getting rid of the thousands of never played CDs in a large tower that everyone wants me to remove. This thread motivated me to purchase this 1000 CD metal case: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CDWQK7A Will probably have to order a second one since all my CDs will not fit in one. Will be a painful day recycling/disposing of all those jewel cases, but have to do it sooner or later. Haven't decided on whether to keep liner notes and inserts since that will reduce storage. I am definitely not an audiophile, but do listen to all the music on earbuds, car stereo and home stereo system. I ripped all my CDs years ago and stopped buying them and went Spotify with the Premium family subscription. Have not regretted it becaus...
by gbronc
Thu Mar 19, 2020 1:24 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Is there any reason to NOT tax loss harvest?
Replies: 26
Views: 1993

Re: Is there any reason to NOT tax loss harvest?

jebmke wrote: Thu Mar 19, 2020 1:15 pm One should always choose a destination in a TLH that one would be content holding forever. Fortunately, there is enough breadth of offering in funds and ETFs such that this should not be an issue for most.
I'd second this. It sometimes gets overlooked by those doing TLH, especially those that are new to it. You can end up with a lot of similar funds if you do this on many funds and you may own these new funds for years or decades since you don't want the capital gains hit. This is just another one of those things that conspire to reduce your portfolio simplification.

Ideally you use the sale to simultaneously capture the loss AND help with re-balancing because of the large unequal disparity triggered by the losses.
by gbronc
Thu Mar 12, 2020 3:03 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: International is in meltdown
Replies: 413
Views: 42171

Re: International is in meltdown

This has given us a huge Tax Loss Harvesting opportunity, so everyone should at least jump on that, just like in 2008. These losses will carryover for a long time, so you are at least making lemonade out of lemons. Swapping VTIAX for VFWAX works quite well for this. Does that work? They seem substantially identical, subjecting you to the 30 day wash sale rule. Region VTIAX VFWAX ------ ----- ----- Emerging Markets 22.5% 22.6% Europe 41.5% 41.9% Pacific 28.0% 28.3% Middle East 0.4% 0.3% North America 6.8% 6.1% Other 0.8% 0.8% There are many thread on Bogleheads and various blogs agreeing that it is enough of a difference to make it an acceptable TLH to the IRS. I've done it multiple times over the years, so it better be OK. Shows you how ba...
by gbronc
Thu Mar 12, 2020 12:08 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: International is in meltdown
Replies: 413
Views: 42171

Re: International is in meltdown

This has given us a huge Tax Loss Harvesting opportunity, so everyone should at least jump on that, just like in 2008. These losses will carryover for a long time, so you are at least making lemonade out of lemons. Swapping VTIAX for VFWAX works quite well for this.
by gbronc
Fri Feb 14, 2020 12:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Does anyone bypass insurance for primary care?
Replies: 108
Views: 8996

Re: Does anyone bypass insurance for primary care?

This is especially useful if you are using an HSA plan (which have very high deductibles) and it's not the one annual free physical you get under the HSA plans. We have nothing like what you describe in our area, but it would be a no brainer under an HSA. I mostly use the annual physicals for the lab tests anyway since the actual physical seems to have limited value and is rushed through by the doctor or PAs. Most lab tests (but not all) are free once per year and you don't really need a doctor's input to decipher what they are saying.
by gbronc
Thu Jan 30, 2020 4:22 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Electric Scooters
Replies: 39
Views: 4360

Re: Electric Scooters

I have a lot of experience with a millennial son who's gone through two scooters and I have years of personal mountain bike maintenance experience. The insurance industry has not caught up to the scooter world. Your homeowner's may or may not cover you for a liability. Renter's insurance will not and right now there is no way to buy "scooter insurance" for liability if you don't own a home. I'm really hoping my son doesn't slam into anyone, because he's on his own. Hopefully you also have a bit of mechanical skills. These scooters have a lot of parts and unlike bikes, they are not particularly standard between scooter. My son has yet to find a shop in San Francisco, where he lives, that will service them and he is not at all handy...
by gbronc
Thu Oct 10, 2019 4:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Retirement Calculators
Replies: 16
Views: 3372

Re: Retirement Calculators

I've used more than 10, but really love this one and pay for the Gold version:
https://pralanaretirementcalculator.com/

Very comprehensive, though, so it is a commitment to get it setup.
by gbronc
Mon Sep 16, 2019 10:46 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best Estate Planning Book
Replies: 7
Views: 1644

Re: Best Estate Planning Book

This was a very useful book I'd read that helped prepare me for the estate preparation process:
https://www.amazon.com/Living-Trusts-Ev ... 621535673/

Written by a Michigan estate attorney and written in an understandable manner. Strongly recommends using an attorney and always do a trust if you live in California, which I do. It was invaluable for me.
by gbronc
Tue Aug 20, 2019 3:51 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Access to Fidelity eMoney
Replies: 19
Views: 4772

Re: Access to Fidelity eMoney

That Worked for me, (dropping by the office and chummed up to my acct manager) She's a gem and was a bit overwhelmed with my planning complexities, so told me to go home and login, as she would activate eMoney. Finally went to my nearest local office and was told by their Wealth Manager that they'd really only let me use it as a "reports only" tool and ONLY if I went under their Wealth Management services at a 1% fee for assets under management. No way it's worth it for me to do that. His point was that the tool is incredibly complex and they don't want the fiduciary responsibility for errors that are generated because of garbage input. Take that excuse for what it is worth. He did say that other Fidelity offices might allow more...
by gbronc
Tue Aug 20, 2019 10:35 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Chicago - What to see, do & eat in two days
Replies: 71
Views: 5567

Re: Chicago - What to see, do & eat in two days

  • Get a Divvy Bike pass for $15 for the entire day. Drop off and pick up throughout the city. The city is dead flat so an easy and beautiful ride, especially for kids.
  • Visit the free zoo in Lincoln Park
  • Second City shows are also great, but probably not with kids
by gbronc
Thu Jul 11, 2019 6:33 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Access to Fidelity eMoney
Replies: 19
Views: 4772

Re: Access to Fidelity eMoney

StealthRabbit wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 6:13 pm I am still trying to figure out the benefit of Firecalc (which many like, but doesn't seem to avail much flexibility throughout 50+ yrs of the different 'chapters' in retirement).
You should take a look at Pralana (https://pralanaretirementcalculator.com/). I've used the Gold version ($99) for years and is the only one that gave me the granularity I wanted. It's pretty comprehensive and takes a while to setup, but not sure how well it would handle multiple real estate streams.

Firecalc's biggest advantage is its simplicity of data entry.

This is the best review of all calculators that I know about:
https://www.caniretireyet.com/the-best- ... lculators/
by gbronc
Thu Jul 11, 2019 5:14 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Access to Fidelity eMoney
Replies: 19
Views: 4772

Re: Access to Fidelity eMoney

What does eMoney give you above and beyond full view? That's not clear. It sounds like PlanVision's $96/yr would be the most cost efficient way to get access to it. What does it do that PersonalCapital doesn't do? What does Full View do that PersonalCapital do doesn't do? I first read about it here: https://www.kitces.com/blog/best-financial-planning-software-reviews-financial-advisors-guide-on-how-to-choose/ Kitces is a great writer with excellent insights, but he mostly blogs for professional advisors, which I am not. eMoney is used by professional financial advisors and not retail investors, so Personal Capital, Full View and similar tools are really in a different class. It's somewhat like the difference between Adobe Photoshop and the...
by gbronc
Wed Jul 10, 2019 6:22 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Access to Fidelity eMoney
Replies: 19
Views: 4772

Re: Access to Fidelity eMoney

mervinj7 wrote: Wed Jul 10, 2019 5:27 pm Try Fidelity Full View. It's powered by eMoney.

https://www.fidelity.com/cash-managemen ... w/overview
Yes, I forgot to say that. I'm aware that Full View is "powered by eMoney", but the capability I'm looking for is the full eMoney tool that was/is used by professional Financial Advisors. Far more full featured than Full View or the Retirement Planner on the Fidelity site, but also far more complicated and less useful for those that don't want to devote their time to learning it. eMoney's intended audience is not retail investors.
by gbronc
Wed Jul 10, 2019 4:04 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Access to Fidelity eMoney
Replies: 19
Views: 4772

Access to Fidelity eMoney

I am a Fidelity Private Client customer and would love to try Fidelity's eMoney. I called Fidelity and they said they couldn't grant access over the phone. He said you need to go to a Fidelity Branch and have a Financial Advisor at the branch grant you access. Theoretically you could then just use it on your own independently after that, but I'd like to avoid the hassle of working with a Fidelity financial advisor. Would be curious if anyone has a different experience getting access. eMoney is a Financial Planning tool from a company Fidelity acquired in 2015 https://www.fidelity.com/about-fidelity/institutional-investment-management/fi-acquires-emoney-advisor. The tool is intended for professional financial advisors, so not readily availab...
by gbronc
Wed Jul 10, 2019 3:58 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best fine grained retirement calculator
Replies: 15
Views: 4984

Re: Best fine grained retirement calculator

Been playing with Fidelity eMoney (Need to request access to get it added to your Fidelity profile) It is pretty handy with different income streams / time periods / and scenarios (investment properties / inheritance / ). BUT It does not change your filing status to Filing single when the first spouse dies (That would be handy since it is very likely) I am a Fidelity Private Client customer and would love to try that tool. I called Fidelity and they said they couldn't grant access over the phone. He said you need to go to a Fidelity Branch and have a Financial Adviser at the branch grant you access. Theoretically you could then just use it on your own independently. I certainly don't want to bother working with a Fidelity financial adviser...
by gbronc
Fri Jun 28, 2019 9:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Savings Bond dilemma
Replies: 13
Views: 2387

Re: Savings Bond dilemma

Didn't you know you sold some I bonds? Did you not look for a 1099? Or did you just forget? Hey, emails aren't 100%. Nor is USPS. I received the email, and the 1099 was exactly right. Broken Man 1999 No, didn't sell anything. That was the problem. They matured at 30 years, converted automatically to an interest-free C of I bonds and generated a taxable event, but got no email notifying me of a 1099 in my account. I mistakenly thought I could wait to redeem the C of I bonds and delay the tax for when my bracket is lower next year. If I had known, I would have absolutely checked the site for the 1099. I did get an email notifying me of the bonds maturing and converting to C of I bonds, but nothing about a 1099 or a taxable event.I even logge...
by gbronc
Thu Jun 27, 2019 5:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Savings Bond dilemma
Replies: 13
Views: 2387

Re: Savings Bond dilemma

Broken Man 1999 wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 3:26 pm
For the bonds held at Treasury Direct, they will send an email starting your 1099 is available for download for any savings bonds that you have redeemed at their site.

Broken Man 1999
This wasn't my experience in 2018. My daughter and I received no email on the 1099 and get TreasuryDirect emails for other activities, so they have our addresses. I'm pretty sure someone else in another thread said the same thing. Caused me to have to file an amended return.
by gbronc
Thu Jun 27, 2019 5:36 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best fine grained retirement calculator
Replies: 15
Views: 4984

Re: Best fine grained retirement calculator

mhalley wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 1:05 pm I think Darrow Kirkpatrick has reviewed it positively.here are a bunch of other ones at his site.
https://www.caniretireyet.com/the-best- ... lculators/
And he lists it among his favorites here
https://www.caniretireyet.com/my-favori ... lculators/
That review was actually the main reason I investigated it in the first place. Pralana seems to be discussed far less than other calculators and I've never completely understood why since the reviews from sites like caniretireyet are so favorable. I believe Darrow actually partnered with Pralana to create a mobile version. I have not tried that product.
by gbronc
Thu Jun 27, 2019 5:33 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best fine grained retirement calculator
Replies: 15
Views: 4984

Re: Best fine grained retirement calculator

Flobes wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 1:36 pm
gbronc wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2019 4:15 pm It pretty much allows you to model every scenario and variable that might affect your retirement.
Does it include Inherited IRAs? Does it include WEP variables for SS timing?

I''ve paddling with both in my canoe, and none of the retirement calculators I've tried include both in modelings.
I don't use either of those features. But I do see Inherited IRAs broken out so I assume it is handled. I don't see anything on WEP variables for SS, but that doesn't mean it is not in there. The doc on the product is here: https://pralanaretirementcalculator.com ... upport.php. Not sure if everyone can download it.
by gbronc
Thu Jun 20, 2019 3:06 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Savings Bond dilemma
Replies: 13
Views: 2387

Re: Savings Bond dilemma

A Series EE Savings Bond expiring at 30 years will immediately generate a taxable event on the earned interest, regardless of whether you redeem it. Learned this the hard way. I thought I could wait to redeem it with no interest until I'm in a lower bracket. So, in this case, the taxable event would have happened in 2015. US Treasury sends you nothing, you have to know to logon to see the 1099. If she didn't pay the tax, I guess the estate could be liable, but it has nothing to do with when you redeem.

So, I wouldn't re-issue the expired Bonds since they earn no interest. I'd just redeem and reinvest somewhere that earns interest.
by gbronc
Wed Jun 19, 2019 4:58 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best fine grained retirement calculator
Replies: 15
Views: 4984

Re: Best fine grained retirement calculator

You need to be careful since there are so many variables and unknowns that the margin of error is so large that and detailed expectations could be very misleading Exactly. That is the beauty of this calculator. They let you model multiple scenarios side by side tweaking any and every variable to see how it can affect the retirement outcomes and it can be dramatically different depending on inputs. No calculator is perfect and you get out what you put in. But you can certainly do a much better analysis when you model many variables. I do understand that many, if not most, would find the effort not worth it given the number of potential variables. I personally wouldn't want to make life altering retirement decisions by using a rudimentary ca...
by gbronc
Wed Jun 19, 2019 4:15 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best fine grained retirement calculator
Replies: 15
Views: 4984

Best fine grained retirement calculator

I am always surprised the Pralana Gold calculator (https://pralanaretirementcalculator.com/html/pralana_gold.html) is not mentioned more on this forum. I have extensively trialed or actively use at least 10 calculators (https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Retirement_calculators_and_spending) over the last 6 or 7 years modeling my potential retirement. It’s really hard to beat if you care about fine grain retirement planning. The paid Gold version is $99 and a good bit of work to enter the data, but well worth it for the peace of mind and the information it gives you for planning. I haven’t used the free Bronze version in a long time, so I can’t compare it. It pretty much allows you to model every scenario and variable that might affect your ret...
by gbronc
Thu Jun 06, 2019 12:42 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I Bonds & Revocable Living Trust
Replies: 25
Views: 8447

Re: I Bonds & Revocable Living Trust

For the first time, I just tried the annual $10,000 contribution for me, my wife and the trust (which uses my TIN) and then transferred the $10,000 for my wife and me to the trust to get us $30,000 contribution. They did the transfer, but sent me an email with this warning: Your purchase exceeds the annual savings bond purchase limitation. Please be advised the limit is $10,000 per series and TIN per calendar year. Repeated violations may result in an action by this office; for example, a refund of account holdings and/or account closure may occur. So, in the future, I will just buy $10K in the trust and $10K for me wife (then transfer) and get the $5K federal tax refund contribution. I guess the other option is to not transfer to the trust...
by gbronc
Thu Jun 06, 2019 12:36 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TreasuryDirect, savings bonds, annual limits, trust
Replies: 4
Views: 977

Re: TreasuryDirect, savings bonds, annual limits, trust

My understanding is that there are no tax consequences but they do apparently check the limit. I just tried the annual $10,000 contribution for me, my wife and the trust and then transferred the $10,000 for my wife and me to the trust. They did the transfer, but sent me an email with this warning: Your purchase exceeds the annual savings bond purchase limitation. Please be advised the limit is $10,000 per series and TIN per calendar year. Repeated violations may result in an action by this office; for example, a refund of account holdings and/or account closure may occur. So, in the future, I will probably just buy $10K in the trust and $10K for me wife (then transfer) and get the $5K federal tax refund contribution. I guess the other optio...
by gbronc
Wed Feb 06, 2019 5:36 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is anyone having a problem with Personal Capital and Prudential?
Replies: 4
Views: 1616

Re: Is anyone having a problem with Personal Capital and Prudential?

Yes, can not get Prudential 401k to update in Personal Capital or in Quicken Premier. They get different errors but neither work. Haven't had these impossible connection problems from these tools to a financial institution in years. Quicken wants a cryptic "account number" that is a combination of various items and documented on the Prudential site. Documentation or something else is wrong. It seems to connect fine with no errors, but nothing gets downloaded into the register. Personal Capital just keeps prompting with "our Prudential Retirement Services security question response does not match. Please verify your answer and try again." Of course they never ask me a security question or give me a place to enter it. Clea...
by gbronc
Wed Nov 28, 2018 5:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Quicken 2019 and forward
Replies: 1061
Views: 114313

Re: Quicken 2019 and forward

Been a user of Quicken since 1993. I can tell you that I download 12 accounts daily with no problem. When a download is continuously failing for an institution, you most likely need to Deactivate it and then Reactivate it via the Account Details form under the failing Account. It's a minor pain and it shouldn't happen, but it has always fixed it for me. I have run into only a few accounts over the years that won't download after resetting. You can Google that as a solution. As for paying for the subscription, I am fine with it. They have a sophisticated product with a very large code base and limited user base and need revenue somehow, so I'll contribute to keep them functioning and improving the product. All the other alternatives, at leas...
by gbronc
Wed Aug 29, 2018 12:34 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fidelity Full View transition to eMoney
Replies: 161
Views: 42425

Re: Fidelity Full View transition to eMoney

I only use Fullview for the Retirement Calculator capability. Logged on today and see that there is no way to add in my Vanguard accounts. As another poster stated, there is no option for Vanguard personal investment accounts. Not sure if this is an intentional permanent limitation or just a temporary bug. That would render the entire product useless to me if I can't include Vanguard data. This is a pretty shocking failed rollout, especially since my experience has been that the technology has been consistently superior at Fidelity versus Vanguard. I can certainly wait this out, but hopefully I don't actually retire before they fix it.
by gbronc
Fri Jun 29, 2018 3:30 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Wellesley and Wellington performance on Simba's Backtest Spreadsheet
Replies: 6
Views: 1516

Re: Wellesley and Wellington performance on Simba's Backtest Spreadsheet

But that was all during years when the FOMC was lowering interest rates or holding them steady. Will the managers of Wellesley still be able to keep the pig puckered up? Or will it be more like recently when Wellesley continues to trail a 3-fund portfolio? Would buying now be buying low or just before a continued slump in longer duration bonds? That's a good point. I put Wellesley into the Portfolio Visualizer Backtest Portfolio Asset Allocation against a 63% VBTLX (Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Adm) and 37% VTSAX (Vanguard Total Stock Mkt Idx Adm). I didn't do three funds since Wellesley doesn't have international. 2015 and 2016 were quite a bit better for Wellesley, 2017 was about equivalent, but 2018 is considerably worse. So this co...
by gbronc
Fri Jun 29, 2018 1:44 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Wellesley and Wellington performance on Simba's Backtest Spreadsheet
Replies: 6
Views: 1516

Wellesley and Wellington performance on Simba's Backtest Spreadsheet

For years I have used the excellent Simba’s Portfolio Backtest tool and really love it. But year after year I’m always bothered by the fact that actively managed Wellesley and Wellington funds do so consistently well versus the lazy portfolios when taking into account the many risk metrics that are offered on that spreadsheet. They seem to be the “gold standard” on risk vs. reward on almost any time period tested other than "bull only" years. I have vigorously avoided non-index funds for 20 years, but I’m really tempted, at least for the bonds portion of my asset allocation to purchase Wellesley since it is about 62% bonds and only a .15% expense ratio for VWIAX, which is a bargain for a managed fund. I recognize that any fund wit...
by gbronc
Tue Jun 26, 2018 4:02 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth or Traditional 401k with recent grad
Replies: 15
Views: 1372

Re: Roth or Traditional 401k with recent grad

Thanks for everyone's input, this has been quite helpful. I actually was using the Personal Finance Toolbox to model the scenarios. Incredibly helpful, just hope everything is accurate on it. As some said, I'm thinking that the Traditional 401k to get her below $19K with the reminder in a Roth IRA, then Roth 401k is the best choice. The tricky part is the cliff income level of $19K on the Saver's Credit. Off by $1 and you lose $600, defeating much of the effort. She has mutual fund distributions coming and could possibly have a raise or a bonus that arrives in December. Would be a lot nicer if it was a gradual phase out, so I'll have to be sure of a buffer. Per the Toolbox, it appears Illinois state tax is not progressive, so the Traditiona...
by gbronc
Tue Jun 26, 2018 3:40 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth or Traditional 401k with recent grad
Replies: 15
Views: 1372

Re: Roth or Traditional 401k with recent grad

rkhusky wrote: Tue Jun 26, 2018 6:27 am While true for a Roth IRA, does it hold for Roth 401k's?
My understanding is that you'd have to roll it to a Roth IRA first. My guess is that there is a very strong chance she will leave this company prior to needing the money for a house down payment, so she would be allowed to do the Rollover.
by gbronc
Mon Jun 25, 2018 5:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth or Traditional 401k with recent grad
Replies: 15
Views: 1372

Roth or Traditional 401k with recent grad

I'm advising a recent college grad (December) who started a job in late May that is paying $47,500/year. She wants to max her 401k to $18,500. We’re trying to decide whether Traditional or Roth 401k makes more sense. Her employer offers both. Normally it’s a no brainer during her lower earning years to put it all into the Roth, but if she puts it into a Traditional 401k she would receive the Saver’s Credit on her federal return of $1000. Because it is a partial year, she is only grossing about $28,100 for the year. The $18,500 contribution to a Traditional IRA appears to put her AGI low enough to receive the full Saver’s Credit. She lives in Illinois. My final math: Roth: total fed/state income tax of $3500 Traditional: total state income t...
by gbronc
Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:04 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Seeking Yosemite advice for late March
Replies: 9
Views: 1279

Re: Seeking Yosemite advice for late March

Went March of last year driving from Sacramento, a bit shorter than the Bay Area. Been to Yosemite 10+ times in my life. Got very lucky with weather and it was gorgeous and warm for the two days. We stayed at Yosemite Lodge. The advantages are definitely smaller crowds, but it depends on what you are used to. Yosemite in summer is a mad house, so it is much smaller in March. Waterfalls were really flowing at that time last year and that is one of the biggest attractions there. You don't get that in summer and fall. The disadvantage is that so much is closed outside the valley including Glacier Point, which is a major attraction and the starting point of our favorite trail, the Panorama Trail. Half Dome Village (formerly Curry Village) was c...
by gbronc
Wed Jan 24, 2018 5:18 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Have you ever found an error on your amazon bill?
Replies: 20
Views: 2479

Re: Have you ever found an error on your amazon bill?

I have carefully matched every Amazon transaction since 2011 with Quicken. I actually did catch a $150 error by them about 5 years ago for a shipment that I did not order or receive. I talked with customer service multiple times and they eventually gave me the delivery address 3000 miles from where I live and they then admitted it was erroneous and credited me. Never figured out what happened. I assume it was some manual data entry issue by their customer service dept. I don't think it was fraud, but who knows. I like reconciling and categorizing spending, so I'm not really doing it to catch errors. This is actually the only time in 25 years of using Quicken where I caught a transaction error from any retailer, so definitely not worth it un...
by gbronc
Fri Jan 05, 2018 10:52 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best Tax Estimate Website for 2018?
Replies: 25
Views: 5290

Re: Best Tax Estimate Website for 2018?

I really like this one. A lot of good detailed options and includes the state. Unfortunately no capital gains capability:
https://www.taxreformcalculator.com/
by gbronc
Thu Dec 14, 2017 4:56 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: [Book: Living off Your Money, by M. McClung (Prime Harvesting)]
Replies: 553
Views: 171556

Re: [Book: Living off Your Money, by M. McClung (Prime Harvesting)]

Those both seem like good and reasonable methods and in line with what I would probably do. Simplified, it is taking a set pool of money and not really including in any of your calculations with the Risk Portfolio and considering it spent, but making appropriate adjustments to equity percentages to account for this money that has been set aside. I'm always a bit concerned about Social Security reliability for these calculations especially since it is over 15 years away, but there are mechanisms to make adjustments like taking SS sooner.

Ultimately, the biggest value of the book is the continuous adjustment mechanisms that factor in large expected and unexpected withdrawals and market valuations.
by gbronc
Wed Dec 13, 2017 6:17 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: [Book: Living off Your Money, by M. McClung (Prime Harvesting)]
Replies: 553
Views: 171556

Re: [Book: Living off Your Money, by M. McClung (Prime Harvesting)]

I would also like to chime in and say how valuable and powerful this book is. It clearly accentuates how different de-cumulation is than accumulation. He covers everything from asset allocation to withdrawal methods and even discusses Guaranteed Income strategies. The book is well researched, written and edited. The complaints about the cost of this book in this thread are silly given that this is a financial book that will easily pay for itself many times over if you only use a tiny bit of what he discusses. I’m as cheap as anybody and I’m telling you that you should pay the $40 for the paperback and not just settle for the three free chapters. If nothing else to reward the author for this outstanding work. Books like this do not make the ...
by gbronc
Wed Nov 22, 2017 12:39 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Did you end up overfunding a 529?
Replies: 13
Views: 2550

Re: Did you end up overfunding a 529?

I've overfunded for various reasons, mostly scholarships, so have thought a lot about what to do with the excess funds: 1) Hold onto it for a very long time and eventually roll it over to a future generation as a gift. Since it grows with tax free earnings on qualified withdrawals, it is a potentially nice tax avoidance vehicle (and generous gift). But only works if you don’t really have to have the money and are satisfied with the 529 investment options you have. 2) If you have children that may eventually go to grad school, that may be an option for liquidating it in the future. 3) If your tax bracket is going to drop considerably in the future, just wait until that time and withdraw the money then. When you withdraw, you will have to pay...
by gbronc
Thu Nov 02, 2017 7:06 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Giving up on Quicken? (and expense tracking software altogether)
Replies: 73
Views: 11793

Re: Giving up on Quicken? (and expense tracking software altogether)

I agree that many of those reasons for maintaining Quicken have diminished over the years and I sometimes wonder what I can do with my 24 years of Quicken data. But one huge advantage, at least for me, is being able to see exactly what I spend by category. This helps immensely with the "can I retire" questions and entering data into various retirement calculators. I have kids getting out of college soon and without categorized spending it would be more challenging to easily see what we would actually spend in retirement with no kids. It also helps with the discretionary aspect of spending that most calculators use. I can tell you it has made me feel much more confident about the retirement planning process. But ultimately if you d...
by gbronc
Sun Nov 13, 2016 12:59 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Amazon Prime: doing the math...is it worth it?
Replies: 111
Views: 20418

Re: Amazon Prime: doing the math...is it worth it?

One benefit that really gets overlooked is that you can only get the Amazon Store Card, which gives you a 5% rebate on every order, is only available if you have Prime.
by gbronc
Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:13 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1367
Views: 821413

Re: Spreadsheet for backtesting (includes TrevH's data)

Thanks for the update, truly love this tool.

Did notice an error for the Average and Std Dev calculations on the Lazy_Portfolios_85 sheet. Rows 101 and 102 are not including 2011 and 2012 in the calculations. Should be =AVERAGE(C$116:C$143)
by gbronc
Mon Apr 09, 2012 10:58 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why Asset Allocation May Not Matter
Replies: 24
Views: 3261

Why Asset Allocation May Not Matter

Would be interested in hearing feedback on this:
http://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/20 ... 012-13.pdf

Goes against everything I've read and believed for years.

Conclusion:
"Given the relative unimportance of asset allocations, financial advisers will be of greater
help to their clients if they focus on a broad array of tools – including working longer,
controlling spending, and taking out a reverse mortgage"
by gbronc
Wed Mar 07, 2012 3:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity Credit Cards
Replies: 44
Views: 51396

Re: Fidelity Credit Cards

Excellent, I've signed up, thanks for the link. Was not intuitive.

Now I just need that Quicken daily download fixed.
by gbronc
Wed Mar 07, 2012 2:32 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity Credit Cards
Replies: 44
Views: 51396

Re: Fidelity Credit Cards

There are two drawbacks to the Fidelity Credit Cards that may or may not matter to you. The Fidelity cards are provided by FIA Card Services. 1) If you are a Quicken user, you can not automatically download your transactions daily. Your only option is to download the transactions once per month after a statement has been created and only through the FIA website by downloading a QFX file. This was a deal breaker for me. 2) FIA Card Services has no option for auto-pay bill in full when a statement comes out. You have to go to the website and enter the actual amount from the statement to create a payment. If you get an AMEX directly from AMEX you don't have either of these limitations. FIA has intentionally removed these options to either avoi...