Search found 31 matches

by madef88
Mon Mar 18, 2013 6:52 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Roth Recharacterization to Backdoor Roth
Replies: 2
Views: 507

Re: Roth Recharacterization to Backdoor Roth

That was it. I had a contribution for both a traditional and Roth IRA. I'm no longer getting that message. Thanks again Alan S.!
by madef88
Sun Mar 17, 2013 7:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Roth Recharacterization to Backdoor Roth
Replies: 2
Views: 507

Roth Recharacterization to Backdoor Roth

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but I'm having a great deal of trouble with Turbo Tax and my backdoor Roth for 2012. The problem is that before I performed the Backdoor contribution for my wife for 2012, I had initially contributed to a Roth directly. I realized midway through the year that we would be above the MAGI limits for a direct contribution. I recharacterized the Roth contribution to a traditional contribution in August, then waited a week or two, and finally performed the Backdoor Roth contribution. I've searched other threads and found some useful info, and I've looked at tfb's complete how-to on this issue, but I'm still getting this message from TT saying I owe a penalty: "You Currently Have a Penalty Because XXXX made an exce...
by madef88
Mon Jan 28, 2013 9:27 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Anyone in the New Orleans area?
Replies: 39
Views: 16648

Re: Anyone in the New Orleans area?

I'm on the Northshore in Mandeville, and I'd try my hardest to make it if we got something together.
by madef88
Tue Dec 25, 2012 8:40 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: best wrinkle-free shirts
Replies: 39
Views: 9422

Re: best wrinkle-free shirts

Brooks Brothers Semi-Annual Sale starts today and ends January 3. FYI.
by madef88
Sun Oct 07, 2012 12:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 529 Savings Plan Beneficiary Tax Considerations
Replies: 4
Views: 645

Re: 529 Savings Plan Beneficiary Tax Considerations

Thanks for the quick response. I was not aware of any tax problems, but I didn't have any text on hand to clearly make a point. Thanks for the links, I'll be reading over them thoroughly.
by madef88
Sat Oct 06, 2012 11:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 529 Savings Plan Beneficiary Tax Considerations
Replies: 4
Views: 645

529 Savings Plan Beneficiary Tax Considerations

Hi, My wife and I have a young nephew that just turned 1 year old. If his parents pass away, we are designated in the will to become his legal guardians. We are fully funding our retirement (401ks and Roth IRAs maxed), and I thought it might be a good idea to open a Louisiana 529 Savings Plan in the unlikely event that we become responsible for the child. We would get a state income tax deduction of about $400, and if we have kids later on we can change the beneficiary to one of our own. Opening an account now would just allow another few years of compounding. When I brought this plan up to our nephew's parents, they were concerned about tax considerations if we were to change the beneficiary since the amount saved is considered part of the...
by madef88
Tue Aug 21, 2012 3:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Do You Haggle? If so: when, for what, how?
Replies: 94
Views: 13567

Re: Do You Haggle? If so: when, for what, how?

I'm not very good at haggling, but the only success I've had was with the cable company. I told them I was looking to drop them for another provider and instantly they knocked off $30 per month.

I don't think I'll try haggling for discounts on clothes. I dislike the experience enough as it is, without involving the manager. I'll just go during a sale or with a coupon.

-Matt
by madef88
Mon Aug 20, 2012 12:56 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Europe Trip Recommendations
Replies: 23
Views: 4225

Re: Europe Trip Recommendations

My wife and I visited Switzerland and Italy for 2 weeks in April. Our favorite day in Switzerland was spent visiting Ballenburg, an open-air museum featuring houses and artifacts from every region of the country. We spent the entire day hiking around, viewing cheese-making or other traditional crafts and taking in the beautiful scenery. The museum was very large - several acres - but with your wife being pregnant, you could choose how much of the museum you wish to see. They also have a shuttle (a horse-drawn carriage) that can take you around if you don't want to walk. In Italy we had a blast kayaking on Lake Como one morning and spending the rest of the day driving around the countryside. I never felt unsafe on the roads there. At least n...
by madef88
Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:58 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Attitudes about success, money, etc
Replies: 30
Views: 4362

Re: Attitudes about success, money, etc

The author seems like a spoiled brat and reminds of a whole slew of people who I frankly can't stand. Every column of hers has this tone. She continually criticizes, in a seemingly polite and respectful manner, how her husband approaches money. He takes a deliberate, responsible, patient approach every step of the way -- and she hammers him for it. I read her columns when I come across them, because they're well-written and because I seek out insight into those who think differently than I do. But it's maddening because she is emblematic of the masses of people who just don't understand money -- and she has the writing skill to reassure them that they do, with the tightwads out there being obstacles to overcome. Every column seems to end w...
by madef88
Mon Aug 13, 2012 8:12 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Oil Well Investing - Anyone dabble in this?
Replies: 41
Views: 5399

Re: Oil Well Investing - Anyone dabble in this?

ourbrooks wrote: The post by seattleCPA may have hit the nail on the head; the revenue quotes are based on initial production which may decline substantially in a year. The owners are trying to dump the wells now, while the production figures look good.
+1 All the way.

I work in the oilfield and have seen professional engineers fail to realize how much higher the initial numbers are than the eventual yearly production, resulting in very optimistic forecasts.

I'd stay out of this "opportunity" and stick with index funds.
by madef88
Fri Aug 10, 2012 8:07 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Order of Investing to Follow
Replies: 16
Views: 1926

Re: Order of Investing to Follow

Xanadu wrote:
madef88 wrote:
I've recently read other threads that discussed when it was ok to borrow from a 401k plan. The majority of scenarios in which it was okay involved emergency situations. What is the rationale for borrowing to fund the 529 plan? Just wondering if it would be advantageous for many folks or just in special situations.

Matt
http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52394
Thank you!
by madef88
Fri Aug 10, 2012 7:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Order of Investing to Follow
Replies: 16
Views: 1926

Re: Order of Investing to Follow

livesoft wrote:There is no rule of thumb because everybody is different. There has been a purported rule of thumb expressed on this forum, but it is usually shot down.

What we do:

Maximize our 401(k) contributions.
Maximize our HSA contributions.
Maximize our Roth contributions.
Maximize our joint account contributions.
Borrow from 401(k) to invest in 529 plans.
Live paycheck to paycheck.

Beware of consensus.
I've recently read other threads that discussed when it was ok to borrow from a 401k plan. The majority of scenarios in which it was okay involved emergency situations. What is the rationale for borrowing to fund the 529 plan? Just wondering if it would be advantageous for many folks or just in special situations.

Matt
by madef88
Fri Aug 10, 2012 7:11 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Poll: When did you 1st learn about a Roth IRA?
Replies: 54
Views: 8882

Re: Poll: When did you 1st learn about a Roth IRA?

pkcrafter wrote:I learned about Roths yesterday from thedev. :wink:

I guess you are saying the person you know didn't know about Roths, but what's even more incredible is the advisor did not inform him! :shock:


Paul
^^^I love the humor and sarcasm on this forum as well as the advice!

Some of us were in grade school in 1997! Luckily my father advised me on opening a Roth IRA once I started working in high school in 2004.

Matt
by madef88
Sun Jul 08, 2012 1:02 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: I want an Airstream!
Replies: 70
Views: 17574

Re: I want an Airstream!

mhc wrote:RetiredJG,

if you take off on the road for a year or two, I hope you stay connected so that you can continue to give excellent advise on this forum. :beer
Ditto that
by madef88
Sun Jul 08, 2012 12:54 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What retirement contributions does your employer offer?
Replies: 68
Views: 10006

Re: What retirement contributions does your employer offer?

Employer (Private) contributes 4% of gross salary if I contribute 1%, 8% if I contribute 2%.
by madef88
Sat Jul 07, 2012 7:12 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: After Tax 401k: Fairmark Strategy #3 Guidance
Replies: 10
Views: 1948

Re: After Tax 401k: Fairmark Strategy #3 Guidance

That's a great plan. I'm sure it will go well. Thanks again for the help!
by madef88
Sat Jul 07, 2012 6:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: After Tax 401k: Fairmark Strategy #3 Guidance
Replies: 10
Views: 1948

Re: After Tax 401k: Fairmark Strategy #3 Guidance

:oops: Sorry. I saw that and then promptly forgot it when I got into the meat of your post. Have you been able to make any progress? I've made some progress with the 401ks but I'm still working up the courage to close my Edward Jones account. It's top priority once I get home from my 2 week work rotation. The advisor is a close family friend I've known most of my life, and isn't responsible for most of the choices in that account. When I started digging through old files I found out that some of the funds were from a UGMA(?) in my name from deceased relatives. His advice was actually pretty sensible when held up to Boglehead standards (live below your means, save as much as possible, etc.), but now that I want to simplify things, I know th...
by madef88
Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:27 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: After Tax 401k: Fairmark Strategy #3 Guidance
Replies: 10
Views: 1948

Re: After Tax 401k: Fairmark Strategy #3 Guidance

Alan S.,

Thanks for the helpful advice. Yes, my in-service withdrawals are limited to after-tax contributions, and HCE rules don't apply to me yet.
I understand that I don't necessarily need to employ strategy #3, but do the Roth IRA MAGI limits apply to direct rollovers from a 401k?

retiredjg,

Thanks for the help. I understand that my portfolio was a mess, so I posted the topic which was linked in the original post.
by madef88
Fri Jul 06, 2012 7:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: After Tax 401k: Fairmark Strategy #3 Guidance
Replies: 10
Views: 1948

After Tax 401k: Fairmark Strategy #3 Guidance

Thank you all for your past replies and future responses. I recently posted about reconstructing my portfolio to a simple, 3-Fund approach: http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=98236. I included the info again to comply with the posting format. However, I stumbled upon a thread regarding after-tax 401k contributions: http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=99005 It seems just as I come up with a path, I discover new information on the forum that could really be beneficial, but now I may have to alter my plan! I read my company's 401k plan in detail and it meets the qualifications (see below) to use the Fairmark Strategy #3: http://www.fairmark.com/rothira/09030801-401k-basis.htm This would allow the wife a...
by madef88
Thu Jul 05, 2012 4:04 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: After-Tax 401k
Replies: 31
Views: 2675

Re: After-Tax 401k

MEAT,

Please keep posting your progress with this. I just found out I was eligible to take in-service withdrawals and perhaps take advantage of Strategy #3 as well. I hope you succeed in your efforts!

Matt
by madef88
Wed Jul 04, 2012 1:24 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help me Please! I'm kinda screwed!
Replies: 4
Views: 2017

Re: Help me Please! I'm kinda screwed!

livesoft wrote:Traditional IRA
Back door Roth.
I-bonds at Treasury Direct
529 plans
FSA
HSA

Hubby invests in bonds in 401(k) while you invest tax-efficiently in your taxable account

New job
Divorce
livesoft - the last one made me lol

OP - Try reading just about any info on this site. The wiki is a great place to start.
by madef88
Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:59 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cost of Sports Events
Replies: 54
Views: 4338

Re: Cost of Sports Events

Of course it is a matter of personal preference. Some of my best memories involve attending baseball games with friends and family, and I could easily justify purchasing season tickets for the Texas Rangers because I enjoy the experience of attending the games and cheering on the team I've supported since I could form memories.

A recent thread brought up many similar points of view about several hobbies:

http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... 7&start=50

I would never pay $1 for golf because I have no interest whatsoever, but I could easily drop $1000 for baseball. Perhaps this is the "personal" part of Personal Finance :beer

Matt
by madef88
Wed Jun 20, 2012 12:55 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone everuse Angie's List?
Replies: 19
Views: 2540

Re: Anyone everuse Angie's List?

If you're considering joining Angie's List occasionally Groupon will run a discounted membership coupon. With the coupon a yearly subscription was just $8. There were other discounts I had found before I took the Groupon offer, so look around and don't pay the listed price.

Matt
by madef88
Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:26 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio is a Mess, Need Rebalancing Advice
Replies: 18
Views: 2187

Re: Portfolio is a Mess, Need Rebalancing Advice

bdpb wrote:Sell your taxable accounts and pay down your mortgage. Ten year Treasuries yield only 1.6%. Why invest in bonds
at all if you are paying 3.25% interest on a loan? In addition, by selling the taxable you will save on the annual taxes
on the QD.

For additional tax advantaged savings (before taxable investing), check both 401k for after-tax contribution
and in-service withdrawal/rollover to Roth/401k options.
With such a low interest rate, I would have thought that it is better to invest the money in a taxable account rather than pay off the mortgage. Could you please explain your reasoning in more detail?

Thanks for all the replies! It looks like I have quite a bit of research to do regarding our taxable accounts :oops:
by madef88
Tue Jun 19, 2012 7:26 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio is a Mess, Need Rebalancing Advice
Replies: 18
Views: 2187

Re: My Portfolio is Messy, Need Help Rebalancing

Aptenodytes wrote:Your AA strategy doesn't quite sit right for me. You want to stick with 90% socks just for 5-6 years. That seems too short. If it were me I'd calculate where I want to be at age 30 and then start out at that level now. Otherwise you are facing the possibility of a big loss or a big capital gains hit at age 30 for no compelling reason.
I edited my original post, thanks for pointing that out. 30 was just an age I pulled out the air really. I mean to stay in stocks for quite a while. Perhaps by 40-45 I'll start shifting to a more conservative AA.
by madef88
Tue Jun 19, 2012 3:01 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio is a Mess, Need Rebalancing Advice
Replies: 18
Views: 2187

Portfolio is a Mess, Need Rebalancing Advice

I’m looking to consolidate all of our holdings into a simple 3 fund portfolio. I would like to have one place where I can view and take care of everything – Vanguard. We have investments all over the place, some that are gifts from family (taxable accounts) that were to be used for college and some were purchases of mine that I had no business buying but did so before I discovered this site (mainly 401k which is why there are so many funds) . Now that I’ve started investing smarter, I want to clean my portfolio up and put it on auto-pilot to be rebalanced once a year. Thanks for all the help in advance! • Emergency funds = 6 months of expenses • Debt - Mortgage: $181,694, 14 yrs remaining @ 3.25% Interest Rate; $45k equity in house. Paymen...
by madef88
Mon Jun 18, 2012 8:27 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: DIY Home Improvement Economics
Replies: 12
Views: 2295

Re: DIY Home Improvement Economics

Thanks for all the helpful responses!

tadamsmar - I try my best to keep the home well maintained, but I need to make sure the house is sealed properly and I'll check the exterior caulking. Thanks for the recommendations.

dratkinson - That was exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.
by madef88
Fri Jun 15, 2012 1:45 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: DIY Home Improvement Economics
Replies: 12
Views: 2295

DIY Home Improvement Economics

I'm a young homeowner that is interested in tackling some home improvement projects around my house. I have a short list, but I'm looking to add to the queue. I work a unique schedule that gives me 2 weeks off at a time - 14 days at work, 14 days off - and I'm usually looking for things to do while my wife is at work and on weekends sometimes. I've considered re-tiling floors, painting, re-carpeting, powerwashing the house/driveway (I read the recent discussion thoroughly), installing new cabinets, completely renovating the master bathroom, but I don't want to limit the discussion to just those topics. I also have a friend who works the same schedule as me who can help for bigger projects. My questions are: 1.) Which projects have the bigge...
by madef88
Wed Apr 18, 2012 11:18 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Investing Above Roth IRA Income Limit
Replies: 3
Views: 1538

Re: Investing Above Roth IRA Income Limit

Thanks!

That answers my question exactly :D . I'll try reduce my MAGI and save the use of a Backdoor IRA for the future.
by madef88
Tue Apr 17, 2012 10:34 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Investing Above Roth IRA Income Limit
Replies: 3
Views: 1538

Investing Above Roth IRA Income Limit

This is my first post after discovering this website from reading The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing - what a great website! My question is what to invest in once you no longer can contribute to a Roth IRA due to income limitations? If there are advantages in certain investments due to tax reasons, could you explain in detail, as I need to become more familiar with tax regulations/terminology and don't fully understand the rules. Thanks so much! Background: My wife and I are 24 and most likely this year we will no longer be able to contribute to our Roth IRAs because our AGI will be most likely be above $179,000. We have no debts but a 15-yr mortgage for which we pay ~$1300/mo. Our goal is a very early retirement so we can travel the world....