Search found 96 matches

by justus
Wed Nov 27, 2019 1:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: HSA Records - end-of-year EOB sufficient?
Replies: 23
Views: 5081

Re: HSA Records - end-of-year EOB sufficient?

I have the same question. Can I use HealthEquity docs and the EOBs as evidence?
by justus
Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:23 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Withdrawal from traditional (nondeductible) IRA
Replies: 6
Views: 636

Re: Withdrawal from traditional (nondeductible) IRA

There's no other t-IRA funds. Just this single contributions of 5500 when I opened it up earlier this year. I just wanted to "back out of it". Do I have to contact Vanguard to do this or can I just withdraw the money and instruct them not to withhold any money to the IRS?
by justus
Sun Nov 24, 2019 6:55 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Withdrawal from traditional (nondeductible) IRA
Replies: 6
Views: 636

Withdrawal from traditional (nondeductible) IRA

I contributed 5500 to a new tradiitional IRA for tax year 2018 as a nondeductible contribution (because my personal income exceeded the traditional IRA limits last year) and I believe I filed the appropriate forms when I filed my taxes. Now reading about it, it seems that there's quite a bit of record keeping and I've got need of the funds. Can I withdraw the funds now without penalty?
by justus
Sat Jul 01, 2017 12:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Home equity as high % of net worth a bad thing?
Replies: 4
Views: 987

Re: Home equity as high % of net worth a bad thing?

Starting out, it's quite common. I was a late-start kinda guy and first purchased a home at age 28. My net worth was probably about 60k, of which 20k was in my 401k and 40k was the downpayment of my 200k house. My biggest concern at the time was having sufficient reserves to weather home repairs and mortgage payments (in case of job loss).
by justus
Wed Jun 21, 2017 12:17 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard invite - transition to a Brokerage Acct
Replies: 33
Views: 5844

Re: Vanguard invite - transition to a Brokerage Acct

I just received the email about 10 minutes ago. I must be in the same group as the OP.
by justus
Fri May 26, 2017 2:02 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Question for you high net worth individuals... [real estate investments]
Replies: 82
Views: 16201

Re: Question for you high net worth individuals... [real estate investments]

I'm not HNW (I'm relatively low income), but I do actively manage residential rental investments. Over the past decade, my equity has grown by about 20% year over year. It'll be a big part of my overall retirement portfolio.
by justus
Fri May 26, 2017 10:50 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: using Roth IRA for downpayment
Replies: 6
Views: 1565

Re: using Roth IRA for downpayment

I'd much rather avoid using my Roth IRA (and the loan/distribution of my 401k). For non-financial reasons, I've moved to a HCOL area and now that it looks like it'll be a permanent move, I'm eager to get settled here. I appreciate all the advice, guys!
by justus
Wed May 24, 2017 10:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: using Roth IRA for downpayment
Replies: 6
Views: 1565

using Roth IRA for downpayment

I'd like to use funds in my Roth IRA for a downpayment on a primary residence. I think I'm interpreting the rules correctly to mean I can withdraw up to the dollar amount of my contributions without penalty or tax. Is that correct? And if I want to withdraw more than the contributions, I can withdraw up to $10k for the purchase of a "first home" without paying additional 10% tax?
by justus
Wed May 17, 2017 2:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: when to do the backdoor roth?
Replies: 3
Views: 654

when to do the backdoor roth?

My income is close to the single person maximum for Roth IRA contribution. Last year I made 134k in w2 income, less the 18k (401k deferred) was 116k, one thousand shy of the 117k limit. This year, I may earn slightly more.

I participate in a monthly automatic investment at Vanguard to contribute to my Roth IRA. Should I stop my contributions and wait until the end of the year to determine how much to contribute/recharacterize?
by justus
Fri Jan 06, 2017 4:44 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Moving Health Savings Account?
Replies: 4
Views: 703

Re: Moving Health Savings Account?

I've learned a lot in the few hours since I've been reading up on HSA on this website. Seems that it's difficult to compare apples-to-apples ... a lot of various little fees including monthly maintenance fees, statement fees, investment account fees, administration fees and so on that look like they'll erode any possible interest or gains.
by justus
Fri Jan 06, 2017 3:43 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Moving Health Savings Account?
Replies: 4
Views: 703

Re: Moving Health Savings Account?

Are you sure you aren't misinterpreting this and the charge on occurs if you transfer out to a third plan, but if you elect to transfer to the new plan there is no charge? Here's the exact wording: If you’re enrolled in the Health Savings Plan, your HealthEquity HSA account will be funded on January 6, 2017. Starting January 9, you’ll see a link on Optum Bank’s website to transfer your account to HealthEquity. If you transfer your account by January 23, you won’t incur Optum’s $3 monthly fee. Regardless of when you transfer your account, if your HSA balance is greater than $0, you’ll be charged a $20 transfer fee. If you don’t have a lot of money left in your HSA around the time of the transfer, you may want to consider using up all your f...
by justus
Fri Jan 06, 2017 3:05 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Moving Health Savings Account?
Replies: 4
Views: 703

Moving Health Savings Account?

My employer changed the plan administrators and announced that it would cost $20 to transfer any remaining funds out of Optum HSA (recommended, otherwise I'd be incurring the monthly fees). I'm just starting to read up I'm assuming my employer will require that my pre-tax contributions for 2017 go into the new HSA they've selected. Is that pretty common?

Am I better off rolling my remaining funds (about $1500) into their selected HSA, or should I be shopping for my own? If so, what are the main features I should be looking at? Also, what exactly are the rules on HSAs? Can I have two (or more) HSAs?
by justus
Fri Jan 06, 2017 2:58 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 500K milestone celebration
Replies: 74
Views: 11564

Re: 500K milestone celebration

Congrats! I hope to get there someday.
by justus
Tue Dec 15, 2015 3:38 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Any Real Love Lost If.....
Replies: 19
Views: 4077

Re: Any Real Love Lost If.....

jpelder wrote:The yuppies in Downtown Charlotte who work for BoA won't love you anymore, but they're boring anyway, so don't worry about it!
Funny, I thought BoA was in Uptown Charlotte.
by justus
Wed Feb 04, 2015 10:40 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Keurig-cup coffee makers - why?
Replies: 139
Views: 32549

Re: Keurig-cup coffee makers - why?

For my household, the best benefit of the Keurig is that everyone can fix their own cup of coffee the way they want. I might like dark roast, sister likes flavored, parents like decaf.
by justus
Sat Dec 13, 2014 9:45 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 6 years into career, finally time to address the unavoidable
Replies: 28
Views: 5526

Re: 6 years into career, finally time to address the unavoid

I'm not sure if it's understood already that you can put additional funds into your spouse's Roth IRA for additional tax advantaged space. For 2014, that would be 5,500 for yourself and 5,500 for your spouse.
by justus
Sun Oct 12, 2014 2:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Clothes Dryer drying very slowly
Replies: 24
Views: 6111

Re: Clothes Dryer drying very slowly

Agree with all the other folk. It's probably your vent. When was the last time you had the vent cleaned? My parents didn't even realize that was a thing for about 20 years. Once they told me what was wrong, I called a technician. He took a look and as it turns out, the pipe was completely full of water and no air was passing through. Had it replaced and the dryer's now fine.
by justus
Wed Sep 10, 2014 9:21 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: invest in this 401K or not
Replies: 22
Views: 1753

Re: invest in this 401K or not

How long are you going to be in this job? You can roll it over when you separate and so it may be worth being able to tuck away the extra money in a tax-advantaged space.
by justus
Wed Jul 23, 2014 10:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Dad had a whole life policy but it sounds like term life?!
Replies: 25
Views: 2600

Re: Dad had a whole life policy but it sounds like term life

Sorry to hear about your father's passing. Please accept my sincere condolences.
by justus
Fri Jul 18, 2014 11:22 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: If you own a car, do you have a car payment?
Replies: 112
Views: 12311

Re: If you own a car, do you have a car payment?

I financed the purchase of my first car, when I was 21. I haven't had a car payment since.
by justus
Wed Apr 09, 2014 6:15 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Wait for better tenant application or approve the one I have
Replies: 27
Views: 2745

Re: Wait for better tenant application or approve the one I

I've been a landlord and I would not agree to longer than 1 year. I like the flexibility if the situation doesn't work out, to be able to terminate at the end of the period.
by justus
Wed Feb 26, 2014 3:22 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Where to buy polo shirts?
Replies: 63
Views: 18192

Re: Where to buy polo shirts?

I buy my short sleeve collared shirts (polo or golf style or whatever they're called) at Kohls. It's also where I buy most of my "work" clothes. I mostly work in an office and don't see clients, so it works. If I worked in sales or something more customer-facing, I might need to spend more money.
by justus
Fri Jan 10, 2014 11:37 pm
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Bogleheads.org Homepage
Replies: 76
Views: 7118

Re: Bogleheads.org Homepage

Just wanted to chime in that I really love the homepage as is.
The hack (view new posts) several additional clicks/keystrokes and logging into the site.
by justus
Wed Jan 08, 2014 11:43 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: 401k.fidelity.com sucks
Replies: 13
Views: 4322

Re: 401k.fidelity.com sucks

I used to experience that same problem, but it seems to be a caching issue on my local browser. I now go to "netbenefits.fidelity.com" and see the login prompt.
by justus
Sat Jan 04, 2014 10:03 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Net Worth Survey, 2014 Edition
Replies: 149
Views: 49564

Re: Net Worth Survey, 2014 Edition

It seems like the people that respond have relatively high income (or retired).
by justus
Sat Jan 04, 2014 2:10 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Net Worth compared to Earnings History
Replies: 19
Views: 3736

Re: Net Worth compared to Earnings History

I'm really not sure I understand what that formula is supposed to show, and also not clear what should be counted as net worth.
by justus
Sun Nov 24, 2013 1:38 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: commingled pools/collective trusts
Replies: 1
Views: 545

commingled pools/collective trusts

My employer's 401k plan is changing fund choices from the previous mutual funds to Commingled Pools/Collective Trusts. Asides from not having a prospectus and also having lower expense ratios, is there any significant differences between mutual funds and commingled pools?
by justus
Sun Sep 01, 2013 6:50 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Safety Net Funds, why Traditional Advice is Wrong.
Replies: 17
Views: 5712

Safety Net Funds, why Traditional Advice is Wrong.

I recently came across this entry on betterment's site. What do you think? Should you invest your emergency fund in 40% stocks?

https://www.betterment.com/blog/2013/08 ... -is-wrong/
by justus
Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Office chair recs
Replies: 21
Views: 4522

Re: Office chair recs

I originally bought the HumanScale chair and hated it. I exchanged it for the Steelcase Leaps chair and have no regrets. I ended up buying from a company that deals in new/excellent condition second hand office furniture. I was able to go to their warehouse and try out several chairs first. I've sat in plenty of uncomfortable home office chairs and hadn't realized what a difference a good chair makes. I do a lot of work and studying at home, so I figured I'd get a lot of use out of it. I went to a local company that deals in second-hand office furniture to find a commercial grade office chair at a good price. I went looking for a Steelcase Leap, but wound up with a similar chair from Steelcase. I paid about $300 and don't regret my purchase.
by justus
Sat Jul 13, 2013 1:31 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Mom just lent 40k to a friend w/o a contract
Replies: 61
Views: 12165

Re: Mom just lent 40k to a friend w/o a contract

AllySK wrote:Ultimately, even though I think it's a terrible idea, it's her money, and it's already done. At this point, I think the only thing I can do is write up a contract for her and the friends to sign. I started Googling some private loan contract forms. Does anyone have any advice? I feel like private loan contracts might be difficult to enforce. But obviously better than nothing. I mentioned getting a lien on the house but I don't know if that's possible, and it would probably involve more legalese than she's willing to do. Any advice would be appreciated.
Has your mom asked you for help? Do you contribute to your mom's finances?

If I were to butt into my parents' financial affairs like you are doing, they'd kindly tell me to go to hell.
by justus
Wed Jul 03, 2013 3:03 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 57, quit working, $700,000
Replies: 59
Views: 14344

Re: 57, quit working, $700,000

tonyski wrote:I'm looking for somewhere to put $500,000 that would pull in 10% ( isn't everybody?)
No, I don't think everyone is looking for that, tonyski.
by justus
Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:57 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Getting rid of reverse mortgage
Replies: 9
Views: 4500

Re: Getting rid of reverse mortgage

The OP's previous posts, though, indicate she had inquired about a reverse mortgage back in 2010.
by justus
Thu Jun 27, 2013 8:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What age did you reach 100K networth?
Replies: 433
Views: 101631

Re: What age did you reach 100K networth?

GracieLou wrote:This year - age 40 - on my 61k salary. I just went over 126k, using only liquid and retirement asset numbers, and I am happy. I have embraced the Bogleheads methodology of saving since I joined this site and it is paying off tremendously! I still have a long way to go, but I will stay the course...
Congratulations, stay the course. :)
by justus
Mon Jun 24, 2013 8:02 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Piano purchase
Replies: 35
Views: 5498

Re: Piano purchase

Diaharder,

Pianoworld is the forum I'd use to ask about individual piano brands. http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ There's a lot of great information about what to know, what not to know, and how not to get ripped off.

Daniel
by justus
Sun Jun 16, 2013 3:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What age did you reach 100K networth?
Replies: 433
Views: 101631

Re: What age did you reach 100K networth?

awval999 wrote:Reading this forum is just crazy to see how self-selective the audience is.

The median American family has a total net worth of $77K
http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/bull ... /scf12.pdf (Page 17)

I'm reading and the average Boglehead had a net worth of $100K by age 29? Hilarious.
What's so funny? Tragic maybe.
by justus
Sat Jun 15, 2013 4:16 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Cashing out company 401k match immediately?
Replies: 21
Views: 2049

Re: Cashing out company 401k match immediately?

lindisfarne wrote:Bogle's recent interview on Morningstar discusses the problems with 401ks & talks about how people tend to treat them like "thrifts" rather than retirement accounts.
What is a "thrift"? I've seen reference to this quote a few times in the last day, I googled it but the only thing I saw was references to TSP. What is meant by "thrift" rather than a retirement account?
by justus
Fri Jun 14, 2013 10:38 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Car guys - Should I sell my car?
Replies: 9
Views: 1587

Re: Car guys - Should I sell my car?

I agree 100%. The ongoing expenses are going to be relatively high either way, and in the grand scheme of things, that extra 10k in your pocket will be gone before you know it. It sounds like you're a bit of a bimmer fan, so enjoy your E46 M3 while you can afford it. Post a pic! :)
by justus
Fri Jun 14, 2013 3:57 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What age did you reach 100K networth?
Replies: 433
Views: 101631

Re: What age did you reach 100K networth?

I had a negative net worth of $40k at age 24 (credit cards), was unemployed / severely underemployed doing odd jobs like delivering television and large appliances part-time etc. for a few years, finally got a regular job and hit the positive 100k net-worth mark around age 29.
by justus
Mon Jun 10, 2013 12:28 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best way to send a fax from a computer
Replies: 35
Views: 4698

Re: Best way to send a fax from a computer

I use faxitnice for this purpose.
by justus
Wed Apr 03, 2013 10:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tenant wants to purchase property and pay me mortgage- HELP!
Replies: 12
Views: 2718

Re: Tenant wants to purchase property and pay me mortgage- H

Do you want to sell?

If you were to sell, what would you do with the equity?

What your tenant wants to do is a "wraparound mortgage." Does your existing mortgage allow this or would it trigger a due-on-sale or acceleration clause?

Why does your tenant want to do this? Does your tenant have shoddy credit and would not be able to finance the property himself?
by justus
Sun Feb 24, 2013 1:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Refurbished Mac Mini
Replies: 29
Views: 5413

Re: Refurbished Mac Mini

I haven't had an issues purchasing from the apple refurbish store (mbp, ipad, etc).
by justus
Tue Feb 19, 2013 12:26 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buy Gold Panda coin
Replies: 11
Views: 1813

Re: Buy Gold Panda coin

WendyW wrote: Since the couple is asking for money, you should make it clear to them that you won't be offended when they immediately hock the coin for actual spendable cash.
Why would someone be offended if you spend the gift?
by justus
Tue Feb 19, 2013 12:25 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Ideas for Part-Time Jobs/ Education?
Replies: 4
Views: 667

Re: Ideas for Part-Time Jobs/ Education?

Have you checked out something like liveops.
by justus
Mon Feb 18, 2013 10:44 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Didn't contribute 401K to the max - can I fix it?
Replies: 11
Views: 4275

Re: Didn't contribute 401K to the max - can I fix it?

traditional IRA is tax deferred.
by justus
Thu Feb 14, 2013 3:00 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Certified boglehead professional
Replies: 15
Views: 1782

Re: Certified boglehead professional

abuss368 wrote:I am not sure if any Bogleheads would pay fees of 1% of assets.
How uncertain are you? I'm pretty sure Bogleheads wouldn't ;-)
by justus
Wed Feb 13, 2013 5:25 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Dave Ramsey recommends 2 funds on the air
Replies: 53
Views: 25999

Re: Dave Ramsey recommends 2 funds on the air

Both Dave and Suze give good, level-headed advice on living below your means and about the dangers of debt. They provide good strategies and a roadmap for getting out from under seemingly overwhelming consumer debt & for many people, the advice is timely and pithy.
by justus
Mon Feb 11, 2013 7:44 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I'm playing an investment game. How do i make $50k from $1 m
Replies: 49
Views: 5960

Re: I'm playing an investment game. How do i make $50k from

Jeff7 wrote: This was precisely the sort of "investing" exposure I got back during high school - trying to come out ahead during a single semester. The ideas of long-term investing, attention to costs, or diversification just weren't there.
When I attended high school 20 years ago, this is exactly the type of exercise we did. In retrospect, I think it really turned me off to both saving and investing. All my paper trades wound up with loss of capital, and so this exercise just taught me a "spend it now, cuz it'll all be gone later anyway" mentality.
by justus
Fri Feb 08, 2013 3:23 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to start investing on minimum wage/part time job?
Replies: 28
Views: 3107

Re: How to start investing on minimum wage/part time job?

I am aware of that. Just trying to give to OP some incentive. Don't be so negative. Negative about OP investing in securities at this stage in his life, yes. But I like to think that I'm steering him in the right direction. OP's wisest investment this year would be in a well-tailored dark-colored single-breasted 100% wool suit. I disagree. Savings a portion of your earnings is the first step to wealth at any income level. The OP would be well served to develop these habits while he is young, instead of waiting for "real money" before he starts. Many people get into the trap of never saving because they're told that it's not worth it unless it's a big amount. Describing a wage job as not a "proper grown-up job" is insult...
by justus
Wed Feb 06, 2013 1:22 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Help! How to Assign a VERY Limited POA
Replies: 10
Views: 1160

Re: Need Help with POA Document

I believe there are vendors on the internets that supply templates, but I've got a hard time understanding why your friend would want to skimp on paying $150 for a lawyer to help her, or to make alternative arrangements to have the closing documents faxed or couriered over to her location.
by justus
Wed Feb 06, 2013 1:09 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: First time picking 401k funds
Replies: 18
Views: 2684

Re: First time picking 401k funds

If I were you, I would continue to invest in your Roth and then invest the rest in taxable and ignore the 401k until your company implements matching or lower expense ratios are offered. Without a match, there isn't really a huge advantage to 401k. Sure you can defer your taxes, but it feels like tax rates are only going to go up. If you think you're going to be in a much lower income bracket in retirement then you may want to invest in the 401k though, Also, if you're doing taxable you need to make sure you think of it as a retirement account and don't touch it. I disagree that placing the funds in taxable preferred to placing funds in the 401k. Even if tax rates go up later, that doesn't mean that you'll be paying that higher rate when y...