Search found 392 matches

by RobInCT
Tue Jan 26, 2021 7:25 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How to get a bigger mortgage with lower income
Replies: 17
Views: 2104

Re: How to get a bigger mortgage with lower income

Thanks for the advice. As I understand it, my 401k loan would be limited to $50k. Is that right? That might be fine in a LCOL area but seems like it won't make much of a dent here?
by RobInCT
Tue Jan 26, 2021 1:03 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How to get a bigger mortgage with lower income
Replies: 17
Views: 2104

Re: How to get a bigger mortgage with lower income

Thanks. I can withdraw something like $120k from my Roth for a downpayment, but this seems nuts to me. I'll never get that space back, and I don't need it to be able to afford the mortgage (and if I did, I could just withdraw contributions later, slowly, without penalty to make up any shortfall if there was somehow a problem). Plus, that would only get me a $1 million home (up from $900k) which is really not doable in my particular area. In order to get a 2-family home in that price range I'd either have to move into something that hasn't been renovated in 40 years, is in an objectively unsafe area, or gives me a commute of over 1 hour.
by RobInCT
Mon Jan 25, 2021 9:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How to get a bigger mortgage with lower income
Replies: 17
Views: 2104

How to get a bigger mortgage with lower income

Background: I am the only child, only close relative and only heir of my mother, who is turning 75 this year. I am 36 years old. I make ~$125k/year with a very stable income (tenured state employee) with a pay schedule that will gradually increase to $150k over the next 5 years. After that I will be limited to cost of living increases. I have $300k in cash and $750k in retirement savings. I have no debt. My mother is retired and has no income other than social security but has about $1 million in assets, mostly in cash or very low-risk investments. She is generally frugal and has been living of social security and mandatory withdrawals for a number of years. She has no debt and reasonable long term care insurance that she purchased 25 years...
by RobInCT
Sun Jun 12, 2016 12:14 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need Help!. Best way to start saving for Home Downpayment?
Replies: 26
Views: 5104

Re: Need Help!. Best way to start saving for Home Downpayment?

I think having some bonds and equities for your downpayment fund is fine as long as you're truly flexible about timing of purchase and would be able to hold off, potentially as much as a few years, in the event of a serious downturn at or around the time you were initially planning to purchase. I started saving for a downpayment with a 4-5 year event horizon and was in 1/3 stock, 1/3 bonds, 1/3 cash and gradually shifted those allocations, primarily through strategic placement of new money, until I was more like 20/20/60. We're now about 6 months out from purchasing and switched to all cash about a month ago. We were going to do it in January, when we were about 1 year away, but then the market decline caused us to hold off. If the market h...
by RobInCT
Sun Mar 27, 2016 2:19 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Home too small
Replies: 45
Views: 6678

Re: Home too small

But this house was built in 1928. It has not been remodeled in several decades. Talk to architects, but I'm guessing your best bet in this case is a tear-down followed by construction of a new home from the foundation up, assuming local codes permit it. There are several advantages to this approach, including that you can get exactly the house you want, including with respect to the layout of the first floor. I live in an "historic" neighborhood with older houses, and this is the route my neighbor went. It turned out to be only marginally more expensive than "remodeling" a house that was nearly 100 years old, and he get everything he wanted including things like more electrical outlets and bigger closets and other conve...
by RobInCT
Sun Mar 27, 2016 10:58 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Financially, how have you done/doing vs. your parents?
Replies: 134
Views: 18536

Re: Financially, how have you done/doing vs. your parents?

Just barely an older millennial here with older boomer dad, mom 3 years younger--I was a later-in-life baby. I think I'm on track to do about as well as my parents did, though at this point I'm significantly behind where they were due in large part to the fact that graduate education, and the accompanying expense, was basically a necessity for me to have any hope of doing nearly as well as my parents, who both did very well with just bachelor's degrees. I realize some people do well today with only undergrad degrees, but I'm not an entrepreneur nor particularly STEM-gifted, so graduate school seemed like it was necessary for me. Graduate degrees set both me and my partner (2 years younger, also an older millennial) back significantly, and a...
by RobInCT
Sun Jan 03, 2016 9:13 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Where to put surplus cash likely needed in 2-5 years?
Replies: 10
Views: 2936

Re: Where to put surplus cash likely needed in 2-5 years?

I had this situation a few years ago and went with 1/3 cash, 1/3 tax-free bond fund, 1/3 total stock market. I made gradual adjustments to the allocation, and now, I'm now within 1 year of needing the money and am 60/30/10 cash/bonds/TSM and planning on going 100% cash in the very near future (have just been waiting for 2016 to spread the capital gains around). It's worked out well for me. My thinking was a) that asset allocation has fared pretty well over a multi-year period, even in "black swan" periods, b) I didn't HAVE to spend the money on my ideal schedule in the event things really, really went south, and it sounds like neither do you--there are always student loans (which you could repay once the market re-corrected, if yo...
by RobInCT
Sat Oct 31, 2015 4:26 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Investing disagreements with spouse
Replies: 86
Views: 11876

Re: Investing disagreements with spouse

edge wrote:Give her 20k and let her try. Check back on her performance in 15-20 years.
"Give her?" Sheesh.

OP, half of the money is hers. You obviously have a right to express an opinion. As does she. If your ideas are so far apart that you think it's financially disastrous, and she won't budge, then divorce is an option. Many divorces have been built on less. If you just have different ideas, but her ideas aren't so objectionable to you that it's worth ending your marriage over, then let her have her way with her half.

Agreed about firm limits on margin trading/shorting because that would mean effectively giving her more than half.
by RobInCT
Sun Oct 25, 2015 1:37 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Recomendation for a good sheet set
Replies: 22
Views: 3163

Re: Recomendation for a good sheet set

You should give us an idea of your price range. Asking for recommendations for a good sheet set is like asking for recommendations for a good suit. The advice you're going to get will be practically meaningless unless you narrow the focus a bit.
by RobInCT
Sun Oct 25, 2015 1:33 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Delaying retirement to make charitable contributions
Replies: 29
Views: 3466

Re: Delaying retirement to make charitable contributions

It would seem that this is what Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are doing.
by RobInCT
Sat Oct 24, 2015 9:03 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: can your employer confiscate your retirement account?
Replies: 20
Views: 4055

Re: can your employer confiscate your retirement account?

Sorry for not making myself very clear. I am talking about for example several thousands of dollars that you have saved in your 401K account. I am not talking about paycheck. I am only referring to the employer being able to go into your 401K account they set up to dip their hand into it. Generally, I want to know how independent my 401K is from the employer and specifically, I want to know whether I am really the owner of the 401K account or the employer for any reason can lay claim to part or all of it. This is a bit of an odd question. The answer is generally no with respect to employee contributions or vested employer contributions, but then you start saying things like "for any reason" and mentioning things like people who h...
by RobInCT
Sat Oct 24, 2015 8:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Personal Injury Claim for a Car Accident
Replies: 22
Views: 3598

Re: Personal Injury Claim for a Car Accident

prudent wrote:It was a bit galling to think he was going to get that much money for what might have been writing a letter and talking to them on the phone a couple times, but he got the results I could not.
In some cases, hiring a lawyer lets them know you're serious and can't be pushed around. It may be galling to you that he gets so much money for doing so little work on your specific case, but a lot of what you're compensating him for is trading in on his law license, reputation, and knowledge, which are the factors that got the insurance company to listen to him and not to you. These are things that took many years and a mountain of tuition payments for him to acquire.
by RobInCT
Sat Oct 24, 2015 8:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: At what point did you and your spouse COMBINE your finances (or did you?)
Replies: 53
Views: 6081

Re: At what point did you and your spouse COMBINE your finances (or did you?)

Now that we are married I am wondering if for simplicity's sake I should just combine everything into one. 1 checking account, 1 credit account and one savings account. She has her retirement and I have mine and I have my own investments as well, but as far as liquid cash, should we just throw it all in one pot? She has ~$40k in student loan debt as well. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. We were separate for a long time, then combined for reasons neither of us can remember at this point. That lasted a little less than a year before we ended up unwinding the whole thing, which was kind of a pain. Reason? Too many stupid comments/gripes/nitpicks about personal expenditures valued by one of us but not so much by the other. Me: Electronics. He...
by RobInCT
Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:10 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Age when you started to max out your retirement accounts?
Replies: 177
Views: 37117

Re: Age when you started to max out your retirement accounts?

I think there's too much focus by some people around here about "maxing out your retirement accounts," for a number of reasons. For one, the "maxing out" amount is really just an arbitrary number set by the government that usually bears no more than minimal, if any, relationship to the relevant factors one should consider when determining the appropriate savings rate, e.g., income, availability of other retirement resources (taxable savings, pensions), health, etc. It can also vary wildly from person-to-person and family-to-family for reasons not related to the family's actual retirement needs. Imagine a 2-income family of four with a family income of ~$75k/year (low for this board, but substantially above the US median ...
by RobInCT
Wed Oct 21, 2015 8:46 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: FAFSA / impact of remarriage / earning too much to get financial aid anyway?
Replies: 10
Views: 1198

Re: FAFSA / impact of remarriage / earning too much to get financial aid anyway?

OP was asking for a general rule. Harvard (and others in its peer group) have the most generous financial aid in the country. So if you're looking for a general rule about at what point at which it's truly safe to say that someone earns too much to get any financial aid anyway, it's not a bad place to start.

OP didn't mention where the oldest was enrolled or where the youngest was applying. If OP has that information, then that would be a better place to start looking.
by RobInCT
Wed Oct 21, 2015 8:10 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Repaying 401k Loan Faster
Replies: 6
Views: 2458

Re: Repaying 401k Loan Faster

Check your terms. Some allow it, some don't. There's no law against it, but your particular plan may have a rule against it. (And there's no law against having that rule.)

My plan wouldn't allow me to increase my payroll deduction every month but would allow me to make additional, partial lump sum payments of any amount greater than $100 whenever I felt like it. I took mine out to pay off some student loans with absurdly high interest rates (8.5%) and repaid it all within 16 months by contributing several hundred $$/month more than the minimum payroll deduction.
by RobInCT
Mon Oct 19, 2015 9:49 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is there an ideal age to retire?
Replies: 137
Views: 17370

Re: Is there an ideal age to retire?

I imagine that depends on what you're looking to retire to. If you're looking to retire to adventure travel (climbing Mt. Everest, skiing the Alps, etc.), then yes, I imagine it would be easier to adjust if you start earlier. If you're looking to retire to playing bridge, watching Netflix, and working on the next great American novel, I don't see why starting earlier would necessarily give you a leg up on the transition.
by RobInCT
Sun Oct 18, 2015 9:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is there an ideal age to retire?
Replies: 137
Views: 17370

Re: Is there an ideal age to retire?

I have never met anyone who actually "loves" to go to their job everyday. That is a myth, or maybe people do not understand the meaning of "love." Those who claim they "love" their jobs, often bolt as far away as possible at first opportunity. Job is a necessity, and I will not work.a.single.day if I didnt have to. God I hope I am deep enough to.have enough of a personality to not be.defined by what I am forced to do to make money. My mother-in-law is a pediatric hospice worker, and an exceptionally good one. Not all professions are just jobs. Some are callings. The fact that she chooses to work now that she no longer has to doesn't mean she's lacking in personality, confused about what real happiness is, or u...
by RobInCT
Sun Oct 18, 2015 6:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Credit card for teenage daughter - best option?
Replies: 46
Views: 5320

Re: Credit card for teenage daughter - best option?

CT-Scott wrote:Lastly, what's the practical difference from a "big brother" perspective between me getting alerted to her spending habits instantly and me checking in on them monthly when I log in to pay the bill?
Checking the account once a month (or once a week) won't let you know that she didn't arrive home for 30 minutes after paying for groceries at the store, which is only 10 minutes from your house.
by RobInCT
Sun Oct 18, 2015 9:22 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Credit card for teenage daughter - best option?
Replies: 46
Views: 5320

Re: Credit card for teenage daughter - best option?

I have the AmEx app on my iPhone and it sends me a notification seconds after I've made a purchase with the place and amount. I'm hoping that I can have it set up to also get notifications of her spending, as well as have her iPhone get notifications of her spending (and only her spending). Obviously up to you, as she's your child, but you getting a text message the second your child spends any money seems a little "big brother" to me. It's one thing to check the bills regularly to make sure she's not spending your money in ways you haven't authorized and to discuss the spending with her, but if she's responsible enough to have a credit card and independent access to a car, she's probably responsible enough for you not to need to...
by RobInCT
Sat Oct 17, 2015 11:17 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay off student loans or get 0% credit card transfer?
Replies: 5
Views: 898

Re: Pay off student loans or get 0% credit card transfer?

I did this with some of my student loans with no regrets BUT I had a high income that I felt relatively confident was stable for at least a few years and a crisis backup plan (basically, a loan from my parents) in case my feelings turned out to be incorrect. If you're positive you can pay it off, it's worth it. If there's any chance at all you might lose your job, have unexpected expenses, or otherwise experience events that make you not able to pay it off, it's not worth the risk. Basically, credit card companies offer these 0% transfers because they expect to be able to make money once people who expected to be able to pay off the balance within 1-2 years fail to actually do so. If you're 100% positive you can avoid being one of those peo...
by RobInCT
Sat Oct 17, 2015 11:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Who's in for One More Year (OMY) in 2016?
Replies: 15
Views: 2521

Re: I think I am

daveatca wrote:I am more in the One More Month club.
Every month means another $200/month in Social Security.
I'm confused. How is that possible? With that math if you worked 2 more years (24 months), you'd get $4800/month more in social security?
by RobInCT
Sat Oct 17, 2015 10:57 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: downside of autodeduct - now credit score dinged
Replies: 40
Views: 6732

Re: downside of autodeduct - now credit score dinged

I find it odd that they didn't email you until the account was already 30+ days overdue. I've occasionally had this happen to me over the years--one time when the company converted my old card into a new version of card and didn't carry the autopay setup over to the new card and another time when I somehow managed to accidentally disable autopay--and every time I've gotten an email literally the next day after my bill was due but not paid. I've always called immediately, apologized, paid in full and explained what happened, and I've always gotten the late fee waived and never had a hit on my credit report. I find it peculiar that a company would wait 30 days to notify you. I would mention that when calling to ask if they would remove the ma...
by RobInCT
Sat Oct 17, 2015 10:46 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Doctors without borders ..........
Replies: 43
Views: 6163

Re: Doctors without borders ..........

Thumbs up. I give to them every year. And they do tend to send a lot of physical mail, but they will taking you off the list if you request it.
by RobInCT
Mon Oct 12, 2015 5:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Six figure salary is not what it used to be-how to save for retirement?
Replies: 89
Views: 15738

Re: Six figure salary is not what it used to be-how to save for retirement?

I was going to say that there was probably only one income in the family. I was able to do the same when my wife was in school: maxed my 401k, a pair of Roth's, and HSA on my ~60k salary. Now that our income has slightly more than doubled and we have a few other necessity bills (ie. $1500/month in childcare), the retirement savings (by percentage of income) has definitely declined but the gross savings has increased. Our lifestyle creep has been minimal (ie. went from renting a 700 sq. ft apartment, to buying a slightly larger condo that is within walking distance of both our offices- actually, we are waiting as we put an offer in Saturday) but we are both quite frugal (me, probably to the extreme) by nature. That being said, the OP sounds...
by RobInCT
Mon Oct 12, 2015 1:19 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Advise son to get secondary health insurance
Replies: 28
Views: 3565

Re: Advise son to get secondary health insurance

Have your son and DIL asked your advice about this? If not, I wouldn't go farther than casually mentioning that they check out their respective policies to see whether dual coverage makes sense for them.
by RobInCT
Mon Oct 12, 2015 11:43 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Six figure salary is not what it used to be-how to save for retirement?
Replies: 89
Views: 15738

Re: Six figure salary is not what it used to be-how to save for retirement?

lthenderson wrote:Up until about three years ago, we earned half of what your salary is and maxed out our retirement accounts every year. We choose to live with less costs now so we can retire early. It all about choices and for us, retirement trumped a big house and lots of things.
Respectfully, how were you saving 43k/year (two 401ks + 2 Roths) on 55k/year and still getting by? Assuming $5k for SS + Medicare, that's only 7k/year left over. Even just the house payment + child care you mention would exceed $7k/year.
by RobInCT
Mon Oct 12, 2015 10:07 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Hard to live well and save on $1mm in NYC Metro
Replies: 37
Views: 4073

Re: Hard to live well and save on $1mm in NYC Metro

FIRE_in_CT wrote:Oh I assumed home in suburbs.

I don't think a family of 4 can live in Manhattan in a decent school district for $1.5-2mm home value?
Huh? You "assumed"? You mean this isn't an actual post about anyone's actual situation but rather a made-up scenario to illustrate.... the high cost of luxury living in NYC?

Counting down to lock...
by RobInCT
Mon Oct 12, 2015 10:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Hard to live well and save on $1mm in NYC Metro
Replies: 37
Views: 4073

Re: Hard to live well and save on $1mm in NYC Metro

How on earth are you paying $8k-$20k/year for 2 cars? You can buy 2 whole cars every year for that amount of money. Why do groceries cost $7k-$15k/year when the adults (and possibly the children, assuming food is included in that astronomical yearly tuition) seem to eat out at least 2 meals a day? Last I checked, vacations to presumably not-NY didn't cost more when living in NY than vacations to not-NY cost in other parts of the country. $5k-$20k for vacations? How are "kids activities" costing $5k-$20k, particularly when they're apparently only day care (and an expensive day care at that!!!) age? I also hope this is a troll, but assuming it's not, yes, I suppose it's true that it's very difficult to live an extremely high-end lif...
by RobInCT
Mon Oct 12, 2015 9:44 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Six figure salary is not what it used to be-how to save for retirement?
Replies: 89
Views: 15738

Re: Six figure salary is not what it used to be-how to save for retirement?

flyingbison wrote:
lovingwife wrote:
We contribute Roth and 401(K)s to the match of our companies 6%.
So you are currently saving about 15% of your gross income for retirement - what's the problem?
Right. Seems like OP is actually doing fine but feels "poor" because she's not doing super amazingly excellent. $110k for a family of 4 with 2 in daycare isn't an income for doing super amazingly excellent, especially when consumption, e.g. a nice house, is also prioritized. This seems like a non-problem to me. OP is only "poor" in comparison to the some of the ultra-high net worth folks on this board, many of whom achieved it with ultra-high salaries, which the OP does not have.
by RobInCT
Mon Oct 12, 2015 4:52 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Six figure salary is not what it used to be-how to save for retirement?
Replies: 89
Views: 15738

Re: Six figure salary is not what it used to be-how to save for retirement?

I understand why you want to max out your retirement (who wouldn't?), but not sure being able to do so is a reasonable benchmark of being "poor" with a $110k salary. Two 401ks + 2 IRAs = $44k/year. I question whether a 40% (44k/110k) savings rate is really a fair benchmark for a couple making $110k/year with two small children. Sure, it's a nice aspiration, but inability to meet that target hardly qualifies you as "poor." Now, this being Bogleheads, I'm sure someone is going to come along and talk about how they managed an 80% savings rate while making minimum wage and raising a family of 12, and I congratulate that person for his/her frugality, but I don't think it means everyone not doing the same is falling down on th...
by RobInCT
Sun Oct 11, 2015 3:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Another 15-year vs. 30-year mortgage thread
Replies: 14
Views: 2061

Re: Another 15-year vs. 30-year mortgage thread

I wouldn't get a mortgage if it meant forgoing saving for retirement. To me that means maximizing any retirement plan at work, fully funding IRAs for both *and* saving a little bit extra in a taxable account. But I was (I'm now retired) an aggressive saver. We're fortunate in that we're both coming off relatively high-paying jobs (I'm taking more than 50% pay-cut to move to the public sector) and had relatively light student debt, at least compared to many of our peers. We've saved aggressively for a number of years in anticipation of this change such that we now have combined retirement accounts multiples of where it's "recommended" that we be for our ages and income level. Neither one of us desires extreme early retirement, so ...
by RobInCT
Sun Oct 11, 2015 12:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tips on how not to let bad relationship affect your career?
Replies: 4
Views: 1091

Re: Tips on how not to let bad relationship affect your career?

Improve your relationship. I suggest marriage counseling.
by RobInCT
Sun Oct 11, 2015 12:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Another 15-year vs. 30-year mortgage thread
Replies: 14
Views: 2061

Re: Another 15-year vs. 30-year mortgage thread

I'm not going to give specific advice. However- moderation in everything, maybe 20 years is a sweet spot. Always plan for sudden expenses if you own a house, so don't use up absolutely all your cash. Avoiding PMI is a very good idea if you can manage it. If you get a longer mortgage you can choose to pay off aggressively to shorten the term or make regular payments if you have unexpected expenses. If you own a home you WILL have unexpected expenses, so expect them. That was my original thought as well (20 year), but the weirdest thing is that on the 20-year mortgage, the interest rate is only a tiny bit lower (.15%) than the 30-year. I have no idea what that is or should be the case, but there you have it. It doesn't seem to make sense to ...
by RobInCT
Sun Oct 11, 2015 11:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Another 15-year vs. 30-year mortgage thread
Replies: 14
Views: 2061

Another 15-year vs. 30-year mortgage thread

In early 2016, my partner (age:33) and I (age: 36) will be moving from our current HCOL area back to the relatively LCOL city where I grew up. Part of this move will be buying our first-ever house. We've decided to forgo the typical advice to rent for a year first because we both have family in the city and know it quite well and because we both hate moving. Relevant details: Target home price: ~$400k for non-fixer-uppers. Can be had for as low a $250k if you're willing to tackle the renovation yourself, but neither of us is at all interested in that. Property taxes: ~$2500/year Cash available for downpayment: Up to $100k Future salary: ~$100k to start, gradually increasing to ~$130k over the next 5 years, not including COL increases. Publi...
by RobInCT
Sat Aug 29, 2015 6:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Joint finances and cash management
Replies: 38
Views: 5210

Re: Joint finances and cash management

In this day of dual career couples, I imagine many successful marriages use some sort of system that gives each spouse some level of independent control over a portion of income. Agreed, though we like our system so much that if one of us ends up taking some time off from work--unemployment, kids, whatever--I think the one of us still working would deposit a monthly sum into the personal account of the not-employed person. I really don't ever want to be in a position of having to wonder what my partner thinks about my weekly Starbucks run or of forming an opinion about the amount she is spending getting her hair cut. Maybe some people are just better at not paying attention to or not caring about their partner's/their own "stupid"...
by RobInCT
Sat Aug 29, 2015 5:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Joint finances and cash management
Replies: 38
Views: 5210

Re: Joint finances and cash management

I feel you are betting against your marriage if you maintain difference accounts. The only thing I wouldnt join is cosigning for student loans. Everything else should just be joined. I couldn't disagree more. My partner and I have three checking accounts between us--mine, hers, and ours. "Ours" is by far the most active. We each deposit a big chunk into it each month, roughly proportional to our respective incomes. Out of that account we pay all joint monthly bills like rent, cable, electricity, etc. That account is also used to pay our joint credit card that we use to charge shared expenses (groceries, cleaning supplies, meals out together, concert tickets, Netflix, furniture, wedding gifts for friends, etc.) We also have a join...
by RobInCT
Sat Aug 29, 2015 2:56 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Large amount of cash reserves waiting for downturn?
Replies: 18
Views: 3224

Re: Large amount of cash reserves waiting for downturn?

Beginning a couple of years ago, I elected to keep my similar-time-horizon downpayment money in 1/3 Total Stock Market, 1/3 Total Bond Market, 1/3 Savings Account. Since then, I've been gradually lowering my stock exposure by adding new money to bonds and savings. Probably within the next year or two, I'll switch to savings only and possibly gradually start selling some of the stock. I think as it stands today (~3-5 off from purchase), I'm about 20/40/40. I'm comfortable with knowing that 9 times out of 10 this allocation will work out fine over a 5-7 year period. I'm also comfortable with the fact that if I hit the unlucky 1/10, I'm going to have to push the purchase horizon out a little. Six years is a long time to be $200k in cash-only, ...
by RobInCT
Thu Aug 13, 2015 9:20 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is 401K Match included when someone asks you how much you make per year?
Replies: 47
Views: 8036

Re: Is 401K Match included when someone asks you how much you make per year?

If you are receiving a 9% match and the new company has a 4% match, that clearly is a difference of 5% in compensation. I know what you meant, but it's not a 5% difference in compensation. For round numbers, let's say you're making $180k salary, so it's $18k*9% vs $18k*4% = a difference of $900, or a compensation difference of 0.5%. Unless you're making $18k/year, but ... In common usage the 9% match would be 9% of 180k. That is going to be a 5% difference. Bogleheads only care about the cap on matching not the % of contributions since weball max out our 401(k)s at least up to the match cap:) Not common usage where I live. I've always understood a 4% match to mean that an employer will match your contributions up to the first 4% of your sa...
by RobInCT
Sun Jul 05, 2015 2:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Obsessing towards zero balance on credit card.
Replies: 158
Views: 25424

Re: Obsessing towards zero balance on credit card.

What again is the point of this? Fun and entertainment? There also seems to be a camp that believes that even having a balance on the card (even when balances are paid in full monthly) will result in some sort of terrible credit score consequences. Not 'terrible', but you can test it with Credit Karma. If you have a high balance even paying in full end of month, your score will go down, albeit not tremendously. Thus as stated I often pay my main card more than once a month, again for example $10k payment to a contractor, they wouldn't discount further for cash: why give up the CC cash back by paying with check? And having that large an amount hanging out on CC balance even intra-month would at least slightly depress credit score, so why do...
by RobInCT
Sun Jul 05, 2015 8:52 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: When to invest in tillable land?
Replies: 8
Views: 1525

Re: When to invest in tillable land?

Consider whether the price of whatever grows on this land is heavily influenced by government policy (e.g. price supports, ethanol mandates, etc.). If so, you're gambling on the government. That's not a position I would want to be in.
by RobInCT
Sun Jul 05, 2015 8:45 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What are our next steps? (Early 20's)
Replies: 6
Views: 1573

Re: What are our next steps? (Early 20's)

I am going to disagree a bit with keeping the 6-month emergency fund. It sounds like your wife is the primary breadwinner at this point (i.e. you're not really dependent on your salary to pay the bills), and teachers have great job security, at least for the duration of the school year. At your ages, assuming no pre-existing atypical health conditions, risks of not being able to work due to a medical emergency seem very small. I would take as much of the emergency fund as you will be able to replenish by whenever your wife's contract ends (May? June?) and use it to tackle the highest interest debt, which looks like student loan debt. Then I would build it back up over the school year such that it's back to full capacity in the event her con...
by RobInCT
Sun Jul 05, 2015 8:32 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Borrowing money from my 401k
Replies: 26
Views: 9435

Re: Borrowing money from my 401k

I used a 401k loan to pay off some outrageous 8.5% interest rate federal student loans a few years ago. Paid back the 401k loan within 12 months. No regrets. That said, it's an imperfect solution for most people because of the risks associated with it, including the risk of losing one's job and having the loan be immediately due. I think it works best as a short-term loan for someone with loans at a very high interest rate and substantially more income than expenses (i.e. someone able to pay off the loan relatively quickly).

What is the breakdown on your debt? How much of it is the car, how much student loans, how much parents, etc.? That information is helpful in determining whether it's a good deal for you.
by RobInCT
Sun Jul 05, 2015 8:13 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help deciding between Roth and regular retirement plans
Replies: 5
Views: 1150

Re: Help deciding between Roth and regular retirement plans

Yes, she pays state income tax of around 4% (marginal rate). I agree it sounds like she's going to be in the 25% bracket. I guess the Roth isn't such a great deal after all.
by RobInCT
Sat Jul 04, 2015 10:06 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help deciding between Roth and regular retirement plans
Replies: 5
Views: 1150

Help deciding between Roth and regular retirement plans

My sister is starting a new job in a few weeks where there is a Roth retirement plan option and asked me to help her decide if it makes sense for her. Stats: mid-30s, one toddler with no current plans for more children, tax status is single HOH (she and the man I refer to as my BIL have been together for more than a decade but aren't interested in marriage). BIL is at home with their child at the moment, so she currently counts him as a dependent, but he will likely return to work PT within the next 12 months, at which point she will no longer count him. New job will be working for state government. She'll be making ~$100k/year, which should increase gradually to ~$130k/year over the next several years (assuming she sticks with it) and then...
by RobInCT
Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: New home purchase - How much do I put down?
Replies: 9
Views: 3403

Re: New home purchase - How much do I put down?

It really depends on a lot of variables. I would not put down 30% if it will deplete your emergency reserves too much. Houses tend to cost more (roof, hot water heater, paint) than most first-time homeowners predict. Renovations can run over budget. I'd want a healthy reserve.

On the other hand, a lower house payment might be a good idea if you're planning for non-emergency salary reduction/expense increase (planning on having kids, spouse switching to part-time, etc.)

If you can afford a $3200 PITI, you might also want to look into a 30% downpayment and a 15-year mortgage. Probably isn't much more than $3200/month, and the interest savings would be significant.
by RobInCT
Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:01 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Longtime Insurance Customers Get Ripped [overcharged]
Replies: 106
Views: 40134

Re: Longtime Insurance Customers Get Ripped [overcharged]

There are other insurers who cover glass. GEICO give you the option of glass or no glass. As someone previously mentioned, windshields aren't really all that expensive. I declined glass coverage and prefer to self-insure for that, though if someone believes for whatever reason that s/he is more likely to have glass damage than the average citizen (lives next door to a gravel pit or a baseball field?), I understand why glass coverage would make sense. With respect to insurance price discrimination, obviously everyone is being treated to some degree as a stereotype of themselves. As someone correctly pointed out, if insurance companies could accurately predict our lifetime payouts, insurance wouldn't even be a product. But there are things th...
by RobInCT
Tue Jun 23, 2015 9:51 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Moving to LCOL state
Replies: 19
Views: 3633

Re: Moving to LCOL state

Rent first. The amount of money you will be "throwing away" will pale in comparison to the amount you will lose if you buy too quickly without knowing the market/area well and end up having to move again within 2-5 years because you hate the neighborhood/schools/city/etc.
by RobInCT
Mon Jun 08, 2015 5:33 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Thoughts on Federal Employment
Replies: 86
Views: 16479

Re: Thoughts on Federal Employment

Just as many on this board caution against younger workers relying on social security in its current form and with its current levels of benefits to support their retirement, I'd caution against younger workers weighing federal retirement benefits too heavily in the decision about whether to take a government job. As many in this thread have pointed out, benefits have been cut substantially over the last 30 years. Many in Congress are agitating for further cuts. I disagree with this, at least for current employees. Congress's past practice -- which has persisted over time, including the most recent raise of the employee contribution to FERS -- is to change benefits for future employees, and not to adjust benefits for retired or current emp...