Search found 42 matches

by finley
Thu Dec 14, 2023 12:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 529 Amounts
Replies: 26
Views: 3002

Re: 529 Amounts

The advice we received from a financial planner we used to do a once over on our situation a couple years back recommended targeting ~50% of the projected total cost of college in the 529 (this assumes you don't plan to use the 529 for someone else after the primary recipient finishes school). The reason being that you don't know what the child might receive in the way financial aid or scholarships, and the money is not easily used for another purpose without eating penalties that would entirely defeat the purpose of having used a 529 in the first place. I believe this number would be revised upwards somewhat now that it's possible to use some of proceeds towards funding a Roth after school is done. So less penalty if you overfund. The adv...
by finley
Sun Jun 11, 2023 3:10 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Need Passport help!
Replies: 47
Views: 5957

Re: Need Passport help!

I can speak from personal experience that calling my senator was helpful with getting a passport. They sped my application along and were very helpful in getting my passport to me a few days before international travel. I don't think they can work magic, but I believe all senators and congressman have constituent services that can help with this. Just go to the webpage for your representative and find the phone number for constituent services. Good Luck!
by finley
Fri May 05, 2023 2:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: umbrella policy
Replies: 20
Views: 2175

Re: umbrella policy

Thanks for the replies. I think I just need to do some shopping around. I did this a few years ago and was happy with my plans, but I guess it is time to do it again.
by finley
Thu May 04, 2023 10:00 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: umbrella policy
Replies: 20
Views: 2175

umbrella policy

I have twins that recently got their driver's license and my personal umbrella policy premium has gone way up. I have been carrying a $2 million policy with State Farm that was set to renew with a premium of ~$640 for a year. With the addition of my twins as drivers, the policy has gone up to $1,400+ for a year. I am not surprised that the premium has changed, but was caught off guard by the increase. I do think the amount of the policy is correct for my needs, but I was hoping to get others thoughts on the cost for this premium. Is this a reasonable cost for the policy? I don't have any other significant risks that are out of the ordinary. And if not, any advice on how I can find a better policy to fit my needs. Any advice would be appreci...
by finley
Wed Jun 08, 2022 9:03 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: If unlimited tax deferred space, and what point would you convert to taxable accounts?
Replies: 37
Views: 3393

Re: If unlimited tax deferred space, and what point would you convert to taxable accounts?

I don't know what the exact number is, but tax deferred should be used by everyone until all the lower tax bracket buckets are filled. Otherwise you are throwing away money on taxes. Once those lower tax brackets are full, then the tax deferred accounts are not as valuable so roth probably becomes the best option. Here is an article with examples of how this works:

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/roth- ... -brackets/
by finley
Sun Dec 19, 2021 7:09 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Who is planning to do a backdoor Roth in early January?
Replies: 51
Views: 4652

Who is planning to do a backdoor Roth in early January?

I know discussing laws that have not passed is off limits, but we now know the BBB will not pass this year. So, the backdoor roth will still be an option when January arrives. I am one of those people that does my backdoor roth in early January. I am not asking for what might happen with BBB, but rather what are people that always make the roth backdoor contribution early in year planning to do. I am leaning towards making my contribution as I normally would, but also wondering what others are planning to do.
by finley
Sun Feb 07, 2021 10:02 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: tax question
Replies: 50
Views: 3834

Re: tax question

It is interesting how some on this thread have made assumptions on conversations. We are still trying to figure out how to approach this. The only thing I am not comfortable with is her continuing to bring in ~$200 in revenue in a month and not reporting it. My wife is an adult and the marriage tax penalty is real for high income earners. Any income she makes means the last dollars earned by us are taxed at a high marginal tax rate. Definitely a first world problem so I am not whining. To each his own, but telling my wife your income can fill up our lower brackets and my income can pay the higher tax brackets is a bit disrespectful to her. She is a smart, independent woman and I don't plan to talk with her about the issue like she is one o...
by finley
Sun Feb 07, 2021 9:15 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: tax question
Replies: 50
Views: 3834

Re: tax question

Why don't you view it as her total incomes is at the bottom of your family income stack and yours added on top of hers? Then you can appease her by having her taxes filling up the lower tax brackets and more of your large income getting hit with the higher taxes. Its all the same at the end, but you are verbally abusing her about her income that you don't need. Is there any hidden agenda in your mind about not wanting her to work? I can see taking that approach - encouraging someone to believe that what they're doing is having more impact than it really does - with your child, but not your spouse. Everybody here is an adult, and pretending that there's some benefit to what they're doing that there simply isn't doesn't make any sense. Ok ab...
by finley
Sat Feb 06, 2021 12:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: tax question
Replies: 50
Views: 3834

Re: tax question

trueblueky wrote: Sat Feb 06, 2021 12:12 pm If she is Schedule C, 199a adjustment may well apply, effectively reducing her profit 20%. The remainder may be used as self-employed person's health insurance, an adjustment to income. Effectively, she could have no federal income tax on her profit. She would need to complete SE to compute Social Security and Medicare. You will find that is less than you suppose. Recommend you run the numbers.
I will need to look into this. I have a family health insurance plan she is on right now so I don't think the self employed health insurance would be helpful, but the schedule c adjustment could be.
by finley
Sat Feb 06, 2021 12:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: tax question
Replies: 50
Views: 3834

Re: tax question

Lee_WSP wrote: Sat Feb 06, 2021 12:35 pm
finley wrote: Sat Feb 06, 2021 10:04 am so sadly this means every dollar she makes on top of my salary would be taxed at a marginal rate of ~55%.
Or every dollar you make on top of her income is taxed at the prevailing bracket rates. It's all fungible and inter mingled.
I understand what you are saying, but regardless of what she decides my income will not change. So the tax brackets up to 32% federal and 7% state have already been filled by my income. So I am not sure I can convince myself or more importantly, my wife, of your point.
by finley
Sat Feb 06, 2021 10:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: tax question
Replies: 50
Views: 3834

Re: tax question

She appears to have turned it into a business not a hobby. Therefore, she can open a solo 401k and shield her profits from current income taxes. She will still need to pay self employment taxes, ie social security and medicare, which I think you underestimated as you left off the “employer” half of the taxes. Though, honestly, I would be more concerned with whether she is violating any health code regulations or rules related to the preparation and sales of food. I agree with you that she has sort of turned it into a small business. I did mention the solo 401k option to her, but not sure she is interested in pursuing this option. She said it seemed like too much even though I told her I would set it all up for her. And getting an LLC for m...
by finley
Sat Feb 06, 2021 9:32 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: tax question
Replies: 50
Views: 3834

Re: tax question

Thank you for to those who replied. My wife and I are definitely not 100% on the same page with this. I had told her it was taxable, but she did not want to believe it. I am much more of a by the book type person when it comes to this type issue, but because it is such a small amount she has intended to do it under the table. And although we don't need the money at all, she does want to feel the time she spends making the cookies is valued appropriately. She does enjoy making cookies, but her margin is very small. And paying taxes would make the profit almost nothing. We will see what she decides. I told her I was not comfortable with her doing $300/month in sales (or even half that) and not reporting it. Especially with her having a facebo...
by finley
Sat Feb 06, 2021 4:08 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: tax question
Replies: 50
Views: 3834

tax question

I was hoping to get some advice on how to approach a tax question of mine. I am a high income professional in the upper part of the 32% federal tax bracket and in a 7% state tax bracket. My kids are now getting older so my wife has started trying to find things she enjoys to do with her time. She has currently taken a job a local triathlon store to be a run coach. The pay is not great, but it is not about the money for us as we live very comfortably on my income. I have emphasized to her that she needs to find something she enjoys because a large percentage of her income will be taxed. As we file married filing jointly, she will pay not only the 32% federal and 7% state, but also 6.2 % social security and 2.35% medicare (I make enough to ge...
by finley
Fri Apr 17, 2020 9:36 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Move from Total Bond Fund to Stable Value Fund
Replies: 7
Views: 1026

Move from Total Bond Fund to Stable Value Fund

I am not one to market time at all and have no plans to decrease the percent equity in my retirement accounts. I have actually rebalanced into equities the end of March. However, I was wondering what others thought about moving the funds I own in vanguard total bond fund into my retirement accounts stable value fund. The yields are currently about the same ~1.8% so there is no significant difference here. I have no significant restrictions on moving money in/out of the stable value fund. It seems the Stable Value fund has much less downside risk given the current interest rates. And if rates rebound up over the next 1-2 years, I will have locked in the gains from the total bond fund due to recent drop in interest rates. The opposite is obvi...
by finley
Fri Mar 27, 2020 8:55 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Available cash do I buy into the market soon at a discount?
Replies: 18
Views: 1513

Re: Available cash do I buy into the market soon at a discount?

Not sure what to tell you and my advice is probably worth what you are paying for it. I am also a healthcare worker and just don't think this virus is going away in the next month. The trump statement about opening up the economy sooner is keeping the markets optimistic about the economy. So when, not if, social distancing measures are extended, I agree there will likely be an additional dip. But I didn't see this weeks big rally so my crystal ball is back to being cloudy. I have never been one to time the market, but I have settled on rebalancing when the virus curve for the US appears to be flattening. Maybe this works, maybe it doesn't. I am ok with whatever happens from a personal finance perspective, but I am confident there will remai...
by finley
Tue Mar 24, 2020 12:55 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Chinese Stocks during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Replies: 95
Views: 9648

Re: Chinese Stocks during the COVID-19 Pandemic

There is no conspiracy theory. Once the daily new case curve flattened, the worst of the virus is behind. So the market responds appropriately. The daily new cases peaked around February 3rd-5th. The market bottom out at this same time.
by finley
Mon Jan 26, 2015 6:47 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Estimated Taxes for Roth Conversion
Replies: 7
Views: 1360

Re: Estimated Taxes for Roth Conversion

thanks
by finley
Mon Jan 26, 2015 10:41 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Estimated Taxes for Roth Conversion
Replies: 7
Views: 1360

Estimated Taxes for Roth Conversion

I am planning on converting my wife's traditional IRA to a Roth IRA so I can begin contributing to it, but I am uncertain on how to deal with the estimated taxes. I believe the conversion will be within the safe harbor rules so I will not pay a penalty if I do not pay estimated taxes. However, I was hoping for others to confirm this. In 2014, I am in the 35% AMT bracket and had about a $200 tax bill, so my withholdings from my employment covered almost all of my taxes. In 2015, my tax situation is almost identical with the exception of the Roth Conversion. The Roth Conversion would generate a tax bill of about $3500. Even with this amount, my withholdings would total greater than 90% of my total taxes for 2015. So is my interpretation of th...
by finley
Thu Aug 01, 2013 7:02 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: teaching kids about money
Replies: 29
Views: 3065

Re: teaching kids about money

Thanks for all the advice. We decided to introduce the allowance now ($1 per year old/wk) without a requirement to save or give away (atleast not yet). And we are not going to introduce chores for money either. Lots to think about and hopefully we can be good models for them over time.
by finley
Tue Jul 30, 2013 10:52 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: teaching kids about money
Replies: 29
Views: 3065

teaching kids about money

I was hoping to get some advice on how to teach my kids about money. I currently have twins that are 6 years old and would like to teach them to be responsible with money. My wife would like to start to give them a small allowance each month. Some to save, some to give away and some to spend on whatever they want. I am not sure if we should introduce chores in exchange for the money. Or if these should just be expected things to do. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
by finley
Thu Apr 04, 2013 4:49 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should having a pension affect our asset allocation?
Replies: 23
Views: 3525

Re: Should having a pension effect our asset allocation?

anonenigma wrote:
finley wrote: I can take my contributions with me, which is currently earning 4% interest. I do lose the employer contributions though.
Should you become vested and decide to leave, see whether you can stay in the system and draw the pension when you reach retirement age. It won't be as large a pension as if you stayed for a full career, but you won't lose the employer contributions and the income stream will probably be worth more than what you could do with your returned contributions. Just a thought.
I agree completely, but it is so far off that I have not given it too much thought. Will cross that bridge if I decide to leave.
by finley
Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:14 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should having a pension affect our asset allocation?
Replies: 23
Views: 3525

Re: Should having a pension effect our asset allocation?

Personally, I count my pension contributions in my asset allocation as bonds (for now). I am also young and I am not 100% sure I will make it the 28 years (currently have 4 years) I need to work at my current job to reach my pension. If I leave before 28 years, I can take my contributions with me, which is currently earning 4% interest. I do lose the employer contributions though. When I approach the 28 year point or become more positive I will stick it out with my current employer, I will stop counting it as a bond.
by finley
Fri Mar 01, 2013 7:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Mortgage options -- thoughts?
Replies: 21
Views: 2047

Re: Mortgage options -- thoughts?

what is the interest rate on your student loans? And are you still able to deduct its interest? If the interest rate is high enough, you could make an argument to only put 10% down and pay off the student loan. I would not put 5% down. After putting that little down, you would be very close to having negative equity in the home considering fees it would cost if you needed to sell the house for whatever reason.
by finley
Tue Feb 26, 2013 4:19 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is Med School still a good financial investment?
Replies: 123
Views: 14546

Re: Is Med School still a good financial investment?

Like all other similar threads on this topic, this is likely to get locked after devolving into an argument by those who've never done it (go through the rigors of becoming a practicing physician), nor had anyone they know do it, about why doctors are overpaid. To them I say, come walk in my shoes, and then you can offer your opinion. Until then, ferme ta bouche . I'll have been through the equivalent of 26 grades of school (12 through high school, 4 in college, 4 in medical school, 5 in residency, and 1 in fellowship) before I make a "real" paycheck. Having said that, as a fifth year resident in orthopaedic surgery (and going into a fellowship next year for hand surgery), my honest opinion is that the only reason you should do i...
by finley
Sun Feb 24, 2013 12:56 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I dont understand how Ibonds are a good investment
Replies: 29
Views: 5793

Re: I dont understand how Ibonds are a good investment

For a person who has need to hold bonds in their in taxable accounts Ibonds dont seem like a very good choice to me vs Munis but I am sure I must be missing something. If I buy some Ibonds, the return on investment is OK (for what they are intended to be) at the present time. In five years, however, nominal rate of new Ibonds goes up, but I am stuck holding the old low rate bonds with a fixed return for 30 years. So I have to sell them and buy the new ones in order to get the best return. This is a hassle, of course, relative to buying and holding Munis. Also, if I were buying Ibonds every year, then I could not sell the old ones to buy new ones since I am limiting to buying 10k per year. What am I missing? I do not think you are missing a...
by finley
Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:10 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Tax-advantaged accounts maxed, now what?
Replies: 14
Views: 2076

Re: Tax-advantaged accounts maxed, now what?

401k maxed HSA maxed Spouse's SEP maxed (solo 401k may be an option in 2014 403b and 529 not applicable EEBonds and Backdoor Roth I need to learn about but Roth has never made sense and now even less so because our current combined income is significantly higher now than it will be in "retirement"....unless bags (yes, plural) of inflation-adjusted cash start dropping from the sky. You will pay the same amount of taxes initially on money you invest in a taxable account as you do with money you put in a Roth. Only difference is that you will never need to pay taxes again on money you put in a Roth and money in a taxable account will continue to have earnings taxed. Compared to a taxable account, putting money in the Roth is the muc...
by finley
Wed Feb 20, 2013 2:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Go For It? (House Purchase)
Replies: 20
Views: 2289

Re: Go For It? (House Purchase)

I vote yes (assuming both you and your fiancee both want to live in the same town for awhile), if you purchase a home for $200,000 with 10% down and a 3.5% interest rate, the payment will be just over $800 plus taxes and insurance. I can not imagine this would be much higher (if not less) than rent for an apartment after you deduct interest and mortgage insurance (assuming you itemize deductions on your tax returns). If it were me, I would buy the home. If you decide to, rent a room or two to friends to help build equity and eliminate the mortgage insurance. You never know what will happen, but if interest rates go up it might cost you more to wait a year or two to buy than to pay mortgage insurance for a year or two.
by finley
Wed Feb 20, 2013 2:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay off mortgage, or sell and roll into the dream home.
Replies: 20
Views: 2565

Re: Pay off mortgage, or sell and roll into the dream home.

Just double both. Everybody situation is different and it sounds like you might be better off carrying both mortgages for a short period, but you need to be prepared to carry the mortgage for longer than you think if something unexpected happens.
by finley
Wed Feb 20, 2013 1:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay off mortgage, or sell and roll into the dream home.
Replies: 20
Views: 2565

Re: Pay off mortgage, or sell and roll into the dream home.

I am an involuntary/not willing to sell at fire-sale prices landlord as well as homeowner. I speak from experience, don't buy a new home until you have sold the one you are living in now. Even if you can carrry both homes, why would you want to? Is the neighborhood where you currently live, that bad? What are the mysterious reasons I should not pay two mortgages if I can handle the cost? And no, the neighborhood is not that bad. But that's not the point. I don't plan on staying in this house for the rest of my life and wish to build one that I do, which is again, besides the point. Why should I sell my current home, move my family into an expensive, inconvenient apartment, rent a storage unit for extra items I can't fit in the apartment, a...
by finley
Tue Feb 19, 2013 1:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay off mortgage, or sell and roll into the dream home.
Replies: 20
Views: 2565

Re: Pay off mortgage, or sell and roll into the dream home.

Thanks for all the responses. I'm thinking I will hold onto the cash rather than pay off the mortgage. Nobody said anything about whether or not coming in with that much cash would give me any edge as far as a discount is concerned. Seems like if the builder (I most likely will have to build) would be willing to bring down the price if he was giving a large amount up-front. Does anyone have a view on this? I'm not sure how it will work with selling this home and building the next. Assuming my home will sell, I'm not sure how that will work with building a home and selling the one I'm living in. All the cash needs to be upfront to get that monthly payment as low as possible. Has anyone done this and have any tips to offer? I have had collea...
by finley
Tue Feb 19, 2013 8:03 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay off mortgage, or sell and roll into the dream home.
Replies: 20
Views: 2565

Re: Pay off mortgage, or sell and roll into the dream home.

I am not sure I 100% agree with the above advice. Is buying the new home dependent upon selling the house you live in? Meaning, do you have to sell the current home you live in before you purchase the new home. Most people would not be able to afford two mortgage payments (or want to). Assuming buying the new home is contingent upon selling your current home, a good argument can be made to pay off your current mortgage completely. This gives you a guaranteed return on your money of your current mortgage interest rate that is likely higher than a CD or money market. When you are ready to move to a new home, wait until the old home is sold before putting in an offer on the new home. The money you receive from selling it will give you the nece...
by finley
Tue Jan 29, 2013 7:54 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How Can I Tell If My Dentist is Good One?
Replies: 133
Views: 22404

Re: How Can I Tell If My Dentist is Good One?

A good way to check any professional is to get a second opinion when you are in doubt. Might cost some money, but atleast you will have two opinions. If they agree, then you can feel confident in your dentist.
by finley
Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:52 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much do you expect your kids to pay for college?
Replies: 237
Views: 36423

Re: How much do you expect your kids to pay for college?

I liked this juxtapositiong: .... Kids that age want to have fun sometimes. .... I was used to working very hard with school and actually found work easier than studying all the time and more enjoyable. My job during college was a break from studying all the time and was fun. I like how you have twisted my comments to make your point. How convenient for your argument. In reference to the first statement, it was a generalized statement for all kids, not me. I think you are naive if you think the majority of college age kids will skip having any fun. I doubt many college age kids would consider work fun. In reference to the second statement, it was specific to me and a reply to a belief from a prior post that said the first job would be a ru...
by finley
Sun Jan 27, 2013 7:22 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much do you expect your kids to pay for college?
Replies: 237
Views: 36423

Re: How much do you expect your kids to pay for college?

Working while in college can be done, but I think it would be very hard to not have it be a distraction from studying. Maybe if you do not have a challenging major it is easier to do I worked all throughout undergrad for an employer in my field of study - engineering hydrology and graduated with high honors. My senior year I earned credit for a project I was doing at work and also getting paid for. My daughter is at a highly selective engineering school, taking 18-19 credits in engineering physics, is in their honors program and has worked 15-20 hours per week since day 1. Initially it was a menial job but now has a great paying, private funded technical internship position. Most students at this school work - they in in great demand by lo...
by finley
Sat Jan 26, 2013 2:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much do you expect your kids to pay for college?
Replies: 237
Views: 36423

Re: How much do you expect your kids to pay for college?

I think that one of, if not the most, important things we can provide our kids is an education. My parents paid for 100% of both undergraduate and medical school for me and my siblings. My grandparents did the same for my father. To this day I am extremely grateful for my parents doing this for me. Not starting life with a large student loan was one of the best gift my my parents provided me. I hope to be able to do the same for my kids, but the cost of school is skyrocketing now. Where I went to medical school the tuition has increased by about 125% in the past 10 years and I think many undergraduate colleges have done the same. The kind of debt kids will have to take on to go to quality schools will leave many with the equivalent of a sma...
by finley
Wed Jan 23, 2013 8:17 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Pensions vs personal investing: Pensions win???
Replies: 36
Views: 4592

Re: Pensions vs personal investing: Pensions win???

What I don't understand is how the government will sustain the plan say 25 years down the road. It's a good question. Most state governments can only look out one year. In general I think these are pretty safe...but I would be willing to bet a few months pay that in the next 25 years at least a few 5 states cut back their "guarantees". They simply will not have the money to pay these expenses along with their ongoing expenses. And they can't just print more money like the fed can. I am enrolled in the SC pension fund and it underwent a major revision within the past year, which took care of many of these issues (hopefully it was enough). It decreased some guarantees, decreased the assumed return from 8% to 7%, increased contribut...
by finley
Thu Jan 10, 2013 3:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Financing medical school. Age 34, some savings.
Replies: 63
Views: 9346

Re: Financing medical school. Age 34, some savings.

am wrote:"And being happy as a physician is definitely not about how much money you make."

Agree but only to a point- which is very close to being reached at this time. It does certainly help however.

That is fair to agree only to a point, but I think it depends on your personal situation (i.e. debt level, desired lifestyle, etc.) in regards to how close that point is to being reached. For me, it would take a dramatic drop in income to reach that point.
by finley
Thu Jan 10, 2013 11:36 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Financing medical school. Age 34, some savings.
Replies: 63
Views: 9346

Re: Financing medical school. Age 34, some savings.

Hello, I'm new to Bogleheads, and I've spent the last couple of days reading through the many forum posts here having "medical school" returned by a Google search. I'm 34 years old and was just accepted into a private medical school out of state. The annual tuition is roughly $40k. I've been debating on how I will finance my education. I will be starting Fall 2013, and I am currently working full time. My current financial assets are as follows: Vanguard non-retirement account $110k VFIAX $70k VBLTX $10k VGPMX (an investment I regret to this day) Vanguard retirement account Roth IRA $10k VFIAX $4.5k VWESX Thrift Savings Plan $160k split (70/30 between C and G fund) Savings account (ING) $30k From the forum threads that I have rea...
by finley
Wed Dec 19, 2012 12:54 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I-Bonds for someone in their early 30s? pay taxes annually?
Replies: 26
Views: 3598

Re: I-Bonds for someone in their early 30s? pay taxes annual

In reference to the example provided in the wiki, it states "This is equivalent to a real after-tax return of 0.088%/year." You can judge for yourself if this is a poor return.
by finley
Wed Dec 19, 2012 7:10 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I-Bonds for someone in their early 30s? pay taxes annually?
Replies: 26
Views: 3598

Re: I-Bonds for someone in their early 30s? pay taxes annual

I bonds are not good investments if you consider that after both inflation and taxes, the return is very poor. However, emergency funds should not be an investment. It is about conserving principal and having it available whenever you need it. Not sure which is better over the long haul for an EF, but the i bond has the major benefit of conserving purchasing power and might yield a little interest on top of that (although currently it does not.) What bonds would you consider a good investment at today's interest rate and how much more risk would you have to take to get it? John I will not claim to know better bonds, but in my mind, an investment is something that increases purchasing power. Earning less than 1% after taxes and after inflat...
by finley
Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:10 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I-Bonds for someone in their early 30s? pay taxes annually?
Replies: 26
Views: 3598

Re: I-Bonds for someone in their early 30s? pay taxes annual

I bonds are not good investments if you consider that after both inflation and taxes, the return is very poor. However, emergency funds should not be an investment. It is about conserving principal and having it available whenever you need it. Not sure which is better over the long haul for an EF, but the i bond has the major benefit of conserving purchasing power and might yield a little interest on top of that (although currently it does not.) What bonds would you consider a good investment at today's interest rate and how much more risk would you have to take to get it? John I will not claim to know better bonds, but in my mind, an investment is something that increases purchasing power. Earning less than 1% after taxes and after inflat...
by finley
Mon Dec 17, 2012 7:16 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I-Bonds for someone in their early 30s? pay taxes annually?
Replies: 26
Views: 3598

Re: I-Bonds for someone in their early 30s? pay taxes annual

I bonds are not good investments if you consider that after both inflation and taxes, the return is very poor. However, emergency funds should not be an investment. It is about conserving principal and having it available whenever you need it. Not sure which is better over the long haul for an EF, but the i bond has the major benefit of conserving purchasing power and might yield a little interest on top of that (although currently it does not.)