Search found 45 matches
- Wed Nov 13, 2019 12:17 pm
- Forum: US Chapters
- Topic: Post your Financial Milestone Announcements Here
- Replies: 1081
- Views: 149985
Re: Post your Financial Milestone Announcements Here
I became a Boglehead in 2012 with ~$300k in pretax retirement but with ~$400k in debt. We just hit the $1.5 million mark in combined accounts, $600k additional net worth in home equity and are free from debt- all because I ran across you all, learned and listened. I turned 49 this year so we should ...
- Sat Oct 12, 2019 11:34 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: If we visit Shenandoah and Blue Ridge Parkway, do we "need" to see Great Smoky Mtns. NP, too?
- Replies: 52
- Views: 5395
Re: If we visit Shenandoah and Blue Ridge Parkway, do we "need" to see Great Smoky Mtns. NP, too?
We live in Asheville, drive the BRP literally daily and spend lots of our time exploring WNC, the Smokey mountains, have visited Shenandoah, Cades cove, and most all of the destinations discussed here. The BRP would be a one stop shop while travelling for all of the “mountain” scenery you’re expecti...
- Sun Jan 27, 2019 10:27 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: No index bond options in retirement account
- Replies: 27
- Views: 1604
Re: No index bond options in retirement account
Our 403b is thru Transamerica as well. To get past our lack of a quality bond fund I invest 40% of it in a Vanguard target retirement-income fund and the rest in Vanguard funds per our IPS. The target retirement fund holds the total bond, total international bond and a short term TIPS fund and its E...
- Sun Jan 13, 2019 9:26 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: How to invest 5k monthly
- Replies: 25
- Views: 2792
Re: How to invest 5k monthly
We send $1500/week to a vanguard money market fund. Our dividends are sent here as well. Once we accrue $10000 in the fund I purchase whatever fund we need based on our asset allocation. It creates specific tax lots that should be easy to deal with when I retire or need to tax loss harvest. That mig...
- Wed Nov 16, 2016 7:12 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: 401k and pension/profit sharing upon leaving partnership
- Replies: 3
- Views: 1069
401k and pension/profit sharing upon leaving partnership
I'm resigning 12/31 from my current position and was wondering what my 401k and profit sharing eligibility would be. Our business manager disperses our full 401k funds midyear the year after, i.e., our 2015 dispersment was given to us in 2016. The pension and profit sharing is handled similarly, wit...
- Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:06 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Major issues with new HSABank.com website
- Replies: 41
- Views: 14890
Re: Major issues with new HSABank.com website
The site definately has been a mess but I've still been able to transfer funds to TDA. I just fiddled around on the site and found where to get to that area. It convoluted but here's how you do it: Once logged on go to Accounts-> Account Summary-> View HSA Summary-> Manage investments-> Transfer Inv...
- Sat Jan 03, 2015 8:28 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: 2015 BOGLEHEAD CONTEST REGISTRATION
- Replies: 557
- Views: 46464
- Fri Jan 02, 2015 6:44 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Accumulation Phase - First Taxable Account - Strategies?
- Replies: 6
- Views: 1033
Re: Accumulation Phase - First Taxable Account - Strategies?
I'm very much interested in this as well. We're diverting ~$8k/month to our mortgage and will be debt free later this year. The current mortgage payment amount will then go into our taxable account. We'll max out Ibonds every year, the other ~$80k will go to VBS. My thoughts are to send cash directl...
- Sat Dec 13, 2014 3:39 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Florida Keys Vacation Rental
- Replies: 24
- Views: 3503
Re: Florida Keys Vacation Rental
The last two January's we have stayed in VRBO's on Marathon Key. Marathon is centrally located, not very touristy, and has several good restaurants. We take our cross bikes and ride everywhere on Marathon but take the vehicle on day trips. Key West is only about an hour or so away. There's even a de...
- Sat Aug 16, 2014 8:58 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Coffee Beans
- Replies: 12
- Views: 1351
Re: Coffee Beans
Redbird coffee out of Bozeman, MT. Their espresso is my favorite by far- tastes like a snicker bar!
- Sun Apr 27, 2014 10:32 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: sportsmobile [camper van conversions]
- Replies: 23
- Views: 7068
- Mon Mar 31, 2014 8:34 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Expensive hobbies and possessions? (B/c you can...)
- Replies: 126
- Views: 21723
Re: Expensive hobbies and possessions? (B/c you can...)
Mountain biking (doesn't have to be expensive but...) and espresso equipment (and other coffee brew methods). They're worth every penny to me though!
- Mon Mar 31, 2014 1:23 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: How do I back-door Roth IRA?
- Replies: 15
- Views: 1781
Re: How do I back-door Roth IRA?
I just found out that Vanguard held out ~$350 in state taxes during our back door Roth conversions January 2013. I'm making the calls today to straighten it out....
Edit: turns out it was my error
Edit: turns out it was my error

- Fri Mar 21, 2014 2:06 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Do you love your job? What do you do?
- Replies: 134
- Views: 15969
Re: Do you love your job? What do you do?
Anesthesiologist- I love my job! Hours are great, coworkers/atmosphere fun and efficient, great pay (the opportunity for extra work is abundant in my area as well), 9 weeks vacation, our PP group maxes out our retirement plans/HSA, etc. You'll get no complaints from me! Hi. I'm curious. Do you have...
- Fri Mar 21, 2014 5:31 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Do you love your job? What do you do?
- Replies: 134
- Views: 15969
Re: Do you love your job? What do you do?
Anesthesiologist- I love my job! Hours are great, coworkers/atmosphere fun and efficient, great pay (the opportunity for extra work is abundant in my area as well), 9 weeks vacation, our PP group maxes out our retirement plans/HSA, etc. You'll get no complaints from me!
- Sat Mar 01, 2014 6:24 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Advice on selecting medical school
- Replies: 30
- Views: 2996
Re: Advice on selecting medical school
My mistake- The ENT I was referring to earned his undergrad at Princeton, his MD at Duke University.ace1400 wrote: In reference to one of the comments above, Princeton doesn't have a medical school.
- Sat Mar 01, 2014 9:33 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Advice on selecting medical school
- Replies: 30
- Views: 2996
Re: Advice on selecting medical school
I reflect what others have written- choose the cheapest and don't look back. I work private practice with Caribbean trained MD's, several DO's, docs from Harvard, Princeton, state schools, etc, etc- no one cares about that only whether they're competent or not (which certainly doesn't depend on thei...
- Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:53 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Should I Pay Off My Mortgage ?
- Replies: 9
- Views: 1613
Re: Should I Pay Off My Mortgage ?
It's amazing how this board is so excited about 3% Penfed CD's but everyone says don't pay extra on a 3% mortgage that if you paid extra has around the same duration and return. I have a 10 year 3% mortgage with around 8 years left as well, taking standard deduction so I'm going to pay down earn 3%...
- Mon Dec 23, 2013 8:40 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Can we retire early? How much will we need?
- Replies: 39
- Views: 5103
Re: Can we retire early? How much will we need?
If I had to guess, we'd like to have $150K - 200K (in today's dollars) annually to do the things we want to do. Maybe this is high, but I want to retire wealthy. My guess is retiring at a younger age like this, we'd want to withdraw closer to 3% annually vs. 4%? So with that being said, how would I...
- Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:43 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: out of residency since 07 - please advise
- Replies: 29
- Views: 4700
Re: out of residency since 07 - please advise
I'm interested in learning a little more about cash balance plans as well. Hopefully someone will chime in and address the CB question the OP presented. Anyone?
- Tue Nov 26, 2013 8:25 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Should I be reimbursing med expenses with HSA money?
- Replies: 10
- Views: 983
Re: Should I be reimbursing med expenses with HSA money?
We pay with after tax money but our health related expenses are next to nothing at this point in our lives (fortunately). We keep the minimum in our HSA Bank acct to avoid the fees and the rest (~$22k) we have in (no fee) VBR at TD Ameritrade. The triple tax advantage with HSA's as of now is too app...
- Thu May 02, 2013 6:16 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: What home gym equipment do you have?
- Replies: 68
- Views: 8667
Re: What home gym equipment do you have?
Our home gym...




- Thu Apr 25, 2013 5:56 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: any suggestions on a ccw [Concealed Carry Weapon]
- Replies: 92
- Views: 10422
Re: any suggestions on a ccw [Concealed Carry Weapon]
Seecamp makes a finely built pocket .380- the Rolex of CCW imo but some will want a larger caliber. For them a Rohrbaugh 9mm might be a good choice. This PDF might help... https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B22wLsyYEkTOMDU4MjJlNTktOTRlZi00NTJkLWE0MGMtZmEwNGFlMWE3ZDlm&...
- Wed Mar 20, 2013 11:23 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Are these retirement fees reasonable?
- Replies: 7
- Views: 874
Re: Are these retirement fees reasonable?
It's all relative. If you have only $1,000 in your account, then yes, $250 is excessive. But you seem to be saying that (a) you do not pay $4400 a year, but your company does, (b) you pay in addition 0.50% of AUM to use PCRA (c) you pay commissions, too. So your average e.r. really is not 0.11% if ...
- Wed Mar 20, 2013 7:46 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Are these retirement fees reasonable?
- Replies: 7
- Views: 874
Re: Are these retirement fees reasonable?
It's all relative. If you have only $1,000 in your account, then yes, $250 is excessive. But you seem to be saying that (a) you do not pay $4400 a year, but your company does, (b) you pay in addition 0.50% of AUM to use PCRA (c) you pay commissions, too. So your average e.r. really is not 0.11% if ...
- Wed Mar 20, 2013 7:11 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Are these retirement fees reasonable?
- Replies: 7
- Views: 874
Are these retirement fees reasonable?
I recently moved my retirement funds into a Schwab PCRA I learned was available to me through our retirement fund. I was under the impression I would save some administration fees in addition to the ER savings using ETF's since all my money is self directed now. This is not the case however. I notic...
- Sun Mar 03, 2013 4:42 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Is Med School still a good financial investment?
- Replies: 123
- Views: 12811
Re: Is Med School still a good financial investment?
My son asked me this question out of the blue when he was 10: "mom, how did you choose your career?" I immediately recognized this was one of those big life questions and thought quickly and carefully. After a few seconds pause, I answered...."well, son, there were 3 factors that went into my decis...
- Sun Mar 03, 2013 4:35 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Health Savings Account
- Replies: 13
- Views: 2092
Re: Health Savings Account
I believe most who are eligible on the board probably have one- mine is through HSA Bank. There's a good discussion on the wiki site.
- Tue Jan 15, 2013 8:26 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: That Extravagant Thing You Do
- Replies: 411
- Views: 61305
Re: That Extravagant Thing You Do
It was foolish in hindsite but we love traveling and mountain biking so it's a perfect fit...


- Thu Jan 10, 2013 7:40 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Financing medical school. Age 34, some savings.
- Replies: 63
- Views: 8551
Re: Financing medical school. Age 34, some savings.
At 34 years of age, you have accumulated a significant amount of savings, specifically $394,500! Congratulations! Why on earth would you jeopardize your financial future to even consider medical school now? If you go the medical school (4 years) and spend $160000 for the privilege , you still have,...
- Sat Jan 05, 2013 8:11 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
- Replies: 35
- Views: 2804
Re: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
I adjusted my suggestion in hopes that it helps. The cash remains where it is (my wife had the same response when I suggested a similar idea to her for our portfolio, so it didn't happen for us, either). You would make single, lump sum purchases of 3 International ETFS in the Schwab employer-sponso...
- Tue Jan 01, 2013 7:58 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Interesting Fox Business article... [Rebalancing]
- Replies: 13
- Views: 2393
Interesting Fox Business article... [Rebalancing]
http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-fin ... balancing/
I'm pretty green but I can't understand the logic at all...
I'm pretty green but I can't understand the logic at all...
- Sun Dec 30, 2012 3:12 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
- Replies: 35
- Views: 2804
Re: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
Almost every brokerage has a no-transaction-fee list of mutual funds. That is probably what that refers to. However, it is my understanding that Vanguard is not on anybody's no-fee list (other than at Vanguard). TD Ameritrade has 32 ETFs from Vanguard commission-free. I saw that too when I moved my...
- Sun Dec 30, 2012 3:11 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
- Replies: 35
- Views: 2804
Re: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
Do I need to keep track of each employer contribution separately (IE, 401k, Pension and Safe Harbor all in separete MM's) after the funds are transferred to my PRCA or does that matter? I was under the impression that all the funds are treated similarly. No idea, but I'll wager that if your employe...
- Sun Dec 30, 2012 1:31 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
- Replies: 35
- Views: 2804
Re: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
Some thoughts to mull over: Desired Asset allocation: 60% stocks / 40% bonds Desired International allocation: 20% of stocks <--For simplicity, this is 23%, but only 15% of equity contributions would go here. Current total portfolio: Mid six-figures Taxable (14%) 14% Vanguard Total International St...
- Sun Dec 30, 2012 1:19 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
- Replies: 35
- Views: 2804
Re: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
I am unable to move my retirement funds out of Schwab and I'd like to use the vanguard funds for simplicity. I think I can have access to the vanguard funds at schwab without transaction fees (I'll call Monday to find out). Sorry - I was scanning and missed the part about the PCRA. Nevertheless, th...
- Sun Dec 30, 2012 12:43 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
- Replies: 35
- Views: 2804
Re: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
Do I need to keep track of each employer contribution separately (IE, 401k, Pension and Safe Harbor all in separete MM's) after the funds are transferred to my PRCA or does that matter? I was under the impression that all the funds are treated similarly. No idea, but I'll wager that if your employe...
- Sun Dec 30, 2012 12:33 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
- Replies: 35
- Views: 2804
Re: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
I researched the Schwab funds and they look similar but either certain fees were higher or they werent rated as good, etc. If I can get the vanguard funds thru Schwab that's what I'm probably going to do. Question: if I can get the vanguard ETF's at $9/trade vs vanguard index funds at $50/trade but...
- Sun Dec 30, 2012 12:26 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
- Replies: 35
- Views: 2804
Re: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
Question: if I can get the vanguard ETF's at $9/trade vs vanguard index funds at $50/trade but investor share ER's should I just go with the ETF's? Paying transaction fees pretty much flies in the face of low cost investing. You can get Vanguard mutual funds at Vanguard without any transaction fees...
- Sun Dec 30, 2012 12:17 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
- Replies: 35
- Views: 2804
Re: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
I really have to think my questions through so I can get them all in with a single post... :oops: Anyway, I assume the 401k, Pension and Safe Harbor are technically separate accounts with separate amounts of contributions, but they all have access to Schwabs PRCA. If so, will you let us know roughl...
- Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:35 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
- Replies: 35
- Views: 2804
Re: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
Cash as above plus collectables ~34% :confused I think Cash and collectibles should be in different piles. Also, collectibles may be a useful investment, but I think it goes beyond the scope of this forum. I don't even know how I'd begin to recommend allocation, contribution and rebalancing practic...
- Sun Dec 30, 2012 7:43 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
- Replies: 35
- Views: 2804
Re: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
Debt: $275,000 in a 10 yr home mortgage at 3% (recent refi from 4.3% but rolled $115k of student loan debt in to be able to deduct that interest ). Some of it at least. It depends on how much your old mortgage was. Any secured debt you use to refinance home acquisition debt is treated as home acqui...
- Sun Dec 30, 2012 7:34 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
- Replies: 35
- Views: 2804
Re: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
Your wife doesn't need to earn 5500 to contribute 5500 to an IRA. She can use your earnings. Assuming you file jointly. Thanks for reassurance on this- I got to thinking about that last night and re-read about this in the wiki and realized I still could max hers out because of mine. I'll correct my...
- Sun Dec 30, 2012 7:30 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
- Replies: 35
- Views: 2804
Re: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
Welcome to forum, You don't want target fund in taxable http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Principles_of_Tax-Efficient_Fund_Placement Schwab has funds for index (3) fund portfolio " With Schwab, investors can construct a three-fund portfolio using: [footnotes 1] Schwab Total Stock Market Index (SWTSX) ...
- Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:28 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
- Replies: 35
- Views: 2804
Help with Schwab investing; Newbie...
Hello all! Firstly a sincere thanks. I've been lurking for a while...(blah, blah, so on and so forth) and have learned so very much from all of you and I really appreciate it. A little background- I finished school and training in 2006 and up until now all I've been doing is reducing debt but I am b...