Search found 217 matches

by enderland
Mon Jul 17, 2023 4:58 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: FZDXX vs FDLXX for cash
Replies: 11
Views: 3130

Re: FZDXX vs FDLXX for cash

JoMoney wrote: Sun Jul 16, 2023 9:43 pm
enderland wrote: Sun Jul 16, 2023 3:56 pm...
This was something else I was thinking, it seems the odds of FDLXX ever having issues is close to zero even if it's not FDIC insured...
Hard to quantify what the likelihood could be, but a Prime money market fund may have no choice but to institute some form of liquidation fee or suspend redemptions if there is a liquidity crisis.

Is this any different than HYSA though?

If a bank has major liquidity issues, even FDIC funds won't be available immediately right?
by enderland
Sun Jul 16, 2023 3:56 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: FZDXX vs FDLXX for cash
Replies: 11
Views: 3130

Re: FZDXX vs FDLXX for cash

I use FZDXX exclusively for cash. I don't consider tax implications. It amounts to fly specks in pepper imo. Quantify the tax implications of the two choices. marginal tax rate x interest payments = tax implication / total porfolio = probably a very small number in relative terms. Fly specks in pepper? On 100k, it's $500/year (if the return is 5% and marginal rate is 10%). While that's not going to make me rich, it's not an insignificant amount of difference. Which is an even greater percentage of the return when you add in federal income taxes. $5k --> $3400 range after federal income taxes. So that $500 worth of state taxes is closer to 15% of the actual returns. I prefer FDLXX for my cash, even though I'm in a 0% income tax state. I lik...
by enderland
Sun Jul 16, 2023 9:52 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: FZDXX vs FDLXX for cash
Replies: 11
Views: 3130

FZDXX vs FDLXX for cash

I have a bunch of the no-penalty CDs at Ally right now, mostly 4.75% with a mix of 4.25% as well. This represents nearly all my cash holdings outside checking (and iBonds). I've got a lot of accounts at Fidelity and am going to be consolidating my cash savings to Fidelity too to have accounts at fewer places. And Ally has more than a few times annoyed me anyways. I'm considering putting all the cash into FZDXX or FDLXX (it's over 100k). Given our marginal state rate is ~10% or so, it seems like FDLXX is a clear winner here - looking at yields historically it seems that the tax savings is about the yield difference. But FDLXX seems safer, though probably more like 99.9% vs 99.8% safety margins so maybe not that meaningful. Is there a reason ...
by enderland
Sun Jan 28, 2018 8:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Does anyone own gold?
Replies: 108
Views: 15078

Re: Does anyone own gold?

I have a gold wedding ring :beer
by enderland
Sun Jan 28, 2018 12:36 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Payoff Mortgage(s) with 401k Funds
Replies: 2
Views: 441

Re: Payoff Mortgage(s) with 401k Funds

A better approach would be to move some of your 401k investments into safer investments and then once you retire, withdraw that money slowly to not take a massive tax hit in years when you make $200k+.

You could move $250k of your stock investments into something safer like bonds and then withdraw an additional $50k/year for 5 years and pay down the mortgages.

Realize that to pay down $260k in mortgages would require you to pay an insane amount in taxes - even at "just" $150k/year you're going to be withdrawing all that money at least at a 22%-24% federal rate plus state taxes. Are you willing to spend $100k (which is over 5% of your retirement portfolio now) in taxes just to pay off those properties?
by enderland
Sun Jan 28, 2018 12:29 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What hourly consulting rate outside my day job?
Replies: 28
Views: 2821

Re: What hourly consulting rate outside my day job?

Think about it this way. Your already counting your hourly rate wrong, assuming your salary is $120k and you get 3 weeks vacation and 2 weeks holiday (given your use of 50 weeks) that means your hourly salary is actually closer to $64/hour. Add in the FICA taxes and we're close to $70/hour. You probably get decent benefits, maybe a 401k match, probably some sort of bonus, maybe paid training/travel, so realistically you are probably close to $80/hour total compensation - at least. If your pay stubs show your cost of benefits for healthcare you can calculate this much more closely. If you worked overtime at 1.5x you are already at the $120/hour mark and that's assuming you value your time fairly loosely and would be willing to work for that ...
by enderland
Fri Apr 07, 2017 1:45 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best taxable fund for potential future mortgage payoff
Replies: 23
Views: 2317

Re: Best taxable fund for potential future mortgage payoff

It's partly an emotional choice-- do you prefer the guaranteed savings of paying off the house and the security of living without that debt? As obviously the straight math is unknowable (will the market grow faster than your mortgage rate?), I'll point out a couple of other risks either way-- the mortgage tax deduction could vanish, interest rates could drop and tempt you to refinance with all the associated costs but possible future savings, life circumstances could change that force or inspire a move, life circumstances interrupt your income. Personally I found that having the mortgage paid off gave me much more confidence in an aggressive investing stance (I'm 88/12 myself) because I have a cushion for failure and less likely to get flu...
by enderland
Fri Apr 07, 2017 12:19 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best taxable fund for potential future mortgage payoff
Replies: 23
Views: 2317

Re: Best taxable mortgage payoff fund for our situation

aristotelian wrote:
enderland wrote: Hmm. I guess this is true.

In my mind, they are "separate" because they have distinct goals as well as timeframes. For example, retirement vs "next 20 years" (though I would like those to be the same and early retire). Which leads me to seeing them as separate components to our portfolio.
That is just mental accounting in your mind. Aside from emergency fund cash that you need to have liquid, there is no need to hold bonds in taxable and doing so costs you more in taxes.
I'll have to think through this a bit more.

From that perspective, it's probably best to just do VTSMX as far as funds go?
by enderland
Fri Apr 07, 2017 10:11 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best taxable fund for potential future mortgage payoff
Replies: 23
Views: 2317

Re: Best taxable mortgage payoff fund for our situation

KlangFool wrote:
enderland,

<< The main upside of bonds in taxable I suppose is reducing risk in the account vs Total Stock Market.
>>

Not true. You have only one portfolio. Whether you take the risk in your taxable account or Roth IRA or 401K, you are still taking the risk.

Your overall risk is your overall AA. Just because you move money around, it does not change that.

KlangFool
Hmm. I guess this is true.

In my mind, they are "separate" because they have distinct goals as well as timeframes. For example, retirement vs "next 20 years" (though I would like those to be the same and early retire). Which leads me to seeing them as separate components to our portfolio.
by enderland
Fri Apr 07, 2017 9:44 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best taxable fund for potential future mortgage payoff
Replies: 23
Views: 2317

Re: Best taxable mortgage payoff fund for our situation

Fair enough. I guess I would consider what you are talking about "investing in taxable portfolio" rather than "taxable mortgage payoff fund". You see what happens in 5+ years and then decide what to do. In which case, I would suggest 100% Total Stock Market in taxable, while keeping bonds in tax-deferred for now. As you get closer to your 180K, then you can decide to make a payoff on the mortgage. Having any % in bonds makes no sense to me since that portion would be six-of-one-half-dozen-of-the-other versus the mortgage, but the bond dividends would be taxable and offset your mortgage interest deduction. Stock or mortgage are both defensible choices, but I do not see what the upside of bonds in taxable would be. The ma...
by enderland
Fri Apr 07, 2017 9:08 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best taxable fund for potential future mortgage payoff
Replies: 23
Views: 2317

Re: Best taxable mortgage payoff fund for our situation

2) Unless your portfolio is substantially larger than 180K, how does putting so much of your money in the house makes any sense? It is illiquid. KlangFool I guess I'm confused where you are coming from. My entire point here is to avoid tying up all our extra capital in the house through extra principle payments by instead using that extra income to build a separate investment account which can be used to pay off the mortgage sometime in the future. Barring significant stock market corrections (or massive appreciation on our home) lasting the next 10 years, we likely will be in a position where even liquidating this entire account to payoff the mortgage would not result in too significant a portion of our overall portfolio (probably around ...
by enderland
Fri Apr 07, 2017 9:02 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best taxable fund for potential future mortgage payoff
Replies: 23
Views: 2317

Re: Best taxable mortgage payoff fund for our situation

I don't get the timeframe. Either you want to get rid of the mortgage, or you want to use the mortgage to stay leveraged in the stock market. From a strategic point of view, it should be one or the other. Otherwise, you are at the mercy of the stock market and it may not cooperate. What if the stock market has a 10% correction this year and is flat the next 2-3 years? If you want to pay off the mortgage, why not just put the $2k directly into the mortgage? It is a safe bet that the market will go up over the long term, but you are bettering that the market will go up within a defined period. That is market timing. Also keep in mind that you would have to pay taxes on any capital gains that period, so you need the market to not only be posi...
by enderland
Fri Apr 07, 2017 8:57 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best taxable fund for potential future mortgage payoff
Replies: 23
Views: 2317

Re: Best taxable mortgage payoff fund for our situation

KlangFool wrote:OP,

You have only one portfolio: 60/40. So, why do you need to treat this investment at your taxable account any differently? It is part of your 60/40 portfolio. It is a lot more tax efficient that way. So, from tax efficiency standpoint, you buy stock index fund at your taxable account.

Where is the problem on keeping thing simple and doing this?

KlangFool
Our retirement portfolio is closer to 90/10 stock/bonds. The 60/40 split is traditional/roth.
by enderland
Fri Apr 07, 2017 8:11 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best taxable fund for potential future mortgage payoff
Replies: 23
Views: 2317

Best taxable fund for potential future mortgage payoff

Our mortgage balance is around $180k on a 3.625% rate mortgage, which results in us paying about $850/month for the mortgage. We bought the house last year. We have interest in paying this down faster. Currently, we've got a good chunk in retirement in about a 60/40 traditional/roth split with about 90/10 stocks/bonds mix and are maxing out all our tax advantaged account options. We have talked about using any extra income to pay extra against the mortgage, however, given the rate and that we fully deduct interest (we have charitable contributions and property tax which exceeds the standard deduction alone, so all the interest is fully deductible) I'd like to avoid just putting extra money against the ~2.7% effective interest rate we pay. G...
by enderland
Mon May 30, 2016 12:15 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Gift Tax
Replies: 9
Views: 1514

Re: Gift Tax

You can also gift more than $14k/year per person, but need to file a form.

It counts against your total estate amount you can gift tax free (well if you die you'll be dead, I guess...) but you can with some minor paperwork still gift well over that $14/28k limit.
by enderland
Sat Aug 15, 2015 5:12 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How long does money need to be in a 529?
Replies: 8
Views: 1714

Re: How long does money need to be in a 529?

SteelCityMD wrote:Yes this assumes no other (better) credit is available. Can't use the same dollars for both.
I think that's the golden bullet against doing this for me... :(
by enderland
Wed Aug 12, 2015 8:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How long does money need to be in a 529?
Replies: 8
Views: 1714

How long does money need to be in a 529?

My wife and I are going to pay about $3k worth of tuition this fall (and owe Iowa income taxes this year). I am wondering if there are any reasons we should not put money into an Iowa 529, then withdraw it, but still be able to deduct it on our 2015 taxes. I can't find anything on how or what time periods you need to have money in the account. The 529 is treated as a deduction in iowa . Here's the text for the type of deduction . The federal 529 does not seem to have a timeframe in the distributions section. It sure looks like we could do this (and it seems like a surefire way to save about $250 in state taxes) - am I missing something? Or would this just backfire on us as we could no longer deduct those expenses as paid for when we get a 1...
by enderland
Mon Apr 27, 2015 6:30 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: how's my retirement looking?
Replies: 2
Views: 881

Re: how's my retirement looking?

$18,000 his 401k (employer contributes $3000 of this)
Note that you can contribute $18k in addition to the $3k employer match.
by enderland
Sun Apr 26, 2015 7:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: SAHP, Social Security, and Life Insurance and taxes
Replies: 6
Views: 1233

Re: SAHP, Social Security, and Life Insurance and taxes

We're going to go with $750k on me and $500k on her. Thanks everyone! Also be aware that any benefit Mom receives as "caregiver to kids" is subject to earning limits (her benefit would be reduced if she earns more than $15720 for 2015; if she were to work full time, she would probably get nothing). The family limit would still apply so 3+ kids would then qualify for the $4026 monthly total Yeah, our hope would be neither of us needs to work should something happen (especially her - my earning potential is a lot higher, so that situation might be different). Extrapolating out current retirement assets at 6% after inflation return gives us a million bucks (in 2015 dollars) at age 60. Which is kind of awesome, when I think about it :...
by enderland
Sun Apr 26, 2015 8:42 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: SAHP, Social Security, and Life Insurance and taxes
Replies: 6
Views: 1233

Re: SAHP, Social Security, and Life Insurance and taxes

You have no dependents right now so your life insurance needs are minimal. I'd much rather get the term insurance now so that there are no complicating factors when we have kids in the future (ie our health changes, etc). I'd agree that SS significantly reduces the need for life insurance on you. You're thinking that you'll be living on $80k of pre-tax income (probably plus an employer subsidized health insurance plan), and your wife would have $42k or $48k of non-taxable SS benefits. Since you'd be gone, your food, clothing, and medical care are gone. OTOH, she might have more reason to hire a sitter for "respite" if she's alone. Remember that she is not adding to her retirement savings while she's at home with the kids. I'd tak...
by enderland
Sat Apr 25, 2015 4:19 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: SAHP, Social Security, and Life Insurance and taxes
Replies: 6
Views: 1233

SAHP, Social Security, and Life Insurance and taxes

DW and I are recently married in our late 20s with no debt, around $150k in retirement accounts, both healthy and hoping to have a family (2-6 kids? not 100% sure right now) at some point. I will be the primary earner in future (currently make $80k-ish a year) - DW will almost assuredly become SAHM if/when we have children. We're trying to figure out how much term life insurance we should get. Social Security makes this far more complex than I would like because it is a very similar effect to life insurance. When I look at my Social Security estimates, it shows currently that I have qualified for $1,725 for primary caregiving parent, and $1,725/child. Max family benefit of $4026/month. So in the following scenarios, where I die (Scenario A)...
by enderland
Mon Feb 02, 2015 8:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Married with HDHP, spouse not eligible, use HSA for both?
Replies: 14
Views: 2510

Re: Married with HDHP, spouse not eligible, use HSA for both

Sweet, that's what I thought - it'll be nice since I've got quite a bit in there already and will just continue to be packing more in!
by enderland
Sun Feb 01, 2015 7:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Married with HDHP, spouse not eligible, use HSA for both?
Replies: 14
Views: 2510

Married with HDHP, spouse not eligible, use HSA for both?

Situation: I am married with a HDHP (individual). My spouse has insurance through work which is not HSA eligible. I know very clearly I cannot add my spouse and change my HDHP to a family plan. I want to know: Can I use my HSA to pay her medical expenses? I have been reading the IRS rules on HSA's here (it's exciting reading...) and it sure looks like I could, since the section on Distributions From an HSA says, among other things: Qualified medical expenses are those incurred by the following persons. 1. You and your spouse I'm really confused reading through this entire section because it seems to strongly suggest that my spouse's medical expenses CAN be paid from my HSA, even though they have their own insurance. Everything else I can fi...
by enderland
Mon Jun 09, 2014 6:10 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How best to start taxable investment accounts?
Replies: 22
Views: 14350

Re: How best to start taxable investment accounts?

Well it's getting closer to summer and I'm going to basically rebalance into the same ratios of:
  • 90% stock (70% us, 30% international)
  • 10% bonds
The US stock will break down:
  • 50% S&P
  • 15% small cap
  • 35% total stock market index
and international will all be total international stock market index.

I'm going to spend a bit of time in the next month reallocating things again. I started front loading my 401k contributions a few months ago so I'm getting closer to actually hitting my 2014 limit (for my contributions, not employer match - which will continue even when I hit the max) so it'll be easier to get the right ratios.
by enderland
Sun Apr 20, 2014 1:04 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Stopping unwanted "junk" newspaper
Replies: 60
Views: 27790

Re: Stopping unwanted "junk" newspaper

I have a similar situation, except that it is sent to our mailbox, which considering we are in an apartment is quite small. I hate the thing since we throw it away nearly 100% of the time and it takes up significant space. Especially if we aren't able to check our mail daily, the paper gets folded up and I'm always worried I'm going to lose something as a result.

I have tried calling and emailing multiple times to get us off the list. Never had success... though I guess I just sent another email, last one was about 8 months ago.
by enderland
Sat Apr 19, 2014 7:15 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Amazon.com prices change quickly
Replies: 59
Views: 11378

Re: Amazon.com prices change quickly

Camelcamelcamel is great!
by enderland
Sat Apr 19, 2014 10:43 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Frugality regret: What thing do you regret not spending on?
Replies: 208
Views: 51963

Re: Frugality regret: What thing do you regret not spending

As a person currently living their 20s this was a really good thread for me to read.

I appreciate all the wisdom and thoughts!
by enderland
Fri Apr 18, 2014 10:28 am
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: *poor* Bogleheads
Replies: 78
Views: 16342

Re: *poor* Bogleheads

There will always be someone making more, with a higher net worth for your age, with lower costs of living, a better marriage, a better house, more awesome family, better job, etc.

Always. For everything which is meaningful to you. Someone else always has a better situation somehow, somewhere. The internet lets you find people who have enviable situations for everything.

The secret to finding fulfillment is to be content with what you have and focus on what you can change.
by enderland
Tue Mar 11, 2014 8:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do you have a side job?
Replies: 59
Views: 9639

Re: Do you have a side job?

Every once in a while I'm eligible for paid OT at my work (at 1.5x my hourly rate).

Considering I generally enjoy my work, this is pretty easy for me to get some additional money.
by enderland
Thu Mar 06, 2014 5:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "Business Taxes" on turbotax - where is this coming from?
Replies: 11
Views: 1113

Re: "Business Taxes" on turbotax - where is this coming from

I bought a $40 shirt for $24 last week, but the $16 discount is not income and I am not putting it on my tax return next year. More seriously, back in the dark ages, I had a teaching assistantship. There were two parts to it: I graded papers and got paid $200 a month, and I paid in-state tuition instead of out-of-state tuition. What I got paid for grading was a payment. The discount I got on my tuition was not a payment. Payment and reduction (or discount) are different words. There is no conflict between being taxed on the payments you received and not paying tax on the discount you got. Did they actually give you cash for half the tuition? In my case they didn't give me any cash for tuition; they just billed me the lower amount. You know...
by enderland
Wed Mar 05, 2014 6:52 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "Business Taxes" on turbotax - where is this coming from?
Replies: 11
Views: 1113

Re: "Business Taxes" on turbotax - where is this coming from

After talking with someone (very knowledgeable! I was impressed) from Turbotax, looks like this was coming from my 1098-T form. As a grad student I received some money for tuition purposes (to bring tuition to 50% rather than 100%) and had mistakenly put this as "payment for services." If this is the case, it translates to taxable income. It looks like from the IRS publications on this that money in this situation is NOT considered "payment for services." Graduate Education A tuition reduction you receive for graduate education is qualified, and therefore tax free, if both of the following requirements are met. It is provided by an eligible educational institution. You are a graduate student who performs teaching or rese...
by enderland
Wed Mar 05, 2014 6:34 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "Business Taxes" on turbotax - where is this coming from?
Replies: 11
Views: 1113

Re: "Business Taxes" on turbotax - where is this coming from

Same problem. I guess I'll see what Turbotax folks say, I'm not overly excited to dig into this...
by enderland
Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "Business Taxes" on turbotax - where is this coming from?
Replies: 11
Views: 1113

Re: "Business Taxes" on turbotax - where is this coming from

I'm going to just start over.

Looks like that W2 has $0 for social security wages which is probably why it had no FICA withheld..
by enderland
Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "Business Taxes" on turbotax - where is this coming from?
Replies: 11
Views: 1113

Re: "Business Taxes" on turbotax - where is this coming from

It's still the same, interestingly even deleting that off didn't affect it at all. Maybe I should just delete each form individually and re-add everything?
by enderland
Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "Business Taxes" on turbotax - where is this coming from?
Replies: 11
Views: 1113

Re: "Business Taxes" on turbotax - where is this coming from

livesoft wrote:I don't have TT on this computer, so I cannot simply run it with a W-2 with no FICA witheld. However, I do recall that when one enters a W-2, TT asks lots of questions about it. Did you answer the questions?

Boxes 3 and 5 of the W-2 should have no entry if SS and Medicare are not supposed to be taken out.
Maybe I'll delete and re-add that W2.
by enderland
Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "Business Taxes" on turbotax - where is this coming from?
Replies: 11
Views: 1113

"Business Taxes" on turbotax - where is this coming from?

I have been filling out my taxes online with turbotax. I have a mysterious category under my income for "Business taxes" - amounting to $441. Turbotax tells me That's all we need for our calculation of self-employment tax. Your self-employment tax is $441. I can't figure out what this is referring to. It is auto calculated. Their help page and all associated references seem to suggest it is a 1099-MISC income, but I don't actually have any 1099-MISC income (just a 1099-SA for my HSA). All I've entered are: W2 HSA 1099-CA ($221 for this) W2 ($2210 income, no FICA taxes were withheld though) 1098 for school expenses (3,120.56 total) 1099-INT (total of $34) $7,855 worth of charitable deductions $138 car registration I don't really un...
by enderland
Sun Jan 12, 2014 7:36 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Poll: Understanding the average forum member age
Replies: 56
Views: 6824

Re: Poll: Understanding the average forum member age

Holy wow I feel young at 25.
by enderland
Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:33 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How best to start taxable investment accounts?
Replies: 22
Views: 14350

Re: How best to start taxable investment accounts?

Alrighty, makes sense and thanks so much!

I went through and made most of those changes - I didn't look at how to allocate my HSA funds since that seems like a pain in the ass and I want to go to bed early tonight :)


I'll just rebalance on my birthday, too, during summer. So I'll have about 6 months to see how things shake out.
by enderland
Sat Jan 04, 2014 5:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How best to start taxable investment accounts?
Replies: 22
Views: 14350

Re: How best to start taxable investment accounts?

If you post information on your current portfolio and the 401k options we can easily give you suggestions on how to set this up with taxable investing. I suggest adding $11k to taxable so you can buy one fund with admiral shares then add the other $4k to your emergency fund. Perhaps of your monthly $1000 you can put $250 in the emergency fund and add $750 to your investment in taxable. I updated the OP with a lot more detail. My 401k tables make getting all of the ticker, ER, and fund name together a huge pain but I more easily grabbed the fund name and ER. I can manually add the ticker to that table too if you want. I appreciate your effort. I never really thought through the longer term implications of "what happens if/when I invest...
by enderland
Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:23 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How best to start taxable investment accounts?
Replies: 22
Views: 14350

Re: How best to start taxable investment accounts?

Man I keep going back and forth on this. Thinking about priorities is hard.

Maybe I will just put $15k there and start putting $1k a month and building up a taxable account so if I do ever get married or have kids I already have a good start to taxable investments. I do have a longer term goal of being able to retire early and I suppose even if I end up pushing a house purchase off a few years it's not like this money will be wasted :)

Plus, I hate clutter. And a house basically says "please, fill me up with stuff!" in a way no apartment I rent ever will.
by enderland
Thu Jan 02, 2014 12:23 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should I start a 529 plan for 2013?
Replies: 6
Views: 1121

Re: Should I start a 529 plan for 2013?

Even if you use it for non-qualified expenses, you only pay income taxes and a 10% penalty on the earnings. That's still a pretty good return for an extremely low-risk investment. Oh. That penalty is only on the earnings? For some reason I thought it was like the 401k penalty applying to all your contributions. So if I were to put $1,000 into a 529 and then a year later it because $2000, the penalty - ignoring income taxes on the withdrawal -would be $100 (not $200)? This seems like an interesting way to transfer some of your state tax burden to later years or at least whatever the deductible amount is for whatever state you live in. For me, if I put $3k into a 529 each year at my current state rate of 8% then in a few years I save about $...
by enderland
Thu Jan 02, 2014 12:11 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How best to start taxable investment accounts?
Replies: 22
Views: 14350

Re: How best to start taxable investment accounts?

Before opening your first taxable account you want to do a little thinking through your entire portfolio. You will probably need to adjust your roth and 401k and may even need to break them into individual funds in order to be able to maintain your target asset allocation. If you don't, you will be overweight in equities. I definitely would be slightly over in equities but I'm not as concerned initially. My plan has always been once I hit $100k in investments to split my target date funds into individual funds and start rebalancing on my birthday. So for the next few years my AA would be a bit off but I will hit that $100k mark hopefully in only a few years (theoretically). It's also a bit harder since I'm not 100% sure my taxable investme...
by enderland
Thu Jan 02, 2014 12:09 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How best to start taxable investment accounts?
Replies: 22
Views: 14350

Re: How best to start taxable investment accounts?

livesoft wrote:I would suggest a mutual fund account instead of a brokerage account at Vanguard. And instead of the S&P500 index fund, I would suggest the Vanguard Total Stock Market index fund VTSAX. And yes, it is just like opening the Roth account.
Hm. Is this just through the process to create an individual general savings account with VTSAX?

I seem to recall seeing VTSAX as a very common taxable account here, now that you mention it....
by enderland
Wed Jan 01, 2014 11:33 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should I start a 529 plan for 2013?
Replies: 6
Views: 1121

Re: Should I start a 529 plan for 2013?

I would first max out any retirements accounts, pay off debt, build up an emergency fund, max out I-bonds, then perhaps start saving for a good down payment on a future house. Some 529s do give a tax break at the state level, however they come with strings attached, you will pay a penalty if you withdraw the money for non education purposes, and you would be subject to the state tax deduction recapture. There are also example of some states eliminating the tax deductions as the economy continues to suffer. Unless you were fairly certain you might go back to school I would not start a 529 until you have your first child. Yeah this is what I figured. $250 for what might be a huge hassle should things not work the way they "might" h...
by enderland
Wed Jan 01, 2014 11:15 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How best to start taxable investment accounts?
Replies: 22
Views: 14350

How best to start taxable investment accounts?

Emergency funds: yes Debt: none Tax Filing Status: single Tax Rate: 25% Federal, 8% State Age: mid twenties My 401k and Roth IRA are 100% in BTC 2050 and Vanguard Target 2050 retirement funds, respectively (about $45k total after my 2014 Roth IRA contribution). I like the simplicity with these and am comfortable with their allocations. In 2014, using this link here , I am on pace to achieve the first three steps in 2014 (I also will be maxing an HSA): The general rule of thumb for investing priority is: 1. 401k/403b up to the company match 2. Max out Roth 3. Max out 401k/403b 4. Taxable Investing I have an additional $15 right now as well as about $1000 a month this year I would like to invest into a taxable account (preferably with Vanguar...
by enderland
Tue Dec 31, 2013 9:49 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should I start a 529 plan for 2013?
Replies: 6
Views: 1121

Should I start a 529 plan for 2013?

Last minute planning for the win. Some details: I want to have kids someday (though currently am not married) I have some cash savings which I'm going to reallocate It's somewhat likely I'll spend money continuing education for myself at some point (seminary) I am having a hard time finding any reason not to put some money into a 529 plan at this point because of those. It seems I will have a use for it for sure in the future. I also saved a fair bit of cash this year for what I originally was going to be a house downpayment but recently realized I'm not really excited at all about doing that in the near future as I thought I was. Now I'm determining what to do with that money. It seems some might be good in a 529. I live in Iowa, so it loo...
by enderland
Wed Dec 25, 2013 8:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Enderland's journal
Replies: 18
Views: 3821

Re: Enderland's journal

Well, I'm sure they would not lie, but mis-communication and mis-understanding on these subjects is rampant. :twisted: If you do it, I'd be sure to check the account to be sure you really are getting the right amount of match. If not, you could change your plans early in the year and not miss any match. Good luck! On reading your post a second time, I guess that would not help. Maybe you should stop your contributions for, say, a pay period in February, to see if the match actually does appear even if you don't contribute. Well the way it supposedly works is the company match is exclusively based on whatever I set my Fidelity contribution percentage at. As long as my percentage with Fidelity stays above 6%, it doesn't matter if I'm actuall...
by enderland
Wed Dec 25, 2013 7:30 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Enderland's journal
Replies: 18
Views: 3821

Re: Enderland's journal

Sometimes a company match is done by pay period. If you front load, you may lose the match for the months you don't contribute. You might want to check this before implementing your plan. Yeah. I should have mentioned this - I definitely do NOT have this problem. I actually emailed our benefit folks and asked :) Apparently my match is based on what my 401k contribution percentage is, regardless of what I'm able to contribute, and the system automatically stops me from overcontributing (which is actually great). But so long as I leave it at say 50% or something above the match threshold (which is only 6%) any match is calculated using this figure only. So as long as I don't adjust my actual percentage below 6% I'll continue to get the match...
by enderland
Wed Dec 25, 2013 7:16 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Enderland's journal
Replies: 18
Views: 3821

Re: Enderland's journal

Plan for 2014 is to max out my 401k, HSA, and Roth IRA early in the year.

I won't need any of my house savings this year unless something crazy happens so I'm going to front-load all those contributions and then when my 401k contribution hits the limit I'll divert all extra income towards house savings again.
by enderland
Fri Aug 16, 2013 9:29 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Dr. Wade Pfau on the 4% Rule
Replies: 124
Views: 16101

Re: Dr. Wade Pfau on the 4% Rule

Someone should update FIRECALC to do the following:
  • Allow spending to be defined a % of remaining portfolio (ie 3.5%, 4%, whatever)
  • Allow a minimum spending to be defined numerically(representing "worst case" scenarios)
  • Allow a maximum spending, as well
  • Report results as spending for each year (adjusted for inflation)
So instead of blindly assuming spending remains constant regardless of market performance or the size of your portfolio, it would act more closely to how most using the tool would behave in actuality.