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Great advice above. I have twice been able to get the dealer to cut me a check to take a lease-return. If you have multiple dealers for your brand (in my case it was VW) shop around and see will any cut you a check - you do not need to return the vechile to the original dealer, any in the network will work. +1 to what is said above, trying to do the lease-end buyout yourself and then get title and then sell to carmax is risky, you could be left owning the vehicle. Also in my state this wouldn't work as I would have been liable for sales tax (dealers are not). If you search for lease equity online you will see lots of discussions of this - every manufacturer is different, and they are not dumb - they will not let non-franchise dealers get th...

Your friend may be generalizing incorrectly. If you read the guidance link posted above you will see that the set of Tax Advantaged accounts (401k, IRA, Roth, HSA etc) are further subdivided from tax-deferred (401k) through to tax-'free' (Roth). Roth therefore is considered better suited to high growth investments. In summary - bonds in tax advantaged space, within those spaces the guidance gets more nuanced to your situation - but generally 401k for bonds and higher growth investments in Roth. There are plenty of caveats such as poor bond options in your 401k, the accounts you have available and your approach to using those accounts, or a lack of tax-advantaged space you have remaining in which case you may choose to put some Bonds in ther...

Not sure if this directly answers your question, but has lots of details on the two funds/comparisons etc. Hope it helps.
viewtopic.php?t=271164

Hi I've always heeded the advice to be comfortable with any Tax Loss Harvest (TLH) Partner chosen, as it may end up being for the long haul. But I notice a quirk in a rising market that makes it even more likely that the Partner fund becomes permanent (ish) Year 1+2 buy Fund A - regular monthly investment. Year 2 following a downturn, TLH some of Fund A to Fund B (the TLH partner). Wait 30 days and resume monthly investment in Fund A. Year 3,4 both Fund A and Fund B rise. Year 5 - downturn - the lots most likely with losses are in Fund A, as they are the ones purchased more recently, so I now TLH A->B again. So unless I take the step (that I know many propose) to move the lots 'back' from B->A after 30 days, Isn't this scenario pretty likel...

Got it - thanks for the help ! Much appreciated

Hi Preparing to TLH and looking for some help to understand timing. I plan to take ~$1500 losses in both VTIAX (total international) and VTSAX (total stock market). They distributed dividends on 6/21 and 6/23 respectively. My question is related to needing to hold for 60 days so that the dividends doesn't switch from qualified to unqualified - if I understand correctly this is something I need to watch out for. According to this awesome flowchart https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=312970 I should be OK to sell and not trigger some change in dividend status - but I honestly get confused about the holding periods so would love if someone could help. My understanding is: - I've owned all lots for >60 days (in fact they are all ol...

Hi

There was a good discussion on this recently with some suggestions that will be helpful.

viewtopic.php?p=6272580#p6272580

You've some great advice here. Let me add and emphasize a few things - this is an amalgamation of various emails/docs I've shared with friends, so apologies if some of this is repetitive at times. When Sept is the best month IMHO. The peak tourist season has passed and the weather is often OK (you wont be upset that is not summer and you wont be surprised if you get cold or sun burned). Food As per others, there are incredible restaurants in Ireland. Many of the top tier, that would normally be prohibitively expensive, offer 'early bird' and midweek specials so its worth looking around. Also - Pub food is excellent and often the best eatery in many towns/villages, especially for lunch. If you are used to US dining, the one gap in the Irish ...

Got it that is super helpful thanks. So IF Mega goes away, I'd likely just divert to taxable vs bothering with A/T 401k - unless, as was suggested, I plan to leave my employer soon and could convert.

[Merged into the previous discussion, topic remains locked. -- Moderator oldcomputerguy] Hi I've heard the Mega-backdoor may be a victim of proposed new tax laws - speculation on that isn't my questions or goal here. However, IF it went away then I've a couple of questions: - Does After Tax 401k still make sense, and where does it sit in relative priority (Pre-Tax 401k, HSA, IRA (Non-deductible)) etc. ? - In the Wiki for A/Tax 401k it states "Due to the lack of deduction and ordinary income taxation, the tax characteristics are similar to a nondeductible IRA. If the money grows over long periods of time, the tax characteristics might be less favorable then investing in a taxable account" Could someone kindly explain this to me ? ...

Hi - related to starting late (50) and ability to purchase a 'meaningful' amount. Is it true that I can also purchase for my children with their SSN (under 18). This is in addition to the 10k and 5k from annual tax refund. So in a family of 2 adults and 2 children I could purchase
Adult 1 15k
Adult 2 15k
Child 1 10k (*)
Child 2 10k
50k per year would be a good way to grow this quickly IMHO.

(*) it might be the case that my children have W2 income and refunds so perhaps they are eligible for the 5k amount also ?

Do I understand this correctly, has anyone done this ?

Bill

All good suggestions.
Another option to consider for a new car is to use a broker. They usually charge a flat fee ($400-$500) and they will get you the car you want and deliver it to your door. Their services are mostly about convenience, most dont claim to get the absolute lowest price - so at a minimum I would suggest you choose the car with the spec (color, features) you like and then get an email quote from a dealer and then tell a broker to beat it. Good luck

A couple of recent threads on this.

Great flowchart on the process
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=312970&newpost=5488393

A question/post I had that is similar to OP.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=324527&newpost=5488024

Quick things to consider Sales Tax in the UK is called VAT - its 20%. In almost all cases it is part of the list price you see - stores, hotels, online etc. However Art auctions can be different. I know this is a gallery and not an auction house but worth checking that it includes VAT. You should consider getting a quote for a specialist art shipper if you need this shipped after you buy. Finally, check with your home insurance, usually they will let you add this as a specified item and it wont affect the premium but they may need it appraised separately (you could tell the auction house that you need this appraisal for insurance and solve the provenance problem at the same time) Good luck, hopefully you will have many years of enjoyment.

@Meg77. What triggered your wash sale in your example from March ? This was the position I was in, but I turned off all auto/dividend stuff and waited 30 days by then the opportunity had passed. So I want to avoid it that in the future.

If I understand you correctly you you saw the drop in a fund/position and sold the lots that were at a loss but a 'purchase' you had made in the same fund in the prior 30 days was considered a Wash, but only that 'purchase' not the entire amount ?

Thx.

Thanks all - I'm curious, based on the knowledge shared here, do most active TLH practitioners

TLH on a particular date and prepare for that by turning off auto investing 30 days before etc. to avoid hassle OR
TLH opportunistically and at the time they identify all lots (across all accounts) that might need to be sold ?

Thanks - Very helpful.

This does seem 'involved', in my case by portfolio is relatively simple but still includes 401k (mine, spouse), HSA, Taxable.

I'm relieved I dont need to have 30 days of no-purchases as this seemed to be counter to the idea of frequent/automated investing and I was wondering how folk adhering to a simple plan managed to avail of TLH. This seems to answer it.

Hi, I 'missed' the TLH window in March as I was confused about my readiness to TLH. Is it the case that you need 30 days of zero purchases in the initial fund (automatic, dividend/Cap Gains revinvest etc.) before you can TLH or do I misunderstand the detailed directions in the below link ? If this is the case and you are auto-investing doesn't that mean you will always need at least 30 days to get ready to TLH ? Or is it the case that I dont need to worry about recent purchases in the initial fund I'm selling once I make sure I didn't make recent purchases of the partner fund ? https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=172568 (Step 2 and Step 6 here) Step 2: If you have any new money being automatically deposited into your Initial Fu...

Do you plan to tax loss harvest your -3% (assuming this is in taxable) ? I'm in the same position and plan to do this.

I can comment on the AT amount (55k) as I've done this multiple times - I do this every year once my pre-tax contributions to 401k are max'd. I can't comment in the 4k PT gain you have. The destination doesn't matter. When you ask fidelity to do the rollover they will record that (and inform the IRS at the end of the year using 1099-R I think). If you decide to use Vanguard, then fidelity will cut you a check that says something like VFTC fbo "Charlie Chaplin". You can then send this to vanguard and deposit it direct to your ROTH IRA. Note if you have gains on the contributions (i.e. the AT contributions you made have grown) then you can either pay the tax on them OR you can roll over the gain to a Traditional IRA - I don't bother...

Thanks all, this is super helpful. - I hadn't thought of the solo 401k, my spouse's income has been patchy and usually as a contractor, but the advice is timely as they are considering starting a business. - 401k/Mega - I've maxed the 401k and mega Back-door as my employer puts a limit on the mega but I'll keep an eye to see if they raise it. @ Misenplace , I believe the Mega is fine as it was A/T money, were you flagging an income limit ? - I'd honestly never looked at my International/US split and agree I need to think about it - now ! What is the boglehead consensus for international/US split, 30:70 ? - 529, the points about loss of flexibility and potential pitfalls if the kids study in Europe are probably why I've shied away and will j...

Hi, Bogleheads was a revelation to me when I first started lurking 2 years ago, especially the 3 fund portfolio and the ultra sensible long term view. After a couple of years of work cleaning up things I've gotten to the below and am posting for the first time. As you can see I've got expensive education costs ahead and would love the Boglehead view on the below. Many thanks ! Emergency funds: 6 months available. Debt: None Tax Filing Status: MFJ, 3 pre-teen kids. Tax Rate: 27% Federal, 0% State State of Residence: WA Age: 47 Desired Asset allocation: 70% stocks / 30% bonds Desired International allocation: No Preference. My current allocation is 85% Stock and %15 Bonds. Salary $200k with bonus up to $50k. Total value approx. $1m No Mortgag...

Thanks - These sum up the two options nicely:

1) Use one USD account and add some more international funds for increased diversification. This is also the cheapest (costs) and easiest (no FBAR accounts etc.)
2) If a move outside of the US to live in Europe may be on the cards , then keep some funds in Euro's to avoid potential swings in USD:EUR. This is a little more complicated to do (European broker required, FBAR reporting, tax etc.) , I also think supporters of option 1 would argue that it doesn't matter if the underlying assets are the same/similar.

Very helpful to confirm what I thought of as the options. Thanks.

This is my first post, thanks for all the great advice on the site. I moved to the US 5 years ago (from Europe), and I'm slowly getting my savings in to a 3 fund portfolio with Vanguard. I've read lots of posts about currency but I'm still un-sure (more importantly my wife still needs convincing). is having 50% of my savings in a 3 fund portfolio with Vanguard in the US and having a the other 50% in a similar 3 fund portfolio in Euro's with a European broker the same (assuming I can find an iShares that are the equivalent to the Vanguard funds) ? It would be simpler to move the Euro's to USD in my vanguard account but if I do that, is there an increased currency exposure? Its an outside possibility we'll move back to Europe and our original...