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ZiziPB

I'm planning to buy $10K of I Bonds this year. Should I do it soon or wait until May 1 when the new rate is set?

ZiziPB

Thanks all. Some good thoughts and explanations here.

I'm thinking that she should do

Total Stock Market - 90%
PIMCO Total Return - 10%

and get international exposure through an IRA (I'm thinking of funding a Roth for her but I haven't decided yet).

ZiziPB

Thanks ruralavalon. You don't think that having some international exposure is important for her at this point? And I'm curious why you are recommending the 500 Index over a Total Market Index. I use Total Market myself and feel that it is a good option that provides additional diversity.

ZiziPB

I'm asking this question for my daughter - a new graduate who just started her first job. She has no debt and no savings, so she's literally starting from point zero. Will be saving 15% of her salary into the 401k and will be putting money away in a savings account for an emergency fund. Will be in ...

ZiziPB

Hello, I'm planning to retire next year and move abroad. I'm looking into my potential tax liability in the country where I will live and it appears that the tax-deferred nature of IRAs will be disregarded, making the dividends and capital gains subject to taxation. However, it is possible that fund...

ZiziPB

Thank you all for the input and advice!

I pulled $50K out of the Total Stock fund yesterday and put it into US Aggregate Bond ETF at Schwab this morning. Definitely feeling more balanced today

ZiziPB

I usually check my AA and rebalance in March of each year as I typically have a large chunk of money to invest then (RSUs vesting and bonus paid out). But I didn't really account for the continued growth of the stock markets when I ran the numbers in March and didn't change my on-going investments i...

ZiziPB

Yes, I like the idea of moving about $50K to bonds soon in the tax sheltered accounts. My current bond holdings are a mix of FSITX, stable bond fund, I bonds, Fidelity muni bond fund (in taxable account) and a small lump sum pension. So I have a few options: - a stable value fund in my 401K currentl...

ZiziPB

retiredjg wrote:If you are not currently uncomfortable, it probably does not matter. Maybe do half and half? If you find you are uncomfortable, just do it now. Approaching retirement is a time to think about preservation.

I think I'm on the verge of not being comfortable. I like the half and half idea.

ZiziPB

Can you re-balance ~$93k with new money coming in? That seems like a big number to move with new money to get you back to 60/40. (7.5% of $1.25 Million) With 1 year to retirement, I would re-balance now. You are in the window to re-evaluate. Take as much risk as you need. 60/40 seems reasonable, bu...

ZiziPB

I've been busy with life over the last few months and haven't been really paying much attention to my portfolio details - all investments are on autopilot, and I was only noticing the bottom line getting higher :D But I ran some numbers this morning and my AA has definitely drifted further away from...

ZiziPB

What are you all predicting for a fixed rate component to be set for I Bonds on May 1? I'm planning to buy $10K and am considering waiting until after May 1.

Thoughts?

ZiziPB

I got a British Airways Chase Visa last year and earned the bonus Avios that came with it. The annual fee was waived for the first year. Should I cancel it before the fee is due for next year? Has anyone been successful in getting the annual fee waived after the first year? Or switching to another C...

ZiziPB

I am a real estate lawyer and opted not to purchase an owner's title policy when I bought my condo (I also didn't have one on the prior house). I think the premium is disproportionate to the actual risk (unless there is some known potential for a title claim in the future - in my state there have be...

ZiziPB

Thanks, Alan. This makes sense to me. TurboTax did not pick it up on its download from Fidelity so I need to enter it manually. I don't do regular backdoor Roth because have sizeable tIRAs from prior jobs. I just do mega backdoor Roth because then I'm not punished by the proportiality rule. My 401k ...

ZiziPB

I did an in-service split rollover from my 401k in 2015: after-tax contributions were directly rolled over to a Roth IRA and earnings on those contributions into a tIRA. Fidelity handled it all as they are my 401k admin and I have both IRAs with them. Is there anything I need to show on my tax retur...

ZiziPB

Does anyone have experience with Fidelity in this situation? I am planning a move to Europe in a couple of years and my accounts are mostly at Fido with just a couple at Schwab.

ZiziPB

Thank you for the reminder, I forgot about the redemption fees. It's 1% applicable to the last 90 days so it's not going to be much because I've held the bulk of the fund longer than that, but you are absolutely right, that needs to be taken into consideration.

ZiziPB

I exchanged the international fund in hold in my taxable account last year in August - FSGDX to FSIVX at about $7,000 loss. Since then I have invested into FSIVX monthly, with the last purchase being in February. Currently have about $8,000 loss in FSIVX. I would like to do an exchange back to FSGDX...

ZiziPB

Redemption fees are supposed to be applied on FIFO basis I think even if one sells the most recent shares. Fidelity does not always do what is stated in the prospectus. So if one does not sell shares that have no loss, there is a chance there are no redemption fees. If one goes through the motions ...

ZiziPB

Got it. For some reason I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around these rules, but I think what you are saying is that a purchase within 30 days prior to the sale would give rise to a partial wash sale. Thanks, that is exactly the help I was hoping to get!

ZiziPB

Thanks livesoft. Agreed about the redemption fee. The question I really was asking was about wash rule - just wanted to confirm that what I am planning to do would not result in some violation. I find the rules quite confusing and I don't do this often enough to be comfortable off the top of my head...

ZiziPB

I would like to TLH my international fund. I have about $73K of FSGDX in my taxable, that will probably go down another $3-5K today. I like FSGDX better than FSIVX but I don't mind switching it out temporarily. FSGDX is subject to a 1% redemption fee for shares held less than 90 days. I autoinvest i...

ZiziPB

I did a Mega Back Door Roth rollover earlier this year through Fidelity and it was done without any issues. Contributions went into a newly opened Roth IRA, earnings went into an existing tIRA. Sounds like your bad experience was an isolated incident and I'm glad Fidelity fixed it.

ZiziPB

Decided on the Schwab account and sent in the paperwork together with $100 check to seed the checking account. The account could not be opened on-line because it's a joint account (?). Schwab finally opened the account but deposited the check into my IRA instead! Ugh, not a good start... They said t...

ZiziPB

Thanks to all who responded. It sounds like Schwab is the right way to go.

ZiziPB

I would like to open either a Schwab Investor checking account or Fidelity Cash Management account. This account will be used primarily by my daughter while she is studying in the UK and Russia for the next couple of years, so the important features to me are ATM fee refunds worldwide, no foreign tr...

ZiziPB

I think most people on this forum consider 80/20 AA as the minimum every investor should have in their portfolio. That gives you a decent buffer but doesn't create a huge drag on returns. So you may want to consider increasing your 10% bond allocation to 20%. And remember that it doesn't have to be ...

ZiziPB

FRx, you and I talked a bit about this topic (in the MMM forum). I can see where you are coming from wanting some bonds in your taxable account - I have some as well because I feel like I need to have a buffer built into my taxable holdings. I have some MUB (it's a muni bond ETF), FTABX (Fidelity Ta...

ZiziPB

I'd be surprised if your plan admin would allow contributions to be made past the $53K limit. I am in a similar situation (HCE and receive a bonus that varies but counts towards compensation basis for purposes of 401k contributions). In addition to the $53K limit, my employer's plan also has a conce...

ZiziPB

Thanks all, I buy IBonds for my portfolio as part of the fixed portion of the AA and I plan to keep them for at least 5 years. I don't use them for my emergency fund. If I wait till November, I would put the $10K into a savings account at 1% in the meantime. ETA: an alternative to iBonds would be an...

ZiziPB

I'm planning to purchase another $10K worth of IBonds this year. Any thoughts on whether the anticipated Fed rate increase will affect the IBonds and whether it would be advisable to wait a few months?

ZiziPB

According to Fidelity, I have Premium Services. They must count the retirement accounts because my brokerage account is under $250K.

ZiziPB

Thank you Alan S. - very helpful.

I think I will pull the trigger on this today.

ZiziPB

Thanks, Fallout. Your mention of Traditional IRA actually made me pause for a second. Fidelity is saying that the rollover is technically a conversion. If that is the case do I get stuck with the proportionality rule? I have sizeable traditional IRAs so I've never been able to do a regular backdoor ...

ZiziPB

I have been making after-tax contributions to my 401k for a couple of years and am now ready to do the first Mega Backdoor Roth rollover. The admin for the 401k is Fidelity and here is what they said: - Open a Fidelity Roth IRA first (I don't have one currently) - Call Fidelity and request a "s...

ZiziPB

Your end result come next year when you file the tax, is the same, whether your company withheld the tax on vesting schedule, or you pay out of your own funds thru estimated tax. Agreed. Basically, the value of your RSUs at vesting is considered as income to you. So your employer is likely to treat...

ZiziPB

The only thing I would add is that some companies "sell" some of your shares at vesting to cover your tax (basically equivalent to withholding). So in your example, when shares worth 10,000 are vested, you may only receive shares worth 7,000 because 3,000 have been used to pay the income t...

ZiziPB

It sounds like you will have $24K of pre-tax and $20K of after-tax contributions. Do you get any employer match? If so, make sure that your after-tax contribution amount doesn't put you over the overall limit of $53K for 2015. Otherwise your plan sounds good.

ZiziPB

I never bothered with a 529 plan. But I only have one child so I didn't think that the tax savings would be significant. Also, there was significant risk in that if she decided not to go to college then the money would be stuck in the plan. I don't regret not using a 529 and I appreciate the flexibi...

ZiziPB

I read the article you linked and it looks like you can make the 83-b election for restricted stock but not for restricted stock units (RSUs). So it's possible that you wouldn't be able to do it any way if what you have are in fact RSUs (your post seems to imply that).

ZiziPB

Hi Katie, I think you are doing it right. Set it initially at 6% from regular salary and bonus (that will assure you get the full match). Once you receive your bonus, calculate how much more you need to contribute to hit the max of $18000 and divide it by the number of paychecks remaining for the ye...

ZiziPB

Maybe too hypothetical, but if there is a buyer and a seller for every transaction. if I want to sell a stock when it is "high," and maybe a lot of other people are thinking the same thing, would there really be a host of buyers out there for that many high priced shares? This is actually...

ZiziPB

Hello all, New here - excited to learn more. I work for a Fortune 500. I have a 401k and a pension. I was/am vested. However, they are no longer contributing to the pension plan (like so many companies). I called the company that deals with the accounts (JP Morgan) and asked if there was something ...

ZiziPB

Request the Summary Plan Description for your 401k plan and read it. The plan documents will spell out what types of contributions are allowed and what the limits are. I believe every 401k is required to have one and a copy has to be furnished to the participants.

ZiziPB

Post your budget and related questions as a case study on Mr. Money Mustache forum. The members there are fabulous at finding ways to pay off debt and optimize your savings and budget. http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a- ... dy'-topic/

ZiziPB

Definitely have the bills go through the insurance company. You will only pay the (typically discounted) price that the insurance would pay to the provider. To give you an example, my DD was going through some medical issues last year and needed a lot of tests. The lab would bill $600+ for the tests...

ZiziPB

niceguy7376 wrote:You had HSA at 6500(family limit) but tax filing status as single!!

The OP noted a child (see the note about the 529 plan) so presumably the OP carries health insurance for said child thereby qualifying for family HSA limit.

ZiziPB

I was given a hard copy brochure for the 401K but I can't seem to find any mention of fees. The lady on the phone claimed my company was paying any and all fees and the only fees charged to me would be the ERs. Is there a specific document I should be asking for to confirm? Yes, request a Summary P...

ZiziPB

Can you post a full list of investment options available in your 401k with expense ratios? Even with less than stellar choices and no match, I would strongly consider contributing the max because of your marginal tax rate. Also, does your plan permit in-service rollovers? ETA: please review your pla...

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