Bogleheads.org

Hello! I'm a new federal government employee and am considering allocating the entirety of my bond allocation to the G Fund. My rationale is that the G fund is zero risk and so this would let me tweak the remainder of my portfolio towards riskier investments, while keeping my overall risk the same. Both my spouse and I are in our mid 40s and we have one child in elementary school. The total portfolio amount is mid six figures. Some questions: 1. Is this plan reasonable? Yes. 2. My existing allocation is 60/40. How far can I modify this while keeping the overall risk the same - 65/35, 70/30, 75/25? I'm not sure how I would go about calculating this. Part of the risk of the F fund or any fund that holds corporate bonds is that, while F may n...

Mother passed in 2011, property went through probate 12/10/2021 giving joint ownership to my sister and I. Property sold for 90K on 4/4/2022, the entire proceeds minus $750 (my half of the probate fee) went to my sister. I received a 1099-S with "Box 2 Gross Proceeds" showing 750 and Boxes 4 - 6 are empty. I'm using Turbotax Deluxe and the guidance takes me to "Investment Income" questions. Having never done this before and with a high probability of never doing it again, I would like to have some confidence that I am entering the right information: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1HasczsgzgLWvOr73nScHGETv-PXlzOui "Date acquired" - 12/10/2021 - the date probate completed. "Sales proceeds" - 750 -...

I'm actually working with both my parents and my mother-in-law to try and help navigate their retirement years. My parents are both retired teachers and most of their fixed income from their teacher pensions cover their monthly expenses and then some. They are cash flow positive with about another $350,000 in retirement accounts. I know their asset allocations and they are pretty much set up about 60% in stock and 40% in bonds and both of them are in their late seventies. I'm not too concerned about them but I just want to reallocate there Investments so that they continue to grow while minimizing the risk. Their money is spread out between Vanguard Total stock market, Vanguard Total Bond market, and a small percentage in international sto...

Assume you received a K-1 with the deduction, what would you do with it?

I always admired the people who walked away in time.

Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns left after nine years at the top of his game.

Johnny Unitas, who stayed too long, had a nothing season with San Diego.

One of bosses could have worked as senior VP for any Defense contractor when he retired. Instead, he chose a position with Red Cross blood division, which I'm certain paid far less.

Bobby Richardson left the Yankees at 31 to become a college coach back home.

Tom Brady stayed too long, hurting the team's transition to the next generation.

Do you have something to go to? When you have enough, and have had enough, it's time.

... I was a fed and never filed state income tax for a state where I was TDY. I understand consultants, pro athletes, etc. prorate their income among states. No one I knew in the federal workforce did that. ... Professional athletes are on the radar screen so they have to comply with the law. They earn large salaries, there aren't many of them, and the taxing authorities know who they are and where they are. I know that Goldman Sachs tracks it. Someone from their Texas office came to New York to give a talk, and brought a junior colleague who said that she doesn't like to come to New York for morning events because it means she has to come in the day before and be taxable in New York for an extra day. Fly in Sunday, meeting on Monday, fly ...

DS works remotely for a federal office in CA. DS does not live in CA. Does he need to count the days spent in the state for work (maybe ten days a year for conferences, other meetings)? Then divide the salary 10/260th of the annual?

The agency started him at SF locality pay and CA withholding. Agency-wide that changed that this year to locality pay is based on your remote site and no CA withholding.

I was a fed and never filed state income tax for a state where I was TDY. I understand consultants, pro athletes, etc. prorate their income among states. No one I knew in the federal workforce did that.

Is it days of work in CA? (10/260) Or days in CA? (10/365)

dave.m wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 9:18 am I’d like to only invest in the US funds (not the I Fund) inside my TSP. What’s the best way for me to accomplish this?

Am I correct that about 80% of equities should be in the C Fund and the other 20% be in the S fund?

Should I be using only one of the G or F funds or a mix? And if it’s a mix, at what percentage should that be?

Correct. 80/20 or 75/25 is appropriate mix of C/S.

Do you need the money? What is it invested in? What other investments do you have? Emergency fund good and no debt? What tax bracket are you in (marginal federal)? Yes, you must draw it out in 10 years, but you could anytime move it to another custodian if you thought Ameriprise's fees were excessive. With a little more info you would get good advice. For example, you could choose to take it out now, pay taxes on it, then fund your own IRA or savings. I don't need the money. It's invested in LCCAX (Columbia Contrarian Core CL A ). I have a Roth Ira, as does my spouse. My spouse also has a SEP-IRA. I have a great emergency fund. Only debt is mortgage w/ 4.25% interest rate. I believe we're in the 12% / approaching the upper end of it. Do i ...

They could do what Illinois did in 1987, if I remember the year correctly - collect taxes but don't pay refunds until the money is available. It took so long, that I received $2 interest on a $25 refund that came a year late.

Cobra Commander wrote: ↑Tue Jan 17, 2023 8:54 pm Not the most mathematically precise way but the way I would do it is to calculate your % of total gross income and that is your % share of the tax liability. If you wanted you could subtract your carryover loss from your income. Next, prepare return MFJ and then see what the total tax liability is which is right on the front page of turbotax. Multiply your % and that's what you owe. Compare that to the amount withheld on each of your W-2s and that's your refund or what you owe to the other person.

This favors the high earner in a graduated tax system.

I do Roth conversions to the top of 12% because:

* taxes are on sale for everyone. When they revert in a few years, we'll pay 15%.

* taxes are especially on sale for DW and me. When we start RMD, she starts SS, or one of us pass (any of the above), we will never again be in 12% under existing tax law (that is, even if rates never revert).

We avoid IRMAA until one passes, then likely have it forever. 85% of SS will be taxed.

Many here advocate for:
* bonds in tIRA
* stocks in taxable and Roth.
(I'm simplifying this greatly. It depends on AA and available space.)

If so, TSP G Fund is a great place for your bond allocation. I'm still making Roth conversions. Expect to end up with:
* TSP - 100% G Fund
* Roth IRA - 100% index stock funds
* Taxable - what's left to get to 60/40

Thanks. Maybe it would help (me at least) to make up an example. Suppose an investor has just retired. He has accumulated $3 million total in investable funds, in addition to one year’s spending in a bank account. The funds are evenly divided, with $1 million each in a taxable account, a traditional IRA, and a Roth. In keeping with conventional wisdom, he puts both the taxable and Roth accounts both in a total stock fund, and the traditional in a total bond fund. This puts his initial allocations at about 66% stocks and 34% bonds, an allocation he is comfortable with. Fast forward one year. He now needs to withdraw $90,000 (3% of the original account value) to cover the new year’s spending. Unfortunately, in our example, his total stock fu...

3456.78

I had assumed 24% tax bracket in my original post. Understand and agree about bonds in tax-advantaged (specifically, tax-deferred). In regards to stocks, doesn’t this advice contradict the general advice of “put your money in tax-advantaged accounts before taxable”? The tax basics item seems to make a similar statement, and the deferment example is for bonds in the same tax bracket. I tend to question if a traditional account might have more appeal to move down a bracket for someone in the 22% bracket than in the 24% bracket. Having a marginal rate on the last dollars taxed in a given year 10% lower, instead of 2% lower, might have some impact on the subjective choice of paying or delaying taxes. Generally I think it's difficult to say wha...

MoFoMe Hedge Fund
Short NCLH

The growing omicron wave in Chinese makes this the year one of the cruise lines sink. We're betting on Norwegian.

I want to think all the little people who invested with us again this year. Rest assured, our management team made out like bandits. And isn't that what really matters?

It's not if you win or lose, it's the vig.

For those who have received a 1099-K for reselling tickets on sites like Stubhub/Ticketmaster/etc, how do you handle it on your tax return? Assuming you don't resell tickets as a business, my understanding is that your 2 options are: - enter it as "Capital gain or (loss)" (using Schedule D - Capital Gains and Losses) - enter it as "Other income" (using Schedule 1 - Additional Income and Adjustments to Income) **note: I don't think you would use Schedule C since that's for business income Is my understanding correct? If so, which option do you use and why? I will be receiving one this year for stuff sold on eBay. I think this is a ridiculous requirement. I have net revenue of around $2,500 per year but less than $300 per...

DW is not yet 65. We might change when she is. For now, BCBS (plus Medicare for me) works.

Considerations:

* Medicare does not cover overseas.

* BCBS Federal does not require referrals.

* Every doctor here accepts BCBS (except some anesthesiologists).

David Jay wrote: ↑Fri Nov 11, 2022 3:18 pm Why are you raising cash at all?

Many brokerages will allow you to move assets "in kind" directly from an IRA to a taxable account. I know this is possible at Vanguard. Even at other brokerages you can sell in one account and repurchase in another account within 2 days, hardly any time out of the market.

Schwab allows direct "in kind" transfer between accounts.

TSP specifically says that a will is not controlling. Some 401k accounts may be the same.

TSP is clear on the order of precedence for anyone who has not completed their form. It may be law, not sure. It had not changed since TSP began in 1987.

The rules for an account with no designated beneficiaries:
First - spouse
Second - children equally including per stirpes for any deceased children. Child includes adopted children. It does not include stepchild if not adopted.
Third - parents
Fourth - estate
Fifth - laws of the state where you resided when you died

I just skimmed through the 2021 Participant Satisfaction Survey (for the TSP). It includes a section on in-plan Roth conversions. One of the questions asked in the survey was "If the option were available, how likely is it that you would convert some or all of your Traditional (tax-deferred) TSP balance into a ROTH (after-tax) TSP balance?" Of the TSP participants who responded to that question, 48 percent (3,466 people) responded that they would be extremely likely or likely to make an in-plan Roth conversion. The survey also asked respondents "How likely would you be to use the following if offered by the TSP?" One of the ten items listed was "Convert TSP tax-deferred balance to ROTH." Of the TSP participant...

I have a COLA'd pension. I've tried to calculate PV for us. (I pay 10% to buy it for DW. If I die first, she gets 55% of the unreduced amount. If she dies first, I get 100% instead of 90%.)

The math is hard. Add in that several thousand dollars each year is untaxed return of my contribution.

I think Monte Carlo using life tables.

On the other hand, it's $x every month and will be $x +8.7% or so next year, which may buy $x worth of goods and services.

Income stream.

One chart i saw said 37% of people used a storefront (accountant, H&R Block etc). They will not benefit from this. My impression , with no facts to back it up , say that this includes a large number of families that could really use the savings. Most of the people on this forum hate paying for filing more on principle rather that need the money. You will still have the issue of filing in the state form which means reentering a lot of info. I wish the IRS great success, but think this money will be wasted. I think they should attack a problem that both political parties can agree on. Most of the 37% could use free prep service from VITA or AARP. If the government were to resume sending the child tax credits as monthly checks, rather tha...

Broken Man 1999 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 02, 2021 4:49 pm OP, since you aren't stopping your mail, just having someone collect it for you and send it to you, you might find this USPS service useful:

USPS Informed Delivery.

https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/p ... art.action

Perhaps it would be helpful to tell the person collecting your mail to BOLO for anything of importance you see arriving.

When I first set it up I bamboozled my wife for a bit by showcasing my ability to tell her what to expect in the mail.

Broken Man 1999

Informed delivery is great. It lets us know what mail made it to the post office, so when it doesn't make it all the way to our house, we know it's lost, rather than never sent.

TropikThunder wrote: ↑Sat Aug 20, 2022 12:00 am

iamblessed wrote: ↑Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:52 am I should be able to get the standard deductions to cover these short term gains.

Then I don’t understand what you’re asking. If your short term gains are covered by the standard deduction this year, then they won’t be taxed. In that case why would you wait?

Numbers would be useful. If you are in the 12% bracket, you've used the standard deduction already.

First $x are not taxed because of standard deduction.
Next $y are taxed at 10%.
Then $z are taxed at 12%.

In general, if interest rates go up, bond funds like F, go down. If interest rates go down, F goes up.

The TSP funds do not pay dividends. The interest earned by F increases its price. This is not the same as most funds. TSP can do this because all their funds are held in retirement accounts. You cannot buy TSP for a taxable account.

You also have available the G fund, which never has a bad day. It only goes up.

You haven't indicated if your current income is partially based on either you or your spouse still working. If that is the case, then you might not need to worry about current income limits for IRMAA. This is a very common occurrence. Your first Medicare premium will be based on your income from two years previous. So when you get your first billing statement for the Medicare premium, you then file an appeal using Form SSA-44, Life Changing Event. So if your income is reduced below the IRMAA limit in the year you start Medicare because you stopped working, the previous two years income is ignored. https://www.quarles.com/content/uploads/2020/10/ssa-44-ext.pdf It will take a few months, but eventually Medicare will send you a refund check i...

vineviz wrote: ↑Wed May 04, 2022 7:22 pm

longinvest wrote: ↑Wed May 04, 2022 7:14 pm
The Variable percentage withdrawal (VPW) wiki page suggests to use an inflation-indexed Single Premium Immediate Annuity (SPIA):

Inflation-indexed SPIAs are no longer available for purchase in the US. All SPIAs and DIAs are nominal now.

It is possible to buy an annuity from Thrift Savings Plan with a 2% annual increase. I imagine that's an option in a number of 401k as well.

I am not sure I would ever recommend this strategy, but my parents sold all of their stocks when they retired and invested all but a reserve in an annuity. Since their SS, annuity, and a very small pension more than cover their needs, they are still saving and when that reserve is exceeded by a certain amount, they buy another annuity. Now they have even more income, so they save faster, then buy another annuity... I'm not saying they should stop doing what's making them happy, but all they really proved was that with low expenses, low inflation, and excess wealth, one can live indefinitely off a portfolio (whether it's annuities or not). It's not exactly a surprising result. Any retiree who has a stream of income that is guaranteed for li...

egri wrote: ↑Thu Jul 07, 2022 2:34 pm I haven't set up my beneficiaries in my TSP account, but I do have them listed in my will. If a meteor lands on my head tomorrow, will that be sufficient?

Yes, if you don't have a spouse, children or parents. In that case, it goes to your estate.
If you have any of those, they take precedence over your will.

I still don’t think this is correct. I’m a volunteer tax preparer with AARP TaxAide and the numbers entered for potentially taxable SS are the gross benefits not the net. The numbers you are quoting seem to be to calculate withholding. Check your form 1040 and I think you’ll find the total number shown as your SS benefits. Some details here https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-credits-deductions/discussion/can-i-deduct-ss-irmaa/00/194290 I tend to agree with your conclusion, but... how many TaxAide clients are subject to IRMAA? I'm sure the answer is not 0. I've heard some wealthy people do use TaxAide. But are you sure you have actually seen one? A few each year, particularly elderly widows. When 95-year-old Maude shows up with "my ...

retiredflyboy wrote: ↑Sun Jun 19, 2022 10:15 pm My AA with cash is 95-5. This does not count the dollars in the working check account.

I don't include my checking account either. Actual cash in the investment accounts is minimal.

That gets us to what constitutes "cash"?

Another consideration.
Because the G Fund never has a bad day, you can increase your allocation to stocks. Something like 65/35 stocks/G has the same risk as 60/40 stock/bond.

Will there be a person tax return filed for 2022 in 2023? You will need to file an estate tax return. My mother passed away in Oct 2021. The estate was under $100k. I closed the estate in April of 2022 when the lawyer felt everything was cleared up. I did distribute about 80% of the funds 2 weeks before the final distribution. We didn't know how fast the personal tax refund was going to take to be returned. Once the return hit the bank account, final payments were mailed out The executor doesn't want to have to claw back money to pay any outstanding bills. Or pay them out of their pocket. Let's be clear on language. Unless the estate is large, you will not need to file a federal estate tax return. Whether you need to file a state estate ta...

island wrote: ↑Sat May 21, 2022 2:07 pm Appreciate all the helpful replies so far. Definitely some terms and other things I need to look into, like K1. Heard of it, but thought only applied to businesses.

There are three K-1s.
Estates and trusts (1041)
Partnership (1065)
S Corporation (1120)

Parkinglotracer wrote: ↑Fri May 06, 2022 7:45 pm

whodidntante wrote: ↑Fri May 06, 2022 7:09 pm

Parkinglotracer wrote: ↑Fri May 06, 2022 4:35 pm
They want you to fax them 95 pages? God save the IRS.

Sometimes it is fun to fax stuff to the IRS. Tell them about your day, or CC them on your letters to your prison pen pal.

Maybe a you won a free 3 day vacation in the Bahamas flyer

We received those at my federal agency until I called them to explain how they probably didn't want the attention they were about to get if they didn't stop.

Same with spam calls. "Hi, you've reached a federal telephone number. All the numbers 321-321-xxxx are federal. Take them off your list. Now."

I wish that worked at home.

retired@50 wrote: ↑Sat May 07, 2022 1:38 pm

island wrote: ↑Sat May 07, 2022 1:29 pm Insurance- Payout was small, ~2K each, already paid out. Non-taxable according to one sibling? Is that correct?
They were unaware there was life insurance.

To my knowledge, life insurance payouts are typically not taxed.

For the annuity part, I've sent a private message to the resident expert, so help is on the way. Look for a reply from forum member Stinky.

Regards,

I have seen insurance payouts that included a small bit of interest. That part is taxable.

You should probably look into tax-smart withdrawals.

Withdrawals from 401k are taxed.
Withdrawals from Roth are not taxed.
Withdrawals from taxable account are partially taxed. (Tax-free to the top of LTCG 0% bracket; only gains taxed, etc.)

This becomes very individual, very fast. There are programs to help, or you can create your own spreadsheet. The goal is maximum after-tax income. With a progressive tax system, you're looking to smooth the taxes and avoid certain humps (IRMAA, for instance).

hudson wrote: ↑Sun May 01, 2022 6:00 pm

trueblueky wrote: ↑Sat Apr 30, 2022 5:29 pm Some years ago, someone -- it may have been Kevin -- provided a rule of thumb that you should get at least 20 basis points to go out another year on a CD. So if a 2-year pays 2%, you must get 2.2% to go to 3 years.
That made sense to me.

Was that rule of thumb in Larry Swedroe's bond book?
When I'm looking over the deals, I always think about the 20 basis points.
But, if I see a 5 or 7 year CD or treasury paying 3% or more, I sometimes disregard the rule of thumb and buy.

It was definitely in a post here. The immediately previous post said there's currently no appreciable benefit past three years.

Another way to say that might be to look for the bend point in the curve.

Some years ago, someone -- it may have been Kevin -- provided a rule of thumb that you should get at least 20 basis points to go out another year on a CD. So if a 2-year pays 2%, you must get 2.2% to go to 3 years.
That made sense to me.

The instructions https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1120ssk do not have a Code W in line 13.

The IRS form does not have a line 20.

What are those for?

You asked for advise and got 'it's a grey area.' You are not required to assume the worst interpretation of the facts.

Expect to receive an IRS letter months from now. Expect to send them your explanation (this is when I might want help). Expect their response to take months.

What are the embedded fees in the 403b? The programs in some states are horrid. If so, another reason to draw it down first.

ModifiedDuration wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 8:11 pm Under Part B, where it says:

“The law uses the most recent tax return to determine the adjustment, e.g., the deadline for filing 2020 tax returns was October 15, 2021, and the new premiums for 2022 were announced in November, 2021.[16] This is often referred to as a two-year look back when in fact it is only a one-month look back.”

This is not how IRMAA is usually described.

Perhaps something as simple as:

IRMAA is calculated with a 2 year lag, e.g, IRMAA for 2022 would be based on the 2020 tax return.

This confuses many of our TaxAide clients. The 2022 IRMAA is based on the 2020 tax return, filed in 2021.

Not everyone understands that their 2020 return is the one prepared in 2021.

I apologize for not having the reference, but I ran into some old notes from an article I recently read while I was cleaning off my desk. The article addressed the biggest retirement mistakes people make. There were the usual: Starting to save too late, not paying attention to health, etc. However, two stood out to me and I would love some feedback. The first was paying too much for a financial advisor. IF you have a $1MM account and pay the average (1% of AUM) you are paying $10,000/year. If all you get is a 1-hour review of your situation then you are paying too much. Even if the advisor spends 6 hours in addition to work up a game plan, you are still paying him about $1,430/hr. I am a go-it-yourself retirement planner, but I do want to ...

The section labeled WrapAround Coverage uses MA to mean Massachusetts and MA to mean Medicare Advantage in the same paragraph.
I found that to be jarring.

In addition to step-up, inherited assets also become long-term for capital gains purposes.

My understanding (not community property state):
100 shares bot @$50 last month in a joint account, now worth $60, become on death of one joint owner:
* 50 shares with basis of $50, subject to short-term rate if sold today.
* 50 shares with basis of $60, subject to long-term rate if sold today.
Use specific ID to sell.

If they were already long-term before death, it's 100 shares with basis of $55.

Remember that step-down is also possible.

Mullins wrote: ↑Tue Mar 29, 2022 11:54 am

trueblueky wrote: ↑Tue Mar 29, 2022 11:46 am

JazzTime wrote: ↑Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:11 am One quick question: Do you receive a 1099 reporting this "Other Income"? I assume that must be the case although I did not see it mentioned.

StubHub and Ticketmaster send a 1099-K, which shows the gross amount. For 2022, the annual reporting threshold is $600.

Do 1099-ks gross receipts reflect refunds issued through their platforms?

StubHub says no.
https://support.stubhub.com/en/support/ ... egulations

TicketMaster says no.
https://help.ticketmaster.com/s/article ... uage=en_US