Search found 17184 matches

by White Coat Investor
Mon Mar 18, 2024 3:42 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: A warning for using Fully Paid Lending Programs
Replies: 39
Views: 11599

Re: A warning for using Fully Paid Lending Programs

Vanguard is apparently starting one of these up. I just enrolled and will let you know how it goes. Interestingly, they give you a bit of a credit/extra payment to offset the effect of getting payments in lieu of a dividend. Not sure how many people are going to want to borrow my VTI, but I guess we'll see.
by White Coat Investor
Mon Mar 18, 2024 3:21 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Any thoughts on sector rotation - March 2024?
Replies: 20
Views: 877

Re: Any thoughts on sector rotation - March 2024?

Freeman2025 wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2024 1:36 pm Curious as to what sectors people think we should be rotating into (or out of) at this phase of the cycle (March 2024). Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
If it was easy to know what sector to be in at any given time, the entire market would be in it. If anyone knows, they're surely not going to share that information. They're going to use it to make billions.
by White Coat Investor
Mon Mar 18, 2024 2:49 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: NYC This Year or Wait? Has it sufficiently recovered from Covid?
Replies: 54
Views: 3916

Re: NYC This Year or Wait? Has it sufficiently recovered from Covid?

My wife and I are planning a two-week trip to New York City in September. We live in the western US and have never visited NYC except very briefly. Given the multitude of other places in the world that we want to visit before the no-go years, this may be our only visit to NYC. I have heard a little chatter on a few podcasts to the effect that NYC still hasn't fully recovered from the Covid pandemic. This got me to thinking that maybe if we want to see it in full bloom so to speak, we should delay a few years before we visit NYC. There are certainly other places we could visit this year. What do you guys think? Can't tell if you're worried about getting COVID or just thinking that some things you'd like to do won't be available because so m...
by White Coat Investor
Mon Mar 18, 2024 2:13 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Which industry will benefit from new real estate commission fee structure?
Replies: 51
Views: 4079

Re: Which industry will benefit from new real estate commission fee structure?

Does anyone know which industry and companies will benefit from the change of the real estate commission structure? If we are to look at home purchases similar to car purchases, what would be a dealership equivalent for real estate inventory? Is it Century 21, Redfin, or listing sites? Zillow got butchered and Redfin also fell on the news. Agents obviously provide some value or no one would ever use them. I think it's just going to be a little easier to negotiate now than it used to be. But you could negotiate before or use a service like Homie before so I don't see what's so different now other than the following: One new rule prohibits agents’ compensation from being included on listings on local portals known as multiple listing service...
by White Coat Investor
Mon Mar 18, 2024 10:11 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Please check my thinking about changing my Roth account from VTIAX to VTSAX
Replies: 42
Views: 3438

Re: Please check my thinking about changing my Roth account from VTIAX to VTSAX

You're still missing the point. You can't hurt the government in a tax deferred account without hurting yourself. Define risk however you like. If you believe it is connected to higher expected returns, putting risky assets preferentially into a Roth account thinking you're getting a free lunch is fooling yourself. You indeed are getting higher expected returns, but only because a higher proportion of your money on an after-tax basis is in that higher risk/higher expected return asset. I must not be explaining myself very well, my apologies. let me give a hypothetical example... suppose I want my asset allocation to be 50% VTI and 50% cash. I have equal space in Roth and traditional. I would rather keep all the cash in the traditional and ...
by White Coat Investor
Mon Mar 18, 2024 10:05 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can I retire with $1.75M at age 43?
Replies: 169
Views: 11143

Re: Can I retire with $1.75M at age 43?

This is a general question. I dislike and almost hate my job and was wondering if I could retire today at age 43 with about $1.75M net worth. I am very frugal and have spent about $25k per year for more than a decade. Only recently has my cost gone up to $35k. I intend to move to a cheap location to keep cost down. I’ve read about a number of FIRE movement retirees like Mr money mustache and others who were able to retire very early. Of course these bloggers are not really retired making a lot of money, but I intend to TRULY retire for many decades. Is this realistic as a frugal single person? I would like some thoughts from bogleheads. Another point is that my time is limited on this planet and I value freedom and time doing what I want o...
by White Coat Investor
Sun Mar 17, 2024 9:59 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Theoretically, would VTI be an effective long term retirement investment, even when held in a taxable account ?
Replies: 30
Views: 2990

Re: Theoretically, would VTI be an effective long term retirement investment, even when held in a taxable account ?

My question is from purely a financial perspective. In addressing the retirement needs of someone in a lower income bracket, would taxable account investing in VTI (Vanguard Total Market ETF) be effective ? Context: My curiosity was piqued in listening to Rick Ferri chat with Kaye Thomas (https://podcastaddict.com/bogleheads-on-investing-podcast/episode/171593127, starting at 23:40). They spoke about a long holding period for a taxable account, that defers paying capital gains actually lowers the overall tax rate that will be paid. Caveats and perspective: - Buy-and-hold VTI in a taxable account could be more flexible for lower income earners. - While there is a risk for paying some Federal tax on the ETF during a long holding period, for ...
by White Coat Investor
Sun Mar 17, 2024 9:32 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paying for grandparents to babysit, medical insurance implications
Replies: 33
Views: 3073

Re: Paying for grandparents to babysit, medical insurance implications

But this is an interesting idea - are you saying that gifting money increases MAGI and would therefore kick them off of Medicaid if reported? As @jeffyscott mentioned, I have to find a way to kick them off Medicaid and having sufficient income is a way to do it. (In my county, the level of income needed to not be eligible for Medicaid is around $28.000) Gifts definitely do not increase MAGI. If they're eligible to work in the US, you can hire them. I guess they'd be household employees. It might be smart to pay each of them less than $2,500. I think that's the limit where Schedule H has to be filed but could be wrong. Look up the Schedule H instructions for more details. Respectfully you may be overthinking this. Put (give them) $30K in th...
by White Coat Investor
Sun Mar 17, 2024 9:31 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Anybody heard stories of well "prepared" retirees running out of money?
Replies: 91
Views: 10498

Re: Anybody heard stories of well "prepared" retirees running out of money?

I can understand the flexibility of probabilities, but I wonder if there are actual & recent real-life cases proving their point , or if it a strategy to get more $ from investors. This might include experiences in which people started with sound recommended practices (like 4% or the above) and had to re-adjust way down permanently & prematurely . I am not talking about normal slow-go/no-go phases and I assume that most prudent (I almost wrote sane) people will use some references to foresee the problem before running out of money, So any case? Never met someone who retired with 7 figures and ran out of money in retirement, no. I wouldn't call it "just a strategy to get more $ form investors" though since these theories a...
by White Coat Investor
Sun Mar 17, 2024 9:27 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Please check my thinking about changing my Roth account from VTIAX to VTSAX
Replies: 42
Views: 3438

Re: Please check my thinking about changing my Roth account from VTIAX to VTSAX

By the way, it doesn't matter which one you put in tax-deferred and which in Roth if you tax-adjust the asset allocation. A tax-deferred account is just a combination of a Roth account and an account you're investing on behalf of the US treasury. Think of it as 2/3rds your money and 1/3 the IRS's and adjust accordingly. You can tilt the portfolio more toward US stocks if you want because that's all moving them to Roth is doing. wouldn't it matter if you wanted to reduce your RMD? that's why folks like to put assets with the highest expected return in the roth Wanting to reduce your RMDs might be the most short sighted goal in all of personal finance. Want to know how to reduce your RMDs? Don't contribute to tax-deferred accounts, take ever...
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: “Bellys” on sewer scope for new house
Replies: 41
Views: 2348

Re: “Bellys” on sewer scope for new house

I'm not a plumber, you've talked to 4 plumbers. If 2 of the 4 said its fine I wouldn't worry about it. If the sewer lines are cast iron there's a chance you'll have issues down the road. Not a cheap or fun thing to deal with but cast iron was incredibly common 50+ years ago. Are there 50 year old houses in Scottsdale? Can't be very many of them. Lots of them. We lived there in the 70s & there were plenty of older homes then. Feels to me like 90% of the Phoenix Valley was built in the last 25 years! See link below... https://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/about/history.asp Excerpts... The town expanded rapidly during the 1950s, growing to a population of more than 10,000 within an area of about 5 square miles by 1960. ... By the end of the 1960s,...
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:57 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Please check my thinking about changing my Roth account from VTIAX to VTSAX
Replies: 42
Views: 3438

Re: Please check my thinking about changing my Roth account from VTIAX to VTSAX

underperform(ed) not underperform(s). has grown, not "is" growing. it's not semantics. you don't know what will happen in the future, you only know what has happened. Couldn't have said it any better. This is no different than saying "I'm only going to buy VTSAX and not VTIAX going forward because VTSAX did so much better over the last ten years." This is such a terrible way to make investing decisions that it has its own name, performance chasing. did international ever outperfom US outside of the Japan bubble? if it were only a 10 year outperfomance you might have a point. but after 4 decades is it still considered performance chasing? Has it really been that long since 2000-2010 that everyone has forgotten it?? Remem...
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:46 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Please check my thinking about changing my Roth account from VTIAX to VTSAX
Replies: 42
Views: 3438

Re: Please check my thinking about changing my Roth account from VTIAX to VTSAX

By the way, it doesn't matter which one you put in tax-deferred and which in Roth if you tax-adjust the asset allocation. A tax-deferred account is just a combination of a Roth account and an account you're investing on behalf of the US treasury. Think of it as 2/3rds your money and 1/3 the IRS's and adjust accordingly. You can tilt the portfolio more toward US stocks if you want because that's all moving them to Roth is doing. wouldn't it matter if you wanted to reduce your RMD? that's why folks like to put assets with the highest expected return in the roth Wanting to reduce your RMDs might be the most short sighted goal in all of personal finance. Want to know how to reduce your RMDs? Don't contribute to tax-deferred accounts, take ever...
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: “Bellys” on sewer scope for new house
Replies: 41
Views: 2348

Re: “Bellys” on sewer scope for new house

bradinsky wrote: Sat Mar 16, 2024 2:34 pm
White Coat Investor wrote: Sat Mar 16, 2024 8:56 am
Bikesy wrote: Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:03 am I'm not a plumber, you've talked to 4 plumbers. If 2 of the 4 said its fine I wouldn't worry about it. If the sewer lines are cast iron there's a chance you'll have issues down the road. Not a cheap or fun thing to deal with but cast iron was incredibly common 50+ years ago.
Are there 50 year old houses in Scottsdale? Can't be very many of them.
Lots of them. We lived there in the 70s & there were plenty of older homes then.
Feels to me like 90% of the Phoenix Valley was built in the last 25 years!
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 1:37 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Please check my thinking about changing my Roth account from VTIAX to VTSAX
Replies: 42
Views: 3438

Re: Please check my thinking about changing my Roth account from VTIAX to VTSAX

By the way, it doesn't matter which one you put in tax-deferred and which in Roth if you tax-adjust the asset allocation. A tax-deferred account is just a combination of a Roth account and an account you're investing on behalf of the US treasury. Think of it as 2/3rds your money and 1/3 the IRS's and adjust accordingly. You can tilt the portfolio more toward US stocks if you want because that's all moving them to Roth is doing.
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 1:35 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Please check my thinking about changing my Roth account from VTIAX to VTSAX
Replies: 42
Views: 3438

Re: Please check my thinking about changing my Roth account from VTIAX to VTSAX

underperform(ed) not underperform(s). has grown, not "is" growing. it's not semantics. you don't know what will happen in the future, you only know what has happened. Couldn't have said it any better. This is no different than saying "I'm only going to buy VTSAX and not VTIAX going forward because VTSAX did so much better over the last ten years." This is such a terrible way to make investing decisions that it has its own name, performance chasing. And yet, when it happens year in and out, not changing is called “riding a broken horse.” Why did you buy VTIAX in the first place? Has something changed? What does your written financial plan/investing policy statement say you will do if one of your asset classes does worse ...
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 1:32 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Moving in retirement.
Replies: 25
Views: 2785

Re: Moving in retirement.

# 1 What happens if you just don't. Just don't mow the law, do the garden etc. It is an option.

# 2 Can you hire someone else to do all that stuff so you have more freedom? Why not?

# 3 Tons of people downsize at some point in retirement for just this reason. You probably will too at some point. Is now the time?
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 1:30 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Please check my thinking about changing my Roth account from VTIAX to VTSAX
Replies: 42
Views: 3438

Re: Please check my thinking about changing my Roth account from VTIAX to VTSAX

arcticpineapplecorp. wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2024 7:35 pmunderperform(ed) not underperform(s).

has grown, not "is" growing.

it's not semantics.

you don't know what will happen in the future, you only know what has happened.
Couldn't have said it any better.

This is no different than saying "I'm only going to buy VTSAX and not VTIAX going forward because VTSAX did so much better over the last ten years." This is such a terrible way to make investing decisions that it has its own name, performance chasing.
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 1:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Multiple Solo 401(k)
Replies: 28
Views: 1997

Re: Multiple Solo 401(k)

I have a solo 401(k) with Vanguard. Vanguard does not support after-tax 401(k) contributions, so, I was planning to open one with a provider that supports them. As per that provider, I must do a plan transfer (restatement). As per Vanguard, I can leave my solo 401(k) at Vanguard message as-is and not contribute to it, their exact words "I am not an expert in Individual 401K's (I401k) but I do believe you can have multiple active Individual 401K's." What's the correct answer here? References: 1. https://www.mysolo401k.net/multiple-solo-401k-plans-can-i-have-two-solo-401k-plans - legal but it can raise red flags 2. https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=293418 - inconclusive but multiple solo 401(k) are risky 3. https://w...
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 1:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Student loan "refinance" with credit card balance balance transfer?
Replies: 15
Views: 821

Re: Student loan "refinance" with credit card balance balance transfer?

Hello folks What are your thoughts on using a credit card balance transfer to "refinance" a small portion of my student loan? I found a card that has a 3% transfer fee and 0 interest x 21 months (Citi Simplicity). I called them and they said they would accept federal student loans as a balance transfer (many credit cards don't). I have the cash to pay off in full (currently have 6.75% interest with federal students loans, Mohela, total $350k). I am paying off everything except maybe this portion that would be the balance transfer (the amount will be based on my credit limit, maybe 20-50k but I have no idea haven't applied yet). My plan was to put the cash in a money market fund in the meantime and not touch it at all, strictly de...
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 1:18 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Good Brokerage Platform that is secured
Replies: 13
Views: 1273

Re: Good Brokerage Platform that is secured

If someone doesn't like Schwab I don't have anywhere dramatically better to send them. I have accounts at Vanguard, Schwab, and Fidelity and find the differences between them trivial. I wouldn't go anywhere other than those three.
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 1:13 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Gold As An Emergency Fund In A Country With Insane Inflation
Replies: 29
Views: 3534

Re: Gold As An Emergency Fund In A Country With Insane Inflation

Hello bogleheads, When I dedicate my effort in Boglehead investing philosophy, the first thing that gets recommended is building an emergency fund via bonds or HYSAs. However I live in Turkey where effective year-to-year inflation is %120+ so even the highest yielding savings account and/or bonds get crushed against inflation. I know that an emergency fund should be highly liquid so I thought "Why not gold then?" because gold investment is super common here and selling fractional grams of gold is easy. Moreover, gold's performance is so high that even the benchmark stock index XU100 or BIST 100 has a hard time beating it. But that's because Turkey has a high risk/high volatility stock market. I thought maybe I can try to open a f...
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 1:08 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: The best game-changing financial advice you ever received (or "discovered")
Replies: 120
Views: 11112

Re: The best game-changing financial advice you ever received (or "discovered")

1) Meet regularly with your spouse about money. You'll make better decisions together than either of you will make separately.
2) Simplify, simplify, simplify. Spend your time and effort on the things that matter most. That's income and savings rate for most accumulators.
3) Doing your own financial planning and asset management is the best paying hobby/side gig available to most people. If the average advisor charges 1% and you've got a $3 million portfolio, that's a $30K side gig to be your own advisor. Seems worth spending a little time learning how to do it right eh?
4) Know how much "enough" is for you and live accordingly.
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 1:02 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Am I Only One Who Hates Having Left Over Pennies
Replies: 53
Views: 4136

Re: Am I Only One Who Hates Having Left Over Pennies

I find it annoying but I'm not going to do anything dumb about it whether it's pennies or $50 per account sitting there in cash. I think I've got this "problem" in at least 7 different accounts where it's basically impossible to be fully invested in what I want to invest in.
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 12:55 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Am I crazy for considering a home purchase.
Replies: 19
Views: 1585

Re: Am I crazy for considering a home purchase.

Good Morning Bogleheads, I have posted a small amount of times for the past few years and have been so grateful for the advice I've received. Our financial and family situation has changed since our last post and am currently exploring a the possibility of a home purchase. Unfortunately, I need some help thinking this through. According to my friends and family, I have become way to risk adverse and conservative, and I must admit it has provided me great mental/emotional comfort to live well below our means. With that said, as we are now entering a new phase of life maybe I need to reconsider. I was up all night rattling my brain, so I apologize if this post is incoherent, and thank you to those who take the time to read and respond! Finan...
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 10:30 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paying for grandparents to babysit, medical insurance implications
Replies: 33
Views: 3073

Re: Paying for grandparents to babysit, medical insurance implications

Regressor wrote: Sat Mar 16, 2024 10:23 am
But this is an interesting idea - are you saying that gifting money increases MAGI and would therefore kick them off of Medicaid if reported? As @jeffyscott mentioned, I have to find a way to kick them off Medicaid and having sufficient income is a way to do it.
(In my county, the level of income needed to not be eligible for Medicaid is around $28.000)
Gifts definitely do not increase MAGI.

If they're eligible to work in the US, you can hire them. I guess they'd be household employees. It might be smart to pay each of them less than $2,500. I think that's the limit where Schedule H has to be filed but could be wrong. Look up the Schedule H instructions for more details.
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:17 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: "22 of the funniest novels since Catch-22" (acc. to the NYT)
Replies: 29
Views: 2898

Re: "22 of the funniest novels since Catch-22" (acc. to the NYT)

protagonist wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2024 7:45 pm "22 of the funniest novels since Catch-22". Acc. to the NYT. https://www.nytimes.com/.../14/books/fu ... humor.html

Maybe just clickbait. Maybe not.

Let me know if you read any of them, and what you think of those you read.
Also if any particularly interest you.

The list strikes me as missing some by the best (Vonnegut, Toole, Percy, Adams, Saunders, etc...)

It's hard to beat Catch-22.
My experience with an Air Force wartime deployment under a commander who literally used the phrase "feather in my cap" was that Catch-22 is not a fiction book.
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:14 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Are white, red, blue and other bright colors safer [for cars] than other colors???
Replies: 45
Views: 3870

Re: Are white, red, blue and other bright colors safer [for cars] than other colors???

BeachPerson wrote: Fri Mar 08, 2024 8:02 amAnyone else prefer these colors for safety?
This has got to be such a tiny factor that there is no way I'd buy a color I didn't like just to be more safe. If one is this worried about safety probably best to just churn new cars every 2 or 3 years to have the latest features AND move closer to work and never go on road trips.
by White Coat Investor
Sat Mar 16, 2024 8:56 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: “Bellys” on sewer scope for new house
Replies: 41
Views: 2348

Re: “Bellys” on sewer scope for new house

Bikesy wrote: Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:03 am I'm not a plumber, you've talked to 4 plumbers. If 2 of the 4 said its fine I wouldn't worry about it. If the sewer lines are cast iron there's a chance you'll have issues down the road. Not a cheap or fun thing to deal with but cast iron was incredibly common 50+ years ago.
Are there 50 year old houses in Scottsdale? Can't be very many of them.
by White Coat Investor
Fri Mar 15, 2024 7:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: moving from ~600k to ~1.5M income
Replies: 74
Views: 11762

Re: moving from ~600k to ~1.5M income

That’s the chessboard with one grain of wheat in the first square, 2 in the second, 4 in the third … Is that not what doubling 9 times means? Or do I have the thought and math all wrong? I believe that you’ve got it right. It’s not 9x2=18, rather 2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2=512. Funny this is turning into a math exercise. I'm sure he meant 9x, which is probably from 500K/yr to 4.5m/yr. I have to admit, I interpreted it as 9x initially... Assuming his first job was a resident physician at roughly 40K, we can extrapolate he is making 20M per year on WCI. That’s serious cash. Congrats, he deserves it given his success. That said, the number of tech bros making 1M working a few hours here and there is small. Most of these folks that I know undersell the...
by White Coat Investor
Fri Mar 15, 2024 10:51 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: moving from ~600k to ~1.5M income
Replies: 74
Views: 11762

Re: moving from ~600k to ~1.5M income

I always find these threads a hard pill to swallow when stressed and clambering to make a $120K salary. I am sure tech jobs are hard work and take a certain skillset. But "work smarter not harder" only goes so far depending on your field. It's pretty wild isn't it? While there is certainly luck involved, there is also hard work and good decisions (like selection of a field where this sort of thing is even possible.) Some people also just have rare, valuable skills too. However, I am a firm believer that the typical American dramatically overestimates the difficulty of doubling their income. I was reviewing this recently and realized I've doubled my income 9 times since I started working. How do you do it? Get educated, acquire ra...
by White Coat Investor
Fri Mar 15, 2024 10:46 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Given Haiti Situation, is Dominican Republic safe?
Replies: 49
Views: 25313

Re: Given Haiti Situation, is Dominican Republic safe?

Read above and you will see that she is there now. And I hope she has a wonderful time. I'm sure she'll be fine. But I can see the face of my 18 year old last year if I had told her "I forbid you to go to Ghana". I probably wouldn't have gotten through the sentence before she started laughing. Mildly curious where she would have secured the funds for travel had you been seriously opposed to her going From her money. Don't 18 year olds have jobs any more? Hers was a university connected trip doing some research and some volunteerism. I think the university paid for most of it actually now that I think of it. I agree that one can refuse to pay for something, but it just seems odd in today's world to talk about forbidding an adult c...
by White Coat Investor
Fri Mar 15, 2024 10:43 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Extra Low Mileage Drivers: How much do you spend on your car?
Replies: 48
Views: 4199

Re: Extra Low Mileage Drivers: How much do you spend on your car?

tomasm wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2024 1:17 am
I was thinking earlier today about how many people have more vehicles than drivers in their household, vehicles with higher insurance costs than me and maybe even monthly loan payments. That's a very expensive convenience/luxury to have.
Not really. Most people pay more for their cell phone plan. It's only $111 a month. You can afford it. You want it. Have it.
by White Coat Investor
Fri Mar 15, 2024 10:41 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much should I leave to nieces/nephews vs. siblings vs. charity I'm passionate about?
Replies: 58
Views: 4246

Re: How much should I leave to nieces/nephews vs. siblings vs. charity I'm passionate about?

I'd appreciate some feedback from folks (I'm a longtime lurker). My husband and I are revising our wills and preparing to meet with an estate lawyer in a week. We're clear on the structure of what we want to do (we leave most to each other, and we each have an equal chunk in our separate wills that we distribute individually as we see fit). Now I'm pondering some of the details: -total net worth of about $2,700,000, including our modest but paid-off house, some in Vanguard investment accounts, most in various retirement savings -no debts -we're both kinda frugal; we live in a very low cost of living area; we've never been at all wealthy-- I'm a faculty member at a regional public university, my husband was a gardener and substitute teacher...
by White Coat Investor
Thu Mar 14, 2024 7:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: "Rich Man's Roth" / 7702
Replies: 37
Views: 5439

Re: "Rich Man's Roth" / 7702

With other assets, you have to choose between keeping them for the basis step-up at the cost of estate inclusion, or giving them away and giving up the basis step-up. Can you explain this, please? My investments are all included in a revocable trust. I am under the assumption (hopefully not false) that the cost basis will be adjusted at the time of my death. If you give away a life insurance policy, the donee will get a basis step-up for it at your death in the form of the proceeds being exempt from income tax. But if you give away other assets during your lifetime, the donee won't get a new basis for them at your death. Whew. I misinterpreted. I thought you were implying that the other assets would not get a new basis at my death if I jus...
by White Coat Investor
Thu Mar 14, 2024 4:37 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Extra Low Mileage Drivers: How much do you spend on your car?
Replies: 48
Views: 4199

Re: Extra Low Mileage Drivers: How much do you spend on your car?

tomasm wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2024 3:13 pm I switched to public transportation in 2012 and in 2020 switched to teleworking and using my bicycle as much as possible. My car can sit in the garage now for as long as 6 weeks tethered to a battery charger.
You seem like a good candidate for Uber and rentals. But you should actually add up how much you're driving. I thought I was a low mileage driver but then I saw my six month old truck now has 5,000 miles on it. So I guess I'm a lot closer to average than I thought.
by White Coat Investor
Thu Mar 14, 2024 4:35 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Need Help Finding a Hobby
Replies: 76
Views: 5999

Re: Need Help Finding a Hobby

I'm in the fortunate (or unfortunate) position where I need to find something to occupy an additional 1-2 hours of my day. I really want to spend less time wasting the hours scrolling on YouTube and have other rewarding activities/hobbies. A little about me: [*] Job is super easy and flexible; I work from home and I'm not looking to advance further in my career. I often have time during the workday to do other things [*] Married, late 30s; not going to have kids (but have a dog) [*] I have some health issues (arm, back, foot pain that make doing extended physical activities challenging) [*] Friends are spread out across the country and are becoming more challenging to plan activities with due to distance and them having kids What I current...
by White Coat Investor
Thu Mar 14, 2024 4:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Refund for whn Delta cancelled my flights
Replies: 29
Views: 2173

Re: Refund for whn Delta cancelled my flights

rkhusky wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2024 7:35 am That’s the risk of non-refundable fares. There’s probably something in the fine print to that effect.

The credits are only good for 6 months?
This is where I'd push back.I'd try to get the full refund since it's their fault, but I wouldn't settle for less than a credit I knew I could definitely use.
by White Coat Investor
Thu Mar 14, 2024 4:30 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Given Haiti Situation, is Dominican Republic safe?
Replies: 49
Views: 25313

Re: Given Haiti Situation, is Dominican Republic safe?

ichee_marone wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2024 3:27 pm Read above and you will see that she is there now.
And I hope she has a wonderful time. I'm sure she'll be fine. But I can see the face of my 18 year old last year if I had told her "I forbid you to go to Ghana". I probably wouldn't have gotten through the sentence before she started laughing.
by White Coat Investor
Thu Mar 14, 2024 4:29 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: "Rich Man's Roth" / 7702
Replies: 37
Views: 5439

Re: "Rich Man's Roth" / 7702

Rex66 wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2024 11:48 am Needed an irrevocable trust too. So it wasn’t the life insurance that took it out of the estate but yes it was done
Exactly, it's the trust that did it, not the life insurance.
by White Coat Investor
Thu Mar 14, 2024 4:28 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: "Rich Man's Roth" / 7702
Replies: 37
Views: 5439

Re: "Rich Man's Roth" / 7702

WIth life insurance, you can give it away (or have your children or a trust buy it), and it will still get a basis step-up at death. With other assets, you have to choose between keeping them for the basis step-up at the cost of estate inclusion, or giving them away and giving up the basis step-up. I'm not sure that this benefit of life insurance is sufficient to overcome the transaction costs. If you give away other assets in trust rather than outright, assuming it's a grantor trust, you can swap assets, putting in high basis assets and taking out low basis assets. Excellent point, and a not insignificant one for me as I have moved a great deal of our assets into trust and given up the step up in basis at death to save on estate taxes.
by White Coat Investor
Thu Mar 14, 2024 4:26 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 5M, probably enough to retire to a frugal lifestyle
Replies: 180
Views: 15189

Re: 5M, probably enough to retire to a frugal lifestyle

PhinanceMD wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2024 2:08 pm https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/c ... eatst_pos4

"Hy, 44, says he’s sitting on about $5 million, probably enough to retire to a frugal lifestyle, but likely not enough to sustain his family forever in pricey, coastal California."

What do BHers think about the above quote? I chuckled a little. I am under the assumption that 5M will sustain an American family at a more than modest lifestyle anywhere in the US, but maybe I'm wrong.

We are shooting for 5M and hoping to call it quits, early 40s, but live in Portland, OR (a little less pricey but still HCOL/West coastal).
I'm with you. $5M is still a lot of money.
by White Coat Investor
Thu Mar 14, 2024 10:01 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: "Rich Man's Roth" / 7702
Replies: 37
Views: 5439

Re: "Rich Man's Roth" / 7702

When you pull out the money you can borrow against it so it's 'tax free' I don't understand why people always say this about these scams policies? All loans are "tax free." What exactly do people think they are getting here? There are three significant tax breaks with life insurance that are very real, although only one is unique to life insurance. I'm not even sure the agents understand this since they typically just talk about the tax free loans. The first is that as you do partial surrenders of the policy, the principal comes out first. That's very unique for life insurance. For annuities, it's the opposite. For investments, it's a blend. So it's not "tax-free income" for life insurance, but it is tax free spendable ...
by White Coat Investor
Thu Mar 14, 2024 9:58 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Given Haiti Situation, is Dominican Republic safe?
Replies: 49
Views: 25313

Re: Given Haiti Situation, is Dominican Republic safe?

ichee_marone wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2024 6:41 pm
White Coat Investor wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2024 3:15 pm
ichee_marone wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2024 3:32 pm I wonder we should try to forbid the trip at this point....?
If my daughter were 17 I wouldn't let her go to a foreign country without a parent. Once she turned 18 I couldn't stop her if I wanted to. I didn't even bother trying.

How does your family work?
She's 20. Would not be allowed to do this in high school.
But you can forbid her to travel now as an adult?
by White Coat Investor
Wed Mar 13, 2024 3:15 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Given Haiti Situation, is Dominican Republic safe?
Replies: 49
Views: 25313

Re: Given Haiti Situation, is Dominican Republic safe?

ichee_marone wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2024 3:32 pm I wonder we should try to forbid the trip at this point....?
If my daughter were 17 I wouldn't let her go to a foreign country without a parent. Once she turned 18 I couldn't stop her if I wanted to. I didn't even bother trying.

How does your family work?
by White Coat Investor
Tue Mar 12, 2024 10:15 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: "Rich Man's Roth" / 7702
Replies: 37
Views: 5439

Re: "Rich Man's Roth" / 7702

It's not different. Just a variation on the same. Agents have been calling whole life insurance "another Roth IRA" for years. It's not. I wrote a post on 7702 plans in June 2022 and while I can't link to it, I believe I can quote from it: I was really mad the first time I wrote this post. It was full of zingers and attacks against specific insurance companies and specific insurance agents who have been taking advantage of doctors using the terms TFRA and 7702 Plan. My staff convinced me to take them all out because they were too personal and because there were libel liability concerns (even though everything I said was 100% true). I hope the post is still worth reading. Let's just say this instead: If you are using the words “TFRA...
by White Coat Investor
Tue Mar 12, 2024 2:47 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dual majors and non big 50 colleges
Replies: 111
Views: 7178

Re: Dual majors and non big 50 colleges

HipCoyote wrote: Tue Mar 12, 2024 11:18 am

Final thought: at the kid's school, a professor had the 10-30 program (or something like that) they he drummed into student's head. Said school is a 40 hour a week job. In class maybe 10 hours, study 30 hours. That was golden advice. Doesn't matter what the school's name is if you don't do well.
That's great advice not only for college but for the first couple of years of med school. In class until noon, foosball break at lunch, study hard until five, five days a week and that's all it takes to succeed at either.
by White Coat Investor
Tue Mar 12, 2024 9:16 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: moving from ~600k to ~1.5M income
Replies: 74
Views: 11762

Re: moving from ~600k to ~1.5M income

Yes, I have a brother. He's a therapist though, not a tech worker. There are actually a lot of tech folks (and pilots too) who read WCI. 95% is the same for everyone, 99% is the same for everyone in the top brackets, and 1% is doctor specific. We do need more RSU content though. I'm hoping the comments related to being more helpful were suggesting therapists were more helpful than us tech workers :P I appreciate the desire to spread the word to a broad audience, but I think tech and doctors are more than 1% different (RSU's, RSU cliffing, and the general concept of getting paid with equity, ESPP, patent awards(very minor), we generally are required to only have 1 employer for IP reasons so we can't "double dip" on a MBD like doct...
by White Coat Investor
Tue Mar 12, 2024 9:14 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: REIT fund for buy and hold index investor?
Replies: 55
Views: 5375

Re: REIT fund for buy and hold index investor?

OP, do you own a house already? If so, what percent of your overall assets is made up of the home equity? This is the least sophisticated argument I've heard to not having a separate real estate allocation in your portfolio. Now I'll freely admit that real estate investing is optional, but don't pretend you're investing in real estate because you live in a house you own instead of rent. That's a consumption item, not an investment. Home equity should be irrelevant to your investment portfolio. Owning a Chevy is not the same as investing in General Motors and owning your house is not the same as owning a small apartment complex as an investment. Owning a home does not need to be an investment to modify some of the requirements or appropriat...
by White Coat Investor
Tue Mar 12, 2024 9:14 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: REIT fund for buy and hold index investor?
Replies: 55
Views: 5375

Re: REIT fund for buy and hold index investor?

halfnine wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2024 1:24 pm

If they have a 500k home and it's paid off and a 100k portfolio then that is their allocation. It is not nonsense. And there is nothing convoluted about my example it is my real life and it is why I ended up realizing that my previous math was wrong all along.
I think now is the time in the thread when we agree to disagree and anyone reading along will have to make their own decision about who's right.