Bogleheads.org

abracadabra11

I guarantee that some time in the future you will look back on your time as an O-1->O-3 and your biggest regret will be not investing in TSP earlier. Start today and max it as soon as you can. Don't forget that you can allocate additional contributions when deployed to a combat zone (up to $52,000 -...

abracadabra11

westie wrote:...

http://www.rewardsgold.com/members/prom ... select.htm

This.

abracadabra11

Another +1 for the Fit. I can't speak much to its snow capabilities, but I'm sure it's nothing a set of snow tires can't do.

abracadabra11

I've got one stock in my portfolio. It has underperformed my equity portfolio as long as I've had it (since 2010). I'm keeping it just as a reminder of why I shouldn't dabble in stocks. It's less than 1% of my total portfolio so I think I get more from keeping it (i.e. consistent reminder to stay th...

abracadabra11

What kind of cell phone plans and with what companies will people get with this? Whenever I run the numbers, going with a contract with Verizon always seems best for me. This is an unlocked GSM phone. You'll have to sign up with AT&T, TMobile, or a 3rd party provider like Consumer Cellular for ...

abracadabra11

I've got more than 1MM in a taxable account.

Give me 5 stocks that in aggregate will provide a greater return on a risk-adjusted basis than VTSAX over the next 12 months and you'll have your first investor.

abracadabra11

Paul provided some great guidance. I recommend that you reevaluate your desired asset allocation. 90/10 split with a 14-year investment horizon for a down payment on a home is overly risky in my opinion. Working backwards from your goal can be a useful exercise. Figure out how much of a down payment...

abracadabra11

In my experience, the first half million is the hardest part. After that, it seems like the portfolio takes on a life of its own; coupled with my continued savings, the 2nd half million is easy, and the 2nd million is inevitable... This should be immortalized in BH lore. This speaks to many of the ...

abracadabra11

You can definitely retire, but you're going to have to make some choices with regard to your current home and the non-essential costs that you mentioned (I would venture that you can probably achieve a fare amount of savings in your essential costs category -$120,000 is an awful lot for car, food ut...

abracadabra11

My wife and I are in a similar position to you and your wife (income-wise). We made basically the same amount for ~ 4 years, but she now makes about ~40k less than me (after taxes). We each have our own checking/savings - no joint checking/savings. I pay all the bills from my account and then she se...

abracadabra11

I would recommend that you negotiate regardless of how you feel about the ability to do so. You never know what the other party's interests are until you start making offers and asking questions. Purchase price is not the only point for negotiation, so be sure to consider other factors such as closi...

abracadabra11

There are plenty on this forum that take home more than twice what you do, yet don't own a $35k car (new or used). Take that at face value - this is a frugal-oriented investing website. But if you're asking whether it's financially prudent, then the answer is clear: No.

abracadabra11

Just wanted to say thank you.

I had forgotten to review one of my Vanguard accounts for this very change. .10% vs .24% expense ratio - more money saved because of BH forums.

abracadabra11

Waiting to start investing in TSP. I opted to not invest in TSP for the first 4 years or so while I was in the military because its funds were just 'average'. How little I knew at the time... To make matters worse I was investing in a taxable account with an investment adviser. Fortunately, I read t...

abracadabra11

Hi-pressure tactics are just that - an attempt to get you to reconsider your rational course of action using the powerful psychological forces of repetition and consistency. There's no doubt that Fidelity can offer you a much broader range of investing options and that TSP is limited in its variety....

abracadabra11

I over-contributed by about $3500 for 2013 - it was refunded to my bank account on this month's LES automatically.

abracadabra11

I think your plan is great. You should probably go on an AOR and try to increase the amount of capital that you can access for additional leverage - more is better, right? :beer Do us all a favor and continue to update us on your continued success. There's no way this will turn out poorly for you co...

abracadabra11

Good advice throughout. I would focus on paying off the 5% and two 6.8% loans on an accelerated basis, but would let the 145k @ 3.38% be paid per the terms of the loan. I would also let the mortgage run its course (though consider refinancing if the terms are favorable). Any additional income would ...

abracadabra11

By giving everyone else vacation envy.

I spend half on vacations what they do on their car, pocket the difference and the amazing experience.

abracadabra11

I think you need to forget about your history with your first house, and just evaluate as an investment today. $975, or later $905 per month versus $1100/month is one thing, but have you accounted for maintenance costs, vacancy costs (I believe 1 month/year is pretty standard except in special circ...

abracadabra11

I voted for the leveraging method. This board often tilts towards paying down a mortgage as fast as possible. Although this helps one become debt free in a shorter time horizon, it fails to recognize that debt isn't inherently bad. Investing as much money as you can will allow you to achieve the gre...

abracadabra11

Fellow fit owner. It's versatility is fantastic for dogs (or most other things too). I'd recommend some good training to keep them in the backseat. Although it took some time, our dog has finally learned to not enter the vehicle through the front doors when open and stay in the back seat during trip...

abracadabra11

Agreed. Not your fault here.

I noticed the same thing and actually tried to get some 'extra' cash into TSP because of the hiccup. We'll see how it turns out.

abracadabra11

I'm going to be more frank than other posters. Lamborghini is a bad financial move. If retiring early is your goal, then don't waste your money. 1M at your age is enviable, but it's chunk change if you plan on dropping 200-300k on a car. That kind of spending wouldn't even cross my mind unless I had...

abracadabra11

Sell the car and buy a low-mileage, old budget vehicle for <$8,000.

You don't make enough money to own a $16k car.

Kudos on prioritizing savings - that's not easy at that income level. But realize your expenses will balloon the day you leave your parents' home.

abracadabra11

Nope. REITs are tax inefficient since they are required to pay out 90% of their dividend income each year. This makes them a great candidate for tax sheltered accounts.

abracadabra11

I thought you meant the REAL Man in the Arena... It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blo...

abracadabra11

Facts matter. Virginia - no. Primary residence titled in my name. Rental titled in spouse's name . It is possible to allocate capital gains and rental income to a single spouse when accounts are titled jointly ? Is it or isn't it? Facts still matter. You can't have it both ways. Wasn't specific eno...

abracadabra11

sscritic wrote:Community property state? Facts matter.

Properties are in Virginia - no. Primary residence titled in my name. Rental titled in spouse's name.
Taxes filed as Florida resident - military.

abracadabra11

So the IRA contribution is definitely a hiccup. But the original question still stands - what about capital gains, rental income, and charitable contributions? Can those be split or allocated to one spouse exclusively?

abracadabra11

BL: It is possible to allocate capital gains and rental income to a single spouse? Brokerage account is joint. Rental is in spouse's name. Background: My wife and I have historically made similar incomes, so we have file our taxes as a joint return in the past. However, my wife was unemployed for ab...

abracadabra11

Wow, I had no idea we took care of our military so well with pensions and social security. You need to decide whether you want the money to spend or leave as legacy. You are well below estate tax territory. Maybe a 3 fund portfolio with a 40/60 allocation? In general, we don't. This is only true fo...

abracadabra11

It wasn't uncommon for folks to do this by accumulating extremely large credit lines and utilizing balance transfers, cash advances, and checks to access the credit funding. Depending on the terms of the credit card being used, you could write a check directly in your name and receive the funds that...

abracadabra11

What impact does this have if your property taxes are automatically distributed by the company servicing your mortgage? Does the county issue a refund at the end of each month to the servicing agent? Is that then reimbursed to the homeowner?

abracadabra11

People keep coming up with inflation shenanigans. I don't see it...We drive the car about the same....heat and light the house about the same.... Our personal inflation?. Here are a few items comparing the last 5 years. So far in 2013, it seems to be following. I WILL ADD THE TOTAL OF ALL MY SPENDI...

abracadabra11

How much money have you paid to Google over the years as a 'customer'? The answer is likely 0 or close to it unless you're a Nexus owner. Since Google makes money every time someone clicks through on an ad, users have indeed "paid" money to it. I briefly had a gmail account. You can set u...

abracadabra11

Ultimately if you are concerned about intrusion of companies your only real option is to register a domain and host it yourself. Anyone who thinks Apple doesn't snoop in people's data is very naive. I am a huge privacy / security advocate and I use gmail, I like the feature set and the spam filteri...

abracadabra11

Updated Plan: Taxable (2.5k/yr new money) 10.4% Fidelity Spartan 500 Index (FSMKX) ROTH (5k/yr new money) 14.6% Vanguard FTSE ex US Large (VFWIX) 6.3% Vanguard FTSE ex US Small (VFSVX) TSP (16.5k/yr new money) 25% G - This covers the 25% bond requirement 25% C - This covers 55% of the domestic large...

abracadabra11

With $700/mo ($8400) going to TSP, the choice is strictly G Fund... and the reason to limit TSP to the one fund. Why would the choice be restricted or best suited to the G fund? Is it about tax efficiency? Or properly balancing my 25% bond requirement? Or both? Perhaps neither. Please explain and b...

abracadabra11

The G fund is equivalent to the Treasury giving you earned interest on 10 yr Notes every day for free. G fund yield for April is 3.375%; F fund yield is approx 3.33%. Since you can get the G fund yield for free( with no downside risk), on the margin buying F fund is equivalent to buying a fund with...

abracadabra11

Yes, you could stay at Fidelity and build a portfolio out of Vanguard ETF's. I wold not use the ishares in taxable because the expense ratios are higher for almost every asset class. If you invest regularly, then invest in Vanguard funds at Vanguard would be cheaper than Vanguard ETF's and ishares....

abracadabra11

I'm curious about the push to Vanguard. I already have my investments at Fidelity. Why not just keep the money there and use their iShares ETFs rather than moving to Vanguard? Although Vanguard offers significantly more funds (and are generally at a lower expense ratio), there are sufficient offerin...

abracadabra11

Goals 1. Create a more passive portfolio 2. Simplify my current portfolio 3. Consolidate accounts at fewer institutions if possible Age: 26 Desired Asset allocation: 75% stocks/25% bonds Intl allocation: 30% of stocks I'd like Mid/small caps to be ~ 35% of the overall portfolio Current portfolio ~8...

abracadabra11

Thanks for the reply.

I like the idea of exclusively using the TSP G fund for the bond allocation.

Unfortunately, there are no matching contributions when it comes to TSP.

abracadabra11

I accidentally posted this in the wrong section. This should be right. I'm new to the forum (I'm an old Fatwallet browser) and have been looking to change my current investment strategy. I originally had my investments with Merrill Lynch, but left after problems with auction rate securities. I moved...

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