Search found 1304 matches

by exigent
Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:29 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone succeed with an ING image upload deposit?
Replies: 28
Views: 4054

Re: Anyone succeed with an ING image upload deposit?

I've done 8-10 checks with no issues using the iPhone app. Never tried using a scanner.
by exigent
Wed Jun 06, 2012 10:08 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone regret paying off mortgage early?
Replies: 2483
Views: 291443

Re: Anyone regret paying off mortgage early?

Default User BR wrote:As noted elsewhere, I just paid off mine. However, it's a strategic payoff, as I will follow it with a Penfed 60-month home-equity loan here shortly.
For what purpose?
by exigent
Wed Jun 06, 2012 9:31 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone regret paying off mortgage early?
Replies: 2483
Views: 291443

Re: Anyone regret paying off mortgage early?

We paid off our mortgage around 2.5 years ago (I think, I lose track). Haven't regretted it once. I debated the virtues of keeping the mortgage as an inflation hedge, etc. but ultimately decided to keep it simple and just pay it off.
by exigent
Wed Jun 06, 2012 9:27 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is TLH a form of market timing?
Replies: 56
Views: 3963

Re: Is TLH a form of market timing?

IMHO, it would be safer to sell the TR fund and buy the component funds in the same proportions than it would be to switch to anothe TR fund with the same composition. I doubt either would trigger an alarm bell at the IRS on the surface, but if you get audited it seems like the TR to TR switch would look cushier. Again, just my opinion. Once again, there is no alarm bell at the IRS that would be triggered, and we have yet to unearth a single incident of a mutual fund wash sale being found out and the loss disallowed in an IRS audit. If only someone could succeed in producing such a result it would go far toward resolving this perpetual debating. I wonder what would happen if someone were to attempt to self-report a bad tax return by writin...
by exigent
Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:46 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is TLH a form of market timing?
Replies: 56
Views: 3963

Re: Is TLH a form of market timing?

IMHO, it would be safer to sell the TR fund and buy the component funds in the same proportions than it would be to switch to anothe TR fund with the same composition. I doubt either would trigger an alarm bell at the IRS on the surface, but if you get audited it seems like the TR to TR switch would look cushier. Again, just my opinion.
by exigent
Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:58 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is TLH a form of market timing?
Replies: 56
Views: 3963

Re: Is TLH a form of market timing?

These Target Retirement funds won't be substantially identical down the line because they have different glide paths. But right now? Almost exactly the same. In other words, substantially identical (at least in my book).
by exigent
Tue Jun 05, 2012 4:29 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Switching money in Vanguard
Replies: 21
Views: 2008

Re: Switching money in Vanguard

Yeah, I would guess that something got messed up on the back end such that their database is a cost basis declaration for this fund even though it's not required/allowed. And you can't get rid of it since the functionality to manage cost basis declarations on money market funds (understandably) doesn't exist -- at least not on the front-end. So yeah, give them a call when you get an opportunity and be sure to report back what you learn.
by exigent
Tue Jun 05, 2012 3:08 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is TLH a form of market timing?
Replies: 56
Views: 3963

Re: Is TLH a form of market timing?

Taylor Larimore wrote: This is the history of the S&P 500 Index from January 1950 to April 2011:

January up
February down
March up
April up
May up
June down
July up
August up
September down
October up
November up
December up

Best wishes.
Taylor
Interesting list, though I was more interested in the overall percentage of individual months that are up vs. down, not the average performance of each month. Do you know of a source for this information? I suppose it would roughly mirror the fractions above (9/12 up, 3/12 down).
by exigent
Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:39 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is TLH a form of market timing?
Replies: 56
Views: 3963

Re: Misleading statistic ?

Taylor Larimore wrote:Exigent:
And the statistics that you provided (#1) in support of this notion are misleading.
You are right about that. I should have made clear that the market has an average upward bias (about 0.6% for 30 days).

Best wishes
Taylor
Thanks for the reply. Any idea what percentage of months are up vs. down?
by exigent
Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:34 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Switching money in Vanguard
Replies: 21
Views: 2008

Re: Switching money ini vanguard

Go into your account view. Click on the money market fund name in the list of holdings. Scroll to Account Options at the bottom. Do you see anything related to cost basis? If not, you'll probably need them to fix it for you.
by exigent
Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:31 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Switching money in Vanguard
Replies: 21
Views: 2008

Re: Switching money ini vanguard

livesoft wrote:There is a difference between "making a contribution" to an IRA and "buying shares" in an IRA.

First, make the contribution. Then buy the shares.
IIRC, I can just exchange from Prime Money Market in our taxable account straight into an index fund in my IRA. However, it's possible that I'm mistaken. It's happened once or twice before. ;-)
by exigent
Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:26 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard or Fidelity..does it matter ?
Replies: 64
Views: 11351

Re: Vanguard or Fidelity..does it matter ?

TheGreyingDuke wrote:After years of being exclusively at Vanguard, I have just opened an account at Fidelity to get the 50,000 frequent flyer miles on offer. So far the offerings on the site seem a bit more robust, but nothing that I cannot get elsewhere.

I am buying a Spartan Advantage bond fund, ER is the same as at VG and results look about the same, so I will let them fly me 83% of the way to China (and back) this fall
Details on the 50k mile offer? Was it targeted, or generally available? What was the required deposit? Which airline? Etc.
by exigent
Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:25 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Switching money in Vanguard
Replies: 21
Views: 2008

Re: Switching money ini vanguard

Yeah I don't know what I'm saying either, that's just the error that I get. I'm trying to buy a new fund in the ira and it just gives me an error that I have to sell in dollars, which it is, and that my cost basis can't be listed as "specific ID" but I don't even know how to check that. This was the reason I suggested calling -- because I don't really understand what's going on and thus can't offer much beyond a blind guess. My only real suggestion (beyond calling) would be to try again, though I'm guessing you've already done that. One other thing... When viewing your account holdings, you can click on an individual fund name, scroll down to Account Options, and change a variety of settings. For a typical stock fund, this includ...
by exigent
Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:12 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is TLH a form of market timing?
Replies: 56
Views: 3963

Re: "Sitting on the sidelines" ?

Exigent: You wrote: You're advocating sitting on the sidelines during the wash sale period to avoid a potential loss? Perhaps I was not clear when I wrote and underlined : It's purpose is to make TLH simple. Best wishes. Taylor Yes, but then you went on to provide a list of other supposed advantages. The very first one on that list runs contrary to the underlying philosophy of this discussion board -- it advocates market timing. And the statistics that you provided in support of this notion are misleading. If the best month/worst month argument is to be believed, then one should never be in stocks because the downside is greater than the upside. As for simplicity, my view is that making a single exchange into a similar (and acceptable) fun...
by exigent
Tue Jun 05, 2012 1:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Switching money in Vanguard
Replies: 21
Views: 2008

Re: Switching money ini vanguard

I would suggest calling Vanguard and asking. You'll get a quicker and more accurate answer.
by exigent
Tue Jun 05, 2012 1:45 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is TLH a form of market timing?
Replies: 56
Views: 3963

Re: Is TLH a form of market timing?

ebeard wrote:So, Are we saying that Total International

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/ ... st=tab%3A2

is NOT substantially identical from FTSE All World

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/ ... st=tab%3A2

Because I want to make that move for TLH (tax loss harvesting)

chad.
The two funds follow different indices. I am thus be comfortable assuming that they're substantially identical. But I'm not the one who decides such things -- the IRS does. And the only way to find out for sure is to get audited.
by exigent
Tue Jun 05, 2012 1:41 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is TLH a form of market timing?
Replies: 56
Views: 3963

Re: Tax-Loss Harvesting using a Money Market Fund ?

My Tax-Loss Harvesting suggestion to move into a money market fund for 30 days has nothing to do with market-timing or market forecasting. It's purpose is to make TLH simple. The advantages: * Less chance of a significant loss. For example, The Dow's best month between 1950 and 2011 was +14.4%. It's worst month was (-23.2%). The Dow lost -30.7% in October 1929. * Avoiding a loss is more important than achieving a gain. * If a 30-day interim stock fund goes up in value, the gain will be taxed at income tax rates. Money Market funds avoid taxable gains. * No capital gain or loss to report to IRS! * No worry about getting "stuck" in a less desirable fund. * No worry about "buying distributions." * No "wash sale" ...
by exigent
Sun Jun 03, 2012 7:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medical bill went to collections agency
Replies: 10
Views: 2807

Re: Medical bill went to collections agency

-- deleted a weird duplicate post in which I quoted myself --
by exigent
Sun Jun 03, 2012 7:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medical bill went to collections agency
Replies: 10
Views: 2807

Re: Medical bill went to collections agency

I've had this happen before. If you really owe this amount -- and it sounds like you do -- then I would contact the provider and pay them. You can then (politely) tell the collection agency to buzz off if/when they contact you because the debt has been satisfied, and you can prove it. If the delinquency has already been reported on your credit report, then you need to request a "Pay for Delete", agreeing to pay the amount due in return for the report being removed. Don't pay until you have checked the situation, as by paying, you give up all your leverage. There's a process involved here. First, the collection agency has to notify you that they've received the debt to be collected. You then have the right to ask (in writing) for ...
by exigent
Sun Jun 03, 2012 3:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medical bill went to collections agency
Replies: 10
Views: 2807

Re: Medical bill went to collections agency

I've had this happen before. If you really owe this amount -- and it sounds like you do -- then I would contact the provider and pay them. You can then (politely) tell the collection agency to buzz off if/when they contact you because the debt has been satisfied, and you can prove it. This is how I've handled it on the two or three occasions that such problems have cropped up and I've never had a problem.
by exigent
Sun Jun 03, 2012 10:37 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Get out your stopwatch: it's a race!
Replies: 41
Views: 4287

Re: Get out your stopwatch: it's a race!

Vanguard has a website?!?!?!? ;-)

I found it quickly, but my answer is quite different from what most people are posting. According to Zack's, it was 5.73% on 1/31/12 but most everyone is reporting answers in the 14-15% range. So is this information wrong, or has it nearly tripled in the past few months?
by exigent
Tue May 22, 2012 10:07 am
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Saving and organizing favorite posts/threads
Replies: 23
Views: 2082

Re: Saving and organizing favorite posts/threads

Pam01 wrote:I use Evernote (a free online SW) which has a great search capability.

You could create a notebook called Bogleheads and cut/paste the link along with a blurb on what that post is about (perhaps from the subject). When you want to search for TLH, just search your evernote with that text and, voila, all tax loss harvesting threads pop up in response to your search.
Evernote is another good one, and they have a plugin for most browsers to save web pages straight to their service. That would probably be even better than just create a note with a link and a blurb.
by exigent
Tue May 22, 2012 8:46 am
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Saving and organizing favorite posts/threads
Replies: 23
Views: 2082

Re: Saving and organizing favorite posts/threads

I'm a big fan of Pinboard (http://www.pinboard.in/) for saving bookmarks online. There's a one-time fee of a little under $10, but it's totally worth it imho. If you upgrade to their paid service (around $25/year, but they credit your one-time signup fee against the first year) they not only save your bookmarks, they'll actually archive a copy of any pages that you bookmark. This may not be that useful for active discussion threads, but it provides future-proofing against websites disappearing and taking their content (which you found bookmark-worthy) with them. It has a minimalist interface, no ads, and it's completely searchable, taggable, etc. Also, while you can use this service to share bookmarks, you can also keep everything you bookm...
by exigent
Mon May 21, 2012 11:18 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: purging paper files
Replies: 8
Views: 1617

Re: purging paper files

Personally, I would scan, encrypt (in TrueCrypt, as suggested above), and shred. I have a Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 which makes shredding fast and easy. Highly recommended.
by exigent
Sun May 20, 2012 7:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Putting rental income in a retirement plan
Replies: 9
Views: 1157

Re: Putting rental income in a retirement plan

Just spitballing here.. Is it possible to incorporate and then pay her a salary from the real estate business? There are tax implications here (e.g., have to pay FICA, etc) so it may not be worth it. But it seems like that would open up the possibility of a SEP or Solo 401(k).
by exigent
Sun May 20, 2012 9:14 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: amazon price protection?
Replies: 11
Views: 3196

Re: amazon price protection?

Just ran into the same thing. Bought a color printer, then saw a few days later that they had dropped their price by $50. Frankly, I'm too lazy to do the whole return/re-buy thing. Oh well. It's a nice printer and I was happy with the original price -- until I saw the new, lower price.
by exigent
Sat May 19, 2012 1:04 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Battle-Royale: Rent-Generating Investments vs. Stock Market
Replies: 57
Views: 6136

Re: Battle-Royale: Rent-Generating Investments vs. Stock Mar

Ok, if we run the scenario of $3.3 million invested in the market, and the apartment building bought outright with $3.3 million, even if I bump maintenance up to $100k/yr as suggested earlier the real estate scenario brings in almost $160 million after 50 years, compared to about $75 million for the stocks. If we want to go even further, say the stock scenario the guy still works a 9-5 and invests $100k a year increase by 3% per year, (ill assume if he has 3.3 million in a bank account hes making, say $330k a year), we still only end up with $125 mil in the stock scenario opposed to $160 mil in the rental scenario, and thats comparing working 15/hrs a week to 40/hrs a week. Food for thought! Interesting. Thanks for running the numbers. It ...
by exigent
Sat May 19, 2012 10:22 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Battle-Royale: Rent-Generating Investments vs. Stock Market
Replies: 57
Views: 6136

Re: Battle-Royale: Rent-Generating Investments vs. Stock Mar

texasdiver wrote:I think much of the confusion on this thread has to do with the apples and oranges comparison.

Real estate is a business. The stock market is an investment.
There's no confusion here. You are correct that one is a business and the other is a pure (passive) investment. But even more to the point (and I'm trying not to beat a dead horse here...) the former is fueled by massive amounts of borrowed money while the latter is not.
by exigent
Sat May 19, 2012 8:59 am
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: diehardsforum.org (?)
Replies: 22
Views: 2014

Re: diehardsforum.org (?)

sscritic wrote:I use lynx. It doesn't autocomplete. but it does have bookmarks.
And Pine for e-mail. ;-)
by exigent
Sat May 19, 2012 8:26 am
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: diehardsforum.org (?)
Replies: 22
Views: 2014

Re: diehardsforum.org (?)

dratkinson wrote:
gkaplan wrote:Why don't you bookmark the forum, instead of typing in the URL each time you want to access the site?
I prefer typing it in... provided the address is short, sweet, and simple to remember. Oicuryy's suggestion accomplishes that.
Your browser doesn't support autocomplete? Type it once and from then on it will pop up when you start typing.
by exigent
Fri May 18, 2012 7:26 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Battle-Royale: Rent-Generating Investments vs. Stock Market
Replies: 57
Views: 6136

Re: Battle-Royale: Rent-Generating Investments vs. Stock Mar

Not a fair comparison. He leveraged $650k into a $3.3M investment on the real estate deal, but is investing only $650k in your stock scenario. What happens if you assume he paid $3.3M cash vs. putting $3.3M into the stock market? I disagree with you. The rest of the $3.3 million is provided by the rental property itself. Where is the rest of the 3.3 million going to come from in the stock scenario? Dude, the rest of the $3.3M is provided by the MONEY HE BORROWED to buy the property. He's profiting on a $3.3M investment, $2.65M of which is borrowed. Not even close to the same thing as a $650k market investment. He's leveraging and taking much greater risks, which is where much of the additional return comes from. Not saying it's necessarily...
by exigent
Fri May 18, 2012 3:57 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 1.5M invested ?
Replies: 36
Views: 5793

Re: 1.5M invested ?

m139115 wrote:This is a great thread in that I have an almost identical situation (except I turn 55 next year). I am suprised no one has suggested a rule 72t system of ira withdrawals at 55 to lessen taxes later. I am thinking alot about that approach. Any dangers other than having to commit to 5 equal withdrawal amounts?
I mentioned this in my first post in this thread when I talked about substantially equal periodic payments [SEPP] -- these are the withdrawals made possible by rule 72(t). Though I must admit that I didn't bring this up with respect to reducing the eventual tax hit. See also YDNAL's suggestion of doing Roth conversions while in a low tax bracket, which would have a similar effect.
by exigent
Fri May 18, 2012 3:36 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Battle-Royale: Rent-Generating Investments vs. Stock Market
Replies: 57
Views: 6136

Re: Battle-Royale: Rent-Generating Investments vs. Stock Mar

Not a fair comparison. He leveraged $650k into a $3.3M investment on the real estate deal, but is investing only $650k in your stock scenario.

What happens if you assume he paid $3.3M cash vs. putting $3.3M into the stock market?
by exigent
Fri May 18, 2012 3:25 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 1.5M invested ?
Replies: 36
Views: 5793

Re: 1.5M invested ?

I agree with the others. I would be reticent to withdraw even 4% from such an early starting age. $6k/month is right at 4.8% which is quite high. You say that this is in a "brokerage account." Do you have any retirement accounts to back this up in the future? If so, then the question is a little different from how you phrased it. You could either break into those accounts without penalties by taking substantially equal period payments (SEPP) or you could live off the taxable until you hit 59.5 and when you would be eligible to access the retirement accounts, too. But if your total nest egg (including retirement accounts) is included in that $1.5M, then you are (imho) making a mistake to hit it that hard that early. I do have a Tr...
by exigent
Fri May 18, 2012 3:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: CD rolling over... What to do?
Replies: 31
Views: 3451

Re: CD rolling over... What to do?

BruDude wrote:Standard Insurance has a 5-year fixed annuity at 2.1% or 6-year at 2.5%, which would be a taxable equivalent of 2.92% or 3.47% at a 28% tax bracket. Works just like a CD except the early withdrawal penalties would be different.
Is that insured?
by exigent
Fri May 18, 2012 7:08 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: CD rolling over... What to do?
Replies: 31
Views: 3451

Re: CD rolling over... What to do?

Just adding to the Ally bandwagon. I broke some 5 yr CDs early last week with no problems. Just the 60 day interest penalty.
by exigent
Thu May 17, 2012 3:42 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard or Fidelity..does it matter ?
Replies: 64
Views: 11351

Re: Vanguard or Fidelity..does it matter ?

Johm221122 wrote:Hallertaux wrote

'Why no mention of Schwab? I use them mostly because they offer an extensive line of Schwab managed funds with extremely low exp ratios "

This would not be something that would be often recommended on this site.I would be curious to which funds you use?and why?
You cut that quote short. He went on to talk about index funds, so by "Schwab managed funds", I think he means they are operated by Schwab, not that they are actively managed funds.

Schwab has some nice index offerings with low expense ratios and (importantly for those just starting out) very low minimums.
by exigent
Wed May 16, 2012 11:36 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard or Fidelity..does it matter ?
Replies: 64
Views: 11351

Re: Vanguard or Fidelity..does it matter ?

Where we have a choice, our funds are at Vanguard. For certain (employer-related) accounts, our funds are at Fidelity. I'm happy with both. As others have pointed out, the Spartan funds are quite competitive from a pricing perspective. That being said, I have more trust that Vanguard won't jack up expense ratios in the future. It's conceivable (though perhaps not likely) that Fidelity would. If that happens, you'll either have to deal with it or move your money. In a taxable account, there are tax implications of doing this. Good luck.
by exigent
Wed May 16, 2012 11:23 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 1.5M invested ?
Replies: 36
Views: 5793

Re: 1.5M invested ?

I agree with the others. I would be reticent to withdraw even 4% from such an early starting age. $6k/month is right at 4.8% which is quite high.

You say that this is in a "brokerage account." Do you have any retirement accounts to back this up in the future? If so, then the question is a little different from how you phrased it. You could either break into those accounts without penalties by taking substantially equal period payments (SEPP) or you could live off the taxable until you hit 59.5 and when you would be eligible to access the retirement accounts, too.

But if your total nest egg (including retirement accounts) is included in that $1.5M, then you are (imho) making a mistake to hit it that hard that early.
by exigent
Wed May 16, 2012 11:14 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Property Tax Appeal Companies
Replies: 13
Views: 2028

Re: Property Tax Appeal Companies

I've challenged our tax assessment on my own in the past and been successful each time. It's sort of an annual thing for me. I get the assessment, it looks high, I verify that by looking at comps, and I make the request. In my experience, it just needs to be a reasonable request backed up by evidence -- e.g., include comps that have sold for less, etc. I never had to show up in person. I made the request, they granted a reduction, and I went on my merry way. If they had said no, or if I had not been happy with the amount of the reduction, I could have appealed. The appeal would require an appearance before the board of equalization.
by exigent
Sun May 06, 2012 1:01 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: iPad choice?
Replies: 24
Views: 3127

Re: iPad choice?

I have a 64gb wifi ipad2. In retrospect, I would've bought the 32gb 3G version at almost the same price point (-$100 for 32gb vs 64gb, +$130 for 3G, so $30 more). As others have pointed out, you can turn 3G on/off at will (on a monthly basis) so the flexibility is attractive. Also, the 3G model is gps-capable whereas wifi is not.
by exigent
Thu May 03, 2012 1:35 pm
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Most efficient way to read the forum
Replies: 30
Views: 3613

Re: Most efficient way to read the forum

I use a combination of "View Your Posts" and "View New Posts", both of which are pinned to my browser's bookmarks bar.
by exigent
Thu May 03, 2012 1:27 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: At what interest rate would you borrow to invest?
Replies: 39
Views: 3833

Re: At what interest rate would you borrow to invest?

wander wrote:I wouldn't invest with borrowed money.
Anyone that has a mortgage balance (or other debt) and is investing is technically investing with borrowed money. Right? And yet that's typically viewed as normal.

(Note: I wouldn't borrow to invest either, just pointing out the potentially obvious.)

Edit to add: Ugh. Note to self. Read through the entire thread before saying something that someone else has undoubtedly already said. :oops:
by exigent
Thu May 03, 2012 1:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buying an "investment" condo
Replies: 19
Views: 2361

Re: Buying an "investment" condo

So you're looking to sink upwards of $550k into this place and you'll still be cash flow negative to the tune of $5k/year? Versus holding onto that $550k, investing it, having zero headaches, and just paying to rent a place on an as-needed basis? I look at it this way... You're 44 years old and have three kids. You're currently maxing all available retirement accounts and probably making taxable investments on top of that. You can afford to pay cash for this place. In other words, you've already won the game. You just need to avoid making stupid financial decisions that could jeopardize your success. This isn't to say that buying the condo is necessarily a stupid decision, but it's an unnecessary risk -- and one that could jeopardize your f...
by exigent
Mon Apr 30, 2012 12:34 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 3-5 year investment
Replies: 19
Views: 3922

Re: 3-5 year investment

5 year CDs at Ally are paying a little under 1.7% -- close to the best available, but with a better than average penalty for early withdrawal (60 days interest).

Yes, this is depressingly low, but it's FDIC insured and better than a savings account.

Edit to add: Ooops, a couple of people beat me to it.
by exigent
Sat Apr 28, 2012 8:05 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRS letter: HELP!
Replies: 32
Views: 5674

Re: IRS letter: HELP!

I got nearly the exact same letter related to an IRA to 401(k) rollover + a traditional to Roth conversion -- and they wanted a *ton* of money. It was for tax year 2010 and it arrived in mid-April. Only thing is that everything was on the up and up. Talked to our tax guy, he said it was a fishing expedition and asked for statements supporting what we did on the 401(k) -- basically showing the disbursal from the IRA account and arrival of funds in the 401(k). For the IRA, he said they wanted to establish the basis (these were non-deductible contributions) so I gave him the relevant account statements showing when the contributions were made + Form 5498 from the relevant years. When combined with the fact we didn't take IRA deductions in thos...
by exigent
Thu Apr 26, 2012 3:40 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: HealthHub/PayFlex HSA?
Replies: 0
Views: 515

HealthHub/PayFlex HSA?

Hey all, my employer will be changing HSA custodians in the coming months to HealthHub ("powered by PayFlex"). I'm curious if any of you have dealt with them and, if so, what the investment options are like. Our current custodian is horrible, so I've just been letting the funds pile up as cash with the intention of eventually moving it to a better custodian.

I'm hoping that HealthHub will have decent options b/c it would be easier to just deal with my employer's custodian as opposed to striking out on my own. We will, of course, be receiving additional details in the future, but I'm anxious to know more.
by exigent
Mon Apr 23, 2012 11:37 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: HSA account question
Replies: 3
Views: 466

Re: HSA account question

Hmmm. From elsewhere on that same page from the OPM: "...if your HSA was fully funded and you leave the HDHP during the year, then you will have to withdraw some of the contribution from the account. You must pay income tax on your excess contributions and income tax on any earnings of the excess contribution. There is no 10% penalty on excess contributions." So it sounds like you can fully fund your HSA as long as you HDHP was effective January 1, but if you leave the plan before the end of the year you have to pro-rate it and make a partial withdrawal? The good news is that it sounds like there are no penalties associated with this. You would just have to pay the taxes that would otherwise have been due on this portion of the mo...
by exigent
Mon Apr 23, 2012 10:19 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: HSA account question
Replies: 3
Views: 466

Re: HSA account question

From here:

http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/hsa/faq.asp

"If your HDHP was effective on January 1st, the total amount you can contribute to your account is the maximum contribution amount set by the IRS."

It's more complex if your HDHP plan starts after January 1, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.