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gostars

gostars - Would you be worried that SPEM could be too similar to VWO? I don't want to create a wash sale. No. There's no indication that they would be considered substantially identical given that they track different indices, have vastly different compositions (4075 holding for VWO vs. 1291 for SP...

gostars

Are you trying to buy through BrokerageLink in a workplace plan? The ZERO funds are only available through normal accounts, not workplace plans.

gostars

Additional useful information: SEC filing: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/819118/000137949118004650/filing788.htm Large Cap Index ticker: FNILX Extended Market Index ticker: FZIPX The large-cap index conveniently picks the 500 largest companies, while the extended market index picks everyth...

gostars

You can also use other ETFs like ITOT or SCHB in place of VTI if you have any taxable investments in VTI or VTSAX and may tax-loss harvest in the future and want to avoid any potential wash sale issues. How does the exchange for ETF's look like? Is there a way to exchange without being subject to p...

gostars

Transamerica Partners Stock Index Ret Opt is probably the only fund I would use in that plan. Probably best to hold your bond and international allocations in taxable or an IRA. Also see How to campaign for a better 401(k) plan in the wiki, because that's not a good 401k plan, though still worth usi...

gostars

SPEM is probably the most accurate replacement for VEMAX/VWO, as it includes small caps and excludes Korea. IEMG includes a big chunk of Korea, while SCHE excludes small caps.

gostars

As far as I know, the only Vanguard ETFs that track the same index as a Fidelity or iShares ETF are the 9 S&P ETFs (VOO/IVV, VOOV/IVE, VOOG/IVW, IVOO/IJH, IVOV/IJJ, IVOG/IJK, VIOO/IJR, VIOV/IJS, VIOG/IJT), and aside from VOO the Vanguard funds aren't even that common since they prefer to promote...

gostars

I'm now thinking of just using VTI and VXUS in my taxable account at Fidelity. I have a bunch of free trades so I don't need to worry about trading fees. This would also allow me to easily move them to Vanguard and convert them to mutual funds down the line, if I wanted to do so. The Fidelity ZERO ...

gostars

Thankyou. I'm considering transferring my old 401k . 200k is a huge amount for me so am a bit nervous. Basically the funds are sitting in low cost large cap and mid cap MFs. I have been wanting to add low cap exposure. If I transfer to ML, can I just buy VTI commission free there? And I can pocket ...

gostars

As long as either is done before December 31 it will be fine. Rolling the money into the TSP isn't exactly a difficult process either, especially if the TIRA is at a different brokerage and you'll have to do a transfer anyway.

gostars

With the employer plan I have at Empower, there's a "Brokerage" link in the Investments section on the left side where all the other links are, and that takes you to a page with either sign-in links or enrollment documents, as appropriate. Probably no fees, but you'd have to review each fu...

gostars

Interesting, I thought everyone using Texas TRS and ERS had both available. Do you mind sharing what kind of employer it is? Would your contribution amounts depend on on which one you selected? For example, if you made pre-tax contributions of $10,000 versus making Roth contributions of $7,800 (i.e....

gostars

First off, welcome to the forum.

What do you ultimately plan to do with the money and in what timeframe? How much risk can you take with it? Would having additional income reduce any benefits you are currently receiving?

gostars

A 457b is often a secondary plan to a 403b or 401k. Do you have another option you could be using first?

gostars

Right now my 401k is at Fidelity, in a Freedom 2045 target date fund. There are only 3 bond options available in my 401k, EVIBX(junk bond fund of some sort), FIBAX (treasuries I think), FBNDX(investment grade bonds). Does your 401k offer BrokerageLink? If so, you could use that to hold FXNAX (aggre...

gostars

Seems pretty reasonable given the otherwise poor fund choices. If you haven't already done so, check to see if your plan offers a self-directed brokerage account. I know some Empower plans have one available at Schwab, which gives you access to all of Schwab's ETFs and mutual funds without transacti...

gostars

NEIAX tracks the S&P 500, NTIAX tracks the S&P MidCap 400, and NMSAX tracks the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. To approximate total stock market weight weights, it would be 83% NEIAX, 11% NTIAX, and 6% NMSAX. Your proposed allocation heavily overweights mid and small caps. Some people like to t...

gostars

With my new income, I understand that I won't be able to contribute to a Roth IRA next year. It seems that everyone says the Roth IRA is the best thing ever, but I'm trying to figure out if it makes sense in my situation. If I expect my income to be significantly lower when I want to retire, wouldn...

gostars

Previous job (in IT) had a business casual dress code (khakis/polo shirts, jeans on Fridays and any days where grubby work was expected). Non-athletic sneakers were permitted as long as they were solid black and in good shape. I wore New Balance walking shoes and it was never an issue. Those Nikes t...

gostars

Assuming you're holding Vanguard Total Bond Market (BND/VBTLX/VBMFX), you could simply switch to the iShares AGG or Schwab SCHZ ETFs, which are also aggregate bond funds, but track a different index from Vanguard's (the one Vanguard uses is float-adjusted, the one iShares and Schwab use is not). The...

gostars

In your original post you listed what your regular contributions were, and taxable wasn't in there. If you've got $140k to invest now, then invest it all and be done with it. If in the future you find you have some excess cash you would like to invest, then invest it at that time. I would not use mu...

gostars

Roth at Schwab is perfectly fine. I wouldn't call Merrill Edge gimmicky. It's not like they've giving you useless junk like pens and calendars and coffee mugs. The bump to 5.25% on gas and 3.5% on groceries and warehouse clubs is a big chunk of my spending, and the 1.75% on everything else is good e...

gostars

Please provide the expense ratios for each of the funds, as well as any fees the plan charges. As a general rule, your best options will probably be the ones with "Index" in the name. SSgA U.S. Bond Index is a likely choice, as it tracks the Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index (simi...

gostars

ITOT is another comparable to VTI and SCHB. IVV is an S&P 500 fund and is comparable to VOO/VFIAX. SCHF is not a direct replacement for VXUS. SCHF is a developed market, large/mid-cap fund, so it excludes small caps and emerging markets, which explains the significantly lower ER. IXUS is the onl...

gostars

You have to pay taxes on dividends in the tax year they are received. The taxes you pay create a slight drag, because you just lost 15% or more of of that money, and it isn't continuing to accumulate for the long term (this is why we almost always prefer investing in tax-advantaged accounts). If you...

gostars

No. The same day is within the range of 30 days before to 30 days after.

gostars

If you hold VTSAX in your Roth IRA, then hold VTI in taxable, those are substantially identical funds. If you make your Roth contribution for the year and buy VTSAX, then 2 weeks later the market craters and you want to tax-loss harvest the VTI, that would be a wash sale, and you would lose that muc...

gostars

The $18500 ($24500 with catch-up) employee elective contribution limit applies across all plans combined, so if you're maxing out employee contributions at the day job then you can't contribute as an employee to a solo 401k. The solo 401k would be limited to contributions on the employer side, which...

gostars

Option 3 sounds fine to me, and I'd probably consider doing it for more than 3 years, unless you're planning to retire at that point. The only way that would be able to afford to continue maxing out the 401k and Roth IRA would be to continue drawing down the money market fund (and not investing it ...

gostars

SPAB and AGG track the exact same index, and BND tracks a variant of it. I don't see the point in changing.

gostars

Welcome to the forums. Unless the current 401k plan charges AUM fees or doesn't accept rollovers, I would roll the 403b into the 401k. The fund options in the 401k are excellent and I don't see any particular need to keep separate accounts. The money you have in taxable, is that solely for retiremen...

gostars

Option 3 sounds fine to me, and I'd probably consider doing it for more than 3 years, unless you're planning to retire at that point.

gostars

I would suggest reaching out to the HR/benefits department at your employer, or whoever is responsible for selecting the funds, and asking them to work with Fidelity to add the US Bond Index fund. It's extremely common to find this in Fidelity 401k plans, to the point that I'm a bit surprised that y...

gostars

If they're still tacking on the .65% then all it really changes is giving you VTSAX (total US stock market) instead of needing to split into S&P 500 and extended market, and adding VTIAX as an international option. Bonds are still kind of a tossup. The .65% you'd pay in expenses on the 403b is r...

gostars

A traditional bond mutual fund delivers returns in 2 different ways, both in the yield it provides and in the changing value of the underlying assets, as reflected in the NAV (share price). Each day that the NAV is calculated, the fraction of the ER belonging to that day is factored in and decreases...

gostars

To be honest, if I only had a single account, I'd stick with a target date index fund for now. Since it's an IRA, you can make changes to your holdings with no tax consequences. Start with a target date fund, then in a few years when you add a 401k and maybe a taxable brokerage account, you can slic...

gostars

I'm trying to learn as much as I can about this stuff :) ...Don't Money Market Funds pay dividends, those would need to be accounted for on a 1099 correct? Yes, you'll pay tax on the dividends, no different from any other savings or checking account interest. Unrelated question, but since I'm posti...

gostars

The extra expenses. If it was just the fund expenses, it would be a good plan. The 3 funds I listed from Vanguard, Fidelity, and PIMCO would be enough to make a Boglehead investor happy if there were no extra fees. With the extra fees, we would still use it for the tax advantages, but grumble about ...

gostars

SPAB is the no-commission ETF equivalent of the Vanguard Total Bond Index fund available at TDA, and is a reasonable choice to use. Personally, I'd rather move the whole thing to Fidelity, because I think they have the widest range and lowest cost options for tax-advantaged investing. FXNAX is the a...

gostars

80% Vngrd 500 Index Fd AS + 20% Fid SpartExtdMktIndxAdvtg would give you total stock market. NW Intl Indx A is the only international fund I would consider, and that's only if the initial purchase fee is waived in the plan. PIMCO Ttl Rtn Inst is a decent bond fund in spite of the relatively high ER....

gostars

The coax connector in the current room is connected to the Direct TV satellite dish. The coax in the second room might just be connected to your cable tv distribution. At ten years this is most likely RG-59 and the connection panel combined might be too much attenuation for the satellite signal Not...

gostars

The fees are pretty horrible at .73% for FSCSX (Software and IT) and .78% for FSRPX (Retailing). If you want sector funds, and I'm not saying they're a good idea, there are far cheaper options, like FTEC/VGIT for tech and FDIS/VCR for consumer discretionary (smilar holdings to retailing). Comparing ...

gostars

A mega backdoor Roth IRA is where you make after-tax contributions to a 401k, then while still employed make a distribution of that money and roll it in to a Roth IRA. There isn't a conversion involved on the contributions; however, any gains it makes would be considered pre-tax and would either nee...

gostars

Do you have any other investments for retirement, like a workplace 401k? If you have multiple accounts, then you may want to divide things up for optimal results. If the Roth IRA is all you have, then obviously everything would go there. For what it's worth, at 22, I would consider an 80/20 allocati...

gostars

Was just searching for info on cash sweep options at ME and saw other threads from the past reference BIF - but a big change coming in that area this week: https://advisorhub.com/merrill-to-shift-client-cash-into-bofa-accounts-and-away-from-cash/ So staying invested is ideal - but have to pay the f...

gostars

Houses range from $325K-$500K. ..... Overall quote to build plus lot from this builder is $540K. I would be wary of owning the most expensive home in a subdivision when it comes time to sell. Buyers will look at sales of nearby homes and not want to pay a premium, even if said house is demonstrably...

gostars

If the 403(b) has a Roth option, that might be the best, at least if it has good fund choices and no fees besides fund ERs. Higher contribution limit than an IRA, and for many it's easier to deal with a smaller paycheck due to a payroll deduction than it is to watch money constantly drained from the...

gostars

I just did the $300 checking bonus. $500 and change sent from Vanguard (money market) on 8/15, posted on 8/17, bonus credited on 8/28, moved $800+change out on 8/29. Planning to bounce $500 through it monthly to meet the requirements, but otherwise just keep some change in the account. I don't see a...

gostars

HSA, if available. And I would investigate what it would take to sell out of some of those options. Huge chunk of the portfolio+primary source of income all in one place is less than ideal, but if you're stuck waiting on vesting or something then you might just have to live with it and pray the comp...

gostars

As I understand it, from the IRS's perspective, a traditional IRA and a rollover IRA are the same thing. Historically, there was a distinction between them which affected rollovers to other plans, but that distinction was eliminated long ago. Some small percentage of plans still follows the old rule...

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