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rkhusky

Others have encountered problems using this system so clearly there are problems. I do see how the things could be both clearer and easier to use so we will have to just agree to disagree. Good luck. User error is the source of the problems, not anything confusing with the Vanguard website. One can...

rkhusky

I would look at getting rid of it - don't reinvest dividends/cap gains, sell shares that show a loss, sell shares if you can in the 0% LTCG bracket.

If you are okay getting those high cap gains year after year, then selling and incurring some additional cap gains shouldn't be an issue.

rkhusky

But that's not what happens. It offers you dollars, you type in dollars, then I guess on the next screen it's shares, hence the 2500 shares was more like $194,000. I'm sure there was a confirm screen that the person missed. They just trusted that the system had listened to the $2500 they typed in. ...

rkhusky

For the three months I worked in 2018 before I retired (January through March), I added several exemptions to reduce my federal and state tax withholding. This gave me space to accelerate my entire year's worth of TSP and catch-up contributions in those three months. That was my point. Due to the w...

rkhusky

The same goes for rebalancing.

Most of my taxable account did not show losses in March due to being bought years earlier.

rkhusky

But that's not what happens. It offers you dollars, you type in dollars, then I guess on the next screen it's shares, hence the 2500 shares was more like $194,000. I'm sure there was a confirm screen that the person missed. They just trusted that the system had listened to the $2500 they typed in. ...

rkhusky

A counter argument can be made that a long term Growth trend, we are now 11 years into this, will make it appear that the factors have gone away. Time will tell who is correct. Factor models do not favor either the short or long portion of the long-short structure. And premiums can be both positive...

rkhusky

Wash sales caused by purchases in taxable accounts are different than when caused by purchases in tax-advantaged accounts. In the latter case, the loss is permanently disallowed, while in the former, the loss is only temporarily disallowed. Wash sales are reported on IRS Form 8949. The wash sale sta...

rkhusky

A counter argument can be made that a long term Growth trend, we are now 11 years into this, will make it appear that the factors have gone away. Time will tell who is correct. Factor models do not favor either the short or long portion of the long-short structure. And premiums can be both positive...

rkhusky

retiredjg wrote: ↑Sat Dec 26, 2020 8:57 am You do not need to contribute the full $19.5k to get the full match, but you do need to contribute each paycheck to get the full match.

You have to contribute at least 5% of each paycheck to get the full match.

rkhusky

Because factor portfolios are long-short portfolios. The market portfolio has no exposure to momentum for instance because all the positive momentum is exactly cancelled out by the negative momentum. The same is true for all the other factors. The market portfolio has exposure to just one factor: b...

rkhusky

Vanguard estimates what the dollar amount will be, provides labels on the different quantities, has different number of decimal places, plus dollar amounts have a dollar sign. You would really have to not be paying attention to make such a mistake. Like typing with your eyes closed. Happened to the...

rkhusky

I made the change this summer-ish when Vanguard starting nagging me. I believe this has been mentioned already but today I started looking at the process of doing a Roth conversion and discovered I can no longer do it by dollar only by shares! That is fine, but annoying. I did some searches on the ...

rkhusky

I had to go check my spreadsheet and I already had it there. But thanks.

rkhusky

When I read, "International funds paid less dividends," my mind screamed out "fewer!" Maybe I'm being just a tad petty, but "International funds paid out less dividends" feels like nails on a chalkboard. I'm wondering, though, am I right? Should it be "fewer divid...

rkhusky

If you work 2 or 3 months in the new year, take your fed tax to zero, and put most everything to the TSP, you should get close to maxing This is a bit more challenging with the new 2020 W4, no more allowances to adjust up or down. I am not sure how can you can achieve this with the Section 4 deduct...

rkhusky

If you work 2 or 3 months in the new year, take your fed tax to zero, and put most everything to the TSP, you should get close to maxing This is a bit more challenging with the new 2020 W4, no more allowances to adjust up or down. I am not sure how can you can achieve this with the Section 4 deduct...

rkhusky

peddler, panhandler, pinsetter, pipefitter,

rkhusky

Your child owns the UTMA. You own the 529, unless it is also an UTMA.

rkhusky

For our refi, we dealt with 4 different people from PenFed plus a third-party from Texas who handled some of the initial paperwork. They really dug through our credit reports and information about the house. were things delayed by dealing with so many different people? Hard to say. Some of it was d...

rkhusky

It depends on the difference between your tax rate now to do the Roth conversions versus what you will pay later for Roth conversions, withdrawals, and RMD’s.

rkhusky

For our refi, we dealt with 4 different people from PenFed plus a third-party from Texas who handled some of the initial paperwork.

They really dug through our credit reports and information about the house.

rkhusky

See if there is any way to realize the loss before the end of the year.

rkhusky

I hardly ever look at performance because it is difficult to get an apples to apples comparison. Is your performance difference due to different stock allocations or different risk profiles, or is it a true difference in performance? Occasionally I have compared to a LifeStrategy or Target Retiremen...

rkhusky

I think it is worthwhile to do Roth conversions in the 12% bracket. Tax rates are schedule to go up in a few years (12% -> 15%). Plus Social Security taxation can increase your marginal tax rate. See https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Taxation_of_Social_Security_benefits, especially the heat maps for a...

rkhusky

Holding bonds or other tax inefficient investments in a non-deductible tIRA is fine.
But a tax efficient stock fund is better in a taxable account.

See: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Non-ded ... tional_IRA

rkhusky

What is the point of this are you buying shares cheaper or getting a dividend you wouldn’t otherwise get so you are better off? A stock dividend doesn't change your total return - the share price goes down at the same time the dividend is paid, such that your total dollar amount remains the same. H...

rkhusky

mfiiub wrote: ↑Thu Dec 24, 2020 5:16 am Can my wife also open a separate IRA then convert to Roth IRA and then contribute separately another 6000

The total of all IRA contributions is capped at $6000 for those under 50.

rkhusky

I would not go with anyone that didn’t provide an estimate of total fees. I asked and they explained that their estimated fees are all standard or able to be shopped. They said they personally don’t charge lender fees nor origination fees. Can that be true? My refi earlier this year had miscellaneo...

rkhusky

I have had good luck with Penfed for car loan, mortgage refinance, and HEL. Haven’t had a new home loan with them, which can be more stressful timing wise. Just like any company, it depends on who you get working your paperwork. In the past, if their rates are the lowest, they can get overwhelmed. I...

rkhusky

Best to go by the ex-dividend date, since it is consistent between mutual funds and ETF’s. Good tip to know. Is a "reinvest ex-dividend date" different from the "ex-dividend date"? VTSAX has a "reinvest ex-dividend date" of 12/23, while VTI's is 12/24. They are the sam...

rkhusky

[edit] Just make sure there truly is no other income: $12 interest from a checking account, $37 state income tax refund, etc. I don't usually know these numbers until I get tax info after year-end (Jan/Feb). Does the conversion have to be done by 12/31? If so, does one estimate the amounts? In my c...

rkhusky

Best to go by the ex-dividend date, since it is consistent between mutual funds and ETF’s.

rkhusky

Looking at the steps to make a Roth conversion from my Vanguard IRA account there is the option of having Vanguard withhold the taxes. Is there any disadvantage to pay the tax using non-IRA dollars to maximize the conversion amount? And since I pay quarterly estimated taxes, can I just add the conv...

rkhusky

Husky, my initial estimate is as follows.(I only have Total Stock and Total Intnl in my taxable account). When I compare my dividends for 2020 to 2019, I find that my dividends for 2020 are about 10 to 11% lower than 2019. Did you find this to be the case?? Also, It appears that my QDI's will be a ...

rkhusky

In addition, there are 3 sales, but no buys. You need both within 30 days to have a wash sale. Along with the substantially identical issue.

rkhusky

When tax gain harvesting in the 0% LTCG bracket, you should also consider state taxes and the LTCG rate you will pay in the future. As mentioned, Roth conversions may be a better option.

rkhusky

Perversely, as someone who allocates heavily to the ‘value’ factor, I am highly encouraged by the last 10 years of significant underperformance (as well as the prior 10 years of outperformance). A purely random sample of hundreds or thousands of stocks would be unlikely to dramatically underperform...

rkhusky

Is it better to pay tax on $10 each year for the next 10 years or pay tax on $100 in 10 years?

In the latter case, you can earn money on the taxes you would have paid each year in the former case.

rkhusky

The funds that I have been waiting for have released final numbers: Total Stock Market (VTSAX): estimate was $0.35, actual was $0.3781, 8.0% higher. Mid-Cap (VIMAX): estimate was $1.03, actual was $1.1549, 12.1% higher. Small-Cap (VSMAX): estimate was $0.38, actual was $0.4280, 12.6% higher. These D...

rkhusky

You might want to relook at Leg 2. If you take SS before FRA, you permanently decrease your benefit and spouse benefit. Thx... I was assuming the lower benefit person would start at 62 then start the higher one at 70 and having spouse flip to use that instead of her own. I thought that was the opti...

rkhusky

ollistu wrote: ↑Tue Dec 22, 2020 7:25 pm On the other hand, I guess the bank account would have to match the name on the Vanguard account.....is that correct?

Right. Plus emails and letters are sent to the address of record. I don’t remember but there might also be a delay before you can withdraw.

rkhusky

Retirement contributions, insurance premiums and Thrift Savings Plan deductions are not withheld. Thank you for finding this. How unfortunate that they don't allow those deductions from the final lump sum check....considering many of us want to retire early in the calendar year. If you work 2 or 3 ...

rkhusky

I would suggest 100% Target Retirement Income (30/70 stocks/bonds) or 100% LifeStrategy Conservative Growth (40/60) or 100% LifeStrategy Moderate Growth (60/40), depending on your risk tolerance. Let Vanguard do all the work for you. You can just contribute for a few years and then withdraw your RMD...

rkhusky

You are the one who is concerned about code injection into a password manager so I am offering you a solution. I am not worried about code injection into 1Password. If I was, then yes, I would check the source code myself. I'm not concerned. I don't use a password manager. I am also not concerned a...

rkhusky

mooudn wrote: ↑Tue Dec 22, 2020 4:14 pm Is it ok to discard paper copies of tax return documents (including recent ones)? I am de-cluttering and would like to know if I can scan my paper copies and just keep electronic ones.

Yes.

rkhusky

It is unlikely that software will cause a hardware problem. Not a guarantee though that the software is correct. Hard drives are cheap, so I would get another one and see what happens.

rkhusky

Remember to add in any dividend/interest and cap gain distributions for the year.

If the sum of your income, dividends, interest, cap gains is less than $52,525, you should be paying 0% LTCG.

rkhusky

Really?! I guess I have been spoiled at Vanguard, who makes that info available in January, with detailed estimates in early December. How many times have you received a corrected 1099-DIV from Vanguard or other financial institution? I have found that "early" doesn't mean "correct.&...

rkhusky

livesoft wrote: ↑Tue Dec 22, 2020 9:52 am Fidelity designates all dividends as non-qualified until at some point 2 to 3 months after the end of the year when they figure it out and report it properly.

Really?! I guess I have been spoiled at Vanguard, who makes that info available in January, with detailed estimates in early December.

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