Bogleheads.org

dad2000

Well in a short span with this AA, I've gone through bull and a likely bear. Looking back, I feel like I gauged the risk well and am happy with where I sit. I've had to ignore all the web advice that my AA was too conservative and that I was giving up a better retirement. Pick an appropriate level o...

dad2000

I can think of dozens of cities, and there are plenty more I haven't been to. More importantly, your lifestyle needs to be compatible with the area. I suggest taking a quiz that asks good questions and provides meaningful results. I like this one: https://www.best-place-to-retire.com/places-to-retir...

dad2000

My spouse. Expert witness in civil court, relying on expertise gained in her primary job.

Accounts for half her income, plus the tax-deduction benefits from a side-business, which are now extremely valuable due to the loss of deductions in the new tax code.

dad2000

Earned a B.S. in C.S. from state school. Worked in I.T.

After advancing in the field for a few years, took a risk with a few guys in the late 90s on a very early stage startup and have averaged that (in today's dollars) ever since.

I was lucky. But I also believe that one makes their own luck.

dad2000

Hit FI last month at age 52 with 5M in retirement funds and no debt. More importantly, wife and I are in excellent health.

dad2000

With 2 way and 4 way stops, the car that gets to the intersection first has right of way. If they reach simultaneously, the car to the right has the right of way. With a 2 way stop, if opposing cars arrive simultaneously, the car turning left must yield. So in your situation, if you are arriving fir...

dad2000

This list is not going to be helpful in selecting a state for retirement. In order to be useful, it would need data on several more categories. Additionally, it would need to allow the user to rank the weight of each category based on user preference. Some people like the ocean, some like desert. So...

dad2000

It may depend on what your approach to budgeting was. For example, I've built in assumptions that our Social Security benefits will get reduced by 20%, and baked in an extra $30K per year because I don't have LTCI. I see these as reasonable, but some may see this as too cautious. With all of that, a...

dad2000

https://ustrustaem.fs.ml.com/content/dam/ust/articles/pdf/insights-on-wealth-and-worth-2018/Detailed_Findings.pdf I'm not posting anything actionable here, but this is a detailed survey of HNW (defined as >$3M investable assets) individuals. Some of you may find items of interest in here, particuarl...

dad2000

I've never been a fan of these, but am finding myself in what may be the narrow case where it may make sense. Me: early 50s, wife: mid 40s, MFJ, and have been in the top federal income tax bracket for many years. So my marginal tax rate on income is 42% (fed+state). A recent windfall (sale of privat...

dad2000

Early 50s. I assume that in retirement, we'll be paying $25K per year for health care and receiving 80% of the current projected SS retirement benefits. I'm not sure that it would make sense for me to project more pessimistic conditions. I already use the Fidelity "Significant Below Average&quo...

dad2000

Assuming that you're doing a good job with the current task, can't you volunteer to help with something more challenging?

If not, then I see no problem with leaving. I'm not sure that I'd even wait around to pad the resume, assuming that a better job becomes available to you.

dad2000

BASICS: Emergency funds: 12 months of expenses Debt: None, no mortgages or car payments Tax Filing Status: Married Filing Jointly Tax Rate: 37% Federal, 5.1% State (Federal will trend down to 24% over the next 3-5 years) [Corrected tax rates] Age: early 50s, wife late 40s Desired Asset allocation: 5...

dad2000

https://www.livingto100.com tells me 103. I have multiple centinarians in my blood lines, so I guess this is a reasonable estimate, but it makes for challenging financial planning. I will do everything I can to not live past the point where I lose my dignity. I'm not planning to leave much behind (o...

dad2000

Health care finance managers can earn $150-$160k. There are online masters degree programs in this field that are relatively inexpensive and far less demanding than b-school or law school.

dad2000

Thanks everyone.

This hardly seems to reflect the IRS stance that we are a "pay-as-you-go" system, but I'll take it. I can safely get nearly 2% on this for a year, which is hardly chump change.

dad2000

I don't think a lot has changed since this was written: https://www.kitces.com/blog/can-increasing-the-long-term-care-insurance-elimination-period-make-coverage-appealing-again/ Because of the high probability of claims, LTCI is largely just a prepaid plan. I'm in my 50s and can self-insure for seve...

dad2000

For AGI over >$150K, I believe that the rule says that there will be no penalty if your combined withholdings and estimated taxes paid exceed 110% of the previous years tax liability. So using round numbers, let's say that my tax liability was $150k last year. I've already withheld $200k this year w...

dad2000

https://www.t-mobile.com/offers/military-phone-plans This is a pretty good deal for military and veteran families (assuming the coverage is decent in your area). I finally switched from VZW and cut the bill by half. We now have 5 lines of unlimited talk/text/data for $110/month, and because they ass...

dad2000

(unless you have a bunch of kids where the increased child tax credit doesn't make up for the eliminated extra exemptions) The only losers will be those with "dependents" who are not "children" (under 17) because they will lose the exemption, and there is no compensating credit....

dad2000

How does the 20% deduction for pass-through income interact with AMT? It seems like if you had to add the deduction back in, it would negate the benefit (then again, that seems to be the point of AMT). I haven't been able to find a comprehensive explanation of the pass-through deduction, just some ...

dad2000

Passwords and such are stored in a password app with the password database stored in a manually mounted Veracrypt volume. It's essentially double encryption, or triple if you count the fact that the entire hard drive is Bitlocker encrypted. Nothing on the cloud. The Veracrypt volume is backed up to ...

dad2000

I'd say that I receive an average of 2 calls per month to my cell phone. I spoke with them once and told them I wasn't interested in anything else at that time. I've since blocked the number so it goes direct to voicemail.

The investment tracking and retirement planning modules are pretty good.

dad2000

Zero.

HIgh paying jobs. Prudent investing.

dad2000

Blah, blah, blah...

Vanguard Lifestrategy Income is an extremely low risk fund, and it still smoked the fund-of-funds. He can cherry pick all he wants, but he probably loses a 10 year bet to any well-diversified index/allocation fund 95% of the time.

dad2000

Agree with previous posters.

Maximize your human capital. Continue your education.

dad2000

I have a question that I hope is demographic and not political: I'm in Generation X, which is a relatively small generation sandwiched between two huge generations (Baby Boomers and Millennials). If Social Security survives the Baby Boomers, won't it be in pretty good shape for Generation X (becaus...

dad2000

I see 529s as mostly benefiting those who are confident that they can max out all other regular tax shelters through their kids childhood, and are still left in a high marginal tax bracket (say 33%+). People in this group probably aren't going to benefit much from filling out FAFSA. I fall into this...

dad2000

I'm not quite sure I understand. Are you switching to a job that does not offer a 401K, so you want to contribute the maximum to your existing before leaving? AFAIK, you typically don't manipulate your 401K contribution by playing around with your federal and state withholding. At my employer, I go ...

dad2000

Only if I needed something bigger that what I own. Most of my car rental calculations revolve around what do if I've flown somewhere. Then I have to weigh public transport/Uber/cab vs rental/parking. But it's not always about the money. For example, driving and parking a car within San Francisco and...

dad2000

Put it into vanguard balanced index, and dont touch it for 40 years, or until you learn about investing for minimum 5 years. Or, put it into total stock market and dont touch it ever. Or invest in yourself - grad school, MBA school, etc. if needed for your career. Lots of nuances but if you put the...

dad2000

I got a good deal on the Best Western near Fisherman's Wharf last year. It's a nice place and was reasonably priced. They were very accommodating. Definitely don't drive within the city. I got parking through Parking Panda 2 blocks from the hotel for $20 per night which was worth it. +1 on Muir Wood...

dad2000

I follow the method he titled: Decrease Stocks By Percent of “Enough” Why? Because I could retire today at age 51 using a 3% SWR at a level that most people would deem adequate, and I have zero debt with 2 houses paid off. I don't feel like I have a great need to take risk. I'm at 65/35 and will gli...

dad2000

Depends on who you are considering in the study. Based on articles I've seen, more than half of working age Americans don't have $25k saved for retirement, so I'd assume they don't have or need investment advisors. Of the people I know with an investment portfolio of more than $500k, most have inves...

dad2000

Dead cat cover looks like an ear muff that goes over the microphone. It is a cheap way of filtering out noise. You definitely want the external wireless mic. I don't recommend just setting it on a table. You can get a flexible tripod from Amazon for $10-15 that you can put on a table, or wrap around...

dad2000

I'm sure that if you dig a little, you can figure out the AAs of the SSGA Target date funds.

My decision to continue the rollover would be primarily based on the ERs of the new funds. As long as they're 20bp or less, I'd be inclined to let it slide. Otherwise I'd do the IRA.

dad2000

You don't mention what portion of the $20k represents your salaries, but if it's high, and you each already have personal emergency funds, then you could probably do with less.

We have about 2 months in cash, and some lines of credit, but for a larger business.

dad2000

(Very helpful if you have lots of individual holdings at different brokerages) capgain22: If that's your situation, read my "Simplicity" link below. Best wishes. Taylor Unfortunately, our tax and legal systems don't allow for simplicity and tax-efficiency. And you can't choose where your ...

dad2000

I've had both kinds of fences. My climate and back yard sound fairly similar to yours, and my dog (a boxer) is bigger and probably more playful than the doodle. I wouldn't recommend the electric fence. It's more of a deterrent that a barrier, and trenching it in the woods would be difficult if not i...

dad2000

Don't want to hijack the thread but which funds are commission free? I have heard ishares funds and etfs and commission free on brokeragelink but would like a comprehensive list so I can see what my options are. I would call your 401k provider and ask for details - I would not assume there is a one...

dad2000

It's mid-sized, and may not technically be an SUV, but the Nissan Murano has optional cooled seats that work quite well.

dad2000

I read stuff like this all the time. I'm certain that I've saved more than 99% of my age group for retirement, yet many articles or calculators suggest I may come up short. So what does that mean? That 99% of my cohort will be eating cat food? Society will somehow adapt, or life won't be worth living.

dad2000

In looking at the last BH Net Worth Survey from 2015, it seemed that our median AA (rounded to the nearest 10%) switched from 70% to 60% at age 53, so a 65/35 AA at your age is very average for a BH. It doesn't mean it's right or wrong for you, but it's definitely not an outlier. I'm about your age ...

dad2000

I'm a middle aged mid-level recreational rider who does a few centuries per year. There's an indoor gym near me with the Stages SC3 bikes, which I believe use the same tech as their outdoor meters. I've used their bikes a few times on trial days to gauge my power. I always warm up for 10 minutes, th...

dad2000

Wow, it is awful.

I suppose that they may have been tired of giving it away for free, OTOH having a good calculator could drive more business to Turbotax.

The least they could do is give paying Turbotax customers access to the better calculator.

dad2000

I'm not sure how useful this information in a vacuum is, since for families making under $200k, just maxing out 401k/IRA from 2 jobs might be all they need to fund a successful retirement.

We save about 20% of net income. We also max out 401k/IRA/HSA.

dad2000

I replaced my washer dryer set last year. I ordered an inexpensive LG set from Costco. The washer is an HE top loader and it works fine. It uses far less water than my old Maytag did, the clothes do get clean, and I'm not noticing any undue wear and tear. I leave the washer top door partially open w...

dad2000

I guess experiences vary. Aimloan aka Dovenmuehle was the worst. The origination of my loan with Aimloan was okay, but the servicing was miserable. On two different occasions, they swore up and down that they paid my property taxes but failed to do so. Even after multiple phone calls and letters, it...

dad2000

We're both older than 45, which seems to be the point at which finding a new job becomes exceedingly difficult. We both have bachelor's degrees which certainly helps. Just as it's a Boglehead principle to reduce risk in investing by diversifying, we've taken the same approach (diversity) with our jo...

dad2000

One recommendation is not to get too dazzled by the tech in some of the cars. Some of the manufacturers have gone too far with some of it IMHO. From what I've seen, it's not all reliable, and can become a distraction to your driving. We've been conditioned for so many years to certain things (for ex...

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