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bs010101

Thanks for the replies and sorry for my delay in going through them. If you are over the second bend point (inflation-adjusted SS-taxed income averaging over $69,420 for your highest 35 years), paying more self-employment tax is a loss; the present value of the increased SS is about half what you pa...

bs010101

I have the option of increasing the salary I pay myself from my S-Corp. This would increase social security and medicare taxes, but allow an extra 1/4 of the increase to be invested in an i401K. The salary is reasonable at either level. By my calculations, an extra dollar of salary causes an extra 1...

bs010101

Thanks for all the replies. It does seem like you get a free look at your credit report when creating a temporary fraud alert, so I guess that is a benefit, and it confirmed that no fraudulent accounts had been created.

bs010101

So, should I take any action? Yes, someone has your name and/or SSN. Put a fraud alert on all three credit bureaus. Don't need to pay for it, just have to submit it in writing with a copy of some documentation that you were a victim of identity theft or fraud. Start with getting a copy of your free...

bs010101

samsoes wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2020 9:29 pm Should you worry? What good does worrying ever do?
The correct question to ask is, "should I take action as a result?"

Yes, you are right. So, should I take any action?

bs010101

I got a letter in the mail that a credit card application was denied because of a freeze on my credit. I did not apply for a credit card. I'm glad I have the freeze, as it prevented a fraudulent account from being opened. Do I need to take any other action to report the fraudulent attempt, or just l...

bs010101

Thanks. I actually have a small tilt, so using the S&P 500 as a proxy for the total market would do the opposite. Given a baseline of 18% small, I'll try and figure out what my allocation should be to maintain the tilt.

bs010101

Bingo! I see that my situation is exactly there, with 82/18 recommended. Thanks for the link. Interesting that those two funds show the same mid-cap allocation as total stock market, even though ostensibly mid-caps are excluded. To answer the other questions, I don't have extended. The only two US i...

bs010101

I am thinking of rolling over an IRA with a big investment in vanguard total stock market to a 401K which has only vanguard 500 and vanguard small cap. Should I balance it out with a mid-cap fund elsewhere, or is the approximation close enough? Any recommendation for percentages to put in small cap ...

bs010101

In 2017, I converted about $70K from a SEP-IRA to an i401K. Later, I made my first-ever contribution to a non-deductible IRA of $5500, and then converted that $5500 to a Roth IRA. Am I correct in thinking that Line 2 on Form 8606 should have 0 as the basis? Am I also correct in thinking that the $70...

bs010101

I just signed up for two services, token and privacy.com, both of which generate card numbers backed by a bank account. Token also supports credit cards. Too early to tell how well they work. Has anyone tried them?

bs010101

Drove about 1500 miles round trip. We were rewarded with perfectly clear skies outside Greenville, SC. Totally worth it!

bs010101

It looks like you got a late start on retirement but are saving very aggressively now. Not counting taxable or retirement, if you keep up your current pace of savings, you should have over $2 million in 20 years assuming a 7% rate of return (you didn't say how the money is invested so just guessing ...

bs010101

Can I open a spousal account in her i401K and roll over my IRA, even if we never contribute any other money to it? <snip> I do work for her business but am not paid. You can open it if you work there this year and get paid for working there . You don't have to get paid much, but it has to be someth...

bs010101

I am planning to open an i401K for my wife who is self-employed and roll her SEP-IRA into that, which will allow her to do a backdoor Roth, as well as increase her contribution amount for retirement. I would also like to move my IRA (rolled over from a previous 401K before I knew about backdoor Roth...

bs010101

We only give kids money that they earn - no allowance. Since our kids are young, they have star charts where they get stars as reinforcement for all manner of positive things. A full star chart (25 stars) gets them $3. Occasionally we give them money directly for things but the stars work because th...

bs010101

This doesn't sound like the same thing, but it reminded my of an article I read a long time ago:

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/29/world ... -heir.html

bs010101

I currently use one credit card but only used a debit card for two years while we were getting used to budgeting. I do have mixed feelings about it. I spend only from budget categories, set up autopay, and frequently pay down the balance earlier that the autopay date. So I'm not at risk for bad beha...

bs010101

My 401K, my wife's SEP-IRA, and my rollover IRA. College funds for each kid. Taxable account. Donor advised fund, if you count that. But taxable and all retirement accounts (except the active 401K) are at Vanguard, and the 401K is only invested in Vanguard funds, as are the college funds. The DAF is...

bs010101

I have actually done that same analysis myself with the Growth Fund of America (not sure if that's the same as this one) vs. the S&P 500, and he is correct, if you compare investing a flat amount in the first year of the fund (which I believe was 1976) and the S&P 500. But a "telltale c...

bs010101

Amazingly the anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist both said they didn't know anything about insurance. I guess money just magically shows up. The hospital did get pre-authorization and are in network, so the most I can do now is how for the best. Thanks for all the replies.

bs010101

Grumble. A day before the procedure and no one knows who the anesthesiologist will be. Hopefully we will find out on the day of the procedure and ask if s/he is on the insurance, but what if they're not? Also I am told there can be multiple actors doing the anesthesia - residents, etc. Do they all b...

bs010101

Keep asking. Keep smiling, but keep asking. And yes, you absolutely do want to check out the anesthesiologist, and also any nurse anesthetist who might be working (= actually providing anesthesia) under the anesthesiologist's supervision. Would they generally know who all the professionals will be ...

bs010101

What is the difference between a bond fund and a bond index fund? Any mutual fund investing in bonds is a bond fund. A bond index fund would be one that tracks a bond index. Vanguard has many bond funds that are considered active funds but the costs are still very low - I imagine there is some tech...

bs010101

I read this thread with a lot of interest as we have a medical procedure in the family coming up. It is expected to be outpatient in a hospital. The other thread veered off topic and got locked - I'm hoping to keep this very actionable. What do I need to do beforehand to avoid surprise bills? Speak ...

bs010101

Thanks for the links. The good news is that in the two days I spent trying to figure out how to TLH, $2000 of my $5500 loss disappeared! I guess people realized that a non-binding vote that might change something in two years doesn't actually lower the value of every company in the world. I should h...

bs010101

Anyone?

bs010101

I am considering doing my first ever TLH with my brand new $5000 loss in VTIAX (total international). I also have VTIAX in my 401K. If I understand correctly, I need to avoid investing in VTIAX for 31 days after my TLH sale in my taxable account? Did I also need to have refrained from investing for ...

bs010101

Yes! Mine was in 1999 as well. I don't remember which stock was first but pretty sure it was sent to the glue factory within a year or two.

bs010101

Ha... I thought you were going to say you saw someone at the dealership throwing rocks at cars

bs010101

100% total stock market, but I'm not looking for it to cover all the costs (current target is about half the cost of state school), so if someone starts college in a down year, I'll just take the money from somewhere else. The bond portion goes to mortgage payments with the goal of paying it off aro...

bs010101

Looks like the car payment is about $400/mo and the student loans about $780? So close to $1200/mo debt service. How about starting out by just selling enough to pay off the car, then redirect the $400 car payment to the loans? That should take you down to 5.5 years to pay off the loans, less if you...

bs010101

The more eyes there are on something, the less opportunity there is for corruption. The amount of eyes on large, publicly traded companies in developed markets is very high. If someone calls you up and tries to sell you a customized complex security that no one has seen before, you should probably a...

bs010101

How would I know? I never check. I sign and it gets filed. I'm curious - do others review their returns before filing? I skimmed mine this year and found an error several thousand dollars in our favor, which I asked the accountant to correct. I was left wondering if I shouldn't have looked. Of cour...

bs010101

Multiple retirement accounts are unavoidable as his and hers can't be combined, and often you want to keep current 401(K) and rolled over IRA separate. But I also don't think it adds much complexity if you don't touch them often. We have three retirement accounts and the only complexity is my annual...

bs010101

Part of the effect might actually be the simplicity of using the credit card. I always read things from Google and Apple about making it easier to pay for things - like being able to pay by texting or waving your phone instead of all the effort of taking out your card and swiping it. I bet once that...

bs010101

I suppose I'm far from the typical consumer but these social studies don't make sense to me. If I'm willing to pay $50 for a Red Sox game, it doesn't matter to me the method in which I pay it. I equate the cost the same no matter what. I'm shocked that apparently educated people can't figure this o...

bs010101

I suppose I'm far from the typical consumer but these social studies don't make sense to me. If I'm willing to pay $50 for a Red Sox game, it doesn't matter to me the method in which I pay it. I equate the cost the same no matter what. I'm shocked that apparently educated people can't figure this o...

bs010101

I realized from reading some other threads that this might be more complicated. The wiki only has two sentences about this, and things seem murky from reading other threads. Searching the wiki and online seems like at least Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab are no longer options for new accounts being ...

bs010101

We were spending about $500 a year on pest control until we decided to cancel it. We got ants. But $500 will buy a lot of ant traps. Now the ants are gone and we still have about $490 left to spare.

bs010101

Thanks for all the replies! I used Charles Schwab quite often and did get a good exchange rate. There are wiring fees but it was always for larger sums. I recently signed up for a Schwab checking account for the no-foreign-transaction-fee debit card, but they told me they don't do international wire...

bs010101

Looks like TransferWise does not support ILS transfers. Any other similar sites that people have used?

I will look into whether I can wire in USD and do the conversion in Israel.

bs010101

What is the best way to move money internationally? I am trying to get money from the US to Israel. Chase charges $45 plus a terrible conversion rate that came out to about 3.5% last time I did it. One alternative is asking someone to take an envelope of cash when they go. Are there any electronic o...

bs010101

They manage $3 trillion and don't have a CFO? How is that possible?

bs010101

I had that problem already several years ago. I switched to Personal Capital and haven't had any such problems.

bs010101

My work plan is switching providers, and they are going from having Vanguard's total US but not total INTL to having total INTL but not total US. My wife has a SEP-IRA at Vanguard so all options are available there. So I basically want to replace total INTL with total US in her account, and replace ...

bs010101

I am unfortunate to sit near a TV with Bloomberg all day long, where they have to think of things to say every minute of every day. The interview is funny because they are not speaking the same language. Although Mr. Bogle does venture into some short-term predictions, his basic message is that it d...

bs010101

By the way, I loved the following quote: "This $20 billion dent is only expected to grow larger. It took Vanguard 32 years to reach $1 trillion in assets, eight years to get to $2 trillion, but then just three years to get to $3 trillion. At this rate, Vanguard will be removing $40 billion in ...

bs010101

This topic grabbed my attention, and as a relative newbie I probably shouldn't pass my opinion, but... cannot help it. One post struck me: I would bet serious money that Starbucks doesn't even exist in 40 years. Are you sure YOU are going to be around 40 years from now?? If not, than why do you eve...

bs010101

alpenglow wrote:Buy gift cards to use later.

Wow, that is a great idea! Just buy myself a $1500 Amazon gift card on Nov 23 and get $150 back?

(I never play credit card games and only have one credit card which is Chase Freedom but this seems pretty easy if I am understanding correctly.)

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