Search found 197 matches

by Taco Knight
Tue Sep 21, 2021 2:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Chase cash back transfer to bank
Replies: 14
Views: 1661

Re: Chase cash back transfer to bank

UpperNwGuy wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 1:43 pm Your principles are killing you. You're insisting on an easier way to get the cash into your possession when there are already acceptable ways to do that. You just don't like those ways for reasons of principle.
What's killing me? It's a gripe with a non-user friendly system that used to work in a satisfying manner and is now annoying. Who's being killed?
by Taco Knight
Tue Sep 21, 2021 1:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Chase cash back transfer to bank
Replies: 14
Views: 1661

Re: Chase cash back transfer to bank

anon_investor wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 11:37 pm Try adding banks accounts for one time payments but not auto pay. I have bank accounts saved for one time payments but not auto pay. Those banks show up when I redeem points for cash as direct deposit options (saved don't have to manually enter them).
That's really interesting! And mind-bogglingly bizarre, that they'd save a one-time institution info rather than the ongoing one. Further reinforcing my notion this was a programming oversight and just the type of workaround I was hoping someone might've found. Thanks!
by Taco Knight
Tue Sep 21, 2021 1:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Chase cash back transfer to bank
Replies: 14
Views: 1661

Re: Chase cash back transfer to bank

I always do statement credit (for Pay Yourself Back). Didn't even know there might be an option to transfer directly to bank account but don't see much practical difference really. I get it's not "money in your account" instantly but it instantly reduces your statement balance so you could theoretically "invest" that money should you so choose. Money is fungible. And interest rate in bank accounts are puny these days anyways. Thanks, yes, it's fungible and earns nothing much once I have it, but I'd rather have it for the 45-50 days than not. When I reduce my statement balance, by the time I have to pay that statement it's a month and a half after I've gotten that reward earned. Just a principle of the matter, to take my...
by Taco Knight
Tue Sep 14, 2021 7:42 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Chase cash back transfer to bank
Replies: 14
Views: 1661

Re: Chase cash back transfer to bank

After signing into chase.com, navigate to the Ultimate rewards site. Click the three horizontal bar icon at the top left of the Ultimate Rewards site, scroll down and click the Cash Back. While in the cash back page, scroll down to the bottom of the page. You should see your bank accounts listed; if not, you should see a + sign to add a bank account. You should be able to add a Chase bank or any other bank account. I think you missed the point of the post. What you describe is exactly what happens. What doesn't happen is the bank info or even name remaining there to choose from month after month. It has to be hard-entered each time, which is borderline actual work. They go through all the trappings of making it look like it will be saved (...
by Taco Knight
Tue Sep 14, 2021 7:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Chase cash back transfer to bank
Replies: 14
Views: 1661

Re: Chase cash back transfer to bank

I assume you are talking about UR points being redeemed as cash back, not actually cash back rewards. I would just make a call and ask for the cash back to be applied as statement credit instead. Or, in the case of SAPPHIRE cards, use the Pay Yourself Back option. I have about 220k UR points that I am no hurry to cash out, I surely will have enough grocery purchases and some known upcoming minor travel expenses that I can use them towards for a 25% increased redemption value. This is not a direct answer to your question, I know, but just pointing out that redeeming UR points to cash back is generally a poor redemption choice. Even if that IS your choice for reasons personal, your annoyance can be easily circumvented by a call to customer s...
by Taco Knight
Fri Sep 10, 2021 11:23 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Chase cash back transfer to bank
Replies: 14
Views: 1661

Chase cash back transfer to bank

Hi all, Quick question about a minor annoyance: Has anyone had any luck or know any hacks with the Chase credit card cash rewards transferring to a bank account. For years, it was easy enough to transfer my cash back to the same bank account I have set up on auto-pay to pay the card, as it's already saved there. Then, for at least 6 months, maybe a year, it seems I have to enter the bank account and routing number each time (By hand, can't even copy and paste, which would be annoying enough to have to copy them from my bank tab, but have to hard-type it in. Twice, actually to confirm the numbers.). To make it seem even more like it's not working as intended, there's also the option to enter a "nickname" for the bank, which could o...
by Taco Knight
Mon Jan 07, 2019 11:33 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Elders....A young buck needs your help!
Replies: 15
Views: 1556

Re: Elders....A young buck needs your help!

Confused why you don't think anyone 37 or younger is incapable of giving you advice on this matter, while any person 39 or older is a fount of guaranteed wisdom!
by Taco Knight
Tue Jan 01, 2019 9:39 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 529 yes or no?
Replies: 33
Views: 3056

Re: 529 yes or no?

It's impossible to fully answer without knowing what "having the money on hand and growing where it is" is. If you mean cash in a bank account, then not only are you likely only getting at most 2 or 3%, you are paying taxes on all of the interest as well. If you mean it's invested somewhere or somehow that could be anything. Your state (or the child's state) 529 website should have a detailed FAQ. I know the NYS one does.
by Taco Knight
Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:58 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 38 and Beyond - Allocation Guidance
Replies: 5
Views: 665

Re: 38 and Beyond - Allocation Guidance

In my understanding you shouldn't purchase bonds in a Roth IRA, because that's the place to reap the most potential rewards from long-term equities gains, and you only can put a (low-ish) fixed amount of cash in per year, so it would be folly to use that cash on bonds rather than equities. Maybe tilt your 401k with a little more bonds? Or use a taxable account if you can max the other two fully in your current saving strategies.
by Taco Knight
Tue Mar 27, 2018 9:17 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Grass is always greener, federal edition
Replies: 59
Views: 9511

Re: Grass is always greener, federal edition

You'll probably enjoy your work-life balance even more as your child grows older. They'll have activities that take up more significant chunks of time than playgrounds and birthday parties that you may wish to accompany them on. I think you're happy now and you'll continue to be happy so you shouldn't trade that for the unknown.
by Taco Knight
Mon Mar 26, 2018 2:33 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Newbie w/ $200k to invest- help!
Replies: 16
Views: 3109

Re: Newbie w/ $200k to invest- help!

If applicable (ignore if moot!): While you're figuring it out, make sure it's resting in something like the Ally Savings account or similar earning 1.45% or whatever it currently is, rather than in whatever brick and mortar you already happened to have that gives you .05%, or worse, in your checking account earning zero. A figure like this would probably get you a couple hundred bucks in interest while you're figuring out what to do with all of it, and that might be enough to psychologically convince you to slow down as it's not quite doing "nothing". Would be a good option for a general savings/emergency account as well and thus one less thing to do/set-up. Note that you can only make 6 withdrawals/payments from a savings account...
by Taco Knight
Wed Mar 21, 2018 4:24 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth IRA
Replies: 10
Views: 1141

Re: Roth IRA

I don't think your first response is correct. No contributions can be made in your wife's name for a tax year in which she reported no income. If she had some hobbies or part-time work or sold some things on eBay (or you/the whole family did, but just answer any questions that the account was hers), then you can put all her earnings in her IRA, $60, $2000, whatever she made, but never more than one's earned and reported income.
by Taco Knight
Wed Mar 21, 2018 4:21 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Maxed 401k and Roth IRA questions
Replies: 44
Views: 3272

Re: Maxed 401k and Roth IRA questions

If the 2050 target fund matches your allocation diversity and risk/reward tolerance/goals, then it's fine to have all/both of your funds there.

But there's no information here for anyone to advise you on whether your 401(k) is good or bad, only that it exists. You need to provide its fee structure and if there's anything other than the ER you pay to Vanguard through it, etc.
by Taco Knight
Thu Mar 15, 2018 1:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Backdoor Roth
Replies: 6
Views: 831

Re: Backdoor Roth

If you have nothing else in any tIRAs, then you might want to convert it paying the taxes one time if you think the potential tax-free gains for ~30 years will be worth the definite taxes you pay now.

In addition to the rollover funds any previous tIRA accounts are considered in determining your taxability, regardless of how much you convert. The backdoor Roth procedure has nothing to do with the $5,500 contribution limit.

But on the whole, looks you are doing quite OK and the ship has sailed to make Roth IRAs a feasible option for you, no sense throwing money to chase a gain you could have had in the past.
by Taco Knight
Thu Mar 08, 2018 3:55 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Are you ready for Amazon checking?
Replies: 42
Views: 7176

Re: Are you ready for Amazon checking?

Random Poster wrote: Mon Mar 05, 2018 4:40 pm I wonder if the account will always offer an interest rate equal to the Prime rate....
Just to let you know at least one reader appreciated this...
by Taco Knight
Thu Mar 08, 2018 3:47 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth IRA all in cash: Strategies, thoughts, concerns, etc.
Replies: 6
Views: 826

Re: Roth IRA all in cash: Strategies, thoughts, concerns, etc.

Personally, I'd flip the allocations, as I'd want to have the equities in the Roth IRA and then pay taxes on the gains on the CDs in the 401k.
by Taco Knight
Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:10 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Switching to online bank. Keep brick/mortar bank account open?
Replies: 54
Views: 6405

Re: Switching to online bank. Keep brick/mortar bank account open?

Oh, also most online banks are members of large ATM networks or refund all or a portion of your fees, so you might find more/simpler ATM options without a physical bank and the need for their ATMs. Indeed. I bank with USAA and I can go to any ATM in town. I don't carry a lot of currency so it isn't a big deal.Banking choice depends on how you use banks. I don't keep money at a bank, don't borrow. All I need is a transaction engine. Yeah, it's funny, when I'm out with friends and they have to make detours to go to a specific ATM, and I just go to the bodega next door, I wonder why exactly they're paying (!!!) and not getting as much interest and not getting the convenience of using any or almost any ATM all for the benefit of some branch ex...
by Taco Knight
Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:07 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Downpayment Savings - Money Market Account
Replies: 13
Views: 2027

Re: Downpayment Savings - Money Market Account

If you're in a state that has robust bond funds (and a state income tax), then municipal bond funds might be a good place. Should get 2-3% and no state tax, you'd have to pay fed tax on both the munis and the online savings, but online savings would also have state tax if applicable.
by Taco Knight
Wed Mar 07, 2018 8:56 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Switching to online bank. Keep brick/mortar bank account open?
Replies: 54
Views: 6405

Re: Switching to online bank. Keep brick/mortar bank account open?

I was concerned, but I've really had no need for a brick and mortar over the past three four years. If I happen to have a lot of cash (more than I choose to keep as a personal ATM at home), I've given it to a friend who wrote me a check rather than spend the whatever for a money order. This has happened once. If I need something notarized, I just go into any big national branch and say I'm a customer in the rare event they ask, but really they don't care and don't check for an ATM card or anything. Oh, also most online banks are members of large ATM networks or refund all or a portion of your fees, so you might find more/simpler ATM options without a physical bank and the need for their ATMs. I haven't had to send a certified check or anyth...
by Taco Knight
Wed Feb 28, 2018 11:30 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: NY 529 and K-12
Replies: 19
Views: 2984

Re: NY 529 and K-12

It seems pretty clear that it's moot: "may require recapture of any New York State tax benefits that accrued on contributions"

Did you claim any NYS tax benefits on accrued contributions?
uberdoc wrote: Sun Feb 25, 2018 7:39 pm NY state tax deduction is useless for us.
Seems like you said you hadn't. Therefore, the recapture of a benefit you don't claim wouldn't affect you.
by Taco Knight
Wed Feb 14, 2018 9:52 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I've never rebalanced - Can I do ok without it?
Replies: 35
Views: 6002

Re: I've never rebalanced - Can I do ok without it?

I don't manually rebalance. Ever.

I split my contributions, both direct through IRA and indirect through DCPs, into equity funds, target-date funds, and bond/stable income funds.

The equities usually go up, and I buy more of them each year. The TD funds rebalance on their own (meaning, I don't do it), and the bonds do their thing. I don't take into account where they are when I contribute again, and I'm sure my actual AA does not mirror my contribution AA, but I am happy with my risk tolerance and performance, and without thinking about it, my portfolio becomes more and more conservative with the automatic balancing I don't have to lift a finger for.
by Taco Knight
Mon Feb 12, 2018 9:00 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Suggest a Financial Aggregator Site
Replies: 8
Views: 1167

Re: Suggest a Financial Aggregator Site

ausmatt wrote: Mon Feb 12, 2018 8:00 am You can change the account type in Personal Capital to lump your cash accounts with investments. There’s a checkbox under account details that says Include inn investments (or similar). Not sure about CDs but I would imagine it’s the same.
Thanks for telling us (me) about this. Must've been in one of their updates and I hadn't poked around thoroughly enough. I always hated having CDs in my cash section because each one was a separate account!

Also looking forward to the opposite, gonna be opening a 529 in a few months and happy to be able to click the box and exclude it from investment analysis.
by Taco Knight
Fri Feb 09, 2018 11:19 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What day of the week do you invest?
Replies: 11
Views: 1417

Re: What day of the week do you invest?

Any data that you find that suggests one day of the week is better than others can easily be refuted by the data that shows certain temperatures in Lower Manhattan are better than others, while that, of course, will be undone by the well-known studies that suggest it's much better to rely solely on average windspeed at JFK -- which were, of course, published to debunk the previous standard rule of basing timing on the pollen count in Central Park. Seriously: If anything, you'd think that the one non-variable day of the week is that there's almost always more cash going into the market as a whole every Friday due to automatic payroll purchases and assume that buying before Friday is therefore better, but so many paychecks are actually proces...
by Taco Knight
Fri Feb 09, 2018 11:11 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: [Ally online savings now at 2.20%]
Replies: 285
Views: 58246

Re: Ally online savings now at 1.45%

chw wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2018 10:52 am Wonder why my rate is still showing 1.35%. Is there an effective date?
I'm also getting 1.35% on my dashboard but their public-facing website seems to clearly state it's 1.45% and proudly say it matches AmEx (and skips all the other banks withing range like those mentioned upthread).

Just checked on "open new account" and while logged-in it also says 1.45% across all account balances. Opened chat but was 5th in queue so quit to continue this post here and stew silently.
by Taco Knight
Wed Feb 07, 2018 11:28 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Philadelphia and Pittsburgh local taxes
Replies: 12
Views: 1759

Re: Philadelphia and Pittsburgh local taxes

moneywise3 wrote: Wed Feb 07, 2018 7:42 am I believe only Philadelphia county area is taxed. If you are in suburbs, which is most of Philly, you aren't taxed.
I'm pretty sure the suburbs are not in Philly by definition. Philadelphia is one of the most notable/largest coterminous city-counties in the country. There's complete and exhaustive overlapping jurisdiction between the City of Philadelphia and Philadelphia County. Any suburb is thus not in the city, and therefore must be in some other county.
by Taco Knight
Mon Feb 05, 2018 8:24 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Hoping for a second down day
Replies: 4
Views: 1132

Re: Hoping for a second down day

Alexa9 wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 8:14 pm
Stacking_Benjamins wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 8:10 pm Today I put in my order to sell four randomly picked mutual funds
Doesn't sound like a good strategy. What is your allocation and Investment Plan? Stick to it.
Not the OP, but I think he or she randomly picked them when they were purchased (conceding they didn't know any better at the time), not randomly selling four of the unknown number they own.
by Taco Knight
Mon Feb 05, 2018 11:10 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth IRA Maxed, Have More To Invest
Replies: 5
Views: 939

Re: Roth IRA Maxed, Have More To Invest

Why not increase your 457 payroll contribution by 1% or 2% and then forget that you ever did it anyway? Then, next year, do it again.
by Taco Knight
Mon Feb 05, 2018 11:07 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should I use the NYC 457 (DCP)?
Replies: 8
Views: 2232

Re: Should I use the NYC 457 (DCP)?

(Minor point, if you're talking about NYCERS it compounds daily, not yearly -- a difference of $2 to $8 dollars a year!) You can also leave your pension with them until you're absolutely certain you won't be back to City service within 5 years, otherwise you'd have to buy your service time back and 5% isn't such a good deal looking the other direction.

Yes, I would open as many of the DCP plans as your title allows you to, they're all slightly different with what you may or must do with you money and I think all of them are all offered in Roth or pre-tax options. And the OLR's funds are pretty decent, with some similar in content and aim as the Vanguard TR funds.
by Taco Knight
Fri Feb 02, 2018 11:32 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Lawyers with Student Loans, Income-Driven Repayment Plans, & 1 PSLF Eligible
Replies: 4
Views: 868

Re: Lawyers with Student Loans, Income-Driven Repayment Plans, & 1 PSLF Eligible

I would try to pay yours off in actuality, not seek forgiveness. In my understanding any forgiveness scheme other than PSLF isn't worth it. It takes 25 years of bigger payments instead of 10 years of smaller ones AND the forgiven balance is taxable income (and PSLF's isn't), per my understanding. Maybe keep making the IBR/REPAYE for now, but in 36 months when your wife is done, double down on paying down yours.

Also, since you're not within easy shot of the forgiveness date, and especially if you decide to pay them off rather than wait out the 25 years, why don't you try to refinance them?
by Taco Knight
Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:05 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Pay off future DIL's school loans?
Replies: 27
Views: 2390

Re: Pay off future DIL's school loans?

Why not wait until she has a job, either in a hospital or otherwise after she takes out loans for RN?

While without a job = unemployment deferral on loans.
While in grad school = school deferral on loans.
While working in a hospital (the vast majority of which are public or non-profit) = likely eligibility for the 10 year PSLF program with minimum income-based payments after she graduates. Given your son's expected income, their payments will likely be a couple hundred dollars a month for 120 months and then the balance is forgiven.

This is a few assumptions on my part, but unlike a PT I don't expect very many RNs go into private practice...
by Taco Knight
Thu Feb 01, 2018 11:20 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Opening a Vanguard Roth IRA
Replies: 7
Views: 1519

Re: Opening a Vanguard Roth IRA

I do have earned income. On my W-2, it will show about $12,000 for 2017, about $5,000 of which I actually saw, just due to the nature of how our money is allotted. So, by that, I am eligible to invest in an IRA or Roth. In this case, you can contribute $5,500, even if you only got $5000. All that matters is your W2 says your income was at least $5,500. From what I have read, and what you say here, the "Target Date Retirement fund" seems like a smart option. What would a three fund portfolio do for me that the "Target Date Retirement fund" wouldn't, and is it something that I could switch to in the future? The TR funds more or less approximate a 4-fund portfolio (difference is an almost negligible amount of international...
by Taco Knight
Thu Feb 01, 2018 8:52 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Backdoor Roth IRA - exact steps confusion... sorry!
Replies: 4
Views: 941

Re: Backdoor Roth IRA - exact steps confusion... sorry!

imyeti2 wrote: Thu Feb 01, 2018 8:47 am If your wife has money sitting in tIRA, move it to her 401k first before doing a backdoor Roth for her.
We're still undetermined about her tIRA. We might leave hers be and continue to contribute traditionally (deducting when applicable) because 1: She's unsure about the one-time tax hit and whether it's worth it (and whether the Roth is worth it ipso facto), and 2: We don't know what the tax laws will be in 30 years so we can't really be sure whether taxes now or later is better. This way, mine in Roth and hers in Traditional, we're hedged and we can both live with that.
by Taco Knight
Thu Feb 01, 2018 8:48 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Backdoor Roth IRA - exact steps confusion... sorry!
Replies: 4
Views: 941

Re: Backdoor Roth IRA - exact steps confusion... sorry!

I have a step by step guide (with screenshots ) for the Vanguard backdoor Roth, which you may find helpful. To answer your questions, Yes to 1-3. I go with a money market account. I don't believe there's any need to worry about the step doctrine -- congress recently "blessed" the backdoor Roth as legitimate. I convert the next day. The traditional IRA can and will sit empty until you use it again the following year. 7 sounds correct (by making a non-deductible traditional contribution, you have, in effect, paid taxes on it). I wouldn't worry about a few pennies earned in the account. The IRS rounds off. Yes. File 8606. I've linked to several examples of how to fill out the form in the article above. :beer -PoF Thanks! Exactly the...
by Taco Knight
Thu Feb 01, 2018 8:22 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Backdoor Roth IRA - exact steps confusion... sorry!
Replies: 4
Views: 941

Backdoor Roth IRA - exact steps confusion... sorry!

I gotta say, the main reason I feel confused is because how easy it looks and that triggers my "that can't be right..." sense Sorry, I know this has been covered to death, but I've read the wiki and all the forum posts about the backdoor, I'm just a little trepidatious about the exact steps because on one hand it looks so easy, but on the other there's a lot of specific practical unknowns from the generally-phrased advice. I have a Roth IRA that I maxed until 2016, and I never had a traditional IRA. I got married in 2017 and before making big changes we wanted to do our taxes one time together and are expecting a big hit on taxes owed due to several changes of status for the 2017 tax year (my take home pay was nominal as I maxed m...
by Taco Knight
Thu Feb 01, 2018 8:16 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Opening a Vanguard Roth IRA
Replies: 7
Views: 1519

Re: Opening a Vanguard Roth IRA

If you have, say $3000 in income, put that, or however much you've earned on a W2, in the Roth IRA -- either in a Target Year 2060 (I think their latest) or in the Total Stock Market index fund. If your income is truly minimal, like $600, just buy a high interest CD and have fun having $670 or something to invest in five years. Or just keep it in the bank. I wouldn't bother getting involved in starting to invest in a taxable account just yet. Better to hold onto your cash and then get in the habit of taking up all of your tax-advantaged space first. Which, as a federal employee (who I presume will want to remain as such for over a decade), you should definitely look into all the employer/government sponsored options and automatic deductions...
by Taco Knight
Thu Jan 18, 2018 2:49 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bonds in Roth IRA?
Replies: 3
Views: 1501

Re: Bonds in Roth IRA?

The general idea is to have as much growth (and therefore risk) in your Roth IRA as possible, so as to not pay tax on those gains when in disbursement. If you can max out your Roth IRA and still have money you'd want to invest and no other tax-advantaged places to put it, then that additional investment is going to be taxed on its gains. Say your desired AA is 55/45 stocks/bonds, in which case you should almost always be $5500 into Roth in whatever stocks/indices you prefer and $4500 in bonds in the taxable. Also, note: bonds may include state and municipal bonds, and depending on where you live you may not be charged state income tax on those gains -- an advantage made moot by investing in the state bonds of your state residence in a Roth ...
by Taco Knight
Wed Nov 29, 2017 3:37 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: When to open Vanguard account?
Replies: 13
Views: 1608

Re: When to open Vanguard account?

I want to eat a sandwich, should I eat one now or later?

We would need to know a lot more about your current situation and your options to begin to answer that question. You may not even need to rebalance, but there'd be no way anyone could know given the lack of data.
by Taco Knight
Wed Nov 08, 2017 1:31 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Open a Roth but Vanguard minimum investment too high?
Replies: 19
Views: 2438

Re: Open a Roth but Vanguard minimum investment too high?

Ragan2 wrote: Wed Nov 08, 2017 12:36 pm
flamesabers wrote: Wed Nov 08, 2017 11:48 am You could also invest in one of Vanguard's target retirement funds. One word of caution though is Vanguard's target retirement funds invest in international bonds along with the 3 funds you listed.
Since I'm new here....International bonds...we don't like those?
I also think it was prompted by you specifically saying you were trying to do a three-fund, which excludes international bonds, and flamesabers wanted to make sure you knew that Vanguard's TR funds are more diverse than a simple three-fund only.
by Taco Knight
Thu Oct 26, 2017 11:12 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Trying to get interview/ strange turn, what to think?
Replies: 19
Views: 3303

Re: What would you do to get an interview?

Without knowing more details (really about the size of the company or the specificity of the industry), I would think that reaching out to the President of the company would be a bad move after only a month. It's a Hail Mary pass on a second down in the 3rd quarter, why risk the interception and be viewed poorly if they're still possibly considering you? I'd send a polite inquiry into whatever email address or physical mailing address you feel most comfortable with, not try to skip past HR.
by Taco Knight
Fri Sep 08, 2017 11:54 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Choosing Between Roth IRA vs. NYC 457 Roth Options
Replies: 5
Views: 1359

Re: Choosing Between Roth IRA vs. NYC 457 Roth Options

I assume you are a NYC employee, or else what do you mean by "NYC 457"? If not, ignore everything here: And just to clarify, you only have access to the 457 and not the 401(k)? There's also the NYCE IRA, which like the NYC DCP (Deferred Compensation Plans, the term for all 4 varieties of [Roth] 401k/457s) is run by the Office of Labor Relations. The NYCE IRA is also offered in either Roth or Traditional. Other factors to consider are the fees, the OLR plans are much higher ERs than almost anything at Vanguard (but not rip-you-off high, just not incredibly low). In addition there's a flat $20/quarter applied to be in any DCP plan. If allowed by your agency or service title, you can elect both and would have an investable space of $...
by Taco Knight
Fri Aug 25, 2017 9:35 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Newbie question.... calculating ER?
Replies: 6
Views: 726

Re: Newbie question.... calculating ER?

cas wrote: Wed Aug 23, 2017 10:29 am BTW, an ER of 0.09 on $1000 is $0.90 per year, rather than $90/year.
Thanks! I forgot whether I was already moving the decimal making a regular number into a percent and didn't even give the numbers a sniff test.
by Taco Knight
Wed Aug 23, 2017 9:55 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 26 years old, strategy help, need some wisdom
Replies: 12
Views: 1913

Re: 26 years old, strategy help, need some wisdom

As you're not yet engaged, I'd suggest making sure you have enough in cash/EF to pay off that 9% right away in full. The remaining 40K can maybe be tackled with the income stream that you'd otherwise be contributing to the taxable funds. You might not have to do anything with the funds you already have, or maybe just do some tax-loss harvesting and use those monies. Another thing to consider is despite how big or small you want your wedding to be, or whether you register for every conceivable item or request no gifts and have a list of charities that you both love, there will be people who won't bother with any of that. You'll get money. Even if it's only $1000 total, that's still 2.5% of her balance. Given your income and both of your savi...
by Taco Knight
Wed Aug 23, 2017 9:48 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Newbie question.... calculating ER?
Replies: 6
Views: 726

Re: Newbie question.... calculating ER?

Oh, yeah, in that case, it'll basically disappear to within a rounding error.
by Taco Knight
Wed Aug 23, 2017 9:39 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Newbie question.... calculating ER?
Replies: 6
Views: 726

Re: Newbie question.... calculating ER?

That would depend on your total balance. The $4.25 or $51 is flat. ER (.09) is a percent, so it's .09% which is not directly comparable to .51 or whatever other ways you've moved the decimals. Calculate your actual ER from a % to raw $, then add $51 and redo the math. Impossible to know without your balance, which is what the ER is a % of. For instance, $1000 in your account, ER of .09 = $90/year. Fees of $4.25/month, = $51/year. 51+90 = $141 . You're thus paying ER+fees 1.41% . But, with $2000 , your ER is $180/year and the fees stay the same, so with total fees and ER paid as $231 is higher but the percentage relative to your account is lower, 1.155% . The higher your balance the closer to the percentage charge your total fees will be. Th...
by Taco Knight
Mon Aug 07, 2017 1:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Personal Capital - Questions about the "Cash Flow" feature
Replies: 23
Views: 13518

Re: Personal Capital - Questions about the "Cash Flow" feature

I don't understand your problem. Say you didn't return the clothes you just bought, what if you sold a shirt for $50 for some reason? You'd be upset that this was marked "clothing/shoes" rather than "income", "sales", "other income" etc? I have no problem seeing returns come in as income in that expense category they were expended. The tools are one-size fits all, and it's up to you how to interpret them and how much work you want to put in. Mint is better at micro-managing different expenses, but PC recently allowed you to edit categories. Previously as my own little hack I used categories I never used as categories I wanted to track. I used "Printing" for liquor store runs and bar tabs, fo...
by Taco Knight
Tue Aug 01, 2017 1:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Number of withdrawals permitted/personal savings account
Replies: 11
Views: 1605

Re: Number of withdrawals permitted/personal savings account

Call them again. The federal law you are referring to is known as "Regulation D" - if the CSR doesn't know that term ask for a supervisor. To my understanding, they cannot institute a lower limit. It is 6 set by the authorities (raised about a decade ago from 3 per month) in order to benefit the consumer (you) so they cannot flout it. If they do, and you have the time, start a class-action suit. Seriously. This applies to all accounts registered as savings or MMA accounts. And "mixed use" ones as well, for example, Ally's MMA (which has a lower interest than its savings but higher than its interest checking) allows checks, though it is guided by the savings rules, not the checking rules. https://www.federalreserve.gov/bo...
by Taco Knight
Sat Jul 15, 2017 10:46 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Low cost index funds/Fidelity
Replies: 21
Views: 3475

Re: Low cost index funds/Fidelity

I honestly don't understand the difference between mutual funds and index funds. I'm pretty ignorant that is why I got in with Edward Jones. Just being honest here. While gkaplan is correct, a good way to think about it is that "mutual funds" as a term is generally a managed account, even if not actively managed, the stocks were all chosen for an express purpose. Either thematically or for diversification, risk management/hedging, or just the 20 or 100 or 38 equities some finance dude or dudess decided on at that moment. Index funds, are by necessity, a broad stroke collection of all the stocks of chosen class. I.e. total market, total international, total Europe, total mid cap, etc. They're both "funds" of course, mean...
by Taco Knight
Mon Jun 26, 2017 2:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Early IRA withdrawal vs 401k loan for legal bills
Replies: 10
Views: 1308

Re: Early IRA withdrawal vs 401k loan for legal bills

neurosphere wrote:Sorry, the IRA is a traditional IRA and this would be an early withdrawal.
Thought as much because you mentioned the penalty, but just wanted to be absolutely certain. I'd do the loan -- the space can be paid back, rather than the money being both hypothetically and actually lost.
by Taco Knight
Mon Jun 26, 2017 2:08 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Early IRA withdrawal vs 401k loan for legal bills
Replies: 10
Views: 1308

Re: Early IRA withdrawal vs 401k loan for legal bills

We'd need to know if it's a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA.

A Roth IRA lets one withdraw their contributions without penalty (aside from the hit on savings/planning, but this seems like a necessary loss for this isolated occurrence), whereas any early withdrawal from a traditional IRA prior to age 59½ is subject to being included in gross income plus a 10 percent additional tax penalty.