Bogleheads.org

avenger

My entire portfolio is my emergency fund. I’m 70% stocks, 30% bonds.

avenger

If I had your income and assets, i would buy the condo with elevator and laundry inside the unit. I would not rent it to mom, but her income should support utilities, food etc. figure out how she will get groceries and transportation she needs. My 2cents. Something to consider: if you will be provi...

avenger

By any chance, did she or her spouse serve in the US military? It might make her eligible for Aid & Attendance (a veteran's pension). From what OP has indicated, his mother does not have the finances to enter into a CCRC. I think the idea of renting a condo to your mother at less than market va...

avenger

Hypersion wrote: ↑Sat Nov 30, 2019 11:27 am Since your mom is low income you need to look into senior housing in your area.

Unfortunately Chicago has a waitlist for low income housing of anywhere between 25 and 30 years. I know, I couldn’t believe it myself when we looked into it.

avenger

If your partner has a history of interacting with mother, I might ask the partner their opinion on the the likelihood that your mother will be able to function well in the condo over an extended time. You are concerned not just about life expectancy but also the suitability of the living arrangemen...

avenger

My mother is 71 years old (widow) and underwent bilateral knee replacement last year and at some point suffered a stroke which has rendered her significantly disabled. She lives alone on the second floor of an apartment but she moved into sometime ago. Initially it seemed like she was able to manag...

avenger

My mother is 71 years old (widow) and underwent bilateral knee replacement last year and at some point suffered a stroke which has rendered her significantly disabled. She lives alone on the second floor of an apartment but she moved into sometime ago. Initially it seemed like she was able to manage...

avenger

I don’t have an emergency fund per se. I have an overall asset allocation to account for all goals (short or long term). My entire 457 is filled with a stable value fund and my taxable account is all equities. If I have an emergency, I take the amount I need out of my taxable account and can rebalan...

avenger

I’m a 39-year-old physician, also looking beyond my profession to define myself. I started taking art history classes. I’ve played piano since the age of four, but decided to really sink my teeth into it. I bought a piano and I’m taking weekly lessons from a true master. I also only work an average ...

avenger

It’s mind-bogging to me to even question the need to pay for professional advice.

avenger

In taxable, only VTSAX and VTIAX.
Soon to have VWIUX (vanguard intermediate term tax exempt bond fund) due to running out of room for fixed income in my 457.
In the 35% tax bracket.

avenger

We used them. In some ways you get what you pay for, although it was quite expensive. The customer service was excellent, we had to do nothing, and the follow up for issues after the install was nothing short of perfect. Plus the options are very nice. That being said, prepare your pocket book. Oh, ...

avenger

I keep no paper. I scan all relevant paper as soon as it enters the house, and save copies of online statements.

avenger

Great thanks all. Someone asked my biggest concerns and I guess just making a mistake and wasting money. Wouldn't want to spend a lot and then decide to move (I don't think we will but never know), and get pennies on the dollar. We actually have a small 15' temporary "pool" that we really...

avenger

Many months?

My time is worth far more than $27k. I’d put it all in the dumpster too.

avenger

That’s exact what it is.

avenger

You can call and register a complaint by calling their nain number at 877-662-7447. I simply stated: "I can't fathom, that a brokerage as large as Vanguard can't offer adequate cash management services to its clients. If my Vanguard Advantage account is canceled, I will be transferring all of m...

avenger

Happened to me as part of a collective bargaining agreement. I have one of those government jobs.

avenger

We are using one to do our first floor. Definitely helpful having been able to work with my partner and I to come up with a beautiful plan. We are paying for it though. It has saved us so much time and frustration though. Only you can decide if it’s worth it. You have to find the right person for you.

avenger

I have no other holdings in my taxable account. I ended up selling a combination of lots with both short and long term gains that minimized my taxes for this year. I have no plans for selling equities from my taxable account at any point in the foreseeable future. At the same time I sold $90,000 wor...

avenger

I think what I am going to do is sell the shares that give me the overall least amount of taxes for 2018. I can’t predict the future. I can’t predict whether or not I will be able to harvest short term losses later this year. It is possible I might retire into a very low federal rate. I have no idea...

avenger

Thanks for the complete picture in your updated original post. It is much clearer. If you expect to sell the other of the two while you are in the same tax bracket with the Medicare 3.8% tax then I would sell the long term now as it is fully mature and will not be more tax advantaged in the future....

avenger

nolesrule wrote: ↑Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:48 am
rkhusky wrote: ↑Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:38 am Doesn't the 3.8% also apply to short term cap gains?
Yes.

Great. I didn’t know that. So it would be 35+3.8=38.8%?

avenger

You are not looking at this correctly. The issue is the tax rate being paid not the total amount of taxes. The short term gains are taxed at your marginal rate (35%) and the long term gains are taxed at 15%. Clearly if you would pay $7000 in tax on the short term vs $17000 on the long term you are ...

avenger

You are not looking at this correctly. The issue is the tax rate being paid not the total amount of taxes. The short term gains are taxed at your marginal rate (35%) and the long term gains are taxed at 15%. Clearly if you would pay $7000 in tax on the short term vs $17000 on the long term you are ...

avenger

Raabe34 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:50 am Capital gains rates, look them up and come back.

Not helpful. Long term cap gains rates are 15% for me. I can do math. I just want to make sure I’m not missing some other consideration.

avenger

I need to liquidate some of my non-retirement taxable equities to raise cash for a home purchase. Usually the rule of thumb is to limit short-term gains in favor of long-term gains. Marginal rate is 35%. I am subject to the Medicare 3.8% tax and long term rate is 15%. I need $90,000 I can sell $90,0...

avenger

I count mine as fixed income. No withdrawal restrictions.

avenger

Only your employer can answer that. You don’t know if you don’t ask.

avenger

My dermatologist recommends Vanicream to wash my face. I like it because it isn’t harsh and doesn’t have added fragrance, which I (and my skin) abhor.

avenger

I recommend you do whatever your Investment Policy Statement says. If you don’t have one, I recommend writing one. Your question smells of market timing, which is generally frowned upon here. Come up with an asset allocation and stick with it.

avenger

I don’t do any of that. Mental accounting, if you will. I have one allocation for all needs. One caveat is that I have a large taxable account. Your mileage may vary.

avenger

Another vote for AirPods. Love them.

avenger

Talk to a real estate lawyer. These issues are going to be local.

avenger

ScannerPro creates searchable documents. Sure, as do some of its competitors, and the review I checked suggested that the OCR is pretty good. But phone scanning is not efficient enough unless you have a pretty small number of documents to scan. Depends. You can’t easily scan oddly shaped items usin...

avenger

This is one of the reasons my partner and I of 10 years don’t marry.

avenger

ScannerPro creates searchable documents.

avenger

Scanner Pro by Readdle is an awesome app that can save to a bunch of places including dropbox, Gdrive etc. Try it out you will love it. No need to buy expensive scanners. Edit: My crisp response sounded like I work for them but no :-). So I am editing my response. I have been using that app for the...

avenger

Scanner Pro by Readdle is an awesome app that can save to a bunch of places including dropbox, Gdrive etc. Try it out you will love it. No need to buy expensive scanners. Edit: My crisp response sounded like I work for them but no :-). So I am editing my response. I have been using that app for the...

avenger

jadd806 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 09, 2017 5:43 pm
How do you know if somebody is a cyclist? Don't worry - they'll tell you.

This is the funniest thing I’ve read today.

avenger

In my brokerage account, I just use the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund (Settlement fund). It's the fund all of my cash sloshes into and out of.

avenger

I cash flow it my first pay period of the year.

avenger

Another guy (subspecialty surgeon here) recommending you wait on the house buy. You already have a mortgage. A mortgage on your brain. Pay that debt first.

avenger

I love the AirPods. Lightweight, they stay in your ear, and you don’t have to think about charging them as the case is the charger! They also charge quickly. They are pricey, however.

avenger

I was in a similar situation. I paid off all of my debt. It feels good, but in my case I opened up the purse strings a bit once it was paid off. I’m not a spendthrift, but I don’t save as much as I did before. I felt somewhat more motivated to save when I had the debt. Just my anecdotal experience. ...

avenger

I also keep everything in PDF stored locally and in the cloud. I don’t have any paper. I plan on keeping indefinitely.

avenger

... "Sure he makes great money, but what if he becomes burnt out in 5 years and needs to cut back to stay sane?" This is the question I ask daily. I don't want to be trapped in a job living a life of quiet desperation, compelled to see X number of patients or do Y number of procedures, ju...

avenger

On the other hand, if I think of $530k and $60k as one portfolio, going with a more conservative allocation for 60k would just skew my overall allocation towards more conservative so it won't be 72/28 any more. Bingo I think you're wasting your time. You have 600k in taxable accounts, only 10% of w...

avenger

37. $150k/year.

avenger

Unless you’re not telling about being PLSF-eligible in the imminent future, I would also strongly suggest you pay it off.

Search found 894 matches