Bogleheads.org

Jack FFR1846

Let me ask you one question.....

Why do you need an SUV?

Cargo carrying? I used to have a Honda CRX-SI and a snowmobile trailer. I guarantee you that when leaving the furniture store, I could bring home more than even the guy in the excursion.

Jack FFR1846

I was just going over my own portfolio on fidelity and I own both FSIVX as well as FSGDX. So I pulled up the 2 of them on separate screens (the advantage of many screens) and did composition. I originally had only FSIVX for international and added FSGDX as I was building my portfolio. I didn't like ...

Jack FFR1846

I did a bit of searching because I was almost dragged into a similar investment (whole life). I concentrated on sites that trained insurance agents or sold the agents on the products. Interesting things I learned: For new agents, they require you to sell to family and friends to build up your initia...

Jack FFR1846

Thanks DSInvestor, My wife worked a small amount last year and so she has a roth and traditional from 2013. We make little enough together that I also did a roth. Of course, I maxed my 401k. If I'm reading this correctly, even if I jumped through these conversion hoops, I'd only be able to put in $6...

Jack FFR1846

Your understanding is correct. Given the huge rollover IRA, a backdoor Roth is not for you. Unless you can stash that rollover in your current 401k? That would hide it from the IRS form 8606. JW Thanks for the confirmation. Unfortunately, my current employer's 401k sucks (I think that's the technic...

Jack FFR1846

In my never ending quest to put more money into retirement accounts, I'm now looking at backdoor roth IRA conversions. But from what I have read, if I open a new IRA and contribute after tax dollars....then convert it through the backdoor into a Roth, all other IRAs that I own are then taxed, includ...

Jack FFR1846

One of the first things to understand is that "aid" sometimes means unsubsidized loans at greater than 7% interest. You are ahead of the curve by understanding that assets are counted against you. Remember that both assets and income are much more greatly counted against the student, so an...

Jack FFR1846

I liked their solid examples of many older funds and their returns vs all those newer funds and their better returns. Oh, wait, I didn't say that right. I would have liked it if they cited some solid examples of older funds and their returns vs some specific listing of newer funds and their better r...

Jack FFR1846

slow n steady wrote:
If you inherited $300,000 in cash, would you even think about buying farmground with it?

That is exactly the question to ask.

I'd go a step farther and ask.....if you wanted to be a farmland renter, why have you not yet bought farmland and rented it out?

Jack FFR1846

I'm considering a 911 also, but it would be a much bigger, more comfortable car than my current Lotus Elise. The main competitor (which you could consider, compared to a 997) is a Lotus Evora. Both Lotus cars use Toyota engines (elise is a 2ZZ...Celica and Evora is a V6 Camry). Extremely reliable. T...

Jack FFR1846

What are your must-haves? There's the question to answer. People looking for an SUV often put their actual "needs" in one list and "wants" in another list and find that an SUV isn't the right answer. In general, an SUV (see consumer reports) is more gas thirsty and less safe tha...

Jack FFR1846

I should probably continue to stay away from the one our company puts on. Today, I would be so tempted to bait them into saying that they agree that it would be a good idea to jump on Russian stocks right now.

Jack FFR1846

Private tutoring of school age kids is pretty good per hour. We've paid for tutors for both of our kids at times and the rates we've paid for non-store based people have gone from $60-$90 per hour. For an SAT prep place, it's higher than that and from what my son tells me, anyone can teach it. They ...

Jack FFR1846

I was just reading an explanation on how agents are paid on whole life. For a policy with $160/month premiums, the agent's commission in the first year is between $144 and $152 per month.

You think that your money is going to grow.....how?

Jack FFR1846

At least at the present, my current 401k is relatively crummy, so I would not think of rolling anything into it. If I were to move on to a company with a good 401k, I think I'd want to keep the rollover as there is zero employer control over it. The rollover IRA (still called that in my Fidelity por...

Jack FFR1846

Sure, the stocks have tanked. On the surface, it looks like an opportunity, right? So let's say that the government nationalizes all of these companies. Would you be surprised? I wouldn't.

Jack FFR1846

They are 100% correct that this will be a better tax based hedge than any other investment. Why? The fees will eat virtually all your gain. Little gain means little tax. Simple.

Jack FFR1846

Buy them now, if you can. I started buying small quantities in my early 30's just to have some interest bearing savings that didn't get taxed every year. I slowly built up my numbers to the point where it became not only my emergency fund, but my savings account. When I buy a new car, I cash out sav...

Jack FFR1846

People often complain about taxes but are quite happy to pay the voluntary tax called "the lottery". Back years ago, the Mass lottery used to send coupons for various discounts and the occational free lottery ticket. I would only use the freebie. I once won $2 on the freebie and asked for ...

Jack FFR1846

I don't know your island but have spent a lot of time in Aruba. Much higher cost of living than you speak of on your potential new home. Many kids end up going to school in the Netherlands to get a good higher education. Perhaps save towards college in Europe or the US while on the island. OR Does y...

Jack FFR1846

We have free coffee at work.

I suppose if we had free beer at work, maybe I'd have to check that box.....but we don't.

Jack FFR1846

I just opened up my spreadsheet so you can check the funds directly in your wife's 401k account. spartan advantage bond index FSITX 0.1 er spartan advantage international index FSIVX 0.12 er spartan advantage total stock index FSTVX 0.05 er Each requires $10k to get into the fund, which with $100k s...

Jack FFR1846

Can she leave the 401k in place? My wife has a 401k from a job 14 years ago and it's still there with Fidelity. There is no management fee and the Vanguard Total Bond Fund has a lower rate than my rollover IRA account has for some reason. We're not moving it. If she did want to move it, why not move...

Jack FFR1846

In my moving of funds out of bad insurance company IRAs (high cost) out to Fidelity, I'm at a point where I'm not sure if I'm ok doing a move. I have 2 traditional IRAs that I'm looking to move. Can these be moved into my rollover IRA or do I need to open a new traditional IRA within Fidelity and fu...

Jack FFR1846

I always look at them and ask myself "At the sell price, would I buy them right now?" If the answer is yes, I get online and buy shares. If the answer is no, I sell. I once forgot about selling. The buy price was 48 and the stock was at 55. 6 months later I left the company. The market pri...

Jack FFR1846

This year, I'm getting an iBond with some of my fed refund. I think the remaining amount will go to snowmobile repairs. One year in particular, everything lined up and we bought a boat. Right around the beginning of March, I received my quarterly bonus, yearly profit sharing, a bounty for bringing s...

Jack FFR1846

I'm a big fan of paying off the mortgage and the first chance that I had to do it, I did just that. Something you might consider. Take out an equity line of credit in at least the amount that you would need for a 6 month emergency fund. Then pay everything you can spare towards the mortgage to pay i...

Jack FFR1846

When you eat out, get the chicken instead of steak. I was out with my son last night at Bugaboo and I usually get the steak at $20. I got the chicken at $13. Either way, I bring half of it home anyways. If you have points at hotels, airlines, etc that you will never use, join points.com. I did that ...

Jack FFR1846

I believe that the biggest consideration is your trust that you will actually get what they promise. I am a skeptic at heart and will be able to theoretically be able to start taking early social security in five years. I have strong doubts that I'll ever get a dime out of social security. So there'...

Jack FFR1846

Search for bullion wholesalers. I use one local to me and there are only a few in New England. Look into taxes. In Mass, if you buy less than $1000 in bullion, there's 6.25% sales tax. If you buy over $1000, there is no tax. I watch Apmex for prices and specials but so far have bought (over $1k) in ...

Jack FFR1846

Look into the % of restaurants that succeed past their first year in business. Hint, it's the same as the return they're promising you.

Jack FFR1846

I've had a lot of unique watches over the years. Have a Certina, Paolo Gucci (Gucci family member who went out on his own), Citizen eco drive titanium (somewhere), a BMW E30 M3 watch (looks like the tachometer of an 88 M3), have a few others my dad left me. I use my cell phone now.

Jack FFR1846

Scooter makes an important point. I did exactly what he recommends (get out the door price) and my local Subaru dealer gave me exactly that. The reason is that dealers use "documentation fee" as their profit so you feel you got a good deal. I'm told that in Rhode Island, by law this fee ca...

Jack FFR1846

Not disagreeing, just adding to the conversation. I work full time and am in grad school currently, so I did the FAFSA a few weeks ago. A STUDENT'S retirement assets are NOT considered at all when doing the financial aid calculation. Only my savings accounts counted. So, an option "could"...

Jack FFR1846

I see no reason to meet with Fidelity. I am a Fidelity customer with the majority of my and my wife's portfolio WITH them. Note that it is not managed by them. I have had many account executives on my account. They call when they take it over and I tell them I do it myself. I find that if I need act...

Jack FFR1846

Parents left?

Teenagers still in the house?

I would think the department of youth services would come in and take any minor children into state care, since the parents are not around.

Now, if they're 18 or 19, nevermind.

Jack FFR1846

Oh, one additional thought.

529's owned by you are your assets.

529s owned by someone outside of your family (fafsa only) are not a family asset until they are used. So a 529 would best be used to pay for the senior year tuition and cost if owned by someone like a grandparent.

Jack FFR1846

I always respond to college planning posts because my son enters college next year and I've learned so much and almost made a huge mistake in seeking financial aid. First thing to know is that the vast majority of what is called financial aid these days is indeed loans. So when you hear political of...

Jack FFR1846

CFL driver technology varies dramatically from one to the next. I have had some CFLs live short lives and some suffer when combined on the same electrical circuit. One in particular comes to mind, however. I was an early adopter and bought a Philips CFL with a coupon discount in the mid 80's for $21...

Jack FFR1846

Being removed for an extended time like that should be reasonable to be removed. I own a Lotus Elise that my 17 year old son is forbidden to drive. To remove him from my policy for that car, both he and I had to sign a form from the insurance company. This spelled out exactly what would happen if he...

Jack FFR1846

Laura wrote:Jack,

The OP is trying to move money from a old employer account at Fidelity into the federal government retirement plan called the Thrift Savings Plan. It seems you think he is trying to move into Fidelity instead of out of Fidelity.

Laura

I did think that.

Sorry for the confusion

Jack FFR1846

You would probably benefit from my strategy. I am with Fidelity. I do everything online and when I have a question, call the 800 number and ask the specific question. If you have the TSP account open at Fidelity already, go into the transfer funds from another institution and download the forms. You...

Jack FFR1846

Congratulations on thinking ahead to college finance problems that WILL appear with a 529, iBonds, or money in the kid's account. The first key is to keep the money out of the child's name as this counts much higher towards being available for college use. The next, of course is to keep it in a reti...

Jack FFR1846

My first thought is to sue the assailant, if possible. If that doesn't get you anywhere, then bring the urgent care facility to small claims court. They advised you to go to the ER in order to be re-imbersed. You took their advice. I think they gave you bum advice and need to pony up for doing so. T...

Jack FFR1846

If he is in an unstable field and you are considering another child, are you planning to go back to work after another child? If not, figure on his income only when looking for a house. Even more than that, I think I'd be very cautious about even moving. On the worst case scenario, you have another ...

Jack FFR1846

I was contacted near the end of our fios contract to renew. Every 2 years, it's exactly the same. I am on an "old" plan (which is exactly 2 years old) which they don't offer any more. But wait.....they have this better plan that bumps us up a speed grade on internet and gives us a month of...

Jack FFR1846

Look at those expense ratios! Let's say that your dad's choices beat the index by 1% in a year. Pretty good, right? You'll still have more money in the index account because of the difference in fees. Also, how much money would you put in each of the 3 index funds? If you have $10k, you can go into ...

Jack FFR1846

Call E*Trade and ask them what the fees are. I am currently doing this exact same thing from MFS, Transamerica etc into Fidelity. Fidelity recommended I contact the "from" companies to see what fees might apply. So far, I've had none and did transfers "in kind" so they simply sho...

Jack FFR1846

Ok.....my oldest.....expenses from memory (he's 17) 2 years ago: $700 used downhill bike, probably $3000 in computer and video stuff 1 year ago: Car expenses (incl car): At least $15,000. $2100 for replacement downhill bike. This year he has a job (yay). He crashed my 8 month old $35k jeep over the ...

Jack FFR1846

Absolutely raise your liability. To give you some perspective, last year, I broke a finger. This required a reset and 2 pins in surgery and later surgery to remove the pins. I had physical therapy along the way. This "silly, little" finger injury cost well over $50k. Now think if your car ...

Search found 13187 matches