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Cowslips Warren posted:Will try to contact HR, but that's like pulling teeth. Everything is online and the box marked for percentage, when filled out with 5, indicates I need to type out the money withdrawal, not a direct percent. gross pay = (hourly rate * hours) + any extra bonuses net pay = gross pay - taxes - deductions total pay = net pay + expense reimbursements I could not guess if the box on your form is "gross pay per month" or "gross pay per paycheck". Sorry but there isn't really a standard. Helping you is the HR person's job, make them do their job.
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Apr 21, 2013 12:32
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Saint Fu posted:Will you have $7k more next year? If not and it's a one time deal, you might want to consider putting $5,500 in the Roth IRA this year and save the rest for next year. That makes sense, will do that. Thanks!
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Apr 21, 2013 14:40
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So my grandmother just gave me $1000 to put into a Roth IRA. I've set up one through Merril Edge (I apologize if that was a dumb idea, I chose them because of easy connection to my BofA account) but I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing--I assume I need to buy some sort of stock, but I have no idea where to start. Scanning the thread, it looks like putting money into index funds are the way to go, but I guess there's usually a minimum amount that one needs to buy? I really have no idea what I'm doing. Money is not my thing.
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Apr 24, 2013 03:09
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Minimum for vanguard target retirement fund is 1000. Do you have an emergency fund?
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Apr 24, 2013 03:47
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I did, but I've been using it up due to the fact that I'm currently unemployed.
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Apr 24, 2013 04:09
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Frontline did a nice little segment on 401ks and retirement. Not exactly shocking info for anyone who's been reading a lot, but still pretty good. It also has Jack Bogle. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/retirement-gamble/
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Apr 24, 2013 05:09
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Speaking of emergency funds, if I make, say, 40k a year, what's a reasonable emergency fund amount to build up?
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Apr 24, 2013 05:29
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Rotten Red Rod posted:Speaking of emergency funds, if I make, say, 40k a year, what's a reasonable emergency fund amount to build up? What are your monthly costs? I think general rule of thumb is have a 6 month safety net.
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Apr 24, 2013 05:32
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lelandjs posted:I did, but I've been using it up due to the fact that I'm currently unemployed.
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Apr 24, 2013 05:50
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I'm about to rebalance everything, and I think I have a good plan, but want to get some outside feedback.  and I'm planning on using these funds code:Pardot fucked around with this message at 07:33 on Apr 24, 2013 |
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Apr 24, 2013 06:01
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Pardot posted:I'm about to rebalance everything, and I think I have a good plan, but want to get some outside feedback.
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Apr 24, 2013 06:18
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gvibes posted:Roth also isn't taxable, so I'm not sure what is being held taxable and what isn't. But yeah, the taxable account should be only stocks. Sorry, those were the expense ratios not the percentage in those funds, I just listed those to show what funds I was planning on using. gvibes posted:But yeah, the taxable account should be only stocks.
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Apr 24, 2013 07:34
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I have a question about the rollover of 401Ks from my old job. My new job gives me a Vanguard account (with a pretty pathetic employer match, but I have a pension plan) and I'm wondering if I should roll my TRowe 401K and TSP (federal employee 401K) into my Vanguard, convert them into an IRA or keep them where they are. About 2/3rds of the contributions to the accounts were made as Roth contributions, the rest were standard pre-tax contributions. I really like the investment options with Vanguard, there's a lot more variety and I was able to finally get some portion of my portfolio into areas that weren't available to me before. My main worry with rolling over is how to do it without accidentally incurring withdraw penalties or other pitfalls. I've been putting money into these accounts for the last 3 years and I'm now in my mid-20s if that helps at all. edit: One more question: at what income/age level does it make sense to flip from Roth to Traditional contributions? axeil fucked around with this message at 14:29 on Apr 24, 2013 |
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Apr 24, 2013 14:24
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lelandjs posted:I did, but I've been using it up due to the fact that I'm currently unemployed. Keep in mind that you can't legally fund a Roth IRA with any more than your earned income for the year. So if you plan on depositing that $1,000 in a Roth, you would need to have earned at least that much.
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Apr 24, 2013 14:51
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flowinprose posted:Keep in mind that you can't legally fund a Roth IRA with any more than your earned income for the year. So if you plan on depositing that $1,000 in a Roth, you would need to have earned at least that much. Don't worry, I have every intention on getting a job before the year's up.
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Apr 24, 2013 15:45
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axeil posted:I have a question about the rollover of 401Ks from my old job. Whether or not to roll over to an IRA or 401k depends on your possible investment options and fees. Vanguard, to be honest, is pretty good. Check to see the fees/expense ratios of your investment options to determine which is the best idea. On the subject of Roth/Traditional, it depends on whether or not you predict your tax bracket will be higher or lower when you want to withdraw the contributions. If higher, a Roth is a good idea. If lower, then traditional is (usually, with some caveats) a good idea.
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Apr 24, 2013 18:15
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You have until tax day next year to contribute to your Roth IRA so just use the money to live off of. When you get a job, then you can contribute. The important thing isn't getting your money in ASAP so it can grow throughout the year, but to max out your yearly contribution.
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Apr 24, 2013 18:24
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axeil posted:I have a question about the rollover of 401Ks from my old job. You should pretty much always get your money out of an old 401k. The only issues I see with a rollover is people just completely ignoring the multiple warnings saying "don't cash this check."
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Apr 24, 2013 19:18
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Harry posted:You should pretty much always get your money out of an old 401k. The only issues I see with a rollover is people just completely ignoring the multiple warnings saying "don't cash this check." Will there be any issues with the accounting for the Roth/Traditional breakdown? My old employer said I'd be getting a huge book on this stuff eventually from TRowe and the TSP but I want to make sure I'm well-versed in the basics before I start reading all the details.
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Apr 24, 2013 19:33
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Harry posted:You should pretty much always get your money out of an old 401k. If I'm happy with the funds in my 401k is there still a good reason to roll it over to an IRA?
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Apr 24, 2013 20:53
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With the TSP, you get access to the G fund, which I don't entirely understand as I've never had access to it so never learned. People who have access tell me it's the greatest bond fund, so you should look into that and possibly leave your TSP in place so you can do all your bond investing into it. Here is a link. http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/G_Fund something about long term bond yields with short term volatility, so it sounds good.
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Apr 24, 2013 23:09
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axeil posted:Will there be any issues with the accounting for the Roth/Traditional breakdown? My old employer said I'd be getting a huge book on this stuff eventually from TRowe and the TSP but I want to make sure I'm well-versed in the basics before I start reading all the details. You will have two accounts wherever you end up rolling your money over to. One for the Traditional, one for the Roth. You will probably have to fill out some form from your existing 401k and TSP providers directing them where to transfer your money. Just call up your IRA provider and they can walk you through the process.
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Apr 24, 2013 23:17
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Is there a good goto savings account for mid-term savings? I got my retirement stuff squared away and I want to set up a savings account for the inevitable house/newcar/vacation/cool purchases. Right now I have all my cash knocking around in my checking account and I'd like to put it to work even if its a pitiful return. What banks are best for this? Ally? CIT? American express? smartypig? (what?) Or should I say gently caress it and drop it into index funds in my trading account and hope the market doesn't bomb this year like we think it will? 
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Apr 25, 2013 02:12
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BotchedLobotomy posted:Is there a good goto savings account for mid-term savings? I got my retirement stuff squared away and I want to set up a savings account for the inevitable house/newcar/vacation/cool purchases. Right now I have all my cash knocking around in my checking account and I'd like to put it to work even if its a pitiful return. What banks are best for this? Ally? CIT? American express? smartypig? (what?) It depends on how long it will take until you expect to buy a house. Regardless, what you need to do is to establish an asset allocation specifically for the non-retirement money that you have available for buying a house. This could be something conservative, depending on how soon you expect to buy. The key three types of investments are: stocks, bonds, cash/money market. The latter is extremely safe and is basically an investment in things like the treasuries and interest. Bonds are somewhat safe, but a bit more volatile than cash. Stocks have the greatest risk. Here is an example. It may not be the one you want, since you need to determine your allocation based on your own risk tolerance. 10% Vanguard Total Stock Fund 5% Vangaurd International Stock Fund 40% Vangaurd Total Bond Fund 45% Monkey Market
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Apr 25, 2013 04:07
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Background Age: 25 Assets: 10,000$ in savings or low-risk, liquid positions No debts, dependents, liabilities. I am a US citizen but live in a small eastern European (non-Eurozone, but in the EU) country and earn about 22,000 USD a year (subject to FX) before tax. Local taxes take that down to about 14,000 USD. I can save about 500$ a month. My employer gives another 4% a month into a local private retirement fund. This is not much and I won't be able to touch it for years (if the government doesn't just take it anyway). I've just inherited $150,000 (after taxes and administration) and I would like to start saving for retirement, assuming that I never see any of the public or private retirement money from the country I'm living in. My situation is complicated because I have little idea where I will be living in the future. I might move to western Europe or the US next year, or I might stay here for the rest of my life. Anything could happen. To that end I think it is especially important to be wise with this money. I'm well under the overseas income tax exemption and therefore have no taxable income in the US. Are there any retirement savings options available to me that would shield me from tax liabilities that my investments my earn along the way? I plan to open an account at Vanguard and create a very standard, middle of the road long term portfolio.
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Apr 25, 2013 17:35
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ntan1 posted:It depends on how long it will take until you expect to buy a house. Regardless, what you need to do is to establish an asset allocation specifically for the non-retirement money that you have available for buying a house. This could be something conservative, depending on how soon you expect to buy. The key three types of investments are: stocks, bonds, cash/money market. The latter is extremely safe and is basically an investment in things like the treasuries and interest. Bonds are somewhat safe, but a bit more volatile than cash. Stocks have the greatest risk. Sorry, I mean a lot more short term, I dont actually plan to buy a house for a long long time (non monetary reasons) so its more just a better place to park my money than a checking account. I currently run fidelity for a lot of my trading and roth IRA accounts, would you recommend I find a similar breakout like above with fidelity type funds or just open a vanguard account? Is this more preferable to a savings account on the mid-short term? (few years?)
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Apr 25, 2013 18:06
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BotchedLobotomy posted:Sorry, I mean a lot more short term, I dont actually plan to buy a house for a long long time (non monetary reasons) so its more just a better place to park my money than a checking account. I currently run fidelity for a lot of my trading and roth IRA accounts, would you recommend I find a similar breakout like above with fidelity type funds or just open a vanguard account? Is this more preferable to a savings account on the mid-short term? (few years?) The reason I usually recommend vanguard instead of fidelity is because Vanguard's expense ratios on their mutual funds are significantly lower than Fidelity's numbers (No I do not work for Vanguard). If you're talking 5 years+, then a breakdown as I've indicated may work. Again, this depends on your risk, ie. whether or not you'd be willing to delay a housing purchase for 2 years, how much you're willing to let numbers drop if we have a few bad years, etc.
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Apr 25, 2013 18:18
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ntan1 posted:The reason I usually recommend vanguard instead of fidelity is because Vanguard's expense ratios on their mutual funds are significantly lower than Fidelity's numbers (No I do not work for Vanguard). This is not actually true anymore. Fidelity's index funds are pretty much the cheapest index funds out there. And their selection has expanded quite a bit. That said, I still like it when people choose Vanguard just because they have been so investor friendly for so long and have such a long track record of low cost.
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Apr 25, 2013 18:38
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floppo posted:Background I'm in a similar position to you (except for the large inheritance). My money is split between a Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund and a Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (need to save up a bit in order to get enough to meet the minimum for a bond fund) as that is supposedly more tax-advantageous when compared to just throwing it into a Target Retirement Fund. I will owe taxes on any gains/dividends, but since my Earned Income is effectively $0 in the US, the money my investments make don't cause me to pay any taxes. I guess they could (and with $150k invested probably would) and when I sell, I think I might owe taxes on the gains I've made, but for now, it's working OK. Total Confusion fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Apr 25, 2013 |
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Apr 25, 2013 20:44
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80k posted:This is not actually true anymore. Fidelity's index funds are pretty much the cheapest index funds out there. And their selection has expanded quite a bit. That said, I still like it when people choose Vanguard just because they have been so investor friendly for so long and have such a long track record of low cost. Fidelity® Total Bond Fund: 0.45% Vanguard Total Bond Fund: 0.22% As an example.
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Apr 25, 2013 20:49
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ntan1 posted:Fidelity® Total Bond Fund: 0.45% I said that Fidelity INDEX funds are all the cheapest out there, not their managed funds. Their low minimum index funds are in the 0.2% expense ratio range. There 10k minimum index funds are in the 0.1% expense ratio range. These are identical to Vanguard investor and admiral share expense ratios, respectively. Edit: In general, you will find that the Fidelity index funds are often cheaper than the Vanguard index funds by a very tiny amount. They actually cap the expense ratios to be cheapest in class. I am not a fidelity fan, and I don't like that this is true, but it is. 80k fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Apr 25, 2013 |
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Apr 25, 2013 20:55
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Good point. I guess they finally did drop their expense ratios
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Apr 25, 2013 23:35
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I think the area where Vanguard still comes out ahead on expenses is the Target Retirement/Freedom-type funds. Just comparing Freedom 2045 to TR 2045, Freedom is at .76% while TR is at .18%
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Apr 26, 2013 15:56
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Harry posted:Frontline did a nice little segment on 401ks and retirement. Not exactly shocking info for anyone who's been reading a lot, but still pretty good. It also has Jack Bogle. That frontline is pretty great, if only because it gives you a chance to watch fund managers squirm like hell when asked why they push inferior products with high management expenses.
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Apr 26, 2013 16:03
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This is a spreadsheet of my current savings account (UK, hence references to ISAs). I'm about to get another approx 66% of the current value of the portfolio moving into this account in the next few weeks and I'm not sure where to put it. For reference, the funds will only be able to go into ISA-eligible funds that I can access through the HSBC platform (a subset of the list here: https://investments.hsbc.co.uk/funds ) Anyone have any ideas? I'm 24, happy to take on risk as I'm not going to need any of this day-to-day for the forseeable future (i.e. next 10 years). We could assume that this is saving for a house or other undetermined, large £££ cost event. I can add approximately 33% of the current portfolio value per year as that's extra to my ongoing expenses, provided I stay in this job. This isn't my pension, which is in a different fund altogether.
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Apr 26, 2013 17:16
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tentish klown posted:This is a spreadsheet of my current savings account (UK, hence references to ISAs). I'm about to get another approx 66% of the current value of the portfolio moving into this account in the next few weeks and I'm not sure where to put it. What are your expense ratios? The funds look like the expense ratios would be extremely high.
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Apr 26, 2013 17:46
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ntan1 posted:What are your expense ratios? The funds look like the expense ratios would be extremely high. They're high: 1.68, 1.72, 1.94, 1.78, 1.68 respectively for the live funds. However, apart from the China fund I've been looking for high risk, high volatility funds where the expense ratio ought to be less of a factor, given the volatility. Or am I thinking about this wrong? I can see from reading through the thread that here everyone seems to rate expense ratios higher than pretty much anything, regardless of what the fund is or what its goals are. I'm looking at this in a bit more depth than the 'x% equities, y% debt, z% money markets/FX' model that seems to be common...
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Apr 26, 2013 18:18
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Over the long-term, highly managed funds tend to under-perform passively managed index funds and cost you a lot more in expense fees for the privilege.
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Apr 26, 2013 18:48
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Harry posted:Frontline did a nice little segment on 401ks and retirement. Not exactly shocking info for anyone who's been reading a lot, but still pretty good. It also has Jack Bogle. I'm in this thread because of that Frontline. I'm a recent college grad that just got laid off from his first "real" job. I also just received 3000 dollars as a graduation present. I have a decent amount of savings besides the grad present but I have deep mistrust of financiers so I have not invested anything previously. Vanguard seems right up my alley, but with only 3k to invest, I'm not sure which index fund would suit me best. What should I read if I'm specifically interested in index investing? EDIT: I'm Canadian, I have no debts and I could probably survive on EI and my savings for at least three months without a job.
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Apr 26, 2013 18:50
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If your current savings buffer is only 3 months, I'd hold off on investing until you're gainfully employed and then invest. You never know how long you might be unemployed. This is a decent enough start about index investing: http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Indexing You can peruse that site endlessly. There's also a lot to read on Vanguard's website.
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Apr 26, 2013 19:03
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