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Saint Fu posted:Oh no kidding? I'll have to set that up then. Maybe I just missed it when I opened the account. Thanks! You want to have your spouse log in under their account and mouse-over "My Accounts" and select "Account Maintenance." This will take you to a page where you can set up a "grantee" permission to control various functions of your account based on access level (inquiry only, limited access, or full access). This will then send a confirmation to the grantee who will fill out some personal information to confirm identity and then accept the access. I would add that I would be very wary of granting full access, as this effectively makes the account twice as able to be compromised in some way, since anyone with either you or your spouse's login information could get access to the account and redeem funds to be mailed to a new address. flowinprose fucked around with this message at 00:40 on Dec 3, 2014 |
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Dec 3, 2014 00:37
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nelson posted:HSA also makes sense if you have/will have soon medical expenses, even with terrible investment options, as the money is not taxed (at all) when used for medical expenses. With the fine note some states don't allow HSA pre-tax evasion like the people's republic of california.
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Dec 3, 2014 01:04
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etalian posted:With the fine note some states don't allow HSA pre-tax evasion like the people's republic of california. They need your HSA tax money to fund the full-time committee in charge of deciding how many people are allowed to use, and the completely random fine, for every individual 100 feet of carpool lane throughout the state. And to put up more road signs. MORE SIGNS.
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Dec 3, 2014 01:24
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I may soon receive a job offer that has a 403(b) plan. 25% match up to 4% of salary (so max of 1% salary match). It would be my first "real" job. What the heck is a 403(b)? I understand it to be kind of like a 401(k) but for nonprofits - but the match seems pretty weak compared to some temp jobs I have worked that had matching 401(k). If hired, should I take advantage of the 403(b)?
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Dec 3, 2014 03:58
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Droo posted:They need your HSA tax money to fund the full-time committee in charge of deciding how many people are allowed to use, and the completely random fine, for every individual 100 feet of carpool lane throughout the state. New Jersey is another state that doesn't allow pre-tax contributions to a HSA. Massasoit posted:I may soon receive a job offer that has a 403(b) plan. 25% match up to 4% of salary (so max of 1% salary match). It would be my first "real" job. Yes just follow the OP, at the minimum you want to at least contribute up to the match percentage. It's basically free money assuming you meet the vesting requirements. 404B is basically the 401k concept except it's mainly used by some government employees, religious organizations or non-profits. http://www.irs.gov/publications/p571/ch01.html etalian fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Dec 3, 2014 |
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Dec 3, 2014 04:13
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Massasoit posted:I may soon receive a job offer that has a 403(b) plan. 25% match up to 4% of salary (so max of 1% salary match). It would be my first "real" job. 403(b) and 401(k) are basically equivalent, yeah. Your employer just has a kind of lovely match  Get the max match anyway.
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Dec 3, 2014 04:30
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So I work for the local county government, and our retirement plan is a 457b plan. From my reading of it, and something that was mentioned earlier in this thread, I can really withdraw from it before the age of 59(1/2) without any penalties at all? Is the money that comes out of it upon withdrawal still taxed, though? What if I roll it into a Roth IRA?
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Dec 3, 2014 04:47
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What is the thread's opinion on "high-yield" online savings accounts currently? My wife and I need a place to keep our emergency fund and to also put money aside for other spending goals (vacation, a car in a few years, that kind of stuff). I've been doing some research and am playing around with Ally, Barclays Dream Account (I have their Arrival+ credit card already and the perks for the Dream account are neat), and Synchrony. They are all 0.9-1.0%, which blows away the 0.01% I'm getting at Wells Fargo.
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Dec 3, 2014 04:52
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DrSunshine posted:So I work for the local county government, and our retirement plan is a 457b plan. From my reading of it, and something that was mentioned earlier in this thread, I can really withdraw from it before the age of 59(1/2) without any penalties at all? Is the money that comes out of it upon withdrawal still taxed, though? What if I roll it into a Roth IRA? I bet it gets treated like an IRA if you roll it over and then try to distribute it early, unless you do a Roth conversion and wait for the holding period to pass. khysanth posted:What is the thread's opinion on "high-yield" online savings accounts currently? My wife and I need a place to keep our emergency fund and to also put money aside for other spending goals (vacation, a car in a few years, that kind of stuff). SiGmA_X fucked around with this message at 04:59 on Dec 3, 2014 |
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Dec 3, 2014 04:56
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SiGmA_X posted:Speaking for the collective, we like em. It (high interest savings account) is the best place to park short term savings and emergency funds. Your research has revealed some well referred places, too. I use SmartyPig, but may change to Ally soon due to far easier ACH access. Another option I'm considering is a money market mutual fund. I haven't looked at any specific companies/funds but from my understanding they have slightly better yields than online savings accounts. I'm sure there are cons as well.
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Dec 3, 2014 05:50
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DrSunshine posted:So I work for the local county government, and our retirement plan is a 457b plan. From my reading of it, and something that was mentioned earlier in this thread, I can really withdraw from it before the age of 59(1/2) without any penalties at all? Is the money that comes out of it upon withdrawal still taxed, though? What if I roll it into a Roth IRA?  The main catch is you have to keep the money in the original 457b plan, you can't roll it over to a IRA and try to get the same treatment.
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Dec 3, 2014 05:59
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So I've been maxing out my HSA and 401k every year, while also maintaining a ~12 month emergency fund. I was thinking of shifting some of the emergency fund (down to no lower than 6 months) to a Roth IRA as both a savings vessel and a super-emergency fund/potential-future-house fund (contributions only). Any thoughts on whether this is a good or bad idea?
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Dec 3, 2014 06:11
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khysanth posted:Another option I'm considering is a money market mutual fund. I haven't looked at any specific companies/funds but from my understanding they have slightly better yields than online savings accounts. I'm sure there are cons as well. That was true at one point, but no longer (I'd be really happy if I'm proven wrong here though). Money markets these days are places to stick money that you are either about to invest with or are speculating with, they're not savings vehicles of any kind.
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Dec 3, 2014 07:28
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ETB posted:So I've been maxing out my HSA and 401k every year, while also maintaining a ~12 month emergency fund. I was thinking of shifting some of the emergency fund (down to no lower than 6 months) to a Roth IRA as both a savings vessel and a super-emergency fund/potential-future-house fund (contributions only). Any thoughts on whether this is a good or bad idea? Are you warm and fuzzy with your life, work, and take reasonable precautions in all areas of your life (auto, home insurance, wear helmets and seatbelts, safe driving record, don't do high-impact contact sports, etc)? Sure. Roth IRAs have penalty free withdrawal of your principal, anyways.
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Dec 3, 2014 18:50
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I've got an HSA but am changing jobs in six weeks, and the new employer does not offer an HSA. According to the benefits pamphlet of my current employer, I have the ability to change my voluntary contribution at any time. Apparently contributions made outside of that payroll deduction (like via the online site) are done post-tax. Should I crank that pre-tax payroll deduction contribution up for my last few paychecks to build up my HSA balance, which I can then take with me after I leave this job? edit: I have like $52 in there now, will likely have a $200+ bill coming from an ultrasound I just had done. My prescription costs are modest and in general I'm healthy. Easychair Bootson fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Dec 3, 2014 |
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Dec 3, 2014 19:35
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Try to max it. The reason you're investing in an HSA is that sweet sweet tax-free growth, you don't need to use it until you're old and sickly. Think of it as part of the last ten years of your life's retirement fund. You shouldn't be pulling from your HSA now, even if you can. You'll need that money later in life, and in the meantime it will have a bunch of tax-free compounded growth in there.
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Dec 3, 2014 20:01
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I've made a huge mistake. It's unlikely that I'll be able to make any significant contributions to it before I leave my job. I had been maxing my Roth IRA but I'd always assumed the major benefit of the HSA was being able to pay medical expenses pre-tax. Sounds like I should have been treating it similarly to the Roth IRA. edit: Thanks for the advice
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Dec 3, 2014 20:57
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moana posted:Try to max it. The flexiblity of an HSA account is awesome - Agreed here! moana posted:You shouldn't be pulling from your HSA now, even if you can. On this, I'd argue this is highly situational. I'd say if you aren't already maxing your 401k match and Roth IRA, you should absolutely be using your HSA for allowed expenses and instead use the out of pocket savings to pump up your retirement accounts. Once you are at that point, keeping money in the HSA is a reasonable option. I still say there is a solid argument to continue until you are maxing out the 401k if you have good investment options in there, but neither would be a bad choice. Once you get to the point where you don't have other tax-advantaged options or if you have garbage options in your 401k, then I'll 100% agree with you.
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Dec 3, 2014 21:25
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I think the HSA is better than a 401k in almost all aspects: your contributions are tax free and can be withdrawn tax free as well (with qualifying medical expenses). If you have a balance when you reach 65, you can withdraw it even without qualifying medical expenses (but those non-medical withdrawals would be subject to your tax bracket at that time, no worse than a 401k). The only downside is you might have less investment options in the HSA and there may be higher fees. I think it would take some pretty high fees to outweigh the potential to contribute tax free, hold/grow for decades, then withdraw tax free as well. Additionally, you can roll over your HSA to a custodian of your choosing whenever you want to limit your fees (unlike a 401k where you are stuck with your employers custodian until you change jobs [unless your company allows in-service rollovers, very uncommon]).
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Dec 3, 2014 21:38
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Saint Fu posted:I think the HSA is better than a 401k in almost all aspects: your contributions are tax free and can be withdrawn tax free as well (with qualifying medical expenses). If you have a balance when you reach 65, you can withdraw it even without qualifying medical expenses (but those non-medical withdrawals would be subject to your tax bracket at that time, no worse than a 401k). Assuming congress doesn't significantly modify it... I'm not saying it will happen, but I see changes being made to the "once you hit 65" portion of the HSA well before anything similar would happen to an IRA or 401k. For some readers of this thread it will be 40+ years before they hit 65. That's a *whole* lot of time for something to happen here. Especially with healthcare being such a large portion of the political dialog in the current and near future. What happens if we do move to actual universal healthcare? I'd hope they would allow us to roll any HSA balances over to an IRA, but who could say for sure? edit: In case I wasn't clear, I'm fully on board with maxing out your HSA if you are able to do so - at least until you have several years worth of buffer in there. I'm specifically only talking about the strategy of using the HSA to pay qualified expenses now (and then using the money you would have spent out of pocket to fund other tax-advantaged options for retirement) vs leaving the money in there to be taken out at a future time. I'm just saying it isn't an absolute "this is better than that" argument. Fancy_Lad fucked around with this message at 22:10 on Dec 3, 2014 |
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Dec 3, 2014 21:51
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Saint Fu posted:I think the HSA is better than a 401k in almost all aspects: your contributions are tax free and can be withdrawn tax free as well (with qualifying medical expenses). If you have a balance when you reach 65, you can withdraw it even without qualifying medical expenses (but those non-medical withdrawals would be subject to your tax bracket at that time, no worse than a 401k). So, my understanding is that you aren't allowed to contribute to an HSA if you have regular medical insurance as well. Is that correct? I've always skipped on the HSA option because I'm not sure that the tax savings make up for the fact that the coverage seems to have a lot more out of pocket.
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Dec 3, 2014 22:51
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A high deductible health plan, to be exact.
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Dec 3, 2014 22:56
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Vilgan posted:So, my understanding is that you aren't allowed to contribute to an HSA if you have regular medical insurance as well. Is that correct?
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Dec 3, 2014 22:57
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Vilgan posted:I've always skipped on the HSA option because I'm not sure that the tax savings make up for the fact that the coverage seems to have a lot more out of pocket. In the future, crunch the numbers on it. My employer offers several plans. Seems most people pick our PPO HDHP or the PPO $900 deductible. For employee + spouse coverage: The HDHP monthly premium is $71.17/month. $854.04/year $900 deductable = $220.65/month. $2647.80/year. My employer contributes $2500 to my HDHP for free. I must contribute at least $300/year. Minimum out of pocket costs: 1154.04/year for the HDHP. I also have $2800 in my HSA to show for this. $2647.80/year for the $900 deductible. The HDHP deductible is $2500 (for the family). From there I pay a 20% copay until I hit my max out of pocket of $5000 The $900 deductible is, well, $900 (individual per person). From there it is a 20% copay until you hit the maximum out of pocket of $2400 per individual or $7200 per family (this doesn't come into play unless kids are involved). Maximum out of pocket for HDHP is $5000, $2500 of which is free money. So really $2500. Taking the best case for the $900 plan, maximum out of pocket for $900 deductible is $2400. This doesn't count the extra $1793.76 you paid in base premiums. Realistically there may be a couple scenarios where the HDHP plan doesn't win simply because of the way the prescription plan and how office visits work, but they are very narrow wins. If you don't use the healthcare or you use it a lot, the HDHP plan wins hands down. This will not be the case everywhere, but crunch the numbers and see during your next open enrollment.
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Dec 3, 2014 23:18
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Quick check to make sure I'm not off my rocker, since we're all having this roth/traditional discussion already. My wife and I both make about 60-75k each, we're 26. Putting us at roughly $130k combined (estimate, as my wife bills her time). I get a 6% match on 401k, and max this. She gets a 3% match on a SIMPLE IRA, and maxes this. We both max our ROTHs annually, so that's another $11k. I also contribute the deductible amount annually to my HSA (and get an additional 1/2 of it comp'ed by the company to push people away from 100% and 80/20 coverage). Through work, I can do a traditional or ROTH 401k. At the time I started working for this company, I opted for the traditional thinking that I'd save on the highest bracket of taxes I'm subject to. Additionally, my wife and I could (obviously) live on less than this $130k, as we're aggressively paying off mortgage, cars, student loans, etc---so I don't plan on extracting $130k annually when we retire. This being the case---should I go ahead and put my 401k contributions in as ROTH? I guess I was thinking we were getting roughly 50/50 roth/traditional split and that was fair "futureproofing" future tax rates and policy changes, but maybe I need to take advantage of all of the ROTH I can now, as I do definitely anticipate making more in the future (super niche industry, experience is aging out quickly). Dead Pressed fucked around with this message at 23:26 on Dec 3, 2014 |
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Dec 3, 2014 23:19
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I'd go Roth now if you see potential for more income growth. You're young and it's very likely you'll be up a few brackets later in life.
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Dec 4, 2014 01:03
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Fancy_Lad posted:In the future, crunch the numbers on it.
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Dec 4, 2014 01:17
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Sorry to keep spamming this thread with questions -- I've got another one regarding HSAs. I'm pretty sure my wife's individual insurance plan is eligible for an HSA. Her deductible is $2,000 and her max out-of-pocket is $6350. Her monthly premium is around $225. Neither of us have 401k options through our employers, so for now we have just been maxing my Roth IRA for retirement. We had planned on opening one for her as well that we would try to max each year, but is the HSA a better option? She wouldn't have any employer contributions. Still trying to wrap my head around it all.
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Dec 4, 2014 01:21
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SiGmA_X posted:I'd go Roth now if you see potential for more income growth. You're young and it's very likely you'll be up a few brackets later in life. But what I make now vs. later shouldn't matter. It should just be "what tax bracket am I in now" vs "what tax bracket am I projected to be within when I withdraw the money". Right? As I won't need the $130k/yr we're making now, and will most likely live on the $60k/yr estimate or less---my tax bracket would theoretically be lower at my retirement date---thus making traditional the way to go. Unless I'm looking at this wrong...at which point please correct me! khysanth posted:Neither of us have 401k options through our employers, so for now we have just been maxing my Roth IRA for retirement. We had planned on opening one for her as well that we would try to max each year, but is the HSA a better option? She wouldn't have any employer contributions. Still trying to wrap my head around it all. The way I do this is contribute enough to the HSA to cover the deductible and then put money into other channels. This way you have enough to cover everything until you start "getting help" from the insurance company---and you get the benefit of the pre-tax savings for healthcare. So, after the $2k I'd put it all towards a Roth. Reason being---its there as as accessible fund if you had an emergency that couldn't be provided for otherwise. My opinion changes if the HSA is available to invest depending on the options. e.g. I have all my HSA funds invested in the stock market through a provider that basically mimics a 401k. That's just my spin, though. Dead Pressed fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Dec 4, 2014 |
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Dec 4, 2014 01:30
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A follow-up question. If she is doing the HSA account as an individual, how does she get the money into the account pre-tax? We also live in CA and I understand that just affects our state tax return.
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Dec 4, 2014 01:40
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khysanth posted:A follow-up question. If she is doing the HSA account as an individual, how does she get the money into the account pre-tax? We also live in CA and I understand that just affects our state tax return. I'm hypothesizing here, as mine is taken directly out of my paycheck, but I would figure its like a traditional IRA. Pay with post tax dollars and get the tax refund at the end of the year?
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Dec 4, 2014 01:44
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I'm looking for some advice on my 401(k). I currently contribute 6% to get my maximum match of $.35/dollar. I'm 28 so I chose the default Target Date 2050 and it looks like this: Distributed: Underlying Investment Mix for TRIM 2050 International Stock Fund 28% Bond Fund 10% Large Cap Stock Fund 35% Mid Cap Stock Fund 2% Small Cap Stock Fund 5% Balanced/LifeStyle 20% Total 100% Lots of these seem to have very high ERs. Here is my list of total funds available:  I have the Four Pillars on order but I'm a bit daunted by that list other than I can see their ERs listed when I drill down but don't really know what I should prioritize, like should I just pick the 3 lowest ER funds and go 33/33/33? Or grab the cheapest one that says bonds and do 20% and then 40/40 International/Large Cap with the lowest ERs? I think I'm getting some concepts but the details are befuddling and I really want to get this right. I'm 28 and have an Edward Jones managed Roth IRA, (3 funds at .85, .83, and .65 ERs) which I plan to dump for a Vanguard one after I've read the book and maybe figured the rest of this stuff out.
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Dec 4, 2014 01:48
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Crimpanzee posted:I'm looking for some advice on my 401(k). I currently contribute 6% to get my maximum match of $.35/dollar. I'm 28 so I chose the default Target Date 2050 and it looks like this: If you do switch to Vanguard they offer low expense target retirement funds which I consider to be the best in the business and a pretty lazy way to invest in your Roth IRA account. For your default 401k I would go with the following if you want to focus on low cost funds like the Four Pillar recommends: Vanguard Institutional (Large Cap US stocks): 60% Blackrock MSCI ex US (Developed/Emerging Markets): 30% PIMCO All Asset (Bonds): 10% to 20% depending on your risk tolerance etalian fucked around with this message at 02:13 on Dec 4, 2014 |
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Dec 4, 2014 02:09
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Dead Pressed posted:I'm hypothesizing here, as mine is taken directly out of my paycheck, but I would figure its like a traditional IRA. Pay with post tax dollars and get the tax refund at the end of the year? Right. You get to deduct post-tax HSA contributions when you file your taxes. But there is a small benefit to making paycheck contributions because that way you also avoid FICA taxes in addition to federal (and maybe state) income taxes.
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Dec 4, 2014 02:50
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Dead Pressed posted:But what I make now vs. later shouldn't matter. It should just be "what tax bracket am I in now" vs "what tax bracket am I projected to be within when I withdraw the money". Right? As I won't need the $130k/yr we're making now, and will most likely live on the $60k/yr estimate or less---my tax bracket would theoretically be lower at my retirement date---thus making traditional the way to go. Unless I'm looking at this wrong...at which point please correct me! I'm with you. Take the pre-tax out for your 401k. The biggest benefit, in my opinion, is that your contributions now are coming "off the top" of your income -- the money you contribute would be 100% taxed from your highest income bracket if you did Roth instead of traditional. When traditional funds are disbursed, they're taxed at every income bracket. Even if you're going to be extracting the funds at the same income level -- 130k -- the money you'd had contributed would have all come from the (whatever) 25% tax bracket but the money you're receiving is effectively being taxed at (whatever) 19.64% percent due to progressive tax brackets. That's cool poo poo AND you get to chop 35k off of your income taxes. Roth 401k is really only useful if you're in some weird place where you have shitloads of money in traditional accounts and have a low current income. Maybe something like you're 45 and acting as a tour guide after a life in oil production and contributed max to your traditional 401k since you were 18. Roth makes sense for young workers who expect their retirement income to be greater than their current income AND are currently in a low enough income bracket to have the "off the top" effect be low... but that money should be going to a Roth IRA, not 401k. If you're past maxing Roth IRA and are still in low bracket, then by all means, but I'm of the opinion that if you can max Roth IRA and meet other life goals then your income is probably high enough that the "off the top" effect is pointing towards traditional. DNK fucked around with this message at 06:14 on Dec 4, 2014 |
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Dec 4, 2014 06:11
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Yeah 401k is somewhat more efficient since you put pre-tax dollars into investments today and also get a match once you meet the vesting requirements.
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Dec 5, 2014 01:36
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Does anyone have a PV calculation for both Roth and traditional that takes into account taxes?
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Dec 5, 2014 02:28
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etalian posted:If you do switch to Vanguard they offer low expense target retirement funds which I consider to be the best in the business and a pretty lazy way to invest in your Roth IRA account. Thanks for simplifying, I'm fairly risk averse so I opted for 55/25/20.
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Dec 5, 2014 17:33
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Crimpanzee posted:Thanks for simplifying, I'm fairly risk averse so I opted for 55/25/20. Cicero fucked around with this message at 20:05 on Dec 5, 2014 |
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Dec 5, 2014 20:02
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Cicero posted:If I were you I'd just dump everything into VINIX for the 401k and then balance for everything else (small/mid-cap domestic, international, bonds) in my IRA and taxable accounts. Dunno why you would pick out of those very limited international and bond fund choices in your 401k when you can do pretty much anything you want outside of it. Maybe you can revisit your allocation after you read 4 pillars though.
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Dec 5, 2014 21:06
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