Personal Finance Advice and Education! (1 Viewer)

[jm192]

I think this was the thread where someone was talking about HSAs and said that you CANNOT pay for insurance premiums with the HSA money, Is that true? My HSA "hack" was to use the money saved in it to help pay the more expensive healthcare options if I retire before I'm eligible for Medicare.

If you save receipts for healthcare expenses between now and then, can’t you just turn those in during retirement to “pay for” those expensive healthcare options?

Exactly. File those receipts away and you can reimburse yourself whenever to cover whatever.

Yup. I have a huge file on my computer. We've done 2 rounds of IVF Trying to get pregnant, so we've got way more expenses than HSA dollars, but I'm gonna keep track until we switch.

 

[Instinctive]

I think this was the thread where someone was talking about HSAs and said that you CANNOT pay for insurance premiums with the HSA money, Is that true? My HSA "hack" was to use the money saved in it to help pay the more expensive healthcare options if I retire before I'm eligible for Medicare.

If you save receipts for healthcare expenses between now and then, can’t you just turn those in during retirement to “pay for” those expensive healthcare options?

Exactly. File those receipts away and you can reimburse yourself whenever to cover whatever.

Yup. I have a huge file on my computer. We've done 2 rounds of IVF Trying to get pregnant, so we've got way more expenses than HSA dollars, but I'm gonna keep track until we switch.

Thoughts and prayers. We recently went rounds and rounds similarly

 

[jm192]

I think this was the thread where someone was talking about HSAs and said that you CANNOT pay for insurance premiums with the HSA money, Is that true? My HSA "hack" was to use the money saved in it to help pay the more expensive healthcare options if I retire before I'm eligible for Medicare.

If you save receipts for healthcare expenses between now and then, can’t you just turn those in during retirement to “pay for” those expensive healthcare options?

Exactly. File those receipts away and you can reimburse yourself whenever to cover whatever.

Yup. I have a huge file on my computer. We've done 2 rounds of IVF Trying to get pregnant, so we've got way more expenses than HSA dollars, but I'm gonna keep track until we switch.

Thoughts and prayers. We recently went rounds and rounds similarly

Same to you! Hope it works out.

My wife has come across this new thing called Ovarian PRP--Platelet rich plasma. It's supposed to help with diminished ovarian function. Obviously I don't know you guys situation, but she would want me to tell your wife about it just in case haha.

 

[ChiefD]

So for you guys with 529's set up for your kids:

When I set up our kids years ago I chose an age-based portfolio, which is pretty conservative according to Victory Capital's definition. That turned out to be a wise chose since the money put in there has been pretty safe I think with the overall market being down the past few years.

My oldest son will be cashing out a lot of his this next year, so I was thinking:

Since the market is starting to rebound, should I re-allocate the other two kids portfolios to something more aggressive? One of them is a sophomore so he would have two more years of this account and the other is an 8th grade - so 4 more years for year.

Hoping to capture some extra gains as hopefully the market improves over the next few years. Smart? Stay on normal path? Thoughts?

 

[themeanmachine]

So for you guys with 529's set up for your kids:

When I set up our kids years ago I chose an age-based portfolio, which is pretty conservative according to Victory Capital's definition. That turned out to be a wise chose since the money put in there has been pretty safe I think with the overall market being down the past few years.

My oldest son will be cashing out a lot of his this next year, so I was thinking:

Since the market is starting to rebound, should I re-allocate the other two kids portfolios to something more aggressive? One of them is a sophomore so he would have two more years of this account and the other is an 8th grade - so 4 more years for year.

Hoping to capture some extra gains as hopefully the market improves over the next few years. Smart? Stay on normal path? Thoughts?

I've also had mine in age-based portfolios, kids are now Junior in college and senior in high school. And agreed, they have been pretty conservative. But in general with all investing I avoid trying to time the market. You never know if an unexpected economic catastrophe will occur and your portfolio ends up half its current size right as your 8th grader is entering college.

 

[SFBayDuck]

So for you guys with 529's set up for your kids:

When I set up our kids years ago I chose an age-based portfolio, which is pretty conservative according to Victory Capital's definition. That turned out to be a wise chose since the money put in there has been pretty safe I think with the overall market being down the past few years.

My oldest son will be cashing out a lot of his this next year, so I was thinking:

Since the market is starting to rebound, should I re-allocate the other two kids portfolios to something more aggressive? One of them is a sophomore so he would have two more years of this account and the other is an 8th grade - so 4 more years for year.

Hoping to capture some extra gains as hopefully the market improves over the next few years. Smart? Stay on normal path? Thoughts?

For my kid's 529 I was in the age-based portfolio from the start, but during high school I started putting new contributions into more aggressive growth funds. But that was after I had the bulk of it in something that was relatively conservative as she was going to need the money in the coming 2-6 years and I didn't want to risk that. Just figured I'd see if I could squeeze out a little extra returns with the 10-15% of the account that I contributed over those few years that would be used her junior and senior years, which has worked out fine. In fact now that she's a junior in college and it's still unclear if grad school is in the cards, I'm probably going to shift it all back to a very conservative allocation.

I think if you'll need the funds within 2-5 years, they should be invested very conservatively. For the sophomore, you could consider doing something like I did but protect the bulk in the age-based funds. For the 8th grader you might consider being more aggressive, as those funds won't be needed for 4-8 years (remember, they aren't all used in year 1....hopefully).

 

[shuke]

Speaking of 529's, my son is a freshman in college, and I want to start pulling funds out next year. Should I keep contributing to get the state tax break?

 

[themeanmachine]

Speaking of 529's, my son is a freshman in college, and I want to start pulling funds out next year. Should I keep contributing to get the state tax break?

That's what I've been doing, oldest is a junior in college and still contributing for the state tax break.

 

[SFBayDuck]

Speaking of 529's, my son is a freshman in college, and I want to start pulling funds out next year. Should I keep contributing to get the state tax break?

That's what I've been doing, oldest is a junior in college and still contributing for the state tax break.

Same, I contribute what I have to in order to get the state tax benefit. I think last year I took out $1,500 from my CA 529 (I used to live there, no state tax benefit) and contributed that to my OR 529 (live here now) so I could get that juicy $150 tax credit

 

[Instinctive]

I think this was the thread where someone was talking about HSAs and said that you CANNOT pay for insurance premiums with the HSA money, Is that true? My HSA "hack" was to use the money saved in it to help pay the more expensive healthcare options if I retire before I'm eligible for Medicare.

If you save receipts for healthcare expenses between now and then, can’t you just turn those in during retirement to “pay for” those expensive healthcare options?

Exactly. File those receipts away and you can reimburse yourself whenever to cover whatever.

Yup. I have a huge file on my computer. We've done 2 rounds of IVF Trying to get pregnant, so we've got way more expenses than HSA dollars, but I'm gonna keep track until we switch.

Thoughts and prayers. We recently went rounds and rounds similarly

Same to you! Hope it works out.

My wife has come across this new thing called Ovarian PRP--Platelet rich plasma. It's supposed to help with diminished ovarian function. Obviously I don't know you guys situation, but she would want me to tell your wife about it just in case haha.

<3 My wife is 28 weeks pregnant now. Took us like 3 years. And we have a surrogate for our second. There's a whole thread - I probably need to update. Everyone here was WILDLY kind and supportive so if you ever want to talk (or just DM) about any of it, tons of folks have experience.


Now back to our regularly scheduled personal finance discussion. I'll add a topic - surrogacy is an EXPENSIVE proposition let me tell ya....

 

[Andrew74]

So for you guys with 529's set up for your kids:

When I set up our kids years ago I chose an age-based portfolio, which is pretty conservative according to Victory Capital's definition. That turned out to be a wise chose since the money put in there has been pretty safe I think with the overall market being down the past few years.

My oldest son will be cashing out a lot of his this next year, so I was thinking:

Since the market is starting to rebound, should I re-allocate the other two kids portfolios to something more aggressive? One of them is a sophomore so he would have two more years of this account and the other is an 8th grade - so 4 more years for year.

Hoping to capture some extra gains as hopefully the market improves over the next few years. Smart? Stay on normal path? Thoughts?

Personally I wouldn’t with that time frame. I’d stick to the current path. The market has been “meh” the last two years but we are only ~5% off the all-time high for the S&P 500 (and about breakeven on a total return basis). And bonds are yielding levels not seen in 15-17 years.

 

[Andrew74]

Speaking of 529's, my son is a freshman in college, and I want to start pulling funds out next year. Should I keep contributing to get the state tax break?

I would. Take the free money.

 

[ConstruxBoy]

I think this was the thread where someone was talking about HSAs and said that you CANNOT pay for insurance premiums with the HSA money, Is that true? My HSA "hack" was to use the money saved in it to help pay the more expensive healthcare options if I retire before I'm eligible for Medicare.

If you save receipts for healthcare expenses between now and then, can’t you just turn those in during retirement to “pay for” those expensive healthcare options?

Exactly. File those receipts away and you can reimburse yourself whenever to cover whatever.

Yup. I have a huge file on my computer. We've done 2 rounds of IVF Trying to get pregnant, so we've got way more expenses than HSA dollars, but I'm gonna keep track until we switch.

Thoughts and prayers. We recently went rounds and rounds similarly

Same to you! Hope it works out.

My wife has come across this new thing called Ovarian PRP--Platelet rich plasma. It's supposed to help with diminished ovarian function. Obviously I don't know you guys situation, but she would want me to tell your wife about it just in case haha.

<3 My wife is 28 weeks pregnant now. Took us like 3 years. And we have a surrogate for our second. There's a whole thread - I probably need to update. Everyone here was WILDLY kind and supportive so if you ever want to talk (or just DM) about any of it, tons of folks have experience.


Now back to our regularly scheduled personal finance discussion. I'll add a topic - surrogacy is an EXPENSIVE proposition let me tell ya....

Is that, like, two chicks at once? Sounds expensive.

 

[Desert_Power]

I think this was the thread where someone was talking about HSAs and said that you CANNOT pay for insurance premiums with the HSA money, Is that true? My HSA "hack" was to use the money saved in it to help pay the more expensive healthcare options if I retire before I'm eligible for Medicare.

If you save receipts for healthcare expenses between now and then, can’t you just turn those in during retirement to “pay for” those expensive healthcare options?

Exactly. File those receipts away and you can reimburse yourself whenever to cover whatever.

Yup. I have a huge file on my computer. We've done 2 rounds of IVF Trying to get pregnant, so we've got way more expenses than HSA dollars, but I'm gonna keep track until we switch.

Thoughts and prayers. We recently went rounds and rounds similarly

Same to you! Hope it works out.

My wife has come across this new thing called Ovarian PRP--Platelet rich plasma. It's supposed to help with diminished ovarian function. Obviously I don't know you guys situation, but she would want me to tell your wife about it just in case haha.

<3 My wife is 28 weeks pregnant now. Took us like 3 years. And we have a surrogate for our second. There's a whole thread - I probably need to update. Everyone here was WILDLY kind and supportive so if you ever want to talk (or just DM) about any of it, tons of folks have experience.


Now back to our regularly scheduled personal finance discussion. I'll add a topic - surrogacy is an EXPENSIVE proposition let me tell ya....

Is that, like, two chicks at once? Sounds expensive.

Still comparatively very cheap.

 

[Desert_Power]

I think this was the thread where someone was talking about HSAs and said that you CANNOT pay for insurance premiums with the HSA money, Is that true? My HSA "hack" was to use the money saved in it to help pay the more expensive healthcare options if I retire before I'm eligible for Medicare.

If you save receipts for healthcare expenses between now and then, can’t you just turn those in during retirement to “pay for” those expensive healthcare options?

Exactly. File those receipts away and you can reimburse yourself whenever to cover whatever.

Yup. I have a huge file on my computer. We've done 2 rounds of IVF Trying to get pregnant, so we've got way more expenses than HSA dollars, but I'm gonna keep track until we switch.

Thoughts and prayers. We recently went rounds and rounds similarly

Same to you! Hope it works out.

My wife has come across this new thing called Ovarian PRP--Platelet rich plasma. It's supposed to help with diminished ovarian function. Obviously I don't know you guys situation, but she would want me to tell your wife about it just in case haha.

<3 My wife is 28 weeks pregnant now. Took us like 3 years. And we have a surrogate for our second. There's a whole thread - I probably need to update. Everyone here was WILDLY kind and supportive so if you ever want to talk (or just DM) about any of it, tons of folks have experience.


Now back to our regularly scheduled personal finance discussion. I'll add a topic - surrogacy is an EXPENSIVE proposition let me tell ya....

Built up a war chest for this possibility due to health issues on the mother. Had a couple false starts, but the third time was a charm. Still unsure if we will iterate.

 

[Rattle and Hum]

Hi, anyone want to refer me to marcus.com for the bonus? Please PM me with what you would need, asap. Thanks.

 

[Peggy]

I think this was the thread where someone was talking about HSAs and said that you CANNOT pay for insurance premiums with the HSA money, Is that true? My HSA "hack" was to use the money saved in it to help pay the more expensive healthcare options if I retire before I'm eligible for Medicare.

If you save receipts for healthcare expenses between now and then, can’t you just turn those in during retirement to “pay for” those expensive healthcare options?

Sure, but if you can use HSA for insurance you'd want to know that and keep them as receipts too. If you can. Why cash in your triple tax advantaged investment first, let that baby keep growing.

 

[Peggy]

Bank of America customers: How to get a high interest savings account, currently paying 5.02% APR. And high points credit cards.

Open a Merrill Edge brokerage account. You can link it to your Bank of America account and all the accounts show up on the Accounts page at BoA. When you click on the brokerage and it takes you to Merrill Edge where you can add a "Preferred Deposit" option. They've got it hidden pretty good, go to Research Tab>Mutual Funds>Cash Management Solutions. Scroll all the way down the page and you'll find a box to Deposit or Withdrawal from "Preferred Deposit".

Need 100K initial deposit, but after that only 1K to maintain the account. It's not a sweep account so you have to withdrawal before using funds in the brokerage to buy investments or transfer to BoA bank accounts. Withdrawals are same day prior to prior to 5pm EST though and transfers between BoA and Merrill are instantaneous.

With 100K between BoA and Merrill gets you Preferred Rewards status which includes 75% point boost on credit cards. 3-2-1 card gets you 3% on a category of your choice, 2% grocery and then my BoA travel rewards is 1.5% everything else. With the 75% boost between me and my wife that equals:

5.25% Gas
5.25% Restaurants
3.5% Grocery
2.625% Everything Else

 

[Mitchie]

Bank of America customers: How to get a high interest savings account, currently paying 5.02% APR. And high points credit cards.

Open a Merrill Edge brokerage account. You can link it to your Bank of America account and all the accounts show up on the Accounts page at BoA. When you click on the brokerage and it takes you to Merrill Edge where you can add a "Preferred Deposit" option. They've got it hidden pretty good, go to Research Tab>Mutual Funds>Cash Management Solutions. Scroll all the way down the page and you'll find a box to Deposit or Withdrawal from "Preferred Deposit".

Need 100K initial deposit, but after that only 1K to maintain the account. It's not a sweep account so you have to withdrawal before using funds in the brokerage to buy investments or transfer to BoA bank accounts. Withdrawals are same day prior to prior to 5pm EST though and transfers between BoA and Merrill are instantaneous.

With 100K between BoA and Merrill gets you Preferred Rewards status which includes 75% point boost on credit cards. 3-2-1 card gets you 3% on a category of your choice, 2% grocery and then my BoA travel rewards is 1.5% everything else. With the 75% boost between me and my wife that equals:

5.25% Gas
5.25% Restaurants
3.5% Grocery
2.625% Everything Else

So you can put in 100K and take out 99K the next day? Anyone got 100K i can borrow for a couple days? That doesn't sound right though...

 

[-OZ-]

Bank of America customers: How to get a high interest savings account, currently paying 5.02% APR. And high points credit cards.

Open a Merrill Edge brokerage account. You can link it to your Bank of America account and all the accounts show up on the Accounts page at BoA. When you click on the brokerage and it takes you to Merrill Edge where you can add a "Preferred Deposit" option. They've got it hidden pretty good, go to Research Tab>Mutual Funds>Cash Management Solutions. Scroll all the way down the page and you'll find a box to Deposit or Withdrawal from "Preferred Deposit".

Need 100K initial deposit, but after that only 1K to maintain the account. It's not a sweep account so you have to withdrawal before using funds in the brokerage to buy investments or transfer to BoA bank accounts. Withdrawals are same day prior to prior to 5pm EST though and transfers between BoA and Merrill are instantaneous.

With 100K between BoA and Merrill gets you Preferred Rewards status which includes 75% point boost on credit cards. 3-2-1 card gets you 3% on a category of your choice, 2% grocery and then my BoA travel rewards is 1.5% everything else. With the 75% boost between me and my wife that equals:

5.25% Gas
5.25% Restaurants
3.5% Grocery
2.625% Everything Else

So you can put in 100K and take out 99K the next day? Anyone got 100K i can borrow for a couple days? That doesn't sound right though...

This, sir is FBG.

Yeah, I’m probably never going to have $100k in savings except immediately after we sell our house.

 

[Peggy]

Bank of America customers: How to get a high interest savings account, currently paying 5.02% APR. And high points credit cards.

Open a Merrill Edge brokerage account. You can link it to your Bank of America account and all the accounts show up on the Accounts page at BoA. When you click on the brokerage and it takes you to Merrill Edge where you can add a "Preferred Deposit" option. They've got it hidden pretty good, go to Research Tab>Mutual Funds>Cash Management Solutions. Scroll all the way down the page and you'll find a box to Deposit or Withdrawal from "Preferred Deposit".

Need 100K initial deposit, but after that only 1K to maintain the account. It's not a sweep account so you have to withdrawal before using funds in the brokerage to buy investments or transfer to BoA bank accounts. Withdrawals are same day prior to prior to 5pm EST though and transfers between BoA and Merrill are instantaneous.

With 100K between BoA and Merrill gets you Preferred Rewards status which includes 75% point boost on credit cards. 3-2-1 card gets you 3% on a category of your choice, 2% grocery and then my BoA travel rewards is 1.5% everything else. With the 75% boost between me and my wife that equals:

5.25% Gas
5.25% Restaurants
3.5% Grocery
2.625% Everything Else

So you can put in 100K and take out 99K the next day? Anyone got 100K i can borrow for a couple days? That doesn't sound right though...

Yep. I just got done doing it. Selling to rebalance and tax harvest my brokerage account created enough cash. Luckily I remembered to do it before I bought back into the market. I still left a chunk in there though. 5% at zero risk, it’s even FDIC ensured, its part of my fixed income allocation. Why not.

Our Fidelity sweep accounts are default to similar, 4.99% right now. Had to work at it to figure it out at BoA/Merrill.

 

[stbugs]

Bank of America customers: How to get a high interest savings account, currently paying 5.02% APR. And high points credit cards.

Open a Merrill Edge brokerage account. You can link it to your Bank of America account and all the accounts show up on the Accounts page at BoA. When you click on the brokerage and it takes you to Merrill Edge where you can add a "Preferred Deposit" option. They've got it hidden pretty good, go to Research Tab>Mutual Funds>Cash Management Solutions. Scroll all the way down the page and you'll find a box to Deposit or Withdrawal from "Preferred Deposit".

Need 100K initial deposit, but after that only 1K to maintain the account. It's not a sweep account so you have to withdrawal before using funds in the brokerage to buy investments or transfer to BoA bank accounts. Withdrawals are same day prior to prior to 5pm EST though and transfers between BoA and Merrill are instantaneous.

With 100K between BoA and Merrill gets you Preferred Rewards status which includes 75% point boost on credit cards. 3-2-1 card gets you 3% on a category of your choice, 2% grocery and then my BoA travel rewards is 1.5% everything else. With the 75% boost between me and my wife that equals:

5.25% Gas
5.25% Restaurants
3.5% Grocery
2.625% Everything Else

Hmm, not as easy as Fidelity where the 5% is basically cash and you don’t need to move/do anything but those % cash backs are nice.

Fidelity has a 2% cash back on anything and I use my Costco Visa for most everything else and I have everything at Fidelity included current company 401ks.

 

[Peggy]

Bank of America customers: How to get a high interest savings account, currently paying 5.02% APR. And high points credit cards.

Open a Merrill Edge brokerage account. You can link it to your Bank of America account and all the accounts show up on the Accounts page at BoA. When you click on the brokerage and it takes you to Merrill Edge where you can add a "Preferred Deposit" option. They've got it hidden pretty good, go to Research Tab>Mutual Funds>Cash Management Solutions. Scroll all the way down the page and you'll find a box to Deposit or Withdrawal from "Preferred Deposit".

Need 100K initial deposit, but after that only 1K to maintain the account. It's not a sweep account so you have to withdrawal before using funds in the brokerage to buy investments or transfer to BoA bank accounts. Withdrawals are same day prior to prior to 5pm EST though and transfers between BoA and Merrill are instantaneous.

With 100K between BoA and Merrill gets you Preferred Rewards status which includes 75% point boost on credit cards. 3-2-1 card gets you 3% on a category of your choice, 2% grocery and then my BoA travel rewards is 1.5% everything else. With the 75% boost between me and my wife that equals:

5.25% Gas
5.25% Restaurants
3.5% Grocery
2.625% Everything Else

Hmm, not as easy as Fidelity where the 5% is basically cash and you don’t need to move/do anything but those % cash backs are nice.

Fidelity has a 2% cash back on anything and I use my Costco Visa for most everything else and I have everything at Fidelity included current company 401ks.

Right, that's what made me start looking into it. All my company stuff is at Fidelity too and I noticed the 5% interest on the sweep cash accounts all the while the cash accounts in BoA/Merrill Edge were making zip. (I've always had my banking at BoA which led to the brokerage account, then my wife's IRA, then a backdoor Roth for me)

Was considering a Cash Management account at Fidelity, which comes with some nice perks too, but then found this workaround. Can't have cash sitting around with interest rates so high not making any money.

 

[Peggy]

@stbugs I found this link really helpful for accounts at Fidelity

No minimum investment mutual funds - Fidelity

With no minimums to invest in mutual funds and a zero expense ratio, Fidelity offers value you can't find anywhere else. Fidelity has lower expenses than most comparable funds at Vanguard.

www.fidelity.com

Zero expense ratio on 4 index funds. A bunch more designed to replace vanguard funds at lower expense ratios. I think I like mutual funds better than ETFs in retirement accounts.

 

[Desert_Power]

Bank of America customers: How to get a high interest savings account, currently paying 5.02% APR. And high points credit cards.

Open a Merrill Edge brokerage account. You can link it to your Bank of America account and all the accounts show up on the Accounts page at BoA. When you click on the brokerage and it takes you to Merrill Edge where you can add a "Preferred Deposit" option. They've got it hidden pretty good, go to Research Tab>Mutual Funds>Cash Management Solutions. Scroll all the way down the page and you'll find a box to Deposit or Withdrawal from "Preferred Deposit".

Need 100K initial deposit, but after that only 1K to maintain the account. It's not a sweep account so you have to withdrawal before using funds in the brokerage to buy investments or transfer to BoA bank accounts. Withdrawals are same day prior to prior to 5pm EST though and transfers between BoA and Merrill are instantaneous.

With 100K between BoA and Merrill gets you Preferred Rewards status which includes 75% point boost on credit cards. 3-2-1 card gets you 3% on a category of your choice, 2% grocery and then my BoA travel rewards is 1.5% everything else. With the 75% boost between me and my wife that equals:

5.25% Gas
5.25% Restaurants
3.5% Grocery
2.625% Everything Else

So you can put in 100K and take out 99K the next day? Anyone got 100K i can borrow for a couple days? That doesn't sound right though...

They'll eventually knock you back down if you don't maintain the balance at the tier.

 

[Desert_Power]

Bank of America customers: How to get a high interest savings account, currently paying 5.02% APR. And high points credit cards.

Open a Merrill Edge brokerage account. You can link it to your Bank of America account and all the accounts show up on the Accounts page at BoA. When you click on the brokerage and it takes you to Merrill Edge where you can add a "Preferred Deposit" option. They've got it hidden pretty good, go to Research Tab>Mutual Funds>Cash Management Solutions. Scroll all the way down the page and you'll find a box to Deposit or Withdrawal from "Preferred Deposit".

Need 100K initial deposit, but after that only 1K to maintain the account. It's not a sweep account so you have to withdrawal before using funds in the brokerage to buy investments or transfer to BoA bank accounts. Withdrawals are same day prior to prior to 5pm EST though and transfers between BoA and Merrill are instantaneous.

With 100K between BoA and Merrill gets you Preferred Rewards status which includes 75% point boost on credit cards. 3-2-1 card gets you 3% on a category of your choice, 2% grocery and then my BoA travel rewards is 1.5% everything else. With the 75% boost between me and my wife that equals:

5.25% Gas
5.25% Restaurants
3.5% Grocery
2.625% Everything Else

Hmm, not as easy as Fidelity where the 5% is basically cash and you don’t need to move/do anything but those % cash backs are nice.

Fidelity has a 2% cash back on anything and I use my Costco Visa for most everything else and I have everything at Fidelity included current company 401ks.

With the BofA cards, you can just set it to automatically transfer it to your checking (or any account at the firm).

 

[-OZ-]

I think I like mutual funds better than ETFs in retirement accounts.

Why?

 

[Buckna]

Bank of America customers: How to get a high interest savings account, currently paying 5.02% APR. And high points credit cards.

Open a Merrill Edge brokerage account. You can link it to your Bank of America account and all the accounts show up on the Accounts page at BoA. When you click on the brokerage and it takes you to Merrill Edge where you can add a "Preferred Deposit" option. They've got it hidden pretty good, go to Research Tab>Mutual Funds>Cash Management Solutions. Scroll all the way down the page and you'll find a box to Deposit or Withdrawal from "Preferred Deposit".

Need 100K initial deposit, but after that only 1K to maintain the account. It's not a sweep account so you have to withdrawal before using funds in the brokerage to buy investments or transfer to BoA bank accounts. Withdrawals are same day prior to prior to 5pm EST though and transfers between BoA and Merrill are instantaneous.

With 100K between BoA and Merrill gets you Preferred Rewards status which includes 75% point boost on credit cards. 3-2-1 card gets you 3% on a category of your choice, 2% grocery and then my BoA travel rewards is 1.5% everything else. With the 75% boost between me and my wife that equals:

5.25% Gas
5.25% Restaurants
3.5% Grocery
2.625% Everything Else

So you can put in 100K and take out 99K the next day? Anyone got 100K i can borrow for a couple days? That doesn't sound right though...

They'll eventually knock you back down if you don't maintain the balance at the tier.

I believe it’s for a year and 3 months. If anyone is interested, more info on Dr of Credit here: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/bank...n-travel-gas-3-5-grocery-2-625-all-purchases/

There are also bonuses that ML offers for moving funds you can often get initially opening an account as well.

 

[jm192]

Switched jobs back in November.

New employer contributes 1,000$ towards HSA and a match on the 401K. Previous employer did neither. Nice little win.

 

[Snotbubbles]

So for you guys with 529's set up for your kids:

When I set up our kids years ago I chose an age-based portfolio, which is pretty conservative according to Victory Capital's definition. That turned out to be a wise chose since the money put in there has been pretty safe I think with the overall market being down the past few years.

My oldest son will be cashing out a lot of his this next year, so I was thinking:

Since the market is starting to rebound, should I re-allocate the other two kids portfolios to something more aggressive? One of them is a sophomore so he would have two more years of this account and the other is an 8th grade - so 4 more years for year.

Hoping to capture some extra gains as hopefully the market improves over the next few years. Smart? Stay on normal path? Thoughts?

I stayed in the age based portfolios. Got 2 kids through undergrad without any student loans. They went to State Universities and my wife's employer paid a good portion of the tuition, but the 529 covered most of the shortfall we had and I only put in $50 a month per kid.

 

[Snotbubbles]

Switched jobs back in November.

New employer contributes 1,000$ towards HSA and a match on the 401K. Previous employer did neither. Nice little win.

Max out that HSA. Also, check your 401K, if they have a ROTH 401K option take advantage of it instead of the traditional.

 

[stbugs]

Switched jobs back in November.

New employer contributes 1,000$ towards HSA and a match on the 401K. Previous employer did neither. Nice little win.

Max out that HSA. Also, check your 401K, if they have a ROTH 401K option take advantage of it instead of the traditional.

I told my oldest (graduated in June) to do a Roth 401k but it isn’t always the best choice. It’s a decision based on current and future tax levels.

 

[Snotbubbles]

Switched jobs back in November.

New employer contributes 1,000$ towards HSA and a match on the 401K. Previous employer did neither. Nice little win.

Max out that HSA. Also, check your 401K, if they have a ROTH 401K option take advantage of it instead of the traditional.

I told my oldest (graduated in June) to do a Roth 401k but it isn’t always the best choice. It’s a decision based on current and future tax levels.

Required mandatory withdrawals are being eliminated for Roth 401k's this year. I'm currently contributing 12% to my Roth 401k and 8% to my traditional 401k with a 4% company match. Each year I get a raise, I move a percentage from traditional into Roth.

EDIT: When I get to the point where I will fall below 4% on my traditional, I'll have to check with my plan sponsor to see if the match will go towards my Roth or my traditional. Right now it goes to my traditional. Great thing about my employer is every June they contribute $1000 towards my HSA account.

 

[Nugget]

Switched jobs back in November.

New employer contributes 1,000$ towards HSA and a match on the 401K. Previous employer did neither. Nice little win.

Max out that HSA. Also, check your 401K, if they have a ROTH 401K option take advantage of it instead of the traditional.

Im in a higher tax bracket currently than I plan to be when I retire -I’m better off taking the tax savings now and adding it to my brokerage account. YMMV.

 

[NutterButter]

Switched jobs back in November.

New employer contributes 1,000$ towards HSA and a match on the 401K. Previous employer did neither. Nice little win.

Max out that HSA. Also, check your 401K, if they have a ROTH 401K option take advantage of it instead of the traditional.

I told my oldest (graduated in June) to do a Roth 401k but it isn’t always the best choice. It’s a decision based on current and future tax levels.

Required mandatory withdrawals are being eliminated for Roth 401k's this year. I'm currently contributing 12% to my Roth 401k and 8% to my traditional 401k with a 4% company match. Each year I get a raise, I move a percentage from traditional into Roth.

EDIT: When I get to the point where I will fall below 4% on my traditional, I'll have to check with my plan sponsor to see if the match will go towards my Roth or my traditional. Right now it goes to my traditional. Great thing about my employer is every June they contribute $1000 towards my HSA account.

Never a bad idea to have a good chunk in a roth. Even if you're paying more taxes now than in retirement, that roth money could help you avoid SS taxes, Medicare IRMAA, healthcare premiums if you retire before medicare kicks in and RMDs.

 

[gianmarco]

Set to get i-bonds next week.

 

[-OZ-]

Switched jobs back in November.

New employer contributes 1,000$ towards HSA and a match on the 401K. Previous employer did neither. Nice little win.

Max out that HSA. Also, check your 401K, if they have a ROTH 401K option take advantage of it instead of the traditional.

I told my oldest (graduated in June) to do a Roth 401k but it isn’t always the best choice. It’s a decision based on current and future tax levels.

Required mandatory withdrawals are being eliminated for Roth 401k's this year. I'm currently contributing 12% to my Roth 401k and 8% to my traditional 401k with a 4% company match. Each year I get a raise, I move a percentage from traditional into Roth.

EDIT: When I get to the point where I will fall below 4% on my traditional, I'll have to check with my plan sponsor to see if the match will go towards my Roth or my traditional. Right now it goes to my traditional. Great thing about my employer is every June they contribute $1000 towards my HSA account.

Also check if they’ve elected to allow employer contributions to go into the Roth. That’s a new provision in the secure act 2.0. I don’t think my employer does yet but many will.

Set to get i-bonds next week.

Why not just wait until January 30 or 31?

 

[-OZ-]

Never a bad idea to have a good chunk in a roth. Even if you're paying more taxes now than in retirement, that roth money could help you avoid SS taxes, Medicare IRMAA, healthcare premiums if you retire before medicare kicks in and RMDs.

We’ll have at least 60% in Roth by the time we claim SS. We’ll live off pensions, regular brokerage and traditional before claiming SS.

 

[Snotbubbles]

Never a bad idea to have a good chunk in a roth. Even if you're paying more taxes now than in retirement, that roth money could help you avoid SS taxes, Medicare IRMAA, healthcare premiums if you retire before medicare kicks in and RMDs.

We’ll have at least 60% in Roth by the time we claim SS. We’ll live off pensions, regular brokerage and traditional before claiming SS.

I'm only going to end up with ~40% in a Roth accounts.

 

[jm192]

Set to get i-bonds next week.

Heck yeah! Did you buy before the end of last year?

I didn't, and have some remorse. With switching jobs, I wanted to keep my extra funds fluid. But I've got 40K in I-bonds that can be cashed out whenever. And I wish I'd looked at it like that and locked in the current fixed rate for last year and this year.

I'm tempted to just go ahead and grab the 2024 purchase allotment for this year, but also curious as to what the next fixed rate will do.

 

[gianmarco]

Set to get i-bonds next week.

Heck yeah! Did you buy before the end of last year?

I didn't, and have some remorse. With switching jobs, I wanted to keep my extra funds fluid. But I've got 40K in I-bonds that can be cashed out whenever. And I wish I'd looked at it like that and locked in the current fixed rate for last year and this year.

I'm tempted to just go ahead and grab the 2024 purchase allotment for this year, but also curious as to what the next fixed rate will do.

I got last year and will do again this month. The fixed rate is enticing and I have a feeling I'll be holding onto this set for a longer time. The last 3 years I've bought are all past the 1 year mark so I can move if/when I need to or rates drop and it makes sense.

 

[matttyl]

Purchased 10k in ibonds October 2022, so was over the 15 months at start of year (well, over 12 months but with the last 3 being very low interest) and redeemed last week. Buying a new 10k now is just a brand new deal with a brand new clock, just with a lower rate than in October 2022, but with part of that rate being locked in. All correct? Anything to keep in mind (plan on buying near end of month, as I know you get the full month worth of interest).

 

[-OZ-]

Purchased 10k in ibonds October 2022, so was over the 15 months at start of year (well, over 12 months but with the last 3 being very low interest) and redeemed last week. Buying a new 10k now is just a brand new deal with a brand new clock, just with a lower rate than in October 2022, but with part of that rate being locked in. All correct? Anything to keep in mind (plan on buying near end of month, as I know you get the full month worth of interest).

You’re getting a better rate with the new I bonds now than you are with the old bonds now.
Personally, I sold our bonds that didn’t have the fixed rate and might buy more before the next rate change (May IIRC)

 

[Sleestak]

Purchased 10k in ibonds October 2022, so was over the 15 months at start of year (well, over 12 months but with the last 3 being very low interest) and redeemed last week. Buying a new 10k now is just a brand new deal with a brand new clock, just with a lower rate than in October 2022, but with part of that rate being locked in. All correct? Anything to keep in mind (plan on buying near end of month, as I know you get the full month worth of interest).

You’re getting a better rate with the new I bonds now than you are with the old bonds now.
Personally, I sold our bonds that didn’t have the fixed rate and might buy more before the next rate change (May IIRC)

Last week I sold my 0.0% fixed rate Oct 2022 iBond ($10k) and my 0.4% fixed rate Jan 2023 iBond ($10k). Will buy a $10k iBond near the end of this month.

I've also constructed the majority of a 3-year, $50k CD ladder to help protect against bad sequence of returns risk early in retirement. Retiring in 2027. I'll keep rolling over the CDs in retirement unless the market is in the tank. Also have a whole life insurance plan with a surrender value of around $50k which will probably be the first thing I offload in the case of a downturn, even ahead of the CDs.

Its just been the last couple of years that I have started working on the fixed-income component. Still learning.

 

[SFBayDuck]

Switched jobs back in November.

New employer contributes 1,000$ towards HSA and a match on the 401K. Previous employer did neither. Nice little win.

Max out that HSA. Also, check your 401K, if they have a ROTH 401K option take advantage of it instead of the traditional.

I was doing a split between Trad and Roth 401K in 2022 as I knew my income would be down a bit (in B2B sales and switched jobs, it takes awhile to ramp a territory). But for '23 I went the full $30K (I'm >50) into traditional as my income went back up. However in Q3 my employer rolled out a post-tax 401K option with the ability to do instant, in-plan rollovers to a Roth. So it opened that up as a way to start getting funds into that Roth bucket again. I wasn't close to maxing that out for the full $38.5K ($73.5K annual 401K max, minus the $30K I contributed and $5K emp match) but got a good start in the last couple of months of the year. Between that and continuing with an HSA, I'm trying to ramp up the percentage of tax-free assets I have as aggressively as I can while still taking full advantage of the tax benefits of the Trad 401K. Only at 13% now, but it was something like 8% just a couple of months ago so making progress!

Now if they would only allow the company match to go to a Roth, they still haven't added that option yet (I assume there must be a reason why most companies don't seem to have allowed this yet?).

 

[-OZ-]

Purchased 10k in ibonds October 2022, so was over the 15 months at start of year (well, over 12 months but with the last 3 being very low interest) and redeemed last week. Buying a new 10k now is just a brand new deal with a brand new clock, just with a lower rate than in October 2022, but with part of that rate being locked in. All correct? Anything to keep in mind (plan on buying near end of month, as I know you get the full month worth of interest).

You’re getting a better rate with the new I bonds now than you are with the old bonds now.
Personally, I sold our bonds that didn’t have the fixed rate and might buy more before the next rate change (May IIRC)

Last week I sold my 0.0% fixed rate Oct 2022 iBond ($10k) and my 0.4% fixed rate Jan 2023 iBond ($10k). Will buy a $10k iBond near the end of this month.

I've also constructed the majority of a 3-year, $50k CD ladder to help protect against bad sequence of returns risk early in retirement. Retiring in 2027. I'll keep rolling over the CDs in retirement unless the market is in the tank. Also have a whole life insurance plan with a surrender value of around $50k which will probably be the first thing I offload in the case of a downturn, even ahead of the CDs.

Its just been the last couple of years that I have started working on the fixed-income component. Still learning.

You’re a few years ahead of us but I’m planning very similarly. No whole life here, we surrendered our policies back in 08 to buy land (didn’t work out nearly as well as it could have in a different location or if we had bought a rental).
Depending on your expenses you’re probably in a good spot.

 

[Sleestak]

Purchased 10k in ibonds October 2022, so was over the 15 months at start of year (well, over 12 months but with the last 3 being very low interest) and redeemed last week. Buying a new 10k now is just a brand new deal with a brand new clock, just with a lower rate than in October 2022, but with part of that rate being locked in. All correct? Anything to keep in mind (plan on buying near end of month, as I know you get the full month worth of interest).

You’re getting a better rate with the new I bonds now than you are with the old bonds now.
Personally, I sold our bonds that didn’t have the fixed rate and might buy more before the next rate change (May IIRC)

Last week I sold my 0.0% fixed rate Oct 2022 iBond ($10k) and my 0.4% fixed rate Jan 2023 iBond ($10k). Will buy a $10k iBond near the end of this month.

I've also constructed the majority of a 3-year, $50k CD ladder to help protect against bad sequence of returns risk early in retirement. Retiring in 2027. I'll keep rolling over the CDs in retirement unless the market is in the tank. Also have a whole life insurance plan with a surrender value of around $50k which will probably be the first thing I offload in the case of a downturn, even ahead of the CDs.

Its just been the last couple of years that I have started working on the fixed-income component. Still learning.

You’re a few years ahead of us but I’m planning very similarly. No whole life here, we surrendered our policies back in 08 to buy land (didn’t work out nearly as well as it could have in a different location or if we had bought a rental).
Depending on your expenses you’re probably in a good spot.

I'm estimating our expenses in early retirement to be about $120k in today's dollars. About half of that will be covered by my wife's SS and my FERS pension. The $50k CD ladder is an option for covering the other half. Normally I would cover that other half by selling stocks, realizing as much untaxed LTCG as possible each year. The CDs will allow me to avoid selling in a bad market.

I'm holding off on my own SS to allow me to be able realize those untaxed LTCGs.

 

[-OZ-]

Purchased 10k in ibonds October 2022, so was over the 15 months at start of year (well, over 12 months but with the last 3 being very low interest) and redeemed last week. Buying a new 10k now is just a brand new deal with a brand new clock, just with a lower rate than in October 2022, but with part of that rate being locked in. All correct? Anything to keep in mind (plan on buying near end of month, as I know you get the full month worth of interest).

You’re getting a better rate with the new I bonds now than you are with the old bonds now.
Personally, I sold our bonds that didn’t have the fixed rate and might buy more before the next rate change (May IIRC)

Last week I sold my 0.0% fixed rate Oct 2022 iBond ($10k) and my 0.4% fixed rate Jan 2023 iBond ($10k). Will buy a $10k iBond near the end of this month.

I've also constructed the majority of a 3-year, $50k CD ladder to help protect against bad sequence of returns risk early in retirement. Retiring in 2027. I'll keep rolling over the CDs in retirement unless the market is in the tank. Also have a whole life insurance plan with a surrender value of around $50k which will probably be the first thing I offload in the case of a downturn, even ahead of the CDs.

Its just been the last couple of years that I have started working on the fixed-income component. Still learning.

You’re a few years ahead of us but I’m planning very similarly. No whole life here, we surrendered our policies back in 08 to buy land (didn’t work out nearly as well as it could have in a different location or if we had bought a rental).
Depending on your expenses you’re probably in a good spot.

I'm estimating our expenses in early retirement to be about $120k in today's dollars. About half of that will be covered by my wife's SS and my FERS pension. The $50k CD ladder is an option for covering the other half. Normally I would cover that other half by selling stocks, realizing as much untaxed LTCG as possible each year. The CDs will allow me to avoid selling in a bad market.

I'm holding off on my own SS to allow me to be able realize those untaxed LTCGs.

How many years of expenses do you plan to be able to cover with cash / bonds when you retire?
More than half our expenses will be covered by my FERS and military pension but that still leaves about $50-80k annual from our portfolio. I think we’ll put 4 years in cash / I bonds / other short term bonds but we haven’t decided yet. That will be about 16-20%, I think we’ll keep the rest in equities.

 

[Sleestak]

Last week I sold my 0.0% fixed rate Oct 2022 iBond ($10k) and my 0.4% fixed rate Jan 2023 iBond ($10k). Will buy a $10k iBond near the end of this month.

I've also constructed the majority of a 3-year, $50k CD ladder to help protect against bad sequence of returns risk early in retirement. Retiring in 2027. I'll keep rolling over the CDs in retirement unless the market is in the tank. Also have a whole life insurance plan with a surrender value of around $50k which will probably be the first thing I offload in the case of a downturn, even ahead of the CDs.

Its just been the last couple of years that I have started working on the fixed-income component. Still learning.

You’re a few years ahead of us but I’m planning very similarly. No whole life here, we surrendered our policies back in 08 to buy land (didn’t work out nearly as well as it could have in a different location or if we had bought a rental).
Depending on your expenses you’re probably in a good spot.

I'm estimating our expenses in early retirement to be about $120k in today's dollars. About half of that will be covered by my wife's SS and my FERS pension. The $50k CD ladder is an option for covering the other half. Normally I would cover that other half by selling stocks, realizing as much untaxed LTCG as possible each year. The CDs will allow me to avoid selling in a bad market.

I'm holding off on my own SS to allow me to be able realize those untaxed LTCGs.

How many years of expenses do you plan to be able to cover with cash / bonds when you retire?
More than half our expenses will be covered by my FERS and military pension but that still leaves about $50-80k annual from our portfolio. I think we’ll put 4 years in cash / I bonds / other short term bonds but we haven’t decided yet. That will be about 16-20%, I think we’ll keep the rest in equities.

About 4 years as things stand now, and I guess I'm comfortable with that. Expenses should be covered by the CDs, some iBonds, the life insurance surrender, and other slop lying around. I'll look for opportunities to increase my cash position (in a MM account) and my iBonds in the next few years. I don't want to go any higher with CDs.

 

[SFBayDuck]

Purchased 10k in ibonds October 2022, so was over the 15 months at start of year (well, over 12 months but with the last 3 being very low interest) and redeemed last week. Buying a new 10k now is just a brand new deal with a brand new clock, just with a lower rate than in October 2022, but with part of that rate being locked in. All correct? Anything to keep in mind (plan on buying near end of month, as I know you get the full month worth of interest).

You’re getting a better rate with the new I bonds now than you are with the old bonds now.
Personally, I sold our bonds that didn’t have the fixed rate and might buy more before the next rate change (May IIRC)

Last week I sold my 0.0% fixed rate Oct 2022 iBond ($10k) and my 0.4% fixed rate Jan 2023 iBond ($10k). Will buy a $10k iBond near the end of this month.

I've also constructed the majority of a 3-year, $50k CD ladder to help protect against bad sequence of returns risk early in retirement. Retiring in 2027. I'll keep rolling over the CDs in retirement unless the market is in the tank. Also have a whole life insurance plan with a surrender value of around $50k which will probably be the first thing I offload in the case of a downturn, even ahead of the CDs.

Its just been the last couple of years that I have started working on the fixed-income component. Still learning.

You’re a few years ahead of us but I’m planning very similarly. No whole life here, we surrendered our policies back in 08 to buy land (didn’t work out nearly as well as it could have in a different location or if we had bought a rental).
Depending on your expenses you’re probably in a good spot.

I'm estimating our expenses in early retirement to be about $120k in today's dollars. About half of that will be covered by my wife's SS and my FERS pension. The $50k CD ladder is an option for covering the other half. Normally I would cover that other half by selling stocks, realizing as much untaxed LTCG as possible each year. The CDs will allow me to avoid selling in a bad market.

I'm holding off on my own SS to allow me to be able realize those untaxed LTCGs.

How many years of expenses do you plan to be able to cover with cash / bonds when you retire?
More than half our expenses will be covered by my FERS and military pension but that still leaves about $50-80k annual from our portfolio. I think we’ll put 4 years in cash / I bonds / other short term bonds but we haven’t decided yet. That will be about 16-20%, I think we’ll keep the rest in equities.

Been doing some deep diving on retirement websites and podcasts the past few weeks with work a little slower over the holidays. The Bucket Strategy vs the Glidepath vs the Pie Cake. In the end there are probably more similarities than differences. I did find it interesting that an increasing equity percentage as you move through retirement, to combat the sequence of return risk in the first decade or so, seems to mathematically be optimal.