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Personal Finance Advice and Education! (1 Viewer)

I don't have an HSA, not eligible. But I was listening to a podcast the other day, the podcaster commented that a smart move is to just keep your medical receipts, pay out of pocket, then if you really need the funds you can just use the receipt from years ago to justify the withdrawal.  I had assumed the expense would have to be in the same year as the withdrawal, but that seems to be incorrect.
This is correct.  There is no time limit on when you can use a receipt to cash out a bill.  And, yes, you only need to show proof if you're audited over it - definitely not like an FSA.  So save all the receipts.

 
Not sure which thread I posted it in, but make sure to scan your receipts, the ink sometimes fades very quickly. Many HSA providers will let you upload and save the receipt images without having to claim a reimbursement... or you can just stick them in the cloud. Honestly, it would be a good idea to do this for regular taxes as well, I've seen receipts fade to unreadable within the span of weeks.
Different, but I bought a trumpet for our middle schooler this summer. He ended up switching to the baritone, rented that from the school.  the store owner just said keep the receipt and whenever we want we can get a full exchange (we had kept the trumpet longer than the refund policy normally applied). So yesterday I took it back, opened the case to pull out the receipt. It was almost completely blank. He knew how much it cost so it worked out, got two violins instead for our 9 and 5yos. 

So now we're doing violin lessons. 

And people without kids wonder why there's a small tax credit for them.

 
Question(s) for FBG real estate moguls:

I’m looking to move (we want to upgrade our primary residence for school district quality and commute reasons). Fully own our current ‘starter’ home in a solidly middle class neighborhood. The metro area is low housing cost but with high property taxes (upstate NY).

I’ve been thinking about keeping our starter home and renting it out as an extra source of income/portfolio diversifier (all other investments are in HYS accounts (new home down payment) or vanguard index funds (retirement and college savings accounts).

I used this calculator to determine my cash flow and return and it spits out a value called the IRR that is at best 6% (with rosy estimates for rental income and maintenance).

1. Is this calculator any good? Any other hidden costs I should consider when deciding to rent (other than sweat equity)?

2. How is this projected return? Honestly doesn’t seem worth it to me if I consider it an approx 2.5-3% bump over just throwing the amount into payments on the new home (assuming a mortgage rate of 3-3.5%) plus the work involved in managing the property (wife and I both work full time but with decent hours). Am I doing that math right?
 

Thanks for any tips!

 
Question(s) for FBG real estate moguls:

I’m looking to move (we want to upgrade our primary residence for school district quality and commute reasons). Fully own our current ‘starter’ home in a solidly middle class neighborhood. The metro area is low housing cost but with high property taxes (upstate NY).

I’ve been thinking about keeping our starter home and renting it out as an extra source of income/portfolio diversifier (all other investments are in HYS accounts (new home down payment) or vanguard index funds (retirement and college savings accounts).

I used this calculator to determine my cash flow and return and it spits out a value called the IRR that is at best 6% (with rosy estimates for rental income and maintenance).

1. Is this calculator any good? Any other hidden costs I should consider when deciding to rent (other than sweat equity)?

2. How is this projected return? Honestly doesn’t seem worth it to me if I consider it an approx 2.5-3% bump over just throwing the amount into payments on the new home (assuming a mortgage rate of 3-3.5%) plus the work involved in managing the property (wife and I both work full time but with decent hours). Am I doing that math right?
 

Thanks for any tips!
I would want 10% to make it worth my while. Suggest to sell. Buy some REITs if you want some real estate diversity in your portfolio. REIT won’t call you on vacation with a plumbing issue 

 
Question(s) for FBG real estate moguls:

I’m looking to move (we want to upgrade our primary residence for school district quality and commute reasons). Fully own our current ‘starter’ home in a solidly middle class neighborhood. The metro area is low housing cost but with high property taxes (upstate NY).

I’ve been thinking about keeping our starter home and renting it out as an extra source of income/portfolio diversifier (all other investments are in HYS accounts (new home down payment) or vanguard index funds (retirement and college savings accounts).

I used this calculator to determine my cash flow and return and it spits out a value called the IRR that is at best 6% (with rosy estimates for rental income and maintenance).

1. Is this calculator any good? Any other hidden costs I should consider when deciding to rent (other than sweat equity)?

2. How is this projected return? Honestly doesn’t seem worth it to me if I consider it an approx 2.5-3% bump over just throwing the amount into payments on the new home (assuming a mortgage rate of 3-3.5%) plus the work involved in managing the property (wife and I both work full time but with decent hours). Am I doing that math right?
 

Thanks for any tips!
Does that include a property manager?  If not, then either add that in (usually 10% of gross rent) or you're working a second job for minimal return (according to your numbers).

 
I would want 10% to make it worth my while. Suggest to sell. Buy some REITs if you want some real estate diversity in your portfolio. REIT won’t call you on vacation with a plumbing issue 


Does that include a property manager?  If not, then either add that in (usually 10% of gross rent) or you're working a second job for minimal return (according to your numbers).


Managing a rental yourself when you have a full time job is no bueno, IMO. 
Yep

All these are reasons we have 15% of our portfolio in REITs, no rental homes. 

If possible, you'll want to put REITs in your IRA, as they often pay good dividends which would otherwise have tax implications.

 
Sand said:
This is correct.  There is no time limit on when you can use a receipt to cash out a bill.  And, yes, you only need to show proof if you're audited over it - definitely not like an FSA.  So save all the receipts.
My wife and I are just this year on an HSA for the first time. So this is pretty awesome.

I think they sent us a debit card - how does one reimburse themselves? Is it just a wire transfer from the HSA to your normal bank account?

 
-OZ- said:
If possible, you'll want to put REITs in your IRA, as they often pay good dividends which would otherwise have tax implications.
Note with the new tax act that REITs now get their own special dividend tax rate.  It's close, but not quite as good as, the qualified dividend rate.  It's now way better than the old rate, which was at income tax rates.

 
culdeus said:
Well I'm at the time of the year where I reshuffle everything.  Bonuses all came in and life is good.   I still struggle this time of year figuring out if I should allocate retirement funds differently than main savings.    

I'm mid 40s and after last year and the years prior I'm way ahead of schedule retirement wise.  Maybe by 8 or more years.   Does that change things?   I can now realistically see myself calling it at 55 or having my wife quit at 50 and going onto 60.  

I never see this topic discussed.  
Some good discussion in the 'what is your 401K and age' thread.  Congratulations.  I'll be 56 in a couple months.  I could retire now.  My wife retires last year.  Love what I'm doing and well compensated, and I'm reluctant to pay market health care insurance.  I plan to do this for at least 18 months [bonuses paid in June, must be present to win] then consider a retirement package that allows me to keep my coverage, and some income on a part time basis or project work. 

 
Churned a bank account - November, deposit $15k, got the $400 bonus a few weeks ago. Timing was decent considering the market. Transferred the money to our savings, closed that account.

Did not realize our FICO would drop 30 points this month - only thing we did was close that account. (We closed the refi last month) Not a big deal, but that was more than I thought it would drop.

 
-OZ- said:
Churned a bank account - November, deposit $15k, got the $400 bonus a few weeks ago. Timing was decent considering the market. Transferred the money to our savings, closed that account.

Did not realize our FICO would drop 30 points this month - only thing we did was close that account. (We closed the refi last month) Not a big deal, but that was more than I thought it would drop.
No bank accounts are reported to credit. Those are unrelated events. 

My guess is your lost credit history with the closing of the old mortgage. 

 
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-OZ- said:
Churned a bank account - November, deposit $15k, got the $400 bonus a few weeks ago. Timing was decent considering the market. Transferred the money to our savings, closed that account.

Did not realize our FICO would drop 30 points this month - only thing we did was close that account. (We closed the refi last month) Not a big deal, but that was more than I thought it would drop.
I stopped account churning once I got my first 1099 from Chase. Way too much hassle if I then get to pay taxes on top of it. 

 
Just paid off mortgage today so officially debt free!   :excited:  Now allocating some of my “fun money” to invest in some individual stocks (getting tips from the stocks thread)
Freedom!

No bank accounts are reported to credit. Those are unrelated events. 

My guess is your lost credit history with the closing of the old mortgage. 
Thanks. Seems weird, with getting a refi. Doesn't really matter though.

 
Long post:

I’ve never really worried about retiring (both me and my wife have a govt pension and 401Ks to supplement just for some extra $) and always thought that was plenty.

A few questions:

1-I left my job after 21 years that had a great portfolio of Fidelity Funds and moved to a company with very limited choices. Should I roll the old fund over for ease of having everything in one place?  

2-Related to #1 I am 95% in equities, which has been great up to recently. This is all in the old work fund. When should I rebalance?  I don’t want to do it to early and miss the recovery.   I’m 49, so have about 10 years to I can touch. Also, related to #1 I’ve been aggressive with 401k since I’ve got the pension.  If I rebalance, do I simply increase bond funds and decrease equities?
 

3-With 401k taking a beating this seems like a good time to try and diversify as I’ve got some cash in reserve. Is it as simple as adding money to my fidelity account that houses my 401k and just buy individual stocks?

4-This one seems obvious, but we got the free match for our 401Ks without having to contribute. I’ve always added to it, but my wife just took the free 6%, it’s a no brainer to start adding the max to hers at this point or should I wait a bit longer?

Thanks, I’ve learned a lot following this thread!

 
Churned a bank account - November, deposit $15k, got the $400 bonus a few weeks ago. Timing was decent considering the market. Transferred the money to our savings, closed that account.

Did not realize our FICO would drop 30 points this month - only thing we did was close that account. (We closed the refi last month) Not a big deal, but that was more than I thought it would drop.
I just opened one 2 weeks ago with a $2,500 deposit and will be getting a $500 bonus.  It was to good to pass up.

 
I just opened one 2 weeks ago with a $2,500 deposit and will be getting a $500 bonus.  It was to good to pass up.
Direct deposit required? 

I've been avoiding those but might do one or two if allotments work, or other means. I won't change where my paycheck goes (most of it anyway)

 
Direct deposit required? 

I've been avoiding those but might do one or two if allotments work, or other means. I won't change where my paycheck goes (most of it anyway)
No.  It was for a Chase Business account.  Only requirements are keep a $2,500 balance for 60 days and use the debit card 5 times.  I already had the Chase Ink Business card so that may have made it easier.  

 
Long post:

I’ve never really worried about retiring (both me and my wife have a govt pension and 401Ks to supplement just for some extra $) and always thought that was plenty.

A few questions:

1-I left my job after 21 years that had a great portfolio of Fidelity Funds and moved to a company with very limited choices. Should I roll the old fund over for ease of having everything in one place?  

2-Related to #1 I am 95% in equities, which has been great up to recently. This is all in the old work fund. When should I rebalance?  I don’t want to do it to early and miss the recovery.   I’m 49, so have about 10 years to I can touch. Also, related to #1 I’ve been aggressive with 401k since I’ve got the pension.  If I rebalance, do I simply increase bond funds and decrease equities?
 

3-With 401k taking a beating this seems like a good time to try and diversify as I’ve got some cash in reserve. Is it as simple as adding money to my fidelity account that houses my 401k and just buy individual stocks?

4-This one seems obvious, but we got the free match for our 401Ks without having to contribute. I’ve always added to it, but my wife just took the free 6%, it’s a no brainer to start adding the max to hers at this point or should I wait a bit longer?

Thanks, I’ve learned a lot following this thread!
Just my :2cents:

1. Generally I'd recommend moving the money if tied to a business you left. But with Fidelity, you're probably okay. Just make sure you can pull it if they stop using Fidelity. 

2. There are multiple ways to rebalance, and if your pension is significant, 95% equities might be okay. It really comes down to your comfort level. If you don't want to sell now you can just start buying bonds until you're at your preferred allocation.

3. Are you sure you want to buy individual stocks? Make sure you know what you're doing. Most of us are better off with index funds or ETFs.

4. If you can afford it, increase the contribution now. And keep it steady. Some try to max as early as possible each year. 

 
Just my :2cents:

1. Generally I'd recommend moving the money if tied to a business you left. But with Fidelity, you're probably okay. Just make sure you can pull it if they stop using Fidelity. 

2. There are multiple ways to rebalance, and if your pension is significant, 95% equities might be okay. It really comes down to your comfort level. If you don't want to sell now you can just start buying bonds until you're at your preferred allocation.

3. Are you sure you want to buy individual stocks? Make sure you know what you're doing. Most of us are better off with index funds or ETFs.

4. If you can afford it, increase the contribution now. And keep it steady. Some try to max as early as possible each year. 
1-New company also used Fidelity. The choices are just much fewer (NONE of the same funds are in both). If I bring over, I assume I need to allocate to the current choices?
 

2-it’s 95% equities in the old fund. I can’t add to that with bonds unless I bring over to new account?

3-No 😂, just following the stocks thread and was going to put some into BA, DIS, Amazon based on that. Would I just buy an index fund with cash the same way as an individual’s stock?  I’ve got about $20-25k I could allocate right now.

4-can do and plan to with future funds. 

Thanks for the previous response 👍. I know I have lots of reading to do!

 
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1-New company also used Fidelity. The choices are just much fewer (NONE of the same funds are in both). If I bring over, I assume I need to allocate to the current choices?
 

2-it’s 95% equities in the old fund. I can’t add to that with bonds unless I bring over to new account?

3-No 😂, just following the stocks thread and was going to put some into BA, DIS, Amazon based on that. Would I just buy an index fund with cash the same way as an individual’s stock?  I’ve got about $20-25k I could allocate right now.

4-can do and plan to with future funds. 

Thanks for the previous response 👍. I know I have lots of reading to do!
1. I'm pretty sure yes, but might be worth talking to HR.

2. consider both accounts, all accounts really, as one. So you might leave one as 95% equities, the other 50%, together something like 80% (or whatever you want)

3. That's an interesting thread, but don't take anything there as financial advice. Most of that thread is somewhat educated gambling / speculation. I might have like 3-5% in speculative "investments". 

4. 👍🏻

 
pmedina said:
1-New company also used Fidelity. The choices are just much fewer (NONE of the same funds are in both). If I bring over, I assume I need to allocate to the current choices?
 

2-it’s 95% equities in the old fund. I can’t add to that with bonds unless I bring over to new account?

3-No 😂, just following the stocks thread and was going to put some into BA, DIS, Amazon based on that. Would I just buy an index fund with cash the same way as an individual’s stock?  I’ve got about $20-25k I could allocate right now.

4-can do and plan to with future funds. 

Thanks for the previous response 👍. I know I have lots of reading to do!
1. Even though it means 2 separate places, I think most would say to move an old work 401k to an IRA instead of new work 401k. You just have more investment options. You also don't have to worry moving it next time you switch jobs.

2. You can consider old and new 401k the same bucket of money.

3. I fall under the thought of keeping things simple so I lean towards index stuff. You could do a small portion as individual stock if that would be fun for you.

4. Always keep investing, how quickly or early in the year is up to your situation.

 
pmedina said:
1-New company also used Fidelity. The choices are just much fewer (NONE of the same funds are in both). If I bring over, I assume I need to allocate to the current choices?
 

2-it’s 95% equities in the old fund. I can’t add to that with bonds unless I bring over to new account?

3-No 😂, just following the stocks thread and was going to put some into BA, DIS, Amazon based on that. Would I just buy an index fund with cash the same way as an individual’s stock?  I’ve got about $20-25k I could allocate right now.

4-can do and plan to with future funds. 

Thanks for the previous response 👍. I know I have lots of reading to do!
1 - if you are happy with the funds in the account, I’d keep it in the “old” 401k for now.  No hurry to move it.  When you transfer funds you will be out of the market for a period of time.  With all the volatility in the market I’m not sure I’d be moving funds unless I had a very good reason.  Having everything a Fidelity will make it easy to manage.

2 - you have time to ride this out and reallocate to something more conservative later.  Hold your current allocation.

3 - I’d buy and hold stocks with your after-tax funds.  Amazon and Disney will be good long term plays.  Use fidelity to open a brokerage account.  Free trades and everything in one place.  Don’t allocate more then 5% of you entire portfolio to one stock to be safe. 

4 - keep saving and max out if possible.  I’d continue to add to equites until we rebound and then switch to your target allocation in bullet point 2
 

 
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There's no tax benefit if that's what you're asking.  You're taking a huge risk on betting on the market doing it this way vs. dollar cost averaging.
That’s what I thought. I simply took 19,000 and divided by 26 (I’m paid every other week) to figure out how much to take out. 

 
That’s what I thought. I simply took 19,000 and divided by 26 (I’m paid every other week) to figure out how much to take out. 
Just remember, the max is $19,500 in 2020. That's a nice even $750 over 26 pay periods. 

 
1. Even though it means 2 separate places, I think most would say to move an old work 401k to an IRA instead of new work 401k. You just have more investment options. You also don't have to worry moving it next time you switch jobs.
I would never roll my 401k over to a new companies 401k. Why not just rollover yo a Fidelity IRA. I would assume that since it was Fidelity as well it would be instant and with the IRA you could invest in the same things you did before along with having the ability to invest in almost anything else. Still have everything at Fidelity.

 
I would never roll my 401k over to a new companies 401k. Why not just rollover yo a Fidelity IRA. I would assume that since it was Fidelity as well it would be instant and with the IRA you could invest in the same things you did before along with having the ability to invest in almost anything else. Still have everything at Fidelity.
Only reasons I can think of are to avoid paying taxes on the backdoor roth and to make the funds accessible via if the rule of 55 if retiring between 55 and 60.

 
Only reasons I can think of are to avoid paying taxes on the backdoor roth and to make the funds accessible via if the rule of 55 if retiring between 55 and 60.
So if I roll over to a Fidelity IRA I would have to pay taxes now?  
 

The rule of 55 is interesting, thanks for the info. 

 
So if I roll over to a Fidelity IRA I would have to pay taxes now?  
 

The rule of 55 is interesting, thanks for the info. 
Not as long as you keep that money in a traditional ira.   The scenario I was referring has to do with converting money from a non-tax deferred traditional to a roth (the backdoor).   You don't have to pay taxes when converting that money provided you have no money in a tax deferred traditional ira.  By rolling your 401k over into a tax deferred traditional, you'd now have to pay some taxes if you were converting.   Unless you've been doing a roth conversion, this doesn't apply to you.

 
My wife started a new job a couple months ago. We have yet to start contributing to her 401k. We just found out her company is suspending the 3% match of her contributions starting June 1st.  

We would have two paychecks to contribute and still get the 3% match benefit.  In an effort to max out the benefit we are thinking of doing 100% contribution of her next two paychecks. How would that effect how her deductions are taken out? Example life insurance. medical, dental things that come out of her check.

I found this similar question asked on reddit. I will link it if it better explains what I'm asking.

Thanks I would need to get this done today to take advantage of the 2 paychecks.

https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/29m47x/putting_100_of_monthly_paycheck_into_401k/

 
They match up to 3%. I don’t think it will make a difference if you put in 3%, 5%, or 100%. I don’t follow your logic 

 
This is from the HR website 

an employer match of 50 cents on the dollar up to a maximum of 6% of your eligible gross pay, on a per pay basis.

 
For easy math lets assume she gets $10,000 gross per pay check. 

If she has two pay checks left for employee match of 3% with the stipulation of "an employer match of 50 cents on the dollar up to a maximum of 6% of your eligible gross pay, on a per pay basis."

What would be the most money they would match if we did 100% contribution?

 
This is from the HR website 

an employer match of 50 cents on the dollar up to a maximum of 6% of your eligible gross pay, on a per pay basis.
This is telling you that anything you contribute over 6% of her gross pay is ignored for matching purposes. It's based on pay period, not annual pay.

For easy math lets assume she gets $10,000 gross per pay check. 

If she has two pay checks left for employee match of 3% with the stipulation of "an employer match of 50 cents on the dollar up to a maximum of 6% of your eligible gross pay, on a per pay basis."

What would be the most money they would match if we did 100% contribution?
$300. For matching purposes they cap it at 50% of 6% of gross pay.

 
This is telling you that anything you contribute over 6% of her gross pay is ignored for matching purposes. It's based on pay period, not annual pay.

$300. For matching purposes they cap it at 50% of 6% of gross pay.
Thanks that is one of the many conclusions I came to as well trying to figure this out. I guess I was hoping there was a way to get more. But then again that would explain why the have a max on it. 

 
This is telling you that anything you contribute over 6% of her gross pay is ignored for matching purposes. It's based on pay period, not annual pay.

$300. For matching purposes they cap it at 50% of 6% of gross pay.
That’s not always true. My company’s match is 50% up to 3% of your total salary but they actually match 50% of your entire contribution right from the start so I max out the match way early in the year. My wife’s is the same 3% but it goes the entire year. Under my plan if I contributed 100% in my first paycheck, I would have my match done at the end of January as I get paid twice a month a little over 4% of my salary.

 
stbugs said:
That’s not always true. My company’s match is 50% up to 3% of your total salary but they actually match 50% of your entire contribution right from the start so I max out the match way early in the year. My wife’s is the same 3% but it goes the entire year. Under my plan if I contributed 100% in my first paycheck, I would have my match done at the end of January as I get paid twice a month a little over 4% of my salary.


Wooderson said:
This is from the HR website 

an employer match of 50 cents on the dollar up to a maximum of 6% of your eligible gross pay, on a per pay basis.

 

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