Author Topic: Overheard at Work  (Read 13253054 times)

ShoulderThingThatGoesUp

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7350 on: March 16, 2015, 12:38:39 PM »
I asked some co-workers if the same % of 401k contributions is taken from your bonus. They sighed heavily and said "Yes. I've tried to change it but it's hard to time correctly" I was thrilled. I had just upped mine to coincide with my raise! Inching up towards that maximum....
I wish I could just designate an amount each pay period instead of percentages. I get paid twice a month so would rather designate $750 each pay period instead of having to adjust percentages after pay raise and bonus.

Talk to the person who runs your 401k in your office, I JUST found out that it is 100% possible for them to designate an exact number within most payroll software.  I was at a fractional percentage to max for the year and they told me they can enter in a number to the penny in our payroll software.

I'm sure our company could do it but it's not an option in Fidelity. It's only a percentage. So damn stupid. It doesn't affect me yet but it will within a few years at the longest (maybe sooner).

Although my wife has a 457 option that we'll be moving to. I mean, jeez, it's the same fees/fund choices as her regular 401k but it doesn't have the early withdrawal penalties.

Yep, I have my 401k through Fidelity as well and I'm going to have to lower the percentages when the raise I'm getting goes into effect. I wish there were just a "max legal limit" radio button on the form.

vivophoenix

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7351 on: March 16, 2015, 01:03:51 PM »
does your company not allow your contributions to auto spill over into a post tax account once you are done? many companies have a Roth 401k now. and i know my fidelity has a post tax contribution which it says will kick in once i reach the max.

MishMash

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7352 on: March 16, 2015, 01:15:55 PM »
does your company not allow your contributions to auto spill over into a post tax account once you are done? many companies have a Roth 401k now. and i know my fidelity has a post tax contribution which it says will kick in once i reach the max.

You can't contribute more then 18k into a 401k regardless of if it's Roth or not, we ran into this one last year.  Thought we could do 18k in a roth in a combat zone and nope, it's 18k total split among accounts.  The spillover option is probably just a taxable fund they run.

johnny847

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7353 on: March 16, 2015, 01:17:01 PM »
You can't contribute more then 18k into a 401k regardless of if it's Roth or not, we ran into this one last year.  Thought we could do 18k in a roth in a combat zone and nope, it's 18k total split among accounts.  The spillover option is probably just a taxable fund they run.
Incorrect, see below. This is what's required for the megabackdoor Roth.

does your company not allow your contributions to auto spill over into a post tax account once you are done? many companies have a Roth 401k now. and i know my fidelity has a post tax contribution which it says will kick in once i reach the max.

The fact that you mention a Roth 401k is confusing here. The maximum contribution limit to a 401k is inclusive of your contributions to both Roth and traditional 401k's.

The government says that a 401k administrator is allowed to let employees contribute up to a $53k maximum, inclusive of employer matching. Any contributions past the $18k mark from the employee will be after tax contributions. These ARE NOT Roth contributions. They are after tax contributions that count towards the $53k limit, not the $18k limit.


MishMash

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7354 on: March 16, 2015, 01:29:55 PM »
You can't contribute more then 18k into a 401k regardless of if it's Roth or not, we ran into this one last year.  Thought we could do 18k in a roth in a combat zone and nope, it's 18k total split among accounts.  The spillover option is probably just a taxable fund they run.
Incorrect, see below. This is what's required for the megabackdoor Roth.

does your company not allow your contributions to auto spill over into a post tax account once you are done? many companies have a Roth 401k now. and i know my fidelity has a post tax contribution which it says will kick in once i reach the max.

The fact that you mention a Roth 401k is confusing here. The maximum contribution limit to a 401k is inclusive of your contributions to both Roth and traditional 401k's.

The government says that a 401k administrator is allowed to let employees contribute up to a $53k maximum, inclusive of employer matching. Any contributions past the $18k mark from the employee will be after tax contributions. These ARE NOT Roth contributions. They are after tax contributions that count towards the $53k limit, not the $18k limit.

Did they recently issue new guidance on this?  When I looked last year it was still murky territory on the conversions.

Cinder

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7355 on: March 16, 2015, 01:40:29 PM »

Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

Because OCT31 == DEC25

Fixed that for ya..... a = b (assignment) is always true!

dandarc

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7356 on: March 16, 2015, 01:41:14 PM »
You can't contribute more then 18k into a 401k regardless of if it's Roth or not, we ran into this one last year.  Thought we could do 18k in a roth in a combat zone and nope, it's 18k total split among accounts.  The spillover option is probably just a taxable fund they run.
Incorrect, see below. This is what's required for the megabackdoor Roth.

does your company not allow your contributions to auto spill over into a post tax account once you are done? many companies have a Roth 401k now. and i know my fidelity has a post tax contribution which it says will kick in once i reach the max.

The fact that you mention a Roth 401k is confusing here. The maximum contribution limit to a 401k is inclusive of your contributions to both Roth and traditional 401k's.

The government says that a 401k administrator is allowed to let employees contribute up to a $53k maximum, inclusive of employer matching. Any contributions past the $18k mark from the employee will be after tax contributions. These ARE NOT Roth contributions. They are after tax contributions that count towards the $53k limit, not the $18k limit.

Did they recently issue new guidance on this?  When I looked last year it was still murky territory on the conversions.
Last year the IRS issued guidance that say Megabackdoor Roth = OK.  http://www.madfientist.com/after-tax-contributions/

vivophoenix

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7357 on: March 16, 2015, 01:45:21 PM »
You can't contribute more then 18k into a 401k regardless of if it's Roth or not, we ran into this one last year.  Thought we could do 18k in a roth in a combat zone and nope, it's 18k total split among accounts.  The spillover option is probably just a taxable fund they run.
Incorrect, see below. This is what's required for the megabackdoor Roth.

does your company not allow your contributions to auto spill over into a post tax account once you are done? many companies have a Roth 401k now. and i know my fidelity has a post tax contribution which it says will kick in once i reach the max.

The fact that you mention a Roth 401k is confusing here. The maximum contribution limit to a 401k is inclusive of your contributions to both Roth and traditional 401k's.

The government says that a 401k administrator is allowed to let employees contribute up to a $53k maximum, inclusive of employer matching. Any contributions past the $18k mark from the employee will be after tax contributions. These ARE NOT Roth contributions. They are after tax contributions that count towards the $53k limit, not the $18k limit.

sorry about that i didnt mean to be so misleading. i think i tried to combine questions.

dorothyc

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7358 on: March 16, 2015, 02:42:39 PM »

Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

Because OCT31 == DEC25

Fixed that for ya..... a = b (assignment) is always true!

Thanks ;) I am actually a programmer, but the language I write in doesn't have an operator for "is equivalent to", it's just the equals sign for assignment or equivalency. I write RPG on IBM Power system i, in case you're curious.

Indexer

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7359 on: March 16, 2015, 04:33:59 PM »
Don't get me started on Fahrenheit! What is room temperature in the US? Don't give me any wild numbers above 50!

Why do we need Fahrenheit?!?



+1   This made me laugh!

I can use 0-100 to describe something.  -13 to 38... not really as fun. 

thd7t

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7360 on: March 17, 2015, 06:57:44 AM »
(Not sure this was sarcasm or not)

Don't get me started on Fahrenheit! What is room temperature in the US? Don't give me any wild numbers above 50!

Why do we need Fahrenheit?!?

Because the calibration is finer, so you can understand the actual temperature better. I mean WTF 30 should not be that much hotter than 20, that's just wrong. There need to be more gradations in between. Also because "below zero" should mean "seriously effing cold," not just "cold enough for water to freeze."

I agree with this... except that your examples are all just arbitrary. Why should't 30 be that much hotter than 20? You can turn it around and use it in the other direction just as easily. And we have decimal points for the fine calibration.

Now, the big thing that annoys me about Fahrenheit is that they basically made it up by sticking a thermometer in a bucket of ice and saying "This is really cold, this is 0" and then stuck a thermometer in a bucket of water on a fire and said "this is really hot, this is 100" and then filled everything in from there on that scale. Why not just do double centigrade? Have freezing water be 0 and boiling water be 200? That would have given the same effect as your pro-Fahrenheit arguments. Except even moreso.

Dude! That is the most brilliant shit i've heard ever! (not sarcastic)
Fahrenheit was a vet.  He didn't stick the thermometer in a bucket of hot water and say it was hot and 100 degrees.  He stuck it in a healthy horse and said it was 100 degrees.  Not joking.

skunkfunk

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7361 on: March 17, 2015, 07:59:54 AM »
You can't contribute more then 18k into a 401k regardless of if it's Roth or not, we ran into this one last year.  Thought we could do 18k in a roth in a combat zone and nope, it's 18k total split among accounts.  The spillover option is probably just a taxable fund they run.
Incorrect, see below. This is what's required for the megabackdoor Roth.

does your company not allow your contributions to auto spill over into a post tax account once you are done? many companies have a Roth 401k now. and i know my fidelity has a post tax contribution which it says will kick in once i reach the max.

The fact that you mention a Roth 401k is confusing here. The maximum contribution limit to a 401k is inclusive of your contributions to both Roth and traditional 401k's.

The government says that a 401k administrator is allowed to let employees contribute up to a $53k maximum, inclusive of employer matching. Any contributions past the $18k mark from the employee will be after tax contributions. These ARE NOT Roth contributions. They are after tax contributions that count towards the $53k limit, not the $18k limit.

I tried to do that. Our administrator said they do not allow it because it takes extra paperwork and also because I'm the first one who has ever mentioned it. I had to show them the IRS notice, the Merril Lynch people had never heard of such a thing.

Pooperman

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7362 on: March 17, 2015, 08:08:34 AM »
So, my company just got bought out. There are 35 people in it, the new company has 1500.  Should have more stuff to report!

dandarc

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7363 on: March 17, 2015, 08:08:55 AM »
You can't contribute more then 18k into a 401k regardless of if it's Roth or not, we ran into this one last year.  Thought we could do 18k in a roth in a combat zone and nope, it's 18k total split among accounts.  The spillover option is probably just a taxable fund they run.
Incorrect, see below. This is what's required for the megabackdoor Roth.

does your company not allow your contributions to auto spill over into a post tax account once you are done? many companies have a Roth 401k now. and i know my fidelity has a post tax contribution which it says will kick in once i reach the max.

The fact that you mention a Roth 401k is confusing here. The maximum contribution limit to a 401k is inclusive of your contributions to both Roth and traditional 401k's.

The government says that a 401k administrator is allowed to let employees contribute up to a $53k maximum, inclusive of employer matching. Any contributions past the $18k mark from the employee will be after tax contributions. These ARE NOT Roth contributions. They are after tax contributions that count towards the $53k limit, not the $18k limit.

I tried to do that. Our administrator said they do not allow it because it takes extra paperwork and also because I'm the first one who has ever mentioned it. I had to show them the IRS notice, the Merril Lynch people had never heard of such a thing.
IRS sets the most liberal guidelines that are allowed for 401Ks.  Individual plans are free to be more restrictive than the IRS allows (anti-discrimination testing notwithstanding).  Fight the good fight and maybe you can get the after-tax contributions added to your plan.  Good luck!

johnny847

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7364 on: March 17, 2015, 10:55:32 AM »
You can't contribute more then 18k into a 401k regardless of if it's Roth or not, we ran into this one last year.  Thought we could do 18k in a roth in a combat zone and nope, it's 18k total split among accounts.  The spillover option is probably just a taxable fund they run.
Incorrect, see below. This is what's required for the megabackdoor Roth.

does your company not allow your contributions to auto spill over into a post tax account once you are done? many companies have a Roth 401k now. and i know my fidelity has a post tax contribution which it says will kick in once i reach the max.

The fact that you mention a Roth 401k is confusing here. The maximum contribution limit to a 401k is inclusive of your contributions to both Roth and traditional 401k's.

The government says that a 401k administrator is allowed to let employees contribute up to a $53k maximum, inclusive of employer matching. Any contributions past the $18k mark from the employee will be after tax contributions. These ARE NOT Roth contributions. They are after tax contributions that count towards the $53k limit, not the $18k limit.

I tried to do that. Our administrator said they do not allow it because it takes extra paperwork and also because I'm the first one who has ever mentioned it. I had to show them the IRS notice, the Merril Lynch people had never heard of such a thing.
IRS sets the most liberal guidelines that are allowed for 401Ks.  Individual plans are free to be more restrictive than the IRS allows (anti-discrimination testing notwithstanding).  Fight the good fight and maybe you can get the after-tax contributions added to your plan.  Good luck!

Exactly. This is why I said "the government says that a 401k administrator is allowed to let employees contribute up to a $53k maximum," not "the government says that employees are allowed to contribute up to a $53k maximum."

zephyr911

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7365 on: March 17, 2015, 11:24:16 AM »
Because the calibration is finer, so you can understand the actual temperature better. I mean WTF 30 should not be that much hotter than 20, that's just wrong. There need to be more gradations in between. Also because "below zero" should mean "seriously effing cold," not just "cold enough for water to freeze."
If a difference of 1 degree Fahrenheit is relevant to your life, may I suggest the following articles:

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/06/14/the-worlds-most-efficient-air-conditioner/

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/11/18/first-understand-then-destroy-your-home-heating-bill/

;)

Pooperman

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7366 on: March 17, 2015, 12:52:16 PM »
Because the calibration is finer, so you can understand the actual temperature better. I mean WTF 30 should not be that much hotter than 20, that's just wrong. There need to be more gradations in between. Also because "below zero" should mean "seriously effing cold," not just "cold enough for water to freeze."
If a difference of 1 degree Fahrenheit is relevant to your life, may I suggest the following articles:

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/06/14/the-worlds-most-efficient-air-conditioner/

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/11/18/first-understand-then-destroy-your-home-heating-bill/

;)

I suggest we use the Kelvin scale then. 295K is roughly a nice temperature (that should be ~75F).

Chuck

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7367 on: March 17, 2015, 01:37:57 PM »
I asked some co-workers if the same % of 401k contributions is taken from your bonus. They sighed heavily and said "Yes. I've tried to change it but it's hard to time correctly" I was thrilled. I had just upped mine to coincide with my raise! Inching up towards that maximum....
I wish I could just designate an amount each pay period instead of percentages. I get paid twice a month so would rather designate $750 each pay period instead of having to adjust percentages after pay raise and bonus.

That's the one nice thing about my company's 401k. The not so good? High fees (~0.50% on a Vanguard Target Date), and only 3% match with 4 year vesting :(.
We have John Hancock. The lowest rate in the whole plan is an S&P 500 index fund.

1.12%

Frankies Girl

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7368 on: March 17, 2015, 01:52:09 PM »
I asked some co-workers if the same % of 401k contributions is taken from your bonus. They sighed heavily and said "Yes. I've tried to change it but it's hard to time correctly" I was thrilled. I had just upped mine to coincide with my raise! Inching up towards that maximum....
I wish I could just designate an amount each pay period instead of percentages. I get paid twice a month so would rather designate $750 each pay period instead of having to adjust percentages after pay raise and bonus.

Talk to the person who runs your 401k in your office, I JUST found out that it is 100% possible for them to designate an exact number within most payroll software.  I was at a fractional percentage to max for the year and they told me they can enter in a number to the penny in our payroll software.

I'm sure our company could do it but it's not an option in Fidelity. It's only a percentage. So damn stupid. It doesn't affect me yet but it will within a few years at the longest (maybe sooner).

Although my wife has a 457 option that we'll be moving to. I mean, jeez, it's the same fees/fund choices as her regular 401k but it doesn't have the early withdrawal penalties.

I had Fidelity as my 401k, and I had a dollar amount set as my contribution... we had the choice to do either percentage or dollar amount - it was a single page form that we filled out and turned in to HR if we wanted to update. It isn't Fidelity setting that rule, its your plan admin. I did talk to a Fidelity rep one time about an unrelated issue with my 401k and they confirmed that our company had set up certain things that they did not control, so you might want to check in with Fido about it, and get the name of your actual plan administrator so you could ask directly (it's not always HR; my work had a VP of finance in charge of the plan).


mm1970

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7369 on: March 17, 2015, 01:57:50 PM »
So, my company just got bought out. There are 35 people in it, the new company has 1500.  Should have more stuff to report!
sweet.

I wish mine would.  This slow painful death is, just, painful

Paul der Krake

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7370 on: March 17, 2015, 02:47:10 PM »
I asked some co-workers if the same % of 401k contributions is taken from your bonus. They sighed heavily and said "Yes. I've tried to change it but it's hard to time correctly" I was thrilled. I had just upped mine to coincide with my raise! Inching up towards that maximum....
I wish I could just designate an amount each pay period instead of percentages. I get paid twice a month so would rather designate $750 each pay period instead of having to adjust percentages after pay raise and bonus.

That's the one nice thing about my company's 401k. The not so good? High fees (~0.50% on a Vanguard Target Date), and only 3% match with 4 year vesting :(.
We have John Hancock. The lowest rate in the whole plan is an S&P 500 index fund.

1.12%
Having had to help my SO navigate their shitty plans, my heart goes out to you. The incompetence hurts. Thankfully she's quitting very soon, and we'll be rolling it over immediately. Screw those guys.

Unique User

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7371 on: March 17, 2015, 03:40:09 PM »
Ha ha! Sorry for scaring everyone! I didn't realise it was on a different day across the pond.

I do have another funny thing to share from work, though, to make up for it.

We all know what FU means here, but at work it means 'follow up'. So we have FU letters, FU meetings, FU dates... all the time! And it makes me giggle every single time. I can't be the only one who has this!

Same here, I wish they would use a different acronym since I know I am not the only one giggling!

DeepEllumStache

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7372 on: March 17, 2015, 03:40:39 PM »
I asked some co-workers if the same % of 401k contributions is taken from your bonus. They sighed heavily and said "Yes. I've tried to change it but it's hard to time correctly" I was thrilled. I had just upped mine to coincide with my raise! Inching up towards that maximum....
I wish I could just designate an amount each pay period instead of percentages. I get paid twice a month so would rather designate $750 each pay period instead of having to adjust percentages after pay raise and bonus.

That's the one nice thing about my company's 401k. The not so good? High fees (~0.50% on a Vanguard Target Date), and only 3% match with 4 year vesting :(.
We have John Hancock. The lowest rate in the whole plan is an S&P 500 index fund.

1.12%

My eye started twitching reading that.  1.12%??!? Yikes.

Chuck

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7373 on: March 17, 2015, 03:43:10 PM »
I asked some co-workers if the same % of 401k contributions is taken from your bonus. They sighed heavily and said "Yes. I've tried to change it but it's hard to time correctly" I was thrilled. I had just upped mine to coincide with my raise! Inching up towards that maximum....
I wish I could just designate an amount each pay period instead of percentages. I get paid twice a month so would rather designate $750 each pay period instead of having to adjust percentages after pay raise and bonus.

That's the one nice thing about my company's 401k. The not so good? High fees (~0.50% on a Vanguard Target Date), and only 3% match with 4 year vesting :(.
We have John Hancock. The lowest rate in the whole plan is an S&P 500 index fund.

1.12%
Having had to help my SO navigate their shitty plans, my heart goes out to you. The incompetence hurts. Thankfully she's quitting very soon, and we'll be rolling it over immediately. Screw those guys.
I even tried reaching out the President to switch us over, but he was sold hook/line/sinker on their "big, established firm" bullshit.

My contract concludes late this year. I will be rolling over the day that I get my final check.

Zaga

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7374 on: March 18, 2015, 07:54:53 AM »
I asked some co-workers if the same % of 401k contributions is taken from your bonus. They sighed heavily and said "Yes. I've tried to change it but it's hard to time correctly" I was thrilled. I had just upped mine to coincide with my raise! Inching up towards that maximum....
I wish I could just designate an amount each pay period instead of percentages. I get paid twice a month so would rather designate $750 each pay period instead of having to adjust percentages after pay raise and bonus.

That's the one nice thing about my company's 401k. The not so good? High fees (~0.50% on a Vanguard Target Date), and only 3% match with 4 year vesting :(.
We have John Hancock. The lowest rate in the whole plan is an S&P 500 index fund.

1.12%

My eye started twitching reading that.  1.12%??!? Yikes.
The lowest cost option in my husband's current plan has a 1.41% ER.  I mean, ouch!

Fortunately he is changing jobs in a few weeks, and I can roll that over to his IRA that has index funds!

MishMash

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7375 on: March 18, 2015, 07:55:04 AM »
I asked some co-workers if the same % of 401k contributions is taken from your bonus. They sighed heavily and said "Yes. I've tried to change it but it's hard to time correctly" I was thrilled. I had just upped mine to coincide with my raise! Inching up towards that maximum....
I wish I could just designate an amount each pay period instead of percentages. I get paid twice a month so would rather designate $750 each pay period instead of having to adjust percentages after pay raise and bonus.

That's the one nice thing about my company's 401k. The not so good? High fees (~0.50% on a Vanguard Target Date), and only 3% match with 4 year vesting :(.
We have John Hancock. The lowest rate in the whole plan is an S&P 500 index fund.

1.12%

My eye started twitching reading that.  1.12%??!? Yikes.

We had Mass Mutual for years, most of the plans were around 1.5%, cheapest being 1.12 as well, most expensive plan in the fund....2.5%.  I FINALLY got them to switch over to Vanguard this year after years of non stop pestering.  We got a new CEO who appreciated the side by side fee comparison doc I showed him over beers in October.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7376 on: March 18, 2015, 11:43:13 AM »
I asked some co-workers if the same % of 401k contributions is taken from your bonus. They sighed heavily and said "Yes. I've tried to change it but it's hard to time correctly" I was thrilled. I had just upped mine to coincide with my raise! Inching up towards that maximum....
I wish I could just designate an amount each pay period instead of percentages. I get paid twice a month so would rather designate $750 each pay period instead of having to adjust percentages after pay raise and bonus.

That's the one nice thing about my company's 401k. The not so good? High fees (~0.50% on a Vanguard Target Date), and only 3% match with 4 year vesting :(.
We have John Hancock. The lowest rate in the whole plan is an S&P 500 index fund.

1.12%

We do too, except our lowest expense is .66%, same fund type. I'm struggling to determine whether it is worth it to contribute over the match (currently at 20%, but not the max), but I'm not very good at math and it's so confusing. I also feel like there are hidden fees above and beyond the .66%, but don't know how to prove it. Our company will never ever ever switch plans because a friend of the president/CEO is our adviser. He's making a killing, I'm sure of it, I'm just not sure where. 

zephyr911

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7377 on: March 18, 2015, 12:07:58 PM »
I also feel like there are hidden fees above and beyond the .66%, but don't know how to prove it. Our company will never ever ever switch plans because a friend of the president/CEO is our adviser. He's making a killing, I'm sure of it, I'm just not sure where.
You don't have to be a trained auditor to read your statements. I'd start there.

Pooperman

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7378 on: March 18, 2015, 12:21:44 PM »
So, my company just got bought out. There are 35 people in it, the new company has 1500.  Should have more stuff to report!
sweet.

I wish mine would.  This slow painful death is, just, painful

It wasn't a decline buyout. It was a growth buyout. Good things I've confirmed: they have an HSA with matching/kick-backs, the 401k has more options than a Vanguard Target Date at .45% fees. The not so good things: the vesting schedule is a year longer, matching is probably lower because it's something they just added this year.

Pooplips

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7379 on: March 18, 2015, 12:59:57 PM »
Having a discussion with a cw the other day about retirement. He mentioned that it would be impossible for me to retire.

I mentioned that I will be living a moble lifestyle so my cost of living will be minimal and I will in fact be retiring early.

He couldn't understand how anyone could have enough money to retire early and that I would need millions to retire.

It's quite sad because he is 66 and already collects a pension from a previous job and can take ss but dosnt see himself ever retiring.

Then again he did just spend $20k redoing his 3 bathrooms for him and his wife. ???

boarder42

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7380 on: March 18, 2015, 01:59:59 PM »
20k on three bathrooms is a pretty good price actually.  why he needs 3 i dont know but 7k bathroom remodel is on the affordable side of spendy people spending.

fantabulous

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7381 on: March 18, 2015, 03:10:00 PM »
20k on three bathrooms is a pretty good price actually.  why he needs 3 i dont know but 7k bathroom remodel is on the affordable side of spendy people spending.

If you eat out a lot, you end up using the bathroom a lot and can't wait for a person to finish? And the third is in case one of the bathrooms gets wrecked by gastric distress?

Cinder

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7382 on: March 18, 2015, 03:33:06 PM »
I feel like I live in a ridiculous lap of luxury having 2.5 bath in my house.  Sink/throne downstairs, full bath with tub at top of stairs, and full bath with shower as a master suite...

My wife prefers using 'our' shower/bathroom.... I look at her like she has three heads because we own the house, they are all OUR bathrooms!   I guess I just don't get it. 

Growing up, we had a single downstairs bathroom in our house.  If you didn't like it, there was always the tree line out back !

Hedge_87

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7383 on: March 18, 2015, 08:33:38 PM »
I feel like I live in a ridiculous lap of luxury having 2.5 bath in my house.  Sink/throne downstairs, full bath with tub at top of stairs, and full bath with shower as a master suite...

My wife prefers using 'our' shower/bathroom.... I look at her like she has three heads because we own the house, they are all OUR bathrooms!   I guess I just don't get it. 

Growing up, we had a single downstairs bathroom in our house.  If you didn't like it, there was always the tree line out back !
We called them "cowboy showers". Growing up, When we were running late and everybody was filthy mom would send a couple of us out to the garden hose with a bar of soap to get cleaned up*. the funny part is there was always a fight for who was the "lucky" one to take the cowboy shower.
*some of the fun you can have when your closest neighbors are ~5 miles away!

Pooplips

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7384 on: March 19, 2015, 05:23:56 AM »
20k on three bathrooms is a pretty good price actually.  why he needs 3 i dont know but 7k bathroom remodel is on the affordable side of spendy people spending.

I'm sorry, he really only remodeled 1 and just painted the other 2. I miss-typed in calling all of them remodeled.

frugalnacho

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7385 on: March 19, 2015, 07:52:35 AM »
20k on three bathrooms is a pretty good price actually.  why he needs 3 i dont know but 7k bathroom remodel is on the affordable side of spendy people spending.

3 seems reasonable, maybe a tad excessive.  2 is my absolute minimum.  I will never own/rent another place that has less than 2 bathrooms.  But more than 2 seems like excess.  I will for sure get full use out of a second bathroom, but a third? Not so much.

Avidconsumer

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7386 on: March 19, 2015, 08:05:45 AM »
(Not sure this was sarcasm or not)

Don't get me started on Fahrenheit! What is room temperature in the US? Don't give me any wild numbers above 50!

Why do we need Fahrenheit?!?

Because the calibration is finer, so you can understand the actual temperature better. I mean WTF 30 should not be that much hotter than 20, that's just wrong. There need to be more gradations in between. Also because "below zero" should mean "seriously effing cold," not just "cold enough for water to freeze."

I agree with this... except that your examples are all just arbitrary. Why should't 30 be that much hotter than 20? You can turn it around and use it in the other direction just as easily. And we have decimal points for the fine calibration.

Now, the big thing that annoys me about Fahrenheit is that they basically made it up by sticking a thermometer in a bucket of ice and saying "This is really cold, this is 0" and then stuck a thermometer in a bucket of water on a fire and said "this is really hot, this is 100" and then filled everything in from there on that scale. Why not just do double centigrade? Have freezing water be 0 and boiling water be 200? That would have given the same effect as your pro-Fahrenheit arguments. Except even moreso.

Dude! That is the most brilliant shit i've heard ever! (not sarcastic)
Fahrenheit was a vet.  He didn't stick the thermometer in a bucket of hot water and say it was hot and 100 degrees.  He stuck it in a healthy horse and said it was 100 degrees.  Not joking.

At 0 C, water freezes and rain becomes snow or ice.. It's a good round number that indicates that the rain might hurt.

The argument for Fahrenheit is that you can tell the difference between 72 and 73 F. I can't and even if I could, It wouldn't change my attire.

Ooo. Do you feel that? We just dropped a degree F, I'm going to pull my socks up 2/3s of an inch to keep some heat in. No!

Fahrenheit is just another lets be different and drive on the other side of the street because those damn brit's are charging me a few cents on my PG tips.

rocksinmyhead

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7387 on: March 19, 2015, 08:07:22 AM »
20k on three bathrooms is a pretty good price actually.  why he needs 3 i dont know but 7k bathroom remodel is on the affordable side of spendy people spending.

3 seems reasonable, maybe a tad excessive.  2 is my absolute minimum.  I will never own/rent another place that has less than 2 bathrooms.  But more than 2 seems like excess.  I will for sure get full use out of a second bathroom, but a third? Not so much.

I think 3 is excessive but yeah, one bathroom for two adults kinda sucks. That's what we have now but when we eventually buy a house my minimum would be 1.5. I think boyfriend's minimum would be two (like for when we have kids)... personally I could live with one tub/shower, even for a family of four, but damn it's nice having two toilets :)

I feel like I live in a ridiculous lap of luxury having 2.5 bath in my house.  Sink/throne downstairs, full bath with tub at top of stairs, and full bath with shower as a master suite...

My wife prefers using 'our' shower/bathroom.... I look at her like she has three heads because we own the house, they are all OUR bathrooms!   I guess I just don't get it. 

Growing up, we had a single downstairs bathroom in our house.  If you didn't like it, there was always the tree line out back !
We called them "cowboy showers". Growing up, When we were running late and everybody was filthy mom would send a couple of us out to the garden hose with a bar of soap to get cleaned up*. the funny part is there was always a fight for who was the "lucky" one to take the cowboy shower.
*some of the fun you can have when your closest neighbors are ~5 miles away!

haha this is awesome! not quite the same thing, but the beach condo my family used to rent for our bi-yearly vacations had two full bathrooms inside and then an outside shower (fully enclosed). it was just a wood enclosure and sometimes I guess there were bugs out there and stuff, but it was MY FAVORITE shower. I love being outside, especially at the beach in the summer, why would I NOT want to spend even more of my day outside?!? but my cousins thought that one was gross and would never use it. so weird.

rockstache

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7388 on: March 19, 2015, 08:34:25 AM »
I also feel like there are hidden fees above and beyond the .66%, but don't know how to prove it. Our company will never ever ever switch plans because a friend of the president/CEO is our adviser. He's making a killing, I'm sure of it, I'm just not sure where.
You don't have to be a trained auditor to read your statements. I'd start there.

lol...right. If only it was that easy. There are whole blogs and forums dedicated to the math behind figuring this stuff out. I have read a TON, but some of it is just over my head.

zephyr911

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7389 on: March 19, 2015, 09:09:29 AM »
Having a discussion with a cw the other day about retirement. He mentioned that it would be impossible for me to retire.
So much shameless projection. How do people not realize we're all different and most of their "needs" are just choices they made?
Then again he did just spend $20k redoing his 3 bathrooms for him and his wife. ???
If only he could have waited till he retired and did the work himself. Shoulda spent the $20K on solar panels, at least it'd add to the value and produce income.
I feel like I live in a ridiculous lap of luxury having 2.5 bath in my house.  Sink/throne downstairs, full bath with tub at top of stairs, and full bath with shower as a master suite...
We have two full baths for two adults, and I feel the same. My wife uses the second one as her private primping suite... other than that, it only gets used when we have guests. Ridiculous! Our last house had 2.5 and it was just silly. A definite sensation of paying extra just to have more unused shit to take care of.
lol...right. If only it was that easy. There are whole blogs and forums dedicated to the math behind figuring this stuff out. I have read a TON, but some of it is just over my head.
No math needed. Just read the list of transactions and look up any terms you don't recognize. There are only so many ways to categorize a fee.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2015, 09:15:58 AM by zephyr911 »

Megma

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7390 on: March 19, 2015, 09:42:23 AM »
20k on three bathrooms is a pretty good price actually.  why he needs 3 i dont know but 7k bathroom remodel is on the affordable side of spendy people spending.

3 seems reasonable, maybe a tad excessive.  2 is my absolute minimum.  I will never own/rent another place that has less than 2 bathrooms.  But more than 2 seems like excess.  I will for sure get full use out of a second bathroom, but a third? Not so much.

I whole heartedly agree! 1 bathroom for 2 people is "enough" but not ideal. I lived in a house with 4 girls and 1 bathroom in college and it was rough. Someone was always coming in for something while you were in the shower. We currently have 2.5 for 3 adults (me, bf and roommate), if it was just the two of us 1.5 would be ok but two full is ideal. More than 2.5 is too much to clean unless you have 6+ people living there.

frugalnacho

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7391 on: March 19, 2015, 10:26:09 AM »
20k on three bathrooms is a pretty good price actually.  why he needs 3 i dont know but 7k bathroom remodel is on the affordable side of spendy people spending.

3 seems reasonable, maybe a tad excessive.  2 is my absolute minimum.  I will never own/rent another place that has less than 2 bathrooms.  But more than 2 seems like excess.  I will for sure get full use out of a second bathroom, but a third? Not so much.

I whole heartedly agree! 1 bathroom for 2 people is "enough" but not ideal. I lived in a house with 4 girls and 1 bathroom in college and it was rough. Someone was always coming in for something while you were in the shower. We currently have 2.5 for 3 adults (me, bf and roommate), if it was just the two of us 1.5 would be ok but two full is ideal. More than 2.5 is too much to clean unless you have 6+ people living there.

I suppose I don't need 2 full bathrooms, but 2 toilets for sure.  I like to have a toilet free 100% of the time.

zephyr911

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7392 on: March 19, 2015, 10:32:49 AM »
I suppose I don't need 2 full bathrooms, but 2 toilets for sure.  I like to have a toilet free 100% of the time.
If you never reach full utilization, isn't that the very definition of wastefulness?

frugalnacho

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7393 on: March 19, 2015, 10:51:16 AM »
I suppose I don't need 2 full bathrooms, but 2 toilets for sure.  I like to have a toilet free 100% of the time.
If you never reach full utilization, isn't that the very definition of wastefulness?

I don't mean a free toilet literally 100% of the time, I mean a free toilet 100% accessible to me, you know, for peak demand.  So if someone else is occupying the first toilet, I need a second toilet at the ready.  There is a 100% chance the first toilet will be used several times during the day, even if you only live with one other person.  While the odds that I need a second toilet is pretty low during any of those individual uses, those odds will approach 100% before the time frame gets too long (I would say around a 1-2 week period).


Cookie78

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7394 on: March 19, 2015, 10:56:29 AM »
I suppose I don't need 2 full bathrooms, but 2 toilets for sure.  I like to have a toilet free 100% of the time.
If you never reach full utilization, isn't that the very definition of wastefulness?

I don't mean a free toilet literally 100% of the time, I mean a free toilet 100% accessible to me, you know, for peak demand.  So if someone else is occupying the first toilet, I need a second toilet at the ready.  There is a 100% chance the first toilet will be used several times during the day, even if you only live with one other person.  While the odds that I need a second toilet is pretty low during any of those individual uses, those odds will approach 100% before the time frame gets too long (I would say around a 1-2 week period).

This is a big part of the reason I'm hesitant to rent out my spare room. Living alone with one bathroom is fine. With a roommate there is potential for serious conflict. What if they take an hour in the bathroom each morning to get ready?!

zephyr911

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7395 on: March 19, 2015, 11:09:18 AM »
I don't mean a free toilet literally 100% of the time, I mean a free toilet 100% accessible to me, you know, for peak demand.  So if someone else is occupying the first toilet, I need a second toilet at the ready.  There is a 100% chance the first toilet will be used several times during the day, even if you only live with one other person.  While the odds that I need a second toilet is pretty low during any of those individual uses, those odds will approach 100% before the time frame gets too long (I would say around a 1-2 week period).
I admit it, I totally understood, but quibbled over semantics for the sake of shameless pedantry.

fantabulous

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7396 on: March 19, 2015, 11:12:13 AM »
I suppose I don't need 2 full bathrooms, but 2 toilets for sure.  I like to have a toilet free 100% of the time.
If you never reach full utilization, isn't that the very definition of wastefulness?

I don't mean a free toilet literally 100% of the time, I mean a free toilet 100% accessible to me, you know, for peak demand.  So if someone else is occupying the first toilet, I need a second toilet at the ready.  There is a 100% chance the first toilet will be used several times during the day, even if you only live with one other person.  While the odds that I need a second toilet is pretty low during any of those individual uses, those odds will approach 100% before the time frame gets too long (I would say around a 1-2 week period).

Poo capacity planning is serious business.

frugalnacho

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7397 on: March 19, 2015, 11:12:42 AM »
I suppose I don't need 2 full bathrooms, but 2 toilets for sure.  I like to have a toilet free 100% of the time.
If you never reach full utilization, isn't that the very definition of wastefulness?

I don't mean a free toilet literally 100% of the time, I mean a free toilet 100% accessible to me, you know, for peak demand.  So if someone else is occupying the first toilet, I need a second toilet at the ready.  There is a 100% chance the first toilet will be used several times during the day, even if you only live with one other person.  While the odds that I need a second toilet is pretty low during any of those individual uses, those odds will approach 100% before the time frame gets too long (I would say around a 1-2 week period).

This is a big part of the reason I'm hesitant to rent out my spare room. Living alone with one bathroom is fine. With a roommate there is potential for serious conflict. What if they take an hour in the bathroom each morning to get ready?!

I rented out 2 rooms in my house as soon as I moved in.  That money went towards building a second bathroom ASAP.  Within months I had a second bathroom paid for.

Even if they don't take an hour in the bathroom, what if I get diarrhea during their shower time? Or while they just happen to be using the bathroom? Recipe for disaster.

frugalnacho

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7398 on: March 19, 2015, 11:14:34 AM »
I suppose I don't need 2 full bathrooms, but 2 toilets for sure.  I like to have a toilet free 100% of the time.
If you never reach full utilization, isn't that the very definition of wastefulness?

I don't mean a free toilet literally 100% of the time, I mean a free toilet 100% accessible to me, you know, for peak demand.  So if someone else is occupying the first toilet, I need a second toilet at the ready.  There is a 100% chance the first toilet will be used several times during the day, even if you only live with one other person.  While the odds that I need a second toilet is pretty low during any of those individual uses, those odds will approach 100% before the time frame gets too long (I would say around a 1-2 week period).

Poo capacity planning is serious business.

Much like FIRE planning.  Decent chance of everything going fine regardless, but a small chance of absolute catastrophe.

Chuck

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #7399 on: March 19, 2015, 11:19:43 AM »
I asked some co-workers if the same % of 401k contributions is taken from your bonus. They sighed heavily and said "Yes. I've tried to change it but it's hard to time correctly" I was thrilled. I had just upped mine to coincide with my raise! Inching up towards that maximum....
I wish I could just designate an amount each pay period instead of percentages. I get paid twice a month so would rather designate $750 each pay period instead of having to adjust percentages after pay raise and bonus.

That's the one nice thing about my company's 401k. The not so good? High fees (~0.50% on a Vanguard Target Date), and only 3% match with 4 year vesting :(.
We have John Hancock. The lowest rate in the whole plan is an S&P 500 index fund.

1.12%

We do too, except our lowest expense is .66%, same fund type. I'm struggling to determine whether it is worth it to contribute over the match (currently at 20%, but not the max), but I'm not very good at math and it's so confusing. I also feel like there are hidden fees above and beyond the .66%, but don't know how to prove it. Our company will never ever ever switch plans because a friend of the president/CEO is our adviser. He's making a killing, I'm sure of it, I'm just not sure where.
JH tries to confuse you in their fund portal by breaking the fee down into three separate catagories. Don't be fooled, and add all three catagories up.

It's totally possible that your company is larger than mine and just gets a better deal. We only have 25ish employees, many of which don't contribute all that much. Low funds = high rates.