Again, thanks all. Super valuable info.
@Kbecks2:(AND ANYONE ELSE)
I think I finally found a good accountant. The jury is still out. He's handling my small real estate llc./partnership, as well as my personal finances, but its early in our relationship, and I'm trying to stay ahead a little bit, so that I ask the right questions.
I feel like I'm maybe trying to follow 2 masters? MMM is all like, index and chill...Go Curry Cracker seems much more interested in gain/loss harvesting, and being more active. Any insight? What am I missing? Do I understand that if I already pay a good accountant for my small biz, I dont need a service like Betterment, in your opinion?
@Eric (and anyone else) I'm a short-term lurker here, but long enough to greatly appreciate your input Eric, thank you. 90/10 is what I thought my allocation should be. I'm 34. I wanna retire when
I'm 42. Maybe not? Maybe I stated it wrong. 401K is 90% S&P index through John Hancock(horrible expense ratio compared to vanguard). That exposes me to small/large caps right? 10% bond index, I forget the name. How do I go about the 30% international investment? God, that scares the shit out of me.... I know, irrational, but please explain?
Re: Roth for kids college.
Yes, I'm talking about OUR Roths for kids college. Until now, we haven't been able to contribute, and we really value being home as much as possible with our kids, so I don't see a scenario where we wont be able to contribute. So, that said, we haven't counted on that as part of our retirement to this point. Again, we max our 401Ks and contribute to taxable accounts 3-4k/month. So...I don't like 529 (especially in MI) due to their limitations and expenses. I don't need our Roths for retirement purposes, and they do allow principal withdrawals for college expenses, tax and fee free. The other factor here is that I come from a very blue collar background. I embrace the fact that my kids may very well be tradesmen/women...have a talent in their hands, and not attend a 4 year college. this plan would allow us to pay for their training, and also enable us to use the excess (or not) as befitting to us.
Completely open to anyone's advice.