Author Topic: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan  (Read 8573 times)

aspiretoretire

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Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« on: April 28, 2015, 09:56:49 AM »
Hi all,
I’m new to the forum, but have been following the blog and am impressed with it and the knowledgeable forum crew.
I wonder if you could give me some advice on my financials and what to do current and go forward. Thank you!
About me:
-   Almost 40 yrs old, live in nyc (manhattan), do not own a home, rent is high, make about $170k
-   I would like to retire as early is reasonably possible
Investments/$
-   $262k in Fidelity IRA, fee to manage 1.06%/yr, last year 5.66% return net advisory fee, 70% stk/30% bnd
-   $35k in Merrill 401k not managed, have had for 2 yrs.
-   $41k Betterment, new, 90%/10%
-   $29k Vanguard- $10k VTIAX, $10k VTSMX, $3k REIT, $3k Life strat growth, $3k Bnd
-   $15k stock long in old employer in fidelity
-   $4k old chase IRA
-   $2k old Roth, think over cont. limit now
-   $7k Ameritrade stock
-   $10k cash
-   No real debt

Thank you for your input! Let me know if you need more info.

jda1984

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #1 on: April 28, 2015, 11:45:33 AM »
What are your expenses?

nereo

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #2 on: April 28, 2015, 11:51:28 AM »
Hello aspiretoretire

You listed a bunch of investments, but not your budget or what you are investing in now currently.  That's going to have the biggest impact on how soon you car retire.

From what you've posted, I question why you have so much tax-deferred money spread all over the place, much of it accruing fees.  I would recommend making your asset allocation (AA) and then consolidating your various accounts.  Rolling over your IRAs will at the very least make them a bit easy to keep track of and make sure you aren't less diversified than you think.

Cheers

aspiretoretire

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #3 on: April 28, 2015, 12:09:01 PM »
Hello! Thank you for your replies!
Good questions-
My expenses are high at this time bc of living costs here in ny, etc. For ex. my rent is 50% of my take home currently. I realize this is not ideal) ($6500 /2=$3250).
The other 50%=expenses, saving.
This 6500 does not include 401k contrib which comes off the top and is to the max limit of $15k/yr, about 10% gross inc.
I was able to save more in the past based on diff living circumstances. I would say I could realistically save 1000+/mo now
I understand this has the most impact. If someone could help me with the math and a better goal.
Why my investments are diversified that way- no good reason! Also why I'm here. They should probably all be in one place and assume that place is vanguard? Are there any tax consequences of moving all? Also no great reason for the fee except I felt insecure being able to manage the account myself.
Thank you!!


nereo

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #4 on: April 28, 2015, 12:31:18 PM »
Thanks for the additional info.  From what I read, right now i'd say your investment strategy is lacking any clear focus or plan.  You really should come up with an AA and then stick to it.  Many of your investments seem to overlap to a very high degree (Fidelity IRA, Betterment, VTIAX all seem to be weighted heavily in the largest US stocks).  Now there's nothing wrong with being invested in the SP500 - I have 80% of my equities in the Vanguard SP500 index.  But there's no advantage to having the same strategy repeated across multiple brokers and multiple accounts.  At worse it makes you think you are more diversified than you really are, nad at best it's just a nuisance.  Consolidate.
Vanguard is a good choice, but others around here like Fidelity or Betterment.  Choose what works best for you and has low fees.

Having lived in the SF Bay area I certainly understand high COL areas.  I also had my rent exceed 50% of my income at times.

FWIW, the personal contribution limit for 401(k) plans is $17,500, not $15k.  After that you can contribute more but you don't get a tax break.  You can use it to do a mega backdoor roth (or so I understand.  I've never done one myself).

aspiretoretire

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #5 on: April 28, 2015, 12:50:54 PM »
Thank you again.
Do you have a personal recommendation between Vanguard, Betterment, Fidelity? I have read the most support for Vanguard so wonder what the advantages are to the others besides TLH.
What allocation would you recommend? 80/20 overall?
What do you recommend that look like in terms of Vanguard fund names?
Can I move all over with no tax consequence?
So many questions...

ZiziPB

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #6 on: April 28, 2015, 01:04:50 PM »
Your investments are all over the place!  There seems to be no rhyme or reason nor any logic to them.

Consolidate the random old IRAs into your Fidelity IRA and consolidate various after tax accounts into one brokerage account (looks like you have Vanguard, Fidelity and Ameritrade now - pick one, either Vanguard or Fidelity).  Be mindful of taxes when you are moving the after-tax investments (if you post details here, we may be able to help)  Stop paying the ridiculous asset management fee to Fidelity.  Decide on an overall asset allocation for your portfolio and invest in low cost index funds yourself (either Fidelity or Vanguard are good for that).  Educate yourself - here is a good place to start https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads%C2%AE_investing_start-up_kit

As to your savings, max your 401K ($18K this year).  Do you get any employer match?  Are you eligible for an HSA?  If so, max that as well. 

Expenses: your rent sounds really high.  Can you find something cheaper that would still work for you?  Are you single? Do you have kids?  I don't know much about rents in Manhattan but it sounds like you should be able to find something cheaper.  Other expenses?  If you post details, people will offer detailed suggestions.

ZiziPB

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #7 on: April 28, 2015, 01:35:36 PM »
Here is what your picture really looks like and here are my suggestions on simplifying:

Total portfolio $395K

I didn't count the cash - if I were you, I would keep the $10K as my emergency fund (Ally savings account pays .99% now)

Tax advantaged accounts - makes sense to stay at Fidelity for these:

$35k in Merrill 401k (keep where is and contribute to the max - $18K this year)

$262k in Fidelity IRA, fee to manage 1.06%/yr, last year 5.66% return net advisory fee, 70% stk/30% bnd (get out of the advisory fee arrangment, but keep the IRA at Fidelity as a self-managed account)

$4k old chase IRA - roll over to the above Fidelity IRA (call Fidelity and they will walk you through it)

$2k old Roth - where is this?  If not at Fidelity, then open a new Roth IRA at Fidelity and roll it over (they will walk you through it)

There will be no tax consequences to any of these transactions.


After-tax investments - consolidate these either at Vanguard or Fidelity:

$41k Betterment, new, 90%/10% (is there a gain on this, fee to sell?)

$29k Vanguard- $10k VTIAX, $10k VTSMX, $3k REIT, $3k Life strat growth, $3k Bnd

$15k stock long in old employer in fidelity (how much gain is there on this?)

$7k Ameritrade stock (how much gain is there on this?)

Any sale of the after tax investments will have taxable consequences (gain or loss), so you need a detailed plan for these.

Overall asset allocation is something you have to figure out for yourself (based on your risk tolerance and goals).  80/20 is typically what Bogleheads would recommend as a starting point and then work from there.  This should be calculated across all of your accounts (other than any short term savings for upcoming purchases or expenses).  You only need 3-4 different index funds to achieve that.  Both Vanguard and Fidelity have low cost funds that will work for you (look up 3 or 4 fund lazy portfolio on Bogglehead Wiki and how to build it using Vanguard or Fidelity).

Good luck!
« Last Edit: April 28, 2015, 01:43:57 PM by ZiziPB »

Captain_Burrito_Pants

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #8 on: April 28, 2015, 01:57:38 PM »
I just wanted to suggest converting your shares in VTSMX to VTSAX since you have $10k, unless you plan on spending that money.  Your expenses will drop from 0.17 to 0.05.  You can do the conversion tax free.

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/insights/article/admiral-questions-112013

aspiretoretire

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #9 on: April 28, 2015, 02:07:15 PM »
Thank you, Zizipb!

A few questions:
Is there a benefit to switch to Vanguard for the Tax advantaged accounts vs. Fidelity? I'm thinking of moving all to Vanguard and if so I am not sure how much $ to put in which funds (names) but if I stay in Fidelity also not sure which funds to be in specifically?
Bogle recommends general 60/40 based on age but that sounds high in bonds.
The Betterment will have little gain, $1k maybe
The ameritrade will have a long gain of about 5k
The roth is at fidelity
Stock at fidelity- loss of 3.5k
I will max my 401 and do have some match.

Yes the rent is high, single now, no kids. I keep thinking of how to lower this and haven't come up with a great solution as I really like my apt/location and surrounding areas of ny aren't much cheaper. Move to suburbs, roommate, leave ny.. I could probably get a few hundred lower in rent, but the offset would be much less convenience and would cost to move, fees, finding and moving here is a special manhattan whole hassle. Just me complaining. Will have to do something.

The whole investment plan is overwhelming.


aspiretoretire

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #10 on: April 28, 2015, 02:08:15 PM »
Sorry, they are SAX not SMX, thanks for looking at that!

ZiziPB

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #11 on: April 28, 2015, 02:29:03 PM »
I personally use Fidelity (the decision was driven by the fact that my employer uses Fido as administrator for our 401k, HSA, and other benefits so I already had Fidelity accounts when I started seriously focusing on investments).

I think the basic index funds you need to build a simple portfolio are comparable between Fido and Vanguard, with Vanguard having  better bond fund offerings.  One difference (from what I read) is that a brokerage account at Fido can hold both mutual funds and ETFs/individual stocks, so you only need one taxable account.  At Vanguard, I think they make you open 2 accounts (one for mutual funds, and the other one a true brokerage account for ETFs and stocks), but I don't think that is of any consequence.

You have to do some reading and educating yourself in order to decide on your AA (you need to figure out your risk tolerance).  I think both Vanguard and Fidelity have some questionnaires on their websites that walk you through a bunch of questions and scenarios and help you with that.  Spend some time thinking about it.  Also, there would be nothing wrong with starting, say, at 80/20 and slowly working to the ultimate AA you want.

Specific funds to build a portfolio - read this http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Lazy_portfolios:

At Fidelity, look up anything designated Spartan.  I use FSTVX (Total US Market), FSGDX (International), FSITX (US Bond Fund  - in tax advantaged accounts) and FTABX (Muni bond fund in taxable - totally optional, most people don't have bonds in their taxable accounts)

At Vanguard, Bogleheads recommend VTSAX (Total Market),  VTIAX (International) and VBTLX (Total Bond Fund).

The general rule is to keep your entire bond allocation in your 401k and/or IRA, and invest taxable in stocks (US and international).

As to moving your taxable investments, it looks like you would have about $2.5K of taxable gain after all the transactions, so you need to decide if you want to pay the tax on it or not.  You can move investments in kind without triggering a taxable event but that is more complicated.

ETA: I also felt overwhelmed when I first started focusing on my investments 2 years ago but have done lots of reading and research and asked lots of questions to arrive at a certain level of comfort.  I am not a sophisticated investor but I now have a good handle on the basics that is sufficient to serve my purposes given my style of investing (buy and hold, long term, low cost index investing focused on simplicity and tax efficiency)
« Last Edit: April 28, 2015, 02:36:16 PM by ZiziPB »

aspiretoretire

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #12 on: April 28, 2015, 02:56:38 PM »
More info:
Here is the way my current Merrill 401 is allocated.I don't actually know how this came to be other than me entering 80/20. Suggestions or ok?
EQUITY/STOCK   
BLACKROCK S&P 500 STOCK FUND K 15%
INVESCO GROWTH & INCOME CL R5 7%
INVESCO INTERNATIONAL GRTH R5 5%
JOHN HANCOCK DISCIPLINED 7%
MFS MASS INVESTORS GR STOCK R4 5%
PRINCIPAL MIDCAP FUND INSTL 5% 
TEMPLETON INST FOREIGN EQUITY 7%
VANGUARD EXTENDED MKT INDX ADM 5%
VANGUARD SMALL CAP IND INSTL 5%
VANGUARD TOTAL INTL STOCK ADM 7%
VANGUARD WELLINGTON FUND 7%
VOYA MIDCAP OPPORTUNITIES CL I 5%
  80%
BOND/FIXED INCOME   
METROPOLITAN WEST TOTAL FD I 5%
TEMPLETON GLOBAL BOND FD CL A 5%
VANGUARD TTL BD MRKT INDX ADM 5%
  15%
STABLE VALUE FUND   
INVESCO STABLE VALUE RET CL 2 5%
   


aspiretoretire

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #13 on: April 28, 2015, 03:01:27 PM »
Here is fidelity currently:
Domestic Stock 51%
 
Foreign Stock 22%
 
Bonds 17%
 
Short Term 8%
 
Unknown 1%
 
Other 1%

ZiziPB

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #14 on: April 28, 2015, 03:03:51 PM »
More info:
Here is the way my current Merrill 401 is allocated.I don't actually know how this came to be other than me entering 80/20. Suggestions or ok?
EQUITY/STOCK   
BLACKROCK S&P 500 STOCK FUND K 15%
INVESCO GROWTH & INCOME CL R5 7%
INVESCO INTERNATIONAL GRTH R5 5%
JOHN HANCOCK DISCIPLINED 7%
MFS MASS INVESTORS GR STOCK R4 5%
PRINCIPAL MIDCAP FUND INSTL 5% 
TEMPLETON INST FOREIGN EQUITY 7%
VANGUARD EXTENDED MKT INDX ADM 5%
VANGUARD SMALL CAP IND INSTL 5%
VANGUARD TOTAL INTL STOCK ADM 7%
VANGUARD WELLINGTON FUND 7%
VOYA MIDCAP OPPORTUNITIES CL I 5%
  80%
BOND/FIXED INCOME   
METROPOLITAN WEST TOTAL FD I 5%
TEMPLETON GLOBAL BOND FD CL A 5%
VANGUARD TTL BD MRKT INDX ADM 5%
  15%
STABLE VALUE FUND   
INVESCO STABLE VALUE RET CL 2 5%
   



Way to many funds but it looks like you have some nice options there.  This account needs to be considered as part of your overall allocation.  You don't need to have 80/20 in each account.  You want to achieve 80/20 in the aggregate across all accounts.

Can you post the expense ratios for all these funds?  And also find out the yield for the Stable Value Fund you have there.
« Last Edit: April 28, 2015, 03:09:08 PM by ZiziPB »

aspiretoretire

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #15 on: April 28, 2015, 03:17:42 PM »
BLACKROCK S&P 500 STOCK FUND K .05%
INVESCO GROWTH & INCOME CL R5 .49%
INVESCO INTERNATIONAL GRTH R5  .99%
JOHN HANCOCK DISCIPLINED .90%
MFS MASS INVESTORS GR STOCK R4  .5%
PRINCIPAL MIDCAP FUND INSTL   .68%
TEMPLETON INST FOREIGN EQUITY  .79%
VANGUARD EXTENDED MKT INDX ADM  .10%
VANGUARD SMALL CAP IND INSTL  .08%
VANGUARD TOTAL INTL STOCK ADM  .14%
VANGUARD WELLINGTON FUND .18%
VOYA MIDCAP OPPORTUNITIES CL I .96%
  80%
BOND/FIXED INCOME   
METROPOLITAN WEST TOTAL FD I .45%
TEMPLETON GLOBAL BOND FD CL A  .89%
VANGUARD TTL BD MRKT INDX ADM  .08%
  15%
STABLE VALUE FUND   
INVESCO STABLE VALUE RET CL 2 .45%

By yield do you mean rate of return? about 1.5%

ZiziPB

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #16 on: April 28, 2015, 07:19:42 PM »
You have some nice options in your 401K and when your balance grows, you could utilize some other funds, but let's keep it simple.

Let's assume you want your overall portfolio to be 60% US stocks, 20% International Stocks and 20% Bonds, so your portfolio could look something like this:

401k
100% VG Total Bond

IRA at Fidelity
FSTVX $189K (US)
FSGDX $33K (int)
FSITX $40K (Bond)

Roth IRA
too low to meet a minimum for most mutual funds so pick a total US market ETF (e.g. VTI) (US)

Taxable at Vanguard
VTSAX $46K (US)
VTIAX $46K (Int)

Then make sure your new contributions are going into the right investments (just keep on adding to ones you already have, no need for other funds) and rebalance from time to time (once a year unless the markets shift a lot) and you are done.  Simple and your overall expense ratio is probably well under .2% with this plan.

I'm not saying you have to do exactly this, but this just gives you an example of a portfolio with across the board AA, invested in low cost index funds that gives you all the diversity you need.

aspiretoretire

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #17 on: April 29, 2015, 09:39:47 AM »
Thank you!

So this is proposed:
Current account   Current amount   Future account   Proposed Action
Tax Advg         
Merrill 401k    $37,000    Merrill 401k    Move all to Bond fund VG Total Bond
Fidelity IRA    $262,000    Fidelity IRA   Split Bond $40k FSITX/Stocks, $189k US FSTDX, $33k Intl FSGDX
Fidelity Roth IRA    $2,000    Fidelity Roth IRA   Move all to Bond fund VTI
Chase IRA    $4,000    Fidelity IRA   Move to Bond fund FSITX
Sum    $305,000    77%   
         
Taxable         
Vanguard VTIAX    $10,000     Vanguard VTIAX    None
Vanguard VTSAX    $10,000     Vanguard VTSAX    None
Betterment    $41,000     Vanguard VTIAX    move to half VTIAX and half VTSAX
Fidelity stock    $14,000     Vanguard VTSAX    move to VTSAX
Ameritrade stock    $7,000     Vanguard VTSAX    move to VTSAX
Vanguard REIT    $3,000     Vanguard REIT    ?
Life Strategy fund    $3,000     Vanguard Life Strat Fund    ?
Lending Club    $2,000     Lending Club    ?
Sum    $90,000    23%   
         
Total Sum    $395,000    100%   
         
Cash    $15,000    4%   
Sum    $410,000       

Questions questions questions:  Please weigh in
How does this look? Is this diversified enough? Does the Int fund include enough diversity, emerging mkts etc? Leads me back to should I do betterment? What should I do with the REIT fund? Should I have more in REIT in general? Some sites seem to think so. Where should I put the Life Strat Fund? For the Merrill, I assume all those contributions should continue to go into bonds?
Next after Merrill should I be contributing to the Fidelity IRA? Are the limits 18k for each or combined? How does the backdoor roth work and is it too complicated to be worth it? I'm sure some of this is answered somewhere else so i'll continue to read also.
Some other math questions- approx. how much per month or yr would I need to save in order to hit $1M in 10 years? $1.5M?



nereo

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #18 on: April 29, 2015, 11:28:21 AM »
So this is proposed:
[large table with poorly defined margins]

Questions questions questions:  Please weigh in
How does this look? Is this diversified enough? Does the Int fund include enough diversity, emerging mkts etc?
Hello again.  I don't want to sounds like a broken record, but I think you really need to definte your AA first.  Once that is defined it will be fairly straightforward to determine how much you need in bonds, how much in equities, and of those how much you want in large US corporations, how many in small-cap, how many international, etc.  The questions about diversity and emerging markets come out of defining your AA.

Quote
Some other math questions- approx. how much per month or yr would I need to save in order to hit $1M in 10 years? $1.5M?

It depends enormously on what the markets do; over 10 years the market has average as much as 18.3% annual returns, and as little as -4%, with a median around 8% after inflation.  with an "average" return you will need to invest $62k/year to become a milionare (assuming you start with $0).  If you have a very good decade of 11% average annualized returns it will be closer to $56k.  If we have a 'bust' decade where annual returns are 0%, then.... $100k/year.

Since you already have $410k, you can become a millionare investing $8k/year and earning 8% returns.  $1.5MM would come if you invested about $40k/year with similar returns.  Of course, you could invest $8k/year and you will hit the $1.5MM mark in 15 years.

aspiretoretire

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #19 on: April 29, 2015, 12:37:03 PM »
Thanks, is there a good link where I can plug in and play with that stuff?
I'm pretty comfortable with the allocation above, thoughts? it is something like 75/25
just not sure if I should just leave those smaller ones for ex reit fund..
question- is the 18k inclusive of the match? in other words, I actually contribute something like 15k without the exact math to get 18, correct?
And is the next best step then to contribute 18 to my IRA?
And after that spread across the AA of the taxables?
thanks again!!


ZiziPB

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #20 on: April 29, 2015, 01:25:15 PM »
Thanks, is there a good link where I can plug in and play with that stuff?
I'm pretty comfortable with the allocation above, thoughts? it is something like 75/25
just not sure if I should just leave those smaller ones for ex reit fund..
question- is the 18k inclusive of the match? in other words, I actually contribute something like 15k without the exact math to get 18, correct?
And is the next best step then to contribute 18 to my IRA?
And after that spread across the AA of the taxables?
thanks again!!

The REIT question depends on your asset allocation.  We really can't tell you if you should or should not invest in REITs.  I don't but a lot of people do.  Your really need to do your homework on asset allocation!

As to the 401K, $18K does not include the match.  You can contribute $18K of your own money before tax .  There is an overall limit of $53K on the aggregate of your and employer contributions.

As to the IRA contributions, it will depend on your income.  You are covered by a retirement plan at work, so at the income of $170K per year, you will not be able to deduct any of your contributions.  At your income you are probably also above the AGI limit for Roth contributions.  And because you have a large IRA, backdoor Roth will not work for you either.  So I think you should max your 401k contributions ($18K - change it now!) and then put the rest of your savings into the taxable account.

Another thing to consider is whether you have access to an HSA.  If so, that is a very worthwhile tax advantaged account that does not have any income limits.

aspiretoretire

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #21 on: April 29, 2015, 02:08:48 PM »
Got it. I already have the 401k contribution set up to max.
Do you agree that would all go into bonds? (as outlined above)
Then if that is say 20 of the 40k /year to save previously mentioned, then the other 20 would be in taxable accounts stock.

aspiretoretire

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #22 on: April 29, 2015, 02:15:22 PM »
To clarify, if the goal is to save 40k/year then 20k in 401k and 20k in taxable?

ZiziPB

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #23 on: April 29, 2015, 02:28:34 PM »
To clarify, if the goal is to save 40k/year then 20k in 401k and 20k in taxable?

It doesn't sound like you have other tax advantaged options available, so I think that is right.  I asked about an HSA but did not see an answer from you on that.

aspiretoretire

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #24 on: April 29, 2015, 02:33:04 PM »
Yes I can do that- I think the limit is 3300? Don't know that it carries over to the following year? 1300 minimum deductible?

aspiretoretire

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #25 on: April 29, 2015, 02:39:27 PM »
Sorry, no we have a Healthcare Flex spending account and not sure if that is the same and the enrollment period is over :/

ZiziPB

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #26 on: April 29, 2015, 02:48:46 PM »
Sorry, no we have a Healthcare Flex spending account and not sure if that is the same and the enrollment period is over :/

Not the same as HSA and cannot be used as a long term savings vehicle (but useful for covering on-going medical costs tax free).

One thing to keep in mind is that if you contribute $20K to the 401K and put it all in bonds and contribute another $20K to taxable and put it all in stock, that means you are contributing at a 50/50 bond to stock ratio and eventually it will skew your desired asset allocation.  So you will need to put some of your 401K contributions into stock (either directly or through periodic rebalancing).

aspiretoretire

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #27 on: April 29, 2015, 03:00:21 PM »
thank you. yes understood will need to rebalance.

how do you feel about that proposed plan of action above?

also, do you have a recommendation for best calculators for budgeting what to save in what time aka withdrawl rates and amts saved and also a good tool to keep track of this stuff? currently just using online and excel

ZiziPB

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #28 on: April 30, 2015, 05:15:47 AM »
I think the more important question is how you feel about the proposed plan above.  Does it make sense to you?  Is it reflective of your risk tolerance and investment goals?  It's no good putting together a plan if you don't feel comfortable with it yourself and don't understand the principles behind it.

My suggestion would be first to write a personal investment statement (and you need to be able to explain how and why you decided on it), then arrange your investments in accordance with that statement.  Attempting to do it backwards and relying solely on the advice of an internet stranger will do you no good.

aspiretoretire

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Re: Looking for help/advice on my current and future saving plan
« Reply #29 on: April 30, 2015, 07:49:41 AM »
That's a good idea. Thanks.
Hard to figure this stuff out! Thank you to all the smart and willing to help internet strangers too!