Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[Dicey]

I'm blaming today's MPP on Dicey.  She mentioned somewhere (pandemic hoarding?) that Grocery Outlet has Muir 28 oz organic tomato products on sale for 99 cents.  I don't usually shop at GO, but had an errand today near one so I stopped.  I ended up getting 10 28 oz cans.  The problem?  I enjoy canning but don't eat much jam so my canning is pretty much down to salsa and tomatoes.  No I have no reason to can more tomatoes.  Whatever will I do on Sunday afternoons?

More salsa!

[Freedomin5]

My job requires me to be at the office for 8 hours a day. Most of my coworkers get to the office early, and stay 1-2 hours late. I typically get there a few minutes early and leave on time. My MPP is having to defend my practice of only working the hours I’m contracted to work, and not working hours for which I’m not compensated. Everyone is so amazed that I can get all my work done within those eight hours. Now I’m at risk of being labeled a slacker.

[jinga nation]

Sold old home. Green army needs to be deployed. Do I go all in for my funds, do I DCA, or do I keep the gunpowder dry?
I don't mind holding a a few months if it means picking up distressed real estate and fix for a rental. But if I don't do anything by, say Jan 2023, I'll either DCA it all in 12 months, or throw it all in on VTSAX/VTI.
More money, more problems.

[Roadrunner53]

I have a question about Merrill Lynch and Bank of America. Recently, I have been getting phone calls (which I do not answer) and emails from Merrill Lynch. They left a message for me to call them back. Not offering a reason for me to do so. I emailed the first guy back and indicated I was annoyed to receive a message to call when they offered no information. Apparently, the guy is a financial advisor type person. I told him not to contact me further. Then today, I get another call and email from another person. Same town as the first one. I told this guy I was not interested. The thing is, I only have one small stock at ML and I am beginning to think that they have access to my banking information at Bank of America and see that I have funds that I could invest. Does anyone know if Merrill Lynch can access (see balances) Bank of America accounts?

[jinga nation]

I have a question about Merrill Lynch and Bank of America. Recently, I have been getting phone calls (which I do not answer) and emails from Merrill Lynch. They left a message for me to call them back. Not offering a reason for me to do so. I emailed the first guy back and indicated I was annoyed to receive a message to call when they offered no information. Apparently, the guy is a financial advisor type person. I told him not to contact me further. Then today, I get another call and email from another person. Same town as the first one. I told this guy I was not interested. The thing is, I only have one small stock at ML and I am beginning to think that they have access to my banking information at Bank of America and see that I have funds that I could invest. Does anyone know if Merrill Lynch can access (see balances) Bank of America accounts?

To my knowledge, being a BofA customer, and having been pitched financial services and advising by the in-branch ML person, Yes.
Used to get calls pre-COVID era, because I would have fluctuating large-ish balances due to rental incomes and also having 2 W-2 incomes but living on less than one.
(ML is the wealth management division of BofA.)

Advisor told me to log into my BofA account, and make changes in my profile to stop being contacted for additional services. Haven't received a call in nearly 4 years.

[Sibley]

I have a question about Merrill Lynch and Bank of America. Recently, I have been getting phone calls (which I do not answer) and emails from Merrill Lynch. They left a message for me to call them back. Not offering a reason for me to do so. I emailed the first guy back and indicated I was annoyed to receive a message to call when they offered no information. Apparently, the guy is a financial advisor type person. I told him not to contact me further. Then today, I get another call and email from another person. Same town as the first one. I told this guy I was not interested. The thing is, I only have one small stock at ML and I am beginning to think that they have access to my banking information at Bank of America and see that I have funds that I could invest. Does anyone know if Merrill Lynch can access (see balances) Bank of America accounts?

BofA owns Merril Lynch. Good bet they're sharing data for sales purposes.

[Roadrunner53]

It really irks me if Merrill Lynch has been snooping at my accounts. I would like to complain to someone but not sure if I have a leg to stand on. The way they operate seems sleezy. They leave a message saying they are Joe Blow from Merrill Lynch and want me to call them at their office. First of all, how do I know they are not scammers? Like I am going to divulge financial information to a stranger over the phone or email! Ridiculous! On top of that, they are located in another state an hour away. Why would I travel out of state to do business when I could do it closer by? I am getting very angry thinking about this!

[Sibley]

Change banks then. Yeah, its a hassle, but if it bugs you that much find a bank or credit union that won't bug you.

[SwordGuy]

They leave a message saying they are Joe Blow from Merrill Lynch and want me to call them at their office. First of all, how do I know they are not scammers?

Say these magic words the next time they call:  "Take me off of your list.  Do not call again."

If they never call again, they were probably Merrill Lynch, because once you say that, they can't legally make another sales call (with exceptions, none of which apply if you never respond to them in any other way).

If they call back, they're most definitely NOT Merrill Lynch.

[Dicey]

We keep our project seed money at Chase. At first they bugged the shit out of us to let them "manage" our money. It took a couple of strongly worded conversations to get them to stop bugging us. Things were fine until the branch manager left. New branch manager started bugging us. Next time we needed something in the bank we went and politely told him to fuck off, and he did.

Then we spent most of the money on a new project and...crickets. Nice!

[BicycleB]

We keep our project seed money at Chase. At first they bugged the shit out of us to let them "manage" our money. It took a couple of strongly worded conversations to get them to stop bugging us. Things were fine until the branch manager left. New branch manager started bugging us. Next time we needed something in the bank we went and politely told him to fuck off, and he did.

Then we spent most of the money on a new project and...crickets. Nice!

I have a question about Merrill Lynch and Bank of America. Recently, I have been getting phone calls (which I do not answer) and emails from Merrill Lynch. They left a message for me to call them back. Not offering a reason for me to do so. I emailed the first guy back and indicated I was annoyed to receive a message to call when they offered no information. Apparently, the guy is a financial advisor type person. I told him not to contact me further. Then today, I get another call and email from another person. Same town as the first one. I told this guy I was not interested. The thing is, I only have one small stock at ML and I am beginning to think that they have access to my banking information at Bank of America and see that I have funds that I could invest. Does anyone know if Merrill Lynch can access (see balances) Bank of America accounts?

To my knowledge, being a BofA customer, and having been pitched financial services and advising by the in-branch ML person, Yes.
Used to get calls pre-COVID era, because I would have fluctuating large-ish balances due to rental incomes and also having 2 W-2 incomes but living on less than one.
(ML is the wealth management division of BofA.)

Advisor told me to log into my BofA account, and make changes in my profile to stop being contacted for additional services. Haven't received a call in nearly 4 years.

It seems my B of A balances are small enough to avoid these scenarios. Maybe I need more problems?

[TomTX]

It really irks me if Merrill Lynch has been snooping at my accounts. I would like to complain to someone but not sure if I have a leg to stand on. The way they operate seems sleezy. They leave a message saying they are Joe Blow from Merrill Lynch and want me to call them at their office. First of all, how do I know they are not scammers? Like I am going to divulge financial information to a stranger over the phone or email! Ridiculous! On top of that, they are located in another state an hour away. Why would I travel out of state to do business when I could do it closer by? I am getting very angry thinking about this!

Condolences on being bugged. I get pestered for investing all the time from Chase.

I have no particular love for BoA.

However, I moved my IRAs over to Merrill Edge (not Lynch) from Vanguard. It's the discount broker arm and still affiliated with BoA.

Why? Well, they literally paid me $800 to do so - and BoA continues to pay me. If you set up the BoA preferred rewards thing, you get bonus cash back on your credit cards. Linked Merrill Edge balances (even in an IRA) count. I'm completely no fee at Merrill Edge, with some stupid number of free trades a month. I'm still in my Vanguard ETFs - I just did an "in kind" transfer from Vanguard. Literally no cost to turbo charge my credit card cash back.

That's why I get 3.5% back at Costco and the grocery store. And 5.25% back on online shopping. I just use the correct (free) BoA "Cash Rewards" credit card. Base rewards would be 2%/3% - but the top tier of preferred rewards increases the cash back by 75%.

[dragoncar]

We keep our project seed money at Chase. At first they bugged the shit out of us to let them "manage" our money. It took a couple of strongly worded conversations to get them to stop bugging us. Things were fine until the branch manager left. New branch manager started bugging us. Next time we needed something in the bank we went and politely told him to fuck off, and he did.

Then we spent most of the money on a new project and...crickets. Nice!

Let me know if you need someone to manage your crickets for you.  I know an iguana who would be very interested

[Alternatepriorities]

It really irks me if Merrill Lynch has been snooping at my accounts. I would like to complain to someone but not sure if I have a leg to stand on. The way they operate seems sleezy. They leave a message saying they are Joe Blow from Merrill Lynch and want me to call them at their office. First of all, how do I know they are not scammers? Like I am going to divulge financial information to a stranger over the phone or email! Ridiculous! On top of that, they are located in another state an hour away. Why would I travel out of state to do business when I could do it closer by? I am getting very angry thinking about this!

Condolences on being bugged. I get pestered for investing all the time from Chase.

I have no particular love for BoA.

However, I moved my IRAs over to Merrill Edge (not Lynch) from Vanguard. It's the discount broker arm and still affiliated with BoA.

Why? Well, they literally paid me $800 to do so - and BoA continues to pay me. If you set up the BoA preferred rewards thing, you get bonus cash back on your credit cards. Linked Merrill Edge balances (even in an IRA) count. I'm completely no fee at Merrill Edge, with some stupid number of free trades a month. I'm still in my Vanguard ETFs - I just did an "in kind" transfer from Vanguard. Literally no cost to turbo charge my credit card cash back.

That's why I get 3.5% back at Costco and the grocery store. And 5.25% back on online shopping. I just use the correct (free) BoA "Cash Rewards" credit card. Base rewards would be 2%/3% - but the top tier of preferred rewards increases the cash back by 75%.

When does the top tier kick in? Do you have a link to the complete set up you are using?

[TomTX]

It really irks me if Merrill Lynch has been snooping at my accounts. I would like to complain to someone but not sure if I have a leg to stand on. The way they operate seems sleezy. They leave a message saying they are Joe Blow from Merrill Lynch and want me to call them at their office. First of all, how do I know they are not scammers? Like I am going to divulge financial information to a stranger over the phone or email! Ridiculous! On top of that, they are located in another state an hour away. Why would I travel out of state to do business when I could do it closer by? I am getting very angry thinking about this!

Condolences on being bugged. I get pestered for investing all the time from Chase.

I have no particular love for BoA.

However, I moved my IRAs over to Merrill Edge (not Lynch) from Vanguard. It's the discount broker arm and still affiliated with BoA.

Why? Well, they literally paid me $800 to do so - and BoA continues to pay me. If you set up the BoA preferred rewards thing, you get bonus cash back on your credit cards. Linked Merrill Edge balances (even in an IRA) count. I'm completely no fee at Merrill Edge, with some stupid number of free trades a month. I'm still in my Vanguard ETFs - I just did an "in kind" transfer from Vanguard. Literally no cost to turbo charge my credit card cash back.

That's why I get 3.5% back at Costco and the grocery store. And 5.25% back on online shopping. I just use the correct (free) BoA "Cash Rewards" credit card. Base rewards would be 2%/3% - but the top tier of preferred rewards increases the cash back by 75%.

When does the top tier kick in? Do you have a link to the complete set up you are using?

The top tier kicks in when you're over $100k. Note that it's a rolling 3-month average (with several weeks of banker delay). 6-8 weeks after you have your funds in BoA/Merrill Edge make sure to sign up for Preferred Rewards and it will automatically raise your tier each month after you have transferred in your funds (IRA works fine.)

https://www.bankofamerica.com/preferred-rewards/

This is the credit card I use: https://secure.bankofamerica.com/apply-credit-cards/public/icai-single/#/info/ - note the $200 signup bonus ;)

I chose "online shopping" for the 3% cash back, Costco/Sams and Grocery are automatically 2%.

However, with the top Preferred Rewards tier, it becomes 4.5% cash back for online shopping and 3.5% for Costco/Sams/Grocery.

I believe you can change your 3% category once a month. I haven't been doing much travel, dining, drug stores or home improvement, so I just leave it as online shopping.

[Alternatepriorities]

Thanks TomTX. I don't spend a ton, but 3.5% is definitely better than the 2% I'm getting now. Just need to decide if it's worth rolling things over. BOA does host the AK air credit card which I also use some.

[TomTX]

Thanks TomTX. I don't spend a ton, but 3.5% is definitely better than the 2% I'm getting now. Just need to decide if it's worth rolling things over. BOA does host the AK air credit card which I also use some.

Happy to help. Keep in mind that Merrill Edge will pay you to transfer assets in. Looks like the current best offer is $350 for $100k, $750 for $200k transferred. I think they had the $1k offer up some years back when I transferred my IRAs. NOTE: If you transfer multiple accounts to hit $200k, you probably need them to manually link the accounts for the full bonus. That's what I did (Traditional and Roth).

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/merrill-edge-brokerage-up-to-1000-cash-bonus-for-moving-over-your-investments/

[fuzzy math]

However, I moved my IRAs over to Merrill Edge (not Lynch) from Vanguard. It's the discount broker arm and still affiliated with BoA.

Why? Well, they literally paid me $800 to do so - and BoA continues to pay me. If you set up the BoA preferred rewards thing, you get bonus cash back on your credit cards. Linked Merrill Edge balances (even in an IRA) count. I'm completely no fee at Merrill Edge, with some stupid number of free trades a month. I'm still in my Vanguard ETFs - I just did an "in kind" transfer from Vanguard. Literally no cost to turbo charge my credit card cash back.

That's why I get 3.5% back at Costco and the grocery store. And 5.25% back on online shopping. I just use the correct (free) BoA "Cash Rewards" credit card. Base rewards would be 2%/3% - but the top tier of preferred rewards increases the cash back by 75%.

When does the top tier kick in? Do you have a link to the complete set up you are using?
[/quote] The top tier kicks in when you're over $100k. Note that it's a rolling 3-month average (with several weeks of banker delay). 6-8 weeks after you have your funds in BoA/Merrill Edge make sure to sign up for Preferred Rewards and it will automatically raise your tier each month after you have transferred in your funds (IRA works fine.)

https://www.bankofamerica.com/preferred-rewards/

This is the credit card I use: https://secure.bankofamerica.com/apply-credit-cards/public/icai-single/#/info/ - note the $200 signup bonus ;)

I chose "online shopping" for the 3% cash back, Costco/Sams and Grocery are automatically 2%.

However, with the top Preferred Rewards tier, it becomes 4.5% cash back for online shopping and 3.5% for Costco/Sams/Grocery.

I believe you can change your 3% category once a month. I haven't been doing much travel, dining, drug stores or home improvement, so I just leave it as online shopping.
[/quote]

Fun fact - gas purchases using a gas app code as online purchases and gas for BoA. I use phillips 66 (they offer 10-13 cents off per gallon for using the app) and lucked into a transaction reporting as that so I switched it over to online to double dip.

[Imma]

We are spending money to make our old home much more energy efficient, including solar panels, heat pump, etc etc. We are taking out a loan (@1,8%) for some of it, but are also spending money out of our own pocket. We'll get 1/3 of the cost back in the form of subsidies but only after we've completed the work. In the mean time, I really need to beef up our slush fund temporarily. To do so I just cancelled my ETF direct debit. I don't expect to be investing again until next summer. To get a completely passive house that is almost entirely self-sufficient for electricity, water and heat, partially paid for through subsidies and a 1,8% interest loan (fixed rate for 20 years) I may not be able to invest money at the complete bottom of the market this time :(

[LennStar]

Look at the bright side, I don't think it will be the botom ;)

[Imma]

Look at the bright side, I don't think it will be the botom ;)

I'm also starting to think it's going to be a bit longer than the average 18 months from top to bottom this time .....  Another positive note is that a few years of this inflation will reduce my mortgage by a lot (already affordable and much lower than home value, and fixed at 1,8% for 20 years). My job also gets more secure when the economy is doing badly.

[NorCal]

We are spending money to make our old home much more energy efficient, including solar panels, heat pump, etc etc. We are taking out a loan (@1,8%) for some of it, but are also spending money out of our own pocket. We'll get 1/3 of the cost back in the form of subsidies but only after we've completed the work. In the mean time, I really need to beef up our slush fund temporarily. To do so I just cancelled my ETF direct debit. I don't expect to be investing again until next summer. To get a completely passive house that is almost entirely self-sufficient for electricity, water and heat, partially paid for through subsidies and a 1,8% interest loan (fixed rate for 20 years) I may not be able to invest money at the complete bottom of the market this time :(

I'm doing the same thing.  This is one of those cases where I'd say it's fair to view it as an investment and not an expense.

You're taking on inexpensive debt in an inflationary environment for projects with a positive financial return that also happen to protect you from inflationary risks.

In my case, getting my house to fully net-zero turned out to be a rounding error in terms of FI timelines.  And it somewhat protects me over the long term when inflation risk is factored in.  So why not?

I honestly believe that a decade from now, one of the differences between those considered "wealthy" vs. "poor" will be whether they have the means to avoid reliance on fossil fuels.  As some of these decarbonization projects get underway (particularly the big industrial ones), the fixed infrastructure related to hydrocarbons is going to get VERY expensive when compared to the amount of energy delivered. 

[zolotiyeruki]

Here's my MPP:  I want to direct transfer some investments into Vanguard from another broker, so that it'll be easy to then donate the appreciated shares to my DAF, for the tax deduction.  My MPP is that the old broker won't do an electronic transfer, and I have to get a Medallion Signature Guarantee.  No problem, thinks I, I'll just hop down to my local Chase bank, where we bank, and they'll take care of it.

Silly me.  Apparently, Chase will do medallions, but not if there's no change in ownership.  It's a company policy.  Note:  the MSG is basically a guarantee from the bank that the funds you want to transfer actually exist, and that you have the authority to transfer them.  I don't know enough to understand why Chase would have a policy that seems rather arbitrary.

Alright, I thought to myself.  I'll just open an account with our local credit union, since I've heard such a recommendation elsewhere.  I try calling the CU, but their phone system is purely automated.  No way to talk to a human to ask if they offer that service.  So I drove to a branch to ask in person, and found out that they don't offer that service.

The simple way to do this whole thing would be to redeem all of the shares, but the point of doing all of this is to minimize my taxes, and redeeming the shares would be a taxable event.

Plan C is to call up our "local" Citibank and see if they can help me out.
EDIT:  Called Citibank.  They'll do it if you've had a checking or savings account for 90 days.  Since I'm trying to do this in 2021, that rules them out.  Plan D is to donate some less-appreciated shares from my Vanguard account.

[SwordGuy]

I've come to the conclusion that no bank issues said guarantee, ever.

[dragoncar]

I've come to the conclusion that no bank issues said guarantee, ever.

I got one from first republic back when treasury direct required it for everyone

[snic]

I've come to the conclusion that no bank issues said guarantee, ever.

I got one from first republic back when treasury direct required it for everyone

My bank (a regional bank, not one of the big national ones) will do it for their own customers. I know only because I happened to be at the bank when the person being helped next to me asked for a medallion signature guarantee. They weren't a bank customer so the answer was "no".

[okisok]

I got one recently from Fidelity.

[sonofsven]

I bought two pounds of sliced turkey for sandwiches when I had recent house guests and nobody ate any! So I've been eating fat turkey sandwiches for the last 14 days.

[Sibley]

I bought two pounds of sliced turkey for sandwiches when I had recent house guests and nobody ate any! So I've been eating fat turkey sandwiches for the last 14 days.

Deli meat generally freezes quite well.

[Just Joe]

I refuse to upgrade the version of office I use, so I just spent the whole day switching 3 email accounts out of Outlook and onto Thunderbird. Probably followed in the future by switching the parent's.

Am too cheap to justify buying office JUST for outlook.

There is another email program (open-source) called Evolution. I use it for my work emails. Love it better than my employer's supplied Outlook. It has all the features I need.

https://help.gnome.org/users/evolution/stable/

Not sure if there is a Windows version or not. I'm on Linux and use Evolution (work only) and Thunderbird (personal only).

[Sibley]

I refuse to upgrade the version of office I use, so I just spent the whole day switching 3 email accounts out of Outlook and onto Thunderbird. Probably followed in the future by switching the parent's.

Am too cheap to justify buying office JUST for outlook.

There is another email program (open-source) called Evolution. I use it for my work emails. Love it better than my employer's supplied Outlook. It has all the features I need.

https://help.gnome.org/users/evolution/stable/

Not sure if there is a Windows version or not. I'm on Linux and use Evolution (work only) and Thunderbird (personal only).

But why would I switch again? Yeah, there are some elements of Thunderbird that I dislike, but that's going to be the case with any email program.

[Freedomin5]

Stock market had its “best day since April” the very day a cash infusion hit my account and I was planning to buy ETFs.

[Alfred J Quack]

I've had a bunch of my coworkers complaining about their massive increase of electric and natural gas (for heating). While I can give some sympathy I can't really relate because I still have 2 of a 3 year contract with a fixed rate (at a quarter of the current going rate). I also got back €600-ish because my usage was over-estimated, and my solar did better than expect, as did my windmill-shares.

Being mustachian is not having money per se but knowing what to do with money, and having options when when to do it - I'd say.

[NorCal]

I've had a bunch of my coworkers complaining about their massive increase of electric and natural gas (for heating). While I can give some sympathy I can't really relate because I still have 2 of a 3 year contract with a fixed rate (at a quarter of the current going rate). I also got back €600-ish because my usage was over-estimated, and my solar did better than expect, as did my windmill-shares.

Being mustachian is not having money per se but knowing what to do with money, and having options when when to do it - I'd say.

Similar situation here.  I've invested heavily in energy efficiency and electrification over the past year or so.  My bills are essentially flat while everyone else's gas bill has more than doubled and electric costs are up over 20%.

I do have to sometimes remind myself that a flat bill is still a win in this situation.

[zolotiyeruki]

We're seeing a substantial income bump this year, and for the first time, we'll be maxing out our 401k contributions.  I was supposed to hit that point with my bonus in August, but for some reason, the payroll company stopped short.  Now I have to figure out what's going on and get things back on track.

[markbike528CBX]

MPP:
My capital gains harvesting isn't going to plan.
Sold at 75 , now at 72, so I'm missing out on 3 dollars of capital gains harvest in the future.

[whines, stomps foot, temper tantrum worthy of a 5 year old]

I just LOL-ed!  Then thought how much I love this forum, because there is no one in my real life who would understand this much less think it funny.

Happened again!
 Sold at 73, now at 65 so missing out on 6 dollars of capital gains harvest in the future. 
I haven't bought back in yet.  Waiting for a higher point to buy is so weird.
@DaMa  --- more obscure humor for you.     

[TomTX]

So, I've been so proud of being able to max out 401k + 457 + IRA contributions for 2 years running.

I'm not sure I can continue in 2023 because that's the year I turn 50 and get access to catchup contributions. $67.5k available contribution space.

Eeek!

[SwordGuy]

So, I've been so proud of being able to max out 401k + 457 + IRA contributions for 2 years running.

I'm not sure I can continue in 2023 because that's the year I turn 50 and get access to catchup contributions. $67.5k available contribution space.

Eeek!

Yeah, that's a problem that just won't get you one single whit of sympathy with regular folks.

[LennStar]

I have problems understanding all the people fretting over the high heating etc. prices here in Germany.

One, I often can't fathom how they even got so high monthly rates anyway. (Though it did make me appreciate how fucking wasteful SFH are, when people paying per month what I pay in a year.)

Second, they clearly could not have had a savings rate above 10% if the increase means they are in the negative. If I point that out and sometimes add they should try to save, also in other areas, they say: It's impossible to save with minimum wage!
To which I then answer that I live on 20% less than minimum wage (yesterday got an 166€ manga packed from Japan, so wasteful!) and I get ghostet. Why???

[FrugalShrew]

I recently became eligible for the 401(k) at work and wanted to put as much in as I could in the remainder of this tax year. It's been awhile since I've had access to a 401(k) and its higher contribution limit, so I was excited.

I won't be able to hit the max, but I wanted to put every penny I had in my paycheck towards the 401(k). HR helped me sign up for the contribution, and I selected the max contribution allowed in our system: 80%. (At that point, I'm wondering why I can't do 100% of my net paycheck, but I go with the 80%).

Unfortunately, my next paycheck comes, and instead of 80% being taken out, what's been taken out is $0!

I follow up with HR--it turns out that it was 80% of gross, which was more money than was available given other deductions for taxes, health insurance, etc. So the system defaulted to $0. Why would it do that instead of putting in as much as it could??

Responses I have gotten:
-Can't you just invest in an IRA?
-I told you 80% was too much.

Hopefully I've fixed it for the next paycheck, but grrr it's frustrating that I missed out on this last one!

[Dicey]

Been there, done that. Can you specify a dollar amount instead of a percentage? Also HR needs to fix the error, not wait until next time, so this pay period isn't list. They may be reluctant to, but if you had been overpaid, they'd figure it out in a heartbeat.

[FrugalShrew]

Thanks, Dicey. That's exactly what I did--specified a dollar amount for the next paycheck. I conveyed to HR that I was upset about this and asked if we could fix it. They sent it up the HR food chain, so we'll see what blows back. But that's a really good point that they would fix it if they were motivated to, so I will press on it!

[Dicey]

Thanks, Dicey. That's exactly what I did--specified a dollar amount for the next paycheck. I conveyed to HR that I was upset about this and asked if we could fix it. They sent it up the HR food chain, so we'll see what blows back. But that's a really good point that they would fix it if they were motivated to, so I will press on it!

Yeesh, reading this post practically gave me flashbacks. I had so many problems with this in my working years. I also used to cut off tax withholding every year when I got to the amount that had been owed the previous year.* It was a struggle every damn year. I created a form letter with instructions that I just changed the date on. They thought I was crazy. Ten years post-FIRE, they're all still working or dead. You know things worked out a little differently for me ;-)

*I was on straight commission and lumpy paychecks led to huge over withholding. My first year, I claimed 10 deductions and still got a 10% of my gross earnings tax refund, gah! It took me awhile to "train" HR, but it was worth the effort. BTW, the withholding strategy was suggested by my CPA, who's worth his [significant] weight in gold.

[charis]

This happened the first year my husband became eligible for a 401k (mid-year).  I think he did ask first if he could do 100% after all other deductions, and they didn't know the answer, or really even understand the question.  It turned out that, no, it would be 100% of the gross pay.  Obviously dollar amount is better, but we didn't know what that would be in advance.

[FrugalShrew]

Oh, thank goodness for you mustachian peeps who understand these MPPs, @Dicey and @charis--although I'm sorry you guys had to experience these frustrations, too!

HR knew what I wanted to do & literally helped me sign up. They clearly never had anyone trying to contribute so much before & tried to discourage me from doing it, actually.

If IRA's and 401(k)'s didn't have separate contribution limits, with 401(k)'s being so much higher, it wouldn't be as big of an issue. It makes me feel so powerless to depend on my employer to be able to contribute my own dang money.

I wish health insurance and retirement accounts could just be totally decoupled from employment!

[Dicey]

Part of the problem is they have to leave room for deductions, which can be variable. For example, our healthcare was deducted from the first check of the month and dental (much smaller) was deducted from the second. Typically they'll set a limit of something like 75-80% to make sure there's room for all the other things.

The other issue is they are simply not used to dealing with people who know how to save money. My HR totally thought I was nuts.

[Alternatepriorities]

HR knew what I wanted to do & literally helped me sign up. They clearly never had anyone trying to contribute so much before & tried to discourage me from doing it, actually.

Looking back now I seriously wonder if maxing out my 401k reduced the size of my raises at my first job. I didn't realize then that the size of raise could be negotiable and when HR saw I was maxing out my retirement accounts they wrongly concluded that I wasn't that motivated by money... After a couple of years I forced the issue and got my salary caught back on par, but it never felt quite right there again.

[Sibley]

My tiny company and even tinier HR/payroll really can't handle variability. Luckily, I've been able to just set a level percentage.

[Hadilly]

I have a question related to the increases that are available once you turn 50 in 401(k) plans. So, my husband does a 403B and also has an individual Roth 401(k). It’s my understanding that the catch-up provisions theoretically allow him to put 30k total in each account. This is also my understanding that employer contributions in the 403B count towards the 61K cap. 457 contributions, which also have a catch-up provision, do not count towards the 61K cap.

 I’ve emailed our accountant, but he has not gotten back to us. Anyone care to weigh in?

[charis]

I have a question related to the increases that are available once you turn 50 in 401(k) plans. So, my husband does a 403B and also has an individual Roth 401(k). It’s my understanding that the catch-up provisions theoretically allow him to put 30k total in each account. This is also my understanding that employer contributions in the 403B count towards the 61K cap. 457 contributions, which also have a catch-up provision, do not count towards the 61K cap.

 I’ve emailed our accountant, but he has not gotten back to us. Anyone care to weigh in?

What's the 61K cap?