Do you spend more than $100k a year?

[Brainonska511]

Thanks. Last time I looked at it, we didn't qualify but don't remember why.

Just make sure you aren't covered by an FSA and have a qualifying HDHP. My wife had an FSA when we got married, which forced me to withdraw 2 months worth of contributions that year to avoid a penalty.

Thats just it - there is none of that on the fidelity side. It's... equivalent to a simple brokerage account. No minimum to hold in cash, no annual fee....

View attachment 46463



I also invest it in their Fidelity Zero funds - where the expense ratios are 0%.

No minimum investment mutual funds - Fidelity

With no minimums to invest in mutual funds and a zero expense ratio, Fidelity offers value you can't find anywhere else. Fidelity has lower expenses than most comparable funds at Vanguard.

www.fidelity.com

Good points. When I opened up a personal HSA a few years ago, Fidelity wasn't offering this for individuals, or at least not a fee-free one.

My work one is through Fidelity though. It's okay. Kind of prefer the simpler interface of ONB.

 

[highland145]

Just make sure you aren't covered by an FSA and have a qualifying HDHP. My wife had an FSA when we got married, which forced me to withdraw 2 months worth of contributions that year to avoid a penalty.

Self employed and she works for a non profit.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Incorrect.


Learn about The Backdoor ROTH

And then learn about the MEGA Backdoor ROTH using an After-tax 401k.


Wife + I make well over 200k, and I max out 2x 401ks, 2x Backdoor ROTH IRAs, 1x Family HSA, and then I put in what I have left into my ROTH IRA via the Mega Backdoor way.

Interesting. I've always wanted to look into the backdoor Roth a little more, as we haven't been able to contribute for years, but in the case of the Mega Backdoor, I don't think I can contribute after tax money to my 401K.

 

[YuliApp]

That's like...1 night of bottle service you fucking poors.

lol,
but even if you were not joking, i never seen a rich guy who was free in his life so... all depends

 

[Red Squirrel]

But some of you have high expenses. If something happens and you lose your job and source of income, some of you are going to be in world of hurt unless you find another job quick or have decent savings/investments.

Yeah it's a huge issue but most of that is costs of living which I can't bring down any further. Property taxes, mortgage payment, hydro bill, gas bill, internet, insurance, water/sewer etc...

These costs keep going up too which is a huge issue as there's less spare money left over every year. It's one of the reasons I want to buy land actually, looking for something in an unorganized township where you don't need permits for anything and the taxes are like $100/year. I'll build an off grid homestead there and if I lose my job I can live there and have little to no expenses. There will of course be lot of one-time expenses to get things going but one-time is not a huge deal, once it's paid, it's paid. I'd still want to find another job or other source of income since still need money for enjoyment, but at least I'd have a place to live that's mine without having to worry about cash flow.

Since yeah, right now I'd be royally screwed if I lost my job. I could live a few months off the credit line, but then what. I just don't have enough extra money to put into any significant savings. The little savings I have go towards things like house projects etc. Still need to live a bit. And it's not like I don't make good money, it's just that the costs eat most of it up.

 

[biostud]

But some of you have high expenses. If something happens and you lose your job and source of income, some of you are going to be in world of hurt unless you find another job quick or have decent savings/investments.

Thats why I pay for unemployment insurance and can pause my morgage for up to 10 years. (and also have savings)

 

[SaltyNuts]

I don't, but my girl spends that and much more.

 

[sdifox]

I don't, but my girl spends that and much more.

Sure, GallonMargherita

 

[Spacehead]

No, not even close.

Quick figure comes to about 20K per year, a bit more if a tried to figure in what home upkeep would average to. Had to put a new roof on a few years ago, might be needing to get some new appliances in the next few years, that type of stuff.

I'm kinda like lxskllr, i have to force myself to spend $$$

 

[SaltyNuts]

Sure, GallonMargherita

I wish I was lying, GapingHoleSenorita.

 

[ponyo]

Thats why I pay for unemployment insurance and can pause my morgage for up to 10 years. (and also have savings)

I keep forgetting about unemployment insurance. Pretty much been self-employed most of my life so I never had the luxury of access to unemployment insurance safety net program. As a result, I always kept pretty large savings and emergency fund as a safety net. Even now, I keep what most consider stupid large amount of cash in my accounts for worst case scenario. That's my margin of safety and safety net. Makes it way harder to outperform the market since I'm underinvested but I'm at point in life where capital preservation is more important than capital appreciation.

The ability to pause your mortgage for 10 years sounds insane. Is that the norm perk with mortgages in Europe? Or just in your country? That's super nice feature.

 

[skyking]

As an employee represented by a union, I am excluded from many of the accounts that others invest in.
I have excellent insurance with low deductibles, so no HSA.
I am in a pension plan so the employers do not offer a 401K that I can max out. It is annoying as hell!
Maxing out a Roth is really a pittance when measured against the 26K that I could do in a 401K or 403B.
What we have done is maxed out my wife's 403B and will convert it to Roth as soon as we retire.
Assuming no change in tax laws ( riiiiight!) , we can get it all converted without busting up a bracket.

 

[biostud]

I keep forgetting about unemployment insurance. Pretty much been self-employed most of my life so I never had the luxury of access to unemployment insurance safety net program. As a result, I always kept pretty large savings and emergency fund as a safety net. Even now, I keep what most consider stupid large amount of cash in my accounts for worst case scenario. That's my margin of safety and safety net. Makes it way harder to outperform the market since I'm underinvested but I'm at point in life where capital preservation is more important than capital appreciation.

The ability to pause your mortgage for 10 years sounds insane. Is that the norm perk with mortgages in Europe? Or just in your country? That's super nice feature.

I don't know about the rest of Europe, but here in Denmark, we actually have a loan where you can pause payments for up to 30 years, but they are more expensive than a regular loan. While you can pause the down payment, you still have to pay the interest.

Here in Denmark we have state sponsered unemployment system, where you pay around $160/month to be able to get up to ~$2500/month for two years. If you pay more then you can get a higher rate, but only up to 80% of your current salary. It is also possible for self employed.

 

[Greenman]

Own a small business. Burn $600k a year. Personally, I'm dirt poor.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

As an employee represented by a union, I am excluded from many of the accounts that others invest in.
I have excellent insurance with low deductibles, so no HSA.
I am in a pension plan so the employers do not offer a 401K that I can max out. It is annoying as hell!

I understand the obvious advantages of a union - but I also... see disadvantages like you mention....

Personally, I would always choose a high-deductible healthcare plan. When it comes to healthcare, paying for 1-2 simple visits is a small price - thus you should reduce your month to month cost as much as possible. Stack on top of that HUGE HSA Triple-tax advantages, and it's a no-brainer for me.

High deductible plans are the superior plan when you have 1 of 2 extremes:
1) When you have very little healthcare outside of preventative care
2) When you have A LOT of healthcare where you will easily reach your deductible, max out of pocket, etc...

The expensive healthcare plans are only good for that medium where you have something inbetween - because you're paying high costs month to month no matter what. With high deductible, you only pay those high (YET STILL REDUCED) costs when you have a big issue.

A Pension plan is VASTLY overrated. It's essentially a centralized-run investment fund. It can't dictate the returns. You can't have any control in it. You just have to listen and obey it - and hope that you retire prior to it falling apart. There are plenty of examples of local and state government pensions that are in complete shit.. There is entirely a rational argument to be had though that things like 401k matches aren't enough in comparison to what employers previously funded in the pension plans, however.

Maxing out a Roth is really a pittance when measured against the 26K that I could do in a 401K or 403B.
What we have done is maxed out my wife's 403B and will convert it to Roth as soon as we retire.
Assuming no change in tax laws ( riiiiight!) , we can get it all converted without busting up a bracket.

I would have said the same thing ~8 years ago. Every little bit counts - and as someone that works in the world of tax, it is ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL that you utilize tax-advantages to the MAX. It can be the biggest difference maker you will ever see.

It wasn't until 2013 that I first discovered ROTH IRAs and that I could contribute to them in unison with my 401k.

My initial 5500 is now worth double that. In 7 years. Every little bit counts - and thats bigger than you realize.

In addition, retirement is a strategy game -

For example, in retirement since I'm partially in pre-tax 401k, but also post-tax ROTH IRA - I can diversify my withdrawing so that part of it up until a certain tax bracket is pre-tax - and then I can take the rest from a ROTH post-tax to avoid higher tax brackets.

 

[skyking]

The tax game is driving our retirement dates. I can work longer and increase the investments and pension, but at the expense of not having enough deferred income years for the roth conversions. We are pushing out SS as far as possible to keep the taxable income low, for enough years.

 

[TXHokie]

I am but not by choice. I have 3 teenagers and the last one is learning to drive and holy hell auto insurance and college bills. Two plays competitive sports so there’s also sink cost of membership, equipment, and occasional travel to nowhere. Second one entering college next year so having to shuffle fun expenses into necessities. But meh it’s all for a good cause of future people investments to help fund future social security. Hope the market keeps doing well next 6 years when the last one finish college so I can retire.
Pro tip: kids are expensive.

 

[rmacd02]

But some of you have high expenses. If something happens and you lose your job and source of income, some of you are going to be in world of hurt unless you find another job quick or have decent savings/investments.


Welcome to the real world for too many people.

 

[brianmanahan]

A Pension plan is VASTLY overrated. It's essentially a centralized-run investment fund. It can't dictate the returns. You can't have any control in it. You just have to listen and obey it - and hope that you retire prior to it falling apart. There are plenty of examples of local and state government pensions that are in complete shit.. There is entirely a rational argument to be had though that things like 401k matches aren't enough in comparison to what employers previously funded in the pension plans, however.

for people without baller income or investments, and little investing knowledge, pensions can be a huge plus though.

none of my retired relatives are rich. most of them retired with maybe a couple hundred grand in investments tops, and some with almost nothing besides social security. so the only ones who are able to "live it up" a little in retirement are the ones with pensions.

my grandparents who had a 15$k/yr pension and a 20$k IRA worried a lot less about money than my other grandparents who had a 200$k IRA.

and a great-aunt/uncle both have 2 pensions, so they get almost 50$k a year on top of SS and the few investments they have. that gave them enough to save up for a fancy RV and then travel around the US for the last 5 years.

 

[Red Squirrel]

That's one thing I keep forgetting I have, is a pension. Downside is I need to work to like 65 to get it. I really hope I come up with a separate source of income before that since I'd really like to retire at a decent age not when I'm a foot in the grave. It's sad that it's the reality of most people though.

 

[ponyo]

I don't know about the rest of Europe, but here in Denmark, we actually have a loan where you can pause payments for up to 30 years, but they are more expensive than a regular loan. While you can pause the down payment, you still have to pay the interest.

Here in Denmark we have state sponsered unemployment system, where you pay around $160/month to be able to get up to ~$2500/month for two years. If you pay more then you can get a higher rate, but only up to 80% of your current salary. It is also possible for self employed.

Interesting. That's nice security blanket. I've heard Denmark is very nice place to live, and people are generally very happy there. It's usually among the top tier countries in the world's happiest people index study. Hopefully, I'll be able to visit soon.

 

[Exterous]

But some of you have high expenses. If something happens and you lose your job and source of income, some of you are going to be in world of hurt unless you find another job quick or have decent savings/investments.


Welcome to the real world for too many people.

High expenses doesn't mean those are required expenditures.

 

[biostud]

Interesting. That's nice security blanket. I've heard Denmark is very nice place to live, and people are generally very happy there. It's usually among the top tier countries in the world's happiest people index study. Hopefully, I'll be able to visit soon.

Americans view on living in Denmark as the "most happy" country in the world
Is Denmark one of the happiest countries? We break down what we think happiness means in Denmark - YouTube

 

[bbhaag]

Americans view on living in Denmark as the "most happy" country in the world
Is Denmark one of the happiest countries? We break down what we think happiness means in Denmark - YouTube

Of course they were happy. They moved out of Chicago.....who wouldn't be happy moving out of that cesspool.

 

[rmacd02]

High expenses doesn't mean those are required expenditures.

Indeed. I apparently forget this sometimes.