Recent content by Hiram

Yes, I used the wrong term, my bad. I am still learning all this stuff.:facepalm: The percentages I gave were our effective tax rate which I find easy to get since I am using turbo tax and it makes for clearer (for me) comparison of what might happen with the different scenarios Marginal...

That's good question about marginal tax rate. To be conservative, I have been assuming for the sake of firecalc and other forecasting that our marginal tax rate stays about the same--14%. But I think realistically 10% is more likely in a few years. And we will never leave California for a...

On the tax: Pb4uski that is right according to the numbers I gave, but my percentage wasn't correct. Another error (this stuff is complicated!). the tax difference is correct but the tax rate is wrong. When figuring the rates I used the wrong income figures. Our gross income would be more like...

:facepalm: Ok, this is a bit embarrassing--I made a couple errors in getting all these numbers together. I put the wrong loan costs into my spread sheet-- It turns out the savings from paying the cost of the loan vs paying the taxes is smaller--just 4k. And I would have to pay for 8 years not...

Oh, just found this thread which addresses my second question of how much stock to put in the ending portfolio range. https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f36/how-much-attention-do-you-pay-to-this-fc-message-97499.html

That sounds like a good idea for future years when our income drops and our tax bracket will be low. But for this year, because of her income and mine and the capital gains, it wouldn't help, I think. Yes we have a Heloc from Provident credit union--which is what we would use for the loan...

[-]Two[/-] One questions for the great minds of this forum: We are considering taking a $45,000 loan for a five year term to avoid getting a tax hit on a withdrawal from a 403b this year. Does this make sense? (edit: I found a thread with some answers to this second question, so this...

Yes, the only difference I have noticed is the pull down for the manual entry of spending changes. Is there anything else it does--other than support the good work of firecalc?

BTW I just tried the Fidelity Planner again. I got similar results so I am feeling better about the decision. Now I just have to tell my colleagues . . .

Good enough is good enough for me (Except when I wake up at 3am worried I forgot something big, "OMG--I didn't include food in my budget!" But that usually passes.) I just want to get general confirmation that my numbers are in the ball park. I will try the subtracting the first ten years...

Thanks for the replies. I am a Firecalc member, SecondCor521, which is why I was asking about the manual entry of spending changes section under the Spending Models tab. And, I can't be sure there are no errors in my spreadsheet, particularly in predicting my future budgets--but I...

Hi, Long time lurker here with my first question. I am about to pull the cord and retire but I keep running calculators to reassure myself. In doing that, I have come up with a question about whether I am using the manual entry of spending changes option in Firecalc properly. I have a pretty...