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I love this board! Wow. That's very interesting. Thanks for digging that up. Gives me some perspective. And thanks to all for the posts. Very interesting - seems like I have sparked a good debate. That's why I love this board. Great stuff. I have read all the posts, some clarification...

Interesting All of your feedback has been greatly appreciated. I think there are some very valid points that have been made and something I will consider. If I was to boil it all down - I truthfully just don't trust the stock market in any way right now and I think everything is being...

FIRE'd a few months ago. Ran a lot of numbers... I believe I have enough cash today to live very comfortably for the rest of my life without ever having to invest a dime in the market or bonds. Simply do a CD ladder and forget about the market and all the headaches/risk it brings especially...

Costa Rica I have heard Costa Rica is a great place to retire as an American. Lots of ex-pat communities, great hospitals and clinics and relatively cheap. Not sure about crime, but I have heard the weather and the focus on living green is really attractive. Plus lots to do.

So, based on that, I should go ahead and take the $44K of LT cap gain distributions, use my $200K of losses to offset it and I am further ahead then with little tax issues?

Awesome. Thanks. Very helpful. I love this forum, you guys are really great. And BTW: somebody on this thread said "she"...correction, I am a dude...:coolsmiley:

Moving away from Vanguard My question is any of you moving away from Vanguard proactively because of this situation? Or do you think it will take years to play out in the courts before anything affects us? To me, it sounds like noise right now and I am going to ignore it and continue to run...

Good suggestion. Thanks. Wellesley is not 100% qualified dividends? Guess I need to go research that. My plan was to move to a simplified FIRE post tax portfolio - all Vanguard (Total Stock Market, Total Intermediate Bond Market, etc.) Any recommendations on funds that produce 100%...

Thanks for this. Very helpful. The dividend for this fund posts Dec 16th, so I am going to get that and then sell the fund and avoid the capital gains distribution.

Sorry - a novice here - might be a stupid question. But I am trying to figure out something around the end of year capital gains distribution for funds and what is best to do. My situation. I am going to get an approx $44K distribution from my Vanguard Wellesley position in my after tax...

RSUs I had to deal with walking away from RSUs as well when I decided to retire. I know what you are going through. My experience is that RSUs are golden handcuffs and you will just keep getting more every year which will tempt you over and over again to hang in there. That is why companies...

I have played around with taxes alittle, but per the advice on this thread, need to do alot more of it. Good thing is that I still have $400K in stock loses (some stupid moves in the past) that I can still bounce gains against which is nice. Wish I had the $400K back - but at least it is...

Yes, actually, I didnt factor in SS at all in any of my models. Personally, I dont count on it. If it is there, fantastic, just adds to the model and I take a few more nice trips with it. And I will absolutely take it at 62.5 years of age because God knows what will happen to it. Just my luck...

This is awesome advice. Thank you. Never really considered tax planning into my scenario. I will absolutely incorporate this into my strategy. Thanks much!

I love Seattle and I actually like the gray and gloomy Seattle weather too. This is home so I dont see us moving for quite awhile. And we love our house, its paid off so that is a bonus. And yes our prop taxes are around $8000 a year but that is written into our budget and not an issue...

Actually - that is a very good point. I was just going to mirror my 55/45 investment options for my 401K since I wont dig into it until I am forced to in 20 years. Curious - with 20 years until I need it, why wouldn't I keep my 401K in all equities? What is the advantage to use all REITs and...

Absolutely. $150K gives us a nice vacation/trip budget plus doesn't really make us change our social, eating out, maintenance/insurance on nice cars, pays for the landscape maintenance etc. So yes, in a very ugly downturn, I could probably literally cut that almost in half and still be fine...

Sleep. Seriously. First priority is sound, unstressed, uninterrupted sleep. First 60-90 days all holidays, seeing friends, hanging out, watching football and going on a couple of week long trips without a PC, cell phone or email. Heavenly. After that - I took up painting so I am going to...

You are absolutely correct about the Mega-corp world. It has gotten so incredibly PC it is ridiculous and getting worse. I have been managing and leading teams for 20+ years and the rules you have to deal with today from HR are absurd. And yes, it is going to be great to just say Merry...

I read a lot of these threads and I spent some time putting together my FIRE portfolio. I am going to speak to a Vanguard financial advisor next week about this and I wanted your thoughts on the portfolio I came up with. I have played with FireCalc but I am really terrible at it. I'm 51...

Posted a long time ago, been building up my courage (and putting a few more sheckles away) to leave the rat race and finally did it! Walked into my boss's office this week and said "I'm done". Wasn't my plan or my timeframe. Just couldn't take it any longer. Company has been great (not all...

Just published in the Washington Post today. For all those people ready to FIRE but just keep putting it off (raising my own hand here), might want to read this. Pretty interesting: Your job is literally ‘killing’ you - The Washington Post This article spoke to me and gave me the nudge I...

Honestly, it sounds crazy, but I have been so incredibly busy with my job that I just accumulated $1M in cash and with the market going downwards (ie. China etc.) i just held onto it and didnt put it to work. Also, being as busy as I am, I also missed the runup. I am not a market timer - the...

I forgot to mention that right now I have $1M sitting is pure cash. Not the smartest move in the world, I get that, but I am in cash, so I can avoid any capital gains. In fact, from the 1999 bubble, I am still sitting on $400K in losses to be able to counter against... I am very good at...

Wow, all very insightful posts. Thank you for the feedback. Perhaps I am being too aggressive with the cash position. You guys gave me alot to chew on - thank you. I am now leaning towards more like $275K in cash and focus more on total return and dividends as they relate to my overall...