Search results

Taking a vacation on Oahu and Kauai next month. Trip and rooms are booked, but not the car rental. I read about Turo today, but this thread scared me off https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f46/turo-car-rental-119222.html Any other options? I normally rent a car thru Expedia, but the total...

Seems most S&P 500 ETF and Index funds are market cap weighted, meaning the top 5 companies accounting for 20% of the fund. These are all technical companies (Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta or Tesla). Even Vanguard’s Total Market Index has the same top 5 companies at 20%. For true...

I retired 15 months ago at age 56. The world changed a lot in the past 15 months - so I applied for a full-time job today! Maybe I just have cabin fever, but there must be something more productive for me to do. I used the 'rule of 55' to withdraw some money out of my 401K the beginning of...

I can't remember the last time an established, non high tech stock increased 20% in one day, as Target (TGT) did today. It's especially unusual, considering TGT is a dividend aristocrat, having increased their dividend for 51 years! Think the stock will go down tomorrow? Full disclosure: TGT...

I just reviewed IRS Publication 575 concerning the exemption from 10% penalty for 401K distributions after you've separated from service in or after the year you reach 55. What would happen if you took a 401K distribution at age 55, then rejoined the same company 2 months later on a...

I just read the email received this week from Capital One, explaining the transfer of accounts to ETrade. As I understand the letter, they are selling all fractional shares before the transfer of shares and money to ETrade. I have only dividend paying stocks in a Capital One's non-retirement...

I reviewed my 401K Summary Plan Description and it appears I can take a 401K withdrawal at age 55+ and rollover the remaining to an IRA. 20% Federal Taxes will be withheld from the 401K and no taxes withheld on the IRA rollover. No specifics on changes in the plan. Has anyone done this? This...

Listed below are the average annual returns from a government income bond fund I own in a traditional IRA: 1 year: -1.20% 3 year: +0.19% 5 year: +0.76% In a rising interest rate environment, I don't expect the government income bond fund to do better in the near future. I'm thinking of selling...

Just curious how many forum members have hit the SS maximum earnings limit during your working years. For 2015 and 2016, the maximum earnings limit was $118,500 and for 2017 it's $127,200 according to https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/cbb.html While my wife (public school teacher, retired) and I...

I will have two traditional IRA's at the age of 56. I plan to start a 72t withdrawal from IRA rollover #1 (300K) and during the same year, convert from IRA rollover #2 (110K) to Roth IRA at a rate of 22K/year. Any problems with doing this? Has anyone done this before?

I ran across this article on dividend investing on Forbes a few days ago, and think it offers good investing advice Forbes Welcome Are you a dividend investor?

I don't currently have any REIT's in my after tax brokerage account, but was considering adding them. I was surprised to learn REIT dividends are not qualified - meaning they are taxed at your income tax rate, and not the lower capital gains rate. Due to this finding, I think I'll stick with...

During working years, my wife invested in a MetLife Universal (Deferred) Annuity thru a 403b plan. All contributions were pre-tax. She has been retired 1 year longer than the surrender period, so I think now is a good time to move the money to a rollover IRA with Fidelity. No money has been...

I'm amazed the Fidelity Freedom Fund 2025 https://fundresearch.fidelity.com/mutual-funds/composition/315792663 has it's fixed income invested in low quality, moderate sensitivity bonds. This seems like high risk in a retirement fund. By comparison, Fidelity Balanced Fund...

Looks like it was not a good idea to start investing in FSIIX - Fidelity's International Index fund in 2014. As of this morning, it's down 5.01% YTD. But what's really unusual is the 1 Yr performance is listed as down 0.09%. According to my balance - the 5.01% number seems more realistic. With...

I'm within 2 years of retiring early, and have decided I will retire in April. Compared to retiring on Jan 1, this will give me a few months to build up the fun money stash, and enjoy the spring weather outdoors without being tied to a job. I know 12/31 and 1/1 are popular retirement dates, but...

I would like state pensioners to chime in if their health insurance got cut or changed. My wife retired as a teacher in 2009, and so far the COLA has been suspended but no change in the health coverage yet. Under ACA rules, the current health coverage provided by the state would be defined as a...

Currently contributing to a traditional 401K and Roth IRA. Thinking about contributing some to a Roth 401K also. I would then move the Roth 401K to the Roth 401K after leaving my employer prior to age 59 1/2. Would the Roth 401K need to be open for 5 years before making this conversion? Has...

I am getting an employer match (about 15%) on dividends in my 401K. For example, I might see a $400 biannual dividend and the employer is kicking in another $60. Is this typical? I'm too chicken to ask my employer - thinking it's a mistake and they'll correct it by withdrawing the money.

Is it possible to setup a Roth IRA for a spouse that's already retired? I am still working, and I've setup one for myself this year. The reason for setting up a Roth IRA for DW is it would help to keep us in the 15% tax bracket if some of the money in her traditional IRA could be converted to a...

I just came across an article titled The Average Net Worth For The Above Average Person and found it very interesting. There are many articles in the main stream press about how the average net worth for someone in their 50's is between $100,000 and $180,000. I found this article posted on the...

Hi - long time lurker but infrequent poster. I'm 50 and in the home stretch to early retirement in the next 12-24 months. When I started planning my early retirement a few years ago, my plan was to setup multiple CD ladders over many years, and I would spend about 1/2 and reinvest the balance in...