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I don't want to start another annuity jihad ... But I signed up for the AIG SPIA being offered through Vanguard, back in April or so, with quarterly payments and CPI adjustment (I was 54yo and initial payout was 4.4% of principal, for the record). Anyhow, just received first payment with CPI...

First of many, I'm sure, questions on income tax (should we have another forum area ?) ... On self-employment income, for income received via Form 1099-MISC, which tax year does payment for December 2007 apply to, if it's not billed and paid until January 2008 ? I've consulted Pub. 334...

Most discussions of whether it makes sense to pay taxes now, or pay them later, is in regard to the efficacy of a conversion to Roth IRA. To a first approximation, it makes sense to convert if you expect a higher tax rate when you'll withdraw the money. I am not trying to re-open that...

I have a position in VWAHX (Vgd High-Yield Tax-Exempt) and wondering if I should sell. My marginal taxrates are 25%/7% (fed/state) so the multiplier of taxable vs state-tax only income is (100-7)/(100-25-7) = 1.37. Thus the 4.5% yield on VWAHX is equivalent to about 6.15% taxable. Only...

I am partly-RE'ed and do contracting work: both as a W-2 employee of an agency and as a actual consultant (with 1099 compensation). The agency's 401K sucks, so I'd like to setup an individual-401K with my broker. I imagine I can contribute to the individual-401K from the 1099 work, but I...

Yikes, I guess we find out who's there for you when the going gets tough ... Unable to login or phone-in to Schwab.

Maybe this belongs in "Other Topics" ... I found a bug in my state's TurboTax. It caused my tax to be undercomputed by $3. I'm sure they're many other people for whom the same bug would be also computing too little tax. I called the DOR and they said "you'll need to report that to...

I'm trying to figure out if I can avoid having to do estimated tax payments, simply by having tax withheld from annuity payments (reported on 1099-R). I recall a rule that applied when withholding from wages on a W-2, that said amounts withheld were considered to be withheld evenly over the...

I've been contemplating establishing a position in REITs for awhile now, in line with my allocation targets. Looks like VGSIX (aka. VNQ) is really down now, way down from its recent 87+ peak. Opinions on whether now is a good time ? I don't know anywhere near enough about this stuff to...

Wow, the YTMs on TIPS are something ! I am as excited (as a little French school-girl on Bastille Day) about next week's auction of 10-year TIPS. I believe the announcement is Monday, so with today's closing YTM (according to Bloomberg) at 2.77%, looks like the coupon will be 2.5% or more...

Thought folks might be interested to know that Schwab has reduced their markups on bond purchases. Treasuries now have no markup, even on the secondary market ("at auction" purchases were already free). Other secondary trades are now $1/bond ($10 min, $250 max). This is all for on-line...

Wondering what the smart people here are thinking on the whole inflation-linked bond issue ? Both TIPS and ISM/OSM YTMs are climbing, but of course ISM/OSM is looking scary on the risk front. Thoughts ?

Just got info from broker regarding a "corporate action" in Putnam Premier Trust (PPT) in which they'll buy my shares at 98% of FMV on July 12 (I have to decide by July 10 or so). For reasons that escape me, the FMV is different (quote XPPTX) than the share price of PPT. What's going on...

Schwab is pushing a new 4.25% APY "investor checking" account. It is pretty tempting and I'm wondering about a couple things ... 1. I wonder if this is bait&switch and they'll revert to a more typical sub-1% rate once they get a bunch of people in ? 2. I wonder if hometown banks (like my...

I'm tempted, part of my grand scheme to put 10% or so of my egg into a ladder of 5yr TIPS. But the YTM's are SO darn low, though they've been creeping upwards (from 2% flat) for the last week or two. I don't quite understand the YTMs at Bloomberg (2.13% on price of 100.30, as I type). When I...

Scenario: Jack pulls into school parking lot with rifle in gun rack 1956 - Vice Principal comes over, takes a look at Jack's rifle, goes to his car and gets his to show Jack. 2006 - School goes into lockdown, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors...

I think I know the answer to this question, but would appreciate insight here. I am RE'ed, but occasionally have the opportunity to make a little money (perhaps $5-10K) doing a consulting job. When this occurs, I have compensation income and can therefore put up to $5K (or whatever I earn, if...

So this guy, evidently a financial advisor of some sort, friend of a friend, was telling about this index fund that follows an index, let's say the S&P500. The fund goes up when the S&P goes up, but when the S&P goes down, the fund stays put. Sounds way too good to be true, the only caveat being...

I'm sure lots of us, especially those like me who need to up their equity allocations, are taking advantage of this little dip (aka. beginning of the end of life as we know it) to move some monies into equity mutual funds. Most mutual fund trades seem to go at a given day's buy/sell price if you...

Man, it really irks me when people put Scientology down, or Mormonism for that matter. I'm no big fan of either, but when people laugh at the stuff they believe like they're some kind of lunatics, I'm like "give me a break". I think all religions are equally ludicrous (except maybe the...

Some of my 1099-DIV from brokerages have dividends from the various funds/etc totaled up, and some have them listed separately but NOT totaled. For the latter, I've always added them up before entering (as a single entry, within Turbotax) and silently wondered why the brokerage didn't add them...

What's the deal with Vanguard's Asset Allocation Fund (VAAPX) ? "The fund allocates its assets among common stocks, bonds, and money market instruments in proportions consistent with the advisor’s evaluation of their expected returns and risks. These proportions are changed from time to time as...

I have decided to do a SPIA, from Vanguard/AIG, but I haven't decided which inflation-protection plan to opt for. Let's don't turn this into another SPIA flame-fest - I've already made my yes/no decision, and I am planning to use only a single-digit percentage of my egg. It seems like a nice...

Starting in 2006, brokerages are required to report tax-exempt dividends/interest (like that from municipal bonds) on your form 1099-INT. It's federally tax-exempt, but generally taxable by the states. Formerly you were on your honor to examine your brokerage statement and report the income -...

I annuitized my TIAA-CREF retirement account recently and was repeatedly assured that I could change the allocations (to various investment classes) even after the annuitization was done. So I call the other day and say "please put 15% in large-cap value, 15% in inflation-linked bond, blah...