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I'm starting a new job in January at a small company that doesn't allow enrollment into the 401k plan for the first year. At my salary level ($175k), I am not eligible for a Roth IRA, so I've been doing a backdoor Roth for the past few years. If I go with a traditional IRA next year in lieu of...

I just did the transition. Unlike most of you, I'm a small fish, with a very meager Roth IRA to convert. I found the transition pretty obnoxious, but mainly because they are now asking about Income, Net Worth, and Employer. I lied on the first two, but if you say you are employed, and then...

My company has a Roth 401k option. Previously, I've contributed to a Roth IRA but am no longer eligible. I will be solidly in the 28% bracket for the foreseeable future, and may possibly go higher in a few years. I've always used my 401k as a way to lower my tax burden, but am wondering if I...

For a refi, is it better to roll the closing costs into the loan or pay them at the table? Closing costs for me would be close to $6k, which would take me 3 years to get back based on my monthly savings.

Started an expediting company with my brother. We are 3.5 years in and I've lost 100k so far. Hoping to get out in Q4 and start rebuilding some of my nest egg.

Might I introduce you to the wonderful and thought provoking commentary of 50-cent?

Using mine to pay down the business credit card to a more reasonable level, as most of my return for the last two years has come from losses on my K-1 anyway.

PM me your email address and I'll put you in contact with the guy who handles the meetings for the North Atlanta Diehard group. We meet about every 6 weeks or so in Kennesaw.

The $219 figure isn't based on changing exemptions to not get a tax refund. It's based on those three $3500 exemptions: $3500 per exemption * 3 exemptions * .25 taxable amount / 12 months = $218.75

I got nothing. Don't think I'm currently eligible. But I'm getting married soon (to a non citizen). I'm hoping that means come tax time I'm eligible and can pick up the $1200 version.

I actually think SD looks terrible on an HDTV. You never realize how different the quality is when you watch on a normal TV. Even if the picture looks good you often end up with vertical bars on either side of the TV since HDTV is 16:9 and regular is 4:3. All of the picture modes try to mask...

Money may not be able to buy happiness, but it can certainly keep a lot of unhappiness at bay. That being said, I can't really say that my happiness has gone up as my salary has. I think I'm pretty much the same person I was 5 years ago... but with a big screen tv and an IRA ;)

I used to be on that side of the fence too. And then I started watching sports again. Watching a game on a normal CRT is terrible once you've seen it in HD. To me, it boils down to being able to recognize a player's face. If I know Kobe has the ball, that's a heck of a lot different than just...

I'd appreciate seeing some sources cited for that. Sadly this debate mainly happens on forums and blog posts and not in credited magazines or journals. One of the better articles I found that would support some of your comments: Plasma TV vs LCD TV - Plasma TV Buying Guide But even he states...

LCD has some other advantages over plasma. It does not have the burn-in problem that plasma does. So if you watch a lot of a channel with a constant image, like cnbc or something, it can permanently put that image on your screen. LCD is immune to this. Also, plasmas naturally get dimmer over...

Intriguing. I wonder how they come up with the 25k figure.

I didn't fear to lose my job until I realized I'm about to be supporting my fiance. Now if I'm out of work, my burn rate is much higher. But in general, I agree. I have no doubts there are jobs out there if I lose this one; but I still don't like being unemployed even for a few weeks.

How much match were you giving? The terms of Safe Harbor are 3% non-elective (matching even if they contribute nothing) or 4% elective (only match what they contribute, up to 4%). Almost everywhere I've worked has had a 401k match as generous or moreso than this. In our case, we have it...

That's why I'm still sitting on the sidelines ;) I'm hoping in another 3 years I can actually afford to buy a home that is within reasonable distance of the city and where I'm not likely to get shot.

This is very much true in Atlanta. Even on a fairly decent salary, I'm still not sure how people can afford to live in these homes. Either everyone else in the city is making 200k (DINKs maybe), or I'm missing something ;)

You've piqued my interest. How does one become 500k in debt without bill collectors coming after them?

Could you go into more detail on this? I hold this fund in a taxable account. The only difference I see in having this in a taxable versus not is I pay the taxes on those dividends now instead of later. Either way, I'm never getting the foreign tax credit for the fund, regardless of which type...

Sorry for being late to the party, but are you saying it's more expensive due to the way the match works versus a normal 401k? We do safe harbor to get around the 401k qualification tests, but our cost for the plan is basically the same. Plus, due to the nature of our employees, they'd still...

The numbers for the employer contribution are pretty nice, but I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with the company controlling where my investments went.

I've played that game in meetings with my coworkers. Be careful - it's hard to stop giggling.