With the growth of indexing, Charles Schwab's response is basically "We have them too." They created some in-house index funds and ETFs. The expense ratios on those index funds and ETFs match or slightly undercut the expense ratios on funds from the [...]
Recharacterize IRA Contribution At Vanguard
Financial markets were closed on New Year's Day but I was eager to put in my IRA contribution for the new year. Because my income is likely over the limit for a direct contribution to a Roth IRA, I have to first contribute to a traditional IRA and [...]
2017 2018 401k 403b IRA Contribution Limits
[Update on Oct. 19, 2017: The IRS officially announced the new limits in Notice 2017-64. All my projections matched the official announcement.] Although inflation continues to be low, it was enough to finally push up the 401k and 403b contribution [...]
IRA Recharacterization Illustrated
Some of you weren't so impressed when I drew diagrams to show that an IRA conversion doesn't really convert the IRA itself. It only moves the money from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, leaving the source IRA container intact afterwards. While [...]
Roth IRA Conversion Does Not Really Convert Your IRA
Only until a reader asked me about the mechanics of how to do a Roth IRA conversion did I realize Roth IRA "conversion" is such a misnomer. It doesn't actually convert your IRA. I drew some graphical illustrations to show what happens when you [...]
One-Time Transfer From IRA To HSA: Forget About It
A reader asked me about the once-in-a-lifetime transfer from an IRA to an HSA, officially known as the qualified HSA funding distribution. It's one of those things that just because you can doesn't mean you should. In all likelihood you are better [...]
Gift To Adult Children’s Roth IRA
Speaking of the Vanguard podcasts, I listened to this episode released in April: The Roth IRA: An effective estate planning tool? From the transcript: Diane Streleckis: And what about gifting with a Roth, does that make sense? Maria Bruno: If [...]
2017 401k 403b IRA Contribution Limits
[Update on October 27, 2016: The IRS announced the 2017 contribution limits for various retirement plans and IRAs. It confirmed everything projected here back in August.] Inflation is very low this year. For the most part, the limits in 2017 will [...]
Transfer IRA From Mutual Fund To Credit Union For CDs
Ever since I bought the 3-year 3% add-on CD from Northwest Federal Credit Union in October 2015, I was hoping a similar deal would pop up. But no, there hasn't been any. After the Fed raised the rate once from 0% to 0.25% in December 2015, they [...]
