Investing, Stock Market and Retirement Planning Thread

[NTP66]

@ Mamber.

I went with Utah's 529 plan because it's the most customizable, but Vegas was my second choice.

[robbiestoupe]

Thanks for the info Tomas. I never really looked too deep into where I should be investing my 529, so this will probably change things for me. Looking at CA, the .08% fee is only if you choose the Principal Plus Interest plan, which has very low returns. All other choices add an expense fee on top, making CA not as attractive. The NY plan looks interesting with their .15% flat fee regardless of which plan you choose. But I'm not sure if I can deduct PA state taxes from my investments. How do you know Arkansas will allow deductions on out of state investments?

[Tomas]

@ Mamber.

I went with Utah's 529 plan because it's the most customizable, but Vegas was my second choice.

My take is that as long as I have access to one cheap "index stock" and one cheap "index bond" portfolio, I can easily play with the weights myself to get a sufficient customization. So I like California, because they have 0.08% for US stock index and 0.15% for US bond index. Nothing else - but I don't care.

[NTP66]

Thanks for the info Tomas. I never really looked too deep into where I should be investing my 529, so this will probably change things for me. Looking at CA, the .08% fee is only if you choose the Principal Plus Interest plan, which has very low returns. All other choices add an expense fee on top, making CA not as attractive. The NY plan looks interesting with their .15% flat fee regardless of which plan you choose. But I'm not sure if I can deduct PA state taxes from my investments. How do you know Arkansas will allow deductions on out of state investments?

If you're asking about PA, look here: https://www.savingforcollege.com/529_pl ... plan_id=76

PA and non-PA 529 contributions are deductible (I've been doing it for years).

[Tomas]

Thanks for the info Tomas. I never really looked too deep into where I should be investing my 529, so this will probably change things for me. Looking at CA, the .08% fee is only if you choose the Principal Plus Interest plan, which has very low returns. All other choices add an expense fee on top, making CA not as attractive. The NY plan looks interesting with their .15% flat fee regardless of which plan you choose. But I'm not sure if I can deduct PA state taxes from my investments. How do you know Arkansas will allow deductions on out of state investments?

Check the "single fund portfolio options" for California: the TOTAL cost for stock index is 0.08% (and bond index costs 0.15%). You can then adjust the stock/bond weights by yourself (for example by mimicking the managed state's portfolio - because the state has to disclose the weights) as your kid(s) get closer to the college age.

The comprehensive list of state tax deductibility rules is here:
https://www.savingforcollege.com/compar ... _questions

For Pennsylvania, it says:
Contributions to Pennsylvania AND non-Pennsylvania 529 plans of up to the gift-tax annual exclusion amount ($14,000 in 2017) per beneficiary are deductible in computing Pennsylvania taxable income. Spouses filing jointly must each have at least $14,000 in income to claim the maximum $28,000 per-beneficiary deduction. Rollovers from another 529 plan or from qualified U.S. savings bonds are not eligible for the deduction.

I know they raised the limits to $15K/$30K by checking the PA529 page.

[NTP66]

@ Mamber.

I went with Utah's 529 plan because it's the most customizable, but Vegas was my second choice.

My take is that as long as I have access to one cheap "index stock" and one cheap "index bond" portfolio, I can easily play with the weights myself to get a sufficient customization. So I like California, because they have 0.08% for US stock index and 0.15% for US bond index. Nothing else - but I don't care.

Nothing wrong with that. I created a glide path that's more aggressive [than what I saw available], so right now it's 85% VITPX (.02%) and 15% VTPSX (.07%). VBMPX (.03%) eventually gets added in just over one year.

[Tomas]

@ Mamber.

I went with Utah's 529 plan because it's the most customizable, but Vegas was my second choice.

My take is that as long as I have access to one cheap "index stock" and one cheap "index bond" portfolio, I can easily play with the weights myself to get a sufficient customization. So I like California, because they have 0.08% for US stock index and 0.15% for US bond index. Nothing else - but I don't care.

Nothing wrong with that. I created a glide path that's more aggressive [than what I saw available], so right now it's 85% VITPX (.02%) and 15% VTPSX (.07%). VBMPX (.03%) eventually gets added in just over one year.

But aren't these fees BEFORE the plan adds 0.16% administrative fee on top of the fund fee? (At least judging from: https://my529.org/wp-content/uploads/20 ... -Table.pdf ). California adds only 0.03% administrative fee: https://www.scholarshare529.com/research/fees.shtml )

Either way, both of these options are better than PA.

[NTP66]

@ Mamber.

I went with Utah's 529 plan because it's the most customizable, but Vegas was my second choice.

My take is that as long as I have access to one cheap "index stock" and one cheap "index bond" portfolio, I can easily play with the weights myself to get a sufficient customization. So I like California, because they have 0.08% for US stock index and 0.15% for US bond index. Nothing else - but I don't care.

Nothing wrong with that. I created a glide path that's more aggressive [than what I saw available], so right now it's 85% VITPX (.02%) and 15% VTPSX (.07%). VBMPX (.03%) eventually gets added in just over one year.

But aren't these fees BEFORE the plan adds 0.16% administrative fee on top of the fund fee? (At least judging from: https://my529.org/wp-content/uploads/20 ... -Table.pdf ). California adds only 0.03% administrative fee: https://www.scholarshare529.com/research/fees.shtml )

Either way, both of these options are better than PA.

They are, yes. Sorry, I was just posting the actual fund fees. I can live with the administrative fees, quite honestly. Utah, California, Nevada, and New York are consistently ranked at the top of everyone's 529 list. And yes, PA's plan is garbage.

[NTP66]

Retirement account limits will be raised in 2019. The new IRA limit is $6k (FINALLY some movement), with the new 401k/similar limit being $19k. More info here.

[NTP66]

Aaaand nearly all of 2018's stock markets gains have been wiped out. MTSMGA.

[DigitalGypsy66]

So my Marcus savings account, recommended in this very thread, started at 1.85% when I opened the account a few months ago. It's now 2.05%.

I've made more interest in this account in two months than my other bank savings account in the last two or three years, at least.

[NTP66]

So my Marcus savings account, recommended in this very thread, started at 1.85% when I opened the account a few months ago. It's now 2.05%.

I've made more interest in this account in two months than my other bank savings account in the last two or three years, at least.

I’ve been with Marcus since before the rebrand from GS Bank. They’ve been keeping or setting pace with savings interest rates for quite some time now, raising them every few months. Their customer service is stellar, too.

[Tomas]

I chuckled when I saw the title of this paper (on the program of the prestigious Miami Behavioral Finance Conference):

What's Wrong with Pittsburgh? Investor Composition and Trade Frequency in US Cities

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm ... id=3049118

[NTP66]

Vanguard lowers minimums for Admiral shares of index funds (to $3k)

We’re lowering costs for more than 1 million current index fund investors and giving new investors one more reason to choose Vanguard. To do that, we’re dropping the minimum investment for Admiral™ Shares on 38 index funds.

Our Admiral Shares were previously available to investors with over $10,000 per fund. Now you’ll only need $3,000 to take advantage of the low expense ratios Admiral Shares offer. In turn, we’re eliminating higher-cost Investor Shares of those same index funds for individual investors.

See which index funds now offer $3,000 minimum investments for Admiral Shares

Competition is good.

[willeyeam]

@columbia

[Tomas]

Vanguard lowers minimums for Admiral shares of index funds (to $3k)

We’re lowering costs for more than 1 million current index fund investors and giving new investors one more reason to choose Vanguard. To do that, we’re dropping the minimum investment for Admiral™ Shares on 38 index funds.

Our Admiral Shares were previously available to investors with over $10,000 per fund. Now you’ll only need $3,000 to take advantage of the low expense ratios Admiral Shares offer. In turn, we’re eliminating higher-cost Investor Shares of those same index funds for individual investors.

See which index funds now offer $3,000 minimum investments for Admiral Shares

Competition is good.

But I will not feel as special anymore!!!!

[NTP66]

Aaaand nearly all of 2018's stock markets gains have been wiped out. MTSMGA.

No more nearly, now all of 2018's gains have been completely wiped out. Happy Wednesday!

[NTP66]

The Dow ended the day a dramatic 653 points lower at 21,792 in an abbreviated trading session ahead of the Christmas holiday. That's a decrease of 2.9 percent, adding to last week's fall of 6.8 percent.

"I do believe this was the worst Dec.24 in history," U.S. Global Investors head trader Michael Matousek told ABC News. "There hasn’t been a worse Christmas Eve since I started in the industry 22 years ago."

Last week was the index's worst in 10 years -- since the 2008 financial crisis. This month is currently on track to end as the worst December since the Great Depression.

Merry ****’ Christmas!

[mac5155]

it recovered and some.

spoiler alert: The stock market is a long game.

[NTP66]

it recovered and some.

Partially, and then tanked again this morning. Oddly enough, my Trump-loving family members all saw yesterday's bounce as a sign that the rest of the year's massive losses were just a fluke, somehow.

[mac5155]

I opened up a 529 account for lil mac today. went with the Ohio plan, it seemed very highly rated and low fees. Appreciate the tax break, lil man

[willeyeam]

I opened up a 529 account for lil mac today. went with the Ohio plan, it seemed very highly rated and low fees. Appreciate the tax break, lil man

Uhh you live in PA right?

[NTP66]

PA's 529 plan is trash, and residents can open 529s from any state.

[dodint]

You can enroll in a 529 from almost any jurisdiction. It pays to shop and compare as they're not all created equal.

[willeyeam]

PA's 529 plan is trash, and residents can open 529s from any state.

Yes but I'm pretty sure you only get the tax deduction if you contribute to a PA plan. Though I don't do much tax anymore so perhaps that changed