As a followup to my post earlier this week on Roth IRA income limits, I wanted to highlight how we typically make our Roth IRA contributions. For background, we’re in a relatively high (and variable) income tax bracket. Because of this, we flirt with the Roth income limits on an annual basis, and it’s hard [...]
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Archive for the ‘Saving & Investing’ Category
Contribute and Convert: Funding Our Roth IRAs Through the Backdoor
Written by Nickel - 7 Comments
Published on January 13th, 2012 - 7 Comments
Filed under: Retirement, Saving & Investing, Taxes
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Filed under: Retirement, Saving & Investing, Taxes
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Roth IRA Income Limits for 2012
Written by Nickel - Leave a Comment
I recently wrote about Roth IRA contribution limits for 2012, which are unchanged from 2011. Today I want to talk about the current income limits for contributing to a Roth IRA. Here goes:
Married Filing Jointly: Contributions phase out from $173k-$183k
Single or Head of Household: Contributions phase out from $110k-$125k
Married Filing Separately, Living Apart: Contributions phase [...]
Published on January 11th, 2012 - Leave a Comment
Filed under: Retirement, Saving & Investing, Taxes
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Filed under: Retirement, Saving & Investing, Taxes
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Savings Bond Purchase Limit Increased to $10k in 2012
Written by Nickel - Leave a Comment
If you’re a fan of savings bonds, then I have some good news for you… The Treasury has increased the TreasuryDirect purchase limit from $5k per bond type (I or EE) per year to $10k. This change offsets the loss of over-the-counter sales of paper savings bonds, effective January 1, 2012.
From the press release that [...]
Published on January 4th, 2012 - Leave a Comment
Filed under: Saving & Investing
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Filed under: Saving & Investing
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S&P Dividend Aristocrats for 2012
Written by Nickel - 2 Comments
A few years back, I published a list of “Dividend Aristocrats” — companies in the S&P 500 that have increased their dividend payouts for at least 25 consecutive years. These are large, blue chip companies that have historically provided (slightly) better performance and (slightly) lower volatility than the S&P 500 as a whole.
The list declined [...]
Published on January 4th, 2012 - 2 Comments
Filed under: Saving & Investing
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Filed under: Saving & Investing
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2012 Stock Market Predictions
Written by Nickel - One Comment
In case you haven’t heard, the S&P 500 closed the year at 1257.60 this past Friday. That’s just a hair down from the 2010 closing price of 1257.64 — essentially even in the grand scheme of things.
Despite the flat performance overall, the past year was anything but uneventful. Don’t believe me? Check out the graph [...]
Published on January 2nd, 2012 - One Comment
Filed under: Saving & Investing
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Filed under: Saving & Investing
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What are the 2012 Traditional and Roth IRA Contribution Limits?
Written by Nickel - 14 Comments
With just a few days left before the New Year, I thought I’d put together a quick post on IRA contribution limits for 2012. As a reminder, contribution limits have been indexed to inflation since 2008, and can increase in $500 increments (as necessary). As you can see from the table below, however, nothing has [...]
Published on December 30th, 2011 - 14 Comments
Filed under: Retirement, Saving & Investing, Taxes
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Filed under: Retirement, Saving & Investing, Taxes
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How to Invest a Windfall
Written by Nickel - 5 Comments
The other day, I ran across an interesting article by Rick Ferri about how to go about investing a lump sum of cash. Should you dump it all in the market at once, or should you dollar cost average? Based on historical data, your highest expected return comes from investing it all at once.
Of course, [...]
Published on December 14th, 2011 - 5 Comments
Filed under: Planning, Saving & Investing
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Filed under: Planning, Saving & Investing
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Insider Trading: Don’t Do It – Unless You’re in Congress
Written by Nickel - 12 Comments
Back in 2003, Martha Stewart was indicted on multiple charges including securities fraud and obstruction of justice. These charges stemmed from an investigation into an investment move back in 2001, when she allegedly dumped her shares of ImClone based on insider information that she had received from her broker. As it turns out, this sort [...]
Published on November 14th, 2011 - 12 Comments
Filed under: Saving & Investing
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Filed under: Saving & Investing
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Lending Club Update – October 2011
Written by Nickel - 18 Comments
It’s been awhile since I updated my Lending Club performance, so I thought I’d take a moment today and let you guys know what’s going on. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I haven’t been adding notes to my portfolio this year. Instead, I’ve been pulling the cash out to our savings account as payments [...]
Published on November 10th, 2011 - 18 Comments
Filed under: Saving & Investing
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Filed under: Saving & Investing
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Three Urgent Home Repair Jobs, and Three You Can Skip (or at Least Delay)
Written by Ed Avis - 4 Comments
When you think of the basics of a civilized family existence, a decent home is foundational. Doesn’t grace at your table frequently end with thanks for “the roof over our heads”? But not all home repair jobs are equally vital. The roof? Yes, you need a good roof. But, if you’re facing financial difficulties, a [...]
Published on November 10th, 2011 - 4 Comments
Filed under: Frugality, House & Home, Saving & Investing
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Filed under: Frugality, House & Home, Saving & Investing
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