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| Subject: monies!!! randomness!!! oooooooga! | |
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Author: Heaves |
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Date Posted: 05:19:02 12/05/12 Wed It's been fun sitting back watching all this investment chatter. But it's time to join the fray. I recently had to move things around as well. Firstly, I no longer work for a company that provides a 401K plan (balls!) and Kate is not eligible for a year after her start date. I had my financial planner (2003 PSU grad!!) roll my old 401K into a traditional IRA. The Roth IRA was tempting but (1) I would have needed to pay about $45,000 upfront in taxes to make that happen and (2) I was advised it's not necessary. I am also in the process of moving about half of our savings into a moderately conservative investment account for the time I am here in Europe. I hope I can get a better return than the 1% APY I was getting in my online savings account during this time, even with the investment fees (projected at 4-5% APY after fees). Fingers crossed!! Lastly, I opened up a Vanguard Target Retirement Fund (traditional IRA VTIVX) for both Kate and myself that starts uber aggressive and adjusts over time. I have not switched to a Roth IRA yet. My taxable income should be smaller next year since I took a hit to come to Europe, and I'm hoping I'll be in a lower tax bracket (if tax rates don't go up). We will put in 5K each per year since we have no other means right now to save for retirement other than what I am mandatorily putting in to my German social security. One question about rolling over to a Vanguard Roth account: I obviously funded my Vanguard traditional IRA with post-tax dollars from my savings account. So my question is, do I have to pay taxes on this money again when I roll from traditional to Roth? I can understand paying upfront taxes when rolling from a 401K to a Roth because the 401K is funded with pre-tax dollars. How does this work? Back to German social security thing. There's a little bit a incentive to leave Germany before 5 years depending on your preference. I am currently required to put aside 500 euro a month into this program, or 6,000 a year. During this time, I am not required to put into the US system. If I leave withing 5 years, and stay away (not residing in) for 2 years thereafter, I get all them monies back! I would not have to pay taxes or pay back the US in any way on this money. If I stay longer than 5 years, then I will get a check from Germany when I retire/come of age, regardless of where I live. So it's a question of whether I want my money back sooner (yes) or later (meh). Alles klar in Germany, sort of. Kate is starting to hate her job because the company is run very poorly and she is not in a position to do anything about it. They just can't seem to get their shit together. Kate has a list of discussion items for her boss. We'll see how that goes. Plus, being alone all day in the apartment is starting to get to her. We are starting to think about getting her a job here in Germany but this will be tough to do. My job is just ok. Some days are good, and others I wish I was learning more. I'm hoping that the new projects rolling in at the start of the new year will bring in a little more excitement. I am getting assigned project lead on two licensing campaigns and with that comes more responsibility. This could lead to some trips to the US later next year. We are very much ready for our trip in 2 weeks and the time cannot fly by fast enough. Lukey, we are definitely on for the 20th. Hafer, I wish we could change our flights for the 15th but it's $360 per ticket + the price difference. You should go to Allentown on the 20th instead. Doooo it! We are anti-decorating this year. One, we left all our decorations back in PA. And secondly, we won't even be here. I've completed nearly all my xmas shopping, and 90% of it has been done through Amazon. What happened with those UVA and GT to B1G rumors? They seemed to have fizzled out. Any more noise on that from within the states? Last I saw was GT denying the reports. Vic - much appreciated for the movie recommendations. Your inclusion of me as a romcom fanboy made me laugh. They'll be added to my download list for when I'm in the US. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
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