Monday, November 19, 2012

Taxable Account Investing - Early-Retirement.org

Taxable Account Investing

Old Yesterday, 10:39 AM ? #1

Thinks s/he gets paid by the post

?

Join Date: Jul 2009

Posts: 1,181

Taxable Account Investing


I am totally clueless about investing in a taxable account. All of our investments have been in retirement accounts. However, we just sold some property that we owned that had no debt on it and have refinanced our home to do some improvements. We will be using some of it for home improvements, but will have about $100k cash left over.

I am uncertain how to best invest it to limit income taxes. We have a 55/45 allocation with DH's IRA at Vanguard (which we do draw from) and my 401(k) at Fidelity (which we don't draw from).

DH is retired (he is 65) and I'm semi-retired, working very part-time. Ordinarily to make big purchases (car, major home improvement, etc) we need to withdraw from his IRA which we don't love doing since a large withdrawal is taxable.

I expect that in 2013 we will be in the 25% tax bracket.

I sort of plan to take the $100k that is in taxable accounts and put it in Vanguard and just have it sit there but it will be available for those kinds of large withdrawals in the future. For example, we may want to buy a car in a couple of years and we could part of it for that. Or we might use it for major home repairs, etc. (Nothing really planned for any time soon.)

I'm uncertain where to put the money at Vanguard from a tax standpoint. I just don't know that much about how taxes work on investments since we have never had to pay taxes on any given that everything has been in retirement accounts.


' + '?' + google_ads[i].line2 + '?' + google_ads[i].line3 + '?' + '' + google_ads[i].visible_url + '

'; } } '' } if (google_ads[0].bidtype == "CPC") { /* insert this snippet for each ad call */ google_adnum = google_adnum + google_ads.length; } document.write(s); return; } google_ad_client = 'ca-pub-7757781251671730'; google_ad_channel = '3711355403'; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '6'; google_ad_type = 'text'; google_feedback = 'on'; // -->

__________________

Katsmeow is offline ? Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old Yesterday, 10:47 AM ? #2

Recycles dryer sheets

?

Join Date: May 2010

Posts: 131

Hi,

Boggleheads has a good artical in the library on what asset class to put in your taxable vs non taxable accounts.

basically you want bonds , reits and balanced funds in the non tax account.

best

bob


' + '?' + google_ads[i].line2 + '?' + google_ads[i].line3 + '?' + '' + google_ads[i].visible_url + '

'; } } '' } if (google_ads[0].bidtype == "CPC") { /* insert this snippet for each ad call */ google_adnum = google_adnum + google_ads.length; } document.write(s); return; } google_ad_client = 'ca-pub-7757781251671730'; google_ad_channel = '3568142076'; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '6'; google_ad_type = 'text'; google_feedback = 'on'; // -->

__________________
You've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

ducky911 is offline ? Reply With Quote
Old Yesterday, 11:37 AM ? #3

Thinks s/he gets paid by the post

?

Join Date: Feb 2007

Posts: 1,069

Depending on what you invest in you will pay taxes on interest payments or dividend payments. If you are investing in mutual funds, you may encounter year-end distributions of capital gains.

What to invest in depends on your overall asset allocation, considering all of your accounts. The $100K could be a part of your cash allocation, and depending on your investment policy, might make up a part of your designated cash reserves.

For example, I maintain a two-year cash reserve in addition to my short-term bond allocation.

I can't advise on Vanguard investments, as I don't have an account with them, but would suggest that you consider EFTs as an investment vehicle as the potential for capital gains is reduced.

-- Rita

__________________
Only got A dimple, would have preferred 2!

Gotadimple is offline ? Reply With Quote
Old Yesterday, 11:51 AM ? #4

Thinks s/he gets paid by the post

?

Join Date: Jul 2009

Posts: 1,181

I don't put anything in cash frankly (well a little in my bank account but not part of my asset allocation).

Basically what I am struggling with is whether to put this in an equity fund or a bond fund.

All of my 401(k) is in an S&P 500 fund

At Vanguard we have our money currently in

Extended Market fund
High Yield Corporate fund
Short Term Investment Grade Fund
Total Bond
Total International
Wellesley

Our overall allocation is 55/45.

I am happy with what our investments are in Vanguard so would probably invest this 100k in one of the funds I'm already invested in. The closest we have to cash investment is the short term investment fund which is where we draw regular IRA withdrawals from.

I don't want to use this 100k for that so the choices would be to invest it in the Extended market fund, high yield fund, total bond, total international, or Wellesley. Just not sure which would be better from a tax standpoint.

__________________

Katsmeow is offline ? Reply With Quote
Old Yesterday, 12:07 PM ? #6

Moderator

?

Join Date: Jan 2008

Location: Chicagoland!

Posts: 8,518

I don't put anything in cash frankly (well a little in my bank account but not part of my asset allocation).

Basically what I am struggling with is whether to put this in an equity fund or a bond fund.

All of my 401(k) is in an S&P 500 fund

At Vanguard we have our money currently in

Extended Market fund
High Yield Corporate fund
Short Term Investment Grade Fund
Total Bond
Total International
Wellesley

Our overall allocation is 55/45.

I am happy with what our investments are in Vanguard so would probably invest this 100k in one of the funds I'm already invested in. The closest we have to cash investment is the short term investment fund which is where we draw regular IRA withdrawals from.

I don't want to use this 100k for that so the choices would be to invest it in the Extended market fund, high yield fund, total bond, total international, or Wellesley. Just not sure which would be better from a tax standpoint.

If you want to keep the same 55/45 allocation, using the $100K for equities in the taxable account has some advantages. If equities do decline you can use the loss for tax loss harvesting. If equities increase in value you can sell them a preferred, capital gains rates (under current tax law). Also under current tax law, qualified dividends are subject to preferred rates.

Most of the funds you mention are not tax-efficient and are better in the IRA. One exception is the International fund. Your investment there is subject to foreign taxes, but because it is tax deferred you do not get the credit. If you sell that in the IRA and buy it in the taxable account you will get benefit. You could then use the cash in the IRA to buy a combination of Wellington and fixed income to get back to your target allocation.

__________________
It's not the cards you're dealt in life but what you do with them that matters

MichaelB is offline ? Reply With Quote
Old Yesterday, 01:56 PM ? #10

Thinks s/he gets paid by the post

?

Join Date: Jul 2005

Posts: 1,563

I'd keep it in cash.

You are withdrawing from an IRA now. You could withdraw less to stay under the 25% tax bracket and fill in the rest of your income needs with the taxable money, saving on taxes.

You can also characterize the IRA withdrawal as a Roth conversion. Again, cover your expenses normally paid with that IRA withdrawal with funds from your taxable account instead. Effectively, you end up transferring most of your taxable account value into a Roth IRA Rollover account. Then it is tax free after that, including bulk withdrawals to cover a new car. It also can allow you to continue withdrawing from your IRA only to the bottom of the 25% tax bracket while covering the rest of your needs from the Roth. That will maximize the amount of the IRA that you pull out at 15% instead of 25%. And you can invest it the same way you're used to in the traditional IRA. Watch out for the Roth 5 year rules, they may restrict your access to the Roth IRA.

You must complete a Roth conversion within the calendar year, but there's no reason you have to do it this year if your income is already into the 25% tax bracket. I'd probably wait until you've studied all the tax consequences and planned it out. Then execute the plan next year. You don't want to screw it up.

If you're already into the 25% tax bracket you probably won't have the taxable account hanging around for long. That's why you can just leave it in cash for now. That's your next year's expenses.

__________________

Animorph is offline ? Reply With Quote
Old Yesterday, 02:06 PM ? #11

Thinks s/he gets paid by the post

?

Join Date: Nov 2010

Posts: 2,492

My approach is similar to what others have recommended. I look at AA across all my taxable, tax-deferred and tax-free accounts.

The first priority for my tax-deferred accounts is my bond allocation. If my total bond allocation were to exceed my tax-deferred account, then the excess would go into the tax-free accounts and and lastly to the taxable account; in all cases since bond funds pay a lot of dividends and are not tax efficient.

In actuality, my tax-deferred accounts exceed by bond allocation, so my taxable and tax free accounts are all equities.

But I did learn one thing from this thread about the foreign tax credit that I'll need to chase. Right now, I have some Roth invested in international equities and it sounds like I would be better off to make those domestic equities and keep all my international equities in my taxable accounts.

Since you have Vanguard, you can run a Portfolio Watch report across all your accounts given your target AA and then use Portfolio Tester to evaluate how to invest the $100k. Alternatively, you probably have enough at Vanguard to have them do a financial planning session for you and get additional ideas on how to place the $100k.

Good luck.

__________________

pb4uski is online now ? Reply With Quote
Old Yesterday, 08:16 PM ? #13

Thinks s/he gets paid by the post

?

Join Date: Jul 2009

Posts: 1,181

I have zero interest in keeping the money entirely in cash. I've read enough to be convinced that large cash holdings are not advisable. So, I don't want to do that. Our intent with this money was to keep it for those large expenses that you know you will have but don't know when (car, major home repair like a new roof, etc.). The kind of thing where I wouldn't want to have to withdraw from the IRA due to the taxes. The hope is that we keep this money invested in the meantime and hope we don't need to do anything with it for a couple of years. It may not make sense to anyone else for us to do this instead of just spending it...but it's what we want to do.

On asset allocation.

We used to have total stock market in Vanguard. However, my 401k at Fidelity has limited choices, particularly those with low expenses. So I am in an S&P fund at Fidelity. To get to the desired allocation and have the right balance of types of equities we sold the total stock market at Vanguard and bought the extended market fund which basically is equities other than those in the S&P 500. Between that and what I have in my 401(k) we have the right balance among types of equities. If it wasn't for my 401(k) we probably would have total stock market but it isn't in the cards for now.

Next year and as long as I work part time, I expect us to be in the 25% tax bracket. We live in a state with no income tax. I don't know how long I'll continue to work part time (as long as I like it basically). When I stop we will be probably be in the 15% bracket. Oh, we can't withdraw less to stay under the 25% tax bracket while I'm working part-time. I will get us there on my income alone and even if my income went down with DH's SS we would certainly get there..

Most of our living expenses in 2013 will be paid from my part-time income. DH does receive SS and we will have some withdrawals from his IRA (about 25% of our total income will come from those).

I want to do something with this money that is relatively simple and easy to account for from a tax standpoint. While I'm an attorney, taxes are not my area. I do our own taxes using Turbo Tax so I don't want to do anything so complicated I would have hire someone to do taxes.

__________________

Katsmeow is offline ? Reply With Quote


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 3 (1 members and 2 guests)
scrabbler1


Source: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/taxable-account-investing-63760.html

lsu alabama lsu game lsu game beezow doo doo zopittybop bop bop cordova demaryius thomas transtar

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.