[Myriad]

[quote=bullishgurl]
He has a shitload of money in his 401k but made a middle class income during his prime years by bring an complete miser. HE was also one of those guys that had a pension in the defense sector as a machinist that is also adding to the AGI in his retirement years, so I guess combined, his tax rate is much higher than when he was working.

Some of his colleagues are in the same boat.

But I agree with you on the 50/50 split, which is what I do.[/quote]

Seems like a 1st World problem – too much money and now has to pay more tax!

But seriously, that’s why the roth 401k vs traditional 401k is complicated. You have to project what your retirement tax rate is.
I agree with the 50/50 roth/traditional since it provides tax diversification in retirement.
Since the person had a pension, with SS, it’s probably fairly easy to be in a higher tax bracket if his income was average when he was working.

If you do have a large 401k balance, you have to withdraw money from your 401k as soon as you retire (retire early) and slowly move the money to a roth. Once you hit 70.5, the RMD can not be used for a roth. Only once you hit 70.5, you take SS and potentially withdraw money from the roth. So basically burn as much money from a traditional 401k/ira before you hit RMD,

[Myriad]

[quote=flu]
I would contribute to a Roth IRA via backdoor if I could. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of rolling out one of my previous employer’s 401k into a rollover IRA. So I can’t do a backdoor Roth IRA without paying taxes for the conversion. But my then again, my current and previous employer both offered a traditional 401k and a Roth 401k account.[/quote]

Thanks for writing out in more detail what I was trying to say in shorthand.
You’re right about the pro-rata rule. If you don’t have that issue, then a nondeductible IRA is similar to an After-Tax 401K. as donated by this post.

IRS Notice 2014-54 Acquiesces On Splitting After-Tax 401(k) Contributions For Roth Conversion

I’m currently doing the after-tax 401k since I’ve maxed mine out. I debating on switching to the nondeductible IRA, since I suspect the Back-door IRA strategy will be closed in the next administration.

[Myriad]

Roth IRA.
Once that is full, use a normal IRA without deduction for any contributions you want to make above the Roth IRA max. Contribute until you can invest in 401k. Wait a year, then roll the IRA into the Roth IRA.

[Myriad]

Don’t think the brand matters that much – they are pretty much a commodity product. But sounds like you need software that can shutdown your computer if you’re gone.
Generally a UPS is good for something that requires a shutdown process. If your power is bad, then something like a power conditioner could be good for a TV too.

[Myriad]

[quote=spdrun]Personally, I hope that North Korea will explode a few EMP nukes above CONUS well before we get to the point of light bulbs spying on people, frying 90% of unshielded electronics. Setting technology back fifty years would be a laudable goal in that case.[/quote]

There’s definitely some other people in this forum that would be excited for this to happen…

[Myriad]

[quote=bearishgurl]There you go again, Myriad. The “world” didn’t “have” to “absorb” 500M (Chinese) workers. The “world” doesn’t owe these workers a damn thing! In the case of the US, what actually happened was that our leaders actually gave away our jobs to the Chinese at our expense! Even the “high tier” executive and white-collar professional jobs disappeared along with the US manufacturer-employers who closed up shop in the US and moved to MX or overseas to take advantage of slave labor. It was our OWN esteemed leaders who sold American workers down the river by creating NAFTA and other trade agreements making it possible for our OWN manufacturers to get their goods made for pennies on the dollar in another country! US citizens didn’t really need all this cheap Chinese junk back then and we don’t need it now. America’s millions of displaced workers would rather have a selection of JOBS to choose from in their respective locales rather than regular freight trains loaded with double-stacked Chinese crates barreling through their towns at all hours of the day and night to unload at big box stores coast to coast. One used to be able to leave a job easily and have another one waiting to start in the same locale but this is now near impossible to do in most cities and towns.

Since you couched what happened to millions of American jobs in language which appears to be making excuses here, I don’t mind discussing what really happened. Regardless if a so-called “global `system'” actually exists … or not, we Americans aren’t responsible for China’s population explosion OR their unemployment level.[/quote]
I’m talking history and you’re talking about what you thought the world should look like according to you.
This is also incoherent. First you blame China and ignore Eastern Europe. Then you talk about Mexico and NAFTA, which has nothing to do with China. The rest of your response is just random words complaining that life isn’t the same as the 1990s.

[Myriad]

[quote=bearishgurl]Um, flu, I don’t know what you’ve been smoking but “Chinese people” don’t do my job. I’m sure they exist … somewhere, but I’ve never met a Chinese person who is in my occupation. At least not in San Diego, where I work. A lot of stuff I do requires very strong English dictation, reading, writing and composition skills on frequently difficult material which has to be in a special format. Sorry to burst your bubble but people who immigrated here from China could not do it.[/quote]

That’s borderline racist. Just because you haven’t met any does not mean someone from China doesn’t have the language skills to do a similar job.

[Myriad]

[quote=bearishgurl]
Myriad, here is my reply to your verbose reply to my post.
…
SF is earthquake prone. They will not allow the 40+ story high rises that exist in Asia.
…
Rent control in SF is not going away. Those who are lucky enough to have it don’t care about mobility.
…
Newcomers must take the available housing that is on offer and there will always be people moving, thereby creating vacant living units. We don’t owe them anything else.
…
Why do you think Americans should live as dense as Asians do in the cities you mentioned above? I don’t need any “perspective.”
…
Witness Chinese workers wearing masks all or part of every workday they spend in the city … and every day if they live there.
…
The land mass of the US is only 1% larger than that of China’s yet they have 373 people per square mile and we have 90.6 people per square mile.
…
[/quote]

BG, my reply is long b/c my original post was 14 lines, yours was 54. 2nd post 35 lines, yours was 81. This one is 27 (technically 25)

SF Earthquake prone – You mean like Tokyo, where they are building 50+ story high rises?
Economic Mobility – well rent control creates a psychological reason to stay put. But it might not be in the renter’s best interest if there is a better job or career.

Newcomers & oweing stuff – Who said anything about that? If you think there will be 0 new development in SF or any other city, you’re sorely mistaken.

Americans & dense cities – Not surprised by your response – I’m not advocating it – it’s happening in many places in the US.

Chinese workers & masks – Density is not the cause of the bad pollution. Bad environment policy for factories, power, and cars is. Mass transit and dense living actually improves environmental efficiency (imagine if everyone uses energy like the US).

China & geography – If you did some research, China has a fraction of the arable land compared to the US, that’s why everyone is concentrated in a few areas. Yes, there’s been lots of bad policies in the past 200 years. But China has caught up 50 years in the last 10 (now they are in the 1960’s/1970’s compared to the US. They’ve also brought 400M people out of poverty in 25 years. There’s actually a lot of places in China that are not developed and a lot less polluted (most of that is away from the major cities). Also, what about other countries like S.Korea or Japan? You only singled out China.

You’re comparing a bunch of islands with a country with 1.2B people?
Not advocating that we turn the US into Asia – just that we have smart planned growth. Your plan is to do nothing thinking it’s all going to be good.

[Myriad]

[quote=bearishgurl][quote=Myriad]
Scott’s quote said he “would like” to stay near family. No where does he say he expects or should.

I think Scott makes a valid point about SF. Just because no new housing is built doesn’t mean people don’t move in. Prices just go up for long time residents, locals, seniors, new residents, etc.
Then people want rent control which is entirely the wrong answer. The correct answer is to build more supply.
It probably won’t be SFR, but it makes sense to build more dense multi-family with good mass transit options. Just look at Asia, where many shopping areas, and restaurants, have residential mixed in.
The problem with not doing anything is that eventually prices become extremely expensive for both renters and owners, and traffic becomes terrible. So yeah, people that are still here have their homes, but the overall society is worse.[/quote]
…
Rent-controlled tenants have more stringent protections than do market-rate tenants under their municipal code.
…
There is no other place on earth just like it and certainly no other city compares to it in the US.
…
This time-consuming procedure of getting homeowner input and going through multiple public hearings to listen to community testimony could increase the permit time from 1.5 years to as much as 4 years for a typical 1-4 unit dwelling. Completing the permitting process for a high-rise residential project in SF could take up to 15 yrs, depending on the amount of surrounding neighbors, the district and what is proposed to be built.
…
Asia (China?) has many grossly OVERbuilt cities and its planning was virtually non-existent with horrific consequences … including fouling their own air to the point that city residents and workers wear face masks just to walk to/from work to the train and do their errands.
…
OTOH, San Franciscans, like longtime residents of many other CA coastal communities, don’t want more density in their districts.
…
The streets are too steep and the lots too narrow, in many cases, to build parking garages under the living units.
[/quote]

Well not surprisingly, BG provides a close-minded, negative, and unnecessarily verbose answer.

On rent control – Actually I have no idea where your response came from. I wasn’t saying that existing renters with rent-controlled apartments will get kicked out. But now that you brought it up, the problem of rent-controlled is that it artificially reduces supply (basic supply/demand economics) and is biased against new residents (also may impact individual economic mobility for existing rent-controlled residents).

On SF being unique in the world – That’s obvious, but also completely pointless. The same thing can be said about any tier 1 city (HK, London, Paris, NYC, etc).
SF permitting – I’ll take your word on the details. But the permit process is why housing is so expensive in SF.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-novel-move-to-expand-housing-in-san-francisco-1469578675
“Grappling with a housing shortage that has sent rents soaring 50% since the recession, city officials on Tuesday passed legislation allowing landlords to carve fresh apartments out of underutilized spaces, including storage areas and utility rooms.”

On Asia – I didn’t specify China. Have you actually traveled to any major Asian city in the last 5 years? Ever?
I’m not going to talk about the air/water/land quality in China. What the topic discussed was the integration of commerical/residential/mass transit. People don’t drive cars everywhere and are able to live peacefully though in a more dense population. Not every country is blessed with the wealth, space, and resources of the US. But, the urban planning is something that should be studied and the parts that work, we in the US should learn from.

The streets are too steep and the lots too narrow, in many cases, to build parking garages under the living units.
LOL, nothing in SF is too steep and narrow. Look at anything on Hong Kong Island.
BG, I encourage you to visit Hong Kong, Tokyo, Bangkok, and even Shanghai to gain some perspective.

[Myriad]

I don’t agree with banning anyone from speaking, unless they are threatening someone, making racist/bigotry remarks, or completely off-topic responses in every thread.

What this forum should do is limit the # of consecutive responses and length of response to 250-500 words.

[Myriad]

I don’t think this something either party necessarily could solve. With the end of the Cold War and opening of China, the world had to absorb 500M+ new workers into the global system. That created a gap in the high-wage countries where middle tier and low tier skilled work shifted to those countries.
Now that workforce has more or less been absorbed and the workforce has aged considerably. For example production in China is almost as expensive as the US now, accounting for shipping, energy, insurance, etc. Now with new technology and shift in consumer demand to more immediate needs, I think we’ll see a shift in middle tier skilled labor back to developed economies.

[Myriad]

Today it’s Muslims, tomorrow it’s Mexicans, then Asians… what’s after that? Jews?
So does he plan to put the millions of Muslims and Mexicans in camps before he deports them?

[Myriad]

[quote=bearishgurl]
We just had a new poster post on this thread last night (scottinob) who believes, as a millenial, that he should be able to buy or rent in the area where he grew up in. Essentially, he feels he should be able to live near extended family.
[end of rant][/quote]

Scott’s quote said he “would like” to stay near family. No where does he say he expects or should.

I think Scott makes a valid point about SF. Just because no new housing is built doesn’t mean people don’t move in. Prices just go up for long time residents, locals, seniors, new residents, etc.
Then people want rent control which is entirely the wrong answer. The correct answer is to build more supply.
It probably won’t be SFR, but it makes sense to build more dense multi-family with good mass transit options. Just look at Asia, where many shopping areas, and restaurants, have residential mixed in.
The problem with not doing anything is that eventually prices become extremely expensive for both renters and owners, and traffic becomes terrible. So yeah, people that are still here have their homes, but the overall society is worse.

[Myriad]

[quote=bearishgurl]READ MY LIPS, shoveler. There is NO MORE LAND left in SD County for subdivisions! Deal with it.
[/quote]
Except for the thousands of homesites that are being prepped along the 56 and Carmel Valley Road in NC.
Mira Mesa also seems to be ok with building dense multi-family housing.

[Myriad]

[quote=Panderso]
I’m not thrilled about becoming a landlord and that’s weighed on our decision to keep the condo. The thing is, where would we invest that capital if we sold? We ran the numbers and, assuming 2 percent annual appreciation on the condo and averaged cash flow of only $100 a month, we’re still way better off compared to having it in the stock market at a 5 percent annual return.

I do like diversified investments though … If folks can suggest a better place to park the cash I’d love to hear it.[/quote]

I would agree the major factor to owning a rental is work associated with becoming a landlord. As for where to invest otherwise, the stock market with dividend reinvestment is higher than 5% historically. Of course who knows what it will be in the future.
Another factor to consider is concentration in real estate (and in SD for that matter) as well as taxes.
401k, Roth IRA, and After-tax 401k defer your taxes out until you retire (or none for roth). Also 529 can be a good investment for a future kid.

[quote=treehugger]
Just had house appraised for refi and value has doubled over what we paid in 2012, absolutely amazing![/quote]
Where the heck has house prices doubled in SD since 2012?

[Author]

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