We are going to file as married joint filing status. I think, it is better to start 401k and contribute as much as possible in this year and continue maxing out from next year. What do you guys think?
Not trying to open a can of worms but consider the following, in my order of preference:
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Max out HSA if you have a qualified insurance plan
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Max out IRA
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Max out 401k
The only doubt about the HSA is if you will be leaving the country permanently. The reason for the IRA over the 401k is because you donāt have a company match, and since you can open the IRA anywhere, you will have a much wider choice of investment vehicles.
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Hi Honkinggoose,
Thanks for the information. max out IRA and 401k are mutually exclusive right? We want to start 401k which can be maxed out to 19k instead of 6k with IRA? Is it possible to do both?
Also wondering if it is possible to pay back salary and contribute it towards this year 401k. We have only few paychecks left. Not sure if we can max out 401k with few remaining months salary.
Thanks
They are not mutually exclusive ā you can max out both of them for the same year. HOWEVER, there are income limits for the IRA deductions, and those income limits are lower if you are covered by an employer plan like the 401k. So yes, each person can contribute $19K into 401k plus $6K into an IRA (either Roth, Traditional, or a combination of the two). If you canāt take a deduction for the Traditional IRA contribution because of the income limits, then you should contribute to a Roth IRA. If you can take a partial deduction, you can contribute some amount to Traditional IRA to get the deduction, and the rest to Roth (the total IRA contributions may not exceed $6K per person).
I think this wiki page covers everything you need to know: Traditional IRA - Bogleheads
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I donāt know, but even if itās possible and legal, itāll be up to your employer, so ask your HR/benefits person.
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For Chase cards, is it possible to transfer UR points from one card to another. Iām nearing closing Sapphire and still got a bunch of points there since I didnāt end up using it for travel.
Be careful with closing the Sapphire accounts. I got the CSR for the 100,000 pt bonus a few years ago, but I canāt get it again until it has been 48 months (not sure if since closure/opening/receiving bonus). So, now that I want to travel, I canāt get 1.5x value for the points. However, I applied for one of the Ink business cards for 1.25x points ($95 annual fee).
As soon as I get to 48 months, I will be applying and likely keeping the card for 2 years after which my spouse will get the card for 2 years. You can transfer points to household members with no problem.
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Yes, logon to the UR site (or logon to chase and click on the points), then find the Combine Points menu item on the hamburger menu. Or just try this: Chase Online
Combining points can be glitchy if you have too many UR cards (more than 3) or separate profiles (like personal and business) ā some cards just donāt show up. Iāve had to call in the past to get the links fixed.
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Thanks for the 411. Iām not too worried about the 48 months windows, just donāt want to lose the points if I close the card. The only other Chase card I got is the Freedom.
My company offered voluntary insurance plan is cheaper than outside. There is a option to convert it into personal in case of job lost. Any one familiar with this process? Will they give options to term life etc., .
Also wondering if it is worth getting pre-paid legal through company benefits ($10 per pay check). We are thinking of creating a will which is covered with this plan. Wondering if it is worth it.
Any feedback on this?
Canāt speak to the life insurance, except to say that I feel more comfortable depending on my own policy than expecting to be able to convert employer-provided benefit if I needed to.
Regarding group legal, I had a good experience using it for a will and it paid for itself that year. Limited list of attorneys in the plan, but no issue using it. Iāve kept it even though I havenāt been using it because I figure itāll come in handy if I ever get a speeding ticket or some other situation. Itās probably not a great value, given that Iāve had it for many years and barely used it, but itās not expensive.
Maybe I could get them to write objections to crummy class action settlements like Zappos for meā¦
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Hi Doveroftke,
Thanks for the information. Employer plan is slightly cheaper but converting might be a problem. I think, they only allow conversion into whole life policy.
Regarding legal benefit, it is going to cost $10 per paycheck. It is going to be $240 per year. I am assuming that, creating WILL, going to be very expensive ($1000 at least). This plan will cover creating Will or Trust for free. I am not sure what is the difference between WILL vs TRUST.
My only issue is how do i add future assets/ foreign assets to the will? If we get something as a inheritance in future, can we assign all these things to go existing will?
Thanks
Any feedback about including Foreign assets with the WILL.
Is it Hyatt Legal Plans / Metlaw? IMO it will be worth it if you need to prepare any documents like wills, trusts (they are very different), or do all of them (estate planning). You should go to a presentation or do some reading on Estate Planning to learn the difference between wills and trusts, theyāre very different, but complimentary. I get spam in the mail from local law firms that do free estate planning presentations once or twice a year. Iāve found quotes between $1800 and $4500 for estate planning around here, but it should be fully covered under the group legal plan, assuming you can find a lawyer that does these services in your area. In fact I found out about that at one such presentation, and Iāve just signed up to get this done next year.
Basically a WILL just tells the judge / executor what you want to do with your assets after youāre gone. A TRUST is a legal entity that owns or can receive assets. Things that you own directly (as opposed to things owned by a trust) are subject to probate, and this is different in every state. In CA, if your estate ASSET VALUE (not the ānet worthā) exceeds some small amount (I think $150K), then everything you own goes through probate and a judge gets to decide what to do with your assets. Usually the judge will just follow the WILL if you had one and it was properly prepared, but this could take months to years, the assets are frozen in the meantime, and your property could even be foreclosed if someone else doesnāt pay the bills. Also probate isnāt free, the cost depends on the total value of assets.
But if you personally donāt own anything and everything is in trusts (which do not die), then all those assets do not go through probate. The trust would have a contingent beneficiary, meaning the person who becomes the beneficiary of the trust if the primary beneficiary (you) pass away. Thereās also something called a Pour-over Will, which is a WILL that, in case of your demise, moves your personal assets that may not already be in a trust, into a trust (thus avoiding probate). All these documents (plus medical and/or financial Power of Attorney, health care directive, advanced medical directive, and probably some others) are prepared as part of Estate Planning.
Thatās how I understand it anyway. Iām not a lawyer.
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Itās all in how the will is worded. āI leave all my assets to my son Joeā means whatever assets you have at death (that you already had, or acquire in the future) will go to Joe. If you specify assets, and in the future have assets that arent mentioned, youāll have to formally amend the will to include those new assets. And for that matter, naming specific names will inherently exclude anyone not named, while being more vague (saying āto my childrenā) can cover future beneficiaries without producing an amendment.
No one can really advise you as to how specific you need to be, other than a lawyer working directly with you. There are benefits to being specific and to being vague, but either can also come with serious pitfalls. Only your specific circumstances and details determine what language is most appropriate.
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Thanks for the detailed information. We signed up for Hyatt Legal Plan/Metlaw ($9.50 per paycheck). I think it is paid after tax from payroll. We will check with Lawyer about estate planning. We waited until we become citizens.
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WWe will inherit some assets in foreign county. We have home and saving here. We will discuss with Lawyer and get their feedback. This plan also covers property tax protest.
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I am very interested in what they consider to be the max time they will spend on your estate planning. If you donāt mind following up after speaking with them, I would appreciate it. We just finished open enrollment and skipped the legal plan. I presumed, probably incorrectly, that they would have a maximum hours spent per incident/client.
Thanks for the suggestion. My will is coming up on 10 years and circumstances have changed so that I am now interested in learning more about trusts. One of the downsides of keeping our names off of mailing lists is that we donāt get many offers for ways to spend money. 
Technically Iām not on any mailing lists (didnāt you see my privacy thread?), but I own property in my name and Iām guessing they send their letters to all homeowners in the area.
Of course they always ask for personal information when you either sign up in advance or show up at such presentations (their goal is to sell you their services after all), so I come prepared with a fake name and a non-existent address.