Meager Income

Pay Off Debt, Retire Comfortably on Meager Income, Win the Lottery, Not Necessarily in that Order

I’m reducing my 401(k) Contribution

The stock market has been great for almost 6 years straight now.  Today, the Dow Jones average closed at 18,214.42, the S&P 500 closed at 2110.74, and the Nasdaq closed at 4987.89.  At these prices, I’m skeptical that the stocks can continue on their upward trajectory without a correction.  Take a look for yourself below […]

A $400,000 Mistake!

The account holder thought he had ensured that his children would receive his IRA upon his passing. Unfortunately, because the account holder did not fill out the beneficiary form correctly, the funds were disbursed in accordance to his will instead of the IRA beneficiaries as he had intended. He should have just listed his children […]

Saving for Retirement 2014

I’ve had a busy few months and now I’m finally getting a chance to think about my finances again.  I’ve decided to increase the amount I’m contributing to my 401k.  This will reduce my taxable income now and defer taxes on the amount I set aside to a future date.  The maximum allowed by the […]

401k Loan

I was forecasting my expenses and realized that I was going to be short on cash this month and I needed to make sure to contribute to my Roth for 2013 before April 15th. I did have the option of selling some stock but I did not want to incur capital gains taxes from doing […]

Positive Net Worth, finally!

I’ve been tracking my Net Worth for a while now and I was excited to see that I’m back to a positive net worth!  I’ve analyzed my records and found that most of the gains came from the stock market, of course.  I’m still trying to find the right contribution amount to my 401k that […]

Buffett Argues For a Minimum Tax For the Wealthy

I’m not sure if you had a chance to read Mr. Buffett’s op-ed in the New York Times on Nov 25th.  As you know, I’m a fan of his.  You can read the full opinion piece here. He has some interesting facts in his article like: The Forbes 400, the wealthiest individuals in America, hit a […]

Bye-Bye 11-11

I’ve updated my debt and Meager Income charts through December 1st.  One more month to go before the start of 2012.  I’ll be very excited if I can break through the $250k mark.  I’m tempted to take out a 401k loan if the stock market rallies in the next few weeks to pay off a […]

2012 Tax Benefits to Increase Due to Inflation

The IRS has just announced Cost of Living Adjustments to various items for tax year 2012.  Of interest to a lot of people should be the increase to 401(k) from $16,500 to $17,000—an increase of $500.  I’m still not at the max for this year.  Deducting $708.33 a pay check would be way too much […]

Low Cost Index Funds for 401(k)’s

I’m generally pleased with my 401k, but I feel there is some room for improvement.  I do get company matching but it is only 3% which seems to be a defacto standard.  I think my employer could do at least a little bit more.  My main concerns are investment options and fees.  Ron Lieber wrote […]

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