Personal Finance

This is an outline of our personal finance plan. Feel free to fork it and make your own!

Debt

Pay off highest interest loans first, keep loans with rates lower than inflation
Auto pay credit cards
Carry less than 1/3 of credit limit in credit card balance. Ask for credit limit increases if needed.
Check credit score once a year. CreditKarma has a better interface and suggestions for improving credit score.
Refinance for a lower interest rate on mortgages or large loans

Ask mortgage lender for a half dozen pre-approval letters in 25k increments up to the max. Prevents seller from seeing your max purchase power.
Consider 401k loans. Up to $50k, prime rate, and interest and principal are both paid back into the account
Consider personal loans or personal line of credit for debt consolidation. Example "First Republic Personal Line of Credit" 2.25 - 3.5%, interest only first 2 years, then amortized for remainder of the loan. Total terms from 5 - 10 years.
Consider using a "box spread" for borrow cash quickly without underwriting.

12 months of expenses in a high interest savings account
Consider tax-exempt treasury funds like FDLXX if in a high tax state. The Finance Buff
Budget out large purchases into monthly amounts to save. e.g. car, wedding, vacation
"Liquidity access lines" to borrow against your portfolio

Health Savings Account (HSA). Maximize employer contributions.
- Do not invest until balance would exceed minimum to avoid fees
- Choose a plan that allows investment in index funds like Wells Fargo or Health Savings Administrators
- Continue to pay medical expenses out of pocket when possible to maximize tax deferred growth
- No penalties for non-medical withdrawals after 65. Can use as another retirement account.

Pay less taxes - guide to tax advantaged accounts
Choose a Retirement Plan IRS overview of different plan types. Highlights the benefits of each.
IRS Rollover Chart shows what retirement plans can be rolled over.
Calculate whether Traditional or Roth contribution makes sense for your tax bracket. calculator. Typically, high income/high tax rate => traditional, low income/low tax rate => roth. Save on taxes now vs save on taxes later.
Maximize contributions to tax advantaged accounts: 401k, IRA, HSA.
Backdoor Roth IRA. Pay special attention to IRA aggregation rule and pro-rata distributions, and the consequences of 'step doctrine' for audits
After-tax 401k contributions and rollovers
Choose low cost index funds.
Charitable giving. Contributions to eligible organizations can be itemized as a deduction. Donor Advised Funds (DAF) can deduct from high tax years and defer gifts until later.
EarlyRetirementNow: Safe Withdrawal Rate series

529 plan. For non-qualified expenses, principal can be withdrawn without penalty, but withdrawals will be proportional principal and earnings. source
Vanguard 529
- $3,000 minimum
- Age based options. I'm using the "moderate" option: starts at 75/25 stock/bond allocation
Dependent care FSA. IRS publication 503

jch.app investment, networth, dividend tracking
Review of spending with Personal Capital or Fidelity Full View. Categorize spending, note any large differences in monthly trends. Link all accounts.
ProjectionLab retirement plans, draw down visualizer.

Merril: Integrates well with Bank of America for retail banking, Preferred Rewards program good for credit cards, loan discounts. Money market funds don't pay interest by default
Morgan Stanley: Felt harder to self service. Amex Platinum paired card.
Fidelity: Great phone support, free wires, 2% cashback card.
Vanguard: I like the simplicity of their website, and mobile app. I use it for our IRA, Roth IRAs, and 529.

You Need a Budget - YNAB too much work, prefer to look back at spending than project forward
Quora Personal Finance - stopped using this