November 12, 2013

QE: The Good and the Not So Good

Here is a snapshot I took of my 401k YTD returns and my personal reflections: The Good: Holy Cow! That is amazing. Not only have we had a huge upswing in US stock indexes, my entire 401k portfolio is up...
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January 9, 2012

2012 401k Contribution Limit

The 401k employee contribution limit has finally had its first increase in 4 years in 2012. I historically max out my 401(k) contributions so I'll need to tweak my contribution levels to ensure I hit the max by the end...
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July 12, 2011

T Rowe Price Annual Service Fee for Low Balances To Increase

We got a notice that there are some upcoming account changes to my wife's IRA accounts at T Rowe Price. The main change that affects us is that they are now imposing a $20 annual service fee for accounts with...
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February 2, 2011

$50 Bonus on a ING Direct IRA Account

ING Direct is offering a $50 sign up bonus when you open an IRA (Roth or Traditional) savings or CD account and deposit $200 by February 7th. Not sure how great an idea it is to invest your IRA contributions...
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December 12, 2010

2011 401k Contribution Limit

The IRS recently published the 401k contribution limits for 2011. The 401k contribution limit will remain unchanged for 2011. 401(k) Contribution Limit Catch-Up Contribution Limit2011 $16,500 $5,500 2010 $16,500 $5,500 2009 $16,500 $5,500...
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November 3, 2008

Switched my 401k Contribution to Roth 401k

I am already on track to max out my 401(k) for 2008 at $15,500 in annual pre-tax contributions. However with the significant stock market declines I was thinking about how I could step it up a notch. I decided to...
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February 25, 2008

What Happens When You Hit the 401k Contribution Limit?

If you max out your 401k before your last paycheck for the year your employer's payroll dept will stop deducting 401k contributions from your paycheck. Is it a bad idea to max out early? Generally speaking it could be less...
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February 22, 2008

Best Way to Max out your 401k Contribution

Ok so you have convinced yourself that you want to maximize your 401k contributions. Congrats! Simply put, the easiest, most straight forward way to max out your 401k contributions is to taking the remaining amount your can contribute and divide...
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December 2, 2007

2008 401k Contribution Limit

I recently logged into my 401(k) and ratcheted up my contributions. I am a little shy of maxing out my 401k contribution limits and I am stretching myself to make sure I max it out. Since my wife is only...
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May 21, 2007

Growth Rates of My 401(k) vs Taxable Accounts

While working on my update on reducing 401k contributions to raise more cash I came up with an additional chart that I think is very telling. This chart is mapping my 401k balance against my Net Cash + Value of...
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May 15, 2007

Is it Time to Reduce My 401(k) Contributions?

How do you know if you are saving too much in tax deferred accounts? I have been maxing out my 401(k) for the past 5 years to the annual contribution limits. I feel like I have been playing a bit...
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October 9, 2006

Do Employer 401k Contributions Count Toward the Max?

Short answer - no. In a 401(k) the employer match does not count towards the annual maximum contribution. In 2006 the IRS limits your maximum contribution to $15,000 (plus $5,000 catch-up contribution for those over the age of 50). In...
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June 14, 2006

401(k) Match Maximizer is Here!

I have previously wrote about a little gotcha with my 401(k) plan that causes me to miss a portion of my employer's 401(k) unless I time my contributions perfectly. I got word this morning that my employer is announcing a...
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May 5, 2006

Are After Tax 401(k) Contributions a Good Idea?

I don't know how many 401(k) plans offer this feature, but IBM's plan allows employees to contribute up to 10% of their salary (on an after-tax basis) to their 401(k). These after-tax contributions are not part of a Roth 401(k)...
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January 9, 2006

The 401k Gotcha

There is a little gotcha in my 401k plan that I have mentioned before, but have never really emphasized. Since this is the only 401k plan I have ever participated in, I don't know if its common or unique.Typically 401k...
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January 6, 2006

Big Changes Coming in IBM's Retirement Plan

Yesterday, IBM announced a major program change to its retirement plan. It will begin freezing its pension plans 12/31/2007 and move all retirement contributions to its 401k plan.In today's plan I get an automatic 5% pay match to IBM's cash...
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November 1, 2005

Just throttled down my 401k contributions

I just logged into IBM's 401k web site and throttled down my 401k contribution from 10% to 6%. Unfortunately I may be too late.When I logged in I realized I was already closing into my 2005 contribution limit. The limit...
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About 2millionblog.com

A personal finance weblog of my journey to reach my goal of $2 million + the value of my primary residence.
Current Net Worth: $1,938,393

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