Well I got two of em. How much will they gimme for it?

Thanks. I see your point. It makes sense. What is your take on sticking to the same list of index funds (when the expense ratio is zero) across all my retirement accounts?

I get it! I worked for a company I absolutely hated working for, I tried to stay for a year but after 2 months it was unbearable. So I quit and now I’m so much happier where I am. You sound like a really good employee though, for wanting to be there for a year and trying to figure things out I don’t have the patient for that so I respect! Can you maybe talk to HR or another manager about what’s going on? If not then I would look for more jobs because it’s so frustrating working for a company who doesn’t listen to you

There's no harm in re-characterizing "just in case"...the only downside is you might do so without needing to. There's also no harm in waiting, as long as you do it early enough to complete the re-characterization before Dec 31st 2023 (the conversion back to Roth can happen any time, as long as you don't have pre-tax traditional IRA dollars in the same year - but you do pay taxes on earnings when this happens so it's best to do it ASAP after re-characterization).

No. What I'm saying is if you started at the new position today at 113% of your salary, it would take 8 months to break even on the retention bonus.

The Richest Man in Babylon. Money management isn't complicated. The old ways are simple and still work best.

Ok great

Just a follow up question. I have an active 10b5 plan (autosell stocks on vesting date), so there is a chance my MAGI would actually pass a limit at some point if stock price get high enough.

Would it make sense to keep my contributions to roth ira, and then just recharacterize if needed before next tax season due?

Their has to be a way to account for how long it takes to aquire a new position. Vs a retention Bonus. .... are you saying at 8month from your Bonus you would accept 113% of your salary to take a new position and forfeit the bonus?

I've been telecommuting to NYC and LA for 25 years now from the midwest.

If someone would have said something like that I'd have laughed at them.

Fair enough. I figured 65 is just what we’d be comfortable spending in total each year.

Oh whew. Yes at 23 you can safely start now. You don’t have plenty of time. The younger you start the less you have to put in per month due to compounding interest on retirement. So if you can start now, you won’t be playing catch up when your kids are in highschool and ready to go off to college. You can start lower. 10-15% in your 20’s.

Do either of your employers offer a 401k

If they don’t you can open an IRA with vanguard or fidelity pretty easily.

Play with some retirement calculators and see what the difference will be if you wait.

Not an expert, but no adult should be at $11/hr. It's making you homeless. The two of you who can work need to step it up. Look for places offering a sign-on bonus- of $10K, and get it in writing. Bring a copy to whatever attorneys are helping you. You'll probably need representation. I wouldn't risk my home on skipping that. Is the 3rd adult getting disability? If not, why not? Find out what else can be done- like in-home help, maybe. I'm in a different state, so YMMV, but find out about all of that. You need more than to get through this crisis, alone. Keep asking questions and learning. I know that geographically wages vary, but where I live wages are generally lower than in Texas, and I was getting $11/hr as a teenager 40 years ago. Think that through and figure out how to leverage your skills and talents.

IANAL but will give you my perspective.

I work as a travel healthcare worker, spending most of my year working away from my home address. There are very specific guidelines I need to follow to avoid running afoul of the IRS.

Going this route will likely make wherever you list for income purposes as your "domicile state." (if it's outside of the state you already reside in) I.e. where you earn most of your money and spend most of your time.

At a minimum this will subject you to the new locations income taxes and residency laws (edit:) while forfeiting any benefits from the state you actually live in. If there is any doubt about this a court will decide for you.

If a new state is declared your domicile, legally you need to transfer everything over. Driver ID, insurance, etc, and those premiums will likely bump to match the new location's COL. And it would really suck to trap your residency in a state that you don't actually own anything in, OR I'd imagine this would pose a barrier at tax time when trying to declare residency there. (Edit:) depending on if you own your house, you may pay extra taxes on it, or penalities if it is no longer considered your primary residence.

IRS will not be happy if there is any tax related fraud going on, but as long as you file appropriately, you should be fine.

IMO, if you wanted to do this while minimizing your legal risk, find the highest COL area in the same state. I certainly can't guarantee this is totally kosher by tax law, but there's nothing glaringly obvious that says this is a bad idea as far as the IRS is concerned.

Although even within the same state, I'd be more concerned with the employer finding out as I'm sure that deception could be classified as theft. You're getting terminated immediately, unable to claim unemployment, while being sued for the overpay.

Seems like an overall risky prospect. If you choose to proceed with this route, 100% seek legal council.

Is increasing trad 401k or HSA contributions an option? You could see if that could potentially put your MAGI within the roth ira limits.

It’s gone up a bit since then. In my area it’s $40 for first visit then $110 for 2nd. It resets weekly. So $600/mo if you don’t get deferred

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>If your offered a bonus to stay eight months and it's worth 20% of your annual salary how much does an offer need to be to accept it??

Well, technically speaking:

8/12 * 20% = 13.33%.

But that only works if you can get the same 20% 8 months from now.

Within tax advantaged accounts, no.

Give me 15 minutes, I am going to check our excel sheet and get exact numbers, hopefully that will help. I am ball-parking a lot from memory and I shouldn’t have done that. I apologize!

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> It's a huge mental burden removed when you pay it off

To someone. IDGAF about my 3% mortgage. I'll happily pay that forever.

I’m 23, while I definitely think retirement is an important aspect of my life. I really do believe I have plenty of time to really decide what to do on that end.

I wish I could attach an excel sheet, expenses would be easier to list out.

Thank you for clarifying, didn’t realize that. Your example is pretty close to my numbers, so potentially I should still qualify. Just need to double check to be 100% sure. Appreciate your help.

Forgot you said 457. That would be true. Depending on your income tax rate, your actual tax obligation may be more or less than 20%. Considering there isn't a tax bracket that is 20%, it's highly likely you either over or under pay. Withholding on withdraw does not equal your final tax obligation.