JoeTaxpayer

A few thoughts as the year comes to a close:
Fairmark has updated to reflect the 2009 rates, and it’s worth a look. Quite a few updates to note, personal exemption and standard deduction have both gone up, as expected, creating an $18,700 “zero bracket” amount. If you retire today with no other taxable income this represents a 4% withdrawal rate from a sum of $467,500 saved pretax. I’ve written a bit about the pre tax vs post tax investment discussion and this adds to that.

Next, each tax bracket has shifted, so inflation won’t add to your tax burden. See the charts.

Last item I’d point out – 401(k) limits have gone up, $16,500 for under 50 yrs old, and $22,000 for those 50 and older in 2009. IRA limits have not changed, $5,000 and $6,000 respectively.

One more post, and we say goodbye to 2009.
Joe

On October 19, I started a promotion to try to get more people to sign up for my RSS feed. The time has come to declare the winner. Drumroll, please. Regular reader and frequent commenter Augustine has won the book, Yes, You Can Still Retire Comfortably. So, please send me your address and the book will go out shortly. Congratulations, and thank you to all who participated.

Joe

and final cartoon Saturday of the year……

Joe

First, I’d like to wish my readers a Happy Holiday Season, whichever specific holiday you plan to celebrate.

(My Money Merge Analysis Compilation, a PDF containing all of my MMA posts has been updated to be current through Part 32.)

That said, today is also Thursday and I thought it appropriate to offer my new readers who happened upon my blog in search of information regarding the MMA account a copy of my MMA spreadsheet. Until now, I’ve made it available only upon request and sent it via email. I did that both to track interest in the sheet and to follow up with the recipient to see if they made a decision. Now that I’ve given it out to well over 100 people, with only 3 telling me they still chose to buy into the MMA software, it’s time to make it available with no hassle.
Above is a snippet from the sheet. Note, it follows the original MMA example, where the mortgage was a $200K, 6%, 30 year loan, and the client has $1000 in extra funds per month to shuffle through the system. The MMA agents brag about the dashboard putting everything you need at your fingertips. What I offer for $3500 less is to lose the graphics but allow the same important information to be updated in real time. The MMA system takes credit for a huge savings in the interest on your mortgage loan. It also requires you to enter your spending on a nearly daily basis. As you can see above, by putting your extra $1000 per month toward your mortgage, I show you that, by the end of just one year, you can save yourself nearly $50,000 of interest and have just under 25 years left on the mortgage. This is without the risk that the HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) may bring, and without the headache of daily attention to any program. Note, if you wish to refer to the sheet during the month, it’s certainly there for you. Change that $1000 to whatever number you wish, as the sheet performs the same function and will show you the impact on your mortgage of the $495 grill purchase or $200 pair of shoes. If that exercise helps motivate you, by all means, check the sheet.

There seems to be a bit more to say about this program, as there is no no end to the claims made by agents. So this series will continue into the new year. Again, a safe and happy holiday season.
Joe

(Note: I am happy to receive comments or questions regarding the sheet. I spent some time on it but I also respected the Einstein quote, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” The agents, having very few, if any, respected advocates of their system, resort to using the quotes of famous people, Einstein included, to try to add credibility to their program. It’s not working.)