DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Wednesday, February 3, 2016 at 2:19:36 PM UTC-5, philo wrote:
On 02/03/2016 12:46 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:




A little bit of each, when I was working I put the maximum amount
allowable in my 401k. so counting my company's contribution and
interest, though it is not huge fortune, at least I do have a bit of it
saved.

All those years I scrimped and saved (and stayed put) while I watched my
co-workers continually grow dissatisfied with the "bigger and better"
houses they kept buying.


Since my actual savings account pays something like 0.02% interest, no
real need to keep much money there other than enough to pay off my
monthly bills.

If the money for the roof and other repairs are still in the 401(k)/IRA,
you might want to look at the tax advantages of taking a little bit out
each year to limit your tax exposure. If you are near the top of a tax
bracket each year you may pay more tax on that "lump sum" distribution if
you take it out all in one year.

You can always reinvest it outside of the qualified account if you still want
to try for some growth.




I'm not in any high tax bracket as my wife and I are both on Social
Security, I'm only pulling a small amount out of my 401k

It's not about a "high" tax bracket, it's about any given tax bracket. This
is rough, but it explains the issue I am talking about.

Let's say your annual AGI is $5K lower than the top of the 15% bracket.
Right now, all of your income is taxed at 15%. Now let's say that you
estimate that you will need a roof in 3 years to the tune of $15K.

(To keep the numbers simple, let's ignore the fact that you need to
take out more than $15K to *net* $15K after taxes by assuming you
have other cash with which to pay the taxes.)

If you withdraw that $15K out in one year, $5K is going to be taxed in
the 15% bracket, but the remaining $10K is going to be taxed at 25%.

However, if you withdraw $5K extra per year for the next 3 years, the
entire $15K will be taxed at 15% because you didn't bump yourself into
a higher bracket in any given year. In the long run, you'll save yourself
$1000 in taxes.


I have enough in there that if I need to withdraw $10k or so, it won't
make much of an impact .

Maybe not an impact on your "savings" but it may cost you more in taxes.

I thought personal financial matters are confidential ans private.
Is this a contest for I am richer than you or I know more than you do?
What an argument!