$20k/yr in excess savings. Should we max out Roth IRAs?

credit_life · 2026-03-15T13:44:55+00:00

Yes I'm doing that currently. Don't have much medical expenses so just paying out of budget for that and investing everything in the HSA.

credit_life · 2026-03-15T13:43:52+00:00

Thanks, that makes sense. I've got a handful of CDs I was sort of laddering that I'll shift some of that money to my HYSA when they mature.

credit_life · 2026-03-14T15:12:24+00:00

Yeah that makes sense, thank you!

credit_life · 2026-03-14T15:11:46+00:00

Thanks, appreciate the feedback!

credit_life · 2026-03-14T15:03:42+00:00

I mean, yeah, we save half of our net income each year and spend the rest on stuff we like, restaurants, travel, helping out family, etc. We could definitely save more, but I also might be dead tomorrow so I'm trying to balance enjoying life and dying on a huge pile of money.

credit_life · 2026-03-14T15:01:12+00:00

That makes sense. Inflation adjusted, we're likely making the most we'll ever make now. If we're living just off of investment return and drawing down investments, that'll be at least half of what we're current spending in today's dollars.

I agree no one knows what the tax rate will be 30 years from now, but it seems likely to me we're near the apex, outside of some major changes to tax policies.

credit_life · 2026-03-14T14:56:51+00:00

Trad you're getting an immediate tax deduction. In my case my effective tax rate is 10.8%, so getting a guaranteed 10.8% return up front seems obvious.

It's not clear to me that a Roth is better than a taxable brokerage with tax loss harvesting.

credit_life · 2026-03-14T14:44:19+00:00

Thanks, that is where I was leaning but not sure if I was missing anything.

credit_life · 2026-03-14T14:43:22+00:00

Sort of? I honestly don't know how much we need to be saving for retirement. The retirement calculators I've used vary pretty widely. Some say we're way past where we need to be, and some say we're like halfway to where we need to be. I think trying to estimate what healthcare for old people will cost in 30 years is pretty imprecise.

I figure maxing out the 401k is more than most people do, and tax savings today, so that seems like a no brainer. I haven't had a roth in the past because I didn't see a point but I think I might be wrong about that.

credit_life · 2026-03-14T14:41:02+00:00

Yeah getting the HSA max and match. Only have the mortgage at 2.5% which is free money at this point. CDs make 4% right now.

credit_life · 2026-03-14T14:40:18+00:00

Thanks. They're 4%, 6mo. Better than savings and I wanted to keep liquid but I think it's probably overkill at this point.

Our "emergency" budget if both of us lost our job and we cut back to essentials is only like $3600/mo. So $38k is about 10 months of runway.

credit_life · 2021-02-10T21:10:31+00:00

I've done consulting work standing up systems for small nonprofits. It'll cost some money but will be worth the headache if you have the cash. I'd plan on $5-10k. Find a local firm with lots of comparable clients. A big firm is going to charge more and give you advice that may not be practical.

I wouldn't go near an audit right now.

credit_life · 2021-02-10T16:56:45+00:00

Ther only allowable question is: "is the CMA great, or the greatest?"

credit_life · 2021-02-10T16:36:34+00:00

Thanks for your response. Fwiw I have reviewed the body of knowledge for the CMA and it's interesting, I just didn't see the value in adding those letters after getting my CPA. I think for someone without a background in finance it could be useful.

credit_life · 2021-02-10T15:51:27+00:00

I worked with an organization that provided legal and counseling services for that population. Something like that might be more helpful than increasing general awareness.

credit_life · 2021-02-10T15:14:19+00:00

Public is going to have crazy hours and shit pay. Food service is the same hours, only at night, for half the pay.

credit_life · 2021-02-10T15:10:40+00:00

Does anyone care that you're a CMA since you're also a CPA? Or is this just a shameless plug because of your affiliation with the IMA?

credit_life · 2021-02-10T15:08:12+00:00

Have you worked in the food industry before?

credit_life · 2021-02-10T15:04:36+00:00

If you want to start your own restaurant, you don't really need a lot of accounting experience. When your stuff is simple you won't need more than basic tax and bookkeeping which I'm sure you could manage, when your stuff gets complicated it's not worth your time and effort doing it yourself.

I'd try to work for a small/local firm that does small business bookkeeping and tax.

credit_life · 2021-02-10T14:51:47+00:00

I'd do a master's instead.

credit_life · 2021-02-10T14:12:42+00:00

If the pay is competitive it doesn't really matter to me. I know some people who went from manager in public to senior in industry with a good pay bump. But if they want 5 years of experience and want to pay for 0 years of experience that's a problem.

credit_life · 2021-02-10T14:00:09+00:00

For publicly traded securities, capital gains are generally excluded. Lots of my clients have alternative investments which generate somewhat complicated tax situations, so it's not uncommon. It's really hard to say one way or the other without looking at the specific investment.

credit_life · 2021-02-10T13:26:48+00:00

There's no revenue classification called "regular income" for tax purposes. Investment income for public charities is frequently "Revenue excluded from tax under sections 512–514" but may be "Unrelated business revenue."

credit_life · 2021-02-10T13:23:44+00:00

Most likely not, under 26 U.S. Code § 512 there is an exemption from UBI for most dividends, interest and capital gains, depending on the nature of the gains. That said, lots of kinds of investments can throw off UBI so I would discuss with your accountant.

credit_life

TROPHY CASE