You mean pay the full bill plus underpayment penalties?

Topic No. 306 Penalty for Underpayment of Estimated Tax

The current interest rate for underpayments is 6% (the underpayment penalty is based on the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points and it's updated quarterly).

> Outside of maximizing my company's match does it matter what I do with the other two retirement accounts? Should I be contributing to them as well does it not matter which one I end up putting money into?

If your current 401(k) has good funds then you could just roll your old 401(k) into your current 401(k). That link will also help you pick funds in your 401(k).

What you should be doing with the inherited IRA depends on various factors, but I'd start by reading through this article.

> I don't know if I would be considered behind on this - how would I figure that out?

The Fidelity guideline is a good baseline for whether you're behind or not. If you're a bit behind, it wouldn't hurt to try to save 20% instead of 15% until you're caught up.

> Are the maximum yearly contributions total or per account?

Total.

I'd suggest Fidelity or Schwab. I'd also suggest reading the investing wiki and this submission.

I'd recommend reading the Prime Directive article from the wiki. It'll help you prioritize any extra money you have.

If you're talking about tax preparation help, you want a CPA. Generally, I'd suggest starting by asking your coworkers and perhaps your manager if they have a CPA they'd recommend. Friends in a vaguely similar financial situation are also a good source for recommendations.

A good number of CPAs also provide financial planning services. You could try looking for a CPA that is also a CFP or a CPA with the FPS credential.

If you don't really need or want help with tax preparation, I would just find a fee-only CFP.

The financial advisors wiki article has more advice.

I'd also suggest checking the PF wiki to start your own education. There are a lot of articles to read, but the Prime Directive is a good place to get started.

I'd suggest starting with the retirement predicaments wiki page. Go through all of that. You'll need to gather more information and you'll want to do some reading (I'd especially recommend How to Make Your Money Last by Jane Bryant Quinn), even if you convince your parents to hire a financial planner, it will help you pick an advisor and review what they're doing.

I would worry somewhat less about advanced tax planning, using the right tax-advantaged accounts, etc. and more about your parents simply not saving enough money.

As far as a financial planner goes, what you want is a fee-only CFP. Read the financial advisors wiki for more information. If your father is amenable to the idea, I'd suggest interviewing a few candidates (probably over a video call these days) with you on the call.

A "moderate aggressive mutual fund" isn't going to be 100% US stocks and US stocks have outperformed international stocks and bonds over the last 15 years. I think that number is going to be way too high for what OP is trying to estimate.

It's hard to say without knowing the exact mutual fund because mutual funds vary significantly. A mutual fund investing almost entirely in US stocks would have a very high return over that period, but one investing more into international stocks or bonds would have a somewhat lower return.

• If you had invested in VSMGX (Vanguard LifeStrategy Moderate Growth Fund) which is about 40% bonds, the average total return each year over the last 15 years is 4.78%. A $70,000 investment would be worth about $141,018 now.

• If you had invested in VASGX (Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund) which is about 20% bonds, the average total return each year over the last 15 years is 5.34%. A $70,000 investment would be worth about $152,756 now.

If only timing the market was that easy. Your best bet is to ignore the noise and follow the steps in the Prime Directive.

More on market timing:

• Warren Buffett: "to buy or sell on current news is just crazy"

• Burton Malkiel, author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street: "market timing is dangerous"

Remember that you're investing for the next 30-40 years, not trying to predict the Dow next week, next month, or next year.

I'd suggest asking this on /r/medicine or perhaps on the White Coat Investor forum.

> would let you effectively contribute more (if you want to) because you are contributing with after-tax money

This is really the wrong way to think about this (basically, what you're saying is at best technically true).

1. You're ignoring the tax savings from contributing to a Traditional that result in more income which can then be invested, used to pay down debt, etc. Only if you spend it on ephemeral stuff does that money "disappear".

2. The goal with the "Roth vs. Traditional" decision should really be made based on whatever nets you the most money to spend in retirement. For most high earners, that's almost certainly Traditional. Read Roth or Traditional for a longer discussion.

(tagging /u/hankmoody666)

Congratulations. Try to think of it this way: each time you contribute, you own a higher percentage of most of the companies in those funds.

The limit is much much higher than that due to the lifetime exemption. Read the gifts wiki for more information.

Also, the annual exclusion is now $16,000. That's effectively just the limit for the giver to avoid filing a form.

It's a common negotiation tactic to try to avoid being the first person to give a number and not just in salary negotiations (and the advice is given much more broadly than here in Reddit), but if it's their company policy to require that information, you should have just given it.

> I responded with my prepared Reddit-approved counters. "I am compensated in accordance with market rate for my responsibilities and experience". "I look forward to hearing more about this role's responsibilities before making a decision". "I will consider any offers in line with the market rate for the role".

Yikes. I'm not surprised the HR person got annoyed if you're just robotically replying with prepared counters.

This isn't about not taking Reddit advice, this is about having decent people skills. It's important to read the room and you need to be a bit flexible in a conversation. Illustrating that you are completely inflexible and hold a conversation like a robot is how you get shown the door.

Some of this just comes with more experience, but in the meantime, you might consider doing some salary negotiation "practice" with a friend that's good at this, watch some videos on the topic (avoid clips from movies or television), etc.

Here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/readinglist

I'd recommend reading the Prime Directive article from the wiki.

There's nothing magical about dividends. Companies paying high dividends do so at the expense of growth which means that their stock prices tend to go up slower than the rest of the stock market. And as an investor, there's no reason to favor one type of return over another. Dividends and capital gains are both taxed at the same rate and neither is inherently better for passive income. You're mostly just trading one type of growth for another, but you may be less diversified if you just buy high dividend stocks or high dividend funds.

An important advantage of getting more of your returns in the form of capital gains is that you decide when to sell and take capital gains while you're forced to pay taxes frequently with dividends. High dividend funds are less tax-efficient because more of your return is being taxed along the way.