TorchtheFlyingTiger

In a typical year yes. But in a downturn it will lose more than I'd ever make in a year. There's no motivation to work harder for $ knowing I'd be toiling away and earning much less than my portfolio average annual gains

For me a more useful metric is that I could exceed current lifestyle with a sustainable/safe withdrawal rate.

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 it’s less per share so you don’t have to wait

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Not a factor nowadays with fractional shares. If you brokerage doesnt allow fractional shares in etfs, get a better one. If you are waiting to buy round lots now a days, you're leaving $ on table while stock price climbs.

There are IVF grants and programs to reduce related prescription costs. I dont recall looking into them much and if we ruled it out or were just unaware and overwhelmed. You may not be able to qualify without a demonstrated financial need but cant hurt to ask.

Money well spent. You won't miss the $ decades from now. Best of luck with the process and stress along the way. You're not alone, people just dont talk much about it.

Are the funds currently in cash or invested elsewhere? My only suggestion would be if you have the funds invested and want to keep them deployed, it may be possible to borrow using a SBLOC. You'd accrue interest but still get potential for growth and delay paying tax you'd realize by selling assets. Of course, there's margin risk if you have insufficient collateral.

MFJ, then be cognizant of the widow penalty. 8 didn't really consider it and now concerned that if one of us passes earlier then widow will be stuck in much higher brackets and face lower IRMAA thresholds. Also realizing I have insufficient space remaining in 12% bracket to make sufficient conversions (but I have a pension and a little part-time income plus dividend and interest income) Coming to realization I should have just stuck to Roth 401k when working and in 22% bracket. Now, more than a few thousand of annual conversions (or withdrawals to spend) also bump my dividends into 15% LTCG bracket instead of zero. So I'm pondering doing larger conversions up to top of 24% so I minimize the years my LTCG are taxed at 15% unnecessarily. Further, if I wait too long to convert I may inherit a traditional IRA and have to draw that down within 10 yrs while also managing conversions of my traditional accounts. Also, if I face a large expense I'll face tax implications that wouldn't be a factor if the $ was already in Roth.

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The power of compounding on the dollars you don't pay in taxes now makes a huge difference in the final value of your portfolio.

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All else equal, the with same rate of compounding and tax rate it doesnt.matter if you pay the tax now or later.

On the other hand, Roth essentially allows you to put a larger net contribution into tax advantaged retirement accounts annually since limits are same but taxes are already paid.

Add in they start drinking younger but driving older. Most dont start driving until later when more mature and spending a hefty amount of their own money to do so. Supervised permit age is 17 and 18 for license but many young adults wait because of costs and access to public transport in their more congested country. Even small villages have bus routes because it's the primary means of transport for many regular people not just the poors.

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In theory, we are taught the same thing here. 

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Problem is US driver education is amateur mostly family (that are often terrible drivers) and school teachers/coaches perhaps an online class thrown in and in many states entirely voluntary. In Germany you must go to a professional driving school and the courses are a real commitment (time and $). Driving is treated as a privilege not a right bestowed at 16.

Too many variable for a.one size fits all answer for Roth vs Traditional.

Rough rule of thumb I'd use:
12% bracket or below = Roth
32% bracket and up = Traditional
22-24% = grey area it depends

For instance, looking back I probably should have gone ahead and funded Roth in my peak earning years instead of switching to traditional. Now, because I have a pension, part time work, dividends and interest income, I can only convert a very small bit to Roth annually before it pits me in 22% bracket anyway. The conversion income will also bump my dividends into the 15% LTCG rate instead of zero. I could have contributed to Roth 401k and paid same 22-24% back when I was already stuck paying LTCG on dividends from taxable brokerage.

Now, I'm worried if I dont accelerate Roth conversions I will eventually get hit with widow penalty and IRMAA. Yet, I have insufficient space.in the 12% bracket to get Traditional balance down sufficiently. Also, to fund the tax on conversions I will need to sell assets from taxable brokerage but must nlw time that right to do so in a non conversion year to avoid the uneccessary 15% LTCG.

Bottom line: Don't sleep on Roth 401k even if potentially in lower bracket in conversion years. If the entire conversion cant be done in much lower bracket you may not be better off.

A little context,.even with today's 9% drop the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) is still up over 112% in past year.

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They would still "owe" us because it is a debt; however we wouldn't have a means to recover that debt.

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Problem is, it's just another tax and they don't actually owe us anything unfortunately. Yet another case where the irresponsible and unfortunate benefit at the expense of the responsible ones. No one seems to complain that it always has paid out at a higher proportion of contributions to lower earners due to bend points. It's never been a true pension system or retirement investment plan. It's simply a safety net to keep the elderly, infirm, widows and orphans out the gutters this the name Social Security.