Question: a, it bothers me. Why do they get a cut? Why do they get to determine what >the percentage of the cut will be? They keep intruding, trying to make >their presence paramount when in fact, nothing they do cannot be done >privately.
Well, the reason 401k’s and IRA’s withdrawals get taxed is because the $$$ put in to them was NOT taxed. Um, say you make $25,000 and put 10% into an IRA. Instead of being taxed on the full $25,000 you’re taxed on $25,000 less 10%, or $22,500. Put the $2,500 into an investment, and say it grows 10% the first year. You end up with $2,750, and your return on investment is tax deferred. That’s cool because instead of the gov’t taking a chunk out of it, you get to keep it and invest it for additional returns. Keep doing that over 20 or 30 years, and it really amounts to a pretty good pile . . . more than if you had paid taxes on your investments every year. There are a few things you don’t want to do with your IRAs, though. You don’t want to invest your IRA $$ in tax exempt bonds, for instance . . . if you do, you not only get less return than on a taxable bond, but when you withdraw the money at retirement, you have to pay taxes on it. It’s crazy, but that’s what happens sometimes . . . it pays to read up on this stuff. WWW.fool.com has good info on IRAs and 401Ks. All in all, it’s a good deal.
Answer: OOPPSS…sorry Ken my mistake…..we have put in nearly $40,000 but the exact amount that is in there now is around $60,000……We recently withdrew about $10,000 for some foundation repairs on our house. We actually *borrowed* it at 5% and have to pay it back. But the 5% they are charging us, they are actually putting it back into our account. We wont make as much had we not taken the money out, but that was a better option than getting a personal loan and paying higher rates to some bank…… it was time for my six month sediment flush so now that is done thanks to this thread. I did check where I had the temp set … only 125 degrees; it now is at 140 degrees 
kasper (or anyone) – i occassionally open the valve and i’ve never yet seen any sedimant (nine years). is there something i don’t know (i’m opening what i call a drain valve about 6 inches up from the bottom of the heater) or is it normal for some water to not form the sediment?
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