|
HonorableTB posted:I don't understand tax deductions. A deduction there is money that comes out of the taxes you have to pay, right? My annual tax return is like $2700 after $7000 in deductions, so if I didn't have those deductions I'd have to pay $5300 to the IRS? Is that how it works? No. Here's an oversimplification. Deductions reduce your "top line" taxable income, so it's like you have less money that the government will tax. Credits reduce your amount owed/increase refund amount. In your case, if you didn't have those deductions, you would have owed more in taxes, thus reducing your refund. To make the math easy, let's say the tax rate is flat at 10% of income. Without your $7,000 in deductions, you would have had another $7,000 of taxable income, and thus owed another $700. So your refund would be $2,000. e:f;b.
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2015 19:35
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 23:33 |
|
|
Nocheez posted:I love people who freak out about the number of the beast. I read that it is actually 616 and not 666. Either way, basing your tax decisions on books that were written a couple thousand years ago is bad with money. I've heard that too, and what makes it better is that where I grew up the area code is 616. Every few years you'd hear about some crazy religious fundie that was petitioning to change it so they didn't have to worship Satan to make/receive phone calls.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2015 20:07
|
|
|
slap me silly posted:A deduction is some part of your income that doesn't get taxed. So a $1000 deduction is worth around $100-350 in taxes depending on your tax bracket. A credit is set against your tax bill, so a $100 credit is $100 less taxes to pay. look at this guy without painful state income taxes 
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2015 20:13
|
|
|
Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:look at this guy without painful state income taxes What is this state income tax you speak of? (Hint: It's 10% sales tax...)
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2015 20:22
|
|
|
canyoneer posted:Anyway, crosspost from the idiots on social media thread. Social Security Fun Fact #1: if you go years without a social security number, it can be insanely difficult to get one when you finally need it (for example, when you want to get a job). You have to prove your identity for the entire span of time preceding your application. If you can't muster up sufficient evidence for every month and year, you can be denied a number. Then you'll be some sort of weird 2nd class citizen who has no number despite being an American citizen and has to work like an immigrant in your own country. Social Security Fun fact #2: if you object to some numbers in your social security number on religious/moral grounds, you can petition to have your number changed. Not getting a SSN is bad at life. Thesaurus fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Feb 6, 2015 |
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2015 21:25
|
|
). 
|
But what if I do not want to enter in joinder with the federal government or whatever those fuckin sovcit retards say?
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2015 21:36
|
|
|
This is from a few pages back.Haifisch posted:Considering that his parents were the ones who convinced him to "take out as many credit cards as [he] possibly could" and to take an 18k loan and that they think you should financially "fake it till you make it", he's just mimicking the bad financial climate he was raised with. If the UK is anything like Denmark he would not be able to discharge the debt in bankruptcy. From what I gather from BFC the US seems to have very liberal bankruptcy legislation. Over here consumer debts generally stick to you for life. I also remember being mystified during the financial crisis reading about people in the US who were seemingly able to get away from their mortgages scot free by just giving the keys to the bank. What a country!
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2015 21:41
|
|
|
Your socialist utopia is nothing like what we have here. From what I know, Danish culture espouses personal and social responsibility as very closely related. Not so in America; here, the goal is to take what you can get, and if that means that somebody is foolish enough to lend you money for the house you cannot afford, by jove you take that deal. On the flip side, if someone is stupid enough to borrow from you in order to buy more house than they can afford, by all means, let them pay while they can, repossess when the time comes, and sell it again for the good ole double dip.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2015 22:14
|
|
|
Per posted:This is from a few pages back. It's a different story for personal loans but I guess blame the housing market and the banks' addiction to mortgages. At the end of the day if a lender gives some schmuck $500,000 to buy a $300,000 house in a non-bubble environment the fault should lay with the lender and not the borrower. That loan was secured against the house, so if the market was overheated and the bank stood to lose money if the bubble popped then its actuaries should have figured that out and only issued a max of $300,000 for that mortgage. If the borrower walks away, bank gets the property and whatever the borrower had put in to date and it's even. The banks however want to be able to freely speculate with downside protection, which is bullshit.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2015 22:26
|
|
|
cowofwar posted:In a pro-business environment you want people with skills to be able to start-up businesses and if they fail, to not be shackled by debt preventing them from trying again and letting that human capital go to waste. Yeah, those are often the cases that do get approved for bankruptcy in Denmark. Whereas with consumer debt people are supposed to have known better. I just read an article that said that Denmark is actually the odd man out among the countries with whom we compare ourselves (the other nordic countries); in the others it's easier to discharge consumer debt.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2015 23:04
|
|
|
Per posted:Yeah, those are often the cases that do get approved for bankruptcy in Denmark. Whereas with consumer debt people are supposed to have known better. I just read an article that said that Denmark is actually the odd man out among the countries with whom we compare ourselves (the other nordic countries); in the others it's easier to discharge consumer debt. Denmark's social safety net likely results in very few people being forced to buy basic necessities like food and health care with payday loans and high-interest credit cards, which is extremely common in the US.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2015 23:33
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2015 03:06
|
|
|
Nur_Neerg posted:What is this state income tax you speak of? (Hint: It's 10% sales tax...) In Orange County, a person gets both! But being where the jobs is, is good with money.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2015 03:11
|
|
|
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qStMAaEnEYw
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2015 03:22
|
|
|
I found a video of the beast in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3DNx5VCsPk
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2015 03:54
|
|
|
The Chinese give gold items (coins, jewelry, trinkets) for family occasions. It's a normal cultural thing there and totally not for prepper gun nuts. Makes more sense than buying flowers.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2015 05:26
|
|
|
BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:Unless you want to enter a career where degree prestige potentially matters a lot to your long-term career prospects, like law, finance, consulting, academics, etc.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2015 14:29
|
|
|
MrKatharsis posted:The Chinese give gold items (coins, jewelry, trinkets) for family occasions. It's a normal cultural thing there and totally not for prepper gun nuts. Makes more sense than buying flowers.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2015 15:22
|
|
|
I've got a couple of acquaintances who both exhibit a remarkable credulity about what they read on the Internet, paying hundreds of dollars for online courses or seminars about creating "passive income streams" with ultra-niche websites/products. Looking at the examples they've each given (neither acquainted with the other) they genuinely believe that they'll be able to set things up with little effort for long-lasting returns. I don't doubt that one in a dozen of these make a bit of cash for a short time, but they see this as a real path toward success. As far as I can tell, the only people making real money off this are the con artists getting people to pay to hear more of their bullshit. One of these acquaintances is the owner of a small business, who has been talked into plopping nearly $10k down on Itex dollars--a "virtual currency" for small businesses that asserts that one Itex dollar is the same thing as one USD. Of course, you can only withdraw money one day out of the month, because reasons, and the majority of businesses listed in their directory either have zero web presence or are not accepting Itex dollars. I can't just come out and say, "Hey, this is obviously a barely-legal scam" and my occasional effort to hint at the faults in the scheme are just met with innocent incomprehension. I imagine the shitbag who convinced them into the thing made a hefty commission. It's not like either of them are stupid people, they're both just absolutely desperate to make a living in a non-traditional way. How do you talk people out of this idiocy?
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2015 16:58
|
|
|
Cugel the Clever posted:One of these acquaintances is the owner of a small business, who has been talked into plopping nearly $10k down on Itex dollars--a "virtual currency" for small businesses that asserts that one Itex dollar is the same thing as one USD. Of course, you can only withdraw money one day out of the month, because reasons, and the majority of businesses listed in their directory either have zero web presence or are not accepting Itex dollars. I can't just come out and say, "Hey, this is obviously a barely-legal scam" and my occasional effort to hint at the faults in the scheme are just met with innocent incomprehension. I imagine the shitbag who convinced them into the thing made a hefty commission. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2015 17:45
|
|
|
At least Homer realized his mistake.  Edit: I honestly think if the acquaintance got to the point where they understood their mistake and tried to get their money back, the guy who talked them into it would stop by and talk 'em into doubling down.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2015 17:56
|
|
|
Cugel the Clever posted:I've got a couple of acquaintances who both exhibit a remarkable credulity about what they read on the Internet, paying hundreds of dollars for online courses or seminars about creating "passive income streams" with ultra-niche websites/products. Looking at the examples they've each given (neither acquainted with the other) they genuinely believe that they'll be able to set things up with little effort for long-lasting returns. I don't doubt that one in a dozen of these make a bit of cash for a short time, but they see this as a real path toward success. As far as I can tell, the only people making real money off this are the con artists getting people to pay to hear more of their bullshit. The "How It Works" page on that site basically describes how currency works. It's amazing. Like you can just remove "ITEX" from all of their statements on the site, leaving "dollars", and there's no difference. quote:The Solution Dessert Rose fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Feb 7, 2015 |
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2015 21:24
|
|
|
Are they just doing it to dodge the IRS? It doesn't seem to have a creepy ideology dragging it along like bitcoin. Also, my swipe keyboard replaced bitcoin with buffoon.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2015 21:43
|
|
|
MrKatharsis posted:Are they just doing it to dodge the IRS? It doesn't seem to have a creepy ideology dragging it along like bitcoin. If they're doing it to dodge the IRS, they're doing it wrong. IRS posted:Barter Exchanges: Trade Dollars
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2015 21:47
|
|
|
Dessert Rose posted:The "How It Works" page on that site basically describes how currency works. It's amazing.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2015 22:43
|
|
|
When I was a kid, my mom's retail business was part of some local trade exchange. I'm not really sure how it worked, but a lot of business were a part of it. If someone "bought" from your store, you got credits that you could spend at any other store, for the wholesale cost. I think it was a way for people to buy personal items with their business' money. But I may also have it all wrong. I suppose one appeal was that the other shop-owners customers who may not have shopped there otherwise, so it was added "income".
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2015 23:17
|
|
|
Dessert Rose posted:The "How It Works" page on that site basically describes how currency works. It's amazing. That was exactly my first reaction reading their flow chart. Like, how can anyone not realize that? Much less someone with tens of thousands of dollars to their name to throw down a black hole?
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2015 00:12
|
|
|
Cugel the Clever posted:I've got a couple of acquaintances who both exhibit a remarkable credulity about what they read on the Internet, paying hundreds of dollars for online courses or seminars about creating "passive income streams" with ultra-niche websites/products. Looking at the examples they've each given (neither acquainted with the other) they genuinely believe that they'll be able to set things up with little effort for long-lasting returns. I don't doubt that one in a dozen of these make a bit of cash for a short time, but they see this as a real path toward success. As far as I can tell, the only people making real money off this are the con artists getting people to pay to hear more of their bullshit. For the hell of it I looked up the closest location to me and the local "ITEX Broker" is some guy whose name comes up on google search under ripoff report and news articles about loan modification scams. Totally legit. OneWhoKnows fucked around with this message at 02:01 on Feb 8, 2015 |
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2015 01:56
|
|
|
Serious Help - I owe $123,871 in taxes, I don't have money to payquote:TLDR; I sold couple of stocks last year for $450,000 capitalized gains (short term) and put it all in RadioShack (RSHC) 165,441 shares @ 2.72 avg. Today my shares are worth $21,672, and I owe $123,871 in taxes. what are my options? Holy poo poo.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2015 05:43
|
|
|
I don't understand how that subreddit isn't just 100% people responding with links to the M*A*S*H theme song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gO7uemm6Yo
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2015 05:51
|
|
|
It makes me sad that people so dumb have so much money.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2015 06:01
|
|
|
Something doesn't compute... how'd he make $470k gains and had no capital to begin with? It would be hilarious if he counted all of his money as "gains" and forgot to subtract his initial cost. however, "Btw, we made $240K in salary last year." could mean he worked at a startup and sold stock? lol
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2015 06:11
|
|
|
loving Radioshack. A company that hasn't been worth poo poo since the 90s, and someone goes all in on it. I'm not investing genius, but when something loses 99% of its value in 5 years, its not because its suddenly going to change direction.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2015 06:39
|
|
|
I'm convinced that nobody invested in Radio Shack has been in one in the past 5 years. Every single time I've stepped into one, it was deserted.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2015 07:27
|
|
|
Not a Children posted:I'm convinced that nobody invested in Radio Shack has been in one in the past 5 years. Every single time I've stepped into one, it was deserted. Really? Last time I was in a store (2011ish) I had to fight off all of the sales reps trying to sell me a cell phone.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2015 08:18
|
|
|
How do you not just take the loving the loss in the the same year? Just so much  .
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2015 08:34
|
|
|
BigDave posted:Really? Last time I was in a store (2011ish) I had to fight off all of the sales reps trying to sell me a cell phone. Deserted in terms of customers. I too had heard rumors for Radioshack taking off and was hoping it was true so I could short it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2015 14:59
|
|
|
There is no way that's real. Its too perfect to not be a parody or something. 1. Makes a bunch of money in stocks, saves none of it 2. Meets a guy on a golf course and makes an investment based mostly on what this guy told him (in addition to like 30 seconds of research) 3. Puts all of his money into one stock 4. Fucks off to Africa, knowing the stock's in the process of making GBS threads the bed and doesn't like, set something up with someone to be able to sell (you can do that, right?) 5. Is now hosed with a gigantic bill to the government, and still a wife/kids at home to take care of. If it is real then, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waf46eBajkw
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2015 16:37
|
|
|
Dik Hz posted:For law, finance, or academics, you need some sort of graduate degree. And that degree is going to be the one with prestige, not your bachelor's. Nobody gives a poo poo about where you did your bachelor's degree if you went to a good law school or grad school. Furthermore, law schools only care about your GPA and your LSAT score because those are the only numbers from applicants that impact their rankings. And you can get into any grad school for science by working in a lab as an undergrad. Do you think that, in general, when controlling for GPA and standardized test scores, that admittance to graduate and professional school is unrelated to the undergraduate institution one attends? I think that proposition is strikingly false; undergraduates at schools considered selective and prestigious are probably at a significant advantage for admissions to graduate programs considered selective and prestigious.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2015 19:17
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 23:33 |
|
|
BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:Do you think that, in general, when controlling for GPA and standardized test scores, that admittance to graduate and professional school is unrelated to the undergraduate institution one attends? I think that proposition is strikingly false; undergraduates at schools considered selective and prestigious are probably at a significant advantage for admissions to graduate programs considered selective and prestigious. Personally speaking as an engineer every school has the same ABET course materials and only the GRE, undergrad GPA and internships/lab work matter for grad school. I know many people who went to small state schools who had those three things get into good programs at major engineering grad schools. Getting into Ivy league law school or MBA program is probably far different, but for engineering no one cares about your undergrad school besides it being ABET and you passing with a good GPA.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2015 19:26
|
|
