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So years ago when I went off to college, I opened a joint checking account with my mother. I've been using that account as my primary direct deposit/checking/debit account, but she hasn't actually touched it since inception (like 10 years ago). Are there any advantages or disadvantages to having this joint account that only I use? Should I remove her from the account, or does her name even really matter at all?
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Jun 2, 2014 20:50
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FrozenVent posted:If she hasn't touched it in ten years, you don't need a joint account. Remove her from the account. I'm just wondering if removing her from it has any tax impacts or credit impacts or or any impact besides "sign here" "done"
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Jun 2, 2014 20:59
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:My work has a FSA to go along with the insurance. I was looking and I have a health insurance plan with a pretty high deductible ($1400/year) because I am young and healthy and it was the cheapest one. Can I go to like, Vanguard and get a HSA? Is the only requirement having that high deductible? The $1,400 is high enough, but there are several other requirements on a health plan that need to be met for it to be HSA eligible. Does it pay for anything before you've met the deductible (besides preventive care), such as requiring that you pay a copay for prescription drugs instead of paying the entire cost? If so, it's not HSA eligible. There are other disqualifying criteria, but that's the usual one. You can have an HSA outside of your employer, so contact Vanguard or whoever to see if they have any guidance for you. Also, in general you can't have both an FSA and HSA at the same time (lots of additional rules regarding that), so if your plan is HSA eligible don't sign up for your FSA. esquilax fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Jun 5, 2014 |
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Jun 5, 2014 21:25
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Watch your income versus the Roth IRA limits. It you're over $114k filing single or over $181k filing jointly you're either ineligible for a Roth IRA or are subject to a much lower contribution cap. If you're in the 33% bracket (or even the 28%) a Traditional IRA might be a better financial choice anyway. esquilax fucked around with this message at 23:51 on Jul 17, 2014 |
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Jul 17, 2014 23:45
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God Over Djinn posted:Ah, I meant the "a traditional IRA might be a better financial choice" statement. I don't have any links but it works like this: if you use a Roth IRA, you pay your marginal rate (28%) on your investment and get it tax-free when you retire. In a Traditional IRA, you pay no taxes now, and pay taxes on it at your marginal rate when you retire. When you retire you'll most likely have little other income, making your marginal rate a lower tax bracket. Let's say you retire and your Traditional IRA is your only source of income. If you two pull out $100,000 you'll pay 10% on the first few thousand dollars, 15% on the next few (and so on) for an average tax rate of ~17% on it (at today's tax rates). Whereas with a Roth IRA you would have paid 28% on it, since that's your marginal rate right now. Roth accounts make sense for people currently in low tax brackets, not so much for others. Roth accounts also run the danger of double-taxation if you have an emergency and do a non-qualified withdrawal. esquilax fucked around with this message at 05:11 on Jul 18, 2014 |
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Jul 18, 2014 05:00
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Saeku posted:I'm paid hourly. My job involves occasional travel to other cities by bus or train, 2-8 hour trips each way. What kind of compensation should I expect/attempt to negotiate for that? I don't know if it's reasonable to expect my boss to pay me my normal rate to sleep on a train for eight hours, but I'm not satisifed with losing my days off to travel for work without compensation. First, if you have coworkers in the same scenario, ask them what they are getting for it. In general you're supposed to be paid for travel time, though the exact rules vary by state. Try to find them, it may give you an idea about what is a reasonable agreement (e.g. sleeping hours may or may not be covered on a 5 hour train ride). If the rules are too generous to one side, you guys may want to talk it through and maybe change your hourly rate. When you do confront your boss, try to frame it as "I don't think the current situation is reasonable so I checked the rules, let's discuss" rather than "you're breaking the rules"
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Jul 27, 2014 16:20
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kaishek posted:I am turning my brain in knots and need some help with this math. I just had two kids and am going to add them to my health insurance through my employer. My employer covers 80% of my premiums, but none of my spouse or children. So the only benefit they get from being on my plan is I save money on taxes by lowering my taxable income. I am squarely in the 15% bracket, so we can assume that is the savings for pre-tax money spent on premiums. They will probably not qualify for assistance on the exchange, based on how the government determines whether they your spouse and children have an "affordable plan" available. It's worth looking into but don't get your hopes up. You can calculate whether the insurance is cheaper by multiplying the pre-tax number ($910) by 0.85 (=1-15%). So if you can buy a comparable plan on the exchange for less than $773.50 it would probably be worth taking it. I say comparable, because it's very possible that the plan on the exchange will have higher deductible and copays, and will restrict you to fewer doctors and hospitals than your employer plan. There are other small advantages to having the entire family on one plan (it gets very technical), so if it's close you might want to put them on the employer plan.
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Aug 22, 2014 04:47
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kaishek posted:I think I understand because 910*.85 is what I would have if I just took the money instead of paying for the insurance. Got it. And thanks for the advice - I was looking through the benefits packages and found two plans that are fairly similar in terms of network, deductible, copays, etc. But as you point out, the difference even in a best case is about $80/month and it probably isn't worth it like that. Yes. Affordability is based on having a self only contribution (i.e. the 20% you pay) less than 9.5% of family income. The cost to cover your spouse and children is not included in those calculations. However, if the plan is affordable for you, it becomes "affordable" for your spouse and children regardless. Yes, it's dumb.
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Aug 22, 2014 15:23
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kaishek posted:I am also correct that nothing was done to make premium payments made outside of an employer plan tax deductible, right? That to me seems the dumbest thing of all. I believe (not an accountant) that if you itemize you're able to include post-tax health insurance premiums in your itemized medical expenses deduction. There are caps and minimums and stuff, so you might get some tax benefit and you might not.
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Aug 22, 2014 15:59
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Ashcans posted:I believe they are deductible as medical expenses, yes, but only if you itemize (this is what I was told about my cobra payments, at least, so it seems to make sense it would apply to any post-tax premium). Contributions for employer health insurance (like the $910) are pre-tax and are almost definitely not able to be included as an itemized deduction. You can't get tax benefits twice. Only post-tax medical expenses (like premiums paid through an exchange) can be deducted.
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Aug 22, 2014 17:00
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So - I bought a place in August at 30 year fixed, 4.125%. I got a call today from the mortgage lender that I used, saying I could refinance at 30 year fixed, 3.75%. This is completely free with no closing costs, he assures, because it's within a year of purchase and that's a thing they do. It seems a little too good to be true - is there anything that I should be concerned about or should look into in depth before I refi?
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Jan 6, 2015 21:00
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It's a combination of a bunch of things. Producer price index and commodity prices are way up The fed has stated that they'll move to more level targeting of inflation instead of just aiming for 2%, which means they'll let it run at higher levels for longer Anecdotal reports of businesses struggling to find workers Expectation of increased government spending in proposed bills Market inflation expectations as defined by relative bond prices are way up Inflation expectations can drive inflation, even if those expectations are themselves irrational I honestly don't know what will happen but it's not exactly baseless to expect higher inflation in the next few years.
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Apr 23, 2021 15:41
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How do I go about finding a competent CPA and a competent CFP besides googling for reviews, picking one at random, or asking for recommendations?
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Jan 1, 2022 16:33
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Is it a forfeited application fee or some kind of application deposit? If you can otherwise verify that the landlord is legitimate, I could see a someone charging a month's rent as an application deposit to ensure that the tenant is serious, and would be refundable if the landlord rejects the application. You would need to get the exact terms in writing.
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Dec 6, 2022 01:25
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PerniciousKnid posted:How do you actually buy options? It seems complicated. What specifically are you asking when you say how? The trading screen through Schwab (at least) is very straightforward, the complication all comes from the fact that it's a complicated financial instrument and you need to understand the implications of all 5-10 inputs in order to not do something boneheaded. In some brokerages (everyone except Robin Hood maybe?) you need to apply and get approved for the ability to trade options before you can actually do so. The ability to buy a call or put should be relatively easy to get access to.
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Feb 24, 2023 21:21
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Magnetic North posted:I don't know if this is true, depending on your age. A 10 year loan at 8% will cost you about 14 grand, or 4k extra. In a very facile comparison, if you are 30 and you contribute 10k annually to a 401k with 7% return and no employee match with the goal of retiring at 60, you will have 1.444 million. If we simulate paying off this now by starting at 31 instead you will have 1.340 million. That delay has cost you about 100k. If you're 40/41, it's 661K and 608k. (I used this calculator for loans and this calculator for 401k.) That's not how the time value of money math works. You have to account for the fact that money used to pay back the debt later is money you don't invest or contribute to 401k. There are psychological advantages to keeping debt and contributing to a 401k or ira but it's not advantageous under optimal planning. The psychological advantage being that It treats retirement savings as the first bucket that can't be touched and not a luxury.
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Jun 23, 2023 13:28
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Teeter posted:Is it best to bite the bullet and convert the trad balance now, pay the taxes on it for 2023, and then be set up with a proper backdoor trad + roth to move forward with in a few years? It makes the most sense to max out yours and your spouses 401k first. If you have leftover money, and your budget and expenses are fine, and you are in the 24% federal tax bracket, and you expect to be at this income for the foreseeable future, and you don't expect to move to a state with significantly lower income taxes - it probably makes sense to budget some cash to convert it to Roth. It still might make sense if some of these conditions aren't met but the math gets a little tougher. If you have a large amount in the traditional IRA you can partially convert each year, it doesn't have to be all at once. You are prepaying future taxes, so you do achieve a return on this money - the tax savings you'd receive in retirement are much more than the tax amount you pay today.
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Aug 17, 2023 19:43
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Ham Equity posted:For the new 529 rollover/conversion/transfer into a Roth IRA, are the moved balances subject to the five-year time that applies to conversions and earnings, or since both accounts are post-tax, is it treated like principal, or is this something the IRS hasn't offered guidance on yet? They have not given any guidance or regulations yet. You (read: a lawyer and/or accountant) would have to interpret the actual law for the limits, tax treatment, Roth treatment, etc. Be cautious about using any kind of website, even a trusted source like a broker, as definitive in terms of what the treatment actually is.
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Jan 16, 2024 19:29
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RPATDO_LAMD posted:I saw some stuff about student loan interest capitalization on studentaid.gov and I'm very confused Yes that's how interest normally works on most things. In subsidized student loans, when payment is deferred it doesn't accrue interest so there's no interest to capitalize. In unsubsidized loans, when payment is deferred, interest still accumulates and can capitalize.
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Mar 29, 2024 05:11
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dpkg chopra posted:Both my wife and I have health insurance through work, she’s on a regular FSA plan and I’m on an HDHP. There are some pitfalls. For example, if you go to an out-of-network hospital for instance (one that didn't come to an agreement with your insurer) your insurance will only pay a "reasonable and customary" amount towards the bill and the hospital can "balance bill" you for the difference, which is basically just whatever exorbitant amount the hospital decides to charge you. Mostly, the big thing is to visit your insurer's website and/or call the provider in advance to make sure you are using in-network providers. There are laws protecting you if you go to an out-of-network hospital in an emergency, but those have their own issues.
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Apr 12, 2024 05:29
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 11:35 |
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Ham Equity posted:I was under the impression that most people's work insurance charges extra for covering a spouse, and a lot of them require signing something that says the spouse doesn't have their own employer-provided insurance option; is that not the case? Adding a spouses typically costs around 1.5x the employee, varying significantly depending on plan. About 20-30% of large group healthplans have some sort of working spouse provision (where you provide an affidavit that says the spouse doesn't qualify for their own coverage, or you get charged additional or are ineligible altogether)
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Apr 16, 2024 21:08
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