Bogleheads.org

Thanks for the link. I'm not an estate attorney and don't quite understand it fully. Is the "reciprocal trust doctrine" applicable to regular cash gifts such that it prevents the scenario I described?

Gift tax exclusion is $14,000 this year. Let's say you have two couples, each with two kids. Can each parent gift each of the children of the other couple to increase wealth transfer not subject to gift tax? Example: Couple A and B, have kids 1 and 2. C and D have 3 and 4. Normally A and B can give ...

Sent you a referral by PM.

Have rules been released that clarify if the 3.8% surcharge is absorbed by people paying AMT (so they pay less AMT) or do both regular and AMT increase?

Hypothetical management situation. Scenario A (for the poll): You are a middle manager in a small organization. Your bosses in the C-suite executive team want you to raise your division's performance from 60% to 70% in the next quarter. Change is hard, but you find some simple improvements to get to...

In doing a refinance of a jumbo fix30, some places are offering points paid to the borower to cover closing costs. Are these points considered taxable income?

Yes. Thanks again.

Thank you. I do feel foolish. TaxACT has a form view of Schedule C that breaks down line 1 into Gross Receipts and 1099-MISC (as well as categories such as 1099-K and receipts not reported on 1099-K) which looks convincingly like the original form you posted. It appears that my perception of Line 1 ...

I should've been more specific. I entered the income under the first bullet/blank of Part 1, Line 1. 1099-MISC income is listed as the second bullet of line 1. Of course line 1 total is unchanged.

Is this discrepancy a problem?

But there's a separate line on Schedule C for 1099-MISC income, different from "Gross receipts," right? If I got a 1099-MISC does it matter if I put the income on the wrong line?

I don't have the actual form front of me at the moment. I did not know they would send a 1099, so I put the income from them under schedule C, part I, line 1, "Gross receipts." My tax software (TaxACT) also put it on Schedule SE. My understanding is that all 1099s go to the IRS and you are...

I received a 1099 recently for some side consulting work. However, I already filed my taxes, both federal and California. I included the amount under "gross receipts" for which a 1099 was not received. Now, that's no longer correct. There is no change in my taxes, either owed or refunded. ...

Thank you!

I noticed in Vanguard's California muni bond fund VCAIX, the distribution dividend for March was unusually large, after many months of steady declines (which I assume is due to refinancing into lower interest issues). Was there a technical reason for this, or are dividends reversing and rising for m...

Does the wash sale rule apply in reverse, that is for short positions?

Example:

Short a stock, cover at a loss, re-short within 30 days. Is that "wash buy" covered by the same rule where your basis in the second short is reduced by the loss on the first trade?

I posted this previously but there wasn't a clear answer in the past. As part of the 2009 health care reform bill, those with incomes over 250k will have to pay an extra 0.9% on wages and 3.8% on unearned income. For people subject to AMT, will this just mean their AMT is reduced by the same amount ...

Warren Buffett cuts insurance bets on munis. WSJ story: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443855804577601413630604118.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories Moody's also reviewing California cities for downgrades. For someone considering munis, are California muni funds like VCITX and VCAIX wor...

Are Target Date Fund ERs include, or in addition to, the ERs of underlying holdings? For example, if a fund lists an ER of 0.75% and its underlying funds all have an ER of 0.5% am I paying 0.75% or 1.25% in total? My friend is asking about his retirement planning and asked me to help him figure out ...

We were a victim of negligence at a business in California that resulted in injury. We are now working with the business' insurance liability carrier for a settlement. The offer we have received from them is very low. What guidelines are there to determine a settlement amount? While lost wages and m...

California is completing a $1.3 B GO muni bond sale. Did anyone else pick up some bonds from this sale? Or is everyone long munis exclusively through bond funds like BND? (Actually I'm not sure if BND holds munis, but I mean bond funds in general)

Thanks.

New IRS Form 8938 FATCA is for reporting of foreign assets. Do people who own or did own foreign ETFs like VWO or equivalent funds need to file this form?

I thought it was only for offshore accounts not assets held in a US bank or brokerage.

I too found Vanguard's brokerage interface primitive. For the OP's choice, it somewhat depends on your trading habits. If you're a typical buy/hold with occasional AA rebalancing, then it seems the TD is just fine. If you trade options or futures, consider something more advanced for active traders ...

I have, but did not find any good answers.

Hello, I am looking for TLH equivalents for Vanguard ETFs VWO and VSS. If one has a loss in those ETFs this year, could they sell VWO and buy EEM without violating the IRS wash sale rules? What about for VSS? Assume these funds are in a taxable account and another ETF is strongly preferred over a mu...

Go with a dark granite or manufactured stone for kitchen countertops. Travertine is a mediocre option for flooring, they are very porous and typically soft and thus prone to staining and wear. Look into some denser limestones as an alternative. Another option are porcelain tiles that resemble natur...

If I get marble I'll see if having it sealed will prevent staining. Leaning toward granite for the kitchen countertop. Maybe travertine for flooring.

I'm putting in new countertops and flooring in our bathrooms and kitchen. I prefer to use a natural stone.

What's better, travertine, marble or granite?

Just bought a house and I itemize my taxes. How do I calculate how many more allowances to take on my employer's W-4 based on expected mortgage interest paid?

Thank you.

From the reading of your linked post, if you are paying AMT, and this new 2013 tax brings your regular tax higher but not exceeding the TMT, then your overall tax cost is unchanged even with this 2013 tax. This is what you meant by "absorbed," right?

As part of the 2009 health care reform bill, those with incomes over 250k will have to pay an extra 0.9% on wages and 3.8% on unearned income. For people subject to AMT, will this just mean their AMT is reduced (nullifying the overall tax) or will their AMT be unchanged (resulting in an increase in ...

How do I get cash out of VMMXX to regular cash in a Vanguard brokerage account?

If euro banks have a credit crisis and debt prices tank, will funds like VMMXX drop below $1?

What if treasuries drop and yields go up?

Thank you all for your kind insights.

If I am interested in multifamily units such as apartment buildings, is the first step finding an agent? Also since I am new at this, should I focus on commercial instead of residential real estate?

I'm interested in generating passive income through real estate as a landlord. Does anyone have any tips in terms of what I should be prepared for and how to select a reputable buyer's agent? I understand the potential of tenant and maintenance issues, and am leaning towards a management company to ...

Hi, my brokerage sent me my 1099 and I'm trying to figure things out when I file my taxes. A few questions. 1) The 1099-B (OMB 1545-0715) form they use has numbered entries with specific labels. However, the 1099-B form under my Schedule D in my TaxACT doesn't have these same numbers, as they do for...

To clarify, the numbers I used in my example were 10000 net income, which means 9512 is the maximum SIMPLE IRA contribution. 11500 was actually contributed during the year. The 2186 number includes the overage and its theoretical capital gain.

Bruce, thank you for your kind and helpful explanation. To answer your question, it is a sole proprietorship, only one spouse is involved, younger than 50 and I believe the situation you described is close to what they are in. I read your links and did some more digging in the IRS site. There is ano...

My friend was telling me about how they use a SIMPLE IRA for their side business, and I was thinking of using it also. From what I've read, you can put in up to 100% of your income before the end of the year. For a business where receipts are a little volatile, what happens if you expect 12,000 inco...

It seems like Vanguard's lower ER doesn't appear to improve returns by any noticeable amount. Example: VWO (ER 0.27%) vs. EEM (0.72%) For the maximum comparison chart duration (about 5 years) there is no significant difference; in fact, EEM has slightly outperformed despite being an identical index ...

Thanks. However, my brokerage does not allow automatic dividend reinvestment from these ETFs, and if I did so manually, commissions would eat up quite a bit of return in the long run.

I was looking at VGSLX in my IRA but was told that it's only available direct from VG (my IRA is not at VG). I was suggested VGRSX instead, but there is little information from VG about this fund.

What REIT funds do people recommend?

Bond funds would greatly reduce risk compared to owning individual bonds, as well as lower minimums.

For you, I'd recommend checking out Vanguard's California muni bond funds. Low ERs with good diversification in terms of holdings. They're also AMT free according to their site.

I thought ETFs were supposed to be more tax efficient than mutual funds, and weren't to have distributions. Where do these distributions come from and why aren't they just reinvested into the fund?

Are Vanguard ETFs somehow different?

I have an IRA in a brokerage firm opened a while back. According to my AA, I would put it in a REIT or bond fund. However, I'm worried about distributions/dividends since DRIP is not available (such as for VNQ), and reinvesting them would cost commissions. These transactional costs would be quite a ...

All true. Here are some advantages of mutual funds over ETFs: 1.) Automatic investment plans are doable 2.) Can purchase in exact dollar amounts as fractional shares are allowed; super easy to set up a $500/month investment in a mutual fund; an ETF ... not so much 3.) Purchase at NAV - bid/ask spre...

What are the advantages of the ETFs or Admiral shares of Vanguard funds, such as in a taxable account? For example, the ERs of a few ETFs and their admiral fund equivalents are identical: VPL Pacific 0.16% = VPADX VWO Emerging Markets 0.27% = VEMAX VNQ REIT 0.13% = VGSLX ETFs are supposedly more tax...

I'm looking to buy ETFs instead of funds due to ease of trading, tax efficiency and transaction costs. I checked the VG site and was excited about its announcement of new products recently, but was disappointed of some missing ETFs. TIPS (for tax-deferred, TIPS fund not available through my Fido) Ta...

minesweep wrote:The Dow 30 stock reports are free at valueline.com.

Johnson & Johnson

Mike

Thank you for sharing.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for free or low-cost investment newsletters?

Thank you for your very reasoned and thought-out analysis. It's quite convincing. You probably realize that small drillers have been hammered because of the effect of the moratorium and fear that the proposed increase in liability cap will make things very difficult if not outright infeasible for th...