Bogleheads.org

Thanks for the information, and I will definitely consult a CPA about this. I do have one question regarding FBAR. On the IRScwebsite, it states "The FBAR is an annual report and must be received by the Department of the Treasury in Detroit, MI, on or before June 30th of the year following the ...

I don't do index investing. I do dividend growth investing, and it has worked wonderfully well for me. I enjoy the experience. But what got me into dividend growth investing was the constant loses of trying to time the market (and sometimes day trading) individual stocks. Now, I just buy and hold an...

Thanks. I am aware of that unfortunate rule. Does anyone have more information? I guess it all counts as foreign earned income which would go on Form 2555?

What if I, as an individual (and not an LLC or something else), purchase a foreign business and generate income from this business? Does the income go on my personal tax return? Can someone please point out which specific form is needed? Also, does anyone know how or why big companies, such as Apple...

I almost never make special requests with my meal. Actually, I only remembered one time when I went to a Thai restaurant and ordered their special fried rice that came with raisins in the ingredients list. I like raisins, but not with my fried rice, so I requested for no raisins. I received my order...

I don't tithe at all. My money is my own money.

*bump*

This is my idea - franchising a business in a foreign country and collect profits. Sounds easy enough, but I have no experience. Has anyone had any experience with this? For my research, I found a website with a link of franchised businesses operating in the country, and emailed some of them for mor...

I did this recently. I had 2 houses that I wanted to sell. Both of them were not worth much, maybe 60,000 each, so the real estate agent would most likely want 6% commission for her troubles. As I had thought, the agent wanted 6%, and would not budge from that number, but eventually offered me 5%. B...

Zero now as I am single. When I was dating, maybe 1-2 a year.

I had the same problem a while ago. Make sure that all accounts name you or your brother as beneficiaries POD. For all the other accounts, make sure your dad has a trust? Do simplify everything and sell stuff whenever possible because once he passes, it is very difficult and a lot of paperwork to tr...

I just think it is weird that the deduction for a capital loss is $3,000 now and was $3,000 at least 5 years ago. That figure should be $5,000 minimum.

I'm a dividend growth investor. As someone earlier pointed out, the goal for such investors is not to beat the market (they would be happy to equal the market), but just to provide a steady source of income. And if you start earlier, and reinvest those dividends (either in the same stock or other st...

I formed an S-corp. I filed all of the paperwork and paid the fees. I then realized how much more paperwork there is and how many more people I needed to pay in order to maintain the S-corp. Forming the S-corp would save me about $3000 in taxes compared to remaining a sole-proprietor, but I would ha...

A gallon sized plastic bag.

I stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Pasadena a few years ago (now called something else). Place was ugly. Lobby was super small and not impressive in my eyes. Bathroom was all marble, which was very ugly. Place had a CRT TV, which was a surprise and no free WIFI. When I eventually paid for the WIFI, I f...

So sad. I was at a burger place yesterday and was eating some fried zucchini and saw a bottle of Heinz ketchup on the table. I remarked to myself how good of a company this is and lauded the design of the bottle. I proceeded to look at the stock price and saw that it was at a 52 week high. Then toda...

There is no way for the IRS to honestly know if you are using your home office exclusively for work or if you are using it mostly for work purposes and also to pay bills and/or browse the web occasionally. Even if audited, it is not like they will physically visit your home office and examine your s...

As sscritic has explained, it appears your father died with his assets in a trust and you are the trustee. The small estate affidavit doesn't apply to you unless there are assets outside of the trust titled in your father's name. If all assets are in the trust, you can administer the trust without ...

Sorry for my poor wording. When I said that I was a trustee of my dad's estate, I meant to say "trustee of my dad's assets." Yes, he had a trust, and there is nothing to probate, and I told this information to one stock company that my dad had and provided this information to them. However...

I am the trustee of my dad's estate (he left a trust listing me). My dad has passed more than 40 days ago, and current value of my dad's estate is under $100,000 in California. I need to fill out a small estate affidavit for California. My questions: 1) I found this form online for California superi...

Maybe not my most intense movie scene, but the first opening moments of Gladiator and when they are in the coliseum surrounded by chariots.

Add yourself as beneficiary. Thus, as someone above added, your cost basis would be the value at DOD.

I was a contractor for 2012 under a sole-proprietorship I am using Turbotax to create a mock tax document to estimate my 2012 taxes. I see an entry to add a car for mileage deduction, but where can I add my costs for taking the subway and bus to do my errands for my work? (or at least which form to ...

To reduce food costs, I always buy the lowest priced packaged meat. For example, if chicken is $0.99 a pound and there is a 2.5lb chicken and a 2.6lb chicken, then I would buy the 2.5lb chicken.

I actually don't know since I bought and sold some stocks, held long-term on some others, revinvested dividends on some, cashed out on some, etc. But if I had to guesstimate, I would say about 20%.

Please post here as I am also interested or feel free to make your own thread.

I appreciate the replies and the tips, but can anyone please tell me the approximate costs for even doing so? Like is it 1.5X, 2X, or 3X the price of a "normal home" in the same neighborhood? I won't even branch further if the price is too pricey. I'm looking for very general prices here c...

This would be my dream and I am just in the imaginary state here. Any one have any ideas especially regarding to the costs involved relative to a pre-built house? For example, if I find a plot of land in a residential neighborhood, and want to build a house on that plot of land, then what are the co...

My entire portfolio is in dividend growth stocks and I have done very well. I only buy stocks selected from the list of David Fish, I believe, on seekingalpha.com, and I hold for long-term and buy more on the dips. Sometimes I reinvest the dividends and sometimes I do not.

Thanks for all of the replies. I spoke to a CPA and got my issues resolved.

Ok, thanks for the reply. I am a little confused, so please bear with me. I have not formed the S-corp yet (in process), but currently, I am an independent contractor who gets paid every month from company A. Now, assume I form the S-corp, and tell company A my EIN for the S-corp (before just using ...

Let's say that I have a single person S-corp. I make $100,000 a year from this S-corp.

And I also have a side business that I make $15,000 a year. Can I file my taxes claiming $100,000 using the S-corp EIN and the $15,000 using my personal SSN?

I think so, but just want to confirm.

Momus wrote:I recently just rate locked 30 year fixed 3.125% no points. 5% is way too high nowadays!

Where did you get that rate?

I am a lawyer, but not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice, merely some general info. Is the grantor (the person who established the trust) still alive and is he/she competent? If so, and if the tust is amendable, the grantor could amend the trust to reflect the trustee's married name. If not...

Thanks, does anyone have more information?

I would do the latter before the former, otherwise there may be forms to fill out at each institution to record the name change. To update the name of a trustee due to a legal name change (e.g., marriage, divorce), please complete the Name Change Request Form which is available online ... [particul...

I am co-executor of a trust along with member A. member A since got married since the formation of the trust and has changed her last name. I still have old accounts which need to be changed into the name of the trust. What documents do I need from member A? Anything else that I need to provide to t...

In this case, my sister needs the money in her account so that she has a buffer during closing because you need a certain amount of liquid asset. When you are affirming to the lender that this cash is an asset and you are hiding the liability you are committing mortgage fraud. John I just saw this ...

Many thanks to everyone, especially the differences between S-corp and a sole proprietor.

Assume that I am a contractor who mostly does paperwork. Let's assume that I charge $1000 for my services. $100 of that is for paper filing, printing, etc. The other $900 is "profit" in the sense that after expenses, is the amount of money I can pocket, but this does not include my labor. ...

tfb wrote:

cheesepep wrote:However, I will be a resident of CA for 2013 and need to pay taxes this time. The question is how? What website can I use? I prefer to pay online and not write any checks if I can.

https://www.ftb.ca.gov/online/payment_choices.shtml

Thanks.

I am a contractor who did not have to pay California state taxes this year because I was not a resident (yes, I qualified), but I have been paying all of my federal taxes through the EFTPS website. However, I will be a resident of CA for 2013 and need to pay taxes this time. The question is how? Wha...

I sold one of my stocks recently because of 1) it was near its peak 2) save 5% on long term capital gains.

1) wok
2) cleaver
3) slow cooker

Thanks for the informative reply.

Let's say I have a client who will regularly wire funds from his bank account overseas to my bank account in the US for services I perform for him. I understand that that there is no limit to the wire transfer and no taxes are due on the wire transfer itself. But assuming he transfers $10,000 and th...

The thing about dividends and special dividends is that the price of the stock goes down the same amount as the dividend, but this is only for a second and the stock then does whatever it does whether it be up or down for the day. Thus, the often small decrease in the stock price the minute the stoc...

Much obliged. I understand now.