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Great advice from Plats as usual. I would just add that the Form TD F 90-22.1 minimum threshold for reporting of $10,000 refers to the sum of your bank and/or brokerage account balances reaching that level at any time during the year, and then you would report the highest monthly consolidated balanc...

I faced a similar dilemma a little over five years ago. The decision to take the early retirement LS vs. waiting a few more years to receive it was greatly facilitated by the impending and mandated (by the Pension Protection Act of 2006) phase-in of the blended corporate bond rate, to which you now ...

As the OP of this thread, and specifically to revert to bpp, I wanted to confirm that I was just able, again this year, to e-file from Brazil, via desktopTaxAct. This was on a Portuguese-language operating-system laptop, so the travails that bpp shared with us with TaxAct earlier this year may be sp...

The only caveat: the beneficiary (natural person or charity) must exist at the time the CU fails. Good point. At least in the case of FDIC-insured institutions (have not examined the CU regs) you could be further protected by specifying alternate bene's in the context of a living trust, as per my p...

I use POD and a living trust at Ally Bank to go well above the $250K limit. I started out with living trust, but discovered that it's easier to open new CDs using POD (can't open them online using a trust), and in my case with only my kids as beneficiaries, it works out just as well. Kevin +1 I agr...

Ok, just e-filed my US tax return with TurboTax. No real problem, except for one extremely stupid one: TurboTax insists on having a daytime phone where I can be reached in case there is a problem, but they will not accept something that does not look like a US phone number, and they will not let yo...

Just wanted to acknowledge that it was in fact plats and bpp who assisted me, the OP, in this matter. Thanks again to you guys.

This is an old thread about the ability to e-file with TurboTax using a foreign mailing address. It does not seem like the OP's question was directly answered and I recently did more than a little googling to finally confirm the answer for this for a 2012 tax return e-filed using TurboTax (I came a...

If the only way you can get to the withdrawal rate you need to support your spending needs in retirement is to invest most of your nestegg in stocks, then you should be rethinking your spending needs or planning how much longer you should work and save to support those needs without taking that kin...

I file two sets of federal tax returns each year as a Brazil resident and US citizen. The first couple of years here I utilized a big 4 accounting firm here specializing in expats for the local return (well over $1000); and a US-based tax preparation firm decently versed in international tax issues ...

- all Roths were converted, with no contributions Yes. But were they plain old conversions where you paid tax on previously tax-deferred money? Or were they true back door contributions with no tax paid? If no tax was paid, there is no 5 year clock. Come to think of it, I don't think the back door ...

Thank you Alan S for the response. Yes indeed, I was typing while you submitted your post. I tried to outline the cause of the confusion in my post above with the IRS term, Exception. In response to your post, my situation is less complicated than most (and I do keep meticulous records) as: - all my...

Q: That has nothing to do with whether your distribution is from contributions or earnings, is taxable or is not, or is subject to a penalty or not. Or so I read. As you say, it has to be one of the three: Enter Code J, Q, or T as appropriate in box 7. sscritic, I appreciate your response. The issu...

I have learned from experience that the odds are high for a Custodian or Trustee involved in any IRA transaction to screw up the subsequent 1099-R unless minute details on the actual reporting are agreed upon in advance - and even then, mistakes happen. Last year, for example my IRA custodian mis-co...

As an expat with issues of Foreign tax credit, FEIE, AMT, and more, I have a tax lawyer do my taxes each year. I've tried several times on TT, but it has never gotten these issues right.... As a longtime expat, and former TT user, as well as former client of a US-based accountant, I would definitel...

Specific courses uploaded to a Blackboard site might have Java components though, and it looks like their Elluminate subdivision also uses Java. Perhaps you could set up a specific account with Java and just use it for those sites, but not for your generic browsing. IMO, the best solution for this ...

Run a search for Clawback risk (on this board and elsewhere).

+1 for major shift of funds from ING to Ally The only reason that did not completely close out of ING Direct: the bank card Fee for Foreign Transactions decreased from 2.2% (exclusive of Visa and MC; total charge around 3%) to 0%. But query to Capital One bankcard holders: does Capital One actually ...

> However, I just checked the Experian web site, which stated that if you moved to a different address, even within the same state, you would have to submit NEW documentation to them including a new drivers license with your new address and a new utility bill/bank statement. Far be it for me to com...

PS, if you are thinking of this you absolutely have to find out of print copies of David Dodge's Latin American travel books. He was a famous mystery author from the 1940s ( most famously wrote To Catch a Thief that became the Cary Grant/Grace Kelly movie). After WW-II he packed his family into an ...

Why not simply move to Puerto Rico? It is in latin america but it is still part of the USA. Another thing to consider if you do move overseas is currency risk. For instance, in the last few years, the US dollar has lost a lot of its value against the Brazilian Real. Imagine if you were living in Br...

In New York, the credit freeze is permanent, which is great. However, I just checked the Experian web site, which stated that if you moved to a different address, even within the same state, you would have to submit NEW documentation to them including a new drivers license with your new address and ...

Thanks to you both for your very helpful responses. Or read all of pub 525 to see if you can find your refund under taxable or nontaxable. On page 31 of said publication: Court awards and damages To determine if settlement amounts you receive by compromise or judgment must be included in your income...

Just out of an abundance of caution as do not have access to my u.s.-based mail right now, and about ready to file, but wanted to reconfirm first. Like yourself I view it as a reimbursement of fees paid and would not expect it to be taxable ...

You're on, + another couple days. Thanks again for your time.

As I had posed the question at the time that 1099s were beginning to be sent out, I greatly appreciate the fact that, as Bogleheads, no one "jumped the gun" on this before possible receipt. As folks would have received by now, and I am overseas, ready to file pending clarification of this ...

I do not believe that the captioned class action settlement is taxable, as it should represent a reimbursement of expenses paid, but as am traveling wanted to be sure that no one here had received a 1099 or were otherwise tax reporting their proceeds.

I thought Rick Ferri had said something along those lines, but, no, in this post he says "The SWR I tend to use is the cash flow from your portfolio in the form of dividend and interest income." Thank you Nisiprius for the link to Rick Ferri's very enlightening post. It seems to me that c...

From the court documents posted on the site, it looks as though the final pro-rata percentage for Option 3 claims of the total conversion fees was 36% . Or, put differently, 36% of the weighted average % currency fee imposed by each of your cards. For example, from what I can recall: Citi (atm) impo...

And his simplicity in stating the need to keep an eye on the overall portfolio balance I think drives an important point home, that the dizzying WSJ article I believe fails to do. Which is to implicitly consider annual investment returns, in relation to the withdrawal rate - as it is that relation ...

Apparently, Currency Conversion Fee refund checks from the antitrust settlement are in the mail, after a three-year wait. According to the http://www.ccfsettlement.com website: from a gross settlement fund of $336MM , $276MM in net claims are being refunded, after paying the lawyers $58MM and the di...

Taylor Larimore made a classic post which I've bookmarked: Safe Withdrawal Rates ? Complexity vs. Simplicity . He says We simply withdrew what we needed and kept an eye on our portfolio balance. Most years our balance went up and we spent the money on vacations, luxuries and charity. When our balan...

I Besides its wonderfully warm people and rich culture, I enjoy the climate, beaches, mountains, biking, and just the overall quality of life where major world-class metropolitan areas are in close proximity to idyllic hideaways. Brasil has notariety for its crime rate (at least in the North East, ...

They say "I can easily get 10% return in fixed-term deposits (CD) in India on Indian currency(rupee) with *zero* risk. So, why should I bother ?" Now I appreciate that investing in Indian rupee fixed-term deposit is not an option for everybody. But some people can, by wiring some money to...

I early-retired to Brazil a few years back. Like the poster in Fiji above I had an early life experience here, living and working with the locals, learning the language, and loving the culture. I knew then that I just had to move back here one day. Economically speaking, I guess it is a good thing t...

Interesting.... I had assumed the same thing for the last couple of years as well. Personally, I will definitely go the e-file route, not so much for the quicker refund - but for the elimination of manual scanning risk by harried irs employees. I paper filed in March and processing was completed wit...

Thanks bpp. Looking forward to giving TaxAct a test-drive.

Many thanks to all for your VERY helpful responses. Plats: of the five companies the IRS lists which allow e-filing with foreign addresses, TaxAct and H&R Block Free File seem the most promising, but I agree the age restrictions are indeed odd. If you decide to research further, it would certain...

As an expat, the potential development, pointed out by another poster, that the Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) form must be e-filed would certainly be welcome news (once comfortable with security issues). This would entail an immediate annual savings in international courier costs, as well as ti...

Paper filing of FBARs is certainly a MAJOR reporting bottleneck for expats, so e-filing would certainly be a welcome development - if security concerns can be mitigated.

Note: before taking the expatriation plunge, in addition to taking a test drive by renting first, be sure, as I did, to research, among many other issues:

- tax implications;

- expat property rights;

- health insurance; and of course,

- residency requirements.

I moved to Rio about five years ago, after living in NYC for a couple of decades. I have never looked back, although I was careful and test-drove via renting before making a home purchase. Main draws for me: the culture; the climate; the gregarious cariocas which are a bit easier than new yorkers to...