Bogleheads.org

Thanks daily bagle... I've done other posts where I've written about challenges of investing from abroad, and have been really grateful for bogleheads. It's a bit of a strange situation, because many traditional investments are less available or helpful. I agree on college savings. They are not our ...

I live overseas and am employed by a church-related organization. I can invest in a 403(b)(9) with Fidelity that, as I understand it, uses "after-tax" dollars. This means that when I take out money at retirement I won't be taxed on the principle but will be taxed on any gains (this is 30 y...

New York times had a blog on this last year. The article is here: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/28/waking-up-to-major-colonoscopy-bills/?smid=pl-share I do just get frustrated with the sheer complexity of the system. The US has ridiculous administrative costs in medicine that add neither eff...

I bought Google's Nexus 4. I love it. It sells for ~300 with 8gb (a little more with tax and shipping). I highly recommend it.

Epsilon Data, that is really funny! I hope everyone who is not a resident of Ohio remembers to file their affadavit, otherwise they will fail the five point test and have to pay OH taxes. I think we will be okay just filing NJ. I spent less than 60 days there and spouse never changed driver's licens...

Thanks sscritic. You always crack me up. No one expects you to do the searching for them. Often, however, I see cases here where someone has encountered a similar or identical situation and can point me to resources I wouldn't find easily on my own. I did do some searching and couldn't find a minimu...

I've been abroad several years and have returned for half a year. In late June we arrived in the midwest. I spent about 6 weeks in OH (where I got a driver's license because my NJ was expired an couldn't be renewed). In August and early September we traveled. In late-September we arrived in NJ where...

It was interesting to read that article. There were two caveats that were noted that are important: (1) parents paying does increase graduation rates, and (2) the disparity was not as strong at elite schools. I taught at a small college (not very good) and I can see where the study came from. There ...

I am moving back abroad in February after about a half year in the US. As I understand it, any foreign excluded income can't count towards qualifying to contribute to a Roth. However, since I will still be paying income tax on about the first 40 days of 2013, I am wondering if I can contribute to my...

Thank you for the help everyone! This is a stupid question and I feel like I should know the answer, but what records should I be keeping for my Roth IRA? My aunt helped me start my Roth ten years ago and I've added to it a couple of times. Is there something I should have been listing on my tax for...

I’ve posted before to say I’m an expat, and have gotten a lot of helpful advice here. I’ve been abroad the last three years, never having left the country where we are. Spouse and I together make ~$50,000, so well under the tax exclusion. This means we basically haven’t had to pay federal taxes. Bec...

Thank you Grabiner! You are a real life-saver. I looked and looked for information but just couldn't find it. I think I needed to be using domicile for the keyword. So I will keep NJ as domicile and pay taxes when I'm in the States. This was a big help.

Archbish99, This is what's so confusing. The passage you cite is for a fulltime resident, but I'm not sure I'm a resident, and it's hard to see how I would be as I spent 0 days in NJ in 2010 and 2011. Reading around, most states exclude for the foreign income exclusion, but I found one (unreliable) ...

Wow, this is really fascinating, and is scaring me a little! I hope I'm not high-jacking on OP's thread, but let me ask my specific question this way. I have continued to vote in NJ and maintain a drivers license there (I think for most of us abroad, we want to keep a driver's license, so I imagine ...

For me what I was saying is that since I have no taxable income while abroad (because of "foreign earned income tax exclusion"), therefore I appear to owe no state taxes. I have basically the same question as the OP, but since I don't think I'd owe taxes I'm less nervous. Living abroad is ...

I feel like with the expat questions we often don't get full resolution. It would really be great if this could be added to the wiki sometime. I'm in a near identical situation. I was an (1) NJ resident, (2) employer is based in the midwest, and (3) mail goes to my in-laws (in yet another state). On...

I have been studying Chinese on and off for more than a decade and have a kid in Mandarin preschool. I know a lot of American Chinese majors, and let me warn you that you can do a Chinese major and still have really, really, really terrible Chinese. To put this in perspective, imagine that you are a...

Corner, I'm in the same boat. In the past I've suggested that a section be added to the wiki for American expats since a number of us post on these topics. There are some sorts of tax advantaged accounts we can participate in, but they have no benefit for us because they don't reduce our taxes but w...

The other thing to consider with for-profits is transferability. Many schools won't accept their credits, which could make a difference if you get half-way through or if you want to go for that MBA later. With a non-profit or state school, if you get half way in and decide you want to do something e...

Interestingly, the online magazine Slate did an article on this in January ( http://www.slate.com/id/2284358/ It's actually safer to back in and then drive out straight when you leave. This is because children (pets, carts, etc.) are harder to seeing backing out then driving straight out. The articl...

I'm in the same situation and have suggested that maybe a part of the wiki could be devoted to this question, which affects a number of us. Here is what I have figured out for those of us who, because we live abroad, declare no taxable income: -We can contribute to a 401k, but with no obvious tax ad...

We are in a similar situation. We use my wife's parents' address for mailings. I don't think there's a problem with this. Her home state did ask us for state taxes in 2009, but we just sent in our taxes showing the first half of the year we lived in one state and then we moved abroad. So far, not a ...

Thank you DBR! I will check/post there. It looks like a very helpful site.

I'm a US expat living in Asia. We moved abroad in fall 2009. I thought I would qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion in 2010, but just realized that this would extend back to part of 2009 (we haven't returned home since we left). This is my first time amending a return, and it just kind of...

Given the (yes, helpful!) responses here, I'd say that a Bogleheads wiki for expats would be a welcome addition. Whenever I've googled for info I get really unhelpful blog posts by tax preparers or expat associations. On the other hand, my single query here was very helpful. The types of questions t...

Let me be the first to say that this could be me. Generally, we probably underestimate (1) our tendency to try to time the market, and (2) our tendency to follow trends. On #1, I put money in in early 2000s and in 2010 when markets were low, but I have a big chunk I just added a couple of months ago...

Google "Michigan Department of Community Health." Many states have programs for lower income children without insurance. If she's middle class or lower the kid is probably eligible for a highly subsidized health care rate with a state program. We had a baby fairly recently and in the state...

I also think with a name like "John Galt" you should definitely be hedging on the stock market. The real John Galt would be buying up steal, other commodities and rural real estate in anticipation of the imminent collapse of US society. (Probably would not be a big fan of cash or bonds eit...

Joruva, this is helpful. I hadn't understood how the Standard Deduction and Personal Exemption affected dividends and capital gains. Maybe I'll go with the total bond fund, which was my initial default choice. I'm not anticipating a lot in the fund to start with--maybe 5 or 10 thousand dollars. It a...

Fred, this is very helpful. I have read the wiki and will reread. I've been reading a lot, but it still takes a while to figure out the different issues. Your explanation was actually much more helpful. I think I am getting a sense for how things work. Will the taxes be paid yearly then (on dividend...

I'm a lowish income expat living in Asia, which limits my ability to fund a Roth (only when I go back to the states every few year and have taxable income) and removes any tax benefit for a 401k. Since at some point we'll want to return to the States (but will probably be five years and could be twe...