Search found 2001 matches

by bpp
Mon Nov 09, 2015 1:54 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Total Stock Market vs. Basket of Stocks
Replies: 13
Views: 2333

Re: Total Stock Market vs. Basket of Stocks

afoolwithmoney wrote:If you are doing something like this, do you manage it yourself, or with an advisor?
A few folks here do variations on that. There is even a Wiki page on it: Passively managing individual stocks

I do it to avoid PFIC issues, with loss-harvesting a nice side benefit. I manage it myself.

I believe Wealthfront will also do it for you automatically, for a fee.
by bpp
Sun Nov 08, 2015 7:48 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What is unused (cell plan) data worth to you?
Replies: 56
Views: 6554

Re: What is unused data worth to you?

tbradnc wrote:Would you pay $16 extra to have 7 GB of data in reserve?
No, but I am not you. What happens if you go over? For me, no extra charge but the transfer rate goes down, which I am fine with, since I have never gone over limit anyway. Is it similar for you?
by bpp
Wed Nov 04, 2015 9:48 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Good news? Press release: "TurboTax Restores Forms to Desktop Software"
Replies: 4
Views: 1715

Re: Good news? Press release: "TurboTax Restores Forms to Desktop Software"

Meanwhile, TaxAct has started going in the direction of limiting the forms available with lower-priced bundles.
Of particular concern to overseas filers, Forms 2555 (FEIE) and 8938 (FATCA) are now not available below the Plus version.
by bpp
Fri Oct 30, 2015 9:43 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: science fair project ideas requested
Replies: 36
Views: 4416

Re: science fair project ideas requested

livesoft wrote:Economics is not a science: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... s-disaster
And it doesn't have a Nobel prize.
by bpp
Tue Oct 27, 2015 9:01 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 529 plan for Japanese college
Replies: 2
Views: 2262

Re: 529 plan for Japanese college

I think you're right, there are no Japanese universities that currently qualify for 529 or Coverdell purposes. I seem to recall that some of the private universities used to (Waseda and/or Keio), but even they don't seem to bother registering anymore. If you use a Coverdell, there is the option to use it for high school expenses, but that only works if your kid goes to high school in the US. If you hope to send your kid to college in Japan, you will probably also have to send your kid to high school in Japan in order to be able to pass the tests, which would make that option useless. That is, unless you decide to send your kid to Sophia or one of the G30 program schools, which take overseas applicants without requiring センター試験, etc. (Though ...
by bpp
Sat Oct 24, 2015 12:54 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Expat concern: Common Reporting Standard
Replies: 7
Views: 1538

Re: Expat concern: Common Reporting Standard

The US has so far refused to sign onto the Common Reporting Standard. Reportedly, the US has just started giving very limited reciprocity to some countries in exchange for their signing FATCA IGAs, but the only information they are giving out is what they already have, 1099s.

There is no enabling legislation for them to collect new information from domestic financial institutions regarding accounts held by non-residents other than what is already collected (1099s). There have been attempts to get such legislation passed, so it may happen eventually, but has not happened yet.

Still, the trend is for everybody's data to go everywhere, so probably wise to plan for that eventuality.
by bpp
Tue Oct 13, 2015 8:30 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: No raises and 10% pay cut at Megacorp
Replies: 36
Views: 6517

Re: No raises and 10% pay cut at Megacorp

Across-the-board pay cuts are much less demoralizing than lay-offs. Be glad your employer chose this path.
by bpp
Mon Oct 12, 2015 6:58 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Could this Retirement Plan work (match div's to exp's)?
Replies: 9
Views: 1213

Re: Could this Retirement Plan work (match div's to exp's)?

I think the idea of paying the bills for a certain company from the dividends from that same company is fundamentally flawed, in that what that company charges and the dividends it pays are likely to be inversely related. For example, paying your electric bill with dividends from your local electric company stock may seem clever, until one of their power plants melts down, forcing them to raise electric rates to pay for the clean-up, and cut their dividend to zero. It is an unstable equilibrium.
by bpp
Mon Oct 05, 2015 10:05 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Live abroad, don't pay US taxes but have US investments, should I tax harvest?
Replies: 3
Views: 779

Re: Live abroad, don't pay US taxes but have US investments, should I tax harvest?

If you do not owe taxes in the US, then tax-loss harvesting in a US-based account will not accomplish anything useful for your US taxes -- but will likely make a big mess on your Japanese taxes, since the US-based tax-harvesting algorithm will not be taking Japanese taxes into account.

It is probably more productive for you to focus any tax-loss harvesting efforts on the Japan side.
See these threads for some notes on that, and how the rules will change from 2016:
Japan - domestic and cross-border loss harvesting
ETF / Mutual Fund in Japan

You might also want to peruse:
Filing Japanese tax returns (確定申告)
by bpp
Sat Oct 03, 2015 8:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should my husband become a US citizen?
Replies: 102
Views: 11640

Re: Should my husband become a US citizen?

I must say, there's a greater peace of mind knowing that as a naturalized citizen, you can be deported for way fewer things. I think the number of things for which a naturalized citizen can be deported is equal to zero, no? Wasn't there some ex-Nazi who had his naturalization annulled and got deported when his past came to light? Though I suppose legally, he was no longer a citizen at the time of deportation, so in a strict sense you may be right. Right. I don't think a citizen, naturalized or not, can be deported. Right, a citizen cannot be deported. But it is possible to have one's citizenship stripped and then be deported. So naturalizing does not, in itself, provide an absolute guarantee against future deportation. Though it does raise...
by bpp
Fri Oct 02, 2015 6:28 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should my husband become a US citizen?
Replies: 102
Views: 11640

Re: Should my husband become a US citizen?

I must say, there's a greater peace of mind knowing that as a naturalized citizen, you can be deported for way fewer things. I think the number of things for which a naturalized citizen can be deported is equal to zero, no? Wasn't there some ex-Nazi who had his naturalization annulled and got deported when his past came to light? Though I suppose legally, he was no longer a citizen at the time of deportation, so in a strict sense you may be right. ADD: According to this news report, it is not just one: NY Judge Orders Ex-Nazi Deported The U.S. special investigations office has so far stripped 64 ex-Nazis of U.S. citizenship, and deported 53 of them. A further 250 are under investigation, and 17 prosecutions are currently taking place.
by bpp
Wed Sep 30, 2015 5:23 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should my husband become a US citizen?
Replies: 102
Views: 11640

Re: Should my husband become a US citizen?

sawhorse wrote:As I've been reading up on this, I'll share some information that may be useful.
Good, clear summary of the practical issues surrounding what can be a very emotional decision, sawhorse.
by bpp
Fri Sep 25, 2015 10:47 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Who Believes in International Bonds and Why
Replies: 44
Views: 5243

Re: Who Believes in International Bonds and Why

I believe unhedged foreign bonds are a high-volatility, low (but positive) expected return asset class that has different risk factors from domestic bonds, domestic stocks and foreign stocks. So I include them. Though I don't think they will make much difference one way or the other. For a US-based investor, see Figure 4 of the (in)famous Vanguard paper on foreign bonds: http://www.vanguard.com/pdf/icrifi.pdf For a 60/40 stock/bond portfolio with the stocks split 50/50 domestic/foreign, then increasing the bond allocation from 100% domestic to 50/50 domestic/foreign (unhedged) only changes the volatility from 9.6% to 10.0%. I.e., it is a negligible change. (And it is even smaller if one's foreign stock percentage is lower.) For a Japan-base...
by bpp
Wed Sep 23, 2015 12:05 am
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: American in Japan need advice
Replies: 13
Views: 2763

Re: American in Japan need advice

slammer wrote:I'm interested in using Nomura, but my "financial Japanese" is nonexistent and my wife is not interested. Do they have English support?
No, and neither does any other broker in Japan, as far as I know.
The reason for doing individual stocks (foreign) was the potential for a higher return than an ETF. However, it is riskier.
Good to recognize that.
She just opened a domestic REIT, a global REIT, and a US high yield income at a local bank in Japan.
That'll be a pretty volatile combination. I guess she really likes dividends. I hope she can ignore the price swings.
by bpp
Sun Sep 20, 2015 4:54 am
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: American in Japan need advice
Replies: 13
Views: 2763

Re: American in Japan need advice

Lady Geek, thank you for the links. I'm still reading through the valuable information. ANC and bpp, thank you for your advice. I saw a formula (120/110 - your age) to find out the % of stocks you should own. To be honest I really don't know what kind of asset allocation I need. Figuring out what asset allocation you want is the first, most important step. After that, we can talk about how to implement it given the constraints of what is available to you here in Japan. Age in bonds, or (age-10) in bonds or something like that is a reasonable starting point, but there is no science behind it all. It really depends on what you will be comfortable with. Besides the stock/bond ratio, the other big thing to worry about is domestic/foreign split...
by bpp
Sat Sep 19, 2015 8:28 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: American in Japan need advice
Replies: 13
Views: 2763

Re: American in Japan need advice

I second what LadyGeek and ANC wrote. If you're thinking of individual stocks, another wiki page that may be of interest is Passively managing individual stocks . I am in similar shoes to yours, and I use Nomura for their selection of US-based ETFs, including Vanguard. An advantage of Nomura is that they allow US citizens to buy US-based ETFs directly from the US exchanges. The disadvantage is that their commissions are very high (so do occasional lump-sums rather than small monthly purchases), and those ETFs cannot be purchased within a tax-advantaged NISA account. I hold individual Japanese stocks at SMBC Nikko. An advantage of SMBC Nikko is that their commissions have come way down lately, and they also allow US citizens to buy US-based ...
by bpp
Thu Sep 17, 2015 8:06 am
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Vanguard Investing From Japan (Saison vs. Other Broker)
Replies: 10
Views: 2096

Re: Vanguard Investing From Japan (Saison vs. Other Broker)

That's probably a reasonable choice for her. As mentioned, for someone who just doesn't want to bothered, that fund is one of the better options out there.

Pat yourselves both on the back.
by bpp
Sun Sep 13, 2015 8:22 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What bed did you get your toddler and how long did you use it?
Replies: 47
Views: 8829

Re: What bed did you get your toddler and how long did you use it?

Our toddler slept on the same futon with us until about halfway through elementary school.

Now sleeps on own bed, in own bedroom. Forget what it cost, but way less than $800. Probably $200 or $300 at most.
by bpp
Sun Sep 13, 2015 8:13 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: For those who tilt with domestic equities....
Replies: 7
Views: 893

Re: For those who tilt with domestic equities....

50/50 large cap/small cap on the domestic side.
Or at least, the part which is not included in VT.

Market weight on the foreign side, plus the portion of domestic included in VT.
by bpp
Sat Sep 12, 2015 2:14 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: It looks like the S&P 500 is going to fall another 26% - Business Insider
Replies: 18
Views: 4946

Re: It looks like the S&P 500 is going to fall another 26% - Business Insider

baw703916 wrote:
hicabob wrote:The mention of Fibonacci should set off your "investment porn" alarm.
26 isn't a Fibonacci number :?:
Though, it is the product of two Fibonacci numbers.
by bpp
Fri Sep 11, 2015 11:32 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: VT and BND
Replies: 16
Views: 6421

Re: VT and BND

The unclemick portfolio. There are many other portfolios which are just a good, but probably not many that are significantly better, at least for a US-based investor.

Which is to say no, I personally don't think you need any other funds than those two.
by bpp
Thu Sep 10, 2015 10:44 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Will the refugee crisis drag European economies down long term?
Replies: 16
Views: 2329

Re: Will the refugee crisis drag European economies down long term?

What do you know that the rest of the market doesn't?
by bpp
Wed Sep 09, 2015 10:26 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Vanguard Investing From Japan (Saison vs. Other Broker)
Replies: 10
Views: 2096

Re: Vanguard Investing From Japan (Saison vs. Other Broker)

1. For the Saison fund, it looks like that 0.74% is the all-in cost, with 0.4935% being the added management fee: So if I understand you correctly, the total cost of going with the Saison fund is roughly 1.23% (0.074% + 0.4935%)? And then plus the additional 0.1% back-load fee. No, the total cost is 0.74%, of which 0.4935% is Saison's management cut, and the remaining ~0.25% consists of the ERs of the underlying funds. Plus the 0.1% back-end load when you sell. My final question is: Is there a way to automate, to a certain extent, your brokerage account so that it 1) makes auto-deposits into the investment account and 2) makes auto-purchases of designated shares (like every month or bi-monthly)? Yes, some brokerages will do this. SMBC Nikk...
by bpp
Wed Sep 09, 2015 3:34 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Features for a new toilet
Replies: 33
Views: 5822

Re: Features for a new toilet

Washlet.
by bpp
Mon Sep 07, 2015 11:54 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Vanguard Investing From Japan (Saison vs. Other Broker)
Replies: 10
Views: 2096

Re: Vanguard Investing From Japan (Saison vs. Other Broker)

For the Saison fund, it looks like that 0.74% is the all-in cost, with 0.4935% being the added management fee: https://www.vanguardjapan.co.jp/retail/investment-products/fund-of-funds.htm#saison (near the bottom) Also, there seems to be a back-end load of 0.1% For someone who does not want to learn about investing, and just wants a set-and-forget global portfolio, it is not the worst choice out there. Actually hard to do much better cost-wise with balanced mutual funds in Japan. But for costs, yes, you and your girlfriend can do much better with ETFs at a brokerage. Note that the Saison fund is a PFIC, so you will probably not want to hold it yourself anyway. Nomura is ok if you can buy in big chunks, as their commissions for foreign ETFs s...
by bpp
Tue Sep 01, 2015 8:26 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Expat: Vanguard declines to give advice. Move to Schwab?
Replies: 16
Views: 3742

Re: Expat: Vanguard declines to give advice. Move to Schwab?

Are you living in Canada? Is there any way to transfer all your investments there to somebody reasonable, who can deal with cross-border issues (TD and/or Norbert Schlenker, perhaps)?

If your wife has no intention of living in the US, I would be hesitant to leave her dependent on US-based brokerage and advisory services, who typically don't want to deal with clients in Canada, due to Canadian provincial securities laws. (We have the same problem here in Japan.)
by bpp
Tue Sep 01, 2015 4:52 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Can the market go up forever?
Replies: 80
Views: 10104

Re: Can the market go up forever?

Warren Buffett interview wrote:The smartest people in Guam are as smart as the smartest people in Iceland are as smart as the smartest people in the U.S.
Curiously round-about way of saying that some of the smartest people in the US are in Guam.
by bpp
Sat Aug 29, 2015 9:53 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Individual Stocks Does it Ever Make Sense?
Replies: 81
Views: 12344

Re: Individual Stocks Does it Ever Make Sense?

I have a basket of individual stocks, for the reasons baw703916 mentioned up-thread, but I manage it passively, along the lines discussed in the wiki: Passively managing individual stocks . On the other hand, doing it in the manner and for the reasons given in the original post in this thread would not make sense for me: The companies I bought were [5 companies]. My reason for doing so, albeit theoretically riskier than owning the entire stock market, was to hopefully limit my downside when we eventually hit a correction and/or a bear market. I purposefully limited myself to buying industry leaders with low valuations (10-14 ttm p/e), that were already down 20-25%. So even though a risky move, not off-the-wall risky. The reasons this would ...
by bpp
Thu Aug 27, 2015 6:34 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Individual Stocks Does it Ever Make Sense?
Replies: 81
Views: 12344

Re: Individual Stocks Does it Ever Make Sense?

NoRoboGuy wrote:Additionally, is the performance tracking error worth the savings in fees? Where do they get 1.5% in annual costs for index funds when the amount Vanguard charges investors is 0.05%?
The answer, according to the article:
Bogle says even the worst case scenario of losing a fraction of a point of return is worth it in order to get a totally static portfolio. He estimates that taxes and transaction costs (not just commissions, but bid-ask spreads) skim 4.5% annually out of returns for most investors in actively managed funds, and 1.5% even for investors in an index fund.
Are those tax and transaction cost numbers realistic these days?
Seem rather high to believe.
by bpp
Mon Aug 24, 2015 9:49 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Filing Japanese tax returns (確定申告)
Replies: 32
Views: 9515

Re: Filing Japanese tax returns (確定申告)

LadyGeek wrote:Does the wiki need to be updated? Investing in Japan
Yes, it does. Will work on it.
by bpp
Mon Aug 24, 2015 7:08 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Filing Japanese tax returns (確定申告)
Replies: 32
Views: 9515

Re: Filing Japanese tax returns (確定申告)

Got a message from SMBC Nikko that the withholding tax treatment of certain JDRs will be changing from September. (JDRs are foreign securities that trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Think ADRs on the US exchanges by way of analogy.) The JDRs in question are US-based ETFs. Until now, apparently 30% withholding tax has been taken from dividends and paid to the US. From now, the treaty rate of 10% will be withheld instead -- unless one is a US taxpayer with a W9 on file with SMBC Nikko, in which case no tax will be withheld (declare them on your Schedule B instead). Note that Japanese taxes will still be withheld as usual if outside of a NISA -- this only affects US withholding. This is actually very good news, and makes JDRs for US-based ETF...
by bpp
Mon Aug 24, 2015 6:50 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: British Citizen living in Japan for unknown term
Replies: 7
Views: 1065

Re: British Citizen living in Japan for unknown term

While it is true that you will probably have to close any accounts if you leave Japan, the main reason that would ordinarily be bad is that it might force you to recognize capital gains at an inopportune time. On the other hand, if you are investing through a NISA, then it would be tax-free for the next 5 years, so even if you closed it out early, there would be no tax cost to do so.

Just a quick thought.
by bpp
Sun Aug 23, 2015 8:50 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What should we do in South Korea?
Replies: 16
Views: 3716

Re: What should we do in South Korea?

If you don't know or plan to learn any Korean, at least learn the "alphabet," Hangul. It is really easy to learn (you can learn it on the plane ride over), and it will make getting around much more easy and enjoyable. And yes, even if you don't know any Korean besides the names of some food dishes, it will come in handy for recognizing English loan-words. (Even better if you know Japanese, since lots of Chinese loanwords are pronounced the same or almost the same in Korean as they are in Japanese.) Plus generally useful for reading place names.
by bpp
Sat Aug 22, 2015 10:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Expat purchasing Rental Car Insurance / Umbrella Policy (?)
Replies: 4
Views: 1002

Re: Expat purchasing Rental Car Insurance / Umbrella Policy (?)

I would think that a non-US license plus IDP should be sufficient in any state. Some states will not require an IDP for licenses from certain countries (California allows Japanese licenses without IDP, for example), but with an IDP you should be fine anywhere.

Be careful of credit card limitations of coverage if you are a non-resident. But I guess you've already checked that fine-print.
by bpp
Fri Aug 21, 2015 8:43 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Does anyone here collect currency?
Replies: 38
Views: 5508

Re: Does anyone here collect currency?

Dulocracy wrote:I have a small stack of $1 silver certificates.

I also have a 100 Japanese Peso bill. I had more when I was a kid, but I thought it was play money and lost it. The Japanese Peso was issued during WWII, and my uncle brought some back. I feel bad that I lost several of them.
Japanese peso? You mean yen or sen?
Haven't seen one of those in years.
Could be worth quite a bit.
by bpp
Tue Aug 18, 2015 4:51 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What's a Bug Out Bag and who uses them?
Replies: 72
Views: 12956

Re: What's a Bug Out Bag and who uses them?

Some natural disasters involve mandatory evacuations. Sheltering in place is not always wise or even possible. [...] I would be interested in knowing whether some of the more dismissive posts in this thread come from people who have actually survived a natural disaster. Those with hands-on experience may be able to offer a better perspective for the OP. I didn't mean to be dismissive. Our house has kept us safe through typhoon, earthquake and nuclear meltdown, and is likely be one of the better places to be when the next tornado comes through town (better than being in a car, certainly). But we also aren't in an area susceptible to floods, mudslides, tsunamis or wildfires, so sheltering in place is generally a good strategy for us. YMMV.
by bpp
Mon Aug 17, 2015 8:10 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What's a Bug Out Bag and who uses them?
Replies: 72
Views: 12956

Re: What's a Bug Out Bag and who uses them?

My house is my bug-out bag. This is the place we run to when things gets hairy, not from.
by bpp
Mon Aug 17, 2015 7:25 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Money Mag:Why Vanguard Founder Jack Bogle Doesn’t Like Investing in Foreign Markets
Replies: 64
Views: 10632

Re: Money Mag:Why Vanguard Founder Jack Bogle Doesn’t Like Investing in Foreign Markets

...The original point was "British politics make no sense" (to Jack Bogle, and the poster, I presume) and I wanted to highlight that from some objective standard, without considering the history, neither does American. ie it's a bad justification for not investing in foreign markets, that you don't understand the peculiarities of one democratic system over another. I have to say this particular interview ranks at the bottom of reasons I've heard Mr.Bogle give for why it's just not necessary to go international. While the legal system and social views on private property and contracts might be a factor, pointing at the political process doesn't seem to be a good argument. More to the point, what does an individual investor know ab...
by bpp
Fri Jul 31, 2015 3:01 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: So you think 2-factor authentication is safe? Think again.
Replies: 14
Views: 4263

Re: So you think 2-factor authentication is safe? Think again.

dognose wrote:But the best protection of all is to use long, complicated passwords. Very few people do this, of course, and most people use their birth dates or the names of their pets.
What's wrong with that? My pet's name is Q3P5bgt86sT5qr78hvw. Haven't been hacked yet.
by bpp
Fri Jul 24, 2015 3:32 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Mortgage as a reverse-bond technique
Replies: 36
Views: 2891

Re: Mortgage as a reverse-bond technique

Dulocracy wrote:If the total that we put in equals $40,000, then at the end, we have $40,000 to replace of fixed income.
Maybe I am misreading, but I think instead you have $40,000 of (virtual) fixed income that does not need replacing.
by bpp
Fri Jul 24, 2015 3:12 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Mortgage as a reverse-bond technique
Replies: 36
Views: 2891

Re: Mortgage as a reverse-bond technique

Another way to do the accounting is to simply treat your mortgage balance as a negative bond, and then calculate a glide path from your current net bond allocation (which may even be negative) to what you want it to be when you expect the mortgage to be paid off.
by bpp
Fri Jul 24, 2015 2:57 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Mortgage as a reverse-bond technique
Replies: 36
Views: 2891

Re: Mortgage as a reverse-bond technique

I think the idea is makes sense, but don't understand the accounting at the end of the mortgage. I think you would want to account for the accumulated mortgage prepayments by forever after pretending you had $40,000 more in fixed income assets than you actually do.
by bpp
Fri Jul 17, 2015 7:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Solar panel investment - financially worth it?
Replies: 39
Views: 11636

Re: Solar panel investment - financially worth it?

Hi all, Thanks everyone for all the insight and very helpful posts. We are still sitting on the fence about this, and it is getting very close to the deadline for subsidies. The truth of the matter is that we have very cheap gas and electricity bills, so buying an oversized system now is beneficial considering the feed-in tariff, but in 10 years time that will definitely have changed and we will probably not be able to receive the same benefits for any surplus energy. Of course, our consumption will have increased by then too as our family situation changes, but I am thinking to perhaps reevaluate in 5 or 10 years, once our current gas system starts to show a bit of wear. Looks like we might install that deck we have been talking about ins...
by bpp
Tue Jul 14, 2015 7:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Foreign Earned Income Exclusion for Married Couple
Replies: 2
Views: 563

Re: Foreign Earned Income Exclusion for Married Couple

You each get an individual exclusion, and cannot lump all income and exclusions together.
If we have to account separately, then we end up above the limit ($125,000 > $99,200 for mine, and $25,000 < $99,200 for hers) and have to pay taxes on $125,000 - $99,200 = $25,800.
This is how it works, though note you will also have the standard deduction and exemptions taken out of that $25,800. Whatever is left after that is taxed at the marginal rate for $150,000 for your filing status.
by bpp
Tue Jul 07, 2015 5:20 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Everything is rolling over except U.S. stocks
Replies: 14
Views: 2489

Re: Everything is rolling over except U.S. stocks

It is surprising to see, but the only market still in an uptrend is US stocks (I’m ignoring ethanol and cattle).
This assertion is untrue. The Japanese market is also still in an uptrend. I'm too lazy to look (and apparently Meb Faber is too), but I bet there are others as well.

Not that worrying would help much either way.
by bpp
Tue Jul 07, 2015 8:42 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Foreign Earned Income Exclusion
Replies: 3
Views: 845

Re: Foreign Earned Income Exclusion

The instructions for the relevant line(s) on Form 2555 say to include all foreign earned income. I also asked the IRS about this years ago (way back when they used to actually answer questions about stuff like this -- early 2000s?), and they laughed (literally) at the idea that intentionally under-excluding income would be considered legit.
by bpp
Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:23 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Funds that exclude one country
Replies: 27
Views: 2875

Re: Funds that exclude one country

One possibility might to buy a global fund, then short a single-country fund for that country. Though this is probably not a good psychological equivalent to simply avoiding the country altogether. If the country is Japan, a combination of TOK (developed ex-Japan) plus an emerging markets fund would work. It the country is Canada, a combination of EFA (developed ex-Canada-and-US), plus EM and a US index, would work. If the country is the US, Total International would work. Outside of those 3 cases, it gets trickier. It may be easiest to exclude an entire region or category (e.g., Europe, it the country is Germany, France, Spain, UK, etc., or EM, if the country is China, Russia, Argentina, etc.). You could partially fill in surrounding count...
by bpp
Fri Jul 03, 2015 10:00 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]
Replies: 5250
Views: 906917

Re: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]

Gattamelata wrote:Please do not read any livesoft post without first reading every other livesoft post.
Logically, of course, the only way to satisfy this request is to never read a livesoft post.
by bpp
Fri Jul 03, 2015 7:31 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: US Taxes + Foreign (NZ) Investing / Is Kiwisaver a PFIC?
Replies: 19
Views: 7957

Re: US Taxes + Foreign (NZ) Investing / Is Kiwisaver a PFIC?

Is KiwiSaver taxable by the US? It looks like there is an exemption from the "savings clause" (the rule that says the US can ignore the treaty when it comes to taxing its citizens abroad) for: Pensions and other payments made under the social security legislation of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State or a citizen of the United States shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned State. (See Article 18, para 1b of 1982 US-NZ tax treaty.) So if KiwiSaver is a "pension or other payment made under the social security legislation of" NZ, then it would not be taxable by the US. Is it? The 2008 protocol clarifies that the term "pension fund" includes KiwiSaver accounts. But is this the sam...
by bpp
Thu Jul 02, 2015 7:06 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Solar panel investment - financially worth it?
Replies: 39
Views: 11636

Re: Solar panel investment - financially worth it?

hicabob and Grt2bOutdoors, thank you for the information. bpp, Actually we have only had our gas system for about 6 months! You may realise this, but I believe the EcoCute system is actually a form of heating the water cheaply using CO2 from the surrounding air. The program to buy power cheaply at night you speak of is a deal offered by the electrical company if you are an all electric household. The EcoCute system does operate mainly at night so they are kind of one and the same thing, but the night rates alone don't seem to make it a cheaper system. In fact, I have not completely looked into this myself, but I have heard there are various deals and rates you can chose from (cheap weekend rates etc.) regardless of whether you are all elec...