Search found 456 matches

by Cuzz35
Fri Mar 01, 2024 6:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Feels impossible to take the foot off the pedal of saving, but saving at the boglehead pace is stressful.
Replies: 88
Views: 13588

Re: Feels impossible to take the foot off the pedal of saving, but saving at the boglehead pace is stressful.

I would look at your spending and see what you are spending on. In comparison, my kids are 7 and 9 and we are spending about 150-160k a year in a MCOL including a monthly mortgage on 800k loan. I don’t feel like I m depriving my kids of anything due to money and go to 2-3 trips a year but I do make good use of miles and points to pay for my vacay. I'm probably in a similar boat on spending. No private school, no car payments, maybe 1 vacation a year at $3-4k, we just sit at home and do nothing most of the year. I feel like my kids are a little depraved only because the lifestyle of those around me are sending kids to away camps all summer and 3-4 vacations a year. No sports. Wouldn't bother me but also not really save much (10%) and it's n...
by Cuzz35
Fri Mar 01, 2024 8:00 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Mid-career change to law?
Replies: 127
Views: 11686

Re: Mid-career change to law?

If you were single or even married with no kids or old kids I wouldn't be as concerned but they are young now and going to want you and need you around even more as you get older. Doing all that you are basically going to give up alot of time with them and you can't give that back.

I'm learning that now with 13, 8,6 and 2 year old kids. Works wants more of my time and kids need me more to be a parent.
by Cuzz35
Fri Feb 23, 2024 1:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: High Salary (>$500,000) careers
Replies: 244
Views: 28589

Re: High Salary (>$500,000) careers

I have some young clients in real estate that make over $500k and are under 40. Alot of their comp comes from the various real estate deals their firm has. They get equity in those and have crushed it. Closer to $750k-$1.25 million. One then is around 28 years old. The rest that make and have made great money were in private equity, medical, or own their own business or senior executives at large companies. A few financial advisors. I don't work with too many attorneys. Maybe 4. One makes 4mil and a other makes $650k but they are both closer or over 50. The others are around $350-$400k. Partner for a year and a half at a 100million plus accounting firm and make around $250k if my total comp was converted to salary. Probably would be less th...
by Cuzz35
Thu Feb 22, 2024 5:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: FIRE vs Loving your work
Replies: 101
Views: 8356

Re: FIRE vs Loving your work

I truly love in essence what I do (helping people as a tax CPA) but hate absolutely everything else about it (tax seasons, deadline every month, the volume of clients, the public accounting grind etc.)

I don't know what that means. I'm only 38 and a partner but really hate it. Probably means I need to get out and try to work for myself and have the clients I like working with, hire people that I choose, business model that works, and doing thing the way I want. Dunno. At that stage where every day I spend at least some time pondering what else I could do with myself and earn similar to what I earn.
by Cuzz35
Wed Feb 21, 2024 11:07 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay taxes owed first or file 1040X?
Replies: 8
Views: 411

Re: Pay taxes owed first or file 1040X?

I would file the superceded return before paying and pay what is actually owed. The IRS is not going to send a full refund assuming the original amount owed was paid. Your account will show a balance due until something is actually paid. Once the superceded return is processed it should reflect the decrease in tax and adjust the balanced owed. I say this because filing an amended return before the original return is due is technically a superceded return. There should be a box on the return to indicate that now and these are generally processed differently than a true amended return. I'm not sure about the state. Some states are terrible and others are great. I'm in Georgia and wouldn't trust the DOR to handle this correctly and would proba...
by Cuzz35
Sat Feb 17, 2024 5:26 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax question - late K-1
Replies: 2
Views: 334

Re: Tax question - late K-1

You received money from the trust correct? The most conservative thing to do is probably treat the entire distribution as taxable. Then you can go down from there if you feel like that is too conservative.
by Cuzz35
Sat Feb 17, 2024 3:10 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Net Capital Gain - Investment income
Replies: 2
Views: 331

Re: Net Capital Gain - Investment income

There is an election you can make to treat capital gain as ordinary investment income. This is relevant if you have investment interest expense that is limited by your total investment income which does not include capital gain income for this purpose. So if you have investment interest expense that is being limited, you could consider including all of a portion of that in investment income (which causes it to be treated as ordinary income.). If that is the case I usually play around with it to see if the benefit of making the election is worthwhile. Investment interest expense that is limited does carry over to future tax years so it isn't loss. I my cases I have found it really isn't worth doing unless a client has a ton of interest expen...
by Cuzz35
Thu Feb 15, 2024 10:42 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is my CPA nickel and diming me?
Replies: 18
Views: 2935

Re: Is my CPA nickel and diming me?

We don't know if there were any penalties for the late filings. We don't know if they mean late as in late filed or late by their own personal standards, extended, etc.

Could also be a rational explanation for the late filing if that was actually the case.

Billing time working with team members to resolve an issue is good time. Working with them to fix and correct errors, not so much.

If you aren't happy with their service for the fee you are paying. You should probably leave. If you are happy then I see now reason to let the invoice bother you.
by Cuzz35
Wed Feb 14, 2024 4:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is my CPA nickel and diming me?
Replies: 18
Views: 2935

Re: Is my CPA nickel and diming me?

Pretty standard at CPA firms. They encourage everyone to bill all their time related to serving the client which includes writing emails and helping or educating their staff about client specific matters.

Individual partners might make their own decision about what to actually bill for and may decide not to bill for some of these things. But that is probably less common.

I personally try to be somewhere in the middle and depends on what the issues are and the client and how long it took.
by Cuzz35
Mon Feb 12, 2024 10:54 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax advice needed: K1 and tax loss carryovers
Replies: 3
Views: 465

Re: Tax advice needed: K1 and tax loss carryovers

I would think the capital gains you realized should have been treated as passive capital gains which would have freed up the passive losses. If the passive gains you recognized this far were less than your passive losses, that would make sense that you have carryovers.

For 2023 it sounds like you will have gain again which should free up some or all of those losses. To the extend you have any passive losses from this particular investment, if 2023 was the final year than any remaining suspended losses would be allowed in full.

Not sure on the TurboTax question but I am sure there will be promoting at one point where you will be asked about having any losses that weren't allowed from a prior year.
by Cuzz35
Sun Feb 11, 2024 8:46 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do tax Payments Count as Trust Distribution
Replies: 10
Views: 925

Re: Do tax Payments Count as Trust Distribution

Generally speaking a Complex trust is a specific type of trust that pays tax on its undistributed income. A trust making a payment on its own tax liability is not a deduction for the trust. If it pays the tax of a beneficiary or elects to have payments it made treated as made for a beneficiary as previously described, than that payment is treated as a distribution to the beneficiary. Whether the distribution is taxable to the beneficiary or tax free depends on the trusts distributable net income. To the extent the trust has distributable net income equal to or more than the distribution then the distribution is likely fully taxable. The category or income to the beneficiary is reported on a k1. If distributable net income is less than the d...
by Cuzz35
Thu Feb 08, 2024 9:23 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 401k Contributions Timing
Replies: 11
Views: 616

Re: 401k Contributions Timing

TomatoTomahto wrote: Thu Feb 08, 2024 9:02 am
Cuzz35 wrote: Thu Feb 08, 2024 8:35 am Just 4 kids, 2 with special needs, inflation and life.
Yeah. That makes sense. Good luck going forward. It sounds like your career is progressing. :beer
I appreciate that. I'm getting close to doing one of those "how am I doing" threads. But I know the answer is to reduce spending and save more.
by Cuzz35
Thu Feb 08, 2024 8:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 401k Contributions Timing
Replies: 11
Views: 616

Re: 401k Contributions Timing

I wasn't sure how much of an impact this would make. I feel like it could be significant over a long period of time. This is pretty much going to be all my savings for a long while. I'm not a super saver like most of the forum community. I’m not you, and I don’t know your situation, but I personally would be uncomfortable if my 401k were the totality of my investments/savings “for a long while.” I'm not comfortable with it either. It's not all my savings, just where all savings going forward are going. I'm just starting to get over the hump where income is hopefully continuing to climb and I can increase my savings rate. We aren't huge spenders with private schools and fancy cars clothes, jewelry and vacations. Just 4 kids, 2 with special ...
by Cuzz35
Thu Feb 08, 2024 8:34 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 401k Contributions Timing
Replies: 11
Views: 616

Re: 401k Contributions Timing

student wrote: Thu Feb 08, 2024 8:28 am However, I understand that you question is only about the long term return. I think the net effect is approximately your contributions in the first quarter are not in the market for your entire career. Yes. Only one quarter. Think of it this way. Pretend your first quarter's contributions went to a black hole and disappeared. Then you can think of the contributions that they put at the end of the first quarter is actually money for the second quarter (so on time, actually prepaid). Therefore the net effect is every quarterly contributions are on time, except the first, which has never been in the market.
This makes sense to me.
by Cuzz35
Thu Feb 08, 2024 8:18 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 401k Contributions Timing
Replies: 11
Views: 616

Re: 401k Contributions Timing

I would think this is in violation of DOL rules: Department of Labor rules require that the employer deposit deferrals to the trust as soon as the employer can; however, in no event can the deposit be later than the 15th business day of the following month. Remember that the rules about the 15th business day isn't a safe harbor for depositing deferrals; rather, that these rules set the maximum deadline. DOL provides a 7-business-day safe harbor rule for employee contributions to plans with fewer than 100 participants. https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/401k-plan-fix-it-guide-you-havent-timely-deposited-employee-elective-deferrals#:~:text=Department%20of%20Labor%20rules%20require,day%20of%20the%20following%20month. I'm not considered an e...
by Cuzz35
Thu Feb 08, 2024 8:07 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 401k Contributions Timing
Replies: 11
Views: 616

401k Contributions Timing

Hello fellow Bogleheads. I became a partner at my accounting firm in July of 2022. I was reconciling my net draw last year to get a better understanding of what my gross draw is to what I actually get deposited into my bank account. So I had to look into a check to see what 401k contributions were coming and confirming those amounts went into our 401k plan. I could not tie the 401k contributions out and there was a lot that seemed to be missing. So I asked about this and was told that the firm only makes contributions for partners on a quarterly basis. The exact timing I was told was May for Q1, August for Q2, November for Q3 and May again for Q4. I'm concerned with these long delays and it's impact on overall returns I am getting. Does any...
by Cuzz35
Wed Feb 07, 2024 6:17 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Treasury Sent An Incorrect Refund
Replies: 21
Views: 2329

Re: Treasury Sent An Incorrect Refund

Did you make your 2023 payment online or via check. I am assuming you sent a check. I would recommend online payment as this significantly reduces errors like the one you had.
by Cuzz35
Fri Feb 02, 2024 4:29 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Seeking advice on sizing SLATs [Spousal Lifetime Access Trust]
Replies: 14
Views: 1483

Re: Seeking advice on sizing SLATs [Spousal Lifetime Access Trust]

Even contributing less than your full exemption and even the reduced exemption can be beneficial. The future appreciation will grow outside of your estate.

Also, if set up as a grantor trust disregarded for income tax purposes, you will be making a tax free gift every year of the income tax on the assets of the trust. This will help further reduce your estate.

My clients that have been in similar shoes have sometimes just had one spouse create a slat to fully utilize one exemption to make sure they got the benefit of the current exemption amount on at least one spouse.

Just some things to consider. I'm not an attorney.
by Cuzz35
Thu Feb 01, 2024 8:53 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Friend's CPA insisting they sign "Consent to Use Xpitax" - help!
Replies: 22
Views: 2519

Re: Friend's CPA insisting they sign "Consent to Use Xpitax" - help!

CPA here. My firm uses Xpitax. It's a great product. Saves me a ton of time and let's me bypass using interns and staff I alot of cases.

To clarify, using Xpitax is like giving the work to a staff with a few years of experience. When it comes back, I still detail review and know the ins and outs. I would assume most firms do the same.

So really has nothing to do with the quality of the work unless the firm has no review of what they send through Xpitax.

Data security I think is really the only concern I would have and I don't.
by Cuzz35
Wed Jan 31, 2024 6:48 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How long 706 closing letter takes to process?
Replies: 6
Views: 1092

Re: How long 706 closing letter takes to process?

I am pretty certain the year of death was a typo and should read 2021.
by Cuzz35
Mon Jan 29, 2024 10:23 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How long 706 closing letter takes to process?
Replies: 6
Views: 1092

Re: How long 706 closing letter takes to process?

I would recommend looking into downloading transcripts instead of requesting a physical letter.

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-bu ... ng-letters
by Cuzz35
Sat Jan 27, 2024 7:46 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Rental Property Sale Crossing Two Years - Not Installment
Replies: 5
Views: 908

Re: Rental Property Sale Crossing Two Years - Not Installment

I didn't research this but would think you could argue that you did not have full access and control of the first $100k and therefore you would just report the entire sale in 2024.
by Cuzz35
Sat Jan 27, 2024 7:31 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paying 2023 tax estimates
Replies: 2
Views: 488

Re: Paying 2023 tax estimates

Direct pay will still allow you to make an estimated tax payment for 2023.
by Cuzz35
Mon Jan 01, 2024 10:49 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: At what net worth did you start not sweating the "small stuff"
Replies: 137
Views: 27092

Re: At what net worth did you start not sweating the "small stuff"

I don't know what the number would be. But I am way different than others posting here. There is definitely a number where I would love to not sweat small stuff. Life is too short. I'm broke and work all the time and my goal has always been to make enough to not worry about paying bills.

Just in my head maybe $1million in savings and making near what I make today ($250k) I think I would let small stuff go.

Might need to define what small is. I have clients that will ask me what to do when they get a $50 notice from the IRS or state. They make millions a year. To me I wouldn't even bother asking my accountant and would just pay and forget it. Would probably do the same if it was a few thousand but that's just me.
by Cuzz35
Wed Dec 27, 2023 5:05 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: $700k Tax Bill
Replies: 80
Views: 17162

Re: $700k Tax Bill

What state is your income getting taxed in if any? Many states have passed legislation that is essentially a work around to the $10k SALT limit for individuals. The mechanic is usually a form of electing to pay your state tax at the entity level. I also wonder if you are getting the benefit of the qualified business income deduction. Your type of business may not qualify but it would be something to consider if that hasn't been brought up before. As you seemed to have noticed already, most tax savings strategies are small thing that add up over a long period of time or require you to spend money to save a fraction of what is spent in taxes. I would question the validity of any strategy that's seems to good to be true. There are alot of scam...
by Cuzz35
Wed Apr 05, 2023 6:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Estimated Tax Payment Question
Replies: 22
Views: 2201

Re: Estimated Tax Payment Question

I would ask your accountant to give you a break down. Gross income and deductions to get to taxable income and breakout of the different types of taxes that go into the total tax figure.

There are things you are missing that could potentially be applicable. Did your company make a PTET election? Does the income qualify for the QBI deduction, do you itemize versus standard deduction. 1/2 of SE tax deduction, potentially medical insurance premiums as a partner. There are a lot of little things to consider.

Looks like NJ let's you calculate safe harbor estimated tax payments using 100% of the prior year.
by Cuzz35
Fri Feb 24, 2023 10:50 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Metro Atlanta Bogleheads Local Chapter
Replies: 150
Views: 77993

Re: Metro Atlanta Bogleheads Local Chapter

Hi there. Is the Atlanta chapter still active at all? I was at the first meeting back in 2016 but haven't kept up too much with the forums since (3 kids and a bunch of promotions later).
by Cuzz35
Wed Jan 04, 2023 6:15 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax question (two states involved)
Replies: 19
Views: 1476

Re: Tax question (two states involved)

I think others here have mostly answer your question. My personal experience with one client that was taxed in two states on the same income related to an installment sale. The client was a resident of PA in the year of sale and subsequently moved to PA. For federal income tax purposes we elected installment sale treatment where you pick up a fraction of your total gain each year you receive an installment sale payment. If I am remembering it correctly, PA did not follow federal treatment of installment sales and taxes the entire gain in the year of sale. New Jersey on the other hand followed federal treatment. So the client ended up paying tax to New Jersey on the same installment sale income that he paid tax to PA on. We asked New Jersey ...
by Cuzz35
Sat Apr 04, 2020 5:36 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: CARES Act 2019 or 2020?
Replies: 17
Views: 1401

Re: CARES Act 2019 or 2020?

Does anyone have an opinion on how people filing married filing seperate are treated. The bill doesn't mention these types of filers specifically which makes me wonder if they just get zero.
by Cuzz35
Fri Apr 03, 2020 11:16 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Banks doing SBA PPP that actually have the correct process?
Replies: 12
Views: 1305

Re: Banks doing SBA PPP that actually have the correct process?

PluckyDucky wrote: Fri Apr 03, 2020 8:48 pm You have to find a local bank that is taking apps. There are at least 5 in my area, now 6 as of 430 pm. I know at least one is already submitting to SBA. Some are doing existing customers only/first, while others are first come first serve.

ETA: Yes this is my thread. I found some local ones after I posted.
This has been my experience as well. A few that my company (CPA Firm) has a great relationship was taking anything we sent there way.

Some other locals were refusing to share the 1% fee with us as agent but since we mainly just want to help our clients we still went with those when needed.
by Cuzz35
Fri Apr 03, 2020 6:56 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: PPP/EIDL for a one-person S-corp
Replies: 61
Views: 14036

Re: PPP for a one-person S-corp

gasdoc wrote: Fri Apr 03, 2020 6:23 am
craiggsean wrote: Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:03 am Good calculation, I think.
I've heard 1-person self employed applications begin on April 10th instead of April 3rd.
Is that correct?
That's correct.

gasdoc
Will single member s-corps have to wait until the 10th? I wouldn't think they would be treated as a sole proprietorship or self-employed.

Also, is there a carve out for sole proprietorship and self-employed in case the cap on the program is hit today?
by Cuzz35
Fri Mar 27, 2020 8:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How are you going to use your stimulus money?
Replies: 222
Views: 16400

Re: How are you going to use your stimulus money?

I'll be getting $3,900. No immediate plans. I'll likely put into emergency fund. However my wife and I are getting take out and tipping very well while this is going on. We typically don't eat out at all. So trying to help there. I'll also likely take advantage of the $300 above the line charitable deduction and donate.
by Cuzz35
Wed Mar 18, 2020 5:17 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: How Is Your Job Being Impacted By The Current Crisis?
Replies: 505
Views: 68872

Re: How Is Your Job Being Impacted By The Current Crisis?

Corporate aircraft mechanic. All the upstairs office workers are working from home if possible. Us mechanics are still going along business as usual but if this is a prolonged event I can see this causing aircraft owners to stop coming in for maintenance and ground their aircraft. Job is pretty stable considering the shortage of aircraft mechanics but we are not immune. My dad is a helicopter mechanic. He said it's business as usual for then though with oil being down so low it's probably only a matter of time before they start laying off mechanics. Stepmom is an ICU nurse in Mississippi. They have two Corona patients. She has a bad heart and smoked most of her life so she is very high risk. She prayed about it and decided she wanted to he...
by Cuzz35
Tue Mar 17, 2020 7:58 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: How Is Your Job Being Impacted By The Current Crisis?
Replies: 505
Views: 68872

Re: How Is Your Job Being Impacted By The Current Crisis?

Tax accountant. Working 100% remote. It's not to bad. Except its tax season, I've been super distracted with everything going on and not nearly as productive as I need to be. I don't think the payment extension will make much of a difference but I'll wait until official guidance is released before I make that call. Business as usual until then.
by Cuzz35
Tue Mar 17, 2020 7:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Treasury extends [tax payment date 90 days, filing deadline still April 15]
Replies: 80
Views: 4055

Re: Treasury extends tax filing by 60 days

They way my ears interpreted the press conference was 90 days extension to pay up to $1million for individuals and $10 million for corporations. Nothing about extending the filing deadline, meaning if you owe and electric to defer, file an extension.

There was no mention of Q1 or Q2 payments. I would suspect these will get moved backed to July 15th as well but we will have to wait and see what the official guidance is.
by Cuzz35
Tue Mar 10, 2020 2:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Time to get a new tax guy?
Replies: 28
Views: 2570

Re: Time to get a new tax guy?

It probably depends. If this accountant doesn't deal alot with individual taxes than he may not know what this is. I'm pretty sure if I went to other departments at my firm and asked the managers if they knew what a backdoor Roth was, the success rate would be low. On the other hand, all the seniors and managers on my team know what that is because are focus is high net worth individuals.

To answer your question though, your return sounds pretty simple and I would say you don't need this guy, esp if he doesn't know what a back door roth is.
by Cuzz35
Sun Mar 01, 2020 5:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: CPA or tax prep fees
Replies: 12
Views: 820

Re: CPA or tax prep fees

4nursebee wrote: Sun Mar 01, 2020 9:49 am How much do you pay to get your taxes done? Please share if there are other things that could affect costs, in our case these are farm and real estate expenses.

For the past several years we have paid between $500-700.
My farm charges $375 per hour for my time, $220ish for a senior and $160ish for staff. Hard to tell how long your return would take but if it's pretty simple, say 3-4 hours it would easily cost $1k.
by Cuzz35
Sun Mar 01, 2020 5:33 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: CPA relationships/advice
Replies: 24
Views: 1812

Re: CPA relationships/advice

I am soooooo happy you posted this question, because we're having the same concerns. We had a wonderful CPA for many years. The great thing about her was that she was at a similar point in life that we were---her kids were 1 to 3 years older than our kids, so she'd always give us good advice on college, the home improvement credits, etc. Whatever we asked, she was able to give us some pretty sound advice. When we had questions during the year, she'd call back and give us an answer or we'd set up an appointment and go see her if it was something that we had to deal with right away that she could look over--and she would charge us for the appointments, but I can't remember her charging for short phone calls. Then she moved out of the area. :...
by Cuzz35
Sun Mar 01, 2020 5:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: CPA relationships/advice
Replies: 24
Views: 1812

Re: CPA relationships/advice

It sounds like you are getting no service at all. I would look for a new CPA. From reading on these boards finding a good CPA is as hard as finding a good investment advisor. Switching shouldn't complicate things but you might experience a spike in cost. Sometimes one CPA can transfer the tax software file and the new CPA can import the data which saves a ton of time but in my experience this doesn't happen alot. I'm a CPA and deal almost exclusively with individuals and I was taught to respond to every client withing 24 hours, even if it's just to say I can't help right now or I need more time. Clients call and email me questions all the time. It can be hard to deal with during tax season because I'm managing 300+ returns, staff, partners ...
by Cuzz35
Fri Feb 14, 2020 6:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: first/final 1041 h&r block program
Replies: 4
Views: 1385

Re: first/final 1041 h&r block program

Usually a grantor trust ceases to be a grantor trust when the grantor dies.

The trust is not an estate.

You will need to read the trust agreement to see what it says the trustee is supposed to do once the grantor dies. If the trust requires all the income to be distributed then that would be a simple trust. If the trust is not required then it would be complex.

If you are also doing the estate income tax return, keep in mind that bequests of a specific sum of money don't pass out income to the beneficiary, usually.

I honestly would recommend hiring CPA who deals with trust and estates to help.
by Cuzz35
Mon Jan 20, 2020 6:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: CPA Question
Replies: 21
Views: 1810

Re: CPA Question

$750 for a return doesn't sound like a bad deal. That's about 2 hours of time at my bill rate. Does your CPA charge by the hour or a flat fee? Any sense of how much time it takes him and whether he is just prepping or giving you advice along the way?
by Cuzz35
Sat Sep 14, 2019 1:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Bay Area teacher saving half my income – why the doubt? (and asking more questions)
Replies: 707
Views: 67183

Re: Bay Area teacher saving half my income – why the doubt? (and asking more questions)

Nice. I looked into the premium tax credit years ago but do not qualify. So all in all we spend around 15% on medical. Alot more back when my son was in all kinds of therapy that wasn't covered.
by Cuzz35
Sat Sep 14, 2019 12:37 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Accountant Salary Growth
Replies: 37
Views: 6564

Re: Accountant Salary Growth

I'm also in Atlanta finishing up year 7 of my career in public accounting on the tax side. Been at the same firm my entire career. Firm size is over 300 people and around $75 million annual revenue.

I would say you are doing a good job. My path is probably been quicker than most but I also didn't start until I was 26, 33 now. Bonuses averaged around 10%.

$52 initial
$53.5k after 6 months,
$60k 1.5 years promoted to senior
$74k 2.5 year promoted to supervisor
$85k 3.5 years promoted to manager
$90k mid year raise
$98k 4.5 years
$115k 5.5 years
$128k 6.5 years promoted to senior manager,
by Cuzz35
Sat Sep 14, 2019 12:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Bay Area teacher saving half my income – why the doubt? (and asking more questions)
Replies: 707
Views: 67183

Re: Bay Area teacher saving half my income – why the doubt? (and asking more questions)

No medical expenses? Does your health plan cover it all?

I'm paying over 3x on insurance premiums with a high deductible plan subsidized through work. We hit our deductible every year which accounts for about $600 a month. Salary is similar to yours but I live in Atlanta, mortgage is half and RE taxes are a third. We save nothing. Our spending doesn't seem much different than yours but we pay more in taxes and healthcare. I also pay more for life insurance as we have three kids, one who is autistic.

But congratulations.
by Cuzz35
Wed Jul 10, 2019 2:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: If there are no close or trusted relatives close by, who will care for you, pay your bills, etc.
Replies: 140
Views: 15330

Re: If there are no close or trusted relatives close by, who will care for you, pay your bills, etc.

I still need to go through and read this thread but I have a similar problem. I currently have a grandmother who lives in rural Wyoming and has her entire life. Her only child, my mother, passed away 20 years go and I am her only living grandchild (I'm 33 with 3 young children). I live in Atlanta and have my own family and job that takes up my time. Grandmother is starting to suffer from dementia and Alzheimer's. She currently gets help from two of her sister's that are a little younger but their age makes it difficult to visit as much as they used too. It really didn't dawn on me that I would be responsible for her at some point until a year or so ago. My grandmother has very little assets as far as I know and I myself don't do well enough...
by Cuzz35
Tue Jul 09, 2019 9:04 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Who cuts your hair? And for how much?
Replies: 153
Views: 14772

Re: Who cuts your hair? And for how much?

I buzz mine myself. Mainly because my hair sucks and there is never much to cut or do with it anyway.
by Cuzz35
Fri Jun 28, 2019 8:08 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax mistake
Replies: 23
Views: 3409

Re: Tax mistake

Sounds to me like it may be worth your hiring an accountant to prepare your taxes going forward. Your time is valuable, and would likely save a lot of hassle. This is my vote too. I could probably help you but I'd need to see your return and the notice. I'm sure many of us in this thread would really need to see the same to get to the bottom of it. Did you file on time? If after 4/15 did you file an extension? When did you pay your taxes? What types of penalties did they assess? Underpayment of estimated tax, late payment, late payment interest, late filing penalty? Is your income from self-employment? If they are adding most of these penalties and SE tax that would ratchet the balance due up quite quickly. Not sure why you would owe a bun...
by Cuzz35
Mon Mar 25, 2019 10:14 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tax refund: take the cash or apply to next year's estimates?
Replies: 12
Views: 1986

Re: Tax refund: take the cash or apply to next year's estimates?

I would take the refund instead of applying it to future taxes. The reason is simply because I want to isolate any tax payment issue to an individual year. If I apply a refund to next year's return and it then turns out to be subsequently reduced due to an adjustment in my tax return than I run into sort of a domino effect on paying insufficient taxes on one or more future tax returns. Too much risk of a mess as far as I'm concerned. Once the IRS processes your return and accepts it as is, they will apply the refund to the following year. Any subsequent adjustments in their favor they will send you a bill for. If you are not extending it probably doesn't matter if you apply and take the refund versus paying at Q1. Personal preference. But ...
by Cuzz35
Sun Mar 17, 2019 9:39 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: CPA is not including form 8606 for my backdoor Roth
Replies: 86
Views: 8148

Re: CPA is not including form 8606 for my backdoor Roth

Thank you for your answers, I will just ask my CPA to fill the form. I will consider using some tax software to do my taxes for this year as well, and keep the return prepared for my CPA as a reference, form 8606 being only part of a more complex situation… I suspect your CPA is using this method because s/he does not know how to cause the software to fill out the Form 8606 properly. It can be tricky with software designed for individuals - who knows if the pro's software is any better? If the amount of taxable income is coming out right, I think I'd just do the Form 8606 by hand and mail it in after your taxes are filed. The key is to know how the form is supposed to be filled out. Then you "play" with the software to get the fo...
by Cuzz35
Thu Feb 28, 2019 7:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What should I look for in a Tax Accountant?
Replies: 8
Views: 906

Re: What should I look for in a Tax Accountant?

pm29871 wrote: Thu Feb 28, 2019 11:03 am Sure, I get what you are saying, but can't I pay a few hundred (or a grand or two) to have them figure out how to optimize my taxes and holdings?

I would look for someone that specializes in helping high net worth families. Even if you don't think you are high net worth. Additional credentials would be a CPA with CFP and/or PFS designation.

Also helpful would be a fee only financial planner with a tax background/CPA.