Search found 138 matches

by Xile F Investor
Wed Dec 21, 2022 1:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Solo 401k: Benefits of Employee Salary Deferral vs Employer Contributions
Replies: 7
Views: 801

Re: Solo 401k: Benefits of Employee Salary Deferral vs Employer Contributions

I don't think it matters if this is all Pre-Tax. It also depends on the type of plan. If you're running a Corp with payroll then you can only contribute the salary deferral through payroll. I would recommend maxing out salary deferrals first and then look into employER contributions. This is the part that confuses me. If we fund the solo 401k directly from the business account, then none of the contributions come from payrolls. So, both employEE & employER contributions are pre-tax? But in this our scenario my understanding is.. employEE contributions change nothing w/respect to taxes employER contributions are treated as a business expense, and therefore minimize the pass-thru tax liability from the business Is my understanding correct?
by Xile F Investor
Wed Dec 21, 2022 1:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Solo 401k: Benefits of Employee Salary Deferral vs Employer Contributions
Replies: 7
Views: 801

Re: Solo 401k: Benefits of Employee Salary Deferral vs Employer Contributions

MP123 wrote: Wed Dec 21, 2022 1:19 pm How is your business organized? For an S- or C- corp the employer contribution will escape FICA tax, unlike the employee deferral. For a sole proprietor both are FICA-taxable.
We are a partnership/LLC, and accountant opts to file taxes as S-corp or not based on how we do. We've been filing as S-corp for past few years.

So, it sounds like the benefit to contributing to employER over employEE when we file as an S-corp is escaping the FICA tax. Do I have that correct?

If so, thanks! This is a helpful datapoint in making the decision.
by Xile F Investor
Wed Dec 21, 2022 12:17 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Solo 401k: Benefits of Employee Salary Deferral vs Employer Contributions
Replies: 7
Views: 801

Solo 401k: Benefits of Employee Salary Deferral vs Employer Contributions

Hi Bogleheads community :happy For a solo 401(k), are there benefits to contributing first to Employee Salary Deferral over Employer Contributions, or vice versa? We have a solo 401k (one-participant 401k) with Vanguard. We are trying to determine what are the trade-offs (if any) between different approaches of funding the solo 401k account. Some example questions: Should we max out the $20,500 Employee Salary Deferral, before contributing our first dollar of Employer Contributions? Should we contribute to Employer Contributions, before contributing to Employee Salary Deferral? Should we match dollar for dollar the contributions to the Employee Salary Deferral and Employer Contributions? Does it matter whether we first fund the Employee Sal...
by Xile F Investor
Sat Oct 22, 2016 1:04 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Merrill Edge VS RobinHood
Replies: 47
Views: 11737

Re: Merrill Edge VS RobinHood

I've used both Robin Hood and Merrill (including many many other brokerages) past and present. My main brokerage is Vanguard, and if you are focused on index funds I recommend them. In general I don't like the fee structure at BoA, so I'm trying to get away. But I like Merrill's interface and tools. I recall I left Merrill related to changing fee structure (I think it was an inactivity feed), but other than that I would have stayed. I love Robin Hood. It's served my purposes for everything I've needed to purchase. And no commission is great for new investors starting out in ETFs or stocks. But it's mobile app only, and the tools are very limited. I haven't had any issues over the last year. Robin plans to offer multiple-per-person and joint...
by Xile F Investor
Sat Jul 11, 2015 11:24 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: AA Advice for newly married. Are we doing this right?
Replies: 14
Views: 1702

Re: AA Advice for newly married. Are we doing this right?

Xile F Investor , you want an AA of 80% stocks (including REITs), 20% bonds (a little low), with 60% of stocks in international (way high). That breaks down to 32% US stocks (10% REITs), 48% international stocks, and 20% bonds. Here is a possible retirement portfolio with your percentages: His 401k -- $62K -- 35% 15% ( VTSMX ) Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares (0.17%) 10% ( VFITX ) Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury Fund Investor Shares (0.20%) 10% ( VFSTX ) Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade Fund Investor Shares (0.20%) His Roth IRA at Vanguard -- $50K -- 28% 10% ( VGSLX ) Vanguard REIT Index Fund Admiral Shares (0.10%) 18% ( VTIAX ) Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Admiral Shares (0.16%) Her Roth IRA ...
by Xile F Investor
Sun Sep 14, 2014 1:22 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Emergency fund question
Replies: 6
Views: 1087

Re: Emergency fund question

berntson wrote:I use an Ally savings account for the first two or three months of expenses and put the rest in 10 year treasuries. If stocks are up and I need money, I'll sell stocks from taxable. If stocks are down and I need money, I'll sell treasuries.
Is the money in these stocks part of retirement AA? If not, what's the AA for the treasuries/stocks? I'm interested in knowing more about this approach. Please expand on the details.
by Xile F Investor
Mon Oct 14, 2013 10:27 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: AA Advice for newly married. Are we doing this right?
Replies: 14
Views: 1702

Re: AA Advice for newly married. Are we doing this right?

You listed AA as 70/20/10. You are aware that your AA is 80/20? There is no problem with your fund placement because you have good fund available in all account and no need for taxable. For bonds, I suggest st-term investment grade (corporate) if these are the only two choices. Are you using a Roth because you don't quality for deductible IRA? I think your biggest problem is in your home. A high interest rate on an large adjustable loan, plus an adjustable HELOC. These should be top priority. Paul I'm kinda aware my AA is 80/20. I've seen it some places that REITs is equity, but have been confused about that because it's mentioned separately so much. Thanks for clearing that up. Why short term bods as opposed to intermediate? My reasoning ...
by Xile F Investor
Mon Oct 14, 2013 10:21 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: AA Advice for newly married. Are we doing this right?
Replies: 14
Views: 1702

Re: AA Advice for newly married. Are we doing this right?

Xile: Congratulations on your recent marriage. Ours lasted 62 years. I hope that you are as fortunate. Your post reflect the good advice you have learned from your reading and time spent here. In answer to your questions, I think it is best for married couples to agree on their stock/bond allocation and consider their investments as one. The basic rule between tax-advantaged accounts is to select the best fund(s) in the 401k (usually the lowest cost fund(s)) and use IRAs to complete your joint portfolio. Best wishes. Taylor Thank you. My wife does not enjoy "doing our finances" though I try to make it as easy as possible for her. The rule is I can't take financial action w/out her input into the decision. I gave her the gift of t...
by Xile F Investor
Mon Oct 14, 2013 3:34 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: AA Advice for newly married. Are we doing this right?
Replies: 14
Views: 1702

Re: AA Advice for newly married. Are we doing this right?

FYI, I remembered and found a link to one of the influences for my equity AA. Read the last section. The equity AA can definitely be a debate (which I'm sure exists on this forum), so I can start another thread if needed.

http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-h ... tors/nFZN/
by Xile F Investor
Mon Oct 14, 2013 2:20 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: AA Advice for newly married. Are we doing this right?
Replies: 14
Views: 1702

Re: AA Advice for newly married. Are we doing this right?

I built a spreadsheet to help re balance over multiple accounts and also to calculate the allocation of future contributions to keep allocation from shifting too much. We are in a position where we have to rebalance over multiple accounts because her 401k has a generous match but no international fund and the average ER is about 1.8%. Even a S&P 500 Index Fund with 2% turnover has an ER of 1.10%. The high international struck me as interesting as well, we are 80/20 and hold 30% of our overall equity in international equity. I use a spreadsheet to balance across accounts as well. I used a modified version of something I got from a thread on this site years ago. Each quarter it takes us a few minutes to enter in our current fund values, ...
by Xile F Investor
Mon Oct 14, 2013 2:14 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: AA Advice for newly married. Are we doing this right?
Replies: 14
Views: 1702

Re: AA Advice for newly married. Are we doing this right?

Just in case anybody is curious about what background I have in investing... I've never actually taken the time to detail my investment strategy, but among the sources for my limited knowledge I've read Bogleheads Guide..., All about Asset Allocation (Rick Ferri), The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need (Andrew Tobias), parts of Investor's Manifesto (William Bernstein), parts of Bogleheads wiki, parts of Clark Howard's advice on investments (from his website), and I frequent the Suze Orman show. I'm still expanding my investment knowledge through books, articles, and this forum. I believe I got my International/Domestic split mostly from Clark Howard's site. I have no special knowledge of international markets over U.S. markets. I can de...
by Xile F Investor
Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:28 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: AA Advice for newly married. Are we doing this right?
Replies: 14
Views: 1702

AA Advice for newly married. Are we doing this right?

My wife and I got married in June/2013 and we now share our investment/retirement portfolio. Please let me know if we are approaching the married Asset Allocation strategy in the right way. My major concern is my confusion about how to split AA across account types (IRA, 401K, etc.) and people (my wife and myself). I originally thought that each account type per person had to have an AA to match the target AA for the family. But after reading some more, I came to the conclusion that as long as the cumulative AA across account types and people match the target AA, then we are OK. But please review to make sure we are doing this right. Emergency funds ~ 7 months of expenses, long term goal is 12 Debt: * Mortgage $350k @6.85% (10 yr ARM, adjus...
by Xile F Investor
Wed Oct 09, 2013 12:17 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Can the US government actually pay down debt?
Replies: 12
Views: 1856

Re: Can the US government actually pay down debt?

The government can purchase it's own debt instruments on the open market. You might also want to research what happened the last time the government ran a surplus (during the Clinton administration). The treasury stopped issuing some types of bonds, including 30 year treasuries, and there were concerns that the shortage of government securities would cause Armageddon. This actually addresses my follow up question. If the US government stops issuing bonds, what happens? All the reading I've done so far (not much, but just about investments in general) always seem to use US debt as a corner stone for the pricing and future estimates of other investments. Would a shortage of US debt have a significant impact on the rest of the investment world?
by Xile F Investor
Wed Oct 09, 2013 11:59 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Can the US government actually pay down debt?
Replies: 12
Views: 1856

Re: Can the US government actually pay down debt?

So, it sounds like the US government can stop taking on new debt (whether to pay of old debt or any other reason) and direct current revenue to pay off existing debt. But they can't actually "pay down" existing debt?
by Xile F Investor
Wed Oct 09, 2013 11:57 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What influence does China have with US debt?
Replies: 6
Views: 920

What influence does China have with US debt?

I often hear that "China has most of the US debt" and I've seen the tables and charts providing the real details. But this debt is in the form of US Treasury bills, notes, bonds, and TIPS (unless I am wrong). So my question has always been, what can China (or any group/organization with US debt) actually do from a perspective of influence. Recently, a friend posed the scenario to me that China (or anybody with a large amount of US debt) can sell off the debt at a very low price, thereby devaluing the US dollar. Is this a true statement? Is there any other way which holders of large amount of US debt can influence/impact the US government? (I know this can be a borderline political discussion, but I'm asking from a strictly lender ...
by Xile F Investor
Wed Oct 09, 2013 11:53 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Can the US government actually pay down debt?
Replies: 12
Views: 1856

Can the US government actually pay down debt?

My understanding is that all of the US government debt is issued in Treasury bills, notes, bonds, and TIPS. I believe these are all non-callable. So if the US government can only pay the interests/principle that is due on bond type, is it possible for the US government to actually "pay down" debt early?
by Xile F Investor
Thu Sep 12, 2013 1:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC
Replies: 33
Views: 7389

Re: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC

I was reading "Small Business Taxes Made Easy" by Eva Rosenberg, and she makes the point that when a business is paying guaranteed payments to a member of an LLC that this should be a reasonable compensation for the person receiving the payments based on industry position and locality.

I thought this type of concern about an IRS audit only applied to corporations that paid owners salaries.

Does anybody have experience in this area?

We plan to start paying monthly guaranteed payments (not draws) to my wife at the start of 2014 and want to make sure we are not in violation of any IRS rules or would get flagged for an audit.
by Xile F Investor
Sat Aug 31, 2013 10:53 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Finding a good honest Small Business Tax Accountant
Replies: 4
Views: 1015

Re: Finding a good honest Small Business Tax Accountant

What the AICPA be a good place to shop for a Tax Accountant?

I found this great link that mentions them in trying to find a tax preparer or tax accountant for one's self.

http://lifehacker.com/5881487/how-do-i- ... ofessional
by Xile F Investor
Thu Aug 15, 2013 1:58 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC
Replies: 33
Views: 7389

Re: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC

@ All posters - I've really learned a bunch here, thanks for taking the time to respond in such detail.

@ Meg77 - Thanks for the targeted responses, it helps bring everything together for me.

@ Jack - A few posters have mentioned the "qualified joint venture", but we already filled the papers to make the business an LLC this year (first year of the business). Is this something we can undo, or is it a moot point now?
by Xile F Investor
Thu Aug 15, 2013 11:17 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC
Replies: 33
Views: 7389

Re: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC

Follow up question about taxes related to paying oneself from the business:

Since we are treated as a married couple sole proprietorship (or a partnership, still trying to understand this), when we pay taxes on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis, can we take this money out of the business account as a draw? or as something else?
How should we record/track taking money from the business account for tax purposes?

[forum etiquette: Since this is moving in a slight different direction, is this the appropriate place to ask this question, or should I start a new thread?]
by Xile F Investor
Thu Aug 15, 2013 11:09 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC
Replies: 33
Views: 7389

Re: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC

pshonore wrote:As I understand it, a H/W combo can be considered a joint venture and file separate Schedule C's (like sole proprieters) reflecting their respective shares of the business income and expenses but only if they are NOT operating as an LLC. Am I correct that you started this business in 2013 and have not filed taxes yet?
Yes, we started Feb/2013, and have not yet filed. Our first filing will be in 2014 for 2013.

Full Disclosure: My wife is a 1099 contractor for a few other companies, and we've only filed 1 quarterly for her this year, so we are a bit overdue there as well.
by Xile F Investor
Thu Aug 15, 2013 7:30 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC
Replies: 33
Views: 7389

Re: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC

Founded business with my partner when we were engaged. Now married to each other. I think we are treated as a sole proprietorship?
by Xile F Investor
Wed Aug 14, 2013 9:21 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paying oneself in a Small Business
Replies: 22
Views: 2231

Re: Paying oneself in a Small Business

SteveKL wrote:The OP has two over-lapping threads going with similar questions and responses in each.

See http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... 2&t=121508
Thanks for connecting. Posts are slightly different, but i didnt want to muddy the waters.
by Xile F Investor
Wed Aug 14, 2013 9:19 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paying oneself in a Small Business
Replies: 22
Views: 2231

Re: Paying oneself in a Small Business

SeattleCPA wrote:This might help you... it's my write-up of how taxation works for LLCs, including the case of multiple LLC owned by husband and wife...

http://www.llcsexplained.com/llcsexplained-taxation.htm

Based on what you describe, I'm think you have a partnership return to file. Also, for the record, I would have never as a CPA advised you to form the business as a multiple member LLC in Virginia given the small numbers... though maybe there was some reason you had to do that... but you get entangled in the partnership accounting stuff by doing that. :(
Thanks. You clarified a point i didnt realize about owning the business with my wife. In va we are 1 owner tax-wise. We founded the llc when we were engaged.
by Xile F Investor
Wed Aug 14, 2013 12:23 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC
Replies: 33
Views: 7389

Re: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC

I believe I found a link that explains it very well using examples that build on each other.

http://answers.onstartups.com/questions ... member-llc

Now my only question is, do we have to do anything special to take money out of the business as a Guaranteed Payment that's different from how we take money out as an Owner Draw?
by Xile F Investor
Wed Aug 14, 2013 11:32 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC
Replies: 33
Views: 7389

Re: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC

I think I got it, but let me create a scenario. Revenue = $20K Expenses (tax deductable) = $15K Draw = $3K For our non-corporation LLC, - we would pay taxes on $5K (Revenue/$20K - Expenses/$15K) in addition to paying income on any other income we receive in the tax year. - we would not pay additional taxes on our $3K Draw (paid in check form from business to us) - we will keep business and personal finances separate, and only pass money by investing in the business and taking draws from the business Is this correct? So would I get taxed on the $5K profits and the $3K draw that came from the profits? Wouldn't that mean I'm paying double taxes on the $3K draw? Also, in my reading I came across Draws & Guaranteed Draws. Seems like I pay t...
by Xile F Investor
Wed Aug 14, 2013 11:13 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC
Replies: 33
Views: 7389

Re: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC

I think I got it, but let me create a scenario.

Revenue = $20K
Expenses (tax deductable) = $15K
Draw = $3K

For our non-corporation LLC,
- we would pay taxes on $5K (Revenue/$20K - Expenses/$15K) in addition to paying income on any other income we receive in the tax year.
- we would not pay additional taxes on our $3K Draw (paid in check form from business to us)
- we will keep business and personal finances separate, and only pass money by investing in the business and taking draws from the business

Is this correct?
by Xile F Investor
Wed Aug 14, 2013 10:22 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC
Replies: 33
Views: 7389

Small Business: Taking Draws from an LLC

We (wife & I) have a partnership filed as an LLC in VA, started in Feb/2013. We would like to take draws out from the business. I'd like to state my understanding/assumptions (to be corrected if wrong) then ask my questions. Understanding / Assumptions: 1. draws are not taxed at any level 2. we only pay taxes on Revenue minus Expenses in the business for the year 3. we can take out as many draws as we want for a year by writing a check to my wife (or myself) Questions: 4. Is there a monetary or frequency limit on draws? 5. Does the IRS care about draws, with regard to filing for taxes? How about state/local government? 6. Does the draw have to be equivalent to the salary one would make in the field? (wife is a psychologist, business is ...
by Xile F Investor
Tue Aug 13, 2013 2:57 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paying oneself in a Small Business
Replies: 22
Views: 2231

Re: Paying oneself in a Small Business

Though we didn't sit face to face with a professional we did start by using the Legal Zoom monthly service. We spoke to the same lawyer (one from our area) a couple of times a week w/ a list of questions before finalizing the decision on business structure. She directed us to save some of our questions for a tax savvy CPA. We still use the Legal Zoom service, but only speak to the lawyer once a month to discuss some of the contracts and legal/agreement-type documents we are creating for the business. At this point in the game, so you suggest we bring out bigger guns? i.e. speak in person w/ some sort of legal professional on business structure? Or is it too early? I know nothing about what may be specifically legally applicable to a busine...
by Xile F Investor
Tue Aug 13, 2013 2:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paying oneself in a Small Business
Replies: 22
Views: 2231

Re: Paying oneself in a Small Business

@ englishgirl - we have the same questions. let me know if you find the answers.

@magellan - we are tracking all expenses and income on paper, in spreadsheets, and kinda in quickbooks. And we keep all receipts. Holding out until we get to sit down w/ a professional. I think I can take it from there (there = initial professional guidance) until we grow into something I can't handle.
If we are not getting paid as "employees" but only draws as owners, can we still take advantage of retirement benefits?
by Xile F Investor
Tue Aug 13, 2013 2:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paying oneself in a Small Business
Replies: 22
Views: 2231

Re: Paying oneself in a Small Business

Disclaimer - I own a small LLC - I am not an attorney or CPA. (+1) You will file Sch. C for the business with your 1040. If you look at the form now, it will help you organize a chart of accounts for the business. Understanding quarterly estimated taxes is important. Once your cash flow starts and it is apparent that income will exceed expenses, familiarize yourself with 1040es. It is not complicated but the big news is that you have to pay income tax and full FICA. The form is at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf I would not worry about S-Corp unless and until your business starts making more money than the prevailing wage for someone in that field. Agree with previous comments about setting up a draw from business account to pay...
by Xile F Investor
Tue Aug 13, 2013 2:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paying oneself in a Small Business
Replies: 22
Views: 2231

Re: Paying oneself in a Small Business

These are critical things that you should know about how the business entity is going to be structured. It really is the type of thing you should work out before kicking off the business. You really could use a professional to walk you through the implications because these alternatives make a big difference and you would be much better off getting it right from the start, rather than being forced to make changes in a few months because you did things that turned out to be wrong. I see it repeatedly that people going into business just don't plan and investigate before they act, and then they have deal with fixing things after the fact. By all means, gather information here, but that's just a start. Though we didn't sit face to face with a...
by Xile F Investor
Tue Aug 13, 2013 2:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paying oneself in a Small Business
Replies: 22
Views: 2231

Re: Paying oneself in a Small Business

@ dpc Disclaimer - I own a small LLC - I am not an attorney or CPA... 2. You "pay" yourself by taking a draw from your partnership account. Just write a check to yourself, sign it yourself and then endorse it on the back. It seemed really weird the first time I did it, but it works. I read someplace to beware of paying oneself too much or too little for your profession from your company (from the IRS perspective, because people play funny games w/ pay to result in lower income taxes). At this point, we'd be paying too little if we took draws. Should we be worried about this concern if we start taking draws? 3. Since your wife is an owner, she'll never be an employee in the eyes of the IRS. You can set up the equivalent of a salary...
by Xile F Investor
Tue Aug 13, 2013 10:29 am
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Where to find a bogleheads like community for small business
Replies: 14
Views: 2215

Re: Where to find a bogleheads like community for small busi

Would it make sense to add a poll to this thread to see how many people would find value in a Bogleheads forum just for business?
by Xile F Investor
Tue Aug 13, 2013 10:22 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Finding a good honest Small Business Tax Accountant
Replies: 4
Views: 1015

Finding a good honest Small Business Tax Accountant

I'd like to know where I can find a good and honest Small Business Tax Accountant. I've just started a small business with my wife, and I'd like to get as far as I can go w/out paying for the information. So I'm reading books and asking for help. But I'll eventually need a professional. From this site I've learned how to find a fee-only financial adviser, life insurance agent, and low cost brokerages. I'm wondering if there is similar guidance and advice for finding a good small business tax accountant that can help us answer the questions specific to brand new and growing small business. I spoken to a few friends who are accountants who have a few answers but say they've never dealt with a small starting business and didn't want to steer m...
by Xile F Investor
Tue Aug 13, 2013 10:15 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paying oneself in a Small Business
Replies: 22
Views: 2231

Paying oneself in a Small Business

My wife and I have recently started a small business and I have some questions about paying ourselves (or rather my wife as she provides the services). Context: We have a mental health services business and my wife is a psychologist. We have a partnership filed as an LLC in the state of VA (though we are licensed in DC too, working on MD). Based on our projections (and we are amateurs at this) we expect to make revenue as follows $12K in 2013, $20K in 2014, $60K in 2015. I know these estimates could be way off, but we wanted to have some idea of what to expect in order to make decisions. We've decided not to pay my wife for now as to keep the money in the business for growth and reinvesting, but there will come a point where we can no longe...
by Xile F Investor
Mon Aug 05, 2013 10:15 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should i treat business debt like personal debt?
Replies: 10
Views: 1512

Re: Should i treat business debt like personal debt?

@Jason Hull - can you share any of your friend's low cost marketing strategy?
by Xile F Investor
Mon Aug 05, 2013 10:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should i treat business debt like personal debt?
Replies: 10
Views: 1512

Re: Should i treat business debt like personal debt?

@magellan - We are moving into a new office and I wanted to invest in "professional looking" furniture as opposed to an eclectic collection of second hand furniture. There are areas near where we live where we can get away w/ the second hand mix, but we are not moving into that type are or office. Also, I wanted to focus on marketing now that we finally have a fully available office (we currently pay for use of an office 1 day a week from another start up that didn't have all of thier days filled w/ clients yet). But we've outgrown our 1 day. I'm scaling back budget for furnitue after reading responses and thinking about it. If we can avoid loans, we will. @Jason Hull - The only "business debt" we have is 2 credits cards...
by Xile F Investor
Sat Aug 03, 2013 1:12 am
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Where to find a bogleheads like community for small business
Replies: 14
Views: 2215

Re: Where to find a bogleheads like community for small busi

Thanks for all the great responses. I'll definitely look into SUCCEED and SCORE, as well as the link to recommended reading.

Sounds like there are some knowledgeable folks like SteveKL on this site that may be able to answer some of my entry level questions. So I'll scour the site and start here with questions. But I agree it would be great for a Bogleheads forum specific to small business. I'll eventual have questions about retirement programs, insurance, and other things along those lines related to the business.

All you business savvy Bogleheads, lookout for my questions! I'm quite the inquisitive novice. Thanks!
by Xile F Investor
Sat Aug 03, 2013 1:04 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should i treat business debt like personal debt?
Replies: 10
Views: 1512

Re: Should i treat business debt like personal debt?

Thanks for the feedback, I'm starting to change my thinking on the business debt, especially since we are an LLC right now, and all the debt is actually in our name. At some point I hope to switch over to an S-corp, but still looking for guidance on that.

We are working on a business plan (we have some software to help and we are using the wizard on the SBA website), but I keep up w/ the financial transactions and making projections based on hour history and educated guesses of future revenue. We founded in Feb, and first clients were in May.
by Xile F Investor
Thu Aug 01, 2013 10:30 pm
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Where to find a bogleheads like community for small business
Replies: 14
Views: 2215

Where to find a bogleheads like community for small business

My wife and I have recently started a small business. Over the years I feel like I've learned so much from reading the bogleheads forum and have even had a few personal questions of my own answered. Without this site I'd be soooo off track from where I am today. Does anybody know of a similar type of forum for small business? I'm on SBA.gov and we pay legal zoom a monthly fee for thier legal advice. I'm mostly looking for general advice, tax advice, accounting advice, and quickbooks advice on how to start/run a business. I've picked up a few books on these topics, but it helps to read threads, bounce ideas off of others, and get specific questions directly answered from a community of like minded people or those with experience. Any suggest...
by Xile F Investor
Thu Aug 01, 2013 10:23 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should i treat business debt like personal debt?
Replies: 10
Views: 1512

Should i treat business debt like personal debt?

So during my 20's I racked up a bit of debt (2K in CC, 20K in student loans, 24K in car loan). Small to some, big to others. I paid aggressively against it all, and I'm now of the mindset I don't want to go in debt or finance anything. (though I have a mortgage and am newly married to my wife who has over 100K in student loans). I'm working my way through the current debt. Now in my early 30's, my wife and I recently started a mental health practice from nothing, and its basically her day job, but we are starting slow. I'd like to make more progress by making more "investments" in the business. She wants every cent of expense to be covered by revenue (btw, she's not getting paid from the business yet). I try to explain to her that...
by Xile F Investor
Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:30 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth 401k conversion, from fiscal cliff
Replies: 5
Views: 1747

Roth 401k conversion, from fiscal cliff

Apparently the government wants more money fast, so they are allowing Roth 401k conversions for all.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleaebeli ... liff-deal/

Check your employer for availability.
by Xile F Investor
Sun Dec 30, 2012 7:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Employment Style Change: Any Advice Welcome
Replies: 5
Views: 1003

Re: Employment Style Change: Any Advice Welcome

epictetus wrote:Would encourage her to focus on passing the EPPP so that she can become licensed.
Thanks epictetus, that's the plan. unfortunately w/ the VA rules, she can not take it again for a year, so the studying will lead up to that point. But in the meantime, we were trying to be strategic w/ the long term goals and current circumstances.
by Xile F Investor
Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:05 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Employment Style Change: Any Advice Welcome
Replies: 5
Views: 1003

Re: Employment Style Change: Any Advice Welcome

Thank you livesoft.

I want to find out how long she can get COBRA coverage, they we may discuss getting married by law earlier than the ceremony date.

Another, some what related, consideration I would like to ask about is IRA roll-over. She (fiance) has a Roth IRA and a 457 plan from her current (soon to be ex) job. She recently opened a traditional IRA, because most likely hour income will not allow us to contribute to Roth, so we are going to do a backdoor Roth. Since we plan on converting the T-IRA to a Roth, should we get a 3rd IRA (2nd T-IRA) account to roll-over th3 457? As not to mix the backdoor Roth w/ 457 rollover funds. Or does it not matter and just over complicate things?
by Xile F Investor
Sat Dec 29, 2012 8:00 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Where to Keep Medium Term Savings
Replies: 28
Views: 7805

Re: Where to Keep Medium Term Savings

I would also consider iBonds if you can part with your funds for at least a year. Between a year and 5 years, the rate minus the penalty is still competitive w/ the likes of ING/Ally/Penfed or the Vanguard funds, and you don't pay federal taxes on your gains. After 5 years, no penalty. The only variable is the inflation calculation every 6 months. You may want to watch the "fiscal cliff" for this one.
by Xile F Investor
Sat Dec 29, 2012 7:47 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Employment Style Change: Any Advice Welcome
Replies: 5
Views: 1003

Employment Style Change: Any Advice Welcome

I live with my fiance who is a psychologist being let go from her job at the beginning of the year, because she has not passed her EPPP test yet (but she was close). Over the year she was worked off hours here and there with 2 companies to do contracting work. She has recently been introduced to 2 other companies, and with aspirations to start her own practice one day, we decided that taking the next year to do all contracting work for these four companies would be the plan of action. What should we take into consideration? Below is what I've thought of so far: - figure out how to pay "contractor" taxes - figure out the health insurance situation - determine what retirement plan options we have beside IRA (we've maxed out 401K and...
by Xile F Investor
Sat Nov 24, 2012 12:31 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Value Averaging
Replies: 37
Views: 3336

Re: Value Averaging

@Dave
sounds like I'm doing what you described. Making 1/yr lumpsum contributions to IRA and allocating those contibutions to balance my AA.
I wanted to 1) figure out if I'm doing the right thing. 2) figure out what it's called.

@LadyGeek
you answered my question about if I'm doing VA, which I'm not. But since I don't hold funds in hand, I invest all, sounds like I'm not doing DCA either. Guess I'm doing Lump Sum annually w/ Rebalancing quarterly. Thanks.
by Xile F Investor
Sat Nov 24, 2012 11:01 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Value Averaging
Replies: 37
Views: 3336

Re: Value Averaging

I read the wiki post.

I DCA into my Roth, but rebalance into the funds in the Roth (as part of my quarterly rebalancing). I contribute to my Roth once at the beginning of the year.

I thought I was doing DCA into IRA and Value Averaging into funds, but now it sounds like I'm not. How would one characterize what I'm doing? Is this a recommended or non-recommended approach?