Questions tagged [united-states]
For questions that relate to the laws, practices, and products of the United States.
10,237
questions
1
vote
0answers
15 views
Combine 121 and 1031 - how much capital gain is non taxable?
Section 121 allows $500k of cap-gain to be non taxable (in the right circumstances) Section 1031 allows the deferral of capital gain taxes (in the right circumstances), and they can be combined. But I'...
2
votes
2answers
106 views
18 years old and looking for advice on loans, buying a car, financing, etc
I'm 18 years old, I've been growing up in a place where there is animosity towards success, trust nobody and help from nobody is the point. Finally I'm on the right path but I'm having troubles. I ...
1
vote
1answer
66 views
Is it normal to be asked to include detailed financial information on a home rental application?
I'm submitting a rental application for a privately-owned townhome in North Dakota, US. The application asks for more detailed financial information than I have ever had to provide on past ...
6
votes
3answers
434 views
What is a deductible?
New grad just out of college and working at a job that is asking me how much I want to contribute to my HSA.
My medical plan deductible is $3,000 and I am a single filer (when it comes to tax) so I ...
3
votes
1answer
95 views
Redeeming minuteman savings stamps the old-fashioned way?
We just found in our house two books of 10¢ Minuteman stamps, face value $2.90. I see that they are sold as collectibles for a wide range of prices.
But I am curious whether there is still some ...
3
votes
2answers
181 views
Is it illegal for builders to only work with local lenders?
I'm a month from closing on a new construction home and I changed my lender from a local lender that was untrustworthy and not giving a deal. I got a notice that the the builder wont approve the new ...
4
votes
2answers
96 views
No-Deductible plan or High Deductible HSA plan?
The Company I work for is offering two Insurance options starting this year. One being the No-deductible plan I am currently on, and the other being a 1500$ deductible plan with an HSA that they will ...
0
votes
2answers
57 views
Total Income tax and self-employment tax
I worked as a full time employee (W4 taxes were deducted by the employer) and I was self-employed (independent contractor - 1099MISC i.e. no taxes were deducted by the employer) for some months of the ...
0
votes
1answer
40 views
2019 FBAR filing deadline missed
This year, I missed FBAR filing deadline of April 25 and also for automatic extension of October 15. It is not because of natural disaster (that's the only relief option I see here on the IRS site.
I ...
2
votes
2answers
37 views
How to get refund with 1040X on amended 1040NR?
I forgot to claim standard deductions of $12000 (nonresident alien, for Indian students) on my 2018 1040NR. So I am filing a 1040X. For the incorrectly filed 1040NR I received a $600 refund, but in ...
3
votes
2answers
185 views
Is there any risk in keeping lots of assets with one broker? [duplicate]
I'm in the USA. Currently, the bulk of my net worth is in accounts with TD Ameritrade. Right now, that's only about $30,000, but I plan to keep contributing; hopefully in a few decades, I'll have a ...
0
votes
2answers
245 views
Car Insurance - Do I need to keep comprehensive insurance after I paid off the loan?
I live in the Bay Area, California. I had to take comprehensive (Liability and Collision) insurance and pay around $500 for six months until I paid off the debt. I recollect that I was required to ...
5
votes
4answers
583 views
Income too high for a Roth IRA
I now make too much money to invest in a Roth IRA.
I get no tax benefit from putting money into a traditional IRA since I already have a 401k plan which I max out.
What should I consider investing ...
2
votes
1answer
103 views
HSA and tax free investing
The below is a quote from another HSA question's comment:
I agree. To your point the best course of action would be to max out
your HSA contributions, not distribute them even if you can, invest
...
2
votes
3answers
222 views
Practicalities of giving to children and grandchildren
I want to give $15k each to my daughter, her husband, and their two children for a total of $60k/yr. I see this example all over the internet, but no details on what this actually looks like. Since my ...
-2
votes
0answers
48 views
Can you hold both Series 6 and 7 licenses? [closed]
Can you hold Series 6 and Series 7 licenses at the same time? Or if you lose 6, get 7?
7
votes
6answers
1k views
Will an administrator exceed the 401K limit?
Suppose a person has a single job with $80K salary for the year and chooses 30% contribution to their 401K. The limit for 2020 contributions is 19.5K.
Will the employer or the administrator stop ...
2
votes
1answer
299 views
Is there a non-income tax way of my father paying off my house?
My father will soon be moving in with me as he is retiring at the age of 77. We are wanting to pay off my mortgage ($250,000). But we want to do it all in my name because we don't want it to appear as ...
0
votes
1answer
41 views
Coordination of Benefits With Multiple Health Insurance
I would like to understand how two health insurance companies will co-ordinate their payment. Let's take the following example a person with the following coverage:
Primary health insurance:
(...
0
votes
0answers
49 views
How do I set up the books for LLC taxed as a C-Corp?
Most resources online for bookeeping for LLCs immediately repeat a myth about C-Corp taxation subjecting you to double-taxation, declare that nobody would set up their single-member LLC as anything ...
1
vote
1answer
58 views
Can both spouses claim Family Employer Contribution?
2 spouses (X and Y) with 2 kids (x and y).
They both work and both their employers offer HSA plans with Employer Contribution.
X works for company XXX that offers 600$ for Employee and 1200$ for ...
0
votes
1answer
69 views
How to handle taxes by using credit card app (Square)
My old workplace wanted to contract me in to help with some on going issues they had. They ended up having me sign up to square which is a credit card service that charges a small fee when you charge ...
1
vote
0answers
69 views
Is there any investing strategy to take advantage of Volatility drag?
Besides shorting leveraged ETFs.
Say a leveraged investment in an asset suffers drag and it goes down even if the asset is flat. How do I capitalize on this? Is shorting leveraged ETFs the only ...
2
votes
2answers
87 views
Tax safe harbor rule with estimated payments (no tax liability on prior year)
I am a Spaniard and immigrated to the US on January of this year. I worked in the US in 2015 & 2016 and filed taxes for those years, but I was not in the US during 2018 so I had no tax liability ...
3
votes
1answer
70 views
Qualifiying Life Event allow one to change coverage plan
Employer provides four plans, with the following three that interest me, PPO, HMO, CDHP
During open-enrollment I choose PPO.
I marry. This counts as a QLE.
Am I allowed to change to CDHP midyear?
...
1
vote
1answer
73 views
Constraints and penalties for freezing and thawing credit report
I live in the U.S. and am interested in learning more about "freezing" one's credit report.
When one freeze's a credit report for a particular bureau, does that prevent new creditors from adding ...
6
votes
3answers
5k views
Can I request a credit item be removed from my report as soon as it is paid in full?
I live in the U.S. and have two scenarios:
On my credit report (doesn't matter which bureau), I have one account that I was never late on, paid on time each month, and is now finally paid off in full ...
0
votes
1answer
68 views
Possible to purchase credit reports more than once a year?
I live in the U.S. and although I am well aware that I am entitled to a free annual credit report once a year, I am open and willing to purchase my credit reports (from each bureau) more frequently ...
1
vote
1answer
78 views
Loan to family member in Canada
I am residing in USA. I am considering loaning USD 50K to my brother in Canada to help him buy a home. Whats the best way to go about this? I read that if its within US its best to do this a loan ...
7
votes
5answers
2k views
Getting health insurance with the highest deductible and putting the savings in HSA
I'm thinking about getting the highest deductible plan for next year, which would save us a lot of money. With that money, I'm planning to put all the savings (and some more) into our HSA account. We ...
2
votes
3answers
127 views
Do I have to claim a capital loss in the tax year that it occurred?
Say I have a stock position that is currently significantly underwater. At this point, I'd like to give up on the stock and sell it. I realize that the resulting capital loss would be deductible on my ...
3
votes
1answer
96 views
HSA over-contribution if I lose my job part way through the year
My employer provides my health insurance as part of my compensation and benefits package. It is a qualifying HDHP and as such every year I generally max out my HSA, either through payroll deductions ...
1
vote
3answers
100 views
What are some long term and low risk investment options for someone closer to retirement?
I started late. I’m 50 and have about $200k in savings, no debt and a small mortgage with $200k/year in salary. I have $300k in 401k.
I’d like to put that $200k somewhere other than the bank. I don't ...
0
votes
1answer
111 views
Used car loan and number of credit cards
My credit history is almost 6 months old and I have a score of around 700 now. I got my first credit card 6 months ago and two weeks ago I got another credit card. Last day I got prequalified for a ...
0
votes
1answer
104 views
Should I sell stocks after a buyout? [closed]
I am a newcomer to stock trading so please excuse the lack of technical knowledge. I primarily invest with Robinhood.
I bought some Symantec which recently got bought out by Broadcom. Since then ...
28
votes
8answers
12k views
Should a middle class person emulate a very wealthy investor for % of cash hold?
Warren Buffet is keeping $128 billion that can be deployed when stock market goes down. Should a middle class person hold little more of their investments as cash? Suppose if the person is responsible ...
0
votes
2answers
30 views
Residual FSA account funds
Each year I put some money into my FSA which will allow me to pay for prescriptions (and other medical costs) tax free. The problem is, you lose any amount not used by the end of the year (or shortly ...
1
vote
1answer
42 views
per occurrence deductible vs co-pay
I'm comparing insurances to select my benefits. One says the outpatient surgery
facility fee is $xxx/visit, while the other says $0 coinsurance but has a $yyy "Hospital per occurrence deductible." Is ...
0
votes
2answers
85 views
security considerations when mailing checks
I 've read in US forums that the IRS might mail you a check if you have a tax return. I 've also heard from expatriates living overseas who received such a check that they "simply" mailed it back to ...
2
votes
1answer
99 views
Money type for dad's partial distribution from 401k?
My dad is 66, retired, and has around $75k in his 401k with ADP. He wants to pull $5k out of his account. ADP sent a form to fill out and I am helping him since he has some questions. On the form ...
2
votes
2answers
150 views
Roth IRA Rollover Transferred Twice?
Last week, I initiated a Roth IRA rollover from Brokerage A to Brokerage B. On Friday, the check from Brokerage A was cashed in by Brokerage B, and the funds became available at Brokerage B as of this ...
3
votes
1answer
125 views
over contributed after-tax 401K
I have had two employers in 2019. Through both employers, I made around $18K pre-tax 401K contribution combined in 2019 (which is less than $19K limit).
However, through employer match and after-tax ...
3
votes
1answer
73 views
Wife's H4 is Pending. I am on H1B effective Oct 1 2019. Can I withhold taxes as 'Married'?
My Visa status changed from F1 to H1B effective Oct 31st this year. My wife came to USA in May 2019 on F2 Visa. Her H4 application is still in process and her F2 is invalid effective Oct 31st.
I ...
1
vote
1answer
78 views
Roth IRA excess contribution for current year
Just wanted to confirm - In the current year (2019), I contributed more that $6000, in fact almost double by mistake, as I did not realize my employer was deducting as well, I have both 401k and Roth ...
1
vote
2answers
74 views
401K loan repayment
401 K plan allows me to take a loan and repay it in monthly installments with 5% additional, which adjusts it for inflation, i.e., I do not have to pay any fees or interest rate for my loan.
I know ...
1
vote
1answer
34 views
Tax treatment of cash bonus for new rollover IRA account
Questions:
Is this considered a contribution subject to things like yearly Roth contribution limits?
Is there any special tax treatment? Such as the cash bonus in regular IRA becoming after-tax ...
0
votes
3answers
182 views
US Tax Obligations for Multiple Trades of Stocks or Cryptocurrencies
Background
I am trying to understand potential tax obligations for trading stocks and cryptocurrencies in the US. I was able to find the following information online:
The IRS considers ...
6
votes
1answer
258 views
Does giving money to your spouse to avoid tax make any sense?
In this well known scene from The Shawshank Redeption (content warning: language), Hadley is complaining because he is getting an inheritance, but he knows that the IRS is going to take a bunch of it ...
1
vote
1answer
142 views
What is a Mega Backdoor Roth IRA?
The so-called "Mega Backdoor Roth IRA" was coined in the following article in 2014:
I don’t hear about new ideas very often, but here is one that a few people might find very useful. I call it the “...
0
votes
2answers
61 views
Contributing to IRA account which contains pre-tax income from my rollover 401(k)
I am in my early 30s and I have recently rolled over my 401(k) fund from my former employer into a Traditional IRA account. All the money in this account is pre-tax income.
I would like to contribute ...
