<p>“Is research assistantship compensation? My kid helped out with research over the summer and got paid. Can she call that compensation and put to her roth account?”</p>
<p>Why would that not be compensation? Unless they are paying her cash, under the table. If it’s going onto her W-2, and she could be liable for taxes for it (and they probably took out social security and medicare), that sounds like compensation.</p>
<p>I am not sure if it’s going on her W-2. I could wait until January to find it out.</p>
<p>@Iglooo, if it’s going on a 1099, it’s still earned income afaik. Did she get a check for working? You might want to call and ask.</p>
<p>To answer @iglooo my daughter made $700 in 2013 at a church run nursery for Sunday worship. They cut her checks, but at end of year did give her a 1099. So we put $700 in a Roth IRA.</p>
<p>My son’s university gave him a 1099 just for winning a hackathon. We were kind of surprised that they’d actually report prize money to the IRS, but I think these colleges report every cent that goes to the students.</p>
<p>Even without a w2 or 1099 you can still declare the income on your taxes, and then do the Roth contribution.</p>
<p>DD just returned from 7 1/2 weeks in Switzerland and Italy. Public transportation in Italy - always crowded to the max. Trouble various places with gypsies begging, stealing. Person next to DD on Italy train got pick-pocketed - realized it, ran after person, but then came back to seat - had to get to work. In Italy, drink bottled water.</p>
<p>In Switzerland, public transportation had seats for everyone. Clean, nice. Water is clean everywhere - there was only one place where it said do not drink the water (because the cows grazing on the hill above…).</p>
<p>Italy, a different story. Drink bottled water. Etc.</p>
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<p>I would love that if I could do it that way. They direct deposited it to her account. Not sure if she is getting 1099 or not.</p>
<p>SOSConcern, That reminds me of a Fellini film. Fellini peed on a swiss policeman in the film after being harassed a few times. Contrast was priceless.</p>
<p>""“My son’s university gave him a 1099 just for winning a hackathon. “””</p>
<p>wow…really? how much were the winnings?</p>
<p>even small amounts, or possibly an item awarded that has a dollar value, can trigger a 1099 as income paid to the person. </p>
<p>1099s are not required for amounts under $600, AFAIK. Most if not all large organizations use a service or are automated, and a form will be spit out automagically if required, and not if not required.</p>
<p>Daughter was on a bike ride with her host family in Switzerland and she saw a nude lakeside beach area - big and small all in their birthday suits.</p>
<p>My cousin is married to a policeman, Roli (his first profession was electrician - the Swiss have their policemen do another profession first, which probably makes them better in their job, not as ‘militant’ as other places). Roli has a police dog too. Well they were driving somewhere, and there was an accident. Roli got out of the vehicle, got his flashlight out, and started directing traffic around the accident. It seemed a little comical to DD.</p>
<p>DD enjoyed the site-seeing in Italy and the beach, but enjoyed the nice things in Switzerland - clean water, spacious public transportation, etc. Had Gypsies in Italy and saw others begging. Of course the pick-pocket incident.</p>
<p>A fair number of people have a vacation home in Italy from other parts of Europe. I think the Swiss travel abroad, but Swiss may have a second vacation home or condo in Switzerland. My aunt had a vacation condo near St Moritz (in LaPunt) which was very nice; she rented it out a fair amount too. Cousin has a vacation home along the way up to Zermatt.</p>
<p>Switzerland recently had a lot of heavy rain and mud-slides; one caused a train wreck with injuries.</p>
<p>They hear the news from US, but with a very strong bias. From what media they are fed, they think Obama is great…or at least that is what DD was hearing. One guy who was in US 20 years ago was telling DD what the US is like…lol.</p>
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<p>One of my all-time family memories will be about a clothing optional beach in Barcelona. My teenage son came up to me at one point and said something like “Dad, this is NOTHING like I expected it be”. I think he had visions of Sports Illustrated swim suit models running down the beach in slow motion and instead there were 50 year old typical Moms and 70 year old grandmas … his first lesson that for most people cloths help!</p>
<p>^^Funny, 3togo. If you aren’t a supermodel, yep, clothes generally help!</p>
<p>""""“My son’s university gave him a 1099 just for winning a hackathon. “””</p>
<p>wow…really? how much were the winnings? "</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids, I remember it was several hundred dollars, less than 1K. Not near as much as some of the other hackathons pay out though. Nothing like the Dota 2 championships we had in Seattle. Unbelievable, a prize pool of 2.8 million, for a gaming competition.</p>
<p>D opened a Roth IRA when she was home this past week. The max contribution is 5500$ - assuming she made more than 5500$, right? Is that before or after taxes?</p>
<p>Before taxes</p>
<p>@arisamp, and, you probably intended this, but to be clear it is earned income before taxes that counts. If child earned $5,000 working and got $500 in interest or dividends, only the $5,000 counts. </p>
<p>I wonder the fund managing companies keep accurate records of my out of pocket contributions in my 401K and MF accounts? Or do I have the responsibility to keep records by myself (and I didn’t)? Will my cost of basis be transferred if I move my accounts to another company?</p>
<p>There is no cost basis to a 401k or most IRA accounts (except for those IRAs you’ve made after-tax contributions to, for those there is some form you need to fill out to track it IIRC) because every dollar withdrawn is taxed as regular income.</p>
<p>For non-retirement accounts I believe the fund companies are required to keep track now, but if the account is old they may not have the info. If you transfer them without cashing out… I don’t know if they would get the right basis info automatically.</p>
<p>^ Thanks. That makes my life a lot easier.</p>