@colorado_mom, no procrastination here, I hope. My returns have become too complex for me to do even though I actually enjoy figuring out how to optimize with respect to taxes.
@notrichenough, do you get the deduction on in kind donations this year if you donāt itemize?
No, in-kind donations go on schedule A, so unless you itemize, no deduction.
Iāve followed this thread but have not participated:). I did a first pass on turbo tax and we are going to pay just under $2k if I did it properly. I did prepay property taxes in December 2017 for my primary home as well as my vacation house. We live in the northeast, not super duper high taxes, but high enough. I have an HELOC with a small balance on my second home that Iāve used for purposes other than renovations, so I really canāt include that.
Attended our financial guyās āState of the Marketsā presentation last night. The chart that spoke volumes was Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank AG āPercentage of assets with negative total returns in dollarsā year by year bar graph 1901 through 2018.
2017 had the absolute lowest negative total returns, while 2018 had the absolute highest. Our 401k certainly felt that!
One chart was with volatility and emotions. During the year with S&P 500 Index Price Returns charted for the year, these were the comments on our chart going through the year: ā2017 returns were strong, I want more: never mind, this is more downside than I can handle; I wish I didnāt make changes; not making that mistake again; returns were stronger, I want more; I hope the market bounces from here like last time; ooops.ā
Key advice: stay invested, remain diversified; disciplined risk management/control risk; sound plan.
Returns can be erased at a momentās notice.
Some discussion of FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google.) Peak to trough for Facebook was 43%.
@notrichenough are you my husband? He has about 1000 science fiction booksā¦many of which have been in plastic bins in our garage for 25 years. Those are going to rcyvlingā¦because reallyā¦if he hasnāt even opened the bins in 25 yearsā¦what are the odds he will do so now?
@Hoggirl there are LOTS of really good airports in flyover country and the cost of living is more modest than on the coasts. I would love to go to Pittsburgh or Columbusā¦but my husband is less than enthusiastic about living thereā¦donāt ask me why!
Interesting article by Vanguard folks:
Interesting article. We benefited greatly from MILās gift that helped us buy our first house, so weāll consider doing same for our own kids. Itās a good point to make sure that kind of help does not encouraging a higher pricetag home.
@thumper1 - not where we wereā¦
I think one benefit of giving adult children monies while living rather than as an inheritance is that you get to see their enjoyment of your gift. It absolutely has to be something you can afford to do.
I like the suggestion that they pay down their student loans. I would have a hard time biting my tongue if I could see that my down payment gift caused buying too much house.
Even if they struggle, they may find satisfaction in owning their own finance. Unless they have an absolute emergency. We paid for the house on our own, stamp sized it may be. vs I have generous parents? Money with a condition attached, however sensible, may seem like a noose. I will put down your downpayment if you buy something under x? Why can they not add a bit onto to it and buy up? To me, it would sound like I am trying to control their future expense.
That, and if your state has a low lifetime exclusion for bequests. Many people would get snared by MAās $1M; after that the tax ranges from 80 basis points to 16 percent on the entire estate. I still love MA, but itās an expensive place to die.
DHās BD is April 14th. For some reason, he thinks doing our taxes is the best way to spend his birthday. We celebrate on the 15th after he hits āsubmit.ā No talking him out of this folly. Heās been doing this for over 35 years. Drives me nuts.
One of the FB ad I keep seeing is that you pay $36 a month for $1M life insurance if you run 9 minute a mile, which I did for 10 miler race. Lately, I am actually getting fast. Hope for 8 45 or faster in my next race. My friend told me she had put $10,000 a year for 16 years into her insurance to get $1M life insurance, but hers does have some annuity feature. Still I cannot help thinking that she might be cheated?
You are talking about 2 different types of insurance.
The $36/mo plan is for term insurance - you are insured as long as you are paying, but once you stop paying the insurance goes away and you have nothing to show for your premiums (unless you stop paying because you died).
The $10k/yr plan is some kind of whole/universal/permanent life, where some of your contribution is insurance and some is āinvestmentā that you could conceivably cash in while alive.
Yes, your friend is, if not getting cheated, making a bad investment. But the 2 kinds of insurance are very different animals.
@SincererLove --agree with @MomofJandL.
Did your ad mention age at which the policy was written? I had been paying $600/year for a $1 million term policy, but it was written when I was in my mid to late 40ās. I assume I would pay more than that if I were to take out that same policy today, and less if I had been in my mid-30s when it was issued.
@CT1417 , I didnāt click on it. I was concerned that it would encourage similar ads to appear on my feed. I had already seen an ad for $xx for $500,000 if you run 9 minute mile for several times before the $1M ad. The site is HealthIQ.
Edit to addā¦ truth is that I am concerned for my friend. She and her husband make good money, and she told me all their saving each month goes to one form of insurance or other. They have only one child and they want to protect him. But I am concerned that she might be throwing money away instead of just investing in the stock market, and even get below average returns. She is going through some health issue with her son. So I donāt want to say anything at this point, and I am not sure how to say it.
if your friend wants insurance she should buy insurance separately. (Term policy for xx years.) If she wants an investment portfolio, she should do that too. But donāt do both in the same product; hybrids arenāt very good at either thing.
With a kid, they need some term. (The annuity just makes the salesperson richer.) She can easily check rates online. Use only Best-AAA rated companies.
That being said, sheād also have to factor in any cancellation fees for the annuity.
There are many ways to help your children. You pay for college, wedding, they have more money to save for a house.
The question should be where do you stop? If you are not living your best life, should you be helping your children out? How much to help them without them using the bank of mom and dad as a way of suplimenting their lives?
I know I have said this in the past and Iām sure Iāll say this in the future. Go ahead, help your children but please figure out when to stop. When do you let those kids become functioning independent adults? I have neighbors in their 80ās who are still supporting their daughter in her 60ās. They have had one car so they can buy a car for the daughter. They bought her a condo. They paid for her divorces.
I thought the article was kind of silly, it did go into some of the scenarios but I wish it would have gone more into how to say no. And how to get off the merry go round of paying for your kids? That seems to be advice people need.
Rant over.
Hope the person with 60 cans of paint was able to dispose of it. Just wanted to mention that, around here (Iām in CA), not only do certain Sherwin William paint stores take it but select Kelly Moore and Benjamin Moores as well. So, if you canāt take it to the local dump for no or low cost, call local paint stores. If they say ānoā ask if they know who will take it. Hopefully thereās a paint store in your vicinity that will accept it.